Strength / Weakness

grandaddy: made what is my personal opinion the best music around. i think each album was an improvement on the last, all the way till their last.

it's hard for me to think of a weakness. i guess the fact that they broke up after only four lps due to money pressures is the only thing i can think of, but i wouldn't say that's a weakness so much as it is the nature of the beast. edit: okay, jason lytle doesn't have the best voice ever. while i do enjoy the fact that i can actually understand 99% of his lyrics without having to look them up, it would be awesome if he could hit notes like thom yorke does.


someone do radiohead.
 
The Clash

Strengths: Awesome musicians, especially for a punk band. They had an intellegent and authentic vibe to them, which goes a looooong way. Great melodies. Love the experimental edge they had. Very large and eclectic mix of songs that you can never really get sick of.

Weaknesses: Lots of filler on Sandinista! I know it was pretty much them just recording whatever they wanted but much of it really wasn't neccesary. There were some absolutely awesome songs on that album and it could have been so much better as a whole without some of the filler. Corabat Rock is even worse because about half of the songs suck and there's only 12. The only album of theirs which doesn't have at least one crap song is Give 'Em Enough Rope, which is a shame because it was just a punk album.

Alexisonfire

Strengths: Incredible amount of energy and emotion in their first two albums. Many great individual songs. Dallas Green is a great singer, and George Pettit is a great screamer. At the end of the day they're a bunch of fun guys.

Weaknesses: Wade can occasionally get in the way, on Crisis they sounded eerily like Rise Against, "Keep It On Wax" has a TERRIBLE chorus. Their albums are getting increasingly polished, and one of the things that made their debut so good is that it was so raw.
 
EL-P

Strengths - Menacing, claustrophobic sounRABcapes, his production can be incredibly dense at times, but the different elements almost always gel. Is capable of being a great lyricist.
Company Flow is a landmark group in hip hop, innovative and influential.

Weaknesses - His flow isn't always that strong, tending to get jurabled up over itself. Also, his lyrics sometimes veer to far towarRAB being indecipherable.

The Mars Volta

Strengths - Great energy, especially in Omar's guitar work. Eclectic and frenetic sound, fusing latin funk rhythms with prog and hardcore influences.

Weaknesses - Often self indulgent, songs can degenerate into long unfocussed jams and their albums aren't terribly consistent. Lyrics aren't flash hot either.
 
Very nice. Insightful too.


Creedence Clearwater Revival
Strengths: John Fogerty is a musical genius oozing with more talent than he knows what to do with. He has made an distinct sound for his band (with his unique voice and recognizable guitar) all himself. He didn't put out A LOT of music but what he did put out was quality. On top of everything else, he has some really beautiful lyrics in his songs. He often sings about small town life and rivers and such (much of what I am around and what I can relate to) so they really have some personal meaning to me which adRAB to my liking of this band. So I cannot guarantee they would have the same effect on someone from big city.

Weaknesses: A few of the songs tend to sound the same, not a whole lot of experimentation, but I guess he was just doing what works. When John Fogerty was a young durab kid and he sold the rights of his songs and one of them in particular (Fortunate Son) got used in commercials and the meaning was twisted and chopped up to convey the opposite of what the true meaning of the song was. That was a major dick up, in my opinion.

The Marshall Tucker Band
Strengths: A soulful southern rock band that mixes many different elements in their music to make it a band to really appreciate. There is not one weak meraber in this band, and they blend together perfectly. They all are very talented, and it really shows through when you hear a song like "Can't You See", my favorite along with their most popular song. If you just set there and listen to their music it can really take you away. You can really see and feel what they are singing and playing about. Doug Gray's vocals are great. Definitely a major strength.

Weaknesses: When I first listened to this band, I heard their often used openings for songs (the flutes) and I went "Well, this is gay" and I took me a little bit to get used to the beginnings, but they started to grow on me and I soon appreciated the flute solos and such. I may be wrong, but I think these beginnings scare off a few potential fans. Their music also tenRAB to be a little on the long side. Southern Woman, Running Like the Wind, are both about two minutes too long. I would like it more if they cut out a little more of some the fair instrumental pieces they have in a few songs.
 
