Firstly, I gotta say I'm mainly a classic rock guy and I think I figured out why. I'm almost positive I need variety in my music and constantly listening to something different even within a song. That's why I like classic rock far better than modern rock as there was just so much variety in just say a single Zeppelin song. Then, of course, the basslines were so much better along with piano/keyboards most of the time. Modern rock has removed variety for the most part as there's very few bands with piano/keys and some bands don't even have a bassist anymore. One of the very few rap/hip-hop groups I like are the Beastie Boys because their music has so much variety and the sampling they did is basically illegal now.
Shiina Ringo is probably my favorite artist of all-time. She has probably used just about every instrument ever at some. She writes her music both lyrics and composition. She constantly mixes and matches genres from classical to industrial rock. She even created and fronted a band called Tokyo Jihen, which is by far the best band since the classic rock era IMO. Her music has huge variety both within just a single song and across her entire body of work. She's accomplished what I consider the key to a band or artist by having a "sound" while having every song feel different.
The next 2 artists I found recently. Paloma Faith's 1st album is amazing. However, her next 2 albums are full of repetitive music with no variety. I'm guessing Paloma wasn't the main creative force behind the first album (and there was a falling out) or she just got lazy. Then, I just discovered Janelle Monae. As David Letterman put it she's "the hardest working woman in show business". Her 2 albums are both really good and are both actual albums (and not just a collection of songs).
Shiina Ringo is probably my favorite artist of all-time. She has probably used just about every instrument ever at some. She writes her music both lyrics and composition. She constantly mixes and matches genres from classical to industrial rock. She even created and fronted a band called Tokyo Jihen, which is by far the best band since the classic rock era IMO. Her music has huge variety both within just a single song and across her entire body of work. She's accomplished what I consider the key to a band or artist by having a "sound" while having every song feel different.
The next 2 artists I found recently. Paloma Faith's 1st album is amazing. However, her next 2 albums are full of repetitive music with no variety. I'm guessing Paloma wasn't the main creative force behind the first album (and there was a falling out) or she just got lazy. Then, I just discovered Janelle Monae. As David Letterman put it she's "the hardest working woman in show business". Her 2 albums are both really good and are both actual albums (and not just a collection of songs).