When one reads or watches a “traditional” best bands of all time list, the assumptions get unquestioned. What happens is that people who profess to be “music listeners” accept these lists without ever asking themselves “Why the fuck should I listen to anything VH1 says”. When one list “argues” for its content, others will follow suit without ever questioning the quality of the bands on the list. This being utterly lost and absorbed in the publicness of the “they” solidifies the image of bands and best bands for decades and maybe even centuries to come. For example, you will get a “traditional” barrage of answers on what the best bands from the 90′s are from people who don’t realize they are simply restating what they saw or read on the most public of public media.
Certain bands get ingrained in people’s heads as “clearly the best band of the 90′s”, even without these people realizing that they themselves, NEVER LISTEN TO THESE BANDS! Another unctuous platitude comes in the way of “well, you have to include ‘such and such’ when doing a greatest bands of the 90′s list” striking an imperative command that is far and away from anything that’s actually happening in the music. It’s with this in mind that Old-Wizard has decided to explore the greatest bands of the 90′s without ANY “help” from outside sources.
As avid music listeners ourselves, we trust our instincts over and above the people who will get angry at not including a certain band on the list because it doesn’t unconsciously remind them of the latest list in a hackneyed “Rolling Stone” issue. It’s important for the reader to realize this before they jump into any vexation regarding this list. It’s also important for the reader to realize, that they should get angry at a list because it doesn’t include a band they actually LISTEN to, not because it doesn’t follow suit with “traditional” lists. Let’s get started.
10. The Flaming Lips
The Flaming Lips formed in Oklahoma in 1983 and accrued some decent albums in the late 80′s with “Here it is” and “Telepathic Surgery”, although they were sometimes over-the-top with their psychedelic Syd Barettesque musings. It was their 90′s output that garnered the Flaming lips both their commercial and critical reverence. “Transmissions from the Satellite Heart” was filled with the obvious single that became a staple on modern rock radio and even on “Beavis and Butthead”. The album acquiesced its early love for oblique psychedelic with more modern pop themes creating a pert mix of each that was easy on the ears. However, with all the success that came The Flaming Lips way with their mid 90′s work, it was their 1999 opus entitled “The Soft Bulletin” that took them from amateur psychedelic popsters into one of the more sophisticated and dovetailing pop bands in the world. “The Soft Bulletin” would clearly be heard as their best album to date and probably their best album they would ever create. With the Soft Bulletin, the Lips would continue the same sonic palette on their albums afterward, especially “Yoshimi Battles the Pink Robots”. It was the employing of David Fridmann on the production boards that turned this more Lo-Fi sounding band into a majestic, sprawling beast in the likes of a “Mercury Rev”. “Race for the Prize” and “Spiderbite Song” were soaked in large reverb with Wayne Coyne taking on philosophical themes as aggrandized as 19th century German Idealism. The style of The Lips afterwards would be sustained in its large chamber pop modes, all the better for them, because it was this unique style in the Soft Bulletin that clearly broaches them into the best of the 90′s.
9. Belle and Sebastion
Belle and Sebastion released their first album in 1996 entitled “Tiger Milk” that was recorded in three short days. What the public procured was perfect pop music challenging the Smiths best baroque moments. Clean production and precise playing added to Stuart Murdoch’s floating songwriting that swooned and laid back ubiquitously. “If you’re feeling sinister” followed suit with more of a dark emotional palette invoking the best of Syd Barret’s solo work amalgamated with modern production techniques. Over the course of all of B and S’s work is standard great songwriting touching the listener in an always romantic place, but never overly romantic to the point of coquettishness. The honesty in Murdoch’s approach to songwriting has established B and S with an extremely loyal fan base and placed them in the upper ranks of the best bands of the 90′s. As we have watched them grow from the expansive chamber pop of “Boy with the Arab Strap” to the 70′s boogie/glam rock of “The Life Pursuit”, they have continually perfected their songwriting craft with always infectious chorus’s and witty aphorisms. Anyone at this point in music listening who hasn’t heard “The State I’m In” or “White Collar Boy”, are missing out on some of the best moments in modern pop that are always conspicuous when one looks beneath the surface. Belle and Sebastian are often and appropriately referred to as “ear candy”, that which great music should always aspire to.
