Rolling Stone 500 greatest songs ever
Dirk Diggler
Interesting.
DD
Vin
>Interesting.
not really, pearl jam doesn't have any 'classic' songs, plus its rolling stone
and lists like these are beyond stupid. like a rolling stone the best song of
all time? satisfaction the second best? give me a break.
Brian (aka Zod)
yah my favorite stones song is start me up.. whats satisfaction doing so
close.. I can't really stand that song :)
but you'd think something off of ten would of made a top 500 list..
maybe even flow or alive.
ah well.. like rolling stone really counts the rock n' roll world
anymore anyways.
we need a good rock magazine.. i miss not getting something in the mail
every month anymore.. then it could be and since i don't listen to a
whole lot of modern music.. there would be much to say in such a magazine :)
- Brian
Nicholas Andrade
places) and he mentioned he was surprised to not see PJ listed. When
they were discussing if there are any good live performers out there, he
mentioned PJ as one of the last remaining great performers.
musicdude
>
> not really, pearl jam doesn't have any 'classic' songs
Kind of a stupid comment. Alive, Even Flow, and unfortunately Jeremy are
the definition of classic - at least from their era.
Vin
>Kind of a stupid comment. Alive, Even Flow, and unfortunately Jeremy are
>the definition of classic - at least from their era.
oh yeah, so stupid of me, they're right up there with imagine, let it be,
all along the watchtower and stairway to heaven.
the article list the 500 greatest songs of all time, not the 500 greatest
songs from the early nineties. yeah they were big hits but i don't think
anyones gonna give a fuck about pearl jam, soundgarden or alice in chains
in ten years. not the way people will always remember nirvana, smells like
teen spirit, one by u2, enter sandman, november rain, under the bridge,
those are the kind of songs that are likely to be remembered, not even flow.
Doug Crooks
You know, I said the same thing about Pearl Jam (no one will care about
them in ten years) when they starting the Ticketmaster thing. I'm glad
they proved me wrong ;)
I'm not sure about some of the other songs you mentioned be more
memorable, particularly November Rain and Under the Bridge. I dig both
of those songs (not so much Under the Bridge), but I don't think they
have any less 'staying power' as Alive. In fact, I can't tell you the
last time I've heard either 'Bridge' or 'Rain' on the radio, but I heard
Alive a couple of weeks ago (disclaimer: I don't listen to a ton of
radio). I agree that Soundgarden and Alice in Chains have fallen off
the face of the main stream music 'ears,' so to speak. But I think
Pearl Jam is something special that just might have staying power.
You are right, though: NO Pearl Jam song compares to Imagine, Let it Be,
All Along the Watchtower, Stairway to Heaven, etc.
--
doug
Anastasia
> Not one PJ song.
>
> Interesting.
>
> DD
Is it just me or do they do one of these lists every other year?
-Anastasia
Dirk Diggler
"Anastasia" <anast...@yahoo.com> wrote in message
news:9d31ec48.0411...@posting.google.com...
Yeah...
Also, I like how they make it a "Collectors Issue" - which just happens to
detail why/how Bush "stole" the election. So people who would happen to
keep it will be able to "read" that Bush's re-election was somehow
illegitimate...
DD
Dirk Diggler
"Vin" <i...@like.snow> wrote in message
news:w1Sqd.12151$Ad3.7...@news20.bellglobal.com...
True. True. But I would think that ONE song would make it - even #499 -
they were one of the top-selling acts of the 90s.
DD
Vin
>they were one of the top-selling acts of the 90s.
>
>DD
its rolling stone man, its a stupid list
Dirk Diggler
"Vin" <i...@like.snow> wrote in message
The only thing that gave it some validity is that many people from different
aspects of the music world vote - not just the editors of the magazine. But
then they also said they "weighted" the results - which I guess is a fancy
word for "make them the way we want"...
"Entertainment Weekly" ripped on it - they said "It's like us calling
'That's Entertainment!' the best song from a movie/musical" - because "Like
a Rolling Stone" was first - and the name of their mag...
DD
musicdude
> oh yeah, so stupid of me, they're right up there with imagine, let it be,
> all along the watchtower and stairway to heaven.
>
Yah, stupid you. FIVE HUNDRED SONGS. Not 5 songs Vin. And Alive and
Jeremy are more relevant to the history of rock than half of the songs on
the list.
yeah they were big hits but i don't think
> anyones gonna give a fuck about pearl jam, soundgarden or alice in chains
> in ten years.
You are crazy. AiC and Soundgarden are not in the same league as Pearl Jam.
Pearl Jam will still be selling out arenas in 10 years.
Cher
But then they have 5 or 6 "Collectors Issues" every year so how
collectible can they be? :?)
-Anastasia
Vin
>Jeremy are more relevant to the history of rock than half of the songs on
>the list.
yeah i guess, five hundred is a lot
>You are crazy. AiC and Soundgarden are not in the same league as Pearl Jam.
