# Grammy's



## BSTheTech (Sep 30, 2015)

Anyone watch last night? Ya it was bad. Anyways a couple highlights for me; William Bell and Gary Clark Jr., and the guitarist for The Time during the Prince tribute killed it. Metallica had a Mic fiasco...very Spinal Tap.


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## Adcandour (Apr 21, 2013)

I saw the Metallica debacle. I didn't care about the mic thing (that sucked though)...but those fake mosh dancers and gaga...no thanks.

That Prince guitarist was a hack, imo. I don't think I've seen a guitarist stick so tightly to one pentatonic scale position in a show of that size.


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## mhammer (Nov 30, 2007)

Now, I _like_ Bruno Mars. He's a terrificly talented guy with a great sense of humour. And I'm a HUGE Prince fan ever since 1977 or so. But the Prince "tribute" was lame. It was the funk version of an Elvis impersonator. The fact that he tried to nail Prince's "Let's Go Crazy" solo on his cloud guitar, note for note, was lame, made even lamer by attempting to dress him up like Prince. I was reminded of a roast appearance Jeff Ross made dressed the same way, playing heavily flanged Strat like he was some space-ae Henny Youngman. Mars's earlier number, where he simply got to be himself, was MUCH better. As for Morris Day and Co., well he's just 110% smoove, and nothing can change that. Not time, not TV producers, nuthin.

Gaga seemed to be trying to channel Wendy O. Williams from the Plasmatics.

Gary Clark held his own, and it was nice to see William Bell up there with him. I miss Stax records.


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## davetcan (Feb 27, 2006)

adcandour said:


> I saw the Metallica debacle. I didn't care about the mic thing (that sucked though)...but those fake mosh dancers and gaga...no thanks.
> 
> That Prince guitarist was a hack, imo. I don't think I've seen a guitarist stick so tightly to one pentatonic scale position in a show of that size.


You mean Bruno Mars? Well he's not really a guitar player, obviously, but outside of singing, dancing, and everything else, he also plays drums, and a bit of guitar


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## Adcandour (Apr 21, 2013)

davetcan said:


> You mean Bruno Mars? Well he's not really a guitar player, obviously, but outside of singing, dancing, and everything else, he also plays drums, and a bit of guitar


Ah, that's the Bruno Mars I've been hearing about. I'll give him credit that his name stands out of the crowd. good branding.

If he's not really a guitar player, he definitely has the faces and moves down - just not much to back it up though. 

I thought it was weird to watch a guy look the part (REALLY look the part), but play mindlessly within the box. To be fair, I have a hard time writing a tasteful solo, but if you ever see me playing and acting like that at wriff wrath, throw a beer bottle at me.


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## ronmac (Sep 22, 2006)

Two ribbon mics 0ff-cone wouldn't be my choice of placement...


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## Guest (Feb 13, 2017)

Laverne Cox forgets to introduce Metallica along with Gaga.

Master of Puppets was played as Megadeth walks to the stage for their grammy.


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## Robboman (Oct 14, 2006)

Gaga is a legit superstar. Last week she won the Super Bowl and last night she crushed the Grammy's with Metallica. She's awesome! I'll fight the internet if it says otherwise 

I thought the Axe-Fx powered Metallica tones were very good all around (everyone is Axe-Fx direct.. except Lars).

Bruno is a pretty great talent as well, but he's no Prince. I don't think he should have done the purple jacket and Cloud guitar thing.. seemed off and wrong. 

Taken overall, I thought the Grammy's show was pretty weak. Weaker than recent weak years. 

BTW.. what do you think of Gary Clark Jr's mic positions in that picture? Both mics look right on the very outside edge of the cone. Maybe not so odd for thick blues tones?


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## ronmac (Sep 22, 2006)

Robboman said:


> BTW.. what do you think of Gary Clark Jr's mic positions in that picture? Both mics look right on the very outside edge of the cone. Maybe not so odd for thick blues tones?


