"My Favorite Bands (college era)"

by Matthew C.
2002.06.03

(ranked IN ORDER of importance)

Since I thought a list of favorite songs would be too hard (there would be a ton to include), and to spare you from a "Top 100" list, I have figured out my top ten favorite bands/artists. Now just because an artist or band is included on this list DOES NOT mean I like everything they've done, just a majority. Plus this is more my style of music, not necessarily what I think is the best out there...

(I'm still not sure if this is exactly how everything works out, but this is pretty close...)

1. Primus
I was originally attracted to the awesome funky drumming and bass slapping sound that immortalized various oddities in song. It started with the funk. It continued with the humorous, irreverant songs about animals, candy, fishing and drugs among other things.

2. Oingo Boingo
One of the bands I became obsessed with during college. Sadly, they broke up right before I started listening to them. Danny Elfman's quirky pop song writing style enthused me to branch out from the "Greatest Hits" disc I had and soon I sought out every album. I was initially attracted to the song writing, but soon fell in love with the arrangements as well. (You just can't go wrong by having a horn section.)

3. They Might Be Giants

4. Mighty Mighty Bosstones

5. "Weird Al" Yankovic

6. Blondie
I guess originally I was attracted to Blondie lead singer Deborah Harry's body and voice, it became clear that the entire band sounded great and were really good musicians in their own right. For instance, Clem Burke does an awesome job pounding away on those skins as the time keeper of this quintet. Although they have aged, they don't seem to have lost any of the original lyrical pizzazz or auditory ferociousness. Older? Yes. More Mellow? Yes. Still worth listening to? Absolutely.

7. Faith No More/Mr. Bungle
Faith No More's hard rock sound is so inviting. Blending lead singer Mike Patton's often odd lyrics and lyrical style with quality music is great. One interesting piece of trivia is that he was originally trained as an opera singer. It's apparant that he has an astounding mastery of his instrument on many of Faith No More's tunes. And while he seems to get a bit TOO 'off the wall' at times for my tastes, the rest of the band is there to make the whole sound great. After Faith No More, include all of the Mike Patton "side projects", most importantly his original band, Mr. Bungle.

8. Brian Setzer/Brian Setzer Orchestra

9. Queen
I'm not quite sure why this appeals to me, but their music is SO creative and SO interesting. Yeah, some of it (most of it) is dated, but it's still great. My favorite Queen album is "Jazz". Listen to it. <subliminal> Buy it tomorrow! </subliminal>

10. The Who

Honorable mentions:
- Infectious Grooves [humorous funk]
- Motley Crue [heavy metal, rock]
- Me First and the Gimme Gimmes (and most punk covers)
- Prince [funky pop]
- Spinal Tap [humorous heavy metal]
- Elvis Costello [great lyrics in pop]
- KRS One [thought provoking rap]
- Tenacious D [humor in rock]
- Rush [rock]

Of course this list would be totally different if I were naming my "Top Ten" favorite albums (let alone songs)....that would be even harder...