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Musical Artists From A to Z (Jaggy Dawg's write-off)Jun 22 '05 Write an essay on this topic.
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The Bottom Line From A to Z, Music is the place to be.
It seems that Jaguar Dog has invited me to this A-Z Music write-off, in which we name our favorite artists that start with each letter of the alphabet. People have done this a number of different ways. I think I'll just go with something simple. One artist and one song for each letter. So, let's get jaggy with it. A Artist: Air Supply. No doubt they're a bit on the schmaltzy side, but they're coming back ya know. Song: "Across The Sea" by Weezer. It's like hard rock on amphetamine with a whole lotta heart. When they bring in the drums, thereby turning it into a catchy pop ditty, I find it almost hilarious. B Artist: Bee Gees. One day they make you dance, and the next day, in the words of a broken heart it's just emotion! Song: "Be Mine" by R.E.M. Charming soft rock from one of the most sensitive guys in the biz, Michael Stipe. C Artist: Chicago. Seems like they've been through a little bit of everything, from the funkier brass-laden 70's stuff to the power ballads of the 80's. You'd never guess it was the same band. Song: "Come Sail Away" by Styx. My favorite song of all time! D Artist: Dave Matthews Band. I tell ya, if I were any more predictable I'd be the Grammies. Never would've dreamed I'd love these guys 11 years ago. "What Would You Say" sounded like so much tuneless garbage. Time changes everything, though... Song: "Don't Lose My Number" by Phil Collins. I don't know, it's just fascinating. You don't hear a lot of unsolved crime mystery stories in song, let alone one from the point-of-view of a trusting friend of the supposed perpetrator. Plus he does the chorus like four times! E Artist: Everclear. Granted, they've slowly descended into suckage, and their albums are a far cry from brilliant. But overall, they bat pretty high and they're just too fun to resist. Song: "End Will Come (The)" by Elton John. This song is weird, slow, and it kicks majorly. Also love the apocolyptic lyrics in relation to the possible end of a relationship. But then, judging by the sheer magnitude of the song I'd guess he could be talking about anything, world peace, the end of war, who knows. F Artist: Fleetwood Mac. Much like Everclear, these guys tend to be mostly mediocre, but overall they don't have a bad song to their credit. Song: "Fortress Around Your Heart" by Sting. I know you're sick of me talking about this song so I'll just leave it at that. G Artist: Genesis. Catchy songs, innovative melodies, socially conscious lyrics, and just a tad of that freakiness. Song: "Good" by Better Than Ezra. They're just far enough away from being one-hit-wonders that you can listen to this song and know it's coming atcha from someone who's "got it". H Artist: Hornsby. Bruce Hornsby. A widely overlooked master of the piano and maker of overplayed 80's pop. Thankfully it's good pop. Song: "Hard Habit To Break" by Chicago. One of the finest "it's over and I can't take it" songs. I don't know WHAT chords those are at the end with the crazy strings, but damn if they don't knock you right down. I Artist: Imbruglia, Natalie. Left Of The Middle was a fantissimo album, and White Lilies had a few gems as well. She's the kind of female artist that is enjoyable but doesn't get played ad nauseum on the air. Song: "I Know" by Dionne Farris. My sister and I taped this video, then literally sat and watched it over 20 times straight. J Artist: Jones, Howard. Here we go with the 80's pop again, but Howie's music was just plain exciting. Song: "Jealous Guy" by John Lennon. Good grief, this is starting to look exactly like my Top 101 Love songs list. I am now playing two (soon to be three) online RPG's using the name Jealous_Guy, so I guess that means something. K Artist: Keith, Toby. The guy may still be on the country side of the tracks, but you wouldn't know it from the sound of some of his stuff. I never thought "Beer For My Horses" would end up being such a damn good song. Song: "Kissing A Fool" by George Michael. Way back when we listened to Faith everyday, we used to think this side of an otherwise energetic George was kind of funny. Strange thing that it took a karaoke rendition of the song to open my eyes to the fact he was actually serious! L Artist: Live. They put out no less than 4.5 great albums, and they don't pull any punches when they got something to say. Song: "Love Is In The Air" by John Paul Young. Sometimes mainstream 70's pop really hits the bullseye, and here's a perfect example that I do believe I haven't mentioned in any previous review -- holy whoa! M Artist: Morissette, Alanis. Here goes another artist who pulls no punches. You sure don't wanna tick her off, yet at the same time, sitting out under the stars with her and talking about life and the world would be so fascinating. Song: "My Hero" by Foo Fighters. Love the slow militant beat and the sheer anthemity of it all. A lot of bizarre hookage as well. N Artist: New Radicals. Yeah, they were one-hit wonders allright, but their album brings back a lot of memories. Not to mention it was catchy as hell. Song: "Next Time I Fall" by Peter Cetera and Amy Grant. So I'm a sap, well