rankings

ranked artists: 213
last ranked:
Omnipotent Youth Society (万能青年旅店) (C+)

to-do artists: 262
last to-doed:
Early Eyes

current:
Eric Chou (周興哲)

on deck:
G.E.M.

click the album cover to go to that artist’s page so you can see some of my brief thoughts and feelings (and so you can leave a comment if I’m obviously super terribly wrong). Check the alt text to quickly see top songs for each artist (top 5 for S, top 4 for A, top 3 for B, top 2 for C, top 1 for D and F)

S-Tier

The gold standard- I’m a big fan. All of their albums are quality from start to finish, they’ve got songs in my list of favorites, I like their general vibe and their themes. S+ is unique: my current favorite artist.

TLDR, I love it.

S+

The Killers
The Killers

S

half•alive
Cage the Elephant
Sara Bareilles
Sam Fender

S-

Maggie Rogers
Bobbing
Still Woozy

A-Tier

Basically S ranked with a little something missing. Maybe I don’t vibe with the lyrics, or one of their albums didn’t impress, or whatever it may be- they just haven’t quite crossed over yet.

TLDR, I really like it.

A+

Vampire Weekend
Arctic Monkeys
The Strokes
Lake Street Dive
Jack White
Harry Styles
fun.
Upstate
Paramore
Hayley Williams
Bleachers
Jack Johnson
Franz Ferdinand

A

Paul Simon
Sting
Feed Me Jack
Dominic Fike
No Party for Cao Dong
Young the Giant
Dave Matthews Band
Run River North
Jim Croce
HAIM
Her’s
KNOWER
Muse
Hormone Boys
Taylor Swift
U2
Ben Folds
Louis Cole
Jon Batiste
The Happy Fits
NOTHING MORE
The White Stripes
COIN
Conan Gray
Vulfpeck
Beck
Simon & Garfunkel
Anathallo
Jason Mraz
Jacob Collier
Lovejoy
Smallpools
Lizzy McAlpine

A-

Peach Tree Rascals
Steel Train
Everything Everything
Foo Fighters
Kings of Leon
Two Door Cinema Club
Death Cab for Cutie
Hozier
The Altogether
A.P. Michaels
The Last Shadow Puppets
John Mayer
Ben Folds Five
Accuse Five (告五人)
The Oh Hellos
PHOX
Blossoms
Colbie Caillat
Cake
Valley
The Format
Maisie Peters
Red Hearse
IDK HOW BUT THEY FOUND ME
Black Pumas
Yoke Lore
Destiny’s Child
Jazz Emu
The Dead Weather
Noel Gallagher’s High Flying Birds
Sigrid
Neon Trees

B-Tier

The distinction in my head between “am a fan” and ‘like them but am not a fan” is largely that in the case of the artists I am a fan of (A- and above), I’m saying I like the artist. For B-Tier artists I’m saying I like the music, or some of it, or parts of it, but I don’t necessarily trust the artist to be putting out music I’ll like all the time.
Admittedly, these lower rankings are kinda messy- by definition, they’re mostly artists that I didn’t super care about upon initially listening to them. But I’m working on it. Oftentimes the entire B-range can act as a sort of holding room for artists I’m not yet sure of. Both those with potential for an A given time, or those I fear I’ll give up on and drop to a D.

TLDR, I mostly like it.

B+

Weezer
Kaiser Chiefs
WALK THE MOON
Edie Brickell & New Bohemians
Mother Mother
Fleetwood Mac
MIKA
Bread
Dirty Loops
Tally Hall
Big Red Machine
The Academic
Lawrence
Jukebox the Ghost
The Beatles
Olivia Rodrigo
Hunter Hayes
Dirty Pretty Things
The Libertines
ZAYN
Matchbox Twenty
Stray Kids
The Postal Service

B

Cosmo Sheldrake
Dayglow
Childish Gambino
Bad Suns
Wilco
OK Go
Louis Tomlinson
Mayday (五月天)
Elise Trouw
Dua Lipa
Parker McCollum
The Wilder Blue
Jonathan Coulton
Teddy Swims
FFS
Post Malone
Reliably Bad
Fats Domino
The Japanese House
boygenius
David Gates
Jay Chou
The Backseat Lovers
c a n d i d !
Niall Horan
Edie Brickell
Bill Withers
AJR
Ariana Grande
American Authors
Of Monsters and Men
Green Day

B-

The 1975
Charlie Puth
The National Parks
The Airborne Toxic Event
Zac Brown Band
Passenger
The Orion Experience
Train
Chance the Rapper
Oasis
Midland
Ingrid Michaelson
The Wombats
The Origin
One Direction

C-Tier

These artists aren’t bad, and I don’t even necessarily not like them. I like The War on Drugs, I think Phoebe Bridgers is a vibe. Sometimes being C-Tier can mean a general low level of quality, yes, but it more often just means there is some irreconcilable detail. The theme, the mood, the length of song, something, is too much for me to really enjoy the artist, even if there are lots of things about them I appreciate. In other words, these are the disappointments- the artists that I had high hopes for who in some way I feel let me down.

TLDR, I want to like these artists more than I do.

C+

Red Hot Chili Peppers
The War on Drugs
Jamiroquai
Omnipotent Youth Society (万能青年旅店)
deca joins
Gorillaz
Barenaked Ladies
Arlo Parks
Billie Eilish

C

Greta Van Fleet
Heavy MakeUp
Phoebe Bridgers
Radiohead
Teezo Touchdown
The Police
Lorde
Red Two Six
Sunset Rollercoaster

C-

Austin Archer
Genevieve Artadi
The Unicorns
Beyoncé
Plain White T’s
Kanye West
TV Girl

D-Tier

The D-tier is where I put artists that I’m just… thoroughly unimpressed by. It still doesn’t mean they’re bad or I dislike them, it just means they’ve landed on the wrong side of my indifference. Too repetitive, too uninspired, too… meh. Too meh. It’s not uncommon for artists to go from B- to D+ as I realize that what I thought I mostly liked fine enough is actually something I’ve just been tolerating.

TLDR, I don’t like these artists.

D+

Coldplay
Feist
Glass Animals
The Lumineers
FINNEAS
Josh Tatofi

D

Wham!
Capital Cities
Liam Payne
M83
Counting Crows
Tim McGraw
Cold Chisel
The Smashing Pumpkins
Co-Stanza

D-

TLC
NF
Giant Panda Guerilla Dub Squad
Lana Del Rey
Quinn XCII
Bruce Springsteen
Surfaces
Bastille
Frankie Cosmos
Alex Cameron
Depeche Mode

F-Tier

I don’t like the music here. There’s not necessarily anything wrong with it, but there’s also not necessarily not anything wrong it. Multiple irreconcilable factors, many things I can’t forgive or look past. Definitely not to my taste.

TLDR, I dislike these artists.

F+

Chris Brown
Clown Core

F

The Smiths
Talking Heads
Eminem

F-

Pink Floyd