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Official Great Works Draft (1 Viewer)

damn. we probably could have had another Sgt Pepper-style meltdown if Citizen Kane didn't get 20 points.

 
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Good Vibrations An extraordinary musical triumph. This is not my favorite Beach Boys song, but it's probably their most complex. 12 points.

So What Speaking of complex. I wish I was enough of a Jazz expert that I could properly evaluate this masterpiece as it deserves. I will go with the critics who revere this work and this artist. Not really a song at all, but so what? 14 points.

The Way You Look Tonight Pop perfection. Nelson Riddle, along with George Martin, Phil Spector, and Quincy Jones, has to be considered among the greatest of musical arrangers. This song was originally performed by Fred Astaire, but it's the Sinatra version that is classic. 16 points

 
The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King: I have to admit that I don't "get" this series of movies, which to me seemed like one long, boring chase scene with some nice special effects and not particularly good acting. I'd put it in the bottom tier but must be missing something, so I moved it up one tier. To me this is the weakest movie on the list, though.
couldnt be more right. i wasnt swept away as a kid by the LotR books - i read it after high school at the behest of a friend who wanted me to do the lyrics for rock opera (yes, im old enough to have been around when that was a valid goal) based on it - with distinct, Planets-style, intertwining themes for each species. i'm as glad that what work we did on it is lost to time as i was to be charmed by the doings in Middle Earth. and that's what i brought away from reading it, the beautiful mix of charm & quest. there is nothing charming about the LOTR films - all i remember about em is Gollum, that awful, pronouncing dialogue that "epic" films always have, CGI battles, Liv Tyler as an elf & the feeling that Tolkein musta fell off his cloud in astonishment watching what they did to his vision. i so regretted that generations of kids would have their picture of that world perverted by big-time movie making that, when my director cousin (Annie, Chicago, Memoirs of a Geisha, look for his "Nine" - based on the musical based on Fellini's 8 1/2 - the day b4 Thanksgiving) was looking for source material to team the newly partnerless John Kander with Sondheim (didnt work out) on for a new musical, i suggested The Hobbit, if only to restore some measure of the armchair magic to the series that techies had sucked out of it. When Ive heard my 13yo refer to LotR or Narnia or even Potter with not an ounce of wonder except over cool effects, i rue another slice of a child's small awe being stolen from future gens by technology. nufced.
 
damn. we probably could have had another Sgt Pepper-style meltdown if Citizen Kane didn't get 20 points.
Tim put it well....................
Au Hasard Balthazar The few minutes I saw reminded me of The Seventh Seal. Not saying I don't get it (I don't, though) just that it's not for me. Still, I have to recognize the incredibly high ranking this film gets from most critics. It has to be in the first tier. 16 points.
The Album guy was not willing to compromise his own ideas and personal bias by acknowledging other opinions, and a general consensus among critics, as having merit.We could have done just as well by pulling albums out of a hat :goodposting:
 
Good Vibrations An extraordinary musical triumph. This is not my favorite Beach Boys song, but it's probably their most complex. 12 points.

So What Speaking of complex. I wish I was enough of a Jazz expert that I could properly evaluate this masterpiece as it deserves. I will go with the critics who revere this work and this artist. Not really a song at all, but so what? 14 points.

The Way You Look Tonight Pop perfection. Nelson Riddle, along with George Martin, Phil Spector, and Quincy Jones, has to be considered among the greatest of musical arrangers. This song was originally performed by Fred Astaire, but it's the Sinatra version that is classic. 16 points
:eek: Nice job.
 
