Best Ever Albums

Re: Best band Lyrically

Jasonconfused — Thu, 5 Dec 2013 13:34:43 GMT

Author: Jasonconfused

Posted: 12/05/2013 18:34

I guess she's not a band, but Joni Mitchell, whom I enjoy listening to very much, can sometimes bore me if I don't like her lyrics. I'm not saying she's a bad lyricist. I'm saying that she's such a good lyricist, that she's probably the only artist in which her lyrics are the best part for me.

Re: Best band Lyrically

bg62096 — Thu, 5 Dec 2013 08:51:43 GMT

Author: bg62096

Posted: 12/05/2013 13:51

Pink Floyd without a doubt

Re: Best band Lyrically

SingingPeasant96 — Thu, 5 Dec 2013 04:29:38 GMT

Author: SingingPeasant96

Posted: 12/05/2013 09:29

I made "favourite lyricists" list(with quotes)

Re: Best band Lyrically

camsh — Wed, 4 Dec 2013 13:47:33 GMT

Author: camsh

Posted: 12/04/2013 18:47

Pink Floyd
The Smiths
Arctic Monkeys
Pulp
Manic Street Preachers
Neutral Milk Hotel
Pearl Jam
Nirvana
The Antlers
Arcade Fire

Re: Best band Lyrically

Bach — Wed, 4 Dec 2013 13:17:10 GMT

Author: Bach

Posted: 12/04/2013 18:17

The Smiths.

Re: Best band Lyrically

Anonymous — Wed, 4 Dec 2013 13:16:21 GMT

Author: Anonymous

Posted: 12/04/2013 18:16

Modest Mouse has always been my favorite band lyrically, but They Might Be Giants have amazing lyrics. Not the type of personal and tear bringing lyrics that I tend to love, but cheerful and happy ones which are extremely clever and well written.

I also love Ben Folds Fives, Bruce Springsteen, Jay Reatard, Lemonheads, Canibus, Califone, Sunny day real estate, Squeeze, etc. So many of them out there that have ways of writing which other bands just don't do as well.

Re: Best band Lyrically

Anonymous — Wed, 4 Dec 2013 12:59:19 GMT

Author: Anonymous

Posted: 12/04/2013 17:59

lethalnezzle wrote:

Eh, I'm a massive Dylan fanboy, as you probably know, but I wouldn't choose to read his words from a page.

I think I'd read Desolation Row from a page for enjoyment. Although that doesn't make him comparable to, say, Wallace Stevens who didn't win the Noble prize btw.

Re: Best band Lyrically

Anonymous — Wed, 4 Dec 2013 12:26:51 GMT

Author: Anonymous

Posted: 12/04/2013 17:26

Mancsoulsister wrote:

'When you punish a person for dreaming his dream, don't expect him to thank or forgive you'

Possibly my favorite line of all time. All Hail, despite production value being non - existent, is one of the best albums to grace my ears. The lyrics are all so beautifully written and personal.

EDIT: That particular song ends so perfectly with the "Hail satan" portion.

Re: Best band Lyrically

Anonymous — Wed, 4 Dec 2013 12:18:58 GMT

Author: Anonymous

Posted: 12/04/2013 17:18

Mancsoulsister wrote:

'When you punish a person for dreaming his dream, don't expect him to thank or forgive you'

That's umm . . . bad.

Re: Best band Lyrically

meccalecca — Wed, 4 Dec 2013 12:07:08 GMT

Author: meccalecca

Posted: 12/04/2013 17:07

lethalnezzle wrote:

Your favourite poet is Heaney too?

Ok. well not everything, but the main points

Re: Best band Lyrically

Anonymous — Wed, 4 Dec 2013 12:02:01 GMT

Author: Anonymous

Posted: 12/04/2013 17:02

meccalecca wrote:

Agree with everything you've said here.

Your favourite poet is Heaney too?

Re: Best band Lyrically

meccalecca — Wed, 4 Dec 2013 12:00:22 GMT

Author: meccalecca

Posted: 12/04/2013 17:00

lethalnezzle wrote:

Eh, I'm a massive Dylan fanboy, as you probably know, but I wouldn't choose to read his words from a page. That said, I have yet to come across a lyricist whose words I would read, for pleasure, from a page (although I recently have taken to reading 'Gustavo' sans music, so perhaps Kozelek, but there's not a lot of his stuff that I think I'd enjoy in a similar way). I don't think Dylan deserves a Nobel Prize for Literature, nor do I think any first-and-foremost lyricist does, though Leonard Cohen would certainly be in with a shout. However, if the panel were stupid enough to give the award to a lyricist, then I don't see why Dylan wouldn't be first choice. I get the arguments for Newsom, but for me she's never written anything as biting as 'Ballad of a Thin Man', no story as interesting as 'Tangled Up In Blue', nothing on the same level as 'Visions of Johanna' or 'Simple Twist of Fate' or even 'Po' Boy'. But these things are subjective. My favourite poet is Seamus Heaney, whilst others would certainly prefer Keats or Yeats or Auden. So yeah, I don't think any song lyricist should be mentioned among the great novelists and poets, because it's a totally different medium. One is made for reading from a page, the other for being performed alongside music. But if people insist on putting a lyricist on that pedestal (which, for some strange reason, they do), then for me it should be Bob Dylan.

