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A list by grendel71 - If you think you should investigate David Bowie that little bit further, which album should you start with? - If you think you don't love Radiohead as much as you should, what reasons are there to love them? Answers to these questions, and more, can be found here - THE RYM ROUGH GUIDE TO EVERYTHING! All the artists on this list were suggested by RYMers, and the song and album recommendations were voted for by RYMers too! And surely there can be no greater recommendation - a list made for RYMers by RYMers! |
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 | WHAT? 'The RYM Rough Guide To Everything' is, on the face of it, just another user list, amongst countless other user lists scattered around the site. Generally, these lists are designed as reference tools for all users and the 'Rough Guide' is no exception. What marks it out from all the others, however, is that the 'Rough Guide' is wholly interactive. It is entirely made up of artists suggested by members of the RYM community and each entry features song and album recommendations chosen by users, alongside choice quotes that go some way towards explaining each artist's appeal. |
 | WHY? RYM's own recommendation system can throw up some pearls, admittedly, but those recommendations depend solely on which artists and albums you may have rated or reviewed, and how low or high those ratings may be. If you haven't rated many albums, then the recommendations RYM makes may not always be suitable. Also, you may be seeking recommendations for a particular artist - for example, Miles Davis. Now, if you haven't made any ratings or written any reviews, for either Davis or artists within his recognised genre of jazz, it's unlikely that the system will proffer any Davis recommendations. Therefore, the only practical way of finding Davis recommendations would be to trawl through his profile page to find highly rated albums and to read through countless reviews, before deciding on, what may possibly be, a very tentative purchase. 'The RYM Rough Guide To Everything' has been designed to cut out all this time-consuming research - you simply find your chosen artist, in the alphabetical list, to discover the top five songs and recommended album, as voted for by RYM members. |
 | HOW? 'The RYM Rough Guide To Everything' was first launched in January 2007, with the first poll - The Beatles - posted the following month. The voting rules have been amended occasionally since then, but, as of 5/8/2009, they are as follows... 1) Please submit five tracks that you feel are the artists' best - they can be hits, album tracks, b-sides, rarities...anything you want, really! The five songs with the most votes will appear on the list. MULTI-PART SUITES: You can vote for individual segments of multi-part suites, only if they are mastered as separate tracks. If not, the whole suite must be voted for as one song vote. The only caveat to this would be if an individual segment appears on a greatest hits or best of compilation. In this instance, your album link for that track must be for the compilation, and not the studio album on which it originally appeared. 2) IMPORTANT: Please ensure that all votes cast are accompanied by links to the albums/EPs/singles they appear on - or, at the very least, the titles. The onus is on the voters to source this information, not the poll adjudicators. Any votes submitted without details of parent releases will be disregarded. 3) Please submit one album that you feel is the artist's crowning glory, their classic album, if you like. Whichever album gets the most votes will appear on the list. 4) IMPORTANT: Album votes can only be for studio or live recordings. Compilations are not eligible. Any votes for compilations will be disregarded and not included in the final count - don't waste your vote! 5) Please include a brief line or paragraph that explains exactly why the artist means so much to you. The best of these will be included as quotes beneath the artists' names, on the list (Fair play prevails here - I will not be offering my own eulogies...I want you guys to speak for the artists). PLEASE NOTE THAT, ALTHOUGH IT'S NOT COMPULSORY TO INCLUDE ONE, QUOTES PLAY AN IMPORTANT ROLE WITHIN THE LIST. SONG AND ALBUM RECOMMENDATIONS ALONE WILL NOT GIVE USERS THE FULL PICTURE. TELL US WHAT AN ARTIST SOUNDS LIKE, WHY YOU LIKE THEM AND WHAT KIND OF INFLUENCE THEY HAVE ON TODAY'S ARTISTS. WITHOUT QUOTES, THE LIST WOULD BE USELESS...IF YOU CAN - DO!!! THANKS. 6) Polls will be open for a week, after which I will collate the votes and transfer the results to the list. You will be informed of the results here, on the 'polls/games/surveys' board. The word 'RESULT' will appear after the thread title, to let you know when the poll is complete. 7) Polls will be launched five times a week, from Sunday through Thursday. All artists, for all polls, will be chosen completely at random. This selection process may change at any time. 8) Every artist must receive at least five sets of votes. If, after a week of polling, a particular artist has not received five or more sets of votes, then that poll will be locked in The RYM Rough Guide Cooler. Polls will remain there for six months, after which time they will be given one final opportunity to generate votes as a main poll, before being removed from the list. However, whilst in the cooler, the polls will remain open and users may still vote. If they manage to generate five sets of votes within the six month limit, then the votes will be collated and the artist will remain on the list. The phrase 'CLOSED - IN THE COOLER!' will appear after the thread title of any of these polls. 