Matt Freeman

By far, he's the best bass player in music.

And now, the best of the best

I've come up with some of the greatest musicians in the field of their instrument. This week I'm going to focus on a couple of the greatest piano, bass,guitar and singers of all time. And by all time, I mean in my most humble opinion. 

Today it's piano players. Two big names come to mind when I think of the best.

Ben Folds is one of the most creative piano players of all time. I've seen him perform at least 3 or so times and every time he performs, it's an amazing show. But it's not just his stage performance and the ability to improv. He has written some of the greatest songs. Some involving pain, others humor and growing old.  He plays with the most intense passion and at the same time, can make you crack up.

"Philosophy", "Still Fighting It", and "Landed" highlight a great list of his wonderful works of art, and on the other side "Rockin The Suburbs", "Hiroshima", and "Army" always bring a smile to your face. 

The second noteworthy piano player is a legend in many ways. He goes by The Piano Man, but is also known as Billy Joel. His songs are still song and enjoyed by many. One classic song that seems to never fade away is "Piano Man". It's probably the most played song at weddings besides whatever the flavor of the month is. Other classic songs are "The Longest Time", "New York State of Mind"  "The Downeastern 'Alexa'", "Only The Good Die Young" plus many others.

He seems to hold a special place in my wife's heart because our wedding song was "She's got a way", which was performed by her brother.  

Billy Joel is a fine piano player that remains a favourite among many. His classic songs warm up the heart and can usually get anyone singing. 

Great song from one of the most underrated bands ever

Oasis-Overrated and Un-original

The next group of sad saps is none other then Manchester's Oasis. They gained severe popularity in the mid 90's with their lousy singles "Wonderwall" and Champagne Supernova". A lot of bands like The Killers and the Arctic Monkeys are influenced by Oasis as well. 

I could never get into these guys. Mainly because Oasis overly rip off of the Beatles. I'm not a fan of them either, but I hate to see blatant copy-catting from some of the most arrogant musicians around. The last time my wife and I were driving I think "Champagne Supernova" was on the radio. I explained that the vocalist (Liam Gallager) has an obvious similarity to the late John Lennon.  She didn't think it was a complete rip-off of Lennon. It's not just the vocals either. Liam looks pretty damn close to John as well. How adorable. 

The music is so boring, that you could probably use any single for elevator music. It's THAT bland. That's all for now.

Most Overrated Bands

Today I'm going to start off a list of some of the worlds most Overrated Bands of all time.  Today, I'm going to highlight three bands at once since they are very similar in style and cult-like following. Dave Mathews Band, Phish and the Grateful Dead fall under the category "jam-hippy-stoner-bands". I never got into DMB. Their jam-rock never interested me. Mostly because Dave Mathews can't sing a note, and the music is quite boring. "Crash into Me" unfortunately always plays at work and it's just painful to listen to. You just can't understand a word this guy sings! A lot of avid drummers worship their drummer Carter Whatshisname, but I'm not that easily impressed. Overall, they're garbage.

Phish and The Grateful Dead both bore the living crap out of me. Playing a vacuum while jumping on a trampoline while tripping on acid is just a bit strange Phish. Improving songs for 10-15 minutes is also not very exciting. Does it even count as a song after 15 minutes? I don't know. Their fans follow them to the ends of the world too. Not sure where these burn outs get the money. The Grateful Dead never got my attention either. A lot of my friends would dig them, but I never did. Thank God for punk rock.

This is a really good song

It was WAY too overplayed in the mid-1990s, but I just heard this song a few seconds ago and dammit, it's a great song.

Aaron Lewis-Lousy Vocalist Extraordinaire

The other day, My wife and I were driving around checking out houses. We had the radio on because I forgot to bring a CD. The local independent radio station was playing 3 songs in a row by certain artists, and at one point they played Staind. I never really cared too much to give any thoughts on these jabronis, but when I started listening to the lyrics and the overall vocals on this group, I just started to cringe. All three songs they tortured me with were so mind numbing. They were boring and had the same sloowwww beat and chorus. No real effort on any one's part. But with a boring front man, you'd be stuck playing whatever he could muster up.  I read in a SPIN magazine one time that Aaron Lewis, the lead singer is consistently high most of his days. All of his epically long songs are about heart break and love. Some punk bands and rock bands can write a good heartbreak song (see Alkaline Trio) and nail it perfectly. Aaron Lewis sounds like he records whatever he plays after finishing off a 4 joints and a carton of smokes.

So next time you're stuck listening to the radio, change the channel when Staind comes on.