Is Ted Nugent Underrated? (NO Politics or Lifestyle discussion)!

Nugent wouldn't be one of my top 25 guitarists, maybe not even in my top 50. Somewhere in the top 100, though, definitely.

Same thing with him as an artist in general. Probably not in my top 50, but top 100, yes.

 

Dang, did I write this post??
Scary another Hoffman member thinks exactly like I do.........


But this post NAILS IT FOR ME.
The beave

 

If I go all the way back, I remember my sister going to see The Amboy Dukes in Chicago, for a dollar. I knew the song Journey To The Center..., fast forward to 1975, my friends and I loved that first album. After that, all of them up to Weekend Warriors. Hell, I'm on Double Live Gonzo (07/01/1977). Then there were the Volunteer Jam appearances.
Put it this way...I just sold a lot of records, and none of his were in the pile. I keep 'em. He's a showman, he puts on a show.

 

Yes PRS guitars. He also used them during the Damn Yankees years. Little Miss Dangerous was pretty much right before he formed Damn Yankees.

 

I enjoy Ted. If you listen to when he talks to Eddie Trunk and they just talk music he really seems like a down to earth dude.

I love the early seventies Amboy Dukes stuff particularly the Call Of The Wild album which I think is underrated. I wish he would play that stuff live nowadays. I thought Damn Yankees were a solid band. It was a nice contrast having him in a band situation with melodic guys like Shaw and Blades.

 

Dude, these goofball lyrics serve the purpose of the testosterone fueled, "outta' control" party, boogie rock hoedown that this song is. It ain't meant to be Chaucer.

 

It's not my thing anymore, but in the '70's the Nuge was a monster. The second concert I ever saw was Nugent at Madison Square Garden, which was supposed to be a double bill with Lynyrd Skynyrd. The plane crash was about a month before the show, and the Nuge played solo, and blew the roof off the place. This was a highlight.

 

Everything he's done up until about 1981 or so is pretty solid in my opinion. He can absolutely play, no question.

 

Right there are lots of factors that I consider besides flash and speed. I'm interested in harmonic concept, expressiveness, innovation, originality, tone, technique and articulation.

Ted is no Robert Fripp.

 

Exactly. And I see those types of lyrics as being more or less in the tradition of stuff like "Minnie the Moocher" and "Jada" (which also led to stuff like "Rubber Biscuit" and "Surfin' Bird", and later tunes like "Da Doo Doo Doo Da Da Da Da", "Radio Gaga" etc.). Personally, I really like those sorts of fun lyrics.

 

Yeah, but Fripp is no Nugent or Angus Young, either. I love Fripp and I'd rank him above both Nugent and Young, but Fripp couldn't play in that vein any better than they could play something like "Fractured".

 

Wango Tango.

That's it.

 

STate of Shock is probably his most mature and personal album, 'Alone' is probably his most personal and mature song.

Weekend Warriors hinted at a coming drop in quality in songwriting, but Scream Dream and Intensities In 10 Cities shows a career unraveling and quality drop in a major act that may be unprecedented.

TEd Nugent Alone

 

No, he has some strong singles, such as "Stranglehold", and "Cat Scratch Fever" and does put on high energy live show, but I don't enjoy his individual albums other than 1975's Ted Nugent. So, I'd say he's an artist who the Greatest Hits album is all I need.

 

After listening to this, he's not even as good as I remembered.

My younger brother had a couple of Ted's albums that he wore the grooves out on. That track brought back memories.

 

Ted Nugent, Free-For-All, Cat Scratch Fever and Double Live Gonzo were all on constant rotation in my bedroom and my car all through high school. I've probably seen him a dozen or more times, he toured constantly back then. As much as I wanted to love the post Derek St. Holmes stuff, it never was as good. The Amboy Dukes certainly had their moments, but nothing Ted did ever equaled the first four albums with Derek St. Holmes.

 

Great White Buffalo and Hibernation from DLG are two of the greatest guitar tunes ever recorded. His playing ability, use of harmonics and feedback are absolutely second to no one, except Hendrix.

I'd say he's underrated. He should always be mentioned amongst the greats. And here's the proof :

 

Right, when in reality, Ted is a monster guitar player - a guitarist's guitarist.

 

So, would I be right in thinking a Ted Nugent greatest hits album would be a good soundtrack to a lengthy road trip through a few states?

 

Why do that when there's DOUBLE LOVE GONZO!!??

 

Ted Nugent is a hell of a player, no doubt. I really like The Amboy Dukes and Ted's early albums up until '78-ish.

But after that though, his music became a bit too predictable and derivative and I just lost interest.

 

Great guitar work on this track:

 

I don't know but I think this would have been one hullava show to go to. Where I live he used to appear here and around quite frequently and some of his music I enjoy. Is Ted my favorite? No, but I can appreciate his showmanship and his playing. Due to personal family reasons I do appreciate his anti-drug stance. Everything else is moot, his personal beliefs should not be viewed against his talents but I think many people hold those against him.

 

My observations of the Nuge from back in the day.
His debut album was very good and thankfully lacked most of the bizarre sexual predator - macho ******** that would later come to define him.
The album Cat Scratch Fever had an excellent production and the songs were surprisingly good and not all like the boneheaded title song.
The live album Double Live Gonzo went over well and if nothing else held his place at the table.
It seemed as soon as he got our attention he would enjoy a brief stint of superstardom for a few years and then started to decline rapidly releasing very bad albums.
He was always a one trick pony guitarist wise, never really surprised any of us at any time.
He very foolishly fired Derek St Holmes after the Cat Scratch Fever album who at least gave his band a descent lead vocal.
His persona was so bad that even a 16 year old boy could be embarrassed.
He's really kind of an ugly freaky looking dude, no coolness factor at all.
The bottom line - the guys ceiling was very low/limited, and his floor was lower than we could imagine at the time.