The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King: I have to admit that I don't "get" this series of movies, which to me seemed like one long, boring chase scene with some nice special effects and not particularly good acting. I'd put it in the bottom tier but must be missing something, so I moved it up one tier. To me this is the weakest movie on the list, though.
couldnt be more right. i wasnt swept away as a kid by the LotR books - i read it after high school at the behest of a friend who wanted me to do the lyrics for rock opera (yes, im old enough to have been around when that was a valid goal) based on it - with distinct, Planets-style, intertwining themes for each species. i'm as glad that what work we did on it is lost to time as i was to be charmed by the doings in Middle Earth. and that's what i brought away from reading it, the beautiful mix of charm & quest. there is nothing charming about the LOTR films - all i remember about em is Gollum, that awful, pronouncing dialogue that "epic" films always have, CGI battles, Liv Tyler as an elf & the feeling that Tolkein musta fell off his cloud in astonishment watching what they did to his vision. i so regretted that generations of kids would have their picture of that world perverted by big-time movie making that, when my director cousin (Annie, Chicago, Memoirs of a Geisha, look for his "Nine" - based on the musical based on Fellini's 8 1/2 - the day b4 Thanksgiving) was looking for source material to team the newly partnerless John Kander with Sondheim (didnt work out) on for a new musical, i suggested The Hobbit, if only to restore some measure of the armchair magic to the series that techies had sucked out of it. When Ive heard my 13yo refer to LotR or Narnia or even Potter with not an ounce of wonder except over cool effects, i rue another slice of a child's small awe being stolen from future gens by technology. nufced.
I'm as much of a reader as anyone, but this argument is sooo tiring. IMO, Terry Jackson and his buddies not only did justice to the Tolkein books, they actually improved on them. Tolkein had an incredible imagination, but his narrative power was not particularly strong. The battles described in the books (Helm's Deep for one example) were so incredibly dully described that there was no excitement whatsoever. It took the middle film to show the epic nature of that conflict. I think the films actually increase the awe of children (and everyone else) and expose the stories so that more people will read them than ever before.

 
Songs - 13 Points

Bohemian Rhapsody - Now things start to get really difficult. Any of the remaining songs have legit arguments for being 19's (or at least 18's). Starting with this, uh, little number. This thing is so excessive that it could stand as the definitive poster child for everything that punk rock despised and was in response to. Freddie and the boys pull this off as only they could though. Excessiveness becomes decadence. Pretentiousness becomes debauchery. Campiness becomes cool. Something's not quite right at the palace. Long live the Queen.

(Sittin' On) The Dock of the Bay - This might be the quintessential non-love-interest pop song. A beautiful, melancholy biography condensed into a few verses and a bridge. Song craft perfection.

What's Goin' On - The Prince of Motown drops the pop and looks at the world through counter-culture-colored glasses. Others had done it, but never with the full-throttle soul so intact (lyrical content aside, this was a ground-breaking song musically also). There's a tone to this song that hits you in right in your humanity. Mothers, there's too many of you crying. Brothers, there's too many of you dying. Damn.

 
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I realized this morning that I didn't include Kagemusha in my rankings. But...that means that with the ones I already ranked, plus this, plus mine, I have 81 films. What did I do wrong? Did I include one that shouldn't be there? rodg, a little help?

Anyway, I'll put Kagemusha in the 10-point tier.

 
I realized this morning that I didn't include Kagemusha in my rankings. But...that means that with the ones I already ranked, plus this, plus mine, I have 81 films. What did I do wrong? Did I include one that shouldn't be there? rodg, a little help?

Anyway, I'll put Kagemusha in the 10-point tier.
Doug took 5 movies and only 2 albums. He'll need to redraft an album for Midnight Express. I'm sending him a PM informing him of this.
 
I realized this morning that I didn't include Kagemusha in my rankings. But...that means that with the ones I already ranked, plus this, plus mine, I have 81 films. What did I do wrong? Did I include one that shouldn't be there? rodg, a little help?

Anyway, I'll put Kagemusha in the 10-point tier.
Doug took 5 movies and only 2 albums. He'll need to redraft an album for Midnight Express. I'm sending him a PM informing him of this.
Let him know there are still plenty of Beatles albums available. :popcorn:
 
Sorry all, I screwed up somewhere. Thought I was short a movie. I actually listed on my spreadsheet the album I wanted, but never posted it. Drop the movie Midnight Express and replace it with:

55.5 - Synchronicity (The Police), Album [3]

 
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I've pretty much caught up with everything in the thread since I left last Wednesday.

