Preferred Eras of Musical Artists/Bands

[Gugny]

Piggy-backing onto the other "one song," thread (which is fantastic).  Looking at some of the responses in that thread got me thinking about how many artists/bands stuck around a long time (perhaps too long, which is one of the points of this thread) and changed over time.

 

I think it would be fun to get others' opinions about bands that they like, but only certain eras of said bands.

 

First one the pops into my head is Pink Floyd.

 

I enjoy the albums with Syd Barrett.

I LOVE the albums post-Barrett, but only those which include both Waters and Gilmour.

I (again ... this is purely opinion) think anything post-Waters is garbage.

 

One more and I'll bow out for a while so others can chime in.

 

Rush.

 

Rush is one of those band who, to me, stuck around too long (as far as continuing to make new studio albums is concerned).

 

I am a huge early Rush fan.  After "Signals," (1982), they lost me.

 

I think they went on to record another ten studio albums over 20+ years and I honestly thought they were all crap.  But again ... that's just me!

 

Who you got?!?!

 

[Greg S]

Grateful Dead. I prefer the 70's. To me they were at their best in the 70's. Most Deadheads will tell you 1972 or 1977 were the best years of this decade. My favorite year was 77. The 80's were good as well with Brent Mydland on the keyboards. To me the band lost the 'it" factor when Brent died. Never really cared for Vince on the keys although they did have their moments when Bruce Hornsby was playing with them. To me the 90's had to many "misses" than "hits as far as concerts went.

[WhoTom]

I think most great bands have an 8-10 year window where they produce some cutting-edge stuff. After that, they tend to stagnate. In general, my favorite bands were at their best from the mid-1960s through the late-1970s, give or take a few years.

 

I agree with your assessment of Pink Floyd and Rush. I'll add The Who (my favorite band). Their first two post-Moon albums were pretty good, but not great. They did two more studio albums after those - one in 2006 and another in 2019 - and I'm not a fan of either one.

 

 

[PastaJoe]

The late 60s - early 70s. The Vietnam War - Woodstock era of political protest and counterculture songs. Some of the best work by the Beatles and Rolling Stones, and the emergence of groups like Santana and Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young. No other era produced so much quality work by iconic groups.

[Gugny]

6 minutes ago, WhoTom said:

I think most great bands have an 8-10 year window where they produce some cutting-edge stuff. After that, they tend to stagnate. In general, my favorite bands were at their best from the mid-1960s through the late-1970s, give or take a few years.

 

I agree with your assessment of Pink Floyd and Rush. I'll add The Who (my favorite band). Their first two post-Moon albums were pretty good, but not great. They did two more studio albums after those - one in 2006 and another in 2019 - and I'm not a fan of either one.

 

 

 

This is why I love that the Police (one of my favorite bands) hung it up after their 5th studio album (in five-year career).  Synchronicity was definitely heavier on the radio-friendly stuff than the previous four albums; but it still had some kick-ass old-school Police tunes and was, overall, a great album.  They stopped at the perfect time.

 

I'll also add that, while the circumstances surrounding Led Zeppelin (another favorite) hanging it up were very sad, I am REALLY glad they didn't (couldn't) make any more studio albums after In Through the Out Door.  Easily my least favorite Zep album primarily due to JPJs' heavy synthesizer usage.  I shudder when I think about what future albums would have sounded like.

 

[Logic]

I'll give two. One that some others might relate to or care about, and a second that only fellow nerds in this particular category will know what the hell I'm talking about...

First, The Beatles.

I love the Beatles in general. Their entire catalogue. HOWEVER, to me, the era from the White Album, through Abbey Road, to Let it Be (so basically, from fall of '68 through their demise in late 1970) is far and away the best. Early, poppy Beatles are fun. Middle era psychedelic cartoon Beatles are fun and increasingly complex. But the last three albums, man, just at a completely different level. And the last two albums in particular...as the band was collapsing and all the members kind of knew it, they started writing songs to each other, songs about the situation, songs with a bittersweet note that I can't really describe adequately. Heavy emotional stuff, but still within the confines of beautiful, melodious pop music. Just so, so good.

