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First, make a list of your top-20 artists overall. Then, for each of these artists, add the 7 most similar artists to your list. Delete any duplicates, count up the number of entries on your list and this will give you some idea of how eclectic your listening habits are. A score of 7 represents an extremely unvaried musical taste while a 140 represents an extremely varied one.

-

I used my three month charts, since they're better:
1) The Beatles
2) The Beach Boys
3) disney
4) legend of zelda
5) Nine Inch Nails
6) The Kilimanjaro Darkjazz Ensemble
7) Pretty Balanced
8) Cloetta Paris
9) Poe
10) Android Lust
11) Hilary Duff
12) Marilyn Manson
13) E.S. Posthumus
14) Elton John
15) The Dresden Dolls
16) Sarah McLachlan
17) Crystal Castles
18) Garbage
19) The Birthday Massacre
20) Emilie Autumn

-

01. The Beatles
- George Harrison
- Paul McCartney
- John Lennon
- Ringo Starr
- Paul McCartney & Wings
- Wings
- The Rolling Stones
(7)

02. The Beach Boys
- Brian Wilson
- Dennis Wilson
- Jan & Dean
- The Byrds
- The Zombies
- The Kinks
- The Turtles
(7)

03. Disney
- Alan Menken
- Amy Adams
- Pocahontas
- Samuel E. Wright
- Mary Poppins
- Disney Chorus
- Judy Kuhn
(7)

04. Legend of Zelda
- Koji Kondo
- Chrono Trigger
- Kenta Nagata, Hajime Wakai, Toru Minegishi, Koji Kondo
- Zelda
- Nintendo OST
- Z.R.E.O. Team
- The Legend of Zelda
(7)

05. Nine Inch Nails
- Modwheelmood
- Trent Reznor
- Tweaker
- Black Light Burns
- Halo 33
- Puscifer
(6)

06. The Kilimanjaro Darkjazz Ensemble
- The Mount Fuji Doomjazz Corporation
- Bohren & Der Club of Gore
- Dale Cooper Quartet & The Dictaphones
- Kammerflimmer Kollektief
- Povarovo
- Somewhere off Jazz Street
- Contemporary Noise Sextet
(7)

08. Pretty Balanced
- Harlequin Jones
- Vermillion Lies
- Katzenjammer Kabarett
- HUMANWINE
- Sophe Lux
- Jill Tracy
- Revue Noir
(7)

08. Cloetta Paris
- Sally Shapiro
- Friday Bridge
- Marsheaux
- Gentle Touch
- Tiger Baby
- Le Sport
- Zeitgeist
(7)

09. Poe
- Tori Amos
- Liz Phair
- Nina Gordon
- Charlotte Martin
- Veruca Salt
- Tracy Bonham
(6)

10. Android Lust
- Collide
- Chiasm
- Ayria
- Angelspit
- Switchblade Symphony
- Razed in Black
- Pzychobitch
(7)

11. Hilary Duff
- Lindsay Lohan
- Ashley Tisdale
- Aly & AJ
- Vanessa Hudgens
- Miley Cyrus
- Haylie Duff
- Ashlee Simpson
(7)

12. Marilyn Manson
- Marilyn Manson & The Spooky Kids
- Rob Zombie
- Rammstein
- Deathstars
- John 5
- Korn
(6)

13. E.S. Posthumus
- Globus
- Immediate Music
- Corner Stone Cues
- X-Ray Dog
- Two Steps From Hell
- Bond
- Harry Gregson-Williams
(7)

14. Elton John
- Billie Joel
- Rod Stewart
- The Doobie Brothers
- Phil Collins
(4)

15. The Dresden Dolls
- Amanda Palmer
- Rasputina
(2)

16. Sarah McLachlan
- Natalie Merchant
- Jann Arden
- Jewel
- Paula Cole
- Chantal Kreviazuk
- Tara MacLean
- Shawn Colvin
(7)

17. Crystal Castles
- You Love Her Coz She's Dead
- HeartsRevolution
- Kap Bambino
- Klaxons
- Crystal Castles VS Uffie
- Bondage Fairies
- Late of the Pier
(7)

