380 - Woody Guthrie - One of the legends who gave birth to rock n roll, Woody Guthrie perfected the art of folk music, turning his songs into weapons against those who would seek to gain from the human misery of the depression.
379 - The Wallflowers - Jakob Dylan had a hell of a burden when he debuted with his band in the mid-90's: living down his father's legacy. He never really did, but his band did manage to create a series of fantastic rock songs in the Springsteen-Petty tradition before disappearing about five years in.
378 - The Temptations - The Motown legends who light the world on fire with a series of fantastic hits, though the beginning of the rock revolution did a lot to damage their long term prospects.
377 - Kasabian - An indie dance rock band that's achieved a fantastic amount of success in their native England, but not much stateside.
376 - Pink - One of the few pop singers who actually has some credibility to her music, Pink continues to surprise me with her savvy moves and smart lyrics.
375 - The English Beat - One of the best New Wave bands, The English Beat had a handful of hits on the alternative charts, though their unheard music adds a lot to their legacy.
374 - Moby - At one point in the late 90's and early 20th century, Moby was the hottest thing going in music as he used a series of great samples to temporarily make techno relevant as a musical genre. A few years later he was obscure again.
373 - The Ronettes - The best of the girl groups from the 1960's, The Ronettes had a string of amazing hits making them the biggest stars of R&B outside of Motown at the time.
372 - Joe Jackson - A New Wave underdog if there ever was one, Joe Jackson is largely unknown by the masses, but he has the most impressive track records for a New Wave solo artist outside of Elvis Costello.
371 - Sugar - The common knowledge about Husker Du is that they didn't make hooky pop rock music and that's why they didn't have any success. Well... Sugar features fantastic hooks through and through and they still weren't successful in a commercial way, which brings me to my theory on why Husker Du didn't sell a lot of records: People are idiots.
Tuesday, June 3, 2008
Sunday, June 1, 2008
Top 1000 Songs #390-#381
#390 - "Burning Down The House" - The Talking Heads - Speaking In Tongues - #4/10 - The most popular Talking Heads song (it was featured prominently in "Revenge Of The Nerds"), "Burning" is a bouncy new wave song with great lyrics and an outstanding chorus that propels the song from start to finish.
#389 - "Superman's Dead" - Our Lady Peace - Clumsy - #2/2 - Our Lady Peace's most popular and best song, "Superman's Dead" is a sharply-written modern rock classic the pulses throughout and has a great chorus.
#388 - "Riders On The Storm" - The Doors - L.A. Woman - #7/10 - One of the last great songs the band released before Jim Morrison's death, "Riders On The Storm" stands near the pinnacle of the classic rock genre with it's dark verses and musical accompaniment.
#387 - "Jeremy" - Pearl Jam - Ten - #16/25 - Pearl Jam's most widely-regarded song (though not their biggest hit), "Jeremy" is best known for it's bleak lyrics and pitch-black and haunting video. The song also features a great guitar solo.
#386 - "Enter Sandman" - Metallica - Metallica (The Black Album) - #1/5 - Metallica's best-known song represents the peak of the band's popularity and also the point when the band began to realize they didn't have to try so hard to be successful, leading to future albums of diminishing quality.
#385 - "Truckin'" - The Grateful Dead - American Beauty - #2/3 - The best Dead song of the 70's, "Truckin'" features the band's best lyrics and a great travelogue type story from the band's mid-career tours. This is also the song that provided one of rock's most famous lyrics: "What a long, strange trip it's been".
#384 - "The One I Love" - R.E.M. - Document - #9/12 - "The One I Love" is not a love song. In fact, it's quite the opposite. What it is, however, is the song that broke R.E.M. through to the mainstream, signaling a turning point in a grim period of time for rock n roll, the 1980's.
#383 - "Houses Of The Holy" - Led Zeppelin - Physical Graffiti - #13/24 - Yet another new style for Zeppelin in this mid-career hit, as the band starts to mess around with heavier sounds again, but doesn't quite commit the way that they do on the remainder of their masterpiece Physical Graffiti.
