I've had my ears hacked off with a chainsaw

[stratman]

Ok, I was quietly and peacefully ripping my CD collection into my server, I see an unopened Pat Metheny CD, I must have bought this and put it away. Alright, what follows can only be described as someone hacking off your ears with a chainsaw. The title of this infamous piece of work is called ZERO TOLERANCE FOR SILENCE, good heavens there's no way to describe it without bringing the words screeching, grating, drill-like, ice-pick-in-your-ear, diarrhea oozing out of your ear canals, biting on a beltsander while it's running and sporting a 60 grit belt, locked in a soundproof room with hungry seagulls. What was Metheny thinking? He must have been on drugs, I'm sorry I fail to see any musical value in this, this, thing. I must say it's the worst CD I have ever attempted to listen to. There are 5 parts to this nightmare, part 1 is an 18 minute guitar solo/experiment/noise generating composition (if you can call it that) that will leave you slacked-jaw, you won't believe it's Metheny, you can't. Parts 2 through 5 is more of the diarrhea just not as runny. If anyone would have introduced me to Metheny's music with this thing, I would have written him off. I might be late to the party lambasting this pus laden ooze of an excuse for music, but it shocked the cave from under my feet. How bad can a CD get? I just found out.

(Bad enough to make me stop ripping and write this, that's how shocked I am.)

 

[Davemcc]

That's not something I would have expected to hear about Pat Methany, but I'll be sure to avoid that album at all costs.

 

[Seth=L]

Pat Metheny specifically designed this album for audiophiles. It's not an attack against them, but it's more of a test for your system. If you where to play the same CD through a Bose system or iBox you wouldn't have a lot to say about it, although you still wouldn't enjoy it. You play the same music on some $500 stereo, you just leave the room. You listen to the same music in a $40,000 setup with B&W Nautilus 802s and you're head splits open as you run toward an exit. The better the system, the worse the sound. That was the design goal of this album, it's art in my eyes.

 

[3db]

Ok, I was quietly and peacefully ripping my CD collection into my server, I see an unopened Pat Metheny CD, I must have bought this and put it away. Alright, what follows can only be described as someone hacking off your ears with a chainsaw. The title of this infamous piece of work is called ZERO TOLERANCE FOR SILENCE, good heavens there's no way to describe it without bringing the words screeching, grating, drill-like, ice-pick-in-your-ear, diarrhea oozing out of your ear canals, biting on a beltsander while it's running and sporting a 60 grit belt, locked in a soundproof room with hungry seagulls. What was Metheny thinking? He must have been on drugs, I'm sorry I fail to see any musical value in this, this, thing. I must say it's the worst CD I have ever attempted to listen to. There are 5 parts to this nightmare, part 1 is an 18 minute guitar solo/experiment/noise generating composition (if you can call it that) that will leave you slacked-jaw, you won't believe it's Metheny, you can't. Parts 2 through 5 is more of the diarrhea just not as runny. If anyone would have introduced me to Metheny's music with this thing, I would have written him off. I might be late to the party lambasting this pus laden ooze of an excuse for music, but it shocked the cave from under my feet. How bad can a CD get? I just found out.

(Bad enough to make me stop ripping and write this, that's how shocked I am.)

Thats nothing new. Cheech did that over 20 years ago playing an electric guitar with a monkey wrench only to have his power amp catch on fire!!

 

[Joe Schmoe]

Ouch, that all sounds really painful! I haven't heard it, but Lou Reed's Metal Machine Music is said to be like that. Your description also applies to most things by the Butthole Surfers, Skinny Puppy, and the Dillinger Escape Plan.

 

[stratman]

There's no rhyme or reason to this CD, I'm still shocked this morning. Don't ever spend your money on this CD, I just threw mine in the garbage can. I wouldn't give this to anyone, I wonder what possesses an artist (especially one of Metheny's pedigree) to produce garbage like this?

 

[Tomorrow]

There's no rhyme or reason to this CD, I'm still shocked this morning. Don't ever spend your money on this CD, I just threw mine in the garbage can. I wouldn't give this to anyone, I wonder what possesses an artist (especially one of Metheny's pedigree) to produce garbage like this?

Play it backwards! It says "the Walrus was really Paul's wife" over and over. (For those of you not old enough to know what the hell I'm talking about...too bad. )

 

[Seth=L]

Play it backwards! It says "the Walrus was really Paul's wife" over and over. (For those of you not old enough to know what the hell I'm talking about...too bad. )

I don't know what you are talking about rjbudz.

 

[stratman]

If you play it backwards it says who really killed Kennedy, or maybe Monster Cable and Bose are the right answer.....anyway I threw it out, it was just too horrid to subject anyone (even the Taliban) to this excuse for music.

 

[stratman]

I don't know what you are talking about rjbudz.

Not a Beatles fan are we? Seth.

 

[Rickster71]

Zero Tolerance for Silence, was Metheny's worst album.
Below is a review I found.

Review: by Tim Griggs
When this album was released in 1994, it shocked casual, and even some hardcore, Metheny fans. Recorded in one day, Zero Tolerance for Silence can best be described as semi-organized noise. In fact, it is often compared with Lou Reed's racket-fest, Metal Machine Music. The recording is five tracks of Metheny's improvised riffing on electric guitar with no other accompaniment, and few, if any, overdubs. Pat Metheny has flirted with this mind-bending musical genre many times before, including his work with Ornette Coleman and even in concert with the Pat Metheny Group. At least two theories exist about this album. The first is that this was the artist's last solo record due under his contract with Geffen Records, and this release was his way of saying "screw you" to the label (it should be noted that the last Pat Metheny Group album recorded for Geffen, Quartet, was the least commercial and musical PMG release). Theory two is that this is the album that the artist wished to make at the time. The truth is probably a combination of both theories. The mega-talented guitarist has always been versatile and this further proves that point. The cover and the title of the album are great, but the provocative music is not.

 

[stratman]

I'm surprised the critic even called it music, though I would tend to agree that it sounds like Pat wanted out of a contract. As experimental guitar goes, man this is awful. I would say it's in the top three or two worst CDs ever, maybe number 1.

 

[zhimbo]

I haven't heard Zero Tolerance..., but I suspect you should also avoid Song X, by Metheny and Ornette Coleman. I actually do rather like Song X, but it's definitely pushing at the boundaries of what I'll voluntarily listen to. ZTFS sounds like Song X taken to even the next level (or two).

I tried listening to samples of ZTFS on Amazon - but wouldn't you know, it's out of print!

 

[caupina]

Stratman: this is what Pat Metheny had to say about ZTFS.

http://interact.patmetheny.com/qa/questionView.cfm?queID=166

That's one of the PM albums I've always stayed as far away as possible (Song X is the other).

 

[Sheep]

How does it compare to That Blood Brothers band I force fed you?

SheepStar

 

[stratman]

How does it compare to That Blood Brothers band I force fed you?

SheepStar

The Blood Brothers rocked like seasoned pros, no kidding. Metheny's CD sounds like a torture device conjured up by military black-ops to induce confessions, I would venture to say that it would be so effective that at the end you'll have to punch the prisoner into a coma to shut up.

 

[jamie2112]

Methenys new record

For all you Metheny fans out there I just got his newest recording "Day Trip" and it is smokin. Very funky and very punchy as far as the sound goes.

 

[Joe Schmoe]

There is a Metheny CD that I got recently that I will be selling (forgot the title.) The reason is that I find it much too slow and boring. Remember, this is coming from a guy who likes new age!