Favorite musicians?

Daily Challenges:
Day 1 – Write some basic things about yourself
Day 2 – 10 likes & dislikes
Day 3 – The meaning behind your Open Diary name
Day 4 – Your day, in great detail
Day 5 – Five places you want to visit and why
Day 6 – What band/musician is most important to you?
Day 7 – Do you read? What are your favorite book?
Day 8 – Pet Peeves
Day 9 – If you could live off of one food and beverage for the rest of your days, what would they be?
Day 10 – Post a picture of your desktop
Day 11 – What is your favorite quote?
Day 12 – Your current relationship, if single discuss how single life is
Day 13 – Three confessions of your choice
Day 14 – Things you want to say to an ex
Day 15 – A photo of someone you fancy at the moment
Day 16 – If the world were to end tomorrow, what would you do with your remaining time on earth?
Day 17 – What do you want to be when you get older?
Day 18 – Name the tv show(s) you have become addicted to
Day 19 – The best thing to happen to you this week
Day 20 – Your definition of love
Day 21 – What kind of person attracts you?
Day 22 – A picture of what you wore today
Day 23 – A letter to someone. Anyone
Day 24 – Would you rather date someone plain with an amazing personality or someone beautiful with a plain personality?
Day 25 – Seven things that cross your mind a lot
Day 26 – How you hope your future will be like
Day 27 – A picture of your handwriting
Day 28 – Do you wish for anything at 11:11? If so, what do you wish for?
Day 29 – Picture of yourself
Day 30 – Anything you want to post

 

Okay, tough question. I’m going to cheat and list a few.

Coming up as a kid, I lived in a very… repressive household. Strict, fundamentalist, etc. I didn’t really get to choose what kind of music I got to listen to. All I got to hear was Gospel, my dad’s Oldies, and whatever Nintendo game I was playing.

It wasn’t until middle school, and I got to hang out with friends more often, that I really got to branch out and enjoy what was out there.

The Beastie Boys

 

These guys were, in many ways, the soundtrack of my childhood. Whenever I went to go hang out at my best bud’s apartment, we usually had one Beastie album or another playing. It was usually Paul’s Boutique, but we also spun Licensed to Ill, Ill Communication, Hello Nasty, and so on.

They just constantly pushed the envelope of what they could do creatively, and weren’t afraid to bust out a really low rap song, and then have the next song on their album be a twanging guitar instrumental. They did what they wanted, they were cool, and they were fun. When MCA died earlier this year, it hit me a lot harder than most celebrity deaths do. Because I grew up with that crazy Jew from Brooklyn rapping about the sounds of science.

Album ranking:

Paul’s Boutique

Licensed to Ill

Ill Communication

Hot Sauce Committee II

Hello Nasty

Check Your Head

The Mix Up

 

No Doubt –

In terms of the mid 90s ska movement, it was generally about two bands – Reel Big Fish, and No Doubt.

But No Doubt was my favorite. It was just something about their sound that hooked me. They literally didn’t sound like anyone else, even other ska bands. They had a retro sound, combined with ska, and even a bit of punk at the odd moment. And of course, Gwen was (and still is) incredible on vocals. I love her voice, man. She could be singing about a tooth ache, and I’d listen. Oh wait, I’ve actually done that before.

It was unfortunate to me when Gwen went solo. She is still mega successful, yes, but it made it pretty obvious that No Doubt wasn’t just a one woman show. Those guys in the background made the magical music, while her voice was the tasty syrup and cherry on top. I know they’re supposed to be working on a new album, but I’m finding myself skeptical if the magic is still there.

Album rankings:

Tragic Kingdom

No Doubt

The Beacon Street Collection

Return of Saturn

Rock Steady

 

Muse-

 

"Hauntingly beautiful."

This is what I told myself the first time I listened to the album Absolution the whole way through on my drive back to my apartment while I was in college. Their bombastic flair, their amazing combo of piano and power chords, their ability to sing about anything and nothing and still sound amazing totally hooked me. The tempo of their songs can be somewhat predictable, yes, but it’s kind of like a Mike Tyson punch – you can see it coming a mile away, and it’ll still knock you out.

Album ranking:

Absolution

The Resistance

Showbiz

Black Holes and Revelations

Origin of Symmetry

 

Queen-

 

Call me crazy, but these guys get my vote as the greatest band of all time. You’ve got the excellent Roger Taylor on drums, the criminally underrated John Deacon on bass (seriously, go listen to him play Hammer to Fall live), the guitar virtuoso Brian May, and of course, probably the greatest rock vocalist who ever lived, Freddie Mercury.

Why do I say they’re the greatest? Because on a music level, they basically had no limits. If they wanted to play a straight metal song, they did it (Stone Cold Crazy). If they wanted to play a soft folksy song on an acoustic guitar, they did it (’39). If they wanted to channel Elvis, they did it (Crazy Little Thing Called Love). If they wanted to play a song with Freddie doing TWO vocal parts, they did it (Brighton Rock).  If they wanted to play a song on a freaking ukelele, they did it (Good Company).

And of course, if they just wanted to write a song like no one’s ever heard before or since, they did that too (Bohemian Rhapsody. Duh.)

I know music is purely subjective, but to me, it will never get any better than these guys.

Album ranking:

A Night at the Opera

The Game

Sheer Heart Attack

The Works

A Kind of Magic

Queen

Innuendo

The Miracle

Jazz

A Day at the Races

Queen II

Hot Space

 

Anyway. I know I’m leaving out a lot of people whose music I truly do love (Nightwish, SRV, Joe Bonamassa, Brian Setzer, Michael Jackson), but I need to write other stuff this afternoon too. So we’ll call it a wrap there for now.