8. Suede
In 1993, when pop music was seemingly in the mud with cacophonous personality, Suede came along and wrote a new age glam rock album so heavy on bolanesque riffs and enjoined with lascivious themes, that it felt like the glam rock era of the early 70′s had been perfectly justifiable and not “decadent”. What Suede accentuated with style, they equaled with their songwriting. “Animal Nitrate” had the slinkiest of hooks, throwing an audience into a wild frenzy of loose grooves and hip moves. “So Young”, would hit at the type of music that would define much of Suede’s greatness being lost in “being young”, “chasing dragons”, and “tigers eyes”. Their conspicuousness in dreaming large and epitomizing the glory of youth was a refreshing rejoinder to those other bands who glorified being miserable who wouldn’t know a groove if it hit them straight in the ears VIA “Queen Bitch”. Suede would go on to write the epic forlorn “Dog Man Star” in 1995 striking a mood so sophisticated yet so dirty, it was as if Marc Bolan himself had entered into the spirit of the band as they were recording the album in the broken down church where the sessions took place. In 1997, “Coming Up” would prove to be hugely successful as every song on that album could have been released as a single. What Brett Anderson famously stated about wanting to “make an album to do your hair to” was accomplished in this hook heavy monster of a pop album. Those who listen to music with their ears and their hips will understand the greatness of Suede in reinvigorating the 90′s. Those who listen to music for other reasons that usually have nothing to do with music, may not understand the grace and slide in which a band like Suede can move you.
7. The Happy Mondays
While some could consider the Mondays an 80′s band because of the success of their early material, especially “Bummed”, it was their 1990 release “Pills Thrills and Bellyaches”, that established them as the most wild coming of age band the music world had ever seen until that point. Part dance, part hip hop, and all thick Manchurian accents would establish the Happy Mondays as the premiere “Madchester” band efflorescing ecstasy based raves that would go on to the early hours of the morning. The groove of the 90′s starts with the Happy Mondays who made no bones of their love for funk base lines and Wah-Wah effected guitar lines. Shaun Ryder would become the poster boy for 90′s rock star excess being reported as having his stomach pumped 12 times for a variegated amount substances, often being cited as the “human doctor bag”. Rock star excess withstanding; “Pills Thrills and Bellyaches” was an untold accomplishment creating the utmost sense of looseness in the listener who took on the album. From the affable groove of “Step On”, to the purposely extraneous musings of “Holiday”, The Happy Mondays would dominate the bands of the early 90′s who were overtly concerned with themselves in their smarmy modesty and who were afraid to have a good time, or at least fooled themselves into thinking it wasn’t possible. While those little adolescent boys were sulking in corners, Shawn Ryder and Co were stranded on islands having the time of their life even while having no money to get back to where they actually lived. This non-self-concerned lifestyle is perfectly embodied in “Pills Thrills and Bellyaches”. The groove, the rave, and the much often cited absurdity of this band absolutely places them in the best of the 90′s.
6. Radiohead
Radiohead in the 90′s matched mellifluous melodies with overtly lugubrious personality, paving the way for bands who could write pop music in a more “dismal” setting. “The Bends” and “Ok Computer” were clearly their crowing achievements released in 95′ and 97′ respectively. The Bends is often perceived as a “dark rock album”, but what is often ignored is how strong of a pop songwriter Thom Yorke is which is most conspicuous when listening to “Black Star”, and even “Just”. “Street Spirit” would establish Radiohead perennially for their moodiness that was never short in perfect execution and assiduousness. Radiohead were perfectionists and the way they may have saw the world never got in the way from their realization that music can always sound great. Ok Computer would go on to garner enormous success both commercially and critically, dominating peoples play lists for years to come. It’s protention into a bleak future of salesmen and merchant class “middle men” scared the listener into listening to his inner gut on what was really genuine in his life. The quality of songwriting never suffered in the band’s image and thought about the world they lived in. Songs like “Paranoid Android” and “No Surprises” were first and foremost focused on strong melodies rather than philosophical thought. The later becomes justified in the former, and Radiohead is one of the few bands in the 90′s who understood this and could execute their craft well because of this. Radiohead would go onto more baroque and oblique directions in the new century, but it was these two albums in the 90′s that made them one of the most formidable bands of the decade.