18. Garbage
- Angelfish
- No Doubt
- The Cardigans
- Republica
- Auf de Maur
- Hole
- The Cranberries
(7)

19. The Birthday Massacre
- Helalyn Flowers
- I:Scintilla
- Dope Stars Inc.
- Jack Off Jill
(4)

20. Emilie Autumn
- Hannah Fury
- Zombie Girl
(2)

Total: 121/140

Why does everyone keep calling these things a "quiz"? Anyway, here goes:


1, What's your favorite song by 15? (Arkona)
Wow, Arkona is 15th? I had no idea :D Um, anyway...
I don't really have one favorite song by Arkona, I could name about 10 songs among which I can't decide. I'm too lazy to list them all, so I'll leave you with Katitsya Kolo and Marena (first two that came to my mind, both are awesome :P)

2, How did you get into 20? (Wintersun)
Well, Wintersun is the band of Ensiferum's former vocalist, Jari Mäenpää. I had known Ensiferum for a long time before I discovered Wintersun. Some friends had been trying to persuade me to get Wintersun's album for quite some time so one day I decided to finally listen to it and once I listened to Death and the Healing I became hooked. I'm actually quite surprised they're 20th, I know all of their songs by heart, I though I had listened to them a lot more. I guess it has to do with the fact that they (still) only have 1 album out.

3, Who is your favorite member in 1? (Iron Maiden)
I guess that would be Bruce. Of course he's an amazing singer, frontman and all that stuff, blah, blah. But aside from that, I also like some of his opinions, his on-stage jokes (Donington 2007 xD) and some of his statements express my opinion on certain things better that I could say it myself. Like "If you lose that 15-year-old kid inside of you then metal won't make any sense at all."

4, Whats your favorite lyric bit by 29? (Mitsumune Shinkichi)
The only thing by him that I listen to is the Rozen Maiden Soundtrack and that is instrumental :P

5, Have you ever seen 22 live? (Lee Holdridge)
Nope, he's a composer, I doubt he even gives concerts.

6, What's your favorite album from 10? (Machinae Supremacy)
That's a hard one.. But I'd probably have to say Overworld, their newest one. I love all of their albums though, and the site releases!

7, Do you own any merchandise from 3? (Ensiferum)
Hell yeah! A black girlie Dragonheads t-shirt that I bought at Paganfest last year

8, What is a good memory you have of 7? (Eluveitie)
I've seen them live 4 times now, which is more than I have even seen any other band. I don't even seek them that actively, they just always happen to play on a gig I'm planning to attend xD (Not that I'm complaining of course, I love their music). One time was exceptionally unforgettable, though. It was a Kreator concert and Eluveitie were the supporting act and so it happened, that during their performance me and my friends started a moshpit (you can't have Eluveitie without moshpit!) and since there were mostly these thrash metalheads who only went there to see Kreator, we were pretty much the only ones moshing through the whole Eluveitie show xD It was great, that was the the only time I was in a moshpit consisting of about 10 people xD

9, Is there a member of the same age as you in 2? (Blind Guardian)
Lol, no :P They're all in their 40's, except Frederik Ehmke, who's still 10 years older than me.

10, When did you first get into 8? (Howard Shore)
Haha, well, obviously, I went to see the Fellowship of the Ring movie in 2001, immediately fell in love with the music, got the soundtrack (I remember I copied it on a cassette from my friend who was wealthy enough to buy the CD - we were both 12 at the time, mind you).

11, Who likes 4 along with you? (Finntroll)
Um, except for the 205,990 listeners here on last.fm and a few millions of people who don't use last.fm, not a lot of people that I know personally. I mean, there are a few who like them and occasionally listen to them, but none of them even cares enough to go see them on a gig with me when they're playing nearby (with the exception of my brother, who is usually willing to go to any show when he likes the bands somewhat and it is taking place somewhere reasonably close, Ilúvatar bless him :D (although he didn't want to go to Wacken with me, lol))

12, Which song did you first hear from 16? (Judas Priest)
I gotta admit I have absolutely no idea. My brother used to listen to them from time to time, and I could usually tell "ah, this is Judas Priest", but at the time I didn't know the song names or anything, so... yeah, I don't remember.

