the official BBTF band

The Fall are British.

I'm not a fan of thrash metal; I honestly couldn't name a single one of their songs.

Not even one? In fifteen years you haven't made it to Yankees Stadium (or Billy Wagner's various stadii?)

Not even one? In fifteen years you haven't made it to Yankees Stadium (or Billy Wagner's various stadii?)

Now that you mention it, I can name "Enter Sandman", from its use as closer music. I don't think I've ever actually heard the song though, and no, I've never been to Yankee Stadium, or any of the parks where Billy Wagner was the closer. And on TV, they go to an ad when the closer comes in...

Let me also say Death Cab does not belong. I don't really differentiate them from a dozen or so other modern indie-ish bands, like, say, Modest Mouse. Putting them in that list instead of the Talking Heads, or Flaming Lips, or Sonic Youth, or the official BBTF band, brings the subjectivity level to the point where you might as well just name your favorite bands.

I think Death Cab has a gift for melody unmatched by any other band of their era, a unique sound, and that Ben Gibbard is a truly gifted lyricist. Combine that with the fact that they've actually hit #1 on the Billboard charts, and I think they do belong. You're free to disagree. I also agree completely with your point about subjectivity; I probably give DCFC more of the benefit of the doubt on that score than any other band on the list for one simple reason. I have another list, of my ten favorite rock acts, period. Please realise that I understand the difference between "favorite" and "greatest". Death Cab is the only American act on the list. So on a personal level, they're not only on the list, they're at the top of the list. However, I realise that's my personal bias; I'll freely admit that in the great scheme of things that other American bands are "greater". But it would be a bit strange to leave my favorite American band off the list, wouldn't it?

Among the other bands you mentioned, I can certainly see putting Talking Heads on there. The Talking Heads songs I like ("This Must Be the Place", "Life During Wartime", "Burning Down the House") are truly great songs. I probably downgrade them because I think the quality of their songs is extremely variable; it's hard to make an 80-minute CD of really good Talking Heads songs. I tried. Once you get past the cream, there's not that much there. But sure, their peak is high enough so they wouldn't be a bad choice. Pavement was an oversight; they probably should be on there. The list was off the top of my head. Sonic Youth is, IMO, the most overrated American band since the Doors. Outside of broad swaths of Daydream Nation, I find their music unlistenable. The music I like all has one thing in common - a gift for melody. I don't think Sonic Youth shares that gift. I respect them for what they've accomplished; I just don't find listening to their music pleasurable. Flaming Lips, with the exception of their song on the Neil Young tribute album, I've never actually heard. There are lots of bands I plan to listen to one day, but simply haven't got around to it. They're one of them.

it's hard to make an 80-minute CD of really good Talking Heads songs.

Very strongly disagree.

Sonic Youth is, IMO, the most overrated American band since the Doors. Outside of broad swaths of Daydream Nation, I find their music unlistenable. The music I like all has one thing in common - a gift for melody.

I think it might be more of a conscious choice to be un-melodic, but I understand your opinion. That said, if you enjoy Daydream Nation, you might like Rather Ripped, an album from 5-6 years ago that is probably the most melodic thing they've ever done.

I had no clue, but it seems you tried the same reference in a thread a few years back, as well as on McCovey Chronicles. :) A King Missile reference?

King Missile - "Pearl Jam Bought My Hair"

Amazingly this song is completely opaque to the Interwebz. No lyrics. No videos. No mp3s. Curse you, Al Gore! I just sent a note to my friend who provided me with the song on a compilation CD back in the 90s.

I guess it's my civic duty to get it posted on youtube somehow.

it's hard to make an 80-minute CD of really good Talking Heads songs.

Well, the movie Stop Making Sense (my favorite concert film ever) is 88 minutes long, and it's all terrific. Some of the runtime is technically Tom Tom Club songs, but there are good Talking Heads songs that aren't in there.

To be fair, I could probably listen to 80 minutes of Psycho Killer on a loop, so I might not be the best person for this project.

I think you can't underestimate the effect of the Eddie Vedder Vocal Style on this whole debate.....the dude completely reinvented rock vocals--suddenly you couldn't sing like Robert Plant or David Lee Roth any more--earnest baritone wailing was the new rule--and rock radio was made totally unlistenable starting sometime in the mid 1990s by the dominance of sludge-tempoed pseudo-Vedderian angst anthems.

Basically, Vedder ruined rock vocals. And, I mean, I even kinda like his stuff sometimes--gimmie enough beer and I might even admit my fondness for "Hunger Strike"....

