Another (3) bite the dust:
96. Metallica (15 points)
95. Black Sabbath (14)
94. Pet Shop Boys (11)
So, in the first three eliminations, the artist I’ve given the highest negative too have been eliminated.
Once again, there was a tie, so we will knock out 5 this week, but you can still only vote for four. Comments are now required. Let’s see who’s on their last life: LCD Soundsystem (9), Patti Smith (9), Cream (9)

Now, let the games begin! We are down to 93 artists. Here, please post four artists want you off the “Island” out of the remaining artists. Please see the Rules Thread for the complete set of rules. Remember that one artist get 4 points, the next gets 3, and so on.

Moonbeam won the Immunity Challenge last week, so Roxy Music and Kraftwerk are immune this week.

The Remaining Artists:
Arcade Fire, The Band, The Beach Boys, Beastie Boys, The Beatles, Beck, Chuck Berry, Big Star, Björk, Blur, David Bowie, James Brown, The Byrds, Johnny Cash, Nick Cave, Ray Charles, The Clash, Leonard Cohen, John Coltrane, Sam Cooke, Elvis Costello, Cream, Creedence Clearwater Revival, Miles Davis, The Doors, Nick Drake, Bob Dylan, Brian Eno, Fleetwood Mac, Aretha Franklin, Marvin Gaye, Al Green, PJ Harvey, Jimi Hendrix, Buddy Holly & the Crickets, Michael Jackson, The Jam, Elton John, Joy Division, The Kinks, Kraftwerk, LCD Soundsystem, Led Zeppelin, Little Richard, Madonna, Bob Marley and the Wailers, Massive Attack, Curtis Mayfield, Joni Mitchell, Van Morrison, New Order, Nirvana, Oasis, OutKast, Parliament/Funkadelic, Pavement, Pink Floyd, Pixies, Portishead, Elvis Presley, Primal Scream, Prince, Public Enemy, Pulp, Radiohead, Ramones, Otis Redding, Lou Reed, R.E.M., The Rolling Stones, Roxy Music, Simon and Garfunkel, Frank Sinatra, Sly and the Family Stone, The Smashing Pumpkins, Elliot Smith, Patti Smith, The Smiths, Sonic Youth, Bruce Springsteen, Steely Dan, The Stooges, Talking Heads, T. Rex, U2, The Velvet Underground, Tom Waits, The White Stripes, The Who, Wilco, Stevie Wonder, Neil Young, Frank Zappa/The Mothers of Invention

Too bad Kraftwerk is immune...

-4 Frank Zappa (The only artist that doesn't belong)
-3 Brian Eno
-2 Patti Smith
-1 Tom Waits

Woo hoo!

Comments, hey? I think this could be a dangerous road, but hopefully we can all accept that the nature of this game is to unearth things we don't like about artists. It's all fair game!

-4 Oasis: Bratty, whiny people with bratty, whiny vocals are not a recipe for success for me.
-3 Pink Floyd: I at least respect these guys (somewhat), but I find their music to be pretty bloated.
-2 The Who: Again, I respect that they were important, but I just don't like their sound.
-1 The Beatles: I'd be silly to deny their importance, but I can honestly say I have yet to hear a song by them that I have not disliked.

As far as this game is concerned, I'm out.
I have no problem with providing comments for games that involve trying to accentuate the positives in music, but this is a whole different beast.

I,m sorry, but you´re playing with fire asking people to justify their choices for giving a particular artist the bullet. At the very least make comments optional, and if not, I pray that the game can remain civil all the way to end.

-4 Nirvana - I didn't think I'd have to -4 Nirvana this soon, but if there's any artist I should have posted about in the "The one band who's [sic] hype you don't get" topic, it'd be Nirvana. I can understand that they influenced a very large number of very shitty bands, but the music just doesn't stand the test of time. Nevermind sounds particularly outdated, but the rest doesn't fare much better.
-3 Cream - Pretty decent music, but Cream is one artist that just doesn't stand out to me—at all.
-2 T. Rex - One good song does not a good artist make.
-1 The Beastie Boys - Already I'm voting for bands I quite like, but the Beasties are still somewhat of a mystery to me. I've listened to the albums, and although I dig them I don't really see why they are considered to be on the level of let's say Public Enemmy.

I would also say make the comments optional, btw.

