MegaSack DRAW - This year's winner is user - rgwb
We will be in touch
So, bands that have been consistently great throughout their careers or had a renaissance.
Chemical Brothers. Still enjoy their new material 20 years after their debut.
Underworld. Barbara Barbara a real return to form. Karl Hydes work with Brian Eno really good as well.
Damon Albarn. Never a really a Blur fan until Think Tank but lots of stuff from Gorillaz, Good, the bad. Africa Express, Mali Music, DRC music, production on Tony Allen. So much interesting work.
Gruff Rhys. Somehow completely missed the SFA though the 90's (got into them through his solo work) but all his projects are interesting.
Having listened to OK Computer and realising Radiohead are depressing to then seeing them mesmerise the crowd at Glastonbury truly stunned me.
They have stayed true and have a loyal following for that.
Oh and to top it off Phil Selway is a top bloke! 😉
ABBA.
Half Man Half Biscuit.
The Beatles.
Zappa.
NOFX- First Ditch Effort was an awesome album. Much more polished and better recording quality, yet kept some of the punk roots. Lovely.
Future To The Left- A Peace & Truce Of.. was also a fantastic album. Just carried on the weirdness.
Clutch, going since 1990 and still cranking out some quality riffage, with their last 2 albums containing some of their best.
Case in point:
The Doors!
Opinions vary over The Soft Parade, which some don't like but I rate. BUT L.A. Woman is on a par with, if not better than their first album.
New Model Army. Formed 1980, only the lead singer Justin Sullivan remains of the original line-up.
Hardly heard of n the mainstream but still touring to large audiences - especially in Europe (see the recent Woodstock festival in Poland) - and releasing new albums, they're a hard band to pigeon-hole. Not metal, not punk, continually evolving.
Any of those still going Rusty? 😉
Radiohead, yup.
Underworld
Jay-Z is on his 15th or so album and still damn good
deUS 10th album was still great. 2012, so not sure if any more coming
there may be a few more, but I'm fickle 8)
The Wedding Present
The joke being that all the songs sound the same, but really they don't and they've put out some brilliant albums in the last 10 years that are quite a contrast to their original 'C86' jangly guitar sound.
I mean they can still do that and live they're still great, but to paraphrase John Peel "The boy Gedge continues to write some of the best love songs of the Rock ‘n’ Roll Era. You may dispute this, but I’m right and you’re wrong!"
The most STW song of all time?
I would have said Clutch, but beaten to it.
Modest Mouse, Manchester Orchestra, Queens of the Stone Age and The Shins for me. I also think Ugly Duckling and DJ Format are still great. Mainly because what they do hasn't really changed and if it ain't broke and all that.
Tool, just get better admittedly it's been 7 years since the last album but Maynard has kept it going with his side projects
Duh, how could i forget - Iggy. No not Izalea 😡
Dinosaur Jr's comeback stuff was pretty strong. It possibly doesn't stand out as anything special, because 1000 bands were influenced by Dinosaur in the interim, but it's consistently good.
+1 for QotSA - although I'd have said more of a return to form then a staying good IMHO, sounded like they were running out of steam prior to Like Clockwork, which was superb.
ABBA.
Half Man Half Biscuit.
The Beatles.
Zappa.
Possibly arguable, as three out of the four no longer exist, but HMHB just keep turning out great, really funny songs with such well observed lyrics.
And I've got tickets to see them in Bath.
I'd second Blur as well, The Magic Whip was a surprisingly good album considering how long they'd been apart, and live at the IoW Festival they were blisteringly good, Albarn is such a good frontman.
Looking forward to seeing The Shins at Greenman this weekend, looks like I'll be able to see them, Sleaford Mods and Peej one after the other with minimal overlap! Result. 😀
Possibly arguable, as three out of the four no longer exist
Adds CZ to list.
Punches Kate Bush doll and decides to frown at old people at Biscuit gigs.
Belle and Sebastian have pretty much turned out decent stuff throughout. see also:
Ride
Spiritualised
Wedding present (as noted)
PJ Harvey
The Fall
Beck
Most have done quite a bit of material and give or take a few (probably lots for the fall) of ropey songs they have kept things moving and changed styles and are still making credible stuff.
Black Sabbath.
They were great. They are still great.
**** me it's Fred Titmus.
Dinosaur Jr's a good one. Bit like the Wedding Present , I suspect (not listened to them since I bought Kennedy on 12"!) - same formula over the years, but just great songs . Love em.
Nine Below Zero. Awesome in the early 1980's, still smashing it out now.
Deftones one of the only bands that I have 100% enjoyed every album.
I say the Damned, brilliant then awful now very respectable again and seem to be constantly touring.
If only they would dump Eloise etc from the live show.
[b]Magma[/b]/Christian Vander. Still serving up surprises with groundbreaking virtuosity and intensity since the late 60s.
