#6-10

#6, U2, “New Year’s Day”


#7, The Ramones, “Blitzkrieg Bop”


#8, R.E.M., “Radio Free Europe”


#9, Nirvana, “Smells Like Teen Spirit”


#10, Pearl Jam, “Alive”

Love Will Tear Us Apart, #5

How Soon Is Now? #4

Boys Don't Cry, #3

The original recording/video can't be embedded.

Anarchy in the UK, #2

London Calling, #1

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MqO1b-5RsAs

Bruce Lives!

If you haven't heard the new song by the Hold Steady, "Stuck Between Stations," it's kind of like Randy Newman fronting The E Street Band--fun, sloppy, yet thoughtful and rocking.

This stuff is mine!

The names of these songs do not belong to me, of course, and a list as a concept is not copyrightable, but this list and the way in which it appears are my original creation and thus protected.

Wikipedia notes about such writings, "Another complication is that publishing exclusively on the Internet has become extremely popular. According to U.S. law, at least, an author's original works are covered by copyright, even without a formal notice incorporated into the work. But such laws were passed at a time when the focus was on materials that could not be as easily and cheaply reproduced as digital media, nor did they comprehend the ultimate impossibility of determining which set of electronic bits is original. Technically, any Internet posting (such as blogs or emails) could be considered copyrighted material unless explicitly stated otherwise."

I don't expect to see this list reprinted elsewhere (what could anyone gain?), but better to state it upfront!

Best Songs of all time, Rock, alternative rock, beethoven

I was just reading another blog where the best rock songs and best alternative songs were listed (with rankings, 7-11). I had to wonder why they made a distinction between rock and alternative? None of his/her alternative choices (mostly green day) were not "rock." Few of mine are, either, thus "alternative rock."

I suppose my next list might include the best rock, alternative, and classical music tracks (or classical music selections, as the classical radio stations call them). Coming in at #3, it's Beethoven, with his Fifth; at second, it's The Beatles, and at #1, it's Queen. Queen, keep on rocking.

The Best Alternative Rock Songs, 1976-1993

1. The Clash, “London Calling”
2. The Sex Pistols, “Anarchy in the UK”
3. The Cure, “Boys Don’t Cry”
4. The Smiths, “How Soon is Now?”
5. Joy Division, “Love Will Tear Us Apart”
6. U2, “New Year’s Day”
7. The Ramones, “Blitzkrieg Bop”
8. R.E.M., “Radio Free Europe”
9. Nirvana, “Smells Like Teen Spirit”
10. Pearl Jam, “Alive”
11. Sonic Youth, “Teenaged Riot”
12. The Replacements, “Alex Chilton”
13. Violent Femmes, “Blister in the Sun”
14. Bauhaus, “Bela Lugosi’s Dead”
15. XTC, “Dear God”
16. Modern English, “I Melt With You”
17. Mission of Burma, “That’s When I Reach for My Revolver”
18. Echo and the Bunnymen, “Lips Like Sugar”
19. The Buzzcocks, “Ever Fallen in Love”
20. The Jam, “That’s Entertainment”
21. Jane’s Addiction, “Been Caught Stealing”
22. R.E.M., “It's the End of the World as We Know It (And I Feel Fine)”
23. The B-52’s, “Rock Lobster”
24. The Church, “Under the Milky Way”
25. The Stone Roses, “I Wanna Be Adored”
26. Depeche Mode, “Never Let Me Down Again”
27. The Cure, “Just Like Heaven”
28. The Clash, “White Riot”
29. Husker Du, “Dreams Reoccurring”
30. New Order, “Bizarre Love Triangle”
31. Richard Hell and the Voidoids, "Blank Generation"
32. Psychedelic Furs, “Pretty in Pink”
33. Social Distortion, “Story of My Life”
34. Dramarama, “Anything, Anything”
35. Madness, “One Step Beyond”
36. The English Beat, “Save it for Later”
37. Red Hot Chili Peppers, “Under the Bridge”
38. The Cult, “She Sells Sanctuary”
39. Television, “Marquee Moon”
40. X, “Los Angeles”
41. Dead Kennedys, “California Uber Alles”
42. Wire, “Practice Makes Perfect”
43. The Call, “Walls Came Down”
44. The Pixies, “Wave of Mutilation”
45. Pearl Jam, “Jeremy”
46. The Waterboys, "The Whole of the Moon"
47. The Smiths, “The Queen is Dead”
48. The Feelies, “Crazy Rhythms”
49. Romeo Void, “Never Say Never”
50. Mission of Burma, “Academy Fight Song”
51. My Bloody Valentine, “Shallow”
52. The Ramones, “Sheena is a Punk Rocker”
53. Butthole Surfers, “Who Was In My Room Last Night?”
54. Ministry, “(Everyday is) Halloween”
55. The Replacements, “Unsatisfied”
56. Camper Van Beethoven, “Take the Skinheads Bowling”
57. Black Flag, “TV Party”
58. Yazoo/Yaz, “Situation”
59. Oingo Boingo, “Dead Man’s Party”
60. Faith No More, “Epic”
61. Kate Bush, "Running up that Hill"
62. Radiohead, “Creep”
63. Depeche Mode, “Personal Jesus”
64. New Order, “Blue Monday”
65. Public Image Limited, “Public Image”
66. The Minutemen, “History Lesson, Part II”
67. The Sundays, “Here’s Where the Story Ends”
68. Suicidal Tendencies, “Institutionalized”
69. The Cure, “Let’s Go to Bed”
70. Siouxsie and the Banshees, “Creepshow”
71. The Tragically Hip, “Courage”
72. 10,000 Maniacs, “Like the Weather”
73. Depeche Mode, “People are People”
74. Roxy Music, “More than This”
75. Bronski Beat, “Small Town Boy”
76. The Dead Milkmen, “Bitchin’ Camaro”
77. INXS, “The One Thing”
78. R.E.M., “Losing My Religion”
79. Soundgarden, “Outshined”
80. The Pogues, “Fairytale of New York”
81. Suzanne Vega, “Luka”
82. Front 242, “Headhunter”
83. Bare Naked Ladies, “Be My Yoko Ono”
84. Violent Femmes, “Add it Up”
85. Alphaville, “Forever Young”
86. Happy Mondays, “Kinky Afro”
87. Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds, “Mercy Seat”
88. Smashing Pumpkins, “Rhinoceros”
89. B-52’s, “Private Idaho”
90. The Wedding Present, “Go Out and Get Em, Boy”
91. R.E.M., “Fall on Me”
92. James, “Sit Down”
93. Echo and the Bunnymen, “Bring on the Dancing Horses”
94. Husker Du, “Divide and Conquer”
95. The Godfathers, "Birth School Work Death"
96. Sugarcubes, “Birthday”
97. The Boomtown Rats, “I Don’t Like Mondays”
98. Nine Inch Nails, “Head Like a Hole”
99. Cocteau Twins, “Caroline’s Fingers”
100. Psychedelic Furs, “Ghost in You”
101. The Dream Syndicate, “Tell Me When It’s Over”
102. Love and Rockets, "No New Tale to Tell"
103. The Replacements, “Kids Don’t Follow”
104. Primal Scream, “Loaded”
105. Tones on Tail, "Go!"
106. Bad Religion, “American Jesus”
107. They Might Be Giants, “Birdhouse in Your Soul”
108. Lemonheads, “It’s a Shame about Ray”
109. The Alarm, "The Stand"
110. Aztec Camera, "Birth of the True"
111. Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark, "Electricity"
112. Sisters of Mercy, "This Corrosion"