See my post above.... LOL 

Poor placement, but what does it matter for R&R? I didn't see the show, so no idea if the guitar was played live or "mailed in".


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## Robboman (Oct 14, 2006)

laristotle said:


> Master of Puppets was played as Megadeth walks to the stage for their grammy.


Kinda awkward sounding coverband version at that.

For all the "Mustaine's an Ahole" stuff I've read, he seemed like a really cool guy in that acceptance speech. And his response on Twitter later "Ah, you can't blame 'em for not being able to play @Megadeth". Perfect.


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## allthumbs56 (Jul 24, 2006)

ronmac said:


> Two ribbon mics 0ff-cone wouldn't be my choice of placement...


3 10"s in a Vibro King - that change anything?


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## allthumbs56 (Jul 24, 2006)

adcandour said:


> Ah, that's the Bruno Mars I've been hearing about. I'll give him credit that his name stands out of the crowd. good branding.
> 
> If he's not really a guitar player, he definitely has the faces and moves down - just not much to back it up though.
> 
> I thought it was weird to watch a guy look the part (REALLY look the part), but play mindlessly within the box. To be fair, I have a hard time writing a tasteful solo, but if you ever see me playing and acting like that at wriff wrath, throw a beer bottle at me.


You need to spend a little more time with this guy - he does it all, and with a pretty good attitude, respect for his craft, showmanship and humour. I didn't even know he could play guitar until last night - and his solo, limited as it might have been, was better than anything I could have managed in front of a billion people.


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## ronmac (Sep 22, 2006)

allthumbs56 said:


> 3 10"s in a Vibro King - that change anything?


Not really. It's not unusual to use one or more mics on a multi-speaker cab. The normal practice is to use two different mics for variety of choice in the mix. Using two different ribbon mics is quite unusual, and the placement even more so. To be fair, the Shure KSM313 (the red mic) is pretty warm, so maybe they compensated by getting it out towards the edge. I haven't used the other ribbon mic (looks like an Audio Technica), so can't be sure that isn't as dark sounding, although I doubt it.

Hey, it's the Grammy show, so glitz, glamour and shiny white teeth are most important.

Resuming my listening stream of scruffy dudes and dudettes playing "Americana" now......


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## Kerry Brown (Mar 31, 2014)

I thought gaga was great. She should become a metal singer. I would watch her a lot more. Ed Sheeran's looping was pretty good too. And of course I thought Gary Clarke Junior was awesome. None of those were worth the time spent watching the rest of the crap. I was looking forward to Sturgell Simpson but he was just so so. I've never been a Bruno Mars fan. Adele is just getting old with her start over routine. Lars showed how a professional deals with equipment failure.


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## davetcan (Feb 27, 2006)

allthumbs56 said:


> You need to spend a little more time with this guy - he does it all, and with a pretty good attitude, respect for his craft, showmanship and humour. I didn't even know he could play guitar until last night - and his solo, limited as it might have been, was better than anything I could have managed in front of a billion people.


We've got tickets for the Toronto show. I was pressured into it by my wife and her best friend but I know I'll enjoy it. His "Runaway Baby" performance at the Grammy's a few years ago is one of the best I've ever seen on there. I thought he also killed the SuperBowl.


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## davetcan (Feb 27, 2006)

ronmac said:


> Not really. It's not unusual to use one or more mics on a multi-speaker cab. The normal practice is to use two different mics for variety of choice in the mix. Using two different ribbon mics is quite unusual, and the placement even more so. To be fair, the Shure KSM313 (the red mic) is pretty warm, so maybe they compensated by getting it out towards the edge. I haven't used the other ribbon mic (looks like an Audio Technica), so can't be sure that isn't as dark sounding, although I doubt it.
> 
> Hey, it's the Grammy show, so glitz, glamour and shiny white teeth are most important.
> 
> Resuming my listening stream of scruffy dudes and dudettes playing "Americana" now......


Outside of what is normal or best practice I actually thought he sounded terrific.


