First I like to apologize for being an asshole a couple of weeks ago I was in a really bad mood that day but I shouldn't have gone off on a bunch of y'all like I did. So let's talk about something that we can talk about and not get angry. Rock and roll!!. I'm gonna make it 70s and 80s this time cause I don't think I can a top 5 bands if I just did one of the decades.
1. Metallica
2. Rush
3. The Who
4. Black Sabbath
5. Rolling stones
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Comments
Queen
Geez you are fishing with that list. My 12 year old daughter could pick those five. LOL. Dig a little deeper my friends. Here's a few.
70's:
Kiss
ZZ Top
Led Zep
Queen
Jethro Tull
My personal favorite: Robin Trower
80's:
Van Halen
U2
Def Leppard
Judas Priest
I said I'm not really a 70s or 80s rock person I'm a 90s to early 90s rock person
You start talking 90's then now the balls in Horse's court
Wasnt meaning to offend, just thought they were too obvious. I clearly no little about the newer heavier genres.
Kiss?
They deserve points for style, but don't belong in that list. The rest of it is pretty good.
Ok maybe a personal favorite but Kiss was hugely popular in the early to mid 70s. Their works up through Kiss Alive were basic but had killer hooks. Underrated from an influence perspective, I think.
Gene Simmons is a businessman and KISS is his product. Fuck everything about that band.
Favorite Metallica record? I am a metal guy too, so Ill put those for good measure.
1. Van Halen (David Lee Roth era)
2. Testament
3. Slayer
4. Death (late 80's technically)
5. Rush
Either Master of Puppets or Ride the Lightning, though as a musician I can appreciate ...AJFA and the black album.
I play guitar so I do just love the tone of Ride the Lightning as well.
Here's some metal bands that started in 80s that you might like:
Bolt Thrower
Napalm Death
Cannibal Corpse
Suicidal Tendencies (some say punk, some say metal, and some say it's both mixed.)
Rotting Christ
If you're going to go Rotting Christ might as well throw Mercyful Fate, Sodom, and Bathory in there.
If we could push to the 90's I would stick many of my favorite Norwegian black metal records in there. Metalcore is where my heart is, but I listen to all the sub-genres honestly.
Mayhem and Darkthrone were both formed in the 80s, so you've got a couple.
Pleased to see a couple other black metal fans on here. Usually there isn't a lot of overlap with sports fans.
Yeah true, just saying my favorite records came from the 90's. I am considering starting a metal thread for album/song discussion after seeing some more people's interest.
King Diamond and Venom are two of the others that come to mind, not the biggest huge BM fan but definitely find a few of the newer bands pretty solid and interesting, especially when they mix in other genres to give a little more diversity.
Good example is Behemoth. BM + death and some atmospheric stuff more recently.
I listen to all of those bands, just put my favorites. I love Rotting Christ, especially the new direction for some reason. Ze Nigmar is a great song.
Kill 'Em All, to be honest. It's to the point. Metallica's later progressive-thrash compositions don't appeal to me all that much outside of the hits.
Best =/= favorite.
1. Zeppelin
2. Pink Floyd
3. Styx
4. Bruce Springsteen
5. Queen
6. The Who
7. The Ramones
8. Jethro Tull
9. Van Halen (with Roth of course)
10. AC/DC
.....sorry, got carried away. As far as best, you'd have to look at who really changed the game and influenced the most people that came after them. So with that in mind out of this list the Ramones probably get the top spot, because they had so much going on with a sound that appears simple on first hearing and they were about 20 years ahead of the rise of pop punk.
By your definition, and by most definitions, the Stones would absolutely have to be at the top of the list. And it's not even confined to just the obvious, derivative guitar-centric rock bands like Aerosmith and Guns and Roses and (insert nearly any band with a guitar here). Their country-rock dabbles obviously influenced the Eagles, and are responsible for the type of country music that was most prevalent from the 70's-early 2000's, before country went full on pop. The Rolling Stones are far and away the greatest band of the era, if not all time.
Not disputing you, I just chose which out of my favorites I considered the best. Stones are probably somewhere in the lower teens as far as my faves go.
Wasn't trying to argue your tastes or anything. I intended to post that Stones rant in here, and it just seemed to fit with your comment.