113. The Vapors, “Turning Japanese”
114. Ministry, “Stigmata”
115. Teenage Fanclub, “The Concept”

116. The Minutemen, “Corona”
117. Jesus and Mary Chain, “Some Candy Talking”
118. The Smiths, “This Charming Man”
119. The Throwing Muses, “Dizzy”
120. The Plimsouls, “A Million Miles Away”
121. Fugazi, “Waiting Room”
122. The Mighty Lemon Drops, “The Other Side”
123. Wolfgang Press, “Shut that Door”
124. Public Image Limited, “Rise”
125. The Clash, “Rock the Casbah”
126. Dead Milkmen, “You’ll Dance to Anything”
127. Pulp, “My Legendary Girlfriend”
128. Circle Jerks, “When the Shit Hits the Fan”
129. Dinosaur Jr., “No Bones”
130. The Pogues, “Transmetropolitan”

New Wave?

A lot of this so-called alternative stuff is also new wave, and much new wave is also alternative. But I've cut out some of the new wave stuff anyway. I liked what The Onion said about Tom Petty and the punk era, namely that while punk music took on the old, calcified rock establishment head on, Petty and the Heartbreakers flanked it.

The New Wave Tangent List

Talking Heads, “Take Me to the River”
The Police, “Can’t Stand Losing You”
Soft Cell, “Tainted Love”
Devo, “Whip It”
Gary Numan, “Cars”
Elvis Costello, “Radio Radio”
Flock of Seagulls, “I Ran”
Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers, “Need to Know”
Blondie, “Call Me”
The Eurythmics, “Here Comes the Rain Again”
Berlin, “The Metro”
Wall of Voodoo, “Mexican Radio”
The Buggles, “Video Killed the Radio Star”
Tears for Fears, “Pale Shelter”
The Police, “Don’t Stand So Close to Me”
The Cars, “Let’s Go”
Duran Duran, “New Moon on Monday”
Kim Wilde, “Kids in America”
Nena, “99 Luftballoons”
Simple Minds, “Up on the Catwalk”
Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers, “You Got Lucky”
Men Without Hats, “Safety Dance”
Joe Jackson, “Is She Really Going Out With Him?”

My forbears list

I'm sure this list is not very complete. But these are the artists the later artists tend to cite the most. I can't pick one song by the Velvet Underground, who seem to me to belong on this forbears list and on the best alternative list.

Anyway.

