Rutlefan

Well, luckily I found my fifth favorite artist recently (so the final choice would not be something casual) (keeping in mind that I am young and have not had as many years to hear new music as some other members).

1. Rush

2. Oingo Boingo

3. Owl City

4. They Might Be Giants

5. Daft Punk

I should make the note that numbers two through five are always constantly changing depending on my mood (occasionally for brief moments (gasp) Rush goes down a step too! (but not for long). I simply listed Rush first (because it’s %99.9 percent of the time true) and from there listed the groups in the order I discovered them.

Damn I am Old. I have only even heard of one of these. Wonder which one? :codger:

Not surprising you don't know these groups. Though 2 and 4 have had their music appear many times in the media, and 3 and 5 have both had hits on the top 40, they are all very far and away from the stuff that most users on the forum listen to. Although I have found traces of either fandom or at least respect for all five somewhere on here, these instances are far and few between.

You have to know this,,,

 

Danny Elfman...

 

For: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BmbpdBuO83E

 

Against: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2RS0jRUwlj8

Other five favorites:

 

The Beatles

Wire

Radiohead

The Wedding Present/Cinerama

The Church

 

Honorable Mentions: Zeppelin, Tones on Tail, My Bloody Valentine, the Cocteau Twins, Nirvana, early New Order, early The Cure, The Smiths, Simon and Garfunkel, Teenage Fanclub, Alex Chilton/Big Star, XTC, The Gun Club, Swell Maps, and The Jazz Butcher Conspiracy.

And The Beatles Abbey Road, though Maxwell's Silver Hammer and Octopus's Garden arguably might disqualify it, but I'll let it slide as most other people seem to think they're fine.

 

Here's my wish regarding Abbey Road - keep either "Octopus's Garden" or a Ringo version of "Maxwell's Silver Hammer", one of them has to go, and replace the dropped song with a George song, preferably a Beatles version of "Wah-Wah". One can dream...

 

I have a similar fantasy about Wire's Send. If they had left out Nice Streets Above and Read & Burn (each too atonal industrial for my taste), and instead included I Don't Understand and Trash/Treasure (and thrown in Germ Ship to bring it up to a cassette-friendly 45 minutes -- I've always thought that every proper album should be between 42 and 45 minutes),Send would be a flawless album and a classic, as opposed to a very strong but flawed album. Of course it would have been better as well if they hadn't previewed all those song with the EPs, but little matter.

My earlier list reflected those albums I keep returning to but the other part of the question was what albums do you consider practically flawless. In my case they're not the same list, though there's some overlap. My very short list (I guess the bands I like are usually flawed) of flawless albums would be:

 

Teenage Flanclub Bandwagonesqe

Led Zeppelin IV

Nirvana Nevermind

MBV Loveless

Aerosmith Rocks

Rush Hemispheres

Wire's 154 and Change Becomes Us

And The Beatles Abbey Road, though Maxwell's Silver Hammer and Octopus's Garden arguably might disqualify it, but I'll let it slide as most other people seem to think they're fine.

 

OK Computer didn't make the list as I think the second side, though excellent by most any other standard, does not hold up nearly as as well as the 1st side, which is probably my favorite side of music, along with the 2nd side of Hemispheres.

So many awful songs, but here's five that really irritate me. In each case, the videos are even worse the song alone.

 

5. Billy Joel We Didn't Start the Fire. I don't know why there isn't more hate thrown this guy's way. If Dr. Moreau crossed a hamster and a surly, homely 14 year old, you'd get Billy Joel.

 

4. A country song about growing up in a small town. Played a lot around 2001. Never knew the title or artist, but it exemplified everything wrong with contemporary, radio-friendly, ballad country. It’s not a song, it’s a guy talking about his childhood with a country twang against a back track that starts and goes nowhere. In general, it’s a good idea to avoid any song with “small town” in the title or refrain. Same goes for "home town."

 

3. The way too self-serious Alaniss Morissette where she screams a lot. Wait, that's all of them. I guess I'm thinking of You Oughta Know; that is particularly hair-raising.

 

2. Nelly Furtado I’m Like a Bird. It’s a wonder that someone who should be so attractive can be so repellant.

 

And THE WORST SONG EVER BROADCAST, EVER:

 

1. Every Rose has It’s Thorn. “Every cowboy sings a sad, sad song.” Indeed, I did not know that. Thank you reality show loser guy for channeling your inner cowboy to bring me that insight.

For years Wire and The Beatles were the the unassailable bands at the top of (my) pyramid; nothing else was remotely close, as much as I loved many other bands. Colin Newman was/is the John Lennon of post/art-punk (with apologies to Howard DeVoto, Mark Smith, Joe Strummer, etc). I had all the singles and offshoots/solo projects. I still have old cassette mixes that were made up of alternating groups of Beatles and Wire songs (early Beatles mixed with early Wire; psychedelic Beatles mixed with '80s Wire and offshoots). Then OK Computer arrived and since my favorites have been comprised of the trinity of Beatles, Wire, and Radiohead, just as classic Rush, Zeppelin and early Aerosmith made of the trinity of my youth.