You need to add a new QB to your list :) (or at least I hope Ryan Willis doesn't play UVA again)
I have to go a little bit (ok, a lotta bit) softer and mention the Doobie Brothers, Chicago,
GnR
Poison
Whitesnake
Danzig
Faster Pussycat
Journey
Led Zep
Rainbow w/ Dio
Slade
Aerosmith
Little Feat
Lynyrd Skynyrd
Allman Brothers
The Call
Queen
First that popped into my mind were the Allman Brothers, Little Feat, Skynyrd, and Grateful Dead, CCR, and the Stones.
FEAT!!!!!
Made the greatest live album ever. I still play it. Tower of Power horns backing them was genius..
Probably my favorite band of all time and have seen them live many times over the years. I was at Lisner Auditorium when they were recording some songs that made it to their live album. I actually saw them in Boston last fall for the first time since Richie Hayward passed away, and they kicked ass (although the replacement drummer couldn't match Hayward's skill set).
But did you see them play in Burruss Hall?
I did...opening for the allmans
Did Feat open for the Allman Brothers? I do not remember that. For some reason I thought the Allman Brothers were in Roanoke. I do remember Dicky Betts being so drunk that he could barely stand up.
I may have to see if I still have that ticket stub, I have virtually all of them going back to 1972 (and I've seen well over a hundred concerts).
Which show '78 or '88. I came to Tech in '79 so I missed seeing Lowell George alive with the band. I have a set of Richie's sticks from a show at Kings Dominion in '89 that had Jeff Healey opening.
in 88. Lowell was dead but they still rocked. Every one of the allmans was shitfaced but they still were pretty good.
Yes, in 78, I believe (not exactly sure through the smokey haze of the 70's). I've seen them a dozen times or more.
I remember seeing Springsteen, Robin Trower, Nils Lofgren, and I think Heart was at Burruss. Saw Allman Brothers, Aerosmith, and others in Roanoke during that time.
It was Heart at the Cassell. Also saw Dave Mason and Bob Welch in the Cassell. Pretty good venue for a concert.
The Band and the Last Waltz would like a word here.
Not Rush. I don't trust anyone with that many drums. Plus I dislike their so-called "music"
Queen
Skynard/Allmans
Led Zeppelin
Van Halen, not Van Hagar
... some others, I dunno
I dislike rush for a while too but the more I listen to it I started really liking it
Rush is one of those bands that is extremely niche. And they have some off the wall shit in their discography. If you listen to damn near anything after the Signals album, you probably won't be interested. If you try and dive straight into their earlier concept work, you'll be lost and somewhat bored. The best way to get someone into Rush is to start with Moving Pictures (Tom Sawyer, Limelight, more familiar sound), then go to 2112, then some of the singles from earlier albums.
The funny thing is my favorite rush is caress of steel
Solid album. Bastille Day is a hidden gem, and Fountain of Lamneth and the Necromancer are incredible, if you've got the time to sit and listen to them. Great on longer road trips.
I think I'm going bald is pretty good too
Also there's a lot of people who don't like the album
Some of the oldest stuff was their best.
From a purely metal fan standpoint Megadeth was always better than Metallica, come at me.
Metallica has considerably more popular appeal though.
Maiden is better than both. Don't @ me.
I'll @ you to tell you you're right.
Maiden is the greatest metal band ever, full stop.
Art is subjective and the perfect metal band to me was always Pantera. Probably the best metal guitarist ever, one of the best front men and an above average back end. Legendary live shows and never slowed down.
I'm with you on that, Rust In Peace is my favorite record by them but that was 1990.
The thing that turned me off about Megadeth was how overproduced they sounded, and that's because Marty Friedman has such a hard on for clean precision on all his guitar work. It feels really sanitized, for lack of a better world.
Also, they SUCK live. Zero stage presence, literally just standing there playing. Also no experimentation, no jam, just the songs excatly how they are on the album. At least when I listen to the albums I can be multitasking and getting other shit done.
I vastly prefer the sound of Fear Factory to Megadeth.
Peace Sells was always my fav and totally disagree with the stage presence at least with the current lineup. I think Dave has really tweaked the lineup to feature a beast of a guitarist in Kiko and have slayed the last two times I saw them.
I haven't seen them since the late 90s/early 2000s, so you might very well be right. But circa their appearance at Woodstock '99, they were the epitome of boring.
