h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

all boybands are a joke,if they had
ginger hair and achne would the sell ???
i think not!!
real musicians dont get half the credit they deserve
take greenday,starsailor,ash,blink 182,feeder,rem,manic street preachers,
opm,they are real bands with real talent
and will outlast all the boybands.
pink floyd are another example of real music as is
david bowie,prince,micheal jackson,lionel ritchie,
james brown,the beatles,elvis,all of witch
have been around for ages!! can anyone honestly
name a boyband that will still be
around in 10yrs ???
the sex pistols where a sort of boyband but
in a totally different way,
i just hope that this boyband phase
passes and the real musicians come good
because they deserve it.

Boy bands; girl bands; duos; novelty acts; singing dogs...The Beatles were a 'boy' band of their time, does this make their music, or 5ive, any the less relevant to the kids who listen - then and now? Deep philosophical stuff could be talked about, but suffice to say, if you like it, listen and enjoy; if you don't, vote with the almighty coinage! Or just turn the radio to another station...or learn three chords and form a band. Sound familiar?
TROTSB!

ok maby its just me here but I prefer bands that actully wrint there own stuff and paly it
I mean its the best time to be a memeber of a backing band they are making a fortune and getting non of the hastle coz of all the dancing prats who carnt play

Green Day, Blink 182, OPM>
The franchising of punks legacy to a bunch of gormless rich kid Californians disgusts me far more than Westlife...

that tru initself
although in the ned they are the maine streanm sorts and not eh"underground" sort who do far to much to ever get on to MTV and that crap
I mean any one who can isnt really a punk but a pop artist in punks clothing

DONT BLINK 182,GREENDAY,OPM ACTUALLY
PLAY THERE OWN INSTRUMENTS ??? EH YES
AND DONT THEY WRITE THERE OWN STUFF ???
EH YES
DO THEY REALY CARE ABOUT RECORD SALES
??? EH NO
ARE THEY IN IT 4 THE MUSIC ?? EH YES

BLINK 182 HAVE BEEN AROUND FOR YEARS
AS HAVE GREENDAY SO THEY DESERVE
THE POSITION THEY R IN JUST NOW,
IF WESTLIFES RECORD SALES DROPPED
THEY WOULD DISSAPEAR AS FAST AS
THEY ARRIVED.

Blues Shark,

I think that the bands you mentioned play punk from a different angle from the Punk bands of Britain circa mid 1970s. The point is they still play a type of punk music. It's still fast, to-the-point and enjoyable.

I don't think they're fakes. They play their own instruments and write their own songs. Unlike nu-metal acts, these are not middle-class kids trying to make out that angst-ridden teenagers are comparable with concentration-camp survivors. Many of them are middle-class, but at least they're not whining and claiming that they're lives are awful like some middle-class kids. They're having fun, and that's the essence of rock & roll.

Whether they were a "boy" band of the time or not, I think comparing the Beatles to 5ive or the Backdoor Boys or N-Stink is like comparing apples to kumquats.

The boy bands of today are put together by producers who hold auditions. Dancing ability and good looks are more important than musical ability. The producers and managers tell the boys what songs to sings and what image to sell. They make a few albums, sell a lot of CDs and then they're forgotten. The Beatles put their own band together, wrote their own songs and played their asses off to build a following. Then they tried like hell to get a record deal when no one wanted them, to eventually become probably the biggest rock band of all time.

The "Beatles were a boy band" argument is the lamest apologetic argument for crappy pop that I've heard. If you like it, fine. Just don't try to say that the big album sales equates to any kind of musical talent or longevity because it's a crock of doody. I like the Spice Girls, but I don't try to pretend that they're great singers or great songwriters or that their music is brilliant because it's not. It's cheesy pop, with the emphasis on cheesy. But it's nice if I'm in the mood to listen to something light and poppy.

>these are not middle-class kids trying to make out that angst-ridden teenagers are comparable with concentration-camp survivors<
Really. A Green Day quote...
"Do you have the time to listen to me whine..."
No. Shut up and s*d off you obnoxious preppie in baggy shorts.

