Top 500 Rock Songs of all TimeMusic 

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Ev0
Eruption/You Really Got Me is not on that list, nor is any Van Halen song. How massively influential songs and bands like that get left off the list, while crap like Hey Ya get on is just beyond me.
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I was just thinking the same thing...

My List would have included the following from Van Halen:

Eruption
Right Now
Jump

...just to name a few.

How R.Kelly or Outkast made it on this list is beyond me. Honestly, it's like a slap in the face and a sad attempt to make their list not look "early era" heavy.

Outkast's "Hey Ya" was by far the most annoying damn song I have ever heard. I mean honestly, the background vocals throughout the whole song are off-tune, and just irritating. I don't really like rap, but I know a crap song when I hear one. I just laughed as this song snatched up all the awards. I mean come on.

This list is all over the place and samples to much from one generation and not enough from another, has obvious bias, and just lost all credibility with inclusions like "I Believe I Can Fly" and "Hey Ya".

I am also shocked at the all out lack of any Bon Jovi songs. They can include countless Nirvana and GNR songs, but its some of the biggest 80's bands are missing. Also noticeably missing, Def Leppard.

How about

Bon Jovi - Runaway, You Give Love A Bad Name

or

Def Leppard - Pour Some Sugar On Me; Two Steps Behind

My 0.02.
 
How about removing 250 of those songs. Personally, that's a disgrace to the word 'Rock'. Half of it is Rap. In fact, Aretha Franklin being Number 4 in a Rock list is even a disgrace. She's good in her own genre, sure, but she's not Rock.

I feel like writing some hate mail.
 
#1) It says 500 Greatest SONGS of all time, not 500 Greatest ROCK SONGS of all time.

#2) Anyone who says Aretha Franklin - Respect doesn't deserve its spot needs to get out of this thread right now.

#3) Rap music can be good music too. Dr. Dre's "Nuthin' But a G Thang" (his only entry BTW) is an absolute classic and definitely deserves mention.

#4) The Beatles and Rolling Stones are arguably the two greatest bands of all time, so of course they're gonna have a lot of tracks.

#5) There are nowhere near enough Doors songs on the list.
 
David Byrne is not on the list enough (read: he isn't on there once, and this includes the Talking Heads). Eminem is on there too much. The Rolling Stones are boring, but I'll give them a few spots for being popular. Joy Division is on there once. ONCE. Should I repeat that? Once. Every song from Unknown Pleasures should be on there.

I find it difficult to name the top 10 greatest songs ever recorded. Naming 500 must be impossible and Rolling Stoen has proven this.
 
I'm curious what makes a "good song" lol. The song being popular? The band being very talented? The singer being great? The lyrics?

I just can't make myself like any music recorded before 1985 (besides Metallica) since the quality is so poor. I wish I could hear some nice quality music from some of those older bands where it didn't sound like they are muffled out and have no bass guitarist.
 
Ev0
If anyone wants to be even more puzzled about rolling stone, have a look at their Guitarist list.

