My Top 100 Songs (75-51)

75.Basic Instructions Before Leaving Earth - GZ/Killah Priest

The Wu-Tang Clan were unlike anything in music when they came around.  They were9 rappers who all had incredible skill, while referencing old kung-fu movies with sparse, hardcore beats.  They created a sub-genre all of their own and the first wave of solo albums following Enter the Wu-Tang remain one of the most fertile creative periods in all of hip-hop.  GZA, also referred to as The Genius was described by his bandmates as the head if they assembled like Voltron. It is ironic though that in my opinion the best song to appear on any Wu-Tang related album was actually performed by non-member Killah Priest.  He took over vocal duties for the closing track on Liquid Swords and my god is it brilliant.  Known for his spiritual lyrics "B.I.B.L.E." is the perfect send off and a clear indication that Wu-Tang could bring out the greatness in anyone.

74.Harder, Faster, Better, Stronger - Daft Punk

Before Kanye West was called a genius for sampling Daft Punk, the French duo were busy writing their own classics.  Funny how auto-tuned pitch control sounds like nails on a chalkboard in any other hands, but Daft Punk knew what they were doing.  Discovery would easily be a top 5 album of the 2000s and like many great albums it can seem random selecting a favorite track.  There are no shortage of contenders, but "Harder, Faster, Better, Stronger" was the one that stood out the most on first listen, and well we’ve already discussed how important first impressions can be.

73.Stuck on You - Lionel Richie

The master of the ballad makes his second appearance as a song-writer.  I’ve always slightly preferred Lionel Richie’s first album to the hit-laden follow up, but hot damn do I love this song.  It’s saying something that this song actually cracked the country singles chart.  Richie was certainly capable of cross-over success but at it’s core it’s just a beautiful ballad by a beautiful man.

72. What’d I Say? - Ray Charles

Whenever some old stodgy institution wants to rank the greatest songs of all time there are a few classics you know are going to appear like“Satisfaction”, “Respect”, “Good Vibrations”, “Like a Rolling Stone”, etc.  Hiding in that list is often Ray Charles landmark “What’d I Say?”.  Clocking in at an unfathomable 5 minutes, it was actually released as both sides of a single because the early 60s were a weird time for music.  Funky long before that was a popular musical term and full of moaning it was quite the sensation.  Tame by today’s standards it still remains one of those triumphs of recorded music that has thoroughly earned it’s status as an all time great.

71.Better Things - Passion Pit

As synth pop became a viable style in the mid-2000s few bands embraced it’s possibilities quite as effortlessly as Passion Pit.  Michael Angelakos wrote the songs that would comprise the Chunk of Change EP as a belated Valentine’s gift to his then girlfriend.  Recorded entirely by himself on a laptop without mastering, it was a marvel in sophisticated homemade pop songwriting.  The closing track on the commercial release is one of the busiest and craziest bits of magic you’re likely to hear.  

70.No Church in the Wild - Jay-Z and Kanye West

It seemed inevitable that Jay-Z and Kanye West would release an official album together.  Kanye got his break creating beats for Jay, while nearly every Kanye album features at least one Jay-Z guest appearance.  Depending on who you ask Watch the Throne was either the album of the year or a messy disappointment.  I’m leaning closer to the former and it all starts with “No Church in the Wild”.  As is often the case the track got picked up to sell cars, but this song goes against anything you might have thought a Jay-Kanye album would be.  It’s dark, moody, atmospheric, and damn brilliant.  Sure Kanye delivers several inane lines that could only come from his brain, but I always felt he was at his best when trying to impress his big brother.  

69.One - U2

The first of two songs from U2 and the first of two songs named “One” on this list, I suppose it’s not just a clever title.  This was the song that according to legend saved U2 the band.  Bono came to the rest of the band with the song after everyone felt a creative slump and injected some new life into the Achtung Baby sessions.  It lit a fire under them and they wound up with their second best album in the process, and in my opinion their second best song.  "One" was an instant classic and seemed to close the door on the classic U2 sound of the 80s while looking forward to their more experimental direction of the 90s for better or worse.  

