Wtorek 9 Paź 2007, 6:40
I am really bored so I thought I would take a look at my top 10 artists and see if there are any surprises.
#1 – Bob Dylan: Not really a surprise, I listen to Dylan all the time mainly due to his lyrical greatness and the fact that he doesn’t overcomplicate his music. I have always known about Bob Dylan but didn’t start listening to him until late last year when I finished high school. My favourite albums are Blood on the Tracks, Highway 61 Revisited and Bringing it all back home. Some of my favourite songs are Visions of Johanna, Desolation Row, Mr. Tambourine Man, A Hard Rain's A-Gonna Fall and It takes a lot to laugh, it takes a train to cry. I will listen to Bob Dylan until the end of my days. He is a legend.
#2 - Rage Against the Machine: My favourite band by the length of Australia, these guys have so much power and their lyrics hit you like a freight train. I first hear RATM at my friends house when I was 10, he said put on Rage Against the Machine, I did and it blew my mind, I still remember Zack screaming in Killing in the name, Tommy jamming in Fistful of Steel and the all round greatness of Freedom. That day is etched in my mind as the day my outlook on music changed; it opened my mind as to what music can do. Rages are the greatest band in mind.
#3 – Bruce Springsteen: This man has rocketed up my charts over the last 3 months, going from pretty much zero plays up into third position. I can’t remember the first time I heard him as you are almost always going to hear Bruce while you are growing up, but the first time I listened to him was when I caught a short snippet of his Live in Dublin concert on TV. After this I went and brought Born to Run and a couple of his other CD’s. I love his lyrics and his voice, he sings about life and experiences that we all can connect with; love, growing up, the happiest days of your life and at the opposite end of the spectrum can sing about injustice and oppression. Nebraska and Born To Run are my favourite albums. Bruce will continue to climb in my charts and will probably be second only to Dylan soon.
#4 – The Beatles: Not sure what I can write about the Beatles, again they are so high in my charts because of their amazing lyrics and simple songs. You always hear the Beatles growing up, you don’t get a say in it. I remember the first time I heard Hey Jude though, Paul was going off his head at the end and I remember thinking how awesome it was. Then I got the One album for Christmas and listened to it a lot. Lennon/McCartney is a songwriting combination equal to anyone in history
#5 – The Mountain Goats: I first heard the mountain goats coming home from a hard days cricket, JJJ played This Year and because I was in my final year of high school the song spoke to me like few others before it. Then after a while I heard No Children and became addicted and decided I had to buy a couple of albums, The Sunset Tree and Tallahassee were the ones. Again they are very simple songs, mostly acoustic but the lyrics are so fantastic. They were as high as 3 in my charts but I have been listening to a lot of older music lately so they have slipped.
#6 – Oasis: Along with RATM they are the shining lights of the 90’s music scene. Noel’s songwriting mixed with Liam’s voice is one of the finest combinations in music history. I first heard Oasis in a pub while playing a game of pool, my mate decided to play Don’t Look back in anger, it was that song which made me fall in love with Noel’s songwriting. These guys have slipped down my charts though and probably will continue to, I still think they are fantastic though.
#7 – Pink Floyd: Another one of those artists that everyone hears growing up. My earliest memory of them where I listened to them properly was at a mates house when a group of us were sitting around drinking, he put on
Dark Side of the Moon and I remember that was one of the best nights of my life. Whenever I hear the word 'epic' I think of Pink Floyd, their songs are massive, they take you to a place few other bands can take you. Wish You Were Here is a my favourite album, followed by The Wall. They will continue to climb in my charts, or they will stay around this position. They won't drop that's for sure.
#8 - Paul Kelly: My first Aussie artist. I first heard Paul Kelly when my parents played it at home, I always loved his guitar work and about 5 months ago decided to give him a listen to get the old childhood memories flowing. I found though that as an adult you discover the man is a genius. Songs from the South: The Best of Paul Kelly is the one and only album I have of his, my favourite songs areDeeper Water, To Her Door and How to make gravy. He will continue to climb I think. He is fantastic.
#9 - Led Zeppelin: I got into Zeppelin through my mates father, he always listened to them. You can't really go wrong with Page, Plant, JPJ and Bonham. They rock out like few other bands and few other bands will ever come close to the musical greatness this band possessed, Led Zeppelin IV is amazing, if you don't own it you don't love music, When the levee breaks, Kashmir and The Battle of Evermore are my favourite tracks. They will always be in my top 10 I would imagine.
#10 - Van Morrison: My parents listened to Van Morrison so much when I was growing up I had little chance but to like the man. The Best of Van Morrison was played so much I could probably sing the whole thing without effort. Favourite songs are And it stoned me and Wonderful Remark
Anyway.. that's a long journal entry and I was going to do my top 20 originally… But that idea got destroyed half way through this one. If you read it I hope you enjoyed it.