Musical genius

cornbb

Ok I know its been done before but its always a good discussion.

Who do you rate as being a musical genius and why?

I'll pick:
John Cage - thought about music purely as an art form and pushed the boundaries of what could be considered to be music. Makes you sit up and think, even if you don't like the music!

Richard D. James (a.k.a Aphex Twin) - straddles the huge chasm between "serious" experimental music and popular music, and is hugely respected by each side with good reason. Incredibly eclectic style, creates music which can appear mechanical or chaotic at first glance but which is revealed as moving and intricate upon closer inspection. Always brimming with ideas.

Beethoven - created some of the most enduring and universally appealing music of all time. Hugely evocative, from the melancholy of the Moonlight Sonata to the joyous optimism of the 9th Symphony.

I'm sure there are plenty more, what say ye?

(I don't think the ability to play badass guitar/piano/whatever makes someone a genius on its own, neither does the ability to sell 20,000,000 albums. But thats a matter of opinion.)

Notorious

How about Steve Vai? As a composer and a performer he has created some amazing work. I'd put him down as a genius with a guitar, I think hes achieved such a high standard he couldn't go much higher. Looking at his famous "Passion and Warfare" album, each track (IMHO) evokes different feelings and hes managed to process this through a guitar with little or no lyrics to confirm the songs meaning or the feelings it portrays. His newest album "Sound Theories", is double sided; on one side he performs with an orchestra, while on the other the orchestra play songs he has created for them. Some of which are just breathtaking.

Kold

Richard D James
Thom Yorke & Jonny Greenwood

off the top of my head. Ludovico Einaudi and Yann Tiersen are pretty good composers too.

It's hard to describe genius though. I mean John Cage hits me as the Duchamp of music and I don't know if that makes him a genius either. I don't like the music... at all, but I don't like Warhol's art and I will say that he was a genius.. of self-publicity.

wikipedia wrote:

The classic skill of the musical genius is the capability of holding many different melodies in one's head at once and being able to understand how they interact with one another. It is said that the great classical composers (Bach, Mozart, Beethoven, Chopin, etc.) could hold five, six or even seven different melodies in their minds at once.[attribution needed] They could write complicated music with many different parts without having to hear it played. In comparison, the average person can only hold one melody in their memory. Mozart, who apparently completed his musical compositions in his head and simply wrote them down when they were completed, is supposed to have often said while drinking and conversing with friends, "I write music as a sow pisses."

Dunno how helpful that is but the question is pretty abstract.

FledNanders

often overlooked:

Damon Albarn

Everything he touches is golden....

ChuckProphet

FledNanders wrote: »

often overlooked:

Damon Albarn

Everything he touches is golden....

:eek:

lordgoat

Am i living in some kind of time loop, wasn't there a thread exactly like this a couple of months ago???

mike65

Miles Davis reinvented Jazz at least twice.

Mike.

humberklog

Eric Satie was a genius a making beautiful spaces to put between music.

Nailz

FledNanders wrote: »

often overlooked:

Damon Albarn

Everything he touches is golden....

You're right you know, he's the only fella' who can tell the Gallagher bros. to shut their fùcking mouths up! Noel should have left him alone, nowadays it's like Albarn is continualy poking him with a stick and Gallagher can't do anything about it.

Well my entry is Shaun Ryder, although sometimes he didn't know were was he's still one of the greatest musician to ever grace us!

FledNanders

ChuckProphet wrote: »

:eek:

disagree?

carchaeologist

Notorious wrote: »

How about Steve Vai? As a composer and a performer he has created some amazing work. I'd put him down as a genius with a guitar, I think hes achieved such a high standard he couldn't go much higher. Looking at his famous "Passion and Warfare" album, each track (IMHO) evokes different feelings and hes managed to process this through a guitar with little or no lyrics to confirm the songs meaning or the feelings it portrays. His newest album "Sound Theories", is double sided; on one side he performs with an orchestra, while on the other the orchestra play songs he has created for them. Some of which are just breathtaking.

I agree, its even better to watch the guy play live.an absolute genius.

Though joe satriani is in the same vein for making music that is extremly technical and still has enormous feeling.

And going back in time further, i would put the great Frank Zappa down as another genius, i know his music is sometimes hard to access, but alot of what he did is fantastic. Watermelon in easter hay being a particular favourite of mine,not massively technical,but it sounds great.

tech77

Stephen Patrick Morrissey.
Especially when accompanied by The Smiths.
Lyrical and musical genius.

Karl Hungus

Notorious wrote: »

How about Steve Vai? As a composer and a performer he has created some amazing work. I'd put him down as a genius with a guitar, I think hes achieved such a high standard he couldn't go much higher. Looking at his famous "Passion and Warfare" album, each track (IMHO) evokes different feelings and hes managed to process this through a guitar with little or no lyrics to confirm the songs meaning or the feelings it portrays. His newest album "Sound Theories", is double sided; on one side he performs with an orchestra, while on the other the orchestra play songs he has created for them. Some of which are just breathtaking.

I'd agree with you there.

Devin Townsend is an absolute genius. It amazes me the different projects he's done, from Strapping Young Lad to Devlab to The Devin Townsend Band to Ziltoid and his ambient work, it's astonishing what he's accomplished.

kinaldo

Prince.

Who else can so effortlessly blend R&B, pop, funk, soul, rock, jazz etc. in so many amazing and different ways? Compare albums like 'Sign O' the Times' 'Purple Rain', 'Parade', 'The Black Album', 'Dirty Mind'... list is endless.

Or create his own sound (the 'Minneapollis Sound' from the 80s - legendary acts like The Time, Jill Jones, The Family, Madhouse etc. were essentially all Prince either using a pseudonym or writing/producing/playing all the music with a different lead singer.)

Who else can afford to write songs as good 'Manic Monday' and 'Nothing Compares 2 U' only to give them away?

Who else has been so commercially successful and at the same time so completely independent and non-commercial?

On top of all that he's a legendary live performer. On stage he could dance like James Brown or play the guitar better than Clapton. As a band leader he can rival James Brown.

In the studio he simply plays everything himself (over 20 instruments), whilst writing and producing non-stop.

He could have retired at the end of the 80s, already a legend, and still be releasing great albums today from his near untouched but heavily bootlegged vault.

The definition of a one man band, simply born to make music.

* the answer to many of the above questions may be Frank Zappa