British or American Sound

Valie

I personally think that the Brits have something special that they have contributed to the history of rock. Just think: The Who , Led Zep and Clapton etc. The Yanks are the specialists, Les Paul ,Atkins, Eddy Van Halen, Eric Johnson etc. There is always a new sound coming from the Brits just when you think that things are stating to sound stale. In the 80's synth pop ruled when Knopfler did it. Later it was Oasis. The yanks have lost it. (c)Rap and Hip hop just don't do it for me.

MikeM

Muse - My favorite contemporary band. I have often discussed this with friends.

Bob-Dubery

Valie wrote: I personally think that the Brits have something special that they have contributed to the history of rock. Just think: The Who , Led Zep and Clapton etc. The Yanks are the specialists, Les Paul ,Atkins, Eddy Van Halen, Eric Johnson etc. There is always a new sound coming from the Brits just when you think that things are stating to sound stale. In the 80's synth pop ruled when Knopfler did it. Later it was Oasis. The yanks have lost it. (c)Rap and Hip hop just don't do it for me.

Sheesh! I don't pay much attention to what's on the radio and VH-1 these days, but even I know there's more to contemporary American music than Rap and Hip-Hop.

There's also an irony in your argument - because the artists you cite in your 2nd sentence were all primarily influenced by American music. Blues and soul. Even Fairport Convention, revered as the inventors of British Folk-Rock initially played in a West-Coast style. The Beatles and the Stones were hugely influenced by Chuck Berry.

Things go around, and may get more interesting if you take a wider perspective. One way of looking at the "British Invasion" was that they took American music back to America.

In the early days of Rock 'n Roll the Yanks had Elvis, Chuck Berry, Little Richard, Jerry Lee Lewis, Buddy Holly, Gene Vincent plus James Burton and Scotty Moore as star guitar sidemen. The best that the Brits could have offered in a rock 'n roll olympics would have been Cliff Richard and The Shadows. No contest.

Keira-WitherKay

X-rated Bob wrote: [In the early days of Rock 'n Roll the Yanks had Elvis, Chuck Berry, Little Richard, Jerry Lee Lewis, Buddy Holly, Gene Vincent plus James Burton and Scotty Moore as star guitar sidemen. The best that the Brits could have offered in a rock 'n roll olympics would have been Cliff Richard and The Shadows. No contest.

hhehe yeah damn right no contest ............none of those american rock and rollers was better that cliffie and the shadows hehheheheheh

JUST KIDDING ......... (RUNS FOR COVER)

couldn't resist

peace and light
keira

ps... it may be totally personal but i too prefer the slicker brit sound to the US sound........

Vick

like,I love springsteen,but thers nothing like hendrix when im in the mood for it...

I think thers a time and place for brit and yank...and all the others...

racman

Valie wrote: In the 80's synth pop ruled when Knopfler did it.

What ??? ?

Bob-Dubery

racman wrote:
Valie wrote: In the 80's synth pop ruled when Knopfler did it.
What ??? ?

Dunno. But the first Dire Straits album was 1979, maybe even 1978. They were one of the few non-punk bands to be getting good reviews in the UK at the time.

racman

I would never have classified their sound as Synth pop - or even synth in any way.

Bob-Dubery

racman wrote: I would never have classified their sound as Synth pop - or even synth in any way

I think the point was that Knopfler put guitars on the chart in an era of synth pop.

baseline

there are some outstanding American bands but i think the brits have the edge, also i think it;s something to do with the training, the majority of brit muzos are pucker musicians and could play almost anything.not just 3 chord wonders.

[deleted]

Steve R wrote: i think it;s something to do with the training, the majority of brit muzos are pucker musicians and could play almost anything.not just 3 chord wonders.

:-\ Erm... I have to say I think that's a wildly, wildly misguided assumption.

In other news, my tastes definitely tend towards the British side of the puddle.

Squonk

Steve R wrote: there are some outstanding American bands but i think the brits have the edge, also i think it;s something to do with the training, the majority of brit muzos are pucker musicians and could play almost anything.not just 3 chord wonders.

