I move myself and my family aside:

9. The Who (52)

Still trying to cause a big s-s-sensation: The Beach Boys (51), Radiohead (40), Neil Young (40), The Velvet Underground (38), David Bowie (32).

Strange to have such big names on the bubbling-under list, isn’t it?

Only eight artists left:

The Beach Boys, The Beatles, David Bowie, Bob Dylan, Radiohead, The Rolling Stones, The Velvet Underground, Neil Young.

And here we go with Week 29.

5 points - Neil Young (#113)

4 points - David Bowie (#48)

3 points - The Beach Boys (#26)

2 points - The Beatles (#25)

1 point - Radiohead (#22)

...I think The Who was #9 overall for me. Rough couple of weeks.

5 pts - Neil Young
4 pts - Beach Boys
3 pts - Rolling Stones (a little change in place here)
2 pts - Velvet Underground (#10)

New:

1 pts - The Beatles (#8): I really like The Beatles, some of my favorites songs are from them. I believe they were the best in the singles department, but I think that in general their albums have some little weak spots. For every "Tomorrow Never Knows" there is a "Yellow Submarine", it's the only bad thing i can say from them.

1. (5p) Neil Young - He's the one I'm least familiar with of the surviving, and the stuff I am familiar with is the least liked. A natural 5 pointer.

2. (4p) Radiohead - Overappreciated in my opinion. I agree to some degree (<-- likeable sentence) that they are quite good, but nowhere near one of the best bands ever.

3. (3p) The Beach Boys - They have made one of my favorite albums, and a bunch of amazing songs, but their lows are so low it's ridiculous.

4. (2p) David Bowie - A lot of great stuff. He gets these points for not appearing on my stereo that much.

5. (1p) Bob Dylan - Apart from The Freewheelin' Bob Dylan, The Times They Are A-Changin', Bringing It All Back Home, Highway 61 Revisited, Blonde on Blonde, John Wesley Harding, Nashville Skyline, Blood on the Tracks, Desire, Slow Train Coming, Time Out of Mind, Love and Theft, Modern Times and some others, he hasn't done anything good, and rightly gets my last vote.

5 pts - Radiohead
4 pts – David Bowie
3 pts - The Velvet Underground
2 pts - The Rolling Stones

1 pt. - Neil Young - My 1 pt. vote for The Who saved The Beach Boys last week, so let's hope for a miracle again this week... I pick Neil Young because he is my fourth favorite arist on a list including Bob Dylan, The Beach Boys, and The Beatles. He has no Highway 61 Revisited/Blonde On Blonde, no Pet Sounds, and no Abbey Road. Just a really long and interesting career with lots of great albums and high points.

Rune: What do you think was the Beach Boys' lowest "low"? (I don't disagree with you. I'm keeping them off my ballot because of the height of their highs, but I agree with your assessment).

What about "Student Demonstration Time" on Surf's Up? Definitely cringe-worthy despite its Leiber & Stoller pedigree.

1. The Beatles
2. Radiohead
3. The Velvet Underground
4. Bob Dylan

New

5. The Beach Boys - just don't have the longevity of bowie, neil and the stones

5 points- Neil Young
4 points- Rolling Stones
3 points- Bob Dylan
2 point- The Beach Boys
1 point- David Bowie: Tough choice, but I think I like Radiohead and the VU's limited catalog more than I like my favorite Bowie albums and I don't like a lot of Bowie's catalog. So, I just compared the best Bowie albums with the VU and Radiohead. That's a hard choice.

Finally, the pinball wizard came and put a spell on the Who. And no more word jokes, yeahhhh!

Moving one up the ladder:

5 pts - The Velvet Underground (my #29 artist)
4 pts - The Beach Boys (#26)
3 pts - David Bowie (#12)
2 pts - Radiohead (#9)

Time to leave this theatre soon as well:
1 pt - The Rolling Stones (#8)

Why Stones? Well, let's just say we leave the 'icons' Dylan, Young and the Fab Four for last, shall we?
Highlights: Aftermath (album), Satisfaction (song) and having seen them live in 'De Kuip' (Rotterdam) about 20 years ago!

