Music Meme (from shadowkat67)
May. 24th, 2018 10:53 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
cjlasky7Talk about pop music? Any time, all day long....
1. Beatles or Stones?
The Stones' great strength is the combination of Keith's rock solid blues guitar and Mick's preening peacock voice and stage presence. Attempts to vary that formula have rarely worked, especially after Brian Jones--their expert in exotic instrumentation--left/was kicked off the band. ("Some Girls" may have been their most successful formula shakeup.)
The Stones are essential, but basically two dimensional. The Beatles, OTOH, could--and did--do anything and everything. Not everything was perfect, but the diversity of musical styles was breathtaking.
2. Heart or Queen?
Ann and Nancy are wonderful. (Their cover of "Stairway to Heaven" is the only version of the song I can still listen to.) But Queen was just a phenomenal band, all four members talented musicians and songwriters. There is nobody who plays guitar like Brian May. There will never be another Freddie Mercury. See the movie in October.
3. Nirvana or Coldplay?
Other than "Viva la Vida," Coldplay bores me stiff. And if you think all Cobain could do was make noise, listen to the acoustic "About a Boy" from MTV Unplugged. He was the real deal.
4. Prince or Michael Jackson?
Prince. By ten miles. (My son would disagree, though.)
5. The Who or Pink Floyd?
Since Floyd's 70s output would have been impossible without the Who's experiments in theater and concept albums and their incorporation of synthesizers, give this one to Townshend and Co. But beyond that, the Who's songs simply connect with me more on an emotional level.
6. Eagles or ABBA?
Bjorn and Benny wrote some truly kickass melodies, but I love listening to the Eagles play together as a band. (Next time you cue up the full "Hotel California," skip the lyrics and go to the two minute coda. If you can somehow get past Joe Walsh's brain melting guitar solo, focus on Henley's drumming and Randy Meisner's bass. These guys can PLAY.)
7. Lady Gaga or Madonna?
Never liked Madge all that much. To me, "Bad Romance" blows away most of Madonna's back catalogue. Gaga has more vocal range. (I do like "Live to Tell," though.)
8. Fleetwood Mac or Wings?
Paul McCartney has forgotten more about songwriting than all the members of Fleetwood Mac ever knew. But Mac's blend of personalities--Christine's modest songbird, Nicks' witchy woman and Buckingham's control freak--are a highly entertaining study in group dynamics and interpersonal angst. (It's been over 40 years since Rumors, and they're STILL fighting!)
9. Leonard Cohen or Paul Simon?
10. David Bowie or Bob Dylan?
I usually enjoy Cohen and Dylan songs when somebody else sings them. (See: Jennifer Warnes' album of Cohen covers, Famous Blue Raincoat.) Simon and Bowie are the more enjoyable performers.
1. Beatles or Stones?
The Stones' great strength is the combination of Keith's rock solid blues guitar and Mick's preening peacock voice and stage presence. Attempts to vary that formula have rarely worked, especially after Brian Jones--their expert in exotic instrumentation--left/was kicked off the band. ("Some Girls" may have been their most successful formula shakeup.)
The Stones are essential, but basically two dimensional. The Beatles, OTOH, could--and did--do anything and everything. Not everything was perfect, but the diversity of musical styles was breathtaking.
2. Heart or Queen?
Ann and Nancy are wonderful. (Their cover of "Stairway to Heaven" is the only version of the song I can still listen to.) But Queen was just a phenomenal band, all four members talented musicians and songwriters. There is nobody who plays guitar like Brian May. There will never be another Freddie Mercury. See the movie in October.
3. Nirvana or Coldplay?
Other than "Viva la Vida," Coldplay bores me stiff. And if you think all Cobain could do was make noise, listen to the acoustic "About a Boy" from MTV Unplugged. He was the real deal.
4. Prince or Michael Jackson?
Prince. By ten miles. (My son would disagree, though.)
5. The Who or Pink Floyd?
Since Floyd's 70s output would have been impossible without the Who's experiments in theater and concept albums and their incorporation of synthesizers, give this one to Townshend and Co. But beyond that, the Who's songs simply connect with me more on an emotional level.
6. Eagles or ABBA?
Bjorn and Benny wrote some truly kickass melodies, but I love listening to the Eagles play together as a band. (Next time you cue up the full "Hotel California," skip the lyrics and go to the two minute coda. If you can somehow get past Joe Walsh's brain melting guitar solo, focus on Henley's drumming and Randy Meisner's bass. These guys can PLAY.)
7. Lady Gaga or Madonna?
Never liked Madge all that much. To me, "Bad Romance" blows away most of Madonna's back catalogue. Gaga has more vocal range. (I do like "Live to Tell," though.)
8. Fleetwood Mac or Wings?
Paul McCartney has forgotten more about songwriting than all the members of Fleetwood Mac ever knew. But Mac's blend of personalities--Christine's modest songbird, Nicks' witchy woman and Buckingham's control freak--are a highly entertaining study in group dynamics and interpersonal angst. (It's been over 40 years since Rumors, and they're STILL fighting!)
9. Leonard Cohen or Paul Simon?
10. David Bowie or Bob Dylan?
I usually enjoy Cohen and Dylan songs when somebody else sings them. (See: Jennifer Warnes' album of Cohen covers, Famous Blue Raincoat.) Simon and Bowie are the more enjoyable performers.
no subject
Date: 2018-05-25 08:06 am (UTC)1. Beatles or Stones?