Second, The Grateful Dead

Greg S already mentioned the 70s, and I feel like thats a given. That's the golden decade for this band. But to go a little deeper, the era from 1972-1974 is my absolute favorite. At this point, the band only had one drummer (they had two for the majority of their career). This allowed them to maneuver more deftly through their music, to take turns more quickly or make sudden shifts in tempo and feel. Once Mickey Hart came back in 1976 and from that point onward, they couldn't ever "get to the point" as efficiently. It's hard to do that with two drummers. Additionally, from 72-74, the keyboardist Keith Godchaux was playing at the top of his capabilities and really adding to the music with his jazz piano stylings.

Lastly, at this point, the band was still having fun. None of the members were addicted to hard drugs. None were burnt out. Touring was still a grand, fun, group-mind adventure. Following the 1975 hiatus, hard drugs and alcohol beat out psychedelics and pot as the drugs of choice. Jerry began his descent into opiate addiction. Two drummers made the musical beast harder to steer. Keith Godchaux, as he became more addicted and depressed, stopped playing interesting piano. 

Many Deadheads will cite '77 as their favorite year, or the late 70s as their favorite era. To me, nothing could ever beat '72-'74.

[Gugny]

10 minutes ago, Logic said:

I'll give two. One that some others might relate to or care about, and a second that only fellow nerds in this particular category will know what the hell I'm talking about...

First, The Beatles.

I love the Beatles in general. Their entire catalogue. HOWEVER, to me, the era from the White Album, through Abbey Road, to Let it Be (so basically, from fall of '68 through their demise in late 1970) is far and away the best. Early, poppy Beatles are fun. Middle era psychedelic cartoon Beatles are fun and increasingly complex. But the last three albums, man, just at a completely different level. And the last two albums in particular...as the band was collapsing and all the members kind of knew it, they started writing songs to each other, songs about the situation, songs with a bittersweet note that I can't really describe adequately. Heavy emotional stuff, but still within the confines of beautiful, melodious pop music. Just so, so good.

Second, The Grateful Dead

Greg S already mentioned the 70s, and I feel like thats a given. That's the golden decade for this band. But to go a little deeper, the era from 1972-1974 is my absolute favorite. At this point, the band only had one drummer (they had two for the majority of their career). This allowed them to maneuver more deftly through their music, to take turns more quickly or make sudden shifts in tempo and feel. Once Mickey Hart came back in 1976 and from that point onward, they couldn't ever "get to the point" as efficiently. It's hard to do that with two drummers. Additionally, from 72-74, the keyboardist Keith Godchaux was playing at the top of his capabilities and really adding to the music with his jazz piano stylings.

Lastly, at this point, the band was still having fun. None of the members were addicted to hard drugs. None were burnt out. Touring was still a grand, fun, group-mind adventure. Following the 1975 hiatus, hard drugs and alcohol beat out psychedelics and pot as the drugs of choice. Jerry began his descent into opiate addiction. Two drummers made the musical beast harder to steer. Keith Godchaux, as he became more addicted and depressed, stopped playing interesting piano. 

Many Deadheads will cite '77 as their favorite year, or the late 70s as their favorite era. To me, nothing could ever beat '72-'74.

 

I was waiting for someone to bring up the Beatles!  I actually think that Rubber Soul was the beginning of what was the best to come from them.

 

As a child, I learned about the Beatles through sharing a room with my older brother.  The only Beatles albums he had were the red and blue compilation albums.  I was probably 8 or 9 when I started listening to them (around 1979).  I totally gravitated toward the Rubber Soul/Revolver tunes on the red album and LOVED everything on the blue album.

 

The earlier stuff was great in its own way, but I am with you that the later recordings take the cake and those represent a solid 95% of what I listen to when I listen to the Beatles.

 

 

[Son of a K-Gun]

51 minutes ago, Gugny said:

First one the pops into my head is Pink Floyd.

 

I enjoy the albums with Syd Barrett.

I LOVE the albums post-Barrett, but only those which include both Waters and Gilmour.

I (again ... this is purely opinion) think anything post-Waters is garbage.

 

 

I generally agree but I feel that the "garbage" statement is a bit harsh.  The Wall was really the last true Floyd album with all four of the lads, and that's where the music effectively changes.

