March Music Madness: AC/DC VS. CREAM

[newtrix1]

Please vote on your more favorite band between AC/DC and CREAM.

thank you.

notes:

Justifying your vote is not required, but....in the event of a tie, winning band will be determined by the voter who posts the best justification (explanation) as to why they like the band they voted for (or why they don't like the other band).

Winners have been declared for matches 1, 2 & 4. Remaining elimination matches may close as necessary so that next round can begin.

Status (if you want to vote on one of the open matches below, select the match #):

elimination match 1 (winner declared): Yes (4 votes) apathetically beats Jethro Tull (2 votes)
elim. match 2 (winner declared): The Flaming Lips (13) handily eliminate Dave Matthews Band (5)
elim. match 3 (closing soon): Appears like Wilco (11) will hold off The White Stripes (9)
elim. match 4 (winner declared): “Old school” Taking Heads (12) teach “Kid A” Radiohead (4) a lesson
elim. match 5: No Landslide for Fleetwood Mac (9) who leads by a nose over “C-indy-rella” Yo La Tengo (8)
elim. match 6: Jah shines light on Marley (11) over Dylan (9) in the battle of the Bobs
elim. match 7: (in progress)
elim. match 8: tba

[nobody]

Gotta go with AC/DC. I've never cared about anything in the Clapton cannon while albums like Dirty Deeds Done Dirt Cheap and others have been long time favorites of mine, so this is easy for me.

[Dave_G]

I love all the old Bon Scott era AC/DC recordings. Still need to get "Let there be rock" in the new remaster (saw it used for 8 bucks)

I have 1 Cream cd that I like, but don't really know that much about them except Clapton was in them and I am not a Clapton fan for the most part although I appreciate his skill on the guitar.

So I voted for ACDC even tho the absolutely worst ever concert video I have seen is a recent ACDC one - I swear the singer sounded like an animal who had just gotten his nads cut off. Horrible.

Dave

[mad rhetorik]

I like Ac/Dc, nice straight-up rock 'n' roll. Not much variety, progression in style, or virtuosity but high on entertainment value. Both Bon Scott (R.I.P.) and Brian Johnson sound good to me, though Johnson's voice is a lot less powerful these days. It seemed to start going downhill after For Those About To Rock... However, every Ac/Dc album up till and including For Those About To Rock.. had at least three or four good-to-great songs. My favorite Ac/Dc albums are Powerage (representing Bon) and Back In Black (representing Brian).

Cream is a fairly talented band, especially drummer Stewart Copeland, but I can't say I've ever felt an affection for their music. Psychedelia-mangled blues rock nowhere near the level of The Jimi Hendrix Experience for entertainment or songwriting. I'm no Clapton fan either, though he was respectable on Layla And Other Assorted Love Songs with Duane Allman and Bobby Whitlock contributing. My vote ultimately goes to Ac/Dc.

[newtrix1]

Gotta go with AC/DC. I've never cared about anything in the Clapton cannon while albums like Dirty Deeds Done Dirt Cheap and others have been long time favorites of mine, so this is easy for me.

I see some comments from non-Clapton fans here. I’m wondering what the general opinion is wrt his “From the Cradle” release? It’s a collection of classic Blues numbers, which EC covers rather well IMO. I happened to spin some cuts from this album over the weekend, and remembered how much I liked it.
I think EC does a great job on vocals (putting on a pretty good “old black guy” voice) and does some serious guitar shredding. Anyhow, “From the Cradle” just might be my favorite album by him.

[Mr MidFi]

Yet another interesting matchup. AC/DC is a one-trick pony, but they do that trick very well. Cream is, well, dated...and their output was considerably less.

At their best (e.g. Highway to Hell), AC/DC could sound absolutely awesome. But they get old for me after about 3 songs. If I'm listening to an entire CD, I'd rather go for the Cream. So they get the vote.

[jasn]

I have to go with Cream, but like Troy do not own CDs from either band. Quite frankly, I think Cream is more Jack Bruce's band than Clapton's, which is probably why Eric left. Their style of english-blues has since petered out, which is too bad IMO.