Depends entirely on the mood I'm in, but overall I think the Beatles will be the ones who make that future "classical" trip I just mentioned. Did you happen to see that show on PBS a while back that really dissected the many musical innovations the Beatles brought to the table, and their innovative studio work? That was simply fascinating.
2. Heart or Queen?
Heart. I like most of Queen's work, and as you noted, there's some superb musicianship on their part. I have a personal leaning towards female vocalists, especially the Brits & Canadians (Sandy Denny, Loreena McKennitt, Jacqui McShee, Joni Mitchell, and on...) and Heart's Ann Wilson could pull off either soft and sensual or belt it out with the best. Catchy, well-crafted pop tunes, and nowadays it's often hard to remember that heavily female-fronted records like theirs were considered by the studios to be as big a financial risk as say, female-fronted action movies.
3. Nirvana or Coldplay?
Coldplay. I don't dislike Nirvana, and who knows what could have happened if Cobain had lived? Such a loss of potential, which was certainly there.
4. Prince or Michael Jackson?
Prince. Not even close, sorry Mike. You had many talents, no dispute there, but Prince was a friggin' genius. Salieri vs. Mozart.
5. The Who or Pink Floyd?
Your points about The Who's early innovations-- I remember it was the 60's, the day of AM, top 40 radio, FM was barely making a scratch as to anything other than classical or easy-listening music, and then my local station, WLAN-AM, announced they were going to play the entire album of this new work by The Who known simply as "Tommy". Ohhhh....myyyy... goddd!!!! My musical world changed. And as to the radio-- a top-40's station, to whom Dick Hyman's Moog synth creation "Minotaur" played for 7 whole minutes-- to play an entire, 2-record LP set?? It just doesn't happen, but it did.
As to Floyd-- well, you already know from past posts that I'm a devoted Floydian, and this is one where I don't care to pick one or the other. Now we're talking Beethoven and Debussy.
6. Eagles or ABBA?
Eagles. ABBA's fun, but the Eagle's musicianship is closer to the Beatles level of craft.
7. Lady Gaga or Madonna?
Technically, vocally, Gaga has it way over Ms. Ciccone, but Madonna also, as one pundit noted about a decade back, "Took that tiny, narrow little path that women in the music industry typically had to tread to gain any degree of commercial success and plowed it wide open, making it far easier for those that followed her to gain the respect (and financial respect) they deserved." True that, methinks. The weakness of Madonna's voice in her early days would sometimes cause people to not notice how superbly crafted her tunes were. And, to her credit, she worked on improving that voice and succeeded.
Oh-- and to be fair? Maddy would have had a much harder time of it if not for Deborah Harry before her.
8. Fleetwood Mac or Wings?
Mac, easily. Wings? OK, but not a major boat-floater for me.
9. Leonard Cohen or Paul Simon?
I bow down with utmost humbleness and appreciation for both. Simon has a larger ouerve and far wider range in material than Cohen, but-- watch McCabe and Mrs. Miller and try to imagine it without Cohen's songs. And Suzanne? Flawless, simply flawless. Still haunts me whenever I hear it, that a mere human being can create such a masterpiece.
10. David Bowie or Bob Dylan?
See Who vs. Floyd, above. Brubeck vs. Coltrane? Yeah, right.
*******
All right! Let's have fun, fun, fun 'til our daddies take the flying cars away!
no subject
Date: 2018-05-25 09:12 pm (UTC)(I'll see your Sandy Denny and Joni Mitchell and raise you Maddy Prior, Chrissie Hynde and Dusty Springfield....)
I saw Anne Wilson live in Brooklyn about 20 years ago; she was part of a salute to the Beatles makeshift supergroup that included Todd Rundgren (natch), Alan Parsons (makes sense) and John Entwistle (?). She wore this black glittering gown and she was awesome, of course.
I don't know how to react to Michael Jackson anymore. I want to enjoy his stuff as well crafted pop, but there's so much stuff outside the music weighing it down. I get the feeling that he desperately needed to be the world's most popular and beloved entertainer, but simultaneously wanted to hide in a deep hole where no one could find him. I don't know if anybody's music catalog can handle that extreme a contradiction.
no subject
Date: 2018-05-25 10:12 pm (UTC)Agree with you on Michael Jackson...he does have some amazing songs in his catalogue -- Man in the Mirror comes to mind, Beat It, Billie Jean, and of course the Dance Moves. But...listen to Prince's song about food for Sesame Street.
Or the entire soundtrack to Purple Rain. Jackson couldn't embrace his sexuality or talent, while Prince could and did.
Also I think Jackson got chewed up by the Fame machine and his upbringing.
no subject
Date: 2018-05-26 04:58 am (UTC)+1
no subject
Date: 2018-05-26 05:07 am (UTC)A short while back I asked shadowkat if she might be interested in some free (except for shipping costs) sets of The Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction, since she obviously reads an extraordinary amount of genre stuff. She politely declined, saying she prefers novels to short stories, plus a few other reasonable reasons.
This mag currently is the longest subscription I have running, going back to the 1970's. The problem is, other than the daily newspaper and some job-related tech stuff, I just don't read anymore. sad, but true.
I keep up the sub to support the magazine, but it seems to me someone oughta be reading them!
If you aren't already a subscriber, and would be interested, I could mail you sets of a year at a time, at whatever interval you like, of any years I have available. Pay the
shipping, the mags are free.
Interested?