VH1's 100 Greatest Songs From the Past 25 Years

06.11.03
02:35 AM
what about indie stuff? This is all corporate

What, no Pixies, no Husker Du, no Minutemen, no Big Black, no Minor Threat,
no Bikini Kill, no Big Boys, no Momus, no Magnetic Fields, no Diamanda
Galas, no Stereolab...

And as far as major label stuff, no Flaming Lips?

What a joke!

It's all about the payola.

On what planet is this considered one of the greatest and most important songs of the past quarter-century?

Of all the songs from the individual Queen and Bowie catalogs they coulda picked... why is this important, because it inspired "Ice Ice Baby"?

i get the feeling the benatar 'ardcore
fan forums have had a meeting.

I shall take a stab at the narrative for some of these:
91) Melissa Etheridge - Come To My Window. Key words used: Fusing, power, female empowerment.
24) Celine Dion - My Heart Will Go On. Key words used: powerful, female empowerment.
26) Bon Jovi - Livin’ On A Prayer. Key words used: Bad Boys, power.

76) Eurythmics - Sweet Dreams (Are Made Of This)
38) The Clash - London Calling
35) The Sugarhill Gang - Rapper’s Delight
27) Grandmaster Flash - The Message
19) Public Enemy - Fight The Power

There's a few more alright songs, though not ones I'd ever need to hear again, like the two Michael Jackson songs and the Ramones track.

Of all the songs they've could've picked from Devo and Talking Heads, they ended up with Whip It and Once In A lifetime? What on earth is that?

It's nice to see that they're trying to list some newer things too, but come on. I thought everyone despised "Don't wanna miss a thing". EVERYONE!

Errrrrrr...

There's at least 20 songs I love on it. OH MY GOD, I'M SO OLD...

How many good songs has David Bowie done since 1978 (that were hits, anyway)?

This is like including the Beatles' "Love Me Do" as their only entry on a "Best of the 1960s" list.

PS no Sex Pistols.

No New Order though.....

Thus denying both the Pistols and the OST for "Saturday Night Fever," arguably the two most influential albums of the last 25 years.

PS I think we can safely replace

98) Hanson - MMMBop

with Elvis Costello, Joe Jackson, Graham Parker, Nick Lowe, Ian Dury, the Boomtown Rats, the Specials, Madness and/or the English Beat.

Awsome.

83) Band Aid - Do They Know It’s Christmas

with the Cure, Depeche Mode, aforementioned New Order, Blur, Pulp, Primal Scream and/or Roxy Music's "Avalon."

Insert Ozzy, Motley Crue, Poison,Soundgarden, Mudhoney, Pantera, Slayer, Anthrax, Korn, Tool and/or Marilyn Manson.

Oh yeah, and Frank Zappa's "Valley Girl."

Insert Ozzy, Motley Crue, Poison, Soundgarden, Mudhoney, Pantera, Slayer, Anthrax, Korn, Tool and/or Marilyn Manson.

Oh yeah, and Frank Zappa's "Valley Girl."

Insert Ozzy, Motley Crue, Poison, Soundgarden, Mudhoney, Pantera, Slayer, Anthrax, Korn, Tool and/or Marilyn Manson.

Oh yeah, and Frank Zappa's "Valley Girl."

Thus denying both the Pistols and the OST for "Saturday Night Fever," arguably the two most influential albums of the last 25 years.

EXCEPT THEY WERE RELEASED MORE THAN 25 YEARS AGO!

Thirty-six really great songs and a lot of other good songs, the biggest act of lunacy on the list is #5 not #4.

96) Beastie Boys - (You Gotta) Fight For Your Right (To Party!)
94) Cheap Trick - Surrender
92) Salt 'N Pepa - Push It
85) Eminem - My Name Is
83) Band Aid - Do They Know It’s Christmas
82) Soft Cell - Tainted Love
81) OutKast - Ms. Jackson
80) Duran Duran - Hungry Like The Wolf
79) Destiny’s Child - Say My Name
77) Missy Elliott - Work It
76) Eurythmics - Sweet Dreams (Are Made Of This)
74) Hall & Oates - I Can’t Go For That (No Can Do)
70) Culture Club - Do You Really Want to Hurt Me
68) Chic - Good Times
66) Squeeze - Tempted
65) Nelly - Hot In Herre
61) Backstreet Boys - I Want It That Way
58) The Notorious B.I.G. feat. Puff Daddy & Mase- Mo Money Mo Problems
56) Sheryl Crow - All I Wanna Do
55) Talking Heads - Once In A Lifetime
48) Naughty By Nature - O.P.P.
43) The Go-Go’s - Our Lips Are Sealed
42) Blondie - Heart Of Glass
40) Michael Jackson - Beat It
36) Joan Jett - I Love Rock ‘N Roll
35) The Sugarhill Gang - Rapper’s Delight
31) Dr. Dre featuring Snoop Dogg - Nuthin’ But A “G” Thang
28) Britney Spears - …Baby One More Time
27) Grandmaster Flash - The Message
23) Prince - Little Red Corvette
19) Public Enemy - Fight The Power
14) Sinead O’Connor - Nothing Compares 2 U
13) TLC - Waterfalls
11) Van Halen - Jump
07) Prince & The Revolution - When Doves Cry
03) Guns N’ Roses - Sweet Child O’ Mine
02) Michael Jackson - Billie Jean

That's 37 actually cos I missed Mo Money Mo Problems first time. About the same # again are good.

