As for you, the reader, what might be interesting to note is how this shapes my vote for the fan ballot. Last year, my vote in the fan ballot was 6 out of the 7 inductees. If I'd voted for Joe Cocker instead of Mariah Carey, it'd been a clean sweep. Going back over past years' entries, my personal tastes' lists have included about half that year's inductees being the in the top five or seven. I even went back through past entries and noticed something: the last time the #1 artist on my Personal Tastes' list did NOT get inducted that year was 2016. That was before I had a smartphone, and therefore before I had Spotify. I was using YouTube and buying CDs prior to that. Or just going by the few songs I knew and heard out in the wild. That's not helpful when gauging artists like Bad Brains, the Replacements, or even Soundgarden or Joy Division. So, with the tech updated, I've apparently become a little more in line with members of the voting body. But also, the push to go more mainstream really happened around 2016, when classic rock really showed up big on the ballots, and thereby the classes. I don't feel as good about my favorite artist this year, and maybe just calling out the streak will jinx things, but I have to be honest about things when I do this.
Which is also difficult in this compressed timeline, as I'm writing this before I've really had a chance to revisit all the returning nominees. I'm trying to spend more time, but it's tough, so I'm having to rely on how much I liked the songs last time I binged them. So ranking these now, it's a bit rockier and more fluid based on the timeframe that I'm trying to cram everything in. The top spots are pretty secure in their spots, as are the ones on the bottom, but that "mushy middle" as we've hearing it called on the Patreon for "Who Cares About The Rock Hall?" applies not just to willingness to vote for an artist, but also how much I really like the artists. But let's take a stab at it (he said while typing this sentence on the Ides Of March), and reveal my personal predilections.
1. Shakira
The reason I think the trend might snap this year is because this is the first one you could call a sentimental favorite, as I remember when "Whenever, Wherever" came out, along with "Underneath Your Clothes" and "Hips Don't Lie," and so forth, and how I enjoyed those songs and the videos back in the day. And I got quite a kick out of the Spanish material too, for the most part. Not all of it, but also, I knew this would be the top spot for me because there were multiple songs vying to be the favorite song. Her voice is magical to me.
Favorite song: "Ciega, Sordomuda"
Merits rank: 8
Average of ranks: 4.5
2. Luther Vandross
When I worked in commercial radio, we played three songs by Luther fairly regularly. Finding out he was the voice on Change's "Glow Of Love" was awesome, and I can't believe I didn't realize it sooner. I just enjoyed the heck out of that song. As far as his oeuvre, I really like it, even though it is a little dated. And to preemptively respond to those who wanna clown on my favorite song choice: no, YOU'RE crying!
Favorite song: "Dance With My Father"
Merits rank: 6
Average of ranks: 4
3. Phil Collins
Despite ranking this high on the list, I'm not a huge fan of his. In fact, I HATE "In The Air Tonight." That song is just so boring. Someone once asked me, "But what the AMAZING drum solo?" My response to her was literally, "I don't know, I always lose interest before I get to it." When I finally heard it, I thought, "That's a fill, not a solo. What a crock." I'm also not a big fan of the gated reverb. It makes him sound like he's singing at one end of a tunnel, and the mic is at the other end. Not my thing. And yet, he also has some undeniably catchy bops. I can't argue against it.
Favorite song: "Finding A Way To My Heart"
Merits rank: 2
Average of ranks: 2.5
4. Mariah Carey
I grew up during her imperial phase, and I never got all the shade toward her. I can definitely understand those who have a hard time calling her "rock and roll" in the face of songs like "Hero" and "Anytime You Need A Friend" and "One Sweet Day," but those are pretty high quality slow songs. Whether it's her or Tommy who's the puppet master who had the creative control of her catalog, it's quality music to listen to, through and through.
Favorite song: "All I Want For Christmas Is You"
Merits rank: 1
Average of ranks: 2.5
5. Oasis
It's a bit surprising that they rank this high. They've never even been in the upper half of the Personal Tastes' list. So either I'm really warming up to them or there isn't much here on this ballot to really enjoy. It's actually a little bit of both. Not much I'm personally ecstatic for, but also, I found myself singing along to "Little By Little" when bingeing their stuff this time around.