The Final Cut was basically a Waters solo project with the Floyd members playing backing.  Then we had A Momentary Lapse of Reason which was Gilmour's solo album in Floyd clothing.

Finally in the 90's came The Division Bell which was more of a return to the band concept as Gilmour worked on it with Mason and Wright, only missing Roger and his (outstanding) lyrics.

These final three "Floyd" albums all have their own high points and are far and away better than anything the guys released as true solo efforts.  I have grown to really appreciate Division Bell over the years as time has been kind to it...it is a great mellow listen.

 

It's quite interesting to see how a band seeing that their time together is coming to and end can differ with Floyd compared to The Beatles as @Logic pointed out above.  I agree 100% that The Beatles best work resided on those final albums and truly continued on in their solo efforts...that group was just too talented with too many egos to make it work any longer.  Floyd on the other hand...those guys just hated Roger and it's a wee miracle they were able to make such great music together for as long as they did.

[Rico]

For who’s been mentioned:

Floyd: I’m not a fan of The Final Cut, so I will say anything up to & including The Wall.

 

Rush: everything up to & including Permanent Waves. Geddy’s gotta wail.

 

Beatles: all great. After the split, only POB, Imagine, and All Things Must Pass. Some Macca & Ringo songs.

 

Dead: 60’s and 70’s. Some of the new Dead songs after that they added to rotation are mediocre.

 

Who: gotta have Keith Moon.

[Logic]

One more I wanted to mention. 

Fleetwood Mac from 1967-1970 was an elite electric blues band.

Then they had a several years long weird transitional period, and they came out on the other side of it a completely different band.

When you think of Fleetwood Mac -- that sound you hear in your head, Stevie Nicks, all of it -- it really bares no resemblance at all to the original Fleetwood Mac, who played brilliant music in my opinion.

I am NOT such a fan of the latter day, well known, platinum records selling version of Fleetwood Mac (except for Landslide, which is dope). But the original Fleetwood Mac, the REAL Fleetwood Mac....holy *****, man. Good stuff.

[WhoTom]

48 minutes ago, Logic said:

One more I wanted to mention. 

Fleetwood Mac from 1967-1970 was an elite electric blues band.

Then they had a several years long weird transitional period, and they came out on the other side of it a completely different band.

When you think of Fleetwood Mac -- that sound you hear in your head, Stevie Nicks, all of it -- it really bares no resemblance at all to the original Fleetwood Mac, who played brilliant music in my opinion.

I am NOT such a fan of the latter day, well known, platinum records selling version of Fleetwood Mac (except for Landslide, which is dope). But the original Fleetwood Mac, the REAL Fleetwood Mac....holy *****, man. Good stuff.

 

Whoever named the band after the rhythm section was prophetic, as Mick Fleetwood and John McVie are the only members to be on every Fleetwood Mac record.

 

I love their blues era. Not a big fan of the Bob Welch years, although "Hypnotized" is a cool song. The early years with Lindsey and Stevie were phenomenal, but after Rumours they went downhill.

 

[Gugny]

3 hours ago, Logic said:

One more I wanted to mention. 

Fleetwood Mac from 1967-1970 was an elite electric blues band.

Then they had a several years long weird transitional period, and they came out on the other side of it a completely different band.

When you think of Fleetwood Mac -- that sound you hear in your head, Stevie Nicks, all of it -- it really bares no resemblance at all to the original Fleetwood Mac, who played brilliant music in my opinion.

I am NOT such a fan of the latter day, well known, platinum records selling version of Fleetwood Mac (except for Landslide, which is dope). But the original Fleetwood Mac, the REAL Fleetwood Mac....holy *****, man. Good stuff.

 

2 hours ago, WhoTom said:

 

Whoever named the band after the rhythm section was prophetic, as Mick Fleetwood and John McVie are the only members to be on every Fleetwood Mac record.

 

I love their blues era. Not a big fan of the Bob Welch years, although "Hypnotized" is a cool song. The early years with Lindsey and Stevie were phenomenal, but after Rumours they went downhill.

 

 

Great submission!  I've never listened to their very early stuff, so I can't speak to it.  We had Bare Trees when I was a child and the only song I remember from that is Sentimental Lady.

