Greatest artist of all time?

Dark Artist

Geo10 wrote: »

Yeah you're right, she was! Some people should do their research first! :P

The title 'executive producer' is totally ambiguous in this day and age and rarely means much.

kunst nugget

karaokeman wrote: »

Was Britney not the executive producer on that album?

A total BS title which has about as much truth to it as her co-writing credits. Songwriters share credits with the bigger singers, who contribute absolutely nothing to it, in order to get more money back from royalties. Bigger singers = bigger sales = more money.

It's something that's been happening since the days of Elvis and probably before. Here is a good anecdote from Dolly Parton about it:

http://www.elvis.com.au/presley/news/dolly_parton.shtml

old hippy

mitosis wrote: »

*pedant: The Beatles are not "An Artist"

The thread clearly suggests an individual.

I'm going with Elvis Presley. I am not a fan, but for modern music he was the inspiration for most of your heroes from the 60s 70s, and second generation inspiration for the 80s-90s etc artists who were inspired by people Elvis inspired.

But who inspired Elvis?

Blues musicians, country & western, gospel...

mitosis

kunst nugget wrote: »

Ah come on, Dark Side of the Moon is only beat by Thriller and Back in Black as the biggest selling album ever, outstripping the nearest Beatles album by nearly 20 million sales so they are hardly non-commercial artists. Also to dismiss the Beatles as a boy band is wrongheaded. They went from Love Me Do in 63 to Tomorrow Never Knows in 66 to Revolution No. 9 in 68 with every album from Revolver on liberally sprinkled with experimentation. This is the band that at the height of their popularity could release something as wonderful complex and profound as Strawberry Fields Forever. To consider them as merely a commercial pop entity is to ignore the likes of A Day in the Life and great swathes of the White Album.

Does this mean "Crazy Horses" allows us to define The Osmonds as an experimental rock band? :pac:

Da Shins Kelly

karaokeman wrote: »

Was Britney not the executive producer on that album?

Do you really think that Britney actually came up with any of the beats or music on that album? Bloodshy & Avant and Danja produced most of the album. The Neptunes are responsible for most of her sound around the In The Zone period, and if you listen to any hip hop, their sound is almost instantly recognizable, so she's not getting away with saying she was "executive producer" on any of those tracks! Like I say, she's good at picking the right people to work with, but she's not the creator of the sound.

karaokeman

Da Shins Kelly wrote: »

Do you really think that Britney actually came up with any of the beats or music on that album? Bloodshy & Avant and Danja produced most of the album. The Neptunes are responsible for most of her sound around the In The Zone period, and if you listen to any hip hop, their sound is almost instantly recognizable, so she's not getting away with saying she was "executive producer" on any of those tracks! Like I say, she's good at picking the right people to work with, but she's not the creator of the sound.

I wouldn't say she comes up with the beats or music on the album, I'm actually curious as to how Britney or her record company defines the term "executive producer". I don't know if that means Britney is responsible for picking the right people to work with, or coming up with the themes and managing the album correct. If it means the latter I would give her some credit for her work on it, not for being the creator of the sound but the concept should be there before the session musicians do the work. I'm not a fan of Britney so I can't say for sure.

Speaking of producers and all-rounders why hasn't anyone mentioned Brian Wilson yet?

old hippy

karaokeman wrote: »

Speaking of producers and all-rounders why hasn't anyone mentioned Brian Wilson yet?

God Only Knows...

Lucifer31

Jimi Hendrix for me.

Da Shins Kelly

karaokeman wrote: »

I wouldn't say she comes up with the beats or music on the album, I'm actually curious as to how Britney or her record company defines the term "executive producer". I don't know if that means Britney is responsible for picking the right people to work with, or coming up with the themes and managing the album correct. If it means the latter I would give her some credit for her work on it, not for being the creator of the sound but the concept should be there before the session musicians do the work. I'm not a fan of Britney so I can't say for sure.

Speaking of producers and all-rounders why hasn't anyone mentioned Brian Wilson yet?

I'm sure she's somewhat in control of her musical direction. She's a big enough star to be given freedom by her record company. I'd say she picks which producers she wants to work with and the songs she's going to sing. She does know how to recognise a good song, I'll give her that.

Lelantos

Lucifer31 wrote: »

Jimi Hendrix for me.

Surely 1 hit wonders don't count!

karaokeman

Lelantos wrote: »

Surely 1 hit wonders don't count!

You mean the greatest guitar player of all time?

And All Along The Watchtower is only the tip of the iceberg.

Lelantos

karaokeman wrote: »

You mean the greatest guitar player of all time?

And All Along The Watchtower is only the tip of the iceberg.

It was tongue in cheek because he only had 1 hit single in his time. But definitely 1 of the greatest guitar players of all time.

Hannibal

Lelantos wrote: »

It was tongue in cheek because he only had 1 hit single in his time. But definitely 1 of the greatest guitar players of all time.

Hendrix is without doubt THE greatest guitar player of all time, his stuff still stands up today and he was the pioneer for everything that came after him. It's mind boggling to think he died in 1970 at the age of 27

Lelantos

Dotsey wrote: »

Hendrix is without doubt THE greatest guitar player of all time, his stuff still stands up today and he was the pioneer for everything that came after him. It's mind boggling to think he died in 1970 at the age of 27

Stevie Vai, Rory Gallagher, Joe Satriani would all have been technically better guitarists imo. But its all subjective, everyone has their own views on the subject .

