best band of all time

[HevyDevy]

Exactly...
Diversity???????????????
the Beatles wrote and played
Pshycedelica
Blues
folk
rock
pop
polka
ballads

geezus they even used eastern style instruments ( sitars) years before all the others.

And Zeppelin didn't?

It's laughable that you sit there telling me why The Beatles are 'the best band of all time' yet you haven't heard of Devin Townsend. But of course, if he isn't delivered to your door step via commercial radio he mustn't be any good ...

Hmmm ... diversify .... you're right I have no idea what it means. In-fact I always use words to which I'm unsure of the meaning. Sometimes I just make them up completely. Of course if that truly was the case I wouldn't be in a job - unless it was packign shelves at Coles - but hey that's fine.

Anyway, yes yes we all have our Bach's etc in our collection. Tool too. Darkthrone, Sting and Porcupine Tree as well. I assume you have the same?

Anyway Everlovin' Christ, my point is merely by what definition you observe the moniker 'best band ever'. I'm yet to here the person who started this thread offer one. What does best mean? The only possible way in which The Beatles could without question be called the best band ever is if 'best' referred to 'most albums sold'. Other than that they are merely one of a number of contenders.

 

[Everlovin' Antichrist]

Simply put, the Beatles are a household name around the world, Devin Townsend is.... who is Devin Townsend again?

BTW, album/singles sales are as good a barometer as any.

The fact is that you can't have a best band ever discussion and not include the Beatles.

You can have it without Devin Townsend though.

ps No, I don't have any Darkthrone, Sting and Porcupine Tree and not having them doesn't concern me in the slightest.

You're pretentious....

 

[MONY]

Metallica

 

[HevyDevy]

Simply put, the Beatles are a household name around the world, Devin Townsend is.... who is Devin Townsend again?

BTW, album/singles sales are as good a barometer as any.

The fact is that you can't have a best band ever discussion and not include the Beatles.

You can have it without Devin Townsend though.

ps No, I don't have any Darkthrone, Sting and Porcupine Tree and not having them doesn't concern me in the slightest.

You're pretentious....

Yes I am pretentious and I also enjoy stirring up sh*t, thus my motivation to put dirt on The Beatles (who I actually like by the way, bar their early stuff which bites).

However I honestly think you'd appreciate Devin Townsend A LOT if you heard him. Most people do.

Incidentally, album sales are merely a baromoter for which albums people have been told to buy. However, given that a number of people here insist sales be used as a guide, I'm a little surprised they've dismissed Zeppelin out of hand. Carcharias even said something about people not wanting to hear drum solos? :lol: Not sure how that's relevant to Zeppelin but anyway, the fact remains they rank second behind only The Beatles for albums sold in the US - and here you all are dismissing them as a contender for best band of all time. Shame on you.

 

[Everlovin' Antichrist]

Yes I am pretentious and I also enjoy stirring up sh*t, thus my motivation to put dirt on The Beatles (who I actually like by the way, bar their early stuff which bites).

However I honestly think you'd appreciate Devin Townsend A LOT if you heard him. Most people do.

Incidentally, album sales are merely a baromoter for which albums people have been told to buy. However, given that a number of people here insist sales be used as a guide, I'm a little surprised they've dismissed Zeppelin out of hand. Carcharias even said something about people not wanting to hear drum solos? :lol: Not sure how that's relevant to Zeppelin but anyway, the fact remains they rank second behind only The Beatles for albums sold in the US - and here you all are dismissing them as a contender for best band of all time. Shame on you.

I love Zeppelin and I wouldn't dismiss them, they would most definately be in my top two or three.

On the flip side, I can't stand the Rolling Stones, but I do accept that they are popular and have sold sh*tloads of records and are probably worthy of a top 5 spot.

Let's face it, it's always down to personal taste and mine just happens to be right. ;-)

 

[ozbash]

Queen didn't have the sheer volume of classic songs as the Beatles .
Queen had some classics that everyone knows but as a band the Beatles had more.

as for Sting well the Police were good but I bet he'd be the first to tell you the Beatles were the best ever.

They all mention The Beatles from Hendrix to Cobain.

the beatles invented 'classic' so in reality , unless it was written by lennon/mccartney, it didnt count.
such was the mania of 'beatlemania'. they were not such a great band but more the icon band ofa great era.

queen were totally different, they tried (very successfully) to get away from the main stream, record shop type music . They helped to create an off shoot style of 'pop' with a emphasis on performance which was linked (in some peoples minds) to the underground drug culture which was very cool at the time. their music suited and fitted into that imagined culture for the everyday person who was basically sh*t scared to be involved.

for me the band/group that epitomised the whole meaning of pop, perform and just bloody good music was pink floyd.

they very cleverly turned combinations of queen, clapton and the very worst of the beatles into their own style.
a lot of their early stuff was a piss take of the then, fear of change, british music industry.

well, that what i reckon. each band mentioned in this thread helped in some way.

