Top ten artists according to Last.FM(Wait, there's more :3)

[LCK]

If you don't have Last.Fm, you're top ten artists in general.
List off your top ten artists and tell how you came upon their material, your first impression of them, what you think of them now, etc.

1.) Opeth -- After hearing countless things about them from Reaper, Steal, and Thief, I couldn't pass up checking this band out. I initially downloaded a few songs off Frostwire and thought their shit was amazing, and I praised them for weeks afterward. I now own four of their albums and still love their music. I really need to be in a certain mood to listen to them, though.

2.) Porcupine Tree -- I had also heard a lot from members on this forum, and a few things from a couple classmates. I went to Best Buy one day, bought Deadwing, and initially thought it was kind of boring. This point in time I was concerned with finding nothing but "heavy metal lol".
After a few more listens, though, I came to love it. I own multiple albums and still listen to them on a regular basis. I'd like to get all of their works.

3.)Atmosphere -- How I came about Atmosphere is kind of awkward. My best friend's step-dad bought a car from some guy as a project car. His step-dad let us use the car occasionally and we found a mix-tape with the song "Guns and Cigarettes" on it. We had no idea what the song was, but it was instant love.
Since then I love Atmosphere and they've rebirthed my love for any type of rap or hip-hop.

4.)Dream Theater -- My friend's step-dad recommended them to me, I also heard quite a bit about them here. I don't recall the first song I heard from them, but I remember Pull Me Under became a favorite of mine. I would listen to it every day while walking to school.
I listen to them very little lately, though. I should probably get some more of their material, I've only got three albums.

5.) 3 -- After hearing about the Progressive Nations Tour I decided to check them out. It took some time for me to get accustomed to their style, but I love listening to them while driving. It's just calming, I guess.

6.) The Misfits -- My friend had been obsessed with the Misfits since as long as I can remember. I didn't really begin listening to them until I threw a New Years party that had the Misfits playing all night long. It was a fun night, and I grew to love Danzig.

7.) Trivium -- This was one of my absolute favorite bands. My sister's ex-boyfriend, whom I was very close with, got me into Trivium. I own every album and still love listening to them on occasion.

8.) Sage Francis -- An amazing recommendation from a red-headed friend of mine. I couldn't stick to just Atmosphere, now could I?
Human The Death Dance is easily my favorite album. I still listen to it on a regular basis.

9.) The Mountain Goats -- I remember JMV and a few others discussing them in the "Post your library" thread, or something similar to that, and the name intrigued me. I looked them up on Last.FM and proceeded to download a couple albums. I love the different sound. They dominated my charts for about a week. I got tired of them after a while. Then loved them again. Then got tired. Then loved them, etc.
I have to be in the right mood to listen to them, but it's great music.

10.)Children of Bodom -- Curiosity, I guess. Reaper's screenname, along with Steal discussing them from time to time led me to check them out. One of the first songs I heard was Needled 24/7, and I thought I was such a badass for listening to them
Once I saw them live at Gigantour I was hooked.

lets go guys

[thezerofire]

The Faint
Does It Offend You, Yeah?
Hard-Fi
Kaiser Chiefs
Beck
Bright Eyes
The Beatles
Led Zepplin
Daft Punk
Death Cab

[Skylark]

