Well, I basically need a starting point for british rock other than the usual Beatles and Stones, so anything you can add would be great!

I'm looking for jazzy hip-hop with social conscious lyrics (with little to no cussing). There was a great v/a comp called Impeach The Precedent a couple years back that was something like what I want. I'm not sure if the tracks on that album really represented what the artist's albums were like.

The only real gap in my collection remains mostly anything Metal and I welcome any way into it that anyone can suggest.

I did not have much time for things reggae in my past but more recently people pointed me to dub/roots wonders from the 70s/80s (lee perry, King tubby etc) and I have been happily exploring ever since.

But metal has just not washed with me. It veers between boring, irritating, hilarious and often all of the above at once. Especially the preoccupation with violence, dismemberment, satanism etc - I am no Christian or moralist, I was raised an atheist, so it is more a simple question of wondering what is the point of it?

quote:

Originally posted by crazed:
I'm looking for jazzy hip-hop with social conscious lyrics (with little to no cussing). There was a great v/a comp called Impeach The Precedent a couple years back that was something like what I want. I'm not sure if the tracks on that album really represented what the artist's albums were like.

A Tribe Called Quest-Any
Jazzmatazz Volumes 1-3-Guru
All Balls Don't Bounce-Aceyalone
Resurrection-Common

quote:

Originally posted by FragileKidA:
Nirvana – Nevermind
U2 – Achtung Baby
Björk – Debut
R.E.M. – Automatic for the People
Björk – Post
Beck – Odelay
Buena Vista Social Club – S/T
Radiohead – OK Computer
Elliott Smith – XO
Wilco – Summerteeth

And thank you, Frag. Some of your recommends I've never even heard of. The above are the ones I've heard/own.

quote:

Originally posted by TigerG:

I did not have much time for things reggae in my past but more recently people pointed me to dub/roots wonders from the 70s/80s (lee perry, King tubby etc) and I have been happily exploring ever since.

I have very little reggae in my collection but for straight reggae try Funky Kingston - Toots and the Maytals and the Soundtrack of The Harder They Come. For dub, get hold of a copy of Marcus Garvey - Burning Spear. It now comes as a twofer with its dub version, Garvey's Ghost Sometimes I think the dub version is actually better.

For reggae, I always reccommend Gregory Isaacs.

If you can get over some of the satanic lyrics, Dimmu Borgir is great metal. Really symphonic yet heave. I'd recommend Death Cult Armageddon and Puritanical Euphoric Misanthropia.

And, like anyone will tell you, mastodon is great (I like Leviathon a lot more than Blood Mountain, and I haven't heard Call Of..."

quote:

Originally posted by Sideshow Bob:
And thank you, Frag. Some of your recommends I've never even heard of. The above are the ones I've heard/own.

Hey, you are welcome, I am glad I could have been of help. And those were great recommendations for jazz fused with hip-hop Mike, same ones I would have suggested. I would start with A Tribe Called Quest--mainly because I love all of their stuff and am an immense fan of Q-Tip.

quote:

Originally posted by Mike:
Well, I basically need a starting point for british rock other than the usual Beatles and Stones, so anything you can add would be great!

I'll do this in installments: album name first

60s/70s

fire and water - free (blues-based hard rock, great vocals)

snafu - east of eden (prog)

liege and lief
unhalfbricking - both are fairport convention (folk rock. sandy denny's a wonderful vocalist)

any compilation of the hollies. (terrific 60s pop)

a salty dog - procol harum (prog)

solomon's seal - pentangle (folk/jazz rock)

slade? - slade (70s glam rock)

mott - mott the hoople (underappreciated glam gem)

squeezing out sparks - graham parker (great late 70s rock album)

repeat when necessary - dave edmunds (fun rock 'n' roll from 1978 - just ask markf)

foxtrot - genesis (prog)

bandstand
fearless - both are family (underappreciated 70s psych./prog/rock band)

marjory razorblade - kevin coyne (idiosyncratic singer/songwriter)

rough mix - pete townshend and ronnie lane (great songs)

split - groundhogs (bluesy prog)

quote:

Originally posted by Mike:
Well, I basically need a starting point for british rock other than the usual Beatles and Stones, so anything you can add would be great!

