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Anytime I read or talk about Maiden, I have to go listen to some Maiden. This band exemplifies the community behind metal - I've been to so many shows with some crappy band that no one is feeling and then they bust out a Maiden cover. The whole mood changes and EVERYONE gets into it. Gonna go blast some Seventh Son of a Seventh Son now...

You forgot about Ginger Reyes.

Wow, this was a hefty read...and well written. You can't write a Rush article and by skimpy about it. As many people know, you either love this band or you hate them. There is no in between. As someone who owns their entire discography, I will actually weigh in on this one: 1. Moving Pictures 2. 2112 3. A Farewell to Kings 4. Hemispheres 5. Permanent Waves 6. Grace Under Pressure 7. Fly By Night 8. Caress of Steel (criminally underrated and WAY too low in the list) 9. Clockwork Angels 10. Signals 11. Snakes and Arrows 12. Rush 13. Counterparts 14. Vapor Trails 15. Power Windows 16. Presto 17. Roll the Bones 18. Test For Echo 19. Hold Your Fire (this album is seriously boring and no matter how many tries I give it, I REALLY don't like it) I'm indifferent about Feedback, but it's a pretty decent album. I always credit the Smashing Pumpkins with inspiring me to pick up a guitar and Rush with actually teaching me how to play it. Their songs are so damn fun to play and I become a tad proud of myself every time I can play one without a mistake.

I'm excited for this. More than any other SP album, this one shows Billy's talent as a composer. The songs are beautiful. I can understand the initial backlash it had, though...alt rock may have been dead and the band wasn't quiet about moving in another direction but "Eye" and then "Ava Adore" as the first single didn't really capture what the album was about. I'm even more excited that now Billy can finally start putting together Machina the way it was intended.

Geez, can't anyone get the lyrics to "Give It Away" right?

Freaking finally. Ritual Union is probably in my list of top 5 growers. I thought I didn't like it at all but then suddenly found myself playing it over and over. I'm not sure if it 's better than their s/t but it's way better than Machine Dreams.

Either/Or has to be #1 for me. I think the other albums can fall where they may depending on how and when they were approached (they are all good), but I always felt Either/Or was his ultimate statement as an artist. There is a reason the next album was so extravagant. Elliott Smith was done with the introspective stripped down sound because he perfected it and was ready to explore more. His introspective stripped down sound was also his best work...people get into Elliott Smith because his music is so personal and nothing was as personal and accomplished as Either/Or.

It's not just Spotify that is causing this...it's the sheer volume of music that is pushed out today. Any Joe Shmoe can record an album in his room with the right equipment, so there is a lot more to sift through. While that means the top 40 crowd will more easily be lead to what the labels want them to enjoy, it also means that a music lover like myself and many who post here will dive into something with even more enthusiasm. Spotify gives me easy access to the overload of music, so if I don't like something I didn't just waste money or even my time downloading it. Just the time it took to listen to it. That also means when I find something I enjoy, I find that I enjoy it that much more because 1) I really had to search for that great album and 2) I got to sift through so much crappy music that I understand how hard it must be to make something enjoyable. So I may not be enjoying music the same way I did in high school, but I have evolved with the times and appreciate the new way to listen it.

Yeah, that statement is going to have to be about 2000 words longer to compete with the Moz.

Man, I kind of thought everyone was being sarcastic about Yeezus. Then it goes and makes #1 on the site's list and #2 here. I guess everyone actually likes it? I still don't see it. Run the Jewels was much better. Hell, I even enjoyed Trap Lord more. Glad to see my pick made #5, though. A lot of my other favorites made it up there as well.

I've got a lot in this list to listen to, but I thought Cthonic's new album Bu Tik was really damn good...their best since Seediq Bale. Not sure how much love these guys really get in the metal community, but I really love em.

This is a reunion I would pay good money to see. Foxtrot, Selling England By the Pound, and The Lamb Lies Down on Broadway were on heavy rotation during my prog phase and still get regular plays to this day. I'll even give Peter Gabriel a pass on the costumes.

