Rolling Stones Magazine - 500 Greatest Songs

[shinnstheory]

Ok, so we know that The Rolling Stones Magazine is a bit wacked. If you saw their 100 Greatest Guitar Players of All-Time list, you would know what I mean. Anyway, I just got the Rolling Stones Magazine (Dec 9, 2004) Edition. In this addition, they list what they feel are the 500 Greatest Songs of all time. Let me just comment on a few of them (You can view the full list here, I believe - http://www.rollingstone.com).

#500 - Boston's More Than a Feeling - Good song. I personally think it was better written and orchestrated than 80% of this entire list.

#484 - Joan Jett's I Love Rock & Roll - Seriously? In comparison to the above mentioned song, this is a joke. If you're a guitar player and haven't heard the song in 10 years, you can still pick your axe up and play it even if you have never played it before. Sickening.

#465 - Cheap Trick's Surrender - I hope this is a misprint. This has to be one of the worst songs I’ve ever heard.

#443 - Bob Marley’s I Shot the Sheriff - I’m not a huge fan of The Wailers, but this song should be higher up on the list.

#440 - Salt & Pepa’s Push It - Ok, seriously? Not even in the top 1,000,000.

#406 - R Kelly’s I Believe I Can Fly - And I believe someone was “flyin” when they added this song to this list.

#367 - Cream’s White Room - Why isn’t this higher on the list? I asked myself the same question when I read that Jimi Hendrix’s Little Wing landed at #357,

#346 - Dr. Dre & 2Pac’s California Love - Ok, 2Pac is one of the very few Rap Artists I’ll listen to, ever. I like this song, but I’d like to hear 2Pac hit the high notes in More Than a Feeling and I would love to hear Dr. Dre nail the lead in Little Wing.

#328 - The Doors’ The End - Jesus! I’m not even a Doors fan and this song was so well written it makes me wanna pop my eyes out with a rusty spoon just looking at the place this song ended up.

#322 - Public Enemy’s Fight the Power - Oye.

#314 - Pink Floyd’s Comfortably Numb - If I had a nickel for every time I had to play this song when I was in a band, I would have a lot of nickels. I am so sick of this song, yet I feel it should have been way up there...

#290 - Eminem f. Dido’s Stan - I can’t stand this guy. Dido is ok. I do have to say, the lyrics to this song are amazing. Not a bad spot for it on the chart.

#287 - Run DMC’s Walk This Way - Ok, maybe it did something for hip hop, but it isn’t even their damn song!

#274 - Jefferson Airplane’s Somebody to Love - This should have been bumped up about.....oh say.... 200 spots? It would look nice sitting in the top 100.

#250 - Back Sabbath’s Paranoid - The middle of the road. If this list is based on “how the song impacted music” this is on the wrong spot. If this list is based on “orchestration” this song should be in the 700s.

#243 - B52's Love Shack - Have I said “Oye” already?

#227 - James Taylor’s Fire & Rain - This guy is a genious. And this is one of his most known songs. Tell me why it’s 227? Please, someone tell me. Listen to it. There is not one part of this song that is questionable.

#226 - Van Morrison’s Moondance - Back to back fuck ups.

#202 - The Beatles’ Come Together - I’m not even CLOSE to being a Beatles’ fan, but 202? Get real. We know it should be higher up.

#180 - Outkast’s Hey Ya! - Kill me. Kill me now!

#174 - The Rolling Stones’ Paint it Black - A freakin’ classic! Right from the beginning. The small guitar intro, and the hyper beat of the first wack of the sticks should be ENOUGH to put this in the top 50.

#172 - Aerosmith’s Dream On - Again, I am not a fan of these guys. But this song should be in the top 50s.

#169 - REM’s Losing My Religion - Top 20s. I don’t even own an REM disc. But I know 169 is a terrible spot for this.

#163 - Queen’s Bohemian Rhapsody - It’s got everything in it. From Hard Rock to Opera to slow piano melodies. So, why isn’t this song higher up in the list? Because all of the voters smoke crack.