1. RADIOHEAD
2. THE BEACH BOYS
3. NEIL YOUNG
4. THE VELVET UNDERGROUND
5. THE ROLLING STONES. The Stones—like the three artists I haven’t voted for yet—were in my personal top ten the last time I compiled it. It feels kind of absurd to be voting for them, so let’s try this—why do I have Mick & Keef & co. behind the remaining three?

I’m comfortable enough putting them behind the Beatles and Dylan, although it’s close. Bowie (who is next up for me) is a trickier case. The Stones clearly have more classic songs than Bowie—although, again, “classic” is not the same thing as “great.” Albums? I think Hunky Dory/Ziggy/Station to Station/Low holds its own against Beggar’s Banquet/Let It Bleed/Sticky Fingers/Exile. It comes down to style and variety, I guess. The Stones could do absolutely everything in the blues-rock tradition, but even so, there are styles and genres that Bowie could do which the Stones couldn’t. And personally, I like mascara more than sneering, and an arched eyebrow more than faux-boorishness.

But I love the Stones. More than any other of our remaining artists, they embodied excess. Where the Beatles wanted to hold our hands, the Rolling Stones stuck a thumb in our eyes and made us like it. They're untamed.

1. Bob Dylan - (he's been top of my list in this game since I joined it back in December)
2. The Beach Boys
3. Radiohead
4. The Rolling Stones
5. Neil Young - I love Neil Young, I even love "Arc" and "Trans". But I love the other three artists more.
Plus I was never keen on CSNY

Bubbling under:
David Bowie, The Beatles, The Velvet Underground

1. The Beach Boys (#51)
2. The Velvet Underground (#38)
3. Bob Dylan (#23)
4. The Rolling Stones (#21)

5. Radiohead (#14)
This is the first time I'm voting for an artist I really don't wanna see leaving the island yet. This is logical, since they're on my favourite half of the remaining eight artists, but I'm also excited that such a relatively new band is still in the game. Overall, we have probably looked back a little too much.
I think Radiohead's status is deserved, with one overrated album (The Bends), one underrated album (Amnesiac) and the rest in the right place. I only wish I could hear Thom's lyrics somewhat better.

5p david bowie

4p the beach boys

3p neil young - this is heartbreaking because the dude has 4 albums in my top 100, and after the goldrush is #6

2p The rolling stones - easily one of the greatest bands of all time. Had they continued making greats like let it bleed, sticky fingers, baggers banquet, and exile. It would be hard for them to be on my li9st this week

1pNEW the velvet underground - This is devasting. NEXT WEEK i'LL SWITCH THIS SPOT UP WITH THE BEATLES.




Only radiohead and bob dylan left, and they both my #1 and #2. But which order I do not know

Paul:

Yeah, there's definitely some horrible filler on almost all of their albums, especially from the 70s and out. Their 80s albums consisted of nothing but filler, but of course this has happened to a lot of the artists left here. The Rolling Stones aren't so much better, for instance.

Should I mention one song I'd have to say Kokomo. It's downright ugly.

I was really hoping the Stones might squeak out a win in this, but it still looks like the Beatles aren't getting the votes to forecast an upset.

Repeats:
5 Points - The Beatles
4 Points - The Rolling Stones
3 Points - The Beach Boys
2 Points - Bob Dylan
New:
1 Point - Radiohead
Really is no reason for letting Radiohead go other then the fact I like everyone else more.

Tough decision this week:

1. Beach Boys
2. Neil Young
3. Velvet Underground
4. Radiohead

New:

5. Rolling Stones -- Tight, very tight between the Stones and Bowie for my vote this week. Aside from creating the greatest rock and roll song of all time ("Gimme Shelter") and a number of other recordings that are nearly as good, the Stones do not lose too much points from me for their somewhat-ludicrous autumn years. The fact is, Mick is the greatest frontman in rock history, and nothing he can do at this point will take that away from him.

