{"id":5612,"date":"2016-03-15T11:19:35","date_gmt":"2016-03-15T11:19:35","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/192.168.3.178\/?p=5612"},"modified":"2016-03-15T11:19:35","modified_gmt":"2016-03-15T11:19:35","slug":"where-to-start-with-9-legendary-bands-and-artists","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.musicmagpie.co.uk\/blog\/2016\/03\/15\/where-to-start-with-9-legendary-bands-and-artists\/","title":{"rendered":"Where to start with 9 legendary bands and artists"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Listening to a legendary artist for the first time is daunting. Most of them have huge back catalogues, some of which are total duds. Where do you start?<\/p>\n<p>Here are our recommendations for 9 legendary bands and artists. Share your recommendations in the comments!<\/p>\n<hr \/>\n<h3><iframe loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/fJ9rUzIMcZQ\" width=\"420\" height=\"315\" frameborder=\"0\" allowfullscreen=\"allowfullscreen\"><\/iframe><br \/>\n<strong>Queen &#8211; Greatest Hits<\/strong><\/h3>\n<p>Oh yeah, we\u2019re going there.<\/p>\n<p>There are many, many great tracks on Queen\u2019s albums, but there\u2019s no doubt that they saved their best work for their singles. If an alien landed on Earth and asked what all this fuss is about a bloke with a &#8216;tache and his curly haired mates, this is the album you\u2019d give them. It\u2019s back-to-back classics, from <em>Bohemian Rhapsody <\/em>to <em>We Are The Champions. <\/em><\/p>\n<hr \/>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/DRtW1MAZ32M\" width=\"420\" height=\"315\" frameborder=\"0\" allowfullscreen=\"allowfullscreen\"><\/iframe><\/p>\n<h3><strong>The Smiths &#8211; The Queen is Dead<\/strong><\/h3>\n<p>Even though Morrissey and Johnny Marr think <em>Strangeways, Here We Come <\/em>is the best Smiths album, we disagree.<\/p>\n<p><em>The Queen is Dead <\/em>captures all the best parts of the Mancunian miserablists, from the rock of <em>Bigmouth Strikes Again <\/em>and the bittersweet romanticism of <em>There is a Light That Never Goes Out <\/em>to the bleak <em>I Know It\u2019s Over <\/em>and the jaunty <em>Vicar in a Tutu<\/em>.<\/p>\n<p>Despite The Smiths reputation for being dour, <em>The Queen is Dead <\/em>sees Morrissey on fine form with his trademark wit.<\/p>\n<hr \/>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/4B5zmDz4vR4\" width=\"560\" height=\"315\" frameborder=\"0\" allowfullscreen=\"allowfullscreen\"><\/iframe><\/p>\n<h3><strong>David Bowie &#8211; Best of Bowie<\/strong><\/h3>\n<p>Oh dear, another compilation.<\/p>\n<p>To be fair, getting started with Bowie is difficult because he spanned so many different genres of music. <em>Ziggy Stardust <\/em>may be his most \u201d\u02dcaccessible\u2019 album but it doesn\u2019t have much in common with <em>Station to Station <\/em>or the Berlin Trilogy.<\/p>\n<p>So, we reckon the best approach is to pick this up and decide which albums to explore based on the songs you enjoy.<\/p>\n<p>It\u2019s not perfect admittedly: the Berlin Trilogy is afforded a measly 3 songs at the start of Disc 2, while <em>Hunky Dory <\/em>and <em>Ziggy Stardust <\/em>get 3 tracks each, but it\u2019s the easiest way to explore most of the sounds of Bowie\u2019s career.<\/p>\n<hr \/>\n<h3><iframe loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/a3iXEPvG_ss\" width=\"560\" height=\"315\" frameborder=\"0\" allowfullscreen=\"allowfullscreen\"><\/iframe><\/h3>\n<h3><strong>The Doors &#8211; The Doors<\/strong><\/h3>\n<p>Although <em>People are Strange <\/em>is arguably the better album, there\u2019s no doubt <em>The Doors <\/em>is an easier listen. It features many of the band\u2019s best known hits, including <em>Break on Through (to the Other Side), The Crystal Ship, Light My Fire <\/em>and <em>The End<\/em>, and is a perfect encapsulation of the band\u2019s mix of blues and psychedelia.<\/p>\n<hr \/>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/JPyeqZNu_lo\" width=\"420\" height=\"315\" frameborder=\"0\" allowfullscreen=\"allowfullscreen\"><\/iframe><\/p>\n<h3><strong>The Beatles &#8211; Revolver<\/strong><\/h3>\n<p><em>1 <\/em>is the best starting point for a complete beginner to The Beatles but to be honest, no-one is a complete beginner &#8211; even if they don\u2019t realise it. You\u2019ve heard most of the songs on <em>1, <\/em>even if it\u2019s just subconsciously.<\/p>\n<p><em>Revolver <\/em>is a great place to start not just because it captures The Beatles towards the start of their more psychedelic period, but because it\u2019s one of the greatest rock albums of all time. <em>Taxman, Eleanor Rigby <\/em>and the ultra-trippy<em> Tomorrow Never Knows <\/em>make this worth a listen alone.<\/p>\n<hr \/>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/WJDnJ0vXUgw\" width=\"420\" height=\"315\" frameborder=\"0\" allowfullscreen=\"allowfullscreen\"><\/iframe><\/p>\n<h3><strong>The Rolling Stones &#8211; Let It Bleed<\/strong><\/h3>\n<p><em>40 Licks<\/em>, the Stones\u2019 greatest hits album, is a decent enough place to start but those looking for something beyond the hits should check out <em>Let It Bleed<\/em>. It\u2019s bookended by two absolute classics in <em>Gimme Shelter <\/em>and <em>You Can\u2019t Always Get What You Want<\/em>, with 7 hard-rocking bangers sandwiched in between.