Wednesday, October 03, 2007

Random Top Ten

Random Top Ten!!!

Top Ten Rock/Pop Artists

10. Tracy Chapman
If she's never equaled the spare power of her wonderful debut album, she's still managed to regularly produce very solid albums highlighted by two or three excellent, excellent tracks.
Best Song: Fast Car
Best Song You May Not Have Heard Of: Short Supply

9. John Mellencamp
My fervor for Mellencamp has ebbed since high school, but I still love the hell out of a lot of his stuff - Scarecrow, Lonesome Jubilee, and Big Daddy still represent string of albums that would stand up to a lot of one-two-three punches.
Best Song: Check It Out
Best Song You May Not Have Heard Of: Jackie Brown

8. Aimee Mann
My love for Mann is relatively new, but every catalog album of hers I pick up cements that love.
Best Song: Save Me
Best Song You May Not Have Heard Of: Goodbye Carolyn


7. Sting
Sacred Love was a major disappointment for me, but The Soul Cages stands as one of my ten favorite albums ever.
Best Song: Brand New Day
Best Song You May Not Have Heard Of: When the Angels Fall


6. Neil Young
Young's longevity and productivity astound me.
Best Song: Philadelphia
Best Song You May Not Have Heard Of: Razor Love

5. Paul Simon/Simon & Garfunkel
Another artist whose maturity and continued relevance is a delight.
Best Song: Graceland
Best Song You May Not Have Heard Of: Wartime Prayers

4. The Who/Pete Townsend
Townsend, unlike Simon and Young, hasn't aged as well. Nonetheless, The Who stand as the only 60s rock band that still moves me and engages me; that I love and don't just respect.
Best Song: Won't Get Fooled Again
Best Song You May Not Have Heard Of: I Believe My Own Eyes

3. Elvis Costello
The prolific, mighty destroyer of genre barriers, gifted with a strong, beautiful voice and the knowledge of how to use it and one of the century's keenest songwriting minds.
Best Song: Alison
Best Song You May Not Have Heard Of: Toledo

2. Bob Dylan
It's become a cliche, but there it is - he's our Shakespeare.
Best Song: Like a Rolling Stone
Best Song You May Not Have Heard Of: Sugar Baby

1. U2
I doubt strongly that my passion and fanatic devotion to U2 will ever be supplanted.
Best Song: Where the Streets Have No Name
Best Song You May Not Have Heard Of: Mercy


On the outside looking in: Arcade Fire, The Police, Living Colour, Dire Straits/Mark Knopfler, Bruce Springsteen, Radiohead, Queen, Fiona Apple

Until Whenever

2 comments:

Roger Owen Green said...

Fast Car - one of the answers to your lyrics quiz. But since I didn't get it until I Googled it...

Tom the Dog said...

Frick! Roger guessed it first. But since he used Google, maybe I'll still get credit.

You know I'd put the Who/Townshend first, but it's not like I'm gonna dump on the people you put before them.

What do you think about that Blender survey that lists Sting as the worst songwriter ever? Personally, I think the whole list is garbage (except maybe the guy from Creed at #3). And seriously, including Paul McCartney -- that just screams "We want attention" rather than "This is in any way a valid list."