Does my music say I’m a psychopathic freak, or just boring and bourgeois?


Chris of Mixing Memory claims that you can make accurate personality assessments about a person just from listening to ten of their favorite songs. OK, let’s play that game. Here are ten songs I like.

That wasn’t an easy list to assemble. Only ten? It can’t be very representative. There ought to be some David Bowie and Annie Lennox and Tori Amos and Björk and Patti Smith on there, and some days I feel like Flogging Molly or Pearl Jam or Kraftwerk or Lords of Acid or even, dare I admit it, Enya … but for that moment when I skimmed through my iTunes library, those up there jumped out as pretty darned appealing.

I’m not sure what anyone can determine from that list, though — it looks like it’s largely the “Intense and Rebellious” category in Chris’s list, with a little of the other three categories tossed in.

Comments

  1. Brad says

    The thought of a fifty-year old (happy belated birthday by the way, sorry no poetry from me today ;) ) listening to Busta Rhymes, Pink Floyd and Lords of Acid warms my undergraduate heart.

  2. says

    I’m a few years older than PZ, so all I can say about his list of songs is … “Who the heck are those people?” and “Do you know where my warm shawl is? And my mug of hot cocoa?”

  3. Bob ryuu says

    Very good choices, I’d be lucky for you to be my professor.

    Picking favorites is the hardest thing in the world, especially when there are so many choices, and when what one likes can change on a whim because of mood or other things. It’s like asking to pick a favorite television character. At first one might say Boomer/Athena/Sharon/Model Eight from Battlestar Gallactica but then on remembers the entire Firefly-verse and the main characters are all good, but then Scully from the X-files is awesome in her own right, as is President Josiah Bartlett, and 30 Rock’s Liz Lemon is quite amazing.

    Point is, picking favorites of such a large pool shouldn’t be done.

  4. Nathan Parker says

    Chris of Mixing Memory claims that you can make accurate personality assessments about a person just from listening to ten of their favorite songs.

    Strictly speaking, Chris cites research that indicates you can make accurate personality assessments about a person just from listening to ten of their favorite songs.

  5. CalGeorge says

    I’m a Morrissey fan. We don’t care how we fit into someone’s idiotic matrix. I listen to him because the lyrics are fun and it’s good music and he has a lot of integrity.

    (Yes, I try to ignore the fact that Morrissey is not an avowed atheist.)

  6. aiabx says

    You used to be cool, man. Now you are dead to me. Elvis Costello didn’t make your top 10.
    The rest is pretty cool, though.

  7. says

    I got my first two traffic tickets (driving on the wrong side of the road and driving around a police barricade) while listening to The Cure’s “Lullaby”. Good times.

    If you swapped the Prince track for Mary Prankster’s “Mercyfuck“, PZ’s list would describe me pretty well too.

  8. Scott Simmons says

    My iPod is currently full of “Weird Al” Yankovic, Tripod, Gilbert & Sullivan, Jonathan Coulton, The Nylons, George Winston, and Keiko Matsui. I don’t know what that says about me, but it can’t be anything good …

  9. Ribozyme says

    PZ, eat your heart out! I just went to a Roger Waters concert a week ago… Although I prefer Comfortably Numb, but “Shine on…” is close behind it.

    Anyway, don’t you think that the “personality descriptions” do look, at least on the surface, like cold reading?

  10. says

    Scott:

    My iPod is currently full of “Weird Al” Yankovic,….
    I don’t know what that says about me, but it can’t be anything good …

    Don’t feel too bad; my daughter’s ‘Pod has plenty of Weird Al, and she’s the coolest kid I know.

    Of course, my own iPod is loaded with podcasts and audiobooks, so what do I know?

  11. BruceJ says

    No Jimmy Buffet??? Heretic!

    I could make a top 200 just from his playlist in iTunes.

