500 Songs Discussion - Page 8

I agree it seems people have been doing this quite a lot. the list has been going on since the day after thanksgiving, if I recall correctly... if somebody has more songs than days they've been posting, I say some frontier justice must be ordered up.

and I am much less concered about th latest woodward selection of linkin park than I am the fucking fiasco that is collective soul... or rick springfield for that matter.

but the modern english pick is a good one, whoever did that.

Faces -- because the world must be reminded, if only as a cautionary tale to present-day rockers, that... in the Before Time... in the Long Long Ago... Rod Stewart did indeed once kick holy amounts of ass, with his first band. Almost went with "Ooh La La", and maybe someone else could squeeze that in. But "Stay With Me" was Faces at their soulful, boisterous, booze-soaked best. Rude as hell with no apologies. Rock's best party band, once upon a time, should not be penalized for the future crimes of its front man.

Fuck, yes.

The Faces Best of set was in heavy rotation in my car a couple months ago, and I remember making this same argument to just about anyone who would listen. Their box set was promptly placed high on my Christmas list. Meanwhile, as if to illustrate how far he's fallen in terms of rock'n'roll attitude, my mom has his latest set of bland covers of standards on her list...

It takes massive self-deprogramming to cut through the years of "Hot Legs," "Love Touch," and "Forever Young" (and, Jesus Christ, those standards albums!) to realize that Rod Stewart was once everything that a rock singer should be. But he was. I like his voice on the Faces era stuff far better than Jagger's on pretty much any Stones song.

GBV - "My Valuable Hunting Knife"

As with Soul Coughing, I simply couldn't believe that Guided By Voices wasn't on the list yet. One of the most prolific and important indie/lo-fi/Who-inspired/kick-ass rock and roll bands that ever was. With such a huge catalogue of songs to choose from, I ended up choosing one that has personal significance. Really, almost anything off of their golden period records (Bee Thousand through Under the Bushes, Under the Stars) could go on here.

Here's the replacement list thus far...

Allman Brothers Band, The – Whipping Post
Amos, Tori – ’97 Bonnie and Clyde
Apple, Fiona – Pale September
Archies, The – Sugar Sugar
Armstrong, Louis – What a Wonderful World
Arrested Development - Tennessee

Beach Boys, The – Wouldn’t It Be Nice?
Billy, Bonnie – Minor Place

Charles, Ray – America the Beautiful
Collective Soul - December
Costello, Elvis – What’s So Funny About Peace, Love, and Understanding?

Domino, Fats – I’m Ready
Dramatics, The – Watcha See is Watcha Get

Earth, Wind, and Fire – Fantasy

Faces – Stay With Me
Flaw – Only the Strong (Piano version)
Franklin, Aretha – I Never Loved a Man the Way I Love You
Fugazi – Suggestion

Gabriel, Peter – Solisbury Hill
Gaye, Marvin – I Heard it Through the Grapevine
Gill, Sydney – The Smoke
Griffith, Nancy – Across the Great Divide
Guaraldi, Vince – Linus and Lucy
Guided by Voices – My Valuable Hunting Knife

Heart – Crazy On You
Hot Water Music – Rooftops

International Noise Conspiracy – The Reproduction of Death

John, Elton – Tiny Dancer

Keith, Toby and Willie Nelson – Beer for My Horses
Kermit the Frog – Rainbow Connection’
King’s X – Over My Head
Kool and the Gang – Jungle Boogie

Linkin Park – In the End

Mancini, Henry – A Shot in the Dark
Manliow, Barry – Mandy
Midnight Oil – Dead Heart
Misfits – Night of the Living Dead
Modern English – Melt With You

Outkast – Bombs Over Baghdad

Parker, Charlie – Bird of Paradise
Perkins, Carl – Blue Suede Shoes
Presidents of the United States of America – Naked and Famous
Public Image Limited - Memories

Queen – Who Wants to Live Forever

Rush - Subdivisions
Springfield, Rick – Jesse’s Girl
Springsteen, Bruce – Rosalita
Steve Miller Band – Jungle Love
Stone Temple Pilots – Ride the Cliche
Superdrag – In the Valley of Dying Stars

Tears for Fears – Mad World
Temptations, The – Papa Was a Rolling Stone
Thin Lizzy – Whiskey in a Jar
Thorogood, George – Bad to the Bone

Wilco – A Shot in the Arm

****************************

I'm sorry, but Linkin Park is NOT getting on this list.

That Toby Keith song needs to fucking GO. NOW.