68.Under the Bridge - Red Hot Chili Peppers

You would think at some point in time I’d be sick of this song.  I’ve heard it countless hundreds of times and subsequent RHCP albums have rendered the band largely irrelevant in recent years.  This however was the song where they briefly showed they can grow up and evolve as artists.  Anthony Kiedis came to the group with his confessional lyrics about his own heroin addiction and John Frusciante came up with the chords on the spot.  The rest of the group chipped in and their signature classic was born.  It helped make Blood Sugar Sex Magic a monstrously successful album and the fact that all of you know this song says something about it’s lasting impact.

67.Painkiller - Judas Priest

Once upon a time there was a man named David Holland (not me) who was the drummer for Judas Priest.  He kept a steady beat behind their commercial heyday but his playing could best be described as adequate.  The band shook things up and brought in Racer X drummer Scott Travis when they wanted to double down on their metal backbone and stop chasing the pop charts.  He announced his presence with probably the single greatest drum intro ever recorded on the title track to his first album with the band “Painkiller”.  In less than 10 seconds he instantly proved they made the right decision and god damn does this song kick ass.

66.Cliffs of Dover - Eric Johnson

It seems mind boggling listening to new music today that not only did people use to play guitar well, but the music was commercially viable.  Eric Johnson was part of the original G3 lineup, but set himself apart from his co-stars Joe Satriani and Steve Vai immediately.  Johnson was some sort of blend between blues, jazz, and a little new age forgoing the metal shredding roots of his contemporaries.  The meticulous Johnson reportedly wrote this song faster than any other and found himself with a very rare instrumental guitar hit.  

65.New York City Serenade - Bruce Springsteen

I could probably put 10 songs from Springsteen on this list and wouldn’t regret one of them.  As it is, we will be content with four so if you’re doing your math this would be his second appearance.  The closing track from his second album summed up all the messy epic charm of that album.  It was a final hurrah for the original E Street band as original drummer Vinnie Lopez and keyboardist David Sancious would be replaced on Born to Run.  They were definitely flashier players than their eventual replacements but their playing is largely restrained here.  It was the first of two nearly 10 minute epics to close out a Springsteen album and fear not the other one will appear on this list later.

64.You and I - Queen

Queen is the greatest band that ever existed, so says I.  Considering this has been my favorite band since I had a favorite band it stands to reason that I would have some unconventional favorites.  The always reliable John Deacon followed up his first hit “You’re My Best Friend” with this slightly superior jam on the A Day at the Races album.  Everyone in this band was an excellent song writer and along with “Spread Your Wings” and the aforementioned “Friend” this is Deacon’s masterpiece.  Yes I realize he did pen the #1 single “Another One Bites the Dust” but I’m too cool to like popular Queen songs.

63.Hurt - Nine Inch Nails

The second entry from The Downward Spiral is the album’s closer.  I wasn’t their biggest fan when Trent Reznor and company were thrust down our throats in a slightly-sexy way in 1994.  However when I first saw the video for “Hurt” I instantly converted.  This song is god damn beautiful and heartbreaking.  It took on a new life when Johnny Cash covered it, and Reznor himself even claimed the song no longer belonged to him.  I for one always preferred the original and this still gives me chills 20+ years later.

62.Someday I Suppose - Mighty Mighty Bosstones

History hasn’t really been kind to ska music, and at best it’s second to emo as an awkward phase that some 90s kids went through.  For a brief period in the late 90s the Bosstones were kings of their idiosyncratic castle.  I’m sure you all remember “The Impression That I Get” and “Rascal King”, and if you followed my previous recommendation you should have discovered the brilliance of the Pay Attention album.  Before all of that though was “Someday I Suppose”, their first hit and the song they performed in Clueless.  This is every reason I can think of to love this band, and if it does nothing for you then you’re probably a freedom hating terrorist.

