This list is getting so big that I've stopped counting. I don't want to number them past the top ten, but they're arranged with the ones I like better at the top, and I've sacrificed some ordering precision by mostly bunching songs by the same artist. The year is the recording date when I'm sure of it, otherwise the release date.
Also check out my Favorite Albums plus Hawkwind.
the top ten
1. Big Blood - Song for Baltimore (2007)
How can this sound be made by humans? I don't even know what it's about, but every time I hear it I touch the eternal nameless.
(video)
2. Orphans & Vandals - Argyle Square (2009)
This is about a guy's life in the city and how he wants his lover to move there. The best art takes something seemingly ordinary, and represents it in such a way that it seems unspeakably wonderful.
(video)
3. Joanna Newsom - En Gallop (2004)
The most beautiful thing I've ever heard. At first I thought it was all from Newsom's unearthly vocal performance, but after listening to covers, I think it's also great songwriting
(video). See below for the uncanny similarities with Wall Of Voodoo's "Back in Flesh".
4. Hawkwind - Space Is Deep (1972)
Much more Hawkwind at the bottom of the album page. The vocals are over at 2:15 and the buildup and jam that follow have never been matched. In the
video, wait for the blastoff at 3:26.
5. Orphans & Vandals - Terra Firma (2009)
The most intense song I've ever heard, after I realized it's about a suicide.
(video)
6. Mazzy Star - Fade Into You (1993)
A perfect song, with the best ever opening line, "I want to hold the hand inside you."
(video)
7. Beat Happening - Indian Summer (1988)
Sometimes a simple song sounds better than a complex song ever could. Beat Happening were masters at stripping it down, and this is their timeless classic.
(video)
8. The Kinks - Strangers (1970)
My favorite Kinks song is by Dave Davies. Ray is the brains of the Kinks but Dave is the heart.
(video)
9. R.E.M. - Wendell Gee (1985)
Written and mostly performed by Mike Mills, this is a about the danger of losing your soul in the modern world ("the wire turned to lizard skin and when he climbed inside") and the dream of getting it back.
(video)
10. Electric Moon - anything (2010-present)
Well, they have a few early tracks ruined by vocals, but in general Electric Moon can improvise better space rock than anyone else can play. Here's an hour-long
video of one of their live albums. This is the music in heaven.
more from my new favorite band
Big Blood - Oh Country (2008)
A voice that blows the floor off my brain, backed by folk instruments plus fuzz guitar, gradually getting louder, with a drone rhythm accenting the one beat -- it's like my musical taste won the lottery, and this is their prettiest song.
(video).
Big Blood - Water (2011)
Colleen Kinsella shows off her impossible voice for 12 minutes. David Lynch could not make a movie good enough for this.
(video)
Big Blood - The Grove Is Hotter Than An Ocean's Oven (2007)
I think this is about ecological disaster caused by human progress, again with exceptional singing.
(video)
Big Blood - Destin Rain (2010)
Is this weird song even better than I think it is?
(video)
Big Blood - Creepin' Crazy Time (2010)
Psych rock with vocals doesn't get any better than this.
(video)
Big Blood - No Gravity Blues (2007)
Short and spooky. Check out the note at 1:44 in the
video.
Big Blood - The Rise of Quinnisa Rose (2007)
I can't believe nobody beat me to putting this on YouTube.
(video)
Big Blood - I Will Love You (2011)
Even after they were my favorite band, I wasn't sure if this was great or terrible.
(video)
Big Blood - Adversaries and Enemies (2007)
I thought this was boring at first, but now I'm in love with the intervals between the notes.
(video)
Big Blood - Run (2011)
All their music is shared free
here. It's not a coincidence that my favorite band of the 21st century doesn't even try to make money from their music.
(video).
Chris Stamey - Something Came Over Me (1988)
My favorite happy love song. I uploaded this
video of the studio version from Fireworks.
Blue Oyster Cult - Don't Fear The Reaper (1976)
I've probably heard it a thousand times and it still sounds as good as ever.
(video)
Band of Horses - The Funeral (2006)
No other sad song rocks this hard. Following interpretations on songmeanings.com, I think it's about heroin addiction.
(video)
Sigur Rós - Svefn-g-englar (Sleepwalkers) (1999)
Easily my favorite foreign language song.
