My friends and I were talking about this today. I don’t want to poison the well with my choice, but who do you think is the greatest Canadian musical individual or group?
Nardwuar the Human Serviette.
Not Rush, that’s for sure. I’d take The Guess Who, or April Wine, or Steppenwolf, or Blood Sweat & Tears over Rush, any day. Maybe even Sharon, Lois and Bram.
Gordon Lightfoot
Absolutely Rush, no question.
Maybe Neil Young.
Not a Canadian, but I’d say Rush.
Ok. So those were the two choices we discussed. I chose Rush, my friends chose Neil Young.
Klaatu. They could play music, and play it well; but they also took advantage of the production techniques pioneered by the Beatles’ producer in the late 1960s. As a result, their music ranged from the predictable and pop-oriented (“Dear Christine,” “Magentalane”), through the slightly weird (“Calling Occupants,” “Sub Rosa Subway”) to the utterly bizarre (“Silly Boyz,” “Mr. Manson”).
They experimented. They refused to stick to a single genre, and cannot be slotted into a single genre. They were good at nearly everything they tried.
Oh, I’m a Biebliber.
Not really. I think Neil Young and Robby Robertson are my picks.
I guess I have to be the first one to suggest Joni Mitchell and Leonard Cohen.
k.d. lang. I think she has, flat out, the finest voice of her generation.
Yes! Yes! Yes!
Yes! Yes! Yes, too !
Sneaky sneaky Canadians, always masquerading as Americans. There are a lot of Canadian musicians the vast majority of people wouldn’t recognize as being so.
No surprise to anyone who knows me but I’ll still go with Rush. Not only have they had one of the longest active careers but they’re unabashedly Canadian. They talk about it, the work with other Canadian artists and hey, The Great White North.
Though this really comes down to personal tastes. According to the charts, Celine Dion is the top selling Canadian music artist of all time with more than 200 million claimed sales (audited 128 million). Bieber is #2 with 140 million claimed sales but he’s also listed as both Canadian and American for whatever reason (talk to his record company).
Do you like classic rock? Neil Young.
80s rock: Bryan Adams.
Country: Shania Twain.
AOR: Celine Dion.
Alternative: Tragically Hip
Folk: Joni Mitchell
Pissed off: Alanis Morrisette
In short, it would be hard to nail it down. Canada’s tossed some quality music at the world over the last 50 years.
William Shatner. What’s not to love?
I assumed that they hadn’t been mentioned because one or the other is the obviously correct answer.
Not a Canadian, and I don’t know who the greatest might be, but I want to say that Neil Young and Steppenwolf were part of the soundtrack of my college years, and so I love them. If I were on that committee in Oslo, I would have chosen Leonard Cohen over Bob Dylan. Oh, and in the folk-rock genre, I want to give more love to Gordon Lightfoot, and also to Great Big Sea.
Men Without Hats!
For rock, I’d go with Bachman Turner Overdrive, and for solo artitsts, Joni Mitchell and Gordon Lightfoot.
What, no love for the Canadian band The Irish Rovers?
I’m with the Joni Mitchell & Leonard Cohen voters.
The Band
Joni Mitchell
Neil Young