Music discussion thread

[Pratters]

I love whatever I have heard of Dylan, so will listen to a lot of albums from the guy. The more, the better. Looking forward to watching the Scorcese movie on him too.

[DaRick]

Originally Posted by Pratters

Which albums of the following artists should I go for (include best of, greatest hits etc)?

AC/DC

I prefer the Bon Scott era (1976-1980), which I find consistently excellent. Brian Johnson's AC/DC has made some excellent stuff (like Back to Black) and some decent stuff (like Black Ice and The Razor's Edge), but they're generally less enjoyable. For instance, Much of Flick of the Switch, while being sound, recycles riffs. The same applies to Blow Up Your Video, which flows through one ear and out of the other. There are isolated classics though (like Thunderstruck, Ballbreaker, Hard as a Rock, Who Made Who, Sink the Pink, Shake Your Foundations).

EDIT: No wait, I can only recommend a couple of songs from Powerage (Riff Raff and Sin City). I don't really like Down Payment Blues (too long) and don't remember the rest.

Bruce Sprigsteen

I prefer his rockin', more anthemic stuff (like Born In The USA and Born to Run) to his sparse acoustic stuff (like Nebraska).

David Bowie

I like his glam-rock era (1972-74) the most, but broadly speaking, most of his 1971-83 stuff (except for maybe Lodger and the instrumentals on Low and Heroes) is a safe bet. There's some filler on Let's Dance, though.

EDIT: 'Space Oddity' is also a classic.

Deep Purple

In Rock and Machine Head. With the exception of these two, I find them to be more hit-oriented than album-oriented (like 'Hush').

Dire Straits

Making Movies is a good album, but again, I find them to be more hit-oriented than album-oriented.

Lynyrd Skynyrd

Check out the Ronnie Van Zant stuff (like 1973-77). Some of the hits (like Free Bird and Sweet Home Alabama) are immortal, but way overplayed.

Megadeth

I generally think that their 1986-1994 stuff is their best, with some worthwhile songs (like Mechanix, Sleepwalker and She-Wolf) on either side. My favourite song is probably 'Peace Sells'.

Scorpions

Personally, I prefer their 1982-84 stuff, with some good earlier stuff (like 'The Zoo'). They're hit-oriented, IMO. Get a 'Greatest Hits' collection and avoid the stuff after 1990.

Whitesnake

Nah, they're very much a hit-oriented band, IMO. I have their Greatest Hits collection and I've heard quite a few songs off 'Good to Be Bad'. Most of them rock effectively, but 'Best Years' is the standout.

[pasag]

Originally Posted by DaRick

I like his glam-rock era (1972-74) the most, but broadly speaking, most of his 1971-83 stuff (except for maybe Lodger and the instrumentals on Low and Heroes) is a safe bet. There's some filler on Let's Dance, though.

The Man Who Sold The World from just before that is superb as well, one of his finest.

Originally Posted by 16 tins of Spam

If we're recommending Dylan albums I reckon Time Out Of Mind has to be right up there.

Yeah it's very good.

[HeathDavisSpeed]

I'm a bit annoyed with C4's new programme The Nation's Favourite Song

I went on line to vote and saw they had neither the Subliminals' Uh-Oh, The Bats' North by North (the theme tune from The Hollowmen for those Aussies out there reading) or The Verlaines' Pyromaniac

Never fear, dear reader as they have a little box where you can send an e-mail to them and ask them to add songs. This obviously works as over the past fortnight, they've added **** loads of songs by The Black Seeds, Betchadupa et. al.

Did they add any of the choices I e-mailed? No. Okay, the Subliminals are a bit unknown, but the Verlaines are a part of NZ music history and they've only got Death and the Maiden by them in the list. And no songs by the Bats at all. Not North by North or Made Up in Blue.

Criminal.

I suspect that they're looking for multiple e-mails in support of a particular song to put it in there, but I cannot believe some of the random tracks from some bands on the list whilst some, dare I say, obvious choices are missing.

