List Break - Wussy Bands

I'm going to discuss three bands that I've seen get the same label from other online nerds. These are known as the wussy bands. I'm going to dissect whether or not they deserve the label, and if they do, are they a bad group?

The first of those three bands is Weezer. Now, I don't keep a secret that I grew up on Weezer, but that was probably due to my nerdiness and insecurity as a teenager. So, I've already declared the group is good. Are Rivers Cuomo and company wussies though? Not exactly. I think that they bill themselves as wussies, but not in a sappy way. In more of a nerdy-teenager way. Pinkerton largely focuses on insecurity in relationships (and yes, that is kind of emo), which is something that a teenager is always thinking about. I think Pitchfork put it perfectly when they said "We get older, Rivers Cuomo stays 13."

The second group is Coldplay. I decided to finally listen to Coldplay when I started the best of 00's list. I decided that due to its critical and commercial success and strength as a song, there was no reason to keep "Yellow" from the status so many people seem to put it at, which was the No. 4 spot. But, I was still unsure whether or not they were right. I listened to two Coldplay records while reading the reviews of the two records. The positive reviews stated that it was confessional, deep, and well structured. They were right. The negative reviews said they were earnest, repetitive, and left little impression. They were also right. I guess Coldplay wussy status depends whether or not you look at them in a positive and negative way. While I found the music to very wussified, I didn't find it unbearable. Overall, I'm not uncomfortable with putting them on the list, but I felt it was overrated. As for personal opinions. I really don't get the appeal of the group, but I don't dislike it.

The last of those three were Goo Goo Dolls. Well this is easy. Weezer were not wussies and good. Coldplay were on-again-off-again wussies and debatable. Goo Goo Dolls are the definition of wussies, And they suck! I mean c'mon, there's overly sentimental and then there's this. I once heard that the estrogen levels in a male body would rise every time he heard the song "Iris." Well, if you are unfortunate enough to listen to an entire record of these guys, I think something will fall off. It's hard to believe that these guys were influenced by The Replacements, one of my favorite rock groups, with a great college rock edge to them. Goo Goo Dolls seem to hammer out any edge they can find in their trite, cheesy, and commercially friendly musical approach. If you don't believe me, try listening to one of their songs. But, after you do, watch a boxing match, play Halo, learn Chuck Norris facts, and listen to Samuel L. Jackson's speech from the end of Pulp Fiction.

My Favorite Records

These are my personal favorite records. They aren't really in order, but I favor albums closer to the top over albums at the bottom.

* This appears next to albums that I probably shouldn't like, but I discovered them when I was a pissed off teenager, so that makes it okay.

Dark Side of the Moon by Pink Floyd

London Calling by The Clash

The Untitled Album by Led Zeppelin

Quadrophenia by The Who

Let It Be by The Replacements

Closer by Joy Division

Speaking In Tongues by Talking Heads

Nevermind by Nirvana

Moving Pictures by Rush

This Year's Model by Elvis Costello & The Attractions

Ride the Lightning by Metallica

Powerslave by Iron Maiden

Disintegration by The Cure

Fear of a Black Planet by Public Enemy

Zen Arcade by Husker Du

Marquee Moon by Television

Surfer Rosa by The Pixies

Hunky Dory by David Bowie

Damaged by Black Flag

White Light/White Heat by The Velvet Underground

Fresh Fruit for Rotting Vegetables by Dead Kennedys

Rubber Soul by The Beatles

Electric Ladyland by The Jimi Hendrix Experience

Automatic for the People by R.E.M.

Licensed to Ill by The Beastie Boys

Goo by Sonic Youth

Stankonia by Outkast

Peace Sells... But Who's Buying by Megadeth

In The Aeroplane Over the Sea by Neutral Milk Hotel

The Queen Is Dead by The Smiths

Blood Sugar Sex Magik by Red Hot Chili Peppers

Van Halen by Van Halen

Purple Rain by Prince & The Revolution

Turn on the Bright Lights by Interpol

Slanted & Enchanted by Pavement

The Blue Album by Weezer*

Funeral by The Arcade Fire

Siamese Dream by The Smashing Pumpkins

Smash by The Offspring

Dookie by Green Day*

British Steel by Judas Priest

The Cars by The Cars

BadMotorFinger by Soundgarden

Let There Be Rock by AC/DC

Songs for the Deaf by Queens of the Stone Age

List Break - Diva/Rap Songs

So, people told me that one great song I left out of the decades list. The song was Umbrella by Rihanna and Jay Z. I remember that it was a big hit, I remember being impressed by the video, but I forgot the song. It was a pretty good song, but there was one thing that I didn't get. Why is Jay Z in it? I love Jay Z but his placement seemed to be a bit random. He's just rapping like normal and then the song just goes into a Rihanna song completely out of nowhere. It was like the song decided that it didn't want Jay Z so the mic just ditched him in the recording studio. Why are there so many songs like this? There's always the song that becomes a huge hit that has some famous rapper with a popular female singer. It's a good idea but the two just don't go together very well. Besides this trend of rapper/diva songs also launched the way overdone Whitney Houston/Bobby Brown relationship. I think that by the time she divorced him we were sick of hearing about it already. Just thought I'd mention that.

List Break - Pop Music

Many people have been saying that my blog is focused too much on rock music, and occasionally diverging into rap music, with no mainstream pop music. First of all, rock and rap music are the only two successful genres other than straight forward pop. There are other genres, but they are a bit too underground for people to know about, and thus, have not left the same impression on music. As for less rap than rock, that's simple: Rap music is a much younger genre. But why is it that never give any nod to pop music. I was very cruel to pop artists in my first essay. Let me explain.

Pop music is referred to any genre of music that fits in with popular selling music. Usually, this music is created by record companies to suit modern demands, and ask their recording artists to fill certain demographics. This was constant until the 60's, when The Beatles came around. The Beatles are one of those groups that younger people look back on and go, "What's so special?" but if you try to put yourself in the time zone, you get it. Even though The Beatles are the best selling recording artists of all time, their success was viewed as horrible for record companies. Why? They were the first group to obtain worldwide success while writing all their own songs, and playing all their own instruments, with practically no influence from the record companies. With this new idea of being artsy and popular, the record companies invented a slicker sense of pop music, that was aimed towards teenagers, which came to be known as bubblegum. Throughout the years, rock music (and eventually rap music) have battled pop music for dominant control of the market. The artists vs. the hitmakers.

Now that you understand the history, I'll put it like I believe. My website is designed to find the best music out there. The term "best music" is used lightly, because preference of music is mere opinion. I started this saying that I'm not going to just state my favorite songs and opinions. But, music critiquing is subjective. So here's my system. I'm going to use my opinions to critically decided the stronger music by my own parameters of what defines good music. Yes it is my opinion, but I argue it very well.

As for the disdain for pop music, there is none. True I have ripped on pop music in the past, but that doesn't mean I thought any band in that category sucked. Michael Jackson nearly topped the greatest of the 80's list after all. But, that isn't really a good example. Let's look at music the same way we look at movies. When you here critics like Roger Ebert or the late Gene Siskel talk about movies, they will often use the term "pop movies" to describe blockbuster movies. Pop movies are like pop music, because they are made with heavy influence from studios to make sure the movie (album) makes a profit. These movies are not aimed to be good, as much as they are to provide a good time. You don't listen to pop music because you want to analyze it to death. I enjoy "good" movies, more than I enjoy pop movies, but I still like to go to the theater to enjoy a good time seeing some poorly made Independence Day-esque movie. Independence day was not a "good" movie, but it was an enjoyable time, that left me feeling great. When I watch a movie like The Godfather, I just love watching Marlon Brando's performance and Al Pacino's icy glare, because it provides a chilling, well made experience. I do this same thing in music. I enjoy Pink Floyd's "Dark Side of the Moon" because I think it is an incredible display of art and performance, but I also like to turn on the occasional Beyonce single, or the overproduced pop metal of Def Leppard's "Hysteria. But, would you see a Beyonce or Def Leppard record on list of greatest records ever? Of course not! It's enjoyable, but it isn't a fantastic piece of art. Every now and than there comes a pop musician that actually makes intelligent and artsy music, like Tom Petty. Full Moon Fever is the Dark Knight of music. A great, intelligent, well made piece of enjoyable pop.

So yeah, there's my motto. You don't have to feel guilty about the pop music you listen to. The artist made it so that you could enjoy it. So do that! But remember, it isn't going to be remembered 20 years later as much as it's political rap side partner.

Top 45 Songs of the 00's

This is the list to remember. This is my first decade list that is not affected by any other list, and draws no inspiration from critics over the years. It's all here and know. This will also be the last decade list I make for the next 10 years. The first decade of this millennium will end in a matter of weeks, and I'm closing it with the greatest songs of this past decade, and so far, of the millennium. Hope you enjoy.

45. Soul Meets Body by Death Cab for Cutie

44. Sex on Fire by Kings of Leon

43. Use It by The New Pornographers

42. Kids by MGMT

41. Banquet by Bloc Party

40. Drive by Incubus

39. 1901 by Phoenix

38. A-Punk by Vampire Weekend

37. Fireworks by Animal Collective

36. Down With the Sickness by Disturbed

35. Are You Gonna Be My Girl by JET

34. Brianstorm by The Arctic Monkeys

33. Take Me Out by Franz Ferdinand

32. Futures by Jimmy Eat World

31. Panic Switch by Silversun Pickups

30. Gasoline by Audioslave

29. Hate To Say I Told You So by The Hives

28. E-Pro by Beck

27. Blood & Thunder by Mastodon

26. Schism by Tool

25. Can't Stop by Red Hot Chili Peppers

24. Neighborhood #3 (Power Out) by The Arcade Fire

23. Mr. Brightside by The Killers

22. In The End by Linkin Park

21. Jesus Walks by Kanye West

20. Idioteque by Radiohead

19. Crazy In Love by Beyonce

18. Little Sister by Queens of the Stone Age

17. Wolf Like Me by TV on the Radio

16. 99 Problems by Jay-Z

15. I Miss You by Blink 182

14. Beautiful Day by U2

13. Float On by Modest Mouse

12. Paper Planes by M.I.A.

11. Hysteria by Muse

10. Hurt by Johnny Cash

9. Evil by Interpol

8. Chop Suey by System of a Down

7. Jesus of Suburbia by Green Day

6. Last Nite by The Strokes

5. Maps by Yeah Yeah Yeahs

4. Yellow by Coldplay

3. Lose Yourself by Eminem

2. Icky Thump by The White Stripes

1. B.O.B. (Bombs Over Baghdad) by Outkast

Top 25 Worst Cover Songs

What's more painful than listening to the worst songs ever? How about listening to you favorite songs get sonically raped by other artists. These are the worst cover songs ever. They are rated by how tough it is to listen to the original after hearing them. The original artist is in on the side.

