DTF's Top 50 Bands/Artists Countdown Thread! (the final list)

[Trav86]

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can't think of a more cringey prog band personally, but to each their own

Just one troll post after another. No need to be a duck. Just move along.

I remember when I was about 13 I would get on some of the early dial up BBS’ and make these kinds of comments.  He will grow up eventually.

I just realized that I called him a duck!

[twosuitsluke]

Yeah it's getting quite annoying, commenting negatively on other people's music tastes.

Yea, they didn't get the message. We don't do.that round here (unless in jest obvs).

[Metro]

Yeah it's getting quite annoying, commenting negatively on other people's music tastes.

Yea, they didn't get the message. We don't do.that round here (unless in jest obvs).

Welcome to the forum!

[TAC]

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can't think of a more cringey prog band personally, but to each their own

Just one troll post after another. No need to be a duck. Just move along.

I remember when I was about 13 I would get on some of the early dial up BBS’ and make these kinds of comments.  He will grow up eventually.

I just realized that I called him a duck!

Well, it does fit the bill.

[Trav86]

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can't think of a more cringey prog band personally, but to each their own

Just one troll post after another. No need to be a duck. Just move along.

I remember when I was about 13 I would get on some of the early dial up BBS’ and make these kinds of comments.  He will grow up eventually.

I just realized that I called him a duck!

Well, it does fit the bill.

[Evermind]

25.
24.
23.
22.
21.
20.
19.
18. Evergrey
17. Katatonia
16. Riverside
15. Helloween
14.
13.
12.
11. Pain of Salvation
10.
9.
8.
7. Nightwish
6.
5.
4.
3.
2.
1. Ayreon

I listened the hell out of Remedy Lane and TPE pt. 1; In the Passing Light of Day and Panther are both excellent, and there are some outstanding tracks on Entropia, Concrete Lake, BE and Road Salts. I probably put the band a little too high when I made my list, but still, I like them a lot.

Weirdly, one time I saw them live for ITPLOD tour I wasn't impressed at all—I think Daniel was sick or something. He didn't look like he wanted to even be there.

[twosuitsluke]

I'm not hugely into Pain of Salvation, but not through want of trying. I really quite enjoy a lot of their albums, and actually spent a lot of 2017 exploring their catalogue. My faves are the expected ones (Remedy Lane, The Perfect Element, BE) but my #1 is In the Passing Light of Day. It's easily my fave and the one that has had the biggest impact on me. I kinda overplayed it as I haven't had the urge to play it for a good while. I'd say they'd land somewhere in my top 100 bands (maybe), and I definitely get why they're here, as there are lots of big fans.



NR:
Miles Davis
Symphony X
Agalloch
King Crimson
Scorpions
Frank Zappa
Evergrey
UFO
Godspeed You! Black Emperor
Nightwish
Katatonia
Helloween
Between the Buried and Me
Anathema
Radiohead
Big Big Train
Peter Gabriel
Riverside
KISS
Ayreon
Spock's Beard
Neal Morse
Pain of Salvation



25. Avenged Sevenfold (Favourite Album: City of Evil. Favourite Song: Cosmic)
24.
23.
22.
21.
20.
19.
18.
17.
16.
15.
14.
13.
12.
11. The Dear Hunter (Favourite Album: Act IV: Rebirth in Reprise. Favourite Song: Home/A Night on the Town)
10.
9. Megadeth (Favourite Album: Rust in Peace. Favourite Song: Washington is Next!)
8.
7.
6.
5.
4.
3.
2.
1.

[nick_z]

Pain of Salvation is my #16

That's one of my top 25 bands I thought would make the DTF top 25 too, but I guess close enough 

If you had asked me around the time Remedy Lane was released, PoS would have likely threatened to make my top 10. Huge fan at the time. As I mentioned a few days ago, One Hour/TPE I/Remedy Lane are easily my top three records from the band, with Remedy Lane having a slight edge over the rest. Entropia is a cool debut, still a little rough around the edges (understandably)

Expectations were sky-high leading up to the release of Be. Unfortunately, despite having some flashes of pure brilliance, that album turned out to be a  disappointment for me. It felt it was a case of Daniel getting carried away a bit. I do occasionally revisit and enjoy it for what it is - more of a theatrical piece, I guess. Believe it or not, I liked Scarsick more. There are moments that didn't age super-well, but it's an album I listened to a ton when it came out.

