101 Best Songs of 1986 vs 1996: #1 There Is A Light That Never Goes Out - The Smiths / A Long December - Counting Crows (1 Viewer)

[scorchy]

Wasted Years is always money

Probably one of my favorite Maiden songs. This comes from someone who does not count himself in the cult of Eddy. Never got the appeal of Maiden. But I like this song.

I am a huge Maiden fan and Wasted Years is probably in the top 10 for me. Maybe top 15. Maiden has a lot of great songs and ranking them is challenging.

A few years ago, we were in Prague and saw these guys walking down the street. My wife said, "Weird. a lot of dudes in Prague still dress likes it's 1988 in Baltimore." I didn't have the heart to tell her that Maiden was playing there that night.

 

[rockaction]

A few years ago, we were in Prague and saw these guys walking down the street. My wife said, "Weird. a lot of dudes in Prague still dress likes it's 1988 in Baltimore." I didn't have the heart to tell her that Maiden was playing there that night.

So awesome.

 

[scorchy]

#8

My Adidas - Run DMC

Walk This Way is the popular one. You Be Illin’ is the funny one. It’s Tricky is my favorite one, but it was released the following year. My Adidas, though, will always be the iconic one. Here’s Questlove, who ranked My Adidas #6 on his list of all-time rap songs:

Hip-hop's tipping point. No longer just music to annoy your grandparents, hip-hop meant big, big dollars. The gates were open: shows in stadiums, albums going multi-platinum, endorsement deals, awards and accolades. This 12-inch single was the Paul Revere announcement that hip-hop was going absolutely nowhere

Or Bob Dylan

I remember buying this record when it came out, down at St. Mark's Records in New York. Actually I bought the twelve inch single, and it blew my mind. It was a powerful, exciting piece of music.

From a chart perspective, My Adidas was the least successful single from the album. On the other hand, it’s the reason that me and friends all bought white shell-toes and adorned them with those fat laces in a color that matched the stripes- untied of course.


Firestarter - Prodigy

The track that brought “electronica” into the mainstream. The Prodigy released Firestarter in March 1996, almost a year ahead of their 10x-platinum album The Fat of the Land. It went #1 in 5 countries and even made it to #30 in the States. A couple of years later, even Madonna had gone techno.

 

[rockaction]

The track that brought “electronica” into the mainstream.

Without the vocals and video visuals of that guy (Keith?), it's another piece of electronica doomed to obscurity. With those, it was a cultural phenomenon that even I had heard of through the mainstream outlets. I knew what house was, and my friends had already been going to raves circa '90-'91, but I was right field of all that until this song hit.

Questlove, who ranked My Adidas #6 on his list of all-time rap songs

High praise from someone who should now.

 

[Pip's Invitation]

#9

Paul Revere - Beastie Boys

If you lined up 100 random guys aged 48-54 and asked them to rap/sing along to Paul Revere, I bet at least a third would get every line spot-on.

Much lower in my cohort, but we've already discussed our demographic differences.

Most people in my cohort either didn't like rap or didn't take the Beasties seriously until Paul's Boutique.

 

[scorchy]

#7

Live to Tell - Madonna

Speaking of Madonna…

I have it on great authority that this is Madonna’s best song. And not just my own. The missus, who is a big Madge fan, adores it. @Ramsay Hunt Experience has agreed with this sentiment on several occasions. And @zamboni made the same argument earlier in this very thread.

In no way is this damning with faint praise either. Despite finding Madonna to be incredibly annoying (and sometimes worse), her catalog over several decades is crazy impressive.

Live to Tell was originally written for the At Close Range soundtrack and subsequently included on Madonna’s third album True Blue. It hit #1 in June 1986, becoming her third song to top the Hot 100. The guy from Stereogum's #1s loved it too, giving Live to Tell a 9/10.

