fueledbycoffee wrote:
Notice I said innovative, not best. Everyone always brings up iconic bands like the Stones, when all the Stones really did was make a more aggressive, whiter version of the same stuff Muddy Waters had been doing for years. It's hard to determine what's really innovative, though. My way is to listen to old music and see how it's aged, and how it compares to more modern music. I'll start us off with a great example of this:
The Clash
Say what you want about their post-Combat-Rock phase, but go back and listen to London Calling. They weren't just another punk rock band. Even on their first album, they were more focused, more skilled, and more adventurous than The Sex Pistols, who, despite their awesomeness, had probably the worst rhythm section in rock after they ditched Glen Matlock and tended more towards nihilistic shock than the righteous fury of the Clash.
But London Calling... This is easily one of the most diverse records I own, and it's amazing how well it holds up more than thirty years later. Listen to Lost in the Supermarket. The song, both in vocals and style, sounds like one of those modern indie rock outfits. Spanish Bombs is remarkably catchy, belying it's dark subject matter. Guns of Brixton has been sampled by major rap artists (as, of curse, has Straight to Hell from Combat Rock), and with good reason, as the lyrics and slow, steady beat show. There's ska, reggae, pop, straight punk rock, and even on a few songs, like Jimmie Jazz, a weird Jazz/Cole Porter-fusion taste to it (That's what it reminds me of).
Then listen to Sandanista! and Combat Rock. Every song is different. Every song sounds individual and defies classification. The only band I can think of off the top of my head that was as diverse and kind of random in their blending of different sounds was the Beatles.
So what's your idea of an innovative band? Come on, let's hear 'em, FbC needs to talk music!
The Rolling Stones did Exile On Main Street, which is almost as eclectic as London Calling. They used keyboards to much better effect than Muddy Waters too. They were using drones before the Beatles and arguably Jagger/Richards overtook Lennon/McCartney as the greatest songwriting duo around the time of Out Of Our Heads/AHDN (though they lost that by the release of Rubber Soul).
Anyway, here are some of my suggestions:
1) The Beatles- almost deserves a "duh". One of the first successful bands to write their own songs, for starters. Also invented ADT, pioneered the use of unconventional instruments in rock songs, pioneered the synth, important in the formation of genres as diverse as hard rock/heavy metal, psychedelia, and prog rock. They embraced many different influences, from rock and roll to Eastern music.
2) Paul Simon- really embraces world music, fusing it with rock and folk even in the S&G days.
3) The Moody Blues- fused classical and rock on albums like The Days Of Future Past. I don't think they made great music, but it was certainly innovative.
4) Gorillaz- particularly Plastic Beach, a modern day London Calling. Features a wide range of artists, from Bobby Womack and Lou Reed to Little Dragon and Snoop Dogg via the National Orchestra For Arabic Music
17 May 2013, 11:51 am
