How broad are your musical tastes??

Being a pretty old guy (61) compared to most of you, I can't imagine life without any of the genres of music. I have a good sized collection of Baroque, chamber music, old & new rock/pop, reggae, bluegrass/newgrass, folk, and jazz. It's been my observation that about 80% of all rock/pop is utterly forgettable. The stuff that endures doesn't seem to fit any particular formula.
One of the enduring truths that I see is that rock music is and always has been by and for youth. The Stones are the perfect example of people my age not looking in the mirror and realizing that they ain't what's happening any more...God, they're embarrassing. In their day, they made some of the best stuff out there, but , unlike the Beatles & Led Zep, they didn't know when to quit.
Of course, that's just my opinion...I could be wrong.

Anything from Bach to Busta

So far, all you can say is "Its not talent that makes good music, its creating something unheard of, or revolutionary", and I agree, but what is revolutionary out there? And generally, it takes talent to do something revolutionary. Atleast something that sticks around.

JG,

Not many people learn stairway to heaven in one day, or even a week. I still don't know all of it, and I doubt alot of people play the solo. Theres a difference in playing a riff, and a whole song. BIG difference.

SheepStar

EDIT: Posto numero two thousand....o

Geno said:

One of the enduring truths that I see is that rock music is and always has been by and for youth.

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I totally disagree with this. This is only true because most old farts let it become true. I have no intention of ever NOT listening to what is current and enjoying it. I admit I still love the music I grew up with, but there are an awful lot of talented bands out there now that I enjoy.

I made a promise to myself in HS to not become my parents and miss out on what is current.

FYI, I'm 49.

Most of what I listen to is very hard. Not death metal but hard. No matter what type of music it is usualy the harder the better. That being said I will not discount any music.

I love dark emotional music. The funny thing is it doesn't put me in a bad or deperessed mood. The most important thing for me is to translate emotion. Happy, Sad, Anger, Remorse, Humor, Love, Hate... It's all good!

Sheep,

Talent is not something one can pin down easily.

Miles Davis was as interested in the notes that were not played as the ones that were.

Elvis could barely play two cords...

Most drummers can learn to play anything Ringo Starr recorded for release in less than an hour. Ringo may be capable of playing anything Neil Peart can play, maybe he just hasn't recorded it for the public to hear.

Love your enthusiasim!!!

Anti-Sheeps,

Talent is not something one can pin down easily.

Talent does not equate to recording contracts and recording contracts don't always generate money for the musician or the label. (lawyers on the other hand...)

Timing and fads has more to do with getting signed but talent helps.

Love your enthusiasim!!!

All,

I would love to find some classical and jazz music. I find it mind numbing to look for. There is just way to much I don't like. As for classical I like Beethoven's work and the heavy stuff in movie sound tracks. (Gladiator/ Starwars) As for jazz I like big band and Brubeck.

Is there any heavy metal jazz???

P.S. Longevity has something to do with talent and timing and managment.

Hey, Shadow Ferret:
I didn't mean to imply that I don't like new rock music, just that live performances by groups and individual artists that are way past their prime are begging for ridicule from the "Now Generation". I, too, keep an open mind when listening to the new groups. There's plenty of great stuff being made now, and plenty of gawdawful stuff, too...just like it's always been. I just cringe when watching the '50s, '60s artists with the bad combovers and giant beerbellies trying to milk it for the cash.
Two of my favorite artists that haven't become caricatures are Eric Clapton and Mark Knopfler. They've aged gracefully and can still put out outstanding music.
But again, that's just my opinion...I could be wrong

I'll agree with that. For example, once again the Superbowl has a boring SAFE act for it's halftime show, last year McCartney, this year the Stones (which is kind of funny because they were the original Bad Boys of rock).

And not all old farts are sucking now. Tony Iommi of Sabbath has put out some really nice solo efforts recently.

STRONGBADF1 said:

Most of what I listen to is very hard. Not death metal but hard. No matter what type of music it is usualy the harder the better. That being said I will not discount any music.

Is there any heavy metal jazz???

