Huey's All Time Favorite Bands Pt. 2

I have begun a little ditty here on my blog listing my Top 25 Favorite Bands/Musical Artists of All Time. To see who was 25-21, check out the earlier post down the screen. Included there is the criteria and disclaimer. Remember, this is not a list of who I think is the best bands of all time objectively, it is a list of my personal favorites.

So with no further ado, 20-15......

20) Black Rebel Motorcycle Club...This band is very new and fresh to me. I worry their appearance on this list is merely due to this freshness. I love a number of their songs from "Weapon of Choice" to "Berlin" to "Ain't No Easy Way." These are the top of the list. The vibe of their stuff is great. Upbeat, cool rhythms and generally fun to listen to working out or in the car.

19) The Who...Obviously a classic band that can't be left off many Rock 'n Roll connoisseurs' list. This band is one my dad and I have been able to share. He highly recommended Who's Next after he found out I was listening to their greatest hits double CD. There are too many individual songs to list here that I thoroughly enjoy. The straight up, loud, in your face sound and classic style are awesome. They were slamming guitars and destroying things long before Nirvana ever did. They still rock out at their live shows and deserve the epic reputation they get on stations like VH1 in my mind. They are one of those bands I love to hear the biographies about. Fortunately, I do not watch enough CSI to get overkill of their songs that have suddenly been played multiple times a week in their intros.

18) Sublime....Sublime is just a cool freaking band. Seriously. They have so many good songs from the couple albums they released before their lead singer passed away. I believe it was an overdose. But they cashed in on that rap, reggae, rock mix vibe. While a number of bands tried and failed miserably, sometimes coming off as a joke, they were one of the bands that were able to pull it off. I gotta say my favorite track is "Doin' Time," but "Garden Groove" and "April 22, 1992 (Miami) are also among my personal favorites.

17) Outkast.....Outkast is one of the few rap groups that I found myself enjoying after my rap phase. It seemed like rap in the mid to late 90s quickly began to spiral downward from strong, creative, original rhymes sampled over beats to flat out, ripped off trash of old songs with little originality or they were over-the-top violent, sexual, trashy gangsta, pimpin' rap. It got old for me. Or maybe I got old. I prefer saying I grew up. Regardless, I never felt Outkast was like this. Outkast was very able to keep things original and fresh while maintaining creative, catchy lyrics along with solid beats and rhythms. They experimented with different sounds and it came off very artistically because, well, they were artists. "Rosa Parks," "Bombs Over Baghdad," and "So Fresh So Clean" are tops in my book.

16) Pink Floyd...I saw these guys live in 1994 at the end of my freshman year at OSU. I feel for the future generations that will miss out on Pink Floyd's live show. It was epic. Pink Floyd is a requirement for young adults progressing through college. It is mandatory to experience them. I am glad I was able to get the full effect. The following summer after the concert, I went crazy buying every tape (yes I was still listening to cassettes in '94) and soon CDs so I could to catch up on all the Floyd I missed. Their albums were ones you would listen to all the way through. You don't skip around to specific songs. That defeats the purpose. Dark Side of the Moon is their best known album and a classic indeed, but I loved Wish you Were Here and Animals almost as much. Meddle was strong as well. And of course, the album I borrowed from my dad and the movie that went with it, The Wall, is yet another classic that can't go without mention. Of course I watched the movie. I also did the Dark Side of the Moon to Wizard of Oz as well. Both very cool. Even if the 'Oz thing is bull crap, I bought in. Their best albums came with Roger Waters in the lineup and some may even declare that the best days were even earlier when Syd Barret was part of the group. Drugs and alcohol played their role in the band's work, but whatever....that seems to be a running theme with artists doesn't it?



So there you have installment number two of my favorite bands. Next up, 15-11. I hope you enjoyed. I hope you thought back to your memories of these bands. I also hope you add your opinion. Do you think these bands suck or deserve a higher standing? Am I full of garbage? Why? Who would you include?