Then, well, they lost me a bit. Clearly the band (Daniel) changed their style quite drastically, but that wasn't the problem per se. It's just that I don't think they did the vintage 70s stuff particularly well. There's some interesting material on the Road Salt albums, for sure, but I didn't find the same magic (prog or not prog). Maybe I grew a little tired of the whole Gildenlow persona too, I don't know.

The last couple of albums I appreciated more - I know (especially In the Passing...) they have been hyped as a "return to prog", but it's not even that. I just happen to enjoy the songs more. Once again, some things don't work great, and I think they are pretty far from their best (nostalgia factor aside). But they make me think there's still gas in the tank.

Anyway, overall plenty of great music to enjoy from this band.

[Anguyen92]

Yeah it's getting quite annoying, commenting negatively on other people's music tastes.

Especially when this is based on lists from a lot of known posters with a wide variety of music tastes.  That post was not posted in good faith, in my opinion, in correlation to what this thread is about.

[KevShmev]

Yeah it's getting quite annoying, commenting negatively on other people's music tastes.

Especially when this is based on lists from a lot of known posters with a wide variety of music tastes.  That post was not posted in good faith, in my opinion, in correlation to what this thread is about.

It's a tough call.   This is not an appreciation thread or one dedicated to a specific band or album, so any and all opinions about the featured artists should be welcome, but of course reading the room is always a good idea.  I didn't say a word about Kiss when they were featured, as I figured it was best to let those who like them have their go at chatting about them, but that's me.  I suspect there will be plenty of artists still to come in this that I will be able to say a lot about. 

[TheHoveringSojourn808]

i'm sorry for hating on Pain of Salvation, i'll do better in the future my guys.

[TheHoveringSojourn808]

but let's be real that band is not to be taken seriously. a panther in a dogs world?? lmaooo

[TheHoveringSojourn808]

for future reference feel free to tear apart my music taste, i have absolutely no problem with people strongly disagreeing with me. my ego can handle it

[King Puppies and the Acid Guppies]

A few more not rated but still very good bands/artists. Comments below.

NR   Miles Davis (Would probably make my top 100 even though I've only heard less than half of his stuff. Favorite albums are probably In a Silent Way and Get Up With It)
NR   King Crimson (Another that would make my top 100, maybe even top 50. Favorite albums, Red and Discipline)
NR   Avenged Sevenfold (A top 50 band most likely. Favorite albums, City of Evil and The Stage)
NR   Scorpions (A top 100 band. One of my dad's favorite bands. Favorite albums, Taken By Force and Love At First Sting)
NR   Frank Zappa (Kind of the same situation as Miles Davis, except Frank has some stuff that I absolutely don't like, so probably wouldn't be a top 100 artist. Favorite albums, Joe's Garage and Hot Rats)
NR   Evergrey (As I mentioned earlier they have some decent albums and their latest may actually be my favorite, but I still don't like Tom Englund's vocals)
NR   UFO (A band that I haven't listened to enough. I keep intending on doing a deep dive. I do really like the album Walk On Water)
NR   Godspeed You! Black Emperor (A band that had 3 masterpieces to start and on the strength of those would have made my top 50, but everything they've done since has been fairly bland)
NR   Nightwish (A band that I strongly considered for my initial list and might be in my top 50. Favorite albums, Dark Passion Play and Once
NR   Katatonia (A top 100 band easily. Favorite albums, Brave Murder Day and The Fall of Hearts)
NR   Helloween (Another top 100 band even though they have about 7 terrible albums. Favorite albums, Keeper of the Seven Keys (both parts) and Gambling With the Devil)
NR   Radiohead (Wouldn't sniff my top 100, but I do like some of their stuff. I also find a lot of their stuff extremely boring. Favorite albums, OK Computer and In Rainbows)
NR   Big Big Train (A band that keeps rising in my ranks, but is probably still outside of the top 50. Favorite Albums, The Underfall Yard and both parts of English Electric)
NR   Peter Gabriel (Kind of forgot about him, but would still be outside my top 50. Great artist though. Favorite albums, the third self-titled (aka Melt) and So)
NR   Megadeth (My second favorite of the big 4. Don't like all of their albums, but enough to probably land in my top 100. Favorite albums, Rust In Peace and Dystopia)
NR   Kiss (I guess I shouldn't be surprised they are in the collective top 50, but man....they'd probably sit in my bottom 50. Do.Not.Like. I mean, I grew up gaining a love of rock music from Rush, Judas Priest, Iron Maiden, and Def Leppard. Kiss was just boring and toothless in comparison.
NR   Spock's Beard (Easily a top 100 band for me, maybe even top 50. Got into them with Octane, which I still really like. Favorite albums, The Light and Snow)
NR   Neal Morse (I lump Neal Morse Band with solo stuff, but I only listen to NMB. I'm with Jammindude on the solo stuff for the same reasons. Favorite albums, The Similitude of a Dream and The Great Adventure)
NR   Pain of Salvation (Most likely a top 50 band, but they are wildly inconsistent. Everything from Scarsick thru In the Passing Light of Day are not good, but the rest of the albums are anywhere from good to amazing. Favorite albums, BE and Remedy Lane)