#382 - "Middle Of The Road" - The Pretenders - Learning To Crawl - #5/5 - The best song the Pretenders have to offer, "Middle Of The Road" features the band's best lyrics and was the closest thing the band ever came to a straight-up punk song.
#381 - "Whatever Happened To My Rock N Roll (Punk Song)" - Black Rebel Motorcycle Club - Black Rebel Motorcycle Club - #3/3 - One of the best rock bands that almost no one has ever heard of, BRMC are the best advocates of shoegaze-infused rock n roll since The Jesus And Mary Chain and this is their best song to date.
#389 - "Superman's Dead" - Our Lady Peace - Clumsy - #2/2 - Our Lady Peace's most popular and best song, "Superman's Dead" is a sharply-written modern rock classic the pulses throughout and has a great chorus.
#388 - "Riders On The Storm" - The Doors - L.A. Woman - #7/10 - One of the last great songs the band released before Jim Morrison's death, "Riders On The Storm" stands near the pinnacle of the classic rock genre with it's dark verses and musical accompaniment.
#387 - "Jeremy" - Pearl Jam - Ten - #16/25 - Pearl Jam's most widely-regarded song (though not their biggest hit), "Jeremy" is best known for it's bleak lyrics and pitch-black and haunting video. The song also features a great guitar solo.
#386 - "Enter Sandman" - Metallica - Metallica (The Black Album) - #1/5 - Metallica's best-known song represents the peak of the band's popularity and also the point when the band began to realize they didn't have to try so hard to be successful, leading to future albums of diminishing quality.
#385 - "Truckin'" - The Grateful Dead - American Beauty - #2/3 - The best Dead song of the 70's, "Truckin'" features the band's best lyrics and a great travelogue type story from the band's mid-career tours. This is also the song that provided one of rock's most famous lyrics: "What a long, strange trip it's been".
#384 - "The One I Love" - R.E.M. - Document - #9/12 - "The One I Love" is not a love song. In fact, it's quite the opposite. What it is, however, is the song that broke R.E.M. through to the mainstream, signaling a turning point in a grim period of time for rock n roll, the 1980's.
#383 - "Houses Of The Holy" - Led Zeppelin - Physical Graffiti - #13/24 - Yet another new style for Zeppelin in this mid-career hit, as the band starts to mess around with heavier sounds again, but doesn't quite commit the way that they do on the remainder of their masterpiece Physical Graffiti.
#382 - "Middle Of The Road" - The Pretenders - Learning To Crawl - #5/5 - The best song the Pretenders have to offer, "Middle Of The Road" features the band's best lyrics and was the closest thing the band ever came to a straight-up punk song.
#381 - "Whatever Happened To My Rock N Roll (Punk Song)" - Black Rebel Motorcycle Club - Black Rebel Motorcycle Club - #3/3 - One of the best rock bands that almost no one has ever heard of, BRMC are the best advocates of shoegaze-infused rock n roll since The Jesus And Mary Chain and this is their best song to date.
Top 1000 Bands #390-#381
390 - Lars Frederiksen And The Bastards - One of many successful Rancid side projects, The Bastards infused politics and anger into Rancid's poppy punk style to create a solid throwback sound to glory days of punk.
389 - Elastica - One of the best British indie rock bands around, Elastica enjoyed a great deal of success during their run in the mid 90's.
388 - Sweet - A strange mix of glam and metal produced a string of classic rock hits for the band Sweet, including "Fox On The Run" and the all-time cover favorite "Ballroom Blitz".
387 - Stephen Lynch - A comedian singer-songwriter with a couple albums full of great song parodies and originals.
386 - K.T. Tunstall - A modern day singer-songwriter who most expected to be a one-hit wonder after the runaway success of her first single "Black Horse And A Cherry Tree", Tunstall has instead crafted a series of hits spread out among her highly successful first two albums.
385 - Bob Mould - The lead singer of Husker Du and Sugar has enjoyed a long and successful career as a solo artist. No crossover hits as of yet, but solid albums abound.
384 - Lenny Kravitz - His career has fallen on hard times as of late, but in the mid to late 90's, Kravitz churned out hit after hit while borrowing heavily from Jimi Hendrix and other 60's artists.
