Let me just say that I'm sorry you don't find more of Elvis Costello's stuff to rise to the level of My Aim is True. IMHO, his work is consistently some of the best out there.
Posts: 13123 | Registered: Feb 2002
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Check out Mighty Like a Rose, for instance.
quote: Harpies Bizarre
He selects the plainest face form a spiteful row of girls Elegant insulted women, a flaw of cultured pearls He drops a name or two, she fails to catch At last he's met his match Unspoiled and unaffected, he wants her so much
quote: After The Fall
In an anonymous rendezvous Where the forbidden lovers repair They're burning down another damn candle They're melting the tables and chairs Beneath them applause from the balcony whenever they accomplished making love Other times they thought they heard laughter Coming from the balcony above
CHORUS She lies to his right and she carelessly recites All of her brand new appetites She seems brittle and small, it don't sound like her at all Since she came back to him after the fall
She said "You never visit the countryside" "So I've made you a country to order" She put up a little tent in the bedroom Crickets played on a tape-recorder The ceiling was festooned with phosphorous stars She noticed his skin turning cold Burning all his clothes on the bonfire "Relax" she whispered and tightened the blindfold
How can you not love lyrics like that? Posts: 13123 | Registered: Feb 2002
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I'm glad someone finally mentioned The Moody Blues. They were at the forefront of the symphonic rock movement and thier stuff is timeless and can evoke a similar mood to Pink Floyd.
As far as Led Zepplin is concerned, one of thier distinctions is the way they featured John Bonham. I'm not sure they pioneered using percussion as more than support but they certainly were leaders in that effort.
Posts: 2022 | Registered: Mar 2004
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Major kudos for Storm... the Kinks! Great choice and easy to lose in the British Invasion. Lyrically and musically inventive.
And songwriters: Harry Chapin, Van Morrison and Neil Diamond shouldn't be forgotten. (Okay, I'm a dweeb, but I still love Neil Diamond's music.)
Posts: 2848 | Registered: Feb 2003
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Fleetwood Mac's Rumours still rocks! I don't think their body of work merits them a place on the greatest rock bands ever list, but that is a great album. Santana deserves a mention somewhere. Beatles definitely #1.
Posts: 3149 | Registered: Jul 2005
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quote:And Radiohead? They'll be a footnote twenty years from now: influential, but no more remembered than Kraftwerk or Bauhaus.
Spin Magazine just named OK Computer the top album of the last twenty years.
OK Computer was voted by the readers of Q Magazine to be the best rock album of all time, (#2 was Revolver by the Beatles). And for two years in a row they were named 'Best Act In The World Today' by the same magazine.
OK Computer was voted by the viewers of Channel 4 Television, in England, as the best rock album of all time. (#2 was The Joshua Tree by U2)
Bono on Radiohead: I want to hear Radiohead, extraordinary band that they are, on MTV. I want them setting fire to the imaginations of 16, 15, 14 year old kids. I was 14 when John Lennon set fire to my imagination. At that age, you're just [angry], and your moods swing, and it's an incredible time to be hit with something like that. I don't blame them [for not wanting to be on MTV]. But I think, what would my life be like without the Beatles?
Dave Matthews on Radiohead: My reaction to Radiohead isn't as simple as jealousy. Jealousy just burns; Radiohead infuriate me. But if it were only that, I wouldn't go back and listen to those records again and again. Listening to Radiohead makes me fell like I'm a Salieri to their Mozart. Yorke's lyrics make me want to give up. I could never in my wildest dreams find something as beautiful as they find for a single song - let alone album after album.
I've got twenty more quote here, all from very popular artists like Michael Stipe, Bjork, Coldplay, Trent Reznor, etc, all praising the greatness of Radiohead and usually calling them the best band on Earth.
They've also sold millions and millions of records and are hugely popular all over the world at this moment, so I'm afraid I'll have to disagree that they'll be forgotten.
*yes, I am a Radiohead fan*
Posts: 2267 | Registered: May 2005
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A number of my favorite musicians all applaud Radiohead as the most amazing thing ever...
And I just don't see it. Maybe I'm a philistine.
More likely, 10-15 years down the road, I'll catch it.
I never liked the police... until about 3 years after they broke up and I suddenly figured out what a great band they were.
A band that I'm surprised hasn't come up yet that also escaped my notice until they were gone was Jane's Addiction. Amazing group. "Been Caught Stealing" pretty much kept me from listening to them for a decade (I hated that song)... then I figured out what I was missing.
Thing is, every group we've mentioned stood on someone else's shoulders... so perhaps it's worth just saying that Music is an amazing thing and quit trying to quantify it
Also, since people have started naming off individual songwriters here, we're going to have to throw in Leonard Cohen.
