I'm Trying To Pick My Top Ten Music Heroes - But Have Found A Flaw In My 'Plan' -Lol!! (Top 10 Artists)

Member Name: Caveat-Emptor

Product:	Top 10 Artists
Date:	03/08/09 (55 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Their Music Enriches My Life, Touches My Soul And Enables Me To Express Myself!!

Disadvantages: What If The Artists We Put Our Faith In Start Selling Out Or Begin Releasing Rubbish Music?

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My Top 10 Artists
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Introduction
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I tried really hard for the last hour, sat here in front of my keyboard staring at the monitor trying to pick my 10 favourite musical heroes... but I just can't settle on a solid unmoving list, no matter how many times I try...

... and it's finally dawned on me why this is now that I've had time to think about it; it's because in the same way that I want to see a film more than see the actor and read a book more than read about the author... the very thing that draws me to a particular musical artist in the first place is always a song that gets stuck in my head and haunts and hounds me until I go out and buy the track...


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Why This Review Is Actually Impossible For Me
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So to paraphrase an old saying; it's really about the 'song' not the 'singer' ... or to put it another way; we hear a song we love and then we feel more positive towards the person or band etc responsible for the song. Then we check out those artists other songs/ releases and if we love those songs too, we start to feel a real bond with the artist... indeed we start to revere them for their talent, and for the way their music touches/affects us...

When we love enough of an artists songs we'll even anticipate that future single/album releases will be great too (even though we have no proof of this; it's just blind faith that we develop, like some crazed gambler -lol!!) simply because we've built up such a bond with our 'adopted' artist.

...And Hey Presto; we've finally reach the point when an artist has become our musical hero there is absolutely nothing wrong with the above scenario -I've done a gazillion times; It's part of the fun of really engaging with music.


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Hendrix Alive & Rubbish? Err... Neither Actually; But I Needed An Example -lol!
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But imagine if an artist you thought of as one of your all time favourite musical heroes started releasing song after song that was utter crap. For e.g. lets suppose the late great and awesomely talented Jimi Hendrix was still alive today and had given up the guitar in favour of playing the comb and tissue paper kazoo, while collaborating exclusively with the Cheeky Girls, plus all his new songs contained only three notes and were charity records to raise money for the legal costs of Gary Glitter!!(ooh nasty -lol!).

Me thinks that even the most ardent fan would soon be playing 'river frisbee' with their latest Jimi CD's!!!

...In no time at all we'd lose all respect for the mythical later day Mr Hendrix and the pedestal we put him on would crumble to subterranean levels -lol!! We'd still love the 'old' Jimi and his legendary recordings/ performances but we'd have no respect for the 'new' Jimi...

Fortunately, if the great Jimi Hendrix were alive today, he'd never do any of the above things of course... (N.B. - No Jimi's were harmed in the making of this discussion article - and no rubbish CD's were irresponsibly disposed of in rivers -lol!!) ... but I just wanted to show why I found it impossible to make a static list of my top 10 musical heroes, simply because my opinion of them (unless they are deceased and their full body of work already a known quantity) can fluctuate depending on what they do in the future.


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The Thinking Behind My Variation Of The 'Top Ten'
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As I can't (for the reasons above) decide on a 'top ten' of musical heroes that includes any living artists - I've hit upon the novel strategy of listing my favourite 10 artists, based on the fact that they've all got songs that have recently made a huge impression on me, to the point where I feel a real bond and reverence towards the said artist ...

(The songs that inspired my musical heroes list are not necessarily new songs - but they are new to me as I've just either; noticed, discovered or rediscovered them -lol!)


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My Personal Top 10 Musical Heroes (Based On Great Songs I've Recently 'Discovered')
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In no particular order...

1. Del Amitri - Based on their song; 'Driving With The Brakes On'. I love this song -Any album from 'The Waking Hours' onwards is on the whole great!

2. Brett Huckfield - Based on his song; 'Here Again'. This has been an absolute favourite of mine since I stumbled across the track on the radio. Not just one of the best new singer songwriters, but I think he's one of very best musical talents ever!! Every song I've ever heard I love. If I got stranded on a desert island and had only Brett Huckfield's songs loaded onto my MP3 player -I wouldn't mind at all if the rescue plane was a little slow finding me :-)

3. Crowded House - Based On their song; 'Fall At Your Feet'. Beautiful song - Not every song they do is a classic; but many are!!

4. (Early) Suzanne Vega - Based on her song; 'Undertow'. Much of her early songs were fantastic, though a feel than from 'Luka' onwards she sold out and became overly commercial and not so good (like I was saying in my preceding paragraphs -lol!). ut I still popped her in my list because I still keep going back to listen to Vega's early songs...

5. The Beatles - Based on their song - 'Strawberry Fields'. This is the band that defined 'pop' music and push the boundaries/ raise the bar for everyone else. Inspired talent!!

6. Neil Young - Based on his song 'Keep on rocking in the free world' - A stonkingly good track from a wild and gentle soul... Not every track he did is great, but when he's good; he's really good!!

7. Janis Joplin with Big Brother And The Holding Company - Based on their tsong 'Ball And Chain' - Every time I watch the footage of this classic performance at the 1967 Monterey pop festival; I wish I'd been born earlier so I could have gone to the gig -lol!! Obviously Janis is sadly no longer with us - (but I believe most of the band members are).

8. The Searchers - Based on their song 'Take Me For What I'm Worth'. There's a lyrical depth to this song that you just wouldn't expect from a band that started out as a 'Mersey Sound' early 60's Beatles wannabe band... And there are some other real gems to be found amongst their albums; and amazingly they're still together and out there gigging if you ever want to see the songs played live!

9. Pink Floyd -Based on their song 'Comfortably Numb'. There's a strong melancholic power that resonates through Floyd. Though sometimes over theatrical, and guilty of releasing the odd naff album; they are often capable of greatness.

10. Madonna --Based on her song... no just kidding; I think all her music's crap!

And finally;

10. Snow Patrol - based on their song 'Run'. I really like the anthem quality of Snow Patrol's better known songs. Very memorable, and emotive! I have no idea what the songs are about though -lol!



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My Verdict
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Hope my list of top 10 musical heroes inspires you to make a list of your own... I could probably stretch the list of artists up to 200 or more -lol!! But I'm pretty pleased with my selection.

Where would we be with out our musical heroes I don't know -lol!! But remember they're only worthy of our praise for as long as their musical output remains more or less consistently great -lol!!


Best wishes,
Caveat-Emptor

Summary: A Top Ten Of Artists You Believe In Is Wonderful - Just So Long As They Stay Great!!