Greatest Songs Ever?!

According to Rolling Stone, the top 10 of the 500 Greatest Songs of All Time are:

1. "Like a Rolling Stone" – Bob Dylan (1965)


2. "(I Can't Get No) Satisfaction" – The Rolling Stones (1965)


3. "Imagine" – John Lennon (1971)


4. "What's Going On" – Marvin Gaye (1971)


5. "Respect" – Aretha Franklin (1967)


6. "Good Vibrations" – The Beach Boys (1966)


7. "Johnny B. Goode" – Chuck Berry (1958)


8. "Hey Jude" – The Beatles (1968)


9. "Smells Like Teen Spirit" – Nirvana (1991)


10. "What'd I Say" – Ray Charles (1959)

[Full list]

I'd say I agree, more or less - not sure about Good Vibrations, but the Beach Boys are an awesome band nonetheless. (L, you probably already know this, but California Dreamin' is #89.) I was glad to see some of my favourite Simon & Garfunkel and Elton John songs make the list, as well as classics from The Who, Aretha Franklin and Guns N Roses. I probably would have rated Stairway to Heaven, Hotel California and Free Bird higher, but it's a tough call.

The Greatest 500 Bands of All Time list is slightly more constroversial, because of their apparent "generational bias" towards the 60s and 70s (overall, 67.6% of albums rated were from the 50s-70s, and the first 10 albums were all produced in the 60s). But what can they say - it arguably was the era for producing classic, enduring music that lives on today.

1. Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band, The Beatles
2. Pet Sounds, The Beach Boys
3. Revolver, The Beatles
4. Highway 61 Revisited, Bob Dylan
5. Rubber Soul, The Beatles
6. What's Going On, Marvin Gaye
7. Exile on Main Street, The Rolling Stones
8. London Calling, The Clash
9. Blonde on Blonde, Bob Dylan
10. The Beatles ("The White Album"), The Beatles

[Full list]

Sgt Pepper's Lonley Hearts Club Band is a fantastic album, but so are almost all the Beatles albums. They deserve to be up there. And the Stones are my gods. I'm glad AC/DC got a mention, at #73 and #199. I don't agree with the inclusion of Eminem - come on, there are way better albums - not to mention artists - out there.

Compare/contrast with the RIAA's top 10 from their list of 100, based on how many times an album went platinum (listed in brackets);

1. (29) EAGLES/THEIR GREATEST HITS 1971 - 1975, THE EAGLES
2. (27) THRILLER JACKSON, MICHAEL
3. (23) LED ZEPPELIN IV, LED ZEPPELIN
4. (23) THE WALL, PINK FLOYD
5. (22) BACK IN BLACK, AC/DC <-- there's my boys!
6. (21) GREATEST HITS VOLUME I & VOLUME II JOEL, BILLY
7. (21) DOUBLE LIVE, GARTH BROOKS
8. (20) COME ON OVER, SHANIA TWAIN
9. (19) THE BEATLES, THE BEATLES
10. (19) RUMOURS, FLEETWOOD MAC

Granted, popular isn't always what's best, but it's usually a pretty good indication of taste, right?

I found this comment on YouTube:

• "the artists of our yester-years..are waayyyy much better than the so-called artists of today..."

What do you think? I would probably never tell my father - who thinks that the pop music I listen to sucks, whilst I tell him his music is too old - I tend to agree.

x
JAG