100 Greatest Songs Of This Century by Rolling Stone

[GuitarGeek]

I love how a Kylie Minogue song is better than any song Neil Young's done this century. Just as an example.

The crowning achievement of Kylie Minogue's career was guest starring on Doctor Who. Nothing she's done as a singer even touches that. I honestly can't believe she's still making records. I'm old enough I remember when she desecrated The Loco-Motion.

Personally, I have no interest in what some yutz at Rolling Stone thinks is the best song(s) of the current century. I mean, I just don't have much use for this stuff. I haven't looked at the list, is there any Katy Perry on there? Or that Adele chick?

[moecurlythanu]

Who?

[The Dark Elf]

I love how a Kylie Minogue song is better than any song Neil Young's done this century. Just as an example.

You know, as I was passing through that list again, I did notice there was no Neil Young. So, nothing from Prairie Wind or any number of albums he's released since 2000? That got me to thinking. Who else with highly rated albums and excellent songs weren't on this absurd list? So here's several performers with great releases in the 2000s just off the top of my head:

The Decembrists (Nothing from Crane Wife or Hazards of Love)
Tool (Really? Nothing from Lateralus?)
Tom Waits (Bad as Me or Alice?)
Sufjan Stevens (Michigan or Illinois? Come on, pick a state)
Bright Eyes (The reviewers' darling)
Gillian Welch (She gets 5 star reviews every time she releases an album)
Bjork (No song from Vespertine?)
Norah Jones (Come on, it's Ravi's daughter!)
Robert Plant and Allison Krauss (Raising Sand gave numerous reviewers massive erections)
Steven Wilson (The Raven Who Refused to Sing and Hand.Cannot.Erase both received spectacular reviews from all over)
Wilco (So. What. These guys can't write songs?)
Fleet Foxes (released 3 albums. Every one achingly beautiful and highly rated across the reviewers board)
Bruce Springsteen (I guess he can't write a decent song anymore)

Throw in Modest Mouse, Arctic Monkeys, Gorillaz and Death Cab for Cutie for the kids, or Ry Cooder, Punch Brothers or Gogol Bordello for the more musically adventurous.

I didn't stray too far into prog and list Sigur Ros, Haken, Riverside, Big Big Train, or Opeth (because, after all, this is Rolling Stone making the inane list), but of the folks I listed (and I'm sure you can add 50 more), wouldn't you consider any one of them and any song from any of their albums over....hmmm....these creatures (I picked 10):

Kylie Minogue
Mariah Carey
Gwen Stefani ("Hollaback Girl" -- I was expecting Toni Basil to jump out of the bushes and start singing "O Mickey you're so fine!")
Eric Church (Seriously? 10,000 Country singers and you pick this guy?)
Nicki Minaj (Well, she did say Mother-f*ckers at least 20 times)
Rihanna (She found love in a hopeless place, evidently)
Cardi B (I know immigrants just off the boat with better English skills)
Justin Bieber (Seriously, Bieber is on this list)
Robyn (The 1980s called, they want their drum machine and synths back)
Britney Spears (Because every serious musical discussion needs Britney)

So, it's really not too ridiculous to throw in "Gangnam Style" because it's on par with the rest of the drek and offal.

[GuitarGeek]

Britney Spears (Because every serious musical discussion needs Britney)
.

I actually rather liked Like A Circus.

[Facelift]

Again, if by "great" you mean, as you said previously, most popular, then certainly; otherwise, your definition of "great" leaves much to be desired regarding musical critique.
.

It's not just "music," it's popular culture. As I previously said, pretty much nothing in the rock/pop genre is musically "great." There can be great songs, because of significance to the genre and pop-cultural impact, but there is nothing musicologically great about any of it, progressive rock included. It's not art music. So, you still aren't getting this. There isn't going to be any prog on it, because nobody cares about prog. The pool of songs that are being considered for this are songs that either became hits and/or were very influential on the respective *relevant* genres.

As for Neil Young, he didn't have anything remotely resembling a hit since 2000 (and not much in the way of classic Neil Young songs either, I must say).

IMO Decemberists are a terrible band without a single good song to speak of, so I'm glad that the guys at RS were astute enough to recognized this.