    But here goes Ten songs I like a lot right now:

    10) Beauty of the rain – Dar Williams

    9) Cows with Guns – Dana Lyons

    8) Southern Cross – CSN, though Jimmy Buffet’s cover seems more authentic

    7) Wish You Were Here – Pink Floyd (Better than Shine On, imo)

    6) Bah-Ree-Bah – Laika and the Cosmonauts (Great Finnish surf-rock band)

    5) Brothers in Arms – Dire Straits

    4) Corazon Espinado -Santana (Supernatural is one of those “If I were Exiled to a desert island” albums.)

    3) Pacing the cage – Jimmy Buffet

    2) Get Up, Stand Up – Bob Marley

    1) Bad Moon Rising – Creedence Clearwater Revival

    Yes I’m an old fart, another ’57 baby, like PZ.

  12. says

    Excellent choices! Good to see Regina Spektor getting da props (and some mainstream success lately. Woohoo!). Here’s my list. I had a hard time not including Bowie on my list as well.

    The Decemberists, Grace Cathedral Hill
    Gotan Project, época
    Ladytron, Light and Magic
    Sleater-Kinney, What’s Mine is Yours
    Faithless, Mass Destruction
    Belle and Sebastian, Your Cover’s Blown
    Mary Timony, On the Floor
    Regina Spektor, On the Radio
    Goldfrapp, Paper Bag
    William Orbit and Beth Orton, Water from a Vine Leaf,

  13. Flex says

    Heh, between Bach, Ravel, Debussy, Robert Johnson, Muddy Waters, Junior Wells, Dave Brubeck, Pink Floyd, Yes, Traffic, Rick Wakeman, Jean Michel Jarre, Steeleye Spam, Tangerine Dream, David Grisman, Barrage, a plethora of movie soundtracks, and plenty of comedy albums ranging from Spike Jones to Weird Al, I hit just about every catagory on the list.

    I don’t know that you can draw any personality traits from that list.

    I think it simply means I like music.

    Cheers!

  14. says

    While I was trying to tell someone that evolution is fact in her blog, somebody else suggested that why should anyone tkae me seriously as a 30 year old male, Celine Dion fan.

  15. says

    BruceJ:

    5) Brothers in Arms – Dire Straits

    A great song on a great album; thanks for reminding me of it.

    And since you’ve made it safe to admit loving Jimmy Buffet, let me note that “A Pirate Looks at 40” seems a good choice for this crowd (though 10 years late for PZ!). Everyone knows Buffet’s “songs you know by heart,” but among the less obvious choices, one of my favorites is his cover of “Stars Fell on Alabama (Last Night).” Romantic schmaltz, yes, but really good romantic schmaltz.

    I suppose I’d be run out of Pharyngula on a rail if I mentioned anything by Yes (“All Good People”) or Jethro Tull (“Aqualung” or “Thick as a Brick” or anything from the Songs from the Wood album)? What can I say? I went to high school in the 70s: It was either ProgRock or [shudder] disco.

  16. natural cynic says

    Thanks to BruceJ for rreminding me about what should be PZ’s favorite Buffett song:

    My Head Hurts, My Feet Stink, and I Don’t Love Jesus

    and fo the perfect belated birthday present, this t-shirt from e-bay.

  17. says

    Zevon: From the “Excitable Boy” album, I rather prefer “Roland the Headless Thompson Gunner”, “Tenderness on the Block”, and “Lawyers, Guns, and Money” to the title song, good as the title song be.

  18. says

    Why would I run anyone off for liking Tull or Yes? I like ’em myself.

    I also grew up in the 70s. Shall I mention my fondness for CCR? Even Led Zep?

  19. caynazzo says

    Now watch an Itunes/ Match dot com/ Myspace merger. And isn’t it about time for another Dr. Phil book?

  20. says

    Oh, by the way… is nobody here a Tom Lehrer fan?

    “There’s antimony, arsenic,
    Aluminum, selenium,
    And hydrogen and oxygen,
    And nitrogen and rhenium…

    These are the only ones
    Of which the news has come to Harvard,
    And there may be many others,
    But they haven’t been discahhhvard.”

    ;^)

  21. Rey Fox says

    “What!? No Marilyn Manson?”
    “What kind of atheist are you?”

    One with taste, apparently.

