Bruce Springsteen Bob Seger Tom Petty Jackson Browne John Mellencamp These artists are very similar in a lot of ways for me, but I'm amazed at how much some people love some of these artists and hate others. Personally, I'd go: 1. Springsteen 2. Seger 3. Browne 4. Petty 5. Mellencamp And not much of a difference between 1 and 5.
With the exception of Tom Petty, it's like the hall of fame of people that make me want to claw my brain out via my eye socket. The only name you are missing is Paul Rodgers.
Springsteen - better overall songwriter Petty - better backing band Seger - better singer Mellencamp Browne
OK, so you have a problem with artists who can write interesting, meaningful lyrics, sing reasonably well (OK, Springsteen can be grating to some- but then again, so can Bob Dylan, the Pixies lead singer, etc.), write fairly memorable songs- not that you just don't prefer them, but hate them in a claw-your-brain type of way? OK, I'll bite- who's your fave, out of curiosity?
Yes, and Marvin Gaye>>>>>Van And John Lennon >>>>>>> Marvin Actually, there are quite a few people I've talked to over the years who HATE Van Morrison, especially "Brown Eyed Girl"- that song and the word "nauseous" have appeared in the same sentence many times. Personally, Astral Weeks has always been in my top 5, and everything from that through Hard Nose the Highway is great. The 80s stuff? Meh, OK.
Tom Petty (very good but still underrated) Bruce Springsteen (very good but still overrated) John Mellencamp (some good stuff, still productive but hit or miss) Jackson Browne (peaked early & hasn't done much since) Bob Seger (some good stuff mid to late 70's. Nothing since...)
Not to derail the thread, but Van had some gems in the 80s- Sense of Wonder and No Guru, No Method are up there with his 70s work. For me, Van is the best soul singer ever. I have never understood the appeal of Bob Seger or Jackson Browne. Tom Petty's first 3 or 4 LPs were top shelf, some of the best music of the time.
Not to argue with you, love Van, but you can't get why some would like stuff like this? <iframe width="420" height="315" src="//www.youtube.com/embed/rQW2Lq5pA5k" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe> <iframe width="560" height="315" src="//www.youtube.com/embed/OT9qDGbiR4k" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>
Right here... Especially Moondance. Lloyd Christmas eat your heart out. <iframe width="560" height="315" src="//www.youtube.com/embed/0cVlTeIATBs" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>
1. Bruce, rock's greatest lyricist (yes better than Dylan), possibly the greatest live act ever (his live shows are better than his albums , screw you Landau) and the most passionate rocker ever. 2. Tom Petty- Tom is great but he's fortunate to have arguably the best backing group (including guitarist/songwriter Mike Campbell whose greatest song wasn't written with Tom but with Don Henley "Boys of Summer"). I love a ton of Tom's songs but no particular track or album really stands out. 3. Mellencamp - the opposite of Tom, I don't love a lot of his songs but the ones that are good are really really good and I think his best album (Scarecrow) is better than Tom's (damn the torpedoes) 4. Jackson Browne - a big drop here but I do really love Running on Empty 5. Seger- I sadly only know two Seger songs. Night Moves is great, but the other "Old Time Rock N Roll" while passionate suffers from two issues: 1. Sounds too much like a cranky old white man. 2. Conjures images of Tom Cruise in tighty whities. Shudder
Wow Main Street, Against the Wind, Turn the Page visit youtube my friend, because you are missing out. Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers are my number 2 all time behind Pink Floyd. While Tom Petty's lyrics usually lacked complexity, they made up for in coherence, something a lot of writers ignore, Just putting words together with no real meaning, just a theme. Musically unparalleled, just put the album on, any of them, and let if play through. Hard to separate man from band though if we are grading individually. Not a big fan of Springsteen or Mellancamp, they certainly have some songs I like, but in general don't love them. I have just never liked Springsteen's labored singing style. I would put Mellancamp ahead of Springsteen for what it's worth. Jackson Browne I actually had to look up, not in the class of the other 4 musically IMO.