Go on, New Zealand - vote for Bic ****ing Runga or some other blandarse piece of tissue-filling toss. Whilst your voting, try and find some personality up that constipated arse of yours. ****s.

[pasag]

Originally Posted by HeathDavisSpeed

The Bats' North by North (the theme tune from The Hollowmen for those Aussies out there reading)

Love the song, one of my favourite opening themes.

[DaRick]

Originally Posted by pasag

The Man Who Sold The World from just before that is superb as well, one of his finest.

I've never really warmed up to that song, actually.

[HeathDavisSpeed]

Originally Posted by pasag

Love the song, one of my favourite opening themes.

Probably more famous in Australia than NZ now, I reckon. Has a decent video as well, though very dated.

They've done some other good tracks have the Bats. They belt out a lot of albums though, both solo and as a band (Robert Scott has been all around the Kiwi music scene for pretty much 30 years), so there's a fair bit of ****e out there too.

[luffy]

Originally Posted by HeathDavisSpeed

I'm a bit annoyed with C4's new programme The Nation's Favourite Song

I went on line to vote and saw they had neither the Subliminals' Uh-Oh, The Bats' North by North (the theme tune from The Hollowmen for those Aussies out there reading) or The Verlaines' Pyromaniac

Never fear, dear reader as they have a little box where you can send an e-mail to them and ask them to add songs. This obviously works as over the past fortnight, they've added **** loads of songs by The Black Seeds, Betchadupa et. al.

Did they add any of the choices I e-mailed? No. Okay, the Subliminals are a bit unknown, but the Verlaines are a part of NZ music history and they've only got Death and the Maiden by them in the list. And no songs by the Bats at all. Not North by North or Made Up in Blue.


Criminal.

I suspect that they're looking for multiple e-mails in support of a particular song to put it in there, but I cannot believe some of the random tracks from some bands on the list whilst some, dare I say, obvious choices are missing.

Go on, New Zealand - vote for Bic ****ing Runga or some other blandarse piece of tissue-filling toss. Whilst your voting, try and find some personality up that constipated arse of yours. ****s.

We missed you Heathyyyyy.

[pasag]

Originally Posted by DaRick

I've never really warmed up to that song, actually.

The whole album I mean.

[HeathDavisSpeed]

Originally Posted by luffy

We missed you Heathyyyyy.

Good to see you've got over your Battle of the Members first round draw!

[Uppercut]

Originally Posted by DaRick

Making Movies is a good album, but again, I find them to be more hit-oriented than album-oriented.

If you're starting out on Dire Straits, it simply has to be Brothers In Arms. Making Movies is a nice listen with a couple of really top-class tracks but there's nowhere near the variation or consistency of Brothers In Arms. Apart from being a much more popular album, the mix between arena-rock, catchy tunes and mellow ballads makes finding something you like pretty easy for most people.

The other option is a Greatest Hits collection, which wouldn't be a bad call.

[luffy]

Originally Posted by HeathDavisSpeed

Good to see you've got over your Battle of the Members first round draw!

Oh yeah, good point...

Piss off.

[DaRick]

Originally Posted by Uppercut

If you're starting out on Dire Straits, it simply has to be Brothers In Arms. Making Movies is a nice listen with a couple of really top-class tracks but there's nowhere near the variation or consistency of Brothers In Arms. Apart from being a much more popular album, the mix between arena-rock, catchy tunes and mellow ballads makes finding something you like pretty easy for most people.

The other option is a Greatest Hits collection, which wouldn't be a bad call.

Well, the thing is, I like all of the hits on Brothers In Arms. The album versions of Money For Nothing and even Brothers In Arms are also a little long for my liking.

As for Making Movies, there are some non-hits on there I'm relatively fond of (Solid Rock, for instance). I like all of the hits on Making Movies as well, none of which (not even Tunnel of Love) suffer from being overlong.

[HeathDavisSpeed]

Originally Posted by luffy

Oh yeah, good point...

Piss off.

Jeez. Youth of today. Either have a short memory or they never let something go. Either/or.

[luffy]

Haha.

No, i'm just good at multi-tasking.