For Those Who Love Music...

[Matt]

Basically, this thread is for sharing your specific tastes in music, and hopefully finding someone else with similar tastes. =]

So, here's a pretty decent "format" to voice your musical self:

What does music mean to you, personally?

What are your favorite genres of music?

What are your favorite bands/artists overall, or your favorites of each genre?

What are your top favorite albums or full scale works of music?

What are your favorite songs/pieces?

Do you play or write any music? If so, elucidate! =]


That said, here's my stuff, yo:

What does music mean to you, personally?
I could speak endlessly on what music means to me, but for now I'll just sum it up as such: Music is - without hyperbole - my life.

What are your favorite genres of music?
I listen to quite a variety of music, so I'll just list my favorite genres:

- Indian classical music
- Western classical music (including the Baroque, Classical, Romantic, and contemporary eras)
- All sorts of rock (including nu-metal, alternative, grunge, classic rock, indie, and many more)
- Hip hop (including old school, golden age, jazz-fusion, and contemporary)
- Jazz (including big band, swing, and stuff from the late 50s and early 60s)
- Metal (including heavy metal, power metal, thrash metal, death metal, & more)
- Pop (from the latter 20th century, as well as contemporary J-Pop)
- Orchestral film scores (mostly from the past two decades)
- Punk (including pop-punk, hardcore punk, and rockabilly)
- World/ethnic (including middle eastern, medieval revival, and flamenco)

What are your favorite bands/artists overall, or your favorites of each genre?

Modern Rock: alice in chains, audioslave, blindside, chevelle, deftones, disturbed, evanescence, fountains of wayne, garbage, incubus, korn, linkin park, marilyn manson, muse, nirvana, pearl jam, radiohead, rage against the machine, red hot chili peppers, slipknot, soundgarden, system of a down, tenacious d, tool, weezer, the white stripes, the yeah yeah yeahs

Classical: ludwig van beethoven, frédéric chopin, antonín dvořák, edward elgar, gabriel fauré, george gershwin, franz liszt, wolfgang amadeus mozart, sergei prokofiev, sergei rachmaninoff, pyotr ilyich tchaikovsky, antonio vivaldi, richard wagner, vaughan Williams

Pop Punk: afi, all american rejects, blink 182, bluntside, boxcar racer, brand new, finch, jimmy eat world, lit, the living end, my chemical romance, the offpsring, relient k, sum 41, thrice, unwritten law

Metal: agalloch, anorexia nervosa, anthrax, green carnation, iron maiden, kamelot, megadeth, metallica, necrophagist, opeth, orphaned land, pantera, slayer, sonata arctica

Hip Hop: d12, deltron 3030, eminem, fort minor, jeru the damaja, nas, public enemy, run dmc, a tribe called quest, tupac, wu-tang clan

Film Score: danny elfman, ennio morricone, hans zimmer, john williams, klaus badelt

Classic Rock: the beatles, eric clapton, john lennon, led zeppelin, pink floyd, queen, the who

J-Pop: ayumi hamasaki, namie amuro, puffy amiyumi

J-Rock: dir en grey, l'arc~en~ciel, malice mizer, moi dix mois

Punk: suicidal tendencies, the clash, dead kennedys, the ramones, rancid

Alternative: arcade fire, cake, the pixies, pretty girls make graves

World: amadou & mariam, dead can dance, ravi shankar

Other: ac/dc, andrew lloyd webber, avenged sevenfold, guns n roses, jack johnson, lilly allen, the postal service, sublime

What are your top favorite albums or full scale works of music?
My top favorite album of all time is Muse's "Origin of Symmetry". To sum it up massively, it largely mirrored my own life, and I became absolutely enamored (and obsessed) with it. Even with all the other music I've heard since then, it still surpasses all else. That album has meant more to my life than I could possibly explain...

What are your favorite songs/pieces?

I've had quite a few pieces of music that absolutely captivate me to a spiritual level, and many times I feel as if I've just grown ten years wiser by hearing some of these musical moments. Not intellectually, but rather, as if I've experienced a part of the world - a part of life itself - that had previously been shut off from me and everyone else on earth. Compiling a list of all the music that has had such a powerful effect on me will be difficult, partly because time has faithfully eroded many memories and diluted others.