 

[carcharias]

General consesus is that The Beatles are one of the first bands if not "the band" people think of when they are asked the question.

And Zeppelin didn't?

did I say they didn't??
you mentioned diversity referring to DT .

It's laughable that you sit there telling me why The Beatles are 'the best band of all time' yet you haven't heard of Devin Townsend. But of course, if he isn't delivered to your door step via commercial radio he mustn't be any good ...

how do you know who I havent or have heard of?
Just remember I have played guitar for 18 years now, 16 of them in professional bands.
In doing this I have spent 100's of hours reading guitar magazines and half a life time talking with other guitarists in guitar shops about players.
Not to mention the hours spent in guitar classes , even to the point of up until xmas this year I was getting speed metal/finger tapping lessons off a 19 year old kid who is one of those freaks that could play before he walked.

So to answer your question.. yes I have heard of him , I read about him in a magazine.
It was an interview with him about his session work and his equipment.
I remembered his name because Devin was my old school head masters (who was also my neighbour) name.

and I'm sure I could quite easily google his name..but I dont have to ...I've seen a million Devin Townsends.
Let me guess....dresses in black , distortion in almost every song, long hair ( how am I doing) mentions the devil or some form of spirit in more than one song...
with a touch of classical guitar type appegio thrown into the mix for intro riffs and solo's.

But again I say ...Who????

as for your "commercial radio" comment.

Led Zeppelin get played on 2MMM every single day.

For the record I don't listen to commercial radio (by choice) and I havent for over 15 years when I first started listening to triple J.

Hmmm ... diversify .... you're right I have no idea what it means. In-fact I always use words to which I'm unsure of the meaning. Sometimes I just make them up completely. Of course if that truly was the case I wouldn't be in a job - unless it was packign shelves at Coles - but hey that's fine.

I didn't say you didn't know what it mean't , I was just pointing out how diverse the Beatles actually were during the 8 or 9 years they were around.


Led Zeppelin were a great band and I love their stuff but the fact is The Beatles probably mean more to more people.

And Robert Plant should of been shot for bastardising Led Zep in "Tall Cool one"... attrocious stuff.

 

[HevyDevy]

Carcharias, Carcharias, Carcharias - Devin was merely an example of diversity, I didn't mention it in direct reference to him.


Let me ask you this. If you have heard of Devin Townsend and read an interview with him, how could you possibly come to the conclusion that he a) dresses in black, b) uses distortion in every song and c) makes references to the devil. I could even throw in a d) he plays guitar among other things but isn't really a guitarist. On Infinity he played everything bar drums, obviously wrote every note on the album first and produced it too. He's best known for his infamous 'Wall of sound'. His solo stuff isn't heavy but he lays down about 30 tracks so the sound is massive.

I can assure you that

a) he would dress in black no more often than you or I do. Perhaps you are confusing him with Black Metal bands - you know the ones. They emerged in Oslo, Norway, in the early 1990s and were best known for dressing in black, wearing corpse paint and at times worshipping Satan (well Emperor are Satanists but Burzum has since become a Heathenist instead). Other such as Immortal held no such beliefs whatsoever. But of course none of the bands I have mentioned here are even closely related to this metal genre.

b) I would implore you to download some Devin Townsend and see what you think. Distortion? Meh. he has a heavy band, Strapping Young Lad, but his solo stuff is really quite haunting and beautiful. If you have Soulseek or something, try downloading 'Funeral', 'Tiny Tears' or 'The Death of Music'. May take a little while to get into but trust me, it's worth it.

c) The day Devin Townsend makes any reference to Satan whatsoever I will gladly bow down to you, Carcharias, and call you my deity.

I'm not sure how this thread became about Devin, I merely mentioned his name to stir some sh*t up (mission accomplished ) and to point out that there are a number of freakishly talented musicians out there.

I do find it ironic, however, that in one sentence you chastise me for 'assuming' things about you (Quote: How do you know who I have or haven't heard of) and in the next proceed to make a series of assumptions re: Devin Townsend which in essence I would suggest is you making assumptions about what I listen to.

Also, in reference to commercial radio, I was referring more to new music (if that's what you call it). It's all crap.

And I didn't accuse you of accusing me (that's a poor sentence!) of not knowing the meaning of diversify. I accused Everlovin Antichrist of that.

I agree on the Robert Plant thing though - his solo career was AWFUL. I don't know why he persisted with that crap.

