Consequence of Sound: 100 Greatest Songs Ever

[HolidayGuy]

Yet another list.

consequenceofsound.net/2012/09/top-100-songs-ever-100-51/

Some interesting track selections here, in spots. EDIT: I did miss, something- a handful of acts have more than one entry.

Even though it's one of Madge's most acclaimed/cited tracks, I would not have chosen "Like a Virgin" over "Like a Prayer." But, LAV was not on Slant's 80s list, so it was bound to make a critical roar sooner or later.


01. The Beach Boys - "God Only Knows"
02. Talking Heads - "Once In a Lifetime"
03. Bob Dylan - "Like a Rolling Stone"
04. Michael Jackson - "Man in the Mirror"
05. The Beatles - "A Day in the Life"
06. The Velvet Underground - "Sister Ray"
07. The Rolling Stones - "Sympathy for the Devil"
08. Aretha Franklin - "Respect"
09. The Notorious B.I.G. - "Juicy"
10. Radiohead - "Idioteque"
11. Nirvana - "Smells Like Teen Spirit"
12. Marvin Gaye - "What's Going On"
13. Led Zeppelin - "Dazed and Confused"
14. The Knife - "Heartbeats"
15. Jackson 5 - "I Want You Back"
16. Bruce Springsteen - "Jungleland"
17. Otis Redding - "Try a Little Tenderness"
18. Bob Dylan - "Shelter from the Storm"
19. Prince - "When Doves Cry"
20. Kate Bush - "Running Up that Hill (A Deal with God)"
21. Public Enemy - "Fight the Power"
22. Pulp - "Common People"
23. The Beatles - "Tomorrow Never Knows"
24. The Rolling Stones - "Gimme Shelter"
25. John Coltrane - "A Love Supreme Part 1: Acknowledgment"
26. Beastie Boys - "Shadrach"
27. The Who - "My Generation"
28. Neutral Milk Hotel - "In The Aeroplane Over the Sea"
29. Joy Division - "Love Will Tear Us Apart"
30. Jimi Hendrix Experience - "All Along The Watchtower"
31. Patti Smith Group - "Rock N Roll ***I'M RACIST***"
32. Black Sabbath - "War Pigs"
33. The Clash - "London Calling"
34. Neil Young & Crazy Horse - "Hey Hey, My My (Into the Black)"
35. Daft Punk - "One More Time"
36. The Ronettes - "Be My Baby"
37. The Replacements - "I Will Dare"
38. Sam Cooke - "A Change is Gonna Come"
39. Talking Heads - "This Must Be The Place (Naive Melody)"
40. The Stooges - "Search and Destroy"
41. Al Green - "Let's Stay Together"
42. Michael Jackson - "Billie Jean"
43. David Bowie - "Space Oddity"
44. LCD Soundsystem - "All My Friends"
45. N.W.A. - "Fuck Tha Police"
46. Madonna - "Like a Virgin"
47. The Beach Boys - "Good Vibrations"
48. Can - "Halleluhwah"
49. Metallica - "One"
50. Pavement - "Summer Babe (Winter Version)"
51. The Who - "Baba O'Riley"
52. Jay-Z - "99 Problems"
53. Arcade Fire - "Wake Up"
54. Pink Floyd - "Comfortably Numb"
55. Bob Dylan - "The Times They Are a-Changin'"
56. Stevie Wonder - "Superstition"
57. Thin Lizzy - "The Boys Are Back in Town"
58. Black Flag - "Rise Above"
59. Television - "Marquee Moon"
60. Nick Drake - "Pink Moon"
61. The White Stripes - "Seven Nation Army"
62. Johnny Cash - "Hurt"
63. U2 - "Where The Streets Have No Name"
64. OutKast - "B.o.B"
65. The Velvet Underground & Nico - "Waiting for the Man"
66. Portishead - "Roads"
67. Chuck Berry - "Johnny B. Goode"
68. Leonard Cohen - "Suzanne"
69. The Cure - "Just Like Heaven"
70. Ben E. King - "Stand By Me"
71. Björk - "Army of Me"
72. James Brown - "I Got You (I Feel Good)"
73. The Ramones - "Blitzkrieg Bop"
74. The Smiths - "The Boy With the Thorn in His Side"
75. Blondie - "Heart of Glass"
76. Missy Elliott - "Get Ur Freak On"
77. Sly and the Family Stone - "Hot Fun in the Summertime"
78. Run-D.M.C. - "Rock Box"
79. Fleetwood Mac - "The Chain"
80. Yo La Tengo - "Autumn Sweater"
81. Wu-Tang Clan - "Protect Ya Neck"
82. Depeche Mode - "Enjoy the Silence"
83. Grandmaster Flash & The Furious Five - "The Message"
84. Sufjan Stevens - "John Wayne Gacy, Jr."
85. My Bloody Valentine - "Only Shallow"
86. The Band - "The Night They Drove Old Dixie Down"
87. PJ Harvey - "Down By the Water"
88. Buzzcocks - "Ever Fallen in Love (With Someone You Shouldn't've)"
89. Kanye West - "Jesus Walks"
90. Pixies - "Hey"
91. Funkadelic - "One Nation Under A Groove"
92. Aphex Twin - "Windowlicker"
93. Devo - "Uncontrollable Urge"
94. Underworld - "Born Slippy .NUXX"
95. Sleater Kinney - "Dig Me Out"
96. Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds - "From Her To Eternity"
97. A Tribe Called Quest - "Scenario"
98. Kraftwerk - "Autobahn"
99. Sonic Youth - "Teen Age Riot"
100. Phil Collins - "In The Air Tonight"