Nonetheless, this is an incomplete list of pieces that have taken me to a realm beyond that of this world. And I know it looks like it, but I am not just arbitrarily listing off a whole bunch of songs that I *like*, or even love. As numerous as these songs are, each and every one has had a profound effect on me.

Note that some of these songs no longer have the same effect on me, either from being listened to death or my musical taste evolving, but nonetheless I'll include them anyways since their effect is life-long, even if I don't actually enjoy listening to them now as much.

That said, these are certain moments in songs that are immensely powerful:

All of Us - Blindside (spine-chilling chorus)
About a Burning Fire - Blindside (intensely passionate climactic part)
Aliens Exist - Blink 182 (sorry, but the chorus just had a tremendous effect on me)
Shine - Chihiro Onitsuka (that one spine-tingling part is beyond words; THIS is why I listen to music)
Ice Dance / The Grand Finale - Danny Elfman (that breathtaking choral part)
Everlong - Foo Fighters (you know the chorus)
Pardon Me - Incubus (you know this chorus too; the lyrics resonate immensely with me)
Flake - Jack Johnson (perfect chorus)
All You Wanted - Michelle Branch (one of the most beautiful choruses I have ever heard)
Goodbye to You - Michelle Branch (amazingly, also one of the most beautiful choruses I've ever heard)
Falling Away With You - Muse (verses that make the surrounding world dissolve away)
Blackout - Muse (when the electric guitar comes in; one of the most beautiful uses of distortion ever)
Futurism - Muse (the swirling guitar solo is one of the few that I truly would call orgasmic)
Space Dementia - Muse (the climactic coda is pretty much musical perfection - not a statement to be taken lightly)
Plug In Baby - Muse (the falsetto part at the end is intensely spine-tingling)
Citizen Erased - Muse (the piano coda is one of the most beautiful pieces of music I've ever, EVER heard)
Screenager - Muse (the chorus is so tragically beautiful, I almost want to cry)
Yellow Ledbetter - Pearl Jam (beautiful solo)
A Certain Cemetery - Pretty Girls Make Graves (when this is over, it's all right)
Planet Tokyo - Puffy AmiYumi (call me crazy, but the chorus is intensely beautiful)
Robot Prototype Version 0.2 - Puffy AmiYumi (that one vocal harmony part, sooo beautiful)
Bohemian Rhapody - Queen (Mamaaaaaaaa, ooooeeeeeooooooo)
Piano Concerto No. 2, Mvt I - Rachmaninoff (the delicate upward arpeggio part)
I Could Have Lied - RHCP (powerful solo)
Softer to Me - Relient K (amazingly intense scream; for five or so seconds, this is music at its most powerful)
Like the Angel - Rise Against (beautiful chorus)
San Francisco - Scott Mckensie (timeless vocal melody)
Vermillion Pt. 1 - Slipknot (the solo is immensely powerful - the beauty of distortion!)
Handle This - Sum 41 (lovely little solo)
Hell Song - Sum 41 (perhaps my favorite electric guitar solo of all time, massively beautiful)
Hooch - Sum 41 (also one of the few guitar solos I would call truly orgasmic)
Chop Suey - System of a Down (what can I say, the chorus changed my life)
ATWA - System of a Down (the first verse is powerfully delicate, and the solo is an emotional surge)
Piano Concerto No. 1, Mvt I - Tchaikovsky (the introductory melody is pretty much the whole reason why I listen to classical music; aka, changed my life)
Aenima - Tool (the shift in time-signature with the intense drumming is so dark, and so massively powerful)
10,000 Days (Wings pt. 2) - Tool (ethereal soundscape)
Something With Heart - Me (sorry, but listening to the solo in this song removes me from this world and - for a moment - I attain a moment of pure, authentic nirvana)
Say It Aint So - Weezer (This waaaaaaaaay, is a waterslide that takes you etc.)
Kieu - Me (the solo actually feels like it's talking to me, trying to tell me something about my own inner being)
Time to Say Goodbye - Sarah Brightman (the chorus, oh my God)
Promises - Adema (powerful chorus)
Blame Me - Adema (another powerful chorus)
Betray - Adema (what can I say? Adema has a knack for powerful choruses)

I know it's an extensive list, but I truly mean it; every single one of the above has had a profound effect on my life. And now for entire pieces that do just the same, only the whole way through:

