After U2, who´s next?

[Mogi]

U2 has been king of the mountain for quite a while. Probably the best band of our generation and top 5 of all time.
But when the curtain falls, who could take their place?
Coldplay, The Killers, The Arcade Fire?
Or possibly Muse?

I am wondering at this point if Muse could be on target to do so, even though they have such a small American audience.

While quite different than U2, they seem to have some things going in their favor:

1. a great amount of emotional and epic songs that beg to be played in front of a stadium crowd.

2. Quite political and thought provoking lyrics.

3. A definite progression of musical growth and maturity. ONly 4 albums and they probably have a catalog of about 20 songs that could be considered great.

4. Jaw-dropping live performances.

I´m not trying to carry the Muse flag or anything, just giving my take on it.

So any ideas?

 

[vaz02]

Snow patrol.

They seem to have earned the respect to deserve such a role , then again so has muse.

Snow patrol have my vote.

 

[Canadiens1131]

Neither Muse nor Snow Patrol have broken through to the mainstream North American market. We'll see if either band can.

 

[Zoots]

Neither Muse nor Snow Patrol have broken through to the mainstream North American market. We'll see if either band can.

Yeah exactly! I'd say The Killers have a much better chance as it stands right now.

 

[Axver]

No-one. The nature of the industry has changed.

 

[Ifeelnumb84]

Muse should be.
They have the slow and the fast, the soft side AND the metal side, and even the classical piano side.
Their songs are incredibly original, but also have influence from bands like Queen, Pink Floyd, U2, and (I guess) a little bit of Radiohead.
Songs like Map of the Problematique, Stockholm Syndrome, and Knights of Cydonia can (and I think will) blow the roofs off of American stadiums and arenas in the near future (assuming that they have roofs).
Their drummer is absolutely amazing.
Their stage presence is excellent. Their background visuals are awesome, but not over the top.
They have the musical range of a band like U2. They can play a song like Citizen Erased or Assassin, but also a song like Soldiers' Poem (a la U2 with, say, Mofo and The Sweetest Thing.
So, Muse is a very worthy candidate. The interest in America isn't here yet, but I think it can be soon. Most of this country might point to a band like RHCP to be the next to carry the torch, and I'm not saying they won't.
But Muse is awesome, and I hope they can rise to this level in areas other than Europe.

 

[BVS]

http://forum.interference.com/showthread.php?s=&threadid=162330&highlight=biggest+band+next

 

[Windmilllane]

No one.

Rock is dead. It's all about hip-hop and bling-bling. BIATCH

 

[JCOSTER]

Snow patrol.

They seem to have earned the respect to deserve such a role , then again so has muse.

Snow patrol have my vote.

Me too, thats who I first thought of.

 

[Zoots]

No one.

Rock is dead. It's all about hip-hop and bling-bling. BIATCH

Seriously!

 

[ozeeko]

Not to sound cliched, but Radiohead is presently the BIG thing in rock. I can't think of any other band right now capable of stealing the throne. Maybe that's because every other band is either conventional pop-rock, whiney emo-rock, or disgusting simpleminded metal. That's what I see out there anyway. The Killers (who i dislike) have already peaked, then again U2 did have their October period. But what I'm saying is that U2's failures remain more interesting than any other band's success out there right now. Even Muse....come on have they seriously recorded anything that has topped Radiohead yet? And no one dare bring up the Red Hot Chili Peppers. They peaked in the early 90's and have gone steadily downhill with each passing album.

 

[Iskra]

Its not who can - it's who WANTS to.
Who WANTS it?
Everyone acts so humble.
Pearl Jam shunned fame as did Nirvana.
U2 always knew they wanted it and said it outright.
I think it is quite obvious that U2 will take the mantle.
Not that our four boys will be giving it up any time soon.

 

[BVS]

Pearl Jam shunned fame as did Nirvana.

Not true, Nirvana actually embraced the media more than any other "grunge" band out there, Kurt just didn't know how to handle it.

 

[BVS]

Not to sound cliched, but Radiohead is presently the BIG thing in rock.

Radiohead lacks the charisma...

 

[dietcokeofevil]

Justin Timberlake

 

[Zoots]

Radiohead lacks the charisma...

Yeah.. as much as I love Radiohead, I agree that they don't have that crowd pleasing quality that a band of U2's stature need. And like somebody here once said, their music is missing the hip shaking/sexy element that say, a song like Mysterious Ways has.

 

[geeman]

No one.

Rock is dead. It's all about hip-hop and bling-bling. BIATCH

for Rizzle !

 

[ozeeko]

Who said the next big thing has to have a frontman as charasmatic as Bono? There will only be one Bono. Bono does Bono better than anyone else. I think Thom Yorke is charasmatic in a completely different way. He's more withdrawn and he has a wicked sense of humor. Not to mention he's a crazy, spastic performer (if you've ever seen him live), and he's constantly writing songs and has a unique way with lyrics and melodies. Also, the rest of the band individualy bring something to the table on every song. There's a sense of a band really working together creatively to come up with something extraordinary and new. If you crave your frontmen to be Bono-ish, then be happy with Scott Stapp and Chris Martin.

 

[xaviMF22]

sadly I think it will be Coldplay

 

[BVS]

Who said the next big thing has to have a frontman as charasmatic as Bono? There will only be one Bono. Bono does Bono better than anyone else. I think Thom Yorke is charasmatic in a completely different way. He's more withdrawn and he has a wicked sense of humor. Not to mention he's a crazy, spastic performer (if you've ever seen him live), and he's constantly writing songs and has a unique way with lyrics and melodies. Also, the rest of the band individualy bring something to the table on every song. There's a sense of a band really working together creatively to come up with something extraordinary and new. If you crave your frontmen to be Bono-ish, then be happy with Scott Stapp and Chris Martin.