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## ronmac (Sep 22, 2006)

If it sounds good, it is good...


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## djmarcelca (Aug 2, 2012)

Good (for me)
Ed Sherian playing solo with looping station and sample triggers
Bruno Marrs (first song)
Katy Perry's song
The TIME!!!
Prince tribute was ok, well done but emotionless.



bad:
Gagatalica. dancers added nothing, The now internet famous mic snub. Might be I just do not like the new album. Just not as good as previous efforts
Keith urban/carrie underwood song. just didn't like the song
Beyonce: The costumes, made me think she was going for an Egyption thing, but the song was horrible. Has she put out anything good since "Single ladies"?
Bee Gee's tribute: Don't know what they were going for but it sounded like a high school for the performing arts musical version of the bee gee's. No groove, no fun. 


Pretty much gave up on the show after that.


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## BSTheTech (Sep 30, 2015)

Another good Bruno bit...


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## Adcandour (Apr 21, 2013)

allthumbs56 said:


> You need to spend a little more time with this guy - he does it all, and with a pretty good attitude, respect for his craft, showmanship and humour. I didn't even know he could play guitar until last night - and his solo, limited as it might have been, was better than anything I could have managed in front of a billion people.


I can't. I have little time for stuff I already appreciate let alone anything new. It's like me making new friends...I don't.

Without doubt he was comfortable in front of the crowd. I'd a let out a brown note and exited stage right.


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## hollowbody (Jan 15, 2008)

allthumbs56 said:


> You need to spend a little more time with this guy - he does it all, and with a pretty good attitude, respect for his craft, showmanship and humour. I didn't even know he could play guitar until last night - and his solo, limited as it might have been, was better than anything I could have managed in front of a billion people.


I was saying to my wife as the song started that I had no idea Bruno played guitar, but multi-talent that he is, I figured he at least knew how to strum some chords. I was shocked to hear him go for the first solo, but figured he'd leave the more difficult 2nd one for the other guitarist. Boy was I surprised when he went for that one, too - totally solo. That's balls, especially for a non-guitarist. 

Sure, it was a watered-down version of the actual solo and not up to what Prince could do, but that situation had all the makings of a Nick-Jonas-esque guitar solo fail. Bruno acquitted himself really well. The guy is a true pro and a heck of a talent.


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## ezcomes (Jul 28, 2008)

i didn't watch it but i've seen a couple clips...as such...i ask the following:
1. was megadeths grammy at the pre-show, or were the seats really that empty?
2. Mustaine seemed to take Master of Puppets light heartedly...he couldn't freaked RTFO
3. i understand papa het's frustration, but i didn't see the need for him to throw a guitar


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## djmarcelca (Aug 2, 2012)

ezcomes said:


> i understand papa het's frustration, but i didn't see the need for him to throw a guitar


I noticed that too. But I rewatched the clip and noticed, he didn't throw it as if in frustration to destroy something. It looked like he was pissed and just wanted backstage asap, and tossed it off to his tech

Pretty gentle actually, not much anger in the throw


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## Kerry Brown (Mar 31, 2014)

djmarcelca said:


> I noticed that too. But I rewatched the clip and noticed, he didn't throw it as if in frustration to destroy something. It looked like he was pissed and just wanted backstage asap, and tossed it off to his tech
> 
> Pretty gentle actually, not much anger in the throw


Have to agree. I thought he handled it pretty well. The show must go on and go on it did. He could have stopped and demanded to start over again.


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## allthumbs56 (Jul 24, 2006)

hollowbody said:


> I was saying to my wife as the song started that I had no idea Bruno played guitar, but multi-talent that he is, I figured he at least knew how to strum some chords. I was shocked to hear him go for the first solo, but figured he'd leave the more difficult 2nd one for the other guitarist. Boy was I surprised when he went for that one, too - totally solo. That's balls, especially for a non-guitarist.
> 
> Sure, it was a watered-down version of the actual solo and not up to what Prince could do, but that situation had all the makings of a Nick-Jonas-esque guitar solo fail. Bruno acquitted himself really well. The guy is a true pro and a heck of a talent.


