Who is the greatest artist musical talent of all time

Ferm001

The Boss, so many great songs written, and something else to listen too when he's on form.

barney shamrock

JohnnyFlash wrote: »

Geniuses at stealing ideas, overly long guitar solos, and making slightly pompous cock rock for white dudes.

Have a listen to LZ III or Physical Graffiti and hopefully you'll realise your generalisations are completely wrong.

Biodegradable

If you're talking about actual musical talent, I'd say Elton John is right up there. If you're talking artist, I'd say David Bowie.

bodhrandude

I could list loads of acts already listed in this thread but I'm going to stick with the reggae inspired gospel soul singers. Of course, Marley changed the face of reggae bringing in innovation and pop perfection into the mix. But my hero is Toots Hibbert of Toots & the Maytals, he is still going strong and has one of the finest soulful voices in reggae followed closely by Jimmy Cliff, both who I had a pleasure to see live in the last few years and who have stiil seriously got it. Also a special mention to another time honoured reggae singer Max Romeo who still has a voice of the gods and can still rock with the best of them. Talking about reggae innovation I would also like to mention the brief popularity of Finley Quaye who done similar innovation with the reggae music like his predecessor Bob Marley.

vriesmays

Composer Iannis Xenakis.

nullzero

beejee wrote: »

Right Said Fred.

There's a hidden commentary in "I'm too sexy" that tells us so much about the ever-changing dynamics of modern social paradigms, that, when you do uncover it, results in nothing less than an epiphany of philosophical, theological and scientific awakening of such significance that it humbles the sum total of human endeavour since the dark ages.

I can't overstate the genius contributions of this species-defining behemoth. Hands down, close the Internet for a week to think it over.

OK, but it's no Deeply Dippy.

CalamariFritti

trashcan wrote: »

Prince wasn't doing anything Paul McCartney didn't do long before, or Stevie Wonder even. All music opinion is subjective of course, but for modern musicians you'd be hard pressed to look past McCartney, given his overall body of work, and ability to do it all himself.

I thought the thread was a pisstake to be honest when I saw that Eminem was the first name mentioned. Seriously ?

Agree with Eminem, probably wasnt meant to be 100% serious.

But I think Prince did a lot of thing that Paul McCartney or Stevie Wonder didn't do. Playing every instrument himself and dancing like a genius for example, He was one of those multi-talented prodigies.

The margins are fine and its also personal taste anyway.

JohnnyFlash

Turlough O'Carolan, the blind harpist, was an exceptional musical talent.

I play the pipes myself, so would always have huge admiration and respect for the impact of Gearóid de Barra (Garret Barry) on the canon of Irish pipe music, and Irish music in general.

I especially like his piece titled ‘I buried my wife and danced on top of her (grave). It’s a piece that resonates deeply with me.

Bobblehats

nullzero wrote: »

OK, but it's no Deeply Dippy.

It is only all this years later have I considered what that song title might mean

trashcan

CalamariFritti wrote: »

Agree with Eminem, probably wasnt meant to be 100% serious.

But I think Prince did a lot of thing that Paul McCartney or Stevie Wonder didn't do. Playing every instrument himself .........

The reason I specifically mentioned McCartney is that he did exactly that, on his McCartney and McCartney 2 albums. Plus he wrote better songs than Prince (in my view.) As for dancing, well, meh really. Doesn't interest me when it comes to talking musical greatness. I also think Stevie Wonder may have done albums where he played everything (McCartney referenced him in that regard) I could be wrong though.

tayto lover

Buddy Holly. Loads of hits, died at 22.

phelixoflaherty

Van Dyke Parks.

myshirt

For classical, especially when you are trying to wind down the day and finish it off, has to be Bach or Debussy.

Modern day... Bob Dylan perhaps.

tayto lover

myshirt wrote: »

For classical, especially when you are trying to wind down the day and finish it off, has to be Bach or Debussy.

Modern day... Bob Dylan perhaps.

Great lyrics to Dylan’s songs but I never rated him as a singer.

dubstarr

tayto lover wrote: »

Great lyrics to Dylan’s songs but I never rated him as a singer.

Yes Dylan cant sing,but i think that was part of his charm.

bodhrandude

CalamariFritti wrote: »

Agree with Eminem, probably wasnt meant to be 100% serious.

But I think Prince did a lot of thing that Paul McCartney or Stevie Wonder didn't do. Playing every instrument himself and dancing like a genius for example, He was one of those multi-talented prodigies.

The margins are fine and its also personal taste anyway.

How would you cope in the Aphex Twin valley though.

Tammy!

anewme wrote: »

It's hard, when you are comparing apples with oranges and it really is down to different choices. I would rate Freddie Mercury and George Michael above Pink Floyd and dare I say it, Bowie..

Sometimes so called apples and oranges do make a good pair

Wibbs

tayto lover wrote: »

Buddy Holly. Loads of hits, died at 22.

...and in turn inspired acts like the Beatles and many others in a big way. He was the odd man out in his day because he wrote and performed his own songs. The vast majority of musical acts recorded and played songs written by specialised songwriters. The old "Tin Pan Alley" notion. That was the accepted thing. Singers and bands singing songs written by other people. Much like it is today for many of the easy listening pop acts.

