Is Radiohead still the best contemporary band?

cstpeter

I say yes. Still more important and dynamic than U2, Coldplay, Modest Mouse, Flaming Lips, Built to Spill, etc.

Who else is in the running?

Ern Dog

I don't own one Radiohead cd- just never got into them. After hearing some samples, I've got OK Computer coming soon.

Which of their cds do you think is the best?

phipiper10

Radiohead is as good as anyone out there now. I own most of their stuff though probably could only tell you the name of a couple of songs. I'll throw Wilco in this mix.

Both bands put out great albums and are great live too.

bobman1235

cstpeter wrote:

Is Radiohead still the best contemporary band?

I don't think they ever were. Most overrated band since Nirvana, if you ask me. They're decent, but their coronation sa the world's greatest band was WAY overdone.

phipiper10

Not the worlds greatest...I hope nobody was saying that but as far as making good music and it being unique at that, there aren't many contemporary bands in this realm.

Contemporary bands making quality music it's almost to the point where those words shouldn't be in the same sentence but this band is an exception.

Lsi9

Personally I like Modest Mouse the best out of the above mentioned only because they sound different without the illusion of them trying too hard to sound different. Not every song is good but then again every band has mediocre songs. Besides a couple of good songs, I also never understood the hype over Radiohead. As far as Coldplay is concerned I can listen to one song at a time before the lead singer's voice starts grinding my ears. and the songs aren't anything new.

The Bands I think are doing new things with Rock are Modest Mouse, Mars Volta and System of a Down (YAH!)
and the Chili Peppers are still the best band in all the world IMO

shawn474

I don't know that you could put Radiohead ahead of U2 or the Chili Peppers; WILCO is good as well but a small step below those mentioned.

wodom1

Ern Dog wrote:

I don't own one Radiohead cd- just never got into them. After hearing some samples, I've got OK Computer coming soon.

Which of their cds do you think is the best?

OK Computer is their best, in my opinion. Kid A is a close second. Radiohead is my favorite band, and has been for the last eight years or so.

venomclan

The Chili Peppers have been firing on all cylinders lately, puttin gout excellent stuff. Thier best by far. Radiohead too is one of those pioneering bands that comes along once in a while and is ahead of their time.

But of course there can be only one best band in the world at this time, and that easily goes to TOOL. Nothing in their league has come so far this generation.
Venom

bobman1235

venomclan wrote:

The Chili Peppers have been firing on all cylinders lately, puttin gout excellent stuff. Thier best by far.

Oh God. I know this is all subject to taste, so don't take this the wrong way, but the Chili Peppers have been mailing it in for ten years. Every time they're hard up for cash I swear they just slap some song with the word "California" together and make a million dollars. Anthony Kedis has NEVER been able to sing, but he used to just scat and make stupid noises so you couldn't really tell. Now he tries to act like he's a real singer and ends up sounding like a high school kid doing a talent competition, badly.

God I really hate that band.

phipiper10

Again this is all subjecting but I love talking about bands.

I have to agree on the chili peppers rehashing a lot of the same ground. I have 3-4 chili albums and though I think most of the material is good and some distinct differences from earlier and later albums I don't find they've done anything unique in quite some time. I'm also tired of Anthony's pseudo rapping.

Mmm Tool....this is a band I'm well aware of but haven't given them enough time in my ears YET. Everthing I've heard has been very good. Will be hearing more Tool soon.

U2 might be one of the biggest bands, most experienced bands but their time has kind of come and gone. It's just they are a little boring at this point. The world will be better now if Bono spends more time saving the world instead of making records ; )

I've had a bit of trouble getting into Mars Volta now that you mention them time for another listen!

I really like Modest Mouse too...a good friend is a HUGE fan. I like their style but could see where it might not be for everyone. I can only listen to so much at a time but guess that's true of most bands.

Most of my friends aren't huge music fans in the way I am and most think I'm an idiot for spending my money on stereo equipment. Gotta get my cheap thrills online here at CP!

venomclan

I have to agree on the chili peppers rehashing a lot of the same ground. I have 3-4 chili albums and though I think most of the material is good and some distinct differences from earlier and later albums I don't find they've done anything unique in quite some time. I'm also tired of Anthony's pseudo rapping.

Oh God. I know this is all subject to taste, so don't take this the wrong way, but the Chili Peppers have been mailing it in for ten years. Every time they're hard up for cash I swear they just slap some song with the word "California" together and make a million dollars. Anthony Kedis has NEVER been able to sing, but he used to just scat and make stupid noises so you couldn't really tell. Now he tries to act like he's a real singer and ends up sounding like a high school kid doing a talent competition, badly.

God I really hate that band.

I do agree to a point with some of this, but only up to the last 4 years. I like the Chili Peppers, but very little of their earlier work. Blood Sugar Sex Magic pretty much set the stage for them, but before it and following years later, they did not do too much unique, standout work (One Hot Minute, Californication, etc...). When By The Way came out a few years ago, I had heard it was very good by a few different people so I bought it for my girlfriend at the time because she liked them. It was a great album. Lots of new directions and melody's. More true music rather than the funk/rock/pop stuff they were known for.

