Peak Music

[X-Hack]

Rolling Stones, "Exile on Main St."

I'd argue they first achieved greatness with Beggar's Banquet, peaked with Sticky Fingers and capped off an unparalleled run with Exile (for all the well-deserved accolades Exile gets, Sticky Fingers is better)

 

[micropolitan guy]

Great concert, and really solid footage. As you mentioned, not a lot of CCR stuff out there.

Two things that documentary reminded me of are:

1. There was a time when the band actually got along and functioned pretty well as a live entity. Hard to remember after 50 years of hatred and lawsuits.

2. Besides being a great songwriter and singer, John Fogerty could really play his guitar. With minimal effect pedals, he got so many different sounds out of it.

There was another thread about this someplace. And yes, they could really play. Clifford's drums looked like a basic starter kit you could buy in every music store in America - four drums and three cymbals, and he played the heck out of them.

My favorite CCR songs are "Have You Ever Seen the Rain." And the instrumental part of "Ramble Tamble."

Steve Earle, I'd go with "I Ain't Ever Satisfied." Heard that on the radio in 1984 or 1985 and I immediately went out and bought "Exit 0."

 

[X-Hack]

The Stones' two best records -- by far -- were post-Altamont.

The Who's peak would by 1969-71, with Tommy, Live at Leeds and Who's Next.

Springsteen is Born to Run.

A lot of this comes down to how you want to define things. U2 certainly hit their stride artistically and then commercially with The Unforgettable Fire and The Joshua Tree.... but their best album is Achtung Baby.

Who's Next is peak Who even though the album itself was a salvation project of songs from the aborted Lifehouse. But subjectively,and this is all subjective, Quadrophenia is still my favorite Who album (and they're my favorite band) and it's miles if not galaxies better than Tommy.

Subjectively Springsteen's has to be Born to Run because I love every song and find everything else the man's ever done to be tedious beyond comprehension.

Totally agree on U2 -- Achtung Baby is their best album start to finish, even if Unforgettable Fire and Joshua Tree both have songs (Bad, A Sort of Homecoming, Where the Streets Have No Name, One Tree Hill) that are better than the best songs on Achtung Baby.

For my other favorite band, Iron Maiden, their peak would be 1982 (when Bruce Dickinson joined the band and they released "Number of the Beast") to 1988 with "Seventh Son of a Seventh Son." Most people would say their peak was 1984-85 with the release of "Powerslave" and the tour that went with it, which produced the epic live album, "Live After Death," but I'll give my hot take and say "Somewhere In Time" is actually the best album during that run, even if Powerslave is the popular choice. I'll also say their last 2 albums (released in 2016 and 2021) are really, really damn good and aren't that far off their peak.

 

[Slacker]

Lyres is/was a garage band from Boston. I saw them like 30 years ago one night in a small club down South.

This song flat-out kicks ass. It tops my list of "Best Rock Songs That Never Hit It Big." ... Anyone else know it well?

 

[Hermes]

The Killers' Hot Fuss was the best thing they ever put out, and it's not even close

This is true, but Sam's Town is criminally underrated.

 

[UNCGrad]

For the folks referencing the Creedence doc (another endorsement from me as well), you may enjoy this ranking of CCR songs by Steven Hyden: https://uproxx.com/indie/creedence-clearwater-revival-best-songs-ranked-list/

 

[Neutral Corner]

That's a great article, thanks. For all of the band/record company stuff that tore them apart, the word that comes to mind to me is workmanlike. They built like craftsmen, plumb, square, and on the level. Not fancy or elaborate, but solid. Throw in that John Fogerty was a punk in a flannel shirt a long time back. It's just such good music.

 

[justgladtobehere]

Kid A/Amnesiac is Radiohead's peak.

 

[UNCGrad]

Regarding Steve Hyden, he's written a few of those rankings pieces. I've gone back to re-read ones he's done on Springsteen, Petty and Oasis.

 

[Mr._Graybeard]

I'd argue they first achieved greatness with Beggar's Banquet, peaked with Sticky Fingers and capped off an unparalleled run with Exile (for all the well-deserved accolades Exile gets, Sticky Fingers is better)

It's all a matter of opinion, of course, but I consider "Let It Bleed" far better than "Sticky Fingers." Consider "Gimme Shelter" and "You Can't Always Get What You Want" -- they stand out as rock anthems more than anything else the Stones have done before or since.

So, I'm changing my vote. "Let It Bleed" is the pinnacle of Rolling Stones artistry.

 

[Mr._Graybeard]

Tom Waits -- "Rain Dogs."

 

[AD]

thing I find most intriguing about CCR is that few, if any, of their best songs have anything to do with love, romance, sex -- the typical rock n'roll subjects.