44   
43   
42   
41   
40   
39   
38   Ayreon (Another band that I heard first on Progulus back in '03ish. Was a massive favorite for a few years there. Favorite albums, Human Equation and Into the Electric Castle)
37   
36   
35   
34   
33   Riverside (First heard this band on Progulus back around when Out of Myself was released. Were one of those formative gateway modern Prog bands for me. They've kind of fallen down my rankings in recent years. Favorite albums, Anno Domini High Definition and Out of Myself)
32   
31   
30   
29   
28   
27   
26   
25   
24   
23   Symphony X (favorite albums, The Odyssey and Divine Wings of Tragedy)
22   
21   Agalloch (favorite albums, The Mantle and Ashes Against the Grain)
20   
19   
18   
17   
16   The Dear Hunter (Favorite albums, The Color Spectrum and Act IV)
15   
14   
13   
12   
11   
10   
9   
8   Between the Buried and Me (Just an amazing band. I was introduced when Alaska was released, fell in love when Colors was released, became an all time great with The Great Misdirect. Favorite albums, The Great Misdirect and The Parallax: Hypersleep Dialogues)
7   
6   Anathema (From depressive doom, to amazing depressive rock, to uplifting beautiful atmospheric rock. Amazing band with a ton of feel. Favorite albums, Weather Systems and Alternative 4)
5   
4   
3   
2   
1   

[PMSummer]

#8 for me. I've been a fan for years, and their albums 'Remedy Lane' and 'The Perfect Element' are absolute masterpieces in my book. The way they blend progressive metal with deep, emotional lyrics just hits me right in the feels. The later albums can be a bit hit or miss for me.

25.
24.
23.
22.
21.
20.
19.
18.
17.
16.
15.
14. GY!BE
13. Anathema
12.
11.
10.
9.
8. Pain of Salvation
7.
6.
5.
4.
3.
2.
1.Radiohead

[jammindude]

but let's be real that band is not to be taken seriously. a panther in a dogs world?? lmaooo

If you’ve never heard The Perfect Element or Remedy Lane, then your opinion is insignificant inconsequential anyway.

[TheHoveringSojourn808]

but let's be real that band is not to be taken seriously. a panther in a dogs world?? lmaooo

If you’ve never heard The Perfect Element or Remedy Lane, then your opinion is insignificant anyway.

i've tried both many, many times. trust me this is not due to me not knowing their music

[lonestar]

Your problem lies in how you're hating on them...It's a matter of 'they suck' vs 'I don't like them'...one of these options doesn't put down another's opinion. Remember, almost every band is everything to someone, just respect that.

