EWB's Top 104 Artists 2013 - Results

[METALMAN]

74. Killswitch Engage

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZKBsU8hZfG4

Number of votes: 2

Highest position: 2nd

Does my dad like them? He has never heard of them

73. Led Zeppelin

Number of votes: 2

Highest position: 1st

Does my dad like them? He thinks they are okay

[GoGo Yubari]

I guess by Japanese standards the pillows are not an indie group given their popularity, but by their sound, experimentation, and image they very much fit the bill of an indie group.

Eh, the pillows are basically the godfathers of Japanese indie rock. I believe they run their own music label, too.

I don't think they run their own label. If they do they don't self-release their stuff at least. But you're right they're very much the godfathers to the crop of 90's indie groups that showed up like NUMBER GIRL.

I know their recent releases have been on Avex Trax (same label as Gackt), not sure about before that.

They do have a label, but it's entirely possible they have different deals for their own albums.

[MalaCloudy Black]

Holy shit, not only are The Germs on this they made it higher than, say, the 90s. I don't have a problem with any of these bands, but KSE are kind of dull.

[VerbalPuke]

Fuck yeah Cloudy, I think we can claim responsibility for this one. The Germs were one of the first punk bands that I got into in my younger days, and are still among my favorite bands ever. Darby Crash was a hell of a writer and it's a shame he decided to off himself because the band could have produced some more great material.

I never really did care much for Led Zeppelin, everybody touts them as being one of the greatest rock and roll bands ever, and forefathers of heavy metal, but they're fucking boring.

I loved the Beastie Boys as a kid, and still enjoy them now and again. Amazing that they went from a pretty run of the mill hardcore band (fun though) to one of the biggest hip hop acts of all-time.

[Skummy]

The Germs. Wow. I don't know them that well, but what I've heard is great, and when I used to write for Chunklet, the other guys used to mention them more than just about any other band half the time. Never would have guessed they'd make this list, thought my first thought was "that'll be VP's doing, then".

I've never really got into the Beastie Boys. Outside of a couple of tracks, they do nothing for me. Though there's a few instrumentals I used to play when I was DJing.

I find Killswitch Engage really boring. I get the feeling there's probably some of their stuff I'd like, but everything I've heard seems very generic, so I group them in with a lot of other early '00s metal bands I don't care for.

I used to love Led Zeppelin when I was about fifteen. I actively dislike them now. I've not watched it, but I'd imagine that the "Led Zeppelin steal songs" video sums up a large part of why I can't stand them. At best, they're actively ripping off other artists - some of whom were much, much better than them - at worst, it's a load of over-indulgent wank. John Bonham has to be the most over-rated drummer of all time, and even when I loved them, the thought of a half-hour Bonham drum solo was enough to bring me out in cold sweats. Pretty much the only one of their songs I still really enjoy is "Immigrant Song", though I'd take Infectious Grooves' cover over the original any day. Hell, give me the version AJPW used for Bruiser Brody over Led Zep.

[METALMAN]

Its always nice when something a bit unusual pops up, and The Germs certainly fit that category. I'd never heard them but I enjoyed the songs VP posted.

I quite like Beastie Boys. I'd never really listened to them until that guy died a year or two ago. I worked in HMV at the time so I was subjected to quite a few of their albums. And they were mostly good.

All I know of Killswitch Engage is their cover of Holy Diver.

Led Zeppelin are decent enough. I tend to like their sound more than the music. There's plenty of space in the music, and it's well produced. Which wasn't really common for their era. As for their music, obviously they stole a lot of their music, but the way they played them was quite creative at first. But then the songs remained the same afterwards. No Quarter is probably my favourite one.

[SRN]

Never heard of The Germs, but then again punk is not one of the genres I have dived that deep into yet. Beastie Boys are another band I haven't delved that deep into either, even though I have a few albums lying around; maybe this is an opportune time to do something about it.

Killswitch Engage are terrible.

And finally, I agree with metalman about Led Zeppelin. It does rub me the wrong way that they ripped off a lot of their material from poor blues musicians, pass it off as they own and made millions on it but their sound is great, and that is why I return to them on the odd.

[deli]

I don’t really care either way for The Germs. But I have to say that GI is probably my favourite album to come from the 'Hardcore Punk' era.

Love the Beastie Boys. Pauls Boutique was pretty revolutionary and loved albums like Hello Nasty and Ill Communication

I think I displayed my feelings for Killswitch Engage in the 'What bands do you hate?' thread

Led Zeppelin are awesome and are a band that I will defend forever. I know because of my oh so individual music tastes i’ve got to hate them, and some aspects of their legacy kind of rub me off. But honestly, 'When the Levee Breaks' invalidates every bad word ever said about them, and I will love them forever because of that.

[METALMAN]

72. AC/DC

Number of votes: 3

Highest position: 6th

Does my dad like them? He loves the Bon Scott version!

