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Post by Galactus on Sept 9, 2005 16:40:50 GMT -5
Actually thorn, I don't know what you're talking about. Are you just listing bands that rock hard? That seems kinda random really. Usually I follow where you're going but this time you've lost me.
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Post by Galactus on Sept 9, 2005 16:44:11 GMT -5
Also if I may be abit picky myself I'd still like to discuss a less artbitrary defintion of "band".
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Post by Kensterberg on Sept 9, 2005 16:45:46 GMT -5
OK, before I head over to the doctor's office for more bad news about my cholesterol level ... here's my first attempt at a serious list:
1. The Velvet Underground. Four albums. Four massive, fucking huge, essential (and essentially American) albums. It's really hard for me to get past the significance of this band, though there is a good case to be made for ...
2. X. Shoot me now, but I actually enjoy X's catalog more than I do the VU's. While not as stylistically varied, it's still a damn impressive body of work.
3. R.E.M. I know, Rocky hates 'em, Thorn says they don't "rock" ... to which I just have to reply "You don't know what the fuck you're talking about!" No other band in American music has been this good for this long. Hell, U2 are about the only other band on the planet who have been as good as R.E.M. for as long.
4. Talking Heads. Three Americans and one ex-patriot Brit (David Byrne), fusing punk edge with funky dance beats long before anyone else had seen the connection. While their studio albums often feel incomplete, their live shows were the stuff of legend, and their best work simply belongs with the best of all rock art.
5. Creedence Clearwater Revival. CCR was a band: just listen to the gawd-awful tracks the others contributed to the last two CCR albums. They were a band with one genius singer/songwriter/guitarist, but that didn't stop the others from trying to leave their own mark on the group's sound. The fact that Fogarty's solo career has rarely (if ever) approached the heights of CCR's best work merely backs up this fact. And speaking of facts, the proposition that CCR was America's greatest singles band is not opinion, it's the simple truth. Just listen to Chronicle, but better still, go buy the CCR box and hear that same genius throughout Green River and Willie and the Poor Boys, two of the greatest albums of their time.
6. The Band. This is largely based on their first two albums, and the fact that this (less Levon) was the same band that backed up Dylan on his foray into the future of rock and roll in '65 and '66. However, every recording by this group has something to recommend it, and somewhere in their instrument switching, multi-vocalist no super-stars lineup lies the definition of the word "band."
7. The Replacements. There was something special in the snows of Minneapolis in the early eighties, and nothing was more special than the mighty 'mats.
8. Pearl Jam. Emerged from the shadows of Nirvana to become the grand old men of grunge, and to outlive (and outplay) their way out of that label. Perhaps America's greatest live rock and roll band, their studio output is sometimes sketchy, but anything recorded in front of a crowd is worth hearing.
9. The Byrds. Classic, influential, maybe too talented for their own good. Almost everything we associate with "American rock and roll" can be found in something from the Byrds. That they are this low only speaks to the quality of the bands they inspired.
10. The Ramones. OK, so there's a lot of spotty stuff in their catalog (like everything from End of the Century on), but the genius in those first four albums is incredible, and sparks of it can be found throughout their career. That they never had a real hit in their lifetime was a major shame, but I take some solace in hearing some of these fabulous tunes in soundtracks and commercials, knowing that they still sound vital and contemporary, and knowing that there are still plenty of folks, young and old, walking around in Ramones t-shirts. Gabba Gabba Hey!
OK, aside from the top three spots, I think that looks pretty good ... but I just can't make up my mind between the VU, X, and R.E.M.
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Post by Kensterberg on Sept 9, 2005 16:48:47 GMT -5
Luke -- excellent list! I haven't heard enough of the Pixies to really judge them. Sort of like Mary has always been left cold by Husker Du, I've never heard a Pixies (or Frank Black) track that made me really take notice. Have to invest in a cd some time, I guess.
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Post by Kensterberg on Sept 9, 2005 16:51:35 GMT -5
Mantis -- you're free to take whatever definition of "band" you want. I somewhat arbitrarily take acts like Jimmy Jazz and the Jazzettes out of the running as "bands" since they are essentially vehicles for the front man. However, there's no reason someone like Trent Reznor can't do the same thing as NIN, which does raise some problems with this approach.
