Top-10 Musical Artists

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Bryan Moore
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Top-10 Musical Artists

Post by Bryan Moore »

My inner autist likes lists... We've obviously been posting YouTube clips for years on music we like, but what would people consider their Top-10 all-time artists or groups.

Top-10 (In no particular order, save the first)
Queen
The Rolling Stones
Neil Young
Black Sabbath
KISS
Bleachers
The Temptations
Anne Murray (Yep, really)
Jimmy Buffett
The Decemberists

Honorable Mentions
Oasis (Could be 10th on my list, but I really don't give a fuck about anything post-1999. First 2 albums are perfect)
Metallica (Those first 3 albums, my god - Don't care past 1990)
The Pet Shop Boys
Killing Joke
The Talking Heads
R.E.M.
Bruce Springsteen
The Chieftains
Elton John
John Williams

Rather Brit heavy, extremely light on female artists. Yet if I were to do my top albums (which is coming next), it has numerous female artists with superb individual albums but whose catalogues I'm not as big of a fan of.
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Re: Top-10 Musical Artists

Post by katefan »

I can't give a particular order because my tastes can change from day to day. But for a top ten

Kate Bush (of course)
Queen
The Beatles
The Rolling Stones
Elton John/Bernie Taupin
Billy Joel
Pat Benetar
Electric Light Orchestra
Genesis
Idina Menzel

Styx and Peter Gabriel just miss the cut. I know it's a lot of white dudes but my tastes have always leaned towards classic rock (Although with the debut of Mtv my musical horizons expanded pretty fast). Idina makes the list in part for her work on Frozen and Wicked, her solo material is kind of hit or miss. But man that voice...!
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Re: Top-10 Musical Artists

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Bryan Moore wrote: Oasis (Could be 10th on my list, but I really don't give a fuck about anything post-1999. First 2 albums are perfect)
You already have the Beatles, this seems like duplication. :)
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Re: Top-10 Musical Artists

Post by IanKennedy »

So in no particular order:

ELO
Queen
Kate Bush
Enya
Madness
Carpenters
Blondie
Beautiful South
Dire Straits
ABBA

Close call on:
Meat Loaf
Bonnie Tyler
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Re: Top-10 Musical Artists

Post by Bryan Moore »

IanKennedy wrote:So in no particular order:

ELO
Queen
Kate Bush
Enya
Madness
Carpenters
Blondie
Beautiful South
Dire Straits
ABBA

Close call on:
Meat Loaf
Bonnie Tyler
Nice one on Enya - as much as I'm not into the new age stuff, "Watermark" is an album with tremendous repeat value. I fall asleep to it at least once a month (and end up listening to the whole thing).`

I don't know if there are many female voices more pure and melodic than Karen Carpenter - I don't think I've ever listened to a studio album, but their greatest hits are phenomenal.

I have to admit, I've never heard of the Beautiful South, nor has my best friend when I asked him. That amazes me, not on my account, but on his, as he worked in an indie music store for nearly a decade and has the single most expansive musical knowledge of anyone I've ever met. Without exaggeration, he hears 150-200 new album releases each year and almost that many past releases. At one point, his digital collection alone surpassed 50,000 songs, not counting his streaming services. I'm gonna have to check these guys out - can't say no to Britpop/rock
Last edited by Bryan Moore on Mon Feb 25, 2019 11:12 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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Re: Top-10 Musical Artists

Post by Bryan Moore »

IanKennedy wrote:
Bryan Moore wrote: Oasis (Could be 10th on my list, but I really don't give a fuck about anything post-1999. First 2 albums are perfect)
You already have the Beatles, this seems like duplication. :)
No sir, I don't have the Beatles - that's katefan. I'm actually not a big fan of the Beatles. I know that's somewhere on the level of insulting the Queen to you folks across the pond, but I've just never developed a taste for them, past their first couple albums, but even then, tend to turn on Dave Clark if I'm in the mood for that early British RnR. I completely understand their influence as a band and respect what they did for all of music, but they're not in my top 100 of bands I really want to listen to a studio album from. I also am the rare idiot who likes George Harrison's solo career better than any of the other members and having read a couple bios, have come to think of John Lennon as a complete coont.

