EWB's Top 100 Artists of 2012

[gunnar hendershow]

Miles Davis to #1 all day.

And maybe we could get Boards of Canada and Nujabes on the list next year? Come on guys!

[SeanDMan]

I'm confused, was Charles Barkley in Nirvana?

[deli]

Black people don't care about EWB

I Care!

Anyway, decent final 5. Have't really heard Iron Maidens stuff and maybe the last two should swap places. But there's nothing to complain about.

Maybe I should vote next year.

[Summers]

wow.

nirvana & foo fighters?

lol.

[ChrisSteeleAteMyHamster]

Foo Fighters COULD be the most boring band that I know of.

Nirvana passed me by cos I was 11/12 when they were at their peak and then I got on board with Britpop which was the British response to American grunge music anyway so meh to both.

That said I can understand the significance of Nirvana in the 90s music scene and what they left behind....Not for me though.

[Katsuya]

I'm going to make sure that Lights gets on here one day.

ONE DAY.

[Matt]

Anyone who says Foo Fighters are boring is just plain wrong.

[ChrisSteeleAteMyHamster]

Anyone called Matt. is just plain wrong.

[Colly]

They're a band I don't often listen to despite owning a few albums, but I think they're a band with some very good songs in the back catalogue. Another of those where the best of would be better than any particular album just due to the strength of those singles, and every time I've seen them live (all festival slots) they've been outstanding. Not my favourite band in the world but I can certainly see why they're where they are.

Like Hammy I see myself as too young for Nirvana (despite being one of the oldies on here), like what I've heard but never really dug further, possibly due to hating what came after them. The fact Kurt loved Teenage Fanclub is a plus, but then so did Liam Gallagher...

[Pizza]

Foo Fighters are extremely generic. They are pretty much the epitome of what popular rock music has sounded like over the past two decades. That's not necessarily a bad thing, and I really like quite a few of their songs. I can't see how anyone would call them their absolute favourite band, but I can definitely see how so many people would rate them as decent, which gets you far on a list that tries to build consensus out of so many divergent tastes.

[Sousa]

I don't really listen to Foo Fighters much anymore (they were probably my favorite band in high school), but they get a free pass because "Everlong" is about as close to perfect an alt-rock song as I've ever heard. The Colour and the Shape is still a great album if I don't listen to it much these days, and of course their debut is very good as well. Everything else I can take or leave, really.

[Skummy]

Anyone who says Foo Fighters are boring is just plain wrong.

Erm...no? They've released seemingly the exact same song ten times over. Any Foo Fighters single since Learn To Fly is interchangeable with the rest of them. I genuinely can't tell them apart. I don't actively dislike them, but that's probably solely because Dave Grohl seems like a lovely bloke. If he was a dick, I'd probably really dislike his band by now, because there's just so little reason left to give a shit. If they recorded anything half as good as "Big Me" again, I'd be happy.

Nirvana are great, and GoGo summed up why brilliantly. I love that Kurt Cobain used his fame to promote the lesser known bands he loved. Famous bands should have a duty to do that.

I don't like the mythology surrounding Kurt Cobain, and I think it gets in the way of the most important fact - that Nirvana were a band. A damn good band, and one of the most solid three-pieces ever. And raw, and heavy, and fucking awesome. They were so much more than just one guy.

[SeanDMan]

But seriously, what's the deal with that black guy? He wasn't in the band was he?

[Matt]

My link

They all sound the same? I'm not even saying they're all great songs, but they're not the same. And those were literally the first 6 singles that came to my head from the last 4 albums, I didn't spend time thinking of songs that sounded different. In terms of commercial rock music, they have the best sound of anyone out there, coupled with being a brilliant live act. Does it break new ground? No, it doesn't, but you don't have to reinvent the wheel to be good. 3-4 years ago, I could understand the criticism, "Echoes, Silence, Patience, Grace" was an average album at best whilst "In Your Honour" was a single album that they added a bunch of filler to to make a double album, but "Wasting Light" was phenomenal. The weaker songs on it, such as Miss The Misery, are probably as good as any other big rock band has put out in the last few years.

And Big Me might be the dullest track off that first album :/

[Rafael]

Big Me is awesome. It's great to play it when you're in the car with your friends going to the show, then everybody gets a happy face and starts eating Mentos.

[Sousa]

Someone warn Matt for linking to six Foo Fighters and not a fucking one of them are from their best three albums. I'll wait.

[Matt]

Someone warn Matt for linking to six Foo Fighters and not a fucking one of them are from their best three albums. I'll wait.

He said after Learn To Fly. I'm going to guess you're saying the best 3 are the first 3, which wouldn't be after that.

[METALMAN]

Why are you so anxious to make everyone agree with you about the Foo Fighters? Fascist. :/

[Matt]

I'm not, people can like who they want to, obviously. But to say all their songs over the last 13 years sound the same sounds ludicrous to me unless you're going to say a similar thing about 90% of artists who don't drastically change their style. :/

[KONGO]

I sorta like Learn to Fly.

But I don't think it's THE BEST THE BEST THE BEST THE BEST THE BEST THE BEST THE BEST THE BEST THE BEST THE BEST THE BEST THE