> Ramblin' Roon

“Only 100 people ever bought a Velvet Underground record, but every one of those people went on to form a band.” So said Brian Eno in his now famous quote describing the most influential band America ever produced. Never releasing a sub-par album, the Velvets are now viewed as the first truly experimental rock band and the first band to bring “dangerous” lyrics into rock ‘n’ roll.

Formed in late 1964 in New York City, the band gained notoriety as Andy Warhol’s house band, and were encouraged by Warhol to bring in German singer Nico as a member of the band.

The stock answer to the ever-controversial question, “Who was the most influential band of the ’90s?” is usually Nirvana. Perhaps Radiohead if one is feeling daring, but usually Nirvana is hailed as the kings of alternative rock.

This is troubling to many, considering the Pixies pioneered the “loud, quiet, loud” style of writing years before Kurt Cobain did, and Cobain himself would cite the Pixies as the reason Nirvana wrote their songs the way they did. It was said that on the Nirvana tour bus one would only hear Beatles, R.E.M and Pixies records.

In the eyes of many Weezer purists — including this one — Weezer essentially has two albums. In actuality they have five studio-length albums; however, “The Blue Album” and “Pinkerton” are the two albums that are worth buying.

Weezer’s first album, simply titled “Weezer,” has gained a massive following over the years and is now almost universally known as “The Blue Album.”

There seem to be a number of things that trendy college students do not like. Among them are, Republicans (college is the time for progressive thinking after all), country music (probably because it mainly appeals to conservatives) and U2.

It is rather vogue to be a liberal thinker in college, and therefore it is also hip to despise conservative music; however, there really is no reason for so many people to hate U2.

His name makes people say “ugh,” his biggest single helped launched the career of one of Hollywood’s hottest women, he is said to have weighed 350 pounds at the height of his popularity, he once picked up Charles Manson hitchhiking and he was once a vegetarian but stopped after singer K.D. Lang refused to speak to him because of his name.

Who are we talking about? Meat Loaf!

Prince. The name is synonymous with excess. He has literally written over a thousand songs, both for himself and for other artists. He has dozens of completed albums that have been shelved away for years and he produces, writes, arranges and performs everything by himself most of the time.

Music journalist Alan Light may have summed it up the best: “Songwriter, producer, one-man band, balladeer, ass-shaker, Svengali, guitar hero, sex god, preacher — in terms of raw talent, Prince may have no competition. Stevie Wonder is probably the only living figure worthy of comparison.”

Everyone has a different opinion when it comes to their personal pick for the most under-appreciated musician.

For guitar purists it may be Allan Holdsworth. For British Invasion freaks it may be The Kinks. Others may feel Billy Joel has never received his due. Ultra hipsters, on the other hand, may say Fugazi and Pavement have never gotten the respect they deserve.

David Bowie is one of those well-known musicians, about whom not much is generally known.

“David Bowie? He’s married to a model, has a song in ‘Guitar Hero,’ wrote a song that Nirvana covered, has ‘the’ song about space and he randomly appears in ‘Zoolander.’” This is the statement that the average streetwalker would conjure up when speaking of Rock’s Chameleon.

Rock “n“ roll is a business littered with clichés, and no cliché is as inevitable as the reunion.

Granted, not every band ends up reuniting; although, most bands never truly break up. If they do, it is never “for real.”

When the Grateful Dead are mentioned, there are numerous images that may pop into one“s head.

Many may think of long songs, others may think of Jerry Garcia and his Santa Clause-like features, and some may think of dancing bears and others may simply think of tie-die shirts.

The reality of todays music business is undeniably cruel. It is too cliché to ask where are The Beatles of today. Or even, where is our Nirvana?

But really, where are they?

Stone Temple Pilots is one of those bands. Creedence Clearwater Revival is one of those bands. Steely Dan is one of those bands.

Those bands are the ones that have their songs scattered throughout rock radio stations across the country, and most of the time people do not realize what they are listening to.

Often times, a local music scene can be frustrating. Overhead is usually ridiculous for bands, which leads to higher ticket prices for fans, and it often feels like every other band is a hard rock band with a progressive feel. Not to mention the literal disappearance of many bands that frequented Milwaukee just three or four years ago.

Luckily, The Box Social still knows how to write great, catchy rock songs and fortunately for everyone in southeastern Wisconsin, they tour almost nonstop.

How the times have changed for Trent Reznor, the mastermind behind Nine Inch Nails.

The Downward Spiral, which most will call his masterpiece, came out in 1994 to stellar reviews and was immediately deemed classic. Between 1994 and 2005s With Teeth, Nine Inch Nails only put out one album, not counting countless remixes of songs.