Great post 1995 bands...is there any? (1 Viewer)

[Bill Leber]

Before I attempt to bring this thread back on topic, add me to the list of Lateralus admirers. Tool is evolving and will never make Undertow again. They are more interested in creating art and using music to bring people to a spiritual place than being a metal band. I think they're succeeding and are only getting better. Whom ever said their turning into a prog band is right, but I don't think that's a bad thing.
Of course you may not be into their musical/spiritual beliefs and just think the music is good, and that's great too!
On a related note: I'm tired of this Pro Tools = Bad mentality. I listen to the music, not the performance. If a guitarist gets a riff right once and wants to loop it or splice it in so be it. There is a difference in good use of technology and abuse. Some of my favs are examples of "good Pro Tools bands" - Tool, nine inch nails, and Radiohead.
As for modern classics or people with potential, I'd say Ryan Adams. He's not quite the arena rock type, but I can imagine his songs on the radio for a long time to come.
Dave Matthews band, while pre-'95 as established, is the biggest touring band out and will continue to be. DMB has cultivated a fan base that will come out and support them each summer even if they didn't make another album (me included). They just have a way of making an amphitheater/arena/stadium feel like an intimate club.

 

[Carlo_M]

Train - I love the two albums they have out so far.

Not bands, but solo acts: Jon Brion, Pete Yorn, John Mayer & Ryan Adams are among my new favorite artists.

But yeah, there is a dearth of good rock bands right now.

 

[Philip_G]

As for modern classics or people with potential, I'd say Ryan Adams. He's not quite the arena rock type, but I can imagine his songs on the radio for a long time to come.

I think he has potential also.

that reminded me. has rufus wainwright been mentioned? He opened up for tori amos when I saw her last, and it prompted me to pick up both of his albums. Not really rock either, but worth a mention

 

[Kevin Clemons]

I honestly believe that there are a very select few popular bands making terrific music today. As it stands the ones who can sell out stadiums (Creed..blech) pretty much, in my opinion, suck. I would much rather see Incubus (my favorite) in a small setting rather than a large one. this is due largely to the fact that the last Incubus concert I went to featured teenage girls that were only there to see Brandon boyd and had no clue what to expect from the band. I think MTV and other music media are each too concerned marketing the next big thing and dumping it when something better comes along. I hate it when my favorite artists are featured on MTV because it has been my experience that it is often the beginning of the end. Popular music is in a sorry state but lately it seems there are those who can bring it back to greatness.

Ryan Adams

Incubus

The Strokes

Abandoned Pools

White Stripes

Cold

Dashboard Confessional

Tenacious D

and many many others

 

[Van Patton]

ben folds five???

 

[Vince Maskeeper]

Funny, since the "music buff" thing is actually how I'm better known in the world outside the HTF. If you search for my name on google, you'll find mostly music related items.
I started playing in bands when I was 11, and started recording albums when I was 12. I am pretty well known for the website I run (musicianassist.com), have worked as a touring sound engineer since I finished High School, currently engineer about 6 albums a year, and I often do speaking dates and panel appearances at music conventions. Almost every paying job I've ever had was directly related to music and the music business.
I guess I need to work harder on projecting my "music geek" image in my regular posts.

 

[Philip_G]

ahhh, I should have known from the pro audio thread you pounced on

 

[StevenW]

Oh boy, the ol' Tool argument. Well, if we're dredging this stuff up, then I'll simply say this to balance out the criticism Lateralus is getting:
Every note, every second of Lateralus is necessary, more so than on Undertow and Aenima. The album's structure allows for looking at each track as a seperate entity, groups of songs as suite works, and the whole album as a sweeping statement.
While Undertow is a solid rock album and Aenima is certainly a crowning achievement, Lateralus is by far their strongest and most powerful work to date. It's actually frightening to me how vastly superior Tool as a band and Lateralus as an album stand above every other popular metal or rock act today.
But, then again, I'm always in the minority opinion on practically everything in rock. I guess I should just stick to jazz and butt out of these discussions. (But, of course, I'm way too opinionated to do that)

I agree with everything you said. Like fine wine, Tool is getting better with age

 

[Joseph Young]

Vince, have you ever been on the television game show "Beat the Geeks" as the presiding music geek?
Your scary encyclopedic knowledge would bring down the house!
Joseph

 

[Samuel Des]

I'm not sure when they published their first record, but I enjoyed Elastica. I haven't listened to Wire, though....

I picked up the White Stripes. I think that they're great.

I like Elliott Smith's Either/Or; I also liked Heatmeiser.

I really like Nikka Costa. As per the other "Rip Off Bands" thread, her work is derivative, but she is able to pull it off.

I was enthused about Norah Jones, but find that some of her music doesn't quite swing.

It's funny how just how professional pop bands are today. I heard a song from some band called Jauron something (can't remember). Very professional lyrics and melody. It goes: "From My Head to My Heart -- something something something."

They get more and more market savvy everyday it seems. More pros, fewer artists.

 

[Dean DeMass]

I actually caught a White Stripes song on one of the DirecTV radio stations and it was pretty good. I think I may have to download a few songs to see if the rest of the album is worth having.

I believe The Strokes will get very big with their next release.

