Category Archives: steve

100 Greatest Riffs?

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This came out a couple days ago and I felt compelled to document it here. The list could be better, could be worse. I’m actually OK with Whole Lotta Love at the top. For me the best part of my favorite rock doc It Might Get Loud starts with Jack White, Edge and Jimmy Page sitting around with guitars. I kind of forget the order of the first two but, let’s just say Edge plays something crappy, then Jack White plays something decent. Then Jimmy Page launches into the Whole Lotta Love riff. The other two look at each other with expressions best defined as, “Holy Shit!” or “That’s what I’m talkin’ about.”

1) I could do a Steveslist on Best Five Riffs Not On The List.

2) Gene will be mad at the omission of 90 percent of the old blues guy riffs that are either better than these or ripped from the old blues guys.

3) Peter? Who knows? One day he’s frustrating me with his fifth Not Rock article in a row. Then, out of thin air, he declares he’s been listening to The Hellacopters.

4) Lawr has run away.

Enjoy. Or enjoy getting mad:

The 100 Greatest Riffs Of All-Time:

100.Get Lucky – Daft Punk
99. Unbelievable – EMF
98. Loser – Beck
97. Are You Gonna Be My Girl – Jet
96. Rocks – Primal Scream
95. Bohemian Like You – The Dandy Warhols
94. Jack & Diane – John Mellencamp
93. Lonely Boy – The Black Keys
92. September – Earth, Wind & Fire
91. The One I Love – R.E.M.
90. Wheels – Foo Fighters
89. C’mon Everybody – Eddie Cochran
88. Ma-Ma-Ma Belle – Electric Light Orchestra
87. Eye Of The Tiger – Survivor
86. That Lady – The Isley Brothers
85. Mr Tambourine Man – The Byrds
84. Words of Love – Buddy Holly
83. Bo Diddley – Bo Diddley
82. Long Live Rock ‘n’ Roll – Rainbow
81. Boom Boom – John Lee Hooker
80. I Love Rock ‘n’ Roll – Joan Jett & The Blackhearts
79. Born To Be Wild – Steppenwolf
78. Cannonball – The Breeders
77. Runnin’ Down A Dream – Tom Petty
76. A Girl Like You – Edwyn Collins
75. My Sharona – The Knack
74. Block Buster! – Sweet
73. Rumble – Link Wray
72. Every Breath You Take – The Police
71. Oh, Pretty Woman – Roy Orbison
70. Boys Don’t Cry – The Cure
69. There She Goes – The La’s
68. Theme From Shaft – Isaac Hayes
67. Shakin’ All Over – Johnny Kidd & The Pirates
66. Pride (In The Name Of Love) – U2
65. Need You Tonight – INXS
64. Are You Gonna Go My Way – Lenny Kravitz
63. Marquee Moon – Television
62. Song 2 – Blur
61. Misirlou – Dick Dale
60. Take Me Out – Franz Ferdinand
59. Good Times – Chic
58. Peter Gunn – Duane Eddy
57. Mannish Boy – Muddy Waters
56. Sharp Dressed Man – ZZ Top
55. Walk This Way – Aerosmith / Aerosmith & RUN-D.M.C.
54. Don’t Believe A Word – Thin Lizzy
53. Beat It – Michael Jackson
52. Killing in The Name – Rage Against The Machine
51. Should I Stay Or Should I Go – The Clash
50. Spoonman – Soundgarden
49. Milk & Alcohol – Dr. Feelgood
48. Life In The Fast Lane – Eagles
47. Atomic – Blondie
46. Stay With Me – Faces
45. Run To You – Bryan Adams
44. Apache – The Shadows
43. Fools Gold – The Stone Roses
42. Born To Run – Bruce Springsteen
41. Ain’t Talkin’ ‘Bout Love – Van Halen
40. Under The Bridge – Red Hot Chili Peppers
39. I Can’t Explain – The Who
38. No One Knows – Queens of The Stone Age
37. Cigarettes & Alcohol – Oasis
36. Hocus Pocus – Focus
35. No Surprises – Radiohead
34. Don’t Fear The Reaper – Blue Oyster Cult
33. Pretty Vacant – Sex Pistols
32. She Sells Sanctuary – The Cult
31. One Vision – Queen
30. Alive – Pearl Jam
29. The Riverboat Song – Ocean Colour Scene
28. Day Tripper – The Beatles
27. I Can’t Get No (Satisfaction) – The Rolling Stones
26. Paranoid – Black Sabbath
25. Seven Nation Army – The White Stripes
24. Sunshine Of Your Love – Cream
23. Sweet Home Alabama – Lynyrd Skynyrd
22. Oh Well – Fleetwood Mac
21. All Right Now – Free
20. Smells Like Teen Spirit – Nirvana
19. Livin’ On A Prayer – Bon Jovi
18. The Spirit Of Radio – Rush
17. Johnny B. Goode – Chuck Berry
16. Enter Sandman – Metallica
15. Do I Wanna Know? – Arctic Monkeys
14. 20th Century Boy – T. Rex
13. Motorcycle Emptiness – Manic Street Preachers
12. Purple Haze – The Jimi Hendrix Experience
11. Ziggy Stardust – David Bowie
10. Money – Pink Floyd
9. You Really Got Me – The Kinks
8. Money For Nothing – Dire Straits
7. Down Down – Status Quo
6. How Soon Is Now? – The Smiths
5. Layla – Derek And The Dominoes
4. Smoke On The Water – Deep Purple
3. Back In Black – AC/DC
2. Sweet Child O’ Mine – Guns ‘N’ Roses
1. Whole Lotta Love – Led Zeppelin

The 17 Commandments Of Great Songs

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1) Agreed that one knows a great song when one hears it, as at least a couple others have suggested. This overrules anything else (except #17).

