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Gene Simmons for once talks some sense and names artists who are iconic and seem to last beyond their time compared to todays crop.


Towelie

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This is an excerpt from a new interview conducted by his son. If you want to read the whole interview http://www.esquire.com/bl...re-of-rock

GS: Here's a frightening thought: from 1958 to 1983, name 100 musical anythings that are iconic, that seem to last beyond their time.

NS: The Beatles, The Stones...

GS: Elvis, the Beatles, Michael Jackson, the Stones, Jimi Hendrix, the numerous classic Motown artists, Madonna, U2, Prince, Pink Floyd... The list goes on. Individuals, all unanimously considered classic, timeless, revolutionary. Now from '84 until today, name some. Just give me a few artists that, even after their passing, are or will be inescapable. Artists on the same level as the ones I just mentioned. Even if you don't like them, they will be impossible to avoid, or deny, even after they've stopped making music and maybe passed on. In fact, they become bigger when they stop. Name artists that even compare with the ones I just named.

NS: Nirvana?

GS: Nirvana. That's about it. They are the notable exception. Keep thinking. It's harder, isn't it, to name artists with as much confidence? The pickings are so slim, and it's not an arbitrary difference. There was a 10- to 15-year period in the '60s and '70s that gave birth to almost every artist we now call "iconic," or "classic." If you know anything about what makes longevity, about what makes something an everlasting icon, it's hard to find after that. The craft is gone, and that is what technology, in part, has brought us. What is the next Dark Side of the Moon? Now that the record industry barely exists, they wouldn't have a chance to make something like that. There is a reason that, along with the usual top-40 juggernauts, some of the biggest touring bands are half old people, like me.

Edited by Towelie
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iconic artists post-1984?

Guns N' Roses

Nirvana

Pearl Jam

Smashing Pumpkins

Alice in Chains

Soundgarden

Stone Temple Pilots

Radiohead

Weezer

White Zombie

Rage Against the Machine

Linkin Park (the first record)

White Stripes

The Strokes

Green Day (until they became shit)

Nine Inch Nails

Red Hot Chili Peppers

Oasis

...does Gene need me to go on?

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Of course it's harder for newer artists to acheive that legendery, 'inescapable' status. They came after that crop of classic, ubiquitous bands that already left that mark; so in that respect they'll always have someone else to be compared to. It was much easier to become legendary when you were one of the first bands to do what you did, and well, in a pre-internet world.

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Of course it's harder for newer artists to acheive that legendery, 'inescapable' status. They came after that crop of classic, ubiquitous bands that already left that mark; so in that respect they'll always have someone else to be compared to. It was much easier to become legendary when you were one of the first bands to do what you did, and well, in a pre-internet world.

Give it 50 years. May be harder to become a legend in this day and age, but in every generation or most generations, legends are born. The way to become a legend and the right kind of people and great timing are all factors to becoming a legend. It will happen again imo, cause throughout history from Mozart to Hendrix, people always discovered a new legend, and the need to label something as that is always present.

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iconic artists post-1984?

Guns N' Roses

Nirvana

Pearl Jam

Smashing Pumpkins

Alice in Chains

Soundgarden

Stone Temple Pilots

Radiohead

Weezer

White Zombie

Rage Against the Machine

Linkin Park (the first record)

White Stripes

The Strokes

Green Day (until they became shit)

Nine Inch Nails

Red Hot Chili Peppers

Oasis

...does Gene need me to go on?

Stone Temple Pilots? Linkin Park? The Strokes???

If you seriously believe any of the bands you mentioned are as legendary or will have as much of a lasting impact as the likes of Michael Jackson, The Beatles, The Stones, Hendrix etc then you are seriously deluded.

Edited by Towelie
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Metallica

Fugazi

Run DMC

2Pac

Pixies

The Cure

Arcade Fire

Bon Jovi

Black Flag

Whitney Houston

R.E.M.

The Smiths

Pearl Jam

Radiohead

Red Hot Chili Peppers

Beastie Boys

Green Day

Rage Against The Machine

Smashing Pumpkins

Nirvana

White Stripes

Nine Inch Nails

Sonic Youth

Slayer

Public Enemy

Jeff Buckley

Tori Amos

Pantera(can't believe they are, but they are)

Wilco

Kanye

Dave Matthews Band

Mariah Carey

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From 1983-onward there are plenty of iconic or legendary artists, although they may not be to Gene's liking.

Notorious B.I.G.

Tupac

P Diddy / Diddy / Puff Daddy

N.W.A.

Public Enemy

Wu-Tang Clan

Snoop Dogg

Dr Dre

Eminem

Kanye West

Nas

Outkast / Andre 3000

Jay-Z

Whitney Houston

Mariah Carey

Britney Spears

Christina Aguilera

Beyoncé

Rihanna

Amy Winehouse

Björk

Boyz II Men

Oasis

The Smiths

Radiohead

Lauryn Hill / The Fugees

R. Kelly

The Stone Roses

The White Stripes

Nine Inch Nails

and those are just some of the more 'mainstream' ones I can name off the top off my head.

Contrary to what Gene seems to think, music post-his heyday is not dead.

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Daft Punk deserves some love lol, RAM was legit. What, you guys got somethin' against robots?

But anyway, I think the increased accessibility (to music) has been the largest factor for fewer bands/musicians being seen as iconic as

some of those from the past. I mean, right now you can sit down and have the history of music at your fingertips. Artists and bands from decades ago had the benefit of either being the only thing on the airwaves or the store shelves, now there are things like Spotify, Itunes, Youtube, Torrents, et al where people can get exactly what it is that they want to hear without ever having to bother with the radio or randomly looking through albums at a store.

I do kinda wonder when the next Beatles / Elvis / MJ will crop up though. Someone, or some group, who people kind of unanimously

agree on as being quality.

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iconic artists post-1984?

Guns N' Roses - Yes

Nirvana - Yes

Pearl Jam - Don't think so.

Smashing Pumpkins - No

Alice in Chains - No

Soundgarden - No

Stone Temple Pilots - No

Radiohead - ...... No but the media will try to make you believe otherwise

Weezer - No

White Zombie - No

Rage Against the Machine - No

Linkin Park (the first record) - No

White Stripes - No

The Strokes - No

Green Day (until they became shit) - No

Nine Inch Nails....... don't think so

Red Hot Chili Peppers - don't think so

Oasis - Yes (not in North America)

...does Gene need me to go on?

Based on what Gene is talking about I gave you answers to your suggestions above. You've clearly missed what he's talking about.

Edited by Bono
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I'm seeing a lot of lists by people who don't understand what Gene is talking about. He's not talking about classic or iconic bands and artists. He's talking about bands and artists that have gone beyond that. He's talking about artists who have entered the collective consciousness of society. A band like Rage Against the Machine or Radiohead or Linkin Park are not those kinds of bands. Bands like Pearl Jam aren't even really that. RHCP aren't even really that. Christina Aguleria isn't that but maybe Britney is. It isn't even about who's the greatest band or artist or who's been overly influential. Its about the bands that transcend time and are i the conscience of the public whether you liek them or not. Someone put the Pixies and Fugazi on the list. Seriously no fucking chance.

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