#144 - The Ramones’ I Wanna be Sedated - If you know how fucked up the Greatest Guitar Player list was, you know Ramone was in the top 100. What a joke. I don’t WANT to be sedated, I HAVE to be sedated just to accept this spot.

#140 - Led Zeppelin’s Kashmir - A freakin’ epic! Top 30.

#100 - The Rolling Stones’ You Can’t Always Get What You Want - Here we go. 100 and counting. I could comment on every one of the other songs on this list, but it would take me a while. So far, I am disgusted. As for this spot, at least swap it with Paint it Black.

#85 - Patsy Cline’s Crazy - At least this made the top 100. I’ll stand and applaud that.........................................and done.

#53 - The Sex Pistols’ Anarchy in the U.K. - What’s anarchy is that this noise almost made the top 50.

#36 - U2's One - No arguments here.

#31 - Led Zeppelin’s Stairway to Heaven - Ok, I’m shocked. I thought this would, at least, be in the top 10. Now, I am curious to know what made the top ten. (I am looking at this list for the first time as I type this, so I don’t even have any idea of what’s to come, or what #1 is.)

#9 - Nirvana’s Smells Like Teen Spirit. - Look at the majority of the above mentioned songs. How in hell did his make the top 10? No fucking way. No way it should be in the top 500. 4 chords, all power. This list HAS to be determined strictly by it’s effect on the industry.

#1 - Bob Dylan’s Like a Rolling Stone - Hmmmmm...I wonder how this one made number one. I guess I’ll close this magazine up now. Oh Wait!! The title of the magazine is Rolling Stone! Interesting...



Well, there you have it. I could have went on forever, but I didn’t. The Beatles dominated this list. The Rolling Stones were on this list a quite a bit as well. I actually saw some GnR....but I don’t recall seeing November Rain. Weird. Zeppelin had a few mentions. I didn’t see much Grateful Dead. I didn’t see much Metallica. This all leads me to believe that they actually based this list on how well the song was written. The Dead and Metallica have influenced many, yet they are hardly (if at all) on the list. Way to go Rolling Stone. You fucked up another list.

[Darth Peccatus]

My views. Prepare to disagree.


The Beatles overkill much? They're good and all, but damn...and I do find them to be quite overrated at times.

Smoke On The Water by Deep Purple: Deserves to be wayyyy higher on the list. It's officially one of the simplest, catchiest tunes you'll ever hear, and it'll probably never leave you.

Drokking Sex Pistols. Get the hell out of my universe.

U2 - deserve everything they get. Though for my money, With Or Without You should've been placed higher than Still Haven't Found What I'm Looking For.

Nirvana? Purr-leaze. Useless little hacks voting for 'em just because "Oooh, the lead singer blew his own damn head off - KEWL!" I hate punk in general, and these guys are bad even by punk standards at times.

No Iron Maiden?! I curse! I burn! I scorn! I p'shaw!

The Rolling Stones appear way too much. Wait...what's the name of the magazine again?

Metallica. And still no Maiden. Damn you all.

[shinnstheory]

De'Si said:

The Beatles overkill much? They're good and all, but damn...and I do find them to be quite overrated at times.

VERY overrated!

[Stare]

The Beatles write good lyrics, with maybe 2-3 songs worth remembering.

Agreed that U2 got prettymcuh what they deserved, and "With or Without You" is my fav song by them, so I am biased by thinking it shoud be higher up.

Nirvana shouldn't even be on a list, much less have a cd box set coming out. When you havea greatest hits box set containing 62 songs, and 48 are unreleased tracks, what does that tell you? Face it Nirvana-heads, if Kurt hadn't bit the bullet, this band woudl be unknown. Kurt's Death made this band famous.

I woudl've rather seen a list of damn good songs musicially or lyrically, mixed in with a little defining songs (songs that changed music). This list was poorly organized, and Stairway to Heaven being 31 was a huge disgrace. Top 10, Shinns? Let's say top 5, if not #1. I could've made a better top 500 in one hour, but oh well.

