Malignant Narcissist

Like Queen, Like Devin, Like the Jazz album but not heard Empath. 4 talented individuals vs 1 talented individual. Hmmm. On sheer output alone Devin should win. Abstaining.

Whilst the basis of most of VHs songs may be unsophisticated, his guitar playing certainly was not. Let's face it, Van Halen's music is 99.9% Eddie's music I would assume. No disrespect to the rest of the band but I believe it was basically about him. Dave Lee Roth's role was mainly about his personality and stage presence (and high kicks!). Whereas Becker and Fagen, I believe, crafted their music carefully in the studio with a host of session musicians often chopping and changing their and other's pieces of music. Whereas Eddie, in particular, and especially on the 1st album, played most of his stuff 'live' in the studio I believe. Minimal overdubs....maybe. Basically Eddie Vs Becker and Fagan (+ Session musicians). PS:- for some reason, I thought the Steely Dan name was taken from a comic book character but now I reading that it came from a William Burroughs book about a particular controversial(?) device!!! :eh:

Cold Skin Well acted and good looking movie but the story was just ok ultimately.

This is a chalk n cheese question for crying out loud!! I actually love both bands but they appeal to a completely different state of mind. Actually, due to the fact that I only have several SD albums, including Aja which is a masterpiece, and got into Dan via a Best of only, then I have to tip my vote to Eddie and Dave's high-(finger and dance (see DLR)!!)-tapping, high-kicking in yer face show which inspired a million other metal bands (some of which we wished they hadn't!!) mainly because I have everything by Van Halen and therefore pretty much know all their catalogue (although Balance is a bit hazy to me I admit!). Also because they apparently blew away Black Sabbath when they supported them, according to an older friend who saw the gig. And because Eddie was one of Zappa's favourite guitarists - he actually thanked him for getting guitar-playing out of the doldrums (paraphrased) of the time. But it's really a case of do you want high-octane, blistering-guitar-playing rock with all the squeals and effects only Hendrix could dream of or do you want sophisticated, cool New York jazz-rock (or whatever it is)? Depends on your state of mind at the time.... Like I said, they're both ace for different reasons.

No, it's really not bad and actually quite good, I'd say.

It's interesting because he seemed to keep his ear to the ground ( so to speak) of what was happening in music, film and art etc so it shows in how his music evolved. I heard that Blackstar was quite interesting and his friend Tony Visconti, if I heard correctly, was saying in some interview that Bowie knew it would be his last album. I haven't heard the album yet. I also quite like Low, Earthling and 1.Outside which showcase various different sides to him. The less said about Tin Machine though the better.

Just arrived on the thread!! As much as I love Rush, Zeppelin take the vote.To be honest, in my opinion these Zeppelin albums are the best first 6 than any other band who have ever existed. For me pretty predictable. Sorry!! If I may paraphrase - to be honest, in my opinion Van Halen`s albums are the best first 6 than any other band who have ever existed. Led Zap, Black Sabbath (see earlier quote) and Van Halen all created brilliant and influential albums. As did Rush. I know only Led Zep 1 to 4 and I know 2 and 4 are immense. I have probably heard the later albums briefly. I even have Physical Graffiti on vinyl but that's stored away and wasn't played too much for whatever reason. I love Led Zep 1 too and 3 is ok but not quite in the same league as the others. Can't really compare with Rush though because even though Led Zep influenced them, Rush moved away from this into more progressive waters via Yes etc. I wasn't going to vote but thinking about, Led Zep basically hit the ground running via Jimmy Page's groundwork (I believe) and being an accomplished session guitarist whereas Rush peaked later, many would argue (or maybe were developing would be a more appropriate phrase here). So Rush's curve of development was a bit different to LZ's. Led had a steep incline up at the beginning and Rush were steadily rising. I love all the Rush albums but 2112 onwards were where things were getting really interesting but Led had hit their peak from 2 onwards and didn't come down until post-these 6 albums (maybe Coda but I'm not overly-familiar with the later ones). So Led Zep trump Rush because the development of both bands was different.

Just arrived on the thread!! As much as I love Rush, Zeppelin take the vote.To be honest, in my opinion these Zeppelin albums are the best first 6 than any other band who have ever existed. For me pretty predictable. Sorry!! If I may paraphrase - to be honest, in my opinion Van Halen`s albums are the best first 6 than any other band who have ever existed. Led Zap, Black Sabbath (see earlier quote) and Van Halen all created brilliant and influential albums. As did Rush. I know only Led Zep 1 to 4 and I know 2 and 4 are immense. I have probably heard the later albums briefly. I even have Physical Graffiti on vinyl but that's stored away and wasn't played too much for whatever reason. I love Led Zep 1 too and 3 is ok but not quite in the same league as the others. Can't really compare with Rush though because even though Led Zep influenced them, Rush moved away from this into more progressive waters via Yes etc.

