Rank the top 20 critically acclaimed artists of all time

[RPS]

Acclaimedmusic.net collects year end lists, best of lists and awards for every album and song released since the 1950's. They than proceed to rank the albums and songs by year, decade and than overall. From that, they than proceed to make a list of what they believe is the most critically acclaimed groups/artists of all time. It is your job to rank them however you want based upon any criteria you want. Here they are in order:

1 The Beatles

2 The Rolling Stones

3 Bob Dylan

4 David Bowie

5 Led Zeppelin

6 Bruce Springsteen

7 Prince

8 The Who

9 Elvis Presley

10 Jimi Hendrix

11 Radiohead

12 The Beach Boys

13 R.E.M.

14 The Velvet Underground

15 U2

16 Marvin Gaye

17 Neil Young

18 The Clash

19 Nirvana

20 Stevie Wonder

So my list would look something like this.

1. The Clash

2. David Bowie

3. R.E.M.

4. Stevie Wonder

5. Marvin Gaye

6. Elvis Presley

7. Neil Young

8. The Rolling Stones

9. Led Zeppelin

10. Prince

11. Radiohead

12. The Velvet Underground

13. U2

14. The Beach Boys

15. Bruce Springsteen

16. Jimi Hendrix

17. The Who

18. The Beatles

19. Nirvana

20. Bob Dylan

Clash/Bowie/R.E.M/Wonder are in my view, the top four artists of all time. Each has a lengthy catalogue of amazing songs and albums that are way better than the typical choices of Beatles/Stones/Zeppelin. Who/Beatles/Nirvana/Dylan are just four bands I can't stand at all. Especially Dylan. He'd be negative zero in my books if I could rank him. He might get one bonus point for Like A Rolling Stone, which is an alright song.

EDIT: Forgot to put Acclaimed Music's list.

Edited April 4, 2009 by PunkRockPete

[METALMAN]

REALLY REALLY LIKE

1. The Beatles

2. Bob Dylan

3. Neil Young

4. Prince

REALLY LIKE

5. David Bowie

6. Jimi Hendrix

7. R.E.M.

LIKE

8. The Who

9. Stevie Wonder

10. The Beach Boys

11. The Clash

12. Radiohead

13. Bruce Springsteen

14. Led Zeppelin

15. The Velvet Underground

QUITE LIKE

16. Marvin Gaye

17. Elvis Presley

18. The Rolling Stones

19. U2

20. Nirvana

I like all twenty of these to differing extents and I own multiple albums of each except The Velvet Underground, Marvin Gaye and Elvis Presley, each of whom I own one album buy. So I suppose I know each of them reasonably well.

EDIT: Glad the cut off point is at 20. I don't want Pink Floyd getting in and ruining my liking everything streak.

EDIT 2: I want Frank Sinatra to be higher than 72. Likewise with Miles Davis and whatever lowly position he happens to be in. If he even got on.

EDIT 3: Oh and thanks for the link. It looks very interesting.

Edited April 5, 2009 by metalman

[lari]

Led Zeppelin by far is my number one. The rest I don't even like that much. I have one Bruce Springsteen album, I'd pick him next, followed by maybe U2: I really like three of their albums (Joshua Tree, Achtung Baby and Pop) and actually have two of them on CD.

After that... mhh... Jimi Hendrix, Prince.

Then the rest.

Nirvana last.

[NobBe Nobbs]

GOD TIER (AKA BRODIE LEE TIER)

The Who

Led Zeppelin

The Clash

Bruce Springsteen

STILL RATHER AWESOME TIER (AKA EDDIE KINGSTON TIER)

David Bowie

Stevie Wonder

The Rolling Stones

Elvis Presley

Bob Dylan

DECENT BUT NOT AMAZING TIER (AKA ICARUS TIER)

Marvin Gaye

Radiohead

Prince

Jimi Hendrix

Nirvana

FAIRLY MEDIOCRE TIER (AKA LOS ICE CREAMS TIER)

Neil Young

Velvet Underground

The Beach Boys

Nirvana

PRETTY DAMN BAD TIER (AKA THE FUTURE IS NOW TIER)

R.E.M.

[Lowerdeck]

Top Tier

Led Zeppelin

Jimi Hendrix

Great Tier

Bruce Springsteen

U2

Good, but not a giant fan of, Tier

The Beatles

The Rolling Stones

Bob Dylan

The Who

Neil Young

Alright Tier

David Bowie

Prince

Whatever Tier

Elvis Presley

The Beach Boys

Marvin Gaye

Stevie Wonder

The 'I know next to nothing about em' Tier

The Velvet Underground

Radiohead

The Clash

Nirvana

The I Never Liked Tier

REM

[Nerf]

Based on purely personal preference. If it was ranked on best all-round, then the Stones would come at #1.

