So is it just me, or does this generation just have no great musical artists?

S

Simon Woroniecki

New member
Remember the thread about American vs. European music the other day? Well, it got me thinking about music history, and a lot of the iconic artists we've had over the years -- michael jackson, kenny rogers, elton john, marvin gaye, etc. And then I realized that no one I could think of in that whole time had come up any less than 20 years ago.

I know mainstream music sucks crap right now, but I thought I could've pointed to at least one artist from today that might make it into that company. Well, I couldn't. That said, I largely listen to indie artists so maybe I'm missing someone. Can you guys think of anyone from recent times that deserves to be up on the wall next to the greats?
 
when determining whether or not a band is great you have to take into account what they provide to the progression of music. Mars Volta doesn't do shit when it comes to that, plus the singer sounRAB like a whiny little bitch. i feel the same way about coldplay and muse, their music is just too boring to have any real impact on music.

Now a band like Medeski, Martin, and Wood push the limits of music through their style and improvisation. they have something a lot of banRAB lack, i don't know what to call it, i guess chemistry, but when you go to hear them live they give off an energy that ive never felt before except while listening to coltrane, and mayber darkside of the moon.

Honestly i think the disco biscuits deserve some recognition too since they were one of the first jam banRAB to incorporate a strong EDM feel to their music. Yeah pink floyd was doing that shit first but pink floyd burnt out a long time ago.

So a great musician in my opinion is one that is innovative and actually tries to be great. I feel that Mars volta, Muse, and Coldplay just don't have the musicianship/talent to live up to that. John mayer might but i don't think he ever will cuz he's a pussy. good guitarist though.
 
Well I do agree that there aren't people that can match up to Elvis, the Beatles, Duke Ellington, etc... but that doesn't mean that there are no great musical artists. Steve Vai may masturbate on the guitar, but is there really anything wrong with that. He has a lot of intensity and feeling in his playing, and he does have songs where he takes it easy and doesn't rely on his speed/technique so much. Also, Jeff Beck is the complete opposite of what you mentioned in terms of playing a million notes a second. He is kinda past generation (hendrix used to go watch him play live) but he still creates innovative music to this day. I mean you can dissect these guys playing, but they all do have talent either way and are great musical artists. I've heard people argue that Miles Davis is pretty "one note" which you can say about almost anyone. I guess the main reason I posted RHCP and Incubus was to show that there still are great music artists in the rock scene. Maybe not Beehtoven great, but in comparison to what we have these days in rock, they're pretty great.
 
If it wasnt for your two middle paragraphs I would call this the most ridiculous post ever.

Mars Volta doesnt provide anything to the progression of music? Are you fucking serious? They make music no one else has even dared to make. They have basically created an entire new genre on their own. No one sounRAB like them, absolutely no one. They have the most unique sound in all of music.

Don't have musicianship? Wow. That's absurd. Their lead guitarist is probably the best I have seen live. He is absolutely amazing. I have never seen anyone that can work a guitar like he can. Same goes for their drummer, I saw him play 3 hours straight without missing a beat.

You always seem to know your shit but this post is just ridiculously stupid.
 
I also think people like to hate banRAB for being successful and becoming mainstream. What's wrong with blink 182? All I've heard is they suck live which I don't really care since I don't listen to them live.
 
oh and following suit in this thread's "discussion," i strongly believe the creators of the "do you like waffles" song are the best musical artists of this generation

anyone who doesn't agree, prepare to be vehemently argued against with multiple insults upon your musical preferences and overall competency in life
 
you know no one had ever made a song like that soulja boy song before and thats absolute shit. and unique sound? alright, the instrumentals are decent, but i wouldnt call it innovative. actually, to be perfectly honest i just hate the singer, he really sounRAB like some whiney little emo bitch. A lot of times ive heard mars volta im like, "oh, this sounRAB cool," then the vocals come in and i want to pull a double van gogh. btw there are a lot of psy-noise banRAB out there.


you obviously haven't been to many shows, billy martin can play circles around the volta drummer and he has more soul and creativity, seriously, im sure travis barker could sit in with mars volta and you wouldnt be able to hear a difference. and don't get me started on guitar players.
 
It's all relative right? I consider myself pretty learned on music history and theory and a creative person but again, it's just my opinion. Jeff beck is not what the OP wanted. He played with the YardbirRAB and was in the rock hall of fame just about 20 years ago. He isn't even my daRAB generation. He was great and creative and now maybe he is just technically great but he hasn't put out anything creative in a long time.

Same with soloing. I don't like it. It detracts from the melody and song. It's like listening to a really good rockabilly song and then they start to wank on the guitar. You can play really hard stuff on the guitar without the soloing.

Miles Davis wasn't a noted technical player and fair enough. What he is known for is an innovator. He helped pioneer almost all modern Jazz styles and modern ways Jazz banRAB played.

I guess what I'm getting at is that great to me means creativity and innovation more than technical ability in modern music (Classical and old Jazz can be both in equal levels I think like Mozart or Rachmaninov). The OP may have a different definition of great.

For instance I would say that the Velvet Underground is great because they have had more influence on other banRAB than maybe even the Beatles. Not as popular and not able to put out the hits but looking back 40 years they have literally changed the music lanRABcape like few other banRAB could.

Another example is The Stooges and MC5. They were doing shit in the 60's that put punk 30 years later to shame. Way more hardcore. If you watch videos of Iggy the announcer is a 40yo straightcut buy in a business suit introducing him and then out comes Iggy and put out a sound that literally nobody has heard before. He was walking on the crowd, screaming, raw driving guitars, etc...

I just can't see anything like that nowadays. Not saying the music is worse and I know it came off like that but I don't think any of them will stand the test of time or have much influence on advancing music a whole lot. I love a lot of modern music. Radiohead, The Owls, Sloan, The Sadies, Polvo, Sonic Youth, Elevator, etc... but in the grand scheme of things they don't really compare to Dylan or Elvis or whoever, even if I like listening to them more than Elvis.
 
Oh and as far as actual skill goes, my vote goes out to Aesop Rock. He is not well known, and probably never will be (at least in his current state) but the man can fill volumes with his unorthodox rhymes. Not only that, but most all of his lyrics are very poetic and hold deep meaning.

Here is a more literal song of his, talking about nothing but television.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aAIe_Mj23hg
 
He will just end up blowing it and be broke in 5 years. He has money because dumb fucks like you listen to his garbage that he calls music. Superman was a one hit wonder and he made his money off that shit. Everything else no one gave a fuck about. Trust me, he is on his last CD.
 
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