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This is why Noel doesn't get all the £ for that one.

You can also sing "All the Young Dudes" over it.

Hello, I'm sorry I lost myself
I think I thought you were someone else


#167.



R.E.M. - "Pop Song '89"

Year: 1988

US Chart Position: #86 / #16 Modern Rock / #14 Mainstream Rock

UK Chart Position: n/a

Acclaimed Music Ranking: n/a

Ranked Highest By: Bobandbob (#7)

Can Be Most Easily Found On: Green

Fly me to the moon


#166.

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The Cure - "Lovesong" / "2 Late"

Year: 1989

US Chart Position: #2

UK Chart Position: #18

Acclaimed Music Ranking: #34 (year), #346 (decade), #1836 (all-time)

Rank on Our All-Time Singles List: #426

AMG Says: "For all that Disintegration was the Cure's darkest, emotionally wracked album since Pornography seven years previous, it also became a smash American hit thanks not merely to its huge fan base, but because of this sly little single, the one moment of calmer joy on the album. Catchy, sentimental but not gloopy, "Lovesong" originally came to life as a gift from Robert Smith to his longtime girlfriend, Mary, shortly before their marriage. Its winning sentiments carry over just fine to a full band performance, aiming at the low-key approach of songs like "Catch" and "Close to Me" and succeeding. Roger O'Donnell's keyboards form the lead melody and figure throughout, as well as adding further orchestrations here and there. The Simon Gallup/ Boris Williams rhythm section create a tight, serviceable dance groove, while Smith and Porl Thompson add further guitar fills and filigrees as well, adding just enough extra bite to the song, including a fine Smith solo in the instrumental break. Smith himself delivers the lyric softly, with gentle passion, slipping in a quick "Fly me to the moon" at one point as a fun little reference to another love song of earlier days."

Ranked Highest By: Mad Clown (#9)

Can Be Most Easily Found On: Disintegration

Think of all the things we wanted to do
And all the words we said yesterday
That's a long time ago


#165.



Bob Mould - "See a Little Light"

Year: 1989

US Chart Position: #4 Modern Rock

UK Chart Position: n/a

Acclaimed Music Ranking: n/a

Rank on Our All-Time Singles List: #381

AMG Says: "Much as Grant Hart's "2541" had been the year before, Bob Mould's first solo single "See A Little Light" was widely perceived as his commentary on Husker Du's acrimonious 1987 breakup. If so, it seems Mould was more resigned than his ex-bandmate; the song is tinged with regret, but it's unapologetic in its emotions. ("All the words we said yesterday/That's a long time ago," Mould snarls before breaking into an accusatory "You didn't think I'd really go, now?") Musically, the song is a wonder; the prettiness that lurked just under the surface of so many of Mould's Husker Du songs is in full view here. Based on acoustic rhythm guitars and a lead guitar part that redefines the term "jangly," and colored with Jane Scarpantoni's mournful-sounding cello, "See A Little Light" is a chiaroscuro blend of disillusionment and hope, but Mould borrows a trick from Brian Wilson for the song's second half. The song modulates upwards for Scarpantoni's cello solo and again during the repeated choruses that follow, giving an impression of rising and relief that's quite effective both musically and thematically."

Ranked Highest By: Diesel & Tracy Jacks (#9)

Can Be Most Easily Found On: Workbook

For all this great shit that's so low, #1 better be like, the holy grail of music.

It might even be something that was released after you were born!!!

Like the last two! Which could have both been decent top 50's!

Like a Prayer!

Just when we're sheltered under paper
The rockets come at us sideways


#164.



Meat Puppets - "Backwater"

Year: 1994

US Chart Position: #47 / #31 Top 40 / #11 Modern Rock / #2 Mainstream Rock

UK Chart Position: n/a

Acclaimed Music Ranking: n/a

Ranked Highest By: jdubs3 and Rajexico (#11)

Can Be Most Easily Found On: Too High to Die

FIRE


#163.



R.E.M. - "The One I Love"

Year: 1987

US Chart Position: #9 / #2 Mainstream Rock

UK Chart Position: #51 / #16 in '91

Acclaimed Music Ranking: #11 (year), #58 (decade), #386 (all-time)

Rank on Our All-Time Singles List: #329

AMG Says: ""The One I Love" was quite literally the song that paved the way for R.E.M.'s overdue breakthrough in 1987; when it hit Top 20, college radio/ alternative rock had officially joined the mainstream. As the first single from the album Document, Michael Stipe told Musician magazine in January of 1988 that the song was "incredibly violent." "It's very clear that it's about using people over and over again," he said. The chorus consisted of one simple word, "fire," repeated; fire was part of a larger theme on the album which referred consistently to the various symbolic aspects of the element. The "spark" in the song was a nice cue for its video makers to feature flames in the clip (fire was a very popular dramatic device in the still nascent rock video medium). An acoustic version of the song retained the melodic bass line and jangling guitar but had a more melancholic bent; it was released as the B-side to the 12" single."

