Your Twenty Favorite Artists

[Dom Heffner]

Grunge feels like a mistress who you had fun with for six months and looking back you have no idea what you were thinking. Hate that era now, I do.

[kaldaniels]

Originally Posted by improbus

After I wrote this, I started to feel some tinges of regret. So, I went back and listened to their first three albums and had some interesting and new/old observations.

1) When they and Nirvana hit, I remembering feeling that they were something totally new (I had no idea about the Pixies and others, but this was the early 90s and I only knew what was on the radio). But, they sounded much closer to many of those 80s bands they were "rebelling" against than I remember. Switch Eddie's brood for Axl's screech and those bands don't seem as different as I remember.

2) Their first two albums could just be called, "20 or so Power Ballads".

3) I can't tell if I like or hate Eddie Veddar's voice.

4) They had some legitametly great tunes. I loved hearing "Oceans", "Dissident", and "Immortalitly" again.

I think my earlier words were a little too harsh. My musical tasted have certainly changed and broadened over the years, but Pearl Jam does still have a place in my rotation.

On the "softer" songs I think Eddie's voice is easily in my top 5. He puts (or sells, some might say) some serious emotion into his songs.

But I would agree, stuff like "Evenflow" just hasn't aged well.

[Tony Cloninger]

Black Flag
TSOL
The Yardbirds
Led Zeppelin
David Bowie
Velvet Underground
Clash
Sex Pistols
Buzzocks
The Jam
XTC
The Who
The Rolling Stones
U2
The Smiths
Echo & The Bunnymen
The Beatles
Black Sabbath
The Stooges
Pink Floyd

Hard to leave out some groups like The Fixx, INXS, Roxy Music, Siouxsie & The Banshees, Talking Heads, Strokes and Todd Rundgren.

I love these bands more than just their obvious hits. So many great songs and memories from each of their albums and then CD's that I bought.

[*BaseClogger*]

I always felt like Pearl Jam was the most bland, Alice in Chains never lived up to their immense potential, Soundgarden had devolved into mediocrity before it was even big, and Nirvana was one of the all-time greats but for some reason they never 100% completely clicked with me...

[improbus]

Originally Posted by *BaseClogger*

I always felt like Pearl Jam was the most bland, Alice in Chains never lived up to their immense potential, Soundgarden had devolved into mediocrity before it was even big, and Nirvana was one of the all-time greats but for some reason they never 100% completely clicked with me...

I never liked Soundgarden. I would put Spoonman on my list of "Cringe-worthy" music (which might not be popular on this board).

As for Nirvana, I didn't like them a ton at the time. But, I suspect it was because everyone loved them (perhaps I was a pathetic example of a proto-hispter). With the luxury of hindsight, I think Lithium and In Bloom might be the best songs from the whole genre.

[reds1869]

I wasn't a Nirvana fan when they were active but really enjoy them now. I fully own having been a member of the "I don't listen to popular music" crowd in high school.

[*BaseClogger*]

There are some good songs on Ultramega OK, Louder Than Love, and Badmotorfinger. None of them rate along with the other three bands, however.

I can never decide which Nirvana album I like best. I've regarded each of the three as my favorite at various times.

It's a shame Layne Staley passed, I think Alice in Chains could have been the best of the bunch...

[Captain13]

I can listen to all that stuff as much as I want and nothing will convince me that Facelift, Dirt, Ten and Badmotorfinger were not all better than anything Nirvana did.

[*BaseClogger*]

Originally Posted by Captain13

I can listen to all that stuff as much as I want and nothing will convince me that Facelift, Dirt, Ten and Badmotorfinger were not all better than anything Nirvana did.

You're a metal guy though, right? Nirvana was a lot more punk than the metal-influenced AiC and Soundgarden...

[Captain13]

Originally Posted by *BaseClogger*

You're a metal guy though, right? Nirvana was a lot more punk than the metal-influenced AiC and Soundgarden...

You are correct sir. There was a power that Chains and early Soundgarden had that Nirvana never matched. AiC is my favorite of those bands, but I believe Ten was the best album. I still love the four opening tracks, but it is side 2 (all the slow stuff) that makes Ten what it is.

[camisadelgolf]

Nirvana used to be called Fecal Matter. In my eyes, they were more punk than the other Pacific Northwest bands being brought up. Speaking of which, why has no one brought up The Melvins?

[*BaseClogger*]

'Touch Me I'm Sick' might be the best...

[OldRightHander]

Originally Posted by reds1869

I wasn't a Nirvana fan when they were active but really enjoy them now. I fully own having been a member of the "I don't listen to popular music" crowd in high school.

That was me, but the funny thing is that a lot of my high school classmates are now listening to things I was into back then, like jazz and classical. Guys acted like they didn't know who Dave Brubeck was and now they're talking about how great his music was.

[marcshoe]

Grunge hit when I was around thirty, but I appreciated it from a distance. At least it wasn't hair metal. I never got that into it, but all four mentioned bands were all right. Nirvana's held up the best, I think, although I'm surprised at how good Alice was.

[kaldaniels]

So Paul McCartney is taking Kurt Cobain's place in Nirvana tonight?

I really wish I could "unhear" that information.