Buddy Holly was different. This made a load of other people think they could do the same. Even the Beatles' name came from him. His band were The Crickets and John Lennon looked around for some other insect name, went through a few iterations of Beetle, but ended up with Beatles, as they were a "beat" group. And in turn they inspired many others(not least the Stones) to think they could write their own stuff. But Buddy was the first and the catalyst.

Dog Murphy

I think I'd have to nominate Blind Willie Witherspoon who played the umbrella for 30 years.Incredible imagination to attempt something like that.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KOqPJWlt-Tc

DJIMI TRARORE

IMO Freddie Mercury was the best vocalist ever,no song he couldnt sing
Prince was the greatest musician of the last 70 years,unbelievable talent and all self taught
John, Paul,George and Ringo as a combination of everything
Elvis,Dylan and Suggs arent bad either

Tammy!

DJIMI TRARORE wrote: »

IMO Freddie Mercury was the best vocalist ever,no song he couldnt sing
Prince was the greatest musician of the last 70 years,unbelievable talent and all self taught
John, Paul,George and Ringo as a combination of everything
Elvis,Dylan and Suggs arent bad either

And Suggs

I do actually realy like Suggs a lot, just wasn't expecting it

Panthro

Rob Zombie

Twister2

Elvis costello

Neames

Outlaw Pete wrote: »

Phil Collins.

In Too Deep is the most moving pop song of the 1980s. It's about monogamy and commitment. The song is extremely uplifting. The lyrics are as positive and affirmative as anything I've heard in rock. But I also think Phil worked best within the confines of a group than he did as a solo artist, and I stress the word artist. Sussudio is a great great song, a personal favorite.

Calm down Bateman or Halberstram...whatever your name is.

Minime2.5

Jedward

joeguevara

DJIMI TRARORE wrote: »

IMO Freddie Mercury was the best vocalist ever,no song he couldnt sing
Prince was the greatest musician of the last 70 years,unbelievable talent and all self taught
John, Paul,George and Ringo as a combination of everything
Elvis,Dylan and Suggs arent bad either

I'd add Pavarotti into best singer. He truly was amazing.

Minime2.5

Frank Sinattra

Twister2

Shaking stevens

joeguevara

Minime2.5 wrote: »

Frank Sinattra

I think Sammy Davis was the best inthe rat
Pack.

Tammy!

Steps!!

bodhrandude

The Tuss .

WomanSkirtFan8

For me its The Beatles without question.

BDI

James dean bradfield

Arghus

I don't think she's the greatest musical talent of all time, but a contemporary who I would rate up there with the greats of popular music would be Joanna Newsom. A lot of people can't get past her voice, which is fair enough, but her music frequently blows my mind. She's a multi instrumentalist who has carved her own path and her lyrics are dense and often profound imo.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JSSaEz8XyCo

ILoveYourVibes

Verdi.



You can compose songs ...symphonies ...pieces for instrument ...but try doing it for all of those and voice ...and it has to convey a story and emotion ...it has to be something you can play out on stage. You need a sense of theater.

Strangely Verdi could only write an Opera that was any good after he had lost everything. He had tried to compose many before but they all failed. Then one year he lost his wife and children to influenza. He was about to kill himself. He took a book from a shelf. The bible came with it ..it feel open to Psalm 137

Part of it reads

We have drunk from the cup of affliction and have shed tears of bitter repentance, oh inspire us oh jehovah with courage so that we may endure to the last.

The prayer is known in English as 'By the rivers of babylon.' The aria is known as Va pensiero in Italian or the Hebrew slaves chorus in English or sometimes "Fly, thought, on golden wings''.

Psalm 137 is a hymn expressing the yearnings of the Jewish people during their Babylonian exile. In its whole form of nine verses, the psalm reflects the yearning for Jerusalem as well as hatred for the Holy City's enemies with sometimes violent imagery.

His next opera was Nabucco.

At his funeral ....the crowd (which was HUGE) spontaneously erupted into this.

Nabucco is a story about the assault and exile of the Jews from Babylon by a king called Nabucco. Verdi write very admirably and respectfully of the Hebrew slaves. Although the end doesn't work out well for them...history..

Verdi even wrote an Opera about forbidden love between a black african female slave (who once was a princess) and a white egyptian warrior. (this was the 1800s)

Its called Aida. This is eygpts 'triumphant march. '

He wrote an Opera that is sympathetic to a prostitute. La Traviata
It depicts the woman as kind brave and human. It depicts the men around her as cowards who refuse to help her socially for fear of their reputations. It depicts society as cruel and hypocritical. The prostitute is Violetta.

This is one of her Arias.

Il trovatore
The plot of il trovatore is more convoluted than game of thrones. Basically lots of people kill other people because they think they are someone else. Then everyone feels guilty and realizes they are dumb. But its too late because those people have kids who want vengeance. And everyone agrees gypsies got killed just for being gypsies and it was a terrible shame.