Other than the Beatles and The Stones, my favourite groups from that era are The Kinks, The Small Faces and The Animals. I've never been a huge fan of The Who. I'm not sure why.

You should check out:

The Village Green Preservation Society - The Kinks

Ogden's Nut Gone Flake - The Small Faces or

Autumn Stone - which is a compilation. There's the original 1960's version of this which you can pick up cheap as chips, but I've also got a more recent remastered version, and the sound quality is great (although granted, probably not as authentic, depending on how you view remasters!).

I've only got a compilation of The Animals, but I love them primarily for their sound, which was so different at the time to anyone else.

The Kinks probably have the strongest body of work, but I love The Small Faces mainly for Steve Marriot. Marriot had one of the greatest voices in British rock, but The Small Faces are still fairly underrated in my opinion.

Wow, ignore my pathetic list. I haven't even heard of half the stuff on Bob's list. I should stick to my own lifetime!

Curse you, Sideshow Bob!

quote:

Originally posted by TigerG:
The only real gap in my collection remains mostly anything Metal and I welcome any way into it that anyone can suggest.

You really have to indirectly attack metal if you aren't into the cookie monster thing. Muse, for example, has metal riffing in some of their better songs; already you should be conditioning yourself to enjoy that sort of thing.

Some impure metal recommendations:

Rage Against The Machine - Rage Against The Machine (1992) (More punk-rap than metal, but a very solid album and it is very heavy.)

Deftones - White Pony (2000) (Arty metal, veering between crooning and some bellowing. Classifying it as "nu" metal might scare some people away, but it's worth a look.)

Soundgarden - Superunknown (1994) (Again, more grunge than metal, but the influences are clear. Though I doubt you wouldn't have this. )

Nine Inch Nails - Broken, The Downward Spiral and The Fragile. (1992, 1994, 1999) (Slightly more accessible music than some other industrial metal acts. Yes, some of the stuff on these three albums cannot be classified as metal, but much can; all three are very heavy.)

If you already have these (some are almost guaranteed to be in your collection already) then listen to them again; they all have metal influences in them. That is a good start on tackling heavier music, I think.

quote:

Originally posted by Borachon:
Wow, ignore my pathetic list. I haven't even heard of half the stuff on Bob's list. I should stick to my own lifetime!

Curse you, Sideshow Bob!

Don't be too hard on yourself, Borachon. Any love for The Animals and The Small Faces is welcome.

quote:

Originally posted by Borachon:

quote:

Originally posted by Mike:
Well, I basically need a starting point for british rock other than the usual Beatles and Stones, so anything you can add would be great!

Other than the Beatles and The Stones, my favourite groups from that era are The Kinks, The Small Faces and The Animals. I've never been a huge fan of The Who. I'm not sure why.

You should check out:

The Village Green Preservation Society - The Kinks

Ogden's Nut Gone Flake - The Small Faces or

Autumn Stone - which is a compilation. There's the original 1960's version of this which you can pick up cheap as chips, but I've also got a more recent remastered version, and the sound quality is great (although granted, probably not as authentic, depending on how you view remasters!).

I've only got a compilation of The Animals, but I love them primarily for their sound, which was so different at the time to anyone else.

The Kinks probably have the strongest body of work, but I love The Small Faces mainly for Steve Marriot. Marriot had one of the greatest voices in British rock, but The Small Faces are still fairly underrated in my opinion.

Yay! Love for the Kinks and the Small Faces!!!

Great lists all. As far as the British of the 1970s (for Mike and anybody), my fave band is Roxy Music, especially the three albums which were mentioned up front in this thread by PRG and two-thirdsed by Bob. My fave Roxy is Country Life, but I've been listening to my vinyl of EDIT:Stranded (numbskull) all my free time after work. Yowza!! I'm sticking on Siren next and cuddling with my Honey.

