Hell, I remember listening to the cassette single of "The Look" by Roxette over and over and over again while doing yard work sometime during the vast highway of my teenage years. My step-dad was off his ass pissed off about something and I was basically marooned with a yard full of brush and branches to clean up. But that weirdly catchy anachronism of a song got me through, pulled me through, bade me passage through. Music does that, somehow. It really works.
While I was thinking about my choices for the '06 edition, I thought about why the choices are my choices. Here's a quick rundown:
* Is the music still relevant to me now?
I spent solid years of my life with a very narrow catalog of classic rock bands as my listening companions. I still dig most of it, but won't throw on Jimi Hendrix on a whim very often these days. Alternatively, last month I became obsessed with the Nirvana box set and literally listened to "Verse Chorus Verse" several hundred times over a two or three week period. I couldn't get enough of the thing – I was beginning to feel disturbed by my compulsion to keep listening to it.
* What memories do they summon?
The best of the best conjure different times and places, special times that you felt things you'll never quite feel again in the same way. The music is the gateway back to those moments, the mental impressions of those formative moments and eras.
* Does it still kick ass?
This is obvious, isn't it? It's gotta still do it for you to be a Top Five favorite of all time. For the right person, Leonard Cohen could kick just as much ass as Gwar. It just depends.
* Is the catalog substantial enough?
This is my somewhat arbitrary criteria, but in my view a band that cuts two or even three albums doesn't quite cut the muster to make the all-time hall of fame.
Okay, let's quit cutting muster and roll out the winners. I'll reveal here that the two new selections in my personal Top Five are the Pixies and Beck, who replace The Beatles and Beastie Boys from the '96 edition.
The Doors
There's something about the music that still does it for me, that both summons dark and painful growing years and also taps into my more poetic yearnings, the existential seeker, the guy who up and moved out of Astoria, Queens in 1998 on a whim and has lived in California ever since.
Article comments
— go to most recent comments1 - Douglas Mays
OK, a very subjective question, but a good one. Let me try to answer. My criteria will be based on there social influence on me at the time, plus their live performance ability (the influence of attending the church of rock n roll). Let the coffee kick in, my answers could change within an hour...
Not necessarily in this order and subject to change...
Doors (not afraid to challenge authorities)
Beatles (Sgt. Peppers did it to me)
Rolling Stones (Sticky Fingers, excellent and consistant live)
Yes (the human services of bands. Sing about mountains and families. Killer shows and musicians)
10cc (Very advanced technique. Amazing live)
Led Zeppelin (of course)
Grateful Dead (Amazing, consistant live. Nobody else had a deadhead following. That says something...)
Pink Floyd (and to think, they are a far out blues band)
White Stripes (I think there is more than we can see right now going on. They pulled off an amazing presentation live last year. As good as anyone)
X-15 (OK, unknown Seattle band from 1980. As good as anyone. PinkFloyd and Clash mixed. Grunge can thank them for getting the industry to look that way. Mentors for Soundgarden. Hey, I saw Nirvana in the mix, so...)
OK. I'll knock cobwebs out of my head and make changes if needed. How about Burning Spear or Freddie King or...other music catagories? Were are the Yardbirds in my mix....Oh the battle is starting...
2 - Douglas Mays
Oh god, dare I forget Jimi Hendrix...
3 - Michael J. West
One thing I really notice is how much your list says about your age, where you grew up, and who you are. Funny, eh?
4 - Mark Saleski
i'm pretty sure i can't do five...might hurt myself.
5 - Mat Brewster
Very cool, Sir Berlin. I'll have to think awhile on my list. If my brain doesn't explode I'll get back to ya.
6 - Janice
I'm listening to Pavarotti right now. I love the Beatles and the Stones are OK. Am I showing my age or what?
7 - Eric Berlin
Great choices, Douglas. I've challenged you to name five, but I'll try not to harsh you too much about it!
I think The White Stripes have the stuff, the real goods. Their records keep getting better and better, and the best songs on each are really amazing and timeless.
I toyed with having The Clash and Rancid on this list. They're both Top 15 all time in my book.
8 - Matthew T. Sussman
My five favorite bands each have 20 of the top 100 guitarists according to Rolling Stone.
9 - Eric Berlin
Michael, you're absolutely right, all those factors are important. But I think the individual personality and experiences are great factors as well. A guy the same age who lived next door to me growing up could have easily picked Dave Matthews, U2, Phish, the Dead, and Frank Zappa or whatever, you know?