[spooky21]

Very yawn-worthy.

[HolidayGuy]

Well, for some in the Pulse crowd, probably so, so since there's not much pop.

[spooky21]

It has nothing to do with less pop for me.

[renfield75]

It's not one per artist; The Beach Boys, MJ, Dylan, Talking Heads, The Beatles, and the Stones have two.

[Deleted]

No Mariah... this list is invalid.

[HolidayGuy]

^Then most lists out there would be.

Yah, I didn't do a great skimming- thanks for the note about acts with two entries.

[newpower]

whats the difference between #56 and #57?

nvm

[ListenToItTwice]

I was hoping that a blog named after a Regina Spektor song would include a regina spektor song in their list :(

[#LisaRinna]

04. Michael Jackson - "Man in the Mirror"

This is interesting. I expected 'Billie Jean' to be the higher one, as usual.

82. Depeche Mode - "Enjoy the Silence"

Too low.

[Peaches. [Ch, r. is]]

32. Kelly Clarkson - Since U Been Gone

The only artist of this generation on there

[HolidayGuy]

I deleted the second "Superstition" list- that's how it appeared in an e-mail that COS sent out. :)

Kelly Clarkson' s albums and singles have not racked up a lot of acclaim overall, but "Since U Been Gone" is an exception. And a deserving one.

[Deleted]

What? No Britney? ;)

[Deleted]

Sept 21, 2012 8:37:46 GMT -5 HolidayGuy said:

Well, for some in the Pulse crowd, probably so, so since there's not much pop.

The Beatles, Rolling Stones, and Beach Boys WERE the pop of the 60's.

[Agent Yoncé]

Not surprised to see a lot of pre 90s tracks on this list Refreshing to see Daft Punk & Kanye on there :)

[Rurry]

Sept 21, 2012 15:49:09 GMT -5 Agent Yoncé said:

Not surprised to see a lot of pre 90s tracks on this list Refreshing to see Daft Punk & Kanye on there :)

Yeah, screw anything made before 1990!

I'm a little surprised at God Only Knows being #1, I didn't realize it was so revered. I love the song though.

[Deleted]

1990 was Mariah's breakout year right? I guess that is the birth of music :o

[HolidayGuy]

By pop, I should have specified that I was referring more to 2000-on. :) "Since U Been Gone" is a fine choice from that period.

