Depends on the critics. Pitchfork is too "cool" for some bands, and other albums are too "cool" for critics. Logic fails me when I try to think of why.
☺☻☺☻☺☻☺☻☺☻☺☻☺ Go Liminal State Bobcats!
Posts: 1071 | Location: Back, after an eternal hiatus | Registered: 24 April 2007
Which, of course, begs the age old question of whether you can love the artwork while hating the artist?
I don't really like the habits and mentality of rappers, but I like some rap songs. I don't consume drugs and I don't want to see people buy or sell drugs, but I'm sure that a lot of artists take drugs and I won't stop listening music because of that. I don't really care about the artists personnalities too. Great music is great music.
As a former musician, There are a few bands out there that I just cant gfigure out why they never made it while so many crap bands did. One is Thin Lizzy. They practically invented the dual guitar solo, but with onme major hit and a few minor hits, that was it. A tribute tio what they accopmlished is how many bands have covered their songs and even now, their music is used in many comercials. Such a shame, Another band of the late 80's that never made it was Enuff Z;Nuff. God, what a great band, even though they came from the hair band era, loved the singers voice, their sense of melody was awesome, much better than a slew of other hair bands from their time. New Thing is probably my favorite song of the 1980's. This band deserved better. And one from my past. there was a band out of Florida in teh early 70's called White Witch. This band not making it was the biggest travesty of the rock music era. The lead singeer literally could sound like ANYONE, you can hear The Beatles, David Bowie, Deep Purple, and a host of other influences, but they still dont sound like those bands. They were a bit kooky, eclectic, but rocked the house, played several styles from song to song, perhaps that may be the reason they didnt make it was they just didnt sound lika anyone else at the time, they refused to fit into any genre. But gotta tell ya, if you have a chance to listen to one of their two released albums, just remember the time they were released and you certainly wont be disappointed. Just a waste of a mega talent that they just werent given great representation by their record company. Thay could have been HUGE!
Originally posted by Ish: You're young, right? At the risk of sounding arrogant, I think you will come to love songs from all genres in time.
Sorry for bringing up something that was said on the previous page and is slightly off topic, but I think that it is quite reasonable for someone to say that he or she does not like an entire genre. Personally, I tend to subscribe to the Duke Ellington adage, but I can at least understand why someone would dismiss an entire genre- each person values different things in music, and if the things that this person values most in music are eschewed by the artists of an entire genre, then I think it's not totally unreasonable for someone to dismiss the entire genre.
For example, the two things that I value most in music are melody and harmony(the chords and the chord progressions)- two things that are generally not valued by rap artists. I would feel quite comfortable telling someone that I do not like rap.
Originally posted by mark f: Jailbreak is an exemplary album for its genre. The question is: what is its genre? It seems to be hard rock, rock 'n'roll, pop-rock, British rock, album rock, etc. I believe genres have their place, but sometimes (most of the time), the music speaks for itself. Fuck genres, just show me the Music!
The weird thing for me was that I always enjoyed Jailbreak, but then I learned that one of my fave bands, the Undertones, hated touring with Thin Lizzy. I'm guessing it was a case of lack of respect, but it didn't turn me off either band, although it made it clear that music should be disassociated from personalities and/or blind hatreds.
Jailbreak is widely admired by critics now. And when it came out, the single "The Boys Are Back in Town" topped NME's singles of the year list.
Originally posted by Ish: Uriah Heep (early)-eg. Magician's birthday Asia- Asia The Sweet- Singles Toto- Toto/ 4 Jim Croce- Best of Gary Glitter- best of Don McLean- Best of Air Supply- Best Of Foreigner- Best Of Hall & Oates- Best Of Ronnie James Dio-The ELF albums Slade- Singles
The reason none of these are mentioned in Top Albums lists is easy, they're all "easy listening" sleepers and moldy penis rock. Don McLean is terribly overrates, Slade's biggest hit was being covered by Quiet Riot, Hall & Oates and Air Supply are for 40+ women only, and Uriah Heep, Toto, Asia, and The Sweet have not aged well. Gary Glitter's sexual deviance, as pointed out, is well known. I love Foreigner, but I'd never rank them on any list. However, you do make a good point with the "bad album bands" thing. Steppenwolf never made a really solid album, but their greatest hits are amazing to this day.
quote:
Originally posted by Ish: Thin Lizzy- Jailbreak Alan Parsons Project- any of the first 7 Blue Oyster Cult- Tyranny & Mutation or a compilation Free- Fire & Water/ best of
Yeah, I can see that. Thin Lizzy and BOC's select major hits still make the rounds, but they've definitely been ignored. I'd also put most of John Sebastian, The Moody Blues, Richie Havens, and J.J. Cale's catalog in there too.
I think the problem you're running into there is most critics these days are 30 years old and could give a rat's ass about anything older than they can remember. You're gonna start to see The Beatles sliding down the all time lists pretty soon, and Britney Spears start climbing. It's all going downhill.
________________________________________________________ "The music business is a cruel and shallow money trench, a long plastic hallway where thieves and pimps run free, and good men die like dogs. There's also a negative side." - Hunter S. Thompson tinymixtapes.com / The Skinny / PopMatters
Not sure about Britney's ascent into the rock critic pantheon anytime soon, but I agree with your reasoning regarding rock critics' age and how it influences their all-time great lists.
