Since my collection is dominated by Prince, jazz, hip-hop, electronica/nu jazz, and "old school," I want to see if you guys can pitch some rock bands to me. I already have these artists in my collection:

Hendrix
AC/DC
Kiss
Nirvana
Steely Dan
The Police
U2

I also have some stuff from the Clash, Jeff Buckley, and others.

So tell me about 3 artists, past or present, that I should check out, and why. I'm all ears.

Stone Temple Pilots. They're just fucking amazing, and that's why you need to check them out. For starters, get the albums Purple, No. 4, and Core. Or just get Thank You, which is their greatest hits album.

I think they're the most underrated rock band. Scott Weiland is one of the all time best frontmen, and his voice is great. Their music is just incredible; I don't know what to tell ya!

Hey Namepeace!
my recommendation would be a band called Jane's Addiction. Back in the mid to late 80's they were fusing art rock with more mainstream metal influences which wound up sounding little like either, curiously enough.
Their first record was a live demo which you could skip and not miss too much. Their second record "Nothing's SHocking" (which is sort of a misnomer when you look at the cover picture under the title) however was an updated psychedelic rock masterpiece! Again, combining an art rock sensibility with a more metal approach to guitar solos and sounds, they came up with a sound no one had really ever heard before. This was almost like their "Around The World In A Day" in my opinion.
Jane's biggest record to date was 1991's "Ritual De Lo Habitual," which found them taking in funk, Indian, and classical influences and mixing them with the rock they'd already had before. It sounds totally different from "Nothing's Shocking" and has the hit, "Been Caught Stealing" on it. It's interesting because the first side contains more standard (well for Jane's Addiction anyway) rock fare, but the second side has longer, more thought out tracks on it.
They also just got back together and released a pretty good record called "Strays" over the summer. It's very different from the other two which is kinda cool. They defintely took their sound and updated it for the new millenium.
These guys were one of the few good things to come out of LA in the 80's. You should definitely give them a listen!

guitarslinger44 said:

Jane's addiction ROCKS! totally check them out.

as for Stone Temple Pilots... just get an early Pearl Jam CD. Ten or VS. They're MUCH better than STP could ever dream to be.

sorry velvetroper, i do luvs ya though.

Queens of the Stone Age - Songs for the Deaf or Rated R

well done rock with a little punk rock attitude

Early Elvis Costello. His music was the best of new wave. Very intelligent, and sometimes sad, humourous, and emotional. He was the angry young man and his early stuff is amazing. I'd check out "This Year's Model" first. I don't know if that's what you're thinking of when you saw rock though.

The Pixies/Frank Black. Quirkcy, fun and dark. These are great pop songs with a hard rock sound. I would most recommend The Pixies "Dolittle" and Frank Black's "Teenager of the Year".

Aerosmith. I'm sure you know a lot of their songs from the radio, so that is a good judgement of their stuff. I'd seriously recommend one of their various greatest hits sets. "The Ultimate Aerosmith" is a good overview but misses a lot of the good early stuff. I don't have all of their stuff but of the ones I do own (which is sadly only everything after and including "Permenant Vacation") I'd most recommend "Pump". Everything on there is a hit and rocks.

Smashing Pumpkins - Siamese Dream. This album is absolutely amazing. It was the first rock album I ever bought and it was what helped me to broaden my musical horizons. I grew up on "old school" & R&B and when I heard this album I realized how much music I had missed out on.

PJ Harvey - Check out all her stuff. I can't recommend her enough!! Her first 3 albums are primarily rock driven and the last 2 mix organic and electronic music together. Her voice is amazing. So much power, even in her subtlety. I would recommend you check out both "2 Bring you my love" and "Is This Desire" at the same time so that you aren't biased one way or the other towards her music. Both phases in her career deserve equal devotion and praise. From there I would recommend getting everything else she's done.

Soundgarden - Aside from Nirvana, this is my favorite Seattle Band. Chris's voice is killer and the band has this musical timing thing that always just kicks my ass.

.
[This message was edited Tue Mar 9 12:25:57 2004 by SupaFunkyOrgangrinderSexy]

I'll let others sell you on some of the bands you mentioned, but I'll sell you on a little known band called LED ZEPPELIN, in case you haven't heard of them.




I pretty much love every album they've put out (way, way back ) and I have to say that they are my favorite band of all time. I love them even more than Prince and I never thought I'd say that. They have an amazing mix of rock, blues, acoustic country, and even funk. Their music has been sampled again and again by hip-hop artists back in the day, which makes it even more of an experience when I listen to them now and recognize bits and pieces here and there used by other artists. The more I listen to them the more I realize that their sound is just timeless, innovative, and so original. Not to mention their playing and songwriting abilities. My favorite albums are "Led Zeppelin I", "II", "III", "Untitled (IV)","Houses of the Holy", and "Physical Graffiti".


I could go on and on.....


Unless you're already sold.





