MR

Rank these 5 bands in order of how well you like them.

Journey
Survivor
Foreigner
Night Ranger
Loverboy

Journey
Foreigner
Loverboy
Night Ranger
.
.
.
Survivor

Really tough after Journey, but:

Journey
Loverboy
Night Ranger
Foreigner
Survivor

Don wrote:Journey
Foreigner
Loverboy
Night Ranger
.
.
.
Survivor

Journey
Foreigner
Night Ranger
Survivor
.
.
.
Loverboy

Journey/Survivor wrote:Rank these 5 bands in order of how well you like them.

Journey
Survivor
Foreigner
Night Ranger
Loverboy

Journey
Foreigner
Loverboy
Survivor
Night Ranger

Journey #1 band ever. just wish theyd stick with a lead singer.

Survivor With Jamison or Bickler.

Foreigner Only with Gramm

Night Ranger You can STILL rock in America.

Loverboy great band, and still rocking

scarab wrote:Journey #1 band ever. just wish theyd stick with a lead singer.

Survivor With Jamison or Bickler.

Foreigner Only with Gramm

Night Ranger You can STILL rock in America.

Loverboy great band, and still rocking

Not all their fault.....shit happens. If they don't burn Arnel out, he will probably be the final singer.

1. Journey
2. Survivor
3. Night Ranger
4. Foreigner
5. Loverboy

Top 4 are great. Loverboy is a solid band for me mostly based on their last album. Their 80s stuff is too... 80s for me.

Survivor is the only band in here that I have not seen live.

1. Journey
2. Foreigner
3. Night Ranger
4. Lover Boy
5. Survivor

Journey/Survivor wrote:Rank these 5 bands in order of how well you like them.

Journey
Survivor
Foreigner
Night Ranger
Loverboy

Night Ranger
Survivor
Foreigner
Journey
Loverboy

Foreigner
Journey
Night Ranger
Survivor
Loverboy

scarab wrote:Journey #1 band ever. just wish theyd stick with a lead singer.

Survivor With Jamison or Bickler.

Foreigner Only with Gramm

Night Ranger You can STILL rock in America.

Loverboy great band, and still rocking

Of the rankings submitted so far, yours comes the closest to mine.


Mine....

Journey & Survivor tie
Foreigner
Night Ranger
Loverboy

Journey / Survivor (Bickler or Jamison)......tie.
Foreigner
Night Ranger
Loverboy

Expanded thoughts...
If you take the full catalog into consideration, Survivor has less filler on their cds on average. Musical talent, edge to Journey. Lyrically, edge to Survivor. Vocally, draw if you count all Journey singers and not just Perry, otherwise, edge to Journey.

Have 2 cds by Foreigner (1993 Greatest Hits cd with the couple of new songs and Can't Slow Down).

Don't own anything by the other two bands, discounting one of Kelly Keagy's 1st solo cd--which is very good. Have seen NR live twice (one free headlining show put on by the town, other show supporting Journey). Never seen Loverboy.

kgdjpubs wrote:Journey / Survivor (Bickler or Jamison)......tie.
Foreigner
Night Ranger
Loverboy

If you take the full catalog into consideration, Survivor has less filler on their cds on average. Musical talent, edge to Journey. Lyrically, edge to Survivor. Vocally, draw if you count all Journey singers and not just Perry, otherwise, edge to Journey

I agree with most of what you just said there.

Journey/Survivor wrote:

kgdjpubs wrote:Journey / Survivor (Bickler or Jamison)......tie.
Foreigner
Night Ranger
Loverboy

If you take the full catalog into consideration, Survivor has less filler on their cds on average. Musical talent, edge to Journey. Lyrically, edge to Survivor. Vocally, draw if you count all Journey singers and not just Perry, otherwise, edge to Journey

I agree with most of what you just said there.

which part of the most is different?

kgdjpubs wrote:

Journey/Survivor wrote:

kgdjpubs wrote:Journey / Survivor (Bickler or Jamison)......tie.
Foreigner
Night Ranger
Loverboy

If you take the full catalog into consideration, Survivor has less filler on their cds on average. Musical talent, edge to Journey. Lyrically, edge to Survivor. Vocally, draw if you count all Journey singers and not just Perry, otherwise, edge to Journey

I agree with most of what you just said there.

which part of the most is different?

I would put Jamison right there with Perry on vocals. That would be the only thing I don't fully agree with.

Journey
Foreigner
Night Ranger
Survivor
.
.
.
Lover Boy

Lover Boy open for Journey during the Augeri years and I wasn't impressed. I do like most of their music though!

Don't forget that back in the 70s/80s, these bands mean something different to each of us. Doesn't matter who's the best band, or who has the best players. What matters is - what were we doing at the time?

You might love Foreigner, but if Journey was playing when you got your first 'piece of action', then you're more apt to love that band a little more. If you really like Night Ranger, but Survivor happened to have a big song when you got your period, then that band might be a little more important. If you love Styx, but your boyfriend got his ass kicked in the parking lot by someone that thought the show sucked, then you might not like that band any more.