Fleetwood Mac, Van Halen, The Police, AC/DC, Rush
Boston
Chicago
Journey
The Eagles
Bon Jovi
Bob Seger and the Silver Bullet Band
Lynard Skynard
Edit: I forgot Santana...
This is my speed, and I'm so happy someone else mentioned Boston.
More than a Feeling is my jam. It is my default ringtone.
Eagles too.
'Twas my first concert in 1977, Roanoke Civic Center Boston and Starcastle? Was the opener, I believe.
was there...i don't remember who opened
You can't limit that era with 5. Too much good music, impossible to rank them except by personal experience. The Allman Brothers for sure, Little Feat likewise. The Stones, Fleetwood Mac, uh huh. The Who, Led Zeppelin, Pink Floyd and Jethro Tull, yeah. Skynard edges in. Rush? Really? No way, Jose. Metallica? Niche band, sorry. I'm sure you all agree. But music's like cars. We all drive different ones for different reasons.
What's wrong with rush
Just flat out don't like 'em. Didn't from the first time I heard them, and don't think they were a particularly popular, or influential band even when they were current. Never played at any parties I went to, and there were a ton of them in the '70s and '80s. Like several other bands mentioned, they may have been there, but most of us who were also there likely don't remember them as being particularly notable. A little fizzle, but not much of a flame. But hey, like my dear old daddy always said, "there's no accounting for taste." We all like what we do and don't what we don't.
Edit: For clarity, meant that their music wasn't on the stereo being played at the parties I went to.
Well Rush is kind of a nerd band that might be a reason
And Neil Pert sounds like an entire percussion section all on his own.
I didn't hear them in the dorm/parties because I graduated in 1977 and most of their better known work came later...
I put them on my list because when I first heard Spirit of the Radio, I said "who the **** is that!" Their innovation and commitment to excellence stands above almost everyone else; and frankly, I like them much more now than I did then. Boston, who I love, isn't on my list because the band was essentially after the fact. If I bumped Rush from my top 5, it would probably be for Journey or Chicago who I listen to less now than I did then...I saw Chicago live twice...truly amazing band.
And I won't argue with anyone who puts The Who, Zeppelin, or a band with Dickey Betts in it on a "top #" list. They aren't my personal faves but they were great.
Geddy Lee's voice sounds like he's doing a parody of bad singing. Rush does have a lot of musical talent, but I just can't listen to them.
That's always been my take, awesome music, but the vocals just don't do anything for me.
Too tough to name all the good stuff from that era, so I'll take a different approach.
Most overrated/overhyped bands (I don't necessarily dislike them, I just think people give them too much attention):
Led Zeppelin
Pink Floyd
Metallica
Journey
Aerosmith
AC/DC
Basically any band you might see on high schooler's t-shirt.
Most underrated/under appreciated bands:
Deep Purple
The Kinks
April Wine
Uriah Heep
Grand Funk Railroad
Traffic
1. Zeppelin
2. Queen/ Jimi Hendrix Experience
3. Lynyrd Skynyrd
4. Deep Purple
Can you tell which decade I prefer?
These are probably my two favorite decades of music. I could name a top 50 and still leave out some favorites. Past the top two, this last would probably change daily, but here goes:
1a. Springsteen
1b. Bowie
2. 70s Stones
3. Waylon Jennings
4. The Smiths
5. Sonic Youth
Honorable mentions: Fleetwood Mac, Queen, Tom Petty, Ramones, Leonard Cohen, GnR, U2, Prince
Not 70s/80s rock but didn't feel like making a whole new topic to make sure to tell y'all who live in Blacksburg to go see these cats in January. I saw em open for Tedeschi Trucks Band in Charleston this summer and definitely got more than my ticket price out of all of them. These guys play two kinds of music: Rhythm AND Blues and the front man is only like 20 or something. Go pick up their new album, too while you're at it.
I saw that posted on their instagram earlier today. I am seeing MKB next Thursday in DC and am pumped! I haven't seen them play yet.
Seen TTB three times though, thats always a blast! Twice with the Wood Brothers (who i've seen on two other occasions and will be seeing again in January), and once with Hot Tuna.
Also, if you haven't checked it out, Duane Betts' new album is pretty good. I saw him and Devon Allman touring together earlier this year. They're starting a band called the Allman Betts Band and are currently recording their first album, set to release in the spring.
MKB is incredible. They've played at Rooster Walk the past couple years and bring the house down every time. Highlyyyy recommend.