Good job, krista, on the movie rankings, but I wouldn't have expected anything less.

And Uncle H's song rankings have been very interesting as well. I look forward to the rest.

I'm not sure quite what to make of MfB's Compostion rankings, other than to say that they were pretty predictable, with two Beethoven symphonies and a Bach piece as the Top 3. That category is the single one where the "Greatest Symphonies of All Time" rankings could be followed slavishly without too much dissension.

As for Tim's WCs, what is there to say. In one respect it gets to the heart of what Wikid's original idea was, i.e. comparing disparate things to get the "greatest", but that's not how Tim scored it. I don't think he took it particularly seriously, but this whole exercise has been taken too seriously by some people, so that Tim didn't isn't necessarily a bad thing.

Anyway, glad to be back.

 
MisfitBlondes said:
I'm not sure quite what to make of MfB's Compostion rankings, other than to say that they were pretty predictable, with two Beethoven symphonies and a Bach piece as the Top 3. That category is the single one where the "Greatest Symphonies of All Time" rankings could be followed slavishly without too much dissension.
The top three were already ranked by wikkied earlier in the draft. I have no clue what the bolded part means.
It means that there is pretty much a consensus in the classical music world as to what are the "greatest" symphonies in the classic repetoire. There isn't as much debate, AFAIK, on them like ther might be on rock albums or pop songs or books or the like.
 
MisfitBlondes said:
MisfitBlondes said:
I'm not sure quite what to make of MfB's Compostion rankings, other than to say that they were pretty predictable, with two Beethoven symphonies and a Bach piece as the Top 3. That category is the single one where the "Greatest Symphonies of All Time" rankings could be followed slavishly without too much dissension.
The top three were already ranked by wikkied earlier in the draft. I have no clue what the bolded part means.
It means that there is pretty much a consensus in the classical music world as to what are the "greatest" symphonies in the classic repetoire. There isn't as much debate, AFAIK, on them like ther might be on rock albums or pop songs or books or the like.
I completely disagree. If that were the case, a piece such as St. Matthew Passion would have been selected since it's so highly and widely respected. Many of the pieces that were chosen are not as "great" as they are "well known." I think you'd be hard pressed to find a definitive list of the greatest classical works of all time. Other than a handful of works, most lists and opinions vary quite a bit.
OK. I'll take your word for it. I'm not a classical music guy, although I don't disparage it.
 
As for Tim's WCs, what is there to say. In one respect it gets to the heart of what Wikid's original idea was, i.e. comparing disparate things to get the "greatest", but that's not how Tim scored it. I don't think he took it particularly seriously, but this whole exercise has been taken too seriously by some people, so that Tim didn't isn't necessarily a bad thing.

Anyway, glad to be back.
Obviously, my comments were not meant to be taken seriously. My original intent had been to make comments as I did with the plays and non-fiction, but it seemed pretty ludicrous to me to make comparisons between such disparate things, so I decided to have some fun with it. However, the actual rankings of each item was carefully thought out, in a serious way. At least I tried, anyhow.

 
I realized this morning that I didn't include Kagemusha in my rankings. But...that means that with the ones I already ranked, plus this, plus mine, I have 81 films. What did I do wrong? Did I include one that shouldn't be there? rodg, a little help?

Anyway, I'll put Kagemusha in the 10-point tier.
Doug took 5 movies and only 2 albums. He'll need to redraft an album for Midnight Express. I'm sending him a PM informing him of this.
Let him know there are still plenty of Beatles albums available. :popcorn:
Wanna trade the pick for SGT Peppers? :D
 
rodg, with the deletion of Midnight Express, could I move Pinocchio up to 4 points and Gettysburg up to 3 points? Thank you!

