A Quarter of the Way There

Now that we’re one whole quarter of the way through, we decided to take a second to examine how this voyage (nearly 3-years-worth!) has affected the top 5 lists we each made at the very start. The results were, well, see for yourself

Zack: I looked back at what I had picked as my Top 5 favorite bands/artists when this began and what I wrote, and well, lol. Hendrix still reigns supreme, but the rest of my Top 5 has been completely shaken up. I’m relistening to Harvest Moon as I write this, so Neil Young has earned his place. Kanye has dropped two incredible solo albums and helped make this happen, while Lupe has produced 2 subpar albums and 1 good mixtape in that time, leading to a major switch. Hilariously, I made it a point to say that “Country pretty much sucks,” which now seems to have come back and bitten me since I have to include Johnny Cash here. Oh, and I finally opened my horizons and listened to the Clash (minus their debut and Cut the Crap). What happened after that was practically destiny.

Top 5 Bands (as of 8/25/13)

1. The Jimi Hendrix Experience

2. Neil Young

3. Kanye West

4. Johnny Cash

5. The Clash

Emily: Revisiting this Top 5 bands/artists list was more difficult than I expected. It was pretty easy when I did it the first time when we started the blog since my musical tastes were fairly narrow. However, after exploring 250 albums that were mostly unknown and hearing new music all the time as it has been released (and from Zack, of course), I barely knew where to start with this list. Two bands came to mind quickly; one my favorite since middle school that I could never give up, and the other a newer favorite that was cemented by seeing them live and from 15 feet away. After that, I didn't know how to continue. Should I pick the best live bands? The ones whose albums I keep coming back to? What about the ones I've just started to explore? To try to sort this all out, I decided to sit down with my breakfast and a mug of green tea to sort through old blog posts and iTunes and hopefully come to a conclusion. The results were even more inconclusive. I thought of how much I love Jeff Buckley and the Dead Kennedys, but does listening to one album qualify as a favorite? What about my evolving fandom of Kanye West? I've listened to way more of his stuff than those other two, but I can count that as a favorite. And then there are the concerts - I've seen the Killers, Muse, fun., and a slew of other artists in the past few years. Does that count as a favorite? I think my ultimate conclusion is that I don't really have favorite artists anymore. I now listen to music on an album-by-album basis, and those albums - not a discography, not an artist - are what have become my favorites. Regardless, the task was 5 artists, and that is the list I will provide - though it doesn't really give my music favorites justice.

Top 5 Bands (as of 8/25/13)

1. Green Day

2. Foo Fighters

3. fun.

4. Kanye West

5. The Killers