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)

Huey's All Time Favorite Bands: Installment #3

And we are back to the countdown of my favorite bands of all time. To those of you new to this little ditty, I have compiled my all my favorite, most listened to CDs and sorted them out by bands. Through the process I picked out whom I liked best overall and ranked them in order. I started a couple weeks ago listing them in descending order a la VH-1 in groups of 5.

Reminder: This is NOT an attempt at objectivity. This is my personal opinion. I already wrote the disclaimer here. Feel free to add your opinion. Discussion is my goal!

Recap:
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

And with no further ado:

15) Jane's Addiction....This one surprised even me. I always liked listening to this band. I had roommates or friends who would play them in college but slowly, over time they grew more and more favorable to me. As I began to get past "Been Caught Stealing" and "Jane Says" which started to bore me and spent more time listening to songs like "Stop" off Ritual de lo Habitual. Then from Strays, I fell in love with "True Nature" and "Just Because." Why do I have them so high? All I can say is I am just feeling them right now.


14) Muse...I first heard Muse in 2004 on CD101 here in Columbus, Ohio, by far one of my favorite radio stations of all time. (I also loved 92.3 Channel X in Cleveland back in the mid 90s, but it's garbage now) They had this song called "Time is Running Out" and it fit my life experience at that time perfectly. The feel of that song and the art rock, epic sound of their other stuff that I dove into after that pulled me in. "Knights of Cydonia" is powerful song. The sound of galloping horses with choir or opera like singing opening the song is awesome. And the video is pretty cool too. I only have two of their albums, Absolutionn and Black Holes and Revelations but they are so good.


13) The Cars...The Cars? What? Yeah, I have a soft spot for the Cars. Growing up I loved "You Might Think." I remember the video for that song vividly. As time went on I never realized how many songs by the Cars I enjoyed. Much that was said with Huey Lewis can be said here. I like more of Huey Lewis' songs but in the end, I think The Cars are just cooler. Their sound is cooler. I just enjoy it overall more then that of Huey. "Shake It Up," "Just What I Needed," "Let's Go" and "Magic" are my favorites. There are more songs that I enjoy as well like "Tonight She Comes" or "My Best Friend's Girl."


12) The Hollies...To think a simple song my Dad and brother would play in the basement when we had friends over hanging out playing ping pong or beer pong or cooking out would turn out to be such an important song to me. Just this memory alone makes "Bus Stop" one of my all time favorite songs. But I later utilized my family's talents with this song to turn it into a wedding gift to my wife. I took a page out of every cheesy morning radio show and rewrote the lyrics to the song to fit my hopelessly romantic story of how I met my wife. I tried to give it some credibility by performing it in front of our friends and family at our wedding celebration with my Dad and brother. Regardless of how low the quality of my voice may have been, I loved every minute of it and it felt awesome. It meant a lot to me to do that for her. So this band holds a place dear to my heart for this reason alone. I also realized that The Hollies are a cool band that has numerous songs I have always liked but never paid enough attention to over the years. Through my search for "Bus Stop" I discovered how much I like "Long Cool Woman in a Black Dress," The Air That I Breathe," "Just One Look" and "He Ain't Heavy, He's my Brother."

This was the sound I was gunning for at my wedding celebration:


11) Audioslave...What do you get when you take a lead singer of a group I never really liked but heard more than my share of on the radio and the members of another band that annoyed the crap out of me after awhile? A pretty darn good, rockin' band that I love!! That's what! Chris Cornell fit perfectly with the guys from Rage Against the Machine. The great songs from the two albums I own just don't stop coming. There are way too many to list my favorites. The first self-titled CD is great hard rock 'n roll top to bottom. I love to blare the sound out the windows of my car and sing along. It is so strong. Cornell's voice pierces the speakers and the guitars rhythms are sweet. Sadly, last I heard they are breaking up. Oh well.


Hope you are enjoying this. Again, feel free to add your opinions. For instance, are you noticing a trend? I don't seem to get into bands until long after they start. The true fans of these bands would hate people like me for countdowns like this. Well, forget them. Music snobs!