Joanna Newsom I don't really remember my first impression of her but I know I really enjoyed Milk Eyed Mender and then I got YS and was blown away. Favorite.
Elliott Smith A pal gave me XO and I got really into it and then went about getting his entire discography and I love him.
Neutral Milk Hotel My first impression was something like really enjoying them, but I don't remember exactly.
Paul Baribeau This boy made me a mix CD and it had Paul's "Strawberry" on it and I thought it was adorable and I bought his self-titled album of off Plan-It-X and listened to it pretty much constantly and then saw him live a few times. He's always a favorite.
Cocorosie I just decided to download them one day and Noah's Ark was the first album I downloaded and I enjoyed "Armageddon" and "Noah's Ark" but didn't really dig the rest but then I listened to it more intently and I thought it was all great so I downloaded their other two albums.
Joy Division I was really young when I first listened to Joy Divison. My nanny was really into them and played them a lot on the way to and from school and it's just something that I grew with.
Madeline Adams I looked her up in 2004 because she was friends with Whispertown2000 or something like that and then I saw her play live in August (of 2004) and thought she was the most beautiful creature ever and her music is so amazing.
Animal Collective I traded Nana Grizol's Love It Love It for Strawberry Jam and I liked it.
Vashti Bunyan The first time I listened to her I really loved her and for a while I was really obsessed with Just Another Diamond Day which is still one of my favorite albums. Easily.
Sufjan Stevens I first listened to him with my friend Dorothy and then I got Illinoise and thought it was great.

[Daddy]

I'll take my top 10 from the last 12 months as opposed to overall.

1)CunninLynguists: I was searching for tracks by Immortal Technique, and he was featured on "Never Know Why" so I downloaded A Piece of Strange to listen to it.  I thought Deacon's voice was a bit odd, but it was still good. Don't find the voice odd now, and they are one of my top 10 artists.

2)Eminem: 1999, "My Name Is" was one of his first singles on the radio.  I thought the song was silly.  Still one of my top 10 favorite rappers, and I wish that he'd continue to put stuff out like "The Way I Am", "'Till I Collapse", "Stan", and such. Not shit like "Just Lose It" or "Ass Like That"

3)Nas: Middle of elementary school It Was Written came out. I was like 8 so yeah, kind of mixed there. Listened again in middle school and liked it.

4)Immortal Technique: Suggested by a friend. Liked it then. Like it now

5)Goldfrapp: FELT WOULDN'T SHUT UP ABOUT GOLDFRAPP. Because it annoyed me I refused to listen to it until Clucky was like lol get seventh tree and i was like lol ok and liked it. 

6)Jedi Mind Tricks: I forget how I found them. Didn't really like Vinnie's voice at first, but then started listening to some older stuff and liked it, and the others grew on me, though the last few are nothing compared to the first 2.

7)Public Enemy: It's fucking Public Enemy. Back in elementary school.

8)Aesop Rock: Suggested by a friend, never got around to listening to him. Suggested by someone on Last.FM and enjoyed it. Like him still.

9)Lupe Fiasco: Heard his first album sometime during high school and enjoyed it. 

10)Sage Francis: Suggested by someone in the hip-hop discussion thread at NSider.  Though he was a cool dude, liked it, and downloaded more.

[russell]

My Last.fm usership lapsed months ago, so here's my top 10 from the past year or so, without order:

The Mars Volta / Omar Rodriguez - They, and mostly Omar, will always be my favorite musicians, probably... I don't actually remember how I first listened to them, might have been a recommendation from someone on NSider, actually. I heard De-Loused first and was hooked. Omar's recent solo albums (Calibration and Old Money) are among my favorite instrumental albums ever, and there hasn't been a TMV album yet that I haven't had on repeat for weeks.

The Plastic Constellations - Another old-time, all-time favorite. They were a Minneapolis band that I heard because I had some friends in local bands who were performing around town, and at some point someone played TPC or maybe I saw them open for someone. Their album Crusades is a masterpiece of rockin rock, and their official dispersal last year was probably one of the biggest disappointments ever.

Aneuretical - Another local band who I found through similar means. I used to listen to them a lot more than I do now, but their album When You Were A Kid is a weird and perfect mix of indie and hardcore and will always be a favorite of mine.

Beirut - Recommendation of a friend some time ago. I love all of his albums dearly for their beautiful melodies and singing.

Fleet Foxes - The only thing on this list more recent than a year ago. It was one of those bands I'd always just been too lazy to properly listen to, but always heard on the radio... so I finally got their self-titled, and was amazed. Like Beirut, it's extremely unique and beautiful indie, and I don't think I'll stop listening any time soon. "Blue Ridge Mountains" is probably in my top 3 all-time favorite songs.