Ehhh, there were lots of wannabe Kurt sound-alikes too. I don't think we should blame Eddie for all the bad copies, especially because he himself got away from the sludge-tempoed vocals pretty quickly.

That said, if you enjoy Daydream Nation, you might like Rather Ripped, an album from 5-6 years ago that is probably the most melodic thing they've ever done.

Hmmm. Might have to look for this one myself ... though I vastly prefer Sister to Daydream. Haven't paid attention to the band in forever, or whenever Murray Street came out.

Geez. I'm pretty sure you could make an 80-minute CD of really good THeads songs from just the first 3 albums alone.

One uninvited U.S. rock band per decade:
50s: Buddy Holly & the Crickets
60s: Sly & the Family Stone
70s: Cheap Trick
80s: Guns N Roses
90s: White Stripes

If Cheap Trick hasn't been mentioned before #161, they should've been. Those first 3 albums are something.

Geez. I'm pretty sure you could make an 80-minute CD of really good THeads songs from just the first 3 albums alone.

Hell, you don't even need the third one. The first two albums total 80:17 and are both really solid all the way through. If you don't like one of the songs, swap it out with "Love --> Building on Fire" from the first single.

The Talking Heads are a bit unusual in that their music sounds entirely of its time and yet hasn't seemed to age at all. Great, unique band.

Yep, Cheap Trick deserves consideration.

Hmmm. Might have to look for this one myself ... though I vastly prefer Sister to Daydream. Haven't paid attention to the band in forever, or whenever Murray Street came out.

Thinking of Sonic Youth, they almost always used their best or second best song to start off their albums.

Hell, you don't even need the third one. The first two albums total 80:17 and are both really solid all the way through. If you don't like one of the songs, swap it out with "Love --> Building on Fire" from the first single.

This is actually true. I was trying to think from the point of view of a skeptic like vortex.

Talking Heads are one of those bands where I feel like the big singles are not really their best work. "Pyscho Killer" is an outrageously good pop song. But most of my favorites are the unusual/funky ones like "Crosseyed and Painless" and "With Our Love." "Don't Worry About the Government."

Good point. My favorite Talking Heads song may well be "The Big Country," with "Don't Worry About the Government" a pretty close second.

I have tickets for the Beach Boys this summer, and my wife is getting me Iron Maiden tickets because they are playing on my birthday.....then I find out Radiohead is touring! So, I'm considering selling the BB tix, I can't afford three concert road trips this summer.

What's the closest Radiohead one to you, Boston?

The infamous CD. Nowhere near as much filler as I thought. I stand corrected...

Psycho Killer
Warning Sign
Found a Job
Take Me to the River
Mind
Life During Wartime
Memories Can't Wait
Heaven
Crosseyed and Painless
Once in a Lifetime
Burning Down the House
Girlfriend Is Better
This Must Be the Place (Naive Melody)
And She Was
Road to Nowhere
Love for Sale
Wild Wild Life
(Nothing But) Flowers

Biff have you listened to Wilson's Grace for Drowning? I've found it to come off a little too, I don't know, ambient for my taste with a few exceptions thus far.

I have. I enjoy it. It reminds me a lot of PT's The Sky Moves Sideways, which I enjoy a great deal. I think 'ambient' is a very good word for it. I'm going to throw out another random recommendation for you, too: Oceansize's Everyone Into Position. Try the songs "The Charm Offensive" and "Music for a Nurse" for two different sides of the band.

On a random note, since Mastodon got mentioned - why is it that Mastodon are a 'hipster approved' metal band?

Because Pitchfork raved about Leviathan.

On a random note, since Mastodon got mentioned - why is it that Mastodon are a 'hipster approved' metal band?

I have Crack the Skye and The Hunter. I like but don't love Crack the Skye, and haven't really formed an opinion on The Hunter yet.

Wouldn't Pitchfork be more likely to rave about any metal generally identified as "progressive"?

Wouldn't Pitchfork be more likely to rave about any metal generally identified as "progressive"?

I would say yes. Pitchfork loved Baroness' Red Album and Blue Record (8.5/10) or something like that. I was kind of shocked to see that. Generally, Pitchfork seems to top out at about 3/10 for metal bands.

Blue Record is great, btw...

King Missile - "Pearl Jam Bought My Hair"

Amazingly this song is completely opaque to the Interwebz. No lyrics. No videos. No mp3s. Curse you, Al Gore! I just sent a note to my friend who provided me with the song on a compilation CD back in the 90s.

