Your top 25 artists/bands/musicians of all time!

[ManBurning]

We talk about music a lot on here, so it got me thinking, what is everyone's top 25 favourite bands of all time?
Try to rank them in order from the best down if possible. It's harder than it seems!

Curious to see what other NIN fans consider their favourite bands, as I know this board has a very diverse group of people on here. I originally started off with 37 bands and managed to narrow it down to these 25.

1. NIN
2. Rammstein
3. Ghost
4. KMFDM
5. Tool
6. Marilyn Manson
7. Rancid
8. Covenant
9. Foo Fighters
10. Imperative Reaction
11. A Perfect Circle
12. Skold
13. The Offspring
14. Trust
15. Smashing Pumpkins
16. Weird Al
17. Tom Petty
18. David Bowie
19. OhGr
20. Sonoio
21. Skinny Puppy
22. Pain
23. Norther
24. Type O Negative
25. Clawfinger

[BRoswell]

This is more than 25, but...

A Perfect Circle
Aphex Twin
Beastie Boys
Black Moth Super Rainbow
Boards Of Canada
Boris
Cocteau Twins
Daft Punk
David Bowie
DJ Shadow
Florence + The Machine
Godspeed You! Black Emperor
Hot Chip
Joy Division
Justice
LCD Soundsystem
Low
M83
My Bloody Valentine
Nine Inch Nails
Nirvana
Pink Floyd
Puscifer
Queens Of The Stone Age
Radiohead
Saul Williams
Sigur Ros
Talking Heads
The Chemical Brothers
The Dead Weather
The White Stripes
Thee Silver Mt. Zion Memorial Orchestra
Tobacco
TV On The Radio
Weird Al Yankovic

[Lerxto]

Top 5:
1. NIN
2. Prince
3. Steven Wilson (under any moniker)
4. Pink Floyd
5. Marillion

Top 10:
6. King Crimson
7. The Smashing Pumpkins
8. Frank Zappa
9. How To Destroy Angels
10. Marilyn Manson

Top 25:
11. A Perfect Circle
12. TR/AR
13. Roger Waters
14. Metallica
15. Rush
16. Lana Del Rey
17. Boom Boom Satellites (if you like NIN definitely check out this band)
18. Swans
19. Klayton
20. Richard D. James
21. Depeche Mode
22. Puscifer
23. David Bowie
24. Jamiroquai
25. Tool

[Vertigo]

Top 5:
NIN / TR / HtDA
The xx
Garbage
Nirvana
Silversun Pickups

Top 10:
Flyleaf
Psapp
Metallica
Marilyn Manson
The Beatles

Top 25:
Rage Against the Machine
Evanescence
Jane's Addiction
Boston
Sonic Youth
Yeah Yeah Yeahs
Dr. Dre
Muse
The Prodigy
Was Not Was
Holly Cole
Eminem
Angelo Badalamenti
Red Hot Chili Peppers
David Byrne / Talking Heads

Didn't think I had 25 favourite artists, but turns out it's pretty tough to narrow them down.

[Space Suicide]

No order

Nine Inch Nails
Marilyn Manson
Queens of the Stone Age
Smashing Pumpkins
David Bowie
Rammstein
Depeche Mode
Skinny Puppy
Behemoth
Six Feet Under
Slayer
Dillinger Escape Plan
Napalm Death
Mastodon
Danzig
Ghost
Deafheaven
White Zombie (tossing in Rob solo to this)
Modwheelmood
Tool
Puscifer
A Perfect Circle
Gorillaz
Iron Maiden
KMFDM

[ChipRock]

01 David Bowie
02 Nine Inch Nails
03 Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds
04 New Order
05 Garbage
06 Mogwai
07 Anthrax
08 Carter The Unstoppable Sex Machine
09 Pop Will Eat Itself
10 Morrissey
11 Siouxsie & The Banshees
12 Skinny Puppy
13 Ministry
14 PJ Harvey
15 Public Enemy
16 The Cure
17 Iron Maiden
18 Gary Numan
19 LCD Soundsystem
20 The Wonder Stuff
21 iamamiwhoami
22 Arab Strap
23 Sparklehorse
24 Adam & The Ants
25 Led Zeppelin

