NEW POLL! "Machinehead" vs. "Interstate Love Song"
Added 2025-02-28 01:29:17 +0000 UTCThe great (?) second wave of grunge! The poor man's Pearl Jam vs. the poor man's Nirvana! We're doing two of the biggest and nineties-est of the big nineties alt-rock songs and debate whether one or both of them deserve more (or less!) respect! Vote now between Bush's "Machinehead" or Stone Temple Pilots's "Interstate Love Song"!
Comments
Hooray, it's Pat! A real "you got your chocolate in my peanut butter" moment for me.
ImWatchingYou...
2025-03-13 04:43:12 +0000 UTCWhen STP stopped listening to the label dipshits who were trying to make them the next Nirvana, they were a pretty damn good 70s retread. Which is my way of saying they had a million times more right to name a song after a Deep Purple record than Gavin fucking Rossdale.
Vince Whitacre
2025-03-10 19:27:23 +0000 UTCone song getting a lot more votes than the other?
pigeonb0y
2025-02-28 18:30:45 +0000 UTCHow would a sweep occur in Song Vs Song?
DadRock
2025-02-28 18:28:20 +0000 UTCSixteen Stone was like Tragic Kingdom that way đ
DadRock
2025-02-28 18:19:04 +0000 UTCCheck out "Inside" by Stiltskin, it's 10 times worse than either of those and only enhances your last statement. #1 in the UK too, yikes https://youtu.be/VuTVKO0RScI?si=bcIuxwvAx0JSO3ql
Dan Hogg
2025-02-28 17:57:28 +0000 UTCBoth are boring, but I at least know ILS
Kathleen
2025-02-28 17:55:59 +0000 UTCi like Machinehead better but if there had been a possibility I would have voted just for the 30s silent movie bit at the beginning of the Interstate Love Song video
Elsa Miesch
2025-02-28 17:50:48 +0000 UTCI know ILS was the bigger hit, but man do I love the hell outta "Vasoline."
Dan Hogg
2025-02-28 17:35:00 +0000 UTCI feel like Comedown from Bush matches Interstate Love Songâs vibes better. Or pair up Machine Head with STPâs Vasoline.
EmperorTigerstar
2025-02-28 17:26:01 +0000 UTCWhile we're throwing out third parties, how about Live? Gotta admit though, while "I Alone" would be the likely matchup, that one is by far the lesser of the 4 Throwing Copper singles IMO.
Dan Hogg
2025-02-28 17:19:50 +0000 UTCI went with STP. I have no real strong feelings. Although I do find it funny that as huge as Nirvana is/ was, Pearl Jam basically established the blueprint for EVERY popular Grunge band that followed them
Yurple
2025-02-28 17:13:37 +0000 UTCAlso, which of the grunge bands was going to write a song like interstate love song? None of them.
Kyle King
2025-02-28 16:50:06 +0000 UTCISLS lives rent free in my head. I can't not vote for it.
Eric J
2025-02-28 16:10:22 +0000 UTCFor those who are wandering it took me 9 hours from first listen to do a complete 180°
Nir revel
2025-02-28 15:42:32 +0000 UTCThat makes so much sense!
Jon Heiman
2025-02-28 15:01:40 +0000 UTCI remember Bush not really breaking through until the spring/summer of '95, with "Everything Zen"--at least for me. That was the first of 5 singles I remember over the course of the next year. It had very long legs!
Jon Heiman
2025-02-28 15:00:58 +0000 UTChonestly both are kinda flopping among the audience of me, but machinehead feels less annoying
no
2025-02-28 14:57:27 +0000 UTCAnother thing about Interstate Love Song is that it joins that OTHER '90s subgenre of "songs whose title has nothing to do with the lyrics".
Michael Murphy
2025-02-28 14:08:51 +0000 UTCAlso, it's kind of wild to me that Machinehead was released as a single in 1996, both of these songs should only exist in 1994. Like, I'm trying to remember if I ever watched the Machinehead video lead into the Macarena...
Joel Thomas
2025-02-28 13:18:51 +0000 UTCI think Interstate Love Song is better sounding, so easy decision... compared to last episode where I think my brain basically froze for a solid week before I voted.