(video)
Orphans & Vandals - Metropes (2009)
Thematically this is like an old Kinks song that cynically mocks the elite, but it's darker and much more powerful.
(video)
Orphans & Vandals - Mysterious Skin (2009)
This makes Bohemian Rhapsody sound like children's music.
(video)
Pulp - Common People (1995)
The full-length version rocks like nothing else in the 90's.
(video).
Neutral Milk Hotel - In The Aeroplane Over The Sea (1998)
"How strange it is to be anything at all."
(video)
Neutral Milk Hotel - Little Birds (1998)
Live version, for years available only as a bootleg. I'm not sure whether the 2011 box set contains this or another version.
(video)
Camper Van Beethoven - June (1989)
I love it when all the vocals are in the first half and the second half is a crazy jam.
(video)
Camper Van Beethoven - All Her Favorite Fruit (1989)
Violin (by Don Lax) and electric guitar (by Greg Lisher) have never sounded so good together.
(video)
Camper Van Beethoven - Good Guys and Bad Guys (1986)
The happiest thing ever.
(video)
Camper Van Beethoven - Surprise Truck (1986)
No other song rocks this hard while still being fun.
(video)
Camper Van Beethoven - Klondike (?)
One of their strangest songs. They should have done a whole album like this!
(video)
R.E.M. - Belong (1991)
(video)
R.E.M. - Nightswimming (1992)
(video)
R.E.M. - Shaking Through (1983)
(video)
R.E.M. - Rockville (1984)
Are all my favorite R.E.M. songs by Mike Mills?
(video)
Led Zeppelin - When The Levee Breaks (1971)
Hard rock after 1971 is basically footnotes to Led Zeppelin, but even their other stuff can't touch this.
Led Zeppelin - The Battle of Evermore (1971)
Why is it, when Led Zeppelin took rock to the next level, everyone imitated them, but when they took folk to the next level, no one imitated them?
Led Zeppelin - Kashmir (1974)
Jimmy Page was the best riff composer of all time.
Esben and the Witch - No Dog (2014)
The most awesome live
video I've ever seen.
The Gathering Field - Lost In America (1996)
How did this exceptional mainstream rock song fall through the cracks?
(video)
Galaxie 500 - Blue Thunder (1989)
A song about a car, with epic guitar.
(video)
Galaxie 500 - Flowers (1988)
Probably the best use of reverb ever.
(video)
Big Star - What's Going Ahn (1973)
Their greatest song combines the musical discipline of their second album with the sadness and off-the-rails beauty of their third.
(video)
Big Star - September Gurls (1973)
(video)
Big Star - The Ballad of El Goodo (1972)
(video)
Tom Waits - Tom Traubert's Blues (1976)
His greatest lyrics, including the best rhyme in English: "I lost my St Christopher now that I've kissed her." I follow Bones Howe's interpretation, that Matilda represents all the women who catalyzed the failures of homeless men.
(video)
(instrumentals and jams)
Yo La Tengo - Spec Bebop (1997)
I love Yo La Tengo, but dammit, if they could play like this, couldn't they have played like this on a few more songs? Probably the best stoner track ever.
(video)
Hawkwind - Wind of Change (1974)
Multilayered and peaceful, with epic oboe.
(video)
Bob Dylan - Main Title Theme (1973)
Believe it or not, I love Bob Dylan's voice. Somehow he also did one of my favorite instrumentals. From the soundtrack to Pat Garrett and Billy the Kid.
(video)
Mono - Yearning (2005)
Mono is my favorite post-rock band. A bunch of their songs are almost this good.
(video)
Godspeed You Black Emperor - Gathering Storm (2000)
GYBE took the slow buildup to a whole new level. My other favorites include East Hastings and Moya.
(video)
Holy Fuck - Lovely Allen (2007)
Brilliant lo-fi electronica band. This is their prettiest song.
(video)
Fuck Buttons - Hidden XS (2013)
Great electronic noise duo.
(video)
Moon Duo - In The Trees (2010)
I think they chose the title because this is their best song on cannabis.
(video)
Moon Duo - Love On The Sea (2009)
Beautiful long jam with a perfect beat. It took 40 years for someone to improve on The Velvet Underground's "What Goes On".
(video)
The Velvet Underground - What Goes On (1969 live)
The first part with vocals is forgettable, but the jam for the last six minutes is unprecedented and all-important in the history of my favorite music.