1Jimi Hendrix
2 Duane Allman of the Allman Brothers Band
3 B.B. King
4 Eric Clapton
5 Robert Johnson
6 Chuck Berry
7 Stevie Ray Vaughan
8 Ry Cooder
9 Jimmy Page of Led Zeppelin
10 Keith Richards of the Rolling Stones
11 Kirk Hammett of Metallica
12 Kurt Cobain of Nirvana
13 Jerry Garcia of the Grateful Dead
14 Jeff Beck
15 Carlos Santana
16 Johnny Ramone of the Ramones
17 Jack White of the White Stripes
18 John Frusciante of the Red Hot Chili Peppers
19 Richard Thompson
20 James Burton
21 George Harrison
22 Mike Bloomfield
23 Warren Haynes
24 The Edge of U2
25 Freddy King
26 Tom Morello of Rage Against the Machine and Audioslave
27 Mark Knopfler of Dire Straits
28 Stephen Stills
29 Ron Asheton of the Stooges
30 Buddy Guy
31 Dick Dale
32 John Cipollina of Quicksilver Messenger Service
33 & 34 Lee Ranaldo, Thurston Moore of Sonic Youth
35 John Fahey
36 Steve Cropper of Booker T. and the MG's
37 Bo Diddley
38 Peter Green of Fleetwood Mac
39 Brian May of Queen
40 John Fogerty of Creedence Clearwater Revival
41 Clarence White of the Byrds
42 Robert Fripp of King Crimson
43 Eddie Hazel of Funkadelic
44 Scotty Moore
45 Frank Zappa
46 Les Paul
47 T-Bone Walker
48 Joe Perry of Aerosmith
49 John McLaughlin
50 Pete Townshend
51 Paul Kossoff of Free
52 Lou Reed
53 Mickey Baker
54 Jorma Kaukonen of Jefferson Airplane
55 Ritchie Blackmore of Deep Purple
56 Tom Verlaine of Television
57 Roy Buchanan
58 Dickey Betts
59 & 60 Jonny Greenwood, Ed O'Brien of Radiohead
61 Ike Turner
62 Zoot Horn Rollo of the Magic Band
63 Danny Gatton
64 Mick Ronson
65 Hubert Sumlin
66 Vernon Reid of Living Colour
67 Link Wray
68 Jerry Miller of Moby Grape
69 Steve Howe of Yes
70 Eddie Van Halen
71 Lightnin' Hopkins
72 Joni Mitchell
73 Trey Anastasio of Phish
74 Johnny Winter
75 Adam Jones of Tool
76 Ali Farka Toure
77 Henry Vestine of Canned Heat
78 Robbie Robertson of the Band
79 Cliff Gallup of the Blue Caps (1997)
80 Robert Quine of the Voidoids
81 Derek Trucks
82 David Gilmour of Pink Floyd
83 Neil Young
84 Eddie Cochran
85 Randy Rhoads
86 Tony Iommi of Black Sabbath
87 Joan Jett
88 Dave Davies of the Kinks
89 D. Boon of the Minutemen
90 Glen Buxton of Alice Cooper
91 Robby Krieger of the Doors
92 & 93 Fred "Sonic" Smith, Wayne Kramer of the MC5
94 Bert Jansch
95 Kevin Shields of My Bloody Valentine
96 Angus Young of AC/DC
97 Robert Randolph
98 Leigh Stephens of Blue Cheer
99 Greg Ginn of Black Flag
100 Kim Thayil of Soundgarden

Eddie Van Halen at #70? Someone go to the Rolling Stone office and blast Eruption at them. David Gilmore at #82? Angus Young at #96? WTF????? According to that list, Joni Mitchell is a better guitarist than Angus Young, David Gilmore, and Randy Rhoads. I think that says it all.

Now I know what to read if I want my blood to boil. A Rolling Stone list!
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I agree with Kirk Hammet, Johnny Ramone, And the Edge, but the rest of the list is REALLY mixed up.
 
Well, seeing that it has been pointed out that it is the Top 500 Songs of all time, a lot has been missed out. It seems it's mostly Rock 'n' Roll, Rock, etc. I like Rock, but this is songs.

Tom Jones should be way up there, he doesn't seem to be on there. A lot of people aren't on there. They seem to have got a bit mixed up with Greatest Rock and Roll Songs and Greatest Songs.

Also, I didn't say Aretha Franklin shouldn't be there, but I did think it was a Rock Songs list, as the Thread Name entitles, and I was saying she didn't belong on a Rock Songs list. Also, if you look at what I posted, I did mention several times that she is very good in her own genre.

Now that it's been pointed out that it's not for Rock, though, they still have a lot of things to explain.
 
I think we have to look at this top 500 songs as the magazines' own opinion. There will never be an top 500 list that everyone will agree on.

Personally, I agreed with most of the choices, but I can understand younger guys not understanding how important some of those classic artists were.

Bob Dylan can write, but I don't know about number 1. I wouldn't have voted for any songs Dylan sang(if you can call it that).
 
Wasn't this scored by taking a bunch of top songs lists form celebritys and taking the top songs from that? If thats the case, you really can't expect much.
 
a6m5
I think we have to look at this top 500 songs as the magazines' own opinion.
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Precisely what I said before. This is more of a list of the best songs from the one guy who wrote this. I don't think it was very well thought out.
a6m5
I can understand younger guys not understanding how important some of those classic artists were.
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Now that's definately not fair to say. Regardless of a lot of people's ages here, I think a lot of the "younger guys" have just as good a knowledge about all music than some of the older guys here. A lot of the "younger guys" spend a lot of time around music.

I grew up with my Dad's band, travelling with them. I didn't get much of a Primary School education, but I certainly got an education on Music. I don't think it's fair to say that we don't understand the importance of some of those classics.

I, myself, said Aretha Franklin didn't belong in a Top 500 Rock Songs list, I did mention that she was very good in her own write. I also believe a lot of Classics were left out, for example, like capnlarge said, Tom Jones.

The Beatles, Bob Dylan and Rolling Stones deserve a lot of their places there. I'm also not going to say a lot of the Rap Songs shouldn't have been included, as it is a Music Genre, and the fact that I don't like the Genre doesn't mean they shouldn't be included. It is, in fact, an important part of Music History. But, I do think that some of them were placed on there because either the people/person who wrote this likes that genre and therefore those songs, or he felt he had to place a few more on there. Outkast - Hey Ya has no place on that list what-so-ever, and I don't know how they could even justify it being on there.

