Favorite bands

[Diehardpetrafan:)]

Petra
Journey
Toto
Restless Heart
Rush
Whiteheart
Giant
Bonham
Triumph
Casting Crowns
Third Day
Huey Lewis & the News
Kool & the Gang
Diamond Rio
Rascal Flatts
Winger (seriously)
Alan Parsons Project
Pink Floyd (but only Dark Side of the Moon, Wish You Were Here, The Wall, A Momentary Lapse of Reason, and The Division Bell)
Mr. Mister
The Outfield

The Beatles of course

That list is seriously cool!

[curt]

I see what you mean. I don't think you can really be a "leftist" Christian though. I know that lefts and rights are different in different countries (what is a left in America I think is a right other places) but I mean that you can't follow the world and call it Christianity. That I'm-a-world's-hippie-yet-still-a-Jesus-freak is a load of hooey.

It's not that "left" and "right" are opposites in the United States versus other countries, it's that politically and socially, most of the world is to the left of the US, so what we consider liberal, or even radical liberalism is considered moderate in, say, Europe, or New Zealand.

As for whether or not someone can be a "leftist" and a Christian, of course they can, but I think it's an uncomfortable fit because a lot of what liberals espouse is at odds with the Bible and orthodox Christian beliefs.

As opposed to the the beautiful and truthful attitude we have seen for four years culimiting yesterday in a historic tragedy...

[PiedPiper]

I see what you mean. I don't think you can really be a "leftist" Christian though. I know that lefts and rights are different in different countries (what is a left in America I think is a right other places) but I mean that you can't follow the world and call it Christianity. That I'm-a-world's-hippie-yet-still-a-Jesus-freak is a load of hooey.

It's not that "left" and "right" are opposites in the United States versus other countries, it's that politically and socially, most of the world is to the left of the US, so what we consider liberal, or even radical liberalism is considered moderate in, say, Europe, or New Zealand.

As for whether or not someone can be a "leftist" and a Christian, of course they can, but I think it's an uncomfortable fit because a lot of what liberals espouse is at odds with the Bible and orthodox Christian beliefs.

As opposed to the the beautiful and truthful attitude we have seen for four years culimiting yesterday in a historic tragedy...

So let's all go back and pull out a month old post for an opportunistic dig at people we don't agree with. Way to go!

[Mountain Man]

So let's all go back and pull out a month old post for an opportunistic dig at people we don't agree with. Way to go!

I sometimes feel like curt is my own personal troll here.

[Dan]

He is a Troll, maybe we should cancel his account like the left does to dissenting voices?

[John Boy]

Winger (seriously)

I always liked Winger! Out of the blue, I had Madeleine running through my head just yesterday, and I haven't heard that song in a long time.

As somewhat of a bassist and even lesser of a vocalist, bands with a bassist/lead vocalist appealed to me. Rush, The Police, etc. Winger caught a lot of flack for being pretty boys during the hair band era. Metallica along with Beavis and Butt-Head didn't help. Everyone in Winger is talented. I know some songs like "Can't Get Enough" aren't too complex, but something like "Seventeen" has some great bass licks/runs. Other songs feature great parts from everyone that take great melodic timing instead of just jamming. Also, look at their history. Kip and Paul were in Alice Cooper's band for a bit. Rod was the drummer for Dixie Dregs. I can't remember who Reb was with. Many of the guys wrote and played for others over the years. Paul played for Steve Perry. Reb has been with Whitesnake. I'll always love Winger and won't be ashamed to admit it.

[John Boy]

Petra
Journey
Toto
Restless Heart
Rush
Whiteheart
Giant
Bonham
Triumph
Casting Crowns
Third Day
Huey Lewis & the News
Kool & the Gang
Diamond Rio
Rascal Flatts
Winger (seriously)
Alan Parsons Project
Pink Floyd (but only Dark Side of the Moon, Wish You Were Here, The Wall, A Momentary Lapse of Reason, and The Division Bell)
Mr. Mister
The Outfield

The Beatles of course

That list is seriously cool!

Thanks!

[brenthandy]

The only reason I am doing this is I can't wait for the Browns to put the nail into the Steelers so the Chiefs will have a good game next week. Go Chiefs.

I am going to change my list to bands, groups, artists. There are some bands built around one or two personalities/artists, where all but the vocalist or guitarist could be replaced and nobody would know or care. There are some bands named as solo artists.