Last year, I would have agreed with this assessment. That said, I've now totally fallen for Electric Warrior, The Slider and Tanx. If the glam style isn't your thing, there is actually a lot of diversity in their discography, and I'm only now starting to discover it. For instance, Tanx features an intriguing fling with soul and even gospel.

I have to admit that I haven't listened to Tanx, but I didn't like The Slider much and I appreciate Electric Warrior less every time I listen to it for some reason.

-4 Cream
One of the only bands left I've never liked really at all.
-3 CCR
I don't actively dislike them, but I find them generally bland.
-2 Pink Floyd
I like some of their stuff but not their most lauded stuff.
-1 Elton John
Like some of his singles, none of his albums. Plus, being homosexual is no justification for the way he dresses.

-4 Bob Dylan
-3 Van Morrisson
-2 The Band
-1 Fleetwood Mac
The same reason for all these artist. For a bad english speaker, their music has, for me, little interest. I think their text are much more important.....and I don't understand what they say.

-4 Ramones: Too simple and uninteresting for me.
-3 Big Star: I'm not a fan of power pop and don't get the acclaim for this band.
-2 Madonna: I respect that she is one of the most important female artists out there, but I know women can do much better.
-1 The Clash: I like them better than the Ramones, but still I think they are overrated (whatever that means).

This is getting tough.

I'm not posting comments, because, as much as there are some artists I don't like, nobody really has a valid reason for liking one artist more or less than another. They just do. Most of my reasons for not liking an artist stem from lack of exposure to them, and I think often people give some artists a better chance to gain their favourability than other artists for no particular reason other than the human inclination to categorise and then rationalise things.

-4 U2
-3 Madonna
-2 Creedance Clearwater Revival
-1 Brian Eno

-4 Madonna It's not just her music, but the fact that she brought about Britney Spears and Lady Gag. I much prefer MJ and Prince for pop.
-3 Primal Scream I may let out a scream of my own I they make it any further.
-2 Patti Smith Horses is overrated, and so is she.
-1 LCD Soundsystem Welcome to the competition.

I see that the comments aren't really working well. Touche. Comments optional.

It all depends what I'm feeling at the time. Last week after reading The Cure got bounced I had a little pep in my step. This week, uhhh, was chillaxin'. Perhaps next week if say Frank Zappa somehow doesn't get voted off I could have some pep back and be ready to throw a comment ot three.

-4 Elton John I don't think a single song of his belongs in the top 3000.
-3 Buddy Holly Just don't get it.
-2 Fleetwood Mac Unbelievably bland.
-1 Bob Marley

-4 LCD Soundsystem
-3 Patti Smith
-2 Cream
-1 Beastie Boys

-4 Bjork - I find her songs more annoying than enjoyable. Could be that she uses different "harmonics" or has a strong connection to her national music's roots, which are just too foreign for me.
-3 Waits - I find his vocals to be far too rough for any other elements of his songs to compensate.
-2 Patti Smith - Of the three that are in jeopardy, I like Patti's songs the least. But, I still enjoy "Because the Night" quite a bit.
-1 Prince - I can easily recognize that Prince is phenomenally talented. His trend-setting rhythmic innovations and song-writing are very much admired - and yet for the most part I don't really enjoy his songs nearly as much as so many AMers. Hopefully this rating will stimulate some discussion.

Just wondering if anyone else agrees with my observation that both the Beatles and Oasis tend to sing their notes a bit on the sharp side of the true frequency for each note. Perhaps if this vocal tendency is indeed shared, it could be a reason why Moonbeam dislikes these two bands so thoroughly.

This could very well be, as both The Beatles and Oasis do sing like that, and Moonbeam has said that his major problem with The Beatles is the vocals. Moonbeam, if The Beatles had a different singer, say Ray Davies of The Kinks, or someone else whose voice appeals to you more, would you be a fan of them?

Don't really hate any remaining artists,but:

-4 Patti Smith. Overrated,I only like a couple of her songs.
-3 Brian Eno. Never really got his stuff...
-2 LCD Soundsystem. I'm a big fan of All My Friends,but not much else
-1 Parliament/Funkadelic. Got a couple of their albums,but could never really get into them

..and here I am, voting for the same artists for the third week in a row.