The Forbears List
David Bowie, “Changes,” “Heroes,” “Ashes to Ashes”
Iggy and the Stooges, “I Wanna Be Your Dog”
Patti Smith, “Gloria”
Peter Gabriel, "Games Without Frontiers"
The MC5, “Kick out the Jams”
Leonard Cohen, “Everybody Knows”
Badfinger, “Day after Day”
Big Star, “September Gurls”
13th Floor Elevators, “You’re Gonna Miss Me”

Yeah, that Cohen song is a later one, but it was still influential on alternative rock, more so I think than earlier greats that had an influence more like Dylan had (Suzanne, etc.). Same thing with Gabriel, who became popular when alternative was still reekingly unpopular and underground. Still, the sound of games is classic alternative.

Justification

Everytime I hear one of my old favorite songs, I think about the fact that while Top 40 ranked popular songs of my youth, nothing ranked "unpopular" ones. Alternative music became popular in the 1990s, and so of course it happened then. But when I look on Google or Yahoo for a list of the best (so I can argue with it), I don't find much (I do find a blog that says Enigma is the Best Alternative band. The horror, the horror!). So I wanted to organize and save my favorites and let the debate begin.

I fully expect to slap my head and ask myself why I didn't think of some song not on the list. Regularly. And for others to comment that I'm an idiot. Well, it's the only way I'll learn...

My criteria for "best alternative rock" songs "of all time"

Of all time? This depends on the parameters we’re using for when alternative starts and ends. By the time alternative rock became mainstream rock, around the advent of Nirvana and Pearl Jam and Smashing Pumpkins, it was becoming incorrect to describe this music and its particular modes, sounds, and messages as alternative. In other words, by the time “alternative” became popular to use (early 1990s), the giants of the genre had already been established, and the music was no longer an alternative to anything. Songs after that period should get their own list (post-alternative, perhaps?).

I think the beginning date is rather more obvious since this is a “rock” list and rock needed and got an alternative in the mid-1970s. Therefore, the beginning of the list is the beginning of the punk era as well, with the Clash in Britain and the Ramones in the US. Wikipedia clearly has it all wrong in separating punk from alternative. It may be that they are mistakenly conflating punk and hardcore. Their date of “mid-1980s” for the beginning of alternative rock is off by 10 years. One of the charms of this sub-set of music is that it was around for a while without drawing enough attention to make classification of it very scientific; again, it was over by the time that classification happened with great certainty.

A list of great alternative should include sub-genres (like “New Wave,” “gothic,” “grunge” or “dance music”) without shame. Anything that struck a chord, but was not resolutely or obviously mainstream should count. Songs by acts that later became mainstream can count (i.e. we can’t discount R.E.M because they became popular), though acts that were almost always mainstream (Duran Duran, Billy Idol) should not count. Songs that exhibited alternative tendencies in sound or message, but which were released in the context of mainstream rock should have their own list. The New Wave leanings of mainstream rock acts like Tom Petty and the Cars exemplify this, as do popular songs that a fan might reasonably appreciate as sort of alternative without ever digging into similar, but more alternative fare (Flock of Seagulls, Berlin, and Devo fall into this category for me). So, too, should “Prog” or progressive rock, which to me veers too far from punk rock to be included here (I’m looking at you, King Crimson and Yes).

There are also forbears, songs that came before these alternative songs and that deserve their own category. David Bowie, for example, has produced many songs that are clearly alternative rock in all but popularity. He belongs on the forbears list, as do others like Iggy Pop, who was never as popular as Bowie, but who was already established as an artist by the beginning of the time period I count as the alternative era.

So time is one parameter for choosing the list: the songs should come from between 1976 and 1993 or so. Sound is a fairly broad category, but any recontextualizing of old school rock sounds in guitar, voice or drum should count, as should any conscious attempt to push the boundaries of rock. This includes some cross-genre songs (those that fuse rap and rock, or country and rock) without denying that there are classification differences. Many artists, of course, hate to be classified (or rather, they love to be classified in enough categories to increase sales), but this body of music is coherent enough to be analyzed without being homogeneous enough to be boring.

Message or content often follows form, and alternative rock provides not only an alternative to the sounds provided by mainstream rock, but to the messages. There’s nothing wrong with the sex, drugs, wild life and freedom content to most rock, but alternative rock tends to ironize or recontextualize these themes, or simply ignore them in favor of a more socially conscious approach. Much, but not all of it has less faith in social action than the rock of the 1960s, but by the time this era begins, its newly reenergized social conscious does mark it off from mainstream rock.

The numbering system tends to favor some of the older songs, which have proved their worth through longevity and have had more influence on the rest of the list purely through historical precedence. For acts with multiple songs, some distinction might be drawn among songs with more variance from other sounds, or how much influence (even popularity) they may have had. For acts not known for particular songs (including those that never had popular singles, even on underground radio), representative choices might be made. Beyond that, the list reflects personal taste. No one can be everywhere, nor have an emotional or intellectual connection to every artist, sound, or scene.

Top Alternative Songs.