Again, we all know why you posted this. You have an irrational hatred for Rolling Stone. There wasn't the slightest interest in generating a thoughtful discussion about the awesome songs on the RS list.

[JKL2000]

The pool of songs that are being considered for this are songs that either became hits and/or were very influential on the respective *relevant* genres.

Where does the article state that? I think you made that up.

It says “To compile our list the “100 Greatest Songs of the Century – So Far,” we reached out to a large group of artists, producers, critics and industry experts who sent us ranked lists of their favorite songs.”

[JKL2000]

Again, we all know why you posted this. You have an irrational hatred for Rolling Stone. There wasn't the slightest interest in generating a thoughtful discussion about the awesome songs on the RS list.

I would imagine he posted it for the same reason most of us would (and many have) posted such a list, no matter the source: because the list seems absurd (probably to most of us), not because of a hatred of the list’s publisher.

Of course a list of 100 Best Songs that was all Prog, posted on a forum for 1930s popular song would seem just as absurd, as would you if you were “defending” it there.

[ronmac]

All PE members? Only a tiny handful have responded to this thread.

Because you turned it into another pissing contest, like so many others.

[Sturgeon's Lawyer]

Well, I know about 15 of those songs, like about half of those, love two ("My Shot" and "You Want It Darker"). Have heard *of* about a dozen more.

[The Dark Elf]

It's not just "music," it's popular culture. As I previously said, pretty much nothing in the rock/pop genre is musically "great." There can be great songs, because of significance to the genre and pop-cultural impact, but there is nothing musicologically great about any of it, progressive rock included. It's not art music. So, you still aren't getting this. There isn't going to be any prog on it, because nobody cares about prog. The pool of songs that are being considered for this are songs that either became hits and/or were very influential on the respective *relevant* genres.

There are many musicians on this site, myself included. I said in a previous post that progressive rock didn't even come into the equation for me when discussing this list, because even when prog had a huge following back in the 70s, RS was more interested in following a punk agenda. And again, you keep mentioning "hit songs" or "popularity", but there are many songs on this list that indicate clearly Did not chart or weren't even singles (reading comprehension is a marvelous tool) --and nothing in the description of the songs on the list describes what is so earth shattering about the particular song that didn't chart. It looks like A) a favorite song of one of the voters, or B) a chance by the record industry insiders to shill their putrid product.

And what exactly is your definition of "great music"? This is one of several times you refer to prog or rock in general as "not great". If nothing you hear that is discussed on this site is not "great", then why are you here? It's odd, really, you seem to be wasting your time. Perhaps take up fishing or crocheting. It's even stranger that you'd be defending a list that contains so much dismal music while denigrating the actual genre people come here to talk about.

As for Neil Young, he didn't have anything remotely resembling a hit since 2000 (and not much in the way of classic Neil Young songs either, I must say).

Seeing as you missed the fact that there were songs on this banal list that did not chart, the need for a "hit" evidently was not required. So, look at albums. Neil Young's Prairie Wind went Gold in the U.S. in 2005, and received good reviews. Their are other older performers on the list (Dylan, Johnny Cash, Leonard Cohen, etc.), so it isn't necessarily about the bestest and shiniest and newest thing to cloud your nearsighted vision.

IMO Decemberists are a terrible band without a single good song to speak of, so I'm glad that the guys at RS were astute enough to recognized this.

Well, your judgement regarding music is already in question, so I am not surprised. But we're only talking about "hits", dear, and innovation, right? Well, The Decemberists have several albums in the top ten in the U.S. and UK. And I would suggest that an album like Hazards of Love or a #1 album like The King is Dead are, by using your flawed reasoning, more popular and innovative than literally half the list, so a song from those albums should certainly be on there. Or are you now going to say something different to confound your original proposition? Circular reasoning is not a debate tool.

Again, we all know why you posted this. You have an irrational hatred for Rolling Stone. There wasn't the slightest interest in generating a thoughtful discussion about the awesome songs on the RS list.

No, Madame Ouspenskaya, your tea leaves are incorrect. I just happened to come across this RS list while looking up something else. It could well have been a list by Pitchfork, NME or any other music media outlet. And again, your reference to "awesome songs" is laughable, as I've already pointed out elsewhere. Your only defense is that they are Popular, but you can't quite define why they should be on any "Great" list. You claim they are "awesome", but according to you, they are not "great". It seems you suffer some sort of adjective comprehension disorder. Maybe you can start a Go-Fund-Me page to see if there is a cure.