61.Voodoo Child (Slight Return) - Jimi Hendrix Experience

I’ve been in various stages of obsession with Jimi Hendrix since before puberty.  I’ve always loved “Voodoo Child” and in my younger years it was easily one of my favorite songs to obnoxiously play loud as hell on my feedback heavy Squire 15G amp.  Hendrix played this live a lot and it was never played the same way twice, however the original version to close out Electric Ladyland is absolutely perfect.  That wah-wah fade in is the first thing every guitarist who buys a wah pedal plays, seriously 100% of them, ask anyone.  It’s just perfect chaos that brilliantly shows off how damn great Hendrix could be when let loose.  This also serves as the last officially released studio recording from the Jimi Hendrix Experience who graced our ear holes with three of the greatest albums of all time before Hendrix’ meticulous obsessions and personal demons got the best of him.

60.Constructive Summer - The Hold Steady

Some songs make you think of a time and a place so vividly, others can capture a feeling that seems so familiar but might not actually be your own.  The opening track from Stay Positive is one of the latter.  Every time I hear this song it makes me think of a time in my life that might not have even been real, when you’re hanging out with your friends, drinking beer, and making grand plans for how to have the best summer of your life.  It would have been right at home in Richard Linklater’s film Dazed and Confused and perhaps that’s why I love it all the more.  What Craig Finn lacks as a vocalist he more than makes up for as a lyricist and this song is all the throwback rock glory that The Hold Steady did so well.

59.Love, Reign O’er Me - The Who

The last time I made this list I put “Baba O’Reilly” on to represent The Who.  There’s something to be said about a classic band whose best known songs can resonate at different times in your life.  As I find myself somewhat burnt out on Who’s Next in all it’s brilliance I’m drawn more towards Quadrophenia.  The closing track is teased throughout the album and when it is unleashed at the close of the double album it is truly extraordinary.  This song was written for an epic stage and Roger Daltry wails.  Many “Moons” ago (horrible pun) this was the Who song I played the most on their greatest hits album I bought back when I was 10, and a couple decades of music snobbery has only strengthened how amazing this song is.

58.Got to Give It Up - Thin Lizzy

In the last three years I’m not sure there’s any band I’ve grown more fond of than Thin Lizzy.  Sure they were around during classic rocks’ heyday, but they were always an also-ran at best.  From Jailbreak I started to realize that maybe this band was more than just 1 1/2 hits.  Black Rose has rightly taken it’s place as my favorite album of theirs and picking a favorite song can be tough when they’re so solid.  “Got to Give It Up” is the albums most confessional and heartbreaking song.  Phil Lynott proved to be tragically prophetic with his lyrics but god damn is this song powerful.  Seriously this is one of those songs that gives me chills nearly all the way through and definitive proof this band was so much more than “The Boys are Back in Town”.

57.Civil War - Guns ‘n’ Roses

The older I get the less I seem to change.  Another hold-over from my years in Southern IL was my love for GNR.  I’m always tempted to put the end of “November Rain” in my top 10, but as a complete start to finish song the opening track on Use Your Illusion II remains their masterpiece.  Beginning with a Cool Hand Luke quote and soaring through nearly 8 minutes of vintage Guns firing on all cylinders.  Mercifully it’s never met the same fate as the trio of hits from Appetite for Destruction so even 25+ years later it still sounds fresh and exciting,

56.Forgot About Dre - Dr. Dre and Eminem

After suffering through a couple false starts trying to make Aftermath Records a success Dr. Dre was nearly done with the music business.  He met a white rapper from Detroit who instantly lit a fire under his ass.  Eminem proved to be that new muse to help give Aftermath it’s first huge success and it was a no brainer that he would lend his skills to the long awaited follow-up to The Chronic.  Just as Snoop and the DOC before him, Dre looked elsewhere to get his own lyrics, and Eminem’s stamp is all over this album.  Rap music’s greatest producer delivered his masterpiece with this song though.  Seriously if this song were an instrumental it would probably make this list, but with the finished lyrics it is simply the best song he, Eminem, or arguably anyone from the NWA/Death Row/Aftermath family produced.