I was riding around in Nat’s car, and we were listening to the used cassette copy of The Immaculate Collection that I’d just bought. Nat and I were both having one of those ****, ****, this rules moments with the tape, processing the idea that Madonna was way better at making music that we’d ever given her credit for being. When we heard the “Live To Tell” intro, with its big drums and its gasping keyboards and its blippy little oscillations, Nat said, “Yo, it’s like planetarium music,” and he was exactly right. I’ve never encountered a better description. Decades later, I still think of what Nat said every time I hear the song. “Planetarium music” fits because the production of “Live To Tell” is pure head-blown ’80s sci-fi awe — the kind of wonderstruck synth music that Carl Sagan might’ve used to soundtrack Cosmos. The term also fits because the song sounds like Madonna staring out into the universe, contemplating her own place within it. Her lyrics are vague but portentous, and they hint at some kind of emotional apocalypse. Her voice is wounded but strong. She comes off as a person dealing with the kind of vast sadness that’s hard to put into words, but she also comes off as someone determined to get through it.

Street Spirit (Fade Out) - Radiohead

While Madonna was successfully hopping genres to make hit records, Radiohead was going the other way. I wrote earlier that The Bends was easily my favorite Radiohead record with everything after OK Computer just being way too much work. Street Spirit (Fade Out) was released as the fourth single from The Bends. It and Airbag swap places as my #1 Radiohead song.

 

[zamboni]

#7

Live to Tell - Madonna

Speaking of Madonna…

I have it on great authority that this is Madonna’s best song. And not just my own. The missus, who is a big Madge fan, adores it. @Ramsay Hunt Experience has agreed with this sentiment on several occasions. And @zamboni made the same argument earlier in this very thread.

In no way is this damning with faint praise either. Despite finding Madonna to be incredibly annoying (and sometimes worse), her catalog over several decades is crazy impressive.

Live to Tell was originally written for the At Close Range soundtrack and subsequently included on Madonna’s third album True Blue. It hit #1 in June 1986, becoming her third song to top the Hot 100. The guy from Stereogum's #1s loved it too, giving Live to Tell a 9/10.

Glad to see it, as expected The use in Live To Tell is fantastic IMO - I highly recommend the movie as well for those that haven't seen it.

 

[Doug B]

#7

Live to Tell - Madonna

Speaking of Madonna…

I have it on great authority that this is Madonna’s best song. And not just my own. The missus, who is a big Madge fan, adores it. @Ramsay Hunt Experience has agreed with this sentiment on several occasions. And @zamboni made the same argument earlier in this very thread.

They're all right. Very good pull here.

 

[FatMax]

I wonder how different our own lists would look if we made them in January 1997 vs today? Many of my favorites back then are still favorites now. A whole bunch more have not aged well, in my mind. Then there are bands like Radiohead, who I never really listened to until about five years later, that wouldn't have been on my list at all. But today, yeah. Good placement, IMO.

 

[scorchy]

I wonder how different our own lists would look if we made them in January 1997 vs today? Many of my favorites back then are still favorites now. A whole bunch more have not aged well, in my mind. Then there are bands like Radiohead, who I never really listened to until about five years later, that wouldn't have been on my list at all. But today, yeah. Good placement, IMO.

No doubt, but for me (since I'm a few years older than you), that's more the case for 1986. For 1996, the rankings likely would shift a bit. But as of January 1, 1987, I never even heard of a bunch of the bands that would later become favorites.

 

[Jayrod]

Street Spirit (Fade Out) - Radiohead

While Madonna was successfully hopping genres to make hit records, Radiohead was going the other way. I wrote earlier that The Bends was easily my favorite Radiohead record with everything after OK Computer just being way too much work. Street Spirit (Fade Out) was released as the fourth single from The Bends. It and Airbag swap places as my #1 Radiohead song.

This is the song that first hooked me with Radiohead. I enjoy OK Computer & Kid A, but The Bends was one of my favorite albums during the late 90's if only because it was more in line with what I was used to. It took me years to appreciate their next 2 albums. I found myself appreciating In Rainbows immediately and the last full album I actually paid money for was A Moon Shaped Pool.

This song also has the distinction of being the "coolest" song I can play on the guitar, per my children. It is strange in that I've lost a lot of my song playing knowledge through the years from not picking up a guitar very often, but this one comes back to me right away. It really is fairly simple once you get the pattern down.