If you're a fan and haven't heard of a band called Masters of Reality you may want to check it out. Baker is the drummer and they bring back the 3-man style nicely.

[MindGoneHaywire]

Newtrix 1:
I’m wondering what the general opinion is wrt his “From the Cradle” release?

I heard it when it came out, not since. Like a lot of his other solo work that leaned towards blues, I loathe the production, to the point where I find little to like. The performance may not be passionless, but he would've had to have left some blood'n'guts on the floor of the studio for me to be able to swallow a record that sounds like that. And that goes for most of his records. I probably wouldn't like most of them any more if they didn't sound the way they do, but it's definitely a piece of the puzzle. Ultimately the most important thing is going to be the songs & how they're performed, but as on From The Cradle, they're nowhere near good enough for me to like the stuff. His guitar playing has moments, but never enough for me to embrace the entire package. I still don't like much of anything he did after Eric & The Powerhouse. I am curious to hear the Concert For George, though.

jasn:
I think Cream is more Jack Bruce's band than Clapton's

I've read that elsewhere. It makes sense, I think.

If you're a fan and haven't heard of a band called Masters of Reality you may want to check it out. Baker is the drummer and they bring back the 3-man style nicely.

I think Daniel Rey was in that band?

[Dusty Chalk]

White Room...Sunshine of Your Love...Strange Brew...Cream just appeal to me way more. I like AC/DC, but how many times can you listen to the same song? I only like that part of their catalog that sounds different than typical AC/DC fare (e.g. Hell's Bells, Thunderstruck, For Those About To Rock, etc.).

[MindGoneHaywire]

I'm not a Cream fan either, though I think they deserve credit for producing work considered important during a time when there was a lot of intense competition in rock music. I'm no Clapton fan either, but I can't think of a band that sounded quite like this one that had come before, with or without a second guitar. Some of their songs I like, some I don't, most I'm indifferent to. I don't own a Cream CD & have never had any of their albums. So my vote goes to AC/DC, whose work I like much better, but the thing is, in spite of how much I loathe Clapton, I don't feel Cream is a band to be simply dismissed as a classic rock dinosaur. They were influential. I have several AC/DC albums & I mostly like what they do even if some of the lyrics can be quite infantile. I pretty much stopped following them in the 80s & when I saw them perform on some tv show 10-15 years I thought it was kinda lame that they still looked & sounded exactly the same. Their appearance in the Howard Stern movie didn't change my mind about that, either. Then I saw them a couple of years ago on Saturday Night Live & they still look & sound exactly the same & I had to laugh & there was nothing about it I couldn' t like. I mean, it's like self-parody at this point. A guy pushing 50 wearing the same schoolboy shorts...geez! But the records rock & they were great at balancing hard rock that was almost heavy metal with 3-chord pop songs, perhaps as good as Motorhead. They rock.

BTW Mad...great post in the other thread...Cream's drummer was Ginger Baker tho...

[Troy]

I agree almost word for word with J this time, except that I choose Cream.

I don't currently own albums by either band (but have years ago) and tend to change the station when either one comes on the radio.

I just think that Cream was the more interesting and innovative of the 2 bands. AC/DC always felt too ridiculous and Spinal Tap-y to me. And most of their songs all sound the same.

[mad rhetorik]

BTW Mad...great post in the other thread...Cream's drummer was Ginger Baker tho...

SMACK! (whaps forehead with open palm) : P

Uh...yeah, Baker was good. For whatever reason I got Stewart and Ginger mixed up.

[Troy]

Cram woulda been cool with Copeland as the drummer.

[tugmcmartin]

Had to go with AC/DC on this one. How can you not like a band with a guy like Angus in it? Cream, while probably more important in the context of the history of rock, just doesn't do much for me. And, well, AC/DC just rocks.

T-

[Swish]

I can't say I'm a big fan of either, but I liked Cream a bit more when I was a young lad, so I'll stick with them. AC/DC had their moments, but I didn't care for them in their entirety. Bits and pieces, yes, but not in total. Cream just hit the right nerve for me. White Room is still a great rock song and gets me to playing air guitar whenever I hear it. I have my issues with Clapton, but this was probably the highlight of his career.

Swish