-Dean-

 

[Joe_H]

While I agree with who posted that Linkin Park and Puddle of Mudd might not be around in a few years, I disagree with a few points about System of a Down. First he said that we'd have to wait for their "sophomore release." They released the self titled disc and Toxicity just came out this year, and second, I happen to think that System of a Down will have great staying power over the years.

 

[mike_decock]

Post-1995? I say move that date to Post-1975 and you can have a real discussion. I don't consider a band "great" unless you can still hear a significant portion of their catalogue on the radio 10-20 years later. That doesn't mean I don't think there's artists doing "great" music these days.

Look at artists like The Beatles, Pink Floyd, Led Zeppelin. They were truly a cultural phenomenon and changed the soundscape of music for future generations. You flip through stations on the radio and you're bound to hear a dozen DIFFERENT songs by each of these artists over the course of a few days (One hit wonders are certainly part of our historical soundscape but the songs transcend the artists). Personally I like The Beatles and Pink Floyd, but am not a Zeppelin fan although I won't deny their "greatness" or influence.

It'll be a decade before we see who the "great" artists of today will be. Likely candidates in my book are Madonna, U2 and Metallica. They continue to appeal to new generations of fans. I think that the majority of todays beloved artists (Tool, Pearl Jam, REM) won't be much more than a flash in the pan when the dust they kicked up today settles into the past. Those artist may have a very devoted niche following, but a "great" band is one with a broad fan-base over a long period of time.

This of course is only regarding pop/rock music. Jazz has a whole life of it's own.

-Mike...

 

[Jan H]

Mike,

I agree with much of you said, but I think calling Pearl Jam and REM "a flash in the pan" is a bit extreme. REM is the band that started the indie/folk rock movement in the early '80's, and along with Nirvana, Pearl Jam brought rock and roll out of the hair band muck of the '80's. In short, these were two bands that helped re-energize popular music.

 

[mike_decock]

Jan:

Naturally my personal tastes are going to skew my view of who is or isn't important and who will be important 10-20 years from now. I'm very much a part of the Nirvana generation (I was a senior in High School when "Nevermind" came out). "Smells Like Teen Spirit" was in many ways the anthem of Generation X and they brought on the whole grunge scene. They were followed by Pearl Jam and countless others and I would venture to say that the sheer amount of bands that jumped on the "Grunge" bandwagon turned the entire scene into a relatively meaningless mainstream genre. One can't deny how they shaped today's music, though so I guess I should give them a little more credit.

No doubt REM has a very big and devoted following. I really tried to get into them but never could. Time will tell if anything besides "It's The End Of The World As We Know It" will still be in regular rotation on the radio 10-20 years from now.

I have to agree that the 80's was a kind of "Dark Ages" for pop music. People clung to The Police, U2 and Madonna because there really wasn't much better around (mainstream that is). Bands that were big in the 70's like Yes, RUSH and Van Halen were still doing some pretty interesting stuff but I have yet to see as much energy as there was in the 70's.

When I was in High School during the 80's, I listened mostly to 70's and 60's rock (Yes, Rush, Boston, Beatles). As I'm getting older I'm finding myself digging further back in history for things that interest me (40's - 60's vocal pop/jazz like Bing Crosby, Louis Armstrong, June Christy and Ella Fitzgerald).

I do try to keep somewhat in touch with current music and I'm always looking for interesting or at least temporarily entertaining stuff. 500 CDs/LPs so far and I'm just getting started.

-Mike...

 

[Jan H]

I'm not exactly sure how many people "clung" to Madonna, but you're right about one thing: you're just getting started

 

[Tom Ryan]

I may be slapped, but I nominate Nickel Creek ! Nice new bluegrass band, focus on instrumentalism and vocals. Excellent listening.

 

[Colin Jacobson]

No doubt REM has a very big and devoted following. I really tried to get into them but never could. Time will tell if anything besides "It's The End Of The World As We Know It" will still be in regular rotation on the radio 10-20 years from now.

Never thought I'd defend REM - I think they're a bunch of self-important tossers - but based on your "greatness = radio presence 10-20 years later" concept, they would qualify. They've been around for 20 years, and the tune you mention came out 15 years ago - that's as "10-20" as it gets. You seem to feel they're a brand new act like the Strokes or somebody. I definitely don't think REM are a great band, but by your criteria, they qualify.

I don't understand why you feel radio presence connects to "greatness". Sure, for an act to appear on the radio a couple of decades after they created something shows continued interest, but popularity in no way equals "greatness". You can hear PLENTY of crummy older acts on the radio, and tons of GREAT ones don't show up there. I think radio play is a miserable gauge of "greatness".

And your apparent argument that Pearl Jam hopped on the grunge bandwagon after "Smells Like Teen Spirit" hit makes no sense. PJ's first album came out in August 1991, while Nirvana's "Nevermind" hit in October 1991. Kinda hard to jump on a bandwagon that didn't yet exist...

 

[Philip_G]

I have to point out that nirvana's first (more or less..) album was titled BLEACH and came out in 1989 on sub-pop. It was never very popular and didn't create any bandwagon.. but it just sounded like you meant nevermind was their first album, which it wasn't. Bleach is actually pretty good. I think it was recorded for less than $500 or something, it's much better than nevermind IMO. and much, MUCH less over produced and corporate sounding
for the record I dislike PJ and REM

 

[Rob P S]

I nominate Robert Bradley's Blackwater Surprise.