Goobers Top 500 Songs of All Time!

[Good,bad,andrush]

Glad you realized the brilliance of natural science.

And as for Bohemian Rhapsody, I agree. the Prophet's Song I'd a masterpiece. Innuendo as well, and it features the genius of Steve Howe. March of the Black Queen is a fantasy ride like no other in just 6 minutes, and is worth it for vocals alone. It has really nice movements as well.

 

As for Telegraph Road...I can see why you wouldn't be into Dire Straits. But I encourage you to listen to this masterpiece. It's got atmosphere, talented musicianship everywhere, and the story it tells is just so sad but beautiful, and it can serve as a metaphor for many things. Not to mention, it has some of the most tasteful and perfect guitar playing ever. It's almost as if he speaks other verses with his guitar. It is sheer brilliance really, so do try and get into it...it's quite proggy really, and quite unlike most Dire Straits stuff...and either way, Knopfler was a true artist.

 

Thick as a Brick will grow on you, and there's nothing I can say about the Hare...although I think it is cool if you know that a real passion play sometimes has an intermission in which a quick fable is told...which is why they added that part.

 

And enjoy your descent into Peter Hamill's mind. Jackson ghostly flute and saxophone are mind-blowing, Evan's playing is spot on and intricate, and the blend of organs and pianos create an atmosphere unheard anywhere else. Hamill's vocals are at least three instruments in one. The lyrics are some of the darkest ever, and yet so thoughtfully and emotionally written. They make Pink Floyd lyrics look happy

Some songs for you to get into VDGG:

House With No Door, Still Life, Lemmings, My Room, Arrow, La Rossa, Pilgrims, Man-Erg, Killer, Into a Game (that's Hamill alone actually), and Undercover Man.

[Good,bad,andrush]

Also, i don't know how into Tool you are, but there should be a few Tool songs there. I'm nit surprised that they are missing, because it doesn't seem like your type of music.

 

But i say, if you do like them, listen to aenema, third eye, Rosetta stoned, schism, parabola, lateralus, the patient, eulogy, h., 46&2, or 10,000 Days. Pretty deep stuff, and a lot of complex rhythms combined with hidden harmonies.

 

Also, what about PT? Anesthetize is another amazing masterpiece, and Trains is a good famous one that would fit nicely. I don't remember if I saw them on the list, sorry if they are.

[rushgoober]

QUOTE (Good,bad,andrush @ Apr 24 2011, 08:12 AM)

As for Telegraph Road...I can see why you wouldn't be into Dire Straits. But I encourage you to listen to this masterpiece. It's got atmosphere, talented musicianship everywhere, and the story it tells is just so sad but beautiful, and it can serve as a metaphor for many things. Not to mention, it has some of the most tasteful and perfect guitar playing ever. It's almost as if he speaks other verses with his guitar. It is sheer brilliance really, so do try and get into it...it's quite proggy really, and quite unlike most Dire Straits stuff...and either way, Knopfler was a true artist.

Just listened to Telegraph Road - liked it, but far from loved it. I mean, it's pleasant, and the guitar is tasteful and interesting, but overall it isn't especially moving me, except the last 3 minutes or so are pretty great. The vocals are ok, but he sounds like Bob Dylan mixed with Bruce Springsteen after a long night of chain-smoking. The lyrics were good, but I'd rather listen to Dylan for that kind of vibe. For a 14 minute song, it really isn't very progressive - more straight-ahead AOR in a vaguely Styx/REO Speedwagon/Foreigner/Journey vein - not really my thing so much. I prefer Money for Nothing or Sultans of Swing by them. I wouldn't turn any of these songs off if they showed up on a classic rock station, and I might even sing along, but I wouldn't go out of my way to listen to any of them again either, including Telegraph Road.

[Good,bad,andrush]

QUOTE (rushgoober @ Apr 24 2011, 10:33 AM)

