What's with all the hate for HMD?

[The Inside of Outside]

I like it. Can't say I am wild about it when I hear it in concert because I have heard it a bunch (like an earlier post noted with some standards like ITMWLY and Shot), but it is a good song for folks who are new to the band to hear because it is so catchy. Plus, I remember the shiny shiny pants and bleached blond hair and a double kick drum by the river in the summer. I smile when I hear those lines - takes me back to seeing Whitesnake, Ozzy, Motley Crue, Black Sabbath, Ted Nugent, Quiet Riot, Iron Maiden, etc. in the 80s. Lots of shiny shiny pants, more double kick drums than I can count. Maybe the lyrics resonate a bit more with folks about Jeff's age, because HMD is an ode to concerts circa 1985.

[welch79]

reading this thread has made me spin yhf so that i hear reservations which, i believe, is a perfect way to close the album. honestly, i can't imagine any track in any different place on the album, and i most definitely cant describe any of the album as "cheezy." it's neat to hear that people have disdain for material that i hold dear: kamera, for instance, someone mentioned as not liking very much. the clarity that kamera offers is a figurative "zoom" into focus after a blurry drink from the aquarium. hmd, to me, is in line with the natural crescendo that yhf has, culminating with i'm the man before falling (not in a negative sense), gradually, into having reservations about so many things, but not about anything on yhf.

 

btw...my pee song is shot b/c they always play it, and i've never really been taken by this track (although the red lights are a cool effect).

[MCHowdy]

I agree completely. In fact, I've never thought any Wilco song was "cheesy".

 

I hate to say it again, but You and I is WAY cheesy. There's good cheesy to me (HMD is in that category) and bad. You and I is hard to take.

[MCHowdy]

reading this thread has made me spin yhf so that i hear reservations which, i believe, is a perfect way to close the album. honestly, i can't imagine any track in any different place on the album, and i most definitely cant describe any of the album as "cheezy." it's neat to hear that people have disdain for material that i hold dear: kamera, for instance, someone mentioned as not liking very much. the clarity that kamera offers is a figurative "zoom" into focus after a blurry drink from the aquarium. hmd, to me, is in line with the natural crescendo that yhf has, culminating with i'm the man before falling (not in a negative sense), gradually, into having reservations about so many things, but not about anything on yhf.

 

btw...my pee song is shot b/c they always play it, and i've never really been taken by this track (although the red lights are a cool effect).

 

Agreed, perfect closer. I think Poor Places would be a rough place to be left.

 

I think the album is so well put together, of such a piece, it's hard to dislike any portion of it, as one song follows another in such a way that I can't imagine it any other configuration without the whole suffering.

[Excitable Boy]

I hate to say it again, but You and I is WAY cheesy. There's good cheesy to me (HMD is in that category) and bad. You and I is hard to take.

 

Okay fine, I'll admit You and I is a bit cheesy.

 

I just think it's funny everyone's all the sudden obsessed with the word 'cheesy' in this thread.

[MCHowdy]

Okay fine, I'll admit You and I is a bit cheesy.

 

I just think it's funny everyone's all the sudden obsessed with the word 'cheesy' in this thread.

 

Yeah, we need a better descriptive term!

[Smokestack Joe]

I like the song, sure it isnt deep as other songs on YHF but who cares? Lets go to the school of Dylan here. Of course, he has serious songs with messages, imagery, etc. but then the guy wrote and sang totally weird "cheesy" songs. IF Dylan did it, it is ok to do.

 

Warning: I'm going to knock Jay Farrar here.

 

I like his music, his writing but it is all 'one-note.' Rarely does his music lighten up and be fun. But that is ok, that is his style.

 

Tweedy has a personality with humor so songs like Monkey Mess are appropriate.

[tinnitus photography]

btw...my pee song is shot b/c they always play it, and i've never really been taken by this track (although the red lights are a cool effect).

 

that's just crazy talk.

 

when the band is in full power at the 'something in my veins/bloodier than blood' part, it's shivers down the spine time. every time.

[Wilco Worshipper]

The open dislike for HMD here has always made me a little sad, but "Hey, to each his own.", right?!?

 

I like HMD for making me dance and Reservations for making me feel.

 

HMD used to be a pretty cool song to me and now I love it for I "fell in love with a drummer" for real.

 

So cheezy or not liked by many, I TOTALLY DIG IT!!!

[tinnitus photography]

Yeah, we need a better descriptive term!

 

 

fromagey.

[phish907]

I think its cheezy. I don't like it. It's a "pee" song for me.

[/quote

 

Yes, it is also a pee song for me. My dislike of the song has nothing to do with it not being "deep" or anything like that. I grew up n the same generation as Jeff and I can certainly relate to what he is saying but I have not liked this song from the first time I heard it. It is a buzz kill for me during shows and also when listening to YHF. To each their own though, I know a lot of folks like HMD.