I bought Staduim Arcadium (double CD) late last year on sale. I can easily say that it has not left my cd player. Lots of great stuff along the same path as By The Way.

Please give these 2 albums a listen before casting a final opinion on the Chili Peppers. They may make a difference.
Venom

zombie boy 2000

Just go to a Flaming Lips show and you'll quickly see who the best "contemporary" band is.

jkn

I think I've gotten too old to know what contemporary is anymore... :-)

Radiohead I used to love - yes they were (are?) brilliant. What amazes me is when I see them doing a live clip somewhere - they're version of Street Spirit (Fade Out) on some MTV in studio thing years ago - wow - that was an experience. They did some OK Computer stuff on the Jools Holland show which blew me away - that they can pull so much off live (I'm not sure how much if anything was being piped in - it appeared to be 100% live - however, I know some bands are really good at playing with backing tracks... anyway...) When they started blending in all the electronic / idm stuff - really neat stuff. OK Computer and Kid A are probably my favorites.

On the other hand - Thom Yorke's voice just grates on my nerves from time to time. When he opens up and sings a bit lower he can be really powerful - but he mostly keeps it thin and whiney anymore.

Still - a brilliant band.

The word "best" is a really bad one to use though.

As far as longevity - U2 pretty much has the list beat - and is certainly a drastically better selling band in albums and live shows than anyone mentioned so far. Chili Peppers are almost as old as U2 (5 years off?) - and it's wonderful seeing them have some good stuff with Fruscante back in the band. Uplift ****/Mother's Milk/Blood Sugar was the pinnacle for me (although all of their albums are definitely hit and miss on tracks) - I've heard some of the later ones and they're decent, but not amazing. The new one may be amazing - I just haven't heard it yet.

Tool rocks.

I've only heard one Mars Volta song (are they the ex-At the Drive In guys?) - and don't really know Modest Mouse.

I've drifted much more into ambient / techno / minimal / jazz stuff over the last decade.

Other influential bands that I can think of at the moment are the Pixies - who never hit it huge, but certainly influenced a lot of 90's bands going forward - and Nine Inch Nails. I would have never guessed how big he/they were going to get in the mid-90's when I first heard Pretty Hate Machine in the late 80's.

zombie boy 2000

The Lips have been around for over twenty years....

Demiurge

F-Lips are kind of lame now. It's as if the acid wore off and they ran out of ideas.

It's amazing how all of these old bands are now considered new. Modest Mouse was around forever before they made it big.

Anyhow, Radiohead can't possibly be the best contemporary band because they're too weird for most folks. Very good band, and really not overrated other than with those who claim they're the best band on earth, IMO. Their oddities kind of nullify that title right from the get go. Not to metion, even my saying that is completely subjective.

jkn

What's fun about Radiohead is just how straight / college radio friendly the first album is - and how much they turned that on it's head in only a couple of albums later. :-)

Flaming Lips I've gotten a kick out of for many years, but never gotten into heavily.

"Overnight Success" is a common thing - many many bands toil away in obscurity for a decade and then become the huge "new" thing... :-) The concept of "selling out" always kills me as well - there's nothing worse than a band to actually get successful - at least to those few people that knew them before they made it big. ;-)

zombie boy 2000

Demi... you know the Lips aren't my choice, but I'd definitely rank them first among those listed. Their live shows during the time of The Soft Bulletin are the stuff of legend. Good call on Modest Mouse.. they're old as rocks on the indie circuit. But with the masses, new hit song = Best New Artist grammy or some other crap.

zombie boy 2000

jkn wrote:

The concept of "selling out" always kills me as well - there's nothing worse than a band to actually get successful - at least to those few people that knew them before they made it big. ;-)

Funny you should mention it as Demi and I have had this conversation before in regard to My Morning Jacket....

I used to watch them play in their garage and now they are where they are. A lot of people around here utterly despise them for breaking big. Me? I'm too proud for words. Swings both ways though... I'm sure I've unjustly accused my fair share of bands of selling out.

Speaking of Modest Mouse.... Johnny effin' Marr!?!

Demiurge

jkn wrote:

"Overnight Success" is a common thing - many many bands toil away in obscurity for a decade and then become the huge "new" thing... :-) The concept of "selling out" always kills me as well - there's nothing worse than a band to actually get successful - at least to those few people that knew them before they made it big. ;-)

Eh, I worked in the business for a while with a major label band, and the idea of selling out is quite real, actually. I don't begrudge any band for taking all the money they can get. The fact is that 9 times out of 10 it comes at a great cost of artistic integrity. Contracts are a real ****, and the fact of the matter is that most people don't realize it.

As far as Modest Mouse, they aren't really an overnight success either. They were doing quite well on their own, but decided to switch to a major label. I'm not sure what their contract looks like, but I would think they had some leverage based on their strong fan base prior to the switch. I'm glad they got their due, but I am curious how much artistic control they were granted.