9) Artists will be released from the cooler at certain intervals. These polls will run alongside ongoing polls. Only one artist will be released from the cooler in any given week. 10) To keep up to date with any changes to the rules, and to give your views and/or suggestions to the "Rough Guide", then visit the Rough Guide Poll Discussion Thread. Each entry is set out in the same way. Here is a key to the information you can expect to find... "Quotes will appear before and after recommendations. These quotes are by RYM users, offering some additional information on the artist, or personal testimonies as to why a particular artist means so much to them. Each entry can feature a maximum of four quotes, but some may only feature one, depending on the quantity, quality and relevance of the quotes submitted." - name of user who submitted the quote ALL-TIME TOP FIVE: Song recommendations are collated from the top five songs, as voted for by RYM members. In some polls, tie-breaks may occur, in which case two songs may be placed together, or ranked in relation to which order tied songs received their maximum number of votes. RECOMMENDED ALBUM: Again, album recommendations are determined by votes and, in the event of tie-breaks, multiple titles may be recommended. (POLL VOTERS, AS DESIGNATED BY SONG TITLES BY THE ARTIST IN QUESTION: This is a list of every user that participated in the poll.) |
 | WHEN? As outlined in the rules, artist polls take place five times a week - Sunday through Thursday - with no more than five polls running at any given time. Artists may be released from 'The RYM Rough Guide Cooler' at any time and these polls will run alongside the five scheduled polls. However, only one 'Cooler' artist poll will ever be running in any given week. You may submit artists to The RYM Rough Guide Suggestions Thread at any time (but, please read the rules before doing so), and you can also chat about anything related to the 'Rough Guide' in the Rough Guide Discussion Thread (where you can also find details of forthcoming polls). |
 | WHERE? All polls take place on the Polls/Games/Surveys board only. Links to current polls can always be found on my profile page and a noted thread that always appears at the top of the General board. |
 | WHICH? Artists are selected for polling completely at random. Obviously, there are innumerable methods that can be employed for this task, but, in the interests of transparency, I always use Maths Goodies' Custom Random Number Generator. |
 | WHO? The very nature of 'The RYM Rough Guide To Everything' dictates that we are all part of an 'autonomous collective' (to quote Monty Python!). No one contributor is any more important than another. The polls would not be able to continue without the valued partcipation of each and every user. However, it would be almost impossible for me to supervise such a massive project without the assistance of others and so they deserve to be named here... At the Guide's inception, I personally adjudicated all polls. As the Guide became more popular and attracted more voters, the effort involved became too great and I reduced my workload to three polls a week. This has now diminished further - I now personally oversee only one poll a week! The slack is picked up by my invaluable co-conspirators, SvetlanaMonsoon, TalkBoxist, hraorfan and troutmask. 'The Guide' features a proliferation of Portuguese and Spanish artists and, therefore, I have two faithful representatives on the Portuguese board, in the form of Altair82 and Tezcatlipoca (who also acts as an ad-hoc translator, from time to time!). And finally, if you are thinking of taking part in the polls, please bear in mind that you will have to go a long way to catch up with ecjam6, who has taken part in nearly every 'Rough Guide' poll since it's creation - truly, the number one 'Rough Guide' contributor! |
 | AND FINALLY... 'The RYM Rough Guide To Everything' is a gargantuan drain on my spare time and there is a lot of work involved in it's continued existence. But, I love doing it and it's a lot of fun! And that's what anyone who wants to get involved should remember - I want people to take it seriously as a reference tool, but, at the same time, don't take it too seriously! Some results can prove to be controversial but, ultimately, it's RYMers' tastes that dictate those results. Take it for what it is - just another list - and HAVE SOME FUN!!! Thanks for your time...and happy voting!!! Cheers, Paul |
 | ARTIST INDEX (Artists are listed alphanumerically, following RYM's own rules on alphabetisation) This page: 10cc ..... a-ha Page 2: A House ..... Arena, Tina Page 3: Armatrading, Joan ..... Banda Elástica Page 4: Band of Susans ..... Biolay, Benjamin Page 5: Biosphere ..... Boomkat Page 6: Boomtown Rats (The) ..... Bunyan, Vashti Page 7: Burke, Solomon ..... Chao, Manu Page 8: Chapin, Harry ..... Cold War Kids Page 9: Cole, Nat "King" ..... Crowded House Page 10: Crowell, Rodney ..... De La Soul Page 11: Delays ..... Domino, Fats Page 12: Don Caballero ..... Envy Page 13: Erasure ..... Finger Eleven Page 14: Finn, Liam ..... Front Line Assembly Page 15: Frou Frou ..... Gits (The) Page 16: Glamour To Kill ..... Hagar, Sammy Page 17: Haggard, Merle ..... HIM Page 18: Hisaishi, Joe ..... Isis Page 19: Isley Brothers (The) ..... Josef K Page 20: Journey ..... Kooper, Al Page 21: Koray, Erkin ..... Letters To Cleo Page 22: Leven, Jackie ..... Magnum Page 23: Mahavishnu Orchestra ..... McKennitt, Loreena Page 24: McLachlan, Sarah ..... Mitsuda, Yasunori Page 25: Mler Ife Dada ..... My Bloody Valentine Page 26: My Chemical Romance ..... Noiseworks Page 27: NoMeansNo ..... Pablo, Augustus Page 28: Páez, Fito ..... Pickett, Wilson Page 29: Pieces of a Dream ..... Psychedelic Furs (The) Page 30: Public Enemy ..... Reed, Lou Page 31: Reel Big Fish ..... Rusby, Kate Page 32: Rush ..... Shannon, Del Page 33: Shellac ..... Smithereens (The) Page 34: Smiths (The) ..... Stefani, Gwen Page 35: Steppenwolf ..... Swans Page 36: Sweat, Keith ..... Thrush Hermit Page 37: Thunders, Johnny ..... TV on the Radio Page 38: Twain, Shania ..... Venom Page 39: Ventures (The) ..... Williams Jr., Hank Page 40: Williams III, Hank ..... Youngs, Richard Page 41: Youth of Today ..... ZZ Top |