Sorry, I'll give you the Dead Kennedy's as a genuinely radical US punk band, and Black Flag, and X. The present crop are a sorry bunch, and as to the idea that they don't care about record sales, their MTV friendly punk-lite is as carefrully manufactured as anything else out there.
Mojo Nixon. Now there's a man who is banned by MTV. That's not caring about sales.

Hear! Hear!

I made the mistake of going to the Warped Tour last year (mostly because I've been trying without success to catch Less Than Jake the last couple years and because I wanted to see Rollins). It was disgusting. I couldn't even deal with it. If this is punk, then punk has become less than a hollow shell of what it once was. Punk was not just loud music. AC/DC is loud music. Fear was loud music. But there is leagues of difference between them.

What's the difference between Blink 182 and Limp Bizkit? They're all a bunch of suburban whiners. Punk was once protest music. What are Blink 182 protesting? Taste?

But Blink 182 are quite often taking the mick.

yes u r so rite!! opm,blink 182,
sum 41,alien ant farm etc are all
having a laugh,
before u can coment u realy have
to listen to it,
in these serious times its realy
good to be able to listen to loud
fun music,these r young men having
fun and making there fans happy
so if u dont like it turn over!!
also if everyone liked the same
music it would be a pretty boring
place eh ???
anyone that can write music/lyrics
and play instruments deserves
credit,

I wouldn't say that Green day, Blink 182, the Offspring are doing they own stuff. They found they own way of playing which brought them fame and money and they don't do anything new.. There's no experimenting, no new ideas...
Makind music should be a creative process, it should involve heart, soul, mind, etc. Pop musicians simply make whatever is popular and make a variation on this theme... Take their album and there will be like 3 songs you could listen too.

music were much better when I were a lass...mumble...these new groups are just noise...grumble...just copying groups from my day...dribble...nothing is original...best just listen to proper music like we had in ...

The Offspring have become too pop for my liking.
I liked all thier older stuff, but "Conspiracy of 1" was rubbish.
(luckily i didn't waste my money on buying it, my brother did)

For J. Nigel Aalst, I have heard rumours (from nme) that Less Than Jake are playing a gig at the "Forum" in London quite soon, also somewhere in Truro. The official LTJ website hasn't confirmed it yet, nut it's worth a try!! (Less than Jake are the greatest!!!)

Oh yeah, a good US punk group are "The Vandals"
(go to www.vandals.com)now

Good political US punk band is Propagandhi, but personally I prefer ska-punk and ska

I really like ska punk, yet i have only heard of Less Than Jake, can someone tell me some other bands?

Has anyone heard of The Aquabats?

Try Buck-o-Nine and Mad Caddies - these are real good, I also like Catch 22 and Me first and Gimmes Gimmes... And Bad Manners - this is the classics

The thing that really annoys me is that the majority of 'real' punk bands on this thread are American. Most people know who LTJ or the Mad Caddies are, but haven't heard of The Clash, which is very sad.

I've seen the Mad Caddies live, and quite frankly, was bored. I had a much more fun time seeing a UKHC band called Assert; they were much more 'in touch' with the audience, rather than it being the usual us-and-them situation. Support your local bands, because that's what punk's supposed to be.

As for my ska/punk recommendations, you really should listen to Operation Ivy. Also, there are quite a few good ska/reggae bands signed to Hell-Cat Records. In the UK, Householdname records has some good ska/punk bands like Capdown, 5 knuckle and Adequate 7.

Hmm ... I seem to be an exception. I'm American, have never heard of LTJ or the Mad Caddies, but have certainly heard of The Clash. Of course, I'm old, not particularly a fan of punk, and have pretty much given up on pop music, as it's currently marketed by the big record cos.

If you saw my CD/cassette/vinyl collection, you would agree that I AM a great pop fan - just not most of the current stuff. My most recent CD purchase included "Hot Rod Lincoln" by Commander Cody ... plus "Thunder Road" ...

This situation does have a happy result - I have found some great regional bands that I would have otherwise missed. I live in Houston, Texas, USA, a home to many good bands like Carolyn Wonderland. But we get a lot of bands from a real music haven, Austin, Texas, like Asylum Street Spankers, Van Wilks, Asleep at the Wheel, etc. "Austin City Limits" is one of the best public TV shows around, with bands like Lyle Lovett, Robert Earl Keene, and many more going back decades.