Hey Bill, does voting in the 95-04 polls start on Friday?

yeah

Y'know wha I mean?


#146.



Blur - "Parklife"

Year: 1994

US Chart Position: n/a

UK Chart Position: #10

Acclaimed Music Ranking: #40 (year), #334 (decade), #1992 (all-time)

Rank on Our All-Time Singles List: #441

Ranked Highest By: Tracy Jacks (#13)

Can Be Most Easily Found On: Parklife

It's got nothing to do with your Vorsprung Durch Technik ya know.


I'll be irked if "To The End" isn't above that. Irked I tell you.



lol

I had a feeling like I belonged
I had a feeling like I could be someone


#145.



Tracy Chapman - "Fast Car" / "For You"

Year: 1988

US Chart Position: #6

UK Chart Position: #5

Acclaimed Music Ranking: #3 (year), #48 (decade), #329 (all-time)

Ranked Highest By: Elcorazon (#8)

Can Be Most Easily Found On: Tracy Chapman

Sometimes I rhyme slow
Sometimes I rhyme quick

Talk about a great song by an otherwise totally intolerable performer, that

whole album's great, but that song is clearly the standout track.

Fast Cars was one of those singles that really stuck out on the radio...in a good way. It really did resonate deeply with many people and cut through different age groups.

yeah, it's one of thse great, eternal songs that'll always come back every couple of years, being sampled or covered or referenced by someone.

That's funny...because it falls under the same "type" of music as Indigo Girls.

I like "Closer to Fine" myself - even voted for it, I think, but just because 2 artists/songs fall under the same category doesn't mean they are equal in quality.

Not what I was saying...more that I inferred from Bill's comment that he didn't care for this "type" of music in general.

singer-songwritery folk rock? Yeah, not normally my type of music, though when you get down to it, "Closer to Fine" and "Fast Car" really don't have that much in common, instrumention aside.

Maybe true. But through XRT's constant rotation, it now pains me to hear that song.

"What is democracy?"
"It's got somethin' to do with young men killing each other, I believe..."


#144.



Metallica - "One"

Year: 1988

US Chart Position: #35

UK Chart Position: #13

Acclaimed Music Ranking: #51 (year), #467 (decade), #2345 (all-time)

Rank on Our All-Time Singles List: #258

AMG Says: ""One" became Metallica's first Top 40 hit in early 1989, based almost entirely on the single's gold-level sales -- pop radio certainly wasn't about to play a seven-and-a-half-minute progressive thrash metal epic about an armless, legless soldier deprived of all sensory input. That subject was actually the main character of Dalton Trumbo's anti-war novel Johnny Got His Gun, and the video integrated footage from the film version of the book between plain, gray-toned shots of the band performing in a blank room, with moving shadows coming from slowly rotating fan blades. It matched the song in intensity and definitely gave the message more impact, a probable reason why Metallica had relented on their earlier vow never to cater to MTV by shooting a video (what a difference a few years would make). The muted, tinny production -- co-botched by the band and Flemming Rasmussen -- robs the louder sections of some of their power, but it also gives the song a weird, sick tone, an alien quality which makes it that much more disturbing. After fading in with artillery and helicopter sound effects off in the distance, the song begins with a creepy minor-key arpeggio figure played on a clean-toned guitar; each time the figure repeats, it ends with a stop-start motif played in 2/4 time (in other words, the measure lasts half as long as the ear expects it to). Kirk Hammett contributes a lyrical solo and Lars Ulrich subsequently enters with vicious cymbal accents on the stop-start 2/4 figure, adding menace to the overall mood of melancholy. After Hammett finishes his solo, multiple guitars (even one acoustic) begin to harmonize with and play off of the arpeggios, creating a lush effect similar to what Led Zeppelin achieved through Jimmy Page's multiple overdubs. James Hetfield sings the verses quietly, but on the chorus, the guitar distortion is abruptly kicked on with shattering force, only to disappear after two lines. This cycle repeats, with Hammett offering more tender solo work, until after the second chorus, when another, four-line chorus leads into a new section driven by distorted guitars and simple, harmonized solo melodies. This gradually transforms into a heavier, riff-driven section, with Ulrich pounding a rapid figure underneath. The guitars ring out for a bit, then begin to double the drum pattern for the legendary "machine gun" riff -- the guitars and drums simulate bursts of machine gunfire, stopping and starting to separate the rounds. What's amazing about this riff is that it's played nearly as fast as the gunfire it's mimicking. Hetfield barks out a catalog of the character's disabilities in two parts, giving the song its emotional climax. The spaces between riffs/rounds are then filled in for a slightly new section, in which Hetfield demonstrates why he was the best rhythm guitarist in speed metal -- he maintains the machine-gun pace without stopping to rest again until the end of the song. That's a little while in coming, because Kirk Hammett launches into a manic, blistering solo that caps off the previous lyrical section with unbelievable intensity, while showcasing the opposite side of his playing. Before the song ends, the filled-in riff figure is played through just by itself, stark in its power, after which the music stops as quickly as a respirator can be unplugged. The various sections and components of "One" are seamlessly integrated and flow logically from one to the next, unlike some Metallica epics, which felt like series of good riffs connected without much in the way of transitions. Although bassist Jason Newsted can barely be heard, the rest of the band is firing on all cylinders, at the absolute peak of their powers; it sums up the band's tremendous range of musical expression in one shining epic, and as such is arguably the defining individual moment of their career. "One" has the power to frighten, to disturb intelligently, to awe listeners with its sheer force; it's simply one of the greatest heavy metal songs of all time"