Brother - Alice in Chains
Nutshell - Alice in Chains
Rotten Apple - Alive in Chains
Asthenia - Blink 182
Untitled - Blink 182
Adam's Song - Blink 182
End of the Movie - Cake
Hailey's Song - Eminem
Rock Bottom - Eminem
Stan - Eminem
If I Could - Jack Johnson
Hallelujah - Jeff Buckley
23 - Jimmy Eat World
Lovely Day - Lit
Tourniquet - Marilyn Manson
The Nobodies - Marilyn Manson
Something to Sleep To - Michelle Branch
The Small Print - Muse
Map of Your Head - Muse
Cancer - My Chemical Romance
Oriental Diamond - Puffy AmiYumi
Fake Plastic Trees - Radiohead
More Than Useless - Relient K
Eve of Destruction - Barry McGuire
Highwayman - The Highwaymen
Disgustipated - Tool
Before I Go - Unwritten Law
Nanking - Me
Dukkha - Me (writing this song and then listening to it and loving it changed my life completely)
Speculum - Adema
The Last Song - The All-American Rejects

...again, don't let the fact that the list is long make you think any lesser of any of these songs.

That said, I will now reveal what have been - in my experience through life - the most powerful pieces of music I've ever heard. I've listened to a hell of a lot of music in my life, and these are the very pinnacle of it all:

Somewhere Over The Rainbow/What A Wonderful World - Israel Kamakawiwo'ole
Specifically, the Somewhere Over the Rainbow section that opens the piece is indescribable. It is beauty in its purest form, and for a few minutes I feel like I'm in the world that people have always dreamed of but have never attained.

I Am the Highway - Audioslave
When I close my eyes and listen to the "guitar solo" part of this song, the entire world of homework, parents, friends, war, poverty, hunger, joy, sorrow, pain, nationalism, and all other facades of stress simply dissolve away. For a short half-minute or so, I lose myself in a musical texture of absolute, pure peace.

Ocean - John Butler
This piece, played by one guitar, embodies all there is to experience in this world. The superfluous entities of names and histories and bodies and items are stripped away, and what's left is the sonic texture of existence.

Do you play or write any music? If so, elucidate! =]
Yeah. Maybe I'll post some stuff in the "Express Yourself" forum later.


...*sigh*

Apparently I also spend too much time on the internet.

But hey, what better else to do at 2:30am than spill your heart out to an internet forum?


*hates insomnia*


Well, now it's your turn. Share, people!

 

[Jeremi]

Woaa, longest post ever? Hehe ^^

I doubt my passion for music is as big as yours, but I'll do my best to answer the questions

What does music mean to you, personally?
I never let music influense my lifestyle. Back in school there was always a group who listen to metal, and they showed it off with their clothes and their long hair ect, and a friend of mine was really into grunge, and he used to wear really torn jeans, and the same shirts like Curt Kobain. I never felt the need to do something like that. I love to listen to music, but that's it. Music to me is like a different world I can go to and enjoy, kind of like a book, or a video game, but so much deeper. Music can make me feel happy or sad, music can encourage me, music can make a lousy day feel great, and the best thing is that you always find something new to listen to

What are your favorite genres of music?

Progressive Rock/Metal (My absolute favorite. Progressive is a genre that's hard to explain, but it's so deep, and I really appreciate the technical side of the music that other people seem to find boring. I've really gotten spoiled by the genre. I've found it hard to get back into other music)
Rock/Metal (The first kind of music I started listening to)
Classic Rock (Thanks to my mother, nr. 1 Led Zeppelin dan and my father, no. 1 Beatles fan)
Grunge (Hard to miss when you grew up in the 90's)
Post-Rock (When I'm in the mood for it ^^)
Various intrumental music (Everything from movie soundtracks to folk music)

What are your favorite bands/artists overall, or your favorites of each genre?

Progressive Rock: Pink Floyd, Porcupine Tree, Blackfield, Mostly Autumn, Elfonía, Rush, Jethro Tull
Progressive Metal: Dream Theater (favorite band ever), Tool, Ayreon
Rock/Metal: Guns N' Roses, Metallica, Red Hot Chilli Peppers, Iron Maiden, Black Sabbath, Foo Fighers, U2, Audioslave)
Classic Rock: Led Zeppelin, Beatles, The Doors, Jimi Hendrix, Deep Purple, Queen, David Bowie
Grunge: Nirvana, Pearl Jam, Soundgarden, Alice in Chains (The Seattle four ^^)
Post Rock: Explosions in the Sky

What are your top favorite albums or full scale works of music?