QUOTE (Good @ bad,andrush,Apr 24 2011, 08:12 AM) As for Telegraph Road...I can see why you wouldn't be into Dire Straits. But I encourage you to listen to this masterpiece. It's got atmosphere, talented musicianship everywhere, and the story it tells is just so sad but beautiful, and it can serve as a metaphor for many things. Not to mention, it has some of the most tasteful and perfect guitar playing ever. It's almost as if he speaks other verses with his guitar. It is sheer brilliance really, so do try and get into it...it's quite proggy really, and quite unlike most Dire Straits stuff...and either way, Knopfler was a true artist. Just listened to Telegraph Road - liked it, but far from loved it. I mean, it's pleasant, and the guitar is tasteful and interesting, but overall it isn't especially moving me, except the last 3 minutes or so are pretty great. The vocals are ok, but he sounds like Bob Dylan mixed with Bruce Springsteen after a long night of chain-smoking. The lyrics were good, but I'd rather listen to Dylan for that kind of vibe. For a 14 minute song, it really isn't very progressive - more straight-ahead AOR in a vaguely Styx/REO Speedwagon/Foreigner/Journey vein - not really my thing so much. I prefer Money for Nothing or Sultans of Swing by them. I wouldn't turn any of these songs off if they showed up on a classic rock station, and I might even sing along, but I wouldn't go out of my way to listen to any of them again either, including Telegraph Road. That's cool, whatever floats your boat. He is like Bob Dylan, I agree, but he's still got something unique. The part that moves me most is the guitar solo at 4 minutes; one of my absolute favorites.   Anyway, thanks for listening

[rushgoober]

QUOTE (Good,bad,andrush @ Apr 24 2011, 08:23 AM)

Also, i don't know how into Tool you are, but there should be a few Tool songs there. I'm nit surprised that they are missing, because it doesn't seem like your type of music. But i say, if you do like them, listen to aenema, third eye, Rosetta stoned, schism, parabola, lateralus, the patient, eulogy, h., 46&2, or 10,000 Days. Pretty deep stuff, and a lot of complex rhythms combined with hidden harmonies. Also, what about PT? Anesthetize is another amazing masterpiece, and Trains is a good famous one that would fit nicely. I don't remember if I saw them on the list, sorry if they are.

I got Lateralus by Tool at a yard sale and I hated it. Just too aggressive and metally for me these days. Did nothing for me. Sorry!

 

I have a few PT albums, and I enjoy their more atmospheric stuff, especially the instrumental stuff, but I haven't listened to them enough yet. Trains I've actually played on my radio show before, but I can't remember it offhand. It's possible after I listen to their stuff more some songs will REALLY grab me and hold on.

[rushgoober]

[Good,bad,andrush]

Some Tool stuff is very atmospheric.

 

 

But now i know why you hate VT

[rushgoober]

Groups/Singers that show up in my top 500 three times or more - these 51 artists make up 323 of the 500 songs - just about 2/3rds of my list! :

 

Pink Floyd 21

Rush - 19

Yes - 16

The Moody Blues - 12

The Jimi Hendrix Experience - 11

Popol Vuh - 11

The Beatles - 10

Cocteau Twins - 10

Grateful Dead - 10

Genesis - 9

Jefferson Airplane - 9

Led Zeppelin - 9

King Crimson - 8

Simon & Garfunkel - 8

David Bowie - 7

Camel - 7

The Doors - 7

Joni Mitchell - 7

The Rolling Stones - 7

The Byrds - 6

Love - 6

Tangerine Dream - 6

Eric Burdon (Animals/War) - 5

CSN(Y) - 5

Donovan - 5

Emerson, Lake & Palmer - 5

Fairport Convention - 5

Premiata Forneria Marconi (PFM) - 5

The 13th Floor Elevators - 4

Daevid Allen - 4

Amon Duul II - 4

Banco Del Mutuo Soccorso - 4

Syd Barrett - 4

Can - 4

Cream - 4

Deep Purple - 4

Jethro Tull - 4

The Velvet Underground - 4

The Who - 4

Astra - 3

Buffalo Springfield - 3

Caravan - 3

Chocolate Watch Band - 3

Nick Drake - 3

Harmonium - 3

The Innocence Mission - 3

Kiss - 3

Nektar - 3

Pearls Before Swine - 3

Strawberry Alarm Clock - 3

The West Coast Pop Art Experimental Band -3

 

[Silas Lang]

Too many S&G songs imo. I agree that 'Thick As A Brick' is a stunning omission . Don't quite understand why 'All Day And All Of The Night' makes it but 'You Really Got Me' doesn't (they're virtually identical). A couple of odd choices in relation to the rest of your list were 'Life's Been Good' and 'Eruption' (not really a song, just a one minute guitar solo).

[rushgoober]

QUOTE (Silas Lang @ Apr 24 2011, 09:38 AM)

Too many S&G songs imo. I agree that 'Thick As A Brick' is a stunning omission . Don't quite understand why 'All Day And All Of The Night' makes it but 'You Really Got Me' doesn't (they're virtually identical). A couple of odd choices in relation to the rest of your list were 'Life's Been Good' and 'Eruption' (not really a song, just a one minute guitar solo).

