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.
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