383 - Ministry - One of the best metal bands of the 90's, Ministry got their start as a goth rock sort of new wave band in the 80's. Fortunately, they improved dramatically on that strange false start and created some of the best metal of their generation.
382 - King's X - A hard rock juggernaut that hasn't nearly achieved the success that they deserve, King's X has combined various styles of rock dating all the way back to the blues to create a series of great albums over the years.
381 - Fall Out Boy - One of the most popular pop bands around at the moment, Fall Out Boy doesn't make particularly great songs but like similar bands Sugar Ray or Maroon 5, they craft their songs around fantastic pop hooks.
389 - Elastica - One of the best British indie rock bands around, Elastica enjoyed a great deal of success during their run in the mid 90's.
388 - Sweet - A strange mix of glam and metal produced a string of classic rock hits for the band Sweet, including "Fox On The Run" and the all-time cover favorite "Ballroom Blitz".
387 - Stephen Lynch - A comedian singer-songwriter with a couple albums full of great song parodies and originals.
386 - K.T. Tunstall - A modern day singer-songwriter who most expected to be a one-hit wonder after the runaway success of her first single "Black Horse And A Cherry Tree", Tunstall has instead crafted a series of hits spread out among her highly successful first two albums.
385 - Bob Mould - The lead singer of Husker Du and Sugar has enjoyed a long and successful career as a solo artist. No crossover hits as of yet, but solid albums abound.
384 - Lenny Kravitz - His career has fallen on hard times as of late, but in the mid to late 90's, Kravitz churned out hit after hit while borrowing heavily from Jimi Hendrix and other 60's artists.
383 - Ministry - One of the best metal bands of the 90's, Ministry got their start as a goth rock sort of new wave band in the 80's. Fortunately, they improved dramatically on that strange false start and created some of the best metal of their generation.
382 - King's X - A hard rock juggernaut that hasn't nearly achieved the success that they deserve, King's X has combined various styles of rock dating all the way back to the blues to create a series of great albums over the years.
381 - Fall Out Boy - One of the most popular pop bands around at the moment, Fall Out Boy doesn't make particularly great songs but like similar bands Sugar Ray or Maroon 5, they craft their songs around fantastic pop hooks.
Rock N Roll Hall Of Fame Update
Inducted into my Rock N Roll Hall Of Fame in June 2008:
The Deftones
White Zombie
Motorhead
Lou Reed
Blue Oyster Cult
Pages will be updated soon.
The Deftones
White Zombie
Motorhead
Lou Reed
Blue Oyster Cult
Pages will be updated soon.
Wednesday, May 28, 2008
Top 1000 Songs #400-#391
#400 - "2 Minutes To Midnight" - Iron Maiden - Edward The Great - #2/2 - The highest charting Maiden song on the list, "2 Minutes" is an intense speed metal song from the first great band to perfect the art.
#399 - "Black Math" - The White Stripes - Elephant - #5/10 - One of my favorite songs off of one of my favorite albums, "Black Math" features a monster riff from hell driving it through about 2 minutes of heavy punk that defies descriptions.
#398 - "Where The Streets Have No Names" - U2 - The Joshua Tree - #6/16 - One of the three mega-hits from U2's career pinnacle, "Where The Streets" is a sweeping epic of a modern rock song that helped the band cross over from merely great to the biggest band in the world.
#397 - "Slow Hands" - Interpol - Antics - #1/1 - One of the best new indie bands around, Interpol's best song features a driving guitar riff and one of the best choruses of the new millennium.
#396 - "Pure Morning" - Placebo - Without You I'm Nothing - #1/1 - Placebo is an underground indie pop band that has a series of great albums and this is their signature song, a hypnotic song with a chorus that's virtually an afterthought.
#395 - "Werewolves Of London" - Warren Zevon - Excitable Boy - #1/1 - One of the greatest songwriters of the 20th century, Warren Zevon had a series of tragically underheard singles leading up to this massive hit from the late 70's.