This message has been edited. Last edited by: mark f,

quote:

Originally posted by Mike:
Well, I basically need a starting point for british rock other than the usual Beatles and Stones, so anything you can add would be great!

80s/90s: album name first

the pop will eat itself cure for sanity - PWEI

power, lies and corruption - new order

the las - the las

bummed - happy mondays

it's great when you're straight, yeah! - black grape

fear and whiskey (might be called original sin in the US)
mekons rock 'n' roll - both by mekons

sound affects - the jam

entertainment! - gang of four

waiting - fun boy 3

wake up! - the boo radleys

colossal youth - young marble giants

the way of the vaselines - the vaselines

germ-free adolescents - x-ray spex (actually 70s)

i want to see the bright lights tonight
shoot out the lights - both are richard and linda thompson (or try the superb 3-CD comp., watching the dark)

skylarking
english settlement
apple venus - all are XTC

choke
miaow - both are the beautiful south

pretty much anything by the undertones

fisherman's blues - the waterboys

wildwood - paul weller

the lexicon of love - ABC

i just can't stop it - the british beat

talking to the taxman about poetry - billy bragg

the christians - the christians

the raw and the cooked - fine young cannibals

singles going steady - buzzcocks

second edition - public image

the return of the durutti column - durutti column

searching for the young soul rebels - dexy's midnight runners

Entertainment! and Germ-free Adolescents.... seconded

quote:

Originally posted by Dork:

quote:

Originally posted by TigerG:
The only real gap in my collection remains mostly anything Metal and I welcome any way into it that anyone can suggest.

You really have to indirectly attack metal if you aren't into the cookie monster thing. Muse, for example, has metal riffing in some of their better songs; already you should be conditioning yourself to enjoy that sort of thing.

Some impure metal recommendations:

Rage Against The Machine - Rage Against The Machine (1992) (More punk-rap than metal, but a very solid album and it is very heavy.)

Deftones - White Pony (2000) (Arty metal, veering between crooning and some bellowing. Classifying it as "nu" metal might scare some people away, but it's worth a look.)

Soundgarden - Superunknown (1994) (Again, more grunge than metal, but the influences are clear. Though I doubt you wouldn't have this. )

Nine Inch Nails - Broken, The Downward Spiral and The Fragile. (1992, 1994, 1999) (Slightly more accessible music than some other industrial metal acts. Yes, some of the stuff on these three albums cannot be classified as metal, but much can; all three are very heavy.)

If you already have these (some are almost guaranteed to be in your collection already) then listen to them again; they all have metal influences in them. That is a good start on tackling heavier music, I think.

Thanks for that Dork - much appreciated. You are completely correct re these metal influences and this is what puzzles me. Muse and RATM are 2 of my fave bands and I love many NIN tracks but it seems as soon as the subject matter heads towards medieval/satanic themes I start to switch off.

I tried to listen to Mastodon and I thought the riffing and rolling thunder of the band was fantastic - then comes the blah blah blah undead blah blah rivers of blood blah blah monsters everywhere etc etc

I like some sexual energy with my murderous rage and the whole dungeons and dragons thing rightfully scares the ladies right outa town. Queens of the stone age strike a nice balance re the rage/sex mix - is there anyone out there who knows bands that can blast the eardrums and still get the old mojo going for men who actually hang around some women?

quote:

Originally posted by Sideshow Bob:

quote:

Originally posted by TigerG:

I did not have much time for things reggae in my past but more recently people pointed me to dub/roots wonders from the 70s/80s (lee perry, King tubby etc) and I have been happily exploring ever since.

I have very little reggae in my collection but for straight reggae try Funky Kingston - Toots and the Maytals and the Soundtrack of The Harder They Come. For dub, get hold of a copy of Marcus Garvey - Burning Spear. It now comes as a twofer with its dub version, Garvey's Ghost Sometimes I think the dub version is actually better.

Thanks muchly SB, I will check these out - I too find I am preferring the dub to the vocal mixes in what I am finding so far.