Music

I enjoy listening to music. I also really enjoy finding new songs to listen to instead of the same old ones. I like listening to classic country stations that play songs from the 80s and 90s that I've never heard. I like finding deep album tracks from artist and listening to them. It's always good to find something new to listen to because these days there just isn't enough good music coming out that can fulfill my listening requirement.

One of the great things about being born decades after rock & roll started is that I can be introduced to an artist and it is brand new to me. Not only is it new, but you don't have to wait two or three years for the second album to come out, just go get it, and then the third, and the fourth, etc. That may make me sound like a music novice, but really I'm not. I spent my junior and senior year of high school spending every last cent of my paychecks to buy every classic or new album I could get my hands on. I've probably bought at least 150 albums and had at least 50-60 more burned for me. So I've heard all the most critically acclaimed ones and many others.

I've seen who all the best musical artist are and I know what Rolling Stone and VH1 think about it, but their opinion doesn't have an effect on me. If I like it, I like it. It basically comes down to does it sound good or do I like the lyrics. I don't care what rock critics say. This is my personal top 20 artists, which includes their album material; I'm not going to be short-sided and only listen to 10 hit songs and claim them in my top 20. And to be in this list surely you have to offer something more than straight ahead rock songs like Tom Petty or Aerosmith. I like those bands but they don't give me much variety and tons of great songs I can listen too. I don't care for Rap or Punk Rock, my interest in R&B, Jazz, Raggae, Hard Rock, Dance and Pop is mild, I like New Wave a little more - along with of Pop/Rock, and Folk-Rock, then a step above would be Blues, Psychedelic Rock, and Southern Rock. But my favorite genres are Soft Rock, Country, Jam Bands, Rock, Christian & Blues-Rock. With that said, here is my Top 20:

20. Brad Paisley - I thought about going with Brooks & Dunn here buy Paisley's signature sound put me over him over the edge. If all I hear is a guitar, I instantly know it is him playing...that is rare.

19. The Beatles - It is hard to deny they have made some great songs and great albums. I would put them with Pink Floyd as the masters of album rock.

18. R.E.M. - I have owned all but one R.E.M. album, and that is a lot considering they have 14 of them, and they really aren't too popular or considered classics. Their 80s stuff is ok, the 90s is the best, and then the 00s are back to pretty good. They have a lot of good songs and consistently put out good albums.

17. Sister Hazel - I really never listened to Sister Hazel very much until 2009. I only had "Fortress", but my brother has got me into them and I now have a several more albums. They create a lot of good guitar and bass sounds, good melodies. I really like Sister Hazel.

16. Tim McGraw - Tim McGraw is just great country. He pumps out hit after hit. His old stuff (early 90s) is great, his new stuff is great. I've always enjoyed some McGraw.

15. Pat Green - Pat Green is one of the most underrated country artists out there. I guess he's not commercial enough, but he's got a bunch or really great songs.

14. Eric Clapton (which includes Cream, Derek & The Dominos and solo career) - I really love to hear Clapton play the blues. Derek & The Dominos is probably his best stuff, but he's got some other great material. I'd have him higher if he was a better singer, sometimes I wish he would just play with instruments only.

13. Pink Floyd - I'm not a huge fan of psychedelic rock but it's hard to turn a Pink Floyd album off since it's so good. I don't have a problem with a 17 minute song, I like it when 75% of a song has no vocals.

12. Third Day - Third Day is basically like a Christian version of Sister Hazel...modern Southern Rock. They are my favorite Christian band. They've got a bunch of different sounds as well which I like, you're not getting the same thing with every album.

11. John Mayer - Kind of like Sister Hazel, I've only gotten into John Mayer recently. I used to think he was just some guy chicks liked, but then I started listening to more of his stuff and realized his worst songs are the ones they play on the radio. So aside from those songs, his albums are great, a ton of great guitar work.