Well you are into more heavy stuff, so I can understand why you wouldn't like S&G. I would have put fewer S&G songs in there, except for the fact that they're awesome.

 

One of these days I'll have to try more to get into Thick As A Brick.

 

I guess with You Really Got Me, the original version was surpassed by Van Halen. And for the record, Eruption is 1:42. I would have thought you'd love that song?

 

Life's Been Good is one of the handful of songs in there I don't own, but I love that song. Somewhat reminiscent of The Logical Song, which I considered for my list.

[Hatchetaxe&saw]

Great list. I applaud your dedication to the cause!

[Silas Lang]

Edited April 25, 2011 by Silas Lang

[In A Tidewater Surge]

There's never too much S&G

[rushgoober]

[Mr. Not]

Comment: I appreciate number 8's presence.

 

Question: Why didn't this song make it onto the list:

?

[rushgoober]

QUOTE (Kenneth @ Apr 24 2011, 10:08 PM)

Question: Why didn't this song make it onto the list: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yBS0AGgGTnQ&feature=feedf ?

[Mr. Not]

QUOTE (rushgoober @ Apr 24 2011, 10:13 PM)

QUOTE (Kenneth @ Apr 24 2011, 10:08 PM) Question: Why didn't this song make it onto the list: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yBS0AGgGTnQ&feature=feedf  ? You know it's good!

Edited April 25, 2011 by Kenneth

[rushgoober]

[JohnnyBlaze]

[ghostworks]

RG

 

by looking at your list, one would assume you're probably about 60 years old or so (not that that would be a bad thing)

 

but of course, you're not - in fact, you're a contemporary of mine - a child of the 80's... and so I ask you:

 

WHAT HAPPENED!?

 

there are so many sins of omission in your list I don't even know where to begin

 

yes, your list is a 'personal' one, but there's such a massive amount of incontrovertibly phenomenal music absent that I almost have to believe you've kept them off intentionally (in order to preserve some self-sense of 'list cred' perhaps?)

 

taking your tastes and preferences (per your list) into account, it's still inconceivable that the deep album cuts from viable artists from our childhoods' heyday (and isn't that when most of us 'awaken' to music?) are not recognized

 

where is:

 

1980

Romani (Mike Rutherford)

 

1981

Matte Kudasai (King Crimson)

 

1982

Down By The Sea (Men At Work)

Airwaves (Thomas Dolby)

Time Again (Asia)

Blade Runner Blues (Vangelis)

Dunwich Beach (Brian Eno)

 

1983

Outside (The Fixx)

I Want Eyes (Level 42)

Forgotten Sons (Marillion)

 

1984

Three Of A Perfect Pair (King Crimson)

Cloak & Dagger (Nik Kershaw)

I Remember The Sun (XTC)

 

1985

Taxi Ride (Jane Siberry)

More Light (Utopia)

 

1986

Experiment IV (Kate Bush)

Twilight Of The Mortal (Killing Joke)

The Man Who Sailed Around His Soul (XTC)

 

1987

Hotel Hobbies (Marillion)

Wooden Horse (Suzanne Vega)

What's Wrong With This Picture? (Bourgeois Tagg)

 

1988

The Walking (Jane Siberry)

Unto The Ends Of The Earth (Killing Joke)

 

1989

A Thousand Stones (Andy Summers)

Turtle Song (Hugo Largo)

At The Speed Of Life (Wang Chung)

 

 

^ practically every one of those songs is a pop-prog masterpiece of the highest order

 

again, I'll emphasize - I fully understand and grant that this is your own personal top 500 - it just astonishes me that there's nothing on your list even remotely close (maybe Cocteau Twins) to what I've listed above

 

in my astonishment I'm not suggesting that your tastes should mirror mine, only that all of this music was being created during our youth - it was our music, if you will - it was alive and of the moment and happening right in front of us - radio, LP's, then cassettes and Walkman's, the birth of the mixtape, setting foot into your first concert arena, then nightclubs for live shows...

 

but hell - I don't know, maybe you were raised in a VW camper van by hippies following the Dead around the country for two decades and you missed 'your time' (...in retrospect I guess I should've asked that question first )

 

[rushgoober]

[tjtull]

I'm a huge Tull fan but I gotta say, Living in the Past and Bouree wouldn't crack my top 1000 songs.

 

Maybe I'm jaded...

[rushgoober]

QUOTE (ghostworks @ Apr 25 2011, 06:55 AM)

RG by looking at your list, one would assume you're probably about 60 years old or so (not that that would be a bad thing) but of course, you're not - in fact, you're a contemporary of mine - a child of the 80's... and so I ask you: WHAT HAPPENED!?

