Excellent, moonbeam !
You know how to make the atmosphere less strained
I remember once we had a strong argument and you posted your famous "What That Thang Smell Like" video
Ahhh, "What That Thang Smell Like". It's the path to world peace, I tell you! The chick with the blonde weave, the director's visible shadow, the out of sync lip syncing, the pseudo-gospel passion with which the chorus is sung, and the whipped-cream grinding in the face all make for a true paragon of artistic expression.
Anybody else freaked out by that lemur? If not then neither am I.
1 Bruce Springsteen
2 The Clash
3 Led Zeppelin
4 Radiohead
5 Aretha Franklin: beautiful voice, great back catalogue. So what's my problem? 'Sisters Are Doing It For Themselves' and 'I Knew You Were Waiting For Me', two collaborations of Quisling-like proportions. Two dollops of 80s pap sounding like b-sides from The Weathergirls and Joe Cocker & Jennifer Warnes respectively.
This may sound a bit flippant, but the broader issue is of musical giants blotting their copybook- expect to see 'Kokomo' and 'The Harlem Shuffle' presented as evidence for the prosecution in weeks to come.
Incidentally, does anyone have any strong opinions on the subject of REM?
I can understand a few people voting for Dylan now - OK,so he released the classics Freewheelin' Bob Dylan,Bringing It All Back Home,Highway 61,Blonde On Blonde,Basement Tapes,John Wesley Harding,Blood On The Tracks,Desire,Time Out Of Mind and Love & Theft but other than that what did he really do?
1 pt Talking Heads: Some wonderful stuff, sure, but their great albums aren't AS great as people make them out to be. Plus, things got pretty awful there near the end, with Byrne becoming almost unbearably (and surprisingly) sanctimonious at times.
1. The Who- With the departure of Bob Marley, they take over the top spot.
2. Aretha Franklin
3. Elvis Presley
4. The Beatles
5. (NEW) Beck- A classic example for me where all of the elements of the equation that results in Moonbeam liking an artist are present, but the results just aren't there. I understand that he's an inventive, peculiar character with a penchant for funk, much like my hero Prince. But for some reason, he doesn't wear it well for me as it all seems like posturing. For every Beck song I like ("E-Pro"), there are 2 others I detest ("Loser", "Where It's At").
2 points: Led Zeppelin - Much of my Jimi Hendrix argument from below applies to Jimmy Page. The shower guitar moments were anoying, but when they had great authentic songwriter, they could be a great band.
1 points: Jimi Hendrix - Guitar god does not mean interesting music. Really, I've never been able to sit through an entire Hendrix album because of the absolutely drugged-out, stupid songs that invariably make up a good portion of any Hendrix album. "If 6 Was 9," c'mon (and it uses poor grammar)? However, he has some brilliant songs, but I think he was at his best when he was at his least showy. The simple beauty of "The Wind Cries Mary" elevates it. The problem with Hendrix was that, at times, he was as brilliant a lyricist as Bob Dylan, but that's not what showed, it was the guitar. Dare I say, his guitar could be a hindrance? "Castles Made of Sand"
I've just never been the type of person to buy into the myth that a guitar God necessarily means a great musician. If that were the case, we'd all be listening to Whitesnake more than the Beatles.
1) Radiohead- Though I like "Creep", "High and Dry" and "Karma Police", for the most part I am quite at a loss as to their vast appeal. 5 pts
2) Pixies- As a Nirvana fan, I'm apparently supposed to connect the dots and be way into the Pixies as well. Outside of "Monkey Gone to Heaven", that really hasn't happened for me. 4 pts.
3) Talking Heads- Musically, I kinda get it. But lyrically I only occasionally connect with Byrne and band. 3 pts.
2) Miles Davis- My first huge sacred cow offering. It's his breath support...so often I wish he wasn't so "breathy". Put some air into the horn! 2 pts.
1) Sonic Youth- Not getting into them either..despite hearing DAYDREAM NATION (which is supposed to be the magnum opus) 1 pt.