[Deleted]

I like that Missy's "Get Ur Freak On" is on there. That song should have gone #1.

[Lozzy]

Sept 21, 2012 20:16:46 GMT -5 HolidayGuy said:

"Since U Been Gone" is a fine choice from that period.

"Since U Been Gone" isn't on the list though.

[HolidayGuy]

LMAO- I fell for Ch, r. ïs's trickery. If I had looked at every single entry, I would have known that.

I also should have known that it probably would not have ranked as high as 32 if it were on it.

[Deleted]

Thought I'd quickly go through and see how evenly the songs actually are split between the decades. This is off the top of my head so some might be wrong:

1950s: 1
1960s: 26
1970s: 23
1980s: 22
1990s: 16
2000s: 12

It's funny because obviously the first complaint everybody has with lists like this are that they're biased against recent music, but I'd say that was a pretty fair split and if anything I'm most surprised about the lack of pre-1960s songs. Without looking anything up, I believe "Wake Up" (2004) is the most recent entry. Knowing that I'd assume it's less a case of a bias against current music and more waiting to see how songs hold up.

The most surprising entry for me is "Man In The Mirror" at number four. "Heartbeats" stuck out as well.

[d.t.m]

Sept 21, 2012 20:21:45 GMT -5 @soblu said:

I like that Missy's "Get Ur Freak On" is on there. That song should have gone #1.

I think Work It should've made it instead.

[Au$tin]

Sept 21, 2012 8:32:10 GMT -5 HolidayGuy said:

04. Michael Jackson - "Man in the Mirror"
08. Aretha Franklin - "Respect"
12. Marvin Gaye - "What's Going On"
15. Jackson 5 - "I Want You Back"
27. The Who - "My Generation"
35. Daft Punk - "One More Time"
42. Michael Jackson - "Billie Jean"
47. The Beach Boys - "Good Vibrations"
51. The Who - "Baba O'Riley"
56. Stevie Wonder - "Superstition"
57. Thin Lizzy - "The Boys Are Back in Town"
61. The White Stripes - "Seven Nation Army"
62. Johnny Cash - "Hurt"
67. Chuck Berry - "Johnny B. Goode"
70. Ben E. King - "Stand By Me"
72. James Brown - "I Got You (I Feel Good)"
75. Blondie - "Heart of Glass"
76. Missy Elliott - "Get Ur Freak On"
100. Phil Collins - "In The Air Tonight"

^I like all of those. #70 is actually my favorite song of all time.

[Positive Tension]

There are a lot of songs/artists I love on the list. I'm especially pleased that the Arcade Fire and Depeche Mode have a song on there- "Wake Up" and "Enjoy the Silence" are incredible.

However, I'm hoping they made a mistake and that instead of "Like A Virgin," "Like A Prayer" is the song they meant to include instead. I get that "LAV" is iconic and shot Madonna to superstardom, but the woman has far, far better songs in her catalogue, and "LAP" is generally considered to be one of her best.

[Enigma.]

Man in the Mirror is awful choice from MJ. I know it got much exposure in 2009 but no way it's even close to his best songs. Even on Bad there are much better ones: The Way You Make Me Feel, Smooth Criminal, Dirty Diana..

I don't really know what's behind that choice.

[p0isonparadise.]

No "...Baby One More Time" or "Toxic"? Pfft.

[Keelzit]

Sept 25, 2012 9:30:33 GMT -5 p0isonparadise. said:

No "...Baby One More Time" or "Toxic"? Pfft.

[moore746]

Sept 25, 2012 9:30:33 GMT -5 p0isonparadise. said:

No "...Baby One More Time" or "Toxic"? Pfft.

Your comment will probably be mocked but there is a case to be made that one or both of those songs should be on the list.

[HolidayGuy]

^Those two are the extent of her big critical success, and they've appeared on select all-time lists, However, they've fared better on decade lists.