The Music Thread.

[SlappyMcGee]

For Music Debate!

Things this thread could be for:

-Arguing sonics and notational similarities. (Airgo, Coldplay v. Joe Satriana v. Cat "Ahemdinajedavai" Stevens)
-Debating influence in modern day WITH examples. (Re: Michael Jackson topic.)
-Debating things that are not set in stone. (What ever happened to that dude from Manic Street Preachers?)
-Arguing Genre Descriptions. (Is Joy Division Proto-Punk or New Wave?)

Things this thread shall not be used for:
-This band is the greatest ever. Need proof? Listen to their music.
-Blank is overrated. Need proof? Listen to their music.
-Saying that anything is better or worse than anything else, really.

I'll get the ball rolling with Who is the most influential musician of the Modern Age, why, and what can be heard of them in current music?

[rocket_thumped]

Chuck Berry created rock n roll.

Chuck Berry is a supremely influential figure and one of the pioneers of rock and roll music. According to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame's website, "While no individual can be said to have invented rock and roll, Chuck Berry comes the closest of any single figure to being the one who put all the essential pieces together."[1] Cub Koda wrote, "Of all the early breakthrough rock & roll artists, none is more important to the development of the music than Chuck Berry. He is its greatest songwriter, the main shaper of its instrumental voice, one of its greatest guitarists, possessing the clearest diction, and one of its greatest performers."[2] John Lennon was more succinct: "If you tried to give rock and roll another name, you might call it 'Chuck Berry'."

[Drathmoore]

I love these bands.

The Beatles
The Who
The Jam

All extremely influential bands and from them derived mods and whatever. Yes, I am a fourteen year old mod. I know. Weird.

A mod is simply a style. Don't take me for a hardcore mod, but I where Pretty Green clothes and Parker jackets.

Get a hat and I'll call you a brother.

As of which, I'm more of a mixed fan. While the basic and common standard of Rock is always good, I always find myself changing the car radio over to Classic FM when Mum or Dad is out of the car. You can't beat some good old orchestra.

And Pink Floyd. I'm sorry, but Dark Side of the Moon and The Wall, if you haven't listened to them, do it now. Youtube, Last.fm, it doesn't matter, just do it. You'll see why Dark Side of the Moon is the World Record holder of longest time in the charts...

[SlappyMcGee]

I love these bands.

The Beatles
The Who
The Jam

All extremely influential bands and from them derived mods and whatever. Yes, I am a fourteen year old mod. I know. Weird.

A mod is simply a style. Don't take me for a hardcore mod, but I where Pretty Green clothes and Parker jackets.

Get a hat and I'll call you a brother.

As of which, I'm more of a mixed fan. While the basic and common standard of Rock is always good, I always find myself changing the car radio over to Classic FM when Mum or Dad is out of the car. You can't beat some good old orchestra.

And Pink Floyd. I'm sorry, but Dark Side of the Moon and The Wall, if you haven't listened to them, do it now. Youtube, Last.fm, it doesn't matter, just do it. You'll see why Dark Side of the Moon is the World Record holder of longest time in the charts...

I've always been more of a fan of Wish You Were Here, as I find it the most interestingly varied.

[pinballwizard96]

+1 MickyTP

along with those go influential bands such as the Rolling Stones, Led Zeppelin, etc

In answer to original post, my vote is The Who:

-dynamic & aggressive style can be seen in many bands; Led Zeppelin, Green Day, & more
-although I'm not much of a fan of these, the band made some rock operas which was a sort of milestone in music
-experimentation with synthesizers
-Townshend used modified power chords in a fair amount of their songs - these chords eliminated the third (which defines the chord as major or minor) and produced a unique sounds - practice is fairly popular today
-live shows are great + they sometimes destroy their instruments (not as much a fan of that)

There's most likely more info out there about their influence

[Seneschal]

I'll get the ball rolling with Who is the most influential musician of the Modern Age, why, and what can be heard of them in current music?

Define Modern Age (I'll presume it means post-WWII).
Chuck Berry may have invented Rock, but The Beatles made it insanely popular. Practically every rock and pop group/artist since has been influenced by them.

[a happy song]

The last few bands that came close to the accolade were possibly bands such as Blur, Oasis, etc... and that's still going back a good few years when they were in their prime.

As for close to today, this decade, I don't think there are any bands that really hold the massive influence that the older generations of greats did. Everything moves so quickly, and everything is so wrapped up neat and tight in their respective cliques and niches (in a general sense, of course), It's more like circles that overlap each other in certain places.

There are obvious flavours of the month(s) that stand out and inspire, bands such as Bloc Party who have relevance and attract a lot of attention when they release material, there are contemporary artists that hold sway over sub-genres and scenes (Conor Oberst and the like), but I can't really think of many who could be considered the definitive influential artist of this decade.

I guess you really would have to go back a good way and say The Beatles, Nirvana, Led Zepplin, etc... to come anywhere close to the most influential artist of the Modern Age. I'm not sure if it's even possible for a band to dominate in such a way any more.