Yeah, this is pretty difficult. I'm hoping it works okay to include Joy Division under New Order, The Smiths under Morrissey and Revolting Cocks (etc) under Ministry.
The artists have been listed basically as I thought of them. Pretty much any from the top half could be my absolute favourite depending on the day and what mood I'm in.
Edit! Ah man, I missed off Curve. Not sure how that happened. I reckon if we made this our favourite 35 I could settle on a decent list without feeling bad about leaving someone off. Oh well - it is what it is.

[hologram parade]

Trent Reznor (NIN, HTDA, TRAR)


Health


Karin Dreijer (The Knife, Fever Ray , Honey Is Cool, Karim & Karam, Europa Europa)


Daniel Rosen (Grizzly Bear, Dept Of Eagles)


Alessandro Cortini (Modwheelmood, Sonoio, Blindoldfreak, Skarn, Slumberman)


Andy Stott (Hate, Millie & Andrea)


Tim Hecker


Liz Harris (Grouper, Raum, Helen, Slow Walkers)


Sharon Van Etten


Andrew Bird


Beck


Beach House


Death Grips


The Dead Weather


Josh Homme (QOTSA, Them Crooked Vultures)


Nicolas Jaar (Darkside, Just Friends)


The Horrors


Julia Holter


Tom Fec (Tobaxxo, Black Moth Super Rainbow)


Crystal Castles

[imail724]

Top

1. NIN
2. Morrissey / The Smiths
3. Queens of the Stone Age
4. Primus
5. Bowie
6. MF DOOM / Viktor Vaughn / Madvillain / King Geedorah / JJ DOOM / Dangerdoom / and so on

Everything else in no particular order

Beastie Boys
Talking Heads
Marilyn Manson
Tool
Smashing Pumpkins
Radiohead
Grateful Dead
The Cure
Depeche Mode
Elton John
Tom Waits
The Knife / Fever Ray
Ministry
Revolting Cocks
Pearl Jam
Eagles of Death Metal
Arctic Monkeys
Prince
Failure

...something like that

[Swykk]

Not in order, really:

01 Nine Inch Nails/How To Destroy Angels
02 The Birthday Massacre
03 Deftones
04 Slowdive
05 Skinny Puppy/ohGr
06 Joy Division/New Order
07 CHVRCHES
08 Duran Duran
09 Electric Six
10 Faith No More
11 David Bowie
12 A Perfect Circle
13 Depeche Mode
14 The Cure
15 Talking Heads
16 M83
17 Run The Jewels
18 Mastodon
19 A Place To Bury Strangers
20 Gary Numan
21 Childish Gambino
22 The Smiths/Morrissey
23 AFI
24 Queen
25 Peter Gabriel

Gets respect for the older stuff but lost some all time love for the newer bad stuff:

Radiohead
Ministry
KMFDM
Marilyn Manson
Placebo
Muse
Tool
Weezer
Wu Tang Clan

[Art Vandelay]

1) David Bowie
2) Nine Inch Nails
3) The Cure
4) The Velvet Underground/Lou Reed
5) Depeche Mode
6) Pink Floyd
7) Iggy Pop
8) The Clash
9) Brian Eno
10) David Byrne/Talking Heads
11) Robert Fripp/King Crimson
12) Peter Gabriel
13) Genesis
14) Joy Division
15) Morrissey/The Smiths
16) Bjork
17) The Rolling Stones
18) Patti Smith
19) Radiohead
20) Led Zeppelin
21) The Doors
22) Siouxsie & The Banshees
23) Prince
24) Roxy Music
25) Cocteau Twins

[eversonpoe]

i would never be able to put these in an actual order, and i'm probably gonna go over 25...