Ranked Highest By: Throughsilver (#1)

Can Be Most Easily Found On: ...And Justice for All

When the dogs begin to smell her
Will they smell alone?


#143.



Stone Temple Pilots - "Plush"

Year: 1992

US Chart Position: #18 Top 40 / #9 Modern Rock / #1 Mainstream Rock

UK Chart Position: #23

Acclaimed Music Ranking: n/a

Rank on Our All-Time Singles List: #993

Ranked Highest By: Velocity (#5)

Can Be Most Easily Found On: Core

What was the b-side on this baby? "The Prince" right? Man, I love me some Diamondhead covers!

You might still see them in the desert


#142.



The Orb - "Little Fluffy Clouds"

Year: 1990

US Chart Position: #13 Dance

UK Chart Position: #87 / #10 in '93

Acclaimed Music Ranking: #44 (year), #430 (decade), #2070 (all-time)

Rank on Our All-Time Singles List: #285

Ranked Highest By: Animals and Men (#8)

Can Be Most Easily Found On: The Orb's Adventures Beyond the Ultraworld

I don't think they are uncommon st sll- "Closer" leans more toward the philosophical, but they both are driven by the psycholgical need to be alright.

I hope we live to tell the tale


#141.



Tears for Fears - "Shout" / "The Big Chair"

Year: 1985

US Chart Position: #1

UK Chart Position: #4

Acclaimed Music Ranking: #18 (year), #181 (decade), #2034 (all-time)

AMG Says: "One of the most recognizable songs from the mid-eighties, “Shout” (along with “Everybody Wants to Rule the World”) became Tears for Fears signature moments (and became their second No. 1 U.S. single). For a band named after primal scream therapy, writing a song that wanted to protest the madness going on around them by,well, shouting, makes perfect sense. So in one respect, it’s their signature song because it sums up the purpose of the band (up to that point) so well. In another, its a signature song because of its utter simplicity. Driven by its percussion track, “Shout” adds layer after layer as the song progresses, but never strays from its purpose or gets weighted down by complex structures. The melodies remain simple even in the solos, the production never gets out of control. With “Shout,” Tears for Fears had found the most direct way to create a call-to-arms song that would remain in the pop consciousness for years."