Ritchie Blackmore's Rainbow, son.
Obligatory R.I.P. RJD
My tastes run a bit more theatre.
Genesis
Peter Gabriel
Gentle Giant
Yes
Emerson Lake and Palmer
King Crimson
Supertramp
Then for something completely different
Ultravox
Tears for Fears
Crack the Sky
Frankie goes to Hollywood
Cowboy Junkies
Dire Straits
Saw Gentle Giant at the Spier Festival in Germany, I think it was '72. Great band, surprised to see them on your list. Not exactly a well known band over here in the states, very popular in Europe. Agree about ELP and Yes.
Doesn't get more theatrical than those early Genesis years with PG. Nothing takes up my youtube time like watching Gabriel act out The Musical Box, Battle of Epping Forest or Supper's Ready.
I have this memory of being in my Grandfather's cottage standing over a grate, drying from swimming in the bay singing "The Lamb LiesDown on Broadway" I loved that song but it took another decade+ to find out who the band was.
Lord knows where I heard it, it haunted me for a long time but back then, how did you find out something that takes a 5 second search now.
I saw Genesis and PG live a couple different times.
I like to listen to Selling England by the Pound while I am cooking,
Supper's Ready and Dance on a Volcano at a loud volume to chase unbeliever family members from my food creation domain when the heathens insist on watching their unwholesome teenage TV crap.
You must've been elated to finally figure it out after so long, sounds like it resonated with you from the first time you heard it though.
Saw PG when he was touring with Sting but sadly no Genesis. Have gone to see The Musical Box (a tribute band that tries to recreate early Genesis shows, down to the costumes and stories PG would tell between songs) a handful of times over the past few years. Would recommend it to anyone who's a fan of those early albums.
I'm sure the weirdness of Willow Farm gets them running for the hills!
Peter Gabriel doesn't get one tenth the credit he deserves.
I found a modernist band that reminds me of Gabriel in its restrained originality.
Elbow
I mean they have a song about a Tower Crane operator that commits suicide and another about a couple guys that fix a horse race.
It's not all love story and I wanna F**k you stuff.
It's outstanding.
Rush
Yes
Pink Floyd
Traffic
Steeley dan
Allmans
The Dead
Led Zep
Little feat
Badfinger
ELO
Elton John
Billy Joel
Boston
I always dig these music threads. Good stuff and fuel trips down the Spotify rabbit hole. Here are some artists/bands of the era that I enjoy and didn't notice above already:
The Cure
Black Flag (Henry Rollins is the man!)
David Bowie
Queensryche
Dead Kennedys
The only time I heard Henry Rollins was in the tool song bottom and I wasn't too impressed
The Henry Rollins is the man was really referring to him being fascinating to me beyond just enjoying his music. He is an awesome story teller and gives a very interesting/insightful interview.
I saw him on one of his spoken word tours, and he is my far one of my favorite people to hear speak. Just an incredible human being.
That's awesome. He came to Warner Theater this past year for a spoken word show. Really wanted to do but was out of town unfortunately.
I'm about speak the truth (really just an opinion)
Def Leppard is overrated garbage.
Musically, Van Haggar is better than Van Halen with David Lee Roth.
The Guess Who are an incredibly under-appreciated band, and should be in the rock and roll hall of fame.
I think a lot of people claim they like bands like the Dead and Velvet Underground, just because you're "supposed to".
The Band. They were just solid.
Jesus Christ, and I thought my post was a hot take. I mean, objectively you have sound points, but damn.
Your Def Leppard take could be widely applied to any hair band. It's shit, but it's still fun to listen to. And at least Def Leppard was pretty upfront about being overly commercialized sellouts.
Van Halen just sounds wrong without DLR, even if they'd have gotten better grades in music theory in the Hagar years.
I honestly just assumed the Guess Who were in the hall already. That's a major oversight.
I've never gotten the appeal of the Dead. Casey Jones is the only song of theirs I've wanted to hear a second time. I hadn't heard Velvet Underground till White Light White Heat was featured on the HBO show Vinyl last year, and I actually really like their music now, despite the pretentiousness that is Lou Reed.
The Band is too often overlooked. Jericho is one of my favorite albums.
As a guitarist, I just think the riffs in VH1 and 1984 are just too good!