I have lot of favorites, but only a few which I think rise above all the others

Ayreon - The Human Equation
One thing I love about Ayreon albums is that they always have so many talented singers in them. This one have James LaBrie form Dream Theater as the main character, and many more. The album is a tale about a man and his emotions. It's truly a masterpiece

Ayreon - Into the Electic Castle
Once again, plenty of talented singers appear on this album. The story isn't as deep as in The Human Equation, but the album is epic in every other way

Dream Theater - Scenes from a Memory
A Progressive Masterpeice, 'nuff said ^^

What are your favorite songs/pieces?

Too many to mention ^^

Octavarium by Dream Theater is the most epic song I've ever heard. Progressive music at its finest

Do you play or write any music? If so, elucidate! =]

I play some guitar from time to time, but it's just for the fun of it. Nothing serious.

 

[Matt]

^ Thanks for sharing.

I've got to admit, I've never been a big fan of Dream Theater - they always seem so **** upbeat.

Nonetheless, I love that they're so musically and lyrically ambitious. My favorite songs by them are probably their heavier moments like The Glass Prison and As I Am.

I can't really stomach too much upbeat prog rock in one sitting.


[/realizes he just admitted to not being a big fan of Rush]


*It's the peppy vocals, dammit! *

 

[diamond-dancer]

What does music mean to you, personally?

Music is pretty much the only thing that keeps me sane. I use it to regulate my moods and to relax if I'm feeling stressed or anxious. Often I can't go to sleep until I listen to all of the songs I'm really into at the time...I can be up all night sometimes.

Music has also played a big part in my social life. Most of the friends I have now I bonded with over a common love of going to gigs and music festivals. I've been to countless concerts, and would rather go see a good band than any other social activity I can think of. I doubt that will ever change.

What are your favorite genres of music?

I have trouble classing bands in genres... maybe because I'm not musical myself. It's probably why I always look for CDs in the wrong section at the music store! Also because I don't care. I like what I like. Generally, most of the music I like belongs to alternative/rock/punk/psychadelic type genres. I also enjoy quite a few movie soundtracks, and have a secret love of SOME 80's music, some classical, and some varied world music. I'm also starting to favour more electronic sounds...stuff you can dance to... but not like a skank. Hard to explain.

What are your favorite bands/artists overall, or your favorites of each genre?

TV On The Radio, PJ Harvey, Foo Fighers, Dandy Warhols, Cure, Placebo, David Bowie, Flaming Lips, Interpol, New Order, Hot Hot Heat, Sparta, Hives, Augie March, Bill Callahan, Cinematic Orchestra, Battles, Besnard Lakes, Jeff Buckley, Muse, Cat Power, Kinks, Doors, Living End, Trail of Dead, Editors, Rapture, Gomez, Regurgitator, Custard, Jimmy Eat World, Johnny Cash, Mazzy Star, Midnight Juggernauts, Ben Harper, Daft Punk, The Bronx, Nick Cave, Presets, Queens of the Stone Age, Ash, Red Hot Chilli Peppers, Clash, Black Rebel Motorcycle Club, Streets, Roy Orbison, Sinead O'Connor, The Frames, Scissor Sisters, Expatriate, Dirty Three, Brand New... to name a few.

At the moment I'm loving Sunset Rubdown, Tunnge, Feist, Kinski, Les Savy Fav, Jack Ladder, Digitalism, Maps, The Whisky Go Go's...

What are your top favorite albums or full scale works of music?

Foo Fighters - The Colour and the Shape

PJ Harvey - Stories From the City, Stories From the Sea

TV On The Radio - Return to Cookie Mountain

TV On The Radio - Desperate Youth, Blood Thirsty Babes

The Dandy Warhols - 13 Tales From Urban Bohemia

Augie March - Sunset Studies

Soundtracks - Solaris (remake), Braveheart, Last of the Mohicans, 28 Days/Weeks Later, Stranger Than Fiction, The Life Aquatic (don't ask), The Doors Movie (obviously!), The Lion King (haha), Singing in the Rain...

What are your favorite songs/pieces?