10. Jack Johnson - Perhaps what I like most about Jack Johnson is his different sounds. Maybe they all are based with an acoustic guitar, but they all take a different direction and have a different beat. He fits almost any mood, great musician...short easy to listen to songs.

9. O.A.R. - I'm glad O.A.R. finally 'sold out' because they've been making great music for years and it's about time they got paid for it. And really they sold out on one song (Shattered) because the rest of that album is pretty much the same old O.A.R., although it's one of my least favorite. I love the saxaphone and they use plenty of it, great jams and a different sound on virtually every song.

8. Kenny Chesney - Kenny Chesney is like John Mayer, his worst songs (for the most part) are the ones that make it to the radio. With that said, he hasn't put out much of anything good since 2005. But I can make a list of about 40 really great country songs by him...just that alone gets him up here.

7. Led Zeppelin - Led Zeppelin is the most hit or miss band in history for me. Pretty much every album has 4 or 5 great songs - legendarily good songs - and then they'll have 3 or 4 that suck in my opinion. How can you have a crap song "Misty Mountain Hop" following "Stairway to Heaven"? It's like that on every album. But with all those incredible songs they make it up to this point for me.

6. Lynyrd Skynyrd - I used to just think Lynyrd Skynyrd was a feel good Southern Rock band with a couple famous songs. But really they've got a bunch of famous songs and even more classics that should be a staple of everyone's collection. Their first two albums are a necessity, and from there they keep going with excellent work through the 70s. Of course, I'm ignoring any new material (post 1979). But even "Skynyrd's First and .....Last" (album of work that didn't make any albums) is filled with great songs. Everything they did in the 70s was great.

5. Jimmy Buffett - How can you not like Jimmy Buffett? He's been making great music for 40 years. He's got a ton of great songs, and he's the ultimate good time musician...and the ultimate island musician. So "the ultimate" in two fields, that gets you in the top 5.

4. The Allman Brothers Band - The Allman Brothers are simply one of the greatest bands of all time. They are definitely underrated. They often get pigeon-holed as just another Southern Rock band, but they are more of a Blues-Rock band..certainly in the first couple of albums. A 20-minute jam can be hard to take for the impatient, but there just isn't any denying their great musicianship.

3. Dave Matthews Band - DMB is yet another band whose worst songs get played on the radio. Although theirs is not that the extreme of Kenny Chesney or John Mayer because a bad song for them is few and far between. If you really listen to the musicianship and different instruments they use on each song you can get the true appreciation for them. They are the master of the 6-minute song...making it as though you don't even realize it was 6 minutes because you get lost in the song so easy.

2. George Strait - George is definitely the King of Country. Admittedly, I have no full length George Strait albums. To my own defense, when I started listening to country in 2003, he was already into a 20 year career. And at roughly an album a year that was too much of a daunting task to try and accumulate that many albums. But based on the 100 some-odd great songs he's produced I think that is enough to land him at #2. Not to mention that at almost 30 years in his prime, he is still putting out hit after hit.

1. Bruce Springsteen - A lot of people wouldn't have The Boss touch their Top 20, and without a doubt you either love him or you hate him. Well, I hate his politics but I love his music. He's got so many great albums and songs that I've probably listened to 100 times over the past 10 years. He's still putting out great music, even though his heyday has passed by 20 years. There aren't many songwriters like The Boss, who puts a different character in each song that you can relate to. Then, he fuses guitar solos, saxophone jams, piano, etc. to make a great sound. Him and the E Street band make a great combo which easily tops my list.


Thare is my list. You might say it sucks or it's pretty good. You might say, how could you not have the Rolling Stones or The Jimi Hendrix Experience? Well, I have all of Jimi Hendrix songs and a lot of Rolling Stones and The Who and countless others but I just don't like listening to them as much as these. That why it is my favorite, and not "the best". Perhaps there are some new artist that have come out with only one or two albums so far that I will like more than these, but until they produce some more material I can't put them up there. 4 albums is the minimum.

JB