Name a modern-day band that will still be relevant in 20 years

[Mr. Ected]

Green Day.

Your turn.

[Fire Walk With Me]

1. Kraftwerk.

Game over, man. Game over.

[begin_within]

19. They're still around?

I thought they were victims of the "Y2K" bug.

[mix]

46. obvy man

they entered the pages of history, years ago...of course

[bikebloke]

97. I used to listen to them in the late 70's

Recently, I gave their recent work (Tour dr France or some cycling theme) a listen. Dated now. Electronic music has progessed, the Kraftwerk's still using the same old sound.

I need to pull out my old cassette tapes and revisit their old werks.

[mitchum]

101. For me, a lot of the appeal of electronic music is that "retro futuristic" sound...

or maybe that's just how I justify spending less than sane amounts of money on decades old and falling apart analog gear :)
These music making hands shall never touch a laptop!

[Fire Walk With Me]

154. Electronic music is my living and my passion.

Check again; their work still surpasses seemingly more complex compositions.

Less is definitely more.

[bikebloke]

160. I'll dig out their cassettes then.

I did see Kraftwerk in concert around 1980-ish or so. Brilliant.

[Fire Walk With Me]

162. Cool. Don't miss their newer items, such as the Expo 2000 EP and Tour de France Soundtracks.

:thumbsup:

[taterguy]

2. The USC Marching Trojans

[madinmaryland]

5. The Ohio State Marching Band..

[taterguy]

6. Banished to eternal irrelevancy for kicking out Phil Ochs

[SteppingRazor]

3. What counts as a "modern band"?

Green Day's been around for more than 20 years already. So, by that rationale, a lot of bands could be on the list.

[Mr. Ected]

4. A band that is still intact and still recording and releasing music

Technically, that would even include the Stones, I suppose.

Perhaps we should limit this to bands whose first releases have been in the 21st century.

[SteppingRazor]

7. Well, if we limit it to just 21st century bands...

it's a tough call, since you're trying to pick the bands with staying power while they're on their way up. I really like The Hold Steady. I hope they're around in 20 years. Neko Case is another modern favorite, though I believe her first album came out in the late 90s.

But again, this is more bands I hope will be around in 20 years, not necessarily bands that I think will be around. I think that's really tough to say unless, like your example of Green Day, the band has already proven that it has a little staying power.

I'd put Pearl Jam in that same category.

[Forkboy]

8. Relevant to who?

:)

I say the Melvins, because they'll damn sure still be relevant to me.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XcMg5Dizv8A&feature=related

[EndersDame]

9. The White Stripes, My Morning Jacket, Common

[graywarrior]

10. Agreed.

[NightWatcher]

11. Green Day? punk kinda loses something when played by 50 year olds

I loved Dookie, but to me everything since has tried too hard to be hip and young. I think that was their peak.

[Forkboy]

13. I like green Day, but if your parents can listen to it it kind of defeats the point of punk.

:)

[mix]

38. never seen them live, just Youtube footage

they can rock a stadium, powerful performers

[Forkboy]

63. I like some of their stuff, and a few songs a lot, but overall its too clean for my tastes.

I did see a live DVD of Green Day though, and they put on a kicking show. Lots of energy, and LOUD, as it should be.

I tend to like noisier things, and not just when it comes to punk. To me, this is music to my ears...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OXgFWeYfzq8&feature=related

And I would consider this almost too well produced. :rofl:

[mix]

66. i don't mind the music, love the chords, riffs and melodies

but the vocals are too monotonous for me, and that's a very "popular" style lately...it's been on American Idol
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w1zCU2hfEIY

[LynneSin]

94. I just saw them last night at the Spectrum

Armstrong is a massive entertainer that can pull in the entire crowd. If Freddie Mercury and Charlie Chaplin had a love child it would be Billie Joe Armstrong. That's the reason why Green Day has pulled way ahead of so many of those 'punk-pop' bands that came out in the mid-90s.

[mix]

96. I totally agree...Billie Joe is a gifted performer.

:hi:

[Odin2005]

142. I was at their recent Fargo performance, FUCKING AWESOME!!!

:woohoo:

[Mythsaje]

137. Ignoring the fact that your parents INVENTED punk... n/t

[tigereye]

147. but a lot of their parents were punks!

that's what makes it so funny, in a way. And a lot of the teens love the 70s folk and rock that punk rebelled against. Go figure.


:rofl:

[Sebastian Doyle]

36. What about when 50 year old punks make butter commercials?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7mSE-Iy_tFY

[mix]

41. glorious !