God, I'm drooling just talking about them.

I realize I was supposed to list 3, but I'll get to the other two later because right now I can't think of any on par IMO.


[This message was edited Tue Mar 9 14:06:48 2004 by minneapolisgenius]

Red Hot Chili Peppers

Blink-182

Green Day

minneapolisgenius said:

Not to mention the fact that to this day John Bonham is STILL untouchable.

Supernova said:

Namepeace, make sure to let us know what you think if/when you check out any of these artists

Guns & Roses ~ Appetite For Destruction is one of my favorite 10 CD's
of all time. Axl Rose has a very unique voice, very good. The music is hard, but
listenable. Mr. Brownstone, Welcome To The Jungle, Rocket Queen, hell, the whole
thing is EXCELLENT. They were short lived, but still released alot of music.
Use Your Illusion Pts 1 and 2, The Spaghetti Incident (an album of all covers), and
GN'R Lies all have GREAT songs on them, with few stinkers.

Red Hot Chili Peppers ~ Rock w/rap/funk influences...you'll probably dig them too.

Garth Brooks ~ Since you're looking to broaden your horizens, you might want to
check him out. He's not ALL country, but has more of a rock edge to his music. His voice
blows me away...especially on the love songs, such conviction and emotion.

minneapolisgenius said:

which is only fair, because damn near everything zeppelin ever did they stole from a blues or folk artist that got no credit or compensation...

"the lemon song" = "traveling riverside blues" by robert johnson and "killing floor" by howling wolf
"whole lotta love" = "you need love" by muddy waters
"you shook me" = "you shook me" by muddy waters
"bring it on home" = "bring it on home" by sonny boy williamson
"nobody's fault but mine" = "nobody's fault but mine" by blind willie johnson
"when the levee breaks" = "when the levee breaks" by memphis minnie
the keyboard riff to "trampled under foot" is the keyboard riff to stevie's "superstition"...


and i could go on and on and on... ... bukka white... sleep john estes... moby grape...

i still love zeppelin, but i've had to come to terms with the fact that they are the biggest musical pirates of all-time... cause while they flourished financially in the 70s and still today on the money they made from those recordings, many of the artists that originally wrote these songs but got no writing credits from zeppelin died in poverty...

...
[This message was edited Wed Mar 10 6:32:20 2004 by EllisDee]

EllisDee said:

This is true. I agree with you 100% but that still doesn't deter me from listening to them. I still love their sound.

minneapolisgenius said:

i'm getting better about it... when i first found all this out, i refused to listen to zeppelin for the longest time... but i'm in zeppelin recovery right now... everyday i get stronger... ...

EllisDee said:

But this is also because you are a huge blues fan, where as I like blues music, but I am just not an aficionado of it. I am aware though of the fact that Zeppelin stole songs from blues artists.


Now get over your boycott!

minneapolisgenius said:

what will you give me if i do... ...

EllisDee said:

Well, if you don't I'll pull that switch myself and fry you in the 'lectric chair.

minneapolisgenius said:

you can fry me in your electric chair anytime... ...

...

hmm, on second thought... that sounds painful...

EllisDee said:

I thought you were against the death penalty?


Damn, we're just disagreeing about everything today. I'm not talking to you anymore.

namepeace said:

minneapolisgenius said:

You could try my favourite girl Kate Bush. She's very alternative.

A good starting point would be the Hounds Of Love album.

Cloudbuster said:

Damn, if only I could've been the filling in THAT sandwich.....

LMAO!

Dirty girl.

Cloudbuster said:

I'd suggest Bowie and the Stones. As there are others here more expert than myself on Bowie, so I'll recommend these classic Stones albums for starters:

1. Beggars Banquet (the political album of 1968 that shut up all the hippy-dippy acts)

2. Let It Bleed (few albums rock harder than this one)

3. Sticky Fingers (rock, blues, jazz, country cooked hot and anchored with the great Stones rhythm section)

4. Exile on Main Street (great songs with a dark sound - and an album in which Jagger is not the star; - he's only another member of the band who's instrument happens to be voice)

London Years (3 CD box set of singles/hits)

Historical note: Once upon a time there was an "English Invasion" - it had a white side (the Beatles and their fellow travelers/wannabe's that were rooted in pop, doo-wop, rockabilly, Tin Pan Alley) and a black side (the Stones - based on the Blues).

The white side was cute, while the black side scared people (cool!). For a while, the Stones, unsure of their hit writing ability, did decent Blues covers, and copied the Beatles in writing pop hits; with a couple of years they were able to merge the two and even write some proto-punk songs (e.g., Please Go Home) (refer to the London Years for this evolution).

After the protests and assasinations of '68 and Vietnam, the hard angry blues fit the cultural mood better than "All you need is love" and the Stones' style of music became an inspiration for many other bands (Plastic Ono Band, Led Zepplin, Faces, Aerosmith, etc.).