Agree with everything you've said here.

Re: Best band Lyrically

Anonymous — Wed, 4 Dec 2013 11:54:47 GMT

Author: Anonymous

Posted: 12/04/2013 16:54

Kool Keith Sweat wrote:

I'm not saying Dylan isn't good, but to believe he's not overrated is to be infatuated with him. Some publications (mostly American) and UK bookies consider him a contender for the Nobel Prize in Literature (though a poor one). Words are words and I'd be lying if I said several musical lyrics don't touch me on the same level as literary works, but frankly I think it's insulting to believe Dylan's lyrics are the best in all artforms with words, especially considering the politics of that prize. The Nobel prize committee has stated outright that it's biased against American literature for being too insular, and maybe it's partly because popular opinion here considers Dylan a contender, implicitly snubbing Pynchon, Roth, Delillo, McCarthy, and other great American writers that already have to compete with tens if not over a hundred of other great living literary figures across the globe. Not to mention that some people actually expect Dylan to be the first musical figure awarded that prize. It's also incredibly predictable to see Dylan in these lyrics-based threads just as it is to see five Beatles albums top a best albums chart (which seems to be an OK enough basis to call them overrated). Of course, whether or not he is "overrated" comes down to personal appreciation of his writing, but if you disagree that the weight he is given does not balance with his work, I simply can't take you seriously.

Re: Best band Lyrically

SamuelPear — Wed, 4 Dec 2013 04:07:16 GMT

Author: SamuelPear

Posted: 12/04/2013 09:07

On the top of my mind, just woke up ...

Arcade Fire
Alex Turner
Julian Casablancas
Robin Pecknold

Re: Best band Lyrically

Anonymous — Tue, 3 Dec 2013 23:05:16 GMT

Author: Anonymous

Posted: 12/04/2013 04:05

At the moment 16 Horsepower or Wovenhand for me (same guy so it doesn't matter which).

I don't know why, but stuff like this I really enjoy:

I am an honest man when I ain't lyin'
I am a living man when I commence to dyin'
Bring it down bring it down on me, put me on a high horse so everyone can see
Then kick the nag an leave me be, swingin' from the tree

Re: Best band Lyrically

SingingPeasant96 — Tue, 3 Dec 2013 22:44:10 GMT

Author: SingingPeasant96

Posted: 12/04/2013 03:44

Top 3

Belle & Sebastian
The Magnetic Fields
The Smiths

Re: Best band Lyrically

Anonymous — Tue, 3 Dec 2013 21:45:55 GMT

Author: Anonymous

Posted: 12/04/2013 02:45

There's many solo artists I'd put here, but I'll focus on bands.

Neutral Milk Hotel
The Flaming Lips
Pink Floyd
Mastodon

Re: Best band Lyrically

Anonymous — Tue, 3 Dec 2013 21:41:16 GMT

Author: Anonymous

Posted: 12/04/2013 02:41

Back to the point of the thread, excluding solo acts...

hit close to home
Red House Painters/Sun Kil Moon
Low
Portishead

can be incredibly clever and emotive
Built to Spill
Pavement
Modest Mouse
The Replacements

I know I'm missing several acts; largely recycling what's been said. I'm surprised Portishead hasn't been mentioned yet, though. Several songs off their first two albums (most notably "Glory Box") and the entirety of Third address women's issues in the most direct way I've seen outside of ostentatiously feminist music, and definitely in the most sinister way.

Re: Best band Lyrically

Anonymous — Tue, 3 Dec 2013 21:13:07 GMT

Author: Anonymous

Posted: 12/04/2013 02:13

creator wrote:

Agreed! All Hail West Texas was the first album that took me to another place. I felt like I could hear the best ever death metal band out of Denton practicing in Jeff's garage down the street.

'When you punish a person for dreaming his dream, don't expect him to thank or forgive you'

Re: Best band Lyrically

creator — Tue, 3 Dec 2013 21:10:57 GMT

Author: creator

Posted: 12/04/2013 02:10

rayword45 wrote:

The Mountain Goats don't get enough fucking respect on this site.

Agreed! All Hail West Texas was the first album that took me to another place. I felt like I could hear the best ever death metal band out of Denton practicing in Jeff's garage down the street.