Murder By Death - Recommendation by Shadow1000 of NSider, I believe, years ago... I'm glad I checked them out, because they've been atop my favorites list since.

Weezer - I think they solidified their position as my #1 favorite when I was in 7th grade, when a friend gave me a mix CD featuring them... I don't even like all of their albums, or think they actually make better music than most of the names on this list. I just love them and their older albums will always be my favorites.

Andrew Bird - I think I picked up Armchair Apocrypha when it was getting a lot of positive press in the indie world, and loved it... then I got all of his other stuff, including some amazing solo violin work and swing albums, and I love all of them.

[Daddy]

That is 8, snorkel.

[Geno]

1. Metallica
2. Megadeth
3. Children of Bodom
4. AC/DC
5. Lamb of God
6. Axe
7. Green Day (90s!)
8. Dethklok
9. Tool
10. Linkin Park

[russell]

That is 8, snorkel.

yeah after that it gets really hard, I'd have to do like 10 more or it would be unjust.

[Daddy]

1. Metallica
2. Megadeth
3. Children of Bodom
4. AC/DC
5. Lamb of God
6. Axe
7. Green Day (90s!)
8. Dethklok
9. Tool
10. Linkin Park

Please, please, PLEASE tell me this list is a joke.

well some of it like megadeth is good but lol linkin park and ac/dc

[Geno]

Please, please, PLEASE tell me this list is a joke.

well some of it like megadeth is good but lol linkin park and ac/dc

The first five were serious
but then I just started randomly listing bands I liked 

[famy]

1) Prince - um mommy was a prince fan so that got me into his music a little bit but i went beyond that and became obsessed with him

2) Nas - I don't even know how I first got into his music. It was Illmatic, how could I not?
      
3) Kanye West - I tried for as long as I could to not like him but that didn't work. Sometime after Late Registration I finally just started listening. :0(
      
4) Ghostface - um wu-tang |:
      
5) Wu-Tang Clan - i wanted to be a ninja and a rapper when i was little
      
6) Oasis - Stevie forced me to listen to them.
      
7) Method Man - um wu-tang clan
      
8) Run-D.M.C. -  i remember back in my day when it was all about rocking those shell toed kicks laces removed and fedoras and just being fly like that
      
9) RZA - afro samurai soundtrack actually
          
10) De La Soul - keepin' the faith

my lists would be different now ;0(
   

[Samus Aran]

1.) Led Zeppelin: My favorite band since I was about 15. At that point I was just starting to gain a real interest in rock music, sorta spurred on by the fact that my friends all talked about music so damn much. Led Zeppelin, to me, was one of those "must-have" bands if I was going to start liking the same music they did, because they were all big fans. I went on Limewire (lol) and downloaded "Kashmir." I hated it. I completely forgot about the band for a while but then I gave them another try and found "Stairway to Heaven," and as you can imagine, I loved it. I then asked for Led Zeppelin IV as a gift and got it that Christmas, and fell in love with it. Then I bought Houses of the Holy, and loved that even more. And then I quickly gathered up everything else. I'm still a gigantic Zepp fan and listen to them very frequently.

2.) The Beatles: The Doors used to be #2, but not anymore...not by a longshot. I didn't like The Beatles much for a long time, and I tried them at about the same time as Led Zepp. I found mild amusement in "Revolution" and "Helter Skelter," but not much else. Then that year in San Francisco I just randomly decided to buy their Beatles 1 compilation, and slowly came to fall in love with it. Then I started gathering their later albums, starting with Revolver. I'm still not even close to owning all of their studio albums. Generally whenever I listen to these guys I listen to a whole album or two, which is probably one reason they go up so rapidly on last.fm.

3.) The Doors: My love for this band is due to my mom. She used to put them and The Eagles on frequently when I was a little kid. To this day I have fond memories of dancing to "Touch Me" and "Break on Through (to the Other Side)." My interest rekindled about the same time as the above two bands, except I immediately started loving these guys, probably due to those memories. I have a personal tradition of listening to "Riders on the Storm" every time I'm driving in the rain.

