Several Classic or Duds at once!

Did you carefully select them so we only had to give a single answer?

Dud.

Oh alrighty...I'll bite

The The - I'd say classic on the whole, despite his more recent efforts. INFECTED and MIND BOMB are still two damn fine albums.

Sinead O'Connor - Her first two albums are absolutely unimpeachable, but after that she sort've simultaneously lost the plot and, sadly, her mind. Too bad, that. Still, there's no arguing with the first two discs.

Grateful Dead - Really not my thing at all, but I cannot help but respect them. I have absolutely no idea why people think their music is so exceptional, as I simply do not hear it, but I admire their singular way of doing things and laissez-faire attitude towards the more ridiculous aspects of the music biz.

Pere Ubu - Classic, Classic and fucking Classic.

Triumverate - Couldn't say.

The Headcoats - Not my bag, man.

Thee Headcoatees - Nor them The Sonics - What I've heard I've liked, but not familiar enough to have a credible opinion.

The Saints - Being that they're responsible for one of the single greatest punk singles containging one of the single most galvanizing riffs of all time (that being "(I'm) Stranded"), I'd say classic every time. Their later stuff wasn't quite as exciting, but I'd still vote classic.

Free Kitten - Crap.

Cat Power - Yawn

Brian Jonestown Massacre - Yawn. I prefer the Dandy Warhols.

John Spencer Blues Explosion - Fucking fantastic.

Unsane - Like'em, but I'd opt for Barkmarket and Cop Shoot Cop (all hail) over the Unsane any day o' the week.

Pussy Galore - Godlike.

Boss Hog - Always amusing, occaissionaly fabulous, often stupid.

Why we haven't done a lot at once:

1) No means of casual browser telling from the thread title what it's about.

2) Given that a good classic-or-dud thread lasts 20-30 posts it makes things unwieldy to include several. A lot of these choices would make good threads on their own. Why not post a couple and save other ones up - the best threads evolve naturally out of the grain of discussion anyway.

So yeah, I'm against multiple c-o-ds.

Sorry I couldn't resist Buddy

Pere Ubu - were, and still are, unparrallelled

Grateful Dead - Have got what they asked for

John Spencer Blues Explosion - was good while it lasted, particularly when he was fucking the Theremin on stage. Shame he never got over the break-beat.

Pussy Galore - must go down in history for calling one of their records 'Dial M for Motherfucker'

Sinead O'connor - that song, but from the rest of her stuff we can only assume someone else told her to cover it

John Spencer Blues Explosion: Dud. Why does he need to repeat his name every five seconds? Does he really think his fans have a short attention span or what? I prefer Pussy Galore and Bewitched.
Never really understood the obsession with Childish. He keeps on churning out CDs /LPs/books (read: shit). Except for books, Pollard seems to have the same problem.
Grateful Dead? One of the few bands that made me use the off-button. Yikes. I guess I will need to check out "American Beauty" their so-called classic.
Free Kitten: dud doesn't even cover it.
Actually I don't think I like music anymore. Oh no, I quite like some of Pere Ubu's records. They make my ears go flip flop.

Awesome: Thee Headcoatees, Pere Ubu, The Sonics

Pretty good: Unsane, The Saints, Thee Headcoats

Have moments: Grateful Dead, Sinead

Haven't Heard: Triumvirate

Worthless: the rest

Total and Utter Classic : The Saints

Classic : Pere Ubu (for The Modern Dance)

Almost Classic : Jon Spencer (for Acme). The Headcoats/Headcoatees, Pussy Galore, Boss Hog.

Haven't heard Cat Power (but heard good things aout them/her)

The rest are duds.

I have to say more about The Saints. Their original line up (on "I'm Stranded" and "Eternally Yours") would probably get my vote for the greatest band ever. (Yes I know they changed bassist after the 1st album, the important thing is that Ed Kuepper and Chris Bailey were in the band together) Alex is spot on about "I'm Stranded", and "This Perfect Day" is even better - up there with Spiral Scratch. That fucking good! "Messin' With The Kid" from "I'm Stranded" has the best guitar intro I've ever heard - badly recorded and slightly out-of-tune though it is.

I can't really define what it is that makes The Saints so great - Bailey's uncontainable desparation coupled to Kuepper's motorbike riffing surely help - but somehow what clinches it for me is that they seem convincingly "against things". Railing against the stone age music scene in Brisbane and hating the punk herd when they got to London were two examples of how they felt like perpetual square pegs.

As you can see I'm descending deeper and deeper into rock cliche, so I'll stop. I can't tell you how much those first two Saints albums mean to me, I just can't.

This should be a Search & Destroy. Search:

Grateful Dead: American Beauty, Workingman's Dead
Pere Ubu: Terminal Tower, The Modern Dance, Dub Housing
The Sonics: Maintaining My Cool
The Saints: I'm Stranded

The rest are junk.

Welp, I pretty much agree with you all. I thought there would be more comparing of the bands, with a winner as a result. Of the 2 baldies, I prefer The The for the lines "We're being sedated by the gasoline fumes and hypnotised by the satellites Into believing what is good and what is right" and Grateful Dead vs. Pere Ubu vs. Triumverate? There really is no comparison. Triumverate. But, Pere Ubu would win if his voice wasn't so annoying. Where does grateful dead fit in? Infrared Roses, man! Seriuosly, I like the "long strange trip" double cd as it has the best versions of the good songs the dead put out on American Beauty & Workingman's dead. The live cd actually kind of rocks compared to everything else they've put out. Thee Headcoatees wins. The Saints and Sonics are equal in different ways. Cat Power beats Free Kitten's not-so "nice ass" with a stick and Brian Jonestown just sucks! Pussy Galore wins the last battle, Unsane being not far behind.

Tom is - as so often - on the money. This thread is illegitimate as far as I'm concerned. Delete it!

I wish I could be on the money!

sean, change your name to "washington"!

*applause*

and all of the above bands/artists could never have existed and i'd either a) not care or b) feel better off than i was four years ago. and classic or dud threads with multiple artists = DUD.

Classic : Pere Ubu

Dud : Pussy Galore, Boss Hog

in between (in descending order) : The Sonics, The Grateful Dead, Sinead O'Connor, Jon Spencer Blues Explosion, The The, The Saints

I haven't heard any of the others.

It's easier to fling C or D verdicts when there's a bunch of 'em together; less emotional attachment to your opinion or somesuch. Likewise there's less inclination to write anything that'd be worth reading (so dud). Verily:

Classic: The Saints.

Dud: The The (good band name, but), Sinead O'Connor, Headcoats, Headcoatees, Free Kitten, BJM, Unsane, Pussy Galore, Boss Hog.

Spare 'em: Pere Ubu, Sonics, JSBE.

(Plead ignorance: Grateful Dead, Triumverate, Cat Power.)

Can't be bothered by most of them but let's say:

Pussy Galore: Classic.

The The: quite dreadful

Sinead: Dud.

John Spencer B.E.: close to dud.

Why not just "John Spencer: Classic or Dud?" since a disproportionate amount of those artists have to do with him.

Anyhow, John Spencer's looks: Classic

John Spencer's talent: Mostly dud.

ask a hundred monkeys,get a hundred monkey answeres. brian jonestown massacre

Sean, your on the money.