[b]Motorpsycho[/b] go from strength to strength the last two recent LPs are both stunning IMO
Same goes for [b]Elder[/b]
Nile Rodgers*/Chic still singlehandedly making Glastonbury an event worth seeing.
*hope he's OK/get well soon :/
Black Sabbath.They were great. They are still great.
Now I'm a massive Sabbath fan, but really? All their best material came out in the space of about 4 years starting in 1970! Nothing since Technical Ecstasy has really come close to the good stuff.
The only bands/artists I can think of that really haven't got worse with time it's either because they died/gave up/haven't had time to get shit yet.
The ones that do keep putting out good music seem to put stuff out incredibly infrequently - maybe putting out too many records just bleeds the fun out of it and you start producing crap.
Beck, love the way his music has evolved and how it's influenced by events in his life (Sea Change being the main one).
Same with Damon Albarn too, You could see and hear how his music was maturing with Blur and his solo stuff.
Happy to see hmhb with multiple commendations.
I'm stuck for more to add really. Did the Smiths put out a bad record? Tom Waits? Though I've paid little attention to him in recent years and actually had to check her wasn't dead before posting...
ps44 -
Nine Below Zero
Sometimes it's hard to tell who is serious...
Iron Maiden
Neurosis
Clutch, sorta (Earth Rocker was awesome but their last one left me cold).
Unsane
YOB
there's loads
ZZ Top
I'd echo the comments about Beck and Damon Albarn. I'd also add King Creosote, Steve Mason, Edgar Jones, Johnny Marr, Chuck D, Gaz Coombs and The Charlatans.
Bob Mould and all his bands.
No filler at all.
Elouise is the only dammed tune i could listen to
Ryan Adams
Not a band but hey.
Mark Lanegan
Afghan Whigs
Posies
Adds CZ to list.
Punches Kate Bush doll and decides to frown at old people at Biscuit gigs.
😆
Poor Kate!
''Tis true, though the other three are essentially timeless. At the last Biscuit gig I went to in Bath, there was a mosh pit started at the front, pretty much entirely made up of men 'of a certain age', shall we say.
I frowned, a lot!
And I'm a man of a certain age, and I'm [i]really[/i] too damned old to be behaving like that!
Mark Lanegan
Can't argue with that, very grumpy man, though.
Elouise is the only dammed tune i could listen to
Rather atypical, it's a Barry Ryan song.
New orbital tracks are awesome.
Now I'm a massive Sabbath fan, but really? All their best material came out in the space of about 4 years starting in 1970! Nothing since Technical Ecstasy has really come close to the good stuff.The only bands/artists I can think of that really haven't got worse with time it's either because they died/gave up/haven't had time to get shit yet.
The ones that do keep putting out good music seem to put stuff out incredibly infrequently - maybe putting out too many records just bleeds the fun out of it and you start producing crap.
13 is brilliant. As is Heaven and Hell. I'm not so familiar with the stuff in between though.
Calexico
The Dears
Belly
I wouldn't say 13 is brilliant but it's pretty good but..
Black Sabbath
Paranoid
Masters of Reality
Vol 4
Sabotage
remain some of the best music ever published by rock bands.
most of the other stuff is dross but a few highlights on Technical Ecstasy, Heaven and Hell and Never Say Die.
But for a bunch of very old blokes 13 remains decent rather than amazing.
Lifelong Sabbath fan.
Eels
Good shout on Beck.loads already mentioned but Prince (i know,i,know), Aphex Twin , QOTSA, Björk, Tribe called Quest, Brian eno, Squarepusher, Nick Cave, Animal collective/ Panda Bear, Tom Waits, LCD although didn't like the new single
Eh? QOTSA get worse with every release. SFTD was great, but it's been dramatically downhill since.
Again, lots of Bands nobody but you lot have ever heard of..
Except Sabbath and Abba 😆
Now I'm a massive Sabbath fan, but really? All their best material came out in the space of about 4 years starting in 1970! Nothing since Technical Ecstasy has really come close to the good stuff.
Yeah, you're right I guess. 13 was pretty good though...
Another vote for Clutch.
Machine Head are seem to produce the odd ropey album but follow it up with sonething good; Locust was a proper turkey of an album but Bloodstones sees them back on form.
Someone mentioned the Deftones, but I've struggled with their albums since Atound the Fur.
Nick Cave and Bjork! Good call(s). Jack White... maybe - hoping for a return to form after Lazaretto was a bit meh.
[i]Again, lots of Bands nobody but you lot have ever heard of[/i]
All very mainstream on this thread.
Changing that though, as it won't mean much to many - Alex Smoke. Consistently great electronicy maestro Scottish fella. Loads of strings to his bow too.
Couple of Brit rapper/grimey types - Wiley and Roots Manuva.
bikebouy - Member
Again, lots of Bands nobody but you lot have ever heard of..
