Bands hardest to pick one song from

[Craig234]

I made a thread a while ago about how most bands can be pretty represented by one song.

This is the other side of the coin.

Which band do you find the hardest to feel you pick pick one song and capture the band?

I think I'll say Pink Floyd is right up there. You can pick all kinds of great songs, but none of them make me feel like you wouldn't miss a lot of their other songs.

Another nominee is Led Zeppelin. Sure, Stairway is the most icononic of all time and Kashmir is their masterpiece, but they have too much that would be missed.

Finally, the Beatles also qualify for me on that.

I don't mean 'a band with a lot of good songs'. For example, the Cars have plenty of good songs, but "Moving in Stereo" is all (just what?) I need. I mean the diversity of quality.

How about you?

 

[swamplizard]

Finally, the Beatles also qualify for me on that.

How about you?

G' mornin' Craig,

That line sums it up succinctly.

 

[pete6032]

Vanilla Ice
Baja Men
Aqua

 

[Spacehead]

Hawkwind
30 studio releases over 46 years & about the same amount of live albums & a bunch of outtake material & singles.
Depending on which era you listen to there are elements of folk, jazz, ambient, techno, punk & heavy metal all rolled up into a psychedelic rock band.

 

[CraKaJaX]

The Allman Brothers Band.

 

[Kaido]

Which band do you find the hardest to feel you pick pick one song and capture the band?

I think I'll say Pink Floyd is right up there. You can pick all kinds of great songs, but none of them make me feel like you wouldn't miss a lot of their other songs.

Hmm, that's an interesting question, because one of the reasons I like certain bands is because their songs all sound the same - RHCP, Jack Johnson, Ben Howard, etc. They're all variations on a theme I happen to like, so it works.

Off the top of my head, I would say Green Day. You wouldn't think so, but:

Basket Case (1994)

vs.

21 Guns (2009)

plus

Roving Gambler (2013, well, technically just Billie Joe Armstrong & Norah Jones)

I remember my MIL called me a few years ago really excited (not a rock fan at all) and said "I found some new music I really like, you should listen to this band called 'Green Day', the song on the radio is '21 Guns', they are really good!!" She changed her mind after I sent her some of their 90's songs

 

[Fenixgoon]

for me, Alter Bridge. every album gets better from their first to fourth (currently). Can't wait for whatever the fifth holds!

 

[sdifox]

Nickelback. They all sound the same and they all suck.

 

[CraKaJaX]

Hmm, that's an interesting question, because one of the reasons I like certain bands is because their songs all sound the same - RHCP, Jack Johnson, Ben Howard, etc. They're all variations on a theme I happen to like, so it works.

Off the top of my head, I would say Green Day. You wouldn't think so, but:

Basket Case (1994)

vs.

21 Guns (2009)

plus

Roving Gambler (2013, well, technically just Billie Joe Armstrong & Norah Jones)

I remember my MIL called me a few years ago really excited (not a rock fan at all) and said "I found some new music I really like, you should listen to this band called 'Green Day', the song on the radio is '21 Guns', they are really good!!" She changed her mind after I sent her some of their 90's songs

LOL. I remember my mom hearing the lyrics of some songs off Dookie about a week after she got me the cassette. I remember her exact words being "what did they just say...??" followed up by her walking over to my radio, ejecting the tape, and hiding it from me for eternity. Fast forward about 15 years later and we were doing a full cleaning of the house. I was going through the cabinets above the washer and dryer and stumbled across the cassette. I was like mom... You still have this? She was like oh... You want that back now? it's a fantastic punk album, no question. Their older stuff is their best work.

 

[thedarkwolf]

ZZ Top and AC/DC

 

[Ns1]

I don't see how you can pick one from RHCP's catalogue given that they have 2 entirely separate sounds - a punk/funk sound (i.e. BSSM era and prior) and a much poppier mellow sound after Frusciante returned.

I would think any artist with a long catalogue that has changed their sound over time will fall under the category mentioned in the OP - Radiohead, NIN

Lots more I'm sure but those are the 2 off my head

 

[Kaido]

Actually BNL too:

One Week

The Old Apartment

If I had $1,000,000

One Week is almost like a rap duet (only more fun & less angry), whereas The Old Apartment is kind of an alt rock song, and If I had $1,000,000 is a little bit of a campfire sing-song sing-along song. Once you listen to more of their songs (like Pinch Me or Odds Are), you can start to track their sound, but each song is pretty reasonably different.

 

[Kaido]

Nickelback. They all sound the same and they all suck.

http://imgur.com/gallery/fEhdhm3

 

[Ns1]

ZZ Top and AC/DC

lol how? every AC/DC song is the same.