Ranked Highest By: Agrimorfee (#1)

Can Be Most Easily Found On: Songs from the Big Chair

is this the first tears for fears song on the list? i'd expect to see both "everybody wants to rule the world" and "head over heels" here too. maybe... ?

Awful... terrible, terrible song. I can't believe there are people my age who still haven't gotten over this crap.

booooo. Sure, it's far from a great song--in fact, it probably doesn't deserve to be on here, especially over the far superior "Interstate Love Song," but it's still a pretty good poppy post-grunge single. With some halfway competent lyrics, it could've been a stone classic, instead of a fairly memorable relic.

and "Sowing The Seeds Of Love" if people wanted to make me feel good.

I heard "Sour Girl" on the radio today and that was passable. But the hundreds of thousands of hours we've been bombarded by "Plush" (and will continue to be for the next 20 years) have been pretty miserable, overall. The only thing the song has going for it anymore is nostalgia.

Don't be another sequel


#140.



N.W.A. - "Express Yourself (12" Remix)"

Year: 1988

US Chart Position: #38

UK Chart Position: #50 / #26 in '90

Acclaimed Music Ranking: #26 (year), #217 (decade), #1214 (all-time)

Ranked Highest By: The Eyes (#23)

Can Be Most Easily Found On: Straight Outta Compton

I really tug Tears For Fears at this time period but for some reason they are a blip on my radar now. Not bad songs really....just....I dunno....

Your file is available for download:
#141b. Tears for Fears - Big Chair.mp3 (4737 KB)

"I knew that the songs had similar structures and tempos and that they even shared a background hook [...] But my jaw dropped as I witnessed how well the songs flowed in and out of each other. Standing alone, they were already two of my favorite singles of the 90s—true house epics as euphoric as any dance music ever created—but put together they were just breathtaking, their hooks intertwining like a strand of DNA and their beats synchronizing near flawlessly. While listening to the two songs, I could turn down the volume on one and up on the other at any point and it would still sound totally natural and unbearably blissful."


#139.



Underworld - "Rez" / "Cowgirl"

Year: 1993

US Chart Position: #21 Dance (Cowgirl)

UK Chart Position: n/a

Acclaimed Music Ranking: #21 (year), #173 (decade), #1227 (all-time) ("Rez") / #35 (year), #320 (decade), #1903 (all-time)

Ranked Highest By: No Magnets (#6)

Can Be Most Easily Found On: Anthology 1992 - 2002

Now we're getting to the good stuff.

That charted in the US (er, dance, anyway) but not in the UK? Wierd.

hmm... well, how about that? i think i only remembered this because i'd seen it on someone else's list. it's funny how that works out.

oh, and my copy of that single has totally different artwork. even the design on the record sticker is different. and i think it's also on tvt.

fixed

Today on this program you will hear
Gospel
and Rhythm & Blues
and Jazz
All those are just labels
We know that music is music


#138.



Primal Scream - "Come Together (UK Version)"

Year: 1991

US Chart Position: #13 Modern Rock

UK Chart Position: #26

Accclaimed Music Ranking: #35 (year), #279 (decade), #1682 (all-time)

Ranked Highest By: Ben (#7)

Can Be Most Easily Found On: Screamadelica

Live version of "Cowgirl" charted in 200 in support of Everything Everything in the UK

Usually I would slag off a song like this, but this was my eighth grade math teacher's favorite song. She would play it all the time, and she also taught me algebra and shit. Two days into the summer, she died in a motorcycle crash.

[quote name='The Good Dr Bill' post='178930' date='Aug 28 2006, 03:20 PM']
#141.



Tears for Fears - "Shout" / "The Big Chair"[/size]

Ranked Highest By: Agrimorfee (#1)

[/quote]

I am so disappointed that this didn't crack 100.


[quote][quote name='undo' date='Aug 28 2006, 03:23 PM' post='178937']
[quote name='The Good Dr Bill' post='178855' date='Aug 28 2006, 02:42 PM']
[size=5][b]When the dogs begin to smell her
Will they smell alone?[/quote]
For the first years of this song, I thought this was Pearl Jam.

the b-side seems to be a link to the cover art.