So use whatever definitions of terms you want, just be prepared to defend 'em!
And if we're gonna include folks like Springsteen, then the Boss would likely be my number one, and Petty would probably slot in somewhere in the second half of the list. I think.
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Post by rockysigman on Sept 9, 2005 17:01:23 GMT -5
3. R.E.M. I know, Rocky hates 'em, Thorn says they don't "rock" ... to which I just have to reply "You don't know what the fuck you're talking about!" No other band in American music has been this good for this long. Hell, U2 are about the only other band on the planet who have been as good as R.E.M. for as long. Eh, what now? I don't hate REM at all! I'm not a big a fan as you, but I rather like quite a bit of their catalogue. Own about 7 or 8 of their albums or so. I think you're thinking of Mary. She thinks they're boring. |
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Post by rockysigman on Sept 9, 2005 17:02:46 GMT -5
Ah shit, I can't believe I left the Pixies off my list. And REM and the Replacements have a legitimate place on it too. Fuck it, that list is scrapped.
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Post by Galactus on Sept 9, 2005 17:08:02 GMT -5
Like I said I'd count any group that had a reasonably stable line-up of more then one person for a reasonable period of recording. Of Course this still brings up questions about Steely Dan...
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Post by rockysigman on Sept 9, 2005 17:13:01 GMT -5
GBV, although very unstable for most of their early years, was actually semi-stable in the late '90s and early '00s. Aside from Bob Pollard, both Doug Gillard and Nate Farley were with the band from I think '97 until their demise at the end of last year and Todd Tobias was with them from the late '90s up until the middle of last year. Other than the drummer, they were stable for quite a string of albums there.
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Post by luke on Sept 9, 2005 17:23:20 GMT -5
Yeah, Rocky, I figured your Pixies snub was completely unintentional.
And I also forgot all about the Replacements.
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Post by rockysigman on Sept 9, 2005 17:25:57 GMT -5
Yeah, Rocky, I figured your Pixies snub was completely unintentional. And I also forgot all about the Replacements. Seriously, the Pixies are probably #3 or #4 on the list, IMO. I really don't know how that one slipped my mind. I guess that's what happens when I post from work instead of home where I can look at my CDs and shit. And where I'm not trying to look like I'm doing something else. |
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Post by Rit on Sept 9, 2005 17:32:07 GMT -5
Great American bands?
Velvets,
Byrds,
Stooges,
Talking Heads,
Television,
Pixies,
Husker Du
Mission of Burma,
REM,
Sonic Youth,
Nirvana,
White Stripes (c'mon, Jack White has huge cred by now, surely??)
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Post by luke on Sept 9, 2005 17:32:14 GMT -5
Yeah, Rocky, I'm the super free cell champion at home, but I can barely win even the simplest rounds at work, what with me trying to look like I'm working. Fortunately, I'm firewalled from this place, because who knows what kind of annoying garbage I'd be posting all over.
Had a list of "Greatest American Chick Bands", but scrapped it just now...
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Post by madmike4 on Sept 9, 2005 23:22:12 GMT -5
The obvious ones for me are;
TP & the Heartbreakers
Bruce and The ESB
Aerosmith
Steely Dan
I include X,
The Jayhawks (no mention yet!?)
Bad Religion
White Stripes
Weezer
Lagwagon (does anybody else love Lagwagon like I do??)
Alkaline Trio
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Post by Thorngrub on Sept 10, 2005 0:23:24 GMT -5
Actually thorn, I don't know what you're talking about. Are you just listing bands that rock hard? That seems kinda random really. Usually I follow where you're going but this time you've lost me. Am I just listing bands that rock hard? - YES That seems kinda random really? - Curious, because I think it seem kinda specific really. What seems random to me is listing all sorts of different kinda bands, punk- / metal- / indy- / alternative- / country- / folk- / etcetera. *slaps forehead* Yer bein deadpan w/me huh |
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