LOL

[ghostsofgiants]

44. He confuses me so much.

Sex Pistols were okay. PIL were brilliant. He himself is a complete wanker.

[mix]

47. it's clever

he's an expat and has always loathed overt signs of British/English nationalism, not to mention the royals...why not have a laugh and make a buck off those fuckers

and he still has his starturns as well
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GKIqW3cikgU

[mitchum]

79. But I think that is the point of Lydon...

to project his own confusion on to the audience.
He has always seemed to be torn between loathing the fact that he is a pop figure
and loving the fact that he is a pop figure

[LynneSin]

93. But Green Day isn't a punk bad

I mean they were hardly punk when Dookie first came out but I think they left that genre ages ago especially when American Idiot came out. I think Green Day identifies more with a band like Queen then they do with the Clash or The Who.


I've heard GD's pre-Dookie music and that probably could have been qualified as Punk, but outside of dressing like punks and singing punk-like song, they lost that title as soon as their music created an appeal to a market that probably would not fit in with a true punk concert. That started with Dookie.

[Drunken Irishman]

164. Punk is so fucking broad nowadays...

[Drunken Irishman]

163. I don't know, Rancid is still good.

And Tim Armstrong is 43!

[KG]

12. oasis.

oh, wait. they're not even relevant now.

[guitar man]

14. The Rolling Stones

:P

[SacredCow]

88. Keef should be the consistency of beef jerky by then....

but probably still able to lay down some 5th chords, at least.

[flvegan]

15. Beastie Boys.

Still be awesome when they're in their early 60s.

[seemunkee]

17. Agree, Hope Adam Yauch's cancer is treatable

Having a lymph node involved is not good, but hopefully they have caught it early enough

[flvegan]

20. Yeah, he's staying positive about it.

Some say that's half the battle.

[Taverner]

16. Belle and Sebastian and Radiohead, just to name two

[LeftyMom]

18. Green Day isn't relevant now.

They peaked when I was in junior high.

[Orrex]

29. Have they ever been anything but a novelty band?

[LeftyMom]

33. Supposedly they were a semi-serious band back when nobody'd heard of them.

:shrug:

[ghostsofgiants]

37. Have you heard Kerplunk? No, they weren't, haha.

[LeftyMom]

39. Hence the "supposedly."

I couldn't take them seriously even if they didn't suck, Billy Joe's weird fake accent gives me the giggles.

[ghostsofgiants]

43. Haha...This isn't about Green Day but...

[HughBeaumont]

83. ZING!

:rofl: and this is from an Operation Ivy fan.

[tigereye]

115. that cartoon never ceases to make me laugh...

[ghostsofgiants]

128. Mitch Clem is a funny, funny man.

[mix]

45. Green Day is one of few openly political pop bands...

And they're punks...don't you think that their message will affect young people who listen to them, make them more curious about the world we live in? I do and I think they are very relevant.

[LeftyMom]

49. Okay, you're saying about five different problematic things there.

First, they can be pop (they are) or punk (they're not.) They can not be both because pop punk is an oxymoron (and it sucks.) Please never use the words punk and Green Day in the same post again, as somebody who listens to real punk it gives me hives.

Punk has been political since they were in short pants. Even as pop punk bands go, many of them are more political than Green Day, whose lyrics are simply rubbish.

I hope "young people" (I'm all of 28 and I work with teenagers, I think I can tell you they're not listening to Green Day, but the "adult contemporary" station plays the hell out of a few of their songs, ffs) aren't listening to such self-important crap as what Green Day's been putting out since they decided that disliking Bush made them deep and thoughtful and political.

[mix]

50. punk has always been pop

and in its better moments, political...Green Day carries that forward

[LeftyMom]

51. Okay, you officially don't know what you're talking about.

Moving on...

[mix]

52. i don't mind romantics really, but it's all theater and showbiz, even on the fringes n/t

[Forkboy]

53. Uh, not really, no. Not even close, to be honest.

Listen for yourself. There ain't a whole heck of a lot of pop influences to be found. :shrug:

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_topic&forum=105&topic_id=8922063#8923563

[mix]

54. i'm not defining pop that narrowly

pop sounds change, and punk was always just another potentially commercial sound...punk is pop music in that in seeks an audience and market, some reach mega-stardom, others remain underground...i appreciate them both, they're making music

[Forkboy]

56. But punk wasn't, and isn't, just another commercial sound.

Outside of Green Day, tell me what punk bands have had mainstream exposure. I can't think of a single one, and I've been into punk since the late 70's. Look at that list I just posted. Not one of those bands has even come close to having a commercial sound, and none of them would ever be played on a radio station unless it was a college show.