 
Songs - 14 Points

Blowin' in the Wind - [seriously. It might be time to pull out the dart board.] Here we have Dylan's first leap into the super-elite uber-echelon of songwriting. Blowin' is unbelievably powerful, but generic enough, that it has been adopted by many different movements. Therein lies its faculty (it even inspired Sam Cooke to write the theme song for the Civil Rights Movement - more to come). This is Dylan at his best. Lyrical allegory. Biblical allusions. Master phrasing. Sublime meter. Classic Dylan and a fine example of what made him, arguably, the greatest lyricist of all time.

Stairway to Heaven - Zep at their most Zeplinesque: Zamfirtron, the Norse god of nature, alchemy, and other deep hippy-sheet, ambles through a gentle, acoustic English countryside, whereupon, he finds himself in the middle of a herd of bonzosauruses awakening from their winter hibernation, and hungry for some groupie-seasoned shark sandwiches. The cappucino kicks in as the weather turns. Norf wind bwoh! Souf wind bwoh! Thunduh! Huwicane! Typhoon! Smog! Rush Limbaugh! . . . :pant: :pant: :pant: :pant: :pant: :pant: :pant: . . . . And she's bye-eye-ing a stair-air-way . . . . . to hehvun. :bowtie:

Yesterday - The first inkling that these lads were going to have to be taken seriously. Martin & McCartney's opting for a classical string quartet drove this point home. (Perhaps of greater significance is the fact that this was the first Beatles' song to only feature 1 Beatle). The flood gates had opened and the Beatles' creativity was unleashed in the form of the brilliance that was to follow. Oh yeah, it ended up the most recorded song of all time (>3,000 versions).

 
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Au Hasard Balthazar The few minutes I saw reminded me of The Seventh Seal. Not saying I don't get it (I don't, though) just that it's not for me. Still, I have to recognize the incredibly high ranking this film gets from most critics. It has to be in the first tier. 16 points.
Just watched this tonight.I found it pretentious, stilted, and thoroughly boring. No amount of religious subtext could save this film from its wooden actors and pathetic scenes. I don't know what the critics were thinking. It was like watching a film school freshman try to do Godard using Christianity. It was just awful.

On a side note, it's uncanny how much Anne Wiazemsky looked like Jessica Alba. They could be mother and daughter.

 
Songs - 15 Points

Greensleeves - And the longevity award goes to . . . . a song about a prostitute. It's at least 500 years old (the song that is . . . well I guess the prostitute would have to be also). Evidently, back then, green clothes had sexual connotations (grass stains on dresses and such). I did not know that. Puts Mr. Green Jeans in a whole new light. And the good Captain too for that matter . . . and Mr. Whispers . . . and The Banana Man . . . and Uncle Backwards . . . and Frank Zappa. (Also, just discovered that the actor who portrayed Mr. GJ was nicknamed "Lumpy" . . . awesomely awesome awesomeness!). I learned some new things today.

Hey Jude - A sweet little tune for Julian Lennon that became the national anthem for Beatle freaks. This song serves as a symposium on the art of melody. IMHumbleO, Sir James Paul was, if not the greatest, one of the greatest melody writers of the 20th Century (even if he did steal this one from Bach). The grabbed the one for the mantra at the end directly out of our collective subconsious. Seriously. Ultrasound has detected fetuses singing Naaaaa, Na Na, Na-Na-Na-Naaaa.

Smells Like Teen Spirit - They say that when matter and anti-matter touch, they are both annihilated. Here, the harbinger of doom (KC) mixes Beatles with anti-Beatles, signaling the death knell for rock music. With a very few rare exceptions, after this, there was nothing left except sampling and rehash.

 
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Songs - 14 Points

Yesterday - The first inkling that these lads were going to have to be taken seriously. Martin & McCartney's opting for a classical string quartet drove this point home. (Perhaps of greater significance is the fact that this was the first Beatles' song to only feature 1 Beatle). The flood gates had opened and the Beatles' creativity was unleashed in the form of the brilliance that was to follow. Oh yeah, it ended up the most recorded song of all time (>3,000 versions).
And yet, it gets 14 points. :sigh:
 
Songs - 16 Points

Imagine - I firmly believe that 1000 years from now, Lennonism will be a major religion. This song will be it's watchword. Queue up Alanis . . . dontcha think?