Perhaps this should be moved to the Unpopular Opinions thread?
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Re: Top-10 Musical Artists

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Bryan Moore wrote:
IanKennedy wrote:
Bryan Moore wrote: Oasis (Could be 10th on my list, but I really don't give a fuck about anything post-1999. First 2 albums are perfect)
You already have the Beatles, this seems like duplication. :)
No sir, I don't have the Beatles - that's katefan. I'm actually not a big fan of the Beatles. I know that's somewhere on the level of insulting the Queen to you folks across the pond, but I've just never developed a taste for them, past their first couple albums, but even then, tend to turn on Dave Clark if I'm in the mood for that early British RnR. I completely understand their influence as a band and respect what they did for all of music, but they're not in my top 100 of bands I really want to listen to a studio album from. I also am the rare idiot who likes George Harrison's solo career better than any of the other members and having read a couple bios, have come to think of John Lennon as a complete coont.

Perhaps this should be moved to the Unpopular Opinions thread?
My mistake. I still can't see how you like Oasis and not the Beetles. The Oasis being a second rate copy of the Beetles.
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Re: Top-10 Musical Artists

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Bryan Moore wrote: Nice one on Enya - as much as I'm not into the new age stuff, "Watermark" is an album with tremendous repeat value. I fall asleep to it at least once a month (and end up listening to the whole thing).`

I don't know if there are many female voices more pure and melodic than Karen Carpenter - I don't think I've ever listened to a studio album, but their greatest hits are phenomenal.

I have to admit, I've never heard of the Beautiful South, nor has my best friend when I asked him. That amazes me, not on my account, but on his, as he worked in an indie music store for nearly a decade and has the single most expansive musical knowledge of anyone I've ever met. Without exaggeration, he hears 150-200 new album releases each year and almost that many past releases. At one point, his digital collection alone surpassed 50,000 songs, not counting his streaming services. I'm gonna have to check these guys out - can't say no to Britpop/rock
They're a spinoff from The Housemartins, here are a few great ones:

Perfect 10:


Song for Whoever:


A Little Time:


Rotterdam:


Don't Marry Her:


Blackbird on the Wire:
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Re: Top-10 Musical Artists

Post by RK_Striker_JK_5 »

I've been thinking on this one-good topic, btw, Bryan-and it's a bit of a conundrum for me. Like, I don't have a top-ten list of favorite songs. I have a top three list of songs, then it pretty much boils down to whatever I just listened to/what I'm in the mood for. I mean, 'Summer Rain' by Belinda Carlisle is on that list sometimes. Who else has heard that song or even of it? :P

But... lemme give it a go.

I have a definite top three, at least. Same artists/order as my top three songs, too. :D

1. Huey Lewis and the News.
2. the Bangles.
3. Queen.

Now... it's gonna get a bit random. I'm not even gonna number them, since there's no real order. And the list will probably change tomorrow! *<:*)X

Weird Al Yankovic.
INXS
U2
Metallica
Bone Thugs N Harmony
Loreena McKernitt
Pam Tillis
Amy Grant
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Re: Top-10 Musical Artists

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IanKennedy wrote: My mistake. I still can't see how you like Oasis and not the Beetles. The Oasis being a second rate copy of the Beetles.
Sorry, you are 100% incorrect. This isn't opinion, this is musical fact. Go ahead and say Oasis sucks, but musically, their comparison to the Beatles is like comparing Dickens to Shakespeare because they were both British writers, or Picasso to El Greco because they both composed their paintings in Spain.

This isn't even a matter of me liking Oasis (as I've said, I give zero fucks about anything post 1999). This is just a cliched bit of rote handed down by people who think Oasis are coonts (they are). They aren't the same style, they aren't the same sound, they aren't anything even remotely alike and if it wasn't for the fact that Noel/Liam both arrogantly claimed (more of a troll job than anything) to be the next incarnation of the Beatles, they wouldn't even be thought of in the same realm.