25. Big Yellow Taxi by Counting Crows (Joni Mitchell)

24. Anarchy In The UK by Motley Crue (The Sex Pistols)

23. Our Lips Are Sealed by Hilary & Haley Duff (The Go-Go's)

22. Sweet Child O' Mine by Sheryl Crow (Guns N' Roses)

21. Another Brick In The Wall by Korn (Pink Floyd)

20. Feel Like Making Love by Kid Rock (Bad Company)

19. Knockin' On Heaven's Door by Guns N' Roses (Bob Dylan)

18. American Pie by Madonna (Don McLean)

17. Purple Haze by Winger (Jimi Hendrix)

16. Take On Me by The Jonas Brothers (Aha)

15. Comfortably Numb by Scissor Sisters (Pink Floyd)

14. 911 Is A Joke by Duran Duran (Public Enemy)

13. Back In Black by Shakira (AC/DC)

12. Sad But True by Snoop Dogg (Metallica)

11. Faith by Limp Bizkit (George Michael)

10. (Sittin' On) The Dock of the Bay by Michael Bolton (Otis Redding)

9. My Generation by Hilary Duff (The Who)

8. Crazy Train by Pat Boone (Ozzy Osbourne)

7. Behind Blue Eyes by Limp Bizkit (The Who)

6. (I Can't Get No) Satisfaction by Britney Spears (The Rolling Stones)

5. You Shook Me All Night Long by Celine Dion (AC/DC)

4. Enter Sandman by Pat Boone (Metallica)

3. Fight the Power by Vanilla Ice (Public Enemy)

2. Chopy Suey by Avril Lavigne (System of a Down)

1. Lucy In The Sky With Diamonds by William Shatner (The Beatles)

Real Names

This is list of famous musicians with stage names (or in the case of the last few, what people assume to be stage names). I'm going to post what their real names are next to them. Some of them are quite hilrious.

Adam Ant - Stuart Leslie Goddard

Pat Benatar - Patricia Mae Andrejewski

Jello Biafra - Eric Reed Boucher

Bono - Paul David Hewson

David Bowie - David Robert Hayward Stenton Jones

Cher - Cherilyn Sarkisian La Piere

Alice Cooper - Vincent Damon Furnier

Elvis Costello - Declan Patrick McManus

The Edge - David Howell Evans

Elton John - Reginald Kenneth Dwight

Eminem - Marshall Bruce Mathers III

Head - Brian Welch

Iggy Pop - James Newell Osterburg II

Vanilla Ice - Robert Van Winkle (HAHA)

Geddy Lee - Gary Lee Weinrib

Alex Lifeson - Alexander Zivojinovich

Meat Loaf - Marvin Lee Aday

Freddie Mercury - Farrokh Bulsara

George Michael - Yorgos Panayiotou

Joni Mitchell - Roberta Joan Anderson

Hannah Montana - Destiny Hope "Miley" Cyrus

Notorious B.I.G. - Christopher Wallace

Noodles - Kevin Wasserman

Ozzy Osbourne - John Michael Osbourne

Slash - Saul Hudson

Sting - Gordon Matthew Thomas Sumner

Joe Strummer - John Graham Mellor

Sid Vicious - John Simon Ritchie

Muddy Waters - McKinley Morganfield

Jack White - John Anthony Gillis

Stevie Wonder - Steveland Hardaway Judkins

Names That People Think Are Stage Names But Are Not

Beck - Bek David Campbell

Bjork - Bjork Gudmunstsdottir

Jon Bon Jovi - John Francis Bongiovi II

Madonna - Madonna Louise Veronica Ciccone

Prince - Prince Rogers Nelson

Rivers Cuomo - Rivers Cuomo

Stone Gossard - Stone Gossard

2Pac - Tupac Shakur

Misunderstandings

Here is another random list, but this one is centered around things in music that people always seem to misunderstand. This a response to Spin magazines similar list, which I felt they screwed up completely on.

Stone Temple Pilots are a Pearl Jam rip off -

When STP debuted in 1992 a year after Pearl Jam's Ten became a best seller, the reaction was that they were cashing in on their success by sounding exactly like them. When people told me that I was like "What is everyone smoking?" Stone Temple Pilots didn't sound like Pearl Jam at all. Their instrumentation was completely different for one thing. There music was written with more of a grungy alternative sense to it, influenced off of heavy metal, indie music, and maybe even a bit of glam rock. I never really thought Scott Weiland was a rip off of Eddie Vedder either. He always sounded a bit more like 80's era David Bowie. But, perhaps the most obvious fact, Stone Temple Pilots were first. They formed in 1986, 5 years before Pearl Jam. They just hadn't debuted sooner.

Born in the USA is a patriotic anthem -

I am sick of hearing rednecks constantly playing this song in their American cars wearing American flag shirts and talking about how great America is. This song is not a "GO USA!" song at all. The great misconception of music, the song is actually just the opposite. It's about a soldier returning from Vietnam, only to discover that the nation he fought for is still just as unforgiving and hard to live through as ever. It's about the people who had it tough in America, in the same way that Tom Petty's "American Girl" is actually about a girl killing herself under the pressures of American society. Want proof? Look no further than the video for "Born in the USA." It features a waving American Flag fading into a depressing, poor neighborhood.

Noel and Liam Gallagher are huge assholes -

This is half true. The Gallagher Brothers of Oasis would often speak highly of themselves in interviews and would diss other bands. In their most famous moment, Noel announced that he hoped members of rival band Blur would "Catch AIDS and die." They were not friendly, but to that degree was a bit pushed. After bands popularity started to grow after fighting between the brothers, they realized that in order to get publicity, they needed to act like huge assholes. They would take the mean feelings they had way out of proportion and it helped boost (What's the Story) Morning Glory? to become the third best selling album in UK history. They were assholes, but not to that degree.

Metallica are commercial sellouts -

This has always been a mystery to me. Why is it that so many people believed Metallica sold out? I always liked their stuff from the start and you can easily see a change over time. The first two records were pure thrash and speed. The next two were flirting with progressive metal. Then they released the Black Album, and their fans turned there backs on them. Why? I could understand selling out if they did like hair metal or something, but they were still hardcore, just not ridiculous hardcore metal. I can relate to that. If you listen to ...And Justice for All, you notice that they are beginning to sound a bit stiff in some areas, hell you can't even hear the bass guitar. Plus, their next album Load was a further experiment, with elements of blues. Metallica have certainly been greedy (look at Napster), but sellouts? No way.

Linkin Park are lousy rapcore posers -

Why is it that people seem to hate Linkin Park? What's so bad about them? I mean every band has people who hate them, but these guys seem to have this entire fan base of hatred. Let's look at everything people say is bad about them. First, their emo. Bullshit. You want emo, go listen to bands like Fall Out Boy and Paramore. Second, their music is overproduced and uses too many electronic samples. Yeah, that's completely true. But, just look at modern pop music. They're only about a thousand times more overproduced. Third, they whine. This is the only criticism that is pretty true. Linkin Park can seem a bit whiny at times. But, that doesn't kill a band. The music is what matters. And it is pretty damn well written.

David Lee Roth left Van Halen because of his giant ego -

This is still highly debated. Edward Van Halen will constantly insist that Dave "spat in his face." And Dave will always deny this. As much as I can get, here's what happened: Eddie had wanted to try using synthesizers for some time and finally got his way in "Jump." In anger, Dave directed the video, which had plenty of shots of him flirting with the camera. Eddie was already fed up with Dave's flamboyance and ego, and this pushed him over the edge. What followed was the typical "You're fired - You can't fire me I quit" situation.

Rage Against the Machine are an okay heavy metal band -

RATM can be considered a heavy metal group, but I personally feel that they belong in another category. They are an experimental rap group. I am dead serious. They qualify as it perfectly. They rap for one thing, they are ultra political in the same way Public Enemy are. The only difference is that they substitute a turntable for a scratch guitar. I mean I only recently found out that Tom Morello plays guitar, I thought he played a turntable.

The Smashing Pumpkins had perfect fusion as band -

I love the Pumpkins, but they were a band in the loosest sense of the word. Actually, they weren't a band in any sense of the word. Most fans know that singer Billy Corgan was the mastermind behind them, but he was to a ridiculous degree. He would write every part of every song, direct all the music videos, produce all the records (or co-produce in cases), tell all the other band members exactly what to where and how to act onstage, and he would even record the guitar and bass parts on every record to get them exactly how he wanted it. I mean just look at the band picture: You've got this skinny, tall guy in front, female bassist on his right, a Japanese guy on his left, and a metalhead looking drummer in the back. They don't look like a band as much as they do a variety snapshot.

True Stories

Not the Talking Heads album, this is a list of songs with true stories behind their writing. Many of them are quite interesting.

Burning Down the House by Talking Heads

Like most Talking Heads songs, the songs lyrics have nothing to do with anything. But, there is one. David Byrne was thinking of what to put at the chorus. After some time of failed nonsense, he had a chat with drummer Chris Frantz. Frantz had recently gone to a Parliament-Funkadelic show, and everyone chanted "Burn Down the House!" David had a solution.

Black Sabbath by Black Sabbath

Spooky, huh? This song is inspired by an incident that happened to bassist Geezer Butler. He was big into witchcraft and satanism, so Ozzy Osbourne gave him a book about the subject. After reading the book one night, Butler woke up from a nightmare, seeing a hooded figure standing at the foot of his bead. It disappeared as soon as the lights turned on. When Butler went to read up on it in the book, it has disappeared. He never saw the book, or the figure again.

