Name a band, then list 3 songs you think are essential to their catalog of music

[ProfJohn]

It seems like you think 'most popular' is the same as 'greatest.'

Not with recent music, but that is more about musical tastes.

Beatles, most popular band ever + greatest.
Madonna, most popular female singer ever + greatest (Mariah Carey could question both of those labels, but I think her music is much more commercially packaged than Madonna's.)

But again, if Gaga isn't the greatest then who is?

 

[Zeze]

Sweet Child of Mine
Welcome to the Jungle
November Rain

 

[dank69]

Not with recent music, but that is more about musical tastes.

Beatles, most popular band ever + greatest.
Madonna, most popular female singer ever + greatest (Mariah Carey could question both of those labels, but I think her music is much more commercially packaged than Madonna's.)

But again, if Gaga isn't the greatest then who is?

The word greatest does not belong in this thread.

 

[sourceninja]

Music is too relative to say "X is the greatest". If you just go off sales then Bing Crosby's White Christmas is the greatest song ever written.

Music is pure objectiveness. I personally only listen to blues, jazz, some indy rock, and a few eclectic bands from the 80's and 90's. I don't think I'd ever say X is the greatest band of all time, or ever, or the last decade. I would just say what my favorites are.

 

[Linflas]

Sweet Child of Mine
Welcome to the Jungle
November Rain

I'll take "Who is Guns N' Roses?" for $200.00 Alex.

 

[Ns1]

But if Gaga is not the greatest artist of the last few years then who is?

Need another decade before we can decide.

 

[zinfamous]

Grateful Dead - Scarlet Begonias, Eyes of the World, Wharf Rat

No Dark Star?

I was scratching my brain for the GD, but it's damn near impossible.

best I could come up with:

Dark Star (or maybe That's it for the Other One), Ripple, Jack Straw (or Black Throated Wind).

It's tough, b/c I feel the need to, of course, throw in a classic GD-defining piece--like DS or The Other One, then one needs classic Jerry & Hunter--Ripple. then it seems like a Bob Weir tune with JP Barlow is in order (though Jack Straw is also Robert Hunter).

of course, you end up leaving out the classic PigPen tunes, (like Lovelight, though it isn't a GD original) which is a bit of a crime, as well. :\

 

[Atomic Playboy]

I don't question tastes in music or opinion or who they like better. But I think questioning the label of "greatest band of the last 30 years" is kind of foolish. If U2 doesn't own that label then who does?

I don't care for Lady Gaga, but I wouldn't question the fact that she is the most popular artists of the last couple of years. Is she the greatest artist of the past few years? If not her than who is?

But "greatest" is an opinion. You're trying to state it as though it is a fact, and you're using album sales as evidence. I reject the notion that you can quantify the opinion of "greatest" as proportional to album sales. You're trying to force objectivity into an inherently subjective debate. You claim U2 is the greatest band because they have sold well. I claim U2 is not the greatest band because I don't personally like their music. Is my opinion wrong because it disagrees with the majority?

 

[Oyeve]

Human League
1. Dont you want me
2. Keep feeling fascination
3. Louise


Throwing something different out there.

 

[zinfamous]

case in point: Tree of Life, winner of Cannes Film Festival

Per Rotten Tomatoes:

Critics:
tomatometer: 85%
Audience: 66%

and LOL

lolwtf.

I don't know how you wander into a Terrance Malick film unprepared.



If I owned a theater and some doucheface shows up demanding a refund for that, I would demand them pay twice for wasting my time with their trivial complaint.

 

[zinfamous]

My point was that the Nysnc album was utter garbage, yet it went 10x platinum. Just because an artist sells a bunch of albums doesn't mean they are the greatest in the world.

You're the one buying into the whole "just because it says so in a magazine, it must be true!" line of bullshit. The U2 album is decent but no way is the best album, and no way are they the best band. You're the one making that claim that it's universally acclaimed as the best album ever, when you started off saying "U2 is the greatest band of the last 30 years", which is utter horseshit. You should have just stuck with naming good songs instead of trying to assert your ego into the thread.

Honestly, I'm not much of a U2 fan anymore, but I really don't see how they aren't the greatest band of the previous 3 decades. It's tough to compare the quality of much of their music, massive audience and critical appeal, internationally, to anyone else.

Muse? who the fuck is Muse?

I think U2 has pretty much played themselves out. Bono has become too annoying for his own good and the Edge is a bit of a prick, it seems, and it seems like they keep releasing the same thing over and over. But War, Joshua Tree, Rattle and Hum, Zoowhatever, are epically good albums.

While I haven't been to one, I imagine their concerts are freaking phenomenal and generally unmatched in spectacle with anything else today--saving maybe Roger Waters' recent Wall tour.

 

[zinfamous]

anyway:

Pink Floyd: WYWH, Money, Comfortably Numb

Money is certainly not my favorite--but you pretty much have to pick something off of DsotM, and that is the most widely-appealing song.

Personally, I'd prefer Dogs or Sheep off of Animals, or maybe Echos, but you know....