Originally posted by Ish: You're young, right? At the risk of sounding arrogant, I think you will come to love songs from all genres in time.
I dunno... from my experience, most people become less likely to explore musically as they age.
But I have to say that I agree with Hophead... I have heard a great deal of critically acclaimed hip hop and it really isn't for me. I do like a few songs from the new Lupe Fiasco, though.
I have no problem with people claiming they dislike a certain genre. We Norwegians are bloodthirsty vikings who burn churches and listen to black metal, but I understand it's not for everybody
I'm not too much into hip hop myself. Neither do I like turbofolk for that matter...
Lp, DimsiRupsi
Posts: 87 | Location: Ljubljana/Oslo/Tønsberg | Registered: 16 April 2007
Not to get involved in discussion on some of these 70s bands but back to bands getting excluded off lists...I've always felt after you get past the first tier of populist all time greats - the Beatles, Stones, Led Zeppelin, Hendrix, Dylan, Springsteen, U2 types...and the artsy/politco sides all-time favorities...Velvet Underground, Stooges, Radiohead, Captain Beefheart, The Clash etc...the bands and albums that stay on these top 100 lists over the decades are the polarizers...often ones with smaller but more fervent and dedicated fan bases...Consistenly excellent but less polarizing artists tend to get slighted, or the generartional landmarks (Sgt Peppers, Nevermind)...Albums/Artists that were excellent but neither polarizing or of their moment, in both the mainstream side (The Kinks) or more expiremental side (Brian Eno), are the ones that alway tend to get slighted...Most of these polls only ask respondents for their top tens...Something Else by the Kinks or Another Green World would make hardly anybodies top ten list...but if respondents were asked to give their all time top 50, these albums would score substantial higher than they do in these "give us your top ten" polls.
Of the top of my head, here are some of the very best forgetten gems of eras gone by.
Something Else by the Kinks & Village Green Preservation Society - The Kinks
Mott - Mott The Hoople
Safe as Milk - Captain Beefheart - His far more accessible, blues-crazed debut. One of my all time favorite albums.
Moby Grape - s/t
Forever Changes - Love (this still scores reasonably well, but should score better -easily one of the 25 greatest of all time)
Layla, & other assorted Love Songs - Derek and the Dominos
Golden Filth - The Fugs - Live renditions of all the best material from rocks first and best Pornographic Band.
The 12 Dreams of Dr. Sardonicus - Spirit
The Band - s/t
Another Green World, Taking Tiger Mountain by Stategy, Here Come the Warm Jets - Brian Eno
Lodger - David Bowie
The Lonesome Jubilee - John Mellencamp (seriously, Mellencamp had a brief roots period in mid-eighties where he was anything but the media creation joke he started out as).
AWB - Average White Band - One of discos landmark albums...all but forgotten.
Some Friendly - Charlatan UK - After Stone Roses debut, this was the very best the late 80s Manchester psychedelic Rave scene had to offer.
Willy and the Poor Boys - Creedence Clearwater Revivial - Easily their best.
Originally posted by Illiniq: AWB - Average White Band - One of discos landmark albums...all but forgotten.
I just bought this on vinyl for $4 CDN.
________________________________________________________ "The music business is a cruel and shallow money trench, a long plastic hallway where thieves and pimps run free, and good men die like dogs. There's also a negative side." - Hunter S. Thompson tinymixtapes.com / The Skinny / PopMatters
I found Josh Wink's Hear Hear for $2 on vinyl at Rasputin when I was in San Fran a few weeks ago, also a terribly underrated record. Got a lot of great picks from Amoeba too.
________________________________________________________ "The music business is a cruel and shallow money trench, a long plastic hallway where thieves and pimps run free, and good men die like dogs. There's also a negative side." - Hunter S. Thompson tinymixtapes.com / The Skinny / PopMatters
Originally posted by kendocubano: Which, of course, begs the age old question of whether you can love the artwork while hating the artist?
What if Hitler were in a totally awesome band? It was, like, indie heaven! And the songs were totally cool. No weird or unpleasant messages. Would you be allowed to like it?
What instrument would Hitler play?
I see him as a goth keyboardist. Way too intense and heavy.
Posts: 36 | Location: Philadelphia | Registered: 24 March 2005
Originally posted by kendocubano: Which, of course, begs the age old question of whether you can love the artwork while hating the artist?
What if Hitler were in a totally awesome band? It was, like, indie heaven! And the songs were totally cool. No weird or unpleasant messages. Would you be allowed to like it?
What instrument would Hitler play?
I see him as a goth keyboardist. Way too intense and heavy.
I think he would be a glam-rock singer playing the tambourine. Lots of makeup and sequins.
Posts: 519 | Location: kentucky | Registered: 02 October 2007
I love the Brian Jonestown Massacre, but I think Anton Newcombe should kill himself. He's always been a complete prick to everyone he's ever met, but their last album blew ass, so there's no reason for him to exist any more.
________________________________________________________ "The music business is a cruel and shallow money trench, a long plastic hallway where thieves and pimps run free, and good men die like dogs. There's also a negative side." - Hunter S. Thompson tinymixtapes.com / The Skinny / PopMatters
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