EDIT: I'll leave comments on some songs on that list later, when I got time

DOUBLE EDIT: And on the basis of "this song contains 4 chords". Beign a musician Shinns, you know that you don't have to make every song hard as hell to play to make it great. The easy 4 -chord songs canbe catchy, and most songs that get BIG are simple songs. Though, I agree with your opinion on Nirvana, I disagree wiht your reasoning why it shouldn't be on there.

[Trent Matsunoshin]

If we're talking U2 songs, 'New Year's Day' should be on the list. A lot of the songs are deserving, just in horrifically bad order.

[soulreaper]

I think you all missed the point about this list...first of all who put the list together? How, were songs chosen? Then you have to remember that Rolling Stone will reflect a Pop Culture-esque view.

Thats how some of these bands and shitty songs got up there. Now as for "Does this list reflect how this song changed music" and Nirvana... according to the Pop Culture that I hinted at before, Nirvana did lead the way from Hair Band to grunge. So really, it reflects how songs and music changed music in regards to whats been popular.

Overall had I made a list, it would have been completely different.

[KillerSundin (Formerly HBK)]

Where is ACDC or Metallica? They are better than Eminem.

[stocko]

they are a completely different genre, so to compare them is wrong!

[shinnstheory]

Stare said:

DOUBLE EDIT: And on the basis of "this song contains 4 chords". Beign a musician Shinns, you know that you don't have to make every song hard as hell to play to make it great. The easy 4 -chord songs canbe catchy, and most songs that get BIG are simple songs. Though, I agree with your opinion on Nirvana, I disagree wiht your reasoning why it shouldn't be on there.

A song where the bass player plays the exact same 4 notes, in the exact same pattern, from start to finish, doesn't constitute as a well written song. The song blows, period. Even though I am not a Nirvana fan, it's obvious they have had dozens of better songs then that one. I understand that some simple songs become the BIG ones... The majority of the songs on that list are simple songs. "Smell's Like Teen Spirit" was suppose to be the Alternative/Grunge break through. Bull! What about the alternative bands that were overlooked...and that had albums out before this horrible song AND video hit MTV?

What about Soundgarden (excellent musicians/song writers)? They were around before Nirvana's SLTS surfaced. Jane's Addiction is another band that falls into this catagory. "Jane Says" is a 2 chord song.. and was orchestrated 100x better than SLTS. Both Jane's and Soundgarden write interesting music with intereting lyrics. If given the chance, either one of these bands could have lead us into the Alternative/Grunge era. Alice in Chains is another. They were releasing demos and were signed before MTV aired SLTS. All three of the bands I just mentioned have actual guitar players. Kurt Cobain wasn't a guitar player. He did write some deep shit, lyrically, but the man wasn't a guitar player... And this song doesn't represent Nirvana. Even Nirvana knows that. If being "Mainstream" gets you in the top 10 on this list, then what about the "mainstream" alternative bands that didn't, or barely, see the list at all? Pearl Jam? RATM? Sublime?

[Gormy]

I'm gonna look through the list properly later and give you my opinion. Just reading Shinns post however, I can plainly see that there are some tunes in the wrong place.

I mean...R fucking Kelly - I believe I can fly? That is the biggest load of twaddle I have ever been subjected to. Jeez, I cant catch my breath!

As for Nirvana SLTS, I love that tune, so think it deserves to be in there. Also I adore Jane Says by Jane's Addiction....I am assuming it didn't even get a mention. That is scandelous. I think we ought to go round to the offices of Rolling Stone magazine and shoot the editor or something!

[Stare]

I know that SLTS sucked, Shinns. But I was referring it to you giving the reason for it sucking. The song sucked because it just plain did, not because it only had 4 chords.

Anyways, Soundgarden's "Black Hole Sun" (and many more, but that's the recognizeable one) should have been waaaaaay before SLTS.

[Austin Tacious]

the beatles are, without a doubt the single greatest band of all time, and every single song they ever wrote should be in the top 100.

if you think the beatles are overrated, then you have obviously just returned home from having a full frontal lobotamy.

U2 deserve nothing. U2 are a terrible band who have released maybe 2 half decent songs in their 25 year carreer. highly overrated.

queen were robbed. bohemian rhapsody should have placed 162 places higher than in that list.

