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

Just deciding to throw an entirely well reasoned argument in here.
GREEN DAY GREEN DAY GREEN DAY GREEN DAY GREEN DAY!!
Oh, and Nerf Herder and Four Star Mary.
But Green Day are definitely the best.
Ok, I'm done. You can go about your business- they'll be locking me up soon...

I used to be a big Green Day fan, but then they got stuck in a rut... quite a good one, but a rut none the less. Now apparently, they've gone completely pop-punk... ugh.

I know right? I don't really like their new song at all, it's all poppy, they sound like they're trying to sell out worse than blink 182. Though blink can do whatever they want, they probably just think it's funny that people are getting all obsessive over them selling out, and they make take the whole thing as a joke. I think so anyway. I think there is a lot of new sound around here, and you go to whoever said they liked ultraspank and disturbed. Ok, buh bye now
---heather

Colonel Sir,
Thanks for clearing that up.
Innovative and influential:
No one mentioned Duke Ellington, who had a piano made with an extra octave, nor Stan Kenton who had a new brass instrument made: the mellophonium.
I think Kenton has to be my choice.

Surprising to me that no one has yet mentioned Elvis Presley. I realize his time was quite a while ago, but it cannot be disputed that he virtually created and defined the image, style, and ... well, everything pretty much ... that is the rock singer. Having said that, it is true that he ripped off quite a number of other performers, and he's not really "a band" per se ... but it remains that he, more than any other American, has had the greatest influence over popular music in the history of the world. Incidentally, I'm actually not much of an Elvis fan (my tastes lie a little more towards the grittier, more down-to-earth styles), but I have to admit that I can't come up with any other American who's had such a great impact on the world of popular music.

What we call rock and roll now is obviously quite a bit more diverse and different from what Elvis played when my Mom was a screaming teenage Elvis fan (bit of an obscure way to date myself here). So if the question must focus on what *I* myself find to be the greatest American band of recent (last 15 years) time? Well, for my tastes, I'd have to go with Metallica. They wear the crown, though they've been rubbing me wrong somewhat over the last 10 years. There are loads of other American musicians and bands that I would consider BETTER, as far as talent goes, but are they in consideration for the Greatest? No. That title must go to the band/artist that not only exhibits great talent but is obviously globally well-liked enough to have ridiculous numbers of platinum albums and the ability to sell out virtually any arena, anywhere. Material success has to be considered as part of that title, as it is still the best measure of common popularity that exists. Without that very important aspect, how can a band be truly called "The Greatest?"

Janis, of course.

Billy Holliday?

I never thought much of Elvis at the time, and I certainly don't now. I would even dispute that he had the greatest influence on music in the last decades. I would name Americans like Gershwin, Glenn Miller, Benny Goodman - who came out of the pre-rock ages and really introduced something new. Elvis just produced a blander version of what the black rhythm'n blues and rock n' roll musicians had already started. This again was a revolution in music, although, strictly speaking it evolved more naturally out of the black music that had been alive and throbbing since the slave trade started.

The media have made a single phenomenon impossible. Since the introduction of the electric guitar and the record player, everybody is exposed to the same music and sounds to a greater extent and the evolution takes place in several parallel lines.

The only other revolution since the 40's was the "Bloodhound Gang" who have held a mirror up to America and showed them what a lot of hypocritical wankers* they all are. (This is not a comment on Americans in particular - to a certain extent it applies to the whole of the Western world) So it was more of a moral than a musical innovation.

This is the way I see it and I appreciate anyone being an Elvis fan, but, for my taste, he is hero-worshipped for things others had already done before him and probably wouldn't have this status if he was still alive.




*Excuse my French. I try and avoid it, but can't think of any apter word

Out OF America or out IN America?

That's strange Loony. You might consider Fleetwood Mac the best band to go into America (I personally wouldn't) but not the best band to come out of America.

Probably the best Band to come out of Amercia was The Band. They had the most American sound of any rock band. The only problem is all but one of them were Canadians.

Talking Heads, The Byrds, The Meters, War, The Neville Brothers, The John Coltrane quartet, The Ornette Coleman quartet, Captain Beefheart and His Magic Band and Kronos are strong contenders. Probably should have included The Beach Boys but I can't stand them.

(-:

From Distant Shores

Not Village People then?

"... Elvis fan, but, for my taste, he is hero-worshipped for things others had already done before him and probably wouldn't have this status if he was still alive."

I agree, he was indeed hero-worshipped (and it's only gotten worse with time). I don't particularly like Elvis' music, as I said, and you'll get no arguement from me as to the real source of his musical style (i.e. several other black artists of the day). But I still have to acknoledge his combination of commercial success and the way he changed pop music (from the combo band, which was really just a severely cut-down orchestra that played relatively short and catchy songs*) into rock-n-roll, and the way he created (perhaps not really "invented," but "created" if you know what I mean) the character of the rock-n-roll star.