 

[carcharias]

I couldn't help myself I just had to google this blokes name ..
here is my comment on what I imagined him to be like..

Let me guess....dresses in black , distortion in almost every song, long hair ( how am I doing) mentions the devil or some form of spirit in more than one song...
with a touch of classical guitar type appegio thrown into the mix for intro riffs and solo's.
here is your comment with misquote..

Let me ask you this. If you have heard of Devin Townsend and read an interview with him, how could you possibly come to the conclusion that he a) dresses in black, b) uses distortion in every song and c) makes references to the devil

and another corker from you.

The day Devin Townsend makes any reference to Satan whatsoever I will gladly bow down to you, Carcharias, and call you my deity

.


this is from "slow me down" song number 9 on

THE DEVINTOWNSEND BAND Accelerated evolution-2003-
Words and music by Devin Townsend

Cause in a while I'll never look behind
Even when I'll nearly lose my mind
So when the devil wins that toss
Will we be making it across?

To cover all bases I'll add the dictionary meaning for Satan just so there is no misunderstandings.
( I never mentioned the word Satan either by the way)

The profoundly evil adversary of God and humanity, often identified with the leader of the fallen angels; the Devil.


BWHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA

On your knee's boy...and start calling me your deity.



Oh and just a quick peruse of his live pics..

yep long hair ( only just though) bald blokes should just admit it to themselves and in every pic he is wearing black.


and on one quick listen to his music ...yep distortion basic two chord verse using (without even having my guitar on hand to confirm) E5 to A5 ..as per standard issue Metallica ( whom I like).


To be fair though his lyrics aren't as bad as I imagined..

roadkill was predictable...and crap.


So in conclusion overall The Beatles are still better than the rest .

 

[HevyDevy]

Roadkill??? hahahahaha

He wrote that when he was 15 - it was the first song he ever wrote. He did it at school and never intended to release it. Oh dear ...

You're better off looking at Ocean Machine. Superb album. The album Roadkill is on was merely an album of unreleased material etc that Dev fans may have been interested in, the same as you might buy an album of Beatles raw tracks that were never properly produced or meant for release.

Now, before I call you deity, you know as well as I do that when you spoke of the devil you were suggesting Devin would mention it or him in the worshipping sense (if I'm making sense here, that is) ala Black Metal bands.

Now, I assume you went to the HevyDevy records site (www.hevydevy.com)? Okay, well take a look at that pic on the first page and tell me you're looking at a devil-worshipping black metaller. That's right, I didn't think so.

Incidentally, when you say he's wearing black you actually meant a black singlet. Wow, he wears black!!! But like I said he has his solo stuff and his heavy band. All of those pics are from him playing with Strapping Young Lad.

You've got to love the hair though don't you? He is NOT an attractive man.

 

[carcharias]

The day Devin Townsend makes any reference to Satan whatsoever I will gladly bow down to you, Carcharias, and call you my deity

On your fuggen knees.

 

[HevyDevy]

hehe, I knew I should have checked for a reference - even The Beatles mention the devil in their lyrics!

 

[carcharias]

hehe, I knew I should have checked for a reference - even The Beatles mention the devil in their lyrics!

say it..

 

[hrundi99]

Why is it that people get so attached to their tastes that they directly associate themselves with them, and therefore take criticism of the things they like so personally?

HevyDevy, you are simply not being objective about this.

 

[HevyDevy]

I worship at your feet Mr Carcharias

 

[carcharias]

I worship at your feet Mr Carcharias

Thankyou.

I set you free.

 

[HevyDevy]

Why is it that people get so attached to their tastes that they directly associate themselves with them, and therefore take criticism of the things they like so personally?

HevyDevy, you are simply not being objective about this.

I would suggest I'm the ONLY one that is being objective.

There is no best band of all time. It's a ridiculous concept. I said that from the outset. When I mentioned Zeppelin I simply stated that I preferred them over The Beatles for a number of reasons and noted that I believe they were in many ways more influential than The Beatles. You've got to remember that a band being worshipped by 50 million teenage girls doesn't make them 'influential'. I never bagged The Beatles - although I did mention Devin Townsend to see what reaction I would get, hehe - merely stated my case of which I'm staying true.

 

[hrundi99]

The fact that you are even mentioning other "bands" that you prefer is a reflection of the fact that you're not looking at the big picture. You're letting your "taste" influence your decision-making.

 

[Everlovin' Antichrist]

You've got to remember that a band being worshipped by 50 million teenage girls doesn't make them 'influential'.

Except of course their influence on the 50 million teenager girls....

 

[HevyDevy]

Who of course have all gone on to shape music history with their own bands ...