 | 10cc (as suggested by R9350) "One of the most inventive pop bands of all time. The original quartet of Lol Creme, Kevin Godley, Graham Gouldman and Eric Stewart supplied a level of creativity and innovation that few have managed to emulate. All took their turn at lead vocals, all contributed to writing material, all were expert musicians in their own field. Because they were one of the first bands that got me interested in music I was under the impression that all bands were as artistically imaginative - how wrong can you be? There's also no better example of the whole being more than the sum of the parts because, even though Stewart and Gouldman would carry on with a revised lineup of 10cc and Godley and Creme released material of their own, they never reached the same heights again." - Grampus ALL-TIME TOP FIVE: 1) The Wall Street Shuffle (from Sheet Music) 2) I'm Mandy, Fly Me (from How Dare You!) 3) Rubber Bullets (from 10cc) 4) I'm Not In Love (from The Original Soundtrack) 5) Art For Art's Sake (from How Dare You!) RECOMMENDED ALBUM: HOW DARE YOU! "Nobody likes a smart-arse! - or so goes the saying. Fortunately, no-one told 10cc this 'cos if they had we may have missed out on some of the greatest, most cerebral pop-rock songs of the '70s (including three stone-cold classics). Their stock-in-trade was wit, satire even - they were four songwriting Wildes, or latter-day Cowards. Knockabout musical japes masked the deeper messages in some of their tunes - I'm thinking of "Rubber Bullets" and "The Wall Street Shuffle", specifically - and even songs that, on the surface, seemed straightforward, were buried under many layers. "I'm Not In Love" is such a song. It's a pretty little piece and no mistake - most people took it at face value as just that. But, the lyric is stunning, such a simple device - 'I don't love you any more, and here's a list of feeble excuses for all the reasons that you think I still do!' - and yet so powerful and affecting in it's honesty. Conversely, "I'm Mandy, Fly Me" is just patently ridiculous - a plane-crash romance, no less - yet, the fabulous arrangement and clinical musicianship carry you through. As for "The Things We Do For Love"? Well, it's just a classic of the era, innit? All three songs should be in everyone's collection. They certainly weren't without flaws, no doubt - the less said about "Dreadlock Holiday", the better! But, for the first four or five albums, at least, which were chock-full of tricksy arrangements, peerless harmonies and a devastatingly cynical edge, they were the nearest the UK got to a Steely Dan of their own. Nobody likes a smart-arse? Bollocks!" - grendel71 "10cc could be considered progressive rock, but they did it with a style and, most importantly, a sense of humour which made them unique." - Drummer1956 (BLOODY TOURISTS: jshopa, Drummer1956, berjo, R9350, Euridyce, Doug Piranha, Grampus, psychman, bogoslav, ivank79, SvetlanaMonsoon, yeda, steinib, grendel71) LINK: POLL #440 (March 2009) |
 | 10,000 Maniacs (as suggested by yoda2000) (Poll adjudicator: SvetlanaMonsoon) "Imagine The Smiths merging with The Carpenters, and you're almost there. The Maniacs' music contrasts with their name quite sharply, for it delights, sparkles and touches. It is rhythmically beguiling, with an unmistakable voice of angelic clarity floating on top. Natalie Merchant's voice is effortless and uplifting." - steinib ALL-TIME TOP FIVE: 1) Candy Everybody Wants (from Our Time in Eden) 2) Can't Ignore The Train (from The Wishing Chair) 3) Like The Weather (from In My Tribe) 4) What's The Matter Here? (from In My Tribe) 5) = Don't Talk and Hey Jack Kerouac (both from In My Tribe) RECOMMENDED ALBUM: IN MY TRIBE (GOLD RUSH BRIDES: ivank79, King Fahtah, ecjam6, steinib, SvetlanaMonsoon) LINK: POLL #160 (November 2007) |
 | 1200 Micrograms (as suggested by MacDougall) This polled artist did not receive enough sets of votes to be included in the Rough Guide. This artist will be polled again in December 2009. However, if, in the meantime, they garner the requisite five sets of votes, they will be entered onto this list. To add your votes, visit The RYM Rough Guide Cooler, or click the poll link below. LINK: POLL #499 (June 2009) |
 | 13th Floor Elevators (as suggested by Spices_McJ) "Recipe: 13th Floor Elevators Start with: Five young men from Texas with an urge to rock Add: Bob Dylan records, LSD, an urge to innovate, more LSD & some pot, an "electric" jug, an urge to promote advanced consciousness Mix Together & Stir - Let sit for 40 years - Uncover and enjoy! note: to be aurally ingested anytime, anywhere, by anyone - LEARN THE TRUTH ... it will be revealed..." - notesofachord ALL-TIME TOP FIVE: 1) Slip Inside This House (from Easter Everywhere) 2) You're Gonna Miss Me (from The Psychedelic Sounds of the 13th Floor Elevators) 3) Splash 1 (Now I'm Home) (from The Psychedelic Sounds of the 13th Floor Elevators) 4) Roller Coaster (from The Psychedelic Sounds of the 13th Floor Elevators) 5) Levitation (from Easter Everywhere) RECOMMENDED ALBUM: THE PSYCHEDELIC SOUNDS OF THE 13th FLOOR ELEVATORS "Announcing their arrival in the summer of '66 with the incredible debut single "You're Gonna Miss Me", and their full-length psychedelic masterpiece The Psychedelic Sounds of the 13th Floor Elevators, this band of Texas weirdos, led by the crazed wail of a teenaged Roky Erickson are one of the most original and significant American rock bands of the '60s. Their first two records (Psychedelic Sounds and it's nearly as brilliant follow-up, Easter Everywhere) are haunting musical mindfucks, rooted in Texas blues, whiskey, paranoia, peyote, and bones bleaching in the desert." - RustyJames "Some people and critics tend to say this band started or 'invented' psychedelic rock. While I'm not very sure about that, I must say that the more I listen to their debut album, the more I feel I'm witnessing the introduction of schizophrenia in rock music. The hyperactive vocals, the muddy production, the insane lyrics, even the front cover seems to come directly from Roky Erickson's hospital room." - sergegrone "Roky Erickson is a true Texas musical legend, and the truth of what happened to him is truly one of the most tragic tales in rock 'n roll. The 13th Floor Elevators may or may not have invented psychedelic rock, but they sure as hell perfected it." - SvetlanaMonsoon (YOU DON'T KNOW (HOW YOUNG YOU ARE): jshopa, RustyJames, Tezcatlipoca, sergegrone, ivank79, ecjam6, SvetlanaMonsoon, notesofachord, Spices McJ) LINK: POLL #236 (April 2008) |