Was it because they pretty much were a blip on the radar, albiet a pretty big one.

The Hurting was pretty much a cult album that few knew about. And The Seeds Of Love was late and a letdown (for some). Then they broke up (if they were ever a they to begin with).

But as I'm sure you know, Songs From The Big Chair was THE biggest thing in 1995. #1 album, two #1 singles and a #3 single. The group was everywhere in the media, owning MTV. And the album works as a whole, it isn't three good songs and a bunch of filler. And I think it holds up well, although it is very much of its time. It was never groundbreaking, but one of the finest representatives of late new wave/synthpop.

I continue to be mystified about the poor showing of SFTBC on the album poll, paticularly given how I expect the singles to perform. I think it was around #180. Shout finished higher than that at #141. And EWTRTW and HOH will are still to come, and I expect one to be above #100 if not both. (Wishful thinking that STSOL will make the list)

So I don't think you are the only one feeling that Tears For Fears are a blip.

That review gave me goose bumps down to my toes. Fabulous song performed live, too.







Well, stop listening to the radio then. After that summer (when it was on heavy MTV rotation), I've probably only heard it a dozen times. Like I said elsewhere, the guitar tone alone is worth a high vote.

For the record:

Talkin' 'bout a Revolution>>Fast Car



and,

Living Colour's version >>>>> Tracey Chapman's

Agreed, though I would say it was kind of groundbreaking. What other band had ever attempted to make a record that sounds like Jimmy Jam & Terry Lewis producing an OMD remake of Plastic Ono Band?

I blame it on Dan's non-participation and Slackmo's shockingly low vote for it (considering The Hurting was his #1 of '75 - '84, and I can't imagine why anyone would consider that to be the superior record.



fixed

and which do Living Color cover, "Fast Car" or "Revolution"?

"Talkin' About a Revolution"

"You know, I've never been a big fan of alternative music, but those guys rocked the house!"


#137.



The Flaming Lips - "She Don't Use Jelly"

Year: 1993

US Chart Position: #55 / #14 Mainstream Rock / #9 Modern Rock

UK Chart Position: n/a

Acclaimed Music Ranking: n/a

Rank on Our All-Time Singles List: Would've been #941

Ranked Highest By: Hector Gilbert (#12)

Can Be Most Easily Found On: Transmissions from the Satellite Heart

What staying power!

Don't forget the B-side of Turn It On with the Butthole Surfers.

I don't know if I voted for it all--it's three singles and a lot of filler. As an early adopter and devotee of The Hurting, I thought SFTBC was a letdown, album-wise, although I like the two big singles. There's no filler on The Hurting, remarkably enough--or at least nothing as embarassing as that "Big Chair" track you posted above.

In other news, I've been listening to Violator a bit more lately, and feel I've been too harsh towards it.

1. "Big Chair" isn't on SFTBC, ironically (see also: "Screamadelica," "Psychocandy," "His n Hers," etc. Brits like doing this for some reason)

2. There isn't anything I'd consider filler on SFTBC. There are two songs I might consider bad (or at least, not great), but they're both fairly essential to the album thematically and in pacing terms. And even still, the other six songs--the three big singles, the almost-as-good fourth single "Mothers Talk" and the underrated album tracks "Broken" and "The Working Hour"--are all just as good as the best songs on The Hurting, and in the case of the big 'uns, much, much better.

1. owned, admittedly. my bad.

2. Among the other disappointments for a Hurting fan is the VH1-ness of "Everybody Wants To Rule The World." It definitely pushed SFTBC into collection-of-aspiring-singles territory and away from cohesive album. I'm in the tiny minority of folks who aren't crazy about "Everybody", so I can understand how folks who dig that song would think more of the album.

Whoa. Reeeeeally surprisingly low. I thought this would have been A LOT higher.

People evidently listened to it.

Yeah that song really isn't very good.