[smartalco]

There is almost no music being made now that is just good ol' rock n' roll. I want another Boston (the album), or some new classic Steve Miller Band, or Styx, or even something like the older AC/DC stuff (whether you like the singing or not, they had some of the most excellent basic rock songs ever). The age of awesome rock has passed us, and it isn't coming back. (For clarification, I'm not arguing that there isn't any good rock being made today, just nothing that sounds like that which came out of the 70s and 80s)

[Drathmoore]

There is almost no music being made now that is just good ol' rock n' roll. I want another Boston (the album), or some new classic Steve Miller Band, or Styx, or even something like the older AC/DC stuff (whether you like the singing or not, they had some of the most excellent basic rock songs ever). The age of awesome rock has passed us, and it isn't coming back. (For clarification, I'm not arguing that there isn't any good rock being made today, just nothing that sounds like that which came out of the 70s and 80s)

Yeah. It's sadly true. A lot of modern stuff I can't stand; it seems stupid and obnoxious. It seems to serve little purpose too: Rock was all about "sticking it to the man", and a lot of songs had messages. Now it's all about "how my girlfriend has started wearing my Rolex" and crap like that. I mean, what the hell. You do get the occasional exception. "Bonkers" by Dizzy Rascal, which I hate, is lyrically not bad. "Number 1" by N-Dubz (anybody who uses a "z" instead of an "s" I imediately hate for trying to look cool) and Tinchy Strider is actually not that bad, apart from the line "from my homie to my only", only because it uses the word homie. Appealing to the main demographic, but it should use actual words (it's probably in the Oxford dictionary now, but meh).

I mean, even Progressive Rock had a purpose; to escape from realisim. And Prog rock songs are often strange, set in fantasy, and go on for hours (and that's not exaggerating). Purpose is one of the reasons why I like "Dark Side of the Moon" a lot, because many of the songs were about something bad; i.e. Money was about Materialism, and Time was about aging.

I mean, you can argue that modern music has a purpose, but I really don't see it. I'm mainly gripeing about club/dance/rap though. And then again, this is only my opinion, I could be completely wrong. Dance music could also be seen as an escape from everyday life, and also an oppertunity to meet new people. But hey, I just find it annoying.

[a happy song]

There is almost no music being made now that is just good ol' rock n' roll. I want another Boston (the album), or some new classic Steve Miller Band, or Styx, or even something like the older AC/DC stuff (whether you like the singing or not, they had some of the most excellent basic rock songs ever). The age of awesome rock has passed us, and it isn't coming back. (For clarification, I'm not arguing that there isn't any good rock being made today, just nothing that sounds like that which came out of the 70s and 80s)

Yeah. It's sadly true. A lot of modern stuff I can't stand; it seems stupid and obnoxious. It seems to serve little purpose too: Rock was all about "sticking it to the man", and a lot of songs had messages. Now it's all about "how my girlfriend has started wearing my Rolex" and crap like that. I mean, what the hell. You do get the occasional exception. "Bonkers" by Dizzy Rascal, which I hate, is lyrically not bad. "Number 1" by N-Dubz (anybody who uses a "z" instead of an "s" I imediately hate for trying to look cool) and Tinchy Strider is actually not that bad, apart from the line "from my homie to my only", only because it uses the word homie. Appealing to the main demographic, but it should use actual words (it's probably in the Oxford dictionary now, but meh).

I mean, even Progressive Rock had a purpose; to escape from realisim. And Prog rock songs are often strange, set in fantasy, and go on for hours (and that's not exaggerating). Purpose is one of the reasons why I like "Dark Side of the Moon" a lot, because many of the songs were about something bad; i.e. Money was about Materialism, and Time was about aging.

I mean, you can argue that modern music has a purpose, but I really don't see it. I'm mainly gripeing about club/dance/rap though. And then again, this is only my opinion, I could be completely wrong. Dance music could also be seen as an escape from everyday life, and also an oppertunity to meet new people. But hey, I just find it annoying.

Your main problem is that you're longing for bands to reshash an era. Why do you want more of the same good ol' rock n' roll? Surely you'd be much better off expanding your horizons and experiencing everything that music has to offer?

These days I listen to everything from The Knife to Will Haven, from The Beatles to Foals, from Jurrasic Five to Lady Ga Ga, it all depends on my mood, and I have many types of mood, which is why I'm so glad there is so much much diversity out there on offer.

[Drathmoore]

Your main problem is that you're longing for bands to reshash an era. Why do you want more of the same good ol' rock n' roll? Surely you'd be much better off expanding your horizons and experiencing everything that music has to offer?

These days I listen to everything from The Knife to Will Haven, from The Beatles to Foals, from Jurrasic Five to Lady Ga Ga, it all depends on my mood, and I have many types of mood, which is why I'm so glad there is so much much diversity out there on offer.

