Michael Corvin

You conveniently only quoted half of my post. Elton John is a musician and plays his own tunes.

Rocketdog2000

All of their albums have been released in the US. Although their true second album, Origin Of Symmetry (2001), was very belatedly released here - it didn't get a US release until 2005. It wasn't until their third album, Absolution (2004), scored some hits and airplay again with "Time Is Running Out" and "Hysteria", that the US took notice of them again, and even then, that was about six months after that album was released to the rest of the world. Before that, they were unjustly considered a bit of a one hit wonder with "Muscle Museum" off their first album Showbiz (1999).

Tuan Jim

Ok, I remember importing Origins of Symmetry when it first came out in the UK but couldn't remember the US release date. "Muscle Museum" was the original reason I picked up Showbiz as well, but it was definitely more than that - unfortunately that was the song that also brought out all the stupid Radiohead comparisons too.

They've got so many great videos out - and multiple versions of some - that I can't believe they haven't collected any on DVD yet. And speaking of different ones - I've got 2 singles by them that I don't think have been on any full album yet either - Deadstar and In Your World (and those came out years ago).

The Bus

"In Your World" and "Dead Star" (two words) are on the 2nd disc of the Japanese release of the Hullabaloo soundtrack.

mickey65

Wow, and I bet YOUR music collection is something else...

Tuan Jim

Ok, I should have qualified that - I know they got a bit of play and they also have their own singles releases, but it's not quite the same as an official album release - they're not that bad after all. I *found* them online after I *came across* the music videos online while looking for other vids - not the easiest thing since - as I said before - they haven't put out any excellent DVD collections. I have all their standard concert DVDs (Hullabaloo UK, Absolution UK and H.A.A.R.P. US), but there's so much more out there. I have a video of "Butterflies and Hurricanes" from channel V (specific concert escapes me) that is absolutely brilliant - especially the keyboard portion - and pretty different from the other performances of it....

DJLinus

Philistines, all of you. I only listen to music that is solely made by one artist AND rates at the very top of the Pritchard Scale. Anything less is not art and only fit for the unwashed masses.

slop101

Well, it does cover a rather wide range of genres and time periods, so I could never make such blanket statements as so and so type of music sucks, or that there was no great music in the years X-X, because that's just not the case.

Geoffy

I was a musical snob!!!!!! Yes,I admit it. In 2003 at 45 years of age I made the absurd quote to a friend that there hasn't been any good music made since the 70's.

Of course,this was a ridiculous statement, and I subsequently found out on my own how ignorant my statement was. In retrospect,I think that I was a victim of the whole classic rock,I grew up with this blah blah blah.

Through a series of life changing events I won't bore people here with,I set out upon a personal journey of musical discovery. For whatever reason,my tastes seemed to gravitate towards more guitar oriented, heavy music. I quickly discovered that there was a wealth of bands out there right friggin' now,playing well written and performed songs that demonstrate a significant amount of talent.

Also,I reconnected with some of the bands that I had wrote off years ago as no longer interesting to me,such as Metallica and STP. Yup I listened to bands like these all the time, but at some point my interest died and my taste kind of just got,I don't know,......stuck in the past.

Now days,my iTunes list is 80% current rock, and 20 % classic,and I rarely visit that 20.

For anyone to say that there is not good music out there right now would be a fool......ask me,I know personally.

And there is a BIG difference between the current Britney,Ashley Arizona or whatever the hell her name is and serious music,for lack of a better term.

Back in the day these people were called The Archies, Bobby Sherman, etc.

Fluff is fluff.

Dan

me too! My only problem in this area is that I tend to avoid that 20%. I can't really explain why. I think, having so much exposure to amazingly good new music has left me wanting more and more rather than letting myself enjoy what I've already got.

mickey65

I just don't care for what's out there. Altho I do like the stuff coming out that sounds like the old stuff - Sharon Jones and the Dap Kings, Amy Winehouse, and other stuff. But sorry, the ROCK music out these days, just ain't my cup of tea.

I do like some of the country stuff - but only if it's twangy and sound like country music.

I just prefer the old stuff, that's all...

PopcornTreeCt

But what is current rock? Who is today's version of Jimi Hendrix? Who is today's version of The Who? Who is even considered today's version of Pearl Jam?

wendersfan

"Sugar, Sugar", top-selling single of 1969.

These sad people who say, "there hasn't been any good music since ____", when ____ is always, coincidentally, about the same year they graduated from college. There's good music everywhere, you just have to know where to look.

And while I'm at it, fuck snobbery. I want to enjoy music, not dismiss it out of hand so I'll feel like I'm better than someone else.

slop101

There are SO many retro-style bands out there right now that I'm sure sound a lot like the classic acts you like. In fact, there are probably more bands playing "classic rock" retro-style music now then there were in the early '70s. But unlike the early '70s, these bands today get zero radio play, or play anywhere else. They might have followings, but they're small, which is actually cool since you'd be able to see them live in smaller venues. So like I said, you have to seek them out - if you don't then you didn't really care about music in the first place, because if you did, you'd be voracious about finding stuff you like instead of hoping for it to find you through the radio.

The Bus

Nobody is copying Hendrix (well, except fucking Kravitz), nobody's copying The Who, nobody is copying Pearl Jam.

That question is as stupid as asking who was the Radiohead of the mid 60s.

The Bus

You mean the rock music on radio. That's understandable. You're not in the target market. Advertisers would be upset if they "classic rock" stations played music you didn't recognize.

bunkaroo

I don't think he was asking who's copying them today - I took it as "who is the next unique and lasting" artist?

Maybe all that can be done with rock has been done. At this point I'm happy to just get great records from the artists I already enjoy.

Dan

I think there's a big misconception about the music 'landscape' these days compared to the time of Jimi, The Who, Pearl Jam, etc. The fact is, there will probably never be artists as 'highly regarded' as those guys, simply because the availability and wide variety of music has grown exponentially since the 60's and even the 90's. Only a few years ago, bands were selling millions of albums on release day, but now any band is luckly to break a million albums in the first year.

That doesn't mean there aren't unique and lasting artists, though. I think it's impossible for any new bands to see the same kind of "mainstream success." Honestly, If I had to choose, I'd prefer to only have Coheed & Cambria's albums over only having Pearl Jam's or The Who's albums, and their first album only came out in 2002.

Dan

Bob Lefsetz on album sales of 2008:
Albums Year-to-date

The Bus

These guys:



I'm not a soothsayer so I can't tell you who will be around for the next decade and who will break up, but I've made a ton of guesses in other threads.

The Bus

Now, "unique" can certainly be debated, but they're going to be lasting for a bit.

And there's plenty of bands who've done better work than this:



Note: I'm not saying The Who is worse than Coldplay, but 1967's best-selling album was not The Who Sell Out, it was More of the Monkees.

Dan

yeah, agreed. 2000 to 2008 (so far) is a damn good stretch. Even if I hate them I do think they're lucky that they got into the business when they did, but I still think we won't see new artists with those kinds of sales. The top 5 albums of 2008 are all from artists that have been around for at least seven years. There's some 'newbies' in the remaining top 10, but whether they will last is debatable.

Radiohead still sucks balls, though.

Sean O'Hara

Are you basing this on the stuff that gets played on the radio, or have you delved more deeply into modern rock?

What do you think of the Vivian Girls?

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The Vincent Black Shadow?

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The Organ?

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Cat Power?

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Rilo Kiley?

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Bat for Lashes?

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orangecrush

Boobs.

orangecrush

You must really hate movies then.