-4 Nick Cave
I listened to "Abattoir Blues/ The Lyre of Orpheus", and while I liked it, I didn't really love it. I also listened to some of his earlier singles and some of his Grinderman stuff, same deal. I like Nick Cave, but I wouldn't put him in my top 200 artists.
-3 Elliott Smith
I've heard "From a Basement on the Hill", which was good, but not great. Though perhaps I should listen to some more of his albums.
-2 Leonard Cohen
I've heard "Songs of Leonard Cohen", which is the same deal, good but not great. He does have a few really good singles though, such as "Suzanne" and "Famous Blue Raincoat" and "Hallelujah" (Though Jeff Buckley's version is about a million times better).
-1 Little Richard
I love his three highly acclaimed songs, but that's all I know by him. Just like the others, this vote is out of ignorance, not malice.

It's hard to say. I'm not really a fan of their production, either, but the vocals are generally the biggest turnoff. I can't totally fault them for the production, even though there are 60s artists I do enjoy. I definitely would like them better with different vocals, as there are a few covers I enjoy, but even those aren't among my favorites by their respective artists.

It's funny- all 4 of these artists are likely among my top 25 left in the game!

-4 Oasis: I don't mind commenting on why these guys are so miserable. They have 1 song I really like, and two more I can tolerate. Everything else is just so aweful though. Even the acclaimed stuff. I mean, how can someone defend lyrics like "Feeling supersonic/Give me gin and tonic"? The lyrics are horrific, the singing is obnoxious, and the music is recycled.
-3 Cream: This is easily the best band Clapton was ever involved in, but unfortunately like everything else Clapton has done it's mediocre. I do like Sunshine of Your Love though.
-2 The Doors: They say that Doors fans are born not made. Luckily, there don't seem to be too many more being born.
-1 Tom Waits: I can see why he's highly acclaimed, as he is an excellent writer and arranger. That said, I can't look past his voice and trully enjoy his work.

Not at all surprising when three of my favorites are frequently in your least appreciated grouping. I appreciate and respect your perspective, but it doesn't mean that I will enjoy Bjork or Waits anytime soon. I doubt that you will ever start liking the Beatles, Floyd or the Who either. Fortunately, there are other performers that we both seem to enjoy.

I may repeat some comments I have posted in the past:

Primal Scream (-4) - Some small appreciation for the fact that they change up their sound. Swastika Eyes is okay. But Screamadelica is way overrated. It's continued prominence (and to a lesser extent that of the Stone Roses and Happy Mondays (although those bands have more to recommend themselves)) strikes me as the starry eyed reminiscing of ravers remembering their Ecstasy fuelled nights. I can appreciate that sentiment. To quote a great song on the subject: "Weak become heroes and the stars align" and all that. But the songs suck.

And 3 whose vocals turns me off to their good points:

Joy Division (-3) A few years ago I wrote: "I appreciate the importance of this band, and respect the depth of feeling that Ian Curtis and his music evokes in so many. My inability to get into their music, and my vote for them here is much more down to personal taste in styles of music than my earlier votes, where I was more easily able to latch on to aspects of the music or performance that I found lacking. In other words, Joy Division, I sense, does what they do quite well. My own personal taste (which I am understanding better in the months on these boards) calls for at least one or more of certain elements that are not as evident in Joy Division: exuberance; fullness of sound; wit, humor, or (at the very least) snark; dynamic movement; and -- yes -- poppiness." Since then, I have grown a bit in my appreciation of some music devoid of or lacking in these elements. Notably, I have come to a greater appreciation New Order. And I realize that a lot of what I dislike about Joy Division simply comes down to Ian Curtis' morose, affectless voice.

Joni Mitchell (-2) - Anyone see "The Kids Are All Right," with Anette Bening's character's purposely cringe-inducing version of a song from Blue? The problem is I cringe nearly as much when I hear Mitchell's actual voice.

Roxy Music (-1) - Some strong early work ruined by Bryan Ferry's voice; some incredibly misguided later work, the main purpose of which is to highlight Bryan Ferry's poor voice.

Absolutely! In the end, this site presents a rather broad spectrum of music from deserving artists. I like yellow more than red. That doesn't mean that red isn't just as worthy of a choice for a favorite color, though!

They're immune this week.

Tom Waits is in your top 25?

BTW - I finally picked up Prince's 1999 today,of course I've had it for years in digital format but I just couldn't resist picking it up when I saw it sitting there. Still sounds great(of course)...

Top 25 that are remaining here, probably!

I guess that just goes to show that even I have hope of expanding my tastes!

And yes, 1999 still sounds great!

