Young Writers Society

I AM A SUCKER for anything "countdown-ish" and at the top of the list is VH1's 100 Greatest...series, which explains itself, SO, as a FAN of music, I was pumped for the 100 Greatest Artists of All Time (I know I know I'm terrible) and now I'm bringing it to you who cares, if anybody. The list was compiled by votes of over 200 "musicians" (Jay Sean, 50 Cent, Really?)

Here's the list, those who should be higher are in green, lower in orange, those who should completely OFF are in red, and those who should stay put, or I am not sure about, or haven't heard enough to judge (Hall & Oats?) are in black.

REMEMBER this is my opinion, ART IS SUBJECTIVE, but maybe a discussion about what is MUSIC and what is Music Industry?




100 Alicia Keys
99 Hall & Oates
98 Depeche Mode
97 Pretenders
96 Journey
95 OutKast
94 Mariah Carey
93 Pearl Jam
92 LL Cool J
91 Green Day
90 Elvis Costello
89 Beastie Boys
88 Bee Gees
87 George Michael
86 N.W.A.
85 The Band MUCH HIGHER!
84 Curtis Mayfield
83 Earth, Wind and Fire
82 Steely Dan
81 ABBA I LOVE ABBA, WHAT?!?!
80 Mary J. Blige
79 Eminem
78 Judas Priest
77 Lynyrd Skynyrd
76 Run-D.M.C.
75 Rush
74 The Cure
73 Van Morrison
72 Janis Joplin
71 R.E.M.
70 Def Leppard
69 Tupac Shakur
68 Otis Redding
67 Coldplay
66 Justin Timberlake
65 The Doors SO MUCH HIGHER WTF!!!
64 Talking Heads
63 Notorious B.I.G. LOWER THAN 2PAC, WEST COAST!
62 Genesis
61 Cream
60 Whitney Houston
59 Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers
58 Cheap Trick
57 Iggy & The Stooges
56 KISS
55 Peter Gabriel
54 Public Enemy
53 Little Richard
52 Beyoncé
51 Billy Joel
50 Sade-I DON'T EVEN UNDERSTAND THIS ONE??
49 Parliament-Funkadelic
48 Rage Against The Machine
47 Jay-Z
46 Ramones
45 Al Green
44 Joni Mitchell
43 Ray Charles
42 Metallica
41 Van Halen
40 The Police
39 The Kinks
38 Sly & The Family Stone
37 Fleetwood Mac
36 Paul McCartney
35 Johnny Cash
34 Tina Turner
33 Guns N’ Roses
32 Black Sabbath
31 John Lennon PAUL WAS BETTER30 Aerosmith
29 Radiohead REALLY SHOULDN'T EVEN BE ON
28 Elton John
27 Aretha Franklin IF ANY WOMAN DESERVES TO BE IN THE TOP 20
26 Neil Young
25 Chuck Berry
24 The Velvet Underground
23 AC/DC
22 The Clash
21 Bruce Springsteen MY BIAS HES THE BOSS SHOULD BE #3
20 Marvin Gaye
19 U2
18 Pink Floyd
17 Queen
16 Madonna WTF A THOUSAND TIMES
15 The Beach Boys
14 Nirvana
13 The Who
12 David Bowie
11 Bob Marley LOWER THAN THE WHO
10 Stevie Wonder
09 James Brown
08 Elvis Presley
07 Prince REALLY? GREATER THAN ELVIS, THE WHO, MARLEY, WONDER, The FLOYD, ext.
06 Jimi Hendrix
05 Bob Dylan *HEART* ABSOLUTELY #1
04 Rolling Stones
03 Led Zeppelin
02 Michael Jackson STEVIE WONDER, JAMES BROWN, MARVIN GAYE were MJ BEFORE MJ WAS MJ
01 The Beatles UGH!

Now here are those I believe should be on:

Patti Smith #2
The Sex Pistols
The Eagles
Red Hot Chilli Peppers
Ella Fitzgerald
Roy Orbison
Buddy Holly
The Doobie Brothers
HOW ABOUT ANYBODY ELSE EH? Ah, *sigh* why do I even try, *breaks down and weeps*

Now I know there are people that think Eminem is greater than the Doors, or that Bob Dylan's voice sucks, art, especially music, is subjective, so don't be offended by anything, but if anybody talks SHIT on ABBA I WILL HUNT THEM DOWN.

Obviously I can't really review this, but I'm wondering how they even organise these! how do you pit Eminem aganst someone like Geroge Michael? They have completely different styles! Is it based on success, or just people sitting in a room deciding their opinion is good enough for the general public?
I think each artist should be judged with their own category; rap, r&b, etc. Otherwise, I fail to see how this system works.

I would just like to mention that SPEAKING LIKE THIS IS OFTEN PERCEIVED AS SCREAMING. If you really want to emphasize something you can instead try and italicize like this.

As for the piece, you were trying to encourage discussion, but to be honest, I did not feel like discussing. In fact, I did not feel like even looking at the list. You did not encourage any interest in me. To do so, you could have alluded to what would have been on the list. You could have used more language techniques to emphasize your opinion and to make your piece more interesting.

Other than that, the fact that you decided to color code your songs was a good idea and a sign of good organization, it also made it easier for the reader to understand. Your sentences placed inside parentheses were often humorous adding some much needed flavor to your piece. I need more flavor though.