 

[scorchy]

#6

Fall on Me - REM

REM is one of the three bands with songs in my top 6 that I had not even heard of in 1986. I wrote about Begin the Begin when it appeared at #51 - it was the first REM song I heard thanks to a cool older neighbor. A few months later, I managed to catch Fall on Me on one of the first episodes of 120 Minutes I watched, and then excitedly bought Document when it came out in late summer 1987, before working my way through their back catalog as my meager paycheck allowed.

I was surprised to see that Fall on Me reached #5 on the Mainstream Rock chart. I guess there were no ‘“mainstream rock” stations where I lived, or if there were, they were busy playing Steve Miller and Boston. @neal cassady picked this as his 27th favorite song by an American artist. Let’s see if the @ can get him to talk about why he loves it.


Don’t Look Back in Anger - Oasis

In the early 2000s, I saw Oasis and The White Stripes in the same week. Even allowing for my love of the Gallagher brothers, I won’t try to convince anyone that Oasis is the better band. But if you ask pretty much any of my crew who went to both, the Oasis show won hands down. The White Stripes were great musically, but it felt a bit cold and clinical. Oasis was everything I wanted from a concert - hits, deep tracks, camaraderie, sing-a-longs, goosebumps, and just tremendous joy. No song captures this more than Don’t Look Back in Anger, the 5th single from their second album, and my co-favorite Oasis tune.

Here’s an amazing live version from Buenos Aires where Noel just stands in awe of the crowd (around the 3:50 mark).

On a more somber note, Mancunians spontaneously singing Don’t Look Back in Anger at the vigil following the Manchester Arena Bombing that killed 23 people after an Ariana Grande concert.

 

[Dr. Octopus]

#6

Fall on Me - REM

REM is one of the three bands with songs in my top 6 that I had not even heard of in 1986. I wrote about Begin the Begin when it appeared at #51 - it was the first REM song I heard thanks to a cool older neighbor. A few months later, I managed to catch Fall on Me on one of the first episodes of 120 Minutes I watched, and then excitedly bought Document when it came out in late summer 1987, before working my way through their back catalog as my meager paycheck allowed.

I was surprised to see that Fall on Me reached #5 on the Mainstream Rock chart. I guess there were no ‘“mainstream rock” stations where I lived, or if there were, they were busy playing Steve Miller and Boston. @neal cassady picked this as his 27th favorite song by an American artist. Let’s see if the @ can get him to talk about why he loves it.


Don’t Look Back in Anger - Oasis

In the early 2000s, I saw Oasis and The White Stripes in the same week. Even allowing for my love of the Gallagher brothers, I won’t try to convince anyone that Oasis is the better band. But if you ask pretty much any of my crew who went to both, the Oasis show won hands down. The White Stripes were great musically, but it felt a bit cold and clinical. Oasis was everything I wanted from a concert - hits, deep tracks, camaraderie, sing-a-longs, goosebumps, and just tremendous joy. No song captures this more than Don’t Look Back in Anger, the 5th single from their second album, and my co-favorite Oasis tune.

Here’s an amazing live version from Buenos Aires where Noel just stands in awe of the crowd (around the 3:50 mark).

On a more somber note, Mancunians spontaneously singing Don’t Look Back in Anger at the vigil following the Manchester Arena Bombing that killed 23 people after an Ariana Grande concert.

Probably my favorite pairing so far.

 

[massraider]

#6

Fall on Me - REM

REM is one of the three bands with songs in my top 6 that I had not even heard of in 1986. I wrote about Begin the Begin when it appeared at #51 - it was the first REM song I heard thanks to a cool older neighbor. A few months later, I managed to catch Fall on Me on one of the first episodes of 120 Minutes I watched, and then excitedly bought Document when it came out in late summer 1987, before working my way through their back catalog as my meager paycheck allowed.

I was surprised to see that Fall on Me reached #5 on the Mainstream Rock chart. I guess there were no ‘“mainstream rock” stations where I lived, or if there were, they were busy playing Steve Miller and Boston. @neal cassady picked this as his 27th favorite song by an American artist. Let’s see if the @ can get him to talk about why he loves it.