#394 - "Lateralus" - Tool - Lateralus - #3/9 - You don't hear very many songs over 6 minutes on modern rock radio these days, but if you do, they were probably written by Tool. "Lateralus" is a driving and crunchy metal song with a fantastic build to a thrilling climax.
#393 - "Dancing Days" - Led Zeppelin - Houses Of The Holy - #12/24 - After four albums of crunching heavy metal and light hippie rock, Houses Of The Holy marked a transition period for the band as they started to experiment with new styles and sounds. "Dancing Days" is a prime example of this attempt as the song mixes traditional Zeppelin lyrics with eastern styles and flavor.
#392 - "Can't Hardly Wait" - The Replacements - Pleased To Meet Me - #3/4 - The Replacements most famous and most successful song, "Can't Hardly Wait" builds throughout the entire song towards a brilliant chorus following several fake chorus breaks (this is something of a trend in the 80's, as one of the greatest songs ever written "Just Like Heaven" does the same thing).
#391 - "Because The Night" - Patti Smith - Easter - #1/1 - Patti Smith's only major hit, "Because The Night" is the first of many famous covers of the Bruce Springsteen original, which Patti lays into with gusto and claims as her own.
#399 - "Black Math" - The White Stripes - Elephant - #5/10 - One of my favorite songs off of one of my favorite albums, "Black Math" features a monster riff from hell driving it through about 2 minutes of heavy punk that defies descriptions.
#398 - "Where The Streets Have No Names" - U2 - The Joshua Tree - #6/16 - One of the three mega-hits from U2's career pinnacle, "Where The Streets" is a sweeping epic of a modern rock song that helped the band cross over from merely great to the biggest band in the world.
#397 - "Slow Hands" - Interpol - Antics - #1/1 - One of the best new indie bands around, Interpol's best song features a driving guitar riff and one of the best choruses of the new millennium.
#396 - "Pure Morning" - Placebo - Without You I'm Nothing - #1/1 - Placebo is an underground indie pop band that has a series of great albums and this is their signature song, a hypnotic song with a chorus that's virtually an afterthought.
#395 - "Werewolves Of London" - Warren Zevon - Excitable Boy - #1/1 - One of the greatest songwriters of the 20th century, Warren Zevon had a series of tragically underheard singles leading up to this massive hit from the late 70's.
#394 - "Lateralus" - Tool - Lateralus - #3/9 - You don't hear very many songs over 6 minutes on modern rock radio these days, but if you do, they were probably written by Tool. "Lateralus" is a driving and crunchy metal song with a fantastic build to a thrilling climax.
#393 - "Dancing Days" - Led Zeppelin - Houses Of The Holy - #12/24 - After four albums of crunching heavy metal and light hippie rock, Houses Of The Holy marked a transition period for the band as they started to experiment with new styles and sounds. "Dancing Days" is a prime example of this attempt as the song mixes traditional Zeppelin lyrics with eastern styles and flavor.
#392 - "Can't Hardly Wait" - The Replacements - Pleased To Meet Me - #3/4 - The Replacements most famous and most successful song, "Can't Hardly Wait" builds throughout the entire song towards a brilliant chorus following several fake chorus breaks (this is something of a trend in the 80's, as one of the greatest songs ever written "Just Like Heaven" does the same thing).
#391 - "Because The Night" - Patti Smith - Easter - #1/1 - Patti Smith's only major hit, "Because The Night" is the first of many famous covers of the Bruce Springsteen original, which Patti lays into with gusto and claims as her own.
Top 1000 Bands #400-#391
400 - 10,000 Maniacs - One of the most popular bands of the late 80's and early 90's, 10,000 Maniacs disappeared after the birth of grunge, but before the paradigm shift they churned out folk rock hit after hit.
399 - Steppenwolf - The band only had two major hits, but when those hits are "Born To Be Wild" and "Magic Carpet Ride", you've already written your ticket to the top so why bother fading into obscurity?
398 - Paul Westerberg - The former lead singer of The Replacements, Paul has enjoyed a moderate amount of success on his own, particularly with "Dyslexic Heart", which was featured prominently in the Singles Soundtrack. He also scored the soundtrack to the recent animated film "Open Season".