5. Wilco
For a time, it looked like American bands simply forgot how to write songs, when they traded in their craft for some ostensible “emotional urgency” or “esoteric” guitar noise. Wilco would go onto reestablish what good songwriting was for those who forgot with 2 albums specifically in the 90′s, “Being There” and “Summerteeth”. “Being There” was acute with all the best moments of 70′s rock while “Summerteeth” took Wilco into their own place as a band who had innumerous great ideas that never overtook the quality of the songwriting itself. “She’s a Jar” was one of the most epic relaxed slow grooves of the 90′s showing off Jeff Tweddy’s skill at sounding passionately somnolent. The album’s first track “I can’t stand it” is all great pop music beleaguered by a corky instrumentation on par with the best of The Kinks. “Nothing’s Ever Gonna Stand In My Way Again”, delivers a perfectly contagious hook soaked in handclaps, tambourine, and hook instrumentation that proves this band knows how to deliver where it counts in the creation of a pop song. After “Summerteeth”, Wilco would go on to write the monumental Yankee Hotel Foxtrot, that was more of a grower than their previous past two albums, but when listened too thoroughly, created huge dividends for the listener, who would hear all the strong melodies underlying Tweedy’s personality. Wilco continue to make great albums throughout the new century. Wilco’s consistency is owed to their love for timeless pop music that they know will last for time to come, not by appealing to what they see in their eyes or read in their head, but what they hear in their ears, into their body.
4. The Stone Roses
The Stone Roses could be considered an 80′s band, but their debut album that was released between the 89′ and 90′ was so important for 90′s music and great listening in general that it’s imperative they are considered within the best of the 90′s. The Stone Roses came out of nowhere with a sound unlike anything that was going on at the time. While the 80′s continued its pallid interest in austere robot rock, the roses created a groove so heavy, and so infectious, you were left wondering “Where have this band been hiding for the part 5 years”? The Stone Roses were imbued with a sense of enormous confidence, seeing themselves as a logical step from 60′s psychedelia to a new 90′s form inculcated with bigger beats. Their early demos would show the raw potential that they enveloped, but it was with their self-titled debut album that was the fruition of all their talents into perfect pop music. “Bye Bye Badman” shuffled like something from Detroit in the 60′s with a peculiar calypso lead line played by John Squire that sounded oddly emotionally broaching. “Elephant Stone” was an outright “E-Inspired” dance song qualifying “madchester” as one of the most formidable musical movements in the history of pop music. Ian Brown was the king monkey of the music world dancing like a tribal chimp at the hint of a sound of the bongos. Their “island” sound was something that came out of nowhere for 4 kids from northern England. Those who understand the power of this band will try to trace their influences to the likes of The Byrds and other palpable 60′s staples, but when one listens to the roses, one understands that they were too focused on transitive grooves to be limited the chiming guitar pop of the Byrds. The Roses would go on in 94′ to create “Second Coming” which was part early roses, part glam, and a whole lot of Zeppelin, often coming across as slightly derivative, although never at the sake of the quality of the songs which are innumerous on that album. It’s with their debut though, that they created arguably the best summer album in pop music and made it okay for music to move again.
3. R.E.M.
REM formed in Athens Georgia in 1980. Their first album “Murmur (1983), was a strong precursor to what “alternative rock” would become in the 90′s. While REM’s 80′s albums were full of ingenious ideas and maturing songwriting, it was the REM of the 90′s that would defend the decade as enkindled and uniquely substantial. 1991′s “Out of Time” was a locus of consistent “heart on sleeve” songwriting that dominated the radio with songs imbued with more serious themes. It was the album they released after “Out of Time” though that would place REM as clearly one of the greatest bands of the 90′s. “Automatic for the People” was remarkably consistent in its strength for creating substantial “thinking” songs that never lacked endearment or hookyness. “Drive” was as somber as any pop song could be, yet was full of the type of songcraft needed in pop melodicism to dominate the radio for months to come. “Nightswimming” embodied the earnestness in Michael Stipes approach not seen throughout all the decadent musings of 80′s underground rock. The albums final track “Find the River” is arguably their best song ever created employing simple country tendencies into modernity’s want for conspicuous choruses. After the monumental “Automatic for the People”, REM hit their stride releasing the enormously popular “Monster” that held a handful of singles that other bands could only dream of having throughout their own career. “Up” showed a band that could continually write un-abashing catchy songs regardless of age. The power of REM, like Radiohead, lied in their ability to match eruditic lyrics with rococo music. REM hit this nexus more than any other band in the 90′s and to this day still write music with the same sense of ambition and class that epitomized their best music in the 90′s.
