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EWB's Top 104 Artists 2013 - Results


METALMAN

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Yay, Miles Davis! His extended discography had me spending a lot of time with just a pair of headphones, really; especially his Third stream and Fusion stuff. Granted, as with many other people, Kind of Blue was the album that opened up the entire genre for me but it has always stayed with me as a gateway album. Fantastic composer and musician still.

I was never big on Blur at all. So yeah. And I do not care about Eminem, outside of the odd track and perhaps the EP he did with Royce da 5'9''.

Tom Waits however, is magic. I remember when I first heard "God's Away On Business", back when I had no idea what a Tom Waits was, and from then it just rolled on with Mule Variations, Rain Dogs, Small Change, Nighthawks at the Diner and so on and so forth.

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I don't like Justin Timberlake, but I don't actively dislike him all that much. He's just there. If I spent more time with his music, I'd probably enjoy it, as they seem to be exceptionally well-crafted pop songs.

Soundgarden are an interesting one...I grew up with their music, basically, so I'll always have a soft spot for them. But their last album was fucking terrible, and the thought of seeing them live now kind of depresses me, because Chris Cornell's a bit shit now. To be honest, a lot of their stuff wasn't that good. But they had a way with a moody, atmospheric kind of hard rock that was kind of Sabbath-y, without going the more explicitly doom route. It was interesting, and a shame that the more atmospheric side of their work - "Fell On Black Days" and so on - was kind of forgotten about in favour of some of the hits. Kind of like "grunge" as a whole, they began as something potentially interesting and challenging and, in no time flat, were subsumed into macho hetero rock normality.

I thought the first Arctic Monkeys EP was really quite special...and it's all been downhill from there. I just can't take them seriously as this arty, intellectual band that they're supposed to be, because it all seems very forced, and there doesn't seem to be any genuine inventiveness or originality there. Listening to a later Arctic Monkeys album, or even just one song, is an exercise in spotting the reference. "Oh, there's a Bowie bit, there's a Scott Walker bit". We should take bets on whether they go to Nashville or Berlin to record an album with a new and exciting sound next, or whether they get Brian Eno in to produce. Also, they did a terrible po-faced sincere John Cooper Clarke cover which missed the point in every conceivable way.

I should listen to more Mountain Goats. If I heard them about eight or nine years ago, when I was on a huge "anti-folk" and twee kick, I'd have adored them. I love most of what I've heard, but haven't made the commitment to listen to them "properly", and I know I should.

I like Springsteen, though metalman's assessment of him was absolutely spot-on. There's something very contrived about him. But when he's good, he's superb. I sort of agree with Sousa as far as preferring his songs performed by other people, though it depends on the song - I'm not a fan of the "big" E Street Band sound, so almost anything off Born In The USA and most of Born To Run I'd rather hear played by someone else, but anything off Nebraska or Darkness At The Edge Of Town, or The River, I'm happy with Bruce.

I've only recently been converted to Daft Punk - never really paid them much attention before, but loved the Tron: Legacy soundtrack, and Random Access Memories is a lot of fun. But it's got Nile Rodgers on it, so of course it is.

Johnny Cash is great. Don't really listen to him any more, as there seemed to be a period of a couple of years a little while after he died where everyone suddenly liked Johnny Cash, whether they had any prior interest in country music, or just his music, at all. And that's fine, I'm not being a "liked him before it was cool" hipster, it just got tiring to hear him in every coffee shop and hear people talk about him all the time, so I never really bothered going out of my way to listen to him for a long time, and still don't, really. But if I have my iPod on shuffle and one of his songs comes on, I'll probably enjoy it.

I don't know The National that well. I've got a couple of their albums, and it all kind of blurs together. Sometimes they seem really interesting, sometimes they seem incredibly bland, I can't figure them out. I love Bloodbuzz Ohio and England, though.

Miles Davis is fucking superb. Obviously he has his classics, but even his less appreciated work has some real gems in there. Agharta verges on heavy metal in places it gets so fucking intense. Can't go wrong, really.

I never cared for Blur...just don't get the appeal.

Never liked Eminem.

Tom Waits is phenomenal. I could write about him all day; one of my absolute musical heroes, and all-time favourites. One of the few I'd genuinely call a genius.

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Miles Davis is great. I'm not actually such a big fan of his fusion stuff, though as a general rule I like the music with John McLaughlin. Jack Johnson is great. My favourites are Kind Of Blue, Live At The Blackhawk and Sketches of Spain.