13, What song made you fall in love with 5? (Nightwish)
It was Ghost Love Score. Nightwish was my first metal band ever and I got into them in the time when Once was new and Nemo was always playing on TV, which was 5 years ago. I watched the video clip and the dark, uncanny atmosphere captivated me, so I knew I had to get the album. When I did, I fell in love with the music right away (I hadn't before, when I only knew Nemo - I never really liked that song). Ghost Love Score was my favorite song for a very long time (until I gradually got more into the whole 'metal thing' that was so new to me and I discovered songs so awesome I had no idea that kind of 'awesome' even existed when it came to music. And that, kids, is the story of how metal became an integral part of my life. It's so touching, I know T_T ..... Nah, not really.)

14, Which song do you not like by 18? (Equilibrium)
I went through both their albums and the demo in my mind and I can't find one song I'd dislike.

15, Why do you like 14's songs? (Demons & Wizards)
Well, as a Blind Guardian and Iced Earth fan, I couldn't not like music consisting of Hansi's voice and Iced Earth's awesome riffs. Nowadays I listen to them occasionally, but back in the day I used to seriously love them. You know how it is with most power metal - you love it initially, since it's very melodic, rhythmic, catchy, it grows on you very quickly, but then after a few weeks you slowly start to get bored of it, so you stop listening to it 24/7 and you move on to other things, but you still come back to it once or twice a month and you always reminisce "Ah, how I used to love this stuff" :P

16, Where did you first hear 6? (Iced Earth)
My brother's doing

17, How long was 19 a singer before you liked them? (Bruce Dickinson)
How did you know 19 was a singer, not a band? :D Anyway.. I just learned on Wikipedia that he's been singing in bands since 1976 and solo since 1990, so.. very long xD

18, Does 13 have a song that gives you a bad memory? (Gamma Ray)
Lol, actually.. This doesn't really have a lot to do with the band itself, but when I was driving home in a bus from a Hellish Rock gig (Gamma Ray + Helloween), I lost my Student Identity Card

19, When did you get into 17? (Apocalyptica)
If I remember correctly, it was in 2004. A then-classlmate (with whom we were slowly getting into metal together) passed me their CD one day to check it out.

20, How long have you been into 9? (Helloween)
About 4 years, I guess. I must've discovered them shortly after Blind Guardian, I was always looking for more power metal at the time.

21, If 11 had a concert 300 miles away, would you drive there to see them? (Korpiklaani)
I already have. Twice. But it was never just Korpiklaani alone, and both times I probably wouldn't go if it weren't for the other bands. But whatever, lol.

22, How many CDs do you own of 12? (Children of Bodom)
Own? As in, I bought them? None, lol.

23, Does 21 have a song that makes you cry? (Bill Brown)
I only listen to Lineage ][ Soundtrack by him and although none of the tracks make me cry, some of them evoke kind of a melancholic mood (me and MMORPGs have a very special relationship )

24, Does 27 have a song that makes you happy? (Norther)
Um, I don't think so. Although, now that I think of it, I guess a few of their songs make me happy in an omg-this-is-so-awesome-I'm-gonna-shit-my-pants kind of way..

25, Does 23 have a song that makes you smile? (Lee Holdridge)
Yup, for example Igraine Meets Uther from the Mists of Avalon Soundtrack. The part from 2:48 to around 3:40 to be exact; in the movie that's when Arthur is born and then it shows him and Morgaine growing up together, happy, having fun, running away from their teacher (or a priest or whatever xD) on a horse... happy, carefree life, etc.

26, What's the last song you've listened to from 28? (光田康典)
It's Time's Dream from the Chrono Cross soundtrack, I listened to it yesterday. I can't get enough of the atmosphere that song evokes, it's beautiful

27, Is there a song by 32 that you've listened to more than 30 times? (梶浦由記)
Yup, apparently I listened to Key of the Twilight from the .hack//SIGN soundtrack 33 times. Random fact: If anyone ever makes a movie about my life (), I want them to use this song when they talk about my liking for MMORPGs and anime (don't ask me why, just watch the movie when it's out ).

