Favorite Artists
In no particular order, some of my favorite musical artists. Band links point to the Wikipedia entry for more info, and album links point to Amazon cause I’m not stupid.
Currently a work in progress, here’s a few to get you started:
Matchbox Twenty: Ok, this one is in a particular order. “Yourself or Someone Like You” aka YOSLY, was the first CD I ever purchased. I still own it, and the only reason I haven’t worn out the CD was because I have been listening to it on my iPod for the last few years. Over the years, as I have explored new genres, found new artists, and stopped listening to others, MB20 has remained my favorite band. Their music may not change the world, but through any ups and downs, their albums are always listenable, and always add something to my “favorite songs” collection. MB20’s lead singer, Rob Thomas, released a solo album titled “Something to Be” in 2005 that is different than the band’s standard fare, but just as good. For more casual fans, “Exile on Mainstream” was released as a compilation album in October of 2007, containing their top hits as well as 6 new songs.
Train: Known best for their singles “Meet Virginia” and “Drops of Jupiter” Train is another lite rock/adult contemporary band, in a somewhat similar vein to Matchbox Twenty. Another band that may not change the world, but produces consistently good albums, which are always enjoyable to listen to. In addition to their 4 studio albums, Train also released an “EP” album with 6 acoustic, live and cover tracks. The cover of Led Zeppelin’s “Ramble On” on this album was my inspiration for seeking out more music by Led Zeppelin. Which brings us to. . .
Led Zeppelin: Growing up in the 90’s, Led Zeppelin was before my time. I heard a few songs here and there, played on the Classic Rock station, or when another student borrowed some music from their parents. But it wasn’t until a few years ago that I really discovered how much I liked Led Zeppelin, after hearing Train’s cover of “Ramble On,” and watching the excellent use of “Tangerine” in the movie Almost Famous. Around that time, I was searching for new music to listen to, and happened to have a new membership to the BMG Music Club. So I picked up the first four albums as a test, and later filled out my collection with the rest of their back catalog. While I prefer their early music, “Physical Graffiti” probably contains the largest number of tracks that are consistently in my playlist.
Creedence Clearwater Revival: Another classic band that was before my time, heard only occasionally throughout the years I was growing up. While digging through my list of individual songs picked up from iTunes, I found “Fortunate Son” and decided to look for some more songs by CCR. A few previews later, I had the remastered back catalog on order from BMG and Amazon. To me, this is music for when you just want to rock.
Three Doors Down: Way back when “Kryptonite” was being overplayed on the radio, I was into listening to a lot of Alternative Rock. Since then, my musical tastes have broadened considerably, but I have continued to pick up each new 3 Doors Down album as it was released. The merit of this habit was proven this past May, when their 5th, self-titled studio album was released. Within a day, the album had made it to my top 10 albums list (of which, there aren’t 10 yet) as well as added quite a few tracks to my “favorite songs” collection.