2. The Verve
The Verve were a beast of a band and there may have not been a group of four musicians who were ubiquitously so skilled, passionate, and self-defining as The Verve in the 90′s. From their early EP’s in the early 90′s to the magnum opus that was “Urban Hymns”, The Verve traduced the 90′s with the ardor and intensity not seen in any band before. Richard Ashcroft gifted with a perfectly sonorous voice and lyrics to challenge the best of The Smiths catalogue, became somewhat of a spiritual character for the public eye often claiming his band was the best of all time. This confidence is not just an impudent canard, but the self-belief in what ones own self has brought to the table in any form of creativity. Anyone who watches The Verve live from Wigan in 1997 will understand the power of this band. Anyone who takes a deep listen to their ardent 1995 album entitled “A Northern Soul” will hear some of the best rock music that is specifically defined by the 90′s. “A New Decade” smashes in like a ship agrounding on a new territory for war. “This is Music” is endowed with so much fire that hands will burn when touching the cd after. “I stand accused just like you, for being born without a silver spoon”; it’s with these lyrics that The Verve established themselves as nobody’s band but their own. In 1997 they would release their most successful album in “Urban Hymns”, that was part rock behemoth, part sophisticated balladry, and all great songwriting. It’s not hard to argue that both “Rolling People” and “Lucky Man” are the two best songs from the 90′s, all from the same album. Like all great bands, one could write about them for ages, but one can only understand them by enmeshing themselves in their music. The Verve often are overlooked because they were not massively popular in the states besides the obvious single, “Bittersweet Symphony”. Old-Wizard insists that you make it a moral imperative to pick up “Urban Hymns” and “Northern Soul” to see how quality rock music can be, even at as old of an age as it is.
1. Oasis
If a band is being judged and understood within the limits of the actual music and songwriting strength, which should obviously be the standards when judging a band, then Oasis is clearly of superlative rank in the history of pop music. Circumscribed with the 90′s itself, there was no songwriter that held the power of song the way Noel Gallagher did. There was no singer that held the vocal power of Liam Gallagher. There was no band that could be considered as “timeless” in the 90′s as Oasis.
The amount of good to great songs that lie in Oasis’s 90′s output is enormous to say the least, so enormous, that some of their good songs seem average compared to their best, and those songs opined as “average” are in most cases, the A-sides of all the lesser bands in the 90′s. How do you define music in the 90′s to an alien that flew down to earth and wanted to know about current modes of music? You play “What’s the Story Morning Glory” with its massive wall-of-sound guitar space backing vocals so raw yet so mellifluous. You then go and play “Live Forever” to inculcate the alien with Oasis’s ease at defining the 90′s with anthemic anodyne, and these are just two great songs within 20-30 more great songs in the Oasis 90′s catalogue, and then there are their B-Sides. What Oasis pass off as “B-sides” would be the best songs for other bands struggling to broach the pop market medium. That a song like “The Masterplan” is a B-side is obfuscating. That songs like “Underneath the Sky” and “Let’s all Make Believe” are left off official albums is astonishing until you’re reminded of how great their album songs are too. Oasis are the most justified band to release a B-Sides record in this history of pop music. Many an Oasis fan would become converted by their B-side album, and all the subsequent B-sides released on new singles.
When Oasis is considered in a typical setting, what is usually covered most is drug interests and in-band fighting which has nothing to do with the music and quality of songwriting. These accidents while interesting in the moment, will fade away with the aging of a band, and any form of creativity in general. When these “accidents” fade, all that will be left is the band’s creative output, and when new generations uncover this goldmine of songs, Oasis will be fully considered as one of the hallmark bands in this history of pop music. If the best band of the 90′s is to be solely considered by how many great songs are in their repertoire, then Oasis is clearly the greatest band of the 90′s.
George, I hate to be the one to break this to you, but Oasis have sold 75 million albums, while Blur has sold a measly 15 million. Oasis played to 500,000 people in two days. They have written classic songs like Wonderwall, Live Forever, Cast No Shadow, Masterplan, Champagne Supernova, Stop Crying Your Heart Out, and All Around the World, that people in the UK and Northern Europe still listen to more than any Beatles songs.
The only reason that anyone even knows who Blur is, is because they rode the coat tails of Oasis, with a stupid rivalry that Blur made up in their own minds. If you don’t believe me, look up Blur ANYWHERE on the internet. Wikipedia, MTV, Rolling Stone… Nowhere do they have a biography that doesn’t mention Oasis 10 times (at least).
Basically, if any musician had achieved what Oasis did, they would consider themselves to have had a successful career. (under-statement)
@Optimus
I hate to break it to you Optimus, but sales doesn’t make a good band. The New Kids on the Block have sold 5 million more records than Oasis, and the fucking Backstreet Boys sold 55 million more records than Oasis. The most popular album of the decade in England, and the most popular single came from the ass rapingly awful James Blunt.
None of those mean anything, because anyone with an ounce of sense knows that boy bands and James Blunt were awful, and album sales don’t make up for the awfulness of a record.
