"Rock's Greatest Songwriters" ~ according to AOL

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elevation2u

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http://music.aol.com/feature/greatest_songwriters

1. Bob Dylan
2. John Lennon & Paul McCartney
3. Mick Jagger & Keith Richards
4. Brian Wilson
5. Pete Townshend
6. Neil Young
7. Led Zeppelin
8. Elton John & Bernie Taupin
9. Bruce Springsteen
10. U2
11. Kurt Cobain

I know that just about any list of 'best' or 'greatest' anything is rather silly but it's still fun I suppose.
What are your thoughts on the list?
 
Not bad.

Went with all very mainstream artists, but at least most are decent to good mainstream.
 
elevation2u said:
I don't quite think its fair Elton John made the list, and I even like his music. And why is it that Bono got grouped as U2?

Because Bono is only credited for the lyrics along with Edge (sometimes).
 
elevation2u said:
I don't quite think its fair Elton John made the list, and I even like his music. And why is it that Bono got grouped as U2?

Well, songwriting is for both the lyrics and the music. Elton John writes all the music and Taupin writes all the lyrics, so I think they deserve to be there.

And while Bono writes most of U2's lyrics, the band comes up with the music together (or at least that's how they are always credited).
 
elevation2u said:
I don't quite think its fair Elton John made the list, and I even like his music. And why is it that Bono got grouped as U2?
Music is quite essential to songs you know.

Doesn't Elton John write all of his own music?

Edge writes nearly all the music for U2. Probably 95%
 
I think it's a good list, and I'd agree with Indra that it's very mainstream but what else would you expect from AOL?

All things considered it's pretty decent, actual order aside.

Another thing is, aside from the trendy pick of Cobain, most of the esteemed songwriters in popular culture are all old farts. U2 probably wouldn't have made this list 10 or so years ago.

So it's really to be expected, but could have been much worse.
 
kakvox said:
Number 1 is spot on for sure


I don't know if I agree with that. The list is for "Greatest Songwriters" not "Greatest Lyricist". Dylan gets greatest lyricist handsdown IMO, but I don't think that he writes better overall tunes than the beatles or brian wilson. Hell, I think I would put pete townsend above him.

If it is for greatest songwriters then I think the list should look more like this: (using their list of artists)

1. John Lennon & Paul McCartney
2. Brian Wilson
3. Pete Townshend
4. Mick Jagger & Keith Richards
5. Bob Dylan
6. Neil Young
7. Led Zeppelin
8. U2
9. Elton John & Bernie Taupin
10. Bruce Springsteen
 
U2DMfan said:
I think it's a good list, and I'd agree with Indra that it's very mainstream but what else would you expect from AOL?

All things considered it's pretty decent, actual order aside.

Another thing is, aside from the trendy pick of Cobain, most of the esteemed songwriters in popular culture are all old farts. U2 probably wouldn't have made this list 10 or so years ago.

So it's really to be expected, but could have been much worse.

I'm just wondering how long people are going to consider it trendy to name Kurt Cobain as a great songwriter. I'm not really saying he belongs in the top 10; I don't think he does. But going on 12 years after his death, one would think the trendiness might have worn off just a bit and it might be out of genuine admiration or respect.
 
This is all rather silly, since it is completely subjective, but I would for the top 5 say something like:

1. John Lennon & Paul McCartney
2. Brian Wilson
3. Elton John & Bernie Taupin
4. U2
5. Mick Jagger & Keith Richards

But Neil Finn should have been in the list, too, as well as R.E.M.

Putting Bruce Springsteen among the top 10 song writers of all time is downright insane.
 
So by Led Zeppelin, I assume they really meant Page and Plant, since I doubt they made the list on the basis of In Through the Out Door.

I like how they made a top ten list, realized they hadn't sucked Kurt Cobain's dick yet, then added an eleventh place for him.
 
ok, using their list
my order would be something like this:

1. Bob Dylan
2. John Lennon & Paul McCartney
3. U2
4. Bruce Springsteen
5. Mick Jagger & Keith Richards
6. Neil Young
7. Elton John & Bernie Taupin
8. Brian Wilson
9. Pete Townshend
10. Led Zeppelin
11. Kurt Cobain

:whistle:
 
U2Man said:
The order is completely wrong.


yeah, the order is on crack.

and elton john doesn't belong - should be jones/strummer instead - but other than that, i'm surprised the list came from AOL. other than the fact that it's a very safe list of bands/artists usually seen as being the "greatest".



edit: man, i was agreeing with you until i saw your springsteen comment. care to share why you don't think springsteen is a great songwriter? because unexplained, it makes you sound insane.



what exactly is the definition of songwriter, anyway?
 
phanan said:
And while Bono writes most of U2's lyrics, the band comes up with the music together (or at least that's how they are always credited).

Someone can correct me if this is completely wrong, but I think that everything U2 do is officially recorded as credited to Hewson/Evans/Clayton/Mullen, for purposes of their equal four-way split of profits. Bono doesn't make any more than Adam just because Bono is the primary lyricist.

And I totally second what U2Man said about Neil Finn - not having him on this list is simply criminal.
 
Axver said:


Someone can correct me if this is completely wrong, but I think that everything U2 do is officially recorded as credited to Hewson/Evans/Clayton/Mullen, for purposes of their equal four-way split of profits. Bono doesn't make any more than Adam just because Bono is the primary lyricist.


:yes:

They've always shared songwriting credit.


And I have to assume that the reason the list is made up of "old farts" is that the artists have been around for a lot longer and their songs have continued to be an influence
 
It's not a bad list, but where the hell are Elvis Costello and Strummer/Jones?

Does anyone besides me think it's pathetic that there aren't any women represented in the Top 10? Where are Joni Mitchell and Patti Smith?

Oh, well. It's probably as good as you can expect for AOL.
 
typhoon said:
So by Led Zeppelin, I assume they really meant Page and Plant, since I doubt they made the list on the basis of In Through the Out Door.

I like how they made a top ten list, realized they hadn't sucked Kurt Cobain's dick yet, then added an eleventh place for him.

haha, so true.

nice to see dylan get first place though even if this is 7ust stupid fun anyway.
 
Axver said:


Someone can correct me if this is completely wrong, but I think that everything U2 do is officially recorded as credited to Hewson/Evans/Clayton/Mullen, for purposes of their equal four-way split of profits. Bono doesn't make any more than Adam just because Bono is the primary lyricist.

They share the songwriting credit, but it is never listed as Hewson/Evans/Clayton/Mullen. Rather, it is always:

Music: U2
Lyrics: Bono

Sometimes the lyrics are credited to Bono and The Edge, and of course there are a few songs where Edge is the sole credit for the lyrics.
 
UnforgettableLemon said:


I'm just wondering how long people are going to consider it trendy to name Kurt Cobain as a great songwriter. I'm not really saying he belongs in the top 10; I don't think he does. But going on 12 years after his death, one would think the trendiness might have worn off just a bit and it might be out of genuine admiration or respect.

I think that's true, but with these kind of things, they just seem to fall together so.....obviously?

Besides U2 and Cobain every artist on that list debuted more than 30 years ago. So you have more or less all the obvious picks including the obvious 80's and 90's token, but they are all great. So they could have done horrendously worse for sure.

I love Nirvana and Cobain, I think he was a great songwriter among many other great songwriters of the last 20 years, he just makes seemingly every list (ranked very highly) including the great guitarists lists (Kurt would even laugh at that) over many worthy names that get completely ignored.
 
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