Top Five - Although in no particular order, I have to throw Nirvana out in front. They were the band of my youth, and despite how I seem to have out-grown them, they'll always have a place in my heart, even if Kurt Cobain is the biggest cock going. Led Zeppelin are definitely towards the top of this list too. I reckon I'd lose all credibility (as would the rest of you) if The Clash wasn't in my top five. Even though they aren't my personal favourite on this list, the Rolling Stones are a massive inspiration to me, so throw them on there. Next up, I'll round out the top five with The Who as the final great British band.

Second Tier - When I first looked at this list, I thought 'Urgh, R.E.M.' After more specified thinking, I threw them out at the top of this second tier. I often forget how much I enjoy them as a band. Jimi Hendrix would be out next because he's a fucking icon, never to be imitated. I can't - in good conscience - throw Bob Dylan out here any later than this. On top of that is Neil Young for the incredible 'Like A Hurricane,' and despite how much they bore me today, U2 were a big part of my childhood so throw them out here as well.

Impartial Or Average - We'll start with those that are average, such as Elvis Presley. He has some awesome tunes, but for every good song there's a pile o' shit. Next out is David Bowie who I still believe is a musical genius. I like some of his work, but the rest is mostly miss with me. Now, I'm impartial to Bruce Springsteen as I've really not heard too much outside of 'Born In The U.S.A.' You can lump Marvin Gaye in with him too, as soul just doesn't get the juices flowing in this day and age. Rounding off this section is the Beach Boys, who are tremendous musicians. I'm fully aware of their work, but unfortunately it just isn't for me.

Downright Awful - This section was made specifically for the borefest that is The Beatles. Behind them are the band that makes every Indie kid a cunt in Radiohead. I really couldn't give two fucks about Velvet Underground, either, besides their link with Andy Warhol. I also despise Prince. Not that I hate him, but Stevie Wonder rounds off this list because I don't like his music all that much.

[hackerjack]

Errrr, I'm not sure you get this list.

It's a list of the most critically acclaimed not a list of the best.

I don't think anyone can argue that the Beatlers are not the most critically acclaimed group ever, nearly ever guitar band from 1975 to 2005 have named therm as an inspiration in one form or another.

I'm quite surprised not to see a name like Kraftwerk on the impact they had on synths and electronica in general.

[Skummy]

Yeah, but what's the point in debating a list of the most "critically acclaimed"? That would make it quantitative data, and leave no room for discussion. I don't think anyone's arguing that Dylan and the Beatles aren't critically acclaimed, they're just ranking the list in order of personal preference, as something to do.

It's an odd choice of list...what does it prove exactly? It's not a list of "best" bands, nor is it a list of most influential...just ones that people have liked a lot.

Anyhow...if I were to put it in order, it'd be something like this;

Top Five

The Velvet Underground are one of my favourite bands of all time, from droning monologues to some of the best simple rock and roll ("Waiting For The Man") that you're ever going to hear - not to mention the mark they left on practically every guitar band that followed them. The Who make it up here for being brilliant when they weren't overly pretentious (again, they were at the best just doing great rock songs), and they were arguably the first rock band, rather than a rock and roll band. Bob Dylan and David Bowie round out this grouping, as they're two of the most important solo artists in the history of pop music. Dylan is (mostly) fantastic, and music simply wouldn't sound the same without his influence - next to Elvis, he's probably had more of an influence on pop culture than any other musician. And Bowie is Bowie.

Second Tier

The Beach Boys, for being better than The Beatles and criminally under-rated by people who take them as just a novelty act - Brian Wilson is a fucking genius, no one's been able to write better pop music than him in decades. The Rolling Stones, because when they're good they're DAMN GOOD, and because Keith Richards is "the man". The Beatles, even though I couldn't give a toss about them outside of a couple of albums. Elvis Presley, because he's Elvis, 'nuff said. Then Nirvana, because they were a fantastic band, even if it is cool to not like them any more. Over-rated, sure, but over-rated doesn't mean they weren't good.

Third Tier

Neil Young, Bruce Springsteen, Jimi Hendrix, The Clash and Prince. Prince is a brilliant popstar, Neil Young and Springsteen wrote some great stuff, but also a lot of wank, Hendrix was great but his influence falls outside of my interests most of the time so I'm not that fussed by him...The Clash are a band I grew up loving, but really don't care for all that much outside of a few songs (mostly just "Straight To Hell" and "Guns Of Brixton"). I love The Mescaleros, and other Joe Strummer projects, but The Clash were really little more than blind sloganeering, and while they're not a bad band, I dislike how they're promoted as if they were something new and exciting, when really most of the time they were the same cowboy gang imagery that rock bands had been doing for years, and how they were promoted as some kind of working class hero political activists when they were nothing of the sort.