 

[zinfamous]

GaGa are you fucking forreal? She's just rehashing Madonna for this generation.

So? it works.

the difference between her and Madonna is that Gaga is actually a song writer with real music skills. She writes some excellent stuff, but it is indeed her dogshit music that makes her popular.

I don't begrudge the woman's stage persona making her into some crazy insane phenomenon. One has to realize that it is all part of her performance. In a way, its like what Andy Warhol was to pop art.

 

[Ns1]

So? it works.

Not arguing there - but her most recent CD is tanking so we'll see if her career has legs or not.

 

[jupiter57]

The ATOT Band: "The Great Investor", "Livin' in my Moms Basement", "Better take Your Gun".

Buncha EMO kids!:biggrin:

 

[The Boston Dangler]

The ATOT Band: "The Great Investor", "Livin' in my Moms Basement", "Better take Your Gun".

Buncha EMO kids!:biggrin:

ROFL

i'm partial to "blue barchetta" and "multiple accounts, same old donkey"

 

[bobeedee]

Steely Dan - "Reeling in the Years", "Rikki Don't Lose That Number", "Aja"

Not bad, but to show their range (beyond jazz rock) I was thinking about:

Pearl of the Quarter (country)
Bodhisattva (rock)
Pretzel Logic (blues)

 

[Kadarin]

Deff Leppard:
Pour Some Sugar on Me
Photograph
Rocket

You should wipe the worthless Pour Some Sugar on Me out of existence and replace it with Rock of Ages.

 

[Atomic Playboy]

:groans:

oh dear god no not Closer/Hurt/HLAH

In many cases, I feel that an artist's best works are often overlooked, or they may not paint a picture of the range one has. But I think that these three songs are not only NIN's most well known, they're also an excellent example of the range Trent Reznor has, and the three most influential songs he ever did.

Nirvana: Smells Like Teen Spirit
How do you leave out the song that defined them and their entire musical genre?

Bowie is hard as hell because he changed his style so much. I'd say
Space Oddity - early stuff
Rebel Rebel - mid career
Let's Dance - later stuff, besides being a big hit it is a good song and it really helped Stevie Ray Vaughan get his break. Of course that is just my opinion.

I went back and forth on Smells Like Teen Spirit. In a lot of ways, it feels like it doesn't hold up over time as well as some of their other stuff, but you're right, it certainly was one of the most important songs of the grunge movement. It's not hard to make a case for its inclusion; actually, it's hard to narrow Nirvana's canon to just three songs.

I like breaking down Bowie's career by decade, although I think I'd take China Girl over Let's Dance. Changes is a big one too, but I just don't like that song, plus you already have Space Oddity for the early Bowie. Space Oddity, China Girl and I'm Afraid of Americans isn't a bad line-up either (and it brings us full circle to Trent Reznor). Three very different styles.

 

[NL5]

I don't understand why some people are so enamored by groups most people have never heard of. I am sure they are good and they have their fans. But how do you compare one of the biggest selling groups of all time with Tool or Janes Addiction?

Sure popularity doesn't always equate to good (see any Michael Bay movie) But when you have sold 150 million albums, have 22 Grammys (more than any other band) and have three of the greatest albums of all times you must be doing something right.

Janes Addiction is far more influential than U2 ever was, and Tool, well, Tool is just light years ahead of U2. U2 was great in the 80's, but have churned out nothing but drivel starting with Rattle and Hum.....

 

[qliveur]

You can't condense the awesomeness of Pink Floyd down to three songs. 'tis physically impossible.

I can condense it into one. Shine On You Crazy Diamond is the pinnacle of their achievement on every level.

 

[Oil]

Kyuss - Green Machine, Demon Cleaner, Whitewater
Pixies - Where Is My Mind?, Hey, Debaser
Queens of the Stone Age - Go with the Flow, You Can't Quit Me Baby, The Bronze
Helmet - In the Meantime, FBLA II, Sinatra
Butthole Surfers - 22 Going on 23, Cherub, 100 Million People Dead
Primus - Tommy the Cat, Mr. Knowitall, Jerry Was a Race Car Driver

 

[ProfJohn]

Janes Addiction is far more influential than U2 ever was, and Tool, well, Tool is just light years ahead of U2. U2 was great in the 80's, but have churned out nothing but drivel starting with Rattle and Hum.....

Well you are welcome to your opinion. But I don't think it holds up in the larger musical world.

Spin magazine named Achtung Baby as the best album of the past 25 years.
Coldplay, Keane, Snow Patrol, The Killers, Hold Steady, Kings of Leon, The Call, BoDeans, Midnight Oil, The Church, and Big Country are just a few acts greatly influenced by U2. You may not have heard of many of them but a huge part of the late 80s and early 90s rock scene was influenced by U2's

I think you guys are too distracted by the spectacle they have become and have lost focus on their music, especially the early stuff.

 

[Away]

Queens of the Stone Age - Go with the Flow, You Can't Quit Me Baby, The Bronze

Add "No One Knows" to that list and it will be perfect.

 

[A Casual Fitz]

Add "No One Knows" to that list and it will be perfect.

That is not a good song.