 | 16 Horsepower (as suggested by goatlipss) (Poll adjudicator: Thrashisawesome) "The most ferocious Christian band ever. Bringing together dissonant guitars with foothill folk instruments and the booming fire and brimstone preacher-singing of David Eugene Edwards, 16 Horsepower are unlike any other. They project a simple, hard and fast philosophy - Get saved or not, either way you'll burn. 'Hey, it's only forever'." - jshopa ALL-TIME TOP FIVE: 1) Black Soul Choir (from Sackcloth 'n' Ashes) 2) Coal Black Horses (from 16 Horsepower) 3) For Heaven's Sake (from Low Estate) 4) Hutterite Mile (from Folklore) 5) = I Seen What I Saw and Scrawled In Sap (both from Sackcloth 'n' Ashes) RECOMMENDED ALBUM: SACKCLOTH 'N' ASHES "Now, I've never been there myself, but I'm sure that, somewhere in the backwoods of Colorado, there's a poisonous spring of holy water. And from that spring did David Eugene Edwards drink. And he was saved. And helped save Slim and Munly and Frank Jr., and they started preaching their hard gospel through the power of song. It's never an easy pill to swallow, but David'll push with the power of 16 horses until you choke, and then you'll be saved. And you'll wonder how you ever lived without." - ThorUK3 "Forget about the run-of-the-mill Jehovah's Witnesses knocking at my door. Forget about all your fanatic Christians preaching the good word in the streets. David Eugene Edwards is the only man who has ever made me fear the apocalypse." - Rube (WAYFARING STRANGERS: troutmask, jshopa, ThorUK3, assasass, Slevenier, ecjam6, Rube) LINK: POLL #566 (September 2009) |
 | 2Pac (as suggested by TalkBoxist) |
 | 311 (as suggested by MacDougall) |
 | .38 Special (as suggested by berjo) |
 | 3 Doors Down (as suggested by Soul_Man) |
 | 3Ds (as suggested by jshopa) |
 | 4 Non Blondes (as suggested by Nkkbc) |
 | 54-40 (as suggested by troutmask) |
 | The 5th Dimension (as suggested by berjo) (Poll adjudicator: SvetlanaMonsoon) ALL-TIME TOP FIVE: 1) Aquarius / Let The Sunshine In (from The Age of Aquarius) 2) Stoned Soul Picnic (from Stoned Soul Picnic) 3) Up, Up And Away (from Up, Up and Away) 4) Wedding Bell Blues (from The Age of Aquarius) 5) = Save The Country (from Portrait) and (Last Night) I Didn't Get To Sleep At All (from Individually and Collectively) RECOMMENDED ALBUM: THE AGE OF AQUARIUS (PUPPET MEN: berjo, psychman, CurtisLoew, ivank79, SvetlanaMonsoon) LINK: POLL #545 (August 2009) |
 | 65daysofstatic (as suggested by RW_2x4) |
 | 90 Day Men (as suggested by troutmask) |
 | Aaliyah (as suggested by Nkkbc) (Poll adjudicator: troutmask) "Aaliyah and Timbaland represent one of the great pairings in pop. I believe they would still be pumping out the classics had tragedy not struck." - sosadixon ALL-TIME TOP FIVE: 1) Try Again (from Romeo Must Die) 2) We Need A Resolution (from Aaliyah) 3) Are You That Somebody (from I Care 4 U) 4) More Than A Woman (from Aaliyah) 5) One In A Million (from One in a Million) RECOMMENDED ALBUM: AALIYAH "She was building a great legacy before the plane crash. Her best work was yet to come..." - SvetlanaMonsoon (EXTRA SMOOTH: sosadixon, SoulMan, awpoue, RustyJames, aphexquan, TalkBoxist, SvetlanaMonsoon) LINK: POLL #543 (August 2009) |
 | Los de Abajo (as suggested by Alfred_Pok) |
 | ABBA (as suggested by Shrimp91) (Poll adjudicator: SvetlanaMonsoon "ABBA's music is among the most irresistibly melodic and tuneful ever written. For entire songs, without trying to sound cool or ambiguous, they plunge into soaring melodies. Refreshingly, they're not afraid of melodrama and dare to lure the listener into singalongs or carry him/her on the wings of effortless melodies. The songs sound so natural and easy that it is too easy to forget how original they really are. Look a little closer and you will be astounded, for this is not the stuff one can throw together spontaneously or casually. This is 'composed' pop par excellence, carefully constructed and always fresh, new and original. The composers (and co-performers) Björn and Benny can easily be ranked among such geniuses as Lennon/McCartney, Brian Wilson, Burt Bacharach and Elvis Costello, whose dedication, hard work and natural instinct has gradually turned pop into a respectable form of art. Even though ABBA's music is immediate, enjoyable and understood by anyone, it can be complex and (particularly during the second half of their career, when their relationships started to crumble) full of deep nostalgia, regret and hope. ABBA's music can be compared to Queen's music in many ways. Both bands used the studio to the limits. The music is multi-layered with interesting details added to the melodies at every step, with Abba being the more subtle of the two. Both bands strove (and mostly succeeded) in treating every single song as individual, trying to discover new melodic twists and approaches. Therefore, their music hardly ever echoes older songs, being strikingly novel and fresh. There is also a certain flamboyance, grandeur and confidence in the melodic sweep. While no one singer can quite match Freddie Mercury, Agnetha and Anna-Frid do so together, dazzling the listener with their beautiful vocals and exquisite harmonies. Their voices contrast each other and when they are weaved together, the pop tapestry becomes as subtle and ambiguous as the one woven by more elusive bands, like the Cocteau Twins." - steinib ALL-TIME TOP FIVE: 1) S.O.S. (from ABBA) 2) Dancing Queen (from Arrival) 3) Knowing Me, Knowing You (from Arrival) 4) Waterloo (from Waterloo) 5) Take A Chance On Me (from The Album) RECOMMENDED ALBUM: ABBA "I remember vividly the moment when I realised ABBA were genius. It came during