(video)
Neu! - Hallogallo (1972)
The best example of the motorik beat, and my favorite background song.
(video)
Sons of Kemet - Inner Babylon (2013)
So far, my favorite track that is unquestionably jazz.
(video)
Hash Jar Tempo - Untitled 1 (1997)
From the album Well Oiled. This is perfect mellow space rock, and ahead of its time.
(video)
Retro Remix Revue - Gerudo Valley (2009)
The best version of my favorite video game track, composed by Koji Kondo for Zelda Ocarina of Time.
(video)
Yes - Würm (1970)
The best jam in prog rock, technically not a song but the last section of Starship Trooper.
(video)
Joanna Newsom - Sadie (2004)
"And all that we built, and all that we breathed, and all that we spilt, or pulled up like weeds,
is piled up in back; and it burns irrevocably."
(video)
Joanna Newsom - Clam Crab Cockle Cowrie (2004)
It almost never happens that a great lyricist is also a great singer. This breakup song is an example of both.
(video)
Joanna Newsom - Peach Plum Pear (2004)
(video)
Joanna Newsom - This Side of the Blue (2004)
I love the verse about the birds.
(video)
Advance Base - Summer Music (2012)
Beautifully sad lo-fi.
(video)
Rocketship - I Love You The Way I Used To Do (1996)
(video)
Corndolly - Come Out (1992?)
Happy lesbian love song by a forgotten Illinois band.
(video)
Beat Happening - Secret Picnic Spot (1990)
Lyrics don't get any more spiritual than this.
(video)
Beat Happening - Pajama Party in a Haunted Hive (1989)
Best song ever about sex. "Sting me, queen me, queen sting dream me, dream queen sting me, sting queen!"
(video)
Beat Happening - Teenage Caveman (1992)
One of my favorite songs to dance to.
(video)
Beat Happening - Tiger Trap (1992)
(video)
Nirvana - Smells Like Teen Spirit (1991)
You probably have to go back to "Like a Rolling Stone" for a song that's both this good and this influential. Not only did it define the sound of 90's rock, the video defined the look of the 90's.
Nirvana - untitled (1993)
The title "Sappy" was later tacked onto it, but I consider it untitled because it was untitled in its original release (on the No Alternative compilation) and there was no title consistently attached to it from the beginning. Anyway, great metaphysical song.
(video)
Mark Lanegan - Where Did You Sleep Last Night (1989)
Nirvana's famous live version is based on Mark Lanegan's version, with Cobain and Novoselic on guitar and bass. Lanegan is covering a Leadbelly version of an old folk song called In The Pines.
(video)
Carissa's Wierd - Drunk With The Only Saints I Know (1998?)
(video)
Carissa's Wierd - September Come Take This Heart Away (2002)
(video)
Carissa's Wierd - Heather Rhodes (1998?)
"Saw someone today who looked exactly like you, it's funny how the years go by." It's about meeting your ex, and missing what you had with the person they used to be.
(video)
Carissa's Wierd - Phantom Fireworks (2004)
If I started a band, I would try to sound like the second half of this song all the time.
(video)
Red House Painters - Katy Song (1993)
... also the second half of this song.
(video)
Get Well Soon - If This Hat Is Missing I Have Gone Hunting (2008)
I'm a sucker for a repeating vocal crescendo, and this is a weird one.
(video)
Bone Cellar - Dryrot (1994)
Great obscure Seattle band. David Gilmour can't touch this guitar solo.
(video)
Bone Cellar - Lost in the Light of Day (1995)
(video)
The Flaming Lips - Do You Realize? (2002)
The Flaming Lips edge out Neutral Milk Hotel in the category of best band worst name.
(video)
The Flaming Lips - Yoshimi Battles the Pink Robots (2002)
I like the KEXP live version best, and uploaded this
video using a camera toss image I found on the internet years ago.
Son Volt - Tear Stained Eye (1995)
(video)
(songs with place names in titles)
Dave Loggins - Please Come To Boston (1974)
(video)
Glen Campbell - By The Time I Get To Phoenix (1967)
(video)
Bruce Springsteen - Atlantic City (1982)
(video)
Tom Waits - Kentucky Avenue (1978)
This song is so sad that it took me years to understand it.