I'm not trying to knock anyone here or their musical tastes. I don't judge others tastes. But I do feel I have to correct this idea that punk is just another commercial sound, because it's not. Not even close. Listen to those links.

[mix]

57. Let me rephrase it

Punk was and is just another "potentially" commercial sound, its popularity comes and goes commercially. That is undeniable. The punk music market/scene is global, it always has been. Punk records sold by the millions in England and Europe, that's why Americans were exposed to the sound in the 70s, an event which spawned our still flourishing underground scene(s).

NYC also had its own punk scene with the New York Dolls and the Ramones and there is the historical disagreement about whether the origins of punk are British or American. But when you scratch the surface and look at who was running and marketing the bands--all the filthy lucre--it's many of the same people like Malcolm McLaren. In other words, in addition to the trans-Atlantic rivalry--there was a lot of cooperation and community between NYC and London. This would also spread to LA.

Any history will tell that the heroes of the punks were people like David Bowie, Gene Vincent, Bob Marley--some of the biggest pop stars in the history of rock. Marley was not stylistically rock, but marketed like a rock star. That is why there is still a deep affinity between reggae and rock fans. British punks also helped to spread the popularity of reggae in the US, helping to spark our own ska scene.

The punk scene was always very Oedipal in that it sought to "destroy" all that came before it musically, even if it owed its very existence to that past. Look at how it was marketed. Being commercial was always the easy way to define the inauthentic. But what happens when bands like Green Day hit the big time? All the contradictions of the punk scene then come out, embrace those.

[Forkboy]

60. With the qualifier "potentially" added I agree with you.

As anything can be potentially popular. Look at Carrot Top. :)

[tigereye]

117. nice analysis

One of the funniest and most ironic things ever was my drum teacher telling me that a lot of punk drumming was basically a. disco beats, and b) polka beats!

[LynneSin]

100. The Clash got major commericial exposure with "Combat Rock"

I also think it was the least 'punk' of all of their albums out there.

Thing is this - Green Day hasn't been true punk since before Dookie. Punk and mass commericial appeal just don't go hand-n-hand. I would probably say that starting with Dookie you'd probably define them more as a 'pop-punk' (Sorry Left, I know you hate that term but its the best way to describe it). But whatever you call Green Day, to call it Punk is just not it. Sure, their inspirations might have been some of the great punk bands of our generation but Green Day went a different path.

But Green Day is big, they can sell out an arena and have been doing that consitantly now for about 15 years. They probably could sell out a stadium if they gave it a try (they sold out a 60k stadium over in England).

[mix]

104. This is historically incorrect and a complete mythologization of punk.

"Punk and mass commericial (sic) appeal just don't go hand-n-hand."

This statement could not be more factually wrong.


from a well known internet source

"God Save the Queen" was the second single released by the punk rock band Sex Pistols. It was released during Queen Elizabeth II's Silver Jubilee in 1977. It reached number one on the influential NME charts in the UK, but -- controversially -- only made it to #2 on the official UK Singles Chart as used by the BBC. The record's lyrics, as well as the cover, were controversial at the time, and both the BBC and the Independent Broadcasting Authority refused to play the song.

Never Mind the Bollocks, Here's the Sex Pistols reached #1 on the Official UK Albums Chart, but in the USA peaked at #106 upon initial release on the Billboard albums chart. Although the album's sales were initially slim outside Europe, it would ultimately gain a substantial reputation worldwide, achieving Gold status with the RIAA in 1987 (denoting 500,000 sales) and Platinum status (1,000,000 sales) just four years later.

[LynneSin]

107. Combat Rock was certified platinium and spent 61 weeks on the Billboard charts

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Combat_Rock

The album also benefited by the creation of MTV, back when MTV would play videos.

But again, the thing about the Clash and the Sex Pistols is that neither bad lasted for more than a decade; heck the Sex Pistols were active for only 3 years (and again, I don't count the reunion stuff). We can't really say what would have happened to these bands over a long period of time if they would have maintained their street punk creds if they lasted longer than what they did.

[mix]

108. Your point about how long these bands stayed together makes no sense to me.

You have a very romantic and ultimately wrong understanding of punk's history.

[LynneSin]

112. well it's not just with punk but any genre

Take the Buffalo Springfield example I used, a band that was inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of fame but only existed for 2 years as a band. This band definately deserves the all the accolades it has received BUT would it still be considered a legendary band if the band stayed together for longer than 2 years, producing albums that might have been the same high quality or watching their talent slowly fade away. We will never know.

