Best band of the 90's

[Army of GOD]

Here are my super-serial tops:

Pearl Jam
Nirvana
Radiohead

And I love AiC, but I don't think their music is as "big" as those three (love those three as well).

[edwinissweet]

sublime or slipknot

[diddle]

Yeah but you say that, if they're so good why havent we heard of them?

There are plenty of possible reasons.

Like? I just don't understand how they can be so good but also relatively unheard of.

I don't know what's so hard to understand. Popularity isn't the same thing as quality.

Yeah, but if they are so good, why has someone, like say, a big record company, not thought, 'damn, these guys are good, lets bring them to the world' and publicised their music. Things are normally popular for a reason, the reason being in this case, that they're good.

[InkL0sed]

That might intuitively seem to be the truth, but it's clearly not the case. Most popular music in any genre nowadays is shittier than the underground stuff (I think most people will back me up on this). I don't know the reason why. But I do know the question of what makes music popular is a lot more complex than just how good it is.

[BigBallinStalin]

.

[Neoteny]

So, stuff that sells is not necessarily good?

Music snobs have always kinda bothered me. Music taste is completely subjective, yet it's far too common to see someone calling music bad in spite of its "mainstream" status. Obviously people like it, so there is obviously a demand for it. It might not be super original, or it might not be artistically extraordinary, but it obviously has something that goes with it (assuming we're talking about music, and not the charisma of the characters performing it).

I think there are far too many good bands who don't make it big. I think there are overrated bands who get a shit ton of radio play. But it seems to me that it's far too common to see people hating on an artist simply because they are on the radio and have a wide fan base. Sure, we aren't all music critics with a doctorate in music theory. Some of us really do just have a narrow set of tastes that the music industry caters too (because apparently that narrow field covers a large number of people; you of course have to look at the money). I don't remember what my point was exactly. I've had a lot to drink. I guess it was that "good music" cannot be determined solely by what a single observer likes, since what any one person likes varies hugely from person to person.

I'm not at all a fan of Led Zeppelin. But I recognize that they are probably good music (indeed, because of their commercial success).

[InkL0sed]

So, stuff that sells is not necessarily good?

Music snobs have always kinda bothered me. Music taste is completely subjective, yet it's far too common to see someone calling music bad in spite of its "mainstream" status. Obviously people like it, so there is obviously a demand for it. It might not be super original, or it might not be artistically extraordinary, but it obviously has something that goes with it (assuming we're talking about music, and not the charisma of the characters performing it).

I think there are far too many good bands who don't make it big. I think there are overrated bands who get a shit ton of radio play. But it seems to me that it's far too common to see people hating on an artist simply because they are on the radio and have a wide fan base. Sure, we aren't all music critics with a doctorate in music theory. Some of us really do just have a narrow set of tastes that the music industry caters too (because apparently that narrow field covers a large number of people; you of course have to look at the money). I don't remember what my point was exactly. I've had a lot to drink. I guess it was that "good music" cannot be determined solely by what a single observer likes, since what any one person likes varies hugely from person to person.

I'm not at all a fan of Led Zeppelin. But I recognize that they are probably good music (indeed, because of their commercial success).

I actually basically agree with you. That's why I said "most" mainstream music is shittier than underground music. There are plenty of bands that are popular that I also like. Radiohead, for instance, is my favorite band, and they're very popular.

I was simply making the point that popularity is not the same as quality. You're exactly right with what you said about Led Zeppelin - there is music that I acknowledge as good that I'm not crazy about. There's a lot of classical music and jazz that I'm indifferent about but realize are probably pretty good.

A lot of music from those genres aren't very popular either, though – I guess by diddle's logic, they must not be good either.

[Neoteny]

I wish I liked jazz more. It's totally got an appeal to it that I wish I could pull off. Sadly, I find jazz to be incredibly boring.

[BigBallinStalin]

.

[BigBallinStalin]

.

[Army of GOD]

Also, how is RATM not on the list?

[BigBallinStalin]

,

[Neoteny]

I wish I liked jazz more. It's totally got an appeal to it that I wish I could pull off. Sadly, I find jazz to be incredibly boring.

Do you like listening to breakbeats?

Not particularly. Why?

[BigBallinStalin]

.