397 - Richard Marx - One of my guiltier pleasures, Richard Marx is an iconic 80's performer who cranked out pop hit after hit during the decade and then faded away almost entirely at the end of the decade. I think he's an excellent songwriter and a solid performer.
396 - The Old 97s - One of the best unknown bands on the market, The Old 97s have a remarkable knack for crafting great pop hooks for a band that has never gotten any attention from radio promoters.
395 - Dusty Springfield - A remarkable singer who had a string of some of the most memorable songs of the British invasion, including the all-time classic "Son Of A Preacher Man".
394 - Chris Isaak - An adult contemporary singer with a strong jazz background, Isaak enjoyed fantastic success with a string of hits like "Baby Did A Bad Bad Thing" and "Wicked Game".
393 - Joe Strummer - The former lead singer of the Clash, Joe Strummer had a solid solo career after the band broke up and also fronted several successful bands before his recent death.
392 - Run D.M.C. - The first truly great rap group, Run D.M.C. was also one of the first bands to take the genre seriously. Not "N.W.A." serious, granted, but they managed to create a sound that was both commercially viable and critically beloved.
391 - The Manic Street Preachers - A politically active modern rock band that's enjoyed a decent amount of success on the anarchy rock scene with their anthemic punk songs.
399 - Steppenwolf - The band only had two major hits, but when those hits are "Born To Be Wild" and "Magic Carpet Ride", you've already written your ticket to the top so why bother fading into obscurity?
398 - Paul Westerberg - The former lead singer of The Replacements, Paul has enjoyed a moderate amount of success on his own, particularly with "Dyslexic Heart", which was featured prominently in the Singles Soundtrack. He also scored the soundtrack to the recent animated film "Open Season".
397 - Richard Marx - One of my guiltier pleasures, Richard Marx is an iconic 80's performer who cranked out pop hit after hit during the decade and then faded away almost entirely at the end of the decade. I think he's an excellent songwriter and a solid performer.
396 - The Old 97s - One of the best unknown bands on the market, The Old 97s have a remarkable knack for crafting great pop hooks for a band that has never gotten any attention from radio promoters.
395 - Dusty Springfield - A remarkable singer who had a string of some of the most memorable songs of the British invasion, including the all-time classic "Son Of A Preacher Man".
394 - Chris Isaak - An adult contemporary singer with a strong jazz background, Isaak enjoyed fantastic success with a string of hits like "Baby Did A Bad Bad Thing" and "Wicked Game".
393 - Joe Strummer - The former lead singer of the Clash, Joe Strummer had a solid solo career after the band broke up and also fronted several successful bands before his recent death.
392 - Run D.M.C. - The first truly great rap group, Run D.M.C. was also one of the first bands to take the genre seriously. Not "N.W.A." serious, granted, but they managed to create a sound that was both commercially viable and critically beloved.
391 - The Manic Street Preachers - A politically active modern rock band that's enjoyed a decent amount of success on the anarchy rock scene with their anthemic punk songs.
Tuesday, May 27, 2008
Top 1000 Songs #410-#401
#410 - "Mercedes Benz" - Janis Joplin - Janis Joplin - #2/3 - In one of the most ironic moments in the history of music, Janis' anti-commercialism ballad was featured in an ad... for Mercedes Benz. It's a great song, but talk about missing the point.
#409 - "The Chain" - Fleetwood Mac - Rumours - #7/7 - The top-ranking Fleetwood Mac song on the list, "The Chain" is the fifth song off of their legendary Rumours album and features the nastiest and best chorus the band ever put together.
#408 - "The Pot" - Tool - 10,000 Days - #2/9 - MJK and the gang's ode to hypocrisy in America's drug policy, "The Pot" is the best song on the band's latest album and easily the most radio-friendly song from the band in nearly a decade.
#407 - "Ramblin' Man" - The Allman Brothers - Ramblin' Man - #3/4 - The Allman's first big hit, "Ramblin' Man" is the closest the band came to a straight-up Southern rock song, as there weren't as many blues rock vibes in this song as in the band's usual songs.