4.) Pink Floyd: It took me a long time to warm up to Pink Floyd. The first song I tried by them was "Mother" and I thought it was awful. It required getting The Wall and listening to it several times to really develop a taste for Pink Floyd. I'm still an avid defender of Animals being their best.

5.) David Bowie: This was our very own Andrew's suggestion. He told me to get Low first. Looking back on it, if I had done that, I probably would have hated Bowie, because although Low is really good, it's definitely not a starting point. Too weird for Bowie newbies. I got both Ziggy and Hunky Dory at the same time to start with.

6.) Blue Oyster Cult: I'm not entirely sure how these guys got so high, because I only have two of their studio albums and I honestly don't listen to them nearly as much as I used to. But regardless, I still think they kick ass. I consider Secret Treaties their best album.

7.) Oasis: Suggested by Link2k9 (Morning_Glory) back on Nsider. Despite how disgustingly single-minded and simple their music can be, I still love so much of it. Songs like "Live Forever" are genuinely infectious. Even if Oasis has about as much creativity and diversity as a rock, they still put out one hell of a catchy hook.

8.) Radiohead: One day Steal told me to listen to "Street Spirit (Fade Out)." I thought it was pretty damn cool. That was all it really took for me to buy OK Computer out of curiosity. Holy damn I fell in love with that album fast. All I have is OK Computer and Kid A currently, but I listen to them so frequently that they're often overtaking Oasis on my list.

9.) Van Halen: Uh...well, I used to listen to them a lot. To be honest I hardly ever listen to these guys anymore, and when I do it's usually only 2 or 3 songs. The last time I bought an album by them it was Women and Children First, which is a terrible album, and it disappointed me terribly. But regardless, their Roth-era stuff is mostly good, simple, party-hard fun. Most if it may be completely retarded, but Roth somehow saves it most of the time by making it retarded yet funny.

10.) Bob Dylan: I used to hate Bob Dylan so much. I hated his voice, I hated his boring strumming...ugh. But not anymore. I actually love his voice these days. Dylan rose up my charts pretty fast once I started actually buying albums by him instead of listening to random tracks. I still can't decide which album of his I like the most...Blonde on Blonde, Bringing it All Back Home, or Highway 61 Revisited?

[sans culottes]

When I began using Last.Fm, I didn't have a lot of artists on iTunes, mainly just the ones I was really into at the time.

1) Guns N' Roses - Came across GNR when I was about thirteen, the age of which I began taking interest in rock music. I've worn out all of their early material by now. Talk to me two years ago and I'm totally in love with Appetite For Destruction. Aside from all but one of the original members being a douchebag, they made great music. Chinese Democracy turned out to be a great album, and Asshole Rose proves that he's a good songwriter.
2) Van Halen - This is another band I came across when I was around thirteen. Van Halen is a fun band. Van Halen never tried to be anything beyond playing rock n' roll, banging groupies, and getting rich. It worked well. Late in '07 I had a big resurgence of listening to VH and the concert I saw a year ago was fucking awesome.
3) Led Zeppelin - Also one of the first bands I got into. I don't need to talk much because everyone either loves Led Zeppelin or is too cool to love Led Zeppelin.
4) The Rolling Stones - I've been familiar with their classics listening to my parents' radio in the car at a young age. I, however, go beyond buying Forty Licks and a tee shirt. They have variety, and they do all styles very well, from R&B like Heart of Stone to funky disco like Emotional Rescue, as well as the obvious rock and blues.
5) Soundgarden - When I took a dive into grunge two years ago, this band didn't initially sink in well. I found that I'm not so much of a Badmotorfinger person, but instead I like all of their music. Screaming Life/Fopp and Ultramega OK are two overlooked and superfun albums.
6) The Beatles - Everyone born since the 60's heard a Beatles song the day he was born. It's an inate taste for most people. But now honestly, I didn't really care much about the Beatles at first, a little pissed off at the fact that they're treated like gods. The White Album got me interested in them by showing me their music that wasn't just mop-top pop. Now, I like the mop-top pop, too.
7) AC/DC - Started with AC/DC when I started with rock n' roll. I go on and off with AC/DC, almost always preferring Bon Scott. Sometimes I'll be listening to them over and over, otherwise I'm not at all.
8) Creedence Clearwater Revival - This is another band I've heard throughout my whole life, though that was mainly hits like Proud Mary. About a year or two ago I got really into CCR and they're now easily one of my top five bands. Gotta love a band that can turn an R&B standard into an eleven minute jam.
9) Cream - Took interest in summer '07. It was around then that I began to appreciate the blues more (mainly blues rock). Cream is definitely a good band for a Hendrix fan looking for something else. Cream invented the power trio and all three members were musical virtuosos. They overdid it sometimes, though.
10) The Kinks - Started really liking the Kinks a year ago. The fusion of 60's pop rock, observational and witty lyrics, and an indie attitude is pretty BA.

