50. Mr. November - The National
I hinted earlier that there was more to come from The National, and here it is. This was the first song I ever heard from them and I was instantly a fan. In the long running debate between whether Alligator or Boxer are the superior album, I use this song as the deciding factor. It’s a surprisingly expressive vocal performance from the usually dour Matt Berninger and features some of his best lyrics. If you haven’t checked these guys out by now, crawl out from your rock and start here, it worked for me.
49. Asleep - The Smiths
Even though The Smiths delivered some of the best albums of the 80s they were just as much if not more of a singles band. This appeared as a B-side to “The Boy With a Thorn in His Side” before later surfacing on the Louder Than Bombs compilation. Funny sometimes how a band’s best song can wind up being nearly completely neglected by the group itself. It reportedly was only performed once live and arose from a rare Johnny Marr piano part that he was toying around with. Morrissey helped step in and give the minor key tune an appropriately melancholy lyrical theme.
48. Kinetic - Arcturus
I’m not even sure a lot of metal heads know who the hell Arcturus is. I’ve sung the praises of The Sham Mirrors before and that’s largely due to the incredible awesome sauce that is it’s opening track “Kinetic”. Loosely called an avant-garde metal band they check enough boxes to qualify but they’re so much more. The album features pummeling drumming from Hellhammer, and sweet beautiful vocals from Kristoffer Rygg aka Garm aka Trickster G. Rex in abundance and none better than on this first song. Taking a departure from the typical black metal subject matters of Satan and more Satan, they turned their attentions towards outer space and Mortem aka Steinar Sverd Johnsen provided the appropriate musical backdrop. Even among Arcturus records there really isn’t another quite like this.
47. Pigs (Three Different Ones) - Pink Floyd
My old band The Throne were naturally Pink Floyd fans and all of us thought Animals was their best album. When we discussed if we would potentially cover one of their songs in quick order someone voted for “Dogs” someone else said “Sheep”, and I naturally said “Pigs”. It says something about how the three epics that comprise the meat of the album are nearly interchangeable in their greatness. For my money though Pigs edges them out if for no other reason than it moves me . . . to a bigger house, ok I’ll pause on the Simpsons quotes for a bit.
46. Funeral for a Friend/Love Lies Bleeding - Elton John
Working with a ridiculous two album a year contract in the early 70s Elton John and lyricist Bernie Taupin were busy to say the least. How they managed to pump out a double album among all this mayhem is beyond me, but for the first several minutes of this epic, Taupin wisely sat this one out. Funeral allowed the epic splendor of Elton to run amuck and features some of the best leads in classic rock courtesy of Davey Johnstone. Written as two separate tracks “Love Lies Bleeding” is where things get only slightly more conventional in a more straight ahead rock way.
45. Waterloo Sunset - The Kinks
During their American exile of the mid to late 60s The Kinks went from also-ran in the British Invasion to true masters of UK rock. Building on the creative success of Face to Face, Something Else was a masterpiece by any standard. Distinctly British it’s closing song would go down as Ray Davies’ finest moment as a song writer. Sure other Kinks songs might be better known but they certainly aren’t better. This song is damn beautiful and more Americans need to recognize just how special The Kinks were in the late 60s.
44. God Gave Rock and Roll To You II - Kiss
The song that Bill and Ted played at the end of Bogus Journey to show everyone how awesome they got in the future featured a ridiculous guitar introduction by Steve Vai became Kiss’ greatest song. It has all the hallmarks of a ready made epic but Jesus Christ is it still so great. Revenge should have sold ten million copies but people are stupid and never acknowledged how great Kiss was without the makeup. As it is Revenge remains an album that real Kiss fans can all unanimously point to as one of their finest outings. For years this topped my list of their best, but a new champion has emerged.
43. Gimme Shelter - The Rolling Stones
Some albums are so good because of a great opening track. Let it Bleed is one of those albums. Honestly it doesn’t even matter what else is on this album, by the time “Gimme Shelter” is over you’re already convinced it’s a masterpiece. Naturally one of the greatest opening tracks in music history it is one of those songs that I think I’m physically incapable of getting sick of. Merry (or Mary) Clayton lends Mick Jagger a hand on vocals and proceeds to steal the show to the point where I’m not entirely sure what Mick’s lyrics are. Stones songs don’t get much better than this.