I don't doubt that the Clash was a punk band, just pointing out that one of their last albums was a very big commericial success thanks to it's widestream play on new channel MTV. And although Combat Rock was a punk album, I still think it was just a tad bit 'softer' compared to the earlier works they had put out. Punk is an aquired taste (just like Country, Jazz, and just about every genre out there). There is always a 'what if?' about how great a band could be if they existed longer than what they did.

[mix]

114. ..

Green Day: well, at least why agree on that :hi:

[omega minimo]

135. you have a very clinical and rhetorical history and no experience of punk

Green Day started out in a punk scene, a generation after the original punk scene. It's gonna be different. Punk fashion had been in the stores for a long time. Yeah it's marketable.

Green Day are punks that got popular. It happens.

[mix]

136. +1

(or least the last sentence)

[tigereye]

118. a lot of folks thought that the Sex Pistols were a totally commercial concoction

despite how subversive they seemed at the time. The Clash OTOH took a lot more musical risks than the Pistols and actually grew as a band.



Still, it was astounding to hear God Save the Queen when it came out. Wonderfully shocking.

[mix]

122. I agree.

There was too much instability in the Sex Pistols for them to go beyond their first few releases and experiment as did the Clash, who were also riven with interpersonal problems, but grew so fucking far as a band.

[tigereye]

116. what about the Ramones? There are many pop-type elements there

and they were somewhat commercial. Patti Smith is another example of someone quite subversive who had some "mainstream" sucess.


I agree that punk is on it's face not intended to be commercial, it was typically more subversive than that. I'm not sure that it still is and I'm not entirely sure what young people now think of as "punk." OTOH a lot of what is called pop-punk could be called punk for the masses.



OMG, I can never resist these "debates." :D

[SoxFan]

158. The Ramones are the best example

They owe as much to '60s bubblegum pop as they do to protopunk garage rock.

What's happening here is that some people equate punk with the abrasive and often tuneless hardcore. But if you listen to late 1970s British/Irish punk (Stiff Little Fingers, Undertones, Pistols, Clash) and to bands that arose out of the punk/New Wave scene (Blondie), you see that it bands like Green Day are actually quite loyal to their roots.

[tigereye]

161. yes, I often think that folks confuse punk and hardcore

I was a college student in the mid to late 70s and listened to all the bands you cited and they were much more heterogeneous than the homogeneity people now seem to expect from what they think of as "punk."

[mix]

55. You are also dead wrong about no pop influences in punk.

Punk is after all rock 'n' roll, the preeminent form of post-WWII popular music.

[Forkboy]

58. I never said it had no influence. Read it again.

Everything is influenced by what came before it in some way. Heavy metal was influenced by the cock rock of the 70's. Thrash was influenced by heavy metal and punk. That doesn't make the genres interchangeable as you're trying to do. My favorite band is the band Nomeansno. They play punk. Know who their biggest influence is? Captain Beefheart. Listen to them both and tell me they're the same genre. Just because something is influenced by something doesn't make them the same. Punk can certainly have both pop and rock-n-roll influences, but that doesn't make punk either pop or rock-n-roll. They're all different beasts.

[mix]

61. lol

he was johnny lydon's as well

and again i think you lack a global and historical understanding of rock music...no subculture stands alone and many become dominant, look at the Seattle scene...they are different beasts but within the same evolutionary trajectory, i.e musical tradition...your definition of pop is, correct if i am wrong, defined but what you hear as popular right now? doesn't the sound of popular music change? don't we still hear rock the casbah on classic rock stations?

Green Day will most definitely be relevant in 20 years because they spoke out when it mattered the most and they had their careers, reputations, and livelihoods to lose, look at what happened to the Dixie Chicks.

[Jetboy]

110. I agree.

The Ramones are about as pop as a band can get IMO.

'I met her at the Burger King
We fell in love by the soda machine'

This band covered pop songs from the 50s and early 60s: California Sun, Do You Wanna Dance, Let's Dance etc etc. Ramones loved the sweet sounds of the Golden Era of rock-n-roll- Hullabaloo, Upbeat, Shindig and Ed Sullivan too. Do You Remember rock-n-roll radio? It has always been my belief that the Ramones intended to be very commercial and be on the radio but it didn't happen that way for them. 'I Wanna Be Your Boyfriend' is a pop song if I ever heard one.

[mitchum]

113. Yes, they always said that they wanted to be the Bay City Rollers...

not the Stooges

[tigereye]

149. exactly - much of the sound and lyrics were rooted in 60s pop

there was a wonderful sweetness and romantic feel at times, wrapped in those great, super-speed barre chords.

[SoxFan]

78. "Pop punk is an oxymoron"? Epic Fail.