Posts: 3846 | Registered: Apr 2004
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I'm with you, Jim-Me. I respect Radiohead... I have several of their most popular albums, and although I'm missing the "greatest music ever" boat, I do think they're interesting. But I never have any desire to listen to them. When I make myself put on some Radiohead, I can find a certain degree of cerebral appreciation. But I can rarely dig it enough to even finish the disc. And it's not because I like my music poppier... I'm more frequently in the mood to listen to Steve Reich or Ornette Coleman than I am to listen to Radiohead, and when I do, I'm usually more satisfied.
I'm not saying they're not as good as people say they are. I'm just saying that if they are, I don't get it. I know quite a bit about music, and try as I might, I've never been able to wrap my head around the Radiohead phenomenon. Maybe someday I'll have an epiphany. Until then, I'm with you, TAK.
Posts: 2804 | Registered: May 2003
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quote: Spin Magazine just named OK Computer the top album of the last twenty years.
Spin is wrong. Radiohead is only "brilliant" to people who wear T-shirts with the names of bands that dissolved ten years ago after putting out one album. And own iPods.
Don't get me wrong: one or two of their songs are interesting, but the rest are masturbatory filler. In a heads-up battle between Radiohead and Tool, I think Tool would win nine out of ten.
Posts: 37449 | Registered: May 1999
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quote:Originally posted by TomDavidson: [QUOTE] I think Tool would win nine out of ten.
I think Dir en grey would beat both bands out on several levels. Sure, they are young upstarts, having only been around since 1996 and they have the disadvantage of singing in Japanese and wearing, in the past interesting costumes which drives away a great deal of people, but, they get my nod for best band for several reasons- All of their songs don't sound alike. With a lot of bands, Tool, the Rolling Stones and so many others, you get a lot of songs that sound so simular, they might as well be rearrangements of some old song. Dir en grey doesn't do that. They manage to have extremely distinct songs even when only one member composes them. Evolution. Dir en grey has evolved from their indie days. Their indie stuff sounds more like punk. Nowadays, they defy genre. They simply play whatever style of rock and roll they want, not listening to whiny fans that expect them to pump out one album after another that sounds like Gauze or Macabre (Their first two albums) Dir en grey is not afraid to change, not afriad to experiment. They are the band that influences younger bands in Japan. These bands immatate their old look and sound. Each player does their thing and they do it well. On their latest two albums they sound more together than ever. The sounds are tighter, the instruments blend together. Dir en grey these days sounds like a healthy body, like a unit. And they play with feeling and passion. No other band I've heard plays with their amount of feeling. Not even Nirvana and Pearl Jam, which are the reasons why I am into Dir en grey in the first place can compare. Before those two bands I hated rock and roll and thought it was nothing but men screatching about sex every five seconds like tormenting cats in heat until I realized that rock and roll was fill with passion and power. Dir en grey has completely stolen my heart and ruined me for just about any other band. Therefore, despite their youth and the fact that they are a bit unknowned for the most part I regard them as being the best band of all time and I hope that in the future other people will see this despite the disturbing lyrics and images in some of their videos.
Posts: 9942 | Registered: Mar 2003
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They're enduring. They're flexible enough to have defined 80s rock and then slipped seamlessly into the 90s with Achtung, Baby. And they're still around, which proves they're not petty. The only other bands with comparable endurance are the Stones and REM, but the Stones aren't relevant and REM isn't huge. (see below)
They're relevant. Their songs are not about sex and drugs and a road show lifestyle that none of the rest of us will ever understand. Their songs are about life and love and God and are artfully ambiguous to apply to everyone at the same time. They also practice what they preach, which is saving the world.
They're huge; they have worldwide appeal. I don't care how many records someone sells in the US and the UK. If the rest of the world doesn't care, it doesn't matter. U2 is a truly international band; you'll find equal concentrations of fans in Brazil and Japan and Yugoslavia. They're not the cultural elitists that most rock bands, even unintentionally, become.
They, possibly exclusivly, care about things bigger than music. The band U2 has contributed more financial support to African aid programs than the United States government. This is what makes them all of the above qualities, what makes them admirable, and what makes them great.
quote: Spin Magazine just named OK Computer the top album of the last twenty years.
Spin is wrong. Radiohead is only "brilliant" to people who wear T-shirts with the names of bands that dissolved ten years ago after putting out one album. And own iPods.
Don't get me wrong: one or two of their songs are interesting, but the rest are masturbatory filler. In a heads-up battle between Radiohead and Tool, I think Tool would win nine out of ten.