[DocProgger]

As for Neil Young, he didn't have anything remotely resembling a hit since 2000 (and not much in the way of classic Neil Young songs either, I must say).

More crapola from the Crapola King.


Silver and Gold--"The album was a nominee for Roots & Traditional Album of the Year – Solo at the 2001 Juno Awards."

Greendale--"Greendale combines numerous themes on corruption, environmentalism and mass media consolidation. The album was voted as one of the best albums of 2003 by Rolling Stone magazine music critics."

Prairie Wind--"The album debuted on the Billboard 200 album chart at number 11, on October 15, 2005, with sales of approximately 72,000 copies. It remained on the chart for 26 weeks. It was awarded a certified gold record by the RIAA on January 23, 2006. Prairie Wind received two Grammy Award nominations at the 2006 Grammy Awards - Best Rock Album of the Year and Best Rock Solo Performance for "The Painter.""

Living with War--"Living with War was nominated for three 2007 Grammy Awards in the categories of Best Rock Album, Best Rock Song and Best Solo Rock Vocal Performance (both for "Lookin' for a Leader")."

Chrome Dreams II--"the song "No Hidden Path" was nominated for a Grammy Award for Best Solo Rock Vocal Performance at the 51st Grammy Awards, 2009."

Fork in the Road--"Young's vocal performance on "Fork in the Road" was nominated for Best Solo Rock Vocal Performance at the 52nd Grammy Awards, 2010."

Le Noise--"The track "Angry World" won a Grammy Award for Best Solo Rock Vocal Performance. Le Noise received generally positive reviews with Uncut magazine proclaiming it as the second best album of 2010 in its year-end Top 50 Albums list. This album was number 20 on Rolling Stone's list of the 30 Best Albums of 2010."

Psychedelic Pill--"Overall, Psychedelic Pill received positive reviews. Rolling Stone gave the album four stars and said "it has the roiling honesty and brutal exuberance of their best records." Douglas Heselgrave, writing for Paste Magazine, said: "Psychedelic Pill may be the best album Neil Young has ever done with Crazy Horse. It'll take years to figure out." Dan Stubbs, giving the album 8 out of 10 stars for NME, writes: "two tracks here – 'Ramada Inn' and 'Walk Like A Giant' – could sit among Young's best."

The album was listed at #10 on Rolling Stone's list of the top 50 albums of 2012, saying, "This is as inspiringly strange as anything he's done." They also named the song "Ramada Inn" the fifth best song of 2012."

The Monsanto Years--"In a highly positive review, The Guardian's Jon Dennis gave the album five stars out of five. Praising the contributions of Promise of the Real, Dennis wrote: [The band] sound not unlike Crazy Horse, and supply all the big riffs, crashing major chords and harmonies that have characterised Young’s best records for five decades."



I bet you have never listened to tunes like Be the Rain, No Hidden Path, Spirit Road, Love and War, Angry World, Driftin Back, Walk Like a Giant etc and actually know very little about Neil Young, so per usual your spouting off crapola means nothing.

[Dave (in MA)]

Again, we all know why you posted this. You have an irrational hatred for Rolling Stone.

Having seen Rolling Stone, I'd say his hatred is entirely rational.

[DocProgger]

The crowning achievement of Kylie Minogue's career was guest starring on Doctor Who. Nothing she's done as a singer even touches that. I honestly can't believe she's still making records. I'm old enough I remember when she desecrated The Loco-Motion.

I would have to say her crowning achievement is shaking that pert little tush of hers around in the videos I've seen.

[Buddhabreath]

... No, Madame Ouspenskaya...

I'm not participating in this colorful debate since I too am unfamiliar with the vast majority of the songs and the few I looked up appear IMO abjectly unworthy. However I am following along at home and so far I give the victory to Dark Elf for among other reasons providing references that require me to look them up on Wikipedia.

[battema]

Looked at the list. Seemed fine. I knew about half of the entries (which is probably about right given that I'm not exactly a hardcore follower of pop music), recognized most of the names (but definitely not all of them).

