Greatest artist ever

[LitKey]

music or not....i still vote bob ross.

 

Agreed, awesome guy.. I think he was even a veteran of the Vietnam War. Very good man

[Captain Colon]

Sorry, but they're just not as skilled as other musicians. That's the beauty of being human. I don't know about you, but I can pick up on someones strengths and weaknesses in areas (including music) just from simple things they do. I think everyone posses that ability and the more specialized you are in an area the easier it is to pick up those signals.

As a multi-instrumentalist I'd like to think I can tell when someone is "good," but I guess it depends on what you consider skillful. There's plenty of people who can play the guitar really fast but can't bend a note properly to save their life, an there's people who can't even PLAY an instrument that have written some great music thanks to sequencers and composing programs. Then you've got people like Yngwie Malmsteen who is a techinical genius but hasn't written anything interesting in 25 years.

[Zero001]

As a multi-instrumentalist I'd like to think I can tell when someone is "good," but I guess it depends on what you consider skillful. There's plenty of people who can play the guitar really fast but can't bend a note properly to save their life, an there's people who can't even PLAY an instrument that have written some great music thanks to sequencers and composing programs. Then you've got people like Yngwie Malmsteen who is a techinical genius but hasn't written anything interesting in 25 years.

 

Don't get me wrong, I wasn't trying to put The Beetles or The Strokes down. I am very familiar with their work (particularly The Beetles) and overall I would still rank The Beetles in my top list. They have skill, but just not as much as some of others including some I would rank lower. We're starting to get lost in the translation of skill. To me a skilled individual/band would have to cover all the bases and add something of their own. I just don't feel like The Beetles or The Strokes added anything new that required true skill and understanding to accomplish.

[Captain Colon]

Oh yeah I agree with you there (I actually hate the beatles with a passion), but I don't really consider the actual creation of the music to be so much based on "skill" as it is based on the creativity and vision of the artist. ie. no amount of education or experience can make someone write great music if they don't have great ideas already.

[phatman76]

Songwriting and meaningfulness - Bob Dylan and the Band

 

Technical Excellence - Led Zeppelin

 

Popularity/ Rabid Fame - Beatles