MYSTERY EXPLAINED! It was either mislabeled on the comp CD or I mis copied it. The band is "Bongo Fury".

http://www.discogs.com/Bongo-Fury-Lord-Mongrel-Is-Dying/release/1729921

http://www.last.fm/music/Bongo+Fury/_/Pearl+Jam+Bought+My+Hair

I have. I enjoy it. It reminds me a lot of PT's The Sky Moves Sideways

Apropos of nothing, I recently listened to The Dark Side of the Moon for the first time in a very long time, and then this morning I listened to Russia on Ice, and damn was earlyish PT influenced by Floyd.

What's the closest Radiohead one to you, Boston?

Boston would be technically closer, but I was going to go to Montreal until I found it had sold out. Beach Boys it is.

Why do so many people disliek the Doors? Yes, they have their share of acid trips written as songs, but some of their stuff is truly great (ex. LA Woman, Break on Through, Riders on the Storm, Roadhouse Blues), and Ray Manzarek is, IMO, one of the most talented popular musicians of all time. I don;t think many people realize the difficulty in playing independent bass a keyboard lines simultaneously, and he also added lead vocals to that when JM was unable to take the stage.

Why do so many people disliek the Doors? Yes, they have their share of acid trips written as songs, but some of their stuff is truly great (ex. LA Woman, Break on Through, Riders on the Storm, Roadhouse Blues), and Ray Manzarek is, IMO, one of the most talented popular musicians of all time. I don;t think many people realize the difficulty in playing independent bass a keyboard lines simultaneously, and he also added lead vocals to that when JM was unable to take the stage.

From my own viewpoint, I like the Doors when only Krieger, Manzarek, and Densmore are audible. As an instrumental trio, they're quite good. My problem is wholly with Jim Morrison, whose overblown, pretentious twaddle masquerading as poetry is absolutely unbearable. When he sticks to something such as "Roadhouse Blues", he's fine, and I enjoy the music. But stuff like "The End", "Five to One", etc. - it's not just the overbearing pompousness of what he's singing, it's the doom-laden delivery that screams "I'm so deep and my message is so important!"

they have their share of acid trips written as songs

I sorta like "Stoned Immaculate." Though primarily I just like the standards (the same 4 Rants listed actually, I've never like Light My Fire much).

Morrison was certainly a pretentious twaddler, but I like that he sang in a low range. When I was a teen, I wanted to sound like Robin Zander, but I could never pull that off. At least I could sing along to a Doors album.

Same deal with Eddie Vedder, who temporarily ended the hegemony of the high-pitched shriekers.

Apropos of nothing, I recently listened to The Dark Side of the Moon for the first time in a very long time, and then this morning I listened to Russia on Ice, and damn was earlyish PT influenced by Floyd.

I don't know how far back you've gone into PT's catalog, but their really old stuff is very Floydian. Pink Floyd was definitely the primary influence as Wilson got started, then as they moved towards the Stupid Dream/Lightbulb Sun phase Radiohead seems influential (and The Bends gets namechecked in "Pure Narcotic"), then as they got into the heavier phase I hear Tool and Opeth coming in.

I don't know how far back you've gone into PT's catalog, but their really old stuff is very Floydian.

I picked up all the albums back through Stupid Dream, and then I got the 2-disc Stars Die compilation of the Delerium albums. That turns out to have been a good choice for me -- I like some of the early stuff, but mostly it's interesting to hear where they (he) started. Lightbulb Sun is the first album that really grabs me most of the way through.

as they moved towards the Stupid Dream/Lightbulb Sun phase Radiohead seems influential (and The Bends gets namechecked in "Pure Narcotic"), then as they got into the heavier phase I hear Tool and Opeth coming in.

And NIN maybe?

The other day listening to Blackest Eyes I was thinking that had it come out mid-90s it could have been a pretty big hit.

The infamous CD. Nowhere near as much filler as I thought. I stand corrected...

Psycho Killer
Warning Sign
Found a Job
Take Me to the River
Mind
Life During Wartime
Memories Can't Wait
Heaven
Crosseyed and Painless
Once in a Lifetime
Burning Down the House
Girlfriend Is Better
This Must Be the Place (Naive Melody)
And She Was
Road to Nowhere
Love for Sale
Wild Wild Life
(Nothing But) Flowers

um, i'd red pencil everything below 'once in a lifetime' and cherry pick from whatever is left from the first four albums. but that's just me. listening to just about any number from that time puts me in a very strange place. the stuff that got hot and made the charts is too, i don't know, silly for my tastes.