The same advice you give about Bob Seger, I would say apply that to Jackson Browne (especially Apocalypse, great ending): <iframe width="560" height="315" src="//www.youtube.com/embed/ZC7tSx8-1yc" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe> <iframe width="560" height="315" src="//www.youtube.com/embed/ddvJGDwOGj0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe> <iframe width="560" height="315" src="//www.youtube.com/embed/YbW5Btt4HIk" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe> <iframe width="560" height="315" src="//www.youtube.com/embed/MeaZ5OIWko8" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe> <iframe width="420" height="315" src="//www.youtube.com/embed/NNaINzl6XtU" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>
I resonate the most with this post, I think. But I'm somewhere between this point of view and Ottomaton's. Tom Petty is head and shoulders above the rest of this bunch, IMHO, just in terms of craft, creativity, and originality. I might move Jackson Browne up one or two notches in the sub-Petty category, but only b/c I have these sentimental memories of the cool high school kids listening to him when I was in elementary school.
i would add one last thing- like a lot of people, I've seen tens of thousands of movies in my lifetime- and favorites can change from year to year. But one thing has been consistent if I'm ever asked about my favorite scene in any movie, and that's this one- tells you everything about this character in 90 seconds, with zero dialogue and the perfect song: <iframe width="560" height="315" src="//www.youtube.com/embed/kCuN6H3V6_Q" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe> With this a close second: <iframe width="560" height="315" src="//www.youtube.com/embed/WZ7UwnfQ2nA" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe> And b/c Scorsese uses music better than almost anyone, #3: <iframe width="420" height="315" src="//www.youtube.com/embed/BbwFXngs9Lw" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>
Springsteen a better lyricist than Dylan? Not a chance. Tom Petty meh. Springsteen sucks. Only 50 year old anglos like that ****. Seger rules. Night Moves. Turn the Page. Classic story telling.
While I do love Dylan (even more than Springsteen) I find Dylan's lyrics too poetic and dense-like he's saying something profound but really isn't saying anything at all. Springsteen on the other hand while doing a lot of that same stuff on his first album always feels like he's saying something in his lyrics. I would do a comparison of their two most famous songs as an example ("Like a Rolling Stone" which is a less dense song of Dylan's and "Born to Run") but you seem to think Springsteen sucks anyway, so who am I to change that close-minded attitude. And as far as being a 50 year old anglo. I'm 33 and Hispanic, who didn't get into Springsteen till college because all I knew of was Born in the USA and later material and never heard his great earlier material.
I would also put Bob Dylan ahead of all of the ones you mentioned, but I'll play along... Tom Petty Bob Seger Jackson Browne Bruce Springsteen ... ... ... ... ... Couger Mellencamp ....... ....... .......
Ranking artist is stoopid. I love all these guys, I want to hear all the guys occasionally and I don't want to hear any of theses guys exclusively. I'm not even sure what the common thread is that include those 5 or six is and excludes others.; non-lead guitar playing, white American, rock, story tellers with platinum albums? <iframe width="560" height="315" src="//www.youtube.com/embed/7UrueP3aM40?list=AL94UKMTqg-9CnybvUQuxglK-niG5Iru3G" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe> <iframe width="560" height="315" src="//www.youtube.com/embed/2PYKmvx-Lms?list=AL94UKMTqg-9CnybvUQuxglK-niG5Iru3G" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe> <iframe width="560" height="315" src="//www.youtube.com/embed/7vQB90iblug?list=AL94UKMTqg-9CnybvUQuxglK-niG5Iru3G" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe> <iframe width="420" height="315" src="//www.youtube.com/embed/uhl9y95iOwM" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe> <iframe width="560" height="315" src="//www.youtube.com/embed/0d0bs4lA1t4?list=AL94UKMTqg-9CnybvUQuxglK-niG5Iru3G" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe> <iframe width="560" height="315" src="//www.youtube.com/embed/d5begHSoQ1s?list=AL94UKMTqg-9CnybvUQuxglK-niG5Iru3G" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe> <iframe width="560" height="315" src="//www.youtube.com/embed/mGZ8NuIRU5Y?list=AL94UKMTqg-9CnybvUQuxglK-niG5Iru3G" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe> <iframe width="560" height="315" src="//www.youtube.com/embed/7aYxMuLb3h8?list=AL94UKMTqg-9CnybvUQuxglK-niG5Iru3G" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>
