Lesser of two evils

Ah, it's time again for Lesser of two evils. I listen to a pair of stinkers and match them-up to see which is the lesser pile of dung. This month it's two L.A. bands that were featured in the film "Decline of western civilization 2". So it's

London's Don't cry wolf (1986)

versus

Odin's Fight for your life (1988)

So on to the categories.

Vocals

We get Nadir D'Priest from London and Randy O. for Odin. This is a tough one because both singers are honestly horrid. Nadir D'Priest is all over the place hitting every sour note you could imagine while Randy O. has very little clue as to what a melody is or how to find it. It's close, but I'll go with the one that makes me cringe less.

Point to London

Guitar

It's Lizzie Grey on guitar versus Jeff Duncan of Odin. Lizzie Grey is sort of okay at times, but the hooks aren't sharp and there is not much feeling to his playing unless you count that I begin to feel nauseous the more I listen to it. Jeff Duncan hits some good solos here and there, but his biggest problem is that everything seems rushed. You never really get a sense of him having any style. Still Duncan hits a few good chops so...

Point to Odin

Rhythm section

For London we have Brian West on bass and Wailin J. Morgan on drums versus Aaron Samson and drummer Shawn Duncan for Odin. The London pair aren't the worst part of this band, but they don't do nearly enough to help matters either. Duncan and Samson manage to be consistent enough and even keep things going at times. Easy decision as it's ...

Point to Odin

Production/Originality

Neither band sound a whole like any other bands. Yet in this case just because it hasn't been done before doesn't necessarily mean that it needed to be done. As far production goes I would say that the London album is kind of spotty and low in places. The Odin album is alright overall with a very strong sound on the slow songs.

Point to Odin

Who rocks more?

Perhaps this should be who sucked less because the worst thing about both bands is the writing. London are clunky and have no clue about hooks or style or technique. Odin are better players, but they lack sense of timing or how to plug emotion in because they just try to fly through too many of the songs. Yet Odin hit a few moments here and there because the three guys with instruments do have a clue as how to play them.

Point to Odin

Odin wins it 4-1.

London were all too often known for the fact that Blackie Lawless, Nikki Sixx, Slash and Izzy Stradlin were all in this band at one time. Yet all left and went on to greener pastures while London struggled and got passed up by bands that started years after they did. The true reason is obviously that the band wasn't that good. So anyone with any talent soon realized that and then they left. Nadir D'Priest later formed D'Priest out of London and did briefly get a major label deal. Lizzie Grey went on to form Spiders and Snakes. Odin also struggled for years and never managed to get a major label deal. However Randy O. got a major label deal with his band the Lost Boys. Guitarist Jeff Duncan later ended up in Armored Saint. Honestly these two albums were hard to make it through, but I soldiered on for the sake of the segment. I'll be back again with some more gems next month.

**The pictures I used are not the covers of the albums I listened to. I could not find a good image of the London cover and the Odin cover is very dull. So I went for an alternative shot of the London cover and the back of Odin's "Don't take no for an answer".