Respect - Oh man. That voice. Those backing vocals (Ree. Ree. Ree. Ree. Ree. Ree. Ree. Ree.) The horns. That groove. There are certain things that make me salivate. My dad's BBQed spare ribs. Ice cold double IPAs. My wife's derrier. Melted cheese. The annual FF draft. This song.

Strange Fruit - How ####ed up are we as a species. No. Seriously. The fact that this song is even necessary is ####ing disgusting. If it doesn't make your stomach turn, there is something wrong with you. The fact that something so putrid, so vile, could be turned into something so hauntingly beautiful, is a tribute to the writer, the singer, and the power of music - I guess we're not completely ####ed afterall.

 
Album rankings, part one of two. Revised much. Took a few suggestions. Ignored a few others. Sorry if I've dissed yr favorite record. Wrote a bit about some of my favorite records and controversial picks. Didn't write about others because, seriously, what am I going to say about Kind of Blue that others haven't already said? Tried to avoid hyperbole. Failed.

20pts.

Revolver - The Beatles--Rock and Pop’s Great Leap forward, regardless of post-punk revisionist histories, nobody knew that this stuff was possible. As alternately rocking, ornate, poetic, and downright weird as Sgt. Peppers (at least the UK version, with is three John Lennon songs longer than the the US version) but effortlessly so, without the forced ad-hoc psychedelic loops and comically lame “weirdness” that date Sgt Peppers. I know, I know, everybody loves Sgt Peppers. I don’t care. It is not as good as this record, and the bass-line in “Taxman” is so bad-### I can’t believe that McCartney wrote it.

Pet Sounds - The Beach Boys Named “Pet Sounds” because, according to Brian Wilson, he wanted to make a record of his favorite noises. So, searching for a context to include bicycle bells, buzzing organs, harpsichords, flutes, theremin, Hawaiian-sounding string instruments, Coca-Cola cans and barking dogs, he kind of accidentally made the strangest, most beautiful pop record of all time. So ornate, baroque, and Byzantine you could hang it in museum, this record is the aural template for lesser, latter day tape wizards like Mercury Rev and The Flaming Lips.

The Velvet Underground and Nico - The Velvet Underground I don’t think I can talk about this record without resorting to hyperbole and overstatement. The Velvets, though roundly ignored in their time, opened up vast new territories in the rock landscape. Simultaneously abrasive and soaring, vulgar and literary, absurd and grimly realistic. There was no songwriter smarter than Lou Reed, no musician as devoted to experimentation as John Cale, and no drummer as primitive as Mo Tucker. Add a Teutonic ice queen and the influence of Andy Warhol, and you have a once-in-a-lifetime, never-to-be-repeated kind of record.

The old saw has it that this record sold only 3000 copies, but all 3000 of those people started a band. Among the members of that early church were the likes of Elvis Costello, Joey Ramone, Tom Verlaine, Debbie Harry, Iggy Pop, Shane McGowan, Jonathan Richman, Alejandro Escovedo, Ian Curtis, Andy Gill, and probably anybody else you can think of who started a band between 73 and 85.

19 pts.

In the Wee Small Hours - Frank Sinatra Among the first times on a pop record that songs were selected, arranged, and performed to be listened to as a whole, rather than as a collection of singles. It is purported that this record was Frank’s attempt to work out his heartbreak after the dissolution of his affair with Ava Gardner. I do not know if this is true, but Ol’ Blue Eyes sounds absolutely wrecked on this record, just positively devastated.

Kind of Blue - Miles Davis

What's Going On - Marvin Gaye

18 pts.

The Black Saint and the Sinner Lady - Charles Mingus : A record as orchestrated, composed, and deeply personal as Brian Wilson’s Pet Sounds. But where Brian Wilson exorcises his demons with sweet, child-like earnestness and self-deprecating introspection, The Black Lady is a wholly upsetting narrative of self-loathing, muted fury, and panic-inducing frustration. Technically, it is an early pioneer of multi-track recording and featured nearly a whole album’s worth of overdubs. The LP’s liner notes were written--no kidding--by Charles’ shrink.