28, What is a song from 50 that you've only listened to once? (Hromovlad)
That's 7 songs and I'm too lazy to list them all, so if you seriously care that much, just check this page in My Library.

29, Is there a song you are sick of hearing by 24? (Agalloch)
Hell no! I still love all their songs as much as I did when I first heard them! (with the exception of the songs that I've never heard). They don't play the kind of music that you get sick of, at least in my opinion.

30, What song got you into 40? (Wojciech Kilar)
Vocalise. I heard it in The Ninth Gate during the end credits and I was blown away, it's hauntingly beautiful.

31, What is your favorite single by 25? (Amon Amarth)
A single? *goes to Wikipedia to look up which of their songs came out as a single* Uh, I don't think they've got a single... o_O

32, If 49 hated you, what would you do? (Ancestral Volkhves)
I would fart in their general direction, tell them their mothers were hamsters and their fathers smelled of elderberries and send a wolf with some royal ancestry in their way.

33, What would you say if 42 or one of the members from 42 asked you out? (John Williams)
Lol, I would totally go with John Williams and have him sing the Imperial March to me. Just for shits and giggles.

34, Would you care if 41 had a boyfriend/girlfriend? (Eternal Tears of Sorrow)
Why should I care? I mean, it's not like if they don't have girlfriends, I'm gonna automatically assume that position or something. I suppose they've got girlfriends/wives/boyfriends/whatever anyway, it's their business :P

35, Who has the best voice in 46? (Týr)
Um, how about... the vocalist?

36, Do you think 26 is/are good looking? (Avantasia)
I don't know about the other people involved, but obviously Tobias Sammet is good looking. But I personally don't find him attractive at all, I mean, he looks like some metrosexual emo person... thing.

37, How many times have you listened to your favorite song by 36? (In Flames)
My favorite is probably Moonshield and it has 23 plays. I listened to it even more in Power Tab Editor (or Guitar Pro or whatever I was using at the time) when I was learning to play it on guitar.

38, How many CDs do you own of 30? (Moonsorrow)
Once again, if by that you mean how many I've actually bought, the answer is none (I have 5 of their albums downloaded though :P)

39, Is there a song from 38 that makes you mad? (Hammerheart)
Mad? Now that's an emotion that no song has managed to evoke in me so far xD And I don't mean only by Hammerheart, in general. Maybe one day I'll hear a cover version of an awesome song that will make me really mad :D

40, Which member from 31 do you want to see go solo? If 31 is only one artist, what would you do if they joined a group? (Ulver)
None of them, they're great as a band, what use would it be if they went solo?

41, What does your favorite song from 48 remind you of? (Black Sabbath)
It's Planet Caravan and it's an incredible song, it's so psychedelic, hypnotic and mellow, that whenever I listen to it, I feel like sitting in a dim tearoom and smoking water pipe. If I smoked weed, it'd probably remind me of that :P

42, Did you hate 43 at first? (E.S. Posthumus)
Not at all, I loved them right away. When I got their album, I don't think I even listened to anything else the first couple days.

43, Does your best friend also listen to 33? (Andrew Lloyd Webber)
I don't think any of my friends do.

44, Do you think your parents would like 37? (HammerFall)
Haha, my mom totally would! She loves the slower and softer songs by Blind Guardian, Nightwish, Ensiferum, Iron Maiden, etc, so yeah, she'd probably love the melodic cheesiness that is Hammerfall xD

45, Does 47 have a song that makes you want to dance? (KromleK)
The song KromleK, fo' sho. I mean, I don't actually dance (ever :D), but I usually have to at least move in my chair, stomp my foot or bang my head a bit, the song's way too awesome and vigorous to just sit there and listen (oh, and the solo from 4:44 is practically begging "Air guitar me, air guitar meee!" xD)

46, Have you ever seen 34 in person? (Turisas)
Yup, that was one hell of a concert. Shortly after it was over, in the heat of the moment I thought it was the best concert I'd ever seen. Now, a year and a half later when I can judge objectively and unbiased, I still think it's one of the three awesomest gigs I've ever been to.

