As the chat feature is gone on Steam anyway (not sure about XBox) I figure a lot of music gets listened to while playing. Even though I'm still hard and heavy at the PS3 versions and love miced multiplayer I still like to have it off and stomp some 1v1 face when listening to music.

What makes your playlist these days? I figure listing your top 5 goto's is good enough.
Back in the day I would put this thread up every year and it never failed that every year someone would remind me of an artist I haven't listened to in a long time or turn me on to someone completely new.
Here's to hoping it happens again!
I do like to make a wmp playlist from my single song library quite often but these five are what I've found myself listening to all of when I'm playing.
(In no particular order)

1. Tom Waites - Heartattack and Vine
2. Rush - Clockwork Angels
3. The Tragically Hip - Yer Favorites
4. The Mars Volta - Live at The Electric Ballroom, London, 7/9/2003
5. The Big Wu - Live at The Minneapolis Zoo, 8/26/2000

Nothing really current but then again there isn't much current I care for other than Little Hurricane and Larkin Poe and maybe the Revivalists oh and Zach Deputy.

hmmm my top 5 most listened to songs, let's check my phone (I'll assume from different artists)

1. BAND-MAID - Alone
2. JAM Project - THE HERO !!
3. MAN WITH A MISSION - Raise Your Flag
4. Coda - BLOODY STREAM
5. Toby Fox - Hopes and Dreams/SAVE the world

Wow... different worlds.
My five were whole releases and not just single songs. I remember now you young wippersnappers can't stay true to a theme for more than five minutes.
Back in my day we had concept albums an................

three of those are singles no album to go with them

Currently?

1. Lil Uzi Vert

2. Kodak Black

3. Playboi Carti

4. Desiigner

5. Unotheactavist

Those are artist I listed, not singles. Carti season coming soon.

Albums I have been listening to recently.

Yes - Close to the Edge (a classic)

Ewan Dobson - Acoustic Metal 2, and Signor Paganini and Friends - Acoustic Metal 2 has some of the most interesting and catchy rhythmic patterns I have heard in awhile. The other album is mostly Paganini tunes transcribed to acoustic guitar, good stuff if you like classical music. Fun fact, in his time many people thought Paganini sold his soul to satan (or was satan himself), to the point where certain patrons even refused to allow him to play for them and their courts. The thought was that it was physically impossible for a human to be that good. There may even be some credence to this being the start of the whole "satan was a fiddle player" trope that later became particularly popular in the American south (The Charlie Daniels Band's Devil went down to Georgia and all that).

Les Claypool's Duo de Twang - Four Foot Shack - Country renditions of a bunch of Claypool's songs, as well as a few interesting covers, like stuff from Jerry Reed, Stompin' Tom Connors, Alice in Chains, and the most insane rendition of Stayin' Alive you are likely to ever hear.

Staplemouth - Ruler of Desperate Measures - Probably one of my favorite hip-hops album to come out in recent years, the guys style is impeccable and can spin an interesting narrative (listen to the song Ravenous with the lyrics, interesting stuff). The guy is a native Hawaiian too, which is interesting.

Hail Mary Mallon - Bestiary - Another good hip-hop album. Aesop Rock is hard to dislike as it is, but having Rob Sonic around allows him to not be quite so serious and have some fun with the album.

Honorable Mention:

Shpongle - Nothing Lasts...But Nothing is Lost - Great album to have on in the background when doing almost anything. Also, who doesn't love William Blake references.

Gordian Knot - Self Titled and Emergent - Probably some of, if not my favorite albums of all time. Sean Malone was the inspiration for me to start playing bass (and cello back in school). I think I prefer the first album (which was almost entirely co-written by Trey Gunn along with Malone), but the second album brings back all of the old members of Cynic which I was a huge fan of (Focus is an amazing album).

I will check some of this out.
Thanks.


Most definitely need to check out the Les. Waiting for Him and Dean Ween's collaboration eagerly.
Yes.....
What a classic.
Every song a masterpiece.

Breaking Benjamin
Nine inch nails
Godsmack
Disturbed
Three days Grace


I have awful taste in music Lmao. No ragrets

I think I just died a little inside.

Honestly though, some of NiN's stuff isn't terrible. I also have enjoyed the work Reznor has done here and there with Maynard Keenan of Tool.

Then again I am a musical weirdo. Just wait till I start posting videos of the Residents or something just completely off the wall.

Edit: We'll ease into it my transition to musical madness slowly with some Skinny Puppy, some of the later stuff for your sake though!

Don't listen while I'm playing but here's some of what I play when I'm driving anywhere
Moonspell - Alpha Noir and Extinct
Draconian - Sovran
Amon Amarth - Twilight of the Thunder God
Septic Flesh - Communion

Lol the edgy issues! I still own 10 Thousand Fists and Faceless CDs somewhere though so...

My playlist during atm tends to be.