NIN / TRAR / HDTA
king crimson
mastodon
telefon tel aviv / sons of magdalene / the black queen (pretty much anything josh eustis does)
mamiffer / ISIS / old man gloom / sumac (pretty much anything aaron turner does)
COIL
bohren & der club of gore
mike patton (and associated projects)
john zorn (and associated projects)
frank zappa
jimmy eat world
steven wilson / porcupine tree
converge
the cure
dead can dance
deftones
dillinger escape plan
gary numan
john carpenter (with and without alan howarth)
labradford / pan•american
mogwai
mouth of the architect
rosetta
nick cave & the bad seeds
oathbreaker
rachel's / rachel grimes
shadowfax
young widows

honorable mentions (early stuff is great, later stuff is shit)
can
pj harvey
placebo
low

[Shadaloo]

1. NIN
2. The Smashing Pumpkins
3. The Cure
4. David Bowie
5. The Sisters Of Mercy
6. Prince
7. KMFDM (up to roughly 2003)
8. Marilyn Manson
9. Bauhaus
10. Pig/Raymond Watts
11. Alice In Chains
12. Ministry (Up to 2001)
13. White Zombie
14. Type O Negative
15. A Perfect Circle
16. Soundgarden
17. Depeche Mode
18. Gary Numan
19. Siouxie And The Banshees
20. Stone Temple Pilots
21. Skinny Puppy
22. Joy Division
23. Soul Coughing
24. Ozzy Osbourne
25. Rammstein

(Just missing the cut: Megadeth up to United Abominations, Metallica, R.E.M)

[thevoid99]

1. David Bowie
2. NIN
3. Radiohead
4. Joy Division/New Order
5. Pink Floyd
6. The Smiths
7. The Beatles
8. My Bloody Valentine
9. R.E.M.
10. The Rolling Stones
11. The Velvet Underground/Lou Reed
12. The Clash
13. Queens of the Stone Age
14. Yeah Yeah Yeahs
15. King Crimson
16. Elvis Costello
17. the Cure
18. Depeche Mode
19. Roxy Music
20. PJ Harvey
21. Bjork
22. the Ramones
23. Big Star
24. Led Zeppelin
25. Deep Purple

[kel]

1. scritti politti
2. lady gaga
3. arcade fire
4. lcd soundsystem
5. nin
6. janet jackson
7. queens of the stone age
8. scissor sisters
9. slayer
10. britney spears
11. tv on the radio
12. (old) marilyn manson
13. janelle monae
14. earth, wind, and fire
15. peaches
16. hall and oates
17. george michael
18. gossip/beth ditto
19. the faint
20. ladytron
21. depeche mode
22. deerhunter
23. joy division
24. saul williams
25. the beatles

[frankie teardrop]

david bowie
cocteau twins
the chameleons
the cure
nine inch nails
slowdive
smashing pumpkins
wire
and also the trees
scott walker
his name is alive
manic street preachers
cranes
peter gabriel
new order
asylum party
dead can dance
modern english
o.m.d.
the shangri-las
breathless
mccarthy
nick cave & the badseeds
clan of xymox
blur


subject to change at any time.

[dvdglss]

Oceansize
NIN
Smashing Pumpkins
Foo Fighters
Queens of the Stone Age
St. Vincent
Tool
A Perfect Circle
... And You Will Know Us by the Trail of Dead
Abandoned Pools
Failure
King Crimson
Autolux
Chairlift
The Cardigans
Depeche Mode
Filter
Mastodon
Mars Volta
Placebo
Metric
Pretty Girls Make Graves
Punch Brothers
Soundgarden
David Bowie

[piggy]

Only came up with 20...

