Who are your all time top ten favorite bands/artists?

[Kurosawa]

First three in order, after that no real order:

1. The Who
2. The Beatles
3. The Beach Boys
Heart
Yes
King Crimson
Elvis
Marvin Gaye
Moody Blues
Deep Purple

I could go on forever listing people I like, though.

[Bison4Life]

John Coltrane
Miles Davis
Parliament/Funkadelic
Earth Wind & Fire
Luther Vandross
The Police/Sting
Erykah Badu
Jill Scott
Michael Jackson
Bob Marley
Burning Spear

[Blue_Beetle]

I'll try to put them in order, should be fun.

1a. Ween
1b. Nirvana
1c. Oasis
4. Bob Dylan
5. The Velvet Underground
6. David Bowie
7. The Beatles
8. The Stooges
9. Tool
10. The Rolling Stones
11. Neil Young (Couldn't leave Neil off)

I'd say the Beach Boys or Daniel Johnston, but as great as their great stuff is, there's some stuff there that isn't on par)

[TheLemsterPju]

10. Willie Nelson
9. Fire Inc. (even if they had only two songs)
8. The Beatles
7. Nox Arcana
6. Stevie Nicks
5. BrunuhVille
4. Xandria
3. Meat Loaf
2. Belinda Carlisle
1. Nightwish

What makes these bands so memorable for me is a sort of an atmosphere that their music creates, whether it be marvelous and enthusiastic (giving the listener a sense of joy), or symphonic and powerful (creating a uncomfortable, yet strangely beautiful feeling). This is what made most music, in my opinion, the best from it's early years to the early 90s. Now-a-days, we get (IMO) processed-garbage that is auto-tuning and rap music. *shudders* It's completely soulless. There ARE still good musicians out there who break the mold and put out some great music like Chad Vangaalan or Foster the People (and some that are on the list). Heck, even Nightwish is still putting out great songs, even with their new lead singer. I believe there's still hope for me in the music world. Hopefully there will be more people who ultimately decide not to make the same freaking song with new beats, and create something unique.

[Rabidwolfdog]

10. Explosions in the Sky
9. Rolling Stones
8. Radiohead
7. Rammstein
6. Black Sabbath
5. Fear Factory
4. Iron Maiden
3. Metallica
2. Rob/White Zombie
1. NIN

[drummernoob1]

In no order:

Blind Guardian
In Flames
Wintersun
Counting Crows
The Royal Concept
Two Door Cinema Club
Rush
Led Zeppelin
Korpiklaani
Iron Maiden

[infinitEEntropy]

In no order:

John Mayer
The Rollingstones
The Black Keys
The White Stripes
Jack White
Circa Survive
Modest Mouse
Radiohead
The Who
Young the Giant

[Cold Water]

Tom Waits-Amazing musician and lyricist

Joanna Newsom-Has anyone EVER used a harp the way she does?

Sufjan Stevens-Fan for a long time, saw him twice in '05, and he's FANTASTIC

David Bowie-LOVE.

Nick Cave-YUM.

Brian Wilson-Smile, alone, is easily one of my most favorite albums EVER.

T Rex-I adore Marc Bolan.

Ella Fitzgerald-my oldest son actually turned me onto her music when he was 6 years old. He named our first dog after her.

E.S.T.-Saw them live in Chicago in '04, and I didn't even know who they were. I was wandering around Chicago with a friend, and we passed a place that had "E.S.T." on a chalkboard outside a little shop. He was a fan because his dad was a fan, so we stopped in and saw them live. Good stuff.

[Chiasm]

In no order:

Within Temptation
Chiasm (Back when I joined the board I thought it would be cool to pick this obscure singer as a username - probably easily the one no one here has heard of - basically she is the female version of Trent Reznor)
Radiohead
Nine Inch Nails
Angels and Airwaves
Pearl Jam
Garbage
Moby
The Cure
Evanescence