Lukas Moodysson's brilliant communal living dramedy "Together", which finished with the housemates putting aside their squabbles and playing soccer in the snow as "S.O.S." swells on the soundtrack. It was a perfect, vividly cinematic moment that could not have been pulled off without the help of the world's greatest pop band, and the scene, in essence, captures what ABBA's all about. ABBA have been a communal experience from very early on. Probably the most popular band in the world, aside from The Beatles, ABBA expresses the dualistic nature in us all. We embrace ABBA because they write fun, happy songs that are catchy and memorable, but if ABBA were merely happy-smiley they wouldn't have outlasted the '70s. We also embrace ABBA because of the subtleties inherent in the lyrics, and the implied sadness therein. ABBA have become the ultimate pop band in an intertextual way, as we as listeners interpret what ABBA has to offer through the entire history of pop music and filter it into their magnificent essentialist mode of creation. Some people balk at ABBA, reducing their music to confection or commodity, but I think that's missing the point. I'm not sure ABBA ever set out to be as huge as they were (are). I just think that Benny, Björn, Agnetha and Anni-Frid managed to take all the lessons that pop music had taught them, and repeated each one prodigiously, developing their own signature sound in the process. ABBA is Life." - RustyJames "Being between six and thirteen years of age when ABBA released albums might make me some kind of expert. "S.O.S." moved me, I remember, and their sunshine hits followed me to school. The themes seemed to be about things important to a younger person. Being older now makes me want for others to have the same experiences as I did. Maybe I had an emotional peak or whatever, but the songs from 1975 have a special place in my heart. Maybe ABBA's legacy now is about a time of innocence." - jfc64 "The Swedish supergroup that left it's mark on music like no other European pop group had before (or since). The songwriting expertise (sometimes assisted by manager Stig Anderson) and professional production of Björn Ulvaeus and Benny Anderson, with engineer Michael Tretow, combined with the distinctive harmonies of Agnetha Fältskog and Anni-Frid Lyngstad made some of the most glorious, 'pure pop' records ever. Their image was sexy enough to be marketable to a younger audience with their outlandish fashions early on and their pioneering music video clips, but had a sound that was accessible to an audience from kids to oldies. From the time of their Eurovision victory to their split in '83 their hits topped the charts world-wide, and these songs have become timeless classics enjoyed as much today as ever, kept alive with the multi-platinum ABBA Gold collection and movies such as "Muriel's Wedding" in the '90s and, more recently, the stage show/movie smash "Mamma Mia"." - King Fahtah (SUPER TROUPERS: CurtisLoew, jshopa, jfc64, DonovanZoi, RustyJames, froghead, heathcliffe, psychman, ivank79, ecjam6, FlintGF, King Fahtah, cherryeater, kabouter, meggittmusic, Drummer1956, metalbrain, pedromerluzza, elayblooze, kyvetti, exilion, Shiny Boots, d101 89, SkinnyRobbie, Thrashisawesome, Chontamenti, linkst3r, steinib, DiscoGosa, Choutas, Tezcatlipoca, Altair82, FOU2RAGE, grendel71, hraorfan, SvetlanaMonsoon) LINK: POLL #314 (July 2008) |
 | ABC (as suggested by SvetlanaMonsoon) "Stylist, elegant, and sophisticated - ABC knew how to stand out amongst the glut of early-80's new wave bands. The first album in particular is a defining landmark of the genre." - SvetlanaMonsoon ALL-TIME TOP FIVE: 1) The Look Of Love (Part One) (from The Lexicon of Love) 2) Poison Arrow (from The Lexicon of Love) 3) All Of My Heart (from The Lexicon of Love) 4) Tears Are Not Enough (from The Lexicon of Love) 5) = Be Near Me (from How to Be a...Zillionaire!) and When Smokey Sings (from Alphabet City) RECOMMENDED ALBUM: THE LEXICON OF LOVE "After the revolutionary years of punk, ABC gave back the style. A sound with strings, the clothing all suit and tie - a flashback to the 1950s but it never sounded old or old-fashioned. ABC played a leading role in the hedonistic 1980s." - montezuma (4 EVER 2 GETHER: ivank79, CurtisLoew, Alfred Pok, psychman, bogoslav, King Fahtah, SvetlanaMonsoon, jshopa, montezuma, QuiteTooUtterlyEcstatic) LINK: POLL #454 (April 2009) |
 | Accept (as suggested by hraorfan) "What do you get in the following math problem: Judas Priest + AC/DC = ? The answer is Accept. A band able to merge the gritty hard rock of AC/DC with the thundering speed metal of Judas Priest for a fierce, ferocious sound with the throaty screaming of dwarfish frontman Udo Dierkschneider and the ripping, roaring and raging guitar playing of Wolf Hoffman. With Balls to the Wall, it would be easy to write this band off as just another AC/DC wannabe band, but when you listen to their earlier efforts you can tell that this was a band that was trying to let go of Scorpions' coattails and find their own definable sound. They would find it on Breaker and Restless and Wild with a sound that wasn't too far removed from British counterparts Raven - a heavy, fast and pummeling sound that would, in some part, help lay the foundation of thrash metal in the early '80s." - hraorfan ALL-TIME TOP FIVE: 1) Balls To The Wall (from Balls to the Wall) 2) Fast As A Shark (from Restless and Wild) 3) Restless And Wild (from Restless and Wild) 4) Princess Of The Dawn (from Restless and Wild) 5) Midnight Mover (from Metal Heart) RECOMMENDED ALBUM: RESTLESS AND WILD "Accept is one of those bands that should have been more popular in the United States. Unfortunately, they became a minor one-hit wonder because they had a song that had the word 'balls' in it. A closer look reveals the smooth progression from a band trying to compete with Scorpions and wearing their Judas Priest obsession on their sleeve to an outfit that truly found their own sound and fan base (which, in Europe, was huge). We also see a band that, after three great albums, hit a creative roadblock from which they never recovered." - Ezreal (SCREAMING FOR A LOVEBITE: ecjam6, hraorfan, tmurf, the stig, Ezreal, MicrophoneFiend, metalgirl, SkinnyRobbie, CurtisLoew, metalbrain) LINK: POLL #259 (May 2008) |