10 - Eric Berlin
Come on Suss, I know you can do better than that!
11 - Mark Saleski
Poison, Ratt, Warrant, Motley Crue, Starland Vocal Band
12 - Eric Berlin
fibber
And where's Winger?
13 - Guppusmaximus
Great Article...
The 5 most crucial bands for me are based upon Musicianship,Originality & Emotional Connection. They are also the ones that I seem to gravitate to more than any others. Those five would be:
Michael Manring
Dream Theater
Mike Patton
Death
Toad the Wet Sprocket
14 - gonzo marx
well now...gonna hafta play this one out...
TOOL
Rush
Motorhead
Jethro Tull
Steppenwolf
honorable mentions: Hendrix, Ani DiFranco, Doors, Primus, Pantera
there ya go
Excelsior?
15 - zingzing
guppus! toad? wha?
anyway.
new order
the fall
beatles
public image ltd
disco inferno
(maybe)
16 - zingzing
oh yeah,
prince
17 - Sean
top 5
The Clash
Bruce Springsteen & The E Street Band
The Rolling Stones
Bob Dylan
Marah
18 - Guppusmaximus
Zing... You've never heard of Toad the Wet Sprocket? They were under the umbrella of NWOBHM but they weren't really metal more like heavy blues and yet, still way more mellower with some dark edges. "Bread & Circus" was a brilliant album but I still like all their releases:
Pale
Dulcinea
Coil
Fear
I'm sure I have missed one...but you should check 'em out.
19 - duane
I will give myself away, but here goes:
Led Zeppelin -- genius, the fourth and fifth albums are immortal, still underrated, so much more than Whole Lotta Love
Yes -- they take themselves seriously, they can play their instruments, they're self-indulgent (I like that), they have written pieces of great beauty and power (from Fragile to Relayer), they can still deliver live
Genesis -- Steve Hackett era, they made a graceful transition when Gabriel left, then jumped the track when Collins took over, Supper's Ready live off the Seconds Out album I consider to be a monument to Western civilization, Tony Banks is brilliant
Rush -- Whenever I hear anything from Grace Under Pressure or Signals, I'm right back in college (I'm not crazy about Geddy's singing, either), Peart is brilliant, and Lifeson knows what an electric guitar should sound like
Tool -- revitalized my interest in complex ass-kicking rock music, Carey is one of the best rock drummers ever, thank god the 80s ended
Honorable mention: Queen, Cream, The Allman Brothers, CSNY, Magma, Deep Purple, Todd Rungren, Pink Floyd
"Great" acts I'm indifferent to: Metallica, Dylan, The Who, The Doors, The Grateful Dead, The Eagles, AC/DC (yuk, actually), Springsteen, any punk or New Wave
Yeah, yeah, what an old fogey.
20 - Guppusmaximus
*BTW* they got their name from a Monty Python Skit...
21 - Mark Saleski
e.b.: Winger was definitely second tier.
22 - zingzing
guppus--yeah... i know who they are. they had some hit song years ago. kind of m.o.r. as far as i remember. wouldn't even think of calling them metal or heavy or blues or any of that. i never really listened to them... but i never expected you would listen to them. doesn't sound like your cup of tea. what's "NWOBHM?"
duane--led zepplin, underrated? ha. oh. ha. mymy. you kid. as in jest.
23 - Eric Berlin
Yeah, I don't think you can ever say that Led Zep is underrated, though they have seemed to have dropped a bit in the overall and general musical conversation.
24 - duane
Zing, I've had this discussion with other people, and I usually enounter opposition, so I'm not surpised. LZ is, of course, the mother of all rock bands, but in my elitist fashion, I still believe that to the general public they are viewed as a heavy metal band --- they are identified primarily as a cock rock band that cranks out heavy versions of old blues songs. The cognoscenti know better, but when I say they're underrated, I mean in the eyes of the world, in general. They are unaware of the versatility and subtlety that LZ pulled off in the studio.
On the other hand, as a live act, they're overrated. Yeah.
Gotta go. Baby needs a new pair of shoes.
25 - BillSaysThis
Bruce Springsteen & The E Street Band
U2
Allman Brothers
Beatles
Tie: Little Steven & the Disciples of Soul/Southside Johnny and the Asbury Jukes
What can I say, I was a teen in NJ in the '70s. I still remember going to the Garden State Arts Center every summer from mid '80s to early '90s to see the Jukes play. Dancing and singing along, what great nights!