Favorite song: "Round Are Way"
Merits rank: 12
Average of ranks: 8.5
6. P!nk
A lot of this is familiarity with several songs. I worked in radio for the most of the first decade when she really established herself as a star. There were just so many songs I knew that the familiarity with them ingratiated her overall catalog to me just a little bit more.
Favorite song: "Trustfall"
Merits rank: 10
Average of ranks: 8
7. Wu-Tang Clan
I only knew "Rules" prior to their nomination, because I played it on college radio. And even then, it doesn't sound like I remember it. But even though I can't really remember how most of their songs go, I do remember how their catchy rhythms put the swivel in my sides. "Visionz" was particularly good, and shout out to "Act Of War" for sampling dialogue from one of my all time favorite TV shows, M*A*S*H. Solid fun.
Favorite song: "Rules"
Merits rank: 5
Average of ranks: 6
8. Melissa Etheridge
While I don't resonate with as many of her songs as other people, I'm a sucker for a solid blues-based rock artists that really feels bluesy. l said earlier, her oeuvre feels a lot like power ballads that don't have distortion pedal. There's just that much power in her voice and the way she plays.
Favorite song: "Don't You Want A Woman"
Merits rank: 13
Average of ranks: 10.5
9. Iron Maiden
My appreciation for Bruce Dickinson's voice is hit or miss at times, and sometimes the songs really don't grab me, but they are a solid metal band that I'm less than likely to change the dial on.
Favorite song: "Wrathchild"
Merits rank: 4
Average of ranks: 6.5
10. New Edition
Listening to their earlier catalog reminded me of Lionel Richie's remarks when he was inducted, distinguishing between a creative artist and a created artist. New Edition's early stuff makes them sound very created, to the point where I hear the formula for New Kids On The Block. It's a bit hypocritical, maybe, because I grew up loving New Kids On The Block, and I would probably vote for the Monkees because their music doesn't sound prefab, at least not as prefab as Maurice Starr and Lou Perlman's boy bands. That said, "Candy Girl" still slaps, and their later material sounds a lot better, even if it wasn't as big.
Favorite song: "Leave Me"
Merits rank: 15
Average of ranks: 12.5
11. INXS
Honestly, "Never Tear Us Apart" bores me, and "Need You Tonight" is kind of a sexy tune, but mostly doesn't move me at all. I'd like "Devil Inside" a lot more if it was just a little bit shorter. A couple really good songs, and a lot of stuff I wouldn't be mad about if my teammate wanted to put it on while we worked on a project together, if I was ever in that kind of profession where I'd be doing team projects.
Favorite song: "New Sensation"
Merits rank: 7
Average of ranks: 9
12. Lauryn Hill
"Wait, weren't you a teenager when Miseducation came out? How is that not pivotal to your musical development?" Yes, and because I grew up in a farm town where the top rated radio stations were the country station, the alternative rock stations, and the contemporary Christian station. And I was listening to the Oldies station. You had The Miseducation Of Lauryn Hill; I had "Silly Songs With Larry," which was the part of the show where Larry came out and sang a silly song. So this album isn't ingrained in me as it is for many of my peers. That said, while it didn't grab me like the soundtrack song taking the top spot, it also didn't repel me. It's kinda in the same vein for me as a lot of Mary J. Blige's discography, and she never did too well on the personal tastes' lists for her nominations either. Also, I tried to separate the Fugees' material from hers, since there's a good argument that they deserve a separate induction. And Frankie Valli's version of "Can't Take My Eyes Off You" is better, imo.
Favorite song: "Lose Myself"
Merits rank: 14
Average of ranks: 13
13. Billy Idol
Honestly, Billy and Lauryn average out about the same. Billy had a higher ceiling, but also a much lower floor. It really came down to the fact that Billy's catalog had a lot more slower songs than people may remember, songs with the production values similar to "Eyes Without A Face" that I really don't care for.
