Zoots
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1. The Beatles – A Day In The Life
The perfect balance of Lennon/McCartney. A song that drifts through a psychedelic drug-induced haze before changing over into bouncy English pop and then back into the aural equivalent of a cavalry charge, amidst a myriad of studio sounds like a very timely ringing alarm clock and a distant counting down of numbers; could very well be the greatest rock song ever composed in history. It is the grand finale to an album which laid down the footprint that several countless psychedelic, progressive and straight-ahead rock bands would follow.
2. U2 – One
The song that saved U2 from breaking up during the tumultuous Achtung Baby sessions at Hansa studios Berlin, is widely considered in rock circles as one of the greatest songs ever written. Lyrics as openly revealing as "it's too late tonight to drag the past out into the light, we're one but we're not the same, we get to carry each other...", hide the complexity buried underneath; making it open to various interpretations including a relationship gone sour, a conversation between a heterosexual man and his gay son or simply a tete-a-tete with god. Either way, I think it is a brilliant and timeless composition.
3. R.E.M. – Man On The Moon
The intertwined melody of Mike Mills' bass and Peter Buck's guitar lays the foundation for what I consider a classic rock masterpiece from the early 90s. The country-ish tones were new for R.E.M. at the time, a band that grew out of the alternative/indie/college rock scene in Athens, Georgia in the 80's and exploded into Grammy territory and worldwide acclaim in the 90's. This beautifully warm ditty in which Stipe rambles on about Andy Kaufman, Charles Darwin and Moses is from their seminal 1992 album Automatic For The People, arguably their best album according to critics and fans everywhere.
4. The Who – Won’t Get Fooled Again
Bookending what is probably The Who's most popular album, about leaving everything and starting over, this song has it all: acrobatic rock riffs, extended electronic keyboard jams, portentous lyrics like "we'll be fighting in the street with our children at our feet and the morals that we worship will be gone"; and last but not least, the single greatest scream in rock history! The exhilaration that I feel every single time I hear Roger Daltrey's voice exploding into Keith Moon's stunning drum solo kicking off a crashing epic finale, is hard to describe in mere words.
5. Tori Amos – Cornflake Girl
Quite possibly the only singer-songwriter who can make an instrument as melodiously tame as the piano, sound so full of fury and passion; Tori Amos truly delivered a masterpiece with Cornflake Girl from her second album Under The Pink. It has her trademark Kate Bush inspired weirdness with lyrics like "peel out the watchword" and "rabbit where'd you put the keys, girl?", not to mention the most breathtaking piano solo this side of Elton John. Though it is not on Little Earthquakes, my favorite Tori album, I cannot get enough of this beautifully odd song about hangin' with the raisin girls and god knows what.
Those that almost made it:
6. Led Zeppelin – Stairway To Heaven
7. Pink Floyd – High Hopes
8. Radiohead – Paranoid Android
9. Madonna – Live To Tell
10. Pearl Jam – Nothingman
11. Metallica – Master Of Puppets
12. Kraftwerk – The Robots
13. Depeche Mode – Walking In My Shoes
14. George Michael – Cowboys And Angels
15. Guns 'n' Roses – Estranged
The perfect balance of Lennon/McCartney. A song that drifts through a psychedelic drug-induced haze before changing over into bouncy English pop and then back into the aural equivalent of a cavalry charge, amidst a myriad of studio sounds like a very timely ringing alarm clock and a distant counting down of numbers; could very well be the greatest rock song ever composed in history. It is the grand finale to an album which laid down the footprint that several countless psychedelic, progressive and straight-ahead rock bands would follow.
2. U2 – One
The song that saved U2 from breaking up during the tumultuous Achtung Baby sessions at Hansa studios Berlin, is widely considered in rock circles as one of the greatest songs ever written. Lyrics as openly revealing as "it's too late tonight to drag the past out into the light, we're one but we're not the same, we get to carry each other...", hide the complexity buried underneath; making it open to various interpretations including a relationship gone sour, a conversation between a heterosexual man and his gay son or simply a tete-a-tete with god. Either way, I think it is a brilliant and timeless composition.
3. R.E.M. – Man On The Moon
The intertwined melody of Mike Mills' bass and Peter Buck's guitar lays the foundation for what I consider a classic rock masterpiece from the early 90s. The country-ish tones were new for R.E.M. at the time, a band that grew out of the alternative/indie/college rock scene in Athens, Georgia in the 80's and exploded into Grammy territory and worldwide acclaim in the 90's. This beautifully warm ditty in which Stipe rambles on about Andy Kaufman, Charles Darwin and Moses is from their seminal 1992 album Automatic For The People, arguably their best album according to critics and fans everywhere.
4. The Who – Won’t Get Fooled Again
Bookending what is probably The Who's most popular album, about leaving everything and starting over, this song has it all: acrobatic rock riffs, extended electronic keyboard jams, portentous lyrics like "we'll be fighting in the street with our children at our feet and the morals that we worship will be gone"; and last but not least, the single greatest scream in rock history! The exhilaration that I feel every single time I hear Roger Daltrey's voice exploding into Keith Moon's stunning drum solo kicking off a crashing epic finale, is hard to describe in mere words.
5. Tori Amos – Cornflake Girl
Quite possibly the only singer-songwriter who can make an instrument as melodiously tame as the piano, sound so full of fury and passion; Tori Amos truly delivered a masterpiece with Cornflake Girl from her second album Under The Pink. It has her trademark Kate Bush inspired weirdness with lyrics like "peel out the watchword" and "rabbit where'd you put the keys, girl?", not to mention the most breathtaking piano solo this side of Elton John. Though it is not on Little Earthquakes, my favorite Tori album, I cannot get enough of this beautifully odd song about hangin' with the raisin girls and god knows what.
Those that almost made it:
6. Led Zeppelin – Stairway To Heaven
7. Pink Floyd – High Hopes
8. Radiohead – Paranoid Android
9. Madonna – Live To Tell
10. Pearl Jam – Nothingman
11. Metallica – Master Of Puppets
12. Kraftwerk – The Robots
13. Depeche Mode – Walking In My Shoes
14. George Michael – Cowboys And Angels
15. Guns 'n' Roses – Estranged