Over at the Beer Cannes blog, they have compiled a list of the greatest recording artists of all time. Here are my thoughts on their selections.

Hall and Oates- They have an early album "Abandoned Luncheonette" that is underrated and not what you expect from Daryl Hall and John Oates. "She's Gone" was the hit. The album is kind of a cross between AM pop and coffehouse acoustic guitar music.

The Guess Who- It's better to have the courage to be drunken buffoons, than be a drunken buffoon posing as a poet.

The Jesus and Mary Chain- I remember the JAMC. They hit it out of the park early with the 1-2 punch of Psychocandy and Darklands. Two albums couldn't be different but at the same time totally representative of all that is the Jesus and Mary Chain.

The Boss- Where to start? For those of you don't know I had always favored the sensitive singer-songwriter side with the occasional anthem thrown in. Basically the one part of Springsteen I wasn't into was the soul tinged rock side. Troy told me I was wrong and after giving me a copy of Wild, Innocent and the E Street Shuffle, I also agree that I was wrong. The other part of Bruce that I had to warm up to was Clarance Clemons. Yeah, a lot of time Clarance is just standing around, maybe he has a tambourine. But could you imagine Thunder Road without the piano-saxophone coda. Of course, if I would have listened to Bill and Ted, I would know that the Big Man is one of the three most important people in the world. I saw Springsteen and the E Street Band in March. The show was a comeback of sorts for organist Danny Federici. It was his first (and unfortunately last) show back after an illness related hiatus. Danny only played a couple songs. But probably one of the single best moments of the year was seeing him strap on the accordion and the band played 4th of July, Asbury Park (Sandy).

America- A band that I always described as Crosby, Stills and Nash lite. Horse With No Name is exactly that, but the tag is so unfair. Ventura Highway has an emotional resonance that CSN have never been able to achieve. The opening guitar riff to Sister Golden Hair is thought as cheesy to some. I dare anyone to listen to that opening riff and not have it in their head for hours. That's not cheesy, I call that catchy.

Jim Croce- Anybody that has known me for sometime knows that I have a champion of Jim's for years. It seems that since every radio station in town now plays pop/rock from the 70's, he is everywhere again. Back in the early 90's when I would get irritated with people in my car and I would play Jim to piss people off thinking that they would just complain. A couple years later, I went over to a friend's house who originally hated Jim Croce and while snooping through their records, there was Jim's warm smile on the cover of Photographs and Memories to greet me.

M.I.A.- Yes, while watching the Pineapple Express trailer, Paper Planes is the best song in the world. Plus it samples Straight To Hell, which is one of only a handful of Clash songs I like.

ODB- Troy gets all of the credit for introducing the insane genius that was Ol' Dirty Bastard. Wu- Tang is for the children.

Led Zeppelin- The only thing that would make Houses of the Holy a better album would be if it contained Houses of the Holy.

New Order- If you ever want to piss off a room full of Joy Division fans, tell them New Order is a better band. I once did that on accident. I was right.

Stone Roses- I like the Beer Cannes claim that they only made one album.

The Eagles- I hate the fucking Eagles, man. Kind of like preferring Wings to the Beatles. I prefer the solo work to the Eagles. But if you want to hear a Don Henley song done right...


Neil Diamond- Prince before Prince and Neil still writes good songs.

Oasis- The Davies brothers twenty-some years later. Or is that Blur.

and of course, the suspiciously added Manimal.