Really Awful songs:

84) Radiohead - Creep
72) John Lennon - (Just Like) Starting Over
63) Beck - Loser
60) Santana feat Rob Thomas - Smooth
57) Eric Clapton - Tears In Heaven
50) Lenny Kravitz - Are You Gonna Go My Way?
45) Aerosmith -I Don’t Want To Miss A Thing
41) Red Hot Chili Peppers - Under The Bridge
39) Tom Petty - Free Fallin’
32) Pearl Jam - Jeremy
24) Celine Dion - My Heart Will Go On
18) R.E.M. - Losing My Religion
16) No Doubt - Don’t Speak
12) Alanis Morissette - You Oughta Know
09) The Police - Every Breath You Take
05) U2 - One

(Some others are maybe great or awful but I don't know them or can't remember.)

96) Beastie Boys - (You Gotta) Fight For Your Right (To Party!)
90) The Police - Roxanne
89) Pat Benatar - Hit Me With Your Best Shot
87) The Who - Who Are You
82) Soft Cell - Tainted Love
80) Duran Duran - Hungry Like The Wolf
77) Missy Elliott - Work It
75) The Ramones - I Wanna Be Sedated
74) Hall & Oates - I Can’t Go For That (No Can Do)
70) Culture Club - Do You Really Want to Hurt Me
67) John Cougar Mellencamp - Jack And Diane
66) Squeeze - Tempted
62) Pretenders - Brass In Pocket
61) Backstreet Boys - I Want It That Way
60) Santana feat Rob Thomas - Smooth
57) Eric Clapton - Tears In Heaven
55) Talking Heads - Once In A Lifetime
52) The Rolling Stones - Start Me Up
42) Blondie - Heart Of Glass
40) Michael Jackson - Beat It
39) Tom Petty - Free Fallin’
36) Joan Jett - I Love Rock ‘N Roll
35) The Sugarhill Gang - Rapper’s Delight
33) Tina Turner - What’s Love Got To Do With It
31) Dr. Dre featuring Snoop Dogg - Nuthin’ But A “G” Thang
30) Janet Jackson - Nasty
29) Bruce Springsteen - Born In The U.S.A.
25) Rick James - Super Freak
20) AC/DC - You Shook Me All Night Long
19) Public Enemy - Fight The Power
11) Van Halen - Jump
10) Madonna - Like A Virgin
07) Prince & The Revolution - When Doves Cry
06) Run-D.M.C. - Walk This Way
03) Guns N’ Roses - Sweet Child O’ Mine
02) Michael Jackson - Billie Jean
01) Nirvana - Smells Like Teen Spirit

interesting tho - what makes 'I Love Rock n' Roll' and 'Jump' great but 'Are You Gonna Go My Way' awful? they're not so different are they?

and 'One' is very well written i thought...as for 'Just Like Starting Over' - i've just decided its essentially the basis for 'A Design For life', oh dear...

"Jump" - lovely baroque synths'n'solos music.

"Are You Gonna Go..." - none of the above, plus Lenny K annoys me (and please no counterfactual nonsense about "if somebody else had made it you'd like it"; somebody else didn't.)

Triteness is generally duff if it's combined with portentiousness and an unwillingness to risk making an idiot of oneself (why Meat Loaf is OK and U2 aren't).

I may have been too harsh on Just Like Starting Over but it's still pretty eh.

My goodness, you're right! I'm not bothering with arguing over the list itself but surely this is a sign of good.

One love
One life
When it's one need
In the night
One love
We get to share it
Leaves you baby if you
Don't care for it

Did I disappoint you
Or leave a bad taste in your mouth
You act like you never had love
And you want me to go without
Well 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
Carry each other
One...

Have you come here for forgiveness
Have you come to raise the dead
Have you come here to play Jesus
To the lepers in your head

Did I ask too much
More than a lot
You gave me nothing
Now it's all I got
We're one
But we're not the same
Well we
Hurt each other
Then we do it again
You say
Love is a temple
Love a higher law
Love is a temple
Love the higher law
You ask me to enter
But then you make me crawl
And I can't be holding on
To what you got
BOLLOCKS YOU CUNTS THIS IS QUALITY!
When all you got is hurt

One love
One blood
One life
You got to do what you should
One life
With each other
Sisters
Brothers
One life
But we're not the same
We get to
Carry each other
Carry each other

One...life

One

HAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH-HAAAAAAAAAAA
HAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH-HAAAAAAAAAAA
EH-HEH, EH-HEH, EH-HOOOOOOOOOOOOO
WUNNNNNNNNN

You and me both!

What? My insights on these songs aren't enough? Nobody cares that "My Heart Will Go On" was my prom theme? Fuck y'all.