1) Emmure - "Russian Hotel Aftermath". I hated this band with a passion until guitarist and man-crush Josh Travis joined and effectively wrote the whole album recently.

2) New Order - "Singularity". One of my students is covering this track for their Music Tech coursework, so any opportunity I get to ingest its vibes helps.

3) Deftones - Change (In the House of Flies). The chill classic I just can't step away from, reminds me of my high school days.

4) Public Enemy - "Harder Than You Think." About the only rap act I can stand, and I love all the little mistakes in the recording.

5) (shameless self plug...) My "nearly done" EP. Hadn't released full music or joined a band for years, but I've been writing since October for something new and I'm down to recording the last track. Gotta keep listening through for anything I don't like.

Things I've listened to recently that is 8/10 or higher

Death Metal:
Blood Incantation - Starspawn
Death - Human
Mithras - On Strange Loops
Mors Principum Est - Embers of a Dying World

Black Metal:
Deathspell Omega - Fas - Ite, Maledicti, in ignem Aeternum

Thrash Metal:
Vektor - Terminal Redux
Metallica - Ride the Lightning
Watchtower - Control and Resistance

Progressive Metal:
Persefone - Aathma
Madder Mortem - Eight Ways
Soen - Lykaia
Nevermore - This Godless Endeavor

Non metal stuff:
At the Drive-In - Relationship of Command
Steve Wilson - Hand. Cannot. Erase
Jedi Mind Tricks - Violent by Design
Cannibal Ox - The Cold Vein
Antonio Vilvaldi - The Four Seasons
Chelsea Wolfe - Abyss

Yay Tom Waits

I didn't know that Soen and Steve Wilson had released new albums. I will have to check those out, I love just about everything from Steve Wilson. Soen isn't bad even if they do sort of sound like a rehashed Tool, although to be fair, I much preferred Cognitive to Tellurian.

Seriously though, you should check out Cynic if you haven't already (particularly their old stuff like Focus), hell, half of Cynic (Masvidal and Reinert) played on Death's Human album, and all of the members worked with Chuck Schuldiner here and there before he passed away.

A Watchtower fan too! Jarzombek is a genius. Even outside of all the classic Watchtower stuff, Spastik Ink was pure gold. If you haven't already check out Blotted Science, some of the most brutal metal music I have heard in a LONG time.

Eh, the vocoder use on Cynic's albums leaves me cold. It's really annoying, spoiling otherwise impressive works.

Fair enough. To be honest, I always felt like Masvidal (both his singing and guitar work) was the weakest aspect of Cynic. I still cant deny how amazing of a rhythm section that Malone and Reinert make together though!

So funny story, since I posted that one Skinny Puppy song. So apparently the two guys who make up Skinny Puppy learned that the U.S. military was using remixed versions of some of their older songs (without their knowledge or permission) in their detention camps as part of their psych torture campaign (you know, stuff like sleep deprivation, sensory deprivation, sensory overload, and so on).

In response they jokingly sent an invoice to the pentagon asking for $666,000 in compensation. Funny stuff.

Yeah, Masvidal isn't the best, but he did do some guest solo work on the greatest album ever recorded: Cybion by Kalisia, so he gets bonus points for that at least.

Anyways, speaking of individual band members and their talent levels, who would you pick for the ultimate band? Me:

Vocals, male: Mikael Åkerfeldt (hell, maybe even a little guitar work)
Vocals, female: Anneke van Giersbergen
Lead guitar: impossible to pick, but as I'm listening to Nevermore right now, Jeff Loomis so I have something here
Rhythm guitar: Dave Mustaine
Bass: Steve DiGiorgio
Drums: such a hard pick, but probably Flo Mounier

I've seen most of those in person. Pretty Hate Machine was a terrific album and Reznor has some serious skills - see any of his movies lately? He knows what he is doing. My list would be similar to this though Metallica is still near the top. And Justice for All baby.

A lot of the more recent music just hasn't hit my fancy but there is a lot in this thread that I haven't heard of that I'll give a try. My taste is pretty limited but I realize that just because I don't like it, that doesn't mean it isn't good.

Really?
About the NIN?
I adore the Halo sessions and I'm glad they were brought up as I see some good gaming with them cranking in the background.
Not often I see fans of Skinny Puppy it seems. I have their discography on the pc just not into that type of jam at the moment. Never forget the time in my life when I turned on to them. Meat Beat Manifesto, The Mentors, and the Corporate Avengers all joined my head at the same time as Skinny.
Sjok,
I see a pretty impressive metal litany there and At the Drive In also
No love for Mars Volta?

Heartattack and Vine, Frank's Wild Years, Swordfishtrombones, Mule Variations.... I sometimes like to go through the discography and make a wmp playlist of nothing but him. Usually those night involve bourbon and a big bowl and playing dirty, dirty decks.

I have seen all but Three Days Grace live. I don't much care for their new singer. I dunno, I'm 33, this was the jam back in 1999-2002 when I was in high school, so it just kind of stuck for me.