Think of all the big bands in RnR history and name one that didn't have charisma. It has nothing to do with being like Bono.

 

[ozeeko]

Think of all the big bands in RnR history and name one that didn't have charisma. It has nothing to do with being like Bono.

I guess it depends on your idea of charisma. I have a more liberal view of front-man charisma. It doesn't have to involve jumping off the stage, or climbing the scafolding, or making long speeches, wearing a dress, etc. etc. I think Thom Yorke is charismatic in his own special way, in the way it seems the music is possessing him.

But when referring to who the next big thing will be...I'm also taking the music by itself into consideration. Pink Floyd was one of the biggest bands in history, and they lacked a traditional charasmatic front man. It was all about the music. What I'm trying to say is, an extremely charasmatic front man doesn't have to be included in the package of the next big band on earth.

 

[xaviMF22]

I guess it depends on your idea of charisma. I have a more liberal view of front-man charisma. It doesn't have to involve jumping off the stage, or climbing the scafolding, or making long speeches, wearing a dress, etc. etc. I think Thom Yorke is charismatic in his own special way, in the way it seems the music is possessing him.

But when referring to who the next big thing will be...I'm also taking the music by itself into consideration. Pink Floyd was one of the biggest bands in history, and they lacked a traditional charasmatic front man. It was all about the music. What I'm trying to say is, an extremely charasmatic front man doesn't have to be included in the package of the next big band on earth.

yea but you see Radiohead don't want to be next big band,
they don't to be big like U2 is they could have been a big rock band but chose not to be.
its like Thom said it is all ridiculous

 

[LyricalDrug]

Kanye West. The guy is a musical genius.

 

[ozeeko]

yea but you see Radiohead don't want to be next big band,
they don't to be big like U2 is, its like Thom said it is all ridiculous

No one wants to be as big as U2, except for U2 themeselves, as they constantly try to prove time and time again.

There have been many reluctant front-men in rock history. I wouldn't say it's a bad thing. They'd just rather perform and write great music the rest of their lives, and not get caught up in all the tabloid bullshit. Examples of this type would be Kurt Cobain, Jim Morrison, Maynard James Keenan, Michael Stipe...the list goes on.

 

[BVS]

I guess it depends on your idea of charisma. I have a more liberal view of front-man charisma. It doesn't have to involve jumping off the stage, or climbing the scafolding, or making long speeches, wearing a dress, etc. etc. I think Thom Yorke is charismatic in his own special way, in the way it seems the music is possessing him.

But when referring to who the next big thing will be...I'm also taking the music by itself into consideration. Pink Floyd was one of the biggest bands in history, and they lacked a traditional charasmatic front man. It was all about the music. What I'm trying to say is, an extremely charasmatic front man doesn't have to be included in the package of the next big band on earth.

Yes charisma comes in different forms. Be it Steven Tyler's babbling and sexual inuendos, Micheal Stipe's quircky sense of humor, or Pink Floyd's out there stage shows. For it's not always about the front man. And as talented as Thom is, he and the rest of Radiohead are just boring as twigs during interviews or on stage. Musically they blow most bands out of the water, but sometimes it takes more. That's all I'm saying.

 

[powerhour24]

No-one. The nature of the industry has changed.

Agreed.

Not to mention the people you mention are way to pop to be put in the same league as U2, U2 are popular, but they're also credited artistically for being innovative and constantly changing.

The Killers? The only thing changing about them is that their sophomore album was an obvious riff (in this case is riff short for rip-off?) on Bruce Springsteen that not very many are embracing.

 

[coemgen]

Killers are crap.

I'd have to say Coldplay. They're following the U2 book pretty closely. I'm expecting a reinvention of sorts, similar to that of U2 every three albums.

Then, there's always MuteMath.

 

[Aygo]

No-one. The nature of the industry has changed.

Exactily!

If there will be another band qith such strenght, charisma and so enigmatic and mind-changing as U2? Yes, but none of the "new/actual" bands will be like that, because none of them are enough daring and none of them presented anything 100% different from what has been made before.
Plus, all of them have lots of trouble - mainly, because of the state of the present industry - about breaking the US market and to be sucessful worldwide.

Coldplay can be the next one (only because the media has been pushing them to that status - and lately The Killers, Snow Patrol too), but they still have tones and tones of work to do, lots of tears to sweat, and their next album will have to be big, daring, indepedent (in terms of sonority - not to copy/paste anyone) and finally... to throw an arrow in the americans, more or less the same way the made it with "Speed of sound". Plus, the band must change their atittude and Chris Martin has gotta stop from being a sissy and to make stupid publicity and statements, because that won't help.

 

[BVS]

No one wants to be as big as U2, except for U2 themeselves, as they constantly try to prove time and time again.

BS, just look as far as Green Day to see that.

Examples of this type would be Kurt Cobain, Jim Morrison, Maynard James Keenan, Michael Stipe...the list goes on.

The only one I'll give you is Maynard. The rest are geniuses when it comes to pulling off the reluctant but I'll step up front man.

In fact I don't even think I would put Jim in that category, he had moments of doubt but that's it. Constantly posing with shirt off, flirting with interviewers, climbing all over the place.

Kurt was brilliant at working the media, brilliant at working the stage. There was a reason Nirvana was all over MTV, magazine covers, etc and it wasn't just because they were good. A lot of great bands have never had a magazine cover.

 

[xaviMF22]

I'm telling you it will be coldplay