I was reminded earlier that he's an even better drummer.

Some of these guys are just pure music - they've probably absorbed it all their lives but become limited to being purely "frontmen". Have you ever seen Adam Levine play drums? He's good enough to be professional. Better still check out his guitar chops on this Purple Rain cover - pretty good stuff from about 5:15 onward.






Personally I don't like Maroon 5 - but the guy's has got serious talent. Heck I didn't know Prince could play until I saw him go crazy on SNL one time.


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## mhammer (Nov 30, 2007)

Not really all that crazy about Ed Sheeran, but his performance was as good an ad for loopers in performance as one is likely to see. Well, Reggie Watts _would _probably be better, but Reggie has less popular appeal than Ed, so Ed it is. 

Of course it helps to have a song that is highly repetitive. But kudos to him for recovering so quickly from a pre-1:00AM performance the night before on SNL, and holding up his end 22hrs later on the Grammys.

Bruno Mars has had several excellent performances on the Grammys. In 2013, his song-of-the-summer (Locked Out of Heaven), sung with Sting - and the tune IS the best thing the Police have done in 30 years - rocked the joint. The year before, he did a tribute to Jackie Wilson that was an absolute showstopper.


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## Lincoln (Jun 2, 2008)

allthumbs56 said:


> You need to spend a little more time with this guy - he does it all, and with a pretty good attitude, respect for his craft, showmanship and humour. I didn't even know he could play guitar until last night - and his solo, limited as it might have been, was better than anything I could have managed in front of a billion people.


Other than Prince, who is going to pull off a perfect Prince guitar solo anyway?? For sure Bruno played it safe. I've never seen him hold a guitar before either. 
I like Bruno, I think he's going to go far.


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## ezcomes (Jul 28, 2008)

djmarcelca said:


> I noticed that too. But I rewatched the clip and noticed, he didn't throw it as if in frustration to destroy something. It looked like he was pissed and just wanted backstage asap, and tossed it off to his tech
> 
> Pretty gentle actually, not much anger in the throw


I didnt see the tech...ive seen worse throws..lbut it was still a throw


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## keto (May 23, 2006)

If you watch, the guitar does an almost perfect 360 into the techs hands. (Opinion)- They've both done that move before, I didn't see it as an aggressive throw.


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## High/Deaf (Aug 19, 2009)

Bruno's been in Gretsch ads for a few years. That's not to prove or disprove his guitar abilities, but I think he has quite a few talents besides that.


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## allthumbs56 (Jul 24, 2006)

High/Deaf said:


> Bruno's been in Gretsch ads for a few years. That's not to prove or disprove his guitar abilities, but I think he has quite a few talents besides that.
> 
> View attachment 61697


There ya go then. When I first heard/saw him I though he was a very good singer with some great Motown moves - a real nod to James Brown, Stevie Wonder and Prince. Then he did his drum solo at the Superbowl and I though that there was more to this guy. Now after his guitar performance at the Grammys (and your posted Gretsch ad) I'll be waiting to catch him on a piano or a saxophone - and I won't be surprised if he nails it.

What a great talent - and I love his humour and humility.


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## mhammer (Nov 30, 2007)

While I'm not trying to turn this into a Bruno-mania thread, there is a video posted of him as an Elvis imitator when he seems to be about 5 or 6. He had a lot of the moves even then.

Another Michael Jackson? Not so sure. Certainly VERY capable, and multi-skilled. As much of a one-man show as Prince himself? Nah. But _capable_. Maybe he needs to pair up with someone equally capable, the way that Jackson and Quincy Jones paired up. For the time being, I'll just chalk up the ill-conceived Prince "tribute" to some Grammy producer, rather than to Mars himself. I imagine several years from now, he'll likely say in an interview that he thought it was dumb, but simply went along with it.


