Musical Recommendations

->current top bands of all time
->top albums of all time
->albums that shaped me
->podcast recommendations

Band Recommendations

You definitely won't like all of these bands, but I recommend them anyway!
I'm a big fan of female singers in rock/metal bands, so several of these are just that. They are marked.
All links open externally.
* = female fronted or dominant female role in the band

Heavy Rock/Metal/Progressive Metal

Rock / Progressive Rock

Jazz/Fusion

Favourite bands/artists, as of Apr/09
Aghora
Chevelle
Devin Townsend
The Gathering/Anneke van Giersbergen
ISIS
Kittie
Made out of Babies
Meshuggah
Mudvayne
Nevermore
The Ocean
Porcupine Tree
Portal
Rammstein
Sevendust
Static-X

Top favourite albums of all time, as of Apr/09
Chronicles of Israfel - Starborn (Tome I)
Dredg - El Cielo
finger eleven - tip
The Gathering - How to measure a planet?
I Mother Earth - Blue Green Orange
ISIS - Oceanic
Made out of Babies - The Ruiner
Meshuggah - obZen
Mighty Mighty Bosstones - Let's Face It
Mudvayne - LD.50
Mushroomhead - XX
Nevermore - Enemies of Reality
Nine Inch Nails - The Fragile
The Ocean - Precambrian
Opeth - Blackwater Park
Poison the Well - You come before you
Portal - Blood Red Tape
The Postman Syndrome - Terraforming
Radiohead - Kid A
Rammstein - Rosenrot
Sevendust - Animosity
Skunk Anansie - Paranoid and Sunburnt
Static-X - Start A War
System of a Down - System of a Down
Tapping the Vein - The Damage
Thrice - The Alchemy Index (Pts 1-4)
Warrel Dane - Praises to the War Machine

Albums that shaped me (in order of release year/alphabetically by band)
I didn't necessarily "discover" all these albums when they actually came out, nor do I still listen to all of them frequently, but their influence on my tastes and my own writing style can't be denied.

NIN - Downward Spiral (1994)
The Mighty Mighty Bosstones - Let's Face It (1997)
Finger Eleven - Tip (1998)
System of a Down - System of a Down (1998)
Kittie - Entire Discography (1999 - present)
I Mother Earth - Blue Green Orange (1999)
LEN - Can't stop the bum rush (1999)
Sevendust - Home (1999)
Static-X - Wisonsin Death Trip (1999)
Mudvayne - L.D. 50 (2000)
Nevermore - Dead Heart in a Dead World (2000)
Radiohead - Kid A (2000)
Boyhitscar - Boyhitscar (2001)
Mushroomhead - XX (2001)
Opeth - Blackwater Park (2001)
Portal - A Taste of Things to Come... (2001)
Chevelle - Wonder What's Next (2002)
ISIS - Oceanic (2002)
Killswitch Engage - Alive or Just Breathing (2002)
Pulse Ultra - Headspace (2002)
Poison The Well - You Come Before You (2003)
Made out of Babies - Trophy (2005)
The Ocean - Precambrian (2007)
Mesuggah - ObZen (2008)

Podcasts I listen to and recommend

The 40 Year Old Boy Podcast (Mike Schmidt)
A Life Well Wasted (Robert Ashley)
The Atheist Experience (Various)
BrainStuff (Marshall Brain)
Chillpak Hollywood Hour (Dean Haglund, Phil Leirness)
Comedy and Everything Else (Jimmy Dore, Todd Glass, Stefana Zamorano)
Gamers with Jobs - Conference Call (Sean Sands, Shawn Andrich, Julian Murdoch, Rob Borges)
Idle Thumbs (Chris Remo, Nick Breckon, Jake Rodkin)
I Love Movies (Doug Benson)
The Non-Prophets (Matt Dillahunty, Denis Loubet, Jeff Dee, Russell Glasser)
The Paul Goebel Show (Paul Goebel, Jim Bruce)
The Sound of Young America (Jesse Thorn)
Spark from CBC (Nora Young)
Stuff You Should Know (Chuck Bryant and Josh Clark)
Stealing God (Jim Bruce and Tom Griffin)
Major Nelson Radio ("Major Nelson" Larry Hryb and Eric "e" Neustadter)