  22. natural cynic says

    Poisoning Pigeons in the Park

    The Old Dope Peddler

    Lobachevsky

    Smut

    Classics

    maybe some Zappa too

  23. says

    I’ve got a fair amount of NIN in my iTunes library, too.

    Zevon’s Excitable Boy resonates a little more with me. I had this roommate, once, who I nearly drove into a nervous breakdown because of my little cat, Snowball.

    Didn’t you know, Bill, that Roy Zimmerman is the new Tom Lehrer?

  24. Flex says

    ‘Be Prepared, that’s the Boy Scout’s marching song!
    Be Prepared, as through life you march along.
    Be prepared to hold your liquor rather well…
    Don’t write naughty words on walls if you can’t spell.’

    Heh, I grew up with Tom Lehrer songs sung to me…

    ‘… poisoning pidgeons in the park!’

  25. says

    PZ:

    Why would I run anyone off for liking Tull or Yes? I like ’em myself.

    I guess I was being overly defensive. Over the years, I’ve gotten tired of hearing sneering comments about “dinosaur rock” from people who imagine themselves (probably correctly) hipper than I. I should’ve realized that here, of all places, “dinosaur” anything would be welcomed with open tentacles.

    As for Led Zep, was there a high school dance anywhere during the entire decade that didn’t end with “Stairway to Heaven” (and/or “Freebird”) as the final number? The classic slow-dance/fast-dance/too-sweaty-to-dance-anymore finale. Then off to the cars for beer and heavy petting. Ah, youth!

  26. Steve_C says

    The new Shins (Wincing the Night Away), Arcade Fire (even though it’s called Neon Bible) and Peter Bjorn & John (Writer’s Block) are all great.

  27. Steve_C says

    How could anyone speak of U2 and Creed in the same sentence…
    At least U2 has 3 or 4 great albums.

    Creed makes me want to literally nail Scott Stapp to a cross.

  28. says

    Didn’t you know, Bill, that Roy Zimmerman is the new Tom Lehrer?

    I’ve been remiss in not mentioning that, between the Zimmerman post a few days ago and Chris Smithers a while back, Pharyngula has become my best source of New People To Listen To.

    Thanks!

  29. says

    How could anyone speak of U2 and Creed in the same sentence…

    They have one thing in common, their lead singers are explicitly Christian. But you’re right about quality, U2 is better by a long shot.

    I’m not actually using quality as a guide. Manson, NIN and Tull are explicitly atheistic. Page from Led Zeppelin was into Aleister Crowley.

    This is from the Aqualung album cover:

    In the beginning Man created God;
    and in the image of Man
    created he him.

    2 And Man gave unto God a multitude of
    names,that he might be Lord of all
    the earth when it was suited to Man

    3 And on the seven millionth
    day Man rested and did lean
    heavily on his God and saw that
    it was good.

    4 And Man formed Aqualung of
    the dust of the ground, and a
    host of others likened unto his kind.

    5 And these lesser men were cast into the
    void; And some were burned, and some were
    put apart from their kind.

    6 And Man became the God that he had
    created and with his miracles did
    rule over all the earth.

    7 But as all these things
    came to pass, the Spirit that did
    cause man to create his God
    lived on within all men: even
    within Aqualung.

    8 And man saw it not.

    9 But for Christ’s sake he’d
    better start looking.

  30. BJN says

    Enema…I mean Enya?

    I’m almost as geezer, but “Sail Away” is a true mental laxative. Get some David Byrne on…

  31. Steve_C says

    I have no problem with U2’s stance when it comes to religion.
    Bono would clearly rather do good then pretend to be good because of his faith.
    Boy, War and the Unforgettable Fire are amazing albums.

  32. says

    These are the lyrics to NIN, Trent Reznor’s “Heresy”:

    Heresy

    he sewed his eyes shut because he is afraid to see
    he tries to tell me what I put inside of me
    he’s got the answers to ease my curiosity
    he dreamed up a god and called it Christianity
    your god is dead and no one cares
    if there is a hell I will see you there
    he flexed his muscles to keep his flock of sheep in line
    he made a virus that would kill off all the swine
    his perfect kingdom of killing, suffering and pain
    demands devotion atrocities done in his name
    your god is dead and no one cares
    drowning in his own hypocrisy
    and if there is a hell I will see you there
    burning with your god in humility
    will you die for this?