[Trav86]

I already have my own kids, I don’t want to come in here and deal with people acting like kids too.

[wolfking]

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can't think of a more cringey prog band personally, but to each their own

And you wonder why I have a crack at you in every thread you post in?

[wolfking]

POS probably makes my top 30.  But thinking about and since I did my list in 5 minutes, they would probably easily take a spot of many of the bands on my list.

[Dave_Manchester]

As far as I know I've heard one Pain of Salvation song in my life. Someone mentioned their song King of Loss years ago in a thread about great guitar solos so I checked it out (it was indeed great, but even greater was the section leading into the solo which was a literal goosebumps moment). They're another band I keep meaning to check out.

Going back a bit, neither Neal Morse nor Spocks Beard made my list, though I do like a lot of what Neal Morse has done. Sola Scriptura, Testimony 2 (his best in my opinion) and Momentum are great albums. Given how much material he puts out he's amazingly consistent.

[devieira73]

PoS (my #24) has great consistency in their albums. Sure they evolved into something very different from the first 5 albums, but the quality was always high (including Scarsick and Road Salts IMO). But I must say that their beginnings are still my favorite era and Entropia, Perfect Element Pt. 1 and Remedy Lane are all incredible and perfect albums.

[wolfking]

PoS (my #24) has great consistency in their albums. Sure they evolved into something very different from the first 5 albums, but the quality was always high (including Scarsick and Road Salts IMO). But I must say that their beginnings are still my favorite era and Entropia, Perfect Element Pt. 1 and Remedy Lane are all incredible and perfect albums.

Scarsick cracked my top 50.  Just something about the whole album clicked with me.  So random, so unique, so much variety where nothing was off limits.

[LithoJazzoSphere]

I was really into their first few albums for awhile.  Somewhere between Be and Scarsick they lost the spark for me, and I've never really gotten back to them since then.  I listened to Panther when it came out, hoping it would rekindle something, and it was decent enough, but I wasn't moved to binge on them again.  I probably just need to rerun through the early albums again and remind myself why I did quite like them for awhile.

[devieira73]

PoS (my #24) has great consistency in their albums. Sure they evolved into something very different from the first 5 albums, but the quality was always high (including Scarsick and Road Salts IMO). But I must say that their beginnings are still my favorite era and Entropia, Perfect Element Pt. 1 and Remedy Lane are all incredible and perfect albums.

Scarsick cracked my top 50.  Just something about the whole album clicked with me.  So random, so unique, so much variety where nothing was off limits.

I also think it's a really cool album. People gave the "alternative rock" tag to it, but it has much more depth and diversity than that. But it isn't a prog metal album.

[nick_z]

PoS (my #24) has great consistency in their albums. Sure they evolved into something very different from the first 5 albums, but the quality was always high (including Scarsick and Road Salts IMO). But I must say that their beginnings are still my favorite era and Entropia, Perfect Element Pt. 1 and Remedy Lane are all incredible and perfect albums.

Scarsick cracked my top 50.  Just something about the whole album clicked with me.  So random, so unique, so much variety where nothing was off limits.

Agreed. It's a pretty great album. Very much "PoS", but also a (mostly) successful attempt at moving in different directions.

[SomeoneLikeHim]

25. Between the Buried and Me
20. Avenged Sevenfold
17. Spocks Beard
14. Ayreon
9. The Dear Hunter
8. Big Big Train
6. Pain of Salvation
4. Neal Morse

Catching up, two big days for my list!

Neal Morse might be my favorite individual musician of all time. Yes, his album are not the most varied in style and the lyrics range from slightly to very preachy but I honestly don't mind at all. What he does he does really well and even as a firm atheist I just enjoy the authenticity of Neals music. He's singing about something that he truly believes in and really cares about, to me that's touching. And nobody does the big climactic prog climax better than Neal. I did include NMB in this ranking even though I separated SW and PT, it's just what made sense to me.

