Hear! Hear!

Which is why I love groups like Rush, Allman Brothers Band (both sound
BETTER live than in the studio), and especially Bob Seger, The Band, the
Beatles, and the Rolling Stones.

You could also throw in Peter Frampton, Queen, Steely Dan, and of course...

Stevie Ray Vaughan.

As a few have mentioned before, TOOL is my fav band since 94. The depth of the lyrics, the western philosophy, spirituality all combined perfectly into rock. The range of Maynards lyrics, the screams, and his onstage performace to me are top notch. An extremely talented band that refuses to sell out, advertise, or give plethoras of interviews and still remain popular over 12 years...amazing )

I think right now I'll have to pick two, since I listen to them equally the same above all else.

Nightwish and Lacuna Coil. Thanks to this thread, http://www.tfproject.org/tfp/showthr...ight=Nightwish , (and thanks Halx and Nefir for introducing me to them) I finally found great bands that I enjoy listening to over and over again. The mixture of a STRONG female vocalist mixed with male vocals and killer guitars are all I need to keep me happy. Plus the girls are hot. :D

my favourite band would have to the cranberries. their first cd was the first cd i ever owned. i have listened to that album over and over. its one of the few cds i can listen to without having to skip any tracks. well i do have to repeat some of the tracks along the way espicially 'linger' :) they were my first real introduction to rock and tho i admit they are in no way the best band around they are definately my favourite.

I am a Dave Matthews Band junkie. If I have to choose one, this is it. There are many reasons, too many to list them all but the top reason is that the band would rather play live than do anything else. They are as good on stage at the end of a tour as they are at the beginning. It is still a concert to them and not a show. It is about the music more than anything else and I love that.

The studio music is great, sure. I have all those albums but if you have never heard them live, you have never heard them. Go see a show, listen to a live CD or get a bootleg from someone but hear them live.

Second reason is that DMB allows recordings at all shows so there is lots of music to go around. Not as much as The Grateful Dead but a lot. I have more DMB than 3 or 4 other artists combined because of this.

Pearl Jam

They have managed to stick to their principles all these years, i.e. avoiding corporate BS through music videos, Ticketmaster, etc.

They are willing to sing out against hypocrisy and were one of the first to call out this administration, plus like fine wine, have only gotten better with age.

For Silverbrain

"Deaf and blind and dumb and born to follow
What you need is someone strong to guide you"

What an amazing song. The first time I heard Opiate, I played the LP over and over again at least 100 times.

The Weakerthans
Awesome mellow punk/alternative rock band.
or maybe
Daft Punk
just plain awesome...

Since i'm a huge fan of rap I have to pick Nas as my favorite artist. He raps about more than just the women, the money, and the cars. He focuses on social issues, telling stories, and educates the young kids that love rap music. I can't wait for street's disciple to drop next month.

Eric Clapton hands down. First off he is easily the best guitarist of all time. He is easily in the running for one of the better song writers in rock history. Granted he doesn't do much lyrically, he is a pure musician. Also he has been a member is some of the greatest bands of all time Yardbirds, Blues breakers, blind faith, Derek & the Dominos, Cream, and much success as a solo artist.

Peter Gabriel -- mainly because of the production values of his recordings. The music and lyrics are usually very thought-provoking. The musicianship is always amazing; the rhythm sections are always outstanding: Manu Katché; Tony Levin etc.

Well i hav a lot off them:)

i like almost every r&b song, why? i dont know its just very good music:)

For me my all time fave band would have to be The Cardiacs..

http://images.amazon.com/images/P/B0...1.LZZZZZZZ.jpg

Just have to admire the sheer greatness of pure talent - you would need to go a long way to find another band like them thats for sure.. Incredible stage performances, fantastic song writing.. Brilliant musicians as well.. They leave you 'dazed' for days after...

But now I've started thinking about things...

Kasabian, Firehose, Primus, Franz Ferdinand, Butthole Surfers, Pavement, Bboys, Pumpkins, Bowie, Deltron, Goldie, Muse, Radiohead, Faith No More, etc also all deserve Trisha Stylie 'heeeeear meeee noooooow' mentions..

The list goes on and on and on... ;)

Incubus, Korn (although I haven't listened to a lot of them recently), Deftones, Tool, A Perfect Circle...so many. Lyrics are huge for me because the whole reason I started listening to music was for lyrics. Rock music I find the best and if you like the bands I listed you could probably fill in with a whole bunch of others that usually go well together.

Right now, my favorite band a small sort-of electronic band out of Nashville (of all places) called Venus Hum. They make the most...lush/warm/embracing electronic music I've ever heard. Anyone who thinks of electronic music as cold and distant should listen to them. Also, the lead singer, Annette Strean, has an amazing voice.