55.Nightswimming - REM

Again there are some songs that just seem to take their place as my favorite upon first listen.  I can safely say upon my first encounter with Automatic for the People that it was instantly my favorite REM album, and upon that first listen “Nightswimming” is still the highlight.  Featuring some orchestration by none other than John Paul Jones it’s a song that seems almost inconceivable compared to where this band was on 1983’s Murmur, but it goes to show you how a band can evolve without losing what made them great in the first place.

54.The Prophet Song - Queen

Here lies the highest song written by the greatest guitarist to ever live.  Unjustifiably overshadowed by A Night at the Opera’s other epic “Bohemian Rhapsody”, Brian May’s “The Prophet Song” is Queen in all it’s majestic over the top glory.  Using as many as 8 guitar tracks at once, including some playing backwards, and about a thousand vocal overdubs in it’s brilliant a cappella section this song has it all.  Truly one of the highwater marks from the greatest band there ever was.

53.You Are - Lionel Richie

I didn’t get into Lionel Richie’s solo career until about 2005-2006.  At that point his self-titled first album never left my CD rotation.  Divided fairly evenly between uptempo jams and sweet sexy ballads it’s still a fantastic album.  On it’s second side is one of the albums several hit single “You Are”.  This song starts like it might be another slow jam, but things pick up and Mr. Richie delivers his masterpiece as a songwriter. 

52.Unchained Melody - The Righteous Brothers

Pop music has been littered with standards for years.  Certain songs get recorded and re-recorded by countless artists it gets hard to tell who did it first.  Like “House of the Rising Sun” which will forever be associated with The Animals despite it being at least the third recorded version, “Unchained Melody” belongs to The Righteous Brothers.  Immortalized in part by some sweet Patrick Swayze and Demi Moore pottery in Ghost it features damn near the greatest vocal performance in music history.  This is a standard for a reason and music doesn’t get much more beautiful than this.

51.Gold - Prince

As much as I like to yell “Purple Rain” at people constantly during open mics only to hear them laugh and play yet another shitty Tom Petty cover, “Gold” gets the nod as my favorite song from the late great Prince.  Yes people, Prince recorded his best song during his turbulent phase as an un-pronouncable symbol.  This is the final song on The Gold Experience, the album where Prince finally decided to pick up his guitar again and show people why he was the world’s greatest sex machine.  

My Top 100 Songs (100-76)

Welcome to my top 100 song list.  As my previous 500 album list might indicate I have a tendency to labor far too long on some of my lists.  Ranking your favorite songs can be tough but it shouldn’t be too nerve racking.  After all a particular song might suit your mood perfectly one time and a week later you could be burnt out on it.  There are a number of special tracks that could be replaced on a whim, and a few favorites that will never change.

I started this list with about 200 songs written down, and I still can’t help but feel like I forgot something.  So believe me I feel your pain if a particular favorite of yours didn’t make the final cut, after all I had to cut nearly 100 of my own favorites.  I should stress again this is my personal ranking and is no way an attempt to evaluate the greatest songs of all time, simply the jams I deem most amazing.

The obvious question might be, why not make a top 200 list?  Well fictional question asker, that would defeat the purpose of a top 100.  I started that 500 album list over three years ago when I moved from Chicago to Oakland.  Now as I look around my apartment of packed up boxes and we are preparing to make that same trip in reverse it seems like high time for another list.  Plus I plan to use this to make the single greatest playlist ever assembled.  I’ll avoid pointing out which artists got shafted on this list, and instead let you read at your leisure, so let's bring on Sha-na-na.

100. Bring Tha Noize - Public Enemy featuring Anthrax

Even as I started numbering this list I was left with 12 songs on the cutting room floor.  I started looking at this and the song that was originally #100, 2-Pac’s “Hit ‘em Up”.  Now that Pac song is still probably the all time greatest diss track ever recorded, but it is somewhat derivative and certainly juvenile.  Public Enemy took one of their own classics and added Anthrax to the proceedings.  Suddenly that slightly dated Bomb Squad production gets a proper metal makeover.  This isn’t the first time metal and rap were merged but it was easily the best.