Either/Or is my favourite album ever, you really should listen to it. XO is also great, especially the first half.
Figure 8 is considered as his other great classic, I don't like it much but it shows a really ambitious change of style. And his self-titled album has some wonderful gems too.
From a Basement on the Hill is an unfinished album, released after his death, it might have sounded really different if he had had the time to finish it.

-4 Cream : CCR, Fleetwood Mac... there are lots of bands here playing music genres I don't enjoy much, but while I find some qualities to the others, I have nothing good to say about Cream
-3 Primal Scream : I still consider Screamadelica as the most overrated album ever, and while, as other noticed, they have to be respected for having changed their sound many times, there is nothing in their discography I really enjoy
-2 Elvis Costello : Lipstick Vogue is an awesome song, but I never understood why his 3 first albums as that much acclaimed, he seems to just make OK copies of what others did way better before him
-1 Nick Cave : another case where nothing I have heard appeal to me at all, even if you include Grinderman

If you are still willing to try and appreciate Waits' music, try Closing Time. On his debut, Waits' voice is not as raw and 'ugly' (although I think it's wonderful) as on later albums. Maybe then it's easier for you to focus on other elements as well.

Boo to the exclusion of Metallica, Black Sabbath and Pet Shop Boys.

-4 LCD Soundsystem
-3 The Band
-2 Cream
-1 Big Star

Bah... Sorry about that Moonbeam.

Oasis (-1) - Liam's voice is often grating to me. They have written some very solid pop hits, which I don't think is anything to scoff at. But they don't do anything else particularly well.

There are currently 6 artists with at least nine points against them already this week. Keep in mind, we are trying to eliminate 5 this week.

-4 Madonna - I think she's more important as a cultural icon than as a musician.
-3 Little Richard - Maybe I'm too young, but at this point he seems to me more like a historical footnote than a musician that still has real power when you listen to him.
-2 Sonic Youth - Just not that interesting for me to listen to. I understand their importance, and understand what they were trying to do, but their music doesn't strike a chord with me.
-1 Patti Smith - Artistically, she was very innovative. But when I listen to her music, I can't help but think that "Horses" doesn't belong in the Top 20.

-4. Parliament/Funkadelic: There are some artists who are able to mix rock and afroamerican rhythms too sucessfully (Jimi Hendrix and TV On the Radio are the first that come to my mind), but these are among the ones that I just don't get. Their guitar work make the songs not so funky for me, and the effort to swing them only retire the rock feeling. In another words, they try to do both things, but don't go well in neither of them.
-3. The Doors: I know it's quite "unfair" to put the person ahead of the artist when you judge it, but, sorry, in this case I just can't avoid. Anyway, I'm not that fond of their songs either...
-2. Kraftwerk: Respect their pioneerism, but their music don't touch me.
-1. David Bowie: He has 5 great songs (Life On Mars?, Heroes, Space Oddity, Changes and Starman), but, except for these, I don't like his material, and, specially, his voice. For an all time top 5 artist, he has done too little for me. Of course there are some other artists still in the island with less songs I like, but I don't know enough about them to make a vote.

Toni- Kraftwerk have immunity. Please change your vote.

Really? Who?
Seriously, I'm not ironizing you, I just want to know which other artists are similar to him, so I must look for their material.

I've always found Costello's music so unique, and although I appreciate this quality, I would love to find other ones that make the same kind of sound.

humm, so put my votes as these:

-4. Parliament/Funkadelic
-3. The Doors
-2. David Bowie
-1. The Jam: Nothing from them that makes me want to hear them again.

Notice: I will be out all day tomorow, so the pollwill end early.

I agree that Bowie is somewhat over-rated. But, there are at least 6 and probably more than a dozen additional songs in his discography that work well for me. I'm sure that there are bigger Bowie fans than me who can provide their suggestions. The first that come to mind for me are: Rebel, Rebel; Young Americans, Fame, Golden Years, Suffragette City and Ziggy Stardust

Ziggy Stardust is the big one that comes to mind; there are others like The Jean Genie, Let's Dance and The Man Who Sold the World among my favourites. Also, Bowie is one of those songwriters who never wrote a bad song. Part of his stature and influence inevitably stems from All the Young Dudes, etc. and some of his B sides are brilliant (e.g. In the Heat of the Morning, Right).

Having said all of this, and although he is undoubtedly among the true greats, probably top ten, I think #4 is too high. Then again, I can imagine him and everyone else below being miles away from Dylan at #3 points-wise.

This week's poll is now over.