Not just because I hate Toby Keith with the passion of a million suns going supernova simultaneously, but because I figure most people here dislike him just as much. They're just going to see the name and axe his ass, even if he IS coupled with Willie Nelson. At least it's not that jingoistic ignorant tunless gob of shit "We'll put a boot in your ass" bullshit. And Manilow is more punchline than actual artist anymore, so I don't see Mandy surviving now that I know we're axing songs off the list..

I REALLY wanted to sneak one more Prince song on there. Or even The Time with "The Bird" because that thing is basically a Prince song, sung by Morris Day. As are all Time songs.

The extended version of "Kiss" is damn near perfect. Purple Rain isn't on here. Neither is 1999...or "The Beautiful Ones" there's a lot of shit I want to slide in the final spots here, but I couldn't ignore Jungle Boogie.

It's really long past time that someone nominates Chuck Berry.

Chuck Berry is on there, #453.

Chuck Berry just stole that song from Marty McFly.

When it makes the final cut, I'd certainly like to see McFly get the credit.

If you're serious, you're out of your mind. A) We're not going to be able to pay anybody enough money to cross-reference tens of thousands of songs. B) I sure as shit don't have time to compose a list of 500 songs.

Whatever. I'm just separating them cause I don't feel like fucking with the big list right now.

Strange Fruit...goddamn. nice fuckin pick

Wow, this list has been a lot of fun. If anyone is still racking their brains for a final pick, might I humbly suggest 'Something to Believe In' by Poison?

A big *thankyou* to Werbal for keeping the list updated throughout. Dude!

My most recent pick is setting up what I hope I'll be able to squeeze into the 600 around midnight tonight.

O-E-O-E-O !

If culling is really to occur, I'd suggest something like people list 10 or 20 or 25 or ?? songs from the additional 100 as replacements and the same number from the first 500 as culling nominees and just swap out that way based on which songs get the most votes from each list. Culling 100 is not going to be an easy task.

To Van Jones: Far better Metallica belongs on that list long before one cursed downtuned note of St. Anger gets in.

Well, I think that track from St Anger stands up to their great stuff from the earlier albums. I truly do, I was rocking out to it this morning. However I am one of 'those people' who think later Metallica is better than early Mettalica, though, so maybe you hate the ground I stand on. Well it's my vote and I made it.

Since the numbers weren't really a ranking system, but just a means for counting, I don't think it's necessary to do any swapping in and out of the original 500.

Just assume we've got 600 songs, and 100 have got to go. We each toss in what we think are the 10 or 20 most worthy of dismissal out of the whole bunch, we tabulate the number of votes against each of those songs, figure out the top 100 vote-getters, and put them in a list of proposed rejects (at which time, their nominators can put up a defense and perhaps offer up a reason why some other song should be removed in its stead). Shouldn't be that bad, except for the matter of ties. But I figure we cross that bridge when we come to it.

Hell, it's all about the discussion as far as I'm concerned. I'm not all that obsessed with coming up with a definitive 500, because I'm kind of enjoying the process.

I appreciate all of the thanks. As for the adding and subtracting of songs, though, I head home to my parent's house in Tampa for the month and they only have dial up so don't expect me to be online very often to do any updating. Someone may want to take over for that.

I don't hate the ground you stand on. I take the belief that the Metallica that made Kill 'Em All, Master of Puppets, and Ride The Lightning is not the same band that made the Black Album, Load, Reload, and Garage Inc. And I don't mean that in a spiteful way. I like both those bands for different reasons.

I'm just so not a fan of the Metallica that made St. Anger so far. And versus that band's classics (Creeping Death, Fade To Black, Sanitarium, For Whom The Bell Tolls), even the best tracks on Load and Reload (Bleeding Me, Unforgiven II, Outlaw Torn, Until It Sleeps, and Memory Remains), St. Anger just doesn't stand up.

I don't HATE the song. I just think there's better ones. Lots of 'em.

Since I'm one of the biggest cheerleaders of the culling, and due to the massive amount of free time I'll have very soon, I'll volunteer to take over the book-keeping duties for the next phase.

Disagree. I think my pick does stand up to the likes of Bleeding Me and Outlaw Torn (you forgot Hero of the Day!). But I do agree they are two different bands.

Well, if I were going to axe two of mine, I'd say get rid of Mack the Knife and Bat Out of Hell.

And now, some more justifications:

The Police - Every Little Thing She Does Is Magic -- Probably the purest distillation of the rock-meets-reggae sound that defined their earlier albums, which is odd because it occurs on the album that pretty much marked them putting that behind them for good.