Disclaimer. I am old, REAL old and grew up in the golden age of records for gospel, CCM and secular music. I was always singing in groups, choirs, etc as a "yoot". So, there will be some WITW moments for people expecting me to list all rock, hard rock and prog from me.

The most influential groups to me growing up in a sack were (not in order):

1. The Imperials > If you listen to their albums, you get a cross-section of current chords, sounds and structures of lite jazz, soul, R&B, pop, rock
2. Joe English > If you listen to these albums, you get musicianship, good pop, rock, good song structures
3. Servant > These guys also were a reflection of the times, think Cheap Trick, Golden Earring, and then modern synth driven crap later.
4. Sweet Comfort Band > Lite jazz, soul, pop, rock
5. The Beach Boys > Harmonies, production, fun songs (My Dad's fav when he was young)
6. Petra > DUH!
7. DeGarmo & Key

Of course, there were many, many others and other genres in my periphery but these were the ones I had the most LPs and Tapes of.

Post my parent's divorce, the sack being opened and then living away from home:

1. Stryper
2. Saga
3. Journey > Never forget the first time I heard this band on my friend Joe's stereo in his Ford Talladega.
4. Rush
5. Def Leppard
6. Van Halen
7. Triumph
8. Boston
9. Tesla

I like all kinds of music and I listen to a bunch of stuff. So, this list is only indicative of what influenced me most when I was impressional.

[brenthandy]

BTW,

I don't care for many artists and music releases the world says I should like. The list of artists I don't get or care to get are:

The Beatles. I appreciate they made a big impact on people and changed the world. These guys were just lucky enough to be at the right place and time. Their music wasn't anything special to begin with. They didn't have much substance. The audio quality of those records isn't that great. I get it. There wasn't much to work with at the time. But, people in my industry goo all over it and want to own the same consoles, preamps, compressors and microphones used at EMI. That's great if you like that old sound. But that isn't me.

The Rolling Stones. They are sloppy, Mick is gay (the 80s meaning of the word gay), the music isn't that great IMO. That is not to say they don't have a few good and memorable songs that will last until the end. Same for The Beatles.

Elvis Costello. I must say, I have mixed some of his band at a Bob Dylan show and they are really, REALLY good.

Bruce. Gosh. Does EVERY song HAVE to sound the same. It's like listening to someone ramble on and on. Is there a payoff and an end?

David Bowie.

Nirvana. Trash. Meaningless, souless garbage.

Talking Heads.

Foo Fighters. I like a couple of tunes, but they don't reach me. That said, I do respect Dave (allot) for his love for the same influences I have. I appreciate his love of analog and live recording, building a facility and preserving the past.

Anything punk....like REAL punk, not punk influenced, trickled down stuff.

There is a lot of music I shouldn't like, but I can't help it. There are some covers I like better than the originals. The original artist might turn me off but the covering artist is ok, so I can go there.

[curt]

Well, recently we had a discussion about over estimated musicians and I don't remember all the details but Brent's recent posts plays into that and I agree on quite many of his points.

There are so many old faces that keep showing up all the time everywhere though they never really made anything that extraordinary back then and neither did so afterwards. The "legend" status is perhaps something we should become better at simply ignoring.

I don't know how many times I have listened to this or that "legendary" record only to find that it is not really THAT great. Jimmy Page... A legendary guitarist.... ? Give me a break, please! And while I like some of the AC/DC stuff and like it for what it is, I am starting to find it a little bite tiresome when people start to make it into some sort of genious art, otherworldly guitar playing and the like. It is unique to some extent with regards to playing style, sound and the like but there is also a tendency for people to get a bit carried away over stuff that is just solid and well tasting meat and potatoes always served exactly the same way.

With regards to The Beatles Brent is right that they were lucky being at the right place at the right time. It is not like they invented what they did out of scratch though some people seem to think so. If they had started out five years later after some other group had gone mainstream, I don't feel too certain we would know too much about them these days.

The Stones... Seriously... I wonder how you can play music for that long and still not be any better. The world want to be fooled.

My rather simple theory is that there is a limit to the number of bands that can be among the ones that all off us know about. Radio stations, TV, the media in genral, festivals and the like are thus likely to present us with their stuff or news about them. Then we have got the sort of evil circle. Whatever Jimmy Page says is still more important than what an (unfortunately) rather unknown but more talented guitarist has to say.

I would hope, but I am not sure, that perhaps one of the good things to come out of streaming, youtube and the like is that perhaps it is a little bit easier to get people to know and listen to your music than it was back in the day where you were dependent on radio to play your stuff. Since they hardly earn anything even when people actually listen to the music, I don't feel too certain, though.