99. Bullet in the Head - Rage Against the Machine

I know you might be thinking “more rap-metal”?  The answer is no, this is Rage, they are their own separate beast entirely.  Through three brilliant albums Rage Against the Machine shook things up in the rare way only a few select bands can.  Their first album will forever be my favorite and my favorite track from this album has changed through the years.  What puts this song over the top is that riff.  Few things in recorded music history can get people as amped as the final two minutes of this song, and that alone made all the difference.

98.Why Can’t This Be Love? - Van Halen

Van Hagar?  Seriously Dave?  Well if you knew me in Red Bud, IL then you’ll appreciate how great the Red Rocker’s contributions to Van Halen were.  Dated drum sound and synths not withstanding, this song is still amazing.  As the 80s are increasingly becoming en vogue, maybe some new hipster will stumble onto 5150 and realize maybe there was life after Roth.  In the meantime I’ll forever bump this song and nostalgically remember spending hours upon hours of my high school years trying to learn every little thing Eddie Van Halen did on guitar.

97. Slow Show - The National

The first song I ever heard from the National remains my favorite, and that will pop up later on this list.  As for my second favorite that’s been a point of debate.  The first time listening to The Boxer I remember a cold winter night, visiting Mundelein’s Tight Head brewery for the first time and this song came on as I was parking.  I stayed in my car for the duration of the song because I was immediately mesmerized.  40 listens later and it still resonates as one of those deceptively simple yet perfect songs that only band like The National could pull off.

96. Shook Ones Part II - Mobb Deep

Every so often a sequel surpasses the original; Winter Soldier, The Dark Knight, Empire Strikes Back, and in the case of Mobb Deep Shook Ones.  I’ll be perfectly honest I’m not entirely sure I’ve ever heard the original Shook Ones, but Havoc and the late Prodigy delivered a hip-hop classic for the ages before they were legally allowed to drink.  In the mid-90s a wonderful wave of hard core rap from New York started to emerge as an antidote to the West Coast G-Funk of Death Row.  Along with Illmatic, Enter the Wu-Tang, and Ready to Die Mobb Deep’s Infamous was a landmark and this was it’s standout track.

95. The Look of Love, Pt. 1 - ABC

The 80s had their share of one-hit wonders but it was also a prominent decade of one-album wonders.  Fronted by Martin Frye, ABC delivered one of the absolute masterpieces of 80s synth pop with 1982’s The Lexicon of Love.  They scored several big singles off the album, but as you might imagine this was the standout track.  ABC had a much more grandiose sound than the low-fi British new wave acts of the time.  Long story short, dig it.

94.Easy - The Commodores

Our lord and savior Lionel Richie first emerged in the public eye as part of the Commodores.  It became clear relatively early that the man had a special gift for crafting ballads.  “Easy” could be considered his first glorious masterpiece as a song writer, and it has only gotten better with age.  I will admit over the last 12 years or so I’ve listened to this song A LOT, which might explain why it’s only 94, but as you can imagine any song making this cut has to pass a rigorous test even more stringent than Tom Haverfords.

93. Mistakes - Mates of State

It’s a cliche to say that picking your favorite song from a particular band is like deciding on your favorite child.  I would argue Mates of State never recorded a bad song, and I can listen to any of their albums at any time and be a happy man.  Over the last few years their last album has grown on me tremendously and it’s final track “Mistakes” would currently take the cake as my favorite of their songs.  Sure I could throw a dart at nearly any of their other songs and be satisfied with my selection, but this is a somewhat more heartfelt Mates song.  It’s about a couple whose been together for years recognizing that everything isn’t always a honeymoon but at the end of the day it’s worth admitting your faults and moving ahead.  The irreverent indie-pop stars have grown up.

92.Tornado of Souls - Megadeth

It would be safe to say Rust in Peace is my favorite metal album ever made.  Mustaine and company were injected with fresh life when Nick Menza and Marty Friedman joined the fold and their first outing is just thrash-metal shredding greatness.  “Tornado of Souls” along with the album opener “Holy Wars” sum up everything great about Megadeth.  Sick riffs, ample shredding, and relentless pummeling by the rhythm section.  