>Pearl Jam will still be selling out arenas in 10 years.
doubt it, maybe new york and seattle, they didn't even sell out most of the
shows on the last tour, plus they tour fairly often, their audience is slowly
getting smaller and smaller every year and they're not doing anything to get
new fans. maybe the slide will be slow, maybe it'll level off, maybe they'll
be like most bands and play to half empty arenas, who knows.. all i know is
teenagers won't be listening to pearl jam in ten years the way we listened
to zeppelin, floyd, sabbath, stones, beatles, etc.. those kids will know
what smells like teen spirit is, i don't think any of them will know what
even flow is.
musicdude
> doubt it, maybe new york and seattle, they didn't even sell out most of
> the
> shows on the last tour, plus they tour fairly often, their audience is
> slowly
> getting smaller and smaller every year and they're not doing anything to
> get
> new fans. maybe the slide will be slow, maybe it'll level off, maybe
> they'll
> be like most bands and play to half empty arenas, who knows.. all i know
> is
> teenagers won't be listening to pearl jam in ten years the way we listened
> to zeppelin, floyd, sabbath, stones, beatles, etc.. those kids will know
> what smells like teen spirit is, i don't think any of them will know what
> even flow is.
I don't disagree. But, they will still sell 7-10K tickets in 30 major
cities in 10 years and sell out arenas in the top 10 markets. They sold out
2 Boston shows this year in a day or two.
Rock is dying and nobody is taking Pearl Jam's place. Creed? Who? Closest
you have is a Coldplay I guess...there are no new rock bands that are
anything like Pearl Jam. I think you underestimate their longevity Vin.
They will very much be like The Who in 10 or 15 years. Even more important
than them, considering there won't be any rock bands left - not even the who
:(
BloodWings19
Greatest Songs. He said he doesn't care for it because it changes yearly.
When you have Nirvana's "Smell Like Teen Spirit", you gotta have at least 1
Pearl Jam song, Jeremy should of been top 500. I expect to see Rolling Stone's
500 Greatest Songs from Bands that no longer exists.
Vin
i don't know how anyone can honestly compare any of pj's singles to smells
like teen spirit.. it was nirvana's first big single, it was seattles first
big single, it was the song that ushered in the era of grunge, the song that
changed the tide, it was the song that took down guns n roses, factor in kurts
suicide which just multiplies everything by ten.. like it or not smells like
teen spirit is by far THE defining song of the 90's.
Doug Crooks
> i don't know how anyone can honestly compare any of pj's singles to smells
> like teen spirit.. it was nirvana's first big single, it was seattles first
> big single, it was the song that ushered in the era of grunge, the song that
> changed the tide, it was the song that took down guns n roses, factor in kurts
> suicide which just multiplies everything by ten.. like it or not smells like
> teen spirit is by far THE defining song of the 90's.
Ya know, as much as I love Pearl Jam, and the album Ten, no song on that
album can touch 'Smells Like Teen Spirit.' It might be easy to discount
if someone is younger now, but I was in high school when Nirvana broke,
and I vividly remember when 'Teen Spirit' smashed through the main
stream, and literally re-wrote the rules in regards to "pop" music, rock
and roll, and radio-friendly tunes. Pearl Jam's "Ten" is, IMO, a
perfect rock album, and one of my all time favorites. But without
'Smells Like Teen Spirit,' people outside the west coast may never have
heard of Pearl Jam, and we'd possibly all still be banging our heads to
glam and heavy metal (shudder the thought)
I obviously love PJ, but you've GOT to give Nirvana the bulk of the
credit for grunge, alternative, and the Seattle sound that dominated the
early to mid 90's.
--
doug
Indie Rock Pete
here's an article that was recently printed in the san diego union
tribune. not too much pearl jam content, so i didn't originally think
about posting it, but since it's on topic....
Roll over Beethoven, and tell Pearl Jam the news
By George Varga
POP MUSIC CRITIC
November 28, 2004
You've got to be kidding.
That's the name of a wonderfully acerbic song from Graham Parker's 1976
debut album, "Heat Treatment." It's also my response to "The 500
Greatest Songs of All Time," the 43-page feature that appears in the
new issue of Rolling Stone.
Of course, all "greatest hits" or "best of" lists are subjective, as
Rolling Stone's highly debatable "500 Greatest Albums" issue last year
attests. That's why anyone perusing its 500 greatest song selections
will surely react passionately to the choices made by the magazine's
172 voters.
Each was asked to list his or her 50 favorite songs, or - more
specifically - 50 favorite recorded performances of those songs.
That's because, for example, Aretha Franklin did not write "Respect"
(which came in at No. 5), Elvis Presley did not write "Hound Dog" (No.
