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| From | Sam Smith <SamSmith@colorado.edu> |
| Subject | Re: Top 10 Rock Groups of All Time |
| Date | Mon, 29 Mar 2004 08:33:38 -0700 |
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Re: the MSNBC Top 10 Rock Bands of All Time column by Eric Olsen.
I'm good with #1, obviously. As for the Stones, I think this rating was
justified up until, I don't know, the late '80s. But I can't help
feeling that they've spent the last 20 years cashing in on the first 20
years and diluting their legacy in the process. U2 belongs in the #2
slot, and on some days I even toy with the idea that they had
transcended, or at least equaled, the Fabs. [That wasn't intended as a
provocation, although it will surely be taken as one... :)]
Then we get to #4 and I get all mad. The Dead depends on your criteria.
Yeah, if you place a heavier value on cultural and musical influence
than you do any actual MUSICAL factors, they belong here. But their
songwriting is lame as hell once you get past their best four or five
tunes, they've never been half as good technically as their fans imagine
them to be, and the very fact that you helped shape the "aesthetics" of
bands like goddamned Phish ought to count against you in a significant way.
So there.
VU - same kind of argument, without the venom. I never thought VU
merited legendary status as a band in their own right, but jeez, the
influence they exerted is almost impossible to articulate. Try and
imagine what music would sound like today if VU had never happened. Go
through your CD collection and starting counting the holes.
It's hard to imagine Zep as low as #6. The Ramones are slotted about
right. Ditto Floyd. Marley? Gonna have to think about that one. My sense
is that Bob died too young to rate this high - I mean, if Marley belongs
here, where the hell is Nirvana? They don't even put Nirvana in the live
vote sidebar on which band should have been included. I'd sure as hell
rank George Clinton ahead of Bob Marley, and if radio had latched onto
the funk the way it did reggae, this writer would have, too. And if
Marley's in here (or Clinton, and Sly, then there's the question of
"what is rock & roll, which I'm going to stay the hell away from for now).
Sly? Man, I don't know. I don't want to take anything away from him, but
I can think of dozens of bands I'd rank ahead of the Family Stone.
Still, I'm not a Sly expert, so I could be misguided here.
All that said, this guy's shot at a top 10 beats the hell out of most
similar efforts I've seen.
http://lpit.blogspot.com
Mike Milstein wrote:
>This morning's MSN site has posted a list of the Top 10 Rock Groups of all time. Shall we open this for discussion? Here is the list:
>
>1. The Beatles
>2. Rolling Stones
>3. U2
>4. The Grateful Dead
>5. Velvet Underground
>6. Led Zeppelin
>7. The Ramones
>8. Pink Floyd
>9. Bob Marley and the Wailers
>10. Sly and the Family Stone
>
>Pink Floyd? The Dead? Bob Marley was great, but a rocker? Where are the Who and the Kinks? What about the Clash or Television?
>
>Have fun with this one!
>
>np: The Vandalias Mach V
>
>
>
--
___________________________________________________________
Sam Smith
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orb@colorado.edu | sam@lullabypit.com
http://www.lullabypit.com
You may have success in life, but then just think of it -
what kind of life was it? What good was it - you've
never done the thing you wanted to do in all your life.
I always tell my students, go where your body and
soul want to go. When you have the feeling, then stay
with it, and don't let anyone throw you off.
- Joseph Campbell
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