Turn up to 11 + L/R guitars + 4/4 = ac/dc

 

[DigDog]

buckethead

He has released 256 studio albums, four special releases and one EP.

 

[Ns1]

buckethead

And yet, the only thing he is known for is playing guitar with a bucket on his head.

 

[DaveSimmons]

Joe Jackson was referred to snidely as a "crusading musicologist" by one reviewer and it fits. Most people only know 2-3 songs of his but he's created a wide variety of jazz and jazz-flavored rock from Beat Crazy to Jumpin' Jive.

Richard Thompson has been making folk and rock music for 40+ years now and I'd be hard-pressed to pick just 10 songs let alone one.

Elvis Costello is another one who didn't just stick with the single "angry young man" style of his first couple of albums. Though even then he gave us "Allison" and "Accidents Will Happen" at the same time as "Watching The Detectives" and "Radio Radio".

 

[thedarkwolf]

lol how? every AC/DC song is the same.


Turn up to 11 + L/R guitars + 4/4 = ac/dc

Exactly. Isn't that the whole point of this thread?

"Which band do you find the hardest to feel you pick pick one song and capture the band?"

AC/DC is the perfect example lol

 

[CZroe]

Fleetwood Mac

LOL. I remember my mom hearing the lyrics of some songs off Dookie about a week after she got me the cassette. I remember her exact words being "what did they just say...??" followed up by her walking over to my radio, ejecting the tape, and hiding it from me for eternity. Fast forward about 15 years later and we were doing a full cleaning of the house. I was going through the cabinets above the washer and dryer and stumbled across the cassette. I was like mom... You still have this? She was like oh... You want that back now? it's a fantastic punk album, no question. Their older stuff is their best work.

I recall playing Donkey Kong Country in November 1994. We had played up to the last world. My mother came in the room momentarily and caught a glimpse of the level title:
"'Maniac Ministers?!' What kind of game is this?! Turn this off, right now!"
The level title was actually "Maniac Mincers."

My friend's parents were out of town and he left a message on the door telling my other friends where the "pr0n" was on his computer. His parents came home and found the message on the door. Next thing you know, his mom had combed through every file/folder on his PC and even deleted "Nirvana - Rape Me.mp3"

 

[BurnItDwn]

Hawkwind
30 studio releases over 46 years & about the same amount of live albums & a bunch of outtake material & singles.
Depending on which era you listen to there are elements of folk, jazz, ambient, techno, punk & heavy metal all rolled up into a psychedelic rock band.

I was thinking Opeth because of their big variations over the last 20 or so years .. but Hawkwind is a more perfect example for sure.

 

[DaveSimmons]

ZZ Top and AC/DC

I might be able to get by with only "Jesus Just Left Chicago" and "Hot, Blue, and Righteous" from ZZ Top. But that's 2 songs.

 

[motsm]

Opeth's discography varies pretty wildly, so that would be my pick.

 

[gorcorps]

Exactly. Isn't that the whole point of this thread?

"Which band do you find the hardest to feel you pick pick one song and capture the band?"

AC/DC is the perfect example lol

I don't think you get it

If all their songs sound the same, then you can easily pick a single song and know what the rest sound like

 

[twinrider1]

ZZ Top is out. One song can't capture their early sound and their synth sound since Eliminator.
I laughed at AC/DC too. (Heard the recording of the last note of every AC/DC song?). But you could argue the Bon Scott vs. Brian Johnson eras (Dear God, please don't let them cut any new tracks with Axl).
You could make that argument for many bands that changed singers, like Van Halen.

Los Lobos gets my vote. Kept the same core for 40+ years and they've covered a lot of ground. How Will The Wolf Survive and Colossal Head are very different sounds.


WAIT! I changed my mind. The answer is....Michael Bolton!

1985 -- Rocking with Everybodys Crazy

1987 -- He's smoothing it up with That's What Love Is All About

 

[gorcorps]

ZZ Top is out. One song can't capture their early sound and their synth sound since Eliminator.
I laughed at AC/DC too. (Heard the recording of the last note of every AC/DC song?). But you could argue the Bon Scott vs. Brian Johnson eras (Dear God, please don't let them cut any new tracks with Axl).
You could make that argument for many bands that changed singers, like Van Halen.

Los Lobos gets my vote. Kept the same core for 40+ years and they've covered a lot of ground. How Will The Wolf Survive and Colossal Head are very different sounds.


WAIT! I changed my mind. The answer is....Michael Bolton!

1985 -- Rocking with Everybodys Crazy

1987 -- He's smoothing it up with That's What Love Is All About

And don't forget... https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GI6CfKcMhjY