there you go. I like the harmonizing on this song and the weird synthesizer that opens it up. O Artist: Ocean, Billy. This guy can get you moving and make you feel immortal (see "When The Going Gets Tough") but then turn around and leave you in a puddle with slow burners like "Suddenly". Song: "OOH Child" by The Five Stairsteps. A great little oldie with nice harmonies and a feel-goody hopey vibe. P Artist: Pound. Nobody knows who they are, but that's cool. With the right promotion, they'd fit in on radio today with their simple pop/rock style. Song: "Prayer For The Dying" by Seal. This song may be in part why Seal is so well-known today. If not for its popularity, nobody would've ever thought to use "Kiss From A Rose" on the Batman Forever soundtrack, then who knows where our facially scarred balladeer would be right now. "Prayer" has only gotten better with age. Q Artist: Queen. Because there just ain't nobody else! Although actually I hear that Queens Of The Stone Age are pretty good. Well, from what I heard of the Queen's greatest hits that Mom got, they sounded like a crazy little band indeed. Gotta love that. Song: "Quit Playing Games With My Heart" by Backstreet Boys. Again, for lack of a better choice. But you may already know that I am a huge fan of this song, so may as well stop pretending not to be. This was the beginning of a whole new boy band movement, but damn if it wasn't just the grooviest little number. R Artist: Radiohead. Sometimes you feel like a nut, sometimes you don't. For those times when you do, there's Radiohead. Call 1-800-WHAT-THE for details. Song: "Red Sector A" by Rush. Not only does it boast some of the finest drumming ever, but it's an easy melody to follow and the lyrics will break your heart. S Artist: It's a toss-up between Sting and Styx. Both excellent artists for far different reasons. Styx is wild and intense, and Sting is... well, wild and intense. Just in a different way. Ah, forget it. Song: "Superstar" by The Carpenters. I love it when they pretend to make fun of songs like this in movies like "Tommy Boy". Go on, admit it, you know you like it. T Artist: Toad The Wet Sprocket. At some point in time, I owned all of their albums (even "Pale" and "Bread & Circus"). I'm not sure why I found them fascinating except maybe just the whole "everydayness" of their sound. Song: This one is also a toss-up, between three different Dave Matthews Band songs. "Two Step" (yee-haw!), "Typical Situation" (blissful) and "Tripping Billies" (eat drink and be merry!). U Artist: U2. Yeah, I'm a poseur. Still working on completing my collection, and somehow I've just stalled on it since "October" which I found to be merely average. Someday I'll get back and finish that ridiculous U2 story. By the way, "Sometimes You Can't Make It On Your Own" is one of the best songs we've seen this year, probably even one of the five best songs I've ever heard from them. I always laugh at what Bono is wearing in the video, too. It's like the Grim Reaper (or Darth Sidious) with science lab goggles, and on top of all that, he's singing along with himself at the beginning! Song: "Under The Sea" from The Little Mermaid soundtrack. It's goofy, it's beachy, and it's sung by a crab for cryin' out loud. But it rocks like no other song ever in a Disney movie. V Artist: Verve, The. Extremely mellow music, but it's interesting mellow music that every just so often splits a nerve. Song: "The Voice" by The Moody Blues. It's a scary kind of melody, but it's extremely smooth and well-executed. I love that lightning-fast speed too. W Artist: The Who. I can't believe how awesome these guys are. And there are so many albums left to go! "Who's Next" is a flawless album, and I discovered after several months that I liked Meaty, Beaty, Big and Bouncy a helluva lot more than I originally did. Song: "Why Don't You And I" by Santana & Alex Band. Another song I know you're sick of me flaunting. But if I get a good enough deal, I might be able to get this song into my movie, "Enabler". X Artist: Xscape, and I don't have a clue who they are. Song: "X-Static" by Foo Fighters. Again with the lack of choices! Not one of their first album's better tracks, but hearing Dave Grohl sing way down low is interesting. Y Artist: Yellowcard. The end of the alphabet is a real pain in the booty. Well, last time I mentioned these guys I remember saying their album was "mostly a crap album". Well, that was like a month before "Only One" came on the radio, a song I had completely forgotten about. Now I keep wanting to hear the album again. Song: "You Are My Destiny" by Lionel Richie. When I picked this song, I wasn't sure if we were supposed to put in our favorite songs or the first songs that came to mind. For Y, this was the first song that came to my mind and I haven't felt compelled to change it. This is truly (no pun intended) a good, danceable little tune. Z Artist: Zwan. Two words -- "Endless Summer". Song: "Zeroes" by Spacehog. And you thought I was going to put "Zero", didn't ya! Actually, "Zeroes" is a kind of monotonous easy listening that doesn't seem like it is, because it's on a Spacehog album. It all goes back to Whoville again, 'cause I can't explain! As Dora the Explorer would say, "We did it! We did it, we did it, hooray!" Oh God...  |
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