Maybe. But, I just can't seem to get myself to like the common stuff. Britpop, and modern alternitive Rock is pretty good, but I'm often quite conservitive when it comes to my tastes. I know that music, like everything, changes over time. I just prefer what it was, not what it's become.

But anything with an orchestra is often good in my opinion. Old or new.

[Skyling]

You guys all have a terrible definition of modern music.

[otters~1]

(I had a long, long post disagreeing with atob and chastising skyline for his statement's worthlessness, but it suddenly vanished.)

:(

[sept]

You guys all have a terrible definition of modern music.

Ya Skyline? I'm in Miami Bitch.

[a happy song]

You guys all have a terrible definition of modern music.

So tell us, right?

[Skyling]

Oh, I'm sorry. That statement definitely could've been clarified. I was mainly talking about those who were generalizing modern music to be just the hip-hop you hear on the radio, when in reality it encompasses many more styles than just that. My apologies for being so harsh and unclear about it.

[Tanner]

I think what Skyline is trying to say is that he's a douchebag. Please continue with your thread.

[Drathmoore]

Oh, I'm sorry. That statement definitely could've been clarified. I was mainly talking about those who were generalizing modern music to be just the hip-hop you hear on the radio, when in reality it encompasses many more styles than just that. My apologies for being so harsh and unclear about it.

*Cough*

But, I just can't seem to get myself to like the common stuff. Britpop, and modern alternitive Rock is pretty good...

...But anything with an orchestra is often good in my opinion. Old or new.

*Cough*

[SlappyMcGee]

So, then, maybe he wasn't referring to you, self-centered individual.

More importantly, popular music -is- huge, and I think that it probably shouldn't be ignored, because if the majority of people think it is great, then perhaps the majority feels the same influences that these pop musicians do.

[Drathmoore]

So, then, maybe he wasn't referring to you, self-centered individual.

Of course he was Slappy; (in a posh voice) who else would he be speaking to? *Egotistical laugh*

Hey, I was just proving a point.



Anyway, popular music is huge, yeah. It's amazing that many genres of music has loads of sub-genres, like Dance, for example. People have very varying tastes, eh?

[smartalco]

Your main problem is that you're longing for bands to reshash an era. Why do you want more of the same good ol' rock n' roll? Surely you'd be much better off expanding your horizons and experiencing everything that music has to offer?

These days I listen to everything from The Knife to Will Haven, from The Beatles to Foals, from Jurrasic Five to Lady Ga Ga, it all depends on my mood, and I have many types of mood, which is why I'm so glad there is so much much diversity out there on offer.

I do listen to a pretty wide variety of music of my own choosing (my library spans Megadeth to Smashmouth to MSI to Weird Al to some full orchestra stuff), and when someone else around is playing something else, it is very rare that I will object to whatever is being played. However, rock is what I always come back to (with various forms of metal coming in a close second), and I haven't found any music I have enjoyed more than the Boston album in years.
And what is wrong with revisiting a style of music if it is still great music?

[a happy song]

And what is wrong with revisiting a style of music if it is still great music?

Revisiting a style with specific intent to emulate an era often means rehashing with none of the former glory.

[Drathmoore]

And what is wrong with revisiting a style of music if it is still great music?

Revisiting a style with specific intent to emulate an era often means rehashing with none of the former glory.

I dunno. Couldn't you describe Britpop like that (looking back at the Rock of the 60s). It's not complete emulation, more influence, but hey, Britpop wasn't that bad.

[a happy song]

I dunno. Couldn't you describe Britpop like that (looking back at the Rock of the 60s). It's not complete emulation, more influence, but hey, Britpop wasn't that bad.

No. You're describing a progressive influence. You can trace anything backwards, that's not what I was suggesting.

Anyone caught up in a specific era of music and hailing it as the only time when music was worth something is only gimping their own experience, imo. If all you're longing for is more of the same, you're most likely never to find anything that comes close to providing whatever it was the music you fell in love with first gave you.

The only way you're going to find that again is if you get over whatever it is that's hindering your enjoyment of the unfamiliar and explore some uncharted territory. One of the main reasons you fell in love with the music you did in the first place is because it was new and exciting, right?

[otters~1]

One of the main reasons you fell in love with the music you did in the first place is because it was new and exciting, right?

Yes, but. Sure, when I first heard the Stones or Queen or whatever, I was blown away. But the newest bands that managed to give me that feeling of awe are U2 and The Police. Rap does nothing for me, hip-hop is a joke.... I find myself listening to indie and alternative stuff which has morphed into mainstream music because there's nothing else to listen to. Also local bands.

I'm kind've pissed off at the state of music right now. You can call me picky or narrow-minded, but I have broadened my musical horizons--I'm listening to music now that I would never listen to if Otis Redding or somebody was still singing. It's not good, but it's the best we've got.

It makes me sad that, instead of realizing the quality of music has degenerated hugely over the years, people just shrug and crank the Nirvana.


PS: Kings of Leon sounds sort of like U2. :)

EDIT: That came off as a really whiny post, but I can't talk about modern music without whining a little. Sorry.