It’s not a new thing, Louis Armstrong is regarded as the cream of the crop in the jazz world, but he never achieved the success of artist such as Guy Lombardo and Paul Whiteman, even though everyone prefers Armstrong’s work to Whiteman’s and Lombardo’s. If album sales made an artist’s music good, then Pat Boone would be considered better than Little Richard, as well as countless other disasters.
As for the concerts, Oasis may have played to an audience of 500,000, but Blur‘s Glatonsbury 2009 concert attracted an audience of almost 2 million. Does that make Blur better than Oasis, no, unless I’m judging the situation by your idiotic logic.
Blur is better than Oasis because they consistently make better music than Oasis, not for stupid reasons like “one band sold more albums than the other.” Yet even by the logic of moronic Oasis fans, Blur is better than Oasis.
That’s a 2 million person television audience, moron. Oasis has had that TIMES 100 if you count all their televised events. What a fucking moron. Do you have even a grasp of simple logic? Are you uneducated? Or are you simply an American? If so, that explains why you like the Backstreet Boys and Jazz music. Sadly, your country’s educational system is notorious for producing morons like you. Let me guess, you’re about 14 years old, you have a stupid ass jazz band and your only show you ever play is your high school talent show. You’ll never achieve anything in life even comparable to Noel Gallagher. Your jealous of his success, and the fact that you’ll never land any girl half as hot has he has. Not to mention the fact that he could kick your ass.
And if you want to be technical about it, over 2.6 million people applied for tickets for the Oasis Knebworth shows, making it the largest ever demand for concert tickets in British history. And the funny thing is, Oasis wrote their own music, and the Backstreet Boys and New Kids on the Block didn’t. So your “logic” fails again.
And why the fuck are you bringing Jazz into this? Does anyone in the world give a FUCK about Jazz?
And I like how you didn’t address my point that Blur would be virtually unknown if it wasn’t for Oasis. They probably would have sold 1 million albums if they hadn’t of made up a fake rivalry with Oasis.
Basically, Oasis had great hooks, a good sense of pop melody, and a vast catalog of great songs, while Blur had…Song2.
Oasis had MUCH more success in the states than Blur. And MUCH MUCH MUCH more success in the UK.
Oh, and the most important reason Oasis kicks the shit out of Blur, Noel Gallagher would never start a cartoon band that would appeal only to 14 year old American tossers like you.
All I know is Oasis was the inspiration for JJ Abrams Driveshaft from “LOST”. That alone makes them better than Blur.
(actually, you can hear Wonderwall several times during the series).
You forgot RHCP.
Yes, someone is gonna say “lawl they were an 80′s band too u tard” but their old stuff was, to be honest, quite bad.
@Optimus
Did you even read my arguments? James Blunt, as god awful as he is, still wrote all his own work. On the U.K. billboard hot 100, Oasis had four number 1′s, each lasting for a week. Artists who had number 1′s for more weeks who wrote their own tune include P. Diddy and his awful Biggie cash in (Number 1 for 6 weeks), the British Spice Girls (Number 1 for 7 weeks), even freaking Vanilla Ice (Number 1 for 4 weeks, same as Oasis).
Also, with the exception of (What’s the Story), Morning Glory?, every Oasis album ever recorded has only been a Billboard number 1 for a single week. Lot’s of artists have done that. Album sales are a retarded way to judge an artists merit.
And how can you say Blur did nothing but ride Oasis‘ coattails when Blur‘s first album came out in May of 1993? Oasis didn’t release Definitely Maybe until August of 1994. Breaking a record of fastest selling debut album that Blur set the bar for a year previously.
The fucking New Kids on the Block kicked Oasis‘ ass commercially, the Backstreet Boys sold more records than them, by that logic, they’re better than Oasis. And James fucking Blunt spent 8 weeks at number 1 for album sales in the U.K. during the ’00, whereas Oasis only spent 4 during the ’00. Those aren’t figures from the U.S., they’re figures from the god damn U.K.. Were you too busy rocking out to “You’re Beautiful” to pull your head out of your ass for one god damn second.
I’m pretty sure I could take Noel, probably by waving something shiny in his face. I intend to go skydiving with Liam, and equip his parachute with a lock that won’t open unless he can hit the low E above middle C.
LOL. Damn you are so jealous of Oasis its hilarious. Noel has probably spent more money in one week than you’ll ever make in your entire life. AND he could kick your ass. Haha. Stupid American Jazz boy. You have a great career of playing in coffee shops ahead of you.