The Ramones?
The Undertones?
Stiff Little Fingers?
Buzzcocks?
Sex Pistols?
Husker Du?

All of these bands, who helped create punk, would be considered too "pop" for some people's tastes today.

Punk does not always equate to DC and LA hardcore.

[tigereye]

148. thanks for pointing that out...

:thumbsup:

[Odin2005]

144. False dichotomy.

They are "punk" in both music style and political message, but they are also "pop" in that they are a popular band. Saying they can't be both is a wacky kind of snobbery.

[ghostsofgiants]

81. The problem there is their politics are pretty vapid.

Yeah, they're liberals. Woohoo. Being a liberal does not automatically equal substance.

[mix]

95. Green Day took enormous risks by speaking out...

...those risks just so happened to be commercially successful.

Why are their politics "vapid"?

[ghostsofgiants]

126. Well...

"Well maybe I'm the faggot America.
I'm not a part of a redneck agenda.
Now everybody do the propaganda.
And sing along in the age of paranoia."

Just doesn't strike me as overly insightful.

And they weren't taking a risk, the fanbase they play to was overwhelmingly anti-Bush. Nevermind the fact that they didn't hop onto the political bandwagon until Bush was in power. I don't think Nimrod, as an album, explores the Clinton government's negative policies too deeply. Dixie Chicks took a risk because the country music fanbase is generally much more conservative, but if you really think it was risky for Green Day, you're crazy.

[mix]

130. You are simply wrong about dismissing the risk GD took.

Those years were quite reactionary.

[ghostsofgiants]

131. Some aspects were reactionary, but the age group targeted by Green Day was very anti-Bush and...

The label knew that. The anti-Bush youth market was pretty huge when American Idiot came out. Hating Bush was the hip thing to do in '04.

[mix]

133. You are being overly cynical about GD's success. n/t

[LynneSin]

98. Yeah I can see that, I mean only irrelevant bands sell out major arena tours

:eyes:

The only reason Green Day played last night at the smaller Spectrum venue is that the Spectrum is being torn down at the end of the year. So all the big names are hitting the Spectrum. The Dead did their show there and Bruce had 2 more shows at the Spectrum.

Perhaps you're not a fan of Green Day but if anything they are more relevant today then they ever were but I would hardly call them 'punk', they lost that genre the minute they put a commercial hit out like Dookie.

[mix]

103. The Clash were huge commercial successes.

Does that make them any less punk?

[LynneSin]

105. The Clash only was together for 10 years so we'll never know (not counting reunions)

Combat Rock was the last sucessful album put out and probably the most mainstream of the Clash albums. I think there was one more out afterwards that was not well received by the public or critics. The length of a band's existance doesn't denote their overall impact in the music industry. Buffalo Springfield was only in existance for 2 years and still was inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame because of it's impact on the genre of the time. Then you have bands like the Rolling Stones and Aerosmith who have had major impact on the music industry but have long overstayed their creativeness. I think the last really great album the Stones put out was back in 1983.

So to compare the impact of an album like "Combat Rock" on the Clash isn't quite fair since they didn't last much longer than about 3 years after it's release. Green Day has been together since 1987 and Dookie (the point where I think GD turned from true punk to more mainstream) was 1994. That means we have 15 years of new Green Day material that pretty much clued us in that GD isn't really punk anymore and probably not going there again. When GD has put out material that might be considered more punk, they used different band names like The Network or Foxboro Hot Tubs (GD does a ton of side project band stuff).

So in all honest, I can't answer that question and perhaps that's a good thing. I'd like to think that the Clash sealed their legend by not ever allowing themselves to truly 'jump the shark' music-wise. Perhaps if the Clash kept making albums long after "Combat Rock" we all might have had a different attitude towards the bad depending on if the Clash kept going more mainstream or returned to their roots.

[tigereye]

150. some folks thought Combat Rock was jumping the shark at the time

:D

[Odin2005]

143. This 23yo sez you are WRONG!!! So THERE!

:)

[Drunken Irishman]

167. What the hell do you know? You're just 23 years old.

Grow up, live a little. Your music is trash compared to the 60s. You don't even know what you're talking about.

;)

[Drunken Irishman]

166. What the hell is relevant?

If relevant means they're still playing large stadiums to sold out crowds, while having their new songs play on the radio, Green Day is relevant.

Sure, they might not be as good as they were in the mid-90s, but that doesn't mean much to me. The Simpsons are still relevant and they peaked about a decade ago.

Clinton is still relevant and he hasn't been president for over eight years.

