What Makes a Good Band?
 

In your opinion discuss or explain the reasons behind what makes good music or a good band. Give us some examples would be good too.

Bands producing an inimitable sound, that have their own way of playing. Not knock offs like say... Cold Play.

having """creativity""" and """inovation""" and """longevity""" when basically everything has been done before that Bar is so High and hard to reach IMO

and on top of that doing it in a i WANT WANT WANT day of age

People will Download for free a album consume it and be like OK whats next ...when the artist is like SHIITTT it took us months to craft dat album

and some bands can have "longevity" but the creativity""" and """inovation"" are gone and thats having longevity in a bad way IMO in a Hollow way

The measure of a good band is their ability to connect with a crowd.

musical resonance

sincerity

innovation

I agree, it isn't a easy thing to accomplish now-a-days with how broad music has exceedingly become. But it's a good reason why it excels. :)

Even integrating different styles, notations, ideas previously explored innovating and improvising it. Piecing them together making a whole bigger picture into a masterpiece, that's some creative talent at work.

Great points, agreed.

my opinion
 

they have to be a little different or combine sounds of others
they have to be able to get on
yeah that is all

For me, the measure of the good band is they are of course wide in the knowledge in music as well can play any genre and has a lot of sense of humor.When it comes in live situation, they can entertain the crowd more to the crowd are just expecting.

Lyrics, musicianship and originality. If you stand out in a positive way, you are going to produce amazing music. RATM, Tool, Primus, Faith No More. All favorites, all alternative metal, but all so vastly different from one-another. They all have a sound I've never heard duplicated, maybe some bands have attempted, but failed.

This is why bands like Creed, Staind, Nickelback, etc. suck so much. They don't stand out, and sometimes you're not sure which one did which song, because its all the same crap.

If I wanted to hear Stone Temple Pilots, I'd listen to Stone Temple Pilots.

In what way? Just performing generally or let's say... A band that rivets the crowd?

This.

Are you talking about that "special something"?

Yeah I've heard that from agents before.

The creation of good music. That's really it. There are great bands that are virtuoso musicians and great bands that can barely play their instruments, great bands who are amazing live and great bands who really shine in the studio, great bands who have wonderful internal dynamics and great bands who are completely dysfunctional. None of those things really matter in the final analysis, just the end product.

word up

cleverness of writing and flow of transitions. anything to square just bores me

janszoon, can't even read your post cuz your avatar is to awesome. bizzare

I feel like the biggest thing for me to really enjoy a band is honesty. If they are quiet, calm people and they spend all their time standing or sitting in place on stage, that's great. If they are loud, crazy, wild people and they are the same way on stage, that is also great. If they are calm, quiet people and are faking being "intense" by jumping around and going crazy, then I just won't like it enough.

Anyway, that's my (incredibly tired, confused) two bits.

I also agree with this. Despite how each fragment is, If it's all woven and works together, the end product is what matters overall.

I think it comes down to things like sincerity and passion- if a band is truly sincere about what they are doing, if they have that passion to get their voice heard and really love what they're doing, that comes across and it can transcend any musical ability or any of that stuff. How many garage or punk bands have you heard that couldn't play a lick but bashed their instruments like their lives depended on it - music like that is so alive, it gets you at a primal level and often stands the test of time far better than some soulless bunch of wizard players who form a band just because they want to be famous or get laid or whatever. They may have chops but they often have no heart.

I never really came across a band that were successful because of their cravings for sex, drugs and fame.

...Maybe Mötley Crüe.

The 80's and 90's were FULL of them. Not that they always were successful, but that they wanted to be successful for those stated reasons. Of course, I live in a place where classic rock cover bands, hair metal bands, and 'modern country' bands have always been extremely popular.

It may be that there are fewer bands full of superficial, posturing mega-Aholes than there were back in those days. I hope so. It certainly is much harder to get a recording contract and I don't think that model of manufacturing a band, then giving them a bunch of coke in the hopes that they will destroy themselves is as lucrative as it used to be. Then again, I am an old fart and I'm not as hep to the local music scene as I used to be.

Yea I guess I agree with a lot of 80s music being superficial rubbish. Then again, I avoid listening to 80s music. :p

The Rolling Stones

Gastric and Elastic.

Sounds like a Drum and Bass combo :laughing:

In a band I mostly look at their reliance on electronic things, especially electonic drums. I do realize that electronic sounds, such as an electronic drum set, actually need to be played to sound good. But it makes me wonder why they don't strive a bit harder for new sounds. I play drums and there are a lot of tricks to get cool sounds. Of course, they aren't the same. Bottom line, the less electronics (besides guitar amps and a microphone) the better.