  33. says

    Stuff like this is disturbing. Is music just some sort of identity extension, or do any of you appreciate it as art anymore? As for my last 10.. well, I’ve been previewing albums, so it would hardly be representative of my listening habits. Instead, here’s my last playlist, and a link for downloading the broadcast. I figure I owe PZ for the blogroll add, eh?

    Here’s the download link for this show: here

    Phil Hargreaves, Glenn Weyant — Do Not Sing
    Kylie Minoise — Hot Teens Hooked on Cosmetic Surgery
    Kylie Minoise — Torn By Jaws and Claws
    Kylie Minoise — Fear Swept the Poolsides
    Kylie Minoise — Automatic Incineation
    George Korein — Quiet Now
    George Korein — Writhe, Sally, Writhe
    George Korein — Squelch the Whelp
    Costes — Avis aux Imitateurs
    ~Ore~ — Modular II
    The Painful Leg Injuries — In the Haze, You Can See So Much Everything It’s Nothing
    Chie Mukai — Untitled
    Mystified — Hot Hot Heat
    Rabbit Girls — Vespers
    Mystified — From Deep
    Ctephin — Nimitta
    Mystified — Trolls on a Wire
    Mystified & Plexus Instruments — Never Left
    Tom Nunn — Skatchmat
    Tom Nunn — Skatchrod
    Jeff Sampson, Eric Wallack, Bret Hart — Res Cogitans Uber Des Extensa
    Jeff Sampson, Eric Wallack, Bret Hart — The Map Is Not the Territory
    Dimitri Voudouris — Praxis
    Nihilist Spasm Band — Hesitation
    Nihilist Spasm Band — What About Me
    Nihilist Spasm Band — Indecision of the Night
    Nihilist Spasm Band — Function

  34. Ribozyme says

    FLEX you should give a try to Telemann, Biber and Buxtehude. I bet you are going to like them (if you don’t already).

  35. says

    Stuff like this is disturbing. Is music just some sort of identity extension, or do any of you appreciate it as art anymore?

    Are you talking about the lyrics I posted when you say “disturbing”? You haven’t seen anything yet.

    Here’s a snatch from Marilyn Manson:

    Mother Inferior Got Her Gunn

    You spoonfed us saturday morning mouthfuls of maggots and lies
    Disguised in your sugary breakfast cereals
    The plates you made us clean were filled with your fears
    These things have hardened in our soft pink bellies
    We are what you have made us
    We have grown up watching your television
    We are a symptom of your christian america, the biggest satan of all
    This is your world in which we grow,
    and we will grow to hate you

  36. Thinker says

    More Tom Lehrer:

    Do whatever steps you want if
    you have cleared them with the pontiff
    everybody say his own
    Kyrie Eleison
    doing the Vatican Rag

    Other than that, this whole discussion has me thinking of Nick Hornby’s book High Fidelity, where the guys in the record store are constantly making lists of music…

  37. Loren Michael says

    No Radiohead? That’s disappointing. My favorite Radiohead song (There, There) has “Just ’cause you feel it, doesn’t mean it’s there” as the chorus. What better ode to reason and nontheism could there be?

  38. says

    To tie this conversation to the other ongoing “list” thread — SF books — I’ll mention that last December, as a birthday present to my daughter, my family attended a Harry Potter-themed “Yule Ball” concert at a club in Boston. Would you believe there’s a whole subgenre of “wizard rock” based on the Potterverse?

    The top two bands, called (imaginatively enough) Harry and the Potters and Draco and the Malfoys, are typical teenage garage bands (actually, I think Draco and the Malfoys are 20-somethings, but they’re teens in spirit) and the music is about on the level of what you’d hear coming out of a suburban garage. The worst of the lot, OTOH, is The Hungarian Horntails, two kids (6 and 8 years old, IIRC) who simply scream at the top of their little lungs (and not in a good way).