Ranked Highest By: Birdistheword (#22)

Can Be Most Easily Found On: Document

should be number fucking one, thank you.

or at least close.

vote next time, you dumbass

I will in the next poll srsly

man to think, I could have moved "The One I Love" up to #159 or something :/

He tells me in his bedroom voice
C'mon honey, let's go make some noise


#162.



The Bangles - "Manic Monday"

Year: 1986

US Chart Position: #2

UK Chart Position: #2

Acclaimed Music Ranking: #37 (year), #390 (decade), #2024 (all-time)

AMG Says: "After the critical and artistic success of their debut album, All Over the Place, the Bangles came to the attention of the then-red hot pop "boy wonder," Prince. There were also a lot of unimportant and unsubstantiated rumors that his main interest was singer/guitarist Susanna Hoffs, and it had nothing to do with music. Aside from all of this nonsense, Prince wrote this song for the group under the pen name " Christopher." It's a clever and deceptively simple pop narrative, an infectious pop confection. The title and subject matter are a somewhat clever play on the Mamas & the Papas' "Monday, Monday." Whether or not this was intentional doesn't really matter, but it certainly fits in well with the band's vocal arrangements, which paid homage to that brilliant band. There is also an excellently written bridge that shows Prince/ Christopher to be an excellent craftsman, and, to their credit, the Bangles carry it off with style and wit. A huge hit in 1985."

Ranked Highest By: Rob Gordon (#35)

Can Be Most Easily Found On: Different Light

Holy F do I hate that song.

I don't know my future after this weekend


#161.



Bjork - "Big Time Sensuality"

Year: 1993

US Chart Position: #88 / #5 Modern Rock / #1 Dance

UK Chart Position: #17

Acclaimed Music Ranking: n/a

Rank on Our All-Time Singles List: Would've been #873

AMG Says: "The third single off of her critically acclaimed album Debut, "Big Time Sensuality" was an aggressive, screechy dance number that had simple but passionate lyrics inspired by Björk's relationship with her working partner and co-producer, Nellee Hooper. Besides being released as a single, the recording was issued on two EPs, the first containing two more Elgar sisters songs, "Sidasta Eg" and "Glora," and the second featuring seven different remixes from Fluke, Justin Robinson, Dom T, and David Moralis. One of the Fluke versions was liked well enough by Björk that she ended up using it for the video. While not scraping the top of the charts, "Big Time Sensuality" was part of an album unusual enough to stand out among its fellow pop releases as a quirky and complex experiment that worked most of the time."

Ranked Highest By: MitchellStirling and No Magnets (#35)

Can Be Most Easily Found On: Debut

you skipped 161

Oh- that must surely be "Closer to Fine" by the Indigo Girls or any number of Robbie Robertson or XTC singles.

I can't believe I'm the highest voter. I didn't even place it that high...

"Manic Monday" beats "Love Song". I love the SOMB.

Tick
Tock
Tick
Tock


#159.



R.E.M. - "Drive"

Year: 1992

US Chart Position: #28 / #2 Mainstream Rock / #1 Modern Rock

UK Chart Position: #11

Acclaimed Music Ranking: #8 (year), #109 (decade), #799 (all-time)

Rank on Our All-Time Singles List: #239

AMG Says: "One of R.E.M.’s great albums, Automatic For The People begins fairly inauspiciously with the low-key, folky “Drive”. Indeed, the song is consciously understated, but is marred by some of Michael Stipe’s most oblique and, frankly, confusing lyrics which draw attention from what is a pretty melody and lovely guitar work from Peter Buck. The song begins with the perplexing “Smack, crack, bushwhacked/Tie another one to the racks, baby” and develops to “Hey kids rock and roll/Nobody tells you where to go, baby”. The lyric may well be nonsense, but Stipe sings it with such earnestness that he may be striving for something more profound. Nevertheless, the song contains a lovely, lilting melody, and typically beautiful arrangement. “Drive”, however, is a confusing start to the record."

Ranked Highest By: Voodoodaddy (#6)

Can Be Most Easily Found On: Automatic for the People

the fuck is "Drive" doing above "The One I Love"?

you're killing me

and whoops, BTS should've been #161, and this is #160:


They put a hotwire to my head
Because of the things I did and said


#160.



Public Image Ltd. - "Rise"

Year: 1986

US Chart Position: n/a

UK Chart Position: #11

Acclaimed Music Ranking: #8 (year), #103 (decade), #622 (all-time)

Ranked Highest By: BobtheSquid (#14)

Can Be Most Easily Found On: Album

Enough with the REM.