Final Tier

Marvin Gaye and Stevie Wonder, mostly just 'cos I know sod all about soul music so couldn't realistically rank them much higher. U2, because they only had three good songs. I couldn't really give a fuck about Radiohead - I like them more than I ever used to, but they're not really that good - they've got some good songs, but they're not necessarily a good band. I wouldn't miss them if they weren't here. Lastly, R.E.M. I'm not sure if it's an American thing or what, but I have never understood their placement on this kind of list, or lists of influential bands...the fuck did they do? The only kind of "influence" they had was on that peculiarly American phenomenon "college rock", which was just an amalgamation of earlier influences anyway. Again, a few good songs, but outweighed by the bad. Not interested in them at all. I just don't see it.

[Matt]

Nirvana

Beatles

Hendrix

Who

Springsteen

Elvis

Zepplin

Dylan

Stones

The rest

[JStarr]

1. Prince--One of the only truly famous artists who could, and does, literally record entire albums by himself. Does rock, does funk, does soul, even does jazz if you like.

2. Jimi Hendrix--Helped reinvent people's perception of what the guitar could sound like, and dripped charisma as a frontman.

3. Stevie Wonder--His peak in the '70s had him positioned as arguably the greatest musician on Earth, blind or not. And by God, most of the time, Stevie can just make you happy.

4. The Rolling Stones--Much more a band of the people than the studio-bound Beatles. The Stones could and would bring it hard all over you live, and their studio stuff was still godly to boot.

5. Marvin Gaye--Along with Elvis, two of my five favorite voices of all time. Marvin gets dap, though, for actually...you know, writing some things.

6. David Bowie--Got noticed on his image, but then showcased the music to back it up. Without Bowie, I wonder if there would have been MTV and the whole visual component of music.

7. Elvis Presley--If he hadn't had THAT voice, he'd have been fucking useless. But he did have THAT voice, so he was The King.

8. The Beatles--Does all of their stuff still stand up? Maybe not, but I still give them props for trying to break out of the "boy band" mold they started out in.

9. Led Zeppelin--Sometimes seemed to get a little full of their mystical fascinations, but the musicianship was always tight.

10. Bob Dylan--The writing was obtuse as fuck most of the time, but damn if he didn't know how to make it all sound pretty good.

11. Bruce Springsteen--Kind of like Zep, Bruce sometimes gets a little too heavy on the "voice of America" vibe, but when he just tries to write pop songs, not many do it better. Some of his lesser hits are the best, especially "Brilliant Disguise."

12. The Velvet Underground--Lou Reed looked and sounded like a guy you'd run away from if he approached you in the street. Their stuff was so unsettling, but I have trouble turning it off sometimes. Even made Nico's robo-Teutonic accent interesting on a couple of songs. And I must agree with Skummy, "I'm Waiting For the Man" is classic, even if I do prefer "Venus in Furs."

13. Neil Young--Neil, unlike The Who, keeps bringing out the cranky-old-man material, and it's uniformly strong. God love him for it.

14. U2--See Bruce, except Bono sometimes fancies himself the "voice of the whole world."

15. The Who--Lost a lot of respect for these guys when they started becoming an oldies act. Rather than try to put together new material reflecting their cranky-old-men stature (see Neil Young), they keep trotting out "My Generation," "hope I die before I get old" and all. Too late, fellas.

16. The Beach Boys--Had a very short run until Brian Wilson went bats, and they've just preyed on nostalgia ever since. Music was mostly great, there just wasn't enough of it.

17. The Clash--Always found them sort of big, dumb, and brawny, which is great in small doses, but I was never able to get immersed in them.

18. Radiohead--Fucking odd. Interesting, but odd.

19. Nirvana--Fucking depressing.

20. R.E.M.--Fucking boring. Except for "The One I Love." That song was class.

[Evil Chase K]

--Bands/Artists I Like--

01. The Beach Boys

02. The Beatles

03. Marvin Gaye

04. Elvis Presley

05. Neil Young

06. Stevie Wonder

07. Bruce Springsteen

08. Jimi Hendrix

--Bands/Artists I'm Okay With Being On The List But Don't Care For--

09. Led Zeppelin

10. The Velvet Underground

11. The Who

12. Prince

13. The Rolling Stones

14. Bob Dylan

15. The Clash

16. R.E.M.

17. David Bowie

18. Radiohead

--Bands I Hate Who I Think Have No Place On This List

19. U2

20. Nirvana

[TheBusinessman]

Here's my list...