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## hollowbody (Jan 15, 2008)

allthumbs56 said:


> I was reminded earlier that he's an even better drummer.
> 
> Some of these guys are just pure music - they've probably absorbed it all their lives but become limited to being purely "frontmen". Have you ever seen Adam Levine play drums? He's good enough to be professional. Better still check out his guitar chops on this Purple Rain cover - pretty good stuff from about 5:15 onward.
> 
> Personally I don't like Maroon 5 - but the guy's has got serious talent. Heck I didn't know Prince could play until I saw him go crazy on SNL one time.


Yeah, I've known about Levine's chops for a while. He's a killer performer. A friend of mine is big fan and got me onto them. 

He's also crazy good at his job on The Voice. He's one of the better judges when it comes to showcasing someone's skills and picking the correct songs for them. 



Lincoln said:


> Other than Prince, who is going to pull off a perfect Prince guitar solo anyway?? For sure Bruno played it safe. I've never seen him hold a guitar before either.
> I like Bruno, *I think he's going to go far.*





mhammer said:


> While I'm not trying to turn this into a Bruno-mania thread, there is a video posted of him as an Elvis imitator when he seems to be about 5 or 6. He had a lot of the moves even then.
> 
> Another Michael Jackson? Not so sure. Certainly VERY capable, and multi-skilled. As much of a one-man show as Prince himself? Nah. But _capable_. *Maybe he needs to pair up with someone equally capable, the way that Jackson and Quincy Jones paired up. * For the time being, I'll just chalk up the ill-conceived Prince "tribute" to some Grammy producer, rather than to Mars himself. I imagine several years from now, he'll likely say in an interview that he thought it was dumb, but simply went along with it.


I had to LOL at these comments. Here's a blurb taken from his Wiki: "American singer-songwriter Bruno Mars has released three studio albums, two EPs, seventeen singles (seven as a featured artist) and five promotional singles. As of August 2014, Mars had sold over 100 million albums and singles worldwide. Seven of his singles are among the best-selling singles of all time: in order of release date, "Just the Way You Are", "Grenade", "The Lazy Song", "Locked Out of Heaven", "When I Was Your Man", "Treasure", and "Uptown Funk". As a performer, writer and producer, Mars' total single sales exceed 130 million copies. According to the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA), he is the ninth-bestselling digital-single artist in the United States with sales of 38.5 million; His first two albums have sold 5.04 million copies in United States alone. In 2012, Mars was named 2011's best selling artist worldwide."

He's already gone far and he'd doing quite well. People need to pair-up with him to push their careers forward, not the other way around!


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## mhammer (Nov 30, 2007)

My own comment was not in regards to his "career success", as measured by sales and popular appeal. He's had that nicely wrapped up for a while, thank you very much. My comment was much more with respect to his creative vision.

Had Jackson been left to his own devices, or simply worked with Motown, I don't think he would have had the creative and genre-changing output that he had _because_ he worked with Jones. Mars is entirely capable of making music that pleases people. Could he do something all by himself that transcends, that changes the industry, the yields a new direction? Not so sure. SOME folks can work on their own, in a bubble: Prince, Zappa, for example. Others need a muse or co-worker to bounce ideas off of, the way that David Byrne and Brian Eno, or Bowie and any of his collaborators did. Not to take anything away from Mars, Bowie, Byrne, or Jackson. But it's just like the relationship between a great writer and a great editor. Sometimes, artists go one better by working with someone else who can say "What if you tried _this _instead?". Not in a mindless way, like some girl group doing whatever Phil Spector tells them, but in a synergistic collaborative way, where _both_ parties stumble onto something new, through their mutual efforts.


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## Lincoln (Jun 2, 2008)

hollowbody said:


> He's already gone far and he'd doing quite well. People need to pair-up with him to push their careers forward, not the other way around!