 

When I was in my early to mid-teens I was very into what was then contemporary heavy metal. Then I discovered drugs when I was 15 and with that I befriended Deadheads who would always be playing live Grateful Dead, Jefferson Airplane, etc. That got me quickly and seriously into psychedelic music and classic rock in general.

 

By age 17 I had almost completely abandoned any current music (and thankfully I abandoned drugs as well), and within a year or two my musical researching led me to progressive rock and krautrock. And that's kind of where I stayed. I've had periods of time in the 90's when I got really into ambient, shoegaze, trip hop, etc., but I always come back to 60's psych, 70's prog, electronic, krautrock and classic rock as my main staples. I also really dig avant-garde jazz, free jazz and fusion.

 

 

QUOTE (ghostworks @ Apr 25 2011, 06:55 AM)

there are so many sins of omission in your list I don't even know where to begin yes, your list is a 'personal' one, but there's such a massive amount of incontrovertibly phenomenal music absent that I almost have to believe you've kept them off intentionally (in order to preserve some self-sense of  'list cred' perhaps?) taking your tastes and preferences (per your list) into account, it's still inconceivable that the deep album cuts from viable artists from our childhoods' heyday (and isn't that when most of us 'awaken' to music?) are not recognized where is: 1980 Romani (Mike Rutherford) 1981 Matte Kudasai (King Crimson) 1982 Down By The Sea (Men At Work) Airwaves (Thomas Dolby) Time Again (Asia) Blade Runner Blues (Vangelis) Dunwich Beach (Brian Eno) 1983 Outside (The Fixx) I Want Eyes (Level 42) Forgotten Sons (Marillion) 1984 Three Of A Perfect Pair (King Crimson) Cloak & Dagger (Nik Kershaw) I Remember The Sun (XTC) 1985 Taxi Ride (Jane Siberry) More Light (Utopia) 1986 Experiment IV (Kate Bush) Twilight Of The Mortal (Killing Joke) The Man Who Sailed Around His Soul (XTC) 1987 Hotel Hobbies (Marillion) Wooden Horse (Suzanne Vega) What's Wrong With This Picture? (Bourgeois Tagg) 1988 The Walking (Jane Siberry) Unto The Ends Of The Earth (Killing Joke) 1989 A Thousand Stones (Andy Summers) Turtle Song (Hugo Largo) At The Speed Of Life (Wang Chung ^ practically every one of those songs is a pop-prog masterpiece of the highest order again, I'll emphasize - I fully understand and grant that this is your own personal top 500 - it just astonishes me that there's nothing on your list even remotely close (maybe Cocteau Twins) to what I've listed above in my astonishment I'm not suggesting that your tastes should mirror mine, only that all of this music was being created during our youth - it was our music, if you will - it was alive and of the moment and happening right in front of us - radio, LP's, then cassettes and Walkman's, the birth of the mixtape, setting foot into your first concert arena, then nightclubs for live shows... but hell - I don't know, maybe you were raised in a VW camper van by hippies following the Dead around the country for two decades and you missed 'your time' (...in retrospect I guess I should've asked that question first )

IDK man, I don't know why you think most of that stuff would be any kind of logical extension of my established musical tastes based on my list. I never really dug 80's King Crimson, Marillion I found too excessively wordy, and other stuff you mention are groups that are just very 80's. My brother loved XTC and Jane Siberry, but they were never my thing so much. XTC are interesting. Kate Bush's voice I find annoying. I love the Blade Runner soundtrack, and considered a track or two for my list, but not the one you listed. Never heard that Eno track. Honestly, a lot of those songs I've never even heard.

 

I watched MTV religiously in the 80's, so it's not like I'm unfamiliar with what was popular back then, I just didn't find most of it interesting enough to stick.

 

I truly think that there was a musical renaissance that took place roughly from the mid 60's to the late 70's that has been unmatched before or since. I just happen to have had my formative years after most of that music had already passed, so if my musical tastes veer older than my age, it's simply because I really believe that was by far the best era of music this planet has seen.

 

 

[rushgoober]

QUOTE (tjtull @ Apr 25 2011, 11:11 AM)

I'm a huge Tull fan but I gotta say, Living in the Past and Bouree wouldn't crack my top 1000 songs. Maybe I'm jaded...

What would be your top 10 or so Tull songs?

[rushgoober]

BTW, thanks everyone for participating in this thread so far, even those who I haven't responded to - it's much appreciated!