best bands

Whoo hoo! The Flaming Lips have topped The Guardian's list of The 40 Greatest US bands today!

This is why:
"1. The Flaming Lips
There is something cheering about the Flaming Lips, who are hitting their artistic and commercial peak 20 years after their debut album. But it is not just their long career that makes the Oklahoma trio unique. Their most recent albums, The Soft Bulletin and Yoshimi Battles the Pink Robots, have made them possibly the most experimental band ever to reach the Radio 2 playlist. Their warm and inclusive sound has developed from a feedback-laden din to a kind of compressed Americana: folk rock, Broadway show tunes, hip-hop beats, 1960s pop, Disney singalongs and Detroit techno are brilliantly condensed in an epic, joyful psychedelia. Coyne's cracked, off-key vocals are the final piece in the jigsaw, lending their songs a rare emotional power. He may not always hit the right notes, but he always sounds as if he means every word: no mean feat when you're singing about a robot invasion of earth.
Sound: 19
Songs: 20
Gigs: 20
Style: 16
Attitude: 19
Total: 94 "

Others that made it include the Foo Fighters, Justin Timberlake, Pink, Wilco, Beyonce, Dolly Parton (???), Bruce Springsteen, The Strokes. But Numero Uno still belongs to The Flaming Lips.

The Guardian also (of course) have a list of the top 40 bands in Britain today.