    I spent the whole show teetering on the boundary between scorn and bemusement… but I ended up charmed by the sheer effrontery of the “movement.” None of this music will replace anything currently on your iPod, but if you’re curious, check out the Malfoys’ “My Dad’s Rich (and Your Dad’s Dead).”

  39. gecko1 says

    Flogging Molly Rocks. So I’m guessing in you’re a fan because of the lyrics to “Cruel Mistress” right?

    “Next time out to sea
    Bring enough soil to bury me
    For I don’t want my final jig
    In the belly of a squid “

  40. Steve_C says

    Radiohead “You And Whose Army” is brilliant. Very intense live.

    Come on, come on
    You think you drive me crazy
    Come on, come on
    You and whose army?
    You and your cronies
    Come on, come on
    Holy roman empire
    Come on if you think
    Come on if you think
    You can take us all on
    You can take us all on

    You and whose army?
    You and your cronies

    You forget so easily
    You ought to know
    You ought to know
    Oh so sad
    Oh so sad
    Oh so sad
    You ought to know
    You ought to know
    I’m so sad
    I’m so sad
    I’m so sad..

    An interesting take of the song… Video taken from Kingdom of Heaven

    Live: opening their show at Berkeley last year

  41. Bloviator says

    How about a list of favorites heard live in concert? Different from the all-time favorite list, but probably as significant (or insignificant). Off the top of my head, not definitive –

    The Weight and It Makes No Difference; by The Band

    Elizabeth Reed, Stormy Monday, Whipping Post, the Allman Bros (w/ Duane)(could name both concerts, and the one above, entirely as peak experiences)

    Heroin, the Velvet Underground

    Caravan, The Way Young Lovers Do, Wild Night; Van Morrison

    A Case of You, Joni Mitchell

    Chestnut Mare, Roger McGuinn

    Blowin’ in the Wind, Dylan

    Helpless, Neil Young

    You Can’t Resist It, Lyle Lovett

    Masters of War, Don McClean

    Three Days, k d lange

    Where Have All the Flowers Gone? Pete Seger

    I Fall to Pieces, Linda Ronstadt

    Our Lady of the Well; Jackson Browne

    Sweet Baby James; James Taylor

    Serves You Right to Suffer, J. Geils Band (pre recording career)

    Many more.

    Yup, I’m an old fart, these were mostly in the late 60s/early 70s. But I still remember many in great detail. (Don’t recall jacque shyte from yesterday, though) Some of these concerts, just about any song would do as a favorite experience.

  42. says

    When I suggested y’all check out “My Dad’s Rich” above, I didn’t mean to be obnoxious by not providing a link: I was at work, and unable (because of blocking software) to go to the band’s page. Now that I’m home, here’s a link to the mp3. Enjoy!

  43. aiabx says

    I can’t resist a top 10 list-

    1) Led Zeppelin – Since I’ve Been Loving You
    2) The Clash – Brand New Cadillac
    3) Elvis Costello – Pump it Up
    4) Pink Floyd – Echoes
    5) Talking Heads – Once in a Lifetime
    6) Devo – Smart Patrol/Mr. DNA
    7) They Might Be Giants – Particle Man
    8) Rolling Stones – Satisfaction
    9) David Bowie – Suffragette City
    10) Peter Gabriel – Mercy Street

    The content and order of the list varies from minute to minute, though.

  44. says

    How about a list of favorites heard live in concert? …

    I Fall to Pieces, Linda Ronstadt

    I recall seeing Ronstadt in Houston. IIRC, she was the opening act, though I can’t remember for whom (and I may be mistaken). Anyway, she covered “Tumbling Dice” (apparently Jagger suggested she sing it), and she frickin’ nailed it. From country-rock to Mexican folksongs to American standards to Gilbert and Sullivan to the Stones… is there anything this woman can’t sing?

