N&G Greatest Music Artists of All Time

OK - if we still have time, I took a few minutes to take a stab at this.

  1. Neil Young
  2. Pearl Jam
  3. Grateful Dead
  4. Bob Dylan
  5. Beatles
  6. Beastie Boys
  7. Bjork
  8. Aretha Franklin
  9. David Bowie
  10. Drive-By Truckers
  11. King Gizzard & the Lizard Wizard
  12. Lou Reed
  13. Joni Mitchell
  14. Tom Waits
  15. Radiohead
  16. Tom Petty
  17. Flaming Lips
  18. Funkadelic
  19. De La Soul
  20. My Morning Jacket
  21. Fleetwood mac
  22. Brandi Carlile
  23. Arctic Monkeys
  24. Gillian Welch
  25. Al Green
  26. Gorillaz
  27. Social Distortion
  28. J Dilla
  29. A Tribe Called Quest
  30. The Comet Is Coming
  31. Bruce Springsteen
  32. Jason Isbell
  33. The National
  34. Glass Animals
  35. Jenny Lewis
  36. Jesus and Mary Chain
  37. Kamasi Washington
  38. Kathleen Edwards
  39. Stevie Wonder
  40. Nick Cave
  41. Sylvan Esso
  42. Iron & Wine
  43. Peter Gabriel
  44. War on Drugs
  45. Pink Floyd
  46. Madness
  47. Thundercat
  48. Warren Zevon
  49. Oingo Boingo
  50. Public Enemy
 
My belated list:

1. Aretha Franklin
2. The Beach Boys
3. Dinah Washington
4. Radiohead
5. Nat King Cole
6. Creedence Clearwater Revival
7. David Bowie
8. Stevie Wonder
9. Paul Simon
10. The Rolling Stones
11. Whitney Houston
12. Depeche Mode
13. John Coltrane
14. The Beatles
15. Bob Marley
16. Dr. Dre
17. Led Zeppelin
18. Ella Fitzgerald
19. Jefferson Airplane
20. The New Pornographers
21. The Mamas and the Papas
22. Fairport Convention
23. Elvis Presley
24. Sam Cooke
25. Queen
26. Black Sabbath
27. Marvin Gaye
28. The Grateful Dead
29. The Temptations
30. Lauryn Hill
31. Elton John
32. Kendrick Lamar
33. Talking Heads
34. Four Tops
35. Otis Redding
36. Nick Drake
37. Cat Power
38. Missy Elliott
39. Sly & the Family Stone
40. Pixies
41. Dolly Parton
42. Outkast
43. Nick Cave & the Bad Seeds
44. Velvet Underground
45. Bob Dylan
46. Joni Mitchell
47. Ray Charles
48. Blur
49. Fiona Apple
50. Prince
 
It’s a Joe list!

1. Radiohead
2. The Beatles
3. Oasis
4. Bob Dylan
5. Joni Mitchell
6. David Bowie
7. The Smiths
8. Manic Street Preachers
9. The Clash
10. Joy Division
11. Van Morrison
12. The Beach Boys
13. Stevie Wonder
14. Bruce Springsteen
15. Tom Petty
16. Fleetwood Mac
17. PJ Harvey
18. The Kinks
19. Laura Marling
20. Blur
21. Kate Bush
22. Arctic Monkeys
23. At The Drive-In
24. The Coral
25. The Rolling Stones
26. Tom Waits
27. Aretha Franklin
28. Jimi Hendrix
29. Doves
30. Led Zeppelin
31. Marvin Gaye
32. The Jam
33. Idlewild
34. The Stone Roses
35. Bloc Party
36. Björk
37. The Polyphonic Spree
38. Paul Simon
39. Spiritualized
40. Pixies
41. Gorillaz
42. The Pogues
43. Peter Gabriel
44. Neil Young
45. The White Stripes
46. Super Furry Animals
47. The War On Drugs
48. Blondie
49. Massive Attack
50. Prince
 
Ginormousthumbs said:
Does anyone have a metal band on their list that’s not Sabbath?
Click to expand...

Sabbath + NIN (even if it's technically industrial) + Queens of the Stone Age.

Maybe ISIS, Rage, Deafhaven & Deftones but I'm going from a favorites instead of greatest lens.

Also, your post is the furthest Ive gotten but I'm already bracing for disappointment in regards to Kendrick (or Outkast) not landing in the top 50.
 