[Deja Q]

21. Britney Spears

[EndersDame]

22. Arcade Fire , Polyphonic Spree

[mix]

24. Neon Bible is a favorite of mine...deep dark wonderful music n/t

[Initech]

121. GREAT fuckin' album.

I saw Arcade Fire at Coachella a couple years ago, I love that band.

[mix]

132. i agree

they are like this generation's Band

[Kali]

42. aaauuughhhhhhhh

nothing personal, I just HATE the polyfuckingphonic spray
something about their sound just GRATES on my nerves, I mean viceral blind repulsion


weird, because I like almost anything as long as it isn't played to death

[mix]

23. Spiritualized

[RadiationTherapy]

25. Modest Mouse

[XemaSab]

34. This is the only real choice on this thread

:)

[RadiationTherapy]

75. High five! *whooooopssshhh*

[fishnfla]

129. oh yeah

[wickerwoman]

26. At the current rate of music decline...

Black Eyed Peas are going to sound like Bob Dylan in 20 years.

[EndersDame]

27. Nah ! I think people who say that there is no good music anymore

Just are not tuned into the alternative scene. I mean there was some really really bad music in the 70s (disco anyone?) but Most people who were alive back then remember the bands they liked.

It also doesn't help that radio is more commercialized these days just watch youtube local bands and the bands that come to town at your local clubs

[XemaSab]

64. Why is disco considered so shitty?

After the death of Michael Jackson, I, like many of us, listened to some of his stuff, and 25 years later, it ALL sounds disco.

It seems to me like disco is a sound and not an ideology, but it's treated like the antithesis to everything countercultural, which I just don't get. :shrug:

[AngryAmish]

74. Because disco sucks

[pipi_k]

90. Beats me....I actually liked some of it.

"Saturday Night Fever" is one of my favorite movies.

Maybe if I hadn't been the age I was when it was popular (early to mid 20s) I might think it sucks.

But I was still young enough to think it was pretty cool

:7

[wickerwoman]

73. I didn't say there's no good music anymore,

just that the trend is down. "My Humps" won a frickin Grammy in 2007... it would have been laughed off the radio in the 60s and 70s.

I like Beirut, Gogol Bordello, Elvis Perkins, Michael Franti, Rage Against the Machine, White Stripes, etc. but I seriously doubt that any of it is going to be "relevant" in 2030 in the sense that anyone but total music geeks are going to listen to and remember it. The 00s are going down as the decade of Britney and NSYNC.

If you'd asked me in 1990 what was going to happen with music in the next decade I would have predicted boy bands dying with New Kids on the Block replaced by the indy and alt rock bands I actually liked. Surprise!

Clearly the ability of the music industry to produce derivative crap for twelve year old girls and to knock all decent music off the airwaves with it is infinite and omnipotent.

Which is why I think what's viewed as "relevant" by the kids of 2030 is almost certainly going to be the dross of today which influences the crap of tomorrow. And then when Britney heads off to the trailer park in the sky, we'll have to endure a week of news coverage on what a seminal artist she was.

And why is music the only art form where having some experience and perspective means you're "out of touch" when you say a song is crap? Having listened to quite a bit more music than the average 13 or 14 year old, does actually allow me to say that such and such a song is pretentious drivel without immediately being accused of being a deaf, dumb fogey.

[jmm]

77. The Black Eyed Peas are a perfect example of how

commercial success has nothing to do with talent and can even over shadow it. I loved them before Fergie joined but before they revamped their line up and style they didn't have a Grammy. They use to rail against what they've turned themselves into but that's not what they will be remembered for. The current but less known acts currently out won't suddenly be remembered as the voice of their generation in 20 years.

[ghostsofgiants]

127. Money is a drug, and BEP is on it.

Not so much taking us back to the days of Soul Sonic these days.

However, I will take issue with your last comment about the importance of lesser known acts. Maybe they won't be the "voice" of the generation, but look at the Velvet Underground: Incredibly important, though back in the '60s not very well known.

[Mythsaje]

138. Because music is about "taste" not about measurable "quality."

What one person hears as "crap" another with just as much experience might really enjoy.

[wickerwoman]

156. But I'm responding to a "quality" judgment.

If you want to say "I like" or even "I love" BEP, then I totally *gulp* respect that. It's a question of taste and arguing about it is pointless.

If you say "BEP are as good or better than any of the great bands of the 60s and 70s... you just don't understand how good they are because you're old" that is an assessment of quality which can be argued with. And it's wrong. Because "My Humps" is demonstrably worse than "All Along the Watchtower", "Let It Be", "Both Sides Now" or "The Times They are a Changin'" in terms of originality, thematic importance, technical skill, lyricism and artistic evolution. Because, honestly, Sir Mix-a-lot wrote the same song 15 years earlier in a much funnier and more interesting way.

