What Makes A Good Band Name?

[Art]

Portugal the Man is a name i absolutely LOATHE.

[Zook]

I hate Stone Temple Pilots, but they do have a great acronym. When your band name can be easily abbreviated into something catchy, that's always a good thing. Neutral Milk Hotel can't do that.

[Architeuthis]

Simple catchy names that are easy to remember is the way to go. Dream Theater is a cool name, kind of hard to remember after hearing it the first time for many. I can't help but wonder if they could have kept the name "Majesty" if they would have been better known and more popular here in the U.S. where so many have A.D.D....

[gzarruk]

I remember Prog magazine posting an article the other day about an israelli prog metal band called Soul Enema. Most of the comments I saw on facebook were similar to "I like their music, but that's probably the most awful band name ever" 

[rumborak]

One that's easy to google. "3", I'm looking at you. In the early days of the band it was virtually impossible to find their website.

[MirrorMask]

One that's easy to google. "3", I'm looking at you. In the early days of the band it was virtually impossible to find their website.

Haha, so true.

On a non musical related note, I hate hotels named after the city they're in. I mean, do you even want to be actually found?

[The Letter M]

How about band names that have unusual or just plain stupid punctuation in them for no reason, like random exclamation marks? I don't know of many, but I saw an article on my Facebook feed about Godspeed You! Black Emperor and every time I see that band name, it just looks so silly to me. I think of that episode of Seinfeld with the muffin tops and Elaine asking her old boss if the exclamation mark was necessary in the store name ("It's not 'Top o' the Muffin TO YOU!', is it?").

-Marc.

[cramx3]

I think it's much easier to say what makes a bad band name vs a good one.  I think it's pretty tough these days to come up with a good one because it's likely it's been done before, but I think short and catchy does the trick.

Like Sublime, great band name, but due to legal issues, they are now Sublime with Rome, terrible band name.

I also have no issues with band names that sort of represent their music, like Metallica.  That's a catchy name.  Dream Theater is perfect for DT as well IMO. 

[Stadler]

Top Five Band Names (and no, not necessarily bands I like):

1. Led Zeppelin
2. Concrete Blonde
3. Kiss
4. Dream Theater
5. Guns 'n' Roses

[Sycsa]

The only problem with Dream Theater is that "theater" is bitch to pronounce for non-native English speakers. In Hungary, many fans refer to them as just "Dream." I often see that written in magazines as well. Same with Annihilator, that one's butchered all the time.

[pogoowner]

One that's easy to google. "3", I'm looking at you. In the early days of the band it was virtually impossible to find their website.

Yup. Googleability has to be perhaps the number one concern when creating a band name these days, doesn't it?

[bosk1]

One that's easy to google. "3", I'm looking at you. In the early days of the band it was virtually impossible to find their website.

Yup. Googleability has to be perhaps the number one concern when creating a band name these days, doesn't it?

I never thought about that, but yeah, totally.  So uniqueness totally helps (Def Leppard, Epica, Lacuna Coil, Megadeth, Queensryche, etc.).  Or at least, a unique spelling.  Heck, a good front man can even humorously point out for good effect, "We aren't trying to be pretentious; we just want people to be able to find our website."

[Stadler]

One that's easy to google. "3", I'm looking at you. In the early days of the band it was virtually impossible to find their website.

Yup. Googleability has to be perhaps the number one concern when creating a band name these days, doesn't it?

I never thought about that, but yeah, totally.  So uniqueness totally helps (Def Leppard, Epica, Lacuna Coil, Megadeth, Queensryche, etc.).  Or at least, a unique spelling.  Heck, a good front man can even humorously point out for good effect, "We aren't trying to be pretentious; we just want people to be able to find our website."

This is also why Asia's album "XXX" was an unfortunate title. 

[Adami]

One that's easy to google. "3", I'm looking at you. In the early days of the band it was virtually impossible to find their website.

Yup. Googleability has to be perhaps the number one concern when creating a band name these days, doesn't it?