Whole Lotta Rosie by AC/DC

Time for some humor. Bon Scott wrote this song about a 300 pound woman from Australia. According to him, she was fantastic at doing it.

Sweet Child O' Mine by Guns N' Roses

Another song written for a woman. Axl Rose decided to reveal his sensitive side(which would sadly lead to the positively painful "November Rain"). The song was written about his then girlfriend, Erin Everly. After a year of marriage, the two divorced after spousal abuse problems. Nice guy.

Love Will Tear Us Apart by Joy Division

Yet another song written for a woman. This one ain't upbeat though. Ian Curtis wrote this song about the straining relationship with his wife. They were going days without speaking to each other, and he could ever hear her crying in her sleep. That probably didn't help his already dangerous depression. This problem ended when his wife arrived at Curtis' parents house, to find him hanging from the kitchen ceiling by a noose.

Take Me Out by Franz Ferdinand

This song is about Franz Ferdinand. No, not the band, the man. This was the archduke who's assassination launched World War I. The song is about said assassination, not dating.

Layla by Derek & The Dominoes

To anyone who ever heard that shitty "Jesse's Girl" song by that stupid soap opera star, listen to this song instead. Eric Clapton wrote this song for a very special girl, Patti Boyd. This would have been basic had it not been for one fact. Boyd happened to be married to Clapton's best friend, George Harrison of The Beatles. The song is written for her, but in order to not let his buddy in on it, he changed the name. Boyd left Harrison and married Clapton eventually. The odd thing is how Harrison handled that. He really took that whole "bros before hoes" thing literally. He wasn't upset at at all, and actually played at their wedding. Ya got to love him for that. "You want her? Take her!"

Jeremy by Pearl Jam

Eddie Vedder was reading the Times one day, and learned of something very unsettling. Their was 14 year old boy named Jeremy Wade Delle. And he didn't quite speak in class one day. He arrived late to class and his teacher told him to get a late pass from the office. He went to his locker instead and picked up something. When he returned he faced the class and told his teacher he "got what he really went for." He pulled out a revolver, stuck in his mouth, and pulled the trigger before anyone could react.

Going to California by Led Zeppelin

Like Layla, Jimmy Page wrote this song for a very special woman. She wasn't famous for being his best friend's girl. But most people know about her. And Jimmy was seriously into her. Say it with me geeks: Joni Mitchell. That's right. Jimmy met Joni during a music festival and wrote this song for her. The most obvious line is "To find a Queen without a King/They say she plays guitar and cries/And sings."

Lucy In The Sky With Diamonds by The Beatles

Contrary to popular belief, this song is not about an acid trip. In fact, it's the only song off Sgt. Pepper's that was written while sober. John Lennon's son Julian brought him a picture he drew in kindergarden that day. He drew a girl in his class named Lucy along a fantasy setting. The picture was called Lucy In The Sky With Diamonds.

Another Brick In The Wall by Pink Floyd

Both parts 1 and 2 are real life stories of bassist Roger Waters. The first story is of him as a young child learning that his father was killed in World War II. The second comes from the cruel teachers in his boarding school. In fact, the concept of The Wall comes from an incident in which a fan at a show was trying to climb over the wall separating the audience from the band. Waters spat on him, but later realized that being cut off from his fans was like living isolated.

Tears In Heaven by Eric Clapton

If this were any other Clapton song, I would make the "Old Eric just can't stay off the list, can he?" joke. But, considering what this song is about, I'm not in a joking mood. Eric Clapton wrote this song for someone. His 4 year old son, who died after falling out of a 53rd story window. Clapton was apparently isolated himself in the following months. In 2004, Clapton stopped playing the song, stating that he had let his sadness out and he didn't want it to return.

Video Game Review

I've wanted to do some sort of video game review for a while, considering the recent popularity in games like Guitar Hero and Rock Band. So, I figured that they were close enough to music reviews to try. So, here's my video game review of the latest music game: Band Hero (And yes, this is a guitar hero game that just rips off Rock Band's title).

I'm going to assume that most people know how to play these things, but In case you don't, I'll some it up real quickly. If you're playing guitar (which is a plastic controller shaped like a guitar), than you push down on a certain button a long the neck, and strum in sequence. For people wondering, it will not teach you how to play guitar. If you're playing drums, you hit the pads and lone foot pedal to match up with those on screen (which actually did help in my routine drum practice. I'm not kidding, if you play this thing long enough, you might be able to keep a straight beat on a real kit). If you're singing, sing the song if you know it. And you can play them all together in a band. Well, that's gameplay in a nutshell.

For people who have played these games in the past, this is more of a spin off game to the recent Guitar Hero five. It has fewer songs, but most of it is the same. The song list is geared towards more of a Top 40 teenpop hits soundtrack than a collection of rocker's favorites. If you're a casual listener who just wants to hear your favorite pop song, than it's a pretty good list, but if you're a dedicated listener like me, you might want to stay away. The songs range from modern Top 40 hits like Fall Out Boy's "Sugar, We're Going Down" and Taylor Swift's "You Belong With Me," to sort of a nostalgic guilty pleasure tone like Poison's "Every Rose Has Its Thorn" and Styx's "Mr. Roboto." It's certainly aimed at a wider audience and that's definitely the spirit of the game. It's designed to be very player friendly. Very few songs are hard, you can only fail if someone in your band is playing hard or expert, and you can actually just pick up and play the songs. Literally.

The best feature is that as soon as the game starts up, you can pick a difficulty, a song and just play. Other players can jump in and out on any instrument without screwing you up. You can literally have four people singing the same song if you enough microphones, which is a great thing to do at a party. It's very much a game to bring out at parties. Everyone will probably know the songs, it's easy, and it's easy to set up. The other standout feature, is that you can actually record your own songs. This is the one part on the game that just falls flat. It's much harder to write a good song in this game that it is on a real instrument, and even if you do manage to make something good, the audio quality isn't enough to make it listenable. It's pretty much a useless, time consuming feature.

Other than that, there a few bonuses like the ability to import songs from Guitar Hero five to the game. This WOULD be really cool, but there are two major problems with this. One is that you can only import like half the songs. The next is the real killer. You have to pay for it. Paying for songs you already own? Are video games taxing us now? The only other standout feature is that your band of avatars can be replaced with avatars of real life musicians like Taylor Swift and the singer of Maroon 5 (personally though, I don't care how hot Taylor Swift is, seeing her in the game disgusts me). Like the song imports this is a mixed blessing among features, because you can't really notice while you're looking at the note highway that you have to follow.

Basically, this is the more casual approach to the Guitar Hero formula. The songs are for a wider (and sadly musically ignorant) audience, and the gameplay is more user friendly. If your not a social person who brings people over, don't bother. But if you have friends that like to come over regularly, and they don't think about music as much as nerds like me do, than this is a very good purchase. And maybe after a few months, you could try a real instrument. Because people, I enjoy playing these but there's only so much you can do.

Top 21 Science Fiction Songs

In order to celebrate my birthday, I'm paying tribute to my past. Before I was an awesome music nerd, I was a dorky sci-fi nerd. Down to every last detail, I complained all about the continuity errors in Battlestar Galactia, I knew the names of all the knights of the Jedi council, and I even got into online debates about how much better Captain Picard was than Captain Kirk, (well he was!!!). Any way, in the spirit of the day, I'm counting my favorite Sci-Fi themed songs. There are 21 songs, a la 2001: A Space Odyssey. Nerds unite!

21. Rocket by Def Leppard

20. Supermassive Black Hole by Muse

19. Across the Universe by The Beatles

18. Space Trucking by Deep Purple

17. Riders on the Storm by The Doors

16. Walking on the Moon by The Police

15. Painkiller by Judas Priest

14. Learn to Fly by Foo Fighters

13. Astronomy by Blue Oyster Cult

12. Hangar 18 by Megadeth

11. Metropolis Pt. 1 by Dream Theater

10. Space Oddity by David Bowie

9. 2112 by Rush

8. Stargazer by Rainbow

7. Man On The Moon by R.E.M.

6. Ziggy Stardust by David Bowie

5. Paranoid Android by Radiohead

We haven't heard music like this since the likes of Pink Floyd. And that's a good thing.

4. Brain Damage/Eclipse by Pink Floyd

What an excellent closer the masterpiece Dark Side of the Moon. I really can't imagine listening to one song without the other. That's like seeing Han Solo without Chewbacca. It ain't right.

3. Starlight by Muse

Ahhh... What an epic song. This is what Coldplay would sound like if they were say sci-fi nerds. Just builds and builds, like Stairway to Heaven.

2. Rocket Man by Elton John

In my opinion, this is Elton John's only good song. And what a song. I can see why people like him if he could make a song like this. I normally dislike piano oriented rock, but this is really a piece of art. Remarkable. Especially when you compare it to the odious "Candle in the Wind" (which is sad, because after its affiliation with Princess Diana's death, so now I look like an asshole for hating it).

1. Life On Mars? by David Bowie

Yeah, I'm a huge David Bowie fan. And this is his masterpiece. The term genius should be used more lightly than it is. David Bowie is a rock n' roll genius. Not just in his brilliant songwriting, but in the incredible way he presented it as well, one of the greatest showmen of rock. Also one the few times where such a theatrical artist also has songs to match, whereas most of the time it's all style no substance (I'm looking at you Gaga, and I'm not typing your first name because you don't deserve such a formal title). Either way, Life On Mars is a mysterious song to compliment its mysterious question. The rest you just have to hear.

Michael Jackson vs. Prince

The age old rivalry will finally be put to the test. Who is the better artist: Michael Jackson or Prince. This will be graded on influence, originality, cultural impact, songwriting, and finally, the album off.

Here we go. Who will emerge on top? Michael Joseph Jackson or Prince Rogers Nelson.

Influence:

Like most of these categories, both of these artists have left huge influence on music. We don't really see any bands that sound quite like them. Michael Jackson's style seems to have more of a presence of modern pop bands, but you could say that Prince's sound was so extraordinary that no one could properly do it justice. I'm not gonna give Michael Jackson the point because his music is more accessible. His dancing has become wildly famous, were aiming for music. Overall, Prince can't really compare to the influence around R&B becoming one of the dominant genres. I guess that counts.