Sinead O'Connor - Troy -- The best song on arguably the best album by a female artist in the 80s, Troy showcases what made O'Connor such a startling discovery -- a voice that could effortlessly go from an intimate whisper to a howl of rage. Sure her politics freaked everybody out, but The Lion and the Cobra is still brilliant, and this one shines brightest.

Elvis Costello - Oliver's Army -- One of the greatest piano parts ever written, it's such a jolly song that it makes you forget how dark the lyrics really are.

Peter Gabriel - Solsbury Hill -- The best thing anybody associated with Genesis has ever put to record. Period.

Rush - Subdivisions -- I went with this song because I think it so perfectly captures the time in which it was released. I was of the generation this song spoke to, and there's something about the epic keyboard/guitar break near the end of the song that screams "teen angst" to me.

Yeah, that's the big problem with it. Just an idea, no sweat off my brow if it's deemed a bad one.

True dat. Heck, my reasons for being all for The Culling are just because then instead of postings and maybe a few comments, we can get some REAL debate going.

Why not give it to poopoodle? It's not like he's going to be doing anything time intensive, like, say, watching Episode 3 or somethin...

If Gistmeister decides to do it, thanks. and thanks to Werbal for doing what he's done so far. And Chavez, I do think axing people first JUST because they have multiple songs is a bad idea, but at least you're coughing up ideas, so that's cool. Maybe we should just do it one song at a time? Someone throws out a song that they think shouldn't be on there--the person who nominated it defends it, and then the rest of us weigh in. It should be pretty easy to tell what the consensus is after a few posts.

Yeah, but that leaves some people out. Ideally, I'd like to get a good give-and-take on stuff, and that would entail about 2 or 3 days per song. We COULD have people put up for, say, 5-10 songs a week and try to arrive at consensus as to snipping, but that could easily drag out into several months. The fairest way but also the most drawn-out.

If Gist or Werbal can't keep up with the list due to other stuff, I'll be willing to pitch in.

I'm really interested in what will make the finalized list. Also...are we going to rank the Top 500? Because, I'm not sure how that will work.

I had a system for it that could work.

Then NAME THE SYSTEM...



Anyway, just justifying my latest (and probably last) pick. I know there's already 3 Stones songs on the list, but after seeing "Jungle Love" get thrown on there (I still prefer "The Bird" or even "Chocolate" by The Time) I had to go with this one, as I simply think it's the best Rolling Stones song besides "Can't Always Get..." The congas, the 'Whoo whoos" the bassline, the lyrics, the way Jagger spits em out, the restrained, staccato stabs with the guitar that Richards unleashes...Rock greatness, right there.

My picks:

Inner City Blues
Pusherman
Flashlight
Juice (Know the Ledge)
The Brews
Hot for Teacher
Sympathy for the Devil
So What
Walk on By
Mannish Boy
Jungle Boogie
Me and Julio Down by the Schoolyard
Papa was a Rolling Stone

Lucky 13, huh. What's funny is that if I did my own top 13 best songs of all time--it wouldn't look like that, probably. Some would survive, yeah, but I'd have some more hip hop (I never did get Ice Cube on the list, or Stakes is High by De La Soul, or Catch a Bad one by Del, or Digital Underground or Beasties or even EPMD/Redman) probably some more soul instead of the raw funk I have on there, and probably a little more classic rock.

Hell, now that I look at it--there's no Wu-Tang, is there. 7th Chamber or Protect ya Neck or even Shadowboxing or Ice Cream is missing.

Weighing the picks of everyone's individual list they send it could work.

Hell, with the number of people that you have going you could tell people to only send in their Top 100. The variety of choices, after the list is trimmed to 500 would be enough to bulk up to 500.

If list = 100

Then Choice 1 = 100 points.
Choice 2 = 99 points.

and

Choice 99 = 2 points.
Choice 100 = 1 point.

That is if we base the individual system on 100 selections. Then hope that there is enough of runoff that could beef a list up to 500. I hope that this is making sense.

that really wouldn't be a good scoring system-- 1 guy voting 1 song number 1 would outweigh 99 people voting a song in the top 100.

as for my justification for my list of choices: I wanted to pick a somewhat diverse group of songs and represent different decades, also I chose a mix of established classics and personal favorites from artists I think are great.


A 50's rock and roll classic that I've always enjoyed (Johnny B. Goode) that also made sure Chuck Berry and his astounding guitar were included on the list.

An old school soul song (Bring it on Home to Me) by Sam Cooke, who is just the coolest of the cool in my opinion.

A perfect 60's folk song (The Times they are A-Changin') that is equal parts sad and hopeful, by one of the greatest songwriters ever, Bob Dylan.