Yes he has. I've been enjoying his music and talent since he first hit the scene years ago. What I meant by "go far" was that I feel he won't merely continue spittin out hit songs. I feel he will become a major player and innovator/game changer in music. Really, he's just getting started and look at him go. He's got it all and he knows what to do with it.


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## ezcomes (Jul 28, 2008)

dunno if anyone has seen it...but there is now a video of Metaligaga with James singing not interupted...new story being that only the TV version was marred by the audio screw up...


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## Robert1950 (Jan 21, 2006)

Zzzzzz Zzzzzz Zzzzzz


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## mhammer (Nov 30, 2007)

ezcomes said:


> dunno if anyone has seen it...but there is now a video of Metaligaga with James singing not interupted...new story being that only the TV version was marred by the audio screw up...


Entirely plausible. A whole lot of audio feeds to keep track of. Easy to imagine that someone in a control booth somewhere had the mistaken impression his mic was on because _they_ were hearing it.


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## hollowbody (Jan 15, 2008)

mhammer said:


> My own comment was not in regards to his "career success", as measured by sales and popular appeal. He's had that nicely wrapped up for a while, thank you very much. My comment was much more with respect to his creative vision.
> 
> Had Jackson been left to his own devices, or simply worked with Motown, I don't think he would have had the creative and genre-changing output that he had _because_ he worked with Jones. Mars is entirely capable of making music that pleases people. Could he do something all by himself that transcends, that changes the industry, the yields a new direction? Not so sure. SOME folks can work on their own, in a bubble: Prince, Zappa, for example. Others need a muse or co-worker to bounce ideas off of, the way that David Byrne and Brian Eno, or Bowie and any of his collaborators did. Not to take anything away from Mars, Bowie, Byrne, or Jackson. But it's just like the relationship between a great writer and a great editor. Sometimes, artists go one better by working with someone else who can say "What if you tried _this _instead?". Not in a mindless way, like some girl group doing whatever Phil Spector tells them, but in a synergistic collaborative way, where _both_ parties stumble onto something new, through their mutual efforts.


Sure, I get that. His latest solo effort was, to put it mildly, boring. But he's had a really steady stream of smart, funny and heartfelt songs for a while now, so I can see the potential for a little bit of a dip. His work with Ronson on Uptown Funk was very strong. Ronson has been a hitmaker for a while now and was one of the reasons why Amy Winehouse was so successful. I could see him teaming-up with Ronson again, but it would be hard to top Uptown Funk. I heard Beck is going to be working with Greg Kurstin again - that could be a good partner for Bruno, who seems to want to cross genres as much as possible, rather than stay firmly a R&B/Soul guy.



Lincoln said:


> Yes he has. I've been enjoying his music and talent since he first hit the scene years ago. What I meant by "go far" was that I feel he won't merely continue spittin out hit songs. I feel he will become a major player and innovator/game changer in music. Really, he's just getting started and look at him go. He's got it all and he knows what to do with it.


Agreed. He's only 31, and already has a lot of credentials.


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## allthumbs56 (Jul 24, 2006)

hollowbody said:


> Agreed. He's only 31, and already has a lot of credentials.


And he looks to be more "adjusted" than Jackson. I don't see any monkeys, backyard amusement parks or kiddy sleepovers in Mars' future. Come to think of it, Prince was a pretty weird character too, wasn't he?


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## Guest (Feb 15, 2017)

allthumbs56 said:


> Come to think of it, Prince was a pretty weird character too, wasn't he?


Basketball anyone?


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## ezcomes (Jul 28, 2008)

> The drummer said about the whole mic screw-up: "We got offstage... I haven't seen him like that in 20 years. He was livid. I mean, he's aged really well and he's a pretty chill guy, but the first 5 or 10 minutes in that dressing room was not a lot of fun.








and just cuz i like the screen grab...


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## mhammer (Nov 30, 2007)

Hetfield was recently interviewed for the WTF podcast. Episode 775 - James Hetfield
He has his demons, but I was impressed with how together he generally is now.


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