Jackson 1, Prince 0

Originality: Sort of a tough one. Everything about Jackson was original, from his songs to his dancing. Prince also ranks high in this contest, with an incredible fusion of rock, funk, soul, and synthpop. Michael Jackson's originality is somewhat tough to recognize with everyone trying to copy him. But it is still there. However, I think I have to go with Prince, because know has been able to get down what he did.

Jackson 1, Prince 1

Cultural Impact: No question. Thriller is still selling to this day, and people are still crazy about Michael Jackson even after his death.

Jackson 2, Prince 1

Songwriting: Michael Jackson had some really great singles under his belt back in the 80's. While they aren't as original as Prince's that doesn't mean they can't be better. Occasionally, Prince's work does get kind of too experimental to listen to when he tries to put out a really bad triple album with a goofy looking symbol on the front. But at least he was always trying. Michael Jackson always stuck around the same territory. While "Billie Jean" and "Beat It" are fantastic staples of pop music, I'm gonna go with the guy who writes all his own stuff, Prince.

Jackson 2, Prince 2

Here we go. The tie breaker. Here we put Thriller and Purple Rain against each other track by track.

Wanna Be Startin Somethin vs. Let's Go Crazy

Let's Go Crazy just kicks in into high gear in what is arguably, Prince's iconic song. And he knew it was good because it was in the Purple Rain trailer (you know cause the album's actually a soundtrack for the movie). Wanna Be Startin Somethin is easily one of Michael Jackson's most underrated cuts, but it can't compare to the power of Prince's opening.

Jackson 2, Prince 3

Baby Be Mine vs. Take Me With U

Even though I don't this to be too lopsided, this is an easy give to Prince again. Baby Be Mine is one of Jackson's filler cuts in my opinion.

Jackson 2, Prince 4

The Girl Is Mine vs. The Beautiful Ones

Things are starting to turn in Jackson's favor. The Beautiful Ones leaks a bit too much into acid synth territory to be honest. Plus, The Girl Is Mine has got Paul McCartney, that's a plus.

Jackson 3, Prince 4

Thriller vs. Computer Blue

Another track that I always found kind of odd. Computer Blue is the only song on the record that I flat out dislike. Thriller doesn't even need the video to be considered one of Jackson's finest songs (which he didn't write).

Jackson 4, Prince 4

Beat It vs. Darling Nikki

Damn. This is tough. Two very, very, very good cuts off of both albums. Both are radio staples, and both have great rock input. I think I'll hand this to Beat It, due it's Eddie Van Halen solo.

Jackson 5, Prince 4

Billie Jean vs. When Doves Cry.

Damn. Damn. Damn. Both artists iconic songs going head to head. But, in this case, I'll give this one to the most iconic single of all time. That's tough to beat.

Jackson 6, Prince 4

Human Nature vs. I Would Die 4 U

Most of side two of Thriller is more of a package for the hits, as with most pop albums. I Would Die 4 U is kind of stretched in its length, but it can beat a track this weak.

Jackson 6, Prince 5

P.Y.T. vs. Baby I'm A Star

P.Y.T. is one of side two's better cuts, but it is hard to argue with an anthem like this. Behind Cry, Crazy, and Rain this is Purple Rain's best cut. PYT is ranked fifth in Thriller's.

Jackson 6, Prince 6

The Lady In My Life vs. Purple Rain

A roaring anthem/ballad that sums up the whole album vs. the most forgettable track. Easy pick.

Final: Jackson 6, Prince 7

The better artist is Prince (and the Revolution). He's the more creative, the more daring, the more diverse, and he writes his own material. I'm surprised and pleased. I honestly expected Michael Jackson to win in a landslide, and after all, I'm a much bigger Prince fan than Michael Jackson. To the millions of Michael Jackson fans, hey he's still awesome. To the millions of Prince fans like me, the day is ours. Now, go and Kiss in your Little Red Corvettes out in the Purple Rain. Just, no symbols that nobody can pronounce.

A Tribute to the Fallen

In the eternal fight for good music, there have been many casualties. This is a tribute for those who fought and died for good music. The rules for induction into the good music memorial:

1. They must have died at some point past the 70's. Otherwise there would be too many to count.

2. They must have died before they were at least fifty five. George Harrison will never be forgotten, but his death does not fall into those who died on the battlefield.

3. They must have died while having a career. If a band breaks up and the singer dies, it's not being killed in action.

Here we go (In no order)

Robert Johnson (1911-1938)

Famous Blues guitarist

Cause of Death: Pneumonia

Story: The legend of his death is that he sold his soul to the devil in exchange for his guitar playing skills, as told in the song "Crossroads."

Jimi Hendrix (1942-1970)

Famous Rock guitarist

Cause of Death: Choked on vomit induced by LSD overdose

Story: Hendrix was on infamous drug addict, and was well known for his onstage antics brought on by drugs.

Kurt Cobain (1967-1994)

Nirvana Frontman

Cause of Death: Suicide

Story: After the pressures from his record company and from his new family. He wanted to keep his music from being commercialized, so he shot himself through the head.

Otis Redding (1941-1967)

Famous Soul Singer

Cause of Death: Airplane Crash

Story: Often called the King of soul, Redding's plane crashed into a lake only a few months before his magnum opus "Sittin on the Dock of the Bay" was released.

John Bonham (1948-1980)

Led Zeppelin Drummer

Cause of Death: Vomit Suffocation brought on by Alcohol Poisoning

Story: Revered as the greatest rock groove drummer of all time, his alcoholism led to waterlogging in his lungs due to failure to expel vomit. After his death Led Zeppelin permanently disbanded, stating that there was no Zeppelin without Bonham.

Joe Strummer (1952-2002)

The Clash Frontman

Cause of Death: Heart Attack

Story: The godfather of punk, Joe Strummer's heart attack came completely out of nowhere, and was considered to be a low point in the history of punk rock. Tragically, only months after his death, Avril Lavigne ruined punk rock.

Jim Morrison (1943-1971)

Doors Singer

Cause of Death: Heart Attack

Story: Known as "The Lizard King", Morrison was considered to be one of the most theatrical frontmen. His grave site in Paris is one of the most visited sites in the city.

Marvin Gaye (1939-1984)

Soul & Mowtown Singer

Cause of Death: Murder

After health problems had sent him into depression, Gaye isolated himself in his parent's house. Attempting to break up on an argument with between his parents, his father began fighting with him and eventually shot him.

"Dimebag" Darrell Abbott (1966-2004)

Pantera Guitarist

Cause of Death: Murder

Story: A revolutionary metal guitarist, Dimebag was shot on stage during a concert, with his brothers band Damage Plan, by a crazy fan.

Ian Curtis (1956-1980)

Joy Division Frontman

Cause of Death: Suicide

Story: And you thought Kurt Cobain was depressed. Ian Curtis suffered from onstage epilepsy, massive health problems, uncaring parents, and a struggling marriage. On top of everything, months after he hanged himself in his parent's house, Joy Division's Closer reached #6 on the UK charts. On his tombstone reads "Ian Curtis 18-5-80 Love Will Tear Us Apart."

Jimmy "The Rev" Sullivan (1981-2009)

Avenged Sevenfold Drummer

Story: A modern master of double bass, while having success in mainstream rock, The Rev died shorly before the new decade. As of now I don't know how.

Good Songs by Bad Bands

This is the opposite of the bad songs by good bands. These are the flat out terrible artists that actually produced one or two good songs. I was only able to find five songs though, so if you've got more, please comment so can add them if I agree.

Here I Go Again by Whitesnake

In the world of hair metal, Whitesnake is really down there with the worst. Copying Led Zeppelin countless times with the incredibly bad vocals of David Coverdale, led to a band that flat out sucked. On the other hand, Here I Go Again is pretty damn hard to shake. It's got a slow build up along with a chorus that everyone likes to sing along to (sort of like Sister Christian by Night Ranger, I'll add that song too). Look for the single to this one, sitting through the whole album ain't worth it.

In The Air Tonight by Phil Collins

Long before the abysmal world of pretentious yet stupid 80's soft rock, Phil Collins put out a piece of progressive 80's rock, which turned out to be pretty damn good. Probably the best song on the list, it led to the best electronic drum breakdown ever, is filled with the darkest and most haunting 80's pop ever. The legend around the song is that Phil Collins wrote it after watching a man watch another man down. He claims it was about his failing marriage, but considering he divorced his wife by fax and married a 27 year old, I think that the legend is true. Which means that he let that guy drown as well. MURDERER!!!

Detroit Rock City by KISS

I think just about everyone who isn't a middle aged suburban male knows that this bands sucks. They only had success through their gimmick, and their annoying, repetitive songs. But, this one kicks ass! Great groove, great guitar work, and a chorus that everyone loves to sing along to, Detroit Rock City is a great fun rock anthem. Despite the fact that it's about a guy who dies in a car crash.

New Perspective by Panic at the Disco

EMO ALERT!!! Panic at the Disco have cursed those who hate emo to eternal hell. They're pretentious, annoying, and their songs are all ten words long. It's like if someone asked if Fall Out Boy could get any worse and they dared to try. But, straight out of the Jennifer's Body soundtrack, this song is the exact opposite. Its lyrics are simple, it's catchy without having all kinds of accordions and harmonicas everywhere, it's also very upbeat, as apposed to emo. This is probably because this song came out after chief songwriter Ryan Ross left the group, leaving the other two members to make their own group. Who knows, maybe Panic at the Disco could actually become good (Oh my God)?

Flirting with Disaster by Molly Hatchet

Lynyrd Skynyrd wannabes always suck, but one song manages to be just fantastic. Great rhythm, and the lyrics make you feel like you are living your own cool version of a Dukes of Hazard episode. A southern rock classic managed to come out of such a bad band.

Top 5 Nobodies

This is a tribute to those who do nothing and somehow are remembered for it. Real and fictional people who do absolutely nothing and leave a huge impression. Here's to you!