Foo Fighters - Everlong (noticed you listed this too, Matt... my fave Foos track)

The Pixies - This Monkey's Gone to Heaven

David Bowie - Magic Dance

RHCP - Suck My Kiss

The Cure - Disintegration

Ash - Girl From Mars

I'm going to leave it there for now because this question could potentially be very dangerous to my sleep prospects for tonight.

Do you play or write any music? If so, elucidate! =]

I play benchtops, steering wheels, keyboards, and I hum. =P

 

[Jeremi]

I agree with Everlong, it's awesome ^^

 

[Matt]

The Pixies - This Monkey's Gone to Heaven

Hells yeah. \m/

 

[Red26]

WOW, now thats a post! I love topics that make you think, so I'll have to come back to you on this one......

 

[Lost in the Oilfield]

Music means happiness... or sadness.
Makes me stand still and listen... or dance to the rhythm.
Music brings people together
Music lets you tell others whatever
Music rocks!

The Life Aquatic (don't ask)

YES!I am a Life Aquatic addict... I love the song they loop in the menu of the movie... I have left it on all night while I slept, and bought a cord just so I could hook my laptop up to my car stereo to listen to the song while I drive... fanatical, I know

dammit... now I need to get dressed to go get the dvd out of my car

Yahoooooo!
Youtube comes to the rescue yet again...



This one sounds better...




Plus Seu Jorge has some great songs too!
I wish I could play acoustic guitar.





...

I play piano (by ear, I can't read piano music, just mimic it), drums (jazz and rock... took lessons and teacher focused on Led Zepplin so I can play a couple Zepplin songs and can read drum tablature), and sing (musical family... used to have to sing with my dad and sisters at church... and played drums there too and with a garage band in high school). Guitar I really want to learn to play... acoustic guitar... then maybe I'll convince my uncle to teach me Spanish guitar... he can play songs so pretty they almost make you cry.

I've written music... or at least the lyrics, but I just sort of hum out tunes and tap piano keys till I make something match right... only problem is I don't know how to write music, so I always forget how the song sounded... should probably record them so I can remember the tune, but I always forget :/
Well at least I know how to write, so I still have all the lyrics lying stuffed in a binder somewhere.
My second oldest sister writes and preforms her own music publicly. She's played guitar for years now... she even went in a spoof of Canadian Idol called Christian Idol, but didn't win. The song was good, sad though.

My uncle just won an all inclusive trip to France for the rugby World Cup... he wrote a song for the Canadian rugby team to use at the World Cup.

 

[Red26]

Ok, here goes...

What does music mean to you, personally?

Music has always been a constant in my life. Its been the one thing, withough fail, that has never let me down (okay, unless you count The Killers' second album). Its been like a best friend, and very occasionally a worst enemy to me. It's cheered me up when I'm at my lowest, or when I have my mp3 on random and it brings up a tune that reminds me of a bad time, it makes me sad. I once heard someone say they couldnt live without music and at first I thought they were idiots. And then I thought about it. I listen to at least an hour of music every day. The bus ride into work, lunch time, the bus ride home, chilling out in my room, its there so much of the time that I think I sometimes take it for granted.

What are your favorite genres of music?

While I love several different genres, I would have to say that rock is my favourite. It has enough sub-catergories to cover all of my moods (and theres plenty of them!). I'm also into jazz, soul, blues and music from the sixties. I find pop music mainly cold and souless as its manufactured, and not from the heart. There are one or two exceptions, I'll explain in the next part.

What are your favorite bands/artists overall, or your favorites of each genre?

Without a doubt, my favourite artist is Ryan Adams. I cant describe how beautiful his music can be, and what it means to me. I got into him totally by accident after finding one of his albums in a bargain bin for £2.99 and deciding to give him a try. He can be kinda experimental at times, and thats not always his best work, but when he's on, he's definitely on. He's hardly known in this country, so I'l post some You tube links if anyone wants to check him out.
I wont list the rest of my favourite artists/bands by genre, so here they are (in no specific order): Ray LaMontagne, Jesse Malin, Guns 'n' Roses, Metallica, Queen, Green Day, Pink, Velvet Revolver, Jack Johnson, Foo Fighters, Whiskeytown, Beverely Knight, Aerosmith, Led Zeppelin, David Gray, Alanis Morissette, Bon Jovi (the older stuff), Billie Holiday, Smokey Robinson, Goo Goo Dolls, Norah Jones, HIM, Feeder, System Of A Down, The Who, Bruce Springsteen, My Chemical Romance, The Killers, Jeff Buckley, Mazzy Star, LostProphets, Ash, Ella Fitzgerald,The Beatles. I cant think of anymore right at this moment, but I'll add more if I need to.

