Without national radio coverage and MTV coverage its hard for bands to get traction these days. No cd sales means nonstop touring. And difficult times getting seen or heard.

you guys touched on talking about appreciating bands later in life that I disliked before, nostalgia is very powerful with this. My first job was at a sandwich shop, and I was deep into my "metal is greater than all" phase. The sandwich shop played contemporary rock all day long. I swore I was sick of every single song by the time the summer was over and I went back to school. Now I have a spotify list called "Sandwich shop 1998" that is all the songs played on the radio that whole summer, and I listen to it regularly.

Old guy, here. Saw so much come out, so quickly, it was an Iconpocalypse. Hanging with my buds listening to the first albums by Elton John, Cat Stevens, James Taylor, Led Zeppelin, David Bowie, Jethro Tull. That spoils ya. Today, there is a load of new music, even iconic, in the Americana/Blues/Folk space. And I’m loving it. Billy Strings, Molly Tuttle are headed toward icon status. Tedeschi Trucks, Jason Isbell are pretty much there. But don’t count out Willie! Trigger still has some surprises ahead, one new one gave me a chuckle this week!

Pearl Jam still absolutely kills it. One of, if not the best live acts of all time. Still selling out arenas. Incredible guitar playing with epic guitars.

Let's not overlook Tedeski Trucks. I'd rate them as iconic.

I just love your show ! Keep posting 🎉

Blackberry Smoke is great!

Ok, so you prompted me to go listen to the Velvet Underground for the first time in my 57 years. I never wanted to spend my meager music budget on them when Master of Puppets was released, and I have never taken the time since. I must say, it’s not bad in a late 60’s avant-guard kind of way. I enjoyed it, so thank you for that. 👍🏼✌🏼

Velvet Underground is awesome! I listen to Venus in Furs almost daily.

Iconic bands. There are tons of iconic bands from the 80s, 90s, 2000s, and 2010s. Lots of them are headlining music festivals or playing sold out shows now. I could name 10 bands from each decade that basically everyone knows. If you don’t think there are any iconic bands since the 60s or 70s you haven’t been paying attention to music.

Bands can and will be iconic again in some form. This comes and goes. We are in a current cycle of algorithm-driven pop-singles, divas and instant gratification. Iconic bands typically don’t show themselves in times like these. This happened in the 1950s as well and it was all about the hit single, not the band with artistic output and a legacy. In the 50s, Cab Calloway and Glenn Miller were out, and songs about being a Teenager in love were in. In the 1960s and 1970s we saw things take a turn as iconic bands and musicians returned (even a particularly famous band of 4 pop stars changed) and music explored it’s pensive side with the emergence of Prog Rock that emerged for the same reasons that Tool and Primus came to prominence in the 1990s. It will happen again. You just have to keep looking for great bands on your own and kinda wait for people to get over this kick that they’re in. The first time I saw this happen for myself it was 1991. We all know what happened when we turned on MTV in 1991 and Boy Meets Girl, Bon Jovi and Paula Abdul were nowhere to be found...

More from my favorite rambling duo early wake up chatter! thanks Cool channel thanks

Justin Townes Earle was amazing. I'm putting him way up in this century

One band that I think will reach true legendary status is King Gizzard and the Lizard Wizard. Amazing band that is always experimenting with new sounds, pulling it off, and growing their fame through epic world tours.

Vulfpek and all their spinoff projects seem to have become pretty iconic; at least 2 members have signature instruments

Good conversation, I think the main difference from legacy bands vs newer bands is that you have the benefit of time as well as you had a more concentrated focus on music. You heard music by radio, MTV, and buying physical media (records, tapes, and CDs). So WHEN and HOW most people consume music now is really decentralized, it's much more selective (you can skip over loads of songs and not buy physical media). KZfaq has really replaced MTV and music services have replaced radio. Half the people who buy records today don't even listen to the record itself (they stream it on a service instead). Bands that are big have more money and businesses behind them and you have so many legacy acts that more contemporary bands don't have this luxury of time or exposure that the older legacy bands do. Also major record releases still chart on Billboard vs newer bands and albums. So there is little reason for the Music Business to really break any newer/non legacy bands because that's not where the money is. You also might want to consider seeing a band in their prime or when they are firing on all cylinders, of all the shows I have been to maybe a third of these bands or albums would really qualify as this. Even older bands like Social Distortion have "eras" and I have seen them move through a few since getting into them and seeing them live. Most people get into a band usually after their best album has dropped. So it really depends on how you define an experience. I personally prefer club date vs big shows as the energy is better and I don't feel like I am being gouged as much financially. It's also nice to meet and hang out with the band and that doesn't happen at bigger shows.