Spocks Beard earns it's place mainly on the merits of the Neal era. V and Snow in particular are big favorites of mine.

Absolutely love Pain of Salvation. I can honestly understand someone would deem the "cringe" but to me there is just a lot of raw emotion in their music. I agree that the first five albums are the strongest, a really impressive run to be sure. BE is probably my favorite.

That's a decent chunk of my top 10 accounted for. I'm starting to give up regarding my #2 but I think the rest will make it. Looking forward to seeing the real top 25 unroll!

[wolfking]

PoS (my #24) has great consistency in their albums. Sure they evolved into something very different from the first 5 albums, but the quality was always high (including Scarsick and Road Salts IMO). But I must say that their beginnings are still my favorite era and Entropia, Perfect Element Pt. 1 and Remedy Lane are all incredible and perfect albums.

Scarsick cracked my top 50.  Just something about the whole album clicked with me.  So random, so unique, so much variety where nothing was off limits.

I also think it's a really cool album. People gave the "alternative rock" tag to it, but it has much more depth and diversity than that. But it isn't a prog metal album.

PoS (my #24) has great consistency in their albums. Sure they evolved into something very different from the first 5 albums, but the quality was always high (including Scarsick and Road Salts IMO). But I must say that their beginnings are still my favorite era and Entropia, Perfect Element Pt. 1 and Remedy Lane are all incredible and perfect albums.

Scarsick cracked my top 50.  Just something about the whole album clicked with me.  So random, so unique, so much variety where nothing was off limits.

Agreed. It's a pretty great album. Very much "PoS", but also a (mostly) successful attempt at moving in different directions.

Nice lads.  Probably discovering the band around after Scarsick came out helps.  Knowing the band early with the classics and hearing Scarsick in real time I could understand why fans would be disappointed with it.

[ReaperKK]

And we enter the top 25.....

25. Devin Townsend
Rate Your Music Profile!
Spotify Profile
Monthly Spotify Streams: 156,386
Highest Finish: 1 (Metropolaris, Buddyhunter1)
Number of top 10 finishes: 5
Number of Lists appeared on: 6 (Metropolaris, twosuitsluke, King Puppies and the Acid Guppies, Buddyhunter1, Pappy, Fonize)

I really like some of Devin's output, Terria, Ghost, and Addicted! are great records. With that said most of his stuff simply doesn't resonate with me.

[Sacul]

Huh, I didn't have Devin on my list but I'd have assumed he'd be way higher on the overall ranking. Great artist tho, even if I don't love everything he's done.

[Evermind]

Nothing but my utmost respect for Devin. He didn't make my list but I enjoy some of his stuff. Saw him live for Transcendence tour and got the CD signed after the show. Good start for the Top 25.

[KevShmev]

Devin would have ranked 7th on my list.  Even with it being close to a decade now since he wowed me with a studio album, he's still an all-time favorite for me, which still throws me a bit since I am more of a rock guy than a metal one.

[Metro]

Who?




Glad to see him in the top 25. There’s nothing more I can say about Dev that I didn’t say in my discography thread. He’s my #1.

[jingle.boy]

Nothing but my utmost respect for Devin. He didn't make my list but I enjoy some of his stuff. Saw him live for Transcendence tour and got the CD signed after the show. Good start for the Top 25.

Agreed.  I've got 4-5 of his albums, thanks to following along in the discography discussion for him.  Some of his stuff is way out there, but some is really good.  The wall-of-sound style does get tiresome, and I can only take his music in short bursts.

My fave story with Heavy Devy was on night one of ProgNation at sea (fuck it's coming up on 10 years since that happened!).  Well, his show is on the main deck, so the sound check is open for everyone to witness.  At one point he says "This is going to be the most prog fucking soundcheck ever .... FLUTES, motherfuckers!!!".      Also, his rendition of Burning My Soul during the closing PSMS and Friends set was fucking glorious.

Impressive he only had 6 people vote for him (curious to know if these voters lumped in DTP, or regarded both in their rating?), and 5 were Top 10.