In order:

R.E.M.
NIN
Pearl Jam
U2
Depeche Mode
Morrissey
The Cure
The Smiths
The Jesus And Mary Chain
Echo And The Bunnymen

In no order:

PJ Harvey
Joy Division
The Church
David Bowie
The The
James
Talking Heads
Mazzy Star
Nick Cave And The Bad Seeds
B.R.M.C. / The National (tied)

[GulDukat]

More than 25, and in no real order:

Alice In Chains
Anthrax
Beatles
Billy Idol
Black Sabbath
Cardigans
The Cult
The Cure
David Bowie
Dean Martin
Deep Purple
The Doors
Elvis Presley
Faith No More
Filter
Frank Sinatra
Garbage
Guns N' Roses
Iron Maiden
Jane's Addiction
The Jesus and Mary Chain
Jimi Hendrix
John Lennon
Judas Priest
KISS
Led Zeppelin
Lou Reed
Love
Mad Season
Marilyn Manson
Mark Lanegan
Metallica
Monkees
Nine Inch Nails
Nirvana
Pearl Jam
Pink Floyd
Screaming Trees
Slayer
Smashing Pumpkins
Soundgarden
Steve Vai
Stone Temple Pilots
Temple of the Dog
Tori Amos
Type O Negative
Van Halen
Velvet Underground

[Blackbookpress1984]

In no particular order & Way less than 25, cause after arouf a dozen, they really don't qualify as favorites any more, just stuff I like a lot.

Counting Crows
Oasis
Offspring
A Day To Remember
Bayside
Much The Same
Maylene & The Sons of Disaster
Punchline
Brand New
Millencolin
Catch 22

[eversonpoe]

In no particular order & Way less than 25, cause after arouf a dozen, they really don't qualify as favorites any more, just stuff I like a lot.

Counting Crows
Oasis
Offspring
A Day To Remember
Bayside
Much The Same
Maylene & The Sons of Disaster
Punchline
Brand New
Millencolin
Catch 22

...nine inch nails?

[acrid avid jam shred]

Nine Inch Nails
Blur
Queens of the Stone Age
Radiohead
Elliott Smith
Soundgarden
Death From Above 1979
Gorillaz
Liars
Depeche Mode
Aphex Twin
HEALTH
Battles
Interpol
Spiritualized
The Mars Volta
Foo Fighters
Deftones
Flying Lotus
Autolux
Beck
Tobacco
Wire
Factory Floor
Boards of Canada

[neorev]

01 The Prodigy
02 The Chemical Brothers
03 Clark (aka Chris Clark)
04 Nine Inch Nails
05 Amon Tobin
06 Nirvana
07 Underworld
08 The Smashing Pumpkins
09 Fluke
10 Meat Beat Manifesto (aka Jack Dangers)
11 Woven
12 Deftones
13 Atari Teenage Riot (aka Alec Empire)
14 Leftfield
15 Orbital
16 Jackson And His Computerband
17 Radiohead / Thom Yorke
18 Portishead
19 Massive Attack
20 Beastie Boys
21 System Of A Down
22 Aereogramme
23 Hansel
24 iamamwhoami
25 Modeselektor / Moderat

No real order to this list. But there are artists who made albums that I absolutely love that would be in my top 25 albums of all time but are not featured in my top 25 artists of all time because they made only an album or two that I love but I didn't really feel or connect with the rest of their body of work. This list is for the aritsts that I love that have been pretty cohesive in greatness over their career.

[Blackbookpress1984]

...nine inch nails?

I thought we weren't counting them / assuming they were included as this is a NIN based forum? :)

[center27j]

NIN
GnR
Manson
Metallica
Slayer
Tool
Pantera
System of a Down
Korn
The Rolling Stones
Mastodon
Pumpkins
Rage Against the Machine
Pink Floyd
A Perfect Circle
311
Slipknot
Lamb of God
The Doors
Meshuggah
Rush
Black Sabbath
Frank Sinatra
Dean Martin
John Carpenter

[r_z]

This is incredibly difficult. Do I pick bands I obsessed over in the past or the ones I currently listen to / like the most?

Also, while compiling this list I noticed I favor the idea of listening to certain artists more than I actually listen to them... if that makes any sense. Like with Burial... I admire the guy, his music certainly is unique, it's dark, melancholic... all the stuff I like about music. But I'm not listening to it THAT much. So I'm tempted to include him here, but then again, I've listened to other artists' music far more often.