Which American guitarists are 3 chord wonders, I personally think it's the other way round. Look at the Vai's, Satriani's, Petrucci's etc and there's most probably a million more, I think they have had too much training and there's a difference between technique and playing from the heart.

Beck, Page, Clapton etc might have started the whole guitar hero thing but I think the Americans have quite a couple since then.

Oasis, they would be the three chord wonders? But I maybe would listen to them more than Dream Theatre!

I think the world is a bit anti American because when they do things ,they go the whole hog.

In saying that I still prefer British music, I think I identify with the culture a bit more. And they have more Humour!

But there are some great American musicians!!!

racman

X-rated Bob wrote:
racman wrote: I would never have classified their sound as Synth pop - or even synth in any way
I think the point was that Knopfler put guitars on the chart in an era of synth pop.

Thx Bob - so much wisdom is totally unexpectaed from X-rated sources !!! ?

Bob-Dubery

Steve R wrote: there are some outstanding American bands but i think the brits have the edge, also i think it;s something to do with the training, the majority of brit muzos are pucker musicians and could play almost anything.not just 3 chord wonders.

No way! There are LOTS of really fantastic players in the USA, and especially in centers like LA where there are lots of studios.

I think you're not listening to enough music. I don't mean the quantity of whatever you listen to, but breadth. Look at Clapton's touring bands of the last few years for example - some great players there and by no means dominated by the Brits. Country, Bluegrass (or, if you prefer, "Newgrass"), Americana are full of really high class players. Look at some of the players who have really pushed the envelope the last few years: Andy McKee, Steve Vai, Joe Satriani, and others are American.

Pink Floyd, post Waters, worked in LA for two reasons
1) The time differences slowed down various legal proceedings
2) LA was full of top players that you could bring into the studio and have them lay down whatever you needed.

chris77

Both have their moments. The Britts are imo more original and the U.S bands more polished. The poms seem to have the melodies sorted and the yanks the lyrics. Flipside of the coin, the Britts gave us Westlife and the Spice Girls , the Yanks gave us Backstreet boys and Britney...

baseline

Stratisfear wrote:
Steve R wrote: i think it;s something to do with the training, the majority of brit muzos are pucker musicians and could play almost anything.not just 3 chord wonders.
:-\ Erm... I have to say I think that's a wildly, wildly misguided assumption.

In other news, my tastes definitely tend towards the British side of the puddle.

Not to be disrespectful of the yanks, there are fantastic musicians from the States, but most “ modern” music is simply loops and repeats of lyrics, the “old “ school bands and Artists were much more articulate and the song had some meaning or a great hook,
You could argue that this is what makes music some great and diversified, is the fact that there is a different genres of music and that certain people will like what they like, but I think British artists have an edge,--or maybe I am biased..
?

singemonkey

You guys realise this is just like a "Fender is better than Gibson" type of conversation? It's easy enough to cite crap American bands vs. great British ones or vice versa.

What's popular on tv or the radio at the moment is not necessarily representative of that country's talent either. But America being represented by Eric Johnson? Come on.

What about (randomly) Louis Armstrong (the first person to make globally popular music that wasn't kitsch rubbish), John Coltrane, Buddy Holly, Robert Johnson, Eddie Cochrane, The Grateful Dead, The Doors, Buffalo Springfield, Joni Mitchell, Bob Dylan, Kiss, Metallica, Slayer, Jimi Hendrix, Queens of the Stone Age, Sonic Youth, The Ramones, The Pixies, The White Stripes, Bruce Springsteen, Nirvana, The Derek Trucks Band, etc., etc., etc., etc..

Vick

Exept...we al know gibson is beter then fender!

Just joking!
: dodges a brick :

Vick

Exept...we al know gibson is beter then fender!

Just joking!
: dodges a brick :

[deleted]

Back to the trademark sounds and not individuals...

I like both... Both have there positives and I cant say I prefer one or find fault in the other...

Imagine if we all sounded the same and had the same amp, with the same tubes, a 6L6, and everyone only played single coils... Oh what a sad world we would be living in...

So I say.. Both are great... in there own way ?