For whatever reason, it seems that Canadian musicians take a lot of crap from Americans. Possibly it's the Celine Dion effect? Maybe it's because not only her but Michael Bublé, Raffi and Justin Bieber are all from Canada? And in the 80s they dumped Men Without Hats, Gino Vannelli, Vanity and Corey Hart on us too? Well Ok then, I guess I can see why the animosity after all.
But there are quite a few Canadian artists I really like too. So when I noticed that today was Canada Day, I whipped me up a mix on my iPod to honor some of my favorite Canadian artists and it wasn't too hard to do really. And since I like to post these here blog thingies, I figured I'd share some of them. So American haters be damned, here's my...
Top 20 Favorite Canadian Musicians/Bands/Artists/Rockers/Rollers /Hosers
20. Aldo Nova - I loved his hits like Fantasy and Hot Love but he also had a killer album called Blood on the Bricks that he did with Jon Bon Jovi that's an overlooked classic in my opinion.
19. Priestess - A fantastic little stoner rock band that I've seen live opening for Black Label Society.
18. Emerson Drive - Seems like they're based out of Nashville, but these guys are from Canada originally.
17. April Wine - In the late 70s and early 80s these guys had a string of hits and I love their CD Harder... Faster. I like to rock!
16. Helix - I loved me some Heavy Metal Love and R.O.C.K. You back in the day.
15. Default - A bit radio friendly? Perhaps. But I like a lot of their tunes and have seen them open for a few bands.
14. Sebastian Bach - I loved Skid Row back in the day when Bach was their lead screamer and he put out an excellent CD called Angel Down a few years ago that I still blast often.
13. Anvil - Loved their documentary and saw them play live just last year.
12. Our Lady Peace - I love their unique style of their vocalist, Raine Maida.
11. Finger Eleven - I've seen these guys several times and always enjoy their show.
10. Three Days Grace - This is a band I've dug for years now. No problem picking from about 30 of their songs on my iPod for a mix.
9. Loverboy - Oh how many nights I spent cruising in my camaro listening to these guys right after I got my driver's license. Huge hitmakers in the early 80s. I actually saw them just last year once again (at the state fair!).
8. Neil Young - A legend in American folk music... from Canada.
7. Triumph - A nice string of solid rock hits in the early 80s.
6. Theory of a Deadman - Sort of like Nickelback's little brother of hitmakers.
5. Cancer Bats - If you haven't heard these guys you should check them out, they're all over my iPod.
4. Nickelback - I know a lot of people put this band on their "reasons to hate Canadian music" list but I don't care. I actually like a whole lot of their songs and have seen them multiple times.
3. Evans Blue - Solid rock band... I've got all their CDs.
2. Bryan Adams - Run To You, Summer of 69, Heaven, Kids Wanna Rock, This Time, Cuts Like A Knife, Heat of the Night, Somebody... so many more.
1. Rush - Tom Sawyer alone should put them on the list, but songs like Spirit of the Radio, Freewill, Closer To the Heart, Fly By Night and Red Barchetta put them at the top of the list.
Well see there, that was pretty easy to do. Maybe there are a lot more good artists from north of the border than people give credit for? I didn't even put Steppenwolf, Bachman-Turner Overdrive, Killer Dwarfs, 3 Inches of Blood, Jet Black Stare, Honeymoon Suite, Hail The Villian, Danko Jones, Bif Naked or Arcade Fire on my list! I could go 30 deep easily I guess. Oh Canada indeed. See they're not so bad after all.