Don’t Look Back in Anger - Oasis

In the early 2000s, I saw Oasis and The White Stripes in the same week. Even allowing for my love of the Gallagher brothers, I won’t try to convince anyone that Oasis is the better band. But if you ask pretty much any of my crew who went to both, the Oasis show won hands down. The White Stripes were great musically, but it felt a bit cold and clinical. Oasis was everything I wanted from a concert - hits, deep tracks, camaraderie, sing-a-longs, goosebumps, and just tremendous joy. No song captures this more than Don’t Look Back in Anger, the 5th single from their second album, and my co-favorite Oasis tune.

Here’s an amazing live version from Buenos Aires where Noel just stands in awe of the crowd (around the 3:50 mark).

On a more somber note, Mancunians spontaneously singing Don’t Look Back in Anger at the vigil following the Manchester Arena Bombing that killed 23 people after an Ariana Grande concert.

Cool that you have two bands here with such similar lead singers, both in terms of vocal range, and political leanings.

 

[Neal Cassady]

#6

Fall on Me - REM

REM is one of the three bands with songs in my top 6 that I had not even heard of in 1986. I wrote about Begin the Begin when it appeared at #51 - it was the first REM song I heard thanks to a cool older neighbor. A few months later, I managed to catch Fall on Me on one of the first episodes of 120 Minutes I watched, and then excitedly bought Document when it came out in late summer 1987, before working my way through their back catalog as my meager paycheck allowed.

I was surprised to see that Fall on Me reached #5 on the Mainstream Rock chart. I guess there were no ‘“mainstream rock” stations where I lived, or if there were, they were busy playing Steve Miller and Boston. @neal cassady picked this as his 27th favorite song by an American artist. Let’s see if the @ can get him to talk about why he loves it.


Don’t Look Back in Anger - Oasis

In the early 2000s, I saw Oasis and The White Stripes in the same week. Even allowing for my love of the Gallagher brothers, I won’t try to convince anyone that Oasis is the better band. But if you ask pretty much any of my crew who went to both, the Oasis show won hands down. The White Stripes were great musically, but it felt a bit cold and clinical. Oasis was everything I wanted from a concert - hits, deep tracks, camaraderie, sing-a-longs, goosebumps, and just tremendous joy. No song captures this more than Don’t Look Back in Anger, the 5th single from their second album, and my co-favorite Oasis tune.

Here’s an amazing live version from Buenos Aires where Noel just stands in awe of the crowd (around the 3:50 mark).

On a more somber note, Mancunians spontaneously singing Don’t Look Back in Anger at the vigil following the Manchester Arena Bombing that killed 23 people after an Ariana Grande concert.

Well, that entire album is special to me. It came out in the summer of 86’, right before I embarked on my junior year of college. I lived with 4 potheads, who were engrossed in the alternative music scene, and had a garage band. I was a student athlete, that had to hide in my room most nights, so I didn’t fail drug tests, and to try and get away from their practice sessions in the basement. I was more in to classic rock at the time, but loved this album, which was played A LOT. It was recorded in a studio nearby, that was owned by a guy that became a good friend. The team that I was on won a national championship that year, so all in all, it was a fantastic year. So, I suppose this would be the theme song for that year, as it was my favorite track on the album. Good memories.

 

[FatMax]

It's pretty apparent that a couple of songs I expected to see on this list are not going to make it. Doubtful they're in anyone's top five, but I'm still a little surprised. I'll talk about it more if we do a postmortem on this.

 

[plinko]

These Days is no slouch

 

[scorchy]

It's pretty apparent that a couple of songs I expected to see on this list are not going to make it. Doubtful they're in anyone's top five, but I'm still a little surprised. I'll talk about it more if we do a postmortem on this.

Now I'm really curious. I know a couple of big 90s bands put out albums in '96 that didn't land with me at all. California Love was huge, but it was released in '95 - before Pac's album. All in for a postmortem.

 

[FatMax]

It's pretty apparent that a couple of songs I expected to see on this list are not going to make it. Doubtful they're in anyone's top five, but I'm still a little surprised. I'll talk about it more if we do a postmortem on this.

Now I'm really curious. I know a couple of big 90s bands put out albums in '96 that didn't land with me at all. California Love was huge, but it was released in '95 - before Pac's album. All in for a postmortem.

Oh, don't get your hopes up thinking I've uncovered some gems you missed. I'm looking forward to the rest of the list. I have a good feeling what three of five will be, no clue on the others. That what makes this fun as a spectator.

