best radio rock songs from the early/mid nineties

[Material Girl]

whatta man - TLC ^-^

[NaiLed]

Not me. So many great bands have come up in the last six or seven years it's unbelievable. You just have to look beyond the mainstream to find them. I'm not trying to sound like some hardcore underground fanatic by saying that, but it's true. The quality of MAINSTREAM music has taken a nosedive. There are no more Soundgardens, Pearl Jams or Offsprings on the musical surface, just a bunch of carbon-copy bands that all sound alike. But if you dig deeper you'll be pleasantly surprised. There are creative bands out there, but you won't find them unless you search harder than the average dimwitted MTV fanboy.

yeah, I'm generally not a fan of mainstream music and find that almost all little-known artists are so much better than their mainstream counterparts

[bloodzombie]

Wadi - nail on the head.. faith no more rocks

Zeuss - Eddie Vedder is a tool, but he lives near me.. I've never seen him, everyone says he drives a hummer.

Adamant - Machine head, better than the rest, green to red, machine head... I fucking HATE that song.

[Squeezer]

How could I forget:

Smashing Pumpkins- Disarm

[Torn Wing]

How could I forget:

Smashing Pumpkins- Disarm

AND Zero, and Chrub Rock, and 1979

[wadi]

yeah, I'm generally not a fan of mainstream music and find that almost all little-known artists are so much better than their mainstream counterparts

I get a serious case of roll eyes when I hear people say shit like this. The number of indy fags I have to deal with on a daily basis has jaded me really badly to "little-known" artists. I'm kind of a sucker for mainstream, I listen to music to turn my brain off, but not necessarily the shit that gets played on the radio. What can I say? I like music with a production value greater than a box of cracker jacks, and I really can't believe that all these pompous art-music gits like listening to something that sounds like it was recorded in a bathroom with bad plumbing.

The "almost all little-known artists are so much better than their mainstream counterparts", is just crap though. For every 1 mainstream band with a decent indy counterpart, there's 100-1000 god awful unknowns. This means the shit groups out number the listenable 99 times over. There's reasons bands don't make it big, and a lot of them don't have to do with the group being too "edgy" for mainstream.

So lets be honest eh? Yes, there are definetly some very good groups that don't recieve MTV time, and really should get some more widespread acknowledgement for the good music they create. They are the exceptions though, not the rule, so don't get snooty about your one indy diamond sitting in a vast mire of indy elephant crap.

[PH]

I think a misinterpretation of the question occurred somewhere along the line here, and that's partially my fault for incorrectly interchanging "quality" with "creativity". So allow me to correct myself. A lot of mainstream bands are not bad musically, but they don't bring anything new to the table. It's the "underground" or whatever bands that are trying a lot of new stuff that people haven't heard before, and more often than not this results in big-name media not wanting to take a risk on doing anything with them, almost like they're afraid to deviate from their formula for success. I can understand following that mindset to a certain degree, but there comes a point when that formula becomes stale and something new has to replace it. I meant no disrespect to the big-name bands, just saying that a lot of them lack the ability and/or balls to give me something I haven't already heard.

[genocidal]

Zeuss - Eddie Vedder is a tool, but he lives near me.. I've never seen him, everyone says he drives a hummer.

Haha can't wait to see PJ's response to this. I'm not sure how you mean "tool" but I assume you mean he sold out, is cheesy, or overrated. I would beg to differ, though. If there are tools on the grunge scene it's definitely Kurt Cobain or Chris Cornell (with that AWFUL "supergroup" Audioslave - makes me truly believe that de la Rocha was the heart and soul of Rage Against the Machine while Morello and his creative guitar took a backseat to that priceless de la Rocha attitude).

Anyways, Vedder's lyrics are pretty good as far as I'm concerned, not top notch though, and I'm a sucker for baritone lead singers. Plus the fact that Pearl Jam got into that lawsuit back like 10 years ago with ticketmaster over their overpriced tickets for concerts and their inability to make them cheaper makes me realize they're probably some of the more level-headed musicians on the scene today. But the fact that he drives a fucking Hummer does kinda make him seem tool-ish.