I also want to hear more than three chords from the guitar and the same note repeated from the bass. In guitars, repeating chords are okay, but the amount of cool things you can do not relying on chords is amazing. But I admit, I love Green Day, and they are massive offenders. I like the vass to be loud, whether it be a walking bass line or jumping around to different notes, it want it to be loud. A good example of this would be Flea from the Red Hot Chili Peppers. He is my favorite bassist. I am a huge critic of drums, being a drummer myself. The kick on 1 and 3 and snare on 2 and 4 just isn't enough (ehemm ACDC). There needs to be innovation. Something like snare on 2 and the and of 3 or something. Don't just double bass the hell out of it (ehemm metal drummers). A wide use of cymbals. Not just an open hi-hat or a crash. I love it when people use splash or China cymbals.

Also, I like it when bands do songs in different time signatures like 7/8 or 5/4. It changes the feel. It's not what you'd expect.

I like the lyrics to be meaningful, about more than sex, drugs, and love. Two bands that stand out here are Cartel and the Red Jumpsuit Aparratus.

Two bands off the top of my head that do these thing best (even though they are very different styles) are Cartel and the Red Hot Chili Peppers (not meaningful lyrics here, beides the 'I'm With You'd album, somethat). I highly reccomend Cartel, especially if you like rock/alternative.

I could go into much greater details, but I won't.

We could be cynical and say, one that makes a lot of money, but money and art do not always go hand-in-hand. Some great bands “sell out” leaving their earlier works, (usually) superior to their more commercial releases. So, maybe a good band is one that can retain its roots and yet still appeal to the masses?

Why? And why do you make an exception for amps and mics?

I just don't like the sound of fake drums and other electronic things for the most part. Mics, without special effects systems, only simply make the sknger louder. Amps, are somewhat required for an electric guitar, and yes, you can change the sound of a guitar with an amp but you can still play the guitar, as quiet as it may be, without electricity. Like I said, I realize that synths and stiff can be difficult to play, I just don't like the sounds that many musicians choose from it. When I listen to a guitar, I still know that they have to do a good amount on their own skill. They still have to find the frets, still have to strum, and still have to get creative with palm muted and slides and bending the strings and so on. You still really have to play it, regardless of the effects you pit on it. And with a drum set that is electronic, well maybe instead of doing a legit rim shot, you could just have another pad set up and you just hit it to make the sound. If you don't know what a rim shot is, look it up.

So for you music isn't so much about artistic expression as it is about physical accomplishment?

lol. Why wouldn't I know what a rimshot is?

Some people don't and I do, but I find it more artistic when people make the sounds themselves. Mostly the drummer. I understand the appeal to electronic music it just isn't my thing.

What's a sknger? Honest question I don't know what it is. Well Bonham recorded his drumming using a flanger, right, I thought his sound was the bee's knees. Neil Pert & Bill Bruford are excellent examples of drummers who uses both acoustic and electrictronic drums.


I think it is spelt "rum shot" - actually I prefer a shot of rum in Coke.

Technically, drummers don't make the sounds themselves. The drum shapes and configurations do, and the playing adds nuances to complement that. What if a guy built an electronic drum set, synthesized every sound himself, and played it expertly?
I guess if that met your criteria for artistic expression, then the only thing you'd have left for what makes a band good is whether you liked the style of music... which I think is too obvious a point in a thread that begs the participant to attempt quantifying what they think makes a band effective as good musicians producing good music. If the only qualifying factor of a good band is whether we like the music, then this thread really doesn't need to be very complex.

Singer. Sorry, I guess my phone didn't correct me. And, good joke haha.

B at double L dollar sign is key.

That isn't always necessary. There are plenty of great bands out there that sound alike. If being a good band was to find a way to break new ground, no bands would sound the same. I could be assuming the wrong thing with what you said, but still.

Good music.

Thankyou and goodnight.

Bit of a captain obvious.

There's not much else to it really.

Yeah, that kinda sums it up. But what if there was a band that made crappy music but had very entertaining gigs? Would it be a good band? Considering that an excellent band would make good music and have great gigs. Though I'm not sure if great gigs are important if they make brilliant music.

I'm confused. I'll let myself out.

Isn't the point of the band to make good music? A music show, aka a concert, cannot be good if the music isn't good since in the end, it should all come down to music.

Yes, but this wasn't intended to be a topic clearly obvious. Was leaning towards a more explanatory or opinionated reasons as to what's behind a good band or "good music". More of discussion than anything. Perhaps I should of made the topic clearer or further detailed.