Take his vocals on _Some Girls_, the Stones' most consistent album. Fifteen years on, he is showing what rock attitude should sound like. He has a deceptively conscientious delivery... not as much as a master like Ray Charles, but for a rock singer, the guy knows how to combine phrasing, emotion, and tone and make it seem offhand and, even better, salacious.

The Stones lose out here because a lack of adventurousness in their songs. I simply appreciate that Bowie and Dylan have always sought to, and continue to seek to, push the envelope musically and sonically. It may be unfair to ask that of the Stones. They know what they do, and they do it damn well. But that's the criteria that I am going to differentiate them on.

5 - The Beatles:Easily the worst of the remaining artists,the survivor game has made me realize how much filler they've released
4 - Neil Young
3 - Velvet Underground
2 - Rolling Stones:Can't really fault their pre-1973 work,definitely agree with Nik Cohn - "The finest band of the 60s".Their run from 68-72 is probably the greatest 4 album run ever. But it's their later stuff I'm not such a fan of.
1 - David Bowie:unbelievably consistent throughout the 70s and also a great producer but not such a fan of his later stuff

I won't vote for Radiohead this week - just love them too much

Repeats:

1. David Bowie
2. Bob Dylan
3. Neil Young
4. The Velvet Underground
5. The Beach Boys

The Rest:

The Beatles, Radiohead, The Rolling Stones

Sad to see The Who (my personal #2) go, but I guess that was to be expected. I like everyone else on the island, but I'm hoping that someone I really love wins.

1) Radiohead
2) The Beatles
3) David Bowie
4) Neil Young
5) The Beach Boys

I'm with Penguin, and not just on the personal #2 part. You people be crazy votin' off The Who while Radiohead is still around!

Ding! Dong! The Who is dead! Dare I say that they are perhaps the most overrated artist in Survivor? Perhaps...

1. The Beatles
2. Bob Dylan
3. The Beach Boys
4. Radiohead
5. (NEW) Neil Young- I resisted voting for him until now, but he's behind a group I have a good deal of respect for (The Stones) and the only 2 artists remaining that I really like.

It is impossible to be overrated in Survivor, since we are rating bands based on our collective, subjective opinion.

50,000 Townshend fans can't be wrong.

What Paul said.

My opinion of the Who has risen substantially over the course of Survivor. Like my opinion of Curtis Mayfield.

Anybody else have artists they've re-evaluated during this hoedown?

I know they left, but I completely rediscovered everything I loved about The Clash during this and I forced myself to listen to Combat Rock again...and then I liked it.

Curtis Mayfield and Hank Williams were also big risers with me.

Schleuse:

Yes, I've grown to like Rolling Stones and Bob Dylan more. And I regret voting for Chuck Berry, Joni Mitchell and Otis Redding (if I did that). I've listened to Otis a lot lately, and he's magnificent.

Strange thing, though. I thought I liked Aretha Franklin and kind of disliked Otis Redding, but then I bought The Dock of the Bay and I've Never Loved a Man The Way I Love You, and I couldn't care for the latter one. Otis is great, Aretha not so much.

I've enjoyed this game, but I did a lot more re-evaluating with bracketology for some reason. Probably because there was so much more commentary about specific songs.

Actually, I think The Who may have slipped a bit in my personal ranking as a result of this game (but I kept them high for nostalgia reasons). When I looked into defending their position I didn't find as much there as I expected to find. Still, it is rare to get so many truly unique talents into one group (Townshend, Moon, Entwistle). I'm just not a Daltrey fan.

Come to think of it, Rune, my opinion of Aretha has also dropped a bit--as has my opinion of Marvin Gaye, unfortunately. Before Survivor, I would have ranked the soul singers of that era: Otis-Marvin-Aretha-Al Green-Curtis Mayfield. Now it's more like Otis-Curtis-Marvin-Al Green-Aretha. (Although, come to think, Curtis has more in common with JB and Stevie than the other crooners.)

I guess I might be in the minority here, but my opinion of Aretha actually went up a bit. I had only been familiar with a few singles and the album I Never Love a Man The Way I Love You. I've always liked that album, but my opinion of it has dwindled in recent years.