 | AC/DC (as suggested by kabouter) (Poll adjudicator: SvetlanaMonsoon) "The real thunder from down under - and I ain't talkin' 'bout Australia. Whether it be Bon Scott or Brian Johnson, the wicked jagged shards of Angus Young's tenacious riffs have been buoyed for year after year by the shrieking yelping vocals and bone crushing rhythms of these mates engaged in the grandest unearthly delights and bringin' home the real meaning of 'bad to the bone'!" - elayblooze ALL-TIME TOP FIVE: 1) Dirty Deeds Done Dirt Cheap (from Dirty Deeds Done Dirt Cheap) 2) Hells Bells (from Back in Black) 3) Whole Lotta Rosie (from If You Want Blood, You've Got It) 4) Back In Black (from Back in Black) 5) Highway To Hell (from Highway to Hell) RECOMMENDED ALBUM: BACK IN BLACK "Why do I like AC/DC? Well, it's sort of a combination of the raw guitar, attitude and straight-forwardness of their lyrics. A band that could write songs with lyrics about sex, violence, and, well, rock. The band has written classic upon classic and many great albums throughout the '70s and into the early '80s and are still kickin' ass to this day. We salute you AC/DC and R.I.P. Bon Scott. Your fans will always have a drink on you." - hraorfan "What do you get when you take Chuck Berry (via Keith Richards) riffs, add a dash of blues and boozy swagger, crank it to eleven and top it off with a whirling dervish in a schoolboy outfit? The greatest REAL rock and roll band of all time, that's what." - CurtisLoew "Pretty much every AC/DC record perpetuates the same basic story of big riffs, shouting, and testosterone overload. The fact they've been able to keep the same basic drunken shout-along style going for thirty-odd years should give you some idea of just how good at it they are." - m0rph3us (RIFF RAFF: jshopa, hraorfan, Tezcatlipoca, ivank79, Soul Man, CurtisLoew, RustyJames, metalbrain, jimmmypage, ecjam6, sergegrone, kabouter, Rocket88, goatlipss, metalgirl, RadioFreeLee, tmurf, TalkBoxist, Drummer1956, frinkslab, m0rph3us, elayblooze, Xplorer, sallamanka, Aner77, FOU2RAGE, grinders, berjo, SvetlanaMonsoon) LINK: POLL #140 (October 2007) |
 | Ace of Base (as suggested by SvetlanaMonsoon) (Poll adjudicator: SvetlanaMonsoon) "Not much to say. They made some good pop songs in the '90s. Though often compared to ABBA, they are much better. There is not one single ABBA song I enjoy. Maybe time will change that." - Kraemorr ALL-TIME TOP FIVE: 1) All That She Wants (from Happy Nation (U.S. Version)) 2) Beautiful Life (from The Bridge) 3) The Sign (from Happy Nation (U.S. Version)) 4) Don't Turn Around (from Happy Nation (U.S. Version)) 5) Happy Nation (from Happy Nation (U.S. Version)) RECOMMENDED ALBUM: HAPPY NATION (U.S. VERSION) (TOKYO GIRLS: kabouter, CurtisLoew, lex luthor, Usurping Python, Kraemorr, jshopa, SvetlanaMonsoon) LINK: POLL #530 (August 2009) |
 | Acid Bath (as suggested by MicrophoneFiend) |
 | Adam and the Ants (as suggested by SvetlanaMonsoon) |
 | Bryan Adams (as suggested by kabouter) (Poll adjudicator: SvetlanaMonsoon) "Every Good Boy Does Fine. That's doubly true for this ultimate guilty pleasure. Bryan had the look and, most importantly, the sound for the '80s. But, he reached a level many other 'pretty boys' couldn't (he had some stayin' power) because he was able to write well enough, and seemed to really enjoy playing for his adoring fans." - elayblooze ALL-TIME TOP FIVE: 1) Summer Of '69 (from Reckless) 2) Heaven (from Reckless) 3) Cuts Like A Knife (from Cuts Like a Knife) 4) Run To You (from Reckless) 5) Heat Of The Night (from Into the Fire) RECOMMENDED ALBUM: RECKLESS "A pop/rock singer songwriter whose style falls somewhere between Foreigner and John Mellencamp, with a knack for writing power ballads as well as hook-filled pop/rock hits." - hraorfan (KIDS WANNA ROCK: King Fahtah, kabouter, ecjam6, CurtisLoew, berjo, tmurf, queenfan, Tezcatlipoca, hraorfan, elayblooze, ivank79, gav378, SvetlanaMonsoon) LINK: POLL #125 (September 2007) |
 | Johnny Adams (as suggested by SGwinn) |
 | Ryan Adams (as suggested by barlights) "Erratic output can be daunting, giving Ryan Adams an aura not unlike Lou Reed in his tendency to just do his own thing, regardless of what everyone thinks (and the infamous incident of throwing out a fan who called out "Summer of '69" at a concert adds to it). As prolific as Hank Williams at his height and highly involved in recreating some dim childhood memory of country-rock in excelsis, Ryan Adams may not always hit his mark but bless him for continuing to aim for it again and again." - jshopa ALL-TIME TOP FIVE: 1) My Winding Wheel (from Heartbreaker) 2) Everybody Knows (from Easy Tiger) 3) Come Pick Me Up (from Heartbreaker) 4) Nobody Girl (from Gold) 5) The Rescue Blues (from Gold) RECOMMENDED ALBUM: HEARTBREAKER "Ryan Adams is a talented but overly prolific songwriter who, in five years between 2000 and 2005, made an entire career's worth of great songs, as well as an entire career's worth of mediocrity. He seems to be losing his mind as of late, but, if so, the sane part of Ryan Adams left us with some real good stuff." - aorl (POLITICAL SCIENTISTS: jshopa, aorl, Shiny Boots, yeda, Aner77, ecjam6, MacDougall, Bloodaxe, Tezcatlipoca, barlights) LINK: POLL #253 (May 2008) |