I mean this as well-intentioned snark, but if by musically you mean the music is better, then I can't see Van Hagar as superior to DLR Van Halen. The first few albums just have so much raw power and energy, and I feel like that band peaked with the perfectly-produced 1984.
That's the problem with best of lists. Too restrictive. How could any of us not mentioned The Band. They and Little Feat are still on my regular playlist favorites.
Prince
Springsteen
Judas Priest
Replacements (under appreciated)
U2 (who really started in the 70's)
Best musical era ever, so sad what we are stuck with nowadays that qualifies as "music"
There still are some very talented musicians out there making good music- bands like My Morning Jacket, Gary Clark Jr (who can kill it on guitar), Nathaniel Ratliff, Mumford and Sons (who owe their popularity to The Avett Bros), any Jack White iteration, and even can throw Zac Brown and their live concert experience as bands in the last 10 years that are awesome and maybe Alabama Shakes......then of course there are bands like maroon 5 who get a Super Bowl gig and I wanna puke.
Thank you. Many people think it's vise versa.
After a while, every Mumford song sounds the same. I'd take the Lumineers any day over Mumford.
This comment so much. There is great muscians for every genre in every time period, but most of the truly great unique sounds are ones you have to find on your own because they are not "pop" music and don't get radio play. But to be fair they don't really make any money off of streaming or music sales so most bands tour consistently these days. The metal scene in particular is stronger than its ever been because everything is so accessible due to online streaming where back in the 80 and 90 you had to seek things out through word of mouth, radio, or MTV. I find more things I really like through reccomendations on Youtube from bands I listen to or from openers at concerts than anything.
Seen MMJ 33+ times and they are still one of the greatest live acts, even if their albums are starting to slip a bit. If you like more southern rock/country twang there is always Drive By Truckers or Jason Isbell also.
Hard rock you have Queens of the Stone Age and Mastodon killing it.
Metal has all types of great acts, High On Fire, Integrity, Carcass, could go on for hours.
Even Neil Young is still putting out classic stuff 5 decades into his career.
Its a great time to be alive.
It's incumbent on you to find the good music that's out there right now. Hearing today's radio friendly music and deciding it's trash then throwing all contemporary music under the bus because of it is incredibly reductionist.
Adding some to the list
Neil Young
Grateful Dead
Bob Dylan
Van Morrison
Derek and the Dominos
So both my parents listened to nothing but 70's and 80's rock and country, so I literally grew up on music from this era. Even though I rarely listen to that era music these days, here's about the only bands I go back to as an adult:
-Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band
-Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers
-Guns N Roses
-Queen
So the following two bands I haven't listened to in over a decade, but they're very important to my musical upbringing:
-Aerosmith (the first band that I actually liked and made me take an interest in music as a kid)
-Led Zeppelin (I found this band when I started playing guitar)
Finally someone giving Tom Petty some love. I'm convinced if he looked like anything other than Tom Petty he would of been the biggest front man of that generation.
May he RIP, but that dude and his band consistently put out great songs. Tight vocals, had a helluva guitar player, a rocker for sure, but his songs always had a hook that could bridge the gap between popular and solid rock. Won't back down, indeed.
Favorite 70's bands:
Bad Company
Foreigner
Favorite 80's bands:
REM
Hoodoo Gurus
The Cult
All the metal bands mentioned above:
Nearly their entire discography is great, but pre Green R.E.M. in particular is outstanding and underrated.
And REM also played at After Sundown (what is now the bookstore vol 2) back 1983 for the Murmur tour
Rush (I love all of it, but the late 70's stuff is my favorite)
Peter Gabriel era Genesis (his solo stuff is good too, but the early Genesis albums are incredible)
Yes (I'll defend TFTO forever)
The Who (probably my favorite personalities of any group to hear stories about)
ELP (probably can add some of Emerson's work with the Nice in here as well)
Rush is my favorite but I trend towards early 70's prog overall (not to say I don't like a lot of other music from the era, but those get the most play in my car).
You even like roll the bones?
I do, more for memories associated with it though. I'd put it near the bottom of their catalogue but I still enjoy it whenever it comes on.
1. I remember being out with a large group of people at a bowling alley/bar when it came on. I was a mixture of excited (because a Rush song came on) and confused (I'd probably expect 50+ other songs before Roll the Bones). A number of people were introduced to my rap "ability" that night.