People who have listened to a lot of music can generally spot a song which is derivative, trite, pretentious, a cynical marketing ploy or technically inept and really should be allowed to point it out. "You just don't understand because you're over thirty" is just a lame comeback intended to shut down a discussion that one participant fears he or she is losing.

The argument isn't "I have the right to like whatever I want"... it's "I'm right because I'm young and only people under 30 understand new music". And while I'll concede the first statement, I won't concede the second. God help us all if the music I liked when I was 12 (Tiffany? Vanilla Ice?) was held up as an example of musical progress from Janis Joplin and Jimi Hendrix.

[jobycom]

35. Yeah, my parents thought the same thing.

"That Bob Dylan sounds like a asthmatic goat being sucked into a four-barrel carboretur, but he sounds better than them Beagles. At least he's American."

Same crap. The only thing wrong with music today is that old people are the same as they ever were. Dumb, deaf, and missing their youth.

[Mythsaje]

139. As something of an "old person," I have to agree...

One of the things about my generation as opposed to, say, my father's, is that we haven't completely turned our ears away from the newer sounds. I was banging my head to Metallica in 1984 and am banging my head to them and other bands even now. Of course, it's amazing how "Oh, this band was great when I discovered them and no one else knew about them, but they suck now." What a load.

Music is about taste.

[AwakeAtLast]

28. Kings of Leon

I'm really liking what they are doing right now. Time will tell, of course.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HHhhcKxflMY

[gmoney]

76. Saw a UK mag calling them the "biggest rock band in the world" recently

Found that kind of hard to believe... it wasn't even in quotation marks. I was wondering if they were pulling some sort of Rutles "Taller than Jesus" thing by claiming to have the greatest average height or something.

[bluethruandthru]

159. I agree!

Great Band!

[Orrex]

30. Ace of Base

[enigmatic]

31. Richmond Fontaine

http://blog.richmondfontaine.com/

www.myspace.com/richmondfontaine

[Bennyboy]

32. String Cheese Incident, Widespread Panic, Grace Potter

Will all still be happening 20years from now. Same with Phish.

[ghostsofgiants]

40. What do you mean by "relevant"?

[enigmatic]

62. Relevant/Not Relevant

Slint/Seven Mary Three

[AllenVanAllen]

69. Mike Patton

In whatever band or musical endeavor he'll be in at the time.

[Forkboy]

71. That guy has his hand in more pies than Mrs. Smith.

And almost all of them are tasty. I just wish he'd finish up a new Fantomas CD, dammit.

Have you seen the movie Firecracker that he's in? It's pretty good. Karen Black is in it, too, and she rules. :)

[AllenVanAllen]

72. He says "There's always something to do."

in that clip where he rips Wolfmother: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZKDvJTxZDbA
It would be great to see something new from Fantomas. I haven't seen that movie but I'll have to check it out. Karen Black wow! :hi:

[tigereye]

151. my son loves Wolfmother, so we gave him some Zep to listen to

[AllenVanAllen]

155. You can't beat the real thing!

:hi:

[tigereye]

157. yeah, when I heard Wolfmother, I said, wait - that's just like Led Zeppelin!

:rofl: When you've been around a while, you know what "everything sounds just like." It's good and bad.

[ghostsofgiants]

80. So "relevant" and "awesome" are interchangeable here?

Hmm...

[omega minimo]

48. Lady GaGrandma

The Jonas Geezers

[LynneSin]

106. This is my 2 cents about Lady GaGa...

either she's going to be the next big Madonna and will be putting out major albums on a regular basis for decades or she'll be a 1-hit album wonder. Madonna ensured that wasn't about to happen when she rolled around the stage of an MTV video awards show singing "Like a Virgin" and wearing a wedding dress. I think that was the defining moment that Madonna wanted to say she was here to stay.

[kentauros]

59. Deuter

Georg Deuter

Earth Blue

Rainforest pt.1
Rainforest pt.2

[XemaSab]

65. No votes for Radiohead?

:shrug:

[mix]

67. They got mine.

:hi:

[armyowalgreens]

70. They got my vote.

[tigereye]

152. yeah, that's what I would have said

or Diggable Planets or other hip-hop-type confabs.

[armyowalgreens]

68. Radiohead.

[Meshuga]

99. That's the first band that came to mind n/t

[sakabatou]

82. The Black Mages

[Tommy_Carcetti]

84. Creed, Nickleback and the Alan Rickman Five.

Seriously though....hmmm.....I would definetly second Radiohead. Other than that, not sure.