I don't think they have a diverse taste in Music, myself, as I can see it's mainly Rock/Rock 'n' Roll. Aretha Franklin seems to be the only person in her genre that is on there, and there are many others from that genre that probably should be placed on there.
 
Taken directly from the preamble to the list:

Welcome to the ultimate jukebox: the second edition of the ROLLING STONE 500, a celebration of the greatest rock & roll songs of all time, chosen by a five-star jury of singers, musicians, producers, industry figures, critics and, of course, songwriters.
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If it's a rock & roll list, then what the hell are any rap/hip hop songs doing on there? It would be like putting a Miles Davis song on the list, rap and rock are very different genres of music.

Jimmy Enslashay
Outkast - Hey Ya has no place on that list what-so-ever, and I don't know how they could even justify it being on there.
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I completely agree. I think one of the most important factors on this list is how a song has or will likely stand the test of time. And I think it's safe to say Hey Ya will stand the test of time about as well as a carton of milk beside a radiator.

Jimmy Enslashay
Precisely what I said before. This is more of a list of the best songs from the one guy who wrote this. I don't think it was very well thought out.
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It was actually determined based on submissions from a panel of 172 judges including Brian Wilson and Joni Mitchell. And with hugely popular and infulential artists like Van Halen being completely left off the list, I think it's safe to say they had their heads stuck way up in a place where the sun don't shine.

Morlow
I just can't make myself like any music recorded before 1985 (besides Metallica) since the quality is so poor. I wish I could hear some nice quality music from some of those older bands where it didn't sound like they are muffled out and have no bass guitarist.
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If you don't like any pre 1985 music because of poor sound quality, I have absolutely no idea what you're listening to. Pink Floyd's 1973 album Dark SIde of the Moon has amazing production values, even by today's standards (which is just one of many reasons why it is one of the most influential and greatest albums ever).

And if you want good older rock songs with plenty of bass, I'd highly recommend 'Freewill' and 'La Villa Strangiato' by Rush. Easily two of Geddy Lee's finest instrumental performances.
 
Preamble to the List
Welcome to the ultimate jukebox: the second edition of the ROLLING STONE 500, a celebration of the greatest rock & roll songs of all time, chosen by a five-star jury of singers, musicians, producers, industry figures, critics and, of course, songwriters.
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So now it is Rock and Roll? :confused:
 
Jimmy Enslashay
Now that's definately not fair to say. Regardless of a lot of people's ages here, I think a lot of the "younger guys" have just as good a knowledge about all music than some of the older guys here. A lot of the "younger guys" spend a lot of time around music.
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It's my opinion, that (most of)those artist on the "top 500"are greater than today's artists. But again, it is just one man's opinion. Also, I didn't mean any disrespect to the "younger" guys, I apologize.
Jimmy Enslashay
I don't think they have a diverse taste in Music, myself, as I can see it's mainly Rock/Rock 'n' Roll. Aretha Franklin seems to be the only person in her genre that is on there, and there are many others from that genre that probably should be placed on there.
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There were many others(I have free subscription to the mag) from the genre on the list. But I do agree with you that it was largely made up of Rock artists.
 
Without looking at that list I can safely say that 10% of the songs are worth listening to, once, when you're drunk. And stoned.
 
elemental
not a single offspring song? BLASPHEMY!!!!!!!!
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Wow, there isnt. There should be MANY offspring songs. They are one of My favorite bands.
 
They are the best band in the world. come out and play definitely deserves a top 10 spot.
 
elemental
They are the best band in the world. come out and play definitely deserves a top 10 spot.
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Hmmm...

Birthday:
March 17, 1990

Ah, yep. That explains it.
 
Wow, Stairway to Heaven only got 31st. That sucks.
 
SlipZtrEm
Hmmm...

Birthday:
March 17, 1990

Ah, yep. That explains it.
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actually, most people my age absolutely hate the offspring. They only like stuff like rap and slipknot and the used. basically no talent ass-clown stuff.
So **** off.
 
Settle down kiddies!

I do hate when people point out ages. That has nothing to do with it, elemental can like what he wants regardless of age. I just had a slight rant not too far above in this Thread about it. But also, elemental, try to refrain from flaming other people when they annoy you in some way. There are other ways of dealing with problems you have.

Oh, by the way, elemental: Welcome to GTPlanet.
 
Anyone see "I just called" by Stevie Wonder?
 
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