Rolling Stone Top 100 Project

[WolfofWords]

84. James Taylor - Fire and Rain

In general, this has never really been my kind of music. Taylor is a bit too soft but I recognize his musical talent. I was obsessed with a punk cover of this song when I was a teen. I like the composition of it and Taylor’s guitar work is impeccable. I also always really liked the symbolism of this song. Fire and rain are such good terms for the bad times. Bad times are not all one thing. Sometimes they are the dreary and unrelenting drenching rain that freezes you deep so you think you will never be warm again. Sometimes they burn hot with a more sudden and immediate pain that leaves a scar forever. The song details the trials and tribulations in Taylor’s life and how he overcame them including the suicide of a dear friend, drug addiction, and the depression that came with fame and fortune.



85. Black Sabbath - War Pigs

It is hard to think of Black Sabbath without Ozzy Ozbourne and for sure Ronny James Dio had a lot of hits as their lead singer. However, this is the song that I keep coming back to when I think of the band. When I was a teenager, I was struggling to figure out my own philosophies. I had long discussions with a teacher about being anti-war. It really helped that Black Sabbath was teaching me about these corporate and political greedy pigs who do not care whether we live or die. It was during a time when I was embracing heavy metal and politics. I still had a long way to go but this helped. Aside from the lyrics, the driving guitar lives rent-free in my head forever. The driving beat just makes this sound like a very epic anthem.




86. Tupac - Hit ‘Em Up

This one is kind of sad as it was a diss track written by Tupac and his crew when they were sure that Biggie Smalls had ordered the hit that put Tupac in the hospital. Tupac thought this because Biggie had released a song called “Who Shot Ya?” right after the incident. It ended up being James Rosemond but Biggie and Tupac’s friendship was already shattered. Still, this is one of my all-time favorite rap songs. Tupac’s flow and lyrics are on point and just go together so well. Part of that is also the backing track which includes a great bass line provided by a sample of Dennis Edwards formerly of The Temptations. This track goes hard and is a bit shocking not only in how violent the threats are but also in the believability of those threats being carried out.



87. Gram Parsons - Streets of Baltimore

My first reaction to this artist is “who?” because, although the name was vaguely familiar, I could not place it. Then I realized I was thinking of The Alan Parsons Project. This parsons is a country musician so it makes sense that I was not really familiar with his work. So, I started cruising YouTube to see what I could see, and low and behold, he wrote a song about my beloved Baltimore and I actually kind of recognize it. I am truly a sucker for any time that anybody mentions my hometown and current base of operations. The song is very catchy and speaks of Gram’s lover wanting him to take her to Baltimore City. One of the reasons that this song is familiar is that it has been heavily covered since Bobby Bare first sang it.



88. Miles Davis - Burn

Miles Davis had a long and influential career where he schooled the world on just how much a trumpet could do. He was a jazz musician but, like musicians, in his later years, he adapted and evolved. This track is absolutely an example of that as he played jazz fusion live on stage for charity. That guitarist? That is the legendary Carlos Santana. The fusion of jazz and rock definitely earns the name “Burn”. Davis was a true musical genius and everything he did shows that.




89. The Yardbirds - Over, Under, Sideways, Down

This is a band that I always recognize but I can never remember any of their songs even though they are in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. This was an absolute supergroup of musicians. This incarnation was led by Jeff Beck (later to be replaced by Jimmy Page) and his guitar work is excellent. The squealing riff he came up with is so unique and catchy. As are vocals by Keth Reif who uses a dark, deep voice kind of like a rockabilly Jim Morrison here. Steady drums by Jim McCarty who is the only one still in the band after all of these decades. This was written during a time when a lot of rock and roll was still heavily influenced by the blues and it shows.

[WolfofWords]

90. Carlos Santana - Smooth (ft. Rob Thomas)

Carlos Santana is a masterful musician and bandleader but I kind of prefer lyrics to my favorite songs. Thankfully, over the years Santana was able to join up with some of the best singers in a way that fit his style. His nineties album Supernatural takes some great musicians and Santana after decades of honing his craft and puts on a hell of a display. This is by far the song that got the most airplay and for good reason. For one, Santana’s guitar riffs are so iconic. Two, the lyrics just feel like what summer has always been to me which is really hitting about now. Thomas does a great job of singing with Santana’s guitar as if the two are in a duet.



91. Ricky Nelson - Yes Sir, That’s My Baby.

Quick note: I was given the choice of Ricky Nelson or Tom Petty and Tom Petty, while good, always feels forgettable to me. On the other hand, this song is an old standard dating back to 1925 although Nelson did not get a crack at it until the sixties. Most of the previous recordings were done by big singers like Sinatra and Etta James. Nelson’s take on it obviously includes guitar and backing band. His version has more of a poppy feel which also relaxes it a bit. Nelson’s usual rockabilly leanings really shine here as he romps through the song. On a personal note, this is a song that my dad used to sing to my brothers and I when we were little. I do not remember if it was this version that he was emulating but the lyrics were the same.



