Vote for U2 on RS' 'Artist of the Decade' Poll

[gvox]

Ummmm, no they haven't...hence our talking about Kanye right now. It actually seems that a good number of people feel Kanye is worthy of being in the discussion. I'll say that I'm one of those people, by the way.

Dude, you're the one who asked to have him removed from the discussion.

It seems a bit silly and arbitrary to say that the artist of the decade has to be a hip hop artist.

No, it's not. It's based on what music, in general, ruled the decade.




Frankly, if Coldplay and/or Radiohead (to a lesser extent) is the "best" the rock genre has to offer....well that imo adds even more weight to my statement that the artist would most appropriately be hip hop.

I always laugh when Bono says that U2 was the number one band in a decade (the 80s) of really bad music so he's not sure how much of a compliment that is. I think that applies to the 00s far more appropriately, but then again I think the 80s were brilliant.

 

[lazarus]

The rest of that 70's discussion goes like this, though: Led Zeppelin had the greatest guitar ever, the greatest vocalist ever, the greatest drummer ever, and possibly the greatest bassist ever, IN THE SAME BAND.

Hendrix > Jimmy Page
McCartney, Entwistle > John Paul Jones
Plant is arguable
Bonham is arguable

 

[phillyfan26]

Moon > Bonham

 

[elevated_u2_fan]

Moon > Bonham

Spacemoon > all of us

 

[mikal]

the one thing that i've learned from this thread is that some people's opinions are indeed facts. congrats to those who qualify.

 

[Lancemc]

the one thing that i've learned from this thread is that some people's opinions are indeed facts. congrats to those who qualify.

Are we ever going to get past these sorts of comments on this fucking forum?

 

[mikal]

Are we ever going to get past these sorts of comments on this fucking forum?

shut up.

 

[Lancemc]

Ok.

 

[Salome]

I think this thread can best be described as "hahahaha hahaha ha"

keep up the good work

 

[Imperor]

Spacemoon > all of us

Finally something I can get behind in this thread.

There's really no way for me to get into this discussion without coming across as a Radiohead homer (which, let's be fair, I am). They've got my vote for this completely arbitrary and meaningless title given out by a magazine which loses even more of its relevance with each issue.


And on the topic of Opinion v. Fact, is it not pretty much implied just about every single one of our posts is our opinion, especially in a forum as subjective as B&C? There's no real point in having to put IMO after everything, and that's not only because every internet acronym other than GFY is lame. We know it's you're opinion.

If people still are sticks in the proverbial mud about it, an easy way it could be tempered is by trying to include phrases such as "I think" or "to me."

 

[Lancemc]

If people still are sticks in the proverbial mud about it, an easy way it could be tempered is by trying to include phrases such as "I think" or "to me."

I'm not doing that. Fuck you.

 

[Screwtape2]

I've been thinking about this topic and I've reached the conclusion that you almost have to break the decades in half. It's hard to find artists that were at the top of their game or even around through an entire decade. For example, The Police spanned the end of one decade and the first half of the next. Between 1980 and 1984 they were the top artist with two classic albums, influential music videos and songs that will be played for decades. There is no way U2 can fairly be considered the band of the 80's with that in mind. So when looking at this decade it might be better to give two titles for this it to represent the first and the second half.

 

[Lancemc]

We could get really progressive and break them into tenths.

 

[lazarus]

I don't know, The Police were only dominant into about the first third of 1984. Is there a way to get into the smaller fractions?

 

[Jive Turkey]

I dont know if its already been mentioned as I'm a little late to this discussion, but why is the original link so sketchy? No link back to Rolling Stone, seemingly random URL, and asking for an email address to email the results? Am I the only one that isnt comfortable giving my email address?

 

[Jive Turkey]

Oh, and on topic

Album of the decade: Fleet Foxes - Fleet Foxes
Song of the decade: The Walkmen - In the New Year
Band of the decade: Radiohead

 

[lazarus]

At this point for me it's looking like:

ARTIST
Radiohead
Super Furry Animals
Spoon

ALBUM:
Super Furry Animals, Rings Around the World
Bob Dylan, Love and Theft
Radiohead, Amnesiac

SONG*
The Arcade Fire, Rebellion (Lies)
LCD Soundsystem, All Your Friends
Radiohead, Pyramid Song


* if we're including ANYTHING, I would honestly have Mercock on here

 

[Imperor]

LCD Soundsystem, All Your Friends

B side?

 

[mikal]

sorry that my comment temporarily derailed this thread. it was actually intended as a lighthearted joke.

you fucks.

 

[coolian2]

I think this thread can best be described as "hahahaha hahaha ha"

keep up the good work

that's what i was thinking too.

 

[lazarus]

B side?

Where are YOUR friends tonight, shitbag?

 

[Irvine511]

nm.