19) and Jimi Hendrix did not write "All Along the Watchtower" (No. 48),
a classic by Bob Dylan, whose "Like a Rolling Stone" is ranked No. 1 by
the magazine.
Regardless, Rolling Stone's list has so many omissions of worthy songs
and artists that one can only wonder what its voters were thinking.
Do Jakob Dylan, Melissa Etheridge and Incubus' Brandon Boyd, who all
participated, really think disco diva Donna Summer's "Hot Stuff" is
superior to any song written or recorded by Laura Nyro, Memphis Slim or
Mose Allison? (Apparently so, since none of them made the cut.)
Do fellow voters Elvis Costello, k.d. lang and George Clinton genuinely
believe that only one song recorded between 1940 and 1949 is worthy of
a "greatest" designation, and nothing before then? (Probably not, but I
suspect their song nominations were in the minority.)
To further confuse matters, while Rolling Stone's cover promises "The
500 Greatest Songs of All Time," the introduction inside welcomes
readers to "a celebration of the greatest rock & roll songs of all
time" (emphasis added), which suggests a very different criteria.
Had the magazine wanted to strive for accuracy, it would have
eliminated the "of all time" reference. Last time I checked, there
weren't any rock 'n' roll songs around when George Gershwin composed
"An American in Paris" in 1928, or when Beethoven began crafting his
Fifth Symphony in 1807 (Chuck Berry's "Roll Over Beethoven"
notwithstanding).
Matters are further muddied by Rolling Stone's contradictory
explanation that participants, who were "asked to select songs from the
rock & roll era," "nominated 2,103 songs in virtually every pop music
genre of the past half-century and beyond."
That explains why such worthy, non-rock artists as Willie Nelson, Jimmy
Cliff and Public Enemy made the cut.
It does not explain the absence of Woody Guthrie and Ralph Stanley, or
blues queen Etta James and zydeco pioneer Clifton Chenier. Nor does it
explain why the B-52s are represented by two songs, while Randy Newman,
among the finest songwriters of the past 50 years, has just one.
Absent altogether are any songs by Niña Simone and John Hiatt, or such
similarly worthless hacks as Gershwin and Cole Porter. Pearl Jam or the
Negro Problem? Nope. Gram Parsons or Rosanne Cash? Zip.
Or how about New Orleans music legends Professor Longhair and Allen
Toussaint? They apparently don't exist as far as Rolling Stone is
concerned.
Neither does jazz for that matter, so no Duke Ellington, Billie Holiday
or Miles Davis. But no matter, because Alice Cooper and Foreigner each
made the list - twice.
Speaking of foreigners, let's also thank Rolling Stone for reaffirming
that no singers or songwriters of note exist in any country not named
the United States, the United Kingdom or Jamaica.
Brazil's Antonio Carlos Jobim? Sorry. Greece's Nana Mouskouri? Afraid
not. Chile's Victor Jara? Nada. Belgium's Jacques Brel? Pardon moi.
I could go on, but why bother?
Rolling Stone is free to compile any list of songs or albums it wants,
the more hyperbolic the better (at least for its sales). One only
wishes the magazine could be more accurate in how it titles these
lists, and that it might be more inclusive in terms of musical styles,
geography and time frames.
Then again, I'd also be elated if Britney Spears devoted herself to a
career making macrame and Eminem began volunteering at a center for
harassed gay teens, but I'm not holding my breath.
Meanwhile, off the top of my head, here are some of my favorite songs
that didn't make the cut in Rolling Stone (assuming they were even
nominated), by artists who also failed to make the cut (listed
alphabetically by artist):
"Love and Affection," Joan Armatrading. "Muevete," Ruben Blades. "Look
Where You Brought Me Tonight," Blind Boys of Alabama. "Everybody Needs
Somebody to Love," Solomon Burke. "Born in the U.S.A.," Stanley Clarke.
"Here She Comes Again," Marshall Crenshaw. "Untouchable Face," Ani
DiFranco. "Built for Comfort," Willie Dixon. "A Night in Tunisia,"
Dizzy Gillespie. "Knee-Bitten Nymphs in Limbo," Happy the Man. "Ghost
Writer," Garland Jefferys.
"Country Boy," Albert Lee. "Kiko and the Lavender Moon," Los Lobos.
"Couldn't Love You More," John Martyn. "Tell It Like It Is," Aaron
Neville. "How High the Moon," Les Paul & Mary Ford. "Diana," Wayne
Shorter & Milton Nascimento. "More Than This," Roxy Music. "The Seed,"
the Roots. "Do You Remember," Jill Scott. "Pavane," Richard Thompson.
"Sankofa," Cassandra Wilson. "Lineage," Jaguar Wright. "Rook, " XTC.
"Peaches en Regalia," Frank Zappa.
Those are some of my picks. What are yours? (Responses may be featured
in an upcoming Pop Scene column.)
Indie Rock Pete
here's an article that was recently printed in the san diego union