 

As far as the Nicks/Buckingham era, I think the first two albums (Fleetwood Mac and Rumours) were fantastic.  Then, they began a steady decline and by the mid-to-late 80s, they were just not good.

[T&C]

2 minutes ago, Gugny said:

Great submission!  I've never listened to their very early stuff, so I can't speak to it.  We had Bare Trees when I was a child and the only song I remember from that is Sentimental Lady.

This is from Bare Trees... the most beautiful and haunting instrumental song I know of.

 

Early and middle Mac are great to me but once Nicks joined I didn't listen anymore.

 

 

[Logic]

28 minutes ago, Gugny said:

 

 

Great submission!  I've never listened to their very early stuff, so I can't speak to it. 
 

Totally different band!



 

 

 

[Bad Things]

7 hours ago, Greg S said:

Grateful Dead. I prefer the 70's. To me they were at their best in the 70's. Most Deadheads will tell you 1972 or 1977 were the best years of this decade. My favorite year was 77. The 80's were good as well with Brent Mydland on the keyboards. To me the band lost the 'it" factor when Brent died. Never really cared for Vince on the keys although they did have their moments when Bruce Hornsby was playing with them. To me the 90's had to many "misses" than "hits as far as concerts went.

I generally agree with you.

I loved Brent's gravelly voice, especially when singing harmonies, but... at times I felt that his keyboard playing was over-powering to what the rest of the band was doing.

[DrW]

Beatles. For me, their best phase encompasses just three albums: Revolver, Sgt. Pepper, and the White Album> Although the last one contains some material that could have been omitted, I like the wide variety of genres. Their best song ever: "A Day in the Life".

 

Rolling Stones. Their great days ended with "Exile on Main Street". Hearing Mick Jagger wail "Angie" on "Goats Head Soup" is painful. Their best song ever: "Sympathy for the Devil".

 

Grateful Dead. I would agree with everybody who puts their glory period in the 60s and 70s. After a first album with mostly covers, "Anthem of the Sun" was an excellent start for their own style and song-writing (I have heard rumors of 90-minute versions of "Alligator", but I could never find one.). For me, the last great album was "Blues for Allah" ("Crazy Fingers" is my favorite). "Terrapin Station" (Can somebody please shut up Donna Godchaux?) was already a step down, with only half an LP of new songs.

 

Jefferson Airplane. On their first album (JA Takes Off), their singer, Signe Toly Anderson, shows some promise - she could belt the blues ("Chauffer's Blues"). However, she retired and was replaced by Grace Slick, and JA really took off. To me, "Volunteers" was their last great album. There were just a few memorable songs afterward. As a German, Grace piqued my interest on "Bark" with her song ""Never Argue with a German If You're Tired or European Song", but, honestly, I cannot understand a single word of the song which is supposed to be in German. After their split, the Jefferson Starship version went down the drain, while Hot Tuna produced some nice albums.    

Edited November 7, 2022 by DrW

[boyst]

https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2022/01/old-music-killing-new-music/621339/

 

Quote

Old songs now represent 70 percent of the U.S. music market, according to the latest numbers from MRC Data, a music-analytics firm. Those who make a living from new music—especially that endangered species known as the working musician—should look at these figures with fear and trembling. But the news gets worse: The new-music market is actually shrinking. All the growth in the market is coming from old songs.

 Thought it was worth sharing this here.

 

I'm picky with music. Hate R&B, dance/ENM/Dubstep.

 

Love country pre '01. Alternative pre 1992. Rock pre 89.

 

There is nothing new I like made within the last 20 years save for some Green Day, Linkin Park, or the poppy fun stuff ( oldTay Tay, Olivio Rodrigo, etc). The only new stuff I like might be on  Sirius Alt Nation (boy w uke, half alive. And others I don't remember)

[Rico]

Fleetwood Mac:  Rumours is a top 10 album for me, and I also love ":Fleetwood Mac". The earlier blues era is very good, but I just don't play it compared to the big 2. Tusk was a major disappointment, never into them after that.

 

Rolling Stones: my favs until they morphed into the Vegas Stones with the Steel Wheels tour & album.

