On The Beatles. In the past year I've gone through each and every album and listened to them to death. What have I learned? They produced more "great" albums in less than 10 years than some bands would ever hope to in a 40 year span. Not only that but I am not tired of them... you'd think just about any band you listen to as much as I did The Beatles would become boring. I still go back and listen to tracks over again, and sometimes keep a single album of theirs in my car on repeat for weeks. Not to mention how each member was so gifted and disciplined at all they did, you can hear each and every one of them (even Ringo) contribute to each song. Also, they never overdid it.. aside from a few later pieces they stuck to keeping their songs at about 2 minutes. You don't think "man this song drags on" really on many of their songs. At the end you are hungry for it to keep going. It's the right balance of making you feel satisfied but still wanting to hear more.

I could go on, but who wants to read a 10 page essay on how good they were.

On The Kinks. They have a great quirky sound. I like their up and down beats and folkier sounding stuff.

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I could listen to side 2 of Abbey Road every day for the rest of my life.

I admit I'm not as fanatical as their early stuff (pre-Rubber Soul)

Oh, I'd read that essay, btw.

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Do not bore me with such trite cliches. For I have you in my clutches, and should I choose, I could snuff out your insignificant lives in an instant.

I've been meaning to write one for a while now. I might as well write it. I'm not the best writer, but I'm good at analyzing so I'd read it if I wasn't me.

Abbey Road... the whole medley is just amazing. Golden Slumbers has got to be one of the greatest ballads of all time. I get chills every time I hear it. My favorite album is Help!. I love I've Just Seen A Face, Tell Me What You See, and Hide Your Love Away. I think what I find interesting about it is it's such a transition. They shifted from more Buddy Holly style stuff to showing more of their own style. After Help! came more unique and intricate albums. I am a fan of all their stuff, but my least favorite was the Sgt Pepper/Magical Mystery Tour era.

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For me:

1. Abbey Road
2. White Album
3. Sgt. Pepper's
4. Revolver
5. Rubber Soul
Then the rest...


Did you get the remasters that came out 2 years ago? I coveted that mono box set for a while. Eventually I downloaded the flac files for it.

I would love to find an affordable vinyl copy of the White Album in mono.

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Do not bore me with such trite cliches. For I have you in my clutches, and should I choose, I could snuff out your insignificant lives in an instant.

Hey guys. I thought Foo Fighters would be one 'modern band' no one had anything bad to say about. In a world where we don't really have a 'post-grunge' straight rock standard bearer that people can agree on...and I mean bands like Kings of Leon or what, My Morning Jacket, there just really hasn't been what I'd call a 'rock band' without some kind of flaw whether imagined or overblown or whatever.
And re: Beatles, people don't have to love them, but it always blows me away people who actively dislike them. Believe it or not, I know a guy. Certain tracks or albums don't work for me, Rubber Soul, I'm kinda looking at you, but by and large the Beatles were in some cases jamming like 3 distinct movements into a song that a 'lesser' band would've been so glad to chop into 3 or even 4 tracks.
You guys have any thoughts on that modern rock standard bearer? Any good candidates?

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This was the world that I had created. I know what I have to do to fix it...to make things right. There's no problem that can't be solved.

I usually disdain what my local rag's reviewer puts up as his "Critic's Pick" every week. You know the stuff that says "Look maaaaaaaaan, I know so much more about music than you. You listen to music but you don't hear it."

Here's my list:

Jazz --Pretty much all of it. Yes there are some exceptions--can't think of any right now. Somebody could probably say "what about this, what about that?" I would probably say "Yeah, I like that" and eventually come up with a long list, but I would still say that I don't like jazz.

Neil Young --I have tried this guy and tried this guy, because people/magazines/whatever are always talking about him. He has some cool riffs and of course I like Cinnamon Girl and Rocking in the Free World, but I just can't get past his voice I guess.

Sonic Youth --Always listed by bands as influential, they are just too "noisy" for me maybe.

Wilco --Boring, banal, and critically acclaimed.

Tom Waits --So many of my friends love this guy. Yechhhhh. I find him pretentious to the extreme.

Elvis Costello --Another artist whom I like several songs by. But I just don't think he deserves the reverence in which he is usually held.

Just my opinions. Please check your flamethrowers at the door if you disagree with anything.

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Well, Neil is an all-time favorite of mine. But if you don't like a singers voice, there's really no remedy. I have friends who don't like the Smashing Pumpkins for the same reason.

I went through an Elvis Costello phase a while back. I managed to pick up a large chunk of his discography on the cheap.
Now, I do believe his first album and, to a lesser extent, his second album are fantastic.
I'd be surprised if someone actively disliked his first album.
But the thing with Costello for me is: it is a damn shame his musical prime happened in the 80s. Every album he released sounds like the 80s. And I mean that in a bad way, btw.

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Do not bore me with such trite cliches. For I have you in my clutches, and should I choose, I could snuff out your insignificant lives in an instant.

Neil Young I like pretty hard, and Costello is pretty cool in doses as well. But I second the rest of Reds' list of 'don't gets' I dropped a jazz history class in school that would've been a slam dunk grade cause the listening just wasn't that fun for me. And I have one Waits song that snuck onto my Ipod and everytime it comes on he freaking scares me.

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This was the world that I had created. I know what I have to do to fix it...to make things right. There's no problem that can't be solved.

I love jazz, but obviously not everyone does. I think I enjoy it because I studied it so much in Music Theory in college.

Neil Young is great for his song writing IMO. I agree, it's hard to like someone if you hate their voice. Ben Gibbard comes to my mind.

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Alice in Chains, perhaps?