w00t. Post #100, with a bit of a musical slant.

First of all, kudos to the RIAA for finally waking up after nearly 10 years of idiocy. Let's see if their plans to control America's Internet providers actually come to fruition - as if. Get a new business model, morons.

With that said, I've been spending a lot of time on last.fm and associated sites in the last week, overdosing on my music now that I've managed to fix my system. I never realized how much I missed it! In any case, during my travels, I've found yet another of those silly music surveys - only to me, they're not silly. :p

You must have last.fm for this to work for you. If you don't have it, get it. It's worthy - and as we all know, what I recommend is always worthy. Right? :p

Survey About My Top 15 Last.fm Artists

"Post your top fifteen bands/artists, the first song you heard of theirs, the song that made you fall in love, and your current favorite."

1.) Led Zeppelin
a.) That is very hard to say because I was very, very young when I first heard them, no more than two or three. Honestly, I think it may have been 'Black Dog' but that is seriously no more than a guess.
b.) "The Battle of Evermore" off of IV/Zoso.
c.) I love them all, but "Trampled Under Foot" has gotten a lot of play recently.

2.) Opeth
a.) I first heard of them when I listened to "By The Pain I See In Others", but I'd forgotten about them for a few years until I was reintroduced to them.
b.) "Hours of Wealth" off of Ghost Reveries. The most beautiful song ever.
c.) My current favorite is anything off of Damnation. I love "In My Time of Need" a lot.

3.) Porcupine Tree
a.) I first heard of Porcupine Tree when a very close friend introduced me to them. I think I was started off with "The Start of Something Beautiful".
b.) "A Smart Kid" off of Stupid Dream.
c.) Anything off of Stupid Dream, that's probably my favorite album by them.

4.) Pink Floyd
a.) My first discovery of Pink Floyd was "The Wall", of course. The first song was actually "Young Lust", I thought it was strictly a song about fucking. Which it is, but not quite in the context that I'd believed.
b.) I love all of "The Wall", but recently I've been listening to "Learning to Fly" a lot... I sort of relate to it right now in my life.
c.) I'm trying to revisit "The Wall" again right now. I've not been able to listen to it for a year or more, because it exacerbates my depression... but I've been able to take it in small doses. "Goodbye Blue Sky" is my favorite.. while it's really dark in a lot of ways, the melody is beautiful. And "Wish You Were Here" is always high on my list...

5.) Portishead
a.) I suppose that I've always known about P'head, but subconsciously. One of those things that's so relaxing, you tend to miss it. I didn't really start digging them until a couple of years ago, though.. the first track I heard of theirs was "Sour Times".
b.) "Glory Box" off of Dummy.
c.) "Glory Box" is still my favorite track, always has been, always will be. No one else can cover it better, except maybe for Tina Harrod.

6.) Queens of the Stone Age
a.) I found out about them a few years ago when a friend introduced me to their work, though I'd heard bits here and there on the fringe of consciousness, heh. "No One Knows" was the first exposure I'd had to them.
b.) "Skin on Skin" off of Lullabies to Paralyze. THE perfect song celebrating oral sex. :D
c.) I've not listened to much of their stuff lately - guess I'm not in a mood for stoner rock right now... but the above track stands out sooo much for me. :D :D :D

7.) Depeche Mode
a.) Being an 80s child, I've always known about DM, from the date of inception to now. What was weird is that I absolutely hated them when they were "popular". It took me ten years to find out how good they really were. "People Are People" was the first song I'd heard by them and I think that's what turned me off at first because it's so damned bouncy, unlike most of their later offerings.
b.) "Strangelove" off of Music For The Masses.
c.) This is a very hard one to pick out for a current favorite because my favorite of theirs will depend strictly on my mood. DM is a band that I often listen to when I'm very depressed. "Somebody" is probably the track that I'll identify with the most.

8.) Madonna
a.) Heh... I knew about her the second she was unleashed on the public - that's how big of a debut she had. The first song I heard, like everyone else, was "Holiday", and just like everyone else, I remember that I liked it.
b.) I've always liked her, but I think I started gaining respect for her around the time of "Ray Of Light", off the same-titled album. It was a sign that she was extremely versatile and could literally shed her previous musical skin and reinvent. No matter what one might think of Madonna's musical talents, no one can deny that she has the amazing ability to be just about whatever she wants.
c.) I'm digging "Hung Up". I know, I know, it's a direct rip of an Abba track. But as usual, she's made it hot again. I'm ashamed. -_-

9.) The Beatles
a.) I probably heard the Beatles the second I was born, heh. The first track I remember hearing was "Come Together" off of Abbey Road, though, as AR was my family's favorite.
b.) I was hooked once I heard "Maxwell's Silver Hammer". Literally. Tink-tink!
c.) Hmm, these days I'm not much into their stuff anymore... though "Blackbird" is always sweet and gentle on the ears. I like "Paperback Writer", too.

10.) Duran Duran
a.) This was the band to be "into" in the early 80s, heh. The first thing I heard of theirs was probably their breakout hit, "Hungry Like The Wolf", which I liked back then, not so wild about it now.
b.) I fell in love with them when I heard "Save A Prayer" off of Rio.
c.) Oddly, I'm starting to respect their later offerings much more than I did. "Notorious" is actually quite good!

11.) The Dixie Chicks
a.) First heard of them when I was living in Georgia, of course, since that's all you hear down South is country, most of it bad. But the Dixie Chicks aren't bad for "chick music", heh. Their first song that I'd heard was probably "There's Your Trouble" because it was in some horrid chick movie I got dragged to.
b.) I got hooked when I heard "White Trash Wedding" - it made me laugh so much that I instantly felt my respect-o-meter go up. And when they said they were ashamed to be from the same state as George W. Bush, it shot through the roof. Bless their hearts.
c.) My current favorite is "Truth Number Two". Very twangy and good, a foot tapper.

12.) Amorphis
a.) One of my IRC friends (that I've since lost touch with, unfortunately) introduced me to a song of theirs called "My Kantele", there's two versions of it. I liked the slow one better.
b.) I was hooked on a track called "Black Winter Day", off of Tales of the Thousand Lakes. It's very death-vocals but at the same time the music's not quite as ... dark.
c.) I still like the track above but I'm moving into other selections of theirs now. I particularly like "Silent Waters".

13.) The Commodores
a.) I remember them when I was a child, the monster hit "Brick House" attracted everyone's attention. I was no different, heh.
b.) That's the track that hooked me - "Brick House"! Forget their ballads and the crap of their later years. The funk is where it's at.
c.) I've moved into other funk hits of theirs recently to get some more perspective. "Fancy Dancer" and "Too Hot Ta Trot" are on the favorites list at the present.

14.) The Psychedelic Furs
a.) "Pretty In Pink" was the first exposure that I'd had to the Furs... and the usual reaction happened - everyone loved the movie, so I hated it. But I liked the song. Still do.
b.) "Love My Way" is the one that made me decide they were worth checking out further. I still love it.
c.) "The Ghost In You" is also pretty good, but I still prefer "Love My Way" over the rest of their work.

15.) A Flock of Seagulls
a.) They came out when I was a child, so naturally the first track I noticed was their first hit, "I Ran".
b.) That's what hooked me, the first hit, but they never really did put anything else out that meant anything other than "Wishing".
c.) My current favorite is "D.N.A.", totally instrumental and well, well done for electronica.

Just a side note: this was probably one of the most difficult music-related surveys I've ever done. And it's temporary, as my favorites will change almost constantly... ack!

I was going to link albums to this post, but goddamn if I'm not too tired now, lol.