 

[massraider]

In the early 2000s, I saw Oasis and The White Stripes in the same week.

I saw the Oasis/Black Crowes tour. Oasis was notably tighter, just better playing. Their sound also translates well to live shows.

I saw Jack White when he was touring with an all male and all female band. At Red Rocks, and he was with the all female band, and his fiddle player was the most GD adorable little thing I have ever seen. Jack dated her for a bit, I think, she was on his label

 

[FatMax]

In the early 2000s, I saw Oasis and The White Stripes in the same week.

I saw the Oasis/Black Crowes tour. Oasis was notably tighter, just better playing. Their sound also translates well to live shows.

I saw Jack White when he was touring with an all male and all female band. At Red Rocks, and he was with the all female band, and his fiddle player was the most GD adorable little thing I have ever seen. Jack dated her for a bit, I think, she was on his label

Lillie Mae. She's great.

- YouTube

Auf YouTube findest du die angesagtesten Videos und Tracks. Außerdem kannst du eigene Inhalte hochladen und mit Freunden oder gleich der ganzen Welt teilen.

www.youtube.com

 

[massraider]

Lillie Mae. She's great.

- YouTube

Auf YouTube findest du die angesagtesten Videos und Tracks. Außerdem kannst du eigene Inhalte hochladen und mit Freunden oder gleich der ganzen Welt teilen.

www.youtube.com

Her with Jack White

 

[scorchy]

#5

In Your Eyes - Peter Gabriel

The first of two songs in the top 10 that saw a surge in popularity thanks to an appearance in a TV show/movie. In Your Eyes was released as the second single from So and reached #26 on the Hot 100 - not bad but not Sledgehammer either. Three years later, that famous scene from Say Anything turned the song into a Gen X mixtape fixture. Peter Gabriel told Rolling Stone in 2012:

It definitely gave [the song] a second life, because now it's so often parodied in comedy shows and it is one of the modern day Romeo and Juliet balcony clichés. I've talked to John Cusack about that. We're sort of trapped together in a minuscule moment of contemporary culture.

If I Ruled the World (Imagine That) - Nas feat, Lauren Hill

I was hooked the first time I heard If I Ruled the World and it remains one of my favorite hip-hop songs to this day. The song was inspired by Kurtis Blow’s 1985 song of the same name. The beat is straight from Whodini’s Friends - an old-school classic that me and my middle-school buddies rapped along to frequently in 1984. And Lauren Hill’s vocal is from Walk Right Up to the Sun by the Delfonics (who I had never heard of until Jackie Brown ). As my 1986 list makes obvious, I loved rap music back then. The old school stuff is great, but a decade later, hip hop was at a whole ‘nother level.

 

[scorchy]

#4

Master of Puppets - Metallica

And here’s the second song given a new life. Master of Puppets was a favorite among Metallica fans in 1986 and its popularity just kept growing as new fans discovered the band. Maybe if soundscan had been around in 1986, it would have actually charted (tough to see how the album of the same name could go 6x platinum if no one was listening to the songs). Thanks to Stranger Things, Master of Puppets hit #29 on the Hot 100 earlier this year. The band was blown away, even going so far as to hit back at longtime fans criticizing the newbs as fake fans.

Rolling Stone ranked Master of Puppets at #256 on its 500 Greatest Songs of All Time list.


1979 - Smashing Pumpkins

My favorite song from Mellon Collie…, 1979 was released as the second single in January 1996. It oozes nostalgia, capturing what it’s like to be 12 years old, running through the streets with your friends, and feeling like you’ll live forever. 1979 was Smashing Pumpkins biggest hit, reaching #12 on the Hot 100 and #1 on the Mainstream Rock and Modern Rock charts.

 

[zamboni]

#4

Master of Puppets - Metallica

And here’s the second song given a new life. Master of Puppets was a favorite among Metallica fans in 1986 and its popularity just kept growing as new fans discovered the band. Maybe if soundscan had been around in 1986, it would have actually charted (tough to see how the album of the same name could go 6x platinum if no one was listening to the songs). Thanks to Stranger Things, Master of Puppets hit #29 on the Hot 100 earlier this year. The band was blown away, even going so far as to hit back at longtime fans criticizing the newbs as fake fans.