Of course, it's also nauseating being told about a new band who has been around forever like they discovered something great.

zombie boy 2000

Especially when you're given a head-up's by the local mainstream radio station about some hot new artist that "you're the first to hear here on 99.7 DJX..."

like when Float On came out with the aforementioned Modest Mouse. These payola junkies at the radio station should stick to admiting that they're the first to break whoever the record companies decide to let them break... not like they have any inside knowledge of scenes both local and independent:rolleyes:

jkn

I'm more referring to the knee jerk reaction some people have that once anyone gets successful and are no longer the underdog... they hate them... :-)

I've known a few people that have hit different levels of success in music - and I know about many of the things they've had to trade on to get where they are. The "hold on - we've got to check with the laywers first..." issue ouch... In that sense - I completely agree with you. It's unfortunately part of the game. It's similar in many other careers as well, though. You trade off on certain aspects of your day in order to achieve something you want.

An area band broke out with a single that did really well... I believe that contract (and bear in mind I don't know these people...more of an acquaintance type of thing) involved losing weight and working out to buff up, a total makeover, changing their band name, losing at least one of the members of the band since they didn't 'fit' the image the label wanted to promote, and I think bringing in someone to help them write the songs... etc... Sadly - I don't think it panned out after that that one song faded from people's memory.

I'm much more familiar with micro-sized labels where to get on the label is still very hard, but contracts are infinitely easier to deal with and ownership rights either stay with the artist or revert back within 2-3 years. Of cousre, no one is expecting to make any money at that level - either the artist or the label - a break even or seed the next release approach is more the norm.

I'd love to be independently wealthy and be able to sit home and write all day... but... oh well. ;-)

zombie boy 2000

Demiurge wrote:

Eh, I worked in the business for a while with a major label band, and the idea of selling out is quite real, actually. I don't begrudge any band for taking all the money they can get. The fact is that 9 times out of 10 it comes at a great cost of artistic integrity. Contracts are a real ****, and the fact of the matter is that most people don't realize it.

Oh, the dreaded "major label debut"...

Nothing like a "polished sound" produced to the nines to make your band sound like vomit...

jkn

...followed by the sophomore slump and the third album that was recorded but the label opted to not release and maintains the rights to so the band can't shop it anywhere else.

zombie boy 2000

...but at least our song was featured in a beer commercial and the closing credits of an episode of Gilmore Girls

jkn

I have a friend that's had tracks on Japanese tv shows a few times... the occasional royalty checks were a riot. He's done a few loop libraries - and I swear I've heard a few of his things now and then on tv/movies... (it's very hard to be certain - though I know he's gotten a few emails from tv/movie composers that enjoy his work so it's likely he's been thrown in somewhere...)

I forget who it was - but one of my ambient music buddies got a track on the Real World a couple seasons back - he wasn't sure how that happened...

zombie boy 2000

too funny..

I just realized there's something that burns me even more. How 'bout England's hype machine exporting bands that may have been together three months tops. Signed to a major label and put on every magazine cover from Spin to Cat Fancy telling us how this is the greatest band since ......

Your major label debut followed by sophomore slump followed by unreleased third album sounds like the recipe from which all these chaps cook. I'm thinking Franz Ferdinand is the latest casualty.

Demiurge

zombie boy 2000 wrote:

Oh, the dreaded "major label debut"...

Nothing like a "polished sound" produced to the nines to make your band sound like vomit...

...which is why I honestly can't stand more than 2 or 3 FM bands...It's the most shallow bunch of garbage that makes you want to rip your eardrums out. I mean, I was actually embarassed listening to some of that crap wannabe country my dad was listening to over Christmas.

It's not to say these bands are devoid of talent, it just sounds over processed. The more you're exposed to decent music the harder that stuff becomes to listen to. I mean, Nickelback. :rolleyes:

/music snob

zombie boy 2000

Nickelback is not only the ugliest sounding band on the planet, but also boasts the ugliest looking front man to complement their putrid, wretched sound. Can you imagine Chad Kroeger actually flying toward you on "the wings of an eagle". You'd run in terror after you tossed your lunch on the pavement.


/ other music snob

jkn

Add over compressed to the over polished... what happened to dynamics in music? Everything (at least in radio rock / pop) is pushed to the thresshold of clipping. I'm sure that's been discussed to death here already (I'm still new...)

Demiurge

I get the biggest kick out of when I make comments about how this or that band blows -- someone will eventually say:

"You know what? I like it, and it works for me. I think they are a good band. You don't need to tell me what to like."

Okay, fine, I really don't bag on people for what the like. I do bag on them when they start bandying about the best band ever mantra. It's always good for a laugh.

The worst part is that they'll take no time or interest in what you like, but when a band you like makes it big and they hear them for the first time thanks to FM radio...."OMGzzzz!11!!! Best Band EVR!1111!"