My other Top Fives...

Ok, here's my other Top 5 MUSIC lists to go with the top 5 guitar solos in the below post.

Ok, here we go...

MY Top 5 Drummers:
5. Doane Perry
4. Dave Weckl
3. Gregg Bissonette
2. Mike Portnoy - Dream Theater/Liquid Tension Experiment
1. Neil Peart - Rush

Like Neil wouldn't top my drummer list! Portnoy is a monster. Bissonette has unbelievable chops and if you think all he could do was what he did in David Lee Roth's band, you're nuts. Weckl's a freak on the skins, and Doane Perry gained most of his fame from Jethro Tull, but he is a WAY better drummer than ever shown from their material. I would have put John Bonham on here - he might not have invented ghost strokes, but he sure as hell made people aware of them, (it took me longer to learn to play "Fool In The Rain" than it did to learn "The Spirit Of Radio"!) but he actually isn't one of my favorites.
RUNNER UP: Rod Morgenstein - Dixie Dregs

MY Top 5 Singers:
5. Michael Kiske - Helloween
4. Mike Howe - Metal Church
3. Michael Sweet - Stryper
2. Alan Doyle - Great Big Sea
1. Freddie Mercury - Queen

Note that I'm not picking front men, cuz then Roth would have been in there somewhere. What is it with being named Mike and being a good singer?!? Kiske and Howe are very similiar actually...Howe's singing on "Blessing In Disguise" and "The Human Factor" by Metal Church is great. Sweet always rocked with Stryper and his solo work. Freddie is (was) Freddie.
RUNNER UP: Bruce Dickinson - Iron Maiden

MY Top 5 Guitarists:
5. Alex Lifeson - Rush
4. Stevie Ray Vaughan
3. Zakk Wylde
2. Steve Vai
1. Ace Frehley - Kiss

Anyone who knows me knows better to say anything bad about the Spaceman. I dare say that he very well may have been second only to Eddie Van Halen in making kids want to play guitar...he definitely was the one who made me want to be a guitarist. Vai can school any rock guitar player including Mr. VH. Zakk is a BEAST. SRV was fantastic, and Alex is always class.
RUNNER UP: Joe Satriani or Lindsey Buckingham...I can't decide dammit!

MY Top 5 Bassists:
5. Matt Bissonette
4. John Entwistle - The Who
3. Dave LaRue - Dixie Dregs/Chastain
2. Steve Harris - Iron Maiden
1. Geddy Lee - Rush

Matt is as good on bass as his brother is on drums. Entwistle was known as a killer bassist. LaRue and Harris are great metal bassists, and Lee is the king of the bass. But then again, bassists are usually guys who aren't good enough to be guitarists so they play bass - I almost put Derek Smalls on here! :-)
RUNNER UP: Billy Sheehan

MY Top 5 Songs:
5. "Wasted Years" - Iron Maiden / Somewhere In Time
4. "Limelight" - Rush / Moving Pictures
3. "Anyway You Want It" - Journey /Departure
2. "When I Am King" - Great Big Sea / Something Beautiful
1. "Rip It Out" - Ace Frehley / Kiss-Ace Frehley

"Years" is simply a perfect song. "Limelight" has fantastic guitar, bass, and drums. "AYWI" is another perfect song. "King" could only be second to "Rip It Out".
RUNNER UP: "She" - Kiss / Dressed To Kill

MY Top 5 Albums:
5. "Images And Words" - Dream Theater
4. "Ride The Lightning" - Metallica
3. "Love Gun" - Kiss
2. "Something Beautiful" - Great Big Sea
1. "Moving Pictures" - Rush

"Images & Words" introduced me to Dream Theater...a band who is musically second to only Rush. "Lightning" opened up the world of "metal" for me and was in my car's cd player for pretty much my entire junior year of high school. "Love Gun" is basically my favorite Kiss album, but you could pretty much interchange this with "Destroyer", "Dressed To Kill", and "Alive II". "S.B." is one of those rare albums that is perfect from the first song to the last. "Moving Pictures" was the first album to ever be perfect from start to finish!
RUNNER UP: "Perfectly Good Guitar" - John Hiatt


Ok, actually looking at this now...disregard it! I forgot about REO Speedwagon, Night Ranger, Alice Cooper, Johnny Cash, The Ramones, Saigon Kick, Eric Johnson, The Push Stars, Tenacious D, Warren Zevon, Foo Fighters, Monte Montgomery, Bowling For Soup, Queensryche, Vito Bratta, Cheap Trick, Randy Rhodes, Aerosmith, Guns & Roses, Skid Row, Poison, The Bee Gees, and a few others.

It's impossible to make a good Top 5 List because there are way too many good bands, songs, albums, etc. out there - you CAN'T NARROW IT DOWN! FORGET EVERYTHING I SAID!!!!!