Wonder what Zepphead's going to say? (Or rather, I'm pretty sure I know what he's going to say)

I'm probably skewing things by not having heard all of his albums but Ziggy is the best of the bunch that I have heard. And it's one of Mike Portnoy's fave ever albums so I'm in good company!

Dunno' cos I fookin' luv it. I wonder the same thing. But obviously Rush fans come in all shapes and sizes, preferences-wise.

Brilliant as it is, it's not their best for me. I do like Circumstances and The Trees but they let the side down a bit compared to other albums in that 70s-80s era. I know some see The Trees as a monster track but I didn't like it on 1st listen. Like it a lot now. The kind-of-similar format was done better, imo, on the the title track to AFTK.

Superconductor - a true marmite song if there was ever one according to the feedback on some this forum. Oh, and I thought Neurotica was ok too! Red Tide Countdown Middletown dreams and Grand Designs are my favourites off Power Windows which seems to be at odds with everyone else. Kid Gloves and Afterimage Half the World is ok Armor and Sword, and, Workin' them Angels Peaceable Kingdom and Secret Touch And I prefer Different Strings over Freewill and Entre Nous (although I love the whole album). I know, I know, I should be ostracized for such behaviour!

Difficult one this. UFO circa Strangers in the Night is them at their peak. Mainly due to Rudolf's little brother's brilliance. I like Phil Mogg too although he's not in Dio's league. Scorps have been relatively solid all throughout though Roth-Scorps was good. Jabs-onwards was good, especially around Blackout which is probably my favourite Scorps albums and rivals UFOs best imo. However, UFO seemed to become stale over the years and have been just ok whereas Scorps have kept the quality up generally throughout. So Scorps for longevity. But UFO Schenker era is brilliant.

The wrong is strong in this post.... Wow, I'm agreeing with you! :o ;) I don't remember having a disagreement with you?..... No disagreement as such, I'm only joking. It's only a few times you've been quite positive in your dislike of the odd tune which I've liked. See hl water's album ranking thread - where very few people seem to agree on all the tracks all of the time.

The wrong is strong in this post.... Wow, I'm agreeing with you! :o ;)

As I have a 2nd hand car that still has a CD player, I can and do still play CDs. I have a usb port that I must try but have never got around to using it. Must try it some time.... But as to what CDs I have in the car:- all sorts and probably too many! I cycle round the favourites of the moment such as the Rush, Van Halen, Tea Party, Black Sabbath etc whatever I'm loving or trying to play on the guitar. But I also like a bargain at the charity shop and have bought a few CDs from artists I've heard about but never really heard - so I've got things from KT Tunstall, Blinkin Park, Green Day, Gerry Mullgan, World Music Variety CD etc etc and I usually have a stack of these bursting out of the parcel shelf or under the passenger seat. Which really annoys the wife when I drive her anywhere (she normally takes the bus to work).

Yeah they weren't innovative but what they did, they did well. When they settled on their heads-down boogie hard rock n roll, they did it well in the early to mid period. Maybe ploughed that Georgia Satellites/Creedence kind of furrow musically speaking. Bit with a bit of Brit humour and perspective. It wasn't sophisticated per se but they did it well and Francis Rossi seemed a reasonably good lead guitarist. And he, Rick Parfitt and the original Alan Lancaster came up with some good tunes at times and were reasonably good singers. The Live 77 period album is probably highlighting them at their best. Big Fat Mama and Just Take Me are, to me, examples of them at their early high-energy best before the 'hit' period. They had some catchy hits after that but lost their songwriting edge later on and became a bit boring. Not sure what the later albums were like.