I never thought about that, but yeah, totally.  So uniqueness totally helps (Def Leppard, Epica, Lacuna Coil, Megadeth, Queensryche, etc.).  Or at least, a unique spelling.  Heck, a good front man can even humorously point out for good effect, "We aren't trying to be pretentious; we just want people to be able to find our website."

This is also why Asia's album "XXX" was an unfortunate title.

I dunno, Asian XXX yields some pretty nice results.

[BlobVanDam]

One that's easy to google. "3", I'm looking at you. In the early days of the band it was virtually impossible to find their website.

Yup. Googleability has to be perhaps the number one concern when creating a band name these days, doesn't it?

I never thought about that, but yeah, totally.  So uniqueness totally helps (Def Leppard, Epica, Lacuna Coil, Megadeth, Queensryche, etc.).  Or at least, a unique spelling.  Heck, a good front man can even humorously point out for good effect, "We aren't trying to be pretentious; we just want people to be able to find our website."

This is also why Asia's album "XXX" was an unfortunate title. 

And don't try Googling the band Big Cock.

On that topic, the worst band name I've seen was "Metal", a local (I think?) metal band. Nice job. You can't google "metal". You can't even google "metal band". They deserve to fail for being so stupid.

[cramx3]

I could understand an older band having a name that's not good for googling, but in todays age, you really do need to take that into account for accessibility.  Not just google, but on youtube and amazon as well. 

[JayOctavarium]

I'll tell you what makes a horrible band name

(VERB) the (NOUN).

Like.. Design the Skyline.

[BlobVanDam]

I'll tell you what makes a horrible band name

(VERB) the (NOUN).

Like.. Design the Skyline.

I want to see a band that is literally named "Verb the Noun".

[JayOctavarium]

My buddies and I thought about putting a parody band together called that.

[Zook]

It's kinda catchy.

[Sir Walrus Cauliflower]

I didn't read through the whole thread, so maybe this has already been said.  I think the best band names are ones that don't remind me of the human aspect of a band. I don't like names that remind me that the band isn't one unit, it's a group of dudes, or even that the music is being played by people. I prefer band/album/song names that capture an Idea or feeling or even an aspect about the music. I love album/band names like Altered State - Tesseract, Bilateral - Leprous, Awake - Dream Theater, Guiding Lights - Skyharbor, etc. Obviously there are exceptions, but in general, if the band reminds me that what I'm listening to is just sounds made by people I'm turned off.

Of course the quality of the music and the status as a band has a lot to do with how I feel about the name. I'm a lot more particular about the naming conventions of new music or bands than things I've grown up with; those just seem second nature to me.

[rumborak]

I think phrases/words that are too "strong", i.e. that are hard to forget their meaning of even after prolonged exposure, make for a bad band name. Even though I don't particularly think Dream Theater ranks in the top 10 Band Name list, at least it's a phrase that was easily replaced in my mind with the band. That is, the phrase denotes the band in my mind, not a theater.
As a counterexample, Anal Cunt is a band name that always brings the original meaning to mind, no matter how many times you hear it. Same with Godspeed You Black Emperor; the phrase is too strong, too specific, for me to lose its meaning.

[King Postwhore]

So like lyrics you like band names to have open interpretation.  Leave it to your imagination.

[Adami]

I think phrases/words that are too "strong", i.e. that are hard to forget their meaning of even after prolonged exposure, make for a bad band name. Even though I don't particularly think Dream Theater ranks in the top 10 Band Name list, at least it's a phrase that was easily replaced in my mind with the band. That is, the phrase denotes the band in my mind, not a theater.
As a counterexample, Anal Cunt is a band name that always brings the original meaning to mind, no matter how many times you hear it. Same with Godspeed You Black Emperor; the phrase is too strong, too specific, for me to lose its meaning.

So I shouldn't name my new band Potato Salad?

Also.......I feel dumb asking this, but God Speed You Black Emperor has an original, more iron clad meaning?

[Anguyen92]

So I shouldn't name my new band Potato Salad?

