Top Bands Revisited

I was reflecting on my 25 favorite bands and the series of posts I wrote revealing them. My list and ranking was done just for fun and I didn't put much effort into it. My criteria was loose and I ranked according to my first impression from thinking their name and my memories of them.

I thought to myself, "Beau, what would the list look like if I got more serious about it and quantified it more rigidly?" I know it would remain extremely subjective but it may be more accurate and account for some things that were accounted for the last time.

This time I selected 6 categories: the band's persona (how they look and act and "feel"), the live show (the concert experience), the number of songs I like and how much I like them, the number of albums that are good top to bottom, the personal connection I have to them (people, memories etc) and their longevity (not as a band but for how long I have enjoyed them).

I gave each band a score of 1-5 for each category and added up their total score to rank. But I quickly discovered that there a number of bands I have not been able to see live like The Who or Nirvana and so on. So it wasn't fair to hold that 0 score against them. I figured I would average the scores to get a better, more fair idea of their overall ranking. I also scored several bands that were on my "honorable mention" list to see if they would crack the top 25. Take a look at what happened.

Before I get into the interesting differences.....

Here is the original list:
25)Public Enemy
24)Nine Inch Nails
23)Huey Lewis and the News
22)Hanzel Und Gretyl
21)Nirvana
20)Black Rebel Motorcycle Club
19)The Who
18)Sublime
17)Outkast
16)Pink Floyd
15)Jane's Addiction
14)Muse
13)The Cars
12)The Hollies
11)Audioslave
10)Linkin Park
9)Stone Temple Pilots
8)The Offspring
7)A Tribe Called Quest
6)Fun Lovin' Criminals
5)Weezer
4)Garbage
3)U2
2)Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers
1)Social Distortion

First, two groups fell out with some very low averages under 2. Outkast and Black Rebel Motorcycle Club dropped out and were replaced by Alice in Chains (which I suspected) and Pearl Jam (there's your validation Michelle) who not only cracked the top 25 but landed at 17 and 18 respectively.

Secondly, I only had two bands remain in the same slot so there were many "mistakes."

Here are the big movers and shakers starting with the losers. Jane's Addiction dropped 10 spots with their lack of personal connection as a contributor. Audioslave and The Cars dropped 9 spots also suffering from the lack of personal connections. The big winners were Public Enemy and Pink Floyd. Both groups advanced 13 spots. Pink Floyd made their way to #3 on my list.

I think the Pink Floyd gain was the most surprising. I didn't think they would be a top 3 candidate when I began the list. I didn't examine the amount of respect I have for them and how much I enjoyed their live show. I also didn't think through how many albums I love. The one thing I did not account for this time was that I have to be in the mood for them. I think that is why they weren't this high on my first list.

I was also surprised of how high Hanzel Und Gretyl ended up in this list. They found themselves ranked #14. Their live show for some reason appeals to me and that helped them in the ranking.

My favorite band of all time, Social Distortion, dropped to #4. So there is some validation to Doug's comments regarding their "elevated" status. The longevity component hurt them. And the new #1? Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers who scored a perfect 5 in all but longevity (4).

Overall, the changes were minor although frequent. The number of bands that moved was high but the amount or number of spots they moved was minimal. The mean amount of change was only a minuscule +0.04 even though 25 of 27 bands moved. This tells me I wasn't off by too much. The mode of spots moved was -1. Five bands moved down one spot. No other amount of move happened as often.

Here is the new top ten with their movement from the original list in parenthesis:
10)Stone Temple Pilots (-1)
9)The Offspring (-1)
8)Weezer (-3)
7)Fun Lovin' Criminals (-1)
6)Garbage (-2)
5)U2 (-2)
4) Social Distortion (-3)
3)Pink Floyd (+13)
2)A Tribe Called Quest (+5)
1) Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers (+1)