I have 65,000 songs on my computer and only around 100 get a ***** rating so I've included if any of them are in my top songs

Gods

The Rolling Stones - I wasn't a big fan growing up just because Satisfaction and Can't Always Get were played on the radio so much, but when 40 licks was put out I realized just how amazing they really are (***** Songs: None)

The Beatles - I just think the Beatles just had a little to much bubble gum pop at the beginning of the careers (which made them famous) for me to be willing to put them above the Stones. (***** Songs: None)

Jimi Hendrix - Hit greatest hits is still a CD I can throw in and listen to it about 50 straight before I even think about switching it out. (***** Songs: None)

Legends

Bruce Springsteen - The Boss is still growing on me. I'm liking more and more as I get older. He's close to moving up the list (***** Songs: Secret Garden)

Led Zeppelin - Only reason I wouldn't put them in the next tier is I've never liked any track by them that wasn't a hit song for them.. Ever… (***** Songs: None)

Bob Dylan - What's good is unforgetable, what just ok is forgetable (***** Songs: None)

The Who - They are still growing me… there are a few of their hits that’s just don't catch me like they do other people (***** Songs: None)

Immortals

Neil Young - I just think he's fucking with me… I keep finding oddball songs by him that I love and everyone else hates… (i.e. Cripple Creek Ferry and After the Gold Rush) (***** Songs: After the Goldrush)

David Bowie - Made really good music, but some of it is just too odd to be classics (***** Songs: None)

Marvin Gaye - Everytime I heard his voice I smile (***** Songs: Let's Get in On)

Elvis Presley - He made some beautiful songs, just most of his songs weren't (***** Songs: Can't Help Falling In Love)

Ordinary Men

Radiohead - before I get bitched at.. I love radiohead… just don't think of the, as legends. Give them about 10 more years when another generation starts playing their music. (***** Songs: High & Dry)

Stevie Wonder - not much to say about Stevie. I liked a few songs. (***** Songs: None)

Nirvana - They were good, but I don't think they would be so strongly remembered if Kurt didn't kill himself

R.E.M. - Some good stuff but Stipe just annoys me

Peons

U2 - If U2 sounded more like old U2 still they would be a lot higher on the list, but they don't. (***** Songs: None)

The Velvet Underground - I like their stuff with Nico and some that they influenced, just never got into them (***** Songs: None)

The Clash -meh (***** Songs: None)

Prince - I like raspeberry beret and the rest just annoys me (***** Songs: None)

The Beach Boys - They are really good, but they've only put out one song I would want to hear more than once a year. Good Vibrations (***** Songs: None)

Really surprised no to see Queen on the list :/

Edited April 7, 2009 by TheBusinessman

[METALMAN]

Queen had lots of rubbish albums though.

Oh and I love After The Gold Rush! The whole album is very good.

[TheBusinessman]

Completely agree... They have After the Goldrush to sing Karaoke at the bar I go to and everyone just looks at me as if I'm from outer space.

Personally I put Queen almost higher than the Beatles

[MGW]

Love Tier

Led Zeppelin

U2

The Rolling Stones

David Bowie

Bruce Springsteen

Like Tier

R.E.M

Nirvana

Jimi Hendrix

The Beatles

The Who

Bod Dylan

Stevie Wonder

The Beach Boys

Neil Young

Elvis

Not Really Much Of A Fan Tier

The Clash

Marvin Gaye

The Velvet Underground

Prince

Radiohead

Edited April 8, 2009 by MGW

[lari]

Queen was hardly critically acclaimed. Especially not during their time. I guess they were considered somewhat less serious than the other big bands of the time, if not completely laughable. Something like the Darkness.

[Foppa]

I'm assuming we just have to rate how we like each of the top 20, and not actually put down our own top 20?

If so, here's my list.

All-Time Favorites

1. Bob Dylan

2. David Bowie

3. The Beatles

4. The Who

5. Neil Young

6. Marvin Gaye

7. Jimi Hendrix

8. Radiohead

Really Like

9. The Beach Boys

10. Bruce Springsteen

11. The Clash

12. R.E.M.

Like

13. Stevie Wonder

14. Price

15. Led Zeppelin

Okay

16. The Velvet Underground

17. The Rolling Stones

Meh

18. Elvis Presley

19. U2

Hate

20. Nirvana

[Mr Evil Guy]

1. Beach Boys

2. The Velvet Underground

3. Bob Dylan

4. The Beatles

5. The Rest

[Iain76er]

1. Bruce Springsteen

2. Nirvana

3. Neil Young

4. Led Zeppelin

5. The Rolling Stones

6. David Bowie

7. The Clash

8. Jimi Hendrix

9. The Who

10. The Velvet Underground

11. R.E.M.

12. The Beach Boys

13. Radiohead

14. Elvis Presley

15. Prince

16. The Beatles

17. Stevie Wonder

18. Marvin Gaye

19. Bob Dylan

20. U2

I stopped liking artists around the number 10 spot.

[METALMAN]

I feel like a great pioneer for introducing the tier system.