47, Do you like 44's name? (Randy Edelman)
Man, couldn't this question fall on some band with a cool name, like Amon Amarth, Ancestral Volkhves or even Children of Bodom? Randy Edelman sounds pretty boring.

48, Is there someone in 45 that you want to go out with? (Metallica)
Metallica? Definitely not

49, Do you know anyone that hates 39? (Megadeth)
Nope. A friend of mine used to hate them (and labeled them as "trash metal" ), but fortunately he came to his senses and now he pretty much likes them xD

50, Have you ever danced to a song from 35? (Trevor Jones)
Maybe when I was drunk :D Lol, j/k. Well, I haven't, but I could probably imagine performing some weird kind of a dance to Promentory or The Kiss, they're both very rhythmic. I dunno.


Whew, that took a lot longer than I intended! 'Twas fun nonetheless Now everyone who read this, go and fill it out with your bands and post link to your journal in comments to this one please, I really like reading these things :)

Composers Franz and Helmut Vonlichten who are known as E.S. Posthumus (http://www.esposthumus)

See here:

http://www.ascap.com/playback/2009/SPRING/FACES_PLACES/FILMTV/Vonlichten.aspx

Listen:



E.S. Posthumus

Answer the questions based on your current top 50 artists (as listed in your overall charts).

1. How did you get into 25?
Bitter:Sweet- Browsing iTunes one day - happened to preview the song Dirty Laundry and I just fell in love. :)

2. What was the first song you ever heard by 22?
Led Zeppelin - Kashmir .. I think? Not really sure. Maybe Stairway to Heaven on the radio when I was like 3. I obviously didn't know what I was hearing though.

3. What’s your favorite lyric by 33?
AC/DC - Can't say I have any standout favorite lyrics, they just kick ass at rocking out, I don't think many people listen to AC/DC soley for their lyrics ;]

4. What is your favorite album by 49?
Foreigner - Records

5. How many albums by 13 do you own?
The Presets - Three albums.. Blow Up, Beams, and Apocalypso

6. What is your favorite song by 50?
Finger Eleven - Paralyzer

7. Is there a song by 39 that makes you sad?
The Killers - All These Things That I've Done - makes me sad at first and then peps me up by the end xD

8. What is your favorite album by 15?
Cursive - The Ugly Organ

9. What is your favorite song by 5?
OutKast - Damn that's tough, probably Southernplayalisticadillacmuzik

10. Is there a song by 6 that makes you happy?
Midnight Juggernauts - Shadows makes me giddy when I hear it.. the rest are super calming and rather spacey.

11. What is your favorite album by 40?
IAMX - Kiss + Swallow

12. What is your favorite song by 10?
Deftones - currently Beware, of all-time, probably Change (In the House of Flies)

13. What is a good memory you have involving 30?
Junior Boys - I discovered these guys when I heard In The Morning during a dance routine on SYTYCD (Pasha and Lacey's hip-hop), so each time I listen to them, specifically that song ..I think of that routine and how awesome it was x]

14. What is your favorite song by 38?
We Are Scientists - The Great Escape

15. Is there a song by 19 that makes you happy?
Under the Influence of Giants - yes manyyy, Stay Illogical, Mama's Room and Golden

16. How many times have you seen 25 live?
Bitter:Sweet - never unfortunately.

17. What is the first song you ever heard by 23?
The Black Angels - Young Men Dead

18. What is your favorite album by 11?
Hard-Fi - Once Upon A Time In The West

19. Who is a favorite member of 1?
Muse - Matt, Dom and Chris .. I love them all for different reasons but I have to go with Matt..he is an exceptional..and rather strange individual xD

20. Have you ever seen 14 live?
MGMT - nope, soon though.

21. What is a good memory involving 27?
Cake - I don't really have a good memory involving them, their songs are damn catchy though ;D However I do associate the show Chuck with them because the theme song is Short Skirt, Long Jacket ..but that's not really a memory per say.