[Squeezer]

I get a serious case of roll eyes when I hear people say shit like this. The number of indy fags I have to deal with on a daily basis has jaded me really badly to "little-known" artists. I'm kind of a sucker for mainstream, I listen to music to turn my brain off, but not necessarily the shit that gets played on the radio. What can I say? I like music with a production value greater than a box of cracker jacks, and I really can't believe that all these pompous art-music gits like listening to something that sounds like it was recorded in a bathroom with bad plumbing.

The "almost all little-known artists are so much better than their mainstream counterparts", is just crap though. For every 1 mainstream band with a decent indy counterpart, there's 100-1000 god awful unknowns. This means the shit groups out number the listenable 99 times over. There's reasons bands don't make it big, and a lot of them don't have to do with the group being too "edgy" for mainstream.

So lets be honest eh? Yes, there are definetly some very good groups that don't recieve MTV time, and really should get some more widespread acknowledgement for the good music they create. They are the exceptions though, not the rule, so don't get snooty about your one indy diamond sitting in a vast mire of indy elephant crap.

i agree, I like music because it's catchy to my ear, not because it's "underground." I hate people that fuckin dump bands as soon as they hit it big.

On a side note, That Kelly Clarkson song, "Since You Been Gone" kicks ass. And I am not ashamed to say it.

[Cops]

She's not fat anymore, I'd take a run at it.

edit: My Bad I was thinking of Kelly Osbourne, hell I'd take a run at Kelly Clarkson too.

[ConcreteSchlyrd]

Here's the problem I have with most mainstream radio.

Let's take "Generic Radio Song #1" for example. The person you hear singing it? I'd say about 70-80% of the time, they didn't write a single note of it. Not even the title. I don't have problems with people being good singers or performers, but I think I get a lot of the enjoyment from a song by knowing it actually means something to someone.

The other problem I have with mainstream radio is parent of the first problem--mainstream radio is dictated by large record companies. Not signed to a huge mega-label? I guess you'll never be hearing your band on Dick Clark's Rock-A-Billy-Bye-Bye Rockin USA TOP 100 COUNTDIZZLE. The radio world is a money game. It's not about musical talent, it's not about creativity or innovation, it's purely about "what can we market?"

And yeah, I agree that you'll hear a lot of crappy indie bands. But hell, man, usually they're at least trying something new or different. But yeah, it could definitely still suck.

In closing, sLiPKnOt are a bunch of posers.

EDIT: Had to make the spelling of Slipknot all crazy for the kids. Look at that, man! They so crazy that they capitalized it all throughout the word! They've gotta be insane! Look at that guy! He's wearin' a clown mask! He's crazy! This band's crazy!

[Cops]

I wish I got payed to wear a halloween mask and dance around on stage and scream my heart out. (of course I'd laugh at every little fucker who actually payed to see me perform and payed for my music)

[Verthanthi]

keep in mind mainstream radio was playing modest mouse this summer. (also franz ferdinand, but i don't like them)

[Facetious]

On a side note, That Kelly Clarkson song, "Since You Been Gone" kicks ass. And I am not ashamed to say it.

i totally agree, that song rules

[bloodzombie]

But the fact that he drives a fucking Hummer does kinda make him seem tool-ish.

Just to be clear... I've heard that he drives a hummer, I've never seen him driving it.

I really don't care about eddie vedder, I just know that people get all uppity when you talk bad about him. I liked their first album and then just lost interest after that. Most of their songs now just sound generic to me, with some of them bordering on terrible and/or annoying.

I don't like audioslave either, but I don't think you can really knock chris cornell Just because his creative interests have gone in a different direction than your (and my) taste.

I would also disagree with you about cobain right up until he took the easy way out.

Slipknot is funny. If you ever get a chance, watch one of their concert videos. They're trying so damn hard to be hardcore. I kinda liked their music when I first heard it... it's generic, but it's hard enough to be fun, but then I saw the video...