OHMYGOD!!!!!!!!!!!
Masturbatory filler?? Have you listened to any of their albums? Tool is better???? I think I just had a heart attack.
posted
He was just trying to bait Radiohead fans, don't worry about it. Tom is the master baiter. Uh ....
Posts: 2267 | Registered: May 2005
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Well, no. I actually believe it. Radiohead is enormously overrated, and people will look back in ten years and say, "what the heck were we thinking?" Ten years after that, of course, a Radiohead tribute album will come out, mainly featuring a bunch of nu-metal bands inexplicably citing them as influences.
Posts: 37449 | Registered: May 1999
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Well, who cares if you believe it Tom, really? Trying to name the best rock band is, necessarily, going to bring out a few different opinions. Opinions, not facts. Prancing into a thread and stating that such opinions are *wrong,* as if your opinion somehow matters more than the others, is not only irritating, it is maddeningly self-important and pompous.
Telling us Radiohead is bad once was enough. At that point, we got it: you disagreed. Okay. No problem. Three times is a tad over-the-top, I think.
Try to make room for the fact that others might legitimately enjoy music you don't.
Posts: 2267 | Registered: May 2005
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I'm still curious, though, as to how many Radiohead albums Tom has listened to. I used to think they were overrated as well, until I actually listened to OK Computer a couple of times (and it does take a couple of times before you can get into it). And every album that they've done has been fantastic (well, aside from their debut). They can do almost any kind of music they want and I don't think I've ever heard a rock band with such versatility.
You may not like them, but to say that everyone who does think they're the best band in the world (including Spin, Pitchfork, Q, Rolling Stone and TIME), including their millions of fans, is totally wrong, while you are right, is a bit on the arrogant side.
Posts: 326 | Registered: Apr 2005
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I can't listen to much Radiohead, but I do like this one Christopher O'Reilly album called "True Love Waits," where he plays Radiohead on the piano. But it's Christopher O'Reilly, you see.
It's nice background music for when I'm kind of depressed and have no desire to leave that state. I think I'll play it if I ever decide to slit my wrists.
Posts: 8504 | Registered: Aug 1999
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quote:Well, no. I actually believe it. Radiohead is enormously overrated, and people will look back in ten years and say, "what the heck were we thinking?" Ten years after that, of course, a Radiohead tribute album will come out, mainly featuring a bunch of nu-metal bands inexplicably citing them as influences.
The first time I've ever felt like calling Tom flat-out wrong. :) I'm not going to approach the religious fervor with which Radiohead is being defended by others, because it's just a band. But still...it's kind of a neat feeling.
Radiohead has been practically magical since I first heard "Paranoid Android" on MTV. I can't explain it. They just resonate with me. I don't really care about all the reviews they get, good or bad. I don't think I've read a single one. I haven't even been around their website in ages. I just love their stuff (most of it) and I hope they stick together and write more for me to relish.
Posts: 5957 | Registered: Oct 2001
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I actively dislike Radiohead, and I am not even sure why. We only have live recordings, but it rubbed me the wrong way.
I need to try listening to it again. Sometimes, music has to be listened to in the right setting or mood. Whatever mood I was in was not a Radiohead one.
Posts: 10890 | Registered: May 2003
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Pink Floyd! I just love those guys... I would also suggest Metallica, not that they are the greatest but they were very influential
Posts: 1918 | Registered: Mar 2005
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quote:Originally posted by TL: Trying to name the best rock band is, necessarily, going to bring out a few different opinions. Opinions, not facts. Prancing into a thread and stating that such opinions are *wrong,* as if your opinion somehow matters more than the others, is not only irritating, it is maddeningly self-important and pompous.
To which I add another quote:
"These are the opinions upon which I base my facts." Winston Churchill.
posted
I could never settle on one greatest rock band so here is my list (and I am sure I am missing some) in no particular order:
Tool Radiohead (I think they are overrated, but still great) U2 The Beatles Jawbreaker At The Drive-in Metallica
Honorable mentions:
Refused for their album The Shape Of Punk To Come. Unfortunately, punk has not taken enough of that shape in the years since that album was released.
AFI if they continue in the vein of Sing The Sorrow.
The Weakerthans have some of the most poetic lyrics in rock. I strongly recommend checking them out.
And the most tragically lost potential award goes to Buddy Holly and The Crickets (All those great songs in only 3 years of recording)
Posts: 1336 | Registered: Mar 2002
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Am I the first to say something really geeky like "that layer of granite that forms Yosemite" or the Navajo sandstone of the Virgin River valley?
P.S. Apparently so.