G N' R were robbed.

britney was robbed.

nirvana's "smells like teen spirit" is an all time classic. there is a reason it appears in every single "best song" chart.

bitter sweet symphony is at 382? that is a top 10 song if ever there was one

robbie willaims' "angles" is not on there? WTF?

whether or not a song is easy to remember and play on the guitar is irrelevant to how good a song actually is.


but all things considered, this list is crap. don't believe a word that mag tells you, thet obviously know nothing about music.

[stevo316]

I am looking at the list and also at the comments and I can appreciate the fact that these are all your opinions on the songs listed but I know it's a bit late now but if you had entered your preferences then the list may not have looked like it is now.

IMHO,

The Beatles = Legends (but I have never heard of the song Rain)

U2 = One of the greatest bands ever in musical, lyrical and even stage performances.

Nirvana - They were good when they were around.

No Red Hot Chilli Peppers - WTF?

Eminem - again another class act.

The Rolling Stones - some good songs on there but where is Paint it Black and Sympathy for the Devil.

Beck is in there with the only decent song he has ever had.

No White Stripes - WTF

G n' R - the early songs were good but too far down the list for my liking.

[Darth Peccatus]

Eez said:

if you think the beatles are overrated, then you have obviously just returned home from having a full frontal lobotamy.

Yup!

And it cost me FIFTEEN BLEEDIN' POUNDS, wouldya believe it?! I could do it to myself with a rusty spoon!

That said, irrelevant of any surgery I may have had with unwashed cutlery, The Beatles are still overrated like hell.

[shinnstheory]

Very overrated. Ringo had a sweet drum sound though. Sounds like the sumbitch flipped over a few garbage cans and micked them up. Pounded away with paint stirrers.

I'm done with the SLTS argument. Song blows regardless of how many chords. The end.

[Stare]

The Beatles had great lyrics in some songs, but that aside, they're pretty bland.

They made catchy teeny bop songs, mixed in with the ever-so-often "decent" tune. Nothing against teeny-bop songs, but that should not make you an idol. The Beatles have had many many MANY songs with maybe 3-4 chords in them, and even one that is almost only 2. Like I said before, that doesn't make a song bad, but I do question saying that they are the best band in the world when they are not very musically inclined.

Best band ever should be lyrically, musically, and performance extroardinaires, anybody have any that come to mind? I know Led Zeppelin is a very good candidate, as they meet the criteria, and are sooooooo much better than the Beatles.

[Austin Tacious]

if it wasnt for the beatles NONE of the bands you like would exist. you may not like beatles tunes, but they revolutionised modern music and changed it forever.

their songs may be simple, but that is not a bad thing. it does not make them a lesser quality band or their songs any less inspirational or of a lower quality than those of Zeppelin.

[Stare]

The Beatles did revolutionize music, that is a fact that even the biggest Beatle-hater in the world has to admit.

However, I question what music would be like today. Maybe somebody else would've came along that revolutionized music and it would be very different today. Hell, maybe people like N'Sync and Britney Spears would be what people are listening too that listen to Zeppelin, the Stones, or *cough* Blind Melon.
Just because the Beatles revolutionized music doesn't mean someone else wouldn't have, and who are we to say that music wouldn't be better had it not been for the Beatles? Or if there had been another band that revoltionized it? The Beatles just got there first, IMO. And soon, somebody else will come along who changes it.

Oh well, I don't like The Beatles, but I shall not insult the ones that do.

[Trent Matsunoshin]

Hey I like Beck!

[shinnstheory]

Beck has come a long way since "Loser"...

[Aladdin]

I see no R&B, Rap or Hip Hop in that list. What was the highest.

[Trent Matsunoshin]

It's Rolling Stone, what did you expect?

RS has never given R&B/Soul a whole lot of respect and hip-hop is only 25 years old. So.....

[shinnstheory]

Aladdin said:

I see no R&B, Rap or Hip Hop in that list. What was the highest.

Some made the list.. Eminem, Salt n Papa, Run DMC...some others...

Number One was "Like a Rolling Stone" - Bob Dylan. I wrote that in the first post.