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the closest ive heard to heavy metal jazz would have to be from these guy's "the mahavishnu orchestra",i see that you mentioned miles davis,if you havnt checked out the mahavishnu yet a few of the musician's might be familuar to you if you listen to any of the experimental stuff miles did,most of the musician's in the mahavishnu played on *****es brew with mile's & were around durring miles acid day's.

this band is seriously hard core.

guitar , john mcglaughlin

drum's , billy cobham & michael walden

bass , rick laird & ralph armstrong

piano, yan hammer

violin, jean luc ponty & jerry goodman

there is another band that play's the same type of machine gun guitar jazz too called "return to forever".

guitar, al di meola

drum's, lenny white

bass, stanley clarke

piano, chick corea

violin, jean luc ponty

both these band's really cook but the mahavishnu orchestra is more hard core than return to forever.

STRONGBADF1 said:

Miles Davis was as interested in the notes that were not played as the ones that were.

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Guitarist Ian Bairnson once said quite the same thing, (paraphrasing here) - "It's not so much the notes you play as it is the ones you don't."

Strongbad, given your post I have a few classical suggestions:

You like "dark and emotional"? Gustav Mahler is your man. Start with his 2nd and 5th symphonies. Then try the Ninth on for size. Prepare to journey from Earth to Hell to Heaven. Look for the conductors Bernstein (especially the 2nd symphony recording with the Vienna Philarmonic), Solti with the Chicago Symphony, Zander with the Philharmonia Orchestra. There are others too but these are recent (late analog to current digital) so will have decent sound. OK, the Solti Chicago 5th has a bit too much "gain riding", IMO.

Check out a composer named Ottorino Respighi and his Pines of Rome, Fountains of Rome and Roman Festivals. Not profound music but kicka** orchestration; like movie music on steroids.

Speaking of movie music, Erich von Korngold wrote the scores for Errol Flynn swashbucklers in the '30s. Those are available in modern recordings. Lots of fun.

Gustav Holst, "The Planets". A good recording of this is an audiophile must. Again, huge orchestration and good musical content.

There's a rip-snorting CD of Beethoven's 5th and 7th symphonies by Kleiber and the Vienna Philharmonic. He conducts them as if the ink was still wet and he was the first one to see the scores IMO.

Charles Ives. An American original. "Three Places in New England" and his symphonies were like mash-ups decades before the term was invented. He mixed original themes, experimental harmonies, and American folk/vernacular music in a compositional blender. He was a cranky Yankee avant-garde composer in the early part of the 20th century. No one else sounds like him. He made a fortune before the Depression in (are you ready for this?) insurance. You either love him or hate him. I think he might be your cup of whisky.

Get a copy of the Penguin guide (book) to classical CDs. Read it. Buy what/who sounds interesting.

Thank you guys!

The jazz stuff I knew about but just have not got around to buying. I have B-brew it wasn't what i was expecting at the time I'll have to give it another try.

The classical sounds like it will be more up my alley.

Rip, I would like to find a good recording of "Pictures at an Exhibition" any thoughts??? (besides Emerson Lake and Palmer)

Rip Van Woofer said:

Strongbad, given your post I have a few classical suggestions:

You like "dark and emotional"? Gustav Mahler is your man. Start with his 2nd and 5th symphonies. Then try the Ninth on for size. Prepare to journey from Earth to Hell to Heaven.

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Agreed, and I can highly recommend this recording of Mahler's 5th http://store.acousticsounds.com/browse_detail.cfm?Title_ID=11803&section=music
An over the top Sir Simon Rattle looks somewhat dangerous here in this double disc (DVD-V and DVD-A) combo. But, can you take it?

Thanks Hawkeye I'll check it out.


SBF1

Hey, Rip,
Thanks for that link to those great anti-BS articles. I haven't had such a good laugh in ages. I was hoping that, at my age, I had gained some insight into the realities of this obsessive hobby, and those articles reaffirmed what I had thought. Especially the tube and cable myths. I have a co-worker that has spent well into the six figures on monoblock tube amps, voodoo cables, turntable/cartridge insanities, and snake-oil CD sprays. I won't confront him directly, but he sure qualifies for membership in the "More Bucks than Brains Club".

