For my 100th post, following is a straight up list of my 100 favorite bands. Please know that this list is constantly evolving, not only because of the emergence of new, exciting bands, but also because of my reappraisal of old favorites.
There are around 140 bands I love, but I listen to these 100 bands more than the other 40 for whatever reason. And I’ve highlighted what I think would be my top 25 if you held a gun to my head and made me pick.*
Okay, here goes (in alphabetical order):
AC/DC (from High Voltage through Back in Black)
Arcade Fire (first four albums)
The Band
The Bangles
The Beach Boys
The Beastie Boys
The Beatles
Belle & Sebastian
Big Star
Big Thief
Blondie
Blur
The Boo Radleys
Buffalo Springfield
Built to Spill
Buzzcocks
The Byrds
Cheap Trick
The Chills
China Crisis
The Clash
Creedence Clearwater Revival
Crowded House
The Cure
The Decemberists
Depeche Mode
Dinosaur Jr.
Dire Straits (first three albums)
The Doors
Dr. Dog
Drive-by Truckers
Echo & the Bunnymen
Elbow
The English Beat
The Fall
Field Music
The Flaming Lips
Fleetwood Mac
Fugazi
Grateful Dead
Green Day (Dookie through American Idiot)
The Go-Betweens
Guided by Voices
The Jam
The Jayhawks
The Jesus & Mary Chain
The Kinks
LCD Soundsystem
Led Zeppelin
Lemonheads
Los Lobos
Love
Lynyrd Skynyrd
Madness
New Order
Nirvana
Of Montreal
OMD
Pavement
Pearl Jam (though oddly, I’m not a fan of Ten)
Pink Floyd
Pixies
The Pogues
Prefab Sprout
Pretenders
Pulp
Queens of the Stone Age
Radiohead
Ramones
R.E.M.
The Replacements
The Rolling Stones
Roxy Music
Sex Pistols
The Shins
Sloan
The Smiths
Sonic Youth
Sparks
Spoon
Steely Dan
The Stooges
The Strokes
Super Furry Animals
Talking Heads
Talk Talk
Tame Impala
Teenage Fanclub
Television (because Marquee Moon is one of my 100 or so favorite albums of all time)
Titus Andronicus
U2
Uncle Tupelo
Vampire Weekend (first four albums)
The Velvet Underground
Weezer (first four albums)
The White Stripes
The Who
Wilco
X
XTC
You Am I
The Zombies
*I couldn’t choose between Teenage Fanclub and Spoon, so you may notice there are actually 26 bands in my top 25. As Morrissey sings on the Smiths “I Started Something I Couldn’t Finish”: typical me, typical me, typical me.
Also, if anyone asks me why Bob Dylan or Neil Young aren’t on the list, you might get punched in the neck: Dylan and Young are not bands. They are singer/songwriters. Which is why you won’t find David Bowie, Prince, Elvis Costello, and other favorite songwriters of mine on this list either. One could argue that Tom Petty & the Heartbreakers and Bruce Springsteen & the E Street Band are bands, but I prefer to think of Petty and Springsteen as songwriters for the purposes of a list like this.
Last, please tell me your favorite band(s) that didn’t make my list. I’m always interested in what moves other music fans. Chances are, I like them too, just not quite as much as the 100 I chose.
I like all of those bands to one degree or another. If I could include AC Newman's three solo albums as part of the New Pornographer's discography, they would be top 100 for me for sure.
I have high hopes for the Beths over the next 5-10 years.
Sloan is my favorite Canadian band. Along with the Band. Which reminds me: I also love New Pornographers. Good call re: Fruit Bats. I considered the Police (love their first three albums). Don’t know Lowest of the Low. Will investigate.
Bob Marley falls into the Petty and Springsteen category for me.