5. Johnny Sasaki

Not a lot of people know exactly who this guy is, but if you’ve ever played any game in the Metal Gear Solid series, you know whom he is. His name is more well known online than in the games, but to refresh your memory, you know that one guard who was constantly running to take a dump instead of shoot you, that’s him. He recently got a big role in the fourth game, but even before that he was an internet celebrity, as the guy who craps.

4. Meg White

The ultimate minimalist drummer, Meg White is very well known as the drummer (and only member aside from Jack White) of the White Stripes. In practically every song, she repeatedly hits the snare on every quarter note, probably the simplest drumming style aside from doing nothing. Even though her drum work is fantastic with Jack White’s music, she does very little and somehow has a reputation above Jack White, even though he writes the songs.

3. Syd Barrett

The name memorized by every hardcore Pink Floyd fan, Syd Barrett lead the group back in the late 60’s, during those embarrassing psychedelic rock years. He left the group after two albums after his mental state had decline to the point of breakdown, yet somehow had a reputation that far exceeded the other members. Perhaps it’s because of his tragic life story, or the numerous songs by the Floyd dedicated to him (Wish You Were Here). But still, he lead Pink Floyd back when they did stupid hippie music, and never appeared on any of their big hit records. The really incredible thing is that fans actually mourned his death more than the later death of keyboardist Richard Wright, who appeared on every album up to The Wall. How did that happen?

2. The “My Leg” Guy

You need to be younger to remember this guy. Anyone who ever watched Spongebob Squarepants instantly recognizes him. Whenever Spongbob causes destruction, you will hear the citizens of Bikini Bottom screaming and sure enough the standard cry of “My Leg!” will ring out amongst them. He has not been shown on screen once in the series, nor has Spongebob ever received a lawsuit from a one-legged fish. Perhaps we will never know who exactly this guy is, but we certainly know that his medical bills must be high.

1. Boba Fett

The ultimate example of someone who does nothing and becomes famous for it. Boba Fett needs no explanation. He has appears for roughly for 6 minutes in Empire Strikes Back, and 3 in Return of the Jedi. He has one line, we never see his face, and he never has any major action scene. Yet, he was voted the 9^th most popular Star Wars (Original) character online, higher than both Obi-Wan, and Yoda. Jar Jar Binks did more stuff than he did (sadly), and yet he has an incredible fan base. And then they fucked it up by giving him a back story in Attack of the Clones. Well, according to my reality (of the movie that is), that never happened.

Top 8 Rock Operas

The following ranks the entire albums that tell complete stories. The albums are ranked by their ability to tell their story through song, and how good the story itself is.

8. Berlin by Lou Reed

Story: Two people desperately try to keep their doomed marriage alive, eventually crumbling.

So dark it makes Kurt Cobain look like that jittery guy who's always setting up Christmas decorations way too early. Berlin is an album that lets itself out and isn't afraid to go into deep territory.

7. Purple Rain by Prince & The Revolution

An rising rock star balances his relationship with his girlfriend, trying not to repeat the mistakes of his father. 80's cheese never sounded so excellent. Just as overblown as Meat Loaf, but never to the degree that it seems fake, overblown, or lame. Technically a soundtrack, it features all original tunes by The Artist formerly known as and The Revolution.

6. Metropolis Pt. 2: Scenes from a Memory by Dream Theater

Story: A troubled man uses hypnosis to look back into his pervious life, and solve his last life's murder.

Long, long epics all put together with Pink Floyd style engineering. Metropolis Pt.2 isn't as much of an album as it is a surreal experience.

5. Arthur (Or The Decline & Fall of The British Empire) by The Kinks

Story: An immigrant, looks back on his life in Britain only to find it is nothing like it was in his childhood.

Ray Davies seemed like the days of You Really Got Me had passed by the time he came up with this bad boy. Theatrical, catchy, intelligent, and of course well written, Arthur is an experience like Metropolis.

4. The Rise & Fall of Ziggy Stardust and The Spiders from Mars

Story: The manifestation of rock n' roll is created to save the earth in its final days, only to tear himself down through a life of excess.

While most of Glam Rock isn't being looked back on kindly, David Bowie's flat out genius keeps people from forgetting how good this album is. Martians, space oddities, and a song about the best city ever, is enough to make the nerdiest of sci-fi geeks look like Elvis.

3. The Wall by Pink Floyd

Story: A selfish rock star convinces himself that his life problems are caused by the people trying to help him. His depression turns to insanity, eventually sealing himself off from humanity, behind an imaginary wall.

Dark, gritty, and incredibly well sold. Roger Water's story of depression and insanity is arguably the last great Pink Floyd album. Even though the album is high on filler and songs that are just down right awful (The Trial), it has to be listened to entirely. Every song doesn't fade into the adjacent song for nothing does it?

2. The Lamb Lies Down On Broadway by Genesis

A young immigrant in New York is visited by his lost brother in his dreams. In an attempt to save his brother, he travels through New York City's underground to find fantastic creatures.

The last album before the infamous Phil Collins era, Lamb Lies Down is prog rock at its best point since Dark Side of the Moon. Inventive, original, and a tad goofy at points.

1. Quadrophenia by The Who

Story: A teenager slowly becoming an adult is determined to keep things the way they are. He runs away from his parents who insist he is schizophrenic. He is actually quadrophenic, meaing he has four different personalities. His experiences guide him as to which of the personalities will guide him to release from his problems.

80 minutes and not one minute that could be changed. If it was, this would cease to be an ultimately perfect album. Brilliantly told story, incredible song writing, and some of the greatest singles ever, makes this the best Who album, from Roger Daltrey's wails to Keith Moon's heavy accent.

List Break - Queen's Choir

This is a quick thing I've always wondered about. Everyone here likes Queen right? Yeah, well after listening to We Are The Champions for like the millionth time, I noticed something. They have a really overproduced-Meat Loaf like sound to them, we all know that, but there's something I can't get around. What's with that opera that seems to be on every album. You can really hear it in the opera section of Bohemian Rhapsody. How do they do that? I know it's a bunch of over laid vocal parts but how do they do that. And how do they do it live then? Just thinking about that.

Top 45 Worst Songs Ever

45. Thong Song by Sisqo

Title says it all.

44. Convoy by C.W. McCall

Rednecks unite! We'll annoy them illegal immigrants out!

43. I'll Be There For You by The Remembrandts (Friends theme song)

As if Friends wasn't annoying enough.

42. We Didn't Start The Fire by Billy Joel

Everything you need to know about the century, in one easy to avoid package.

41. Rico Suave by Gerardo

Just listen to the chorus and tell me I'm wrong.

40. The Trial by Pink Floyd

Pretentious use of circus music, creating the most annoying vocals ever. Let's just be happy that someone wrote this song for Pink Floyd, because they could never produce anything this bad.

39. You've Got It (The Right Stuff) by New Kids On The Block

Combining boy band dance songs and boy band ballads. Disgusting!

38. Cotton Eyed Joe by Rednex

Like I said, name says it all.

37. Hollaback Girl by Gwen Stefani*

Courtney Love, in a 1997 interview, famously called Gwen Stefani a "cheerleader.

36. You're The Inspiration by Chicago

To quote Blender "The Cubs aren't the biggest losers in Chicago anymore"

35. The Heart of Rock n' Roll by Huey Lewis & The News

When asked my father who Huey Lewis was, he said he was "the ultimate white boy."

34. Two Princes by The Spin Doctors

Best thing about this song: It taught kids to share when it appeared on Sesame Street.

33. Jack & Diane by John Cougar

Rednecks reunite!

32. Dancing On The Ceiling by Lionel Richie

No one under the blood went to his head.

31. American Life by Madonna

Yes, we need the Material Girl to teach us about war.

30. Kokomo by The Beach Boys

Yes, we need the first art rockers to endorse the travel industry.

29. How Will I Know by Whitney Houston

I need a bodyguard from this song.

28. Can I Touch You There by Michael Bolton

Balladeers go sex songs. As bad as it sounds.

27. With Arms Wide Open by Creed

Creed says religion has no impact on their music. Who else has arms wide open?

26. The Only Thing That Looks Good On You Is Me by Bryan Adams

Like I said. Stay above the belt, your less painful that way.

25. Baby, I Love Your Way by Peter Frampton

World, meet the talkbox: Music's stupidest invention

24. Everybody Have Fun Tonight by Wang Chung

They actually tried to make "Wang Chung" a verb?

23. Party All The Time by Eddie Murphy

So bad it's funny. Like Eddie Murphy himself.

22. U Can't Touch This by MC Hammer

Weezer made geek rock awesome. MC Hammer proved that geeks can't rap though.

21. I Wanna Sex You Up by Color Me Badd

ABOVE THE FUCKIN BELT!!!

20. My Heart Will Go On by Celine Dion

When "Titanic" started playing this, I wished I was Leonardo Dicaprio; Drowning in freezing water.

19. She Bangs by Ricky Martin

STAY ABOVE THE BELT!!! I think...

18. Sunglasses at Night by Corey Hart

As useless as the subject.

17. Ebony & Ivory by Paul McCartney & Stevie Wonder

How did two of the century's greatest musical geniuses come up with such a bad song?

16. Gettin' Jiggy Wit It by Will Smith

Whoever says that rap isn't rap without cursing was right.

15. I'm Too Sexy by Right Said Fred

Duh.

14. Courtesy of the Red, White, & Blue by Toby Keith

Too many rednecks to count!

13. What's Up by 4 Non Blondes

Family friendly grunge. Self explanatory.

12. Rollin' by Limp Bizkit

Is that dying warthog actually Fred Durst?

11. Mickey by Toni Basil

I hate cheerleaders!

10. Heartbeat by Don Johnson

Double Duh.

9. Wannabe by The Spice Girls

And you thought boy bands were bad...

8. Macerena by Los Del Rio

They forced me to dance to this back at the community center. DAMN!!!

7. Ice Ice Baby by Vanilla Ice

Dad you were wrong. This is the ultimate white boy.

6. Who Let The Dogs Out by Baha Men

Stupidity out the wazoo!

5. Achy Breaky Heart by Billy Ray Cyrus

And you thought his daughter was bad...

4. We Built This City by Starship

Oh god, not even Rock of Ages could make this sound good.

3. I Want My Baby Back by Jimmy Cross

The first song that was literally a commercial.