I was surprised and a little tickled to see some names like Flaming Lips and Radiohead (I'd have gone with other song picks, but that's just nitpicking). And they picked a pretty good Coldplay song (versus one of the more obvious choices).

Sure, there's probably a zillion different songs I'd pick for my own list, but like pretty much everyone here on PE, I'm not exactly a barometer for contemporary pop music.

So...I thought it was fine for what it was.

[Facelift]

There are many musicians on this site, myself included. I said in a previous post that progressive rock didn't even come into the equation for me when discussing this list, because even when prog had a huge following back in the 70s, RS was more interested in following a punk agenda. And again, you keep mentioning "hit songs" or "popularity", but there are many songs on this list that indicate clearly Did not chart or weren't even singles (reading comprehension is a marvelous tool) --and nothing in the description of the songs on the list describes what is so earth shattering about the particular song that didn't chart. It looks like A) a favorite song of one of the voters, or B) a chance by the record industry insiders to shill their putrid product.

And what exactly is your definition of "great music"? This is one of several times you refer to prog or rock in general as "not great". If nothing you hear that is discussed on this site is not "great", then why are you here? It's odd, really, you seem to be wasting your time. Perhaps take up fishing or crocheting. It's even stranger that you'd be defending a list that contains so much dismal music while denigrating the actual genre people come here to talk about.



Seeing as you missed the fact that there were songs on this banal list that did not chart, the need for a "hit" evidently was not required. So, look at albums. Neil Young's Prairie Wind went Gold in the U.S. in 2005, and received good reviews. Their are other older performers on the list (Dylan, Johnny Cash, Leonard Cohen, etc.), so it isn't necessarily about the bestest and shiniest and newest thing to cloud your nearsighted vision.



Well, your judgement regarding music is already in question, so I am not surprised. But we're only talking about "hits", dear, and innovation, right? Well, The Decemberists have several albums in the top ten in the U.S. and UK. And I would suggest that an album like Hazards of Love or a #1 album like The King is Dead are, by using your flawed reasoning, more popular and innovative than literally half the list, so a song from those albums should certainly be on there. Or are you now going to say something different to confound your original proposition? Circular reasoning is not a debate tool.



No, Madame Ouspenskaya, your tea leaves are incorrect. I just happened to come across this RS list while looking up something else. It could well have been a list by Pitchfork, NME or any other music media outlet. And again, your reference to "awesome songs" is laughable, as I've already pointed out elsewhere. Your only defense is that they are Popular, but you can't quite define why they should be on any "Great" list. You claim they are "awesome", but according to you, they are not "great". It seems you suffer some sort of adjective comprehension disorder. Maybe you can start a Go-Fund-Me page to see if there is a cure.

When the heck did I say being a hit was the only criteria? Reading comprehension problems with you again.

I also never said that they weren't great. I said that they weren't "musically great" and I already explained the difference. Did you just not read it, or are you a total fool?

Furthermore, the pool of songs that could conceivably be on such a list is much, much larger than 100. So your reasoning that because Decemberists had some degree of popularity that they must therefore be represented is flawed. Most likely, Decemberists weren't on there because they make music that is garbage.

[Facelift]

I bet you have never listened to tunes like Be the Rain, No Hidden Path, Spirit Road, Love and War, Angry World, Driftin Back, Walk Like a Giant etc and actually know very little about Neil Young, so per usual your spouting off crapola means nothing.

I own every Neil Young album that he ever released, either on vinyl or CD, with the exception of Journey Through the Past, Everybody's Rockin' and Old Ways. I have heard those, and determined that I don't need to own them. There probably is nobody on this board better qualified to discuss his career than myself.

And when I said "hits" I clearly meant hit songs, not critically acclaimed albums, as songs are what the thread pertains to, Einstein. Young had no hit songs an no songs that influenced new, relevant genres between 2000 and 2018. So it's hardly surprising that there weren't any songs from Neil Young on the list. As big a Neil Young fan as I am, I would not put a Neil Young song anywhere close to a top 100 songs of the last 18 years list.

[DocProgger]

I own every Neil Young album that he ever released, either on vinyl or CD, with the exception of Journey Through the Past, Everybody's Rockin' and Old Ways. I have heard those, and determined that I don't need to own them. There probably is nobody on this board better qualified to discuss his career than myself.