2) A great song makes one bob one’s head, shimmy one’s shoulders or purse one’s lips. Multiples are best.

3) Melody is good. The voice should be considered an extra instrument. The better the voice and the better the melody, the better the chance the song is great. A melody that adds to the song is better than one that simply mimics a riff. To use Black Sabbath as an example, War Pigs is a great song, Iron Man is not. The vocal melody has a lot to do with this.

4) Speaking of riffs, they are good.

5) Good harmony is good. Weird, innovative harmony that is still good is best.

6) At this point I’m reminded of something I once heard about The Smithereens. Their goal was to be The Beatles and AC/DC at the same time. They never came close, but it was a noble goal.

7) Hooks are good. A great musical hook is felt somewhere between the belly and balls.

8) Fast is good. There are great slow songs, but they are few.

9) Heavy is good. Most great slow songs make up in heaviness what they sacrifice in tempo.

10) Mellow is bad.

11) Great music demands attention. One cannot multitask in the presence of great music.

12) Good lyrics help, but good lyrics are not essential. If everything else is there, who cares what the band is singing about? By the same token if everything else is there, who cares whether one can decipher what the band is singing about? Misogyny and profanity are good when used properly.

13) Lyrics ideally take the listener to a fantasy world the average Joe will never experience. Songs about screwing exotic women while high on smack are better than songs about admiring one’s wife as she drives the kids to the soccer game (see pop country).

14) Electric guitars are good. Keyboards and synthesizers not so much. There are exceptions.

15) Musical proficiency sometimes helps, but is never a deal breaker. There are many great three-chord songs. Musical talent alone never makes a great song (not even a decent song).

16) Drums. Let me tell you a little story. I was at a birthday party for a relative last fall. As I sat with my brother at the beginning of the party, the DJ was playing Frank Sinatra, etc. I hate that stuff. My brother detected my displeasure and eventually exploded with something like, “This is the American Songbook! How can you call yourself a musician if you don’t at least appreciate the American Songbook?” While the American Songbook was playing, folks were milling around, generally socializing, not really paying attention. Eventually, the DJ bagged the American Songbook. He began with Hang On Sloopy. As dippy as Hang On Sloopy is, the floor immediately filled with people dancing. Drums.

17) The dark side of dancing is modern choreographed dancing. Modern choreographed dancing has been the worst thing to happen to pop music in the past 20 years. Any sniff of greatness a modern song may possess is negated by choreographed dancing. The two cannot coexist. There are surely great songs that include great choreographed dancing, but none since 1980.

WTF!?

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Discovered this video of two Swedish bands covering a Copters tune, which, in and of itself is B+ cool. (Notice how they don’t have two drummers at the same time, but they switch drummers mid-song. Never saw that before. Also notice the extreme greasiness of the redheaded guy’s hair in the interview. Finally, notice a fully-bearded Joe Sheehan playing guitar for The Hives.)

Since I’d never heard of Graveyard, I was lead to this, which pretty much turns my crank and turns on my curiosity (dig the syncopation and crazy-ass vocals):

So. I need to investigate further. Over to Amazon. There I find their Amazon 5-star album from 2011, Hisingin Blues FREE TO DOWNLOAD FOR PRIME MEMBERS!
 (Boy, it is fun to italicize and bold.)

Now I am the most resistant guy in the world to the download. I am the only person on earth who liked the CD format – way more hassle-free than vinyl, but still retaining enough vinyl-ness for my satisfaction. My heart says pay $14 for the CD, but my mind wins out with, “at least download it first and see if it’s worth buying.” My life turned a corner today.

As for Prime, I’m a member anyway, mostly because the food my pet rabbit (abandoned to me by the family that abandoned me last August) eats is hard to find in the pet stores and way cheaper on Amazon. Years ago, I would think, “Every king store gets toppled eventually, but what will ever topple Walmart?” The answer is Amazon.

Mannah from heaven.

Off!

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Been listening to the new Off! album a lot, Wasted Years.

This is where my musical head was at in the 80’s when new wave and hair metal and all the other crap one hears on 80’s retro radio today was popular. I missed out on as much of that as possible.

Yeah, this is rehashed Circle Jerks, but rehashed Circle Jerks is pretty damn good compared to 95 percent of what else is going on these days.

The other day I was in the supermarket glancing at fantasy football mags and I noticed the new GQ features, “The Best 21 Albums Of The 21st Century.” If you wanna get depressed about music, take a gander at that list.

Does anyone care?