2. Barbie Girl by Aqua

The song so bad, even the distributor sued.

1. We Are The World by USA For Africa

It had all your favorite singers, it helped raise money for starving African children, it was co-written by Michael Jackson. And then they went and fucked it up. Honestly, that was the only reason I bought this song, because it would help starving Africans. Never listened to it after that. Just before I completed this list I went through all the material I owned and never listened to. And this came up. I don't blame Springsteen, Buckingham, Wonder, Jackson, Lauper, etc.. They did this for charity. But please, just cover a song and sell that. Don't create the most self indulgent, cheesy, stupid, sappy, horrible, annoying, abysmal, unforgivable noise ever created. I would rather listen to the future recording of myself choking to death on my own vomit than this. I'm sorry.

Songs Hated By The Artist Who Wrote Them

The out of order songs all have something in common, the artist who wrote them hates them. Prepare to learn that the songs you love are hated by their creators. Songs with an * next to them mean that song isn't hated by the artist, but there is something they dislike about it.

Brass In Pocket by The Pretenders

Even though she still plays it live, Chrissie Hynde still regrets writing this song. She thought the lyrics were idiotic, and they used too many local Detroit slang for anyone to understand. She told the producer that he could release it over her dead body, then it went #1.

Living on a Prayer by Bon Jovi

Finally Jon Bon Jovi agrees with me on something. Jon thought this soon to be mega hit was not good enough to be on the album and predicted an existence for it as a B-Side. After constant hocking from Ritchie Sambora, he finally decided to put it on the record. A la Brass In Pocket, it went #1.

The Four Horseman by Metallica

You may be shouting "That's bullshit, I'm a Metallica freak and James, Lars, Kirk, Cliff, Jason, and Robert all said they thought the song was great." If you are saying that, than you clearly don't know who was the original guitarist of Metallica. It was long time Metallica hater, Megadeth frotman Dave Mustaine, who wrote the song The Four Horseman, originally called The Mechanix. After getting fired, Kirk made a couple adjustments, including a slower tempo and a long solo in the middle. Dave was enraged and put the original song on his band's debut album. As he later said "My feelings about Kirk? If he were drowning in a river, I'd save him. But I'd wait a minute."

Dream On by Aerosmith

When Rolling Stone declared this Aerosmith's best song, Joe Perry was ashamed. He wanted a better riff, and said that he thought it was far too repetitive. Also, it has no guitar solo. His feelings on it have died down over forty years of playing it live, but it still has to grow on him.

Go Your Own Way by Fleetwood Mac

Fleetwood Mac's ultimate breakup song wouldn't be complete without the person on the other side of breaking up. Lindsey Buckingham wrote it about the end of his relationship with Stevie Nicks, and Stevie didn't take that so well. She thought the song was cruel to her, especially the untrue "shacking up" line. She let Linsey put it on the record, but she wanted a song on her side that wasn't as gloomy. She wrote Dreams, who do think hated that song?

Fight For Your Right To Party by The Beastie Boys

The Beastie Boys played this song live for one year, and they've never played since. What does that tell ya? The is actually supposed to be a parody of party rally songs like "I Wanna Rock" but the irony is that many consider it to be the best song of that demographic. As a song, The Beastie Boys only put it on the album because they felt it would present it better. They feel the song is disloyal to their rap interests, and is more of a song from their punk days. Their grown to accept that the song is now an anthem, but they still dislike it musically.

Paranoid by Black Sabbath

Geezer Butler and Tony Iommi have stated every time the song comes up it wasn't something they were proud of. They needed one more track on the War Pigs album, so they wrote Paranoid in 10-minutes, and changed the album's title. They don't dislike the song anymore, but they still think that it's not the best in their discography.

Billie Jean* by Michael Jackson

Michael Jackson liked the song fine, but this song I decided to include just because this alomst never became a hit. Michael's producer Quincy Jones, hated the song, and told Michael time and time again people would hate him if he released it. Finally Billie Jean got on the album, but obstacles didn't end their. MTV refused the video, because they claimed black performers didn't fill the popular rock format (which is not incorrect if you look at rock history, but also down right racist). So after threatening to sue, the video finally got on air. The rest is pop music history.

Take My Breath Away by Berlin

Terri Nunn and John Crawford's arguments were really pushed over the edge. John felt that this Top Gun power ballad was betraying the bands punk/new wave roots, and was outraged they were required to play it after it became a hit. Terri's objection to this didn't help the band, and they ended up breaking up. As if the movie didn't cause enough problems.

Rainbow In The Dark by Dio

Ronnie James Dio is certainly a driven man, he slogged his way through three decades and five different bands to finally get to his own band. And he wasn't about to let this song make a fool out of him. After listening to his heavy metal song with a keyboard riff, he thought it sounded way too much like pop music, and the other band members needed to hold him down to stop him from destroying the tape with a razor blade. Fortunately, he enjoys the song now, and knows to stay away from razors.

Everlong by Foo Fighters

Every song off Foo Fighters debut album was written by Dave Grohl when he was with Nirvana. He didn't show them to Kurt Cobain because he was worried he'd hate them. Even after his album was nominated for a grammy, he still thought his songs were terrible, and when he finally summed up enough courage to show his band mates in Foo Fighters "Everlong" he was sure that everyone would hate it. Dave still has anxiety issues, but he's picked up that years of his fans chanting for the song means it's good after all.

Jump by Van Halen

David Lee Roth may look happy in the video, but he got to a lot of fights with Eddie over this one. David and Eddie had been fighting for a long time leading up to 1984, and David certainly was not a fan of Jump's keyboards infiltrating the band's hard rock sound. Like Berlin, David soon left the group to go solo. Van Halen continuted making music with Sammy Hagar (Shudder), and later Gary Cherone (Vomit). David Lee Roth eventually warmed up to the song he helped write, and even performed a blue grass version on his own. Wait, blue grass?

I Ran (So Far Away) by A Flock of Seagulls

This is typical one hit wonder problem. A Flock of Seagulls' only hit was played so many times, that Mike Score can't stand it anymore. He didn't think much of the song at first, but he is willing to play it for the fans. Mike is able to escape the song through his non music career of boat building, but he is still haunted by the song an old re-runs of I Love The 80's.

Don't Worry, Be Happy by Bobby McFerrin

It's a shame that this was Bobby's only hit because he's actually a very serious musician. Unlike Mike, he wrote the song as a joke, and was distressed when it became a hit. After a few years, he quit the song, and it hasn't been performed live in 19 years. Bobby, everyone may hate you for that one, but that's what your deep album cuts can prevent.

Wonderwall by Oasis

Liam Gallagher has been cruel to a lot of people (including his brother Noel who is probably even more of a douchebag than he is, and they guy from Blur who is also a douche), but he certainly had a reason with this song. Like Joe Perry with Dream On, Liam hates the fact that he has to perform the song live and that it's considered to be the group's best song. Noel Gallagher actually wrote the song in order to have a good bargaining position with Liam over whether or not he'd get to do vocals on one song. Liam regrets the fact that he has to sing Wonderwall, but is happy due to the fact that he doesn't have to sing Don't Look Back In Anger.

You've Got Another Thing Comin' by Judas Priest

Even though it was Judas Priest's biggest hit, Rob Halford and company thought the song sucked at first. Rob claimed that it wasn't heavy, didn't have energy, and was annoying. Eventually, the group is starting to enjoy it.

Sweet Child O' Mine by Guns N' Roses

Slash came up with this brilliant riff as a joke and Axl turned it into a song. Slash was continuously tortured by the song for years, and made no secret of his hatred for it. However, back '08, he performed the song live with Velvet Revolver, and said he is getting used to it.

(I Can't Get No) Satisfaction by The Rolling Stones

One night, Keith Richards woke up drunk, came up with the greatest guitar riff ever, and went back to bed. The next morning, the band asked if they could use it a song about 100 times before he finally said yes. It's odd that what is arguably the greatest rock song of all time is hated by it's own writer, but Keith Richards can't stand this song even after 50 years of playing it.

Top 30 Greatest Guitar Solos

30. Working Man (Alex Lifeson of Rush)

29. Rock You Like A Hurricane (Matthias Jabs of Scorpions)

28. Crazy Train (Randy Rhoads of Ozzy Osbourne)

27. Alive (Mike McCready of Pearl Jam)

26. Killer Queen (Brian May of Queen)

25. Fade to Black (Kirk Hammett of Metallica)

24. Hotel California (Joe Walsh of The Eagles)

23. Bohemian Rhapsody (Brian May of Queen)

22. Mean Street (Edward Van Halen of Van Halen)

21. Oye Como Va (Carlos Santana of Santana)

20. Mr. Crowley (Randy Rhoads of Ozzy Osbourne)

19. Layla (Duane Allman of Derek & The Dominoes)

18. While My Guitar Gently Weeps (Eric Clapton for The Beatles)

17. Time (David Gilmour of Pink Floyd)

16. War Pigs (Tony Iommi of Black Sabbath)

15. Since I've Been Loving You (Jimmy Page of Led Zeppelin)

14. Whole Lotta Rosie (Angus Young of AC/DC)

13. Highway Star (Ritchie Blackmore of Deep Purple)

12. Voodoo Child (Slight Return) (Jimi Hendrix)

11. Painkiller (Glenn Tipton of Judas Priest)

10. Blue Sky (Duane Allman & Dickey Betts of The Allman Brothers)

9. Texas Flood (Stevie Ray Vaughan)

8. November Rain (Slash of Guns N' Roses)

7. Powerslave (Dave Murray & Adrian Smith of Iron Maiden)

6. Eruption (Edward Van Halen)

5. Sweet Child O' Mine (Slash of Guns N' Roses)

4. Free Bird (Allen Collins of Lynyrd Skynyrd)

3. All Along the Watchtower (Jimi Hendrix)

2. Stairway to Heaven (Jimmy Page of Led Zeppelin)

1. Comfortably Numb (David Gilmour of Pink Floyd)

List Break - Defense

It seems that some people are having problems with my rather harsh opinions. When my facebook friends told me about my blog they stated that I was singleminded and overly opinionated. I certainly am opinionated, I think that can be a good quality for a critic. Let's look at Roger Ebert, probably the most well-known movie critic in the country. Like me, he looks at things through critical analysis, he doesn't just say movies suck or are great without telling us why. But it is his opinions that drive the analysis, it's what he believes makes a good movie. He is never swayed by what other people say, he has given negative reviews to some my favorite movies (Edward Scissorhands is one example).