Ok let's say you're right and there are still some good Bands out there. What I miss are some epic songs that will stay forever.

KOL has a great catalogue. Def in the conversation!

Queens of the Stone Age

I think the fact that most bands and artists from the last 25-ish years have not defined or innovated anything that's really groundbreaking in my opinion. There are a lot of great bands but no one is really breaking new ground.

The War on Drugs! I consider them iconic. I mean their album "I don't live here anymore" - an instant classic! Listening to this in 20 or so years and you will think about the "good old days". Hope they will record much more music in the future!

Regarding Bjork, one of my all time favorite KZfaq videos is her describing how a TV works. Adorable.

Newest band that's caught my attention is The Last Dinner Party. catchy songs and the guitarist shreds on a St Vincent Goldie

You guys should film your own Civil War spoof movie where you guys secede from the shop over genre or guitar preferences.

Rival Sons are a great band still making great music! I believe they are iconic by today’s standards but not at the same level as Zeppelin, Beatles, Floyd, Stones were in the day! I don’t think we will see that level again.

Baxter, old school? I have underwear older than you. In fact I am wearing a pair now. I think.

Matchbox20 is still doing (big revenues - arenas) world tours. I saw them in Sydney a few weeks ago supported by Goo Goo Dolls. M20 have been touring down here for 27 years. Rolling Stones Hackney Diamonds is a good album.

*absolulty right!!*

I'd put Mastodon in the running for iconic bands as well. May not be everyone's thing but you can't argue against the musicianship.

You guys need to check out Amyl and the sniffers!!!!!

Check out Last Dinner Party! They rock

New Pearl Jam!!

Tool and Wilco are still going strong and writing great stuff.

There are some very good ones out there and we have some excellent guitar players out there as well that probably would have been big in the '70s, '80s and '90s. However, music is not a main source of entertainment like it once was. It has taken a back seat to social media and short form content. The death of the major record label stopped a lot of the advertising and a lack of interest in radio than music television just doesn't throw these artists in front of everyone like they used to be.

I make some good okra. Just rub it down in oil and hit it with Tony Chascere's seasoning and throw it on the grill. Deep frying it works pretty well too. You can sear it in a cast iron skillet and pour a jar of curry sauce over it and serve it with some tomato rice. There's a lot of ways to make okra tasty.

I think of an iconic band as one widely known and also representative of a time and or genre. The more outlets and splintered off niche audiences there are the less likely a band will be able to be iconic. I see people mentioning awesome bands but most of them are band most people have never heard of.

Damn! Yinz took me back to my days of college radio programming, bringing up “Fly Me Courageous“ As someone who is slightly older than both of you, at least I think I am - Jonathan looks old AF with that beard (yes, I’m jealous) - I think one other issue may be the fact that today there are so many avenues for people to get music that there are very few current acts that could be considered. “iconic“, like on the level of a Led Zeppelin, the who, parliament/funkadelic. Also, the music today that is commercial doesn’t seem to be “built to last“. And don’t pay a damn bit of attention to Gene Simmons. He is only interested in money. Jimi Hendrix only released three albums when he was alive… Pretty sure he’s “iconic“. It’s not the quantity it is the quality. As an old geezer, that is lacking in today’s music… But that stuff is not made for me

Yeah I think with icons first - pop: powerful singers who have anthemic tracks that move your butt. Like the Beatles came on, with Twist and Shout, Boys, She Loves You, I Wanna Hold Your Hand - you weren’t sitting down, you had to jump up and go crazy. So you need lyrics worth belting out and a great beat and hooks .. and then doing it on multiple tracks, in an original or at least powerful or super fun way. These days Beyonce and Lizzo come first to mind. But I couldn’t name any bandmates of either. When I think of bands I’m a bit behind trends - I tend to dig around in the past for bands and albums I missed, rather than look at the now. I think Spoon is iconic, but their fluorescence was ten years ago now. Guided By Voices even earlier start. Who is more lije a band recently ? Thee Oh Sees? Grupo Fantasma? Billy Strings? Covet? Emily Wolfe? Snail Mail? Soccer Mommy? These are acts big enough for me to have heard of and they play quality music but I don’t know whether they are big or important enough (yet).