92. Guns N’ Roses - Mr. Brownstone

I used to listen to Guns N’ Roses a lot, especially around the time of high school. They were inescapable if you were listening to the radio in the nineties. However, I am not as fond of their ballads which felt like they would never end. I much preferred their less popular, grittier songs. At a time when I was listening to Van Halen and Motley Crue rave about how awesome drugs were, this little ditty tells a different story. It definitely feels like I would imagine a drug habit would feel like. A little like a party but a lot like a slow, confusing grind. I love the opening riff of shaky guitar and drums which leads to a repetitive yet funky groove. The vocals are sing-songy instead of Axl’s usual wailing.



93. Booker T and the MGs - Hang ‘Em High

I usually think of this band as background music since all of their songs were instrumentals. They were the house band for Stax Records and worked with legendary bands like Wilson Pickett, Otis Redding, and many more. They had a particular groovy sound that mixed great guitar work with the organ. Their music has been used on countless movie and television soundtracks. I agree with Dan Akroyd (in character as Jake Blues) that this is America’s equivalent to Europe’s classical music. He should know, he worked heavily with guitarists Steve Cropper and Donald Dunn in The Blues Brothers. While it is not a band that I often listen to, it will remain legendary.



94. Nine Inch Nails - Head Like a Hole

This is a band whose aesthetic I was a fan of from the start. The band has a style of its own making which is a blend of various genres but could simply be called “industrial” for brevity’s sake. The style takes pieces of The Clash, Depeche Mode, Sick Puppy, Prince, and Public Enemy. All of these disparate styles fed the Trent Reznor and Nine Inch Nails and led them to create a signature soundscape. From the beginning the song is powerful with “Bow Down to The Ones You Serve”. The drums and instrumentation are wild and create that industrial and dark feeling without being downbeat. Reznor’s vocals wail sometimes and snarl sometimes. It feels like a direct ancestor to bands like Rage Against the Machine.



95. Lynyrd Skynyrd - Gimme Three Steps

A very sentimental choice as this was a song near and dear to my mother and she passed that love along to me. My mom used to play this song to relieve stress while she was in law school. If she could let herself have three steps, she felt she could have run. The lyrics are great as I always thought that this band was part rock band and part comedy band. The lyrics tell the story of a little misunderstanding in a bar and how the singer just wants to get out of it. Everything works here between the dynamic vocals and the rollicking iconic guitar. This band was also the first concert I ever went to (long after the original lineup died in a plane crash) and I sang my heart out all night long until I was hoarse the next day. I must have been no more than fifteen.

[WolfofWords]

96. Martha and the Vandellas - Heatwave

This is one of those songs that I heard over and over as a kid but I am pretty sure the first time I gave it a lot of notice was when I saw it in Sister Act. That movie and its sequel was such a good thing for music performed by these wonderful girl groups. Naturally, the original version is way better than Whoopi Goldberg and her fellows. The lyrics speak not of a literal heatwave but of the heat of passion that is both constructive and destructive. Love can be dangerous and volatile. Martha Reeves was a great singer and the Vandellas the perfect compliment to her. I really love the steady drum beat accompanied by a very nice saxophone (complete with solo).



97. Diana Ross and the Supremes - Stop! In the Name of Love

When I was a kid, I was always fascinated by the lyrics of this song because it treated the concept of love like it was an authority. It reminded me of how Sailor Moon often said that she stood for love and justice. The idea intrigued me. This song actually came back to me in a big way when I worked in west Baltimore for a summer. Apparently, the song was a huge hit on the house and club circuit and there was a particular remix that was hugely popular. The song itself is, of course, great. Diana Ross does a great job blending in with the Supremes and they sing as a team. The backing instrumentals are simple but compliment the voices on the track.



98. Curtis Mayfield - Move On Up

This song feels so seventies to me with the mix of brass and guitar with soulful singing. That makes sense as the song is from Mayfield’s self-titled debut album released in 1970. Except it is so energetic from the getgo. It has to be as the song lasts nearly nine minutes and its joyful energy never flags or fails. Mayfield’s vocals sound playful and excited like a celebration. The familiar brass riff with a complicated, driving drum beat make sure the party continues while Mayfield is not singing.


99. REM - Losing My Religion

Funny enough, this song came out at a time when I stopped going to church and started feeling like church was unnecessary for me. However, singer Michael Stipe has insisted that the song is not about religion. Instead, it is about unrequited love and the slang (which is apparently a thing in the American South) which means losing your cool or ‘flying off of the handle’. This actually fits a lot with me personally as well. Around this time I started to get very angry easily, something I only let go of relatively recently. I have always loved Stipe’s voice as his style could have easily come off as whiny but he does longing and sadness really well. Aside from the lyrics, the rest of the song was basically written by guitarist Peter Buck who came up with the song while learning the mandolin. The guitar work is really good and I can hear where it might have come from that different style.



100. Talking Heads - Once In a Lifetime

One of the main reasons that I picked this song over other songs is the sing-speaking that happens before the song starts and at intervals during the song. The strange rambling of the song is definitely memorable and interesting to me. I find myself repeating “This is not my beautiful house, this is not my beautiful wife” randomly all the time in my head. I love the instrumentals, especially the groovy drumbeat throughout. I really like when things get weird and this song definitely feels like a musical version of David Lynch. Some of it is very clear but some of it requires interpretation.