Innervisions - Stevie Wonder The most richly-textured record I can think of. Acute social commentary, a screw-you-Nixon song, songs to make sweet love to, and songs so troubling I still don’t understand. Like an east coast counterpart to Sly Stone’s There’s a Riot Goin’ On. In addition to writing, producing, arranging, and singing all of the songs, Stevie played Bass, Harmonica, Piano, Drums, and about a thousand different keyboards. Mr. Wonder is widely recognized as one of the greatest natural musicians ever, and he’s still underrated. There should be a statue of him someplace.

A Love Supreme--John Coltrane

17 pts.

Highway 61 Revisited - Bob Dylan A record that I wish I could rank higher. Really high, in fact, as it is one my own personal favorites. Dylan went electric and brought the Butterfield Blues band with him. “Rolling Stone” is the obvious hit and one of his best songs, but there ain’t a dud on the whole thing. The creepy, end-of-the-new-left, “Ballad of a Thin Man” remains one Dylan’s strangest songs, while “Tombstone Blues” and “From a Buick 6” remain among his most nakedly rocking.

Astral Weeks - Van Morrison

Rubber Soul - The Beatles

16 pts.

IV - Led Zeppelin Heavy, heavy, heavy. There is no Dude on earth born before 1980 who didn’t hear this record at some fragile point in his adolescence and who didn’t, almost completely involuntarily, raise his pimply fist to heavens to give God “The Goat.” I don’t care if every song on this record is about some sword in Middle Earth, “Black Dog” is the greatest riff in rock’s history. (2nd greatest: “Supernaut” by Black Sabbath.) \m/

Abbey Road - The Beatles

Exile on Main Street - The Rolling Stones I would’ve loved to have a Rolling Stones album a little higher, I really would. But nobody took “Sticky Fingers”.

15 pts.

Brilliant Corners - Thelonious Monk

Otis Blue - Otis Redding As I mentioned before, this is the best record by one of the best singers ever, fronting one of the best bands ever assembled. Also features the first recording of “Respect”, which would later be a hit for Aretha Franklin.

Never Mind the Bollocks, Here Comes the Sex Pistols - The Sex Pistols To be honest, I like the Ramones more. The Ramones were better musicians. The Ramones pre-dated the Pistols by more than a year. The Ramones, having toured ceaselessly for 20 years, have had a much wider influence. However, this is a Great Albums draft, not a Great Bands draft, and there have been few single albums that have caused as much of a stir as Nevermind the Bullocks. I hate copy/paste, but this dude from All Music got it right:

While mostly accurate, dismissing Never Mind the Bollocks as merely a series of loud, ragged midtempo rockers with a harsh, grating vocalist and not much melody would be a terrible error. Already anthemic songs are rendered positively transcendent by Johnny Rotten's rabid, foaming delivery. His bitterly sarcastic attacks on pretentious affectation and the very foundations of British society were all carried out in the most confrontational, impolite manner possible. Most imitators of the Pistols' angry nihilism missed the point: underneath the shock tactics and theatrical negativity were social critiques carefully designed for maximum impact. Never Mind the Bollocks perfectly articulated the frustration, rage, and dissatisfaction of the British working class with the establishment, a spirit quick to translate itself to strictly rock & roll terms. The Pistols paved the way for countless other bands to make similarly rebellious statements, but arguably none were as daring or effective. It's easy to see how the band's roaring energy, overwhelmingly snotty attitude, and Rotten's furious ranting sparked a musical revolution, and those qualities haven't diminished one bit over time. Never Mind the Bollocks is simply one of the greatest, most inspiring rock records of all time.

14 pts.

Are You Experienced? - The Jimi Hendrix Experience The world’s introduction to the greatest rock guitarist. Also, very underrated as a vocalist. I like the way he sings almost as much as his playing. To paraphrase Bill Hicks, the dude was clearly an alien. A spectral being, not of this world.