 

Springsteen: 1978 thru 1981 tours. BITUSA has some great songs, but the tour while great felt like he was selling out, and I loathe Tunnel Of Love. Still capable of putting on great concerts, but he's a total clownshow as a person these days.

 

AC/DC: Back In Black is a great album, but in general, no Bon Scott, no sale.

 

The Band: only when they're backing Dylan.

 

Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers: only when they're backing Dylan.

 

Bowie: Jumped the shark for me with Tonight/Never Let Me Down.

 

Elvis Costello: LOVE the 1st 3 albums, lost interest after that.

 

LZ: love everything studio, live stuff best when Plant could still wail.

 

Prince: great album every summer until Batman.

 

Talking Heads: everything until Little Creatures.

 

U2: all downhill after Boy.

 

Neil: made a comeback for me in the late 80's/early 90's, but honestly all downhill after Live Rust (maybe Reactor).

 

Dylan: early folk era = zzzzzzzz, 65-66 incredible, 74-78 next best.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Edited November 7, 2022 by Rico

[T&C]

56 minutes ago, DrW said:

Jefferson Airplane. On their first album (JA Takes Off), their singer, Signe Toly Anderson, shows some promise - she could belt the blues ("Chauffer's Blues"). However, she retired and was replaced by Grace Slick, and JA really took off. To me, "Volunteers" was their last great album. There were just a few memorable songs afterward. As a German, Grace piqued my interest on "Bark" with her song ""Never Argue with a German If You're Tired or European Song", but, honestly, I cannot understand a single word of the song which is supposed to be in German. After their split, the Jefferson Starship version went down the drain, while Hot Tuna produced some nice albums.    

Takes off is "ok" to me, Signe quit the band because she was pregnant. One of those albums where you own it just because it was the 1st one imo. I like Long John Silver and Bark quite a bit too... Papa John added a nice element. Post Airplane, Red Octopus is actually pretty good with some Airplane sound but that was it... the end.

 

Still like 30 seconds over Winterland and Pointed Head, the rawer sound is different and welcomed here. Crown of Creation was the pinnacle for me.

[muppy]

 

I'll write about one of my favorite artists Neil Young. Muppy is a huge fan and has seen him in various genres of his career beginning at Rich Stadium for the CSN&Y tour back in the 70's

 

Clearly a huge talent that included his solo stuff after departing the Buffalo Springfield in 1968 then fast forward to 1979 when he makes "Rust Never Sleeps" Huge Album hugely influential to what was to follow coming out of Seattle.

 

But  then he  began a musical odyssey that was very hard for fans of his earlier mentioned stuff to really grasp. I'm talking abut albums like Re-ac-tor, Trans, Everybodys Rocking, This Note's for You to a lesser extent

 

each were distinctly different musically. Not the kind of music you would expect of him. Especially Re-ac-tor and Trans. I was frankly appalled at the time lol What the heck Neil? But that is just who he was and is.......a Busy head to say the least. And knowing he is on the autistic spectrum makes a lot of how he has behaved  make perfect sense. He and his current wife both (Darryl Hannah) Maybe being aspy can be a super power 

 

🙂

 

EDIT:  I wrote above before I read @Rico's post regarding Neil. We were definitely on the same wavelength regarding Neils musical choices. I remember he was having serious beef with his record label. They wanted more of what sold not this new progressive stuff. Not his first time and certainly not the last of he rocking the establishments desire vs what HE wanted to do.

Edited November 8, 2022 by muppy

[WhoTom]

42 minutes ago, Rico said:

AC/DC: Back In Black is a great album, but in general, no Bon Scott, no sale.

 

Every album after Back in Black sounds just like Back In Black. They're the world's most environmentally-friendly band: they've been recycling the same material for 42 years.

 

“I’m sick to death of people saying we’ve made 11 albums that sound exactly the same. In fact, we’ve made 12 albums that sound exactly the same.” - Angus Young

 

But the Bon Scott era was their prime, in my opinion.

[T&C]

3 hours ago, Logic said:

Totally different band!



 

 

 

Totally agree... back then it was Savoy Brown, John Mayall, Butterfield Blues Band, etc... and Fleetwood Mac.