Just sayin', I guess it all depends...any stories to share on why one band is ranked higher or lower?


later~

Journey/Survivor wrote:

kgdjpubs wrote:

Journey/Survivor wrote:

kgdjpubs wrote:Journey / Survivor (Bickler or Jamison)......tie.
Foreigner
Night Ranger
Loverboy

If you take the full catalog into consideration, Survivor has less filler on their cds on average. Musical talent, edge to Journey. Lyrically, edge to Survivor. Vocally, draw if you count all Journey singers and not just Perry, otherwise, edge to Journey

I agree with most of what you just said there.

which part of the most is different?

I would put Jamison right there with Perry on vocals. That would be the only thing I don't fully agree with.

I think later-era Perry had more vocal control with his phrasing and stuff than Jamison did. From a pure talent level, they are fairly equal. Perry had a higher range, Jamison had a debatedly fuller mid-range sound. Beyond that, Perry was a soul singer in a rock-pop band. Jamison was a blues singer in a band that couldn't decide if they wanted to be hard rock (THTS), pop (VS), or somewhere in between (WSC).

Arkansas wrote:Don't forget that back in the 70s/80s, these bands mean something different to each of us. Doesn't matter who's the best band, or who has the best players. What matters is - what were we doing at the time?

You might love Foreigner, but if Journey was playing when you got your first 'piece of action', then you're more apt to love that band a little more. If you really like Night Ranger, but Survivor happened to have a big song when you got your period, then that band might be a little more important. If you love Styx, but your boyfriend got his ass kicked in the parking lot by someone that thought the show sucked, then you might not like that band any more.

Just sayin', I guess it all depends...any stories to share on why one band is ranked higher or lower?


later~

sorry to disappoint, but my choices with all bands are simply based on strength of songs and performances. Nothing more, nothing less.

kgdjpubs wrote: sorry to disappoint, but my choices with all bands are simply based on strength of songs and performances. Nothing more, nothing less.

Oh no disappointment here. I was just tossing out the emotion card.
Btw, what's the criteria for song strength, and what is performance?


later~

Journey
Loverboy
Foreigner
Survivor
Night Ranger

. . . mostly ranked by how much of their material I own and which of the 5 I listen to the most (and the Loverboy ranking is somewhat based on emotion, as someone asked above, but no stories I care to share ). And I have the utmost respect for Mike Reno and the fact that he is still singing and performing (and very well, at that).

Journey
Foreigner
Night Ranger
Loverboy
Survivor

Arkansas wrote:Just sayin', I guess it all depends...any stories to share on why one band is ranked higher or lower?

Well, as far as Survivor is concerned.......

Back around 1978, when I was 6 years old, I saw the original "Rocky" movie. I loved the movie right away, and I loved "Rocky II" when it came out a year later. By 1982, I was ten years old at the time, "Rocky III" came out, and it was my favorite Rocky movie yet. There was this awesome song that I heard in "Rocky III" called "Eye Of The Tiger," and it became my favorite song. A couple of years later Survivor would release their "Vital Signs" album with 3 huge hits on it, and Survivor joined Journey as my co-favorite band. I went out and bought Survivor's back catalog and everything they've released since.

Arkansas wrote:

kgdjpubs wrote: sorry to disappoint, but my choices with all bands are simply based on strength of songs and performances. Nothing more, nothing less.

Oh no disappointment here. I was just tossing out the emotion card.
Btw, what's the criteria for song strength, and what is performance?


later~

Performance is the musicianship, or another way of saying it is....did the band do a good take on recording the song. Take vocals for example. A good song is a good song regardless of whether or not the lead singer can sing. Replace someone who can't (ie Bob Dylan) with someone who can (ie Perry), and you have a better chance of getting that magic recording where the band records the song. Same for the rest of the band. A really good drummer can elevate a song over just a standard drum beat with little touches that add character to a song.

Song strength is simply do I like the songs. This is the overriding factor. It's the old "start with a bad set of songs and end up with a bad album" trick. I tend to rate things on a 1-10 scale, and do an average for the album. It's not perfect, but it works, is fairly consistent, and helps eliminate bias especially when you have a band that tends to change style from album to album.

I've never gotten the fascination with Survivor. What did they have, half a dozen hits and then poof! gone.

RocknRoll wrote:Journey
Foreigner
Night Ranger
Survivor
.
.
.
Lover Boy

Lover Boy open for Journey during the Augeri years and I wasn't impressed. I do like most of their music though!

+1 Never really dug Loverboy, so sick of them here. Never understood the fascination with Mike Reno. Did nothing for me vocally or stage presence. LOL I guess I was even a trend rebel back then. I much preferred Haywire. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FhAK0WYsELI and http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fIOX9vw4rZA

I'd take Honeymoon Suite and Haywire ten-fold over Loverboy.