(video)
The Kinks - Waterloo Sunset (1967)
Bob Dylan - Boots of Spanish Leather (1964)
It's said that nobody ruins Bob Dylan like Bob Dylan. Not only does he do the worst versions of his own songs, he keeps the originals off YouTube.
Bob Dylan - Idiot Wind (1975)
Bob Dylan - One More Cup Of Coffee (1976)
Bob Dylan - Visions of Johanna (1966)
The Velvet Underground - Heroin (1967)
It's shocking how much this song still rocks. The studio version and the 1969 live version are equally good.
(video)
The Velvet Underground - Candy Says (1968)
Lou Reed used to say this was the best song he ever wrote, and I agree. Sung by Doug Yule.
(video)
Jack Nitzsche - Old Enough To Know (1981)
This song has never been released or even bootlegged -- you can only hear it by watching the movie
Cutter's Way, and only the first verse plays clearly. I bought the dvd just so I could extract it, and made this
video.
Warren Zevon - I Was In The House When The House Burned Down (1999)
The second best song title ever, after Pink Floyd's "Set the Controls for the Heart of the Sun".
(video)
John Cooper Clarke - Valley Of The Lost Women (1978)
His best lyrics and his prettiest backing music.
(video)
Violent Femmes - Never Tell (1984)
More like a collection of scraps than a song, but every scrap is intense and inspired. This is the Violent Femmes' masterpiece.
(video)
Violent Femmes - Country Death Song (1984)
Probably inspired by Bob Dylan's Ballad of Hollis Brown, and much more intense. Here's a great animated fan
video.
Gordon Lightfoot - If You Could Read My Mind (1970)
I love Gordon Lightfoot!
(video)
Gordon Lightfoot - Carefree Highway (1974)
(video)
Gordon Lightfoot - Cobwebs and Dust (1970)
I love the structure of this song: a simple 18 note vocal melody repeated 16 times with changing lyrics.
(video)
Gordon Lightfoot - Affair on 8th Avenue (1975)
The beautiful Gord's Gold version of this song was cut from the CD and to this day has not been offered for sale in digital form. But it has been ripped from vinyl and shared for free. Here's a
download.
Gordon Lightfoot - Farewell to Annabel (1972)
The most mature breakup song I've ever heard.
(lyrics)
Hüsker Dü - Hardly Getting Over It (1986)
(video)
Hüsker Dü - She Floated Away (1987)
(video)
Hüsker Dü - Books About UFO's (1985)
(video)
Dire Straits - Skateaway (1980)
(video)
Dire Straits - Tunnel of Love (1980)
(video)
Dire Straits - Portobello Belle (1978)
(video)
Red Fang - Wires (2011)
Best rock
video I've ever seen.
Flobots - Handlebars (2007)
My favorite political song for its emotional power and the depth of its message, and a rare song with an unsympathetic narrator.
(video)
Neil Diamond - I Am The Lion (1970)
Weird song about the ancient conflict between sedentary and nomadic culture. Neil Diamond was using African music ten years before David Byrne and Peter Gabriel.
(video)
Neil Diamond - Soolaimon (1970)
The catchiest song ever recorded. Whenever I get a bad catchy song stuck in my head, I use "Soolaimon" to get it out.
(video)
Blue Oyster Cult - Goin Through The Motions (1977)
The second catchiest song ever recorded.
(video)
Blue Oyster Cult - Astronomy (live 1978)
The
Some Enchanted Evening version.
(video)
The Pogues - A Pair of Brown Eyes (1985)
(video)
Gary Numan - Down In The Park (1979)
(video)
The Punkles - Rain (2003)
My favorite cover of my favorite Beatles song, and I had to order a Japanese CD (of a German band) to get the song and make the
video. I write about the Beatles on
this page.
(radio hits)
Talking Heads - Once In A Lifetime (1980/1984)
Not a big fan of their sound, but these are exceptional lyrics. I like the Stop Making Sense live version best.
(video)
Gerry Rafferty - Baker Street (1978)
I love soft hits of the 70's and very early 80's.
(video)
Journey - Don't Stop Believing (1981)
They should sing this at sports events instead of the national anthem, because it's the best song to show off a great voice.
The Police - Every Little Thing She Does Is Magic (1981)
If you weren't there, you can't imagine how dark and spooky this song sounded when it first came out. Now that I think about it, so did Hotel California.