 

 

[Rico]

56 minutes ago, muppy said:

 

I'll write about one of my favorite artists Neil Young. Muppy is a huge fan and has seen him in various genres of his career beginning at Rich Stadium for the CSN&Y tour back in the 70's

 

Clearly a huge talent that included his solo stuff after departing the Buffalo Springfield in 1968 then fast forward to 1979 when he makes "Rust Never Sleeps" Huge Album hugely influential to what was to follow coming out of Seattle.

 

But  then he  began a musical odyssey that was very hard for fans of his earlier mentioned stuff to really grasp. I'm talking abut albums like Re-ac-tor, Trans, Everybodys Rocking, This Note's for You to a lesser extent

 

each were distinctly different musically. Not the kind of music you would expect of him. Especially Re-ac-tor and Trans. I was frankly appalled at the time lol What the heck Neil? But that is just who he was and is.......a Busy head to say the least. And knowing he is on the autistic spectrum makes a lot of how he has behaved  make perfect sense. He and his current wife both (Darryl Hannah) Maybe being aspy can be a super power 

 

🙂

 

EDIT:  I wrote above before I read @Rico's post regarding Neil. We were definitely on the same wavelength regarding Neils musical choices. I remember he was having serious beef with his record label. They wanted more of what sold not this new progressive stuff. Not his first time and certainly not the last of he rocking the establishments desire vs what HE wanted to do.

Yes, Neil has never gived 2 f###s, he does what he wants to do.

 

I do like Reactor though, it rocks pretty hard, though I did like it a lot more back when it came out. I saw him on the solo Trans tour, that was something.

[Rico]

9 hours ago, Gugny said:

 

I was waiting for someone to bring up the Beatles!  I actually think that Rubber Soul was the beginning of what was the best to come from them.

 

As a child, I learned about the Beatles through sharing a room with my older brother.  The only Beatles albums he had were the red and blue compilation albums.  I was probably 8 or 9 when I started listening to them (around 1979).  I totally gravitated toward the Rubber Soul/Revolver tunes on the red album and LOVED everything on the blue album.

 

The earlier stuff was great in its own way, but I am with you that the later recordings take the cake and those represent a solid 95% of what I listen to when I listen to the Beatles.

 

 

I tend to agree now about the Beatles later stuff, but I was 4 when they first broke and just loved them. Later when I was 7, I was like what the hell is this weird sh##? What happened to my band?  That only lasted a couple years though, I got a little older and saw the light.

[LewPort71]

Genesis.  My preferred era includes the Peter Gabriel era.  The Lamb Lies Down on Broadway and Selling England by the Pound are A+ imho.

The post Gabriel music is very good, but geared more for radio play.

 

YES. The problem with Yes is their ever changing line up.  I thoroughly enjoy the albums that preceded Tales From Topographic Oceans.

After that ..meh..

 

ELP is my favorite band  and will remain so even though they recorded .. ( ugh)  Love Beach. 

Black Moon was Ok..  In the Hot Seat was dreck

[Gugny]

One of the posts in the "one song" thread specifically fueled me to start this thread.  It was a U2 song.

 

I became a U2 fan in 1983 when I got the "War," album as a gift from my grandmother.  She went into Record Town and told the person working that she had no idea what kids were listening to and asked for his guidance.  Well, luckily for me, he had great taste.  I'd never heard, nor heard OF U2 before getting that album.

 

I immediately fell in love with it and quickly went on to buy their earlier albums, which I also loved.

 

Unforgettable Fire came out a year later and I consider that to be the last great U2 album.  It was a significant change in direction from their previous albums, but it didn't bother me at all.  I think some of the best songs they ever recorded were on this album.  Some powerful, moving songs.

 

I think Joshua Tree and Rattle & Hum were good albums; not great.

 

Achtung Baby was, to me, very "meh."  There were songs that I liked (One, Mysterious Ways), but they just weren't "U2 songs," to me.

 

Everything after that has been 100%, pure crap, in my opinion.

[US Egg]

The ‘70’s pop music scene was fantastic.

Putting a cassette player and Jensen speakers in one’s car was euphoric. 
 