 

It's nice to find a mutual Colin Newman fan. I love his solo albums. Commercial Suicide belongs on my list, it's so sparse and ethereal. He's a big Beatles fan, by the way.

 

I love all his solo stuff (incl Githead) but I agree that Commercial Suicide is special. As well, apart from the music, he seems like such a gentleman. An odd compliment in the world of pop music, but true all the same. And Malka Spigel has it all over Yoko (of course).

 

Speaking of Malka, I had even collected the stuff he produced, like Minimal Compact and The Virgin Prunes.

Top 10 "FM" songs. Brilliant! It's easy to mention my top 10 songs, but RADIO songs? Hmmm, I didn't listen to most of the groups that had radio songs (nothing says "fun" like '80s radio music; just thinking of Cindy Lauper brightens my day), but ok, here it goes, the countdown to #1:

 

10. The Romantics' What I Like About You

 

9. Jane's Addictions' Jane Says

 

8. U2's Pride (In the Name of Love)

 

7. The Cars' Since Your Gone

 

6. Blondie's Call Me (Heart of Glass was the previous decade, otherwise...)

 

5. The Police's Invisible Sun (The Police could fill this list, and I can't stand Sting)

 

4. Kim Carnes' Betty Davis Eyes

 

3. The Cult's She Sells Sanctuary

 

2. The Smiths' How Soon is Now

 

1. Violent Femme's Blister in the Sun

 

Unfortunately for this list, The Clash's Train in Vain and Gary Numan's Cars just missed the decade. And like The Police, The Pretenders could also fill this list, but there's only so much room.

For years Wire and The Beatles were the the unassailable bands at the top of (my) pyramid; nothing else was remotely close, as much as I loved many other bands. Colin Newman was/is the John Lennon of post/art-punk (with apologies to Howard DeVoto, Mark Smith, Joe Strummer, etc). I had all the singles and offshoots/solo projects. I still have old cassette mixes that were made up of alternating groups of Beatles and Wire songs (early Beatles mixed with early Wire; psychedelic Beatles mixed with '80s Wire and offshoots). Then OK Computer arrived and since my favorites have been comprised of the trinity of Beatles, Wire, and Radiohead, just as classic Rush, Zeppelin and early Aerosmith made of the trinity of my youth.

Permanent Waves -- Buy

 

Power Windows -- Pass (which I did)

So many albums I love but I'll limit to those that feel like they were made for me. In no particular order:

 

RUSH -- A Farewell to Kings (mainly b/c of Xanadu) and Hemispheres; maybe I would have been a more normal jr. high kid if I hadn't spent so much time listening to these albums.

 

WIRE -- 154 and Change Becomes Us (the definitive post-punk/art-punk classic now joined by its just-as-amazing sequel; Radiohead's been called "Punk Floyd," but Wire carried the title first)

 

TONES ON TAIL -- The Album Pop (while this has many elements that make great albums from the '80s sound dated, the opening bars of Twist still hypnotize me, and Rain is still amazing)

 

THE CHURCH -- After Everything Now This (with its b-sides from Parallel Universe, a moody, atmospheric Floyd-esque collection)

 

THE JAZZ BUTCHER -- The Cult of the Basement (the best band no one's heard of; check out Mr. Odd)

 

CINERAMA -- Torino (produced by Steve Albini, to great effect; check out Starry Eyed and Quick, Before it Melts)

 

(And albums which need no introduction:)

 

RADIOHEAD -- OK Computer

 

MY BLOODY VALENTINE -- Loveless

 

NIRVANA -- Nevermind

A simpler argument: Ramble On, That's the Way, Over the Hills and Far Away, Ten Years Gone, and so many others.

BTW, I realize that Pink Floyd, The Who, and some other legendary bands were larger than life as well (that seemed more prevalent before videos made verything a little more mundane and accessible), but Zeppelin was THE larger than life band, the one that towered above all others.