Yeah, I was gonna say...did everyone forget about the new BoC album? I'm glad it was going to get an honorable mention, but I definitely feel it was top 50 material. If The Field made it, I think BoC definitely made it.

Album: My Bloody Valentine - mbv Even if it wasn't good, I would have probably put that just out of loyalty to the band and the fact that it's been over 20 years...but thankfully it was really damn good. Song: Foals - My Number I put Alpine - Hands, but completely forgot about that Foals song. Video - Alpine - Hands Best New Act: Oliver Wilde

The best interviews on Colbert happen when the interviewee doesn't know what he's about and think he's serious. It makes for some great underhanded criticism. Like the Rick Santorum interview the other night...it was a mistake for him to show up but damn it was great to see him squirm a bit. It gets awkward in a slightly painful way when Colbert doesn't really have anything to criticize and is just trying to make some comedy, which is what happened here. Could have been worse, though.

By the end, I forgot he started with complaints about hunting. Gotta love how he always brings it back to some good ol' royals hate.

I've found something to enjoy in nearly every Of Montreal album and moments of genius in nearly every later album, but I've always come back to the Sunlandic Twins. When I listen to something like Skeletal Lamping (also an amazing album, don't get me wrong) I find that my ears are constantly searching for those moments of sheer pop genius that I know Kevin Barnes is capable of. If I had not started off with Sunlandic Twins, I would not have known those moments were possible. I would have just heard a bunch of schizophrenic snippets not culminating in anything. The Sunlandic Twins has helped me appreciate everything else by this band, so it's at the top for me. Contextually, I'm sure having that schizophrenic side in many of his later albums helps me to appreciate the brilliant pop moments all the more, but the fact that Sunlandic Twins is proof he is able to make a great pop album top to bottom makes me wish he wrote that way a little more. Still, I respect how much he experiments. I'd take that over stagnation any day.

Stephanie Dosen sounds nearly identical to Elizabeth Fraser in that song. Still, it's pretty enjoyable. I've always wondered what Simon Raymonde was up to after the Cocteau Twins.

I'm imagining her stumbling across that gesture and thinking, "That's IT...it was all about religion. Boom." I doubt she even knew that hand gesture existed until recently. Otherwise, why not use that excuse right after the incident? Honestly, this is all pretty funny...I even get the impression that MIA thinks it's funny as well.

The Smashing Pumpkins are hands down my favorite band (see my reply above) so I was very excited to see this list. And the writeup is perfect. Ryan nailed everything about this band. For every up and down I had in my younger days, the Smashing Pumpkins had a song for it. I am not about celebrity worship at all, but if I ever met Billy Corgan I would probably shit my pants. I nearly did when I saw them during the Zeitgeist tour...I was up front and screamed at Billy about how much he rocked during a jam session and he put his hands together and bowed at me. The fact that my childhood idol acknowledged my existence really affected me on a way I had never expected. I was simultaneously thrilled and disappointed with myself. But whatever...I'd do it again. As for the ranking...yes, Siamese Dream is their best album, no contest so there are no issues there. I will say that the albums are ranked pretty much exactly how I would expect them to be ranked for your everyday SP fan (it's probably the same ranking I would use if I were going to recommend any of their albums to a friend). That's probably how these rankings should work, but of course everyone who dives into these albums will have a different opinion. My ranking would be: Siamese Dream > Adore > Mellon Collie >MACHINA I/II > Gish > Pisces Iscariot > Oceania > Zeitgeist > Teargarden EPs If TAFH was included it would go between Pisces Iscariot and Oceania. Oceania also impressed me, but I think it could still be better. It gives me hope, but I can almost feel the paranoia that the other members feel when working with Billy...almost as if they are too petrified to play an out of place note for fear that they might get sacked. Mike does a respectable Jimmy impersonation...but it's too mechanical. Jimmy could lay it down and it sounded effortless. After watching "Oceania Live in NYC" and seeing the few moments the other band members were allowed to let loose, I know they all have it in them. I hope they get it out for the next album.