91.In Your Eyes - Peter Gabriel 

Peter Gabriel has always been one of my favorite vocalists and the man has straddled the fine line of pop craftsmanship and experimental weirdness.  So was his crowning achievement as a solo artist and the perfect mixture of radio friendly singles with a healthy world music influence.  “In Your Eyes” has taken on a second life years after it’s original release and is largely viewed as Gabriel’s shining moment as a songwriter.  

90.Glamorous Indie Rock and Roll - The Killers

Shortly after The Killers released their first album Hot Fuss I met someone who was a fan.  I mentioned that I wasn’t too familiar and they burned me a copy of their album.  The only thing was I had no idea what version of this album they had.  No release of the numerous special editions and re-issues matched the track sequencing here, and the eighth track happened to be “Glamorous Indie Rock and Roll”.  Magic chord progression be damned this was instantly my favorite track on the album and I was naturally a little shocked to find that it was a B-side that only officially surfaced on the Sawdust compilation.  

89.Street Spirit (Fade Out) - Radiohead

Radiohead is great, we can all agree on that right?  Perhaps more than any other band of the last couple decades they are an album band.  Their work needs to be taken as a whole to really resonate but at some point in the mid-90s they had a fair share of hit singles.  The Bends might be their high point as a conventional alternative band and the album’s closer currently occupies my top spot of their songs.  A song I’ve loved since I first heard it some 23 years ago, it’s only recently cemented it’s status as my favorite.  One of many outstanding album closers on this list.

88.All Your Favorite Bands - Dawes

This might technically be the most recent song on my list, even if it would sound right at home on a Jackson Browne album from 40 years ago.  I was first introduced to Dawes shortly after we moved to Oakland, and this was their most recent album at the time.  The title track stuck out immediately and that album did manage to sneak in my top 500 album list.  At it’s core this just a damn wonderful ballad all about wishing for the best and embracing the future.  There’s a comfort in knowing there are bands like this still making great music.

87.A Man I’ll Never Be - Boston

The first Boston album is practically a greatest hits album.  After pressure to put out a follow up made the meticulous Tom Scholz rush the final results Don't Look Back failed to make as big of an impact.  A few tracks were clearly standouts and for my money their best song was part of these sessions, “A Man I’ll Never Be”.  It feels as if Boston tried to make their own “Stairway to Heaven”.  It’s 7 minutes of pure Boston glory, with those signature guitar harmonies, soaring vocals and perhaps best of all it hasn’t been ruined by decades of insipid FM radio.

86.Lonely You - Badfinger

There are some bands from the 70s that never seem to get their proper time in the sun.  Badfinger was infamously the most unlucky band of all time, but in their few years together they were able to make their mark.  After leaving Apple Records for Warner Bros. in the mid-70s they put out their self titled album featuring “Lonely You”.  For reasons too complicated to explain here the album was virtually buried upon release and has been relegated to an obscure entry for a band largely ignored.  “Lonely You” is every bit the equal of “Without You” which was a huge hit for everyone else but Badfinger and in my opinion just a touch better.  I’ve sung the praises of this band before but I’d recommend checking this song out and if you’re not converted then I give up.

85.Swing Set - Jurassic 5

Instrumental hip-hop has been around as long as hip-hop has been a thing.  In fact historians will point out that the originators were all DJs and it was only after some time that the role of the MC began to be developed.  Jurassic 5 were a bright spot of alternative hip-hop injecting a wonderful nostalgia and freshness to break up the stranglehold of gangster rap at the turn of the century.  As great as Quality Control is they saved their best song for last.  Nearly 6 minutes of the most brilliant old swing music samples makes this arguably the crowning achievement of Cut Chemist and DJ Nu-Mark. 

84.I Believe in a Thing Called Love - The Darkness

When I started this list I would have like to have 10 songs from The Darkness represented.  After all they are single-handedly keeping cock-rock alive, delivering 5 brilliant albums to date.  I also didn’t think their only entry would be their most famous song.  15 years after this goofy band entered the public consciousness their first single is still the one that stands above them all.  I can’t even estimate how many times I’ve listened to this, and if it can still hold up you know it’s something special.  That said, feel free to listen to everything else they’ve ever done and decide for yourself.