Anyway, here is a list of artists whose new releases would excite me or I'd always check for or just blindly buy:

Pearl Jam is a band I once obsessed over in the late 90s, then lost interest in, but returned later again. I return to their albums every once in a while thoughout a year.

Dire Straits were a pop/rock band similar to what acts like The War On Drugs are doing today. I grew up with their music as my dad was a massive fan, so much so that I know almost every lyric to their songs to this day still. I like a few of their earlier albums a big deal. So, seeing their impact on my life as a fan of music, I had to include them here, I guess?

David Bowie's music I love. I admire his audacity and creativity.

Nine Inch Nails, obviously. I kinda turned my back on NIN a bit. Still, Trent had a big impact on me as a listener. Today, I'm mainly in it for the production side of things. The lyrics I grew out of.

It's the same with Tom Waits. I grew up listening to his music. I know it by heart. Listening to it gives me chills of nostalgia and I love it. It somehow doesn't feel like "my" music tho, as I so strongly associate it with my parents and growing up. Weird.

The Cure.

LCD Soundsystem.

Sufjan Stevens.

EL-P.

Aesop Rock.

Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds.

My Bloody Valentine.

The Juan MacLean.

Shabazz Palaces.

Seluah. I'm amazed they're not more popular, especially around shores like these. Their music is just so fucking good and dark. Sadly, lead singer and founder Ed Grimes passed away a few weeks ago. Please check out their music if you haven't already: https://seluah.bandcamp.com/

Autolux.

Rob Sonic.

Deerhunter.

Burial.

Mazzy Star.

The Bug / Kevin Martin.

Four Tet.

The Breeders.

The JSBX.

The Mountain Goats.

[xmd 5a]

Rough order:

Slowdive
Underworld
Depeche Mode
New Order
The Cure
Primal Scream
For Against
Richard D James (Aphex Twin, AFX etc)
Cocteau Twins
Jason Molina (Songs: Ohia)
Bjork
The Church
Bark Psychosis
Sonic Youth
Swans
The Jesus and Mary Chain
Orbital
The Chemical Brothers
My Bloody Valentine
Nick Cave (Bad Seeds, Birthday Party, Boys Next Door)
Throbbing Gristle
Cranes
Low
Unwound
R.E.M. (primarily 1982-1988)

The top half of the list is pretty static, but I could have subbed in a bunch of other favourites for the rest (Spiritualized, Sleater-Kinney, NIN, Autechre, Chameleons, Radiohead, Go-Betweens, Miles Davis...)




Seluah. I'm amazed they're not more popular, especially around shores like these. Their music is just so fucking good and dark. Sadly, lead singer and founder Ed Grimes passed away a few weeks ago. Please check out their music if you haven't already: https://seluah.bandcamp.com/


I had the s/t on repeat for a while after the news broke. Really great stuff.

[tremolo]

In no particular order:

La Maquina de Hacer Pajaros

NIN

My Bloody Valentine

Nirvana

Polar Bear

Charly Garcia

Soda Stereo

Hole

Siam Shade

SADS

Kuroyume

Hide

Kiyoharu

Pizzicato Five

Blur

Pulp

Placebo

Jane's Addiction

Invisible

L'Arc~en~Ciel

Los Tetas

Manu Chao

Sonic Youth

Los Prisioneros

Kazuma Endō

[zaph1000]

Interesting "challenge". This would be my list (in alphabetical order since ranking is not possible):

Laurie Anderson
Atmosphere / Felt
Beck
Beastie Boys
The Beatles
David Bowie
Kate Bush
Depeche Mode
Devo
MF Doom
Peter Gabriel
King Crimson / Robert Fripp
Nine Inch Nails
Pere Ubu
Pink Floyd
Queen
Rammstein
The Residents
The Roots
St Vincent
Talking Heads / David Byrne
Tuxedomoon
Velvet Underground / Lou Reed
Tom Waits
Neil Young