"Definitely Maybe" has more in common with British punk (the distorted guitar tones, the punk style drumming, and rather angry sound) than anything any member of the Beatles did. "(What's the Story) Morning Glory?)" delved more into Brit-Pop and have far more in common with Paul Weller/The Jam, The Stone Roses, and Suede than anything sounding like what the Beatles put out. At no point did the Beatles strive for the (very flawed) later style of Oasis with every song attempting to be some sort of grand anthem. Later Beatles certainly had more grand production, but saying that Oasis knocked that off might as well say any band who added strings, reverb, and layers were knockoffs of the Beatles (as if they were the first to use some bombastic production). Even the basic chord structures Noel used were pretty far apart from anything the Beatles ever did.

The songwriting and creation style of the Beatles very much tended to be a back and forth stylistic battle/compromise between Lennon and McCartney with some Ringo and Harrison thrown in for good measure. They tended to focus on relatively happy, up-tempo love themes early on then delved into a more psychedelic sound with some cynicism thrown in. Oasis never once fell into either category (Read "Getting High" the first big bio from Oasis - even Wonderwall fails to be a love song) and tended to have more sad, brooding, introspective, or "life sucks, let's deal with it," tones.

Even the clear Beatles influence, "Don't Look Back in Anger" took the chords from a Lennon solo song, not a Beatles song. They covered Beatles songs live and as B-Sides, but also tended to take pretty deep obscure cuts and never put them out as standalone singles or anything meant to have substance.

I challenge you to find me more than a couple songs across their entire catalog and tell me "This is a Beatles knockoff." You can't. Richard Ashcroft knockoff? Maybe. Weller imitation? Okay. I'm more than happy to concede that they capitalized on a Brit-Pop craze and were second-rate or at least in the shadows of certain contemporaries, but they are as far from a Beatles knockoff as the Beatles are from a Chuck Berry knockoff.
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Re: Top-10 Musical Artists

Post by Bryan Moore »

IanKennedy wrote: They're a spinoff from The Housemartins, here are a few great ones:

Perfect 10:

Streamed these guys earlier - really good sound. It's rare I find a band I've absolutely never even heard of, never mind one that I've not heard of and is enjoyable. Sorry I missed out on these guys years ago.
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Re: Top-10 Musical Artists

Post by Angharrad »

Like everyone else here:

Queen

Billy Joel
Rob Thomas with and without MB20
Barry Manilow (yes really)
Flobots
Coldplay
Linkin Park
Red Hot Chili Peppers
Chicago
Jim Croce
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Re: Top-10 Musical Artists

Post by RK_Striker_JK_5 »

Angharrad wrote:Like everyone else here:

Queen

Billy Joel
Rob Thomas with and without MB20
Barry Manilow (yes really)
Flobots
Coldplay
Linkin Park
Red Hot Chili Peppers
Chicago
Jim Croce
I like them all, too. And yes, Barry's great. but mad props for Billy Joel. Dammit, my list might be changing again. :D
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Re: Top-10 Musical Artists

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Angharrad wrote:Like everyone else here:

Queen

Billy Joel
Rob Thomas with and without MB20
Barry Manilow (yes really)
Flobots
Coldplay
Linkin Park
Red Hot Chili Peppers
Chicago
Jim Croce
Another diverse list!

My best bud was impressed how Queen has been the common thread for everyone, no matter how diverse the tastes. He's not a huge fan, certainly not in his top couple tiers, but certainly appreciates them through me. I know he's read this forum, though he's not a Trekkie, so I highly doubt he'll be joining. We've both enjoyed picking through the lists and streaming certain things.
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Re: Top-10 Musical Artists

Post by Angharrad »

RK_Striker_JK_5 wrote:
Angharrad wrote:Like everyone else here:

Queen

Billy Joel
Rob Thomas with and without MB20
Barry Manilow (yes really)
Flobots
Coldplay
Linkin Park
Red Hot Chili Peppers
Chicago
Jim Croce
I like them all, too. And yes, Barry's great. but mad props for Billy Joel. Dammit, my list might be changing again. :D
Yeah I was looking through my iPod and might be changing this list too! And you have to admire someone who sells out MSG 50 months in a row.
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