Peter Gabriel - Solsbury Hill (1977)
It's in 7/4!
Phil Collins - In The Air Tonight (1980)
Not only the greatest drum break ever, but the lyrics were improvised!
The Go-Go's - Our Lips Are Sealed (1981)
One of those songs that you don't appreciate until you've heard it hundreds of times and you notice it keeps sounding better.
A Flock of Seagulls - Space Age Love Song (1982)
The guitar style is ahead of its time, and I like the simple structure.
(video)
The Sundays - Here's Where The Story Ends (1990)
(video)
Cheap Trick - Surrender (1978)
Bruce Springsteen - I'm On Fire (1982)
The Pretenders - Back on the Chain Gang (1982)
Queen - Fat Bottomed Girls (1978)
As a songwriter, I like Brian May better than Freddie Mercury.
Pink Floyd - Wish You Were Here (1975)
Here's a
video of a rare alternate version with violin.
Donna Summer - I Feel Love (1977)
Growing up in the 70's I took disco for granted, but looking back, it was the last interesting thing to happen in pop music. No hit song has ever been this hypnotic.
Culture Club - Karma Chameleon (1983)
Possibly the best vocal melody of the 80's.
Blondie - Heart of Glass (1978)
Blondie - Dreaming (1979)
Featuring an over-the-top drum performance by Clem Burke.
Simon and Garfunkel - The Boxer (1969)
AC/DC - You Shook Me All Night Long (1980)
Van Morrison - Brown Eyed Girl (1967)
It's on every list!
Scorpions - Still Loving You (1984)
My favorite hair metal song.
Don Henley - Boys of Summer (1984)
I know he's a bad person and the lyrics are dumb, but I love the way it sounds.
Neil Young - Helpless (1970)
(video)
Neil Young - The Needle and the Damage Done (1972)
A perfect song, and I love the unexpected quick ending.
Neil Young - Powderfinger (1979)
Neil Young - After the Gold Rush (1970)
Loudon Wainwright - New Paint (1972)
(video)
Uncle Tupelo - Black Eye (1992)
(video)
Johnny Cash - Sunday Morning Coming Down (1970)
The best version of Kris Kristofferson's best song.
(video)
Dead Kennedys - Kill The Poor (1980)
The best classic punk song, and my favorite band name.
(video)
Suicidal Tendencies - Institutionalized (1983)
Second best classic punk song.
Flying Burrito Brothers - Sin City (1969)
The original alt-country band.
(video)
U2 - Bad (1985)
The live version from
Wide Awake in America.
(video)
The Black Angels - Young Men Dead (2006)
(video)
Hawkwind - Infinity (1978)
"I met her in a forest glade, where starbeams grew like trees."
(video)
Hawkwind - High Rise (1978)
I can only find one
video of the best version and it cuts off early.
Hawkwind - Motorway City (1980)
The live version on
Zones.
(video)
Hawkwind - Lord of Light (1972)
The
Space Ritual live version.
(video)
Cracker - I Want Everything (1993)
(video)
Cracker - I'm So Glad She Ain't Never Coming Back (2006)
(video)
Wall Of Voodoo - Lost Weekend (1982)
I was heavily into Wall of Voodoo in the 80's. Later I found out they took most of their sound from the song "Machines" by Lothar and the Hand People.
(video)
Wall Of Voodoo - Back In Flesh (1981)
Joanna Newsom's "En Gallop" is sort of a cover of this. They have the same theme: the conflict between the world of spirit and the money economy. They use the same uncommon meaning of the word "flesh", for how your body chains you to an unpleasant material world. And the riff near the beginning of "En Gallop" is almost the same riff that starts at 2:09 in this
video.
Wall Of Voodoo - Ring of Fire (1980)
Mind blowing cover of the Johnny Cash song.
(video)
The Muffs - Lucky Guy (1993)
I was obsessed with the Muffs in the mid 90's. This is the only song that made me dance the first time I heard it.
(video)
The Muffs - Ethyl My Love (1995)
Kim Shattuck is the best screamer ever.
(video)
NASA Voyager Space Sounds - Rings of Uranus (?)
Is this music? And how can I rank it next to pop songs? Anyway, this is my favorite of the radio wave to audio conversions made through the Voyager probe. Jupiter and Song of Earth are more beautiful, but this is the spookiest.