 | Barry Adamson (as suggested by jshopa) "Barry Adamson had to have one of the coolest resumes possible before heading off solo. After learning to play bass on the job for Magazine, he moved on to The Bad Seeds, honing his sound as he went. His interest in soundtrack work got him nowhere so he did one for a non-existent film. Moss Side Story is a wonderful, suggestive work that forces the listener to play the movie in their mind. It's telling that his later work on actual soundtracks pales in comparison to this disc, as the Hollywood machine would never allow the freedom that a music studio permits. On the next few recordings, a wild mix of guest singers and players led to a radical veering of styles from track to track, often frustrating and fascinating the listener at the same time. As Above, So Below found Barry himself taking the mike after a long recovery from a car accident. The album has a more consistent sound, along the lines of slick, booming, evil jazz with a few bizarre sound collages worthy of some concentrated headphone listening. He's still at it, and although he's usually not perfect, he's never boring. Pretty high praise, that last statement." - wretlinfu ALL-TIME TOP FIVE: 1) The Sweetest Embrace (from Oedipus Schmoedipus) 2) Can't Get Loose (from As Above, So Below) 3) Still I Rise (from As Above, So Below) 4) The Adamson Family (from Soul Murder) 5) Intensive Care (from Moss Side Story) RECOMMENDED ALBUM: MOSS SIDE STORY "The Moss Side Druid. Barry Adamson makes dark, moody music, imaginary soundtracks for movies about real horrors lurking beneath the surface of everyday life, melding together jazz, funk, trip-hop, rock, and pastiches of people from Miles Davis to Tom Waits. Every album is a nasty beauty with great range in the dark side of humanity, from the thrashing fury of "Still I Rise" to the poisonous fairytale of "Vermilion Kisses" and all of it assured and convincing." - jshopa (ROUND UP THE USUAL SUSPECTS: Alfred Pok, jshopa, ivank79, ecjam6, wretlinfu, grendel71) LINK: POLL #421 (March 2009) |
 | King Sunny Adé (as suggested by Thrashisawesome) |
 | The Adicts (as suggested by Morak99) |
 | Hasil Adkins (as suggested by goatlipss) |
 | The Adverts (as suggested by Tezcatlipoca) |
 | Aerosmith (as suggested by kabouter) (Poll adjudicator: SvetlanaMonsoon) "Aerosmith, the bad boys from Boston ... at least that's what they once were, until the big corporate sell-out went down. During the stone-age '70s, Aerosmith was a touring machine that delivered blues-based hard rock. Aerosmith was never a heavy metal group, as many have incorrectly pegged the band. From the earliest days of Aerosmith's existence, until guitarist Joe Perry split to pursue a solo career, you could always bet your bottom dollar that the group would be criss-crossin' the United States, kickin' ass in clubs, halls and arenas. Aerosmith was a people's band that raged from the stage with a no-frills delivery, while pushing out a steady diet of hard rollin' rock LP's that peaked with the trio of Get Your Wings (1974), the hyper Toys in the Attic (1975), and the raging Rocks (1976). No matter where the group performed, A'smith rocked out in a major way from the stage. Aerosmith live was not a slick sounding production, as the down 'n' dirty group pounded-out raunch 'n' roll ... true grit and stacks of Marshall power, just what the long hair teens throughout America craved. Fronted by screamin' Steven Tyler and the moody Perry, Aerosmith was the stateside version of the Yardbirds during the dazed 'n' confused decade. By '77 the heavy drug use took hold, as Aero went toxic, but continued to bang out hard rock for the Blue Army (Aerosmith's loyal fan base). Don't let anybody fool you ... the seventies marked the prime time era of Aerosmith's hard rock run. Once Aerosmith reunited in 1984, the bad ass onslaught was a distant memory, replaced by a glut of uninspired songs since the mid-'90s, which has tarnished the group's once raw, hard rockin' stance." - JonFox ALL-TIME TOP FIVE: 1) Sweet Emotion (from Toys in the Attic) 2) Dream On (from Aerosmith) 3) Walk This Way (from Toys in the Attic) 4) Back In The Saddle (from Rocks) 5) = Janie's Got A Gun (from Pump) and Nobody's Fault (from Rocks) RECOMMENDED ALBUM: ROCKS "Aerosmith will always hold a very special place in my heart, not just for their music, but because they are the closest to a big time local band for me. Being from New Hampshire, there aren't exactly a thousand bands I can look at as being great local bands. Yeah, New England has given us the likes of Boston, Extreme, Ray Lamontagne and Phish, but that, imo, isn't exactly enough to stand up to other areas in the world. So, to have Aerosmith having members hailing from Massachusetts and New Hampshire makes them very special to me. For one, they are easily the most influential of the five and the most iconic. Their dirty, sleazy, raunchy, raucous hard rock followed closely in the footsteps of The Rolling Stones without coming across as plagiarism, and have helped to set the standard that such acts as Hanoi Rocks, Cinderella, Ratt, Guns N' Roses, Motley Crue, Kix and numerous other hard rock acts lived by, for better or for worse, and that acts such as Buckcherry, Avenged Sevenfold, Crashdiet, Papa Roach and numerous others still live by today, again, for better or for worse. And despite them pulling an REO Speedwagon in the mid-late '80s and selling out by making a watered down, commercialized version of themselves and amassing much more success and then trampling their image and reputation even more and killing nearly all of their credibility by making that abomination of a song in "I Don't Want to Miss a Thing", Aerosmith always will be one of my favorite bands and will always hold a special place in my soul for their early stuff, which will always stand up, no matter how much poseurs like Hinder will attempt to modernize it and shit all over it." - hraorfan "Aerosmith is the epitome of American rock 'n' roll. Their music is greasy in its guitar riffs, arrogant in its rhythm section beats, profane in its vocal delivery and completely decadent in the vision it all represented. But Aerosmith is also the biggest, best and most influential American rock band of all time. Even at their beginnings, when they were labeled as another Stones rip-off, they showed a strong personality and crafted musical gems of their own, such as "Dream On", which holds the title as the first power ballad. They also had in Joe Perry the guitar hero for many '80s renowned guitarists, and Steven Tyler's vocal style