(btw, using New Kids on the Block, P-Diddy and the Backstreet Boys to back up your arguments about music is pretty much a dead give away that you’re a 14 year old American pussy)
Just because the first and only time you saw an upskirt shot of a girl that wasn’t from the internet was while fucking “Wonderwall” was playing doesn’t mean Oasis sucks any less. It’s not my fault your erectile disfunction is causing your wife to blow the mailman.
Why would I be jealous of Oasis, I can sing, play guitar, and don’t have to head to Croatia to sell some more copies of a 16 year old album to make up for the fact that I’ll never even approach recording listenable music again. Any band that has the gall to release records as bloated as Be Here Now, and call George Harrison a nipple, even though “While My Guitar Gently Weeps” is almost identical to the best song Oasis ever wrote. Don’t believe me, just listen to the bass and guitar part for “The Masterplan” and then “While My Guitar Gently Weeps,” and you’ll see they’re the exact same song.
You still haven’t answered for your crimes of actually listening to James Blunt, you dumbfuck. He’s on your countries hands, motherfucker. And I’m not the one who bought P. Diddy records, I hate the smug bastard like a slug to the kneecap. That was your country who made him number one for 6 fucking weeks.
You also still haven’t owned up to the fact that Blur came before Oasis, and while Oasis was sinking further into pretension with Be Here Now, Blur released their self titled album, arguably the best album of the 90′s, that not only pushed them away from britipop further than they had ever gone, but fleshed out a great new chapter in their sound, while still remaining true to their work.
Oasis hasn’t changed a thing in forever, except for Liam Gallagher taking a stab at songwriting, and the less said about the disaster that was Standing on the Shoulders of Giants, the better.
George:
Noel Gallagher’s life is better than yours in every respect. He has made more money off of his worst album than you’ll make in your entire life (x10,000). He has gotten more ass in a week than you’ll probably every see in your life time. He has gone down in the Guiness Book of world records as the most successful British band of the 90s (so I guess everyone in the world disagrees with you). Most importantly, unlike you, he’s not an ignorant American, and he’s never heard a P-Diddy song. So I guess when it comes to your life vs his, its no contest. (Oh I like how you claim you can sing and play guitar…wow, you and 100 million other people in the world. Go listen to some Jazz, you dirty little starbucks employee).
http://www.britmusicscene.com/oasis-make-the-2010-guinness-book-of-world-records/
About Oasis in the Guinness Book of World Records:
“The band enter the book for the second time by setting the longest Top 10 UK chart run by a group notching up an unprecedented 22 successive Top 10 hits in the UK.Oasis previously entered the record book for being the most successful act of the decade between 1995 and 2005 by spending 765 weeks in the Top 75 singles and albums charts.”
I”m sorry…I was wrong. It was most successful ACT of the decade…NOT MOST SUCCESSFUL UK ACT. Even more impressive.
And how does it matter who came first between Oasis and Blur? I guess by your logic the Monkees are better than Blur as well.
Again, Blur would be nothing if it wasn’t for Oasis. If it wasn’t for Oasis, I guarantee than YOU would never have heard of them. Find me a bio of them where Oasis isn’t mentioned. Blur is a joke. And so are Americans.
Oh and did I mention they are now a cartoon band? haha
Optimus: How many times do i have to tell people on this site not to debate music with Americans, its just not worth it. Just tell the kid that you like Nickelback, Avril Lavigne and then acknowledge Oasis sucks, and then be on your way, and he won’t be any the wiser.
Modern Life is Rubbish was a number one record before Definitely Maybe was even cut. Oasis was only more sucessful that Blur because they appealed to the lowest common denomonator, sacrificed %100 percent of their artistic integrity at every turn, and ripped off everything they’ve ever written.
“Wonderwall” and “D’ya Know What I Mean” are the exact same song, with insanely simple riffs, “The Masterplan” is an obvious rip off of “While My Guitar Gently Weeps,” “Cigarettes and Alcohol” was T. Rex‘s “Get it On” with different lyrics, and even “Wonderwall” was even a ripoff of Pink Floyd’s “Wish You Were Here.”
And I may not have as much money as Oasis, but at least I didn’t promote laughable tough talk like “George Harrison’s a nipple,” or, “I hope Graham Coxon gets AIDS,” just because everyone caught on to my hackwork.
Say what you will about American foriegn policy, but at least we disposed of those assholes in a timely fashion.
And how many times do you have to hear it, album sales don’t count for jack if one band is inferior to the other in every way. Any song of of Blur‘s self titled release, 13, Modern Life is Rubbish, The Great Escape, Parklife, or their greatest hits collection is better than any song in Oasis‘s discography.