42. God - John Lennon
There’s something to be said about the brilliant work several now ex-Beatles put out immediately after the band broke up. John Lennon had the most startling break from the band, rejecting all of the studio trickery the band employed and relying a severely stripped down approach. Recognizing his own limitations as a piano player he wisely recruited Billy Preston to play the keys on “God”, the albums centerpiece and most controversial song. In it Lennon spells out in repetitive detail that all false idols need to be put to rest and in the end you have only yourself to believe in. He might have broken a lot of Beatles’ fans hearts by proclaiming everything the band stood for dead, but it needed to be said.
41. Learning to Live - Dream Theater
At one point in time five of the eight songs on Images and Words have popped up in my list of 100 greatest songs. I could just as easily put all 8 of those songs on here and would have no regrets. In the interest of diplomacy however I am being a little more exclusionary. The 11 and a half minute closing track “Learning to Live” is just simply too damn good to leave off. Filled with enough time signature changes to make the snobbiest prog-rock fan moist in the nether regions, it isn’t even the most complex song on the album. It was also the only track on the album to feature lyrics by bassist John Myung. The real reason it’s on this list and this high is all because of the ending, which is on the short list of best fade outs in music history. Despite the massive running time of the song, I could listen to that final minute and a half for a full half hour.
40. First Night - The Hold Steady
I’m not sure exactly when “Citrus” was cut from my list, but here lies the lone entrant from Boys and Girls in America, the finest hour from The Hold Steady. Settling in right in the middle it spins a familiar narrative of Craig Finn’s favorite characters Holly, Gideon, and Charlemagne and their never ending quest to get high. There is a heartbreaking note to this song that’s more than just scene kids getting wasted, it’s all about trying to recapture a fleeting feeling and pro-long one glorious memory indefinitely. It helps that the ending of this song featuring a repeating chorus of the album title is one of the finest pieces of music ever recorded, but isn’t everything by this point in the list?
39. Fix You - Coldplay
I swear not every song from here on out features an epic earth shattering climax, but a few in a row sure do. The first time I heard Coldplay’s third album I was largely disappointed, it didn’t quite register at the time that their best song was sitting right there. It’s hard not to think of some epic movie trailer when the second half kicks in, and I’m sure plenty of movie studios thought the same thing.
38. Stairway to Heaven - Led Zeppelin
This is arguably the most famous classic rock song ever recorded and it might seem an odd choice considering how much I seem to head towards the unconventional. I can not remember a time when this song wasn’t on my top 100 songs list and quite high. It’s frequently occupied my top Zeppelin spot, and I wouldn’t argue anyone who thought that. What more can be said about this song, literally books have been written about it?
37. Making Love - Kiss
I love a good ballad and I also love some tempo shifting sprawling epic. Sometimes in music though you have to live up to your name of “Keep It Simple Stupid”. I’ve heard every Kiss album probably 20 times at minimum and it’s only been recently that “Making Love” has taken the spot of their best song. It’s as straightforward as it gets, crazy awesome riff, Paul Stanley doing his thing and Ace pulling his greatest solo out of his ass. This is just one of those songs that’s absolutely perfect and very to the point.
36. A Vampire Bit My Balls - Maggot Twat
For my readers not familiar with Maggot Twat, I am deeply sorry you’ve led a sheltered existence. The Chicago comedy-metal legends helmed their masterpiece with 8-Bit Apocalypse, which placed quite high on my album list. If you were wondering what was so great about this band other than their ridiculously amazing live show, just play that album’s first track. A song so awesome it’s loved by grown men and little children alike. It’s lyrics are pure silliness but that riff and solo are superb. They could have played it straight and been another rock solid local metal band, but instead they reached for something more and became legends in the process.
35. Metropolis Part 1 - Dream Theater
For a lot of people, this song became their introduction to Dream Theater. It usually starts with a fellow musician saying something like “Dude you gotta check this band out.” By now DT is as close to a household name as a prog-metal band could be, but it has never diminished the impact of their signature tune. What might get lost in all musical masturbation is the fact that this song might contain James LaBrie’s finest vocal performance. Dream Theater later expanded the themes in this song to make their first full fledged concept album.
34. Superstition - Stevie Wonder
As legend has it, Stevie Wonder penned this gem and proceeded to offer it to his good friend Jeff Beck. His record company heard it and immediately said that wasn’t happening and Wonder wound up with his biggest hit. Talking Book proved to be the album that signaled Wonder’s maturity and “Superstition” became it’s signature track. Story also has it that Beck was the one who came up with that opening drum beat, as Wonder came up with nearly the entire song on the spot improvising. Whatever the origin, it’s as good as a jam can get.