(video)
Ramones - Oh Oh I Love Her So (1977)
From their brilliant second album,
Leave Home.
(video)
Ramones - Questioningly (1978)
This would make an awesome country song.
(video)
Ramones - Blitzkrieg Bop (1976)
I didn't fully appreciate this song until I heard Yo La Tengo's instrumental version.
Willie Nelson - Blue Eyes Crying in the Rain (1975)
Melanie - Some Say (1971)
(video)
Donovan - Atlantis (1968)
The first half is an embarrassing spoken word bit, and the second half, a fourteen syllable repeating chorus, is the best thing ever.
(video)
The Beatles - I Want You (She's So Heavy) (1969)
The first half is a lame jazz/blues song, and the second half, a thirty note repeating riff, is the best thing ever.
(video)
Le Tigre - The The Empty (1999)
(video)
Ween - Baby Bitch (1994)
(video)
S.C.U.M. - Whitechapel (2011)
(video)
Toy - Dead & Gone (2012)
A decent new wave pop song followed by an incredible drone jam.
(video)
Loreena McKennitt - Greensleeves (1991)
Recorded accidentally in one take!
Pete Yorn - Just Another (2001)
King Crimson - Indiscipline (1981)
(video)
Old 97's - Valentine (1999)
(video)
Teenage Fanclub - Alcoholiday (1991)
Antenna - Snakes (1991)
10,000 Maniacs - My Mother The War (1985)
There are hard rock bands that have made great soft and pretty songs, but how often does a soft rock band make a great noisy song? As far as I know, this is the only one.
(video)
The Shins - New Slang (2001)
Genesis - Supper's Ready (1972)
The peak of 70's prog rock, taking up almost a whole side of the album
Foxtrot.
Pink Floyd - Echoes (1971)
Another whole-album-side song, from Pink Floyd's greatest album,
Meddle.
Rush - Cygnus X-1 (part one) (1977)
I was obsessed with Rush around 1983. Scroll down for more Rush on the guitar solos list.
Devo - Gut Feeling (1978)
Great slow buildup!
(video)
Have A Nice Life - Earthmover (2008)
Decent vocals followed by a nice post-rock jam.
(video)
Mat Kearney - All I Need (2006)
(video)
Sonic Youth - Schizophrenia (1987)
Chris Bell - I Am the Cosmos (1975?)
To my knowledge, the only song with this brilliant symmetrical structure: first verse, different verse, chorus, solo, chorus, different verse, first verse.
Bob Geldof - I Don't Like Mondays (1981)
The live version from
The Secret Policeman's Other Ball.
(video)
Timbuk 3 - Just Another Movie (1986)
Forgotten political song about how people are tricked into believing in the system that feeds on them.
(video)
Top Ten Guitar Solos
1. Alex Lifeson, Rush - No One At The Bridge
The perfect guitar solo: short, carefully composed, and at the end of the song.
(video)
3. Mark Knopfler, Dire Straits - Tunnel of Love
Again at the end of the song, but with a long seductive buildup.
(video)
2. Dave Nothing, Bone Cellar - Dry Rot
Another beautiful long jam at the end of the song.
4. Buck Dharma, Blue Oyster Cult - Don't Fear the Reaper
The best thing about this solo is its entrance, blasting in at full strength from near-silence.
5. Alex Lifeson, Rush - Bacchus Plateau
From the same album side as "No One At The Bridge", just as pretty but not as tight.
6. Huw Lloyd-Langton, Hawkwind - The Island
The entire song is a well-crafted two-part guitar solo, combining the solos in "The 5th Second of Forever" and "Dust of Time".
7. Steve Hackett, Genesis - After The Ordeal
So quiet that you might not notice it's the most beautiful melody in all of prog rock.
8. Brian May, Queen - We Will Rock You
One more: short, tight, end of song.
9. Elliott Randall, Steely Dan - Reelin' in the Years
Radical because it anchors the song, filling every gap where there isn't singing.
10. Don Felder and Joe Walsh, The Eagles - Hotel California
It's on every list!
11. Marc Moreland, Wall of Voodoo - Ring of Fire
Starts with a variation on the "Our Man Flint" theme and progresses into epic distortion. Incidentally, the Concrete Blonde song "Joey" was written about Moreland.