Oasis doesn’t just have more money than you, they have more women, success, they don’t have to work for a living, and pretty much all around they have better lives than you and have actually contributed to society. What’s your big contribution in life? What will anyone ever know you for? Maybe because you have made fun of them on some random blog? I’m sure they care. Here’s an idea, learn how to play guitar, write a song, and let us all hear it and we’ll tell you what we think. I hate armchair musicians. Especially Americans. Your entire culture is worthless.
I hate it when lesser people who are uncreative try and critique actual artists.
Are you to busy blowing yourself to ignore the fact that I’ve thoroughly debunked every argument you’ve made? You’ve stuck to the exact same position that I’ve easily refuted again and again, and, just like Oasis, you’ve failed to come up with any new ideas.
Unoriginal Americans? We came up with every genre of music your country has played over the last century. We invented funk, which I can play, rock, R&B, which I can also play, jazz, blues, and country,* I can play that shit anyday. We made you, Optimus, we fucking carried you. Are there any genres your country has invented aside from metal in the last century? I fucking doubt it.
*The kind that doesn’t suck, Hank Williams and Johnny Cash.
You may have classic bands like Blur, The Stones, The Beatles, T. Rex, Iron Maiden, Judas Priest and Led Zeppelin. But we every bit as many as you do, and more.
All these guys are American artists better than Oasis. And there aren’t even any jazz or hip hop artists here:
50. Blind Willie McTell
49. Blind Lemon Jefferson
48. Buddy Holly
47. Beck
46. Wilco
45. Sly and the Family Stone
44. Curtis Mayfield
43. Prince
42. The Isley Brothers
41. The Doors
40. The Temptations
39. Smokey Robinson and the Miracles
38. Sam Cooke
37. Buddy Guy
36. B.B. King
35. Bruce Springsteen
34. Bob Dylan
33. Leadbelly
32. Fleetwood Mac
31. Janis Joplin
30. Willie Nelson
29. Johnny Cash
28. Hank Williams
27. Testament
26. Machine Head
25. Dream Theater
24. Exodus
23. Elvis Presley
22. Little Richard
21. Chuck Berry
20. The Allman Brothers Band
19. The Flaming Lips
18. Slayer
17. Megadeth
16. Motley Crue
15. Television
14. Creedence Clearwater Revival
13. The Byrds
12. Van Halen
11. Funkadelic
10. The Beach Boys
9. Metallica
8. Robert Johnson
7. Michael Jackson
6. Stevie Wonder
5. Ray Charles
4. Aretha Franklin
3. James Brown
2. Marvin Gaye
1. Jimi Hendrix
Isn’t “hip hop artist” an oxymoron?
And Dream Theater? Are you serious? Wow….How are you even gaining computer access, you fucking ignorant piece of American trailer trash.
And btw, the fact that you think the US has “invented” all those types of music just goes to show how ignorant you really are. Maybe go back, and learn some music history and you’ll learn that music doesn’t just come out of the blue as you seem to think it does.
Georges: Fleetwood Mac is Brit bluesband that became a US pop band.
Netherless, most of the pop/rock/commercial music played this days came directly from jazz and blues. From the black America.
Find me an American band as good as the Beatles, Rolling Stones, Pink Floyd or Led Zeppelin and maybe then I’ll consider that the US can compare to the UK. Until then, shut the fuck up. (Oh and if that fucking kid brings up P-Diddy then I think I’m gonna lose all my faith in humanity)
Marvin Gaye, James Brown, Ray Charles, Jimi Hendrix, and Bob Dylan are every bit as good as The Beatles, The Stones, Floyd, and Zeppelin. Adding jazz, Miles Davis, George Gershwin, Louis Armstrong, Billie Holiday, John Coltrane and Wes Montgomery are every bit as good as everyone previously mentioned.
They’re as American as beating England in a war, twice.
Hell, even the French are better than England at jazz, french-gypsy Django Reinhardt as an artist is up their with Floyd in terms of importance and quality.
And who was the biggest artist of the decade on the U.K. charts, the jigga himself, Jay-Z. He headlined Glastonbury, and spent more weeks on the charts than any other artist. Even the U.K. loves hip hop, I guess y’all are just a bunch of English rednecks who don’t give anything the slightest thought unless it comes from your camera filled, Orwellian, Thatchers paradise island.
No wonder it took centuries for some decent food to be made in England, dumb rednecks like you do nothing but ruin your country; the only country in the entire world where the vomit tastes better than the food.
Oasis # 1??? never coming into this site again.