Their biggest album is called Big Beautiful Sky, and they just released a very good but not great EP called Songs for Superheroes.

If you've heard that Blue Man Group cover of I Feel Love, the band they collaborated with is Venus Hum.

Depeche Mode- I find their music to be very moivng and not just pop fluff. Even though I got into them in 1984 I prefer their music from 1990 on. For those of you who just know them as the band that sings Just Can't Get Enough, there is much, much more to them. Give 'em a listen. I'll bet you'll be surprised.

Moloko for me, too. I really love their last CD, "Statues", although I'm not a fanatic of their early, early work. Still, they do get better with every album, and I can’t wait for the new Rosin Murphy solo project. Also, I think everyone should go out and get their "11,000 Clicks" concert DVD - it's one of the best performances I've ever seen, and the music is absolutely fabulous. If you're into pop, the Hornby-High-Fidelity kind, then get this.

Blue Öyster Cult!

Yes B&Ouml;C is by far the best band of this or any other time, and, for that reason, they are my favorite. Not only are their lyrics redolent with a degree of strangeness unparallelled outside a Thomas Pynchon novel and yet accessible to even the most feebleminded teenager, not only is Buck Dharma's axe work a thing of trancendent beauty and mind boggling skill, but an deep, heartfelt, yea! soul-felt appreciation of the Music of Blue &Ouml;yster Cult is the veritable <i>sine non qua</i> of abiding coolness.

As I said in a previous thread....
<small>Actually, it's the Umlauts that make me the hottest.</small>

For me Frank Zappa will always and forever be number 1. Everyone else is number two.

Seriously, I've loved a lot of different music. Top of the list has included: X, The Beastie Boys, Minutemen (and fIREHOSE), Bob Marley, Funkadelic, Jane's Addiction, Beatles...many more have come and gone in my heart. Frank will never be dethroned. His music shaped me. RIP

Damn... I gotta agree with almost everything K said except for current
fav band... mine would be Smashing Pumpkins... not that they are a current band... they just took the place of Floyd a few years back when i burned myself out on Floyd And yes as for Mr. Mercury... alltime best front man with Mick a second or two in 2nd place and Diamond Dave a solid 3rd. Wow strayed from the subject a little... but all time is hands down Floyd! because they made me realize (at a relatively young age) that music wasnt just some filler shit to make the day pass a little faster. It is my companion, my salvation, my lover, my mother, my inspiration, my outlet, my everything in its certain place and time!!!!

U2. I never get tired of them.

Alkaline Trio. if you know me at all, you already knew that. This is the one band, I don't ever get sick of, so I guess that would be my reason.

The Cure, they have been around for more years than i've been alive and there still touring/writing. great stuff. robert smith is my hero

Mark Kozelek, and by extension his two bands Red House Painters and Sun Kil Moon. Not only is he a highly talented guitarist with an achingly sad olive oil voice, he writes some of the most beautiful and honest lyrics. There's not many artists who would admit to being so ashamed of their "petty, often wounded pride".

Elliott Smith
Incredible incredible stuff IMHO. It's a shame that he's dead though.

^^^ I'll second that. The guy's in my top 10, I've listened to his records to the point where I can play guitar and sing along exactly.

Aerosmith,,30 years of rockin tunes

I have two favorite bands:
Green Day-They've been so good for so long, and they are such cool people. I don't care if they are "punk" or not, their music has been a favorite of mine for a long time.

Brand New-Mislabeled as emo, but these guys are awesome. I'd call them poppunk, but the lyrics make them so special. Jesse Lacey is an amazing song writer.

I'm sure being able to play his stuff must be a sure treat. Having Smith's voice wouldn't hurt either ;) . You may very well already know about this but Christopher Oriley, a pianist who has done a bunch of Radiohead covers on the piano has a few Elliott Smith ones too (LINK (go to the media section. Definitely check out Not half right. I don't recognize the song on piano, but it's quite easy to listen to)) . Also, Madelein Peyroux did a cover for between the bars on her latest album Careless Love. I've only listened to a blip on CDNow.com but the blip itself is amazing. I haven't been tempted to buy a CD in quite some time.

YEAAA the magnetic fields pinkie!!!

I would have to say nirvana is my favorite then dave mathews band and finally Journey.

So I guess I am the only one that thinks Nirvana is given way too much credit...?

I would have to say Tool, Pink Floyd, and Led Zeppelin are my all time favorites. My current favorite has to be Audioslave. All Because I am just loving their new album Out of Exile.