Here's one more unscientific argument for the greatness of Led Zeppelin. Whether you like them or not, they were the larger-than-life band of their era. A few years ago I was having dinner with a couple friends who don't share my musical interests, and when I realized that they didn't know who is Radiohead I told them simply that Radiohead is the best band in the world. Not surprisingly, they asked for evidence. What hits do they have? Does my 10 year old daughter know who they are (probably not)? Who's the singer and why haven't I heard of him? Etc. I didn't have a good answer at the time (Karma Police doesn't count as a hit for them, and Creep isn't really indicative of what eventually made them the best band of their era), but thinking back on it I should have said that though you or your children haven't heard of them, and though you wouldn't recognize any of their songs, they are the best band in the world because they are the Larger than Life band. From '97 through about 2002, Radiohead was the band whose new releases were received by that people in the know (the editors of Spin and the like-minded) with a reverant hush; the first listen was held with the solemnity of an Eastern Orthodox liturgy (that's pretty solemn from what I understand). Well, that was Led Zeppelin in the '70's. Deserved or not, they were on a different plane from everyone else; not in that they were the best musicians, or had the best songs, or the coolest songs, but it all went together in some mysterious way that made my adolescent brain worship them like they were demigods or aliens; whatever they were, they were different, bigger, and better than us mortals. Than came John Bonham's death and new wave, and then The Clash became the Larger Than Life band, but Zeppelin held the title for the better part of a decade, and is still arguably the greatest rock band ever (as we're arguing over now).

 

I can perfectly understand why people don't like them, or even hate them. Personally, I find their live performances difficult to listen to or watch, Jimmy Page gives me the creeps, their manager Peter Grant seems like one of the most noxious human beings to ever be forced on the public, and early LZ could be so over the top with the image that they almost become a Spinal Tap-esque parody of themselves. But, they have some mystical quality that no one can touch. Copy cats never get it right because they assume LZ was mainly a hard rock band. They were that, often, but besides the derivative blues they played early on, they had that acoustic side which was stunning, pre-dating Unplugged by twenty years, and of course the Eastern mystical space alien time traveller music of Kashmir, Four Sticks, Achilles Last Stand, etc. The way they blended it all into a signature sound is unparalleled IMO. Eclectic, thy name is Led Zeppelin. Jimmy, you're a weirdo, but you are the most f-g amazing arranger and producer. Maybe you were channeling Alister Crowley or whatever, because your music was simply not of this earth.

 

In short, LZ is bigger than their music (which I think is awesome, almost without exception), and certainly way bigger than their stage presence. They were, and maybe are, the ultimate Larger Than Life band. We could use one of those now (Radiohead was the last one, IMO, before becoming the Thom York project).

I love Shoegaze and so know most of those bands, whereas I hardly know anything from the post-rock group. I'll have to check it out, thanks.

 

This is a track from a band one would not normally associate with either shoegaze or post-rock, but check this out (2005)...

 

REM's Murmur. Sounded like completely uninspiring, monochromatic, mumbling jangle rock to me when I first heard it. Then I saw them open up for The Police and decided to give it another try. Put it on the flip side of a cassette with Big Country's The Crossing. Because I loved The Crossing, I'd kind of be forced to listen to Murmur as well, and eventually came to love it. That tape, along with one that had with P-Furs Talk Talk Talk and Forever Now, was the backbone of my high school senior year car music listenting (a tape with Dire Strait's Making Movies and Love Over Gold was also in that mix).

Funny as I just discovered this band (I'd heard the name before but it didn't mean anything to me) because I stuck my How the West was Won CDs in my minivan's CD player only to find that the 2nd disc listed the 3rd disc's track order, and the 3rd disc listed the tracks from a Sigur Ros album. WTF? Anyone else have this issue? If it's a bumbled bootleg, it still sounds good enough I guess, but I expected better from professional criminals!

 

Anyway, I checked out SR on YouTube and they are fantastic. I started with Brennisteinnand went from there. Absolutely love it. Back in the day, I had to listen to entire Skinny Puppy album to hear as much good stuff as you can hear in 30 seconds of SR.

 

A lot of what I heard reminded me of these guys. I guess they both belong to this "post-rock" genre. I'll have to check out more bands.

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V2lA7Oyv864

 

God is an Astronaut "Fragile"

Close call between With a Little Help... and Don't Pass Me By, but I'll go with the first as it reminds of a true classic, Barry Wom's Rendezvouz (as immortalized on The Rutles' Archeology).

I don't know several of these bands, but most I do know, unfortunately, and without exception I heartedly endorse their inclusion on any list that uses the word "hate."

 

Re the Nirvana argument, I'm a pro-Nirvana guy and I don't even like the Seattle grunge thing much, apart from Nirvana. I resisted the allure because of all the hype until hearing Nevermind from front to back in a sailor's bar in Japan (maybe the environment had an influence). I remember thinking when I heard "Come as You Are" that it is the same note progression as "Eighties" by Killing Joke, and then thinking by mid-album that these guys are in a whole different universe than Killing Joke, or most any other band at the time (yet Killing Joke did successfully pursue compensation, a la He's So Fine/My Sweet Lord). Come As you Are, Drain You, Lounge Act, etc. the song writing is fantastic. And unlike other grunge artistes, Cobain wasn't some angst-ridden posuer; he really was f-ed up, and like Patti Smith and others, I can appreciate that authenticity in an artist that peddles angst (though I wouldn't recommend that to anyone, and it's nothing to glorify; it's a steep price to pay for art, obviously). For those who love the soft-loud-soft-really loud patterns of The Pixies or the The Wedding Present, Nirvana hist the sweet spot (no surprise that Steve Albini produced all three). Definitely deserves his status, whatever that exactly is.