[superclucky]

I'm gonna list my favorite artists in the past 3 months.
   
1. Ladytron--
Hmm, I think I've started to listen to them about 1-2 years ago along with Goldfrapp. They were grouped together by recommendations. I really like how they combine depressive lyrics with a mellow undertone with electronic synthesizers and etc.

2. Gregory and the Hawk--
I love their simplicity using acoustic guitars and melancholic lyrics that can almost describe any situation with an aura of innocence.

3. Portishead--
Actually, I think they might be my number one band since I listen to them constantly on my music player.
Their 'emtpy' sounds and her marvelous vocal pitch is nearly perfect, possibly summarizing most of the emotions on a depressed spectrum. BETH GIBBONS LOL OMG AND FELT INTRODUCED ME TO THEM. <3

4. Animal Collective--
Their fun silly music makes me feel happy and hyper, while on their album 'Feels' and 'Sung Tongs' makes me relaxed while combining elements of psychedelia. I think my favorite of them all are 'Feels' and 'Sung Tongs'. I didn't really like their new album--I only liked 'Summertime Clothes'. ;_;

5. Blonde Redhead--
I feel in love with their 'Elephant Woman' song where I first heard on the movie 'Hard Candy' near the end. After some time I grew to liking their older works, such as La Mia Vita Violenta and Fake Can Be Just As Good.

6. Black Box Recorder--
I heard about them through a person who said that they were reminded of them by Bat for Lashes, so I decided to take a whirl at it. Their first song I listened to was 'Child Psychology', which I instantly liked. My current song by the I like is 'Brutality'.

7. Bat For Lashes--
I ignored them for a few months because I was looking up the video director of Goldfrapp's Happiness, who also directed Bat for Lashes' 'What's a Girl to Do?' song. I listened closely to their lyrics and it was very saddening and depressive, like the way I like it. I like their sounds that sound like magic and indians lost in some forest.

8. Goldfrapp--
I really liked their Supernature album because it was filled with disco and electronica. After a while I started to learn forward to Black Cherry, and then finally to their original album; Felt Mountain. I love the emotions that she displays, even with a thermin. Felt was orgasmic enough to show me this band which eventually showed me other pieces of music. <3 Her remixes on Depeche Mode are amazing. ;_;

9. School of Seven Bells--
Paperyoshi showed me this band. I liked their song 'Half Asleep'. It's like a combination of psychedelia and Blonde Redhead. Most of their work reminds me of her. n__n

10. Death From Above 1979--
Annie's Jukebox had Death From Above remixes in it and I loved them. I love the Little Girl and Black History Month remixes. In fact, I just listen to all their remixes.

[Wrench]

Green Day
The Smashing Pumpkins
Foxboro Hot Tubs
Rise Against
Linkin Park
Nirvana
The Living End
Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers

i dunno who else to put