[cryptique]

Hilarious that some people think disliking HMD is a mark of pretentiousness.

 

I just don't think it's that great a song. I still like it, and it's part of one of my all-time favorite albums. But if I never hear it live again, that's just peachy with me.

 

Also, "Reservations" is one of my favorite Wilco songs. So combined with my "meh" attitude about HMD, I'm not sure exactly what that says about me. I've been a Tweedy fan since 1990; I've seen the bandwagon come and go.

[Smokestack Joe]

correct comment on the pretentiousness. wilco fans have been called pretentious before i have read.

 

 

honestly, i dont care either way. i like what i like.

[Sir Stewart]

Pretentious or not, I think any negative attitude toward this song can be traced back to the time YHF was released, was (nearly) universally praised by critics and Wilco fans, which led to a shitload of hype surrounding the band and the album. Then, what represented the band/album on radio: Heavy Metal Drummer

[Guest Speed Racer]

Then, what represented the band/album on radio: Heavy Metal Drummer

 

Still, the production of the song just oozes of the "YHF sound," and I think it is representative of the album's sound, if not overall mood. But you can't say "I miss the innocence I've known" doesn't tap into one of the album's themes. And the song serves as a pretty good bridge from Summer Teeth.

[Sir Stewart]

It's a really good tune.

[calvino]

Like the tune - don't mind hearing it at pretty much every show, it stills makes my booty shake all the same.

[spongebob]

Still, the production of the song just oozes of the "YHF sound," and I think it is representative of the album's sound, if not overall mood. But you can't say "I miss the innocence I've known" doesn't tap into one of the album's themes. And the song serves as a pretty good bridge from Summer Teeth.

 

I had to think about this double negative for a moment. I think you are saying the lyric, "I miss the innocence I've known", does tap one of the album's major themes. I agree 100%. I also agree about the YHF sound. For me, the song fits perfectly within the context of the album as a whole. I prefer the album version's second verse to the live version's second verse though.

 

P.S. I like double negatives.

[bjorn_skurj]

that's just crazy talk.

 

when the band is in full power at the 'something in my veins/bloodier than blood' part, it's shivers down the spine time. every time.

 

That is one their most powerful moments, yes.

"Reservations" tends to not get played when I listen to YHF. It is a little too self-lacerating for me. "You and I," I like - I can relate to it.

[Guest Speed Racer]

"You and I," I like - I can relate to it.

 

I like it too. The thing that keeps it from being too trite for me are the line, "I don't want to know everything about you/ and you don't need to know that much about me," and the line, "I can't ever tell you the deepest well I've ever fallen into." I think it captures that even in the most emotionally intimate circumstances, your other will never, ever 100% understand you or what it's like to be you, and that's fine, that's how it's supposed to be. It's a love song for after the magic of new has worn off and life begins.

[welch79]

That is one their most powerful moments, yes.

 

maybe i'm de-sensitized???

[barbkm]

that's just crazy talk.

 

when the band is in full power at the 'something in my veins/bloodier than blood' part, it's shivers down the spine time. every time.

 

 

Totally concur. Shot's not my favoite song, but when he's screaming "bloodier than blood" I'm pogoing like mad. Excellent cardiovascular workout.

[rwilson580]

Pretentious or not, I think any negative attitude toward this song can be traced back to the time YHF was released, was (nearly) universally praised by critics and Wilco fans, which led to a shitload of hype surrounding the band and the album. Then, what represented the band/album on radio: Heavy Metal Drummer

 

Well, I only discovered the band a few years ago, so my response to HMD has nothing to do with the reception that YHF received. But it was still pretty negative for a while. With sufficient listens I've made peace with the song, and now, duh, nothing else would make sense at that point in the album. Throughout my early listenings, though, I found the song jarring. I'm experiencing YHF for the first time and, as I'm rolling through -- wow! Greatest song ever...greatest song ever...wow, another greatest song ever! And then the first notes of HMD arise and it's "What is THIS doing on here?" A nice easy listening pop tune in the middle of this greatness? It's an excellent pop song and, like I say, I've grown to appreciate it for what it is. Nothing particularly special.

[Beltmann]

It's a love song for after the magic of new has worn off and life begins.

That's how I view it, too.

[crowesfan28]

I recall reading somewhere that the reason Candyfloss was an extra track on Summerteeth was because it didn't "fit" with the rest of the album, so they decided to just put it at the end after some silence. That's kind of how I feel about HMD. If it was a b-side or extra at the end of the album or on one of those YHF demo collections, it would make more sense to me, personally. But I've never been asked to sequence a Wilco album, so what do I know?