Vixzter said on January 26, 2004 19:30:

they played their own instruments ;) not boyband material

Stormkeeper said on January 26, 2004 19:39:

do you like Darren solo too?

tevensso (moderator) said on January 26, 2004 23:02:

I heard they broke up due to musical differences, true or not... But if it’s true then it also supports the not-boyband theory.

zeeshan said on January 27, 2004 05:14:

NO WAY they were a boyband. They were damn good! Boybands suck!

Z

powerpoplarry said on January 27, 2004 05:36:

Welllll, their ballads, on the surface, sound like they COULD be a boyband, but they are clearly not. Savage Garden are more like a 90s cross between Wham, Times 2, Tears For Fears and Roxette, with hints of Jellyfish. Like those first four artists, SG were a DUO, not a group of guys. Darren was the singer, Daniel was the producer/multi-instrumentalist, both wrote all their songs, no outside material, no covers. Their sound was an original home-studio-brewed style of crafty, catchy, studio-pop (hence Jellyfish), with tendencies to rock out, as well as elements of soul and dance music. They made 2 solid albums, had at least 10 worldwide smash singles, and did 2 successful world-tours. Their ability to transform their studio sound to the live stage + a live band added credibility to SG, plus they were NOT PUT TOGETHER BY A SVENGALI who controlled their image and every move and every song they recorded.

The key word here is CREDIBILITY, something those boybands never had, let alone creativity, originality, songwriting and studio smarts, as well as live prowess, with NO LIP SYNCHING!!

Now, why did they break up?? Blame Daniel Jones. He had enough of the pop spotlight, wanted to move on and just produce other bands. This left Darren with the fortunate/unfortunate scenario of launching a solo career, which may or may not have been a bit premature, yet he had no choice but to start over.

His solo record, “Spin” was very good, but it didn’t sell as well. I’m thinking, should Darren have kept the name Savage Garden on his solo record?? It may have sold more that way, as people associate the name Savage Garden with his voice, not his birth name, unfortunately. It worked with Roland Orzabal and Tears For Fears. He kept the name for two records after Curt Smith left, and they sold decently, as people know his voice. When he released his solo album, “Tomcats”, under his own name, it stiffed. Now TFF are back together.

I wonder what Darren’s next move will be?? A new solo album?? A reunion with Daniel?? I heard a SG/DH hits collection was in the works, but I have no idea. The last thing I saw was a 2-disc combo pack of “Affirmation” and their live DVD from the “Affirmation” tour...

coyboyusa said on January 27, 2004 14:35:

boy bands dont write thweir own material play instruments and they r formed by a record label rep so the answer is a big fat no...oh btw darrens second album is finished and might come out this yr

Euro4Ever said on January 27, 2004 16:49:

One could also comapre them to Modern Talking, being a Duo of Songwriter and a Vocalist, not as much Dance though

Also their sound could be compared to New Order (a little), and a lot to Roxette of course :)

BTW I liked their First album Much More than “Affirmation”

Angl_Tht_Rox84 said on January 28, 2004 23:45:

Well in my opinion, does it really matter if they are or wrer a boyband? I mean its really just a label type of category and besides their music is good and stands by itself. What more could you ask for!

ps I love the song “Crash and Burn” it totally rocks!