Drawing from a tradition that embraces excess -- whether it be in poetry, rock 'n' roll, life, or all of the above -- Patti Smith brings passion and wit to her rough-edged, anarchist music. Her songs recall the lives of such debauched, ecstatic souls as Rimbaud, Jim Morrison, Jimi Hendrix, and James

Agitated, Bombast, Dissonant, Gritty, Hard rock, Punk, Religious, Rough

Hailed as the second coming of the Beatles, Oasis crooned its way into the British pop music scene in 1994 with a sound and an image that finally did away with all that nostalgia for the melancholy Smiths. Yes, Oasis ushered in a new mood. Cocky and flamboyant, melodic and glam-inflected, they announ

Agitated, Bombast, Brit-pop, Citational, Gritty, In-your-face, Masculine

The Sex Pistols may have provided the shock-value dynamite for the punk explosion in 1970s Britain, but it was the Clash who channeled the energy of that explosion into a discrete form of music. Or rather, they channeled it into several forms simultaneously; they diversified the space of punk. The Cl

Bombast, Pioneering, Political, Punk, Slangy

Baroque architecture, Baroque theater, Bombast, Dramatic, Eclectic, Epic, Intense