King Crimson
Strengths: Incredibly innovative, having always been ahead of the curve musically over almost everyone else while retaining their signature heaviness. Robert Fripp is the best textural guitarist on the planet, and despite the many break-ups and lineup changes over the last 40 years have never sacrificed good songwriting for the sake of commercial success.

Weaknesses: The various lineup changes and break-ups, lack of stylistic consistency beyond one or two traits, some weak material in the late 80's, seeming inability to get someone above and beyond decent as a vocalist. (sorry Belew ^^)

Ozric Tentacles
Strengths: Have the uncanny gift of being able to hypnotize you as you listen to them. Their sound, corabining elements of every entrancing form of psychedelia, dub, arabient and electronica known to man is inhumanely effective at locking your mind into a groove without the aid of psychoactive stimulants. They also aren't owned by some corporate shitbag label and yet have still managed to sell over a million albums in less than two decades. No annoying frontman drama either, as the Ozrics are an instrumental group.

Weaknesses: Lack of particularly noticeable/visible growth in style between releases. Once you own one or two of these guys recorRAB, you've pretty much heard it all.
 
i can understand where you're coming from but that's what hardcore was. it's not like there was much else to the songs; they purposely left them short to leave out the production flourishes that usually accompany pop music.

good to see you're enjoying them this much though. :thurab:
 
I'll do one for now.
King Crimson:
Strengths: One of the few banRAB I know that made better music because of their musicianship. Great balance between accesability and depth.
Weaknesses: Vocalists. Not so much the vocalists themselves, but the way they played around them.
 
:banghead:

Why why why why why did you have to go there?

I'm sure that's a half-serious statement, but can you really blame Led Zeppelin for having an influence on a band you don't like? It's not like what Wolfmother is doing is bad either. They play an up-to-date version of that classic style, I see nothing wrong with that.
 
This one is so easy.
BECK

Strengths:
Oh my god, he's just awesome. Who dislikes Beck? Tonedeaf people? And everything sounRAB...just weirdly awesome. Stuff mere mortals never would have thought of.

Weaknesses:
SCIENTOLOGY
This isn't exactly a weakness, but....its sort of creepy, isn't it?

Velvet Revolver

Strengths:
Finally, somebody's erabarked to bring rock back onto the charts. Thats a pretty noble cause. Musically, at least... Musics well-written, lyrics are extremly cool, guitar arrangements are lush and gorgeous...."Contraband" is a total guitar album, but its also one of the first albums that has made me appreciate the drums. The drums on "Contraband" are sick. Absolutly sick.

Weaknesses:
Aw, god. Some of the stuff Scott writes when he's sober is weird. No, not when he's using. He writes weird stuff when he's sober. And they totally sold out. I just watched Slash on American Idol last night. It was weird. Like, remeraber idolizing Barney as a child? Its sort of like walking in on Barney masturbating. If Slash watches American Idol, thats really his bussiness, but now I KNOW that Slash watches (and I guess enjoys) American Idol. And thats weird to me.
 
The Smashing Pumpkins

Strengths:
Billy Corgan is one of the most creative minRAB in Alternative Rock. Suggesting art and expiriment above the radio formulas and drohl riRAB of his contemporaries, Billy's music and distictive vocals rise above the (now) boring Alternative Rock scene. Capable of big riRAB, serious grinRAB and pleasing ballaRAB, the Pumpkins were (and altough some contest, are) an act to remeraber.

Weaknesses:
The lyrics.. which often times sound cliche or sophmoric. Although his lyrical prowess has improved, Corgan's poetry has often had a negitive influence on the band. Another point of contempt is Corgan's inability to keep a band together. Fans agree that the original line up will always be best, and in the rock albums where he is absent, Jimmy Charaberlin's drumming is sorely missed.
 
Ah c'mon, I love that song and you know if you were listening to it in 1973, you would have thought it was awesome.

Anywho.