 

[allbecauseofu2]

Eminem needs a little bit more respect. I mean he at least deserves to be in the conversation. I know that sometimes record sales don't mean something was good. It also doesn't mean if someone had alot of sales that you just automatically look past them to find some underground elite band just cause. Just saying he should be in the discussion. I know he took 5 years off but still had 3 huge albums and a 1 not quite as huge but still very strong album. Coldplay has the same amount of albums with no hiatus . Why don't they have 5 albums then? Actually he's about to release a 5th album this month supposedly. Plus what he's done with D12. Just think what he's done has at least earned him a place in the conversation. Not saying he's better then whats been suggested. But just a little surprised he hasn't been mentioned a bit more.

 

[coolian2]

Eminem needs a little bit more respect. I mean he at least deserves to be in the conversation. I know that sometimes record sales don't mean something was good. It also doesn't mean if someone had alot of sales that you just automatically look past them to find some underground elite band just cause.

since u2 have been discounted for the same reasons.....

 

[LemonMelon]

since u2 have been discounted for the same reasons.....

Personally, I discount them for writing Elevation.

 

[Imperor]

I absolutely don't disqualify Shuttlecock on account of their popularity. Penciling in Kanye and Radiohead as my personal choices proves that. They're massively popular. But if you really think Shuttlecock meant more to music (again, you have to look past just the tunes) this decade, you might need to put down the Kool Aid. The arguments for Kanye and Radiohead have already been laid out, so I'm not going to be redundant. But the impact they've made with their tunes, genre-hopping, and bringing about changes in the industry puts them head and shoulders above the rest. Notice I'm not including my beloved Wilco in the conversation as or My Morning Jacket they're too "underground," if we take the word to be indicative of their relevance with the general public. Although I do think MMJ's output probably trumps Kanye's and is likely my favorite 2000s discog outside of Radiohead.

Now this is probably going to be construed as "typical" anti-Shuttlecock vitriol from me, but it's really not. I just think it's silly to think they deserve the title because they've been going for three decades. They haven't made any huge waves in the industry this decade, with the possible exception of the innovation in this most recent tour.

 

[coolian2]

Personally, I discount them for writing Elevation.

that, and the rest of the songs from those two albums. regardless of the quality, they were (along with coldplay) practically the only band in the mainstream in the earlier part of this decade who weren't hip-hop and the sub-genres of that.

while i am totally, completely and utterly discounting u2 from the running on this - if you're going to give it to a traditional band, it's obviously coldplay - i don't think the notion of u2 being up there is as absurd as it seems. even if i think it's completely fucking bonkers. although i'm sure most of the people pimping for u2 haven't thought about it the way i have.

my vote still goes to kanye by the length of the straight. coldplay would probably be second. it definitely isn't a mark on their quality (although i do enjoy what kanye has done) but they've always been there, especially coldplay.

i'm lazy, so nobody try to argue with me because i probably won't be motivated to reply.

 

[lazarus]

The main problem I have with considering Cockplay is what the hell did they really accomplish? There's nothing they recorded that could even be considered fresh, let alone innovative or groundbreaking, unless you think some whispy fop on a piano is a refreshing change of pace. You can't just give it to a band for being popular and making good albums. Don't they have to have something unique that really defines them, and the decade they're representing? If Cockplay wasn't around then Travis would be bigger. Or Snow Patrol. Or one of those other bands.

When we talk about other "Artists of the Decade", whether it's The Beatles in the 60's, Zeppelin or Floyd in the 70's, Madonna, Shuttlecock or Prince in the 80's, or Radiohead or Kanye in the 00's, these artists are all larger than life. There's something about them in their look and sound that is theirs alone and very memorable. Cockplay isn't even close to hitting that kind of iconic level, and that's got to be a requirement.

 

[The Sad Punk]

Eminem's massive presence in the first three or four years of this decade is, to me, almost enough to certify his position as artist of the decade. If you want big, I don't think there's been bigger this decade.

 

[intedomine]

If Cockplay wasn't around then Travis would be bigger. Or Snow Patrol. Or one of those other bands

Travis


It's not so much that Coldplay wrote something musically "fresh", it's just that both their success and consideration as artist of the decade is derived as seeming fresh. I find Coldplay particularly refreshing in that their was nothing "bad-ass" or "hip" or subculturally-appealing about them at all when they hit supernova with AROBTTH, yet they still enchanted millions with some truly beautiful songs. I still don't think they can be considered though.

U2 can't be considered I reckon. Sure they were big, but I'd say that their success and resonance is for the most part leveraged from the massive success they had prior to the decade. ATYCLB, HTDAAB and NLOTH are not grand enough an output, particularly the auto-pilot '04 album release, for U2 to be considered.

Music industry has fragmented too much this decade for anyone to stand out.