Favorite song: "Can't Break Me Down"
Merits rank: 11
Average of ranks: 12
14. Joy Division/New Order
In the past, I've given the two eras equal weight when calculating my enjoyment. This really hurts this ensemble, because Ian Curtis always sounded off-key from the rest of the band. Or atonal. Or polytonal? Either way, it's not fair because New Order has a much bigger catalog. You either gotta thumb the scale in New Order's favor, or just try to accept it all as one catalog and kind of imagine Joy Division as being those woodshed albums when the band was still finding itself. That's not how they should be discussed in terms of merit, because Joy Division was so innovative and influential, but in terms of listening to as much of it as I can and articulating my overall enjoyment, I have to use a different process. Not easy to do, since Spotify basically treats them as two separate bands. New Order is the far more enjoyable era by a mile, but even they had a number of tracks that just weren't doing it for me.
Favorite song: "Your Silent Face"
Merits rank: 3
Average of ranks: 8.5
15. The Black Crowes
They're basically a really good bar band. Most of it didn't stick with me, but I wasn't annoyed by most of it either. That said, by the end of deep dive, I was getting a bit sick of hearing Chris Robinson's voice. But the axemanship was pretty solid.
Favorite song: "Hard To Handle"
Merits rank: 17
Average of ranks: 16
16. Sade
If I was forced to pick an act from the ballot and state that they were categorically NOT "rock and roll," it'd be Sade. They're truly boring. To me, Sade is elevator music. Sade is hold music. Sade is upscale cocktail lounge jazz. And I absolutely loathe "Smooth Operator." If it wasn't for the rhythm section that is conspicuously missing on some of the later songs, I might seriously argue that they are not rock and roll. I seriously wonder if they consider themselves rock 'n' roll, like a Miles Davis situation. That said, the rhythm section is partially responsible for keeping them off the bottom, and largely where I'd point to if someone asked how are they rock and roll. Also, in the spirit of magnanimity, "Tar Baby" is well-written, and "Love Is Found" is a pretty cool track that sounds like it could've been either a Duran Duran song or a Britney Spears track.
Favorite song: "Paradise"
Merits rank: 9
Average of ranks: 12.5
17. Jeff Buckley
But worse than being bored is being irritated. Grace mostly grates on me. It's just not for me. You can very much spot the Led Zeppelin influences in his style of singing. Unfortunately, I'm also not that big on Zeppelin either. I like my classic rock Beatle-based, not Zep-based. His voice is much more palatable to me in its lower register. His cover of "Everyday People" is alright, and I think My Sweetheart The Drunk is indeed unfulfilled potential. But I probably would still rank him at the bottom for this year.
Favorite song: "Nightmares By The Sea"
Merits rank: 16
Average of ranks: 16.5
So with all that work done, we see that for me, between merits and taste, the ranks go:
1. Mariah Carey
1. Phil Collins
2. Luther Vandross
4. Shakira
5. Wu-Tang Clan
6. Iron Maiden
7. P!nk
8. Joy Division/New Order
8. Oasis
10. INXS
11. Melissa Etheridge
12. Billy Idol
13. New Edition
13. Sade
15. Lauryn Hill
16. The Black Crowes
17. Jeff Buckley
The biggest surprises for me personally are how high Phil Collins made it and how low Lauryn Hill finished. I feel like if Mariah Carey were already in, I would be probably be voting for Lauryn Hill in the fan ballot. Be that as it may, looking at this composite ranking, it appears that I would be voting for Mariah Carey, Phil Collins, Luther Vandross, Shakira, Wu-Tang Clan, Iron Maiden, and P!nk. And you'd be mostly correct. It took me a week or so to settle into my daily seven on the fan ballot, but I never voted for any of the bottom seven composite ranks. Melissa Etheridge on down never got a vote from me at anytime. Of my final seven that I've been voting for everyday now, the top six are in fact in that daily seven. P!nk, however, is not. Instead of the seventh place being the seventh vote, I'm actually jumping down to a tie-breaker at number eight. In fact, I have been voting for Joy Division/New Order everyday. They are taking the Soundgarden slot this year: I don't like them all that much, but dangit, they're too important to not vote for. In addition to Joy Division/New Order, I've also voted for Mariah Carey, Shakira, and Wu-Tang Clan everyday. It took a little time to pan out, but I eventually got to Iron Maiden, Phil Collins, and Luther Vandross to get my vote everyday as well. Which cuts off P!nk, Oasis, and INXS, unfortunately. They got at least one from me, but no more.
And with that, we've figured out how I probably should be and are voting. But that's not the main event is it? No it's not! Coming soon, we'll figure out who I think is going to get in. Stay tuned!
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