    I saw a lot of great shows — Elvis Costello (the Armed Forces tour), The Clash (Combat Rock), Queen (Night at the Opera), Yes (3 times), the Eagles (Hotel California), Jimmy Buffet (twice, once opening for the Eagles) — but it’s hard to remember specific performances. One that stands out is Tull playing “Locomotive Breath”… but my joy was due more to the effect it had on my date than to the performance itself!

    I guess my favorite concert-going moment was at the Jones Beach amphitheater, at one of the last shows of Paul Simon’s Graceland tour. It was a perfect summer evening, Simon was in good voice and enjoying himself, and the band (which included Hugh Masekela and Ladysmith Black Mambazo) was cookin’. They ripped through a great, really high-energy version of “You Can Call Me Al.” After they finished (and received several minutes of wild applause), Simon looked at the crowd, looked at the band, said “wow, that was fun; let’s do it again,” and launched right into a second full playing of the song (not as an encore, mind you; this was in the middle of the show). The crowd, including me and my wife, went absolutely insane… the coolest live-music moment I can recall.

  45. [MAC] says

    I recently discovered The Delagados, and love them. Oddly enough, I encountered one of their tunes while watching the anime series “Gunslinger Girl”. Their “The Light Before We Land” from the album “Hate” is the title sequence tune. I was also chuffed to learn they’re also from Scotland; so I confess, as a Glaswegian, to being biased in their favor.

  46. laurelin says

    “Is music just some sort of identity extension, or do any of you appreciate it as art anymore?”

    Well, a lot of the motivation behind making art is striving to communicate with other humans. Whatever you may have been taught growing up, ‘real artists’ do not express themselves in a vaccuum- a lot of the joy in art is affecting someone else, even if it only ends up being a few people.

    It makes a lot of intuitive sense that music made by a specific type of person will strongly affect certain people, and that these people will share characteristics and be bonded together from love of similar music. We like shared experience.

  47. BruceJ says

    Hah, thanks for reminding me of Yes (I literally wore out my cassette of “Tales from Topographic Oceans” in HS. Was astonished listening to it n CD a year or so ago…how much more detail and high notes were in it…), THE anthem of my HS graduation summer “Hotel California” and my favorite Tom Lehrer song “So long Mom! I’m Off To Drop the Bomb!”

    But my absolute favorite ever live performance ever EVER!!! was during a Dead show in the summer of ’83 iirc, up in the outdoor concert stage at Six Flags in Phoenix.

    During the drum solo, by sheer coincidence a thunderstorm rolled up some miles directly behind the stage, wind, lightning and thunder like they’d drummed it right into existence. Fortunately it mostly dissipated by the time it reached us.

    THAT was so cool. Still want to know how they arranged it :-)

  48. Mike says

    I only get something in common if I mix two – Warren Zevon doing Raspberry Beret on Hindu Love Gods (with Berry, Buck and Mills from REM). Maybe it’s that I’m exactly one year older to the day.

    I tried to make a list of 10 but can’t get it under about 30, even by the metric of ‘Won’t get up to change it if it is on repeat and it’s already played a dozen times’.

  49. natural cynic says

    Bill D.: Simon has had his cool moments. 1965 Simon & Garfunkel at the Berkeley Community Theater. Really bad sound system makes Simon clearly annoyed and the goofy spotlight guy was flipping through various colors. Simon flips off the spotlight guy to thunderous applause. One more song with the bad sound and he tells everyone to come back for a free concert the next night. It was great.

  50. bernarda says

    The list(s) are rather anglo-centric. Doesn’t anyone listen to music in other languages? For example:

    -Susana Baca

    -Tania Libertad

    -Serge Gainsbourg

    -Jacques Brel

    -Paolo Conte

    etc.

  51. Flex says

    Ribozyme wrote, “FLEX you should give a try to Telemann, Biber and Buxtehude. I bet you are going to like them (if you don’t already).”

    Thanks for the tip. I’m familiar with Teleman and Buxtehude, and own some recordings of their work. I’m not familiar with Biber, although looking at the list of compositions I may have heard some of his work listening to CBC2. (Which I get in the Detroit area.)

