Favorite Bands/Artists/etc?

[BullockDS]

First off, how the fuck is this not a topic in Music yet?

 

Second off, who are your favorite bands/artists/composers/game companies/anime scores/movie scores/etc?

Let's get started! Bolded+Underlined ones are my top five (y'all don't have to do this, though).

 

Spoiler'd due to long-ass list, accompanied with some notes and unfunny commentary. Most of my list is taken from my iTunes playlist, though I've hammered in a few others I don't have in my library yet.

*Deep breath*

 

-Asia

-Avantasia

-Bad Company

-Basil Poledouris (probably best known for his Conan the Barbarian '82 score)

-Billy Idol

-Black Sabbath

-Blind Guardian (symphonic metal at its finest; their in-song transitions between symphonic and metal are so natural, it's fucking gorgeous)

-Boston

-Capcom

-The Clash

-Danny Elfman (if only for crafting what are the best, and most accurately dramatic and noir-evoking Batman scores; that bullshit Hans Zimmer score in the Nolan films can go right to hell)

-David Bowie

-Demons and Wizards

-Depeche Mode

-DEVO (yes, the Whip It guys... beyond that song, they're actually a respectable pop-synth group)

-Dio

-Dragonball Z stuff (especially Bruce Faulconer)

-Echo and the Bunnymen

-Foreigner

-Go West

-Huey Lewis and the News

-The Human League

-Iced Earth

-Iggy Pop

-Iron Maiden

-John Williams Orchestra (particularly Star Wars and Superman... why didn't Man of Steel incorporate Williams' Iconic Superman theme?  Goddammit Hans Zimmer... again! John Williams captured the feel of the impossible odds that Superman faces, and the triumph and hope he brings to Earth)

-Journey

-Joy Division

-Judas Priest

-Kansas

-Kenny G (my guilty pleasure)

-The Killers

-Konami, mainly Castlevania stuff (Micheru Yamane's work for the Castlevania series comes to mind foremost; she is nothing short of a goddess when it comes to composing, especially Bloodlines and Symphony of the Night. Hell, she even manages to create some of the best remixes of the classics when remixes of said classics are ordinarily ho-drum. Oh, and whoever did the original tunes in Rondo of Blood deserves accolades as well, especially for Cross a Fear. Hell, even the bad games like Simon's Quest and Haunted Castle manage to pull off amazing music... OK, enough gushing over Castlevania music.)

-LCD Soundsystem

-Led Zeppelin

-Lost Horizon

-Meat Loaf

-MUSE

-New Order

-Nintendo  (especially Koji Kondo and Kazumi Totaka stuff)

-Nobue Uematsu (especially for Final Fantasy 6, 7, and X)

-The Offspring

-OMD

-Ozzy Osbourne

-Pearl Jam

-Pink Floyd

-The Police

-Prince

-Queen

-Quiet Riot

-The Ramones

-Rush

-Scatman John

-Scorpions

-SNK (namely the NeoGeo era, like King of Fighters and Fatal Fury)

-Stratovarius

-Styx

-Twisted Sister

-U2 (talking 70s/80s U2 here, natch)

-Ultravox

-Van Halen

-Wang Chung

-The Who

-Yaz (or Yazoo, depending on your nationality)