Dietsquirt

Temaz wrote: »

Bob Dylan.

No thread needed here, he is the greatest.

Nobody comes close to his songwriting ability

Kold

mitosis wrote: »

*pedant: The Beatles are not "An Artist"

The thread clearly suggests an individual.

I'm going with Elvis Presley. I am not a fan, but for modern music he was the inspiration for most of your heroes from the 60s 70s, and second generation inspiration for the 80s-90s etc artists who were inspired by people Elvis inspired.

But who inspired Elvis?

Depends, do you count blacks in this era as people? If not, then nobody!

RodgersLFC

Dietsquirt wrote: »

No thread needed here, he is the greatest.

Nobody comes close to his songwriting ability

Neil Young?

Da Shins Kelly

Dietsquirt wrote: »

No thread needed here, he is the greatest.

Nobody comes close to his songwriting ability

Leonard Cohen? Morrissey?

johnROSS

Dick Dale

Jimmy Iovine

If Britney Spears () can be nominated, so can the God MC, Rakim.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E7t8eoA_1jQ

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M34OelgSlKI

Custardpi

Rakim's stuff is great alright but surely Chuck D & co would have greater stature as artists. They'll be inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame next year, long overdue imo when one considers such standout contributions to music as the below.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZM5_6js19eM

Jimmy Iovine

Custardpi wrote: »

Rakim's stuff is great alright but surely Chuck D & co would have greater stature as artists. They'll be inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame next year, long overdue imo when one considers such standout contributions to music as the below.

I never really got into their stuff, so I can't really say I'd agree.

If I had to choose another I'd probably pick Ghostface. He has had a good few classics. Every track he has a feature on is instantly made 10 times better because of it.

Of the new crowd, I have high hopes for Freddie Gibbs. If he can get the luck he deserves then he has all the talent to go to the top. His flow is the best I've heard since I've probably started listening to hip hop. Won't be one of the GOAT, but he could be one of the best of his generation for sure.

Custardpi

Each to his own I guess. I think Public Enemy are particularly important because of their cross over appeal, winning them fans among people who wouldn't usually listen to rap music, in part thanks to their collaborations with rock musicians & subsequent cover versions of their songs. Run DMC did that too of course but PE had more hardcore credibility I reckon. Check out (if you haven't heard it already) this reworking with Anthrax of their classic "Bring The Noise", just a small indication of the impact they had beyond the confines of the rap genre. Haven't listened to any Freddie Gibbs but will check him out, thanks for the recommendation.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RBA-xi8WuCU

Da Shins Kelly

Both Rakim and Public Enemy are two of the best artists ever, across all genres.

Herb Powell

10 pages, and not one mention of Zappa???

partyatmygaff

Little Richard is definitely the most influential. From Paul McCartney to James Brown to Michael Jackson to Prince and still influential today on artists like Bruno Mars.

The greatest on the other hand isn't a single person but a pair. Lennon-McCartney, two of the best songwriters of the century together made an entire catalog of fantastic songs.

Jimmy Iovine

Custardpi wrote: »

Each to his own I guess. I think Public Enemy are particularly important because of their cross over appeal, winning them fans among people who wouldn't usually listen to rap music, in part thanks to their collaborations with rock musicians & subsequent cover versions of their songs. Run DMC did that too of course but PE had more hardcore credibility I reckon. Check out (if you haven't heard it already) this reworking with Anthrax of their classic "Bring The Noise", just a small indication of the impact they had beyond the confines of the rap genre. Haven't listened to any Freddie Gibbs but will check him out, thanks for the recommendation.

I had "It Takes..." on my iPod for ages. Had to get rid of it though because I've found so much new music.

I'll give it a listen when I get home over the weekend.

Definitely check Gibbs out. He's the only gangster rapper of any credibility these days imo. Look at his collaborations with Madlib. The two of them together makes for amazing music.

Jimmy Iovine

partyatmygaff wrote: »

The greatest on the other hand isn't a single person but a pair. Lennon-McCartney, two of the best songwriters of the century together made an entire catalog of fantastic songs.

How good does that make Lonnie Donegan, the guy who influenced both McCarthy and Lennon to start playing music? :pac:

dasdog

Herb Powell wrote: »

10 pages, and not one mention of Zappa???

Something accessible

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pKlAIhuXRLE

The best musical artist is probably centuries dead. Second best probably wasn't brought up in the English speaking western world.

Throw this at the subject

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bihaL1risM0

Custardpi

I brought up Miles earlier in the thread actually. The Isle of Wight gig is a cracker alright. Have it on vinyl & recently got a DVD of it which includes interviews with Miles & various members of his band that day. "Call It Anything" is an incredibly beautiful track which shows Miles & co at their best.

There's been some great names cited here, I reckon that pretty much anyone with a claim to the "Greatest" title within modern Western music has been mentioned already but it's such a subjective question that' there's probably no way to definitively settle the debate. Apart from a cage fight to the death of course, but there's bound to be practical difficulties with that.