was the prototype for hair metal screamers. As their career progressed, they found a middle ground between heavy metal and blues rock, which came to define hard rock, and a new rock institution was born. There was a little Yardbirds and Zeppelin in the recipe, but also solid R&B influences that accentuated their sleaziness yet remained integral to the sound, which was entirely theirs. At their commercial peak, they defined the mid-'70s rock star excesses like no other band, but they balanced it with excellent music until their minds and bodies could no longer handle the drugs and girls. Five years after their apparent break-up, they charged back, cleaned up, with sheer intensity and enough hooks to put The Beatles and Beach Boys to shame, but also with their trademark guitar interplay (the best there is) and the instantly recognizable voice of the perennial Steven Tyler. And they are now even more popular than 30 years ago!!!" - sergegrone "America's premier rock 'n' roll institution, led by charismatic frontman Steve Tyler and the smokin' guitars of Joe Perry, who blazed through the '70s in a alcohol/drug-induced haze, in kickin' company with fine musicianship. The first half of the decade saw release after classic release, peaking with the triple punch of Get Your Wings, Toys in the Attic and Rocks before the excess saw them crash and burn (never released a bad album before the '90s despite that, in my opinion). Their much-heralded return to sobriety and form came in the late '80s with the commercial Permanent Vacation and latter-day classic Pump. Unfortunately, the '90s saw them progressively lose their edge by sacrificing too much integrity in order to sell records and be hip, beginning with a string of soundalike ballads -"Crazyamazincryindon'twannamissathing" - accompanied by teen-themed vidoes and culminating in dreck like Just Push Play, losing much of their hard-earned and re-earned reputation in the process." - fullmetalalchemy (RAG DOLLS: sk8erboss94, JonFox, ivank79, PrisonBound2112, troutmask, CurtisLoew, metalgirl, jshopa, berjo, Soul Man, m0rph3us, MicrophoneFiend, sergegrone, hraorfan, smorton87, JusticeShades, Thrashisawesome, auntler, fullmetalalchemy, bogoslav, GINO29, divided, yeda, warpig01, Drummer1956, Analog Kid, the stig, white lancer, PinkFloyd99, kabouter, Usurping Python, ecjam6, exilion, Halron, Ezreal, Glebe, JICAMARCA, longplayer1966, tmurf, flyers811, elayblooze, TalkBoxist, SvetlanaMonsoon) LINK: POLL #451 (April 2009) |
 | Aesop Rock (as suggested by troutmask) |
 | The Afghan Whigs (as suggested by troutmask) (Poll adjudicator: SvetlanaMonsoon) "If you don't get the Afghan Whigs here's what you do: 1) Go through an emotionally draining breakup 2) Procure a bottle of Whiskey, the cheaper and more rot-gutty the better 3) Listen to Gentlemen and Black Love on a loop while drinking said whiskey 4) Puke and cry. 5) Meet your new favorite band. The younger you do this the more it will stick. But seriously, even without going through all that - and trust me, I don't wish it on anyone - it shouldn't be hard to love them. They're the midpoint between the rawest soul music and alternative rock, with a lead singer who oozes charisma one minute then bares his soul the next without losing his swagger. They were the best live band I never got to witness (god bless YouTube for nuggets like this) and the best interpreters of the Motown back catalogue. They were the best band to ever be associated with SubPop Records. They will never be as popular as they deserve to be, but that's fine by me. They were the best band America gave us in the '90s, and even if no one agrees with that assessment I can't think of another band that affected me the way that Dulli and Co. did. So yeah, I like 'em well enough." - troutmask ALL-TIME TOP FIVE: 1) Debonair (from Gentlemen) 2) Come See About Me (from Uptown Avondale) 3) Gentlemen (from Gentlemen) 4) Be Sweet (from Gentlemen) 5) If I Were Going (from Gentlemen) RECOMMENDED ALBUM: GENTLEMEN "Greg Dulli is one emotional dude, but with his lead the Whigs put out a blend of soul and rock I've never heard duplicated, and did it well. You'll be hard-pressed to find more emotionally charged rock music than this in terms of expressing regret, jealousy, bitterness, and revenge in relationships. And yet, through it all, the music somehow doesn't seem depressing, but rather redemptive and even jubilant at times. From their early alt-rock days to their last dance with the slightly gospel influenced 1965, they ran the entire gamut." - musictoad "Wild-eyed, searing, passionate RnR, the Whigs are love-infected fever dreams and drug-fueled, break-up, flop sweat nightmares. Dulli deserves credit for bringing fantasies to vivid life, and then pulling the curtain back revealing the cold black interior. Sweet soul music with a black-suit/white face bent. P.S.: Gentlemen is an undisputed masterpiece." - RustyJames "I recall listening to the Afghan Whigs waiting for snow to clear on an Ontario runway after a bad break-up, and then the whole miserable flight back to the west coast. Never has the hurt and rage of emotional disconnection been so perfectly articulated as in the lyrics and howl of Greg Dulli and the liquid fire guitar of Rick McCollum. 'This ain't about regret...'." - jshopa (CONGREGATION: musictoad, troutmask, RustyJames, jshopa, theironlung, ivank79, Jupiter82, jefqoi, jfc64) LINK: POLL #575 (October 2009) |
 | AFI (as suggested by Nkkbc) |
 | José Afonso (as suggested by Altair82) |
 | Afrika Bambaataa (as suggested by xowqx) This polled artist did not receive enough sets of votes to be included in the Rough Guide. This artist will be polled again in January 2010. However, if, in the meantime, they garner the requisite five sets of votes, they will be entered onto this list. To add your votes, visit The RYM Rough Guide Cooler, or click the poll link below. LINK: POLL #524 (July 2009) |
 | Agalloch (as suggested by Credn333) |
 | Christina Aguilera (as suggested by Nkkbc) |
 | a-ha (as suggested by kabouter) |