Last edited:
So I was digging through my digital library seeing what I may have forgotten about now that it's barely used-- and I think Miles Davis just fully clicked for me for the first time ever.

Previously, I loved Kind of Blue but had always leaned more towards Hubbard, Coltraine (both John and Alice) and Hancock. And really, with all jazz it's always been a couple albums here or there that I really vibe with but then struggle to find the right rabbit hole or full discorgaphy.

I also went down like a 4 hour bender of switching back and forth between later-era Deftones and St Vincent which worked a lot better than you'd think. This is a fun project.
 
Last edited:
Initially I was surprised at how few responses this thread was getting. Then I realized how much more work it is to narrow down a list of artists than a list of albums (ala like we did a couple years ago). Anyways, I'm gonna update my list because it's now at a rough 100 with some substantial changes to the top 50.

I'll probably keep tweaking the order but am pretty close on the actual 100 artists. Spent a week sifting through my digital library:


1) Radiohead
2) Kendrick Lamar
3) Pink Floyd
4) Talking Heads
5) Outkast
6) Modest Mouse
7) Nine Inch Nails
8) Can
9) Grimes
10) Nicolas Jaar (+ Darkside, Against All Logic)
11) Van Morrison
12) The Beatles
13) Sonic Youth
14) Damon Albarn (Gorillaz + Blur)
15) David Bowie
16) The Cure
17) LCD Soundsystem
18) Pavement
19) Aesop Rock
20) Led Zeppelin
21) Red Hot Chili Peppers
22) Smashing Pumpkins
23) Queens of the Stone Age (+ Desert Sessions)
24) Tyler the Creator
25) The White Stripes
26) Simon & Garfunkel
27) Black Sabbath
28) Portishead
29) Talk Talk
30) Nirvana
31) Beastie Boys
32) P.O.S. (of Doomtree)
33) Grizzly Bear (+ side projects)
34) Fiona Apple
35) Caribou
36) Atmosphere (+ side projects)
37) Dr. Dre (mostly as a producer)
38) Fugazi
39) Perfume Genius
40) ISIS
41) TV on the Radio
42) Killer Mike
43) Arcade Fire
44) Freddie Hubbard
45) Herbie Hancock
46) Throwing Muses
47) Angel Olsen
48) Lil Simz
49) Blood Orange
50) Cat Power

51) Vince Staples
52) Porcupine Tree
53) Spoon
54) PJ Harvey
55) Danny Brown
56) Songs: Ohia
57) Jimmy Hendrix
58) Cunninlyguists
59) Eminem
60) Deftones
61) Pixies
62) St. Vincent
63) Brockhampton
64) The Roots
65) Crosby Stills and Nash (+ solo)
66) Iggy Pop
67) Deafhaven
68) Patti Smith
69) Alice Coltrane
70) Yeasayer
71) The Fugees
72) Courtney Barnett
73) Idles
74) Nick Drake
75) Infected Mushroom
76) Miles Davis
77) System of a Down
78) Jessie Ware
79) FKA Twigs
80) Earl Sweatshirt
81) Blackstar
82) Air
83) Sbtrkt
84) Menomena
85) Jefferson Airplane
86) Built to Spill
87) Stone Temple Pilots
88) God Speed You Black Emperor
89) Blind Melon
90) Stevie Ray Vaughn
91) Kelly Lee Ownes
92) Yves Tmor
93) Tool
94) 2Pac
95) Joey Bada$$
96) DJ Koze
97) Tim Buckley
98) Dinosaur Jr.
99) Paul Butterfield Blues Band
100) John Coltrane

As noted before:
A) I prioritized discography-- both depth and consistency-- above all else. Granted there are definitely artists within that fell off hard at some point (ala the Chili Peppers or NIN once Reznor started prioritizing Hollywood).
B) This is a list of my favorites. Not what I view as "the greatest". Because the later is an impossible task. Secondary emphasis was placed on immaculate live acts or bands that deeply influenced the trajectory of my taste
C) Weighing older artists (with depth) vs newer artists (with impact) was freaking haaard.
 