83.Sure Shot - Beastie Boys

Virtually no one in hip hop knows the name Jeremy Steig and I can’t blame them.  However a brief flute riff of his was picked up by the Beasties and turned into arguably the greatest sample in rap.  The rest of the song is just the Beasties doing what they do best, finishing each other's rhymes and trading lines in the most democratic way possible.  Few people take the Beasties seriously as lyricists but their contribution to rap and it’s growing acceptance by the mainstream can not be understated.  The opening track to their fourth album was everything great about this band distilled into three glorious minutes.

82.Africa - Toto

Hipsters ruin everything.  Just as they’ve recently crowned Jeff Goldblum their new king, they’ve selected this Toto jam as their unofficial anthem.  It seems like a cliche to even have this in my song list, but have you heard this song?  It’s fucking awesome and if it were played before football games instead of our horrible national anthem maybe people wouldn’t be kneeling.  Does that mean I think this song can end police brutality?  I don’t know, has anyone tried to find out?  

81.Atlantic City - Bruce Springsteen

I’m sure some of you were wondering when the greatest solo artist in music history would show up on this list.  I’m not debating his ranking, so fight me if you think someone who isn’t the Boss is somehow better.  Nebraska is an anomaly in Springsteen’s early years and one that sounds more relevant and timely today than ever.  This is how you make DIY music.  “Atlantic City” was the closest thing to a hit on the album, recorded with just Springsteen’s guitar and voice it proves the man didn’t need anything else to deliver a classic.

80.Come on Eileen - Dexy’s Midnight Runners

Some things are impossible not to smile around.  If someone has a puppy that does literally anything or if someone puts “Come on Eileen” on.  If my original wish of having my dead body thrown in a pile of garbage when I die doesn't happen, I would at least like this song to be played at my funeral.  It’s simply impossible to be sad when Kevin Rowland and company do their thing.

79. Closer - Nine Inch Nails

Time can be quite good to some songs.  For a long time in the mid-90s I couldn’t seem to go 24 hours without hearing this song.  I didn’t even own this album until 1999 or 2000, but it was inescapable to go anywhere without this playing somewhere.  I never disliked the song but after a few thousand listens I largely just ignored the song.  As the years have gone by I started to understand just why I heard the song everywhere, because it’s amazing.  The Downward Spiral is one of the best albums to come out of the 90s, and this song sums up exactly why.  

78.Raining Blood - Slayer

Some people yell “Freebird” at concerts and those people suck.  I for one always preferred to yell “Slayer” at the top of my lungs at any and all music venues no matter how inappropriate.  The closing track on their breakthrough album is still one of the greatest things that extreme metal ever produced.  The opening riff that could summon demons, Dave Lombardo’s insane double bass, and quite possibly the greatest breakdown in the history of music add up to one hell of a ditty.  This is the total package and should be required listening for anyone even remotely interested in metal.

77.Give it to Me Baby - Rick James

Thanks to Dave Chapelle and Charlie Murphy Rick James has become something of a punchline in the last two decades.  During the early 80s in all his cocaine fueled glory Rick James delivered one of the most solid funk albums of all time.  That album’s opening track is pure James.  Basically one funky plea to get some booty while being too fucked up to function just tells you everything you need to know about James long before Chapelle turned him into a series of catch-phrases.  

76.The More You Ignore Me, the Closer I Get - Morrissey

The favorite of hipsters and Mexicans everywhere, Morrissey made a career's worth of classic songs while fronting The Smiths.  That doesn’t mean he couldn’t crank out some gems in his solo years.  Vauxhall and I is his best solo album (Your Arsenal being a close second) and this is his best song as a solo artist.  It’s actually the first Morrissey song I remember hearing, courtesy of my obsessed cousin.  It wasn’t until years later I checked him out for myself but there’s something to be said about first impressions.