Joel Thomas
2025-02-28 13:12:56 +0000 UTCI have this friend that sings Machine Head at karaoke every single time and he does it so over the top that it's hilarious. It might be the slightly better song from the slightly lesser band, but I can never take it seriously anymore.
Lucy Daughter of None
2025-02-28 12:51:08 +0000 UTCInterstate Love Song is one of the best examples of Stone Temple Pilots' entirely vibe-based song writing. The lyrics don't actually mean anything or make much sense upon examination, but they invoke exactly the mood they were meant to. You put on the song and immediately feel like driving off into the sunset in a convertible.
Graeme
2025-02-28 12:46:43 +0000 UTCWOO-HOO
Richard Angle
2025-02-28 12:10:08 +0000 UTCThough ILS be the superior song, Machinehead has a much better footprint in film & TV (at minimum Beef and the trailer to 1996 Fear)
DadRock
2025-02-28 12:07:23 +0000 UTCDean Deleo explained in his Rick Beato interview that the verse chords to Interstate Love Song were very much jazz/fusion/bossa nova chords played in a grunge setting. It was very much an epiphany moment to me and explained how that song hooked me so hard as a young music student.
Sladen377
2025-02-28 12:04:43 +0000 UTCWatching Rick Beato's interview with Robert DeLeo, that appears to be exactly on point
DadRock
2025-02-28 12:03:08 +0000 UTCInterstste Love Song easily claims an honorary Dad Rock designation despite being 15 years past the era. And it's goddamn fun to play on acoustic guitar. Machinehead has the most obvious I - V - vi - IV since Let It Be
DadRock
2025-02-28 11:58:02 +0000 UTCSTP will get more votes, but Bush will be the winner somehow.
Richard Angle
2025-02-28 11:46:47 +0000 UTCi hated bush as a kid just because i associated them with Dubya. luckily, i didn't misunderestimate them, because bush actually does kinda suck
Austin F
2025-02-28 11:16:21 +0000 UTCThe only positive I can find about Bush is that bassist Dave Parsons was in Transvision Vamp.
Stuart Reed
2025-02-28 09:12:06 +0000 UTCThis is a sub-genre of rock music I like to call "wait... didn't that front man die a few years ago? Or am I getting him confused with someone else?"
Cheeseburger_666
2025-02-28 08:58:06 +0000 UTCsee i would have voted for Bush if you chose Glycerine cuz thats the one i really love from that album
Tristan
2025-02-28 08:18:20 +0000 UTCWell, it's the third (maybe fourth?) best song from either band... I feel like there are going to be a lot of votes against Gavin Rosedale, and fair, but on the whole I'm giving it to Bush on the strength of the rest of Sixteen Stone.
BuckTurner
2025-02-28 07:24:58 +0000 UTCSo, second tier grunge never really made it over here to Sweden; why do these bands have the same singer?
Jakob EyjĂłlfsson
2025-02-28 07:01:39 +0000 UTCLess serious answer: I understand how Breathing is the Hardest Thing to do when the next to you there's a guy screaming BREATHE IN BREATHE OUT until the heatdeath of the universe
Nir revel
2025-02-28 06:04:13 +0000 UTCI hate both these songs so this is the first time I'll ever say this, I think I'm going with the third party choice Shine by Collective Soul here. A terrible song but more enjoyable then both Machinehead and Interstate Love Song.
Mr Spaghett
2025-02-28 05:59:34 +0000 UTCI was a little kid when Machinehead came out, but if it had come out 10 years later, it would probably be one of my favorite songs ever. (I've never heard the whole thing before now, somehow.)
AllisonThePurple
2025-02-28 05:50:32 +0000 UTCSerious answer for once: doing the first listen test for both, because second wave grunge was apparently something I missed out on, Machinehead wins.
Nir revel
2025-02-28 05:49:26 +0000 UTCBREATHE IN BREATHE OUT BREATHE IN BREATHE OUT BREATHE IN [never breathes out, dies]
giascle
2025-02-28 05:24:06 +0000 UTCItâs kind of wild that the only 2 British forays into Grunge are Bush and âCreepâ by Radiohead. Thank God they stuck to Britpop instead.
Christian Reiswig
2025-02-28 05:22:03 +0000 UTCI like Machinehead but I love Interstate Love Song.
