EWB's Top 100 Artists of 2012

[SRN]

I am here to back Skummy up in the "avant-garde drone bullshit" department.

[Naitch]

Fall Out Boy - They have a few good songs but are still massively overrated.

Kanye West - I don't like his music. I don't like him.

QOTSA - I like the songs that I know but have never really explored their music beyond music videos played on TV.

Green Day - Minority is their most recent song that I like. It came out in 2000.

Tom Waits - The name is familiar but no music springs to mind.

The Rolling Stones - I know how famous and successful they are/were, but I've never actively seeked out any of their music.

The Velvet Underground - I could barely think of anything to say and then I realised that it says underground instead of revolver.

Biffy Clyro - Just no.

Frank Turner - Name seems familiar.

The Mountain Goats - ?

[LittleDaniel]

What did Kanye West do to you, Naitch?

[KONGO]

He was offended by Kanye ignoring everything George W did for black people.

[METALMAN]

Sister Ray is droning and repetitive, that's exactly what I like! I can see why it wouldn't be to most people's tastes, though.

What I mean about singles and the Stones is that for a lot of bands, I find that I end up liking them so much more when I dig into more than the "Greatest Hits", that there are gems out there that might be a little more adventurous, a little less commercially viable for whatever reason, that I end up falling in love with. Whereas I can't think of any time that's really happened with the Stones - the Best Of is very much actually their best.

I've got nothing against droning repetitive music! I even like Metal Machine Music! But Sister Ray doesn't work for me.

I would agree the Stones singles are typically better than the albums. That's possibly why my favourite album of theirs is their live album, which tops off the great songs with a brilliant atmosphere and better versions of the originals.

This sort of thing really upsets the purists for some reason, but my favourite album for the vast majority of artists, even those that I love, is their Best Of. There's very few exceptions. I guess James Taylor is one. His Greatest Hits is a bit dull and uninspired, but October Road are two of my favourite albums ever.

But in most cases I like the hits. There's probably upwards of ten Neil Young albums I genuinely love, but his Decade compilation tops them all. Same for loads of other people.

How curious. It really just dawned upon me with your Rolling Stones comments,

[MalaCloudy Black]

I even like Metal Machine Music!

+1!

Also, I would like to purchase space in the rock that Naitch lives under to have never heard a Rolling Stones song. Or Velvet Underground. Or more than one Soundgarden song. Or more than a couple Bowie songs. Jesus, man, explore!

[fr34k]

I even like Metal Machine Music!

+1!

Also, I would like to purchase space in the rock that Naitch lives under to have never heard a Rolling Stones song. Or Velvet Underground. Or more than one Soundgarden song. Or more than a couple Bowie songs. Jesus, man, explore!

This. Thought this was hilarious as well. When we bitch, you can at least expect that we heard stuff by the artist and a shit-ton to compare it to.

[Benjamin]

Naitch's taste in music is the sweet sounds of nature.

[Skummy]

Yeah, I was wondering why Naitch even bothers posting in this thread, considering it seems he's never actually heard music before.

[fr34k]

Also, Sister Ray is awesome as is White Light / White Heat in general. Velvet Underground are just such a fantastic band and offer something for everyone.

[Dingle]

MON THE BIFF! MON THE BIFF!

That's all

[Sousa]

The Velvet Underground - I could barely think of anything to say and then I realised that it says underground instead of revolver.

Soooooooooooooo the implication is that you have something to say now then?

[VerbalPuke]

Sister Ray is amazing, damn it! I don't think there's a Velvets song I don't like - except anything on "Squeeze". They're incredible, and well ahead of their time. I think it was Julian Cope who said that they were tearing up the rulebook before The Beatles had finished writing it, which is a great quote.

The Stones are brilliant too - mostly they're a "singles" band; I know they have great albums, but I wouldn't necessarily sit down and listen to one, whereas they have a whole bunch of brilliant one-off songs. One of those rare bands where, for the most part, their most well-known songs are, in my eyes, genuinely the best.

I don't like Biffy Clyro, and I'm baffled by their popularity. They're not terrible, just decidedly average.

I don't know Frank Turner all that much, but I love what I've heard. Not enough to call myself a big fan or anything like that, but he's done some great cover versions of some great songs, and when he's good he's great. Has a nice turn of phrase now and then.

I don't know The Mountain Goats that well, but I like what I've heard. The kind of stuff I'd have listened to endlessly about four or five years ago.

This is a great assessment of the Rolling Stones, I feel exactly the same way. Definitely agree that their singles, hits, and what not are generally their best songs, the most fun to listen to. They have some good stuff under the radar, Jumping Jack Flash and Satisfaction are great songs, hell I even enjoy Start Me Up even though they started to decline a bit in the 80s.

[Josh]

The Stones - Fucking love the stones. I love their hits and I love the blues in general, so even their obscure stuff I can't necessarily name hits me where I live.

Velvet Underground - One of those major influential bands I've never taken a listen to, for some reason. At some point I'll change that.

Biffy Clyro - This is a typo, right? You meant Spyro Gyra.

Frank Turner - Like GoGo, I only know that he hates "Imagine", which counts for something.

The Mountain Goats - People I like think these guys are basically gods. I should try a bit of their stuff.

[New Damage]

I even like Metal Machine Music!

+1!