However, I picked up Lady Soul because of Survivor and that's the album of hers that I turn to first. She's probably still not amongst my top 50 artists or so, but I think Survivor moved her into the top 100.

Aretha was incredible. Remember these:

Even though, as far as I'm concerned, these folks wiped the floor with everyone:

1. Radiohead, 5 pts : a magnifying glass effect (they are the only real contemporary band left) kept them around, but I think now they are out of their league
2. The Velvet Underground, 4 pts : I've been listening for the first time to White Light White Heat, and I really loved "The Gift", but I still don't know them that much in fact (only had their first and third album for years)
3. The Beach Boys, 3 pts : a dozen fantastic singles, a masterpiece of an album, but no other really good album that passed the test of time
4. NEW : The Rolling Stones : a great great band. They are my first nomination among the giants that are left (although Neil Young is not exactly a giant but one of my very favorites). They did so much for the blues and r&b revival in the 60's, they had great singles and albums (until 1972-73)
5. David Bowie, 1 pt : Huge artist, very versatile.

5 points - The Beach Boys
4 points - Bob Dylan
3 - Neil Young
2 - The Rolling Stones
1 - The Velvet Underground

I don't still Radiohead are out of their league, and I think time will confirm it ! We'll see what critics say in 2050
Them and the Who are my favourite artists on the 10 last survivors... I guess none will be on the top 5

5p The Beach Boys
4p Radiohead
3p The Velvet Underground
2p The Beatles
1P Neil Young

I repeat.

The Beach Boys have:
- Pet Sounds, 1 incredible album.
- SMiLe, 1 incredible album.
- The Beach Boys Today, 1 truly great underrated album.
- Wild Honey, another truly great underrated album.
- 1 half of Sunflower + 1 half of Surf's Up = 1 incredible album.

I think that's more than you can say for Radiohead, The Velvet Underground, Neil Young or David Bowie.

And by 2050 we'll probably already have someone to top off The Beatles properly.

5 – The Velvet Underground
4 – David Bowie
3 – Neil Young
2 – The Beach Boys
New:
1 – Bob Dylan

Okay, so Bob Dylan, Radiohead, and the Rolling Stones are just about equal in my books, so this will probably switch up a bit from week-to-week, but I figured strategically, Bob Dylan would be a safer vote, as Radiohead is on the verge of being voted off.

Bob Dylan is an amazing artist...one of my all time favourites. I just got Blonde on Blonde and Highway 61 Revisited for Christmas, to add onto my Essential Bob Dylan 2CD set. I think his music is so great, and I would say that he is arguably the greatest lyricist of recorded music. Some of my favourite songs by him: "Knockin' on Heaven's Door," "I Want You," "Positively 4th Street," "Maggie's Farm," "It's All Over Now, Baby Blue," "Don't Think Twice, It's All Right," "It Ain't Me Babe," "Mr. Tambourine Man," "Just Like a Woman," "I'll Be Your Baby Tonight," "Lay Lady Lay," "Sign on the Window," and of course "Like a Rolling Stone."

Wild Honey, Sunflower and Surf's Up (Especially Surf's Up) are not that good and Smile is not incredible.

And today ! is kinda cheesy I think

@John - On SMiLE it depends which bootleg version you are listening too. A lot of the stuff I've heard is pretty great.

But it's hard to give them too much credit for an album that was never released...

I think it gets most of it's credit because it wasn't released. I really doubt that it would have the following it does today if it weren't for the legend. I don't think it's bad but it's not even in the same league as Pet Sounds and I've heard plenty of the bootlegs and have tried to put together an album with all that stuff. Even then, it's still not great. Good, but not great. Everything after Smile is pretty horrible IMO and everything before Pet Sounds are singles albums.

I agree with Nicolas for the most part: One amazing album and a bunch of singles. More than a dozen though... I'd say at least 20.

Wild Honey, Sunflower and Surf's Up (Especially Surf's Up) are not that good and Smile is not incredible.

what gospel is that, John?