"Your file is available for download:
#158. Metallica - Enter Sandman.mp3 (5185 KB)"

That's Steve Vai playing on "Rise".


I often think "Drive" is the best thing REM has ever done.

fixed

Not much point in a teaser though


#158.



Metallica - "Enter Sandman"

Year: 1991

US Chart Position: #16 / #10 Mainstream Rock

UK Chart Posoition: #5

Acclaimed Music Ranking: #7 (year), #28 (decade), #253 (all-timie)

AMG Says: "The anticipation for new Metallica output had always been pretty high, but thanks to the reaction to the release of “One” as a single and video in 1989, anticipation for 1991’s Metallica was at fever pitch -- and the lead single “Enter Sandman” only made it bigger. Its trademark intro, written off the cuff by Kirk Hammett, is one of Metallica’s best moments, and is recognizable around the world. A marked departure from the length and prog of ...And Justice for All, “Enter Sandman” is a burst of stadium level metal that, once away from the buildup intro, never lets up (outside of a breakdown near the end which brilliantly utilizes that famous “now I lay me down to sleep” bedtime prayer in such a way to add to the scary movie aspect of the song). Lyrically, the song was built around one of James Hetfield’s weird song titles laying around, and centers around nightmares and all that come with them. Once released, the song took on a life of its own, becoming one of the most recognizable songs of all time, not just in metal but in rock in general."

Ranked Highest By: Throughsilver (#7)

Can Be Most Easily Found On: Metallica (The Black Album)

Say what you will about that song (the most divisive song in heavy metal history), but the snare sound is unreal.

I've totally grown out of them (and into music targeted at teenage girls and homosexual hipsters), but, still, to hell with people who can't get down to Metallica.

Also, am I the only one who spent the World Cup noting Maniche's resemblance to Lars Ulrich?

Yeah, I was listening to "Rise" a few months ago, and when I heard the guitar solo, I was all like, "Wow! This solo is awesome! It sounds like something Adrian Belew might have played on Remain In Light or some King Crimson album! Did he play on here? I'll search the internet to clarify this fact." I soon discovered that the creator of this solo that I was ever so captivated by was friggin' STEVE VAI. It was awkward.

Vai started out with Frank Zappa, and before his David Lee Roth/Whitesnake days, he was a really inventive soloist.

Meatwad OTM. AFTP fever is out of control around here.

So sick of Automatic for the $#^$#% People!!!

So did "Disappointed" and "This is Not A Love Song" both place higher than "Rise?" I'm surprised. But pleased.

I spent a good deal of time tuning my snare so that it sounded like an amalgam of the sanre sound from this record and "Justice." Damn if I don't have taste.

It's a hell of a better song. The only thing remotely noteworthy about "The One I Love" is its lyrical twist; otherwise, very pedestrian.



"This is Not a Love Song" was released in 1983.

But let's not forget "Seattle"... hopefully that's up there, too.

Some of the music on this list is funny, like brilliant disguise? who voted for that? To me, this is the era that bruce lost it the most. Soul Asylum is just not a good band, there should have been no arguement, its they suck or they suck. Paul Simon? Now on the other hand you have two of rap's best songs, Big Poppa and Minds Playin Tricks...Also, its funny how the dance songs, even though sounding somewhat out of date now, still sound much more up-to-date placed next to some of these rock songs. Probably why rock music decided to discover electronic instruments a little later in the era. Thats all, gotta go to work.

I'm saying the same thing for Manic Monday...I'm highest at #35?! Must have been voted low quite a bit ...

"I think that a) you have an act, and that b) not having an act is your act."


#157.



Alice in Chains - "Would?"