See, for me, OU812, was the pinnacle of the Van Hagar period. And I'm focusing on the music rather than the vocals per se. 5150 had it's moments but was tainted by the poppy Why Can't This Be love. (You're right, John Peel, Van Halen imitating Buck Fizz indeed). Then OU812 came along and had some great EVH guitar and riffing. The hard-rocking side of VH was back! Cabo Wabo, Black n blue, AFU, Source of Infection - all hard, dirty VH much like the Roth period. Finish what you started was a little of that VH sound experimentation that we've got to hear over the Roth years and had a good riff. When It's Love was one of their best 'Radio' hits without sounding sell-out. And the seemingly obligatory keyboard foray for Eddie in Mine all Mine sounded mean as well. For me, this was much more like it. Closer to the Roth sounding days of fun, hard-rocking, dirty-brown-sounding VH. 5150 was more polished but still had a bit of grit to it occasionally. But For Unlawful.. was good but was too polished and radio-friendly for me. They were moving more into a mainstream Hagar sound. I liked most of the stuff but it was starting to lose that edge and some of the songs were starting to sound a bit bland. I only have 1 Hagar solo album, I never said goodbye, on LP which I haven't heard for a few years and I remember it being quite good but still safe-sounding mainstream rock. But some odd stuff I've heard from him seemed very AOR at times. So yeah, f**k was ok and Balance wasn't bad either but even more safe sounding. Give me OU812 and 5150 any day (minus Why can't this be love!).

The recent On the Rocks was good. Great lines from him.

For some reason I read Destroyer which is one of my favourite Kiss albums whereas Dynasty is definitely not. Only know the Bowie album a little bit but the songs I have heard are pretty good. Ziggy's my favourite from Bowie although he's done nearly a million albums and I've only heard a few. Had a passing listen to his later ones and some sound quite good. But some of the other's I've heard are not up to much. Kiss have had their highs and lows too. Dressed to Kill is pretty good as well as Creatures of the Night. But sophisticated they aint. And Bowie wins hands down for integrity. Although Kiss (at Gene Simmons' hand) win hands down for selling out :D at every possible opportunity and being in a decent Scooby Doo film!. I've enjoyed Kiss's best music more than Bowie's best so I'll be the lone wolf cheering them on. Just for a larf. Plus they took a fledgling Rush on tour with them so they get some small kudos for that too.

1979 - Sleep Dirt - Frank Zappa

Sorry, couldn't keep it to 30 :doh: Living Colour – Vivid ACDC - Powerage Alice in Chains - FaceLift Anita Baker - Rapture Black Sabbath - Mob Rules Bruce Cockburn - Dancing in the Dragon's Jaws Devin Townsend - Epicloud - Dream Theater - Awake Frank Zappa - Make a jazz noise here Genesis - Selling England by the pound Iron Maiden - Killers It Bites - Once around the world Jane's Addiction - Nothing's Shocking Jeff Buckley - Grace Jethro Tull - Thick as a Brick Joe Satriani - Flying in a blue dream King's X - Out of the Silent Planet Kyuss - Welcome to Sky Valley Live - The Distance Manic Street Preachers - Gold against the soul Mary My Hope - Museum Masters of Reality - Blue Garden Metallica - Master of Puppets Montrose - Montrose Nick Cave - Abattoir Blues / The Lyre of Orpheus Opeth - Blackwater park Pixies - Surfer Rosa Prince - Around the world in a day Queen - Jazz Queensryche - Operation Mindcrime Radiohead - The Bends Rainbow - Long live rock n roll Red Hot Chilli Peppers - Uplift Mofo Party Plan REM - Green Rush - Permenant Waves Savatage - Gutter Ballet Scorpions - Blackout Screaming Trees - Sweet Oblivion Soundgarden - Louder than love Status Quo - Blue for you Steely Dan - Aja Steve Winwood - Arc of a diver Suede - Suede Sword - Sweet Dreams Talking Heads - Remain in Light The Blue Aeroplanes The Tea Party - The Edge of Twilight Tom Petty - Full Moon fever UFO - Lights out Van Halen - 2 Whitesnake - Come n get it ZZ Top - Tejas

It is amazing how varied the member's preferences are. We really are all hearing things very differently. Good thing we all agree on Rush!

They just rode the wave of 'they are the next best thing' with reasonably ok 1st 2 albums and kept the publicity going with the chav-y, laddish type attitude. Especially the 2 brothers, Noel and Liam, who were fighting amongst themselves, or rather, Liam was fighting everyone. They had a bit of a public feud with the other popular band at the time, Blur, who were a bit more of an arty, middle-class version of that UK-Britpop-rock kindofthing or whatever you want to call it. That also kept them in the public eye for a while. But Liam was slagging everyone off, and probably still does. I get the feeling he's a complete w**ker (or overwrite with relevant, colourful adjective that hits the spot in your part of the world) and Noel is the level-headed, reasonable one albeit a bit outspoken. Noel was the main songwriter and Liam was 'just' the leery frontman.