  52. mothworm says

    In no particular order:

    1. The Cure – End
    2. Add n to (x) – Revenge of the Black Regent
    3. Neutral Milk Hotel – In the Aeroplane Over the Sea
    4. Oneida – Changes in the City
    5. Simon & Garfunkel – America
    6. Velvet Underground – Sister Ray
    7. The Birthday Party – Mutiny In Heaven
    8. Pink Floyd – Grantchester Meadows
    9. LCD Soundsystem – Yeah (crass version)
    10. Animal Collective – We Tigers

    Of course, come back tomorrow and it’ll be different.

  53. Darrell says

    As has been mentioned, 10 is just way to short, but here is a sample list of some favorites.

    Jimi Hendrix: Born Under A Bad Sign (blues instrumental)
    Led Zepplin: (too many to choose really)When The Levee Breaks
    The Clash: Should I Stay Or Should I Go
    Ricardo Mutti Conducting The Philadelphia Philharmonic: Ravel’s Bolero
    The Cult: Wildflower
    The Doors: Wild Child
    The B-52’s: Heroes
    Evanescence: Bring Me To Life
    Black Sabbath: Luke’s Wall
    Poe: Angry Johnny
    Rage Against The Machine: Bulls On Parade (must be at max volume to be appreciated)

    Oops. That’s more than ten.

    Best live experience’s ever, in order: Journey (stadium), Page & Plant (medium size venue), Loverboy (small venue, believe it or not they really are very good live), B.B. King (small venue), Aerosmith (stadium).

  54. Steve_C says

    Ouch. You said Loverboy.

    Best live shows…

    Radiohead (august 2001 in liberty state park)
    Bauhaus (first reunion tour 97?)
    Echo & the Bunnymen (last tour of original members (1990)
    Sigur Ros (2005)
    U2 (1987)
    Depeche Mode (1988) and (1991)
    Black Sabbath with Ozzy (1998?)
    Arcade Fire (2005 in central park – encore with Bowie)

    I gots lots.

  55. Ben says

    Roger Waters – Amused to Death is one of my favorite albums. He’s been a cranky old man for decades now… and he does it musically better than anyone else.. “What God Wants” and “The Bravery of Being Out of Range” are absolute classics… and the Jeff Beck guitar work…

    My 10 favorite changes almost daily. I’d be hard pressed to name 10 favorite albums let alone 10 favorite songs.

    A couple favorite songs stand out:

    Sympathy for the Devil would always be in that list… I’m split between the Perry Ferrel version and the Stones version though.

    How could any atheist though not include John Lennon’s Imagine in the list? I love the fact that this is hugely popular and at the same time a complete thrashing of religion. :)

  56. sinned34 says

    When it comes to music, I can’t help but toss in my two cents (may be less with the Canadian exchange rate):

    1) “Embracing Emptiness” – Crowbar
    2) “Stinkfist” – Tool
    3) “Walk” – Pantera
    4) “The Drapery Falls” – Opeth
    5) “Judith” – A Perfect Circle
    6) “To Live Is To Die” – Metallica
    7) “I Am The Highway – Audioslave
    8) “Regulator” – Clutch
    9) “It’s All About The Pentiums” – Weird Al
    10) “Tomorrow Turned Into Yesterday” – Nevermore

    “Top ten” songs is so incomplete, however. I could compose a top ten list of Tool, Opeth, or Weird Al by themselves. Then there are days where I’ll listen to nothing but stuff like Strapping Young Lad. Other times I’ll punish myself with mindless crap like CCR, Ra, or KMFDM.