Don wrote:I've never gotten the fascination with Survivor. What did they have, half a dozen hits and then poof! gone.

Well, popularity never mattered to me (which should be pretty obvious, but the ironic part is that I personally think Vital Signs, where most of the hits are is a rather poor album....and don't get me started on Eye of the Tiger. I tend to prefer the rock side of the band. Survivor is actually heavier generally than Journey. You just don't hear it in the hits, because Vital Signs is the most pop album they ever did, and very little outside of that album got airplay outside of Eye of the Tiger and Burning Heart--both which were specifically written for the Rocky films. Survivor started off hard rock, then went softer and more pop, then started heading back towards the rock side again. Then, add in a pure rock singer in Dave Bickler, and then the melodic tones of Jimi Jamison--both which were very good, if very different.

In the Bickler era, Premonition is one great little rock and roll album, and Eye of the Tiger (the album) has some great songs including the often-covered Ever Since the World Began. Then, in the Jamison era, Vital Signs has a couple of great songs like I See You in Everyone, WSC is Survivor doing their best stab at Journey, and Too Hot To Sleep is a great mixture of the melodic side (Desperate Dreams, Didn't Know It Was Love) and a throwback to the Bickler era in some hard rock songs.

Check a listen through this list below if you have a moment. I stand firm in my belief that the best Survivor songs were NOT the ones you heard on the radio, which was a crying shame.

Survivor primer for the unitiated...
Dave Bickler era
Chevy Nights http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xuYI3U72-xg
Summer Nights http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fTUMM9QLhKU
Runway Lights http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eQW6McJd6AI
Ever Since the World Began (the original) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QafWPXLN7MM
Santa Ana Winds http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=83wu1K0t0B0

Jimi Jamison era
Desperate Dreams http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JrVg-RVgeWo
Didn't Know It Was Love http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IOT4OlnCvJw
Burning Bridges http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M08XwcZ-5YQ
Oceans http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8ZBgb1s3ywQ
I See You in Everyone http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dcWWgwHbIOY

kgdjpubs wrote:

Don wrote:I've never gotten the fascination with Survivor. What did they have, half a dozen hits and then poof! gone.

Well, popularity never mattered to me (which should be pretty obvious, but the ironic part is that I personally think Vital Signs, where most of the hits are is a rather poor album....and don't get me started on Eye of the Tiger. I tend to prefer the rock side of the band. Survivor is actually heavier generally than Journey. You just don't hear it in the hits, because Vital Signs is the most pop album they ever did, and very little outside of that album got airplay outside of Eye of the Tiger and Burning Heart--both which were specifically written for the Rocky films. Survivor started off hard rock, then went softer and more pop, then started heading back towards the rock side again. Then, add in a pure rock singer in Dave Bickler, and then the melodic tones of Jimi Jamison--both which were very good, if very different.

I think that was pretty normal for any bands back then, their radio hits were usually no where near their best stuff. Ahem.........Open Arms, Eye Of the Tiger, To Be With You.

Don't know much about Survivor, but I prefer Jamison's vocal to Bickler's. Looooooooove this song......... http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e98UOB0etdo

Reminds me of the dude from Chilliwack..........always thought he looked like the lovechild of Mick Jagger and Jimi Jamison. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=frhkavhoFjs

kgdjpubs wrote:

Arkansas wrote:

kgdjpubs wrote: sorry to disappoint, but my choices with all bands are simply based on strength of songs and performances. Nothing more, nothing less.

Oh no disappointment here. I was just tossing out the emotion card.
Btw, what's the criteria for song strength, and what is performance?


later~

Performance is the musicianship, or another way of saying it is....did the band do a good take on recording the song. Take vocals for example. A good song is a good song regardless of whether or not the lead singer can sing. Replace someone who can't (ie Bob Dylan) with someone who can (ie Perry), and you have a better chance of getting that magic recording where the band records the song. Same for the rest of the band. A really good drummer can elevate a song over just a standard drum beat with little touches that add character to a song.

Song strength is simply do I like the songs. This is the overriding factor. It's the old "start with a bad set of songs and end up with a bad album" trick. I tend to rate things on a 1-10 scale, and do an average for the album. It's not perfect, but it works, is fairly consistent, and helps eliminate bias especially when you have a band that tends to change style from album to album.

Exactly - it's all subjective...to personal feelings. What's the common criteria, in specific terms to which everyone agrees?

My idea of a perfect song...someone will totally disagree. Just because I like a song doesn't mean that it's an overall great song. And someone that thinks a great song by a different band, doesn't negate that I might think the musicianship sucks.

If a band does several takes on a song, but only one gets on a record, which is truly the best performance? You don't know. And how do you compare 'performance' between bands knowing that you haven't heard them all?

And so, how can bands be definitely ranked?
A lot of the judgement comes from a single emotion at a single point in time.


later~