And when I said "hits" I clearly meant hit songs, not critically acclaimed albums, as songs are what the thread pertains to, Einstein. Young had no hit songs an no songs that influenced new, relevant genres between 2000 and 2018. So it's hardly surprising that there weren't any songs from Neil Young on the list. As big a Neil Young fan as I am, I would not put a Neil Young song anywhere close to a top 100 songs of the last 18 years list.

As per usual, you completely missed the point of my post, why I was laughing, in particular with the bolded Rolling Stone comments, the publication you are so vigorously defending in this thread. You are obviously too befuddled to bother explaining nuances to, so I won't waste my time, except to say, you clearly stated and I quote "and not much in the way of classic Neil Young songs either, I must say". Neil's catalog post 2000 is filled with classic Neil Young songs and playing, regardless of the "hit factor" (which he was never about), as evidenced by anyone who's listened to them, and as evidenced by and backed up by just the smattering of accolades and reviews I referenced above. The fact that you don't recognize that is embarrassing and tells us all we need to know about your extremely "shakey" expertise.

[The Dark Elf]

When the heck did I say being a hit was the only criteria? Reading comprehension problems with you again.

You are really funny, but only in an ironic manner. The only one suffering from pronounced reading incomprehension is you. Oh, and also showing an inability to do nothing but equivocate and prevaricate while losing miserably at debate. But here are a compendium of your quotes, and some commentary to help you see how you've been incapable of keeping your argument straight.

1) Your first remark indicates most popular and creative songs; unfortunately, you failed to actually read the article as to how these songs were favorites of the individual voters (as was pointed out later by JKL2000). In addition, you also failed to read that there was an indicator for how each song charted. Many clearly indicate Did not chart or weren't even singles:

And if you think that a list of some of the most popular and creative songs from the last 18 years is crap, then the RS list wasn't intended for you.

2) Next, you stated clearly that nothing was great:

*Nothing* in the "rock" medium is serious art or musically great.

3) Only to return to define "greatness" in this case as a song having "renown" (ie., popularity), and being "best", although you've never offered a shred of evidence to indicate what "best" means, because you've already said nothing is great:

"Greatest" in this context just means what they consider to be the best or most renowned...

4) Then, you suddenly swerved off the pavement, jumped the curb, and started driving the wrong way on a one way street, totally changing your opinion:

Those are almost all great songs.

5) But then just as suddenly, when I noted your confusion by saying "if by great you mean, as you said previously, most popular, then certainly," you only added a single caveat to popular - "creative" - but then offering no explanation as to how half of this slop is creative:

Popular *and* incredibly creative.

6) But then, you just as quickly reverted back to your old stand-by that nothing was great:

but there is nothing musicologically great about any of it, progressive rock included.

7) And went back to emphasizing these songs were hits:

The pool of songs that are being considered for this are songs that either became hits and/or were very influential on the respective *relevant* genres.

8) Still, you couldn't quite stay away from superlative adjectives, using "awesome" in this case:

There wasn't the slightest interest in generating a thoughtful discussion about the awesome songs on the RS list.

9) Which brings us back to the original quote in this narrative:

When the heck did I say being a hit was the only criteria? Reading comprehension problems with you again.

So, when you accuse someone of having a "reading comprehension problem", you best be sure what you are writing isn't a steaming pile of waffling and evasion.

I suggest you give up now, before you hurt yourself with your contortions.

[mnprogger]

I largely agree with Pete Pardo. In 10 or 20 years, a good percentage of these songs, nobody is going to be listening to regularly.

Look at the list of 81 voters, lol. I think I know/respect about 6 of them.