Also.......I feel dumb asking this, but God Speed You Black Emperor has an original, more iron clad meaning?

If you want to, go ahead and name your band Potato Salad.  It can't be any worst than Five Finger Death Punch or Butthole Surfers.

[Adami]

So I shouldn't name my new band Potato Salad?

Also.......I feel dumb asking this, but God Speed You Black Emperor has an original, more iron clad meaning?

If you want to, go ahead and name your band Potato Salad.  It can't be any worst than Five Finger Death Punch or Butthole Surfers.

Dammit! Looks like someone beat me to it.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ShrKlJ5js_g

I'm considering Egg Salad Sandwich, but we'll see.

[gzarruk]

So I shouldn't name my new band Potato Salad?

Also.......I feel dumb asking this, but God Speed You Black Emperor has an original, more iron clad meaning?

If you want to, go ahead and name your band Potato Salad.  It can't be any worst than Five Finger Death Punch or Butthole Surfers.

Dammit! Looks like someone beat me to it.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ShrKlJ5js_g

I'm considering Egg Salad Sandwich, but we'll see.

Well, there's already a prog band called Bad Salad 

[TioJorge]

I tend to like the more weirdly connected words that form a band name. I really love the bands (and names) Glass Cloud; Between The Buried And Me; Invent, Animate; Porcupine Tree (this one especially)... It should be noted that barring BTBAM, those names didn't stand out to me until I knew I loved the band's music. I also really love The Contortionist; Gorillaz; Mastodon; AFI...so maybe there isn't a connection. 

But I will say that when I do like a band a lot and also really like their name, it makes it that much better. I think Porcupine Tree will not be topped. The few times I've told people who've asked what one of my favorite bands is and I say that just look at me like I've either farted in their general direction or spoken an alien language. 

Cool thread though. I definitely think it matters to stand out and to be individualistic but I also think there's a point where it's clear a band is trying too hard (or as someone already said, if you're simply too mundane) < Exceptions to this are already established bands whose members do solo stuff and just call the band their name, I think that's a little different.

[Stadler]

Anal Cunt is a band name that always brings the original meaning to mind, no matter how many times you hear it.

And that original meaning would be?  On second thought, forget it. I think I'm better for NOT knowing...

[rumborak]

Also.......I feel dumb asking this, but God Speed You Black Emperor has an original, more iron clad meaning?

It's not that it means anything meaningful, but it's very specific and a phrase that (to me) makes it hard to replace the phrase's meaning with the band. It's hard to explain.

Like, take Dream Theater. There is the obvious meaning of a theater with dreams in it, or your dreams being a theater, but it's all sorta meaningless to begin with, and both "dream" and "theater" are sorta generic words. It's easy to cast aside the original weak meaning and make this phrase mean the band in my mind. GSYBE on the other hand always retains the "it's a greeting to some guy" meaning, no matter how many times I read it.

[The Letter M]

Also.......I feel dumb asking this, but God Speed You Black Emperor has an original, more iron clad meaning?

It's not that it means anything meaningful, but it's very specific and a phrase that (to me) makes it hard to replace the phrase's meaning with the band. It's hard to explain.

Like, take Dream Theater. There is the obvious meaning of a theater with dreams in it, or your dreams being a theater, but it's all sorta meaningless to begin with, and both "dream" and "theater" are sorta generic words. It's easy to cast aside the original weak meaning and make this phrase mean the band in my mind. GSYBE on the other hand always retains the "it's a greeting to some guy" meaning, no matter how many times I read it.

GY!BE is a weird band, with the odd exclamation mark after "Godspeed You!". Normally, it would be written out as "Godspeed, You Black Emperor!" Either way, odd punctuation doesn't a good band name make, despite how well it might stick in fans' minds.

I like the idea of giving simple words, when combined, a new meaning or purpose for a band name. It's pretty easy to associate them with the new subject, despite how ordinary they may be.

-Marc.

[TempusVox]

Any band name is okay as long as it isn't Chickenfoot.