Critics who aren't opinionated are far worse than those who are overly opinionated. Rolling Stone magazine has been around since the 70's and have reviewed many classic albums before they became classic. They have such weak opinions, that they actually go back and try to correct themselves. Led Zeppelin, The Doors, Black Sabbath, and Nirvana all received scathing reviews from Rolling Stone back in the day. But when everyone else started talking about how great they were, they went back and said that they fucked up. Wimpy little bastards.

As for my singleminded nature, I will admit I give rock music a bit more credit than I do other genres, but do you not think I have a reason? Here's one thing that a twelve year old I know came up with. The reason why rock music is so much better than pop music, is because it leaves a lasting impression. It's true. People today still talk about musicians who are fifty years old, like The Beatles, The Rolling Stones, The Yardbirds, The Jimi Hendrix Experience, and Joni Mitchell just to name a few. How many pop acts from fifty years ago can you think of? Unless your fifty years old, or someone who must posses all knowledge of the 60's, I'm guessing you couldn't think of a lot. In fifty years, do you really think that Taylor Swift or T-Pain will be timeless classic artists?

My last argument is a systematic breakdown. All my friends hate when I call Taylor Swift, T-Pain, Akon, Rihanna, Chris Brown, Soulja Boy, Justin Timberlake, Britney Spears, Kelly Clarkson, Avril Lavigne, Carrie Underwood, Katy Perry, Miley Cyrus, The Jonas Brothers, and the person who is such a bad musician, typing her name is too disgusting for me to do (She made the song Poker Face). These are some of the worst musicians who have ever lived. And I can explain why. There are three levels of disliking music: lack of appeal, lack of talent, and lack of integrity. The first is lack of appeal. I've honestly tried as hard as I can, but I do not like Bruce Springsteen or Elton John, two highly regarded musicians. I can say however, that they are good musicians, they just lack anything appealing to me. This is my opinion and I know that they are not bad, but I can't get used to them.

The next level is lack of talent. Let's look at REO Speedwagon. I do not like REO Speedwagon at all, and unlike Bruce and Elton, I think that Kevin Cronin and his band are just bad. They write uncreative and annoying 80's pop/rock that is dull and derivative. However, REO Speedwagon do posses something that keeps them from being like Britney Spears: They have integrity. Before becoming superstars in the 80's, REO had released 10 albums over an entire decade with no success. They finally became huge with 1980's Hi Infidelity, but they in that lousy album, they created something that they wanted to do, and felt inside. They had a vision and made it, while be it poor. They are serious artists, however untalented.

There is one low that only the despicable can hit: lack of integrity. Miley Cyrus, who is a successful performer, lacks Bruce's and Elton's talent, and REO's integrity. She merely produces safe, forgettable, pop music that sells. Disney decided they wanted more money, so they got this teenage girl to start singing pop songs, so that she could make them richer, not because she had a vision of art. It is not art, it is merely white noise, that will fill a space so that people who do not appreciate music can buy it for 99 cents and play it when they need to break silence. It doesn't dare to be different, or inventive, it only exists so that it can sell to a specific audience. Look at Taylor Swift's lyrics: They are all designed to please the majority audience.

If anyone is still thinking that I can't prove this, let's take my music is art statement one step further. Picasso was a great painter. He was a passionate, and soulful man, who made odd, abstract paintings to express himself. Let's compare that to another painting: A two-dimensional drawing of a house by 5 year old. He made it because his teacher told him too, and his parents may post it up because it looks it cute. Let's say that Picasso is Kurt Cobain, and they 5 year old is Britney Spears. Kurt was a passionate man, who expressed his inner demons and doubt through his music. Britney Spears just made music in order to satisfy demands (from her customers and record company). She doesn't make art that comes from her own thoughts, then she would've written the songs herself. There can be good pop musicians: Michael Jackson and Duran Duran, because they tried to make something good and memorable, they made art. Britney just made safe music like a two-dimensional drawing of a house: It is pleasing to the eyes (ears), but has hardly any effort, nor is it anything she can call art.

Well, my friends, this is why I am so singleminded: There are so few pieces of true art in the world, and there are many who will try to usurp the place of artists so that they can make money. Anyone can spurt out sounds, but only true dedication and feeling can be good.

List Break - Free File Sharing

I've wanted to tackle this one for a long time. The biggest controversy in music, is it safe, is it even ethical, to share music on line so that other people can get it for free. On the surface, it seems like a pretty simple argument: If people just get music for free, then they won't pay for the artists work, and they are stealing. Well, it's far deeper than that. And after searching through that I've finally found the answer: File Sharing for Free Is Great.

All the PSA's and record companies say the same thing: You have to pay for the artists work r it's stealing, that's why file sharing should be illegal. They makes sense on the surface, until you realize something. Let's clean the slate of what we think we know about file sharing, it's all false. The reason that CD sales are going down is a far more obvious problem, iTunes. When you can by one single for 0.99, why by a CD? The drop in CD sales is because of iTunes. File Sharing has actually been proven to aid the artist and improve sales. For instance, many people, including nearly everyone I know, do not use programs like Limewire lightly. Many use file sharing as an opportunity to sample the music for whole without spending money on something you might hate. The music quality is low, and it's tough to find everything you want. So people usually go and buy the CD. And it shows. Radiohead were about to release Kid A, when the album was leaked online 3 months in advance. Upon it's release, Kid A topped the charts in 6 countries including the US, a feat never achieved by the band. Radiohead are now strong supporters of file sharing, along with artists like The Offspring, Pink Floyd, and The Ben Folds Five. All those artists like Prince and Metallica say that there albums failed because of file sharing, how do they know that? They're just guessing.

The final argument for file sharing is an easy one. For people new to music, back before iTunes when records where released on vinyl, singles were released as well. A single was song off a recently released album that the producer chose to promote it. They were released on a smaller format, and they were much cheaper. People could effectively sample the songs off the album and then decide to buy the whole album. People use is in the same way today. In effect, this is the record companies' fault because once CD's came around, they made the ultimate bone headed move. They stopped releasing singles because cost the same to put a whole album on a CD. If people only had enough money to buy their favorite single on the radio, they figured "They're online for free." Besides, in modern record deals, and relatonships, record distributers are entitled to an unfair amount of money when it comes to how much the artist is paid. So even if the record fails because of file sharing, the band can still become popular through the songs leaked, and get money for live shows, and other perks. When you "steal" from the artist, you're only stealing from the record company.

Remember, my friends, music is art. And like all art, it gets to people through odd ways.

Top 45 Songs of the 70's

45. Sugar Magnolia by The Grateful Dead

44. Don't Stop Til You Get Enough by Michael Jackson

43. La Grange by ZZ Top

42. The Joker by Steve Miller Band

41. Jet by Wings

40. Psycho Killer by Talking Heads

39. Black Magic Woman by Santana

38. (Don't Fear) The Reaper by Blue Oyster Cult

37. Heart of Gold by Neil Young

36. One Way Out by The Allman Brothers Band

35. Search and Destroy by The Stooges

34. Heart of Glass by Blondie

33. Message In A Bottle by The Police

32. American Girl by Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers

31. Pump It Up by Elvis Costello & The Attractions

30. Highway to Hell by AC/DC

29. Anarchy In The U.K. by The Sex Pistols

28. Runnin' with the Devil by Van Halen

27. I Wanna Be Sedated by The Ramones

26. (White Man) In Hammersmith Palais by The Clash

25. Let It Be by The Beatles

24. Tangled Up In Blue by Bob Dylan

23. Dream On by Aerosmith

22. Rocket Man by Elton John

21. Let's Stay Together by Al Green

20. Born To Run by Bruce Springsteen & The E Street Band

19. Brown Sugar by The Rolling Stones

18. Smoke on the Water by Deep Purple

17. Stayin' Alive by The Bee Gees

16. Roundabout by Yes

15. War Pigs by Black Sabbath

14. Papa Was A Rolling Stone by The Temptations

13. Free Bird by Lynyrd Skynyrd

12. Life On Mars by David Bowie

11. What's Going On by Marvin Gaye

10. Hotel California by The Eagles

9. Another Brick In The Wall by Pink Floyd

8. Go Your Own Way by Fleetwood Mac

7. No Woman, No Cry by Bob Marley & The Wailers

6. Bridge Over Troubled Water by Simon & Garfunkel

5. Layla by Derek & The Dominoes

4. Superstition by Stevie Wonder

3. Bohemian Rhapsody by Queen

2. Baba O'Riley by The Who

1. Stairway to Heaven by Led Zeppelin

Bad Songs by Good Bands

I Don't Wana Miss A Thing (Aerosmith)

Ob-La-Di, Ob-La-Da (The Beatles)

Dammit (Blink 182)

One Way or Another (Blondie)

This Is England (The Clash)

Love Bites (Def Leppard)

Just Can't Get Enough (Depeche Mode)

Feel the Pain (Dinosaur Jr.)

You Not Me (Dream Theater)

Oh Daddy (Fleetwood Mac)

Touch of Grey (The Grateful Dead)

American Idiot (Green Day)

Turbo Lover (Judas Priest)

Thoughtless (Korn)

D'yer Maker (Led Zeppelin)

Sweet Home Alabama (Lynyrd Skynyrd)

Frantic (Metallica)

The Trial (Pink Floyd)

Mother (The Police)

I Want It All (Queen)

Shiny Happy People (R.E.M.)

The Trees (Rush)

Tarantula (The Smashing Pumpkins)

On The Strip (Sonic Youth)

Discotheque (U2)

Right Now (Van Halen)

Beverly Hills (Weezer)

Silly Love Songs (Wings)

Another Tricky Day (The Who)

Owner of a Lonely Heart (Yes)

List Break - Selling Out

I've always noticed that every album you seem to notice that was a success can be called a sell out. I think its about time I offered my own opinion. Ever since the 60's, people have been trying to capitalize off of music. It's either made artists kill themselves in shame (Kurt Cobain, Ian Curtis) or made them filthy rich with everyone hating them. Not being able to read minds, can make it difficult to see who is in it for the money, and who is in it for the music. It seems automatic to label anything that changes too much (ZZ Top's Eliminator or Metallica's Black Album) as selling out. Sometimes it's really obvious (KISS). But I've successfully managed to peel these apart and see what's what.