Prefer 50s, 60s and 80's but 1982 to 1992 is my most focused on time. Guitar kind of disappeared after '87 from the radio.

Looking at my teen years the icons are like Paramore, My Chemical Romance, and Linkin Park. There are bands that float to the top, they just aren’t on pop radio.

So, I think theres just so much content and so many different genres. Everybody uses different avenues to find music nowadays, it's a lot harder to find one band that EVERYBODY loves. Which is great, in a way.

Y’all should invite Devin Townsend to the shop, it would be great.

You guys didn't mention Goose of Vulfpeck! Two newer bands that are quickly becoming very iconic!

The strokes are a great band

While it’s true that it is harder to define and find iconic bands, I would also argue that the audiophile has changed equally and is it the chicken or the egg that came first? As an audiophile, it used to be ok to listen to Led Zeppelin, The Beatles, Bob Dylan because they were just great songwriters, musicians and story tellers. But, somewhere along the line, the audiophile became a music snob almost to the point that you weren’t an audiophile unless you knew of bands that no one else did and it became about showing how great of a listener one is and showing up other audiophiles. And don’t get me wrong, there are some great musicians and great music among bands like Thao and the Get Down Stay Down, and Milk Carton Boys, Bon Iver, and The National…but if you can’t share the experience of music with others and have that commonality about why the music is great and why it moves you, there will never again be iconic bands or music . 👍✌️

The last great iconic rock song is Everlong. FIGHT ME!

Now I know why Baxter goes of a tangent so often. It’s those bottles back by the wall.

most people can name dozens of iconic bands formed between 1960-1995 but the number of bands most people can name in comparison is far fewer for bands formed after 1995, I had read somewhere it was due to Prince and other artists of the time changing the way that Artists are paid

Speaking of “not looking in the right spot”…you totally overlooked what’s been happening musically in Japan for the last couple decades. I thought good rock and pop music died 20+ years ago. It turns out it just packed up and moved to Japan.

the fact that you said "the popular bands like. . . " and couldn't think of an example is a clue

Sleep Token are the best new band right now.

Greta Van Fleet is monster huge. Great live shows.

Iconic bands... check out Evolve Sound

Devin Reese Ippolytos and the Red Unicorns.

Iconic bands is a very interesting category. I would say Pokey Lafarge fits the bill. Super 400, Vulfpeck, Arctic Monkeys definitely. Iconic bands don't have to be super popular. They have to be excellent musically, and have their own original vibe. An iconic band also has to have a fiercely loyal fan base.

Hootie and the Blowfish sold 15 million albums. And no one admits to buying one. 😀

Hold my beer.

Owl Oxidant

You shouldn't have to go looking (in the right place) for an Iconic band. An Iconic band will be there if you are looking or not.

If u like weird squirrelly music ur gonna love me *punches Baxter in face*

Where are the iconic bands? They are in Japan. Here three all-female, five-piece bands that have been making the best music I’ve heard in 20 years. They’ve all got talent, charisma, passion, and great songwriting skills. Their music is rich, complex, and incredibly exciting: BAND MAID, DOMINATION (live, 14th February 2020) - kzfaq.info/get/bejne/h8iphKZ705zWiZs.html LOVEBITES, HOLY WAR (live, 2021) - kzfaq.info/get/bejne/mM1xq9N21avHnqM.html NEMOPHILA, OIRAN (live, 2023) - kzfaq.info/get/bejne/a9dxddGXqM7Ukp8.htmlsi=zByH1Kcxe8gHAMz_

Strokes, etc are good. But please. Iconic means Velvets, Kiss, Stones, Hendrix, Nirvana, Talking Heads, ACDC etc

my good friend is justin timberlakes guitar player, has been for years.

The Breeders!

Mgmt could have been so much bigger

Who controls what music gets made? Who controls what music gets played? Who controls how the general public encounters and consumes music? I think most of the best rock music ever made, most iconic rock bands, would not have survived in today's music industry simply because they wouldn't have been given a chance. No label would take a gamble on them today because their music doesn't fit the algorithm for maximizing profit in a short period of time. They don't conform. People listening to streaming services are fed music by a computer algorithm based on what the algorithm predicts they will like... like a flashlight beam... so the listener will choose to endure more Ads (or pay a monthly subscription). Radio is not exposing people to new rock music to any degree. Our local radio stations have a song list of about 1500 songs and never effing deviate - it's all computerized. We are losing access to physical media formats as well. It's getting harder and harder to find CD's... even while vinyl and cassette are making a comeback in niche markets. Great if you are close to the handful of stores that still stock physical music. Years ago, you would be introduced to great music almost at random, either by radio or TV. Brick and mortar music store chains like HMV or Sam's are gone. Now, you have to hunt for the music because nobody's putting it in front of you.