<\/p>\n<p>Fun fact: the cake on the cover of <em>Let It Bleed <\/em>was prepared by none other than TV royalty Delia Smith.<\/p>\n<hr \/>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/JkhX5W7JoWI\" width=\"420\" height=\"315\" frameborder=\"0\" allowfullscreen=\"allowfullscreen\"><\/iframe><\/p>\n<h3><strong>Pink Floyd &#8211; The Dark Side of the Moon<\/strong><\/h3>\n<p>There\u2019s no real easy place to start with Pink Floyd. Their ambitious, sprawling prog epics require full attention and should be listened to in full rather than on a song-by-song basis. If we had to pick one, though, we\u2019d go with <em>Dark Side of the Moon<\/em>.<\/p>\n<p>Not only does it feature \u201d\u02dchits\u2019 (in the loosest sense of the term) <em>Money <\/em>and <em>Time, <\/em>but the structure of the album and the song lengths are easier for a non-prog fan to digest.<\/p>\n<hr \/>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/GzZWSrr5wFI\" width=\"420\" height=\"315\" frameborder=\"0\" allowfullscreen=\"allowfullscreen\"><\/iframe><\/p>\n<h3><strong>U2 &#8211; The Joshua Tree<\/strong><\/h3>\n<p>U2 get <em>a lot <\/em>of stick these days, so it\u2019s easy to forget that they\u2019ve turned out quite a few great albums.<\/p>\n<p><em>The Joshua Tree <\/em>is possibly the best of them all and is the obvious place for a U2 newcomer to begin. If you don\u2019t like the opening three tracks &#8211; <em>Where The Streets Have No Name, I Still Haven\u2019t Found What I\u2019m Looking For<\/em> and <em>With or Without You<\/em> &#8211; it\u2019s not worth bothering with the rest of their back catalogue.<\/p>\n<hr \/>\n<h3><iframe loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/IBH97ma9YiI\" width=\"560\" height=\"315\" frameborder=\"0\" allowfullscreen=\"allowfullscreen\"><\/iframe><\/h3>\n<h3><strong>Radiohead &#8211; OK Computer<\/strong><\/h3>\n<p>Like many of the bands in this post, Radiohead\u2019s back catalogue can be roughly divided into distinct \u201d\u02dcperiods\u2019: the first two albums are straightforward guitar rock, while <em>Kid A <\/em>and <em>Amnesiac<\/em> are experimental. <em>Hail to the Thief <\/em>and <em>In Rainbows <\/em>return to their rock roots with some experimentation thrown in for good measure (<em>In Rainbows <\/em>is arguably their best album too).<\/p>\n<p>The bridge between them all though is <em>OK Computer<\/em>, an experimental rock record that overflows with paranoia and angst. It features enough singalong anthems to keep fans of traditional rock happy while also hinting at the experimentation to come. Just check out <em>Paranoid Android! <\/em><\/p>\n<hr \/>\n<p>You can buy\u00a0all of the albums in this post, as well as even more classic records, on <a href=\"https:\/\/store.musicmagpie.co.uk\">the musicMagpie Store<\/a>. Check out <a href=\"https:\/\/store.musicmagpie.co.uk\/category\/music\/?filter=promotions:legends-greatest-hits-albums\">our Best of the Best collection<\/a> now!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Listening to a legendary artist for the first time is daunting. Most of them have huge back catalogues, some of which are total duds. Where do you start? Here are our recommendations for 9 legendary bands and artists. Share your recommendations in the comments! Queen &#8211; Greatest Hits Oh yeah, &hellip;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":5613,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[159],"tags":[1698,1699,1695,1661,1700,1701,1660,1696,1697],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.musicmagpie.co.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5612"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.musicmagpie.co.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.musicmagpie.co.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.musicmagpie.co.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/7"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.musicmagpie.co.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=5612"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.musicmagpie.co.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5612\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":5615,"href":"https:\/\/www.musicmagpie.co.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5612\/revisions\/5615"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.musicmagpie.co.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/5613"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.musicmagpie.co.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=5612"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.musicmagpie.co.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=5612"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.musicmagpie.co.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=5612"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}