Year: 1992

US Chart Position: #19 Mainstream Rock

UK Chart Position: #19

Acclaimed Music Ranking: n/a

Rank on Our All-Time Singles List: Would've been #647

AMG Says: "First appearing on the groundbreaking Singles soundtrack in 1992, then tacked on as a coda to the harrowing concept album Dirt, "Would?" became one of Alice in Chains' most popular songs, perhaps second only to rock-radio staple "Rooster." A touch more melancholy than many of the group's best-known rockers, "Would?" was no less anguished, and its lyrics hinted -- in roundabout fashion -- at the drug addiction which helped produce the feeling of tortured despair that dominated the band's music. But aside from references to "flying" and a "drifting body," as well as the chorus line "Into the flood again/Same old trip it was back then," the lyrics mostly center around failure ("Know me, broken by my master") and regret, plus pleas for understanding ("So I made a big mistake/Try to see it once my way") for which the singer doesn't seem to hold out much hope, given the despairing tone of the song. Cantrell's liquid solo lines float behind a simple, ringing riff, while the rhythm section grinds ominously underneath. The guitar shifts into full throttle on the chorus, adding an explosive frustration that complements the melancholy minor-key melody; even if the lyrics don't always make literal sense, the music unfailingly puts the desired feeling across. The structure of "Would?" is unorthodox -- after alternating between verse and chorus, the song charges into a completely new coda section never hinted at anywhere else. As the coda begins, it seems to resolve the minor-key melody of the chorus into the brighter, more anthemic major key, but immediately throws in a resoundingly dissonant chord change, leading the listener's ear into totally unexpected territory. What had at first sounded like a complete release of the tension built up during the previous parts of the song has now become something queasy, haunting, and even more evocative, flirting with catharsis but never quite achieving it. The more ambiguous lyrics of the first part have given way here to utter desolation and loneliness ("Am I wrong?/Have I run too far to get home?/Have I gone/And left you here alone?"), and Cantrell's supporting rhythm guitar work is busy and almost chaotic. As the song ends, Staley shouts the cryptic challenge, "If I would, could you?" over blasts of guitar dissonance. The final effect of the song is actually more menacing than the sum of its part, perhaps because the indirect allusions of the lyrics make the gloomy angst of the song seem too intense to articulate explicitly. Whatever the case, "Would?" is one of the band's most fully realized individual moments."

Ranked Highest By: Throughsilver (#4)

Can Be Most Easily Found On: Dirt

Twiddle my thumbs just for a bit
I'm sick of all the same old shit


#156.



Green Day - "Longview"

Year: 1994

US Chart Position: #13 Mainstream Rock / #1 Modern Rock

UK Chart Position: #30

Acclaimed Music Ranking: #7 (year), #54 (decade), #468 (all-time)

Rank on Our All-Time Singles List: Would've been #720

AMG Says: "The first single from Green Day's multi-platinum breakthrough album Dookie, "Longview" became a massive hit thanks to its rollicking bass line, churning guitars, sneering attitude, and catchy melodies, not to mention MTV's near-incessant rotation of the accompanying video in early 1994. While bands strongly influenced by punk rock had already broken through to the mainstream in the wake of Nirvana's Nevermind, Green Day was the first classicist punk band to do so; grunge was influenced by heavy metal, hardcore, and alternative rock experimentalists from the '80s in addition to punk, but Green Day took their cues almost exclusively from the simple, catchy three-chord punk-pop of the Ramones and British punk rockers like the Sex Pistols, the Clash, the Buzzcocks, and the Jam, as well as similar '80s groups like the Descendents. The success of "Longview" heralded the arrival of a whole wave of mostly California-based " punk revival" outfits, as they came to be known, and paved the way for the commercial explosion of the sound in subsequent years. It's not hard to hear why the song was so popular; not only are the hooks extremely memorable, but lyrically, it's also a witty anthem for the bored-slacker demographic -- the unmotivated, self-absorbed, and/or directionless. The arrangement features the calm-before-the-storm dynamic contrast popularized by Nirvana, with the guitars largely laying out during the verses before crashing climactically into the chorus; however, on "Longview," the technique doesn't evoke cathartic release so much as it does joyous, youthful exuberance in the face of life's uncertainties. "Longview" never hit the pop charts as a single, but by that point in time, the singles charts weren't all-encompassing barometers of popular taste anymore; MTV and modern rock radio made the song inescapable, and deservedly so."

Ranked Highest By: The Luscious Phil (#17)

Can Be Most Easily Found On: Dookie

I'm trying to tell you something about my life
maybe give me insight between black and white


#155.



Indigo Girls - "Closer to Fine"

Year: 1989

US Chart Position: #52 / #26 Mainstream Rock

UK Chart Position: n/a

Acclaimed Music Ranking: n/a

Rank on Our All-Time Singles List: Would've been #800

Ranked Highest By: Elemeno P.T. (#4)

Can Be Most Easily Found On: Indigo Girls

Now where's Elemeno?

Yeah yeah, I didn't vote. But WHO voted for this? and Elemeno putting it at 4?

Come on, people, "Would" is the greatest single of the grunge era.

Too bad this isn't top 20 as it pretty much deserves to be.

So, people are always saying this but I can't agree. Sure, the song features AIC's signature sound...but so do "Get Born Again," "We Die Young," "What the Hell Have I," Grind," "Again," and "Down in a Hole," which I would argue are all more interesting--particularly if lyrics dont' factor into the equation (as I seldom pay attention to them).

Granted, I like the heavier tunes in general...but in my book "Would?" doesn't get interesting until the final 47 seconds, and it's not an easy listen for me up to that point.

What can I say? I'm a lesbian trapped in a males body. I didn't think this had a chance...a great single from a great album. Now who else voted for it?

This countdown is all over the place isn't it.