Blonde on Blonde - Bob Dylan A dense and refined record, but lacking Highway 61’s urgency and joy-of-invention.

Sgt Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band - The Beatles Whereas the strangeness of Revolver sounds like the organic and natural output that comes directly from the personalities of the dudes in the band, the crap that fills much of SPLHCB sounds ad hoc, contrived, and, thus, dated.

13 pts.

The White Album - The Beatles Not a record, so much, as a collection of songs. Though some of their best songs. “I’m So Tired”, “Helter Skelter” and “Back In The USSR” are the business.

Giant Steps - John Coltrane Took some advice and listend to the two Coltrane records again. The technical innovations of this record don’t match up to a Love Supreme. Still, it is an awesome album.

London Calling - The Clash The British seem to value forced eclecticism over commitment and purpose, which is why they like the Clash more than The Ramones. And AC/DC. London Calling, however British, is one hell of an ambitious record that mostly succeeds. The Ramones were a great band who only came close to making a great record. What do the Clash and Crazy Horse have in common? Two great bands with awful drummers. This is rare.

 
Smells Like Teen Spirit - They say that when matter and anti-matter touch, they are both annihilated. Here, the harbinger of doom (KC) mixes Beatles with anti-Beatles, signaling the death knell for rock music. With a very few rare exceptions, after this, there was nothing left except sampling and rehash.
Ahem. This song wasn't so much a death-knell for rock music as a clarion call. After this song--which is a fine song, no doubt--a million little dudes in a million little places that previously had no punk scene, went about buying records by The Melvins, The Vaselines, the Meat Puppets, The Wipers, and Sonic Youth. Those people went on to be in great bands like Dead Meadow, Silkworm, Low, Blonde Redhead, Bedhead, Chavez, Modest Mouse, and about a million others. While none of these bands achieved the commercial success of Nirvana--and I don't believe that another worthwile rock band ever will--they were certainly unique, aesthetically important bands who advanced the form.

Rock ain't dead, Sparky. You just ain't paying attention.

 
Smells Like Teen Spirit - They say that when matter and anti-matter touch, they are both annihilated. Here, the harbinger of doom (KC) mixes Beatles with anti-Beatles, signaling the death knell for rock music. With a very few rare exceptions, after this, there was nothing left except sampling and rehash.
Ahem. This song wasn't so much a death-knell for rock music as a clarion call. After this song--which is a fine song, no doubt--a million little dudes in a million little places that previously had no punk scene, went about buying records by The Melvins, The Vaselines, the Meat Puppets, The Wipers, and Sonic Youth. Those people went on to be in great bands like Dead Meadow, Silkworm, Low, Blonde Redhead, Bedhead, Chavez, Modest Mouse, and about a million others. While none of these bands achieved the commercial success of Nirvana--and I don't believe that another worthwile rock band ever will--they were certainly unique, aesthetically important bands who advanced the form.

Rock ain't dead, Sparky. You just ain't paying attention.
Didn't say there was no good music made post-Nirvana. Just that most of it has been done before. There have been exceptions (some of my faves include Cake, Radiohead and Slint).

I'll be honest with you, you're right, I haven't paid too much attention.

Mostly because I've been diving voraciously into the archives of other genres,

but also, because I HAVE tried to seek out the post-early 90's hidden rock gems (mostly through suggestions from the music :nerd:s on this board),

and unfortunately, most of the stuff just sounds like retread to me.

Given all of this, the only one on your list that I've checked more than one song from is Modest Mouse.

(Meh. I find them mildly interesting, but hardly appealing - kind of like smelly gym socks).

I am looking forward to giving the others a closer listen.

Gracias for the recs . . . Sparky.

 
What do the Clash and Crazy Horse have in common? Two great bands with awful drummers. This is rare.
Topper Headon was a key factor in setting The Clash apart from most of the other 1st generation punk bands.In a way, his diversity and skills are what allowed London Calling to become a reality (I realize that not everyone thinks this is a good thing).
 

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