Also, I would like to purchase space in the rock that Naitch lives under to have never heard a Rolling Stones song. Or Velvet Underground. Or more than one Soundgarden song. Or more than a couple Bowie songs. Jesus, man, explore!

This. Thought this was hilarious as well. When we bitch, you can at least expect that we heard stuff by the artist and a shit-ton to compare it to.

To be fair, when people ask who my favourite band are and I say Soundgarden, the response is almost always "Omg I love Soundgarden! I love Black Hole Sun! I don't know anything else though!". It makes me sad because it's not even their best one.

Frank Turner seems like a less interesting Jamie Lenman. They came from cult British bands that are loved, but Turner carried on making music instead of colouring for Doctor Who comics. I tried listening to him, but overall it was just a little boring for me. Wasn't bad, just didn't excite me.

I really don't get the Biffy Clyro love. I've only really heard stuff from that album with the flags on it, but again it was just dull. And I'm sick of hearing that song that starts off with the horns but then suddenly has no sound of horns. It was on the radio every time I was coming home from uni a couple of years ago.

At this point, I have a pretty strong idea who number 1 is going to be, but have no idea who else is going to be in the top 5.

[Naitch]

Just because I'm not in line with the majority tastes on EWB doesn't mean I don't listen to much music. I listen to a much wider variety than most people I know, it just hasn't been looked upon too well by many of those posting in this thread. It's slightly hypocritical that I'm not allowed to say I haven't heard certain musicians, or to say I don't like others when that's been a common occurence for those reviewing bands in this list that I do like, and voted for.

[LittleDaniel]

All I remember about your list is Three Days Grace being on there and Papa Roach getting an honorable mention. I don't think you can pull off the "man, you don't even know my choices!" All value judgements about those two bands aside, they're not exactly underground.

And my problem is that you said you don't like Kanye West as a person, which is silly because I doubt you've had any interactions with the man.

[Naitch]

As far as I'm aware, Kanye West is a egotistical prick. So that's what my opinion is based on. And just because I've said that most people have a certain approach to some of the bands I listed doesn't mean it can be applied to all of them. I know that Papa Roach and 3DG are relatively mainstream, my point wasn't referring to them in any way. Heck, Three Days Grace haven't even been mentioned until now, and I doubt they would be if you hadn't brought that up.

[fr34k]

As far as I'm aware, Kanye West is a egotistical prick. So that's what my opinion is based on. And just because I've said that most people have a certain approach to some of the bands I listed doesn't mean it can be applied to all of them. I know that Papa Roach and 3DG are relatively mainstream, my point wasn't referring to them in any way. Heck, Three Days Grace haven't even been mentioned until now, and I doubt they would be if you hadn't brought that up.

Well, because they aren't any good. But here, let us take a look my friend!

1. Enter Shikari

2. Reel Big Fish

3. Four Year Strong

4. A Day To Remember

5. Delain

6. Nightwish

7. Story of the Year

8. Epica

9. Rise Against

10. Fozzy

11. Three Days Grace

12. Sugarland

13. Bowling For Soup

14. Alestorm

15. New Found Glory

Honourable mentions to Flyleaf, Less Than Jake, Papa Roach and VersaEmerge.

I'm not even going to argue taste here because that will never end, but let me say this. None of these bands, are something that you can go on and say "Most of you guys probably haven't even heard of those!" because dude, we have. I am pretty sure that I've at least heard all those names, and I'm also pretty sure that I have at least heard songs by 10 bands out of those 15. And yes, I do not like them, but I have at least heard songs by them AND know a boat-load of other bands. I have a really wide taste in music, but there are tons of people here on EWB who still know a lot more than me. None of us complained that you never heard of new EWB underground obsession #124335423, but that you haven't even heard of musicians that are a) much more well known than anything on your list and b) actually fucking mattered in the history of music. And no, I'm not saying a band has to be influential to warrant a spot on this list, but that you, as someone who claims he likes music, should maybe go out of his comfort zone (and if you're going to argue a wide range of music with the list you voted for, don't) and actually listen to some stuff that mattered and go from there. Because trust me, most of those bands that you do not know (and there are a lot) will blow your fucking mind compared to this.

[LittleDaniel]

Sorry, you're right, I shouldn't pick and choose which examples I want to use from your list. Let's look at your whole list instead.

Enter Shikari - post-hardcore

Reel Big Fish - ska punk

Four Year Strong - pop punk

A Day To Remember - post-hardcore

Delain - metal

Nightwish - metal

Story of the Year - post-hardcore

Epica - metal

Rise Against - melodic hardcore

Fozzy - metal

Three Days Grace - hard rock

Sugarland - country

Bowling for Soup - pop punk

Alestorm - metal

New Found Glory - pop punk

Honorable Mentions:

Flyleaf - hard rock

Less than Jake - ska punk

Papa Roach - hard rock

VersaEmerge - alt rock

Considering I don't really like most of these genres yet I've heard all the bands (besides the metal ones), I'm not sure where you're coming from with the "none of y'all have heard of my diverse music interests!" And I bolded "diverse" because, lol, all but one of these bands could be easily fit under the umbrella of "rock" (and the one that couldn't, Sugarland, are in a very similar genre).

Edit: Dammit, customers have to come in and make me post after fr34k steals my idea of quoting his votes!