Honky Tonk Man wrote on Jul 6^th, 2009 at 8:04am:


Lots of Green Day and Phil Spector girl group stuff, Alex. Not that I'm opposed to it at all. So here's my top 25. There's a lot of other stuff in my collection. This is a very small sampling considering I have over 6000 songs! I'll give some comments too since I'm always full of insight:

1 Dust-Fleetwood Mac (Really underrated, mellow ballad from Danny Kirwan who shares lead vocal with Christine McVie from this 1972 gem)

2 Procession-New Order      (One of their first singles from 1981)

3 Dyslexic Heart-Paul Westerberg (A wonderfully novel love song Paul did for the soundtrack to the movie Singles in 1992)

4 Four Winds      -Bright Eyes (Conor Oberst is definitely one of the few in the rock vein worth watching today and I really like when Bright Eyes matured beyond their slightly whimpish Elliot Smith-like beginnings to become rootsy and fresh)

5 Capital Radio Two-The Clash (Great little commentary on radio by the Clash from 1979)

6 Albatross-Fleetwood Mac (One of rock's great instrumentals and a rare #1 hit in the UK that was vocal-less in 1969. Long live Peter Green!)

7 Still Water (Love)-The Four Tops (Beautiful latter-day ballad from the Tops in 1970 after H-D-H left Motown and the Tops in a lurch)

8 There Was A Time-James Brown (Great live rendition that's just a stone groove with only one chord but plenty of other things happening)

9 Giant Steps-John Coltrane (Essential modal jazz from the late 50s by one of jazz's pre-eminent geniuses before he really went weird years later)

10 Hold My Life-The Replacements (Lead cut on the 'Mats 1985 Tim LP and a typically heart-tugging Westerberg tune)

11 It's All Over Now Baby Blue-Van Morrison & Them (Van showed even in 1965 what a great singer and interpreter he could be, re-inventing the Dylan classic to his own style)

12 Dreaming From The Waist-The Who (The best rocker from The Who By the Numbers in 1975, more of Townshend's moping on aging and his alcoholism)

13 Ecaroh-Art Blakey & Horace Silver (Gotta love Art Blakey not just for his timekeeping impressiveness but for the solid arrangements he give his ensemble and when joined by piano whiz Horace Silver there were awesome results, such as this 6 minute bopper)

14 Rain-The Beatles (A psychedelic journey extraordinaire from the Fabs)

15 Dreamin' Of You-Bob Dylan (What a great uncovered gem from 1997 that was unearthed on Tell Tale Signs last year)

16 You're Welcome, Stop on By-Bobby Womack (Nobody was smoother, funkier or smokier in soul than Womack in the early 70s)

17 Rock & Roll Woman-Buffalo Springfield (Stills never wowed me much after the 60s but you gotta admit this guy had his shit going in his early days and this was a tour de force of his talents)

18 Ever Fall in Love?-The Buzzcocks (Combining pop sensibility and wonderful punk hooks was the Buzzcocks forte and this was a supreme representation of that)

19 Neat Neat Neat-The Damned (Punk could be mindless but still as transcendent as "serious" prog or art rock and the Damned knew how to pump out the furious classics)

20 Stay-David Bowie (Coke-mad and paranoid Bowie and his arty ways meets 70s funk and creates a sort of detached kraut rock)

21 What Love is-The Dead Boys (Of all the American punk bands early on, though there weren't many, the Dead Boys were devoted thrashing punk rockers and this song was simple fun and filth)

22 Eight Miles High-Husker Du (About as psychotic a cover you're gonna here but so amazing as the Huskers make the Byrds landmark song a fuzz-drenched, distorted, madcap alt-rocker with Bob Mould screaming almost incomprehensibly)

23 Soul Power-James Brown (Another of James' many incredible jams from the early 70s that proved he was funk's master and band leader unrivaled by anyone)

24 Open My Eyes-The Nazz (Todd Rundgren's first group the Nazz created a few stellar songs but none better than this 3 minutes of Beatley, catchy psychedelic rock that has the usual trippy solos and harmonies but a propulsive drive that sounds like Moby Grape on speed or something)

25 Duncan-Paul Simon (Simon's first LP is a masterpiece and this song a delicate triumph with Simon singing a seafaring tale with a standard folk arrangement that is fleshed out beautifully by his acoustic guitar picking and the chilling sounds of the Peruvian pan flutes of South America- also heard in breathtaking form on his "El Condor Pasa (If I Could)" from Bridge Over Troubled Water)

Prodigal raised the bar and included reviews


shame on the rest of us

I'll do like PS, add comments, why not:

Whiskeytown/Drank Like a River (they likened this one to a FBB tune meets "Satisfaction" - the song oozes attitude)
Neal Casal/Sundowntown (demo) (another great vocal from Neal)
Son Volt/Cemetery Savior (a more rocking tune than most of Straightaways, wish they played it live more)
Jackson Browne/These Days (beautifully written, at such a young age)
Velvet Underground/Oh Sweet Nuthin (like most of VU's songs, not the happiest topic, but pays respect for those like "Salt of the Earth" does - amazing lead guitar, over 7 mins of heaven)
Whiskeytown/Houses on the Hill (one of the saddest songs, beautiful fiddle from CC as always)
Neil Young/Big Time (amazing riff, its a monster on the level of "Citadel" and turns into a classic Crazy Horse full band jam)
Ryan Adams/Cold Roses (another awesome riff - the instrumental break has all members right on the mark)
Warren Zevon/Carmelita (singing about doing Heroine in a border town, Warren being Warren)
Whiskeytown/Crazy Lonesome (a Memory Away) (outtake that the band liked enough to play live a bunch of times - has that Stonesy swagger)
Whiskeytown/Barn's On Fire (short but good country-riff)
Free/Ride on a Pony (live) (THE blues riff, Paul Rodgers and Paul Kossoff make this thing GROOVE)
Tom Petty/Jammin' Me (one of the few bright spots from this album, but rocks in a nice Keith-like way)
Black Keys/Your Touch (check out Eastbound and Down's first few episodes, and you'll hear this danceable blues-rocker)
CSNY/Everybody I Love You (the slow part at the end gets nice and bluesy)
George Jones/He Stopped Loving Her Today (another sad one, not my favorite of Jones' but it might give you goosebumps if youre not ready)
Ryan Adams/Magnolia Mountain (see Cold Roses, one of the best songs Adams ever wrote)
Chris Robinson/Red Road (builds nicely, too bad its not more well-known)
Cracker/Mr. Wrong (cheeky lyrics, very Stonesy)
Flying Burrito Brothers/Hot Burrito #1 (Grams best)
George Harrison/Beware of Darkness (listen to the slide guitar, a reason why GH had the best solo career)
Rolling Stones/Crazy Mama' (nuff said)
Johnny Cash/I Heard That Lonesome Whistle Blow (I like Hank's original too, I could see Keith playing this one)
Old 97s/Crash on the Barrelhead (97s being a bit spooky for them, with good results, short but sweet)
Wilco/Casino Queen (the band needs more stuff like this instead of some of their more boring recent stuff - this ones SUPER stonesy)