33. Eulogy - Tool
Tool is sure a band that likes to take it’s sweet time. How I long for the days when we only had to wait five years between albums. Sometimes this patient approach is applied to their songs as well. “Eulogy” goes on for nearly two minutes before any vocals kick in, building on a slight percussive sound and developing from there. By the time things get into gear Maynard and company make things really, really exciting. Morbid and profound it makes my pee-pee tingle.
32. Halo of Flies - Alice Cooper
Speaking of morbid, Alice Cooper and his band delivered some of the best and oddest horror rock of the early 70s. “Halo of Flies” is a suite that just has one killer (get it?) section after another. There’s an album’s worth of brilliant riffs scattered through it’s 8 minute run time. Everyone in the band had a hand in it’s creation and I’d wager to guess few songs if any are better arranged. If you only know Alice from a greatest hits compilation you are very much missing out.
31. Don’t Think Twice, It’s Alright - Bob Dylan
As long as I’ve been ranking favorite Dylan songs this one has been it. During his first couple of albums Dylan could seem to be taking himself a little too seriously but there was always a subtle wink that he could be silly and irreverent when the situation called for it. Sometimes though he could just churn out a perfectly crafted breakup song that somehow manages to make you feel good about it. A mature song from a then 22 year old, it offers some words of wisdom only the best songs can.
30. Notorious Thugs - Notorious B.I.G. featuring Bone Thugs-n-Harmony
Not sure if I knew this would be my highest ranking rap song when I started this list, but here it is. After the success of All Eyez on Me, Biggie Smalls wanted to cash in on that sweet double album money and one up his rival. The album might not be as solid as Pac’s but this song sure as hell was. Biggie said multiple times that he would get high as hell in the studio before recording anything, and he also had a policy of letting whatever guest rapper was on his track to record their part first. Trying to prove that he could rap as fast and melodically as Bone Thugs, he delivered one of his finest and fastest verses. This is a rare epic track for a rap album, allowing multiple layers to be built upon each other before anyone starts their verse. Simply put I think this is the greatest rap song ever recorded.
29. Mannish Boy - Muddy Waters featuring Johnny Winter
Muddy Waters had been recording blues for decades before he met Johnny Winter. Long before Rick Rubin or Jack White tried to resurrect the careers of living legends, Johnny Winter brought Waters into the studio to make his very finest studio album. The first track was the already legendary “Mannish Boy”. It had been covered by dozens of artists and recorded multiple times by Waters himself but the 1977 version that wound up on Hard Again is the best. It’s hard not to get amped up especially when Winter plays the part of ultimate hype man yelling throughout the whole track. This is as simple and dirty as blues music gets but hot damn does it hit the spot.
28. Roads - Portishead
For an album I’ve owned for years I must confess I never seemed to listen to Dummy enough. On one particular listen “Roads” stuck out. It is noticeably more melancholy than the rest of the album which is saying something. Featuring some sweet electric piano and Beth Gibbons usual stellar vocals it’s the type of song that makes you want to just lay back and do nothing.
27. One - Metallica
Fueled by cocaine and their immediate hatred of new bassist Jason Newstead, Metallica crafted their finest and most complex album to date with …And Justice for All. It proved to be their breakthrough commercially as they finally ended their no video policy on this song. I’m not sure if it’s entirely fair to call this the “Stairway to Heaven” of metal, but it’s pretty damn close. This is about as perfect as a metal song can get, featuring three stellar solos from Kirk Hammett and the most idiotic and satisfying open E chugging. No matter how complex their songs could get sometimes it’s most effective to stick to the basics.
26. The Girl I Love, She Got Long Black Wavy Hair - Led Zeppelin
Through their decade of existence Led Zeppelin made a strong of a case as any band that they were the greatest rock and roll group to ever exist. All of their studio albums feature various stages of brilliance and are all essential listening. So it makes me shake my head in disbelief that arguably their greatest song didn’t even get an official release until the BBC Sessions were put out in the late 90s. This has Robert Plant’s greatest vocal performance and some of if not the best bass playing from John Paul Jones. The riff is so satisfying and Bonham could make anything better by playing even the simplest beat. It’s not entirely possible but this song should be on currency.
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