If the greatest band plays the greatest songs in a forest and no one hears them, do they really exist? I’m in my 40’s and I love Classic Rock, Soul, Country, and then stuff like Elvis Costello, Springsteen, Squeeze, REM, Ben Folds, Hootie, Counting Crows, and then 2000’s stuff like the Killers, but my 20 year old Nephew only listens to AI versions of SpongeBob singing 80’s songs or TikTok stars miming to one hit wonders. There is less focus on knowing the real people that make music, and more disposable stuff to make kids laugh. It takes a leap of faith and conviction to invest time and possibly money to trawl through an artists catalogue to really love an act.

Whiskey Myers is well on their way.

Did I skip too much over what sounded like plugs for specific bands? I didn't catch where there was discussion of there not being iconic bands, just a laundry list of attempts as examples, but it's never really talked about what any of these examples are proving or disproving.

roasted brussell sprouts......

Arctic Monkeys, Greta van Fleet... there are some great ones out there

6:30 NIRVANA had 4 albums. Bleach, Nevermind, Incesticide, In Utero.

Not a band per se, but who can touch the wonderful wacky world view of Tom Waits? 50 years of greatness. From the lovely Going to Take It With Me When I Go, to scraping the gutters of down and out LA. The definition of a cult artist. Desperation in every line.

TTB.

The problem isn't the quality of bands it the age of the listeners. Being old gets you out of the swing of things. Let's get input from some 20 year olds and see what they say.

I’m more into country and never heard of most those bands you mentioned In the beginning but matchbox 20 is iconic. Rob Thomas and that band have so many amazing songs. Hootie of course but his country is amazing. Back to matchbox 20, Rob made a huge mistake to leave that band. Just glad they’re making songs again.

It depends on the music genre. For metal, I feel like they have a "framing system". Guys like Gojira, Mastodon, and Periphery. Doing the grind and rise to greatness.

I'm 50, so I don't know. The new bands are teens and early 20s, and they're all starting fresh. The future isn't going to be written by Boomers, even Gen.Z are nearing their late 20s. Generation Alpha (born this century) are VERY into loud weird underground styles of Rock and Metal.

Iconic? The Ventures.

Who are these groups?🫣

Metallica

Watched a crime thing and the guy in jail said, God help me and i'l do the rest, God must have said you help yourself and Ill help with the confidence.......Leave God out of it, he does the good stuff????>>........

If you get the band tattoo removed 10 years later not iconic.

It's all about the business end. There was the pre Napster and post Napster eras. Now we've moved into the Spotify era. Next will be the A.I. era. We'll see what happens with that. Should be interesting.

There are good bands, but they don't have the unifying popularity like a few of today's solo artists do. Taylor Swift comes to mind. Greta Van Fleet does not, at least not in an iconic way.

TOOL

I say blackberry smoke and the darkness

John Mellencamp, Bruce Springsteen, Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers…that generation! There will never be anything like that!

Alexisonfire & The Winery Dogs

Probable gonna get some heat for this, but Nickelback has some great songs and despite the ridicule has had staying power. "Burn it to the ground" is a rockin tune.

Those days are over, all the good bands are either ready for a wheelchair or they’re already gone, sadly. Today’s music sucks ahah!

Could it be that all the bands are derivative. To be iconic I think you have to blaze a new trail. Then time has to tell.

Blondie had more than a couple hits. Call me, One way, Heart of glass, Rapture, Tide is high

Travis is the best unknown band (espeically if you like U2)

Most of the "Iconic" bands that you mention would be mediocre bands in the last century. Feel free to call me old and set in my ways :)

Metallica and Oasis and Travis

RIP Peter Steele. Icon. Also, Metallica is absolutely iconic. I felt they were iconic the first time I saw the “One” video. I never imagined it would be what it is now but Metallica is an absolute icon. Will someone fill those shoes from a new crop of bands? Maybe…

If ya have to look for em they aren’t iconic

Goes on to list the gayest bands ever

Is it an oxymoron to talk about iconic hipster bands???