i rarely respond to anonymous comments, because frankly anonymous comments don’t count, but here goes. i never said anything about jerry finn or travis barker's accomplishments. i'm sure what they do is fine in their respective genres. from what i've seen from barker, yes, he is a very good technical drummer and better than most in the pop-punk world. he might have been a nice fit for "southpaw grammar."

i’ll give you that barker is better than spike smith and dean butterworth though – two drummers in my opinion that are beyond critisim. butterworth uses the same drumsticks due to the fact that he’s never hit his snare harder than a baby tap and spike has yet to figure out where a drum fill goes. but to say barker is better than spencer cobrin is ridiculous. they’re two different kinds of drummers. apples and oranges.

but if you can explain to me how barker is better than cobrin, please do so – i’m very curious as to your thought process on the matter. people always say "person a" is better than "person b" but never back it up. prove me wrong.

but i digress. have you heard the new songs? yes, i'm sure you have. they're not what you'd call rockers, are they? "mexico?" first of the gang?" "crashing bores?" "i like you?" these songs require finesse, something i don't have confidence in jerry finn having. hopefully finn’s job is more of a knob turner and a button presser than a hands-on producer.

like i said, i don’t doubt his talents – he probably makes a great commercial pop-punk record, i’m just stating that there comes a point where one has to question some of the people involved in this recording session.

by the way, since you bring up the wide array of “accomplishments” of finn and barker, here they are…

jerry finn:
blink-182
afi
bad religion
color me badd
goo goo dolls
green day
sum 41
alvin and the chipmunks
pennywise

barker:
blink-182
pink
transplants
black eyed peas

i’m sorry, but i am not impressed with what they’ve “accomplished in their careers.”

steve lilywhite on the other hand, who you refer to as a “substandard producer,” besides producing “vauxhall and i,” the “sunny” and “boxers” eps, “viva hate,” and “southpaw grammar,” has worked with:

happy mondays
kirsty maccoll
xtc
the la’s
the pogues
the chameleons uk
talking heads
steel pulse
johnny thunders
bruce foxton of the jam
and oh yeah sorry for digging up the terrible past, but the smiths.

by the way, do you actually like any morrissey album? by this statement: “[morrissey] has never had a lights-out producer or rhythm section and that is just the plain truth,” is sounds like you’ve never been happy with anything he’s put out. do i really have to bring mick ronson into this too?

living in the past, eugenius