Favorite artists, favorite songs
Submitted by jenhowel on Fri, 07/11/2003 - 08:41
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- QUEEN, "Bohemian Rhapsody" - Queen is my favorite band, by far, and I choose "Bohemian Rhapsody" as my favorite song by them because it represents so many sides of them at once. Their harmonizing, their grandiosity, their experimentation, and their simply amazing musical ability. Plus, the emotive powers of Freddie Mercury, a rock god. My other favorites by them include "Seaside Rendezvous", "Don't Stop Me Now", and "These are the days of our lives"
- ABBA, "Mamma Mia" - "Super Trouper" and "Does Your Mother Know?" are other big favorites, but "Mamma Mia" is the most danceable, joyous, ABBA-esque song I know.
- MADONNA, "Like a Virgin" - This is not her most artistic song, but I think it is a song that will endure long past her death as a cultural superstar. It is a simple, singable, exciting song. It's hard to believe that it was as controversial at the time as it was.
- PRINCE, "Jack U Off" - This is not the best Prince song by any means, but it does the things a Prince song should, it shocks, makes you want to sing along, and puts you in a good mood. On an odd note, Ben Affleck remembered singing along to this song in an interview I once read. It made me think much more highly of Ben Affleck.
- ALANNIS MORRISSETTE, "Thank U" - This song has made me cry on several occasions. It is very meaningful to me, and its message of forgiveness and learning through pain are very heartfelt, as much as many may make fun of Alannis' music. I love her!
- TORI AMOS, "Precious Things" - This song is my favorite because it reminds me of my friends and the good times we had. It's hard to pick with Tori, but I think it can be said that Little Earthquakes was her best album at any rate. So often it seems the first albums are.
- THE BEATLES, Abbey Road - I couldn't choose one song for The Beatles, so I offer up Abbey Road as my favorite, as cliched as that is.
- RUFUS WAINWRIGHT, "April Fools" tied w. cover of "Across the Universe" - Rufus' amazing voice is showcased on both these songs (and he's even BETTER live, despite all that smoking). Also, both of these songs take me to a different level of reality, where daily troubles melt away.
- OLIVIA NEWTON-JOHN, "A Little More Love" - This song was my story for a number of years, unfortunately. I felt like I had to win the love of men at any cost, and maybe if I just gave a little more everything would be better. So this song is very close to my heart.
- ANI DIFRANCO, "Buildings and Bridges" - This song is an anthem to life. "We are made to bleed, and scab and heal and bleed again. And turn every scar into a joke." Damn right, Ani!
- LIZ PHAIR, "Canary" - Rarely has a more poetic and powerful song been written about specific personal experience. Exile in Guyville is a brilliant and continually overlooked and underestimated album.
- JOHN LENNON, "Imagine" - An important song. It always will be. My husband and I love it (and agree with it so much) that we played it during our wedding ceremony.
- MOBY "Porcelain", "Next is the E" - Moby tends to work in two very different genres: Beautiful Ambient Stuff and Infectiously Danceable Techno. So I chose one from each group, though if pressed, "Porcelain" is probably my favorite, simply because of its beauty. "Next is the E", however, is heaven to dance to (I've lost myself in it), and regularly causes me to speed ridiculously while driving, enough that I try not to listen to it in the car.
- R.E.M., "You are the Everything", "Nightswimming" - I chose both of these songs because they are tremendously evocative. R.E.M. is not so important to me at present, but they were important enough through so much of my past, that they deserve inclusion.
Author Comments:
These are just some of my favorites, and the songs by them I like best. I am by no means a "music geek", so this list is not as profound or refined as many people's. But it's mine, and that's all that matters, I guess.
I've only included artists whom I feel I know the work of pretty thoroughly. In some cases, such as ABBA, Moby, and Rufus Wainwright. I know about as much as anyone can. In other cases, such as Liz Phair, Madonna, R.E.M. and Prince, I'm well-informed on their early career but haven't caught up with their latest 1 or 2 albums.
Some artists who I really admire, such as Janis Joplin, The Beach Boys, Death Cab for Cutie, Blur, Simon and Garfunkel, etc. I haven't included simply because I don't know enough about them yet to really pick a favorite song.
Moby = trance. Not techno. Porcelain in specific, is in fact trance. Although Moby DOES do some other genres, trance is his staple, and techno is not on his repertoire.