Especially with a car load partying away.

 

 

[Nextmanup]

I love all iterations of Pink Floyd and don't care about the loss of Roger Waters at all.

 

Also, the really early Syd stuff is a bit out there.  Definitely not the best work.

The magic man who makes the whole thing "go" IMO is David Gilmour.

 

I was just watching several good documentaries on Youtube last night, talking with people who lived with and knew Syd really well around the time he went crazy.  Really interesting stuff.

 

This is like 1966, 1967, 1968.

 

The only other performer who I feel strongly about in terms of "Era" is Miles Davis.

 

I ADORE his bebop era type stuff in the '50s, when he was like a trumpet playing god.

 

As time went on, and we got to like the early '70s and "***** Brew" he basically went insane and I couldn't stand the ***** he was putting out.

 

 

 

 

[Rico]

1 hour ago, Gugny said:

One of the posts in the "one song" thread specifically fueled me to start this thread.  It was a U2 song.

 

I became a U2 fan in 1983 when I got the "War," album as a gift from my grandmother.  She went into Record Town and told the person working that she had no idea what kids were listening to and asked for his guidance.  Well, luckily for me, he had great taste.  I'd never heard, nor heard OF U2 before getting that album.

 

I immediately fell in love with it and quickly went on to buy their earlier albums, which I also loved.

 

Unforgettable Fire came out a year later and I consider that to be the last great U2 album.  It was a significant change in direction from their previous albums, but it didn't bother me at all.  I think some of the best songs they ever recorded were on this album.  Some powerful, moving songs.

 

I think Joshua Tree and Rattle & Hum were good albums; not great.

 

Achtung Baby was, to me, very "meh."  There were songs that I liked (One, Mysterious Ways), but they just weren't "U2 songs," to me.

 

Everything after that has been 100%, pure crap, in my opinion.

Yeah, Joshua Tree really turned me off to them, very overrated with tons of filler and I didn’t care for the hits either. After that, I’ve only liked some songs. First time I saw them was the War tour in Shea’s Buffalo, incredible show, I was under the balcony and thought it was going to crash from people jumping up and down. Achtung Baby in retrospect was pretty good, but I had stopped following them by then, band full of t* ats.

[Nextmanup]

Back with another thought: it just occurred to me that Zeppelin is really about Albums I-IV.

There is some listenable stuff on House of the Holy, and then after that, it kind of went downhill in a big way.

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Greg S]

12 minutes ago, Nextmanup said:

I love all iterations of Pink Floyd and don't care about the loss of Roger Waters at all.

 

Also, the really early Syd stuff is a bit out there.  Definitely not the best work.

The magic man who makes the whole thing "go" IMO is David Gilmour.

 

I was just watching several good documentaries on Youtube last night, talking with people who lived with and knew Syd really well around the time he went crazy.  Really interesting stuff.

 

This is like 1966, 1967, 1968.

 

The only other performer who I feel strongly about in terms of "Era" is Miles Davis.

 

I ADORE his bebop era type stuff in the '50s, when he was like a trumpet playing god.

 

As time went on, and we got to like the early '70s and "***** Brew" he basically went insane and I couldn't stand the ***** he was putting out.

 

 

 

 

 

Pink Floyd is one of the best bands ever, but I do prefer them with RW. My favorite Pink Floyd song is SOYCD.

[US Egg]

13 minutes ago, Nextmanup said:

Back with another thought: it just occurred to me that Zeppelin is really about Albums I-IV.

There is some listenable stuff on House of the Holy, and then after that, it kind of went downhill in a big way.

Physical Graffiti is excellent, imo.

 

‘Kashmir’ is uphill.

[Ned Flanders]

23 hours ago, Logic said:

One more I wanted to mention. 

Fleetwood Mac from 1967-1970 was an elite electric blues band.

Then they had a several years long weird transitional period, and they came out on the other side of it a completely different band.

When you think of Fleetwood Mac -- that sound you hear in your head, Stevie Nicks, all of it -- it really bares no resemblance at all to the original Fleetwood Mac, who played brilliant music in my opinion.