#406 - "Stand" - R.E.M. - Green - #8/12 - One of the band's most popular song's, "Stand" was the song that, more than any other, solidified the band as the figurehead artist of the alt rock movement... until "Smells Like Teen Spirit" came along.
#405 - "Weapon Of Choice" - Black Rebel Motorcycle Club - Baby 81 - #2/3 - One of the best songs of 2007, "Weapon Of Choice" was never a hit on modern rock radio, but there really isn't any reason why not, as the song has great lyrics, one hell of a hook and a fantastic chorus.
#404 - "More Than A Feeling" - Boston - Boston - #1/1 - One of the biggest hits of the classic rock era, "More Than A Feeling" had a riff so legendary that Nirvana changed it a little and reinvented rock n roll 15 years down the road and a style that represented the top of the classic rock mountain... and inspired a thousand punk bands to make brilliant music out of disgust.
#403 - "Paradise By The Dashboard Light" - Meat Loaf - Bat Out Of Hell - #1/1 - The most theatrical and over-the-top song on the countdown, Meat Loaf's epic rock opera is also one of the funniest songs ever written and Meat Loaf's vocals are off the charts.
#402 - "Pinball Wizard" - The Who - Tommy - #2/9 - That's the Who's original version, not the crappy Elton John cover, "Pinball Wizard" is the centerpiece of the first great rock opera ever put to LP and it's driving beat and wild vocals make it one of the band's best.
#401 - "Train In Vain" - The Clash - London Calling - #6/18 - The Clash's most popular song until Combat Rock came about, "Train In Vain" was actually a hidden track at the end of the band's greatest album, London Calling and is a departure from any of the band's previous styles or genres.
#409 - "The Chain" - Fleetwood Mac - Rumours - #7/7 - The top-ranking Fleetwood Mac song on the list, "The Chain" is the fifth song off of their legendary Rumours album and features the nastiest and best chorus the band ever put together.
#408 - "The Pot" - Tool - 10,000 Days - #2/9 - MJK and the gang's ode to hypocrisy in America's drug policy, "The Pot" is the best song on the band's latest album and easily the most radio-friendly song from the band in nearly a decade.
#407 - "Ramblin' Man" - The Allman Brothers - Ramblin' Man - #3/4 - The Allman's first big hit, "Ramblin' Man" is the closest the band came to a straight-up Southern rock song, as there weren't as many blues rock vibes in this song as in the band's usual songs.
#406 - "Stand" - R.E.M. - Green - #8/12 - One of the band's most popular song's, "Stand" was the song that, more than any other, solidified the band as the figurehead artist of the alt rock movement... until "Smells Like Teen Spirit" came along.
#405 - "Weapon Of Choice" - Black Rebel Motorcycle Club - Baby 81 - #2/3 - One of the best songs of 2007, "Weapon Of Choice" was never a hit on modern rock radio, but there really isn't any reason why not, as the song has great lyrics, one hell of a hook and a fantastic chorus.
#404 - "More Than A Feeling" - Boston - Boston - #1/1 - One of the biggest hits of the classic rock era, "More Than A Feeling" had a riff so legendary that Nirvana changed it a little and reinvented rock n roll 15 years down the road and a style that represented the top of the classic rock mountain... and inspired a thousand punk bands to make brilliant music out of disgust.
#403 - "Paradise By The Dashboard Light" - Meat Loaf - Bat Out Of Hell - #1/1 - The most theatrical and over-the-top song on the countdown, Meat Loaf's epic rock opera is also one of the funniest songs ever written and Meat Loaf's vocals are off the charts.
#402 - "Pinball Wizard" - The Who - Tommy - #2/9 - That's the Who's original version, not the crappy Elton John cover, "Pinball Wizard" is the centerpiece of the first great rock opera ever put to LP and it's driving beat and wild vocals make it one of the band's best.
#401 - "Train In Vain" - The Clash - London Calling - #6/18 - The Clash's most popular song until Combat Rock came about, "Train In Vain" was actually a hidden track at the end of the band's greatest album, London Calling and is a departure from any of the band's previous styles or genres.
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