  57. mothworm says

    OK, if we’re doing shows…

    The Cure, 1991 Wish Tour
    Moe Tucker, 91 or 92
    Animal Collective, Bar, New Haven, CT sometime after Sung Tongs came out
    Sleater-Kinney, various NY venues, All Hands on the Bad one and One Beat tours
    Tom Waits, Orpheum, Memphis, TN 06
    Pixies, NY reunion show
    Flaming Lips, Toads, New Haven, CT, Soft Bulletin tour
    Of Montreal, Tallahassee, FL, Gay Parade Tour; NY, Knitting Factory, Satanic Panic Tour
    Mercury Rev with Sparklehorse, Bearsville, NY, Deserter’s Songs era.
    Camper Van Beethoven, various reunion shows
    Stereolab, NY anytime between 2000 and 2006
    Yo La Tengo, Tallahassee, FL, I Can Hear the Heart Beating As one tour (possibly the loudest concert I’ve ever been to)
    Pink Floyd, Miami, FL for Division Bell
    Oneida, Hi-Tone, Memphis, Tn, 2006. They have, hands-down, the best drummer I’ve ever seen.
    Landing, CT, various dates between 2000 and 2006
    Le Tigre, Polish Dancehall, NY for Feminist Sweepstakes
    The Microphones, tiny little house party, New Haven, CT 2002
    Smashing Pumpkins, Saginaw, MI, Mellon Collie tour

  58. Will E. says

    I’m much more about entire albums than single songs–I don’t understand the iPod craze of randomly playing songs, or this idea that people don’t “consume” music in album form any longer. Songs are put on albums in a specific order for maximum impact. I can’t imagine splitting up “Rocks Off,” “Rip This Joint” and “Shake Your Hips” off Exile on Main St., for example, or not having the Ramones’ “Cretin Hop” segue immediately into “Rockaway Beach” from Rocket to Russia. This is one of the reasons Greatest Hits collections suck, b/c they remove songs from contexts–lesser songs are made better by being part of a larger piece. All that said, here goes (this is just rock’n’roll, nothing obscure):

    “Just My Imagination,” the Stones
    “Judy is a Punk,” the Ramones
    “Idiot Wind,” Dylan
    “I Hope I Don’t Fall in Love with You,” Tom Waits
    “White Man in Hammersmith Palais,” the Clash
    “Fade to Black,” Metallica
    “Lookin’ for a Kiss,” the New York Dolls
    “Rock’n’Roll Nigger,” Patti Smith
    “Pink Houses,” John Mellencamp
    “Union City Blue,” Blondie

  59. Greco says

    The list(s) are rather anglo-centric. Doesn’t anyone listen to music in other languages?

    Well yes. Yes, I do.

  60. Steve_C says

    Well stereolab is french and sigur ros is icelandic.
    CSS is brazilian but they sing in english.

  61. Sharon Hill says

    Weird Al is genius. My kids sing all the parodies and don’t really know the original songs. He is HIGHLY underrated. Get the video collection.

    Well, when I’m not in family mood, I am running The Black Parade from My Chemical Romance over and over in the car. I can’t stop. It’s all about death but it’s so darn catchy, every song, I sing it in my sleep.

  62. makita says

    This is tough. I’ll have to make a selection of all the kinds of music I like, otherwise it might not adequately represent me. It cannot be in any particular order though, that’s impossible.
    1. Children of Sanchez-Chuck Mangione
    2. Mujer de Novela-Grupo Niche
    3. Redemption Song-Bob Marley
    4. ’till I Loved You-Barbra Streisand (that was my wedding song)
    5. Procura-Chi Chi Peralta
    6. After All-Al Jarreau
    7. Expendable Youth-Slayer
    8. Stairway to Heaven-Led Zepellin
    9. Contra la Corriente-Marc Anthony
    10. Only the Good Die Young-Iron Maiden

  63. says

    From my iTunes, produced by hitting next in shuffe mode 10 times:

    Love Theme from the TRON soundtrack, Gershwin’s Rhapsody in Blue, Star Trek: First Contact from the soundtrack to Star Trek: First Contact, the extended version of ST:TNG’s “The Inner Light” theme, China by Tori Amos, Silent All These Years by Tori Amos, a piano solo by Chopin that has lost its identification somehow, A New Tron and the MCP from the TRON soundtrack, Guardians from the Marathon (the game) soundtrack, and Clair de Lune by Debussy.

    Hmm, no Jarre or Vangelis this time …

    bernarda: I listen to Enigma and Jean Michel Jarre, both of which sometimes produce somewhat multilingual work … does that count?

    40 bones for a Weird Al hoody? The guy’s a genius, for sure, but that price is outrageous.