22. What is your favorite song by 16?
Weezer - Undone (The Sweater Song)

23. What is the first song you ever heard by 47?
Aaliyah - Rock The Boat

24. What is your favorite album by 18?
Shiny Toy Guns - definitely We Are Pilots ..before they replaced Carah with Sisely. =/

25. What is your favorite song by 21?
Hot Hot Heat - You Owe Me an IOU

26. What is the first song you ever heard by 26?
Jack's Mannequin - Dark Blue

27. What is your favorite album by 3?
The Faint - Danse Macabre by far.

28. What is your favorite song by 2?
Electric Light Orchestra - Ticket to the Moon

29. What was the first song you ever heard by 32?
Maroon 5 - She Will Be Loved

30. What is your favorite song by 8?
Kasabian - Processed Beats

31. How many times have you seen 17 live?
Black Rebel Motorcycle Club - never seen them live.

32. Is there a song by 44 that makes you happy?
Augustana - I can't really think of any ..a lot of them make me sad. I don't really listen to these guys that often, I'm kind of surprised they are #44.

33. What is your favorite album by 12?
The Black Keys - Attack & Release

34. What is the worst song by 45?
The Hives - I can't really think of any that stand out ..there's quite a few that are just really busy and hard to understand like .. Whats That Spell?... Go To Hell!, but that's just the Hives for ya and I haven't listened to all their albums straight through.

35. What was the first song you ever heard by 34?
Craig David - 7 Days

36. What is your favorite album by 48?
Brandi Carlile - Brandi Carlile

37. How many times have you seen 42 live?
Sneaker Pimps - never but if I had, it would be one of the personal highlights of my life I'm sure.

38. What is your favorite song by 36?
The Dandy Warhols - We Used To Be Friends

39. What was the first song you ever heard by 28?
Wolfmother - Love Train

40. What is your favorite album by 7?
Alicia Keys - her most recent, As I Am ..the others hold a special place in my heart though.

41. Is there a song by 31 that makes you happy?
Moving Units - Going For Adds

42. What is your favorite album by 41?
She & Him - well seeing as they've only released one album, that would be Volume One

43. What is your favorite song by 24?
Aerosmith - I Don't Wanna Miss a Thing

44. What is a good memory you have involving 46?
Metric - no memories yet.

45. What is your favorite song by 35?
Jem - it's a tie between 24 and Come on Closer

46. Is there a song by 9 that makes you happy?
Death Cab for Cutie - Soul Meets Body

47. What is your favorite album by 4?
Depeche Mode - Violator ..honestly I love them all but Violator I could listen to a million times and still want more.

48. Who is a favorite member of 37?
Bob Marley - he's a solo artist except with the Wailers...and I suppose I should stop scrobbling Bob by himself and figure out which songs he did with the Wailers and which he technically did solo if any :X -fail-

49. What is the first song you ever heard by 43?
Morcheeba - The Sea

50. What is your favorite song by 20?
E.S. Posthumus - tie between Isfahan and Nara

Okay, I figured I'd do another one of these, but this time it has a slight twist. I used my most played artists over the last 6 months, but removed all of the bands with more than 25,000,000 plays on last.fm, so hopefully it'll be a little more competitive. So, without further ado, here's the lineup. Just nominate a first place and second place for each group.




Group A:
Flogging Molly
Wolfmother
Eagles of Death Metal
The Bravery

Group B
Ennio Morricone
James Newton Howard
Hans Zimmer
Tyler Bates

Group C
Killswitch Engage
Damone
Dropkick Murphys
Kasabian

Group D
DragonForce
Sonata Arctica
Sabaton
Beautiful Sin

Group E
Thin Lizzy
Creedence Clearwater Revival
Dio
Helloween

Group F
Within Temptation
Tristania
The Gathering
Ayreon

Group G
X-Ray Dog
Immediate Music
E.S. Posthumus
Nobuo Uematsu

Group H
KMFDM
Stabbing Westward
Rob Zombie
Powerman 5000


A quick run down if you have no idea who any of these artists are....