The great 60's and 70's bands were well represented, so I chose Aerosmith (Sweet Emotion) and Heart (Crazy on You) because they hadn't been picked at the time and I love their 70's stuff. Also I thought The Sex Pistols needed to be on the list so I picked what I feel is the defnitive punk song Anarchy in the U.K.

For the 80's I picked REM's Driver 8 because I think it's right up there with their best stuff from their best era, which hadn't been represented on the list, and Tracy Chapman's Fast Car, which is just a beautifully written song and deserves to be a classic for a long time to come.

The 90's were, obviously, in full force on this list, so I chose to pick some of my personal favorites. Tori Amos' Icicle which is, I think, her best song and a showcase for her piano skills, and Ani DiFranco's Both Hands which is a really evocative breakup song that features her awesome guitar work. Hole's Violet is another favorite, and the combination of Courtney Love's lyrical sensibilites and Kurt Cobain's influence on the sound made for one of the most potent songs of the grunge rock movement.

Last we have Cake's Jolene which was admittedly a weird choice but I love the fusion of all the different sounds on their first few albums that led to a pretty unique experience. It was either Cake or Beck... and while a little John McCrea can go a long way, the hometown connection made me go for the boys from Sacramento. Plus my little sister used to pal around with his, so I have a soft spot for 'em.

odds anyone read more than 3 lines of this post: not very good.

My last pick! Kiss! Crazy Crazy Nights!
yes, the reason why i openly mock all other soft rock choices. what is the point of Van Halen when you have Crazy Crazy Nights? It's funnier, stupider, catchier, more bombastic, has more anthemic key changes and much loner tongues than any other rock anthem ever.

It is totally aware of it's own ridiculousness and 100% unashamed of it. The Kiss hotrod of rock avoids the brick wall of self parody by accelerating right through it at 100 miles an hour and on...on down the sunset interstate white-lined vinyl, raised cigarette lighters as streetlamps, devil-signed hands swaying like trees, on...towards the bare breasted mountains of musical immortality.

When Eddie Van Halen goes off on a solo i get the impression that somewhere deep down he genuinely thinks he's doing something meaningful, something real. oh dear.

trust me, NOTHING on Hot for Teacher is serious, meaningful or real

promise?

Diamond Dave IS a Promise. A Promise of a Better Tomorrow. WHOAAOWWW!

What's sure to be my last pick (kind of surprised I was able to make one more, actually), John Coltrane's "My Favorite Things."

It's sort of "Coltrane for beginners," but that's why it's great. I'm, by no means, a jazz expert, and this was the easiest way I found into Coltrane (though A Love Supreme and his album with Johnny Hartman are both pretty easy on the ears, too). It's melodic, pretty, and the soloing all has a wonderful lightness to it, like the band is having a whole lot of fun messing with the tune. Meanwhile, it also has a fair share of Coltrane's "sheets of sound"-style playing that would later become less immediately approachable as he headed toward free jazz.

A Love Supreme is more musically impressive, but I believe there was some debate about whether it qualifies as a song, and I'm definitely not splitting it up into its movements, so I'll stick with this one. It's certainly no better or worse - just a little more approachable in scope. Plus, it's a fine introduction by giving a good idea of what the artist is capable of, and it's good enough to represent an aspect of 20th century music - probably sound criteria for a list like this.

Someone else put Coltrane's "Ole" on the list, but I have to admit I haven't heard that. I'll be seeking it out, though.

I think you've somehow confused "Crazy Nights" with Warrant's "Cherry Pie."

Either way, I think the best route would have been picking a Spinal Tap song (I'm partial to "Big Bottom").

Ministry, "Thieves" - okay, so I was late to the party, and I can't recall if this was off A Mind is A Terrible Thing to Taste or Twitch, but that matters little. Breaking through mounds of Steve Albini's scorn, Ministry brought industrial music to the masses, and it was good.

Nothing against Holst, but I don't think a classical music composition belongs on a list of "songs."

Why not? Didn't see you complaining about "Rhapsody in Blue" or "A Love Supreme".

In "The Planets" symphony, the pieces are VERY distinct and self-contained; not that they don't make a grand and coherent whole, but I feel that each piece can very much stand on its own legs without the benefit of the others. In this case, The Planets is unlike many other symphonies - there are no recurring or underlying themes that run the length of the work.

Or I can change it to a Korn song, take your pick.

Supersucker: Thank you for getting Zapp on there. The long form of that song is amazing in that it runs about 8 minutes long (if not longer) and there's no bridge or no real chorus, and yet the shit NEVER gets tired for the entirety of it's running time. Almost THE perfect vamp.

