EWB's Top 99 Artists of 2011

[apsham]

And for the record, I'm not trying to get into the argument that Cloudy is alluding to, just more musing the fact that a guy who put the Barenaked Ladies and Matthew Good on his list is pulling the "your music sucks" card. I'd expect it from a guy who listens to Radiohead or Animal Collective, but not the dude giving the big ups to the "If I Had A Million Dollars" band.

Happy I managed to butthurt you enough to make you go back and look at my list.

[gunnar hendershow]

Damn this board loves itself some Frank Turner.

[GoGo Yubari]

Hooboy.

15. Linkin Park (56 pts, appeared on four ballots) (Last Year: #105)

14. Avenged Sevenfold (56 pts, appeared on six ballots) (Last Year: #36)

12. Eminem (57 pts, appeared on five ballots) (Last Year: #6)

12. The White Stripes (57 pts, appeared on five ballots) (Last Year: #51)

11. Gorillaz (57 pts, appeared on seven ballots) (Last Year: #4)

[gunnar hendershow]

Well at least Eminem used to be good. Stripes and Gorillaz almost make up for it but not quite.

[ChrisSteeleAteMyHamster]

Har har har.

[GoGo Yubari]

Yeah, Linkin Park at #15 is this year's "wait, what, really?" moment for me. Oh well! Onwards to the home stretch.

10. Nine Inch Nails (60 pts, appeared on six ballots) (Last Year: #15)

9. Iron Maiden (60 pts, appeared on six ballots) (Last Year: #22)

8. The Gaslight Anthem (73 pts, appeared on eight ballots) (Last Year: #1)

7. Kanye West (80 pts, appeared on ten ballots) (Last Year: #64)

[gunnar hendershow]

That grouping had a little something for everyone didn't it?

[GoGo Yubari]

6. Radiohead (82 pts, appeared on eight ballots) (Last Year: #17)

5. Foo Fighters (83 pts, appeared on eleven ballots) (Last Year: #29)

4. Biffy Clyro (86 pts, appeared on seven ballots) (Last Year: #37)

[gunnar hendershow]

So that leaves Beatles, Metallica, and who else? Oasis?

[ChrisSteeleAteMyHamster]

Didn't Oasis rock up earlier in the list? In the 70s or something?

Watching a Queens of the Stone Age clip the other day reminded by that Dave Grohl is totally and utterly wasted as a front man when there's only one place he should be.

[New Damage]

I wish I'd heard of Childish Gambino when the voting thread came out.

[LittleDaniel]

I get the appeal of Radiohead though I've never been able to get into them myself, and I've never heard a song from Biffy Clyro, but Foo Fighters are just so darn bland. It's like saying bread is your favorite food.

[GoGo Yubari]

I've grown to appreciate Radiohead in the last year or so after years of being indifferent to them beyond "Karma Police" and "Optimistic." Actually getting The Bends from eMusic helped a lot, that album is fucking awesome.

[Matt]

Didn't Oasis rock up earlier in the list? In the 70s or something?

Watching a Queens of the Stone Age clip the other day reminded by that Dave Grohl is totally and utterly wasted as a front man when there's only one place he should be.

Dave is an awesome front man. He's an awesome drummer too, but he's a brilliant front man. He should just bring his drum kit to the front of the stage and have the guitarists stand at the back, that way he could be a front man drummer.

[gunnar hendershow]

Didn't Oasis rock up earlier in the list? In the 70s or something?

Watching a Queens of the Stone Age clip the other day reminded by that Dave Grohl is totally and utterly wasted as a front man when there's only one place he should be.

You're right, Oasis were down on the list surprisingly. And Nirvana's the other group in the top 3 I'm guessing now. Which means Dave Grohl will have technically made this list at least 3 times.

[GoGo Yubari]

damshow got it.

3. Metallica (92 pts, appeared on seven ballots) (Last Year: #2)

(drumroll please)

2. Nirvana (128 pts, appeared on thirteen ballots) (Last Year: #32)

1. The Beatles (131 pts, appeared on eleven ballots) (Last Year: #3)

I guess it should be noted that under YI's system Nirvana would have won this out of nowhere. Instead, The Beatles win this for the second time ever, and without the 9.9.09 rereleases and Rock Band tie-in to boot. Thanks to everyone for voting; I'd say I'm running this next year but I'm probably not either way (instead, I'm going to do EWB's Favorite Singer III). If YI wants to run it again or someone else wants to do it, by all means go ahead.

[LittleDaniel]

Did Nirvana put out a box set or something this year? Hot damn, jumping from 32 to 2...

They're the only band in this group that I care for. I've tried liking the Beatles, and their music is pleasant enough to listen to when I actually put it on, but there's nothing that brings me back for repeated listens.

[livid]

I really think that the way this list should be presented should be like the Movies and TV lists, with only being able to vote for people that released stuff in that year. There was an okay amount of jumping around but I can't be the only one a bit tired of seeing the same acts at the top of the list year after year, can I?

[GoGo Yubari]

I get the reasoning, but I would honestly not vote on that list. I mean, off the top of my head there's only one album that came out in 2011 that I really love (Join Us by They Might Be Giants) and then my ballot would just be stuff I liked but not THAT much (The Strokes, Fleet Foxes) and stuff I listened to but didn't like but fuck if I can remember ten albums from this year I've listened to (Art Brut).

[livid]

I suppose that could be somewhat of an issue. I just think it's been pretty well established that the majority of EWB enjoys The Beatles, Metallica, etc. and doing a list every year seems to accomplish very little as it's often the same acts.