The Omega Geek
2025-02-28 05:10:13 +0000 UTC...the way Cedric hits those high notes.
Jonathan Baker
2025-02-28 04:07:47 +0000 UTCIt's kinda funny but now that I think about it, The Mars Volta at times sounded like a Chris Cornell side project.
Jonathan Baker
2025-02-28 04:06:47 +0000 UTCI feel like I heard "Comedown" the most on mine.
Jon Heiman
2025-02-28 04:06:02 +0000 UTCAll the songs released before Machinehead would've been better matches. Not sure why it was even released as a single. Parts of it sound both over and under produced. And that opening guitar riff wears out it's welcome pretty quick.
Jonathan Baker
2025-02-28 04:02:02 +0000 UTCMaybe I'm the only Scott Weiland stan here but let's break this down logically. 1. In terms of singing Gavin isn't invited to anyone's conversation. 2. In terms of talent, the DeLeo brothers alone are practically Steely Dan compared to Bush. 3. In terms of song: ILS has a better intro, better song structure and better music video (maybe the most important element).
Jonathan Baker
2025-02-28 03:47:57 +0000 UTCNever heard either, didnât particularly like either on first listen
Loyal Deserter
2025-02-28 03:46:00 +0000 UTCStone Temple pilots were just a creative rock band that happened to sound like grunge when grunge was exploding. Purple and Tiny music show a band completely unconcerned with what's successful and popular and just trying everything they wanted to
Kyle King
2025-02-28 03:42:05 +0000 UTCI'm gonna need someone to explain this matchup to me in 2010's girlypop, it's too gen x coded
Niall Heaphy
2025-02-28 03:39:07 +0000 UTCAustralian rock royalty Powderfinget started off as a Soundgarden ripoff (listen to "DAF"), but only for their first 2 albums
Jon Heiman
2025-02-28 03:31:18 +0000 UTCPresidents of the United States of America, on the other hand... :)
Jon Heiman
2025-02-28 03:21:05 +0000 UTCThe only machine head I can accept is one that comes in shades of deep purple.
ben-one-eye
2025-02-28 03:12:22 +0000 UTCI don't know which surprises me more, that Machinehead came out in '94, or that Bush is a British band. I've had this song sitting in my Metal/Rock playlist for almost a decade, and it always sounded to me like it came out in the early/mid 2000s.
HRJ
2025-02-28 03:07:51 +0000 UTC"Far Behind" really is the perfect radio song (indebted to hair metal as it is, IMO), but I consider it [some indeterminant length] behind the two match-up songs.
Jon Heiman
2025-02-28 03:07:01 +0000 UTCBlack Label Society?
ben-one-eye
2025-02-28 03:05:17 +0000 UTCSay what you want about STP but Interstate Love Song sounds like an original idea someone had whereas Machinehead sounds like someone trying and failing to write an all time classic rock song.
Max Liotta
2025-02-28 03:00:19 +0000 UTCWhich song do I choose? I'm so nervous! I need to calm myself down *Breaths in, Breaths out, Breaths in, Breaths out* Okay, I choose Machinhead.
Aurone86
2025-02-28 02:59:46 +0000 UTCIâll say this for Bush. A good friend of mine and I both went to our first music festival last year, and she got her first tattoo while Bush was playing, and to my great surprise they absolutely crushed it. Machine Head is probably their best song too (that riff, BREATHE IN. BREATHE OUT.) Had to vote Interstate Love Song though. STP have been unfairly maligned as grunge also rans for far too long and Iâm tired of pretending they didnât belong in the conversation with the âbig boys.â All cuz they *werenât* from Seattle, lol.
Jack Darnell
2025-02-28 02:57:13 +0000 UTCI think they're more Alice in Chains than Pearl Jam.
Jon Heiman
2025-02-28 02:56:01 +0000 UTCBush is the poor manâs Nirvana, STP for Pearl Jam, and Godsmack for Alice In Chains. Who is the poor manâs Soundgarden? (Donât say Audioslave)
JazzySpF
2025-02-28 02:55:51 +0000 UTCWhen STP were playing in my town around 2014, the outdoor arena they were in was next to the highway, and I heard them play this song while driving over it!