The first shaky topics are bands like Def Leppard and Duran Duran, which largely became stars through their videos. This has led to the idea of MTV products. Duran Duran and Def Leppard certainly do know how to bring in the zeroes, and wrote songs with the intention of making hits. But so did Michael Jackson, and he enjoyed writing. This ultimately leads to the idea of setting out to write music that you enjoy while keeping Top 40 hits in mind. While it certainly is more like pop music, you can't calling it selling out. Selling out is trading musical integrity for money, which these groups have never done. Although avoid rock acts that have other people write their hits (Bon Jovi).

The second topic concerns bands that can change over time. We can see which ones are clear and aren't. Fleetwood Mac, for example, is pure coincidence. Bringing in new musicians after personal conflicts with the last ones and have them contribute their California pop style to Rumours is called spreading ideas, not selling out. Others can be tough. Groups like Metallica and Green Day changed their styles and shocked fans. Metallica has certainly been greedy (Napster incident), but the Black Album issue is touchy. It was still heavy metal, so how did it sell 10 million? Imagine in the 80's when all your friends were telling you to listen to Metallica, and this album comes along and you can finally agree. Besides Metallica's Load experimented with blues and country, hardly commercial. Green Day is probably the big one. They had bombed on three albums after Dookie and finally returned with American Idiot. But did you know that they had an album planned originally? It was lost, though. Not to mention the band members all went through therapy and admitted to having different mindsets (which probably lead to different songwriting). There were also numerous breaks from punk on Nimrod and Warning. And finally, vocalist and primary songwriter Billie Joe Armstrong, stated that Green Day took influence from The Replacements, a largely respected indie group which switched from punk rock to alternative and stadium rock. The Replacements however, never achieved success, so of course they never sold out. There ya go -- next time you listen to American Idiot, you know you're listening to quality musicians, not sell outs.

But of course there are those who did trade their music for money. Let's start with the Bad Boys from Boston, Aerosmith. Once a great raunchy blues/rock band, after several years of obscurity, they released Permanent Vacation. This album would've been decent, had it not been for the fact that Aerosmith had thrown in the towel and hired shlock writers from outside the band to write them hits, such as the Desmond Child written "Angel." I doubt that they wanted to experiment by hiring other people to write for them. That's not to say they didn't accomplish anything. It's incredible that they became video stars with a singer as ugly as Steven Tyler. Of course it can always get worse. When Aerosmith sold out, they only had shlock writers help them write hits. They still wanted control over their music, so at least they still wanted to perform music they loved. So hey, it can be okay to like these guys still.

On the other hand, we meet the Wilson Sisters of Heart. They pioneered female hard rock, and opened room for Pat Benatar, Joan Jett, and the Go-Go's. Heart, however, sold out with no dignity. They tossed out the triplet riffs in exchange for shlock writers doing their work for them in putting out power ballads. What a shame.

I hope that was helpful, and to any musicians out their. Music is art, not money. Keep on rocking.

Top 45 Songs of the 90's

45. More Human Than Human by White Zombie

44. Ruby Soho by Rancid

43. Santeria by Sublime

42. Lump by The Presidents of the United States of America

41. Come Out And Play by The Offspring

40. Walk by Pantera

39. All the Small Things by Blink 182

38. Plush by Stone Temple Pilots

37. Pull Me Under by Dream Theater

36. Freak On A Leash by Korn

35. Mama Said Knock You Out by LL Cool J

34. Vogue by Madonna

33. Closer by Nine Inch Nails

32. Everlong by Foo Fighters

31. Summer Babe by Pavement

30. Song 2 by Blur

29. My Name Is by Eminem

28. Rooster by Alice In Chains

27. Enjoy the Silence by Depeche Mode

26. Are You Gonna Go My Way by Lenny Kravitz

25. Only Shallow by My Bloody Valentine

24. Buddy Holly by Weezer

23. Welcome to Paradise by Green Day

22. Tears In Heaven by Eric Clapton

21. 911 Is A Joke by Public Enemy

20. Waterfalls by TLC

19. Enter Sandman by Metallica

18. Loser by Beck

17. Nuthin' But A "G" Thang feat. Snoop Doggy Dogg by Dr. Dre

16. One by U2

15. Protect Ya Neck by Wu-Tang Clan

14. Guerilla Radio by Rage Against The Machine

13. Kool Thing by Sonic Youth

12. Sweating Bullets by Megadeth

11. Cherub Rock by The Smashing Pumpkins

10. Black Hole Sun by Soundgarden

9. Juicy by The Notorious B.I.G.

8. Jeremy by Pearl Jam

7. Wonderwall by Oasis

6. California Love feat. Dr. Dre & Roger Troutman by 2Pac

5. Give It Away by Red Hot Chili Peppers

4. Karma Police by Radiohead

3. Sabotage by The Beastie Boys

2. Losing My Religion by R.E.M.

1. Smells Like Teen Spirit by Nirvana

Top 14 Personalities

Music needs personality. Name one kick ass band that got by on members who weren't cool. Well, okay, practically every 90's band, but that was the point. Anyway, we are going to honor the musicians who knew that we like personality in our favorite groups.

14. Rob Halford (Judas Priest)

This guy kicks ass. He sings songs about how he's hell bent for leather, breaks the law, and how we've got another thing coming. The song titles alone couldn't get him on though. With a voice like he's gonna eat your face after his minions melt it.

13. Marilyn Manson

Ouch! Time for the creep show. While parents may have been freaked out, if you were a goth kid in the 90's (I mean I wasn't) he was arguably your idol. He was scary and seemed to have this whole damn life thing figured out. Not to mention, if you actually liked to piss your parents off, he once did a show where he was on a podium dressed up like a nazi.

12. Joe Strummer (The Clash)

Punk demands personality, and the leader of the only band that mattered supplied. He was snotty before Johnny Rotten, angry before Rage Against the Machine, and political before Bono. I know a guy who had the honor of seeing him live before his death, and he told me that you really can't describe it.

11. Karen O (Yeah Yeah Yeahs)

This girl just bleeds NYC all over her crazy outfit. She's got a voice that sounds like she's taken every drug all at once and still not overdosed. But this is one you really need to see live. She humps amps and wears outfits that honestly make her look more Japanese fountain than woman.

10. Flava Flav (Public Enemy)

Before his own reality show, Flava was something. He had awesome sunglasses, a voice that could make the Beastie Boys sound subtle, and he didn't just have bling, he had a friggin' clock. I actually credit him for giving rap music its personality. But that is also what makes him low on the list. Just as rap music's personality has become too overblown for anyone to take it seriously, so did Flava's. Still great personality, just a bit too much of it.

9. Jello Biafra (Dead Kennedys)

This guy was basically Joe Strummer times ten. He had a great sense of humor, he was pissed off, and he knew everything about current events. He gets here because of two things. His band was probably the most outspoken band so far as politics go. I learned everything you need to know about Cambodia like that, and with humor. It takes guts to tell corrupt police jokes to educate, and he had that.

8. Dave Mustaine (Megadeth)

Just listen to Peace Sells and Sweating Bullets and you'll hear my point. This guy has got a voice that sounds like the devil if he were a pissed off teenager and he can still talk after all that snarling. And that voice isn't just all for show. Over the course of his career, he fired 20 members of Megadeth.

7. Tom DeLonge and Mark Hoppus (Blink 182)

Did someone say snott? Well its dangling out the cow's vomit encrusted anus with these guys. Despite being in their late 20's, these guys now exactly what being a teenager was all about. Their songs were full of toilet jokes, cursing, angry rants about the lame adults in their lives, and whining about how this girl won't notice you. Like Flava Flav, they can get to be a bit too much, but I just remember listening to this stuff as teenager and thinking "tell me about it."

6. Henry Rollins (Black Flag)

I think someone said that Henry Rollins looked like the kind of guy who'd beat you up for bumping into him at a bar. He certainly does. This guy was big, buff, and looked like he meant business. He played in a hardcore punk band, but even brought in spoken word songs. Before NWA, he was the original gangster.

5: Lemmy (Motorhead)

I only need to tell ya three things about this guy.

1. He started thrash metal

2. He rejected the speed metal label, calling his genre "rock n' roll"

3. He's gotten laid 1200 times

4. Michael Huntchence (INXS)

Who didn't wanna be this guy. He was a flat out male fox, so he could have any girl he wanted. He was smoother than his guitarist's riffs. He was irreplaceable as a singer (nothing personal JD). But the thing that we loved about was his voice. When girls hear it they go crazy, and that means that we could move in easily. Thank you Michael (Rock In Peace).

3. Bon Scott (AC/DC)

You could tell in his voice: This guy was born to rock n' roll. He could sing about being a badass, getting into fights, partying like nuts, and how awesome having sex with fat chicks was. He just knew it all, and did it all. Eventually it caught up to him and he died of alcohol poisoning. Even in death, this guy knew how to die like a rockstar

2. Iggy Pop

Talk about living by your music. This guy was before anyone else here and still can best all but one of em. He songs were about his lust for life and seeking and destroying. And he did that one hundred percent. He dove into the crowd, did whacky stunts, and cut himself up with broken bottles. And he's still alive, AT SIXTY!!! AND STILL COOL! That is staying power.

1. David Lee Roth (Van Halen)

If you were an up-and-coming rocker in 1978 (or anytime for that matter), you needed a singer like David Lee Roth. Not only could this guy sing like he had been born a rockstar, but he acted like it. He was buff, looked great, partied all the time, jumped around like a flea, told jokes in interviews, got laid every other hour, and actually managed to get fired for it all by Eddie Van Halen. Now that Van Halen are finally one again, David is back to be the ultimate role model for any rocker: If you're going to rock, make it larger than life. And a cucumber in the pants never hurt.