Who's Your Favorite Band?

I get this question a lot.  I guess when you blog about music, it's a natural thing to be asked.  But if you give the question any real thought, it's a tremendously difficult question.  For instance, do you mean a current band, a past band, an "all-time" favorite, etc.  And what about moods?  If I'm in an upbeat mood (which is most of the time), then the answer will be different that if I'm in a mellow or bummed out mood.  The Style Council talked about their ever-changing moods years ago:

A guy at work asked me who my favorite band was and I sort of stumbled around, named about 5 bands, and then turned the question back at him.  Unlike me, who had trouble identifying one band, he answered immediately:  "Belle and Sebastian."  Wow, just like that he knew!  And while I was aware of Belle and Sebastian, I had never really given them a big listen.  I went home and popped up some B and S songs, and was ... disappointed.  Don't get me wrong, there are some tracks that I liked such as this one:

But overall, they just didn't do it for me.  Which is cool - if everyone liked everything the same, that wouldn't be much of a world, right?  But for this guy to call B and S his favorite band, well, ahem, please explain.  This is a world where the Beatles, Stones, Clash, Elvis, Talking Heads, AC/DC and many many others exist.  And yet, he chose B and S?  Man, that's a mind blower for me.

One other thing about this question.  I like certain bands tremendously for some of their work, but can also recognize when they have laid a lot of eggs, too.  Their catalog is not consistent and brilliant across the board.  Weezer is a great example - many strong albums and a number of duds, too.  How about David Byrne?  Awesome with the Heads, inconsistent on his own.  Morrissey is the same.  Heck, this applies to Paul McCartney and John Lennon, too - those guys absolutely set the bar for everyone else when they worked together, but their solo careers proved that they needed each other to make consistently great music.  

It's a tricky question and I can't answer it.  But I can post a couple of songs that have been favorites for a number of years.  How about that?

I think that answers why I can never choose a favorite band.  There are just too many great ones out there.  Just like there are so many fantastic songs that exist and that come at us from all over time, geography, and genre.  Let's love the variety and leave it at that.  Who's with me?
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