Rolling Stone ranked Master of Puppets at #256 on its 500 Greatest Songs of All Time list.

Totally kickass. One of the best scenes of the ST series was Eddie's magic shredding to the tune.

 

[DocHolliday]

#4

Master of Puppets - Metallica

And here’s the second song given a new life. Master of Puppets was a favorite among Metallica fans in 1986 and its popularity just kept growing as new fans discovered the band. Maybe if soundscan had been around in 1986, it would have actually charted (tough to see how the album of the same name could go 6x platinum if no one was listening to the songs). Thanks to Stranger Things, Master of Puppets hit #29 on the Hot 100 earlier this year. The band was blown away, even going so far as to hit back at longtime fans criticizing the newbs as fake fans.

Rolling Stone ranked Master of Puppets at #256 on its 500 Greatest Songs of All Time list.


1979 - Smashing Pumpkins

My favorite song from Mellon Collie…, 1979 was released as the second single in January 1996. It oozes nostalgia, capturing what it’s like to be 12 years old, running through the streets with your friends, and feeling like you’ll live forever. 1979 was Smashing Pumpkins biggest hit, reaching #12 on the Hot 100 and #1 on the Mainstream Rock and Modern Rock charts.

Two extraordinary songs. Master is my favorite song (most days) from my favorite Metallica album. If that song does not pump you up, you need to check you pulse to determine if you are still alive. Sometimes Kirks solos lack emotion but his second brief solo is one of my favorites because he plays furiously.

For those of you that plan to embark on a fitness journey in 2023, you have the first track on your workout playlist.

 

[plinko]

#4

Master of Puppets - Metallica

And here’s the second song given a new life. Master of Puppets was a favorite among Metallica fans in 1986 and its popularity just kept growing as new fans discovered the band. Maybe if soundscan had been around in 1986, it would have actually charted (tough to see how the album of the same name could go 6x platinum if no one was listening to the songs). Thanks to Stranger Things, Master of Puppets hit #29 on the Hot 100 earlier this year. The band was blown away, even going so far as to hit back at longtime fans criticizing the newbs as fake fans.

Rolling Stone ranked Master of Puppets at #256 on its 500 Greatest Songs of All Time list.


1979 - Smashing Pumpkins

My favorite song from Mellon Collie…, 1979 was released as the second single in January 1996. It oozes nostalgia, capturing what it’s like to be 12 years old, running through the streets with your friends, and feeling like you’ll live forever. 1979 was Smashing Pumpkins biggest hit, reaching #12 on the Hot 100 and #1 on the Mainstream Rock and Modern Rock charts.

Two extraordinary songs. Master is my favorite song (most days) from my favorite Metallica album. If that song does not pump you up, you need to check you pulse to determine if you are still alive. Sometimes Kirks solos lack emotion but his second brief solo is one of my favorites because he plays furiously.

For those of you that plan to embark on a fitness journey in 2023, you have the first track on your workout playlist.

Don't forget your old pal plinko and the official 80s metal top 100 (or so)
Don't pull anything

 

[zamboni]

#4

Master of Puppets - Metallica

And here’s the second song given a new life. Master of Puppets was a favorite among Metallica fans in 1986 and its popularity just kept growing as new fans discovered the band. Maybe if soundscan had been around in 1986, it would have actually charted (tough to see how the album of the same name could go 6x platinum if no one was listening to the songs). Thanks to Stranger Things, Master of Puppets hit #29 on the Hot 100 earlier this year. The band was blown away, even going so far as to hit back at longtime fans criticizing the newbs as fake fans.

Rolling Stone ranked Master of Puppets at #256 on its 500 Greatest Songs of All Time list.


1979 - Smashing Pumpkins

My favorite song from Mellon Collie…, 1979 was released as the second single in January 1996. It oozes nostalgia, capturing what it’s like to be 12 years old, running through the streets with your friends, and feeling like you’ll live forever. 1979 was Smashing Pumpkins biggest hit, reaching #12 on the Hot 100 and #1 on the Mainstream Rock and Modern Rock charts.

Two extraordinary songs. Master is my favorite song (most days) from my favorite Metallica album. If that song does not pump you up, you need to check you pulse to determine if you are still alive. Sometimes Kirks solos lack emotion but his second brief solo is one of my favorites because he plays furiously.