What are your top favorite albums or full scale works of music?

Heartbreaker - Ryan Adams.
Suicide Handbook - Ryan Adams.
Cold Roses, 29, Demolition - all Ryan Adams (sorry, I am slightly obsessed!).
Trouble - Ray LaMontagne
Appetite For Destruction - Guns 'n' Roses.
Black album - Metallica
In Between Dreams - Jack Johnson
Dark Light - Him
I'm Not Dead - Pink
Jagged Little Pill - Alanis Morissette
Again, I might add to this =¬)

What are your favorite songs/pieces?

Oh My Sweet Carolina - Ryan Adams. I'm not ashamed to say I got really emotional when I first heard it, and I still get all goose-bumpy now.



Philadelphia - Bruce Springsteen
Breakdown - Jack Johnson
Sad But True - Metallica
Every song on Appetite For Destruction
Losing My Religion - R.E.M
Goodbye To You - Michelle Branch
Trouble, Burn and Jolene - all by Ray LaMontagne

I think I should stop now, or else this will go on forever.
I dont play any instruments, but I wanted to be a drummer when I was younger. I never got the chance :-(

 

[HiddenHydey]

What does music mean to you, personally?
Hard to say, certainly I'm not as fanatical as some of you seem to be but it occupies my mind in a way no other stimuli does. I'm a bit mad in that I like to listen to the same song over and over and deconstruct it in my head into all of it's components so that I really get to know the song rather than just hearing it. Luckily I have good earphones otherwise I'd drive people mad.

What are your favorite genres of music?
Because of how I listen to music, I'm not really too interested in one specific genre, I just try and find as many different sounds and textures as I can. Know that'll sound like a cop out but it's true. While I listen to a lot of modern music classical music can perhaps be one of the most multilayered styles though and so I have a fair amount of that.

What are your favorite bands/artists overall, or your favorites of each genre?
Currently enter shikari are holding my interest most of the time. They combine quite a few different elements to their music and can have a really rough texture to their music.
Muse are also an old favourite
Handel is pretty interesting also.
And there was this indian band I found but I lost that was rather awesome, I'll have to hunt it down.

What are your top favorite albums or full scale works of music?
This is a hard one for me, tending to go one track at a time as I do.
Physical graffiti I always thought pulled together well as a whole album.
Kinda have a soft spot for demon days as well, even if it's not perhaps one of the greatest works ever.

What are your favorite songs/pieces?
I tend to lose interest once I've got to a certain level of understanding, I'm sure it's possible to know more but I'd find it too difficult to count a leisure.I guess I have been coming back to Herculean now for a while for the lazy day, ever so slightly melancholic feel to it, and it's a very simple song so it's easy listening if nothing else. Call of the Cthulhu with the orchestra going is always a joy as well.

Do you play or write any music? If so, elucidate! =]
Used to play a bit of drums, still fill in for people if I'm asked but I'm not very good at all. Still, learning helped me appreciate music a lot more.

Reading that I sound a bit of a half-assed music fan, but given the breadth of what I listen to in search of new sounds it's probably not too great a representation.

 

[Minus]

Woaa, longest post ever? Hehe ^^

 

[Unacceptance]

What does music mean to you, personally?

Music is art, therefore it moves me. One of the few things I get up for. I'm somewhat picky with my music, broad in range, narrow in scope I guess. I like lots of things but for specific reasons I guess. Lyrics have to be up to par with the music itself for the most part. I don't get when people say they just want something that they can listen to without having to think... Irks me, but I guess it's what keeps pop music thriving.

What are your favorite genres of music?

"extreme" metal and "underground" rap

I also like some Jazz and Classical music...

I used to listen to some Industrial, I go back for nostalgia here and there

What are your favorite bands/artists overall, or your favorites of each genre?

Metal - Pestilence, D.R.I., Napalm Death, Morbid Angel, Atrophy, Ghoul, Fear Factory, Cephalic Carnage, Iced Earth, Sodom, Kreator, King Diamond, Brujeria, Bal-Sagoth, Callenish Circle the list goes on...

