Brian T on 13/12/2007 at 15:19

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These days when I find myself reaching for a CD to listen I find that I listen to "rock" less than I used to. As I edge towards 40 I suppose the common assumption is that people mellow with years. Well, I sometimes listen to some death metal on occasion so maybe it's more accurate to say that my tastes have expanded; these days usually I listen to classical music, or other genres. So my list of acts which I've liked, which is a result of about 25 years experience of listening to rock/ popular music, whatever you want to call it, is given below. It's not meant as any final word on what's good or bad, 'tis merely my opinion on what appealed to me and what didn't. And I'll stick to well known bands so that you won't get lost when I say I liked Fu Manchu but didn't care for Fields Of The Nephilim.:p


The Beatles. And not just because I'm *supposed* to say so. In fact when I was at school the Beatles were *totally* uncool, and I practically had to bring home the albums in a plain brown wrapper.

The Who. I never understood the "mod" connection, I just view them as a combination of catchy melodies and visceral rock & roll.

Black Sabbath. I wish Ozzy Osbourne had vanished into obscurity after 1979. His modern antics have so tainted the Black Sabbath legacy that they're sometimes hard to take seriously these days. Post Osbourne Black Sabbath is somewhat hit and miss. (albeit with a few good songs) But their first 6 albums are excellent. I bought a cheapo compilation in 1990 on whim, half expecting to hate them, but I ended becoming a huge fan. Sometimes described as The Beatles of heavy metal. I'd be inclined to agree, except that there's actually more to this band than crushing riffs.

The Kinks. Ray Davies has a kind of weedy voice, and I don't like their later albums, but their 1960s stuff is great

Queen. A band you either love or hate, or at least like or dislike. I've never known anyone who merely said "Queen are okay" Fortunately my feelings are of the positive nature. If Black Sabbath are the Beatles of heavy metal, I view Queen as The Beatles of hard rock. Hmm...getting confused? :D

Procol Harum. There's so much more to these guys than simply A Whiter Shade Of Pale. Could even play a bit of blistering rock if they felt like it.

Thin Lizzy. More to these guys than Boys Are Back In Town too! A bit hit and miss in their career, but a great rock band at their best. Phil Lynott has a great voice too.

Motorhead. Far and away the best band for guitar solos, either with Eddie Clarke or Phil Campbell. And there's much more to these guys than Ace Of Spades too. One of the few rock bands I still listen to on a regular basis.

Rush. Derided as nerdy, Geddy Lee gets roasted as a vocalist...but they can play their instruments and write songs. That's enough for me

Iron Maiden. Post 1985 they're pretty hit and miss, and that mid 1990s stint with that other guy (can't even remember his name!) was a tragic mistake. But they rightly dominated the early 80s metal scene, and Live After Death is to me the definitive live metal album.

Deep Purple. With Ian Gillan and Ritchie Blackmore ONLY. With these two, we have one of the best hard rock bands ever. Without them we have a band that totally sucks ass.

Sex Pistols. I was never a punk, and I suppose I should be looking down my nose at them for their musical unsophistication, but snotty brat rock can rule if it's catchy.

Aerosmith. Inconsistent at times but usually come up with some good hard rock. Steven Tyler is an awesome singer too, underneath all that screeching.

David Bowie. Okay, the very thought of him now makes me naseous, but I was a fan for a while.

The Scorpions. Cringeworthy name. Awful, awful album covers. A vocalist who sings through his nose. Yet despite all that, catchy heavy rock. Klaus Meine has been wearing a cap for 20 years. I think he's hiding something....

King Crimson. Not very accessible at times, but they satisfy my pretentious cravings.


I "sort of" like;

The Rolling Stones. Hmmm, okay they're fine I suppose, but they never really grabbed me enough to be more than a casual fan.

The Doors. If I'm in the right mood (ie a pretentious mood) all the "weird scenes inside the gold mine" stuff is quite cool, but if they don't get me in the right mood I think they're horrible

Jimi Hendrix. Live, I think he's great. And I'll always enjoy watching this guy play live. The Monterey Pop performance is just phenonemal. Wild Thing being played at Monterey is one of rock and rolls defining moments. But there's only about 6 or 7 of his studio songs that I like.

Cream. The famous songs (Sunshine Of Your Love, Tales Of Brave Ulysses etc) are great. But after buying their albums I was disappointed at how little else I liked of them.

