Ska Lagos Jew Sun Ra

They were amazingly ahead of their time. Their sheer raw originality in both visuals, and music far surpasses nearly everything at the time, and I think is still ahead of today. They aren't the only Art Rock band, and they're not the first. Yet seemingly are by far the only band I know of that seems so 100% focused to the dedication of their art over the presentation of themselves as artists. I can't think of one example of an ensemble, or person, who is even remotely dedicated to the aesthetic presentation of their art form as The Residents is.

Now, musically, they are not too shabby. They're not about individualistic instrumental talents, so don't expect virtuoso performances. Yet, they way they so freely and liberally manipulate, and over-manipulate, studio recording techniques allows them to present a sound that was so free, original, and distinguishably Residents yet even through their distinction they were able to cover an extremely wide variety of genres from classical to jazz to blues to art rock to satire to even bible stories, and commercial jingles.

They do exactly what an avant garde art rock band should do perfectly. They take, and obscure, and abstract their intake of culture both pop, and obscure, then hash it out to make something that truly inspires fresh new emotions that aren't directly derived from the influences presented.

Essentially, Residents are great because they embody every element that is crucial in attempts to make art music while avoiding all attempts at commercial success, do so in a way that is completely, and utterly unrestrained by commercial expectations, or greedily building commercially viable marketable figures of themselves.