Rap - Qwel, Aesop Rock, Wu Tang Clan, Jedi Mind Tricks, Necro, 7L & Esoteric, Cunninlynguists, Immortal Technique, Sandpeople, People Under the Stairs, Violadores del Verso, this list could go on as well...

Jazz - Dizzy Gillespie, John Coltrane, Miles Davis, Thelonius Monk, I'm really not an expert on this, that's just the stuff I've had recommended that I've liked.

Classical - The typical ones, Bach etc. Another thing I'm not expert on.

What are your top favorite albums or full scale works of music?

If I had to pick one album to listen to forever it would be Testimony of the Ancients by Pestilence I hands down love this album an infinite amount. It's everything good metal should sound like.

Some other good metal albums that come to mind and I'd recommend are (Warning, not for the faint of ear):

Obituary - Cause of Death
Nocturnus - Thresholds
Atheist - Elements
Sadus - Swallowed in Black
Slaughter - Surrender or Die
Kreator - Pleasure to Kill
Cannibal Corpse - Vile
Leviathan - Tenth Sub Level of Suicide
Macabre - Murder Metal
Machetazo - Carne De Cementario
Morbid Angel - Alters of Madness
Morbid Saint - Spectrum of Death
Demolition Hammer - Tortured Existence
Death - Symbolic
Stormtroopers of Death (S.O.D.) - Bigger than the Devil
Dirty Rotten Imbeciles (D.R.I.) - Definition
Dripping - Disintegration Of Thought Patterns During A Synthetic Mind Traveling Bliss (This album is the very definition of experimentation, just over 20 minutes but it's a strange ride)
Opeth - Damnation (The only easy listening I've listed)

Ah hell I could go on forever.

Honestly most of the rap I listen to comes from friends and downloads, so I'm not expert on whole albums.

What are your favorite songs/pieces?

Metal:

Demolition Hammer - Infectious Hospital Waste ("Red bag in the tide/unknown origin/deadly contents/a floating pile of pestilence/no one suspects") and Paracital Epitaph ("Pathogenic Bio-Weapon/ More devastating than atomic warfare/warmachine fueled by disease, spreading an epidemic.")
The Berzerker - Massacre (Coffee for your ear, if this song doesn't get you ready to face a challenge, nothing will)
Napalm Death - Taste the Poison
Atheist - Water (Has some parts where they kind of dabble into Flamenco style guitar, really cool)
Asphyx - God Cries ("blood on his hands and tears in his eyes!" one of the many criticizing of religion songs, worth a listen)
Dying Fetus - Pissing in the Mainstream (An anthem for people fed up at pop culture basically)

Too many more to list-

Rap (With rap it's all about the lyrics and imagery so it will apply to all I list, the beat comes secondary and sometimes I don't even notice it. Also I'll list a lot of stuff from the same artists.):

Qwel - Vincent Van Gogh Coke Ad, Ruby Rubinelle, Crazy as Me

Aesop Rock - Commencement at the Obedience Academy, None Shall Help, Daylight, Antisocial, 9 to 5'ers Anthem, Bent Life, One Brick

Immortal Technique - Leaving the Past, Dominant Species, No Mercy, Peruvian Cocaine, Industrial Revolution, The 4th Branch

Illogic - Angelic Bombs, My World, Day By Day, Hate in a Puddle, Slaves to the Rhythm, 1000 Whispers

Jedi Mind Tricks - Chinese Water Torture, The Immaculate Conception, I Who Have Nothing, As it Was in the Beginning, Serenity in Murder, I Against I, Contra, Speech Cobras, Muerte, The Executioner's Dream

Necro (Warning, not for the queasy) - Violins of Violence, Beautiful Music for You to Die To, The Real Reality, Kill That honeysuckle, You Did It

Sandpeople - Anguish, Bed of Flames, Dear Diary, Subtle Approach, Lose It

7L & Esoteric - Essays on Esoterrorism, Culture of Death, God's Angry Men, Word Association, Secret Wars, Terrorist's Cell, Headswell, Speak Now

Gza/Genius - Shadowboxin', Duel of the Iron Mic, Cold World, Labels, B.I.B.L.E. (Basic Instructions Before Leaving Earth)

Also too many more to list-

Do you play or write any music?

Alas, no. I'm not musically inclined...