Genesis. Gabriel era is much better than soft rock 1980s Genesis.

Beach Boys. Okay they're really catchy....but really cheesy too. I still get a twinge of embarrassment humming along to "She had fun fun fun til her Daddy took her T Bird awayayay" Sorry guys.

The Grateful Dead. Okay they were talented songwriters, I'll grant you that. But overall they're just too hippyish for my taste.

The Yardbirds. Not a bad band, and somewhat influential in hard rock, but I wouldn't class them as one of the “great”s.


Van Halen. Sure, I like this band at times, but not enough to make me a huge fan. I don't like *any* of their lead singers either.

Janis Joplin. Some hate her voice. I think it's powerful. But her songs just aren't very original.

Jeff Beck. Can play the guitar, sure, but he can't seem to write a song anything beyond “acceptable” standard..

Jethro Tull. Ian Anderson is pretty annoying but I like a few songs.

Blue Oyster Cult. Not really sure what this band was about, but I like some songs here and there. (A word to Eric Bloom- permed hair, sunglasses, beard and satin costumes are all a bit 1970s.)

Guns & Roses. Objectively I know they're a good rock & roll band, but subjectively, the late 1980s media hype bludgeoning turned me off them. Even now, the hype leaves a bad aftertaste with me.

Bjork. Uh...not sure what to make of her. Some of her songs I like, but some of it I hate.


I never particularly cared for;

Elvis Presley. And 1950s rock & roll in general. I just find it all a bit silly. "Bee Bop a Lu Lah, Good Golly Miss Molly" Uh, sure, whatever...

Bob Dylan. Annoying voice and mediocre songs. I'm not that interested in lyrics, I just want good songs.

Grunge ,as a genre. . I don't dislike it, it just never grabbed me that much.

U2- Ho hum. I like Still haven't Found What I'm Looking For, and Bono has a good voice (usually), but I never got into this band very much.

Pink Floyd . I never understood what these guys were doing. Late 1960s stuff can be explained by the pyschedelic craze, but most of their well known works strike me as being pompous and pretentious, and worst of all, boring.

The Clash. Bland songs with annoying singing. I nearly called London Calling "crap" but in good faith, I can't. It's not quite that bad

Led Zeppelin. I tried to get into this band (as a teenager naturally) I failed. I never found much to latch onto.

Jefferson Airplane. A couple of cool songs ie Plastic Fantastic Lover, but overall they're rubbish.

Bon Jovi. Culture Club with hard rock posturing.

The Velvet Underground. VU fan: "Dude they're like, so nihilistic" Oh...okay. If they wrote any songs I liked that would be great. Andy Warhol designed their debut album cover. Says it all.

Gentle Giant. Hmmm... whatever. Forgettable prog rock.

Def Leppard. Like Bon Jovi, only more cringeworthy.

Whitesnake. Like Dep Leppard, only even more cringeworthy.

Michael Bolton. Caterwauling asshat- but you knew that already. :p

Brian T on 13/12/2007 at 16:05

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Interestingly, I can't stand stoner rock normally. I just like Fu Manchu :cheeky:

Pyrian on 14/12/2007 at 00:08

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I love some Queen, hate some Queen, and feel pretty meh about the bulk of their work. :p

Oceanstorm on 14/12/2007 at 05:57

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My God! How could you not mention AC/DC.:o I do like Queen as well, Aerosmith have some great songs.
Some of my other favourites are Motley Crue, Supergroove, Rammstein, The Offspring have some great songs and of course, Rage Against the Machine.

Brian T on 14/12/2007 at 10:20

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Well, giving the choce between a catchy song with "Ooh baby baby baby!" lyrics and a dull song about the evils of the politicians corruputing the Woodstock generation, I'd take the former. If that sounds shallow, so be it. Beethoven's lyrics to the few "songs" or (lieder) he wrote were full of trite "It's Wunderbar!" stuff but I like the mans music.


Melody is paramount to me in rock/pop music It doesn't have to be "wild", just catchy. Lyrics are of secondary importance. The Beatles often had flippant lyrics (or even nonsensical ones, I am the Walrus goo goo ga joob) but that doesn't detract from my liking of them.

Anyway, there's a simple way of settling musical disagreements. I've seen people on the internet use it all the time, so here I go...."I've been playing guitar for 109 years so I know what I'm talking about, matey. I win!" :cheeky::joke: