Loudest Bands

Luther Blissett · #1 08-29-2009, 04:32 AM

Ok, did a search but didn't find a thread about this yet.

But who do you think is the loudest band ever?

about 15 years ago, i thought that was Kyuss

then untill last year I thougth it was Sunn O)))

and now I'm sure: It's My Bloody Valentine.

Saw them at a couple of festivals this year. They never went under the 120dbA mark

so loud, it was no longer fun to watch them. too bad, loveless is one of my favorite records...

Bocete · #2 08-29-2009, 04:45 AM

Looks like it's Manowar. Here.

Manowar achieved a SPL of 139 dB during the sound check (not the actual performance) at the Magic Circle Fest in 2008.

Also, some reports suggest that New York noise rock band, Swans reached 140 decibels at some gigs. It's not official, though.

Now close the topic

nutso42 · #3 08-29-2009, 05:28 PM

I agree with the Man-O-War answer. Once, they exceeded the volume of a jet plane taking off.

Needless to say, they are the ones who coined the phrase "Real men play on TEN!"

()smoke() · #4 08-29-2009, 05:37 PM

loudest good show i ever heard was helmet during the 'milquetoast' tour in the early '90s--it was phenomenally louder than anything i heard for almost a decade...until i went to see crowbar in about 1999

crowbar opened for BLS, and zakkkkkkk wyyyyylde's guitar was so loud that we left...it was horribly loud although he apparently thought he sounded great on stage

crowbar stole the show too

double-muff · #5 08-29-2009, 05:38 PM

Boris & the Melvins.

Boris are probably THE loudest band in the world.

agreatheight · #6 08-29-2009, 05:47 PM

I remember a band from the 90s called Inch that billed themselves as the loudest band. And they were LOUD. Not sure about loudest, tho.

cutthroatmolloy · #7 08-29-2009, 05:55 PM

None are more loud than Manowar.

also, none are more manly, and metal either.

Freaky Fender · #8 08-29-2009, 06:12 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by double-muff

Boris & the Melvins.

Boris are probably THE loudest band in the world.

I saw Boris in a tiny bar because the club they were booked at closed down a month before.

During the last song, the bass player went and turned all the amps UP. If you closed your eyes you would forget where you were and it felt like you were floating.

Rob Lewis · #9 08-30-2009, 03:24 AM

I saw The Ramones on their last tour and they were stupidly loud. Into white noise territory. You had to put your fingers in your ears in order to recognize what the tunes were. There was a soundman in need of a good kicking if ever there was one. Unless, of course, the band wanted it that way.

Luther Blissett · #10 08-30-2009, 05:59 PM

then the band needs kicking, I mean, i love My Bloody Valentine, but it was so loud it was no longer beautiful, and I just left (oh, and I was wearing my custom made -25db earplugs)

at the PA monitoring space, a volume of 125,9 was measured. Which means that at the front they hit 130db. Apparently they're record is a 132,9. when they hit the holocaust part of 'you made me realize', i could feel my intestins moving

they 125,9 db from the festival is a dBA measure, which means it doesn't take into account the lower frequencies. (dBA is the most common used loudness meting, unfortunately, at high spl's, it's actually not the best one to use). A newspaper checked for some other bands on the festival, and it said that whe the lower frequencies were taken into account, some bands event went 20db over the official number. (eg 100 db official : 120 dBC (i think it's C). (hey, are we that loud?

)

139? that's even 4 times louder! god, I don't even want to imagine that.

Oh, another member of the 130db club: Glenn Branca

two interesting links in this regard:

http://www.nme.com/blog/index.php?bl...&c=1&tb=1&pb=1

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Loudness_war

PBass101 · #11 08-30-2009, 06:02 PM

Do bands still think it's cool to knock people deaf?

Seriously, I'd like to know.

Phalex · #12 08-30-2009, 06:13 PM

I'd go with the Who. Check out Live at Leeds. That **** was LOUD! sounds best played back at full volume too.

Bassman7PM · #13 08-30-2009, 06:20 PM

I remember seeing the original Deep Purple back in the 70's and every song got louder and louder to the point where you couldn't tell what the songs were until halfway thru the number. That was freakin' awesome. Blackmore's Rainbow did the same thing.

Sizlack · #14 08-31-2009, 02:12 PM

Loudest I've seen myself would be Lamb of God. Not sure of the Db levels though...just know my ears hurt.

LowendinFL · #15 08-31-2009, 06:15 PM

I've been to a lot of loud shows, but the loudest I can remember was Pantera in about '95 or '96. I remember they had a wall of amplifiers behind them, they each had one blue light on them. I counted 45 of them. I don't remember what they were but it was painfully loud!

73jbass · #16 08-31-2009, 06:24 PM

I had read somewhere that Blue Cheer was one of the loudest bands for their time. The actual loudest band in the universe is Disaster Area. You gotta read "The Hitchhikers Guide To the Galaxy",specifically "The Resturant at the end of the Universe" to learn more about them!

The BurgerMeister · #17 08-31-2009, 06:30 PM

Overbreaker.

**yodedude2** · #18 08-31-2009, 06:38 PM

eh? what's that? i can't hear you...

+1 to 'disaster area'

Ron Now · #19 08-31-2009, 06:38 PM

Loudest band I've seen is MBV, then Sunn, I've been told my own band is loudest after that. But I always feel like Torche is so loud, I know bongripper is louder than them, but their guitar tone just feels like a ton of bricks.

But yeah Man-O-War takes the cake.

Also I completely disagree with the OP, I think the volume makes MBV even more beautiful. After the 20 minute "holocaust" part in You Made Me Realise when they come back in with the last 20 seconds of the song. That was one of the most incredible things I've ever experienced musically. Utterly breathtaking.

KrisH · #20 08-31-2009, 06:49 PM

Grand Funk Railroad was the self-appointed "loudest rock and roll band in the world." Back in the day . . .