No contest for me: Guns and f***ing Roses by a mile. And I like the other bands mentioned, too. Guns was a stripped down, back-to-the-basics hard rock band that was a much needed shot in the arm for the genre. Okay, so then Axl lost his mind with LSD (Lead Singer Disease), but oh, what could have been. The albums with the original lineup were brilliance.
I agree. I really like every band on the list but none even close to Guns N Roses... 1. Guns 2. STP 3. Soundgarden 4. Velvet Revolver 5. RATM 6. Audioslave
New music? "Music" being released these days barely qualifies as "music". Jonas Brothers? I mean come on. I'd rather discover stuff from the past than turn on the radio these days. Jaded rant aside, my vote goes to Soundgarden. Chris Cornell was an amazing vocalist, and they were the metal-est of the Big 4 of grunge. Rage and Audioslave are both pretty awesome as well. The first is very outspoken and geared toward a younger, more "rebellious" crowd, while the latter caters to "soccer dads". I still love them both.
Of this list Soundgarden. I got to see them open for GNR two nights in a row at the Summit 92ish. Great shows.
GnR by far. Axl's song writing skills coupled with Slash's riffs blows the rest out of the water. 1. Guns 2. STP 3. Soundgarden 4. RATM 5. Audioslave 6. Velvet Revolver
Pavement shout out! But yeah, STP became such a whipping boy. It was like no new grunge bands could start up after Nirvana & Pearl Jam.
1) STP 2) Soundgarden 3) Guns 4) Velvet Revolver 5) Audioslave 6) RATM The Deleo Bros are two of my favorite musicians. Their songwriting has been consistently great from Core to Shangri-la-dee-da. STP is by far the most versatile group on this list. I also like the Guns but for the most part was underwhelmed by Velvet Revolver. Weiland/Guns just seemed (and sounded) like a bad fit. I love Soundgarden but Cornell outside Soundgarden died after Euphoria Morning. Audioslave is f'n terrible and Rage isn't much better.
STP wasn't a grunge band. They put out one hard rock album with two 'grunge' sounding songs and all the sudden they were ripping off Pearl Jam. Hell, they're not even from Seattle, they were from SoCal (via Jersey (DeLeos) and Ohio (Weiland))
Soundgarden Chris Cornell vocals, especially in Badmotorfinger, were nothing short of perfection. Couple that with the great guitar work from Kim Thayil, and you have yourself a scary good band. Ben Shepherd and Matt Cameron were also very talented. Shepherd certainly seemed like an odd fella from his stage antics, but he completed the sound of SG with his bass work (and don't forget his backup vocals on Spoonman) I'm a fan of a good majority of the bands you listed (most specifically GN'R, RATM, & Audioslave), but Soundgarden outshines (no pun intended) them by a bit more to me at least.
GnR is just too good. That sound they had was the anthem of the late 80s. I love Soundgarden and STP better as well. Of the new concoctions, I did Audioslave.
I loved STP, Rage, and Soundgarden. But really I don't think any of them compare to GNR. Use Your Illusion I and II are just straight up classics IMO. Too bad Axl had to turn into a douche.
STP Rage Soundgarden Audioslave GNR Velvet Revolver STP is the one act I can listen to at any given point in any day - always a good default when I can't make up my mind - definitely a go-to band for me. Rage, Soundgarden, and Audioslave are slightly behind STP in that aspect, but I'm far more likely to listen to them than other acts if I'm in the rock mood. LOVE LOVE LOVE Chris Cornell's voice, and I always enjoy the sounds/styles of the Rage guys. GNR and Velvet Revolver just never suit my fancy. I wouldn't change the music if they happened to come on by chance, but I'd rarely (if ever) seek their musical efforts out.
And Appetite for Destruction was so much better than Illusion. Every song on it was great. It was played in my car non-stop almost my junior/senior year. People will still say hearing that album will remind them of my car.
Honestly, I think Judas Priest was infinitely better than all these bands combined. Who would have guessed during their heyday that Rob Halford was sidelining as a country singer the whole time.
I like Sweet Child O' Mine now more than I ever did. Never really appreciated that song I guess. It has to be one of the best rock songs ever recorded. I've been hearing it on the radio a lot lately and that got me thinking about it. If there was a Stairway to Heaven of the 80s, that has to be it.
Rage on top for quality music with actual effort in the lyrical department Soundgarden next, as they basically paved the way along with Jane's Addiction for groups like Nirvana and the like. Pavement, Failure, Dinosaur Jr., etc all were very good bands, just not what the commercial appeal radio would want year after year. Just look at the list, it's all basically a radio play list... GnR was perfect music to act like an ass at the token house party.