Group A - Some bands that basically have nothing in common

Flogging Molly - kickass irish punk band (Drunken Lullabies, What's Left of the Flag)
Wolfmother - relatively new Australian rock band (Woman, Dimension)
Eagles of Death Metal - not Eagles, or death metal, but all awesome (I Only Want You, Don't Speak (I Came to Make a BANG!))
The Bravery - rock band from NY, hopefully they haven't hit their peak (Believe, The Ocean)

Group B - The Masters of the Movie Soundtrack

Ennio Morricone - The Good, The Bad, and the Ugly, many other old westerns, some tracks in Kill Bill, too
James Newton Howard - Batman Begins/Dark Knight, Unbreakable, Defiance, The Village
Hans Zimmer - Gladiator, Crimson Tide, some of the Pirates of the Caribbean stuff, basically every other movie with a kickass soundtrack
Tyler Bates - 300...annnd...what else do you need? Apparently he's doing The Watchmen as well.


Group C - See Group A

Killswitch Engage - they magically found their way onto my playlist (My Curse, The End of Heartache)
Damone - new-ish hard rock band that sounds like they're in the 80s (Out Here All Night)
Dropkick Murphys - i guess they're the official band of Boston or something (Tessie, I'm Shipping Up to Boston)
Kasabian - the music you'd expect to hear when being trampled...i'm sorry that's the best i've got (Fast Fuse, Club Foot)


Group D - Metal...or is it???

DragonForce - the band everyone loves to hate, or hates to love, or doesn't care (Through the Fire and Flames, Operation Ground and Pound)
Sonata Arctica - it's like nightwish, if they rocked more and didn't replace their lead singer with a...okay i'll leave that one alone (Replica, Don't Say a Word)
Sabaton - if you were about to defend Poland by yourself circa 1939, this is the music you would need to win (40:1, Ghost Division)
Beautiful Sin - The best band you've never heard of...and probably never will, for that matter (Lost, The spark of ignition)


Group E - And now for the Old School

Thin Lizzy - one of the greatest bands to ever come out of Ireland (Jailbreak, The Boys Are Back In Town)
Creedence Clearwater Revival - what you'd probably listen to on your ipod if you were going gator hunting in a swamp in louisiana (Bad Moon Rising, Fortunate Son)
Dio - you either hate him or love him, there's no in between...i'm kind of in between myself (Holy Diver, Rainbow In The Dark)
Helloween - i think there's about 3985395 other bands that have a former member of this one (I Want Out, Halloween)


Group F - CAN'T STOP THE SYMPHONIC/GOTH/WEIRD METAL

Within Temptation - probably one of the more well-known bands in this whole thing (Angels, Stand My Ground)
Tristania - it's gothtacular, hopefully it'll continue with the recent singer change (Mercyside, Lotus)
The Gathering - yet another band changing singers, i guess it's the cool thing to do now (Saturnine, In Motion #1)
Ayreon - take some space opera on crack, and have some dutch guy sing it, and bingo (Ride the Comet, Comatose)


Group G - Coming Soon to a Final Fantasy near you

X-Ray Dog - the music you heard in that trailer was probably by them...
Immediate Music - or them...
E.S. Posthumus - or them
Nobuo Uematsu - and they're up against the reigning king of the music in the video games with the effeminate male lead character


Group H - It's industrial....ish
KMFDM - the originators, or so they say...i believe them (Brute, Juke Joint Jezebel)
Stabbing Westward - mystery solved, it was these guys all along (Save Yourself, Torn Apart)
Rob Zombie - I just found out he's not actually a zombie, I feel cheated (Dragula, Superbeast)
Powerman 5000 - just don't listen to anything they released after 2004...or before 1997 for that matter (When Worlds Collide, Nobody's Real)


Well, good luck deciphering all of that...and happy voting.

9. Vanilla Ninja
This band turned out to be a lot more fun than I'd originally expected. Very infectious little melodies, and a nicely-produced package. Eesti edasi and all that.

9. Ruslana
In the end, I had to give Ruslana a miss. Sure, "Wild Dances" is a lot of fun, but an album of roughly the same thing over and over again got rather boring.

9. Sanna Nielsen
I'm officially bored with Sanna these days, she just seems too much like everyone else in Swedish pop music.

8. Amerie
I'd been very curious to hear more of her work after that wonderful "1 Thing" from a few years ago. Sadly, she seems to have fallen into the same trap that a lot of American RnB does - sounding very generic and never really getting anywhere with it.

