The Greatest American Rock Band Bracket!
First Round, Indie/Grunge/New Wave Division
Velvet Underground (2) vs. Big Star (15)
The original underground sensation versus the best band you've never heard of
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The Velvet Underground:
"The Velvet Underground were largely ignored during heir original run from the mid-'60s into the early '70s, but few bands would cast as long a shadow in terms of innovation and influence. Playing music that was boldly uncompromising both sonically and lyrically, the Velvet Underground infused rock & roll with the daring of the avant-garde and the poetic realism of post-beat literature. Too far ahead of their time for pop music's mainstream, the VU made a profound impression on thoughtful listeners, many of whom would go on to make groundbreaking music of their own, and they would belatedly be acknowledged as one of rock's most important groups [and] for their incalculable influence upon the punk and new wave of subsequent years." --AllMusic.com Popularity
Influence:
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Big Star:
"The quintessential American power pop band, Big Star remains one of the most mythic and influential cult acts in all of rock & roll. The Memphis-based group fused the strongest elements of the British Invasion era… into a ramshackle but poignantly beautiful sound that recaptured the spirit of pop's past even as it pointed the way toward the music's future. Although creative tensions, haphazard distribution, and marketplace indifference conspired to ensure Big Star's brief existence and commercial failure, the group's three studio albums nevertheless remain unqualified classics. Their impact on subsequent generations of indie bands on both sides of the Atlantic is surpassed only by that of the Velvet Underground." --AllMusic.com Popularity
Influence:
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