The Greatest American Rock Band (Poll)

[Muck]

These were the guys that we the Seattle sound before Nirvana and Soundgarden.

I'll agree with everything except that.

While the Pixies influenced some of the Seattle bands (primarily Nirvana) they were still distinctly different. Bands like Green River, Screaming Trees & Soundgarden were actually around before the Pixies formed.

 

[muffler dragon]

I'll agree with everything except that.

While the Pixies influenced some of the Seattle bands (primarily Nirvana) they were still distinctly different. Bands like Green River, Screaming Trees & Soundgarden were actually around before the Pixies formed.

Mudhoney, Mother Love Bone, and about a shit ton others as well.

 

[Muck]

Mudhoney, Mother Love Bone, and about a shit ton others as well.

Well Mudhoney is a couple of years later being Green River's bastard step child & all.

 

[Saw31]

Watching Nirvana on whatever this "concert" channel is on Comcast. Love it, but goddamn suicide music gets old in a hurry. Lighten up Francis Farmer...

 

[Saw31]

Now watching Alice in Chains. And proof that, while a great singer, Layne Staley wasn't needed in this band. Didn't write shit and didn't determine the sound or direction of this band. Probably puts me on a shitlist of the hard core AiC fans, but it's true. "Dirt" is an all time great album in my imo btw...

 

[Saw31]

Watching Nirvana on whatever this "concert" channel is on Comcast. Love it, but goddamn suicide music gets old in a hurry. Lighten up Francis Farmer...

Now watching Alice in Chains. And proof that, while a great singer, Layne Staley wasn't needed in this band. Didn't write shit and didn't determine the sound or direction of this band. Probably puts me on a shitlist of the hard core AiC fans, but it's true. "Dirt" is an all time great album in my imo btw...

I do have to say though, that watching these last 2 concerts just makes me feel so sorry for today's kids who haven't seen a decent band in their lives. Jesus, rock music sucks now...

 

[Saw31]

And now Pearl Jam on Austin City Limits. Must be Seattle night on "PLDHD", whatever that channel is.

 

[Saw31]

I guess I should've mentioned before these posts that I consider the late '60s/early '70s and the early '90s to be the best "rock" music ever. That's why I'm watching these concerts...

 

[WyoBuck]

Now watching Alice in Chains. And proof that, while a great singer, Layne Staley wasn't needed in this band. Didn't write shit and didn't determine the sound or direction of this band. Probably puts me on a shitlist of the hard core AiC fans, but it's true. "Dirt" is an all time great album in my imo btw...

I think that most AiC fans would agree that Layne's biggest contribution to the band was his very unique vocal style. I have heard them "cover" (I know..) their earlier stuff with William Duvall, and it is good, but not the same. There are just certain songs that were Layne's to sing. Would? Nutshell, especially unplugged just cant be replicated. Jerry and Layne's voices had the perfect harmony for their style

 

[kinch]

Now watching Alice in Chains. And proof that, while a great singer, Layne Staley wasn't needed in this band. Didn't write shit and didn't determine the sound or direction of this band. Probably puts me on a shitlist of the hard core AiC fans, but it's true. "Dirt" is an all time great album in my imo btw...

If I recall correctly he wrote a few songs, Angry Chair being one.

I thought Dirt was overproduced.

And now, from Muck's post, I have to go dig up my Screaming Trees CDs. . .

 

[Dryden]

The Mad Season album was great too. I miss Layne Staley.

I've always felt Nirvana was terribly overrated. Of course, I listened to Nevermind and In Utero as much as anyone else when I was in high school (they're still great albums), but personally I would take Grohl's output with Foo Fighters over Nirvana.

Of all the grunge/alternative bands of that era, Soundgarden has always topped my list. I remember getting Louder Than Love after catching the Hands All Over video on MTV and feeling like I discovered something new. I went back to the record store within the week to get Ultramega OK, and this would have been in 1989, two years before Nevermind hit the stores.

I don't know if I ever listened to any more glam rock after that. I mean, there was a stretch there of about a month in 1990 which saw the release of Danzig II: Lucifuge, Alice In Chains' Facelift, and Jane's Addiction's Ritual De Lo Habitual. In fact, Facelift and Ritual were released on the same day, August 21, 1990, still a full year ahead of Nevermind.

The alternative explosion was going to happen whether Smells Like Teen Spirit had broke through or not. If it hadn't been Nirvana, it would have been somebody else, but the movement was already underway, and had been for over two years.

 

[Dryden]

Watching Nirvana on whatever this "concert" channel is on Comcast. Love it, but goddamn suicide music gets old in a hurry. Lighten up Francis Farmer...

"[Live Forever] was written in the middle of grunge and all that, and I remember Nirvana had a tune called 'I Hate Myself and I Want to Die,' and I was like . . . 'Well, I'm not fucking having that.' As much as I fucking like [Cobain] and all that shit, I'm not having that. I can't have people like that coming over here, on smack, fucking saying that they hate themselves and they wanna die. That's fucking rubbish."
-- Noel Gallagher

 

[Merih]

PLHD is Palladium HD...great channel that pretty much just shows concerts and live music.

 

[sepia5]

I do have to say though, that watching these last 2 concerts just makes me feel so sorry for today's kids who haven't seen a decent band in their lives. Jesus, rock music sucks now...

Have you listened to Arcade Fire or the Black Keys? Two bands that belong to today's kids' generation and are really fantastic.

As long as we're talking about the grunge era, one of my favorite bands to come out of that period was Cincinnati's own The Afghan Whigs. They started out heavily influenced by grunge, but by the time they recorded their last album, 1965, they were trending heavily towards soul and R&B sounds mixed with rock. I also really like what Greg Dulli, the Whigs' frontman, has since done with his group of rotating musicians known as The Twilight Singers. He's most recently been collaborating with Mark Lanagan, former frontman for the Screaming Trees, sometimes under the name The Gutter Twins. But really, if you haven't heard it, go check out 1965. I think it's the best thing Dulli ever did.

 

[strohs]

+1