6. Emerson, Lake & Palmer
No matter how many times I try to convince myself that ELP were beyond pretentious and generally utterly pointless, I can't. I'm going to do a lot more listening to them over the next few weeks for sure.

6. CéU
I can't remember much of this album, aside from an unexpected Bob Marley cover, but what I do remember was a terrifically fun vibe. I'm going to have to give this another listen.

5. Keny Arkana
Even without any French to speak of, I can pick up the rage in this rapper's voice, and I like what I hear.

4. True Symphonic Rockestra
An interesting idea here. Take James LaBrie and two operatic tenors, combine them with a symphonic metal band and what sounds like a bit of an orchestra and have them perform the Three Tenors' greatest hits. It doesn't always work, but hearing "La Donna E Mobile" as a metal track is an interesting experience.

3. Daddy Yankee
Probably the most famous reggaeton performer outside of Puerto Rico. "Gasolina" itself is a good track, and the rest of the album is perhaps passable.

2. Tinariwen
I'd been meaning to hear these guys for years, so I'm really happy to have finally got my hands on both "Amassakoul" and "Aman Iman". Glorious desert blues with a real sense that all the musicians involved could play for about half an hour at a stretch.

1. E.S. Posthumus
I think my major concern with these guys is that they sound more calculated than I would want them to. The music I like tends to be more organic - you feel something because it's honest, rather than because the band expressly sets out to make you feel something.

The more I use this revamped site, the less user friendly it becomes. So much for getting used to it.
Anyway:

8. Jamiroquai
I love Jamiroquai's singles, in fact I revere some of them as the finest tracks of the 1990s, but over the course of an album they often seem to run out of ideas. Thus, listening to their singles collection is an obvious decision to make. All the standards are there, with the unusual omission of "Cosmic Girl", a song I rate just below "Virtual Insanity" as one of their finest. Still, I can't ask for much more than what I have here.

8. Cathedral
I still can't quite believe that a member of Napalm Death, the band famous for the ultra-short "You Suffer", would found a successful doom metal act and perform in a style of metal almost entirely separate from grindcore. Still, I can appreciate both, so I gave Cathedral a listen. Not my kind of doom, I think. The sound quality just doesn't cut it, although I can see what the fuss is about sometimes.

8. Matchbox Twenty
Another artist appearing courtesy of a greatest hits. In this case, I'm quite familiar with the band's earlier output, but hadn't heard much of their more recent material. The more recent stuff doesn't actually appeal to me, so I'll stick with "Yourself or Someone Like You".

7. Skepticism
More doom, this time one of the Finnish founders of funeral doom, perhaps one of the least accessible styles of metal out there. I haven't heard much funeral doom, but a lot of what I've heard I quite like. I can't quite get into Skepticism on a first listen, though, since everything sounds almost entirely identical. Yes, that's partly the point, but I can't help wondering when the variation comes in.

6. Nuttin But Stringz
An interesting concept, having a pair of classical violinists perform hip-hop inspired music. Ultimately, though, the reality just doesn't work out too well, as the music sounds like it's in need of more vocals than it gets.

5. Oumou Sangare
One of the more famous African female vocalists out there, and that's saying a lot because the list is a mile long. I couldn't quite get into her songs, since they sounded like defanged versions of some of the more well-known West African male performers'.

4. Dethklok
The lyrics are the key here. When you know your metal a bit, these songs turn out to be very amusing, although the vocals can be hard to pick up sometimes. Personally, I enjoy this, although I know there'll be lots of people who won't.

2. E.S. Posthumus
I had no experience in listening to instrumental "original score" type music until last week, and I must say it was an interesting discovery. I'm still not completely sold on this band, although they're definitely growing on me.

2. Sertab Erener
Sertab, I think, serves well as a "gateway". "Every Way That I Can" is a terrific song, but there's a lot better out there in the world of Turkish pop music, and I'm already onto that.

1. Ich Troje
Having only met these Polish heroes through their Eurovision entries, it was quite interesting to give their greatest hits a listen. Without any Polish, a lot of the fun passes me by, although the tunes are quite catchy. Bizarrely, there's even a cover of "Männer Sind Schweine" in Polish in there somewhere.