 

Pretty much 80% of my music listening in 1992 was My Bloody Valentine's Loveless and Nirvana's Nevermind, with the other 20% being Teenage Fanclub's Bandwagonesque. That was a mighty fine year.

Not a very original offering as this is a Rush forum, but despite appreciating many live albums, ATWAS still remains my favorite.

Magic Bullet by Wire ... "Out of my depth, over my head..."

Growing up in the midwest I saw several bands that I'd have rather not seen but saw because all the other 8th graders were going (like Air Supply; the memory is evil). The first band I saw that I wanted to see was Big Country, after I moved to the East Coast. Saw them on their first album tour. Blew me away. The musicianship was amazing; they're still the band that I've seen whose live material was the most faithful to the album material. I still love their early releases.

 

"AC/DC on the For Those About to Rock tour at the Boston Garden. I was pretty sure the cannons were going to make the rickety old building collapse."

 

My first arena concert was also AC/DC For Those About to Rock, at The Capital Centre outside D.C., cannons and all. I wasn't even that close to the stage and my ears buzzed the entire next day through school.

Like that you included the 13th Floor Elevators. Roky was a great writer. Where the Pyramid Meets the Eye: A Tribute to Roky Erickson is probably my favorite tribute album.

If I had to name only one, the guitar "solo" (or whatever you call these brief, hypnotic Alex guitar parts) between III. DIONYSUS: BRINGER OF LOVE and IV. ARMAGEDDON: THE BATTLE OF HEART AND MIND, right before Geddy sings "The Universe divided as the Heart and Mind collided..." has always been my favorite Rush moment since I first heard it.

 

Others: the beginning of VI. Soliloquy (the melancholy guitar and the opening lines "The sleep is still in my eyes

The dream is still in my head"); nearly all of Xanadu; the instrumental portions of Circumstances and Trees, and the middle Alex-centric part of La Villa Strangiato; the opening of TSoR; the "wheels within wheels" part of Natural Science (the first time it appears, esp the extended one from Different Stages); nearly all of Red Barchetta and Limelight's guitar solo. I'm still learning their later stuff but I like a lot of moments from Vapor Trails and I love the guitar work on S&A's A Larger Bowl.

 

Recalled two more runner ups: Lakeside Park and In The End from All the World's A Stage. As a Zep-obsessed 6th grader, these were cosmic bombshells. The haunting, echo-ey auditorium effects transfigured those songs. Of course the studio versions are great as well, esp In the End.

If I had to name only one, the guitar "solo" (or whatever you call these brief, hypnotic Alex guitar parts) between III. DIONYSUS: BRINGER OF LOVE and IV. ARMAGEDDON: THE BATTLE OF HEART AND MIND, right before Geddy sings "The Universe divided as the Heart and Mind collided..." has always been my favorite Rush moment since I first heard it.

 

Others: the beginning of VI. Soliloquy (the melancholy guitar and the opening lines "The sleep is still in my eyes

The dream is still in my head"); nearly all of Xanadu; the instrumental portions of Circumstances and Trees, and the middle Alex-centric part of La Villa Strangiato; the opening of TSoR; the "wheels within wheels" part of Natural Science (the first time it appears, esp the extended one from Different Stages); nearly all of Red Barchetta and Limelight's guitar solo. I'm still learning their later stuff but I like a lot of moments from Vapor Trails and I love the guitar work on S&A's A Larger Bowl.

have been listening to the old CD mixes I had made. I never wrote down the songs so I don't know what's coming with each one. This morning I burned the following on to my minivan's hard drive. I had titled it "Acoustic Mix" and it turned out to be really fantastic (not all my past mixes are good; sometimes I wonder what I was thinking):

 

Beck – The Golden Age

Beck – Nobody’s Fault But My Own

Radiohead – Karma Police

REM – Half a World Away

Led Zeppelin – That’s the Way

Led Zeppelin – Bron-Yr-Aur

Pink Floyd – Fearless

Pink Floyd – Wish You Were Here

Yes – And You and I

Page/Plant – Wonderful One

The Kinks – See My Friends (from the To The Bone live album)

Marty Willson-Piper (of The Church) – Say

The Church – Under the Milky Way (don’t know why I included this; I love The Church but you can’t walk into Bed, Bath and Beyond without hearing this at least once)

Peter Gabriel – Solsbury Hill

Supertramp – Give a Little Bit

The Beatles – Across the Universe (Take 2 from Anthology).

The Smiths – Please Please Please Let Me Get What I Want