Last edited:
1miles davis
2velvet underground
3john coltrane
4curtis mayfield
5nina simone
6prince
7wu-tang clan
8brian eno
9david bowie
10can
11john fahey
12bo diddley
13neil young
14alice coltrane
15the kinks
16charles mingus
17nick drake
18the rolling stones
19caetano veloso
20marvin gaye
21the temptations
22sam cooke
23sonic youth
24scott walker
25bjork
26low
27jorge ben
28the fall
29broadcast
30my bloody valentine
31fela kuti
32cocteau twins
33bert jansch
34dolly mixture
35the clash
36karen dalton
37the byrds
38talking heads
39yellow magic orchestra
40jim o'rourke
41tinariwen
42fugazi
43public enemy
44aretha franklin
45nirvana
46grouper
47siouxsie and the banshees
48sade
49françoise hardy
50beach boys
 
Last edited:
throwingthings said:
1miles davis
2velvet underground
3john coltrane
4curtis mayfield
5nina simone
6prince
7wu-tang clan
8brian eno
9david bowie
10can
11john fahey
12bo diddley
13neil young
14alice coltrane
15the kinks
16charles mingus
17nick drake
18the rolling stones
19caetano veloso
20marvin gaye
21the temptations
22sam cooke
23sonic youth
24scott walker
25bjork
26low
27jorge ben
28the fall
29broadcast
30my bloody valentine
31fela kuti
32cocteau twins
33bert jansch
34dolly mixture
35the clash
36karen dalton
37the byrds
38talking heads
39yellow magic orchestra
40broadcast
41tinariwen
42fugazi
43public enemy
44aretha franklin
45nirvana
46grouper
47siouxsie and the banshees
48sade
49françoise hardy
50beach boys
Click to expand...
You have Broadcast twice (#29 and #40).
 
So many hard exclusions, but I'm just going to stick with this:

50. Rilo Kiley/Jenny Lewis
49. Lupe Fiasco
48. Big Thief/Adrianne Lenker
47. Aesop Rock
46. The Kinks
45. Dinosaur Jr/J Mascis
44. Stevie Wonder
43. Elton John
42. Kendrick Lamar
41. The Beach Boys
40. PJ Harvey
39. First Aid Kit
38. Sonic Youth
37. Toadies
36. The Cure
35. Bob Marley & The Wailers
34. The National
33. Nirvana
32. My Morning Jacket
31. Talking Heads
30. Atmosphere
29. Metallica
28. Tom Waits
27. Elliot Smith
26. The Doors
25. Pearl Jam
24. Local H
23. The Velvet Underground/Lou Reed/Nico
22. Wilco
21. Iron Maiden
20. The Grateful Dead
19. Fiona Apple
18. Eminem
17. The Rolling Stones
16. Jay-Z
15. Weezer
14. Tom Petty/& The Heartbreakers
13. The Chicks
12. Neil Young
11. David Bowie
10. Led Zeppelin
9. Kanye West
8. Van Morrison
7. Bright Eyes/Conor Oberst
6. Aerosmith
5. Outkast
4. Radiohead
3. Bob Dylan
2. Pink Floyd
1. The Beatles/Solos
 
Last edited:
CrazyDiamond84 said:
So many hard exclusions, but I'm just going to stick with this:

50. Rilo Kiley/Jenny Lewis
49. Lupe Fiasco
48. Big Thief/Adrianne Lenker
47. Aesop Rock
46. The Kinks
45. Dinosaur Jr/J Mascis
44. Stevie Wonder
43. Elton John
42. Kendrick Lamar
41. The Beach Boys
40. PJ Harvey
39. First Aid Kit
38. Sonic Youth
37. Toadies
36. The Cure
35. Bob Marley & The Wailers
34. The National
33. Nirvana
32. My Morning Jacket
31. Talking Heads
30. Atmosphere
29. Metallica
28. Tom Waits
27. Elliot Smith
26. The Doors
25. Pearl Jam
24. Local H
23. The Velvet Underground/Lou Reed/Nico
22. Wilco
21. Iron Maiden
20. The Grateful Dead
19. Fiona Apple
18. Eminem
17. The Rolling Stones
16. Jay-Z
15. Weezer
14. Tom Petty/& The Heartbreakers
13. The Chicks
12. Neil Young
11. David Bowie
10. Led Zeppelin
9. Kanye West
8. Van Morrison
7. Bright Eyes/Conor Oberst
6. Aerosmith
5. Outkast
4. Radiohead
3. Bob Dylan
2. Pink Floyd
1. The Beatles/Solos
Click to expand...
Nice list! Lotsa “/“ on there.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top