Optimus Prime, you owned yourself hard when you accused George of “being a Backstreet fan”. If you have an IQ above 80 or so, or have any reading comprehension skills, you’d understand he was only using them to show that record sales do NOT equate to talent. I agree wholeheartedly. (and I’m 35, not 14.)
Funny how mad you are over a difference of musical taste and opinion. You hate Americans? Good for you. Have some Eel pie, brush your teeth, go hang out on your frigid beach in the rain, dodging irs bombs and make sure you swallow the next time you collectively blow the Gallagher bros (damn, hero worship much? How the fuck old are YOU???), while I fuck California girls, fish in the tropics of Key West, hang out in NYC, the capital of the world, go snowboarding in Colorado, watch sports other than soccer, surf in Hawaii and eat actual cuisine. lol
Don’t speak on hip hop if you don’t recognize lyrical skills involved in good, REAL hip hop. Tribe Called Quest, De La Soul, Rakim, EPMD, Public Enemy, Pharcyde, Souls Of Mischief, Fugees, Masta Ace, most of Wutang, Showbiz and AG, Gangstarr, Mobb Deep, Elzhi, Lupe, Typical Cats, etc. Try writing some intelligent multi syllablic rhymes, laced with metaphors, wordplay, etc. (and while you’re at it, spit it to a beat, and MAKE that beat on an MPC 3000). Or rap in front of live instruments like GURU did with Jazzmatazz, Black Thought with the Roots, etc. If you can’t tell the difference between a group like Tribe Called Quest compared to someone like Souljah Boi, you really shouldn’t speak on the genre. I also find it funny that all you Brits jump into a crying fit about how much you hate America and how we don’t know good music. Shit, most of your music was stolen from us or Jamaica. The greatest rock bands from the UK in the 70′s all got their inspiration from BB King, Muddy Waters, etc. Blues is an american music form. Hip hop is, and all your “grime” rappers are pallid imitations. Hip hop was born in the street of the south Bronx, so some square from the UK doesn’t come off as too convincing. As for our education system, uh, Harvard, Princeton, Columbia, Dartmouth, Stanford, Yale, Cornell, Brown, Penn, etc. etc. as well as some of the best private schools in the WORLD. Sorry, you should get out more. I believe you’re no older than 20, trying to call someone else a 14 year old and resulting to name calling like a typical child that can’t get his way.
lol, Noel Gallagher aint “kicking” anyone’s “ass” except his brother. Damn dude, I’ve got my favorite artists too, but you talk like a child. “my favorite could beat up your favorite”. Like, do you live vicariously threw him? Imagine his girls as yours? That’s some sad shit..
lol, Noel Gallagher aint “kicking” anyone’s “ass” except his brother. Damn dude, I’ve got my favorite artists too, but you talk like a child. “my favorite could beat up your favorite”. Like, do you live vicariously threw him? Imagine his girls as yours? That’s some sad shit..
@ Nick, Avril Levigne is from Canada. She’s one of yours, by proxy. Everyone here listens to Nickleback? Ok, so you all listen to Robbie Williams, correct? lol, way to generalize.
*I personally couldn’t NAME a Nickleback song. And I just looked them up, they’re from Canda too!!!! wow, great argument genius.
People like George make me glad that the USA will soon be replaced by China as the dominate country in the world. The USA will have had maybe 60 years as the most powerful country in the world (most of that the USSR was tied with them anyway). The UK had a good 200 years. That alone makes me very happy.
And George, you should learn some history…in the war of 1812, Washington DC got burned to the ground while your preisdent RAN AWAY! Hahaha. I don’t seem to remember Americans burning down London, but hey, I could be wrong.
Well, either China or the European Union. The EU’s economy is worth $16 trillion, while the USA is worth $14 trillion. The USA’s days are numbered either way.
Oh, and did you hear, Russia and China are getting ready to replace the dollar as the world currency. I can’t fucking wait.
Show me where Nirvana is on this list? How do you have a top 10 90s bands list without Nirvana even ON IT? Nevermind not at #1?
Belle and Sebastian over Nirvana? HAHAHAHAHHAHAHAHAHAHA
just sitting here grinning, your comments crack me up. why get so hot headed?
George sounds like a moron.
Agree with Oasis, What a band WHAT A BAND!!!.
however The Verve are a little overrated.
Oh and George has spouted so much shit on this page that I just had to laugh at his ignorance.
Definitely Maybe>Morning Glory> The Masterplan>other b sides> any other 90′s bands A sides.
even Be Here Now very good in places.