Jon Heiman
2025-02-28 02:54:47 +0000 UTCI'll go with the song that doesn't mention the title in the lyrics over the song that rhymes the title with itself in the lyrics.
Dork Mode
2025-02-28 02:50:39 +0000 UTCI actually never cared for "Comedown"
Jon Heiman
2025-02-28 02:49:28 +0000 UTC"Machinehead" is like "Drain You" on steroids.
Jon Heiman
2025-02-28 02:48:51 +0000 UTCBoth of these songs fall under the genre of âtake off musicâ, where you get in the car and hit a smooth section without stoplights and then blast one of these types to launch you on your journey.
Zero
2025-02-28 02:33:13 +0000 UTCThat's like the open act to this match-up's top billing. PS: "Shine" all the way.
Jon Heiman
2025-02-28 02:26:59 +0000 UTCThis match-up was made for me. Like Todd, I arrived at popular music late (though not quite /as/ late) and I found the post-Nirvana alternative rock of the mid-90s--when things got brighter and weirder--a great entry point for 11/12-year-old me. I became addicted to MTV and saw both of these videos in regular rotation (both featuring high-energy chases, oddly enough). Though I think the blue-tinted STP video is better, I like the higher energy of "Machinehead" more. Despite the âHowlâ quote in its interlude (and the accompanying "Fear" footage in the video). Everyone loves (and did love) to hate on Bush. But the, like, 5 singles from this album were catchy and I didnât know any better, dammit! Maybe I still donât, because I think "Machinehead" is indeed better than the rest. PS: While "Purple" is a classic album for me, I find "Sixteen Stone" nigh-unlistenable outside of the singles.
Jon Heiman
2025-02-28 02:26:15 +0000 UTCWhile Machinehead might not be better than the rest of the songs on sixteen stone, I'd argue it's better than Interstate Love Song and I love both of them. Wouldn't be surprised is STP takes it though
skipz bop
2025-02-28 02:10:28 +0000 UTCI had a similar theme going in my head recently, it was Candlebox vs. Collective Soul: "Far Behind" v. "Shine." As for this, I grew up on STP and never had a second thought for Bush, so.....
Dan Hogg
2025-02-28 02:10:06 +0000 UTCI give STP all the credit for opening their first album with a song hilariously titled "Dead and Bloated." But they ditched the grunge sound too quickly. Bush tried to keep up the grunge style thru and thru, so it has my vote here.
Joseph Bergeron
2025-02-28 02:04:36 +0000 UTCIdk, âTerritorial Pissingsâ goes off
NoU
2025-02-28 02:00:54 +0000 UTCUnfortunately, itâs basically about feeling guilty for lying to his partner about not shooting up H
NoU
2025-02-28 01:52:49 +0000 UTCMachinehead is played at like every hockey arena, and it has my respect. Interstate Love Song is just too good
Charlie L
2025-02-28 01:51:31 +0000 UTCNirvana wishes they had a song that kicks as much ass as Machinehead
A Bucket of Water
2025-02-28 01:49:48 +0000 UTCHonestly, Time by Hootie trumps both these songs imo
Connor Rankin
2025-02-28 01:48:39 +0000 UTCInterstate Love Song is one of my favourite songs of all time and STP are one of my favourite bands so this was easy. Bush are great but theyâve better songs than Machinehead
Hannah Matronic
2025-02-28 01:48:34 +0000 UTCIf this had been Comedown instead of Machinehead this would have been harder. Interstate Love Song takes even if it in some ways just feels like a re-write of Plush
MJS
2025-02-28 01:47:35 +0000 UTCDoes Hootie and the Blowfish have a killer cover of Machinehead? I thought not. Interstate Love Song in a walk.
NoU
2025-02-28 01:44:59 +0000 UTCMeh
T. Ryder
2025-02-28 01:43:26 +0000 UTCInterstate Love Song might not be about interstates, driving, love.... Well I'm not actually sure what he's singing about but I can definitely say it's a way better song to cruise down the road with than Machinehead. (Side note: Comedown might have been the better matchup)
Your Hot Anime Mom
2025-02-28 01:42:50 +0000 UTCIt's a season 5 episode called The Performer.