2. On the R40 tour they played it live. During the rap segment had a number of celebrities (Trailer Park Boys, Jason Segel, Paul Rudd) lip synching it. Most had a (semi-well known) connection to Rush. My friends and I were surprised to see Peter Dinklage show up (turns out his brother was playing in their orchestra on some songs). We all played Destiny and his appearance in this video has led to tons of recurring jokes for us which is now the first thing I think of whenever the song comes on.
Edit - if you mean the album and not just the song - I'd say it's one of their weaker albums but I think there are some fantastic songs on it (Bravado, Ghost of a Chance, Dreamline, Where's My Thing)
The album and the song gets trashed on alot but I personally think its a pretty decent album
1.
Then lots of other things that I would spend way too much time typing out.
Pink Floyd could certainly be included in either decade. They were more prolific in the 70s, with Meddle, Obscured by Clouds, Dark Side of the Moon, Wish you Were Here and Animals. But The Wall came out in 1980 (well, technically November 1979, but it was #1 in the US for 15 straight weeks in 1980), as well as The Final Cut (an underrated album IMO) and Momentary Lapse of Reason.
Probably the best combination of mainstream commercial success and genuine art as I can think of.
Yeah, I honestly think Animals is my pick for underrated. I mean it's still well known but there's some great songwriting there that never really gets a lot respect these days.
This is long and very incomplete. 70's and 80's are the two best decades for music in my life. I could go on for days. Hopefully, someone will see something they never considered, and have a listen, or a second, more contemplative listen.
70's
Miles Davis - Kind of smarmy, but he did release BItches Brew in 1970, and that shit is trailblazing.
The Beatles - see above - Let it Be released in 1970, and it's a great album.
Pink Floyd - Meddle, then Dark Side. Kind of like Michael Jackson doing Off the Wall, then following up with Thriller.
Led Zeppelin - They flat out stole half of their stuff, but John Bonham could just beat the fuck out of a drum kit., and Robert Plant's voice was awesome until it wasn't.
Black Sabbath - Give me bat eating, drunk Ozzie any day.
Grateful Dead - "Once in awhile you get shown the light, in the strangest of places, if you look at it right."
The Eagles - Geezus what a catalogue, and the harmonizing.
Fleetwood Mac - see above.
Rolling Stones - I know, mostly 60's but two of their best albums - Exile on Main Street and Sticky Fingers came out in the 70's.
Elton John - Just 70's Elton, not that Candle in the Wind bullshit. Saturday Night's Alright, Bennie and the Jets, etc.
Lynyrd Skynyrd - Southern fried rock was sooooo 70's, and these guys were the top shelf.
All the SuperGroups - Boston, Journey, Kansas, ELO, REO Speedwagon, Bad Company, Styx. These guys all did the same thing in 70's, but it was cool.
Eric Clapton - Enough Said.
Allman Brothers - See Lynyrd Skynrd, but Duane Allman was a better guitar player.
Doobie Brothers - as long as Michael McDonald is not singing.
Steve MIller Band- If you can't have fun with some friends, a pony keg, and Steve Miller Band's Greatest Hits you are hopeless, and there is no cure.
Super Tramp/Steely Dan- I put these together because I had both of their greatest hits on the same cassette for some reason.
AC/DC - Because Bonn Scott. 80's stuff is awesome too.
80's
Rush - Just the greatest drummer of all time played in this band. That's all. No big deal. I was at a show once and still couldn't believe just three guys did this.
The Clash - They would've been 70's but "London Calling" was released in 1980 in the US, and if that was the only thing by The Clash that you listened to, you're gucci.
U2 - Unforgettable Fire then Joshua Tree is kind of like Pink Floyd Meddle then Dark Side.
Phil Collins/Genesis- as with Don Henley, I'm a fan of the drummer/lead singer.
Peter Gabriel - The Genesis coaching tree produced some mad talent.
The Cure - I like sad, Goth Robert Smith. When the record company forced him to go Happy Robert Smith, he got hooked on heroin. He went back to sad, goth guy and was Cured.
The Go's Go's - Beauty and the Beat really is a great pop album. Plus Belinda Carlisle was hot.
The Cult - She Sells Sanctuary. I can still get hyped by that one.
Psychedelic Furs - Molly Ringwald approves.
The Police - Probably fifth best drummer of all time. Synchronicity is a great album.