Blur are okay I guess. They've got a bunch of okay albums, but none are really anything more than decent. Far too many are padded out. Parklife has 16 songs! Their oompah stuff is really annoying and their songs in general are poorly or unimaginatively arranged. Damon Albarn is an awful singer. There's a lot of awful singers that I enjoy listening to, but not Damon Albarn, because he is an awful singer who thinks he is good. So I don't get the fuss about Blur. They're definitely not the 90s answer to the Kinks or whatever. They're not in that class. That being said, Song 2, M.O.R., Stereotypes, The Universal, She's So High, End Of A Century, To The End, This Is A Low and Out Of Time and most of Modern Life Is Rubbish are great. Gorillaz are better though.

What is the point of Eminem? Lady Gaga, Eminem and Justin Bieber have all had more than a billion Youtube plays. Eminem is the only one I can't find any redeeming features in.

I've quite liked Tom Waits for ages, but this year I've really got into him in a big way. I'd known and liked Rain Dogs, Bone Machine and so on for ages. They were good enough. But then this year I discovered Heart Of Saturday Night. I love it. What a sound. What a band. Such an atmosphere.

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Miles Davis. Legend, obviously. He had such a diverse range of music over his time and you can really hear his dedication to his craft. A massive inspiration for me. There is a case for him to be considered one of the greatest musicians to have lived

Blur are a lot better than people make them out to be, in their later years anyway. 13 and Think Tank are legit good albums, and they have a few gems spread through their earlier work. I found the whole Britpop period (Modern Life to The Great Escape) to be shite. But I hate Britpop in general.

Being surrounded by Eminem fans is enough to make you hate his music regardless of quality. It helps that his work is piss poor and overhyped. He made a single good song in 'Stan'. But even a broken clock is more right than him.

Tom Waits is some sort of twisted genius. Love Everything he does. Really fascinating voice, and a brilliantly oddball musical and lyrical style.

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I'm a bit behind here, and forgot where I left off. Sooo....

Black Sabbath is awesome, they've been an all-time favorite for years. My first good album was Paranoid at 10 years old, and I still have it. They were so fucking good, great sound, and Ozzy's vocals fit that heavy sound brilliantly.

I also really enjoy Gorillaz, which is weird because opposite of what Skummy said, they're something I typically wouldn't be into. For some reason though, I am, I really dig what they do. They have a good variety of stuff on each album, their songs don't get boring or repetitive and I like them for that. Demon Days is probably their best album, and it's in general a brilliant album. Also got to love that they work with Del the Funky Homosapien, an awesome rapper in his own right.

I like Johnny Cash. I'm not nutty for him like others, but he's one of few country artists I enjoy.

I want to like Tom Waits but have never been able to get into him. I feel like there's a good chance I could love him, or I may continue to just not care either way. I mean, it took me until a few months ago to like Bob Dylan, but now I really enjoy his work. Is there anything to compare Tom Waits to? I mean it's easy to say "If you like Black Sabbath, you'll like Pentagram", is there anybody out there like that for Tom Waits? I know the song "I don't wanna grow up", that wasn't bad, and the Ramones do a nice cover of it.

I like the Blur song from the Trainspotting soundtrack.

Eminem, I don't always mind his stuff, but sometimes his shit is just cringe worthy for me. I can't imagine how some people think he's just this flawless artist that is always great and is the greatest at his craft. He also worked with my brother for a month or so at Little Ceasers a year or so before he broke out huge.

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Miles Davis is someone that I recognize as great, but I don't have a huge interest in that genre of music most of the time but it's good every once in a while.

I have absolutely zero, zilch, nada interest in Blur.

My interest in Eminem comes and goes. In a take it or leave it situation, I'd leave it.

Tom Waits is boss, and I really need to listen to more of his stuff.

Been listening to some of The Smiths recently. Good in spurts so far.

Queens Of The Stone Age have always screamed generic rock to me, so meh.

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Honestly though, Queens of the Stone Age above most of the bands listed? Granted I'm very much not on the same wave length as this list, but fucking Queens of the Stone Age are so fucking boring and lame. I remember about ten years ago people trying to convince me that they were it man, these guys were the fucking new face of rock and roll, that these dudes could really bring it. Bullshit, they're as banal and insipid as the rest of the garage tripe from that era.

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For real. There is no goddamn way QOTSA is better than Tom Waits or Johnny Cash. Like, I love Kyuss, but they still aren't better than that. BE BETTER EWB.

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