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10 Canadian Bands

Concert Atmosphere
Concert Atmosphere

Welcome to my new series, the “Canadian List of Ten”! Ten weeks, ten posts, ten lists and one hundred new Canadian things for you, from food to language, from city to weather.

Today, we will start with music, something I really enjoy (and you may have noticed it given the number of concerts we went to!). Yes, singer Céline Dion is not the only Canadian in the industry. Sure, some Canadian-born artists moved to the U.S.A and became famous there. But Canada still have some great artists and bands.

Of course, this list is somehow biased: I’m more into rock music and I’m sure I’m forgetting many greats bands and artists — this is just a sample of what Canadians bring to music! The list doesn’t follow any particular order.

  1. Bryan Adams: Bryan Adams was born in Kingston, Ontario and he is one of the most famous Canadian rock-singer. He is most famous for his singles “Summer of 69”, “When You’re Gone”, “(Everything I Do) I Do It for You”. I bought the On A Day Like Today Album in 2000 in China and brought it back with me in France. My friends and I loved the cheesy love songs lyrics back then and we even saw him live!
  2. Neil Young: he was born in Toronto, Ontario and grew up in Winnipeg, Manitoba. His style is between folk-esque accoustic rock and hard rock. His most famous songs include “Hey Hey, My My (Into the Black)”, “Sugar Mountain”, “Southern Man” and “The Needle and the Damage Done”.
  3. Crash Test Dummies: The Crash Test Dummies are a Canadian folk rock band from Winnipeg, Manitoba. They are best known for their song “Mmm Mmm Mmm Mmm” and the hilarious “Superman’s Song”, the complaint of the superhero.
  4. The Guess Who: this is another 1970s rock band from Winnipeg, Manitoba. While you may have never heard of them, I’m sure you are familiar with the song “American Woman”, which was covered later by Lenny Kravitz.
  5. Alanis Morissette: Alanis is from Ottawa, Ontario and is a pop rock singer and songwriter. She became famous with her album “Jagged Little Pill internationally” in 1995, with singles like “Hand in My Pocket”, “Ironic” and “You Learn”.
  6. Rush: Rush is a heavy metal band from Toronto, Ontario. They made a come back in the mid 1990s and “One Little Victory” was the hit single.
  7. The Barenaked Ladies: this is an alternative rock band from Toronto, Ontario. One of their famous song is the funny “If I Had $1000000” hit.
  8. Nickelback: I’m going be honest, I don’t know why I’m listing this band that I can’t stand. Oh yeah, right, so that I can say bad things about it…! Nickelback is a band from Alberta and probably one of the the most commercially successful Canadian groups recently. To me, each song of this band sounds the same, and apparently I’m not the only one since the Rolling Stone magazine stated that the album was “is so depressing, you’re almost glad Kurt’s [Cobain, Nirvana’s lead singer who killed himself in 1994] not around to hear it“.
  9. Billy Talent: this is a punk rock band from Mississauga, Ontario. The band was formed in the 1990s but gained mainstream success only fairly recently. The band is famous for its songs “Fallen Leaves” and “Rusted from the Rain”.
  10. The Tragically Hip: the Hips are probably the most popular Canadian band in Canada and their concerts are invariably sold out. The band from Kingston is great live and lead singer Gordon Downie is famous for his rants and monologues in between songs. They usually sing about life in Canada and general Canadiana, such as in “Blow at High Dough”, “Courage (for Hugh MacLennan)”, “Fifty Mission Cap” and “The Lonely End of the Rink”.
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Zhu

French woman in English Canada.

Exploring the world with my camera since 1999, translating sentences for a living, writing stories that may or may not get attention.

Firm believer that nobody is normal... and it’s better this way.

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