[Progfan]

I think pop culture kind of pushes people into naming certain musicians as “great” or “genius” simply because it’s the cool thing to do. There are those who will acknowledge Kerry Livgren as an amazing guitarist and composer in private, and because they really like Dust in the Wind or Carry On Wayward Son. But it’s much cooler to openly praise Jimmy Page, John Lennon, et al. So here’s to some amazing lesser known bands and artists, of which there are thousands. These are just a few from my playlists over the past few days:

Camel - Andy Latimer is one of the world’s greatest unknown guitarists.

Patrick O’Hearn - used to be in Missing Persons and has done many solo instrumental albums over the past 30 plus years.

Simon Phillips - amazing drummer, you might not know his name, but have surely heard him play-has solo projects and was with Toto for a while, and has played with too many artists to mention. I love his work with Mike Oldfield.

Saga has been mentioned already-all fantastic musicians

Geoff Downes - keyboardist from Asia, Yes

Glass Hammer, Brighteye Brison, IZZ - prog bands that should be more well known.

And yes, I have always thought that the CCM world had many amazing musicians that deserved to be famous, but of course were not in it for the fame: Randy Thomas, Chris McHugh, Tommy Sims, Bob Hartman. Those are a few that immediately come to mind. Of course there are many others.

[Mountain Man]

Just realized I never actually answered the question. So here it is, bands and music artists I would rate as my favorites (in no particular order):

Petra
Joe Satriani
Vangelis
Celine Dion
The Beatles
The Beach Boys
U2
Steve Taylor
David Gilmour
Roger Waters
Pink Floyd
Keith Green
Resurrection Band
Steve Perry
Journey
Third Day
Stryper
Def Leppard
Van Halen
Sabaton
Creedence Clearwater Revival
George Winston
Johnny Cash
Lightnin' Hopkins
Phil Keaggy
White Heart

So nothing terribly obscure or unusual (although I do have some of that in my collection), but those are probably my main "go to" artists when I want to dial up something I'll enjoy listening to for a couple of songs during a short drive.

A word about The Beatles, since they have been given particular mention, I don't think it's fair to say, "They wouldn't have been nearly as popular if someone else had come along and done it first." Couldn't you say that about literally anybody who has made it big? But they did do it first, so they're the ones who get the recognition. Their early stuff I suppose you could dismiss as simple pop rock (although it's far more complex and harder to play than most people realize), but their later experimental albums, when they weren't worried about trying to record something that could be played live, is pretty great. Brian Wilson of the Beach Boys and Paul McCartney had a tremendous amount of respect for each other, and for a brief period of time, each was trying to outdo the other which peaked with the creation of two iconic rock albums, Pet Sounds from the Beach Boys, and Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band from the Beatles.

[cvs2kids]

BTW,

I don't care for many artists and music releases the world says I should like. The list of artists I don't get or care to get are:

The Beatles. I appreciate they made a big impact on people and changed the world. These guys were just lucky enough to be at the right place and time. Their music wasn't anything special to begin with. They didn't have much substance. The audio quality of those records isn't that great. I get it. There wasn't much to work with at the time. But, people in my industry goo all over it and want to own the same consoles, preamps, compressors and microphones used at EMI. That's great if you like that old sound. But that isn't me.

The Rolling Stones. They are sloppy, Mick is gay (the 80s meaning of the word gay), the music isn't that great IMO. That is not to say they don't have a few good and memorable songs that will last until the end. Same for The Beatles.

Elvis Costello. I must say, I have mixed some of his band at a Bob Dylan show and they are really, REALLY good.

Bruce. Gosh. Does EVERY song HAVE to sound the same. It's like listening to someone ramble on and on. Is there a payoff and an end?

David Bowie.

Nirvana. Trash. Meaningless, souless garbage.

Talking Heads.

Foo Fighters. I like a couple of tunes, but they don't reach me. That said, I do respect Dave (allot) for his love for the same influences I have. I appreciate his love of analog and live recording, building a facility and preserving the past.

Anything punk....like REAL punk, not punk influenced, trickled down stuff.

There is a lot of music I shouldn't like, but I can't help it. There are some covers I like better than the originals. The original artist might turn me off but the covering artist is ok, so I can go there.

PREACH IT BROTHER!! From both of your lists, we must be close in age (not an Imperials fan though).

[Progfan]

Manfred Mann’s Earth Band - a great example of a band doing covers better than the original, many times. And...I don’t get the fascination with the Beatles either.