Top Fives

Thought I'd share my top 5 favorites in various categories. Here we go:

Top 5 Bands:
1. Yes - they made "Close to the Edge"
2. Genesis - Peter Gabriel-era only
3. King Crimson - listen to "Epitaph" or "Starless" and you'll see why
4. Emerson, Lake & Palmer - listen to "Tarkus"
5. Rush - they just kick a lot of ass

Top 5 Guitar Players:
1. Steve Vai - He made "For the Love of God"
2. Joe Satriani - He looks badass when he plays and he taught Steve Vai how to play
3. Al Di Meola - probably one of if not the most technically proficient guitar players ever
4. Buckethead - he may be really weird, but god damn can he play
5. Steve Hackett - for his solo on "Firth of Fifth"

Top 5 Bass Players
1. Stanley Clarke - I saw him perform with Return to Forever and he was fucking awesome
2. Victor Wooten - just check out his videos on Youtube
3. Les Claypool - also slaps bass like a mofo
4. Jaco Pastorius - really great jazz player
5. Geddy Lee - I know people tend to pay attention to his screechy voice more, but he really is a great bass player

Top 5 Singers
1. Greg Lake - I would make love to his voice if I could
2. Peter Hamill - of Van der Graaf Generator, his wildly theatrical singing style is captivating
3. Peter Gabriel - one of those singers that is widely emulated
4. Roine Stolt - of The Flower Kings, sings with two different styles that are equally great
5. Mikael Akerfeldt - of Opeth, you wouldn't know it from the death growling, but his "clean" vocals are just beautiful

Top 5 Drummers:
1. Neal Peart - of Rush, just look at the size of his stage setup
2. Bill Bruford - played with Yes, King Crimson, and many others
3. Billy Cobham - his drumming with Mahavishnu Orchestra sounds like a machine gun
4. Carl Palmer - of Emerson Lake and Palmer
5. John Bonham - of Led Zeppelin, listen to the solo on "Moby Dick"

Okay, that's enough music related ones.

Top 5 Movies:
1. Pulp Fiction - Samuel L. Motherfuckin' Jackson, need I say more?
2. Dark City - crazy sci-fi movie strikingly similar in theme to the Matrix...but it came out a year earlier
3. Fight Club - first rule of Fight Club...
4. Clerks - "37? In a row?"
5. Beerfest - yeah , it's not exactly high brow entertainment, but it is hilarious

Top 5 TV Shows:
1. Lost - I've already said enough about this one
2. It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia - so stupid, it's genius
3. 30 Rock - Tracy Morgan mainly, but everyone on this show is fantastic
4. Venture Bros. - I want to be Brock Samson
5. Entourage - scratch that, I want to be these guys

Top 5 Books:
1. The Dark Tower (series) - these books almost make want to get a guns and roses tattoo
2. A Song of Ice and Fire (series) - probably the most well-written fantasy books I've read, it's high fantasy for people who don't really care about magic and monsters
3. American Gods - a fantastic blend of folklore, mythology, and Neil Gaiman's genius, I really want to see this turned into a movie
4. The Stand - Stephen King is on here twice because he's that good - the Stand may be long, but this post-apocalyptic tale is definitely worth it
5. The Diamond Age - Neal Stephenson is currently my favorite author because of his ability to make technical things interesting and his witty, amusing writing style

Top 5 Webcomics:
1. Achewood - I've never seen anyone write dialogue quite the way Chris Onstad - he's either brilliant or just crazy
2. Dr. McNinja - it's about a doctor who's also a ninja
3. XKCD - the quintessential nerd comic
4. Questionable Content - the closest I'll ever get to watching a soap opera, plus Jeph Jacques has helped me discover quite a few great bands
5. Penny Arcade - often imitated, but never surpassed, the ultimate video game webcomic

Top 5 Video Games:
1. Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion - it's almost like a single player MMORPG, I've never put so much time into a game as I have into this one
2. Final Fantasy III (VI in Japan) - is and will always be superior to Final Fantasy VII; Sephiroth can go suck a preposterously long dick
3. Chrono Trigger - unique for its cast of characters, time traveling theme, and rediculous number of endings
4. Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas - tons of replay value, I was disappointed when GTA IV took out all the wacky shit like the jetpack, jet, RC cars, etc.
5. God of War - easily the most fun action game I've ever played, it put quick time button pressing on the map

Alright, that's enough for now. Maybe I'll do a follow-up post some time with some more of my favorite things. I encourage people to respond with their own Top 5's.