I really liked the Bangles before they sold out. I was 15. I never really had a chance to get into Rock after that. I guess I really liked the Indigo Girls as well. And They Might be Giants, though I guess that raises the question of "what is rock."
Posts: 2010 | Registered: Apr 2003
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quote:Originally posted by adam613: I hate Radiohead.
*runs away*
Keep running!!!
Anyways, I thought I'd try to make more of a contribution than just defending Radiohead, so here are some other bands I think are at the top (or close to the top) of the rock 'n roll heap:
-Pearl Jam -Led Zeppelin -Metallica -Tool -The Rolling Stones
I have a hard time classifying The Beatles as rock. But I guess they are, for the most part, so they'd obviously be on the list, too.
Not that they'll ever be the greatest ever, but I think there are a few other bands around now that are making some pretty good music, including Audioslave, The White Stripes and Franz Ferdinand. Audioslave's second CD is very good, The Stripes have 5 good ones and Franz's debut was a good time. They're all fun rock bands, but nothing spectacular.
Posts: 326 | Registered: Apr 2005
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Oh yeah? Try playing "Sweet Home Alabama" for four years to drunk pub-goers who also seem to have enthusiastically fond memories of the song.
You know what? I know that most modern music has difficulty with the concept of using more than three chords for the body of a song, but at least they usually manage to change it around a bit. The bloody song never ever ever changes. Three chords. Played the same way. For painful minutes on end....
God I need therapy.....
Posts: 2245 | Registered: Nov 1998
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The Beatles. --- They took rock and roll and threw it into outer space. The invented modern song writing.
Best Single Bard?
James Marshall Hendrix. --- Jimi was the real King of Rock and Roll. He took rock and roll and gave it cosmic speed.
Best Modern Rock Band?
(TIE) U2/NIRVANA + <foo fighters>/Radiohead
U2 --- The have been the "perfect" family rock and roll band. You can take almost every Christian Contemporary band of the last 30 years and none have written a more inspirational song than the top 7 U2 anthems. U2 has heart and soul and is everything you could ask for in a rock and roll band. Except Danger.
NIRVANA <foo fighters> --- They captured the end of the bogus 80's and the TRAIN WRECK that the 90's would become, they arrived with honesty, passion and total energy, blowing all the fake props that has been set up as "real music". I like to add the foo fighters as the cabbose of Nirvana because Dave Grohl is as important to the songwriting as Kurt. So the songs with hope he was able to write after the suicide must be added to the list for a full total. Everlong is one of the GREATEST POP SONGS EVER WRITTEN.
Radiohead - If you don't get radiohead, I can't help you. Listen to Creep. One of the greatest songs ever written. Simple and so brutally emotionally beautiful its a song every band should aspire to create. OK COMPUTER is one of the greatest albums of ALL TIME. Exit music for a film into Let Down is about as powerful a 1-2 album punch as you can get. Oh geez. I can go on and on about why I think Radiohead is one of the greatest bands of all time.
Posts: 2752 | Registered: Feb 2001
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Hey SHA isn't my favorite skynyrd song, not by a long shot, but maybe there's a reason it has endured. They changed it up a little themselves on their acoustic albumn "Endangered Species".
Really though, instead of giving the crowd SHA, try introducting them to some of the more obscure stuff. "Coming Home" was good. "I Need You" was great. And it's hard to beat Steve Gaines intro work to "I know a little".
And I maintain that SKYNYRD rocks!
Posts: 232 | Registered: Jan 2005
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All bands mentioned are great, but it makes me realize how non mainstream my musical tastes have become. There is so very much excellent music out there, and so very little of it is on MTV.
Posts: 10890 | Registered: May 2003
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I have to create my list based on the music i was raised on, note that I am 19.
The Beatles, obviously amazing, everyone has a favorite song. The Eagles, I didn't know who they were till "Hell Freezes Over" came out, but I was in third grade. But my favorite song of theirs is one of the less famous ones "Seven Bridges Road" Jimi Hendrix, so what if he's not quite a band, I have his version of the national anthem on my computer, it's one of the most moving things ever. Janis Joplin, she's a girl! The Who, I had "pinball wizard" memorized before I memorized the witches scene from MacBeth, this is a big deal, they were both memorized before i could read. Pink Floyd The Doors, ok I don't really like Jim Morrison, but some of their songs are amazing and yeah he is folk, not rock, and a person not a band (Ketchupqueen stay quiet) Bob Dylan, one of my english teachers even said he was the best American Poet of the 20th century, i'm not sure if I can agree with that, but close
Posts: 5362 | Registered: Apr 2004
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