Angela
2025-02-28 01:41:14 +0000 UTCI voted for Machinehead because I donât care for Pearl Jam or most things that sound like Pearl Jam. And STP feels more Pearl Jammy to me.
Julie Gagnon
2025-02-28 01:39:39 +0000 UTCBy the time Todd hopefully reads this comment, I expect that Lina will have obliterated âSwallowedâ to the point that it can no longer be found on Spotify.
David Yurch
2025-02-28 01:39:12 +0000 UTCThe 5th and 6th of the big four of grunge. I like both songs but STP are equal to the other bands while Bush was always very second tier.
Alex Georganas
2025-02-28 01:38:59 +0000 UTCThatâs hilarious. My wife loves that show. I need to find that episode
Realalf
2025-02-28 01:36:58 +0000 UTCI heard âMachineheadâ with zero prior context at a Five Guys and thought it sounded amazing, so maybe life is a richer tapestry than you give it credit for
Champiness
2025-02-28 01:36:30 +0000 UTCThis is surprisingly hard. If it was "Everything Zen," "Little Things" or "Glycerine" vs ILS, Bush would win without a question. If it was "Lady Picture Show" or "Days of the Week" vs. Machinehead, STP would win without question. I'm going to go with Machinehead by a hair. And throw in a 3rd party vote for "Far Behind" by Candlebox. Chuck Klosterman said ILS is the song he will never turn off when it comes on the radio. "Far Behind" is that song to me.
Keith Badje
2025-02-28 01:35:32 +0000 UTCI'm finding it very hard to pick. I kind of like Machinehead better, but I've had a hard time taking Gavin Rossdale seriously ever since he played a depressed Marilyn Manson knockoff on an episode of Criminal Minds. And he wasn't even the killer. Talk about a wasted cameo lol
Angela
2025-02-28 01:35:03 +0000 UTCIâm admittedly a Bush apologist. I think theyâre a perfectly fine 7/10 band. Actually saw them live in 2018 (coincidentally on tour with post-Scott Weiland STP as well as The Cult). Even got a high five from Gavin Rossdale when he went roaming through the audience in the middle of their set. That being said, putting Bush against fucking Interstate Love Song of all things is just asking for a bloodbath.
Tanner M.
2025-02-28 01:34:36 +0000 UTCI got a mushy head, but not so mushy I'd pick Bush over STP in this matchup.
Preston A. Rickwood
2025-02-28 01:34:29 +0000 UTCIn b4 someone mentions the song Swallowed. Didn't one of you mention how much you hate that song and or video?
Nico Niconi
2025-02-28 01:34:02 +0000 UTCSorry, dude, this is a democracy
Connor Rankin
2025-02-28 01:33:59 +0000 UTCBetween this and the presidents I'm not sure which Bush was worse
Str00p
2025-02-28 01:33:43 +0000 UTCBush was the 3rd real concert I saw as kid (with a fucking wild Jesus Lizard performance as the opener). I couldnât get enough of Sixteen Stone back then, and I would patiently wait for Machinehead to come on the radio, before I got the CD. But if Iâm being real, I also owned Purple, and knew that was something more special. The only band that could make me try to learn crazy jazz chords on guitar as beginner. My vote goes to STP.
Dangmo
2025-02-28 01:33:34 +0000 UTCWhenever interstate traffic jangles my ever neurotic nerves, I just remember to breathe in and breathe out
Connor Rankin
2025-02-28 01:33:33 +0000 UTCif interstate doesnât sweep this i will finally lose my last dregs of hope for the human race
pigeonb0y
2025-02-28 01:31:45 +0000 UTCAh the most played song from both of these bands on the alt rock station I listen to.
Evan Z.
2025-02-28 01:31:35 +0000 UTCmy dad did not blast STP at every opportunity during my childhood for me to vote for anything else
TJ Guiney
2025-02-28 01:31:14 +0000 UTCGuys what the fuck ?! Machinehead is clearly better.
Realalf
2025-02-28 01:31:09 +0000 UTCReally can't tell who's being insulted more.
Jonathan Baker
2025-02-28 01:31:01 +0000 UTCGotta give it to that riff on Machine head
Roughhousin By Proxy
2025-02-28 01:30:38 +0000 UTC