Perhaps I am being somewhat narrow minded in my thought, but too many times with pop music we compare apples to oranges to kumquats. My definition of popular music was when people, each and every one of us, could own a copy of our favorite recordings. Rock and roll, a specific type of pop music, was invented in the USA. Rock and roll is probably the most important, most world-changing form of popular music there ever was, the original popular music recordings notwithstanding.** So that's why I think the greatest band / musician to come out of the USA would have to be a popular rock band, and also have a combination of world-wide impact (both commercial and influential) the likes of which hasn't been seen since ... well, since Elvis. I just can't think of anyone that could beat him in worldwide impact.

The flaw with my argument here, I must admit, is that Elvis isn't really a band - that's why I picked Metallica eventually. Anyway, it does, of course, all boil down to just opinions. I actually really like The Bloodhound Gang, and I'm surprised that so many people here like them too. Their lyrics border on genius at times.

Anyway, I just wanted to explain why I thought the way I did, since I actually agree with you about Elvis (in my own tastes). But objectively, or as objective as I can be, he's The King.


* not to put this down at all, as I quite like Benny Goodman and the like, and still have piano rolls of some great Tin Pan Alley type jingles that my grandmother loved to listen to from the 1920s and 30s - but this was the very beginning of the age of popular music, when we could actually OWN recordings. See above again.

** I guess this is debatable, but I'm comfortable with this statement.

The Barenaked Ladies.... technically they're Canadian, but they're from the same bloody continent...! Ya know...?
I mean, how could you beat lyrics like:

"It's like the dream you try to remember then it's gone
Then you try and scream but it only comes out as a yawn
When you try and see the world beyond your fromt door
Take your time 'cos the way I rhyme's gonna make you smile
When you realize that a guy my size may take awhile
Just to try and figure out what all this is for..."

Out of.

(Mara)

Two words:
Talking Heads

As long as we have broken out of the American bands, I would like to nominate Rush, another Canadian band. I also like Gaelic Storm but that is yet another country.

What ever band Bob Dylan is playing with. At least he wrote his own music and played his own guitar (and harmonica, and piano). I RECOGNIZE Elvis as an influence, but dislike him. All he played was his vocal chords. Others: Johnny Hodges; Charlie Parker; Louis Armstrong; John Prine; Pete Segar. Too many "bands" to select one as greatest. Jefferson Airplane; CSN (Y is Canadian); Village People NOT; Traveling Wilbury Brothers (mixture of UK & USA); Eagles ? (maybe); Led Zepplin (another mixture I believe);Buddy Holly was great (ah what might have been...what ever happened to the Crickets?; And finally, I strongly recommend The Blue Riddem Band (correct spelling). The bands come and go so fast and are constantly changing members. Will 10,000 Maniacs survive the loss of egotistic Natalie Merchant? The New Bohemians didn't survive the loss of Edie Brikel (Paul Simon got her); there's one I missed, Simon and Garfunkel though Garfunkel didn't much survive Paul Simon's defection (Simon's opera Capeman was a disaster). Enough for now!

If we're really embracing the whole of music here, and I am enjoying this conversation with JD who obviously knows what he's talking about, I would like to throw Andrew Lloyd Webber at you. Again, you might not like him, but you must admit he has raised the musical and its songs to bridge the gap between opera and popular music and developed something which is

a) known to everyone
b) popular with "young and old"
c) a great commercial success (if not quite financially, but it's more than just a musical genre)

In effect, he did something similar to Elvis in his own department there. But he's not American, although I bet the Yanks wished he was.

I realise that Green Day are in something of a rut- but given that I only discovered them a few months ago (in which time I've collected every album I can), I'm still massively enthusiastic. Particularly over Kerplunk, which is rapidly becoming my favourite album.
And certainly, I'd take Green Day in a rut over some of the shite out there any day.

Rogers and Hammerstien?

Green Day is an excellent band, one I totally dig, both recorded and live. But since we're talking about the greatest ever, I decided not to mention them. Punk rock is just a bit too easy... play the 3 power chords really fast and make up some rediculous lyrics. I wouldn't say they've had a large impact on their own genre, because they aren't particularly experimental. They're cool, I enjoy their music, and have ever since they first broke with "Dookie," but I wouldn't name them one of the greatest.

So, who would I name as a greatest band? Bands that had a major influence, that endured for many years, and that revolutionized American music, and the rest of the world as well, in a very tangible way. Candidates for this post, as I see it, would be:

Glen Miller Orchestra
Jimi Hendrix (not a band, but oh well)
The Eagles
The Ramones (yes, I said punk was easy, but they were the first in America, and they didn't sound much like what was going on in Britain when they came out... they sounded then more like what punk sounds like now)
Metallica