TCV (CS)

Case Study #1. Zach De La Rocha quits Rage Against the Machine, so what's left of the band hires the velvet-lung then-retired and intensely confused Soundgarden songmeister Chris Cornell to form Audioslave.

result A short-lived but dazzling Super-gasoline-group to define hard rock in the oos decade and revive 70s classic glory.

Case Study #2. Canada's most exquisite folk and alternative talents i.e. Neko Case, A.C. Newman and Dan Bejar (Destroyer) befriend to form The New Pornographers.

result A jaunty power-pop supergroup to make Canada proud with back to back flair galore in form of albums.


Case Study #3. Allegedly two of the most loudmouth alternative figures, one belonging to grunge days and 90s and the other owning an already-verified alt. rock band... a.k.a the long time chummies of Dave Grohl (Foo Fighters, Nirvana) and Josh Homme (Queens of the Stone Age) who are not strangers to blatant but flamboyant chart-topping collaborations Do you still dance to "No One Knows" or imitate "Go With the Flow"s drum lines? not only decide to form a superband, but borrow hands from hard rock veterans Led Zeppelin for their bass-tasks and so John Paul Jones is added up to the line-up. Lads and lasses, Them Crooked Vultures!

result Josh Homme self-indulgently is all over the place. If Dave Grohl behind the drum strives to surface and present himself as he did while working with Cobain, he's soon overcome by loud (and sometimes obnoxious) guitars thanks to our dear friend Josh Homme. John Paul Jones is the coffee-boy here. No matter how hard he sweats his four-decade bass-existence on the stage, the TCV ends up quintessentially a Queens of the Stone Age album that lacks the mandatory rock grooves and fails to become something the band will eventually be proud of. Not that QotSA! I correct myself! "New Fang" is possibly the best piece of music found on the album and I also dig the intro to "Elephants". For the rest of the story, the supergroup mission unaccomplished!

[mp3] Them Crooked Vultures "New Fang"

* Buy Them Crooked Vultures debut