... ...

If anybody is interested you can listen to some tracks from the SMiLE sessions here: SMiLE compilation

"what gospel is that, John?"

Exactly!

frightening...

Fire and brimstone for post '66 Beach Boys fans I'm afraid.

You are joking? Sunflower/Surf's Up must be like the best twofer ever just about. You're reducing America's greatest band a bit too low aren't you?

tamensi movetur!

No, I'm not joking. I bought Surfs Up at a record show for a buck just to give it a shot after disliking it years ago. I think it's pretty awful.

Yeah it might have a couple of duff tracks. But 'Til I Die alone makes it worthwhile. The thing I like about the Beach Boys is,tracks can be quite bad,but their harmonies are just so perfect,you just melt - those harmonies will go on forever...

I bought Surfs Up at a record show for a buck just to give it a shot after disliking it years ago. I think it's pretty awful.

Yeah yeah. That's exactly what they said at Socrates' trial too.

"tracks can be quite bad,but their harmonies are just so perfect,you just melt - those harmonies will go on forever..."

Well I'll just listen to the good tracks with harmonies. Or maybe some barbershop.

"You're reducing America's greatest band a bit too low aren't you?"

America's greatest band was eliminated two weeks ago. Nyaah.

(To be fair, Peter Buck would strangle me for ranking his band ahead of the Beach Boys--and VU--but that's why artists can't be trusted to evaluate their own work.)

You mean the E Street band, schleuse? They were eliminated a few months ago :)

BTW, I saw R.E.M. last night and they played "Fall on Me" as their second to last song. I thought about doing a whole thread to make you jealous, but that just seemed excessive.

Everyone in the know happens to know Little Feat was the greatest American band.

Jealous? I'm still pissed that they're not passing within 800 miles of the schleuse ranch on this tour! In the last six or seven years, they've gotten better than they ever have been as a live band (at least in large venues...I would love to have seen them play a bowling alley in Waco or a barbecue joint in New Braunfels in 1982 or so. But I was 14). I've seen "Fall on Me" twice, on the Work and Green tours.

As a consolation prize, in a few weeks I will be seeing Athens' second-best band, the B-52's (unless Pylon is the real second-best). As long as I get "Planet Claire," I'll be OK. Sadly, however, it's a twin bill with Cyndi Lauper.

What about Matthew Sweet or any band in the Elephant 6 Collective? The B-52's are good but not as good as those guys. Drive-By Truckers? I'd say the B-52's are better than them.

not sure how they entered into it but NOBODY's better than DBT

Holy crow. I hadn't forgotten Matthew Sweet, but I did forget Drive-By Truckers. I kind of blow hot and cold about them (as I do with most chroniclers of rural Americana). The only Elephant 6 band I really know is Neutral Milk Hotel (thanks, Anthony) but then it all depends on what the definition of "comes from Athens" is--this site puts them in Ruston, La. After further deliberation, here's the revised list, and keep in mind it's from an old fart:

1. R.E.M.
2. The B-52's
3. Drive-By Truckers
4. Matthew Sweet
5. Pylon

See, I missed the B52s here a couple weeks ago playing a solo set at really tiny venue. Let me know how the True Colors show is, cause it's coming to Denver as well and I'm on the fence about getting tickets.

(obscure band names go flying over Harpo's head, unrecognised)

Drive By Truckers are from North Alabama.

Usually bands are considered from a place if that's where they made it big. The DBT's definitely made it big in Athens. It's more about the scene than where they grew up or started.

On A.M. they are from Alabama. No. 4 act behind Hank, Sun Ra, and Percy Sledge.

Don't know where I got it from though, as both RYM and allmusic say Athens, Georgia. Maybe another e***r.

Most of the band is from Alabama but they made their name in Athens.

Yeah, Patterson Hood's father was the Muscle shoals studois'home bass player

Some of their records have a very specific Alabama-centric point of view, so I'd say it's just a matter of interpretation--not really an "error". I'm sure Alabama is taking credit for them.