Bands at Their Best
Yesterday I posed a question on Twitter that had people hopping to respond, so I thought I'd share it here, too: Has any band had a more awesome period than The Rolling Stones from 1969-1972?
You can take it back to 1968 to include Sympathy for the Devil and Street Fighting Man, but those three years included Gimme Shelter, Let It Bleed, Brown Sugar, Wild Horses, Can't You Hear Me Knocking, You Can't Always Get What You Want... and that's just 2 out of the 3 albums released in that timeframe. The third, Exile on Main Street, is one of their best and most influential albums.
There was a flood of alternative suggestions for periods of the careers of U2, Metallica, Zeppelin, Creedence, The Talking Heads... and here are some rationales for them. what would you suggest?
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Comments:
Mar '11
Re: Bands at Their Best
The Period 1972-1976 is considered to be Stevie Wonder's most Creative & Prolific.
1972 = Talking Book = Superstition, You are the Sunshine of My Life
1973 = Innervisions = Living for the City, Golden Lady, Higher Ground, Don't You Worry Bout a Thing
1974 = Fulfillingness' First Finale = Boogie Reggae Woman, Creepin, You Haven't Done Nothin
1976 = Song In the Key of Life = Sir Duke, I Wish, Knocks Me Off My Feet, Isn't She Lovely, As
I find that as I get older (51) 1970's R&B/Soul holds up really well.
Oct '10
Re: Bands at Their Best
Oh, and Handel composed the Messiah in 24 days, but um...he's not a band.
Mar '11
Re: Bands at Their Best
I can't believe I didn't think of this earlier, but I have to mention Motown's Funk Brothers. They were a collection of musicians that owned the charts from 1959 through about 1970. All those Motown hits were basically the Funk Brothers with a few different lead singers.
James Jamerson changed bass playing forever.
Edited on February 29, 2012 at 11:29pmAug '10
Re: Bands at Their Best
kgrant67
Kevin Walker: The Allman Brothers Band, 1969 - 1973: "Black Hearted Woman", "Revival", "Ain't Wastin' Time No More", "Melissa", "One Way Out", "Ramblin' Man", and "Jessica".
Addendum: "In Memory of Elizabeth Reed", "Whipping Post". And, of course, one of the best live albums of the rock era: At Fillmore East(1971). · 32 minutes ago
Edited 27 minutes ago
I recently purchased a record player and last week I picked up At Fillmore East on vinyl. Man, if that ain't about the greatest thing ever. And everyone talks about all those poor souls dead at 27 - Morrison, Hendrix, Joplin, et al. Duane was 24...TWENTY-FOUR! · 6 hours ago
It is the greatest thing ever. It's also worth noting Duane's contributions to another classic: the album Layla.
The thing about ABB is: THEY'RE STILL A FANTASTIC LIVE BAND. Do go see them if you haven't yet done so. Gregg takes a licking and keeps on ticking!
Sep '11
Re: Bands at Their Best
Leporello: Would this be the right moment to mention that Allan Bloom discussed Mick Jagger as the quintessential example of the erotically crude and nihilist music that corrupted the young?
OK, never mind. · 3 hours ago
Camille Paglia adores the Stones. Not sure that helps.
Sep '11
Re: Bands at Their Best
Guruforhire: Smashing Pumpkins before the breakup.
Siamese Dream and Melon Collie were cultural touchstones of the 90s. Their later work has been not as good, and Billie Corgan has really jumped the shark. · 5 hours ago
I second the Smashing Pumpkins. Siamese Dream and Melon Collie are still two of my favorite albums. Gish is very good too.
The Pixies. All their albums.
Sep '11
Re: Bands at Their Best
Tenther
The Pixies. All their albums. · 0 minutes ago
Of course it's hard to enjoy them as much after they cancelled their Israel tour last year to protest the IDF stopping that phony propoganda "humanitarian" flotilla.
Mar '11
Re: Bands at Their Best
Of course Led Zeppelin's first six albums are unsurpassed in the history of rock and roll.
However in the music soundtrack composition, nothing matches John Williams run from 1977-1982. Star Wars, Superman, The Empire Strikes Back, Raiders of the Lost Ark and ET are the pinnacle of the genre.
May '10
Re: Bands at Their Best
Years? I vote for the five minutes it took Patsy Cline to record Crazy. Willie Nelson has said she nailed it on the first take.
Aug '10
Re: Bands at Their Best
As a U2 fan, for me, its the '87 through '92 years. The Joshua Tree and Achtung Baby are by far their best work. It went downhill after Pop.
Jul '10
Re: Bands at Their Best
U2 from the single "Sunday, Bloody Sunday" to the Joshua Tree, for me. And Al Green, from 72-75, placed 6 albums at number 1 in the US R&B Chart, four went gold, one platinum. He has snuck as many songs into my 1819 track standard iPod mix as Trace Adkins or John Hiatt from a fraction of the years, and takes me to the river every time. The Who's Who's Next album was extraordinary, but I found the operas and their preceding albums merely interesting. While not commercially huge, I have always been deeply attached to the 72-74 Jackson Browne launch, Saturate Before Using, For Everyman, and Late for the Sky. And, of course, every so often when stuck in traffic or on travel, I break into a demented rendition of "Lawyers in Love" to prep the pipes to assay the oeuvres of Warren Zevon, Louden Wainwright III, or Arlo Guthrie. (Banned in New Mexico, Kansas, Missouri, Colorado, Texas, Hawaii, and Indiana for that. On probation in Silicon Valley.)
And Joni Mitchell, from Blue to Hissing of Summer Lawns.
Now I know why George C. Scott told the Academy to go conjugate themselves.
Apr '11
Re: Bands at Their Best
Agree with you Sisyphus on the U2 from Sunday Bloody Sunday to Joshua Tree.
How about the Cure from 1987-1992. "Kiss Me, Kiss Me, Kiss Me", "Disintegration", and "Wish". Three stellar albums with so many phenomenal songs - the mood, texture and flow of these albums is just amazing, they really are more compositions with beautiful poetry, so much more than just simple pop and rock songs.
Or Joy Division. Period. Talk about a band that had a gargantuan influence from a very short body of work.
Sep '10
Re: Bands at Their Best
Two of the most influential artists have been left out. While Desmond Dekker brought Reggae into the American consciousness, Bob Marley brought it home. I dig the Stones and had an oppourtunity to chat with Mick in 1986. Bob did it on his own terms. Correct me if I am wrong, but my understanding is that when his music was failing, he worked on the line at the GM Plant in Baltimore. Joe Higgs taught Peter Tosh to sing and Tuff Gong Records wrangled Bunny Wailer in the mix and the rest is legend. I was not lucky enough to see Bob "Live." He died in '81 as I came of age, but I did see Peter Tosh at the Gaillard in Charleston and Bunny and the I-Three's some years later in Portland, OR. ELTON JOHN existed in here as well. The first day that I arrived in Portland, I bought the last seat for Joan Baez in 1989. A single seat. I got to sing "The Night they Drove Old Dixie Down" and "Amazing Grace" during the encore with Joan. Went home and slept.
Sep '10
Re: Bands at Their Best
The girl that I shared an apt. with in Davis, Ca. dumped her blind date, because he was singing "Someday, baby someday." She couldn't get past it.
Jul '10
Re: Bands at Their Best
Andrew
The girl that I shared an apt. with in Davis, Ca. dumped her blind date, because he was singing "Someday, baby someday." She couldn't get past it. · 19 hours ago
Oh my.... Her wisdom is a shining beacon of hope to Darwinists everywhere.