I'd like to see some Wu-Tang on here, somewhere.

my final tally of choices:
44) David Bowie - "Space Oddity"
55) Nirvana - "Dumb"
90) Jawbreaker - "Million"
138) the Cure - "Just Like Heaven"
189) Jay-Z - "December 4th"
238) At the Drive-In - "Pattern Against User"
293) Jets to Brazil - "Sweet Avenue"
347) Smashing Pumpkins - "Drown"
402) Say Anything - "Slowly, Through a Vector"
441) Jimmy Eat World - "Goodbye Sky Harbor"
495) Braid - "Forever Got Shorter"
530) Superdrag - "In the Valley of Dying Stars"
567) Flogging Molly - "the Worst Day Since Yesterday"
597) Sunny Day Real Estate - "Song About an Angel"

and if anyone needs any defense, one can be given. but i'm lazy, so screw you.

The list is done.
We hit 600 songs, but somehow I counted 602 songs on the list.

Let's cut and rank the list. Personally, I anticipate the pending musical slaughter.

Like barbelithbomb I am too lazy to defend every song now, especially whn one of the songs I gave an explanation for I'm already offering up as sacrifice. I will galdly defend any song I picked upon request...except for Superstition. If that needs to be defended, then you're nuts.

My Picks -
Title and Registration - Death Cab For Cutie
Joga - Bjork
Superstition - Stevie Wonder
Trouble Man - Marvin Gaye
Ole - John Coltrane
Every Day is Like Sunday - Morrissey
Jude Law and a Semester Abroad - Brandnew
Unsatisfied - The Replacemnets
The Hunger - The Distillers
Strange Fruit - Billie Holiday
Whiskey in the Jar - Thin Lizzy
More Bounce To The Ounce - Zapp

Stuff I didn't put on the list but could've -
Gimme Shelter - Rolling Stones
Say it Ain't So - Weezer
Nutshell - Alice in Chains
Rusty Cage - Soundgarden
Mirror in the Bathroom - English Beat
Blood & Roses - The Smithereens
Lost Cause - Beck
How Soon Is Now - The Smiths
Happiness is a Warm Gun - The Beatles
Welcome to the Terrordome - Public Enemy
Slippery When Wet - The Commodores
Passin' Me By - Tha Pharcyde
and others that I am no doubt forgetting right now.

Here are my picks. In my mind, they are all great.


My picks:

35) The Beach Boys - Good Vibrations
89) Elvis Costello - Veronica
163) The Ronettes - Be my Baby
224) Chris Issak - Wicked Game
272) New Order - Bizarre Love Triangle
333) Jerry Lee Lewis - Great Balls of Fire
384) The Pretenders - Brass in Pocket
437) Blondie - Dreaming
474) Sam Cooke - You Send Me
510) Fats Domino - I'm Ready
534) Rick Springfield - Jesse's Girl
564) Elvis Presley - Jailhouse Rock
598) Tears for Fears - Head over Heels

Mine:

17. Bruce Springsteen - Thunder Road
61. Derek and the Dominos - Layla
94. Meat Loaf - Bat Out of Hell
168. Bobby Darin - Mack the Knife
191. Queen and David Bowie - Under Pressure
251. ABBA - Dancing Queen
314. The Jam - Town Called Malice
360. The Police - Every Little Thing She Does Is Magic
397. Sinead O'Connor - Troy
460. Elvis Costello and the Attractions - Oliver's Army
518. Peter Gabriel - Solsbury Hill
543. Rush - Subdivisions
563. Pink Floyd - Comfortably Numb
596. XTC - Dear God

Mine!

Buggles - Video Killed The Radio Star
Tom Waits - Martha
Leonard Cohen - It seems so long ago, Nancy
Bonnie 'Prince' Billy - Minor Place
The Sugarhill Gang - Rapper's Delight
Disposable Heroes of Hiphoprisy - The Language of Violence
Bob Dylan - Bob Dylan's 115th Dream
Nina Simone - Sinnerman
Kiss - Crazy, Crazy Nights

Anybody else reminded of Finding Nemo whenever somebody starts their post with "Mine!"?

36. Oasis - Champagne Supernova
67. Led Zeppelin - Kashmir
99. Metallica - One
144. Sarah McLachlan - Elsewhere
192. Bjork - All Is Full Of Love
254. Rage Against the Machine - Killing In The Name
308. Black Sabbath - War Pigs
361. Tori Amos - Silent All These Years
409. Phil Collins - In The Air Tonight
462. Aerosmith - Dream On
498. Beatles - Hey Jude
512. Elvis Costello - What's So Funny 'Bout Peave Love and Understanding
542. Fiona Apple - Pale September
576. Pantera - Walk