STRONGBADF1 said:

Rip, I would like to find a good recording of "Pictures at an Exhibition" any thoughts??? (besides Emerson Lake and Palmer)

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Fritz Reiner, Chicago Symphony on RCA Living Stereo. Early stereo recordings from the 50s that hold up very well. Reiner has hair trigger control over one of the best orchestras ever. If you get the SACD you can hear the original three channel stereo thru your left, center, and right speakers. Also has other Russian goodies that'll get your blood stirring.

The ELP version is fun, too. Boy, does that bring back memories.

Geno: Thanks for the compliments and glad you found them useful and entertaining!

Hawkeye: I have that Simon Rattle performance but on CD. Dang! Didn't know about the DVD set. Excellent performance, I agree. I'd also like to hear the Benjamin Zander recording. I have and love his recording of the Ninth. Just listening to it, in fact.

highfihoney said:

the closest ive heard to heavy metal jazz would have to be from these guy's "the mahavishnu orchestra",i see that you mentioned miles davis,if you havnt checked out the mahavishnu yet a few of the musician's might be familuar to you if you listen to any of the experimental stuff miles did,most of the musician's in the mahavishnu played on *****es brew with mile's & were around durring miles acid day's.

this band is seriously hard core.

guitar , john mcglaughlin
drum's , billy cobham & michael walden
bass , rick laird & ralph armstrong
piano, yan hammer
violin, jean luc ponty & jerry goodman

there is another band that play's the same type of machine gun guitar jazz too called "return to forever".

guitar, al di meola
drum's, lenny white
bass, stanley clarke
piano, chick corea
violin, jean luc ponty

both these band's really cook but the mahavishnu orchestra is more hard core than return to forever.

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Jean Luc Ponty was never in "Return to Forever." He recorded an acoustic album in 1995 with Al DiMeola and Stanley Clarke.

He wasn't with the original Mahavishu Orchestra that I recall, he had problems getting a visa out of his native country, that's why Jerry Goodman was hired. He appeared on 2 albums after the band had broken up and reformed.

Ponty did do some stuff with Frank Zappa and Elton John.

Overall, Ponty was mostly a solo artist, producing most of his output in the 70s with his own band.

Sheep/9Fan

Hey,maybe take a break.While breaking,look into some bebop,such as Oscar Peterson or Junior Mance,and chill. I pretty much 'like' at the least most music.Some things that pass as music however are mislabeled.Rap/Hip Hop is not music.Reggae is almost a reasonable facsimile,(almost I said).Ok,I am ready for the onslaught of insults/abuse now!

My musical tastes start at Robert Johnson and end pretty much with the Black Crowes. Can't seem to find much decent rock beyond them, oh, maybe some creed and some nickelback.

WOW, Desmond Decker, U Roy, Toots. That brings back some fond memories! Saw Tosh in D.C. in ~'83. I gotta dig that vinyl out some day!

500 concerts??? At 4hrs per (2 waiting and 2 listening), that's about 3 full months of life at a concert. I SAID, THAT'S ABOUT 3 FULL MONTHS AT CONCERTS!!!

500 concerts??? At 4hrs per (2 waiting and 2 listening), that's about 3 full months of life at a concert. I SAID, THAT'S ABOUT 3 FULL MONTHS AT CONCERTS!!!

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Its hard work but somebodies got to do it

Hey,maybe take a break.While breaking,look into some bebop,such as Oscar Peterson or Junior Mance,and chill. I pretty much 'like' at the least most music.Some things that pass as music however are mislabeled.Rap/Hip Hop is not music.Reggae is almost a reasonable facsimile,(almost I said).Ok,I am ready for the onslaught of insults/abuse now!

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If you are looking for a fight due to your ignorant comments you should not state your intention. Have a GREAT day.

9Fan,

Not instigating a fight here.Just posting my HO,as is the custom.But my opinions are no more or less ignorant than yours.You seem to be the fight instigator type.Just reread your past several posts,you seem quite the argumentative type.You have a great evening,sincerely,-AL.