I'd love to say the Pumpkins but since BC continues to piss off his bandmates whenever a reunion is talked about, chances of them still making music and touring 20 years from now are slim to none.

[Beer Snob-50]

85. britney spears

talent only gets you so far. artifical boobs last forever.

[Steely_Dan]

86. The Point of the OP...

I may be missing the unwritten point of the OP, but I seriously cannot name a single current band that will be relevant 20 years from now. Isn't that the point.

I think it was Bill Mahr (sp) who made the following point concerning popular music. I believe he was asking one of his guests...

He asked the guest to name any number of influential bands from (what we would consider) the classical rock period. The list was endless. Beatles, Santanta, Led Zep, Doors, Pink Floyd, the Who, Stones, etc. etc. The list goes on and on. Then he was asked to name influential bands of more recent years. It was hard to even come up with one name. I thought that this was very telling. It also speaks to the point that "classical" rock stations are very popular and have been for a number of years.

Yes, I know that this sounds like some old fart putting down the music of today. But, come on. Corporations have slowly taken control to where creativity and originality are a thing of the past. How many times have you heard a twenty year old say that they don't make music like they used to while they are cranking up Zep's first album.

Not to denigrate Rap music. Some rap music is quite creative and well done. However, IMHO it takes less creative talent to write a rap song than it does to write the most basic progressive rock tune. Further, when rap artists run out of whatever creative talent they have, they tend to borrow from other aritsts...you know...sampling. IMHO, the advent of Rap and Hip Hop has not "progressed" Rock n' Roll. However, it is at the center of popular music and must be considered the most influential at this time. Go ahead....flame me.


-P

[Mythsaje]

141. That's because most American rock bands these days

are missing important elements. All the really interesting stuff is coming from non-English speaking countries and are being influenced by bands from non English speaking countries.

[SacredCow]

87. Nickelback.

They've set the suckage bar unbeatably high.

[cleveramerican]

89. Dave Mathews Band

first one that jumped to mind.

Also U2.

[av8rdave]

91. Rush!

[Dr. Strange]

109. Fifty years from now, they'll STILL be putting out albums.

And they'll still rock.

[Mythsaje]

140. They still fill arenas today...

And have been doing so for nearly forty years.

[LynneSin]

92. In 1996 I told a co-worker that Green Day would be future fodder for the Kmart CD Bargain Bin

After last night's concert I can say I was officially wrong.

But I actually love their newer stuff much more than their older stuff (although I love all of it)

[bbernardini]

102. Porcupine Tree nt

[Initech]

120. Fuck yes.

I love Steven Wilson's new album Insurgentes.

[derby378]

111. King Crimson

The progressive rock band that subjected itself to the most extreme makeover ever - not once, but twice.

Made their mark in 1969 with a free concert in Hyde Park (thanks to the Stones), released In the Court of the Crimson King later that same year, continued to produce music until 1974 despite frequent arguments and personnel changes, at which point Robert Fripp disbanded King Crimson in frustration.

Reformed in 1981 with an American facelift courtesy of Adrian Belew and Tony Levin, adding New Wave sensibilities to the melange of hard rock, jazz, classical, Britpop, and ambient. Goodbye, Mellotron; hello, Chapman Stick. The result was a sound that remained surprisingly consistent with the spirit of King Crimson's earlier releases despite the change in style and attitude. Broke up again in 1985.

Reformed yet again in 1993, and this time Red crashed into Discipline before both collided with influences such as the Beatles and Nine Inch Nails (depending on whom you ask). After another semi-hiatus through various ProjeKcts, King Crimson coalesced again and is still at it today - more or less.

These guys may very well outlast all other prog-rockers in terms of relevance with the sole exception of Pink Floyd.

[Initech]

119. Seriously? 100 replies and no one has said Pearl Jam yet?

:spank:

[dana_b]

124. hell yes!

I said Rage but PJ was my second choice. I love them!!

[dana_b]

123. Rage Against the Machine

not too modern anymore, but neither is Green Day.

[MineralMan]

125. The 'President's Own' US Marine Band.

Relevant 200 years ago, and will be relevant 200 years from now.

Sousa Lives!

[Drunken Irishman]

168. Until Obama sells us out to the Muslins.

[melman]

134. Drive-By Truckers

[Initech]

145. Iron Maiden

They bounced back from near-obscurity thanks to internet cultism and they're now more unstoppable than ever. Hell the tour they did last year was insane to say the least.

[BlueIris]

146. Death Cab for Cutie.

So sue me.

[Mad_Dem_X]

153. Pearl Jam.

[Drunken Irishman]

165. Good Charlotte.