Jump to content

Rolling Stone's 40 Songs That Changed The World


Recommended Posts

In conjunction with their 40th anniversary, Rolling Stone has put forth a list of the "40 Songs That Changed the World."

 

I think it's a pretty ridiculous list, despite a lot of very good songs being on it. What do you think?

 

1. Elvis Presley - "That's Alright"

2. Ray Charles - "I Got a Woman"

3. Chuck Berry - "Maybelline"

4. Bob Dylan - "A Hard Rain's A Gonna Fall"

5. The Kingsmen - "Louie Louie"

6. The Ronettes - "Be My Baby"

7. The Beatles - "I Want to Hold Your Hand"

8. Martha & The Vandellas - "Dancing in the Street"

9. The Rolling Stones - "Satisfaction"

10. Bob Dylan - "Like a Rolling Stone"

11. The Beatles - "Strawberry Fields Forever"

12. The Velvet Underground - "Heroin"

13. Jimi Hendrix - "Purple Haze"

14. Aretha Franklin - "Respect"

15. Led Zeppelin - "Whole Lotta Love"

16. James Brown - "Sex Machine"

17. Marvin Gaye - "What's Going On"

18. John Lennon - "Imagine"

19. David Bowie - "Ziggy Stardust"

20. Bob Marley - "I Shot the Sheriff"

21. Joni Mitchell - "Help Me"

22. Bruce Springsteen - "Born to Run"

23. Queen - "Bohemian Rhapsody"

24. The Ramones - "Blitzkrieg Bop"

25. Donna Summer - "I Feel Love"

26. The Sex Pistols - "Anarchy in the U.K."

27. Sugar Hill Gang - "Rapper's Delight"

28. Black Flag - "TV Party"

29. Michael Jackson - "Billie Jean"

30. Prince - "When Doves Cry"

31. U2 - "Pride (In the Name of Love)"

32. Madonna - "Like a Virgin"

33. Run DMC/Aerosmith - "Walk This Way"

34. The Cure - "Just Like Heaven"

35. Guns N Roses - "Sweet Child O Mine"

36. Public Enemy - "Bring the Noise"

37. Nirvana - "Smells Like Teen Spirit"

38. Dre - "Nothin But a 'G' Thang"

39. Britney Spears - "...Baby One More Time"

40. The White Stripes - "Fell in Love With a Girl"

Link to post
Share on other sites
35. Guns N Roses - "Sweet Child O Mine"

 

Should be "Welcome to the Jungle"

Link to post
Share on other sites
3. Chuck Berry - "Maybelline"

 

Too fuckin' right. Chuck Berry, and Fats Domino (who is sadly not on the list), totally tore up the rules of song lyrics and lyrical structure for 'mainstream' music.

 

It's not the list I would quite write, but all the songs on there are pretty important to the development of music, for good or worse (except U2, but I never saw the point in them, so I am biased).

Link to post
Share on other sites

Guitar Player magazine had a really good feature on 40 great guitar albums from '67 a couple of issues ago.

 

Rolling Stone hasn't published a good list since the pre-internet era.

Link to post
Share on other sites

It's a good list, but I think the world is still pretty much the same as it was around the time "Fell In Love With A Girl" came out.

Link to post
Share on other sites
That was THE song that kicked it off? Huh.

 

Yeah, in the mainstream really it was. I think if all disco music was as raw and interesting as that then I'd actually like it a whole lot more than I do. The synth on that song was a mistake orignally, I think the producer did something wrong with the two parts (or some such thing) and they ended up going inbetween each other in that double time phasing sort of effect it has. He liked it, so it evolved from then - it was originally far slower.

Link to post
Share on other sites
I think it was the Eurodisco sensibility and use of synths to create nearly every sound on "I Feel Love" that made them choose it... they could have just as quickly put "Rock the Boat" by Hues Corporation if they wanted to.
Yeah, in the mainstream really it was. I think if all disco music was as raw and interesting as that then I'd actually like it a whole lot more than I do. The synth on that song was a mistake orignally, I think the producer did something wrong with the two parts (or some such thing) and they ended up going inbetween each other in that double time phasing sort of effect it has. He liked it, so it evolved from then - it was originally far slower.

Interesting. :cheers

Link to post
Share on other sites
It's a good list, but I think the world is still pretty much the same as it was around the time "Fell In Love With A Girl" came out.

 

The kittens that stage dive to that song have done more to change the world than the song has.

Link to post
Share on other sites

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

Loading...
×
×
  • Create New...