ARTISTS and EXECUTIVES

Cliff Burnstein, Q Prime Artist Management
Patrick Carney, The Black Keys
Julian Casablancas, The Strokes, the Voidz
Charli XCX
Wayne Coyne, The Flaming Lips
Britt Daniel, Spoon
Diplo
DJ Khaled
Steven Drozd, The Flaming Lips
Paul Epworth
Noel Gallagher, Oasis, Noel Gallagher’s High Flying Birds
John Gourley, Portugal. The Man
Thom Sonny Green, Alt-J
David Guetta
Jim James, My Morning Jacket
Jidenna
Craig Kallman, Atlantic Records
Bridget Kearney, Lake Street Dive
Greta Kline, Frankie Cosmos
Avril Lavigne
Dua Lipa
Courtney Love, Hole
Colin Meloy, The Decemberists
M.I.A.
French Montana
Tom Morello, Rage Against the Machine
Stuart Murdoch, Belle and Sebastian
Rita Ora
Rachel Price, Lake Street Dive
Quavo, Migos
Mark Ronson
Santigold
Andrew Savage, Parquet Courts
M. Shadows, Avenged Sevenfold
Patrick Stump, Fall Out Boy
Will Toledo, Car Seat Headrest
Justin Tranter
Lars Ulrich, Metallica
Butch Vig, Garbage
Adam Weiner, Low Cut Connie
Pete Wentz, Fall Out Boy

JOURNALISTS

David Browne
Andrew Casillas
Cameron Crowe
Anthony DeCurtis
Jon Dolan
Patrick Doyle
Michael Endelman
Stephen Thomas Erlewine
Suzy Exposito
Jason Fine
Leor Galil
Sarah Grant
Andy Greene
Kory Grow
Shirley Halperin
Rob Harvilla
Will Hermes
Christian Hoard
Steven Hyden
Maura Johnston
Joe Levy
Alan Light
Kurt Loder
Greil Marcus
Jason Newman
Kevin O’Donnell
Michelle Ofiwe
Jerry Portwood
Justin Ravitz
Isabela Raygoza
Mosi Reeves
Austin Scaggs
Rob Sheffield
Hank Shteamer
Brittany Spanos
Touré
Simon Vozick-Levinson
Barry Walters
Jonah Weiner
Christopher R. Weingarten

[JKL2000]

When the heck did I say being a hit was the only criteria?

You didn’t. You said there were two possible criteria: “The pool of songs that are being considered for this are songs that either became hits and/or were very influential on the respective *relevant* genres.”

However, neither of them were correct:

The article states: “To compile our list the “100 Greatest Songs of the Century – So Far,” we reached out to a large group of artists, producers, critics and industry experts who sent us ranked lists of their favorite songs.”

The only criterion was the preference of the participants.

[JKL2000]

When the heck did I say being a hit was the only criteria?

I also never said that they weren't great. I said that they weren't "musically great" and I already explained the difference. Did you just not read it, or are you a total fool?

Your troll rants always come around to this point. “You must be a fool if you thought my opinion was really as extreme as I intentionally made it appear.”

Reminds me of a certain public figure saying “I was only joking!” A childish way of arguing. I guess that’s what trolling is, essentially.

[JKL2000]

<<Look at the list of 81 voters, lol. I think I know/respect about 6 of them.>>

Kurt Loder. LOL. I can’t believe they didn’t get Downtown Julie Brown’s opinion too!

Do you think the people who are on this list, whose songs were on the list, voted for themselves?

Well, the whole thing is just stupid. I guess Rolling Stone has to come up with content one way or another.

[JKL2000]

Touré:

“He serves on the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Nominating Committee. He taught a course on the history of hip hop at the Clive Davis Institute of Recorded Music.”

That explains a lot. What it doesn’t explain is why he has only one name.

“Remember, class, Friday we have quiz on Salt ‘n’ Pepa.”

[The Dark Elf]

I also never said that they weren't great. I said that they weren't "musically great" and I already explained the difference. Did you just not read it, or are you a total fool?

Furthermore, the pool of songs that could conceivably be on such a list is much, much larger than 100. So your reasoning that because Decemberists had some degree of popularity that they must therefore be represented is flawed. Most likely, Decemberists weren't on there because they make music that is garbage.

You edited your post and added this further prevarication.

Look back at your posts, my dear, not once did you say or mention a difference between "great" and not "musically great". Not once. This further bolsters my low view of your uninformed opinion and utter lack of stringing coherent sentences together.

You've now claimed that nothing was great, that most of it is great, then again stating by great you mean popular and/or creative, then changing horses in mid-stream by saying great but not musically great. What an embarrassing bunch of cod swallow.

In regards to your opinion regarding The Decemberists, I understand. How can you possibly fit one of their songs on your "great" playlist of Justin Bieber, Beyonce and Rihanna and have it mesh?