There are some groups that could have been all-time greats- iconic greats- if they just would have stayed around longer. Best example I can think of would be Guns N Roses. They had IT and lost IT. I have no doubt that they would have been playing stadiums, sold-out albums, etc. if they just would have made it work. Same with The Police. Probably Buddy Holly. Maybe Nirvana, but I'm not sure about them. Definitely G&R.
I disagree. Between 1978 and 1981 they released 4 albums (Synchronicity came after they were mainstream) and introduced a generation to a new sound of rock. The Pretenders came after and weren't in the same league. The Cars were about the same time, but were considered a novelty for a bit and were a regional phenom before cracking the national scene. When you first listened to The Police, you knew you were listening to something new and great. They may not have influenced punk rock the music that much, but they introduced the sounds to a generation of listeners. (And they had a great, great drummer.) Listening to both now, The Cars seem much more dated than The Police. I also think there's a direct line between The Police and U2. By the way, the first concert i ever saw was the Cars after their second album came out and I can still remember where I was when I heard Roxanne (at a friend's house) and when I heard Good Times Roll (in a friend's car).
Insert proverbial “You must spread some Reputation around before giving it to rimrocker again” post. Each one of their albums was bigger than their last. And I agree, they were already huge before Sycnronicity came out. They were ahead of their time and definitely invented a totally unique sound that has yet to be emulated - punk reggae! Seriously, I can listen to Ghost in the Machine today and it still sounds modern and innovative even though it was released over 2 decades ago. I, too, remember where I was the first time I heard Roxanne. I was in Commerce, Texas at freshman band camp (insert joke here). One of the seniors was playing it on his boombox. I wandered in to his room and asked him what it was.....and my life would never be the same. <object width="425" height="344"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/-Jw-zFny1Tk&hl=en&fs=1&"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/-Jw-zFny1Tk&hl=en&fs=1&" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="425" height="344"></embed></object>
Not to derail my own thread but I agree that The Police were very influential. There was a bit of a Reggae Rennaissance in the 1980's that was due to The Police and I definately think the kind of sound by bands like Sublime owe something to The Police but also bands like Coldplay sound also might owe something to late Police and Sting. The Police really seemed to be a victim of their success and I felt Synchronicity was a real drop and led to a way overproduced sound that came to dominate Sting's own music. As I said I think Coldplay owes something to that particular sound so it was influential but not being a Coldplay fan I don't like it.
The Stone Roses are the first band I thought of - their debut was absolutely brilliant and inspired so many other groups: Blur Oasis Radiohead Coldplay The Verve Primal Scream The Charlatans UK etc... Too bad they took to long to record the follow-up (a staggering 5 years), by the time that album came out, Ian Brown (the lead singer) and John Squire (the guitarist) couldn't stand each other, thus leading to their demise. Another great example would be the bands that Clapton played in the '60s and early '70s in Cream, Blind Faith, and Derek & the Dominoes. Hell, I would rather listen to any material by those groups (including Clapton's tenure with John Mayall's Bluesbreakers) than anything from his solo career.
That's a bit of hyperbole isn't it? EC did some fine solo work. Aside from the popular songs you hear on the radio, there are some great tracks like Motherless Children and The Core.
