Bands That I Like

 141 Iron Maiden Iron Maiden Iron Maiden may have surfed in on the "new wave of British heavy metal"- the early-'80s movement that inspired Metallica and laid the foundations for death metal and thrash- bur the band never made any claims to rock & roll revisionism. Indeed, rather than spurn the excesses of '70s metal, Maiden's early output embraces them, and though Iron Maiden and Killers are full of hyperdriven blues riffs and wank-a-rific guitar solos, they're offered with such unabashed passion that even the bands most obvious moves somehow avoid sounding cliched. No wonder Maiden were the most influential English hard rockers of their generation.  After recording Killers , singer Paul Di'anno (whose work was hobbled by too much drinking) was replaced by former Samson vocalist Bruce Dickinson. Even though bassist and founder Steve Harris continued to write most of the band's material, Dinkinson's powerful, dramatic voice opened the door t...

 140 Iggy Pop & The Stooges   Iggy Pop & The Stooges  Lies, legends, half-truths, tales of drug-fueled lunacy, and wax-museum amounts of after-the-fact nostalgia will never be able to mute the stunning, violent, visceral recorded legacy of a band that made jaws drop in both horror. The difference is striking from the get-go between The Stooges and almost everybody else at the time. " 1969 ," the opening track, isn't a call to arms or a vision of an idyllic psychedelic future. It's about being bored. " I Wanna Be Your Dog " invents punk and then destroys it in three minutes by being both dumber and smarter than any punk could ever hope to be. Of the million-plus bands inspired by The Stooges later, the ones who were most successful realized that simplicity, volume, repetition, and primitivism could be a shortcut to transcendence, but that it also takes brains to get it just right. " No Fun " is so perfect it's breathtaking: Scott Ashet...

 139 Iceage Iceage I first became aware of this Danish punk band with their sophomore release, 2013's You're Nothing . I've been following their path unfold since then. I'll be straight-up: this music is not for everyone; It's chaotic, sludgy, messy, yet, somehow, still beautiful. The beauty comes in the honesty which comes with being in a punk band. It's not for glamour, it's not for the image, it's not for fashion, it's not for popularity- it's for that singular punk attitude & that punk attitude alone- and if that doesn't make sense to you- then you will definitely hate this band. But alas, all punk bands must grow from their teenage angst and finally spread their wings and find their footing as they age. Frontman Elias Bender Rønnenfelt expressed this growth best when he told Pitchfork, "...ideally, Iceage should not only cover the emotions that come with a clenched fist, but everything that comes with living our lives....

 138 How To Dress Well   How To Dress Well   How To Dress Well is the bedroom-project of Tom Krell.  His music is skeletal and sleek. He first came on my radar with his sophomore release, 2012's Total Loss , an album about mourning- after he lost his best friend (Listen to him explain [and perform] the origins of " Set It Right ," a song that was recorded for the album on the one year anniversary of his friend's death) as well as the loss of his uncle. Mourning through pop expression of the highest caliber is a great strategy. We're talkin' 'bout: four-minute songs, choruses, falsetto, synths 'n' beats  The cross between ambient, R&B and pop are a great place to start but thrown through an experimental lens makes for a unique if not haunting ride.  Lo-fi bedroom pop mixed with early 1990's R&B with some beautiful singing... that's music to me. Tom Krell is an interesting cat: a musician with a Ph.D in philosophy who records in L.A...

 137 Hot Chocolate Hot Chocolate  Hot Chocolate is one of the best British soul bands of all time. Known for their fluffy, hook-laden pop disco , this band offers so much more! Formed when vocalist Errol Brown and bassist Tony Wilson joined forces as a novelty band covering modern hits and morphing them into reggae. That was the case when their cover of " Give Peace a Chance " found its way to John Lennon and soon the band was signed to Apple Records. Unfortunately, the band hung in limbo and didn't really find their voice and formula, a formula that would have them scoring huge hits throughout the 1970s and 1980s. Songs like: " You Sexy Thing ," " Every 1's a Winner ," " Brother Louie ," " It Started with a Kiss ," " So You Win Again ," " Emma ," and " No Doubt About It ." "You Sexy Thing" charted in the Top 10 in three different decades! Not bad for a band that started off as a novelty...

 136  Huey Lewis & The News Huey Lewis & The News Huey Lewis is the personification of the tortoise from the tortoise and the hare story. Originally panned by critics as nothing but a bar band, the San Francisco based band Huey Lewis & The News have proven that contemporary critics rarely get it right. This band's career has spanned four decades, starting with a single in 1979 (" Exodisco "/ " Kickback ") under the name American Express, and although the single wasn't a hit, it led them to a record contract for their 1980 self-titled debut album with the new band name we all know today. Their second album Picture This came out in 1982 which brought the band their first top ten hit with " Do You Believe In Love? " Their most cohesive album and personal favorite was 1983's Sports . It's hard to believe an album can be as consistent as this with songs such as: " Heart and Soul ," " I Want a New Drug ," " ...

 135 Hall & Oates Hall & Oates Hall & Oates, the most commercially successful boy-boy duo of the rock & roll era, began in Philadelphia as a pair of soulful folkies, or perhaps folkful soulies. Darry Hall was the tall blond lead vocalist, John Oates the mustachioed Gary Dell'Abate look-alike, and together they pursued the mellow R&B sound. Although they were initially lumped together with '70s soft-rock duos such as Seals & Crofts and the like; and although it's easy to see why, well, with their early hits were love-bead ballads such as " She's Gone " (one of the few actual harmony duets). Hall & Oates became stars in 1977 with the excellent " Rich Girl ," which set a new standard for AM radio profanity by (1) hitting #1 and (2) repeating the word bitch  three times. Mystery surrounded them: Were Daryl and John lovers? Was "Rich Girl" secretly about Bryan Ferry? What did Oates do exactly? But they couldn't f...