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Quite.
Bands like Guns n' Roses, Tool, Soundgarden, Nirvana, Pearl Jam, Black Sabbath, Ozzy solo, Led Zeppelin, SRV, etc., are generally tied between second and third. (And while I love some Hendrix I curiously don't listen all that much)
But Alice in Chains is just perfect for me. Loud and bitter enough to be ("sludge") metal, except better than that type because holy **** could he sing. Anyone who doubts that can compare the voice on, say, Studio Facelift or Dirt, the Live! album, and the unplugged album. Throw in the 1995 "Live at the Moore" show with side-group "Mad Season", esp. "river of deceit", and the haunting voice despite somewhat silly lyrics of "Lifeless (And while I love some Hendrix I curiously don't listen all that much)
(And yes, Cornell too had a spectacular voice. And Keenan is brilliant as well. But everything comes together perfectly for me with AIC).
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EDIT
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General response to thread re: the rest of the categories and ones I made up.
For more "classic rock" that really doesn't compare to the heavier stuff I like, I'd say: Stones. Yes, they're called a rock band, but really they're a blend of early rock, blues, and only later getting more into the "rock" sound. And while I really love the early stuff, especially all the blues covers they did '63-66, '68-74 is simply genius. (I also love The Doors, especially the live stuff from the '70 tour, when he was allegedly too drunk to sing. Oh, **** no. I direct you to "Been Down So Long" from Detroit, May 8, 1970, Cobo Hall show, second show that night (disc 2), bluesy crooning immaculate right there... )
PS: if anyone likes the Stones and the blues, for your own sake buy their "Blue and Lonesome" album immediately. It's all blues covers and holy **** is it good. He sounds fifty years younger, if that's possible. And remember: anyone who told BBK to sit down was a damned fool. Same with these guys.
Rap: none. I've tried. It just doesn't do it for me.
Classical: The first recording of Bach's solo cello suites by Yo Yo Ma. Listening to that as close to worship as I'll ever get. In fact, despite being non-religious, for a very long time I felt that if I were called upon to defend humanity from extermination, I would not speak. I would simply play that recording: because, for all their evil, sometimes one of them does this. Then I lived a couple more decades. Now, I'm not so sure. I might just cover my eyes with my hands and remain seated, silent. But that's a discussion for another time.
Pop: If it counts as pop rather than rock, mid to late Beatles.
Country: Nope, but if Cash counts as per the OP, then Cash by a country mile.
Proper metal and/or proto-metal: Black ****ing Sabbath, with Ozzy, especially the first four. I was incredibly pleased when their final tour set included "Into the Void". Shame they didn't do Wheels of Confusion on that one, but hey...
"Hardcore" metal: well, maybe just about two songs from Pantera. Otherwise I couldn't stand them. I need a good singer in general. But "This Love" and "Cemetary Gates" are pretty cool. The rest....well, I really can't stand the overwhelming majority of metal "singers", whether it's the high-pitched whine sound or the incoherent gutteral grumblings....
Blues: Tough one. So tough. Willie Dixon, especially as on the "I am the blues" album. But there are so many tied for second. Howlin' Wolf, Otis Spann, BBK, Albert King, SRV, Muddy Waters, and of course the eminent genius of Robert Johnson
Electronic: Not in some decades, but when I was young and wild, and under the influence of some MDMA, pot, and whatever else was available, I recall some truly soaring sense impressions when listening to certain Electronica. I seem to remember a song that went on about it being "a fine day" and later, one about "we were in the dark", yadda yadda.
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