Worst of the 50 Best Songs of All Time According to Rolling Stone's BRAND NEW, 100% Revamped Top 500

dunno if this is a controversial opinion but i think the b-side version of “love will tear us apart,” the one that sounds more like a typical JD track, is better

“Idioteque” isn’t even top 20 Radiohead, what the hell is it doing here?
Voted that over the turgid bong hit of “Imagine”.

wait voting for tutti frutti as worst, seriously?

"gasolina" was a genuine cultural moment. "dancing on my own" is beloved by music bloggers who read music blogs

“Idioteque” isn’t even top 20 Radiohead, what the hell is it doing here?

music bloggers go dancing

Xpost: tbh they picked headscratching picks for Radiohead: karma police, creep and idioteque. If you’re making a case for greatest Radiohead songs I think Paranoid Android is surely more of a consensus pick than those?

voted “Runaway,” there’s plenty of Kanye that I like but that being thought of as one of the greatest songs of all time really bums me out.

music bloggers go dancing

― So who you gonna call? The martini police (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Friday, September 17, 2021 5:11 PM (nine minutes ago) bookmarkflaglink

https://i.gifer.com/7DPd.gif

Yes I voted Tutti Fruti. It’s annoying. Everyone else’s reasons are arbitrary and mine can be too.

Imagine voting for this shit song as one of the top 50 greatest songs of all time:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0fDIZj9BX9U

This Fleetwood Mac song is so fucking lame. A bunch of people voting this drab nothing song into the Top 10 because a Tik Tok man skateboarded with juice is some real OPPA GANGNAM STYLE shit

9. Pharrell Hat

and what you hat
and what you lost

"dancing on my own" is beloved by music bloggers who read music blogs

And just people in general.

I really have to 100% give it up to Fluxblog who really laid the groundwork for M.I.A. and Robyn to have some of the 50 Greatest Songs Ever Written. I was justifibly suspicious of the blog era and have been proved wrong time and time again

This Fleetwood Mac song is so fucking lame. A bunch of people voting this drab nothing song into the Top 10 because a Tik Tok man skateboarded with juice is some real OPPA GANGNAM STYLE shit

that

usually I get mad when my favorite songs get baconated or whatever but that whole thing was fine

oh oops i accidentally voted for "a case of you" as it's my favorite

the worst is probably "i want to hold your hand"

Chris “dreams” was an iconic cross generation monster single well before the meme capped it off

Memed more than once too fwiw

https://beat.com.au/a-viral-meme-has-pushed-fleetwood-mac-into-the-top-20-again/

How is it that I never heard that "Love Will Tear Us Apart" b-side before? Definitely like that one better (but still mystified that this song is the consensus pick for best JD song)

Robyn and MIA are both total jams, and I welcome them to the pantheon.

After listening to Idioteque just now, I kinda want to change my vote. That one has always annoyed me. I guess I've still never progressed past OK Computer.

"love will tear us apart" isn't the consensus best joy division song, just their most famous & iconic which is what really matters for things like this

they picked headscratching picks for Radiohead: karma police, creep and idioteque. If you’re making a case for greatest Radiohead songs I think Paranoid Android is surely more of a consensus pick than those?

"Paranoid Android" is the highest-placed Radiohead song here but "Creep" and "Idioteque" are #2 and #3; "Karma Police" is #5: http://www.acclaimedmusic.net/year/alltime_songs.htm . "Idioteque" has been my favourite probably since Kid A came out.

Kid A is one of my favorite albums of all time but having “Idioteque” not only as the best Radiohead song, but as one of the best electronic songs of all time is simply idiotic. It’s not even the best song on the album and I wouldn’t even vote for it as one of the 500 greatest electronic songs of all time.

I mean it’s a fucking great song don’t get me wrong, but I struggle to think of it as the #2 best electronic song of all time.

"Bohemian Rhapsody" without a second thought, by far the most overplayed in my world

pretty much all of the others I would happily listen to if they came on in a supermarket/taxi/etc

Yeah I can probably live the rest of my life without ever hearing that one ever again. I’d still complain if it was missing from the top 500 list tbh.

"Paranoid Android" wouldn't make my top 20 prog rock songs, though, see. xps

D-40, you’re probably right, but I def would recognize “Go Your Own Way” or “Don’t Stop” or “Gold Dust Woman” or “The Chain” or even “Little Lies” or “Green Manalishi” over that song that I still don’t know the chorus to

I don’t think of Paranoid Android as prog rock, it’s alternative rock and it’s definitely a top 20 alternative rock piece.

Idk maybe Idioteque is actually a good candidate for top 10 IDM/electronica songs of all time… I’m still sour on no Björk or Aphex Twin anywhere to be seen in the top 500.

I can see why I Want To Hold Your Hand is important as the Beatles first US #1 and their first single recorded on a four-track, but I can't see a case for it even being in a list of their 50 best songs, the verses are just there to build up to the chorus, the chorus has loads of energy but that's basically it.

xp Aphex doesn't really do "songs" much but a top 500 without "Come to Daddy" seems wilful

When did ilx decide to hate Royals? I feel like I missed a meeting. Voted Tutti Frutti.

― 29 facepalms, Friday, September 17, 2021 3:57 PM (yesterday) bookmarkflaglink

No one hates Royals but 30th greatest song ever is fucking insane

There’s not much wrong with (almost) any of these songs individually, but put together like that it paints a depressingly narrow picture of music.

otm

Hey Ya isn't a top 50 OutKast song

Isn't any list of 50 best songs either going to be "depressingly narrow" or chaotically eclectic, especially if it comes from a group consensus rather than an individual's aesthetic?

I can see why I Want To Hold Your Hand is important as the Beatles first US #1 and their first single recorded on a four-track, but I can't see a case for it even being in a list of their 50 best songs, the verses are just there to build up to the chorus, the chorus has loads of energy but that's basically it.

Yeah this was the one I meant - I don't actively dislike it but I didn't even notice the other two Beatles songs in the list! This is why polls of 50 are always bad.

She Loves You is so much better

the verses are just there to build up to the chorus

Huh, I’m not a lover of the Beatles – and I’m usually the first to raise this particular flag – but I don’t agree with it in this case. I think all parts of the song are strong (esp. the bridge), and fit together well

I don't think I'll ever find the zone where I could hear Bohemian Rhapsody anew and amusing, it just feels like being dragged to a Andrew Lloyd Webber show at this point.

I apparently manage to avoid “Bohemian Rhapsody” a lot better than average

Isn't any list of 50 best songs either going to be "depressingly narrow" or chaotically eclectic, especially if it comes from a group consensus rather than an individual's aesthetic?

― Halfway there but for you, Saturday, September 18, 2021 10:28 AM (three hours ago) bookmarkflaglink

Cop out. There are ilxors who could easily make such a list. Some of the ballots I saw for this poll were decent lists in this style

There are a substantial amount of music critics who still put Imagine in their top 50 songs of all time, this is the main thing I've learned.

i’m no professional writer but I think it’s doable? Have a good discussion with a knowledgable group of people on the major musical movements of the post-war age (if you want to set some sort of cut-off point for “modern”), pick representative songs for each of them and see if the resulting list paints a decent picture. That’s probably going to produce a better list (or at least one that invites more discovery, which I assume is the purpose of these lists), than “ok people, let’s all list our favourite songs that were inescapable on radio/tv when we were teenagers, oh shit this list looks way too narrow, better throw in Daddy Yankee and Bob Marley”.

it's easy if you try

or at least one that invites more discovery, which I assume is the purpose of these lists