I am NOT such a fan of the latter day, well known, platinum records selling version of Fleetwood Mac (except for Landslide, which is dope). But the original Fleetwood Mac, the REAL Fleetwood Mac....holy *****, man. Good stuff.

There was a great documentary on Amazon Prime a while ago on Peter Green and that era of Fleetwood Mac.  Cost $1.99 to watch now, but well worth it.

 

https://www.amazon.com/Green-Peter-Story-Man-World/dp/B01KI263NW

 

The Peter Green era, then the Bob Welch Mac, produced some fine music.

[Rico]

13 minutes ago, I am the egg man said:

Physical Graffiti is excellent, imo.

 

‘Kashmir’ is uphill.

Physical Graffiti is my fav LZ…. high school years, good times.

[Rico]

27 minutes ago, Greg S said:

 

Pink Floyd is one of the best bands ever, but I do prefer them with RW. My favorite Pink Floyd song is SOYCD.

Wish You Were Here is a top 10 album for me, in large part due to being a tribute to Syd.

 

As for Syd, I will take Barrett and especially The Madcap Laughs over most early Floyd albums.

[BuffaloBill]

5 hours ago, I am the egg man said:

The ‘70’s pop music scene was fantastic.

Putting a cassette player and Jensen speakers in one’s car was euphoric. 
 

Especially with a car load partying away.

 

 

 

 

This is somewhat consistent with what I was thinking.  That is somewhere in the very large 70’s into the early 80’s nearly all bands shifted to more “commercially popular music.” In that era I was a huge Genesis fan and they definitely went “poppy” once Gabriel left.  Ironically, I think Gabriel himself fell into this though his solo music was a bit more “out there.”

[rockpile]

The Who should have stopped releasing new music as The Who after Keith Moon died. 

 

I had all their vinyl releases and most of the individual's solo work, going back to the 45 rpms.

I saw them once before and once after Keith Moon died.

I cannot really compare the shows because the first was after the release of Who's Next at the Rochester War Memorial, in front of maybe 6,00 fans, about 1973.

The second time was outside in the cold autumn rain about 1984 at Rich Stadium with 80,000 fans.

 

Both performances were excellent but the first time was magical.

 

[WhoTom]

12 minutes ago, rockpile said:

The second time was outside in the cold autumn rain about 1984 at Rich Stadium with 80,000 fans.

 

 

1982. I was there too. They made it rain. 🙂

 

[rockpile]

 

Forgive me for snipping this liberally to address only some the bands or artists with my personal comments!

 

17 hours ago, Rico said:

 

The Band: only when they're backing Dylan.

 

I really liked The Band's work with Dylan, and loved their first two studio albums. I have even driven up the hilly roads in Saugerties, NY to stop at Big Pink two times. Their third album was a bit of a dark foreshadowing of the end for me, except for some brilliant selections from that and later albums. Drugs, alcohol, and credits for who wrote the songs (and the money attached to that) destroyed them. They had a short lived resurgence with "Jericho" in the 1990's, and the Americana genre is their greatest achievement. 

 

17 hours ago, Rico said:

 

Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers: only when they're backing Dylan.

 

I saw Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers about six months before Petty died and it was one of the best concerts I ever attended.

 

17 hours ago, Rico said:

 

LZ: love everything studio, live stuff best when Plant could still wail.

 

I loved Led Zeppelin's first two studio albums the best, played loud enough to vibrate the windows

 

17 hours ago, Rico said:

 

Talking Heads: everything until Little Creatures.

 

Stop Making Sense was their peak for me.

 

 

17 hours ago, Rico said:

 

Dylan: early folk era = zzzzzzzz, 65-66 incredible, 74-78 next best.

 

Before The Flood - live with The Band  and the compilation The Essential Bob Dylan are favorites along, with the studio albums Blood on the Tracks and John Wesley Harding. 

His current tour is getting rave reviews. 

1 hour ago, WhoTom said:

 

1982. I was there too. They made it rain. 🙂

 

 

Yes, the rain started when they played Love, Reign O'er Me! 

 

[WhoTom]

9 minutes ago, rockpile said:

Yes, the rain started when they played Love, Reign O'er Me! 

 

And the rain ended when the song ended. Daltrey's comment afterward: "I'll bet The Stones can't do that."