For those of you that plan to embark on a fitness journey in 2023, you have the first track on your workout playlist.

Don't forget your old pal plinko and the official 80s metal top 100 (or so)
Don't pull anything

reaction

 

[krista4]

1979 - Smashing Pumpkins

My favorite song from Mellon Collie…, 1979 was released as the second single in January 1996. It oozes nostalgia, capturing what it’s like to be 12 years old, running through the streets with your friends, and feeling like you’ll live forever. 1979 was Smashing Pumpkins biggest hit, reaching #12 on the Hot 100 and #1 on the Mainstream Rock and Modern Rock charts.

Whoa, I just commented on this one in the countdown thread (love it), as shuke had it for his #8 pick, posted today.

 

[Dan Lambskin]

#4

Master of Puppets - Metallica

And here’s the second song given a new life. Master of Puppets was a favorite among Metallica fans in 1986 and its popularity just kept growing as new fans discovered the band. Maybe if soundscan had been around in 1986, it would have actually charted (tough to see how the album of the same name could go 6x platinum if no one was listening to the songs). Thanks to Stranger Things, Master of Puppets hit #29 on the Hot 100 earlier this year. The band was blown away, even going so far as to hit back at longtime fans criticizing the newbs as fake fans.

Rolling Stone ranked Master of Puppets at #256 on its 500 Greatest Songs of All Time list.


1979 - Smashing Pumpkins

My favorite song from Mellon Collie…, 1979 was released as the second single in January 1996. It oozes nostalgia, capturing what it’s like to be 12 years old, running through the streets with your friends, and feeling like you’ll live forever. 1979 was Smashing Pumpkins biggest hit, reaching #12 on the Hot 100 and #1 on the Mainstream Rock and Modern Rock charts.

Both great songs, depending on my mood I could rank Master as their #1
I think at one point I started a top 50 Metallica songs list, may have to revisit that

Melon Collie is also a great album, and I feel like 1979 has held up really well (Bullett w Butterfly Wings not so much)

 

[massraider]

For those of you that plan to embark on a fitness journey in 2023, you have the first track on your workout playlist.

First track?? You trying to make me slip a disc?

Better ease into that ****

 

[Manster]

#4

Master of Puppets - Metallica

And here’s the second song given a new life. Master of Puppets was a favorite among Metallica fans in 1986 and its popularity just kept growing as new fans discovered the band. Maybe if soundscan had been around in 1986, it would have actually charted (tough to see how the album of the same name could go 6x platinum if no one was listening to the songs). Thanks to Stranger Things, Master of Puppets hit #29 on the Hot 100 earlier this year. The band was blown away, even going so far as to hit back at longtime fans criticizing the newbs as fake fans.

Rolling Stone ranked Master of Puppets at #256 on its 500 Greatest Songs of All Time list.


1979 - Smashing Pumpkins

My favorite song from Mellon Collie…, 1979 was released as the second single in January 1996. It oozes nostalgia, capturing what it’s like to be 12 years old, running through the streets with your friends, and feeling like you’ll live forever. 1979 was Smashing Pumpkins biggest hit, reaching #12 on the Hot 100 and #1 on the Mainstream Rock and Modern Rock charts.

I have no issue with stranger things bringing more people around on Metallica. This album is an absolute masterpiece. People should know!

 

[Willy]

1979 was great. The pumpkins were absolutely one of the biggest and most important acts of the 1990s. It's odd how critics now like to pretend that wasn't the case, or how the RnR HOF hasn't considered them in the six years they've been eligible, but inducted Dolly Parton this year, despite her asking not to be considered.

 

[FatMax]

1979 I thought was a lock for the top five of '96. A well deserved position. It's probably the best on an album that is full of great.

Master of Puppets is iconic in the entire decade. I'd have no problem if this were #1 for the year.

 

[Pip's Invitation]

My ex-wife tolerated my constant playing of Mellon Collie in the house because 1979 was on it. (And Tonight, Tonight).

 

[scorchy]

#3

Bizarre Love Triangle - New Order

I’ve gone back-and-forth repeatedly over the top 3