I genuflect at the altar of your infinite coolness. 😉
Eh? QOTSA get worse with every release. SFTD was great, but it's been dramatically downhill since.
SFTD was an atypical blip. Take that out and they've maintained the same sort of quality throughout. (Although I think Era Vilgaris is dreadful and Like Clockwork a masterpiece! 😀 )
Maiden are an obvious, were great, went a bit iffy, but are back being great in an Iron Maiden way.
as said, mew model army are a constant, great live, not too much of a fan myself but mrs wookie loves them.
Gary Numan, still producing great music and excellent live.
Radiohead have quite a sound. have morphed into the kinda experimental 'moving with technology' type band, but do it well, and again, live leaves you with a warm and fuzzy melancholy.
Nick Cave is getting better with age in my eyes.
SFTD was an atypical blip. Take that out and they've maintained the same sort of quality throughout. (Although I think Era Vilgaris is dreadful and Like Clockwork a masterpiece! )
The self-titled debut was good, as was Rated R, but anything after SFTD is a waste of time. It's sad as I loved Kyuss, and Homme is a very talented musician, but he clearly needed that input from Oliveiri to make decent music.
ps44 - Member
Nine Below Zero. Awesome in the early 1980's, still smashing it out now.
Just trying to find Young Ones clip, and bloody BBC have blocked every single one on You Tube. "This video contains content from BBC Worldwide, who has blocked it in your country on copyright grounds".
I pay the licence fee that pays for it and can't view it. Outside the UK it is likely available to watch! 👿
QOTSA, Nick Cave, PJ Harvey I would definitely agree with. I would also add Mogwai, Aphex Twin and Coldcut.
Jay Z really? He would top of my "stay bad, always bad" thread along with many other bad hip hop and r'n'b acts. Tribe Called Quest for me should be added to the "good" list.
The self-titled debut was good, as was Rated R, but anything after SFTD is a waste of time. It's sad as I loved Kyuss, and Homme is a very talented musician, but he clearly needed that input from Oliveiri to make decent music.
I think all their stuff is ace, but would totally disagree with this. If anything their music has been more focused (probably for various reasons) since Oliveiri was sacked.
The two new tracks of the new album for me are proof of this. They just keep getting musically better.
What's the first Clutch album i should listen to?
Very hard to stay relevant when the money rolls in and the accountants get involved. Edgy brilliant fresh 1st album. 2nd polished well produced but still relevant mega seller. 3rd and onwards commercial over produced banal sh!te.
when the money rolls in and the [s]accountants[/s] [b]drugs[/b] get involved
FTFY
Yes definitely Nick Cave.
A shame to discount Zappa back up there simply because he's dead. He was a genius from beginning to end (which seems to me to be what the thread title means) and still would be now if he was alive.
Agree [b]Deftones[/b] still produce great songs. [b]Gore[/b] is fantastic.
I still like [b]The Darkness[/b] , some recent stuff is great rock.
An old favourite of mine [b] Magnum[/b] are still going strong and releasing good music.
bikebouy - Member
Again, lots of Bands nobody but you lot have ever heard of..Except Sabbath and Abba
Eh? There's lots mentioned that are very definitely mainstream, only a very few I'm not that familiar with, but then, whenever I'm forced to listen to Radio 1, I very rarely hear anyone I actually know.
And that goes for the national charts!
Has anyone mentioned Bruce Springsteen yet?
Consistently good.
Well, consistent.
when the money rolls in and the accountants drugs get involved
I'd argue that in some cases the music deteriorated when the bands got clean
What's the first Clutch album i should listen to?
I'd say Blast Tyrant is a good place to start. It's got some of the heaviness of their earlier work, but the groove and blues influences are starting to appear. I'm a fan of all their stuff though. Each album is a bit different, but still sounds like them.
Their singer is a brilliant, surreal lyricist and has a belting voice. The best description I've heard of him is 'a possessed preacher with the voice of ten men"
If you start with Electric Worry as a single and then try Blast Tyrant you'll know if you like them or not. I see them as a history of rock music in one band. Possibly my favourite band too and brilliant live.
Cheers 🙂
Clutch have an awesome drummer as well: He really provides a strong groove.
I'd also recommend Earth Rocker, but Blast Tyrant is great, too "Please allow me to adjust my pants so I may dance the good time dance" 
Marillion
Pearl Jam.
still moving me:-)
Motorhead
AC/DC
New Order & Depeche Mode, still squeezing out good stuff.
Got to agree with Rumbledumps and his choice of The Afghan Whigs ..the last two albums are stunning ..( In Spades / Do To The Beast) ..currently touring the UK
Released yesterday ..Steven Wilson's new album "To The Bone "..possibly the best work he has released certainly as a solo artist ..and I'm a fan of Blackfield & Porcupine Tree ..not so much No Man .
Killing Joke.