Top 40 Before 40 Rock Artists - #40 - The Dear Hunter
I turn 40 years old in 2021, and maybe it's a mid-life crisis or just boredom, but I wanted to take a moment to look back and appreciate my absolute favorite bands and artists that I have come to absolutely love.
I sat down in November of 2020 (just before my 39th birthday) to really put some thought to a couple of questions that may seem easy for some people to answer, but I found it incredibly difficult to do so.
What were those questions?
1 - What is your favorite band/artist of all time?
2 - What are some of your favorite songs?
3 - What are the best albums of all time?
I definitely had a long list of absolutely great rock bands, songs, and albums. I decided to rank them according to MY OWN PERSONAL OPINON.
Note - this is not based solely on musical talent, historical sales of albums or singles, or even cultural impact.
Also Note - this is not a list of great bands and artists that have come out as new artists in the last 40 years. It is a list of the band and artists that I consider the best that I have heard in my lifetime whether I was born when they started or even ended their careers.
These are the bands that I consider to have made some of the absolute best music that I have ever heard in my lifetime, and not only do I know most of the words a lot of their songs by heart, I listen to these bands and artists over and over. Even to the point that I have probably learned how to play a fair few of their songs. Though, it should be pointed out that I am a far cry from the originals.
I also want to mention that some of these rankings are based on RAZOR-THIN personal preferences. For example, the difference between the #2 band (stay tuned for that) and the #40 band is actually not that far off in terms of how much I truly enjoy and respect the artists.
With that prologue, I want to start this list with the band that comes in at #40 on this list:
By The Dear Hunter - https://www.thedearhuntersummercamp.com/, CC BY-SA 4.0
#40 - The Dear Hunter
Hailing from Rhode Island...yeah, not often you hear a band from Rhode Island...The Dear Hunter is a rock band that has consistently maintained 2 band members whom are brothers (Casey and Nick Crescenzo) and have brought a few different members through the band over the years but have (as of this writing) a current lineup of 6 band members.
The main reason I chose this band as my #40 on the list is because they have put out an absolute ton of great music in the last 15 years starting with the album Act I: The Lake South, the River North.
The band maintains a pretty consistent concept throughout much of their music that follows the protagonist, The Dear Hunter, through trials and tribulations of love and life.
However, even through all the fantastic music that follows the common storyline, I actually found The Color Spectrum to be by far the most ambitious, most unique and most enjoyable album that The Dear Hunter has released to date.
I actually even remember telling people at the time of its release that it should be nominated for a Grammy or the system is rigged. Ha - we all know it is definitely rigged in some ways anyway.
The Color Spectrum stood out to me, because Casey Crescenzo wanted to record different 4 song "albums" in different recording locations with different instrument arrangements and even different people adding music to allow each color to have its own mood. For example, the Black Album is a bit more aggressive. The White Album is a lot more hopeful.
This made for a VERY intriguing artistic concept, and I loved every single song from every single album on this collection of 36 songs. It truly might be one of the best albums ever made.
I would highly recommend checking this band out, and if you do so give at least one whole album a listen to.
My first recommendation is to start with the 4 songs that come from the Black Album on The Color Spectrum. My favorite actually being the single that was released, "This Body."
If you're already a fan, you can even check out their podcast "The Makey Words Podcast with The Dear Hunter."
For each band or artist in my list, I also want to give some additional bands and artists that didn't make the cut that I would still absolutely recommend, because I still think they are insanely awesome, but I had to make my list only 40 acts long.
Similar Artists That I Recommend That Didn't Make The Top 40:
Sunny Day Real Estate, Local H
Check out #39 on the List ---> (Available to see on November 24th, 2020)
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