Prince - the Willie Nelson of Pop. He wrote all his shit, and half of the shit everybody else sang.
Joy Division/New Order - they did their own thing and it was good.
The Smiths - I don't know how this got here. I really didn't listen to The Smiths. Ever. I promise. Cross my heart.
All the Hair Bands - Bon Jovi, Ratt, Motley Crue, Poison, etc. Axe guitars, Spandex, and Aqua Net. Good Times.
R.E.M. - One of the best times I had in Charlottesville was seeing these guys my sophomore year in High school there. They really let off the gas by 1990 though.
Metallica - The first time I heard Master of Puppets I ran through two walls. not just the proverbial one.
Tears for Fears - Songs from the Big Chair is a great album. Not just the two hits. The whole thing is pretty fucking good.
Talking Heads - Little Creatures holds a special place in my summer of '85.
Long and incomplete, yeah, but you did a great job. I'd agree with 90% of the bands you like.
Still don't get the love for Rush. Yeah, good drummer, lotta sound for three guys (like Hendrix, sum + more than), but I never found anything there that got to me. Just lacked that gene, I guess, but nobody I hung with then or now or since liked them.
I forgot about Talking Heads. Television Man + Road to Nowhere is as good a 1-2 album finishing punch as you'll hear.
Plus David Byrne was just something else for creativity and talent perspective.
"Is This MY Beautiful Navy"was ubiquitous with my Shipmates.
Can't argue with any band listed, as they all have merit. Is Tears for Fears rock? I'm not sure, but that album was pretty good, so I'll allow it.
We could keep adding, but that's a solid and most excellent list. How very Leonard.
For some reason this topic got me thinking "what are the worst hit songs from this time period." And when I say hit, I don't mean some relatively obscure song like the silly Zeppelin song The Crunge, but a song that is generally popular but that you just hate.
For the 70s I'm nominating Come Sail Away by Styx. It starts of nice and pretty, although the over-acted vocals sound like they belong in a crappy holiday special. By the time it gets to the weird keyboard interlude and the stupid plot twist (OMG they're ALIENS!), I'm just shaking my head.
For the 80s I really can't stand Jack and Diane by John Cougar Mellancamp. The opening guitar riff has some decently crunchy chords, but then there's that stupid twangy thing that sounds like the guitarist accidentally turned the gain off mid-riff. The choruses have some nice melody, but the music underneath is just garbage. Overall, a terribly produced song.
Come Sail Away is on the ~20 song playlist at UCB Kroger, and since I worked there for two years I hate that song tremendously.
I see your Come Sail Away and raise you a Piano Man. It's just a super basic waltz with a flat vocalist jerking off his ego for 4 minutes, and for some reason people think it's an all time great song.
Second your opinion on Jack and Diane though. If China stole the patent to Bruce Springsteen and tried to mass produce him to sell in the dollar store, the product on the shelf would be John Mellencamp.
CHICAGO
EW&F
BS&T
3DN
Alabama
Soundgarden
Nirvana
Weird Al
.38 Special
Devo
Bon Jovi
Joy Division
Journey
Foreigner
Run DMC
NWA
Steve Taylor
Prince and the Revolution
The Romantics
The Jam
The Clash
Genesis
70's:
Eagles
Fleetwood Mac
Bee Gees
Led Zepplin
Pink Floyd
80's:
The Smiths
The Cure
Michael Jackson
U2
Prince
First gotta take out any of the rapists from consideration so there goes led Zeppelin, Bowie, Nuggent,etc just out of principle.
70's:
Neil Young & Black Sabbath probably my two favs of all time
Lynyrd Skynyrd (pre-crash)
Judas Priest
Rainbow
80's
Prince
Megadeth (without Mustaine Metallica never gets their sound, their best album has credits to mustaine on them)
Tom Petty
Napalm Death (best metal band without a current founding member)
King Diamond/Merciful fate
Having lived through both eras, I would posit:
70's
Led Zep
AC/DC
UFO
New York Dolls
The Damned
Journey
The Cars (pre-Heartbeat City)
John Cougar (later Mellencamp)
Heart (original lineup)
80's
Bad Brains
Fugazi
Black Flag
R.E.M.
The Cure
The Clash
The Police (early years)
Hair Metal... pretty much all the same, take your pick, but I would suggest Dokken, Great White and W.A.S.P. as the most innovative of the genre.