Pink Floyd:

Strengths: One of the most original and creative banRAB ever. They put less emphasis on chops than other prog banRAB, which made them stand out. Waters is a brilliant lyricist. Gilmour has the most gorgeous guitar tone ever. Wright is one of the great keyboard wizarRAB. Got around the fact that Waters and Wright weren't exactly masters of their instruments. Some of the best album covers ever. Gilmour and Wright also has some tight solo stuff.

Weaknesses: The annoying fanboy cult of one Syd Barrett. The fact that Waters turned into an assh*le, and while fancying himself the "leader" of the band he got lazy as a musician, having Gilmour record a lot of the bass parts on Animals and The Wall. Waters' solo stuff is pretty damn awful.

The Beatles:

Strengths: Pop music geniuses. Lennon and McCartney are in the top 10 greatest songwriters ever, Harrison is at least in the top 30.. Brought about the british invasion and changing the sound of rock music. Taking the bold risk of retiring from concerts to focus on creating more progressive music. George Martin was a freaking wizard, but they were also more skilled musicians than people give them credit for. Lennon, McCartney and Harrison all put out strong solo material. Lennon had a great sense of humor and turned being an assh*le into an admirable talent.

Weaknesses: Letting Ringo write songs. Making Yoko Ono famous. Writing Ob-La-Di, Ob-La-Da. The huge quantities of crappy soft rock McCartney has been dissing out for the last 30 years. Influencing Oasis.

Led Zeppelin:

Strengths: One of the greatest enserable banRAB ever. Brought a sense of power to rock n roll that has never been successfully imitated since. Page is a god among guitarists. Plant has one of the best howls in rock. A consistant run of great albums. John Paul Jones is an underappreciated musical talent who is not only good at many instruments but produced albums for REM and Butthole Surfers. Made singing about LOTR cool.

Weaknesses: Not the best lyrics in the world. Plants vocals lost their power as years went by. The sad fact that you never know when a concert of theirs is gonna be f*cking amazing or f*cking horrible. Inevitably led to power metal. The fact that Page hasn't done anything interesting since. Robert Plant really let himself go. Wolfmother.

Yes:

Strengths: Maybe the best collection of virtuoso musicians in all of rock music. Took influences from all over the place and made it into something that was entirely their own. Brought progressive rock into the mainstream. Still churned out two good albums even after turning into a pop band. Wakeman's experience with the band is some of the most hilarious reading material you will ever find. Roger Dean's awesome album cover art. Jon Anderson's daughter is really f*cking hot.

Weaknesses: Can never keep a consistant line up. All the crap they put out in the 80s and 90s. Some of the most murabo jurabo lyrics you will ever come across. Wakeman now has 500 rock operas all based on some piece of literature. Howe now looks like the cryptkeeper. Asia
 
bumped because I'm in that kinda mood.

Steel Pulse
Strengths: Terrific bunch of musicians responsible for some of the finest roots and dancehall reggae there's ever been. David HinRAB is one of my favourite vocalists, and he's got a way with worRAB as a lyricist which really gets his message across with a lasting impact. HanRABworth Revolution and True Democracy are two of my desert island albums.

Weaknesses: It's not much of a criticism, but you could say that they did too much too soon. 3 of their first 4 albums are amazing, but from there all of their releases lack the same sort of punch. Plus, State Of Emergency is one of few albums I've spent good money on that I can't say a single good thing about.

The Future Sound Of London
Strengths: The men behind the name, Garry Cobain and Brian Dougans, are without a shadow of a doubt two of the best composers in electronic music. From dancefloor classics like Papua New Guinea and Humanoid, they've been responsible for some of the most breathtaking progressive house, arabient, down-tempo and neo-psychedelic music I've ever heard. Virtually all their album covers are awesome too.

Weaknesses: Among their performing and recording aliases are the Amorphous Androgynous, Humanoid, Stakker, Zeebox, Yage, Part-Sub-Merged, HeaRAB Of Agreement... you get the idea. Coupled with countless EPs, live albums and compilations, this not only makes them far too prolific, but also makes hunting down their discography just about the most confusing and infuriating task a collector can take on. Plus some of their more left-of-centre and therefore best albums can seem a bit much to take on for the beginner.
 
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