The anvil chorus ..It depicts gypsy men praising HARD WORK and gypsy women.
Its also known in Italian as Coro di Zingari or THE GYPSY CHORUS
They strike their anvils ...in hard work at sunrise ...long before most people are even awake .

You might be the most red pilled mother****er but you will hum to these many bitchin tunes you don't understand. Music is a powerful thing.

EVERYONE HUMS VERDI ....I bet you guys have even heard these ..NO ONE HUMS WAGNER ...HA HA HAHAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAaaa

RikkFlair

Prince, because this....and the first comment on youtube underneath

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6SFNW5F8K9Y

ILoveYourVibes

Also bet you all know this!


OFFENBACH ...

Go on someone try and hum something from Tristan and Isolde !!

SUCK IT WAGNER !

ILoveYourVibes

Actually the one composer supposedly best at orchestration is Bizet.

ILoveYourVibes

RikkFlair wrote: »

Prince, because this....and the first comment on youtube underneath

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6SFNW5F8K9Y

Love prince!

MrAbyss

Robert Smith

Tammy!

She's sweet on Wagner
I think she'd die for Beethoven
She loves the way Puccini lays down a tune
And Verdi's always creeping from her room...

Àlways thought Liam Gallagher and Charlotte Church could have done a fun version of this...

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

kowloon

tayto lover wrote: »

Great lyrics to Dylan’s songs but I never rated him as a singer.

Some singer-songwriter types should just stick to the writing. Exhibit A: Leonard Cohen. I think songwriters don't get enough credit, hence the drive to be the performer too.

storker

ILoveYourVibes

joeguevara wrote: »

I think Sammy Davis was the best inthe rat
Pack.

also this reminds me of Purcell /Britten the fugue

If you ever played an instrument as a kid you had to study this!

Wagner is overrated ...musically poor ...and very repetitive ...the only reason he got funding was A ) Crown Prince Ludwig was gay secretly and had a MASSIVE crush on Wagner ..and erm ...Wagner despite not being gay ..was gay for pay if you know what i mean. The prince funded him from then on for whatever. the nazis loved him.

His music sucks ..if you can play the the chord of E flat major you can play the prelude to Rhinegold.

She's sweet on Wagner
I think she'd die for Beethoven
She loves the way Puccini lays down a tune
And Verdi's always creeping from her room...

Normal people go to the opera and see Rossini and think oh that was good ..but its LIGHT opera ..hmm not as serious ...= not as good ...

NO NO THAT IS REALLY GOOD MUSIC TECHNICALLY ARTISTICALLY ETC

Normal people go to the opera and see Lohengrin and think ..my god that was boring ...i must not be highbrow enough for this opera stuff.

NO YOUR BRAIN IS SMART ...WAGNER SUCKS!

People only go to wagner to mix with toffs and weirdos. You have to pay lots to go to Bayreuth...its a status thing for wasps.

joeguevara

kowloon wrote: »

Some singer-songwriter types should just stick to the writing. Exhibit A: Leonard Cohen. I think songwriters don't get enough credit, hence the drive to be the performer too.

Leonard Cohens music was so personal to him it would be pointless if he didn't perform them. It wasn't about credit. It was him. Somebody else can perform them but their meaning would be lost. It's not all about sweet voice. Sometimes hearing the pain, love anger etc is the point.

The Byrds sang Dylan songs better but the grit and pain were missing.

joeguevara

ILoveYourVibes wrote: »

Wagner is overrated ...musically poor ...and very repetitive ...the only reason he got funding was A ) Crown Prince Ludwig was gay secretly and had a MASSIVE crush on Wagner ..and erm ...Wagner despite not being gay ..was gay for pay if you know what i mean. The prince funded him from then on for whatever. the nazis loved him.

His music sucks ..if you can play the the chord of E flat major you can play the prelude to Rhinegold.

Normal people go to the opera and see Rossini and think oh that was good ..but its LIGHT opera ..hmm not as serious ...= not as good ...

NO NO THAT IS REALLY GOOD MUSIC TECHNICALLY ARTISTICALLY ETC

Normal people go to the opera and see Lohengrin and think ..my god that was boring ...i must not be highbrow enough for this opera stuff.

NO YOUR BRAIN IS SMART ...WAGNER SUCKS!

People only go to wagner to mix with toffs and weirdos. You have to pay lots to go to Bayreuth...its a status thing for wasps.

Why quote my Sammy Davis only to diss Wagner?

biko

It's a toss-up between Beethoven and Mozart

Could there be a single adult person on this planet who hasn't heard of these and like some of their music?

NoviGlitzko

Marvin Gaye had the greatest voice of modern times, but musical talent in general? As people have already said probably Prince. He had it all.

ILoveYourVibes

joeguevara wrote: »

Why quote my Sammy Davis only to diss Wagner?

No but people say i post too much ..so i decided to multi quote ..NOW I AM GETTING GRIEF FOR CONDENSING!

joeguevara

ILoveYourVibes wrote: »

No but people say i post too much ..so i decided to multi quote ..NOW I AM GETTING GRIEF FOR CONDENSING!

Apoligies missed the Sammy video. Loved the Wagner post. Very interesting.