=70. Tyler, The Creator

Number of votes: 3

Highest position: 6th

Does my dad like them? Never heard of him

[METALMAN]

=70. The Fall

Number of votes: 2

Highest position: 6th

Does my dad like them? He thinks they are okay

69. The Black Keys

Number of votes: 3

Highest position: 8th

Does my dad like them? He thinks they are quite good

[SRN]

What a boring bunch; AC/DC bore me now-a-days, honestly. I know people are all, "Lighten up!", "They are fun!", and this and that but I honestly do not care about AC/DC at all. Not even the hits. Tyler, the Creator is overrated as all hell. And The Black Keys have faded for me; I used to like their brand of semi-pretentious indie and blues rock, which I guess you could call it, but I haven't listened to them in a long time and I doubt I will ever listen to them regularly again - especially after Dan Auerbach made it his mission to ruin Bombino's original sound. But I guess that is neither here no there.

Only heard of The Fall being mentioned on here, never listened to any of their music. Are they that good?

[METALMAN]

The Fall are good. They've got so many albums that they can be a little bit difficult to penetrate, but I think The Infotainment Scan is their best one. As much as people assume it's all about Mark E. Smith, the band has always been really important, and he had a good band behind him for that album. Ask any other fan what their favourite is and you'll get thirty different answers. Their best of, "50,000 Fall Fans Can't Be Wrong", is a good place to begin. It worked for me.

Aside from that, I like AC/DC. I would never invest in their full discography or anything like that, but they seem like bloody nice guys. It's nice to see a band that enjoys entertaining their fans without any of the nonsense that sometimes accompanies it. I don't listen to them every day, but they had a good sound, and more than a few good songs.

Black Keys are okay. They were far more interesting as a concept at the start, but they often didn't have the songs to carry it off. They still don't really have the songs now, mind you. A bit meat and potatoes, but nothing is wrong with that.

Tyler The Creator is boring as hell and shitty as shit. I mean, Yonkers is okay but the rest is so boring. I usually don't mind rappers that can't rap if what they are doing is musically interesting - Kanye West for instance - but Tyler The Creator's stuff sounds like it has been programmed on a casio keyboard. In a bad way.

[gunnar hendershow]

That's as meh as I could ever be to a post (or in this case, two).

[Your Mom]

Dad likes the Black Keys!

[deli]

People need to get their shit together and listen to The Fall.

[apsham]

AC\DC will pretty much always have a place with me - not so much as I listen to them a lot, but I grew up with an uncle who was a huge fan - and my dad drove me to prom in a convertible that blared a burnt CD which contained the song Big Balls (his surprise) so.. yay?

Tyler, The Creator is a shitlord. Total and utter shitlord.

I don't believe I've ever heard of The Fall.

Black Keys seem a bit generic to me? But.. eh.

[Skummy]

I can't stand AC/DC. I actively fucking detest them. Just the dullest, lowest common denominator bullshit terrible rock music going. Hate it, hate it, hate it.

I don't know Tyler, The Creator.

The Fall are fucking wonderful. Responsible for some of my favourite songs, my favourite albums, and one of my favourite gigs I've ever been to. They're amazing. Really fucking amazing. I wish I could be eloquent about why, but...fuck. They're The Fall. That's it.

The Black Keys are what they are. Blues cover band. They did a good Captain Beefheart cover. They're nice enough background music. That's it, really.

[VerbalPuke]

AC/DC is ok, I never got heavily into or wanted to choose them if I wanted something to listen to. They don't bother me though, they do what they do, and they have a style that appeals to people that just like straight forward rock.

The Fall is cool, I don't know a lot of their work, but I like Live at the Witch Trials (I think that's the name of the album), that's a good one. I never got heavily into post-punk type stuff so music like them doesn't always pop up on my radar. I think also what metalman said, they have a ton of albums so it's hard to find a starting point. I started at the beginning and enjoyed what I had heard mostly, beyond the first three or so albums though I don't know much of their work.

Skummy echoed my sentiments on the Black Keys, another band I don't actively seek out, but they're good at what they do and I can see why people would like them.

Also never heard of Tyler the Creator.

[Jimmy]

I like Tyler, The Creator. His fan base is horrible, but I think he's got some pretty good songs. Horrible live though, another band (he performed with Odd Future) I caught at Reading a couple of years ago and the sound was shit and they didn't seem all that bothered about doing anything but jumping into the crowd and trying to piss the security off.

I love The Black Keys. One of the best bands I've ever seen - so much fun. And hey, my dad likes them too!

[MalaCloudy Black]

AC/DC are okay, but after years and years and years of listening to my parents listen to them I have no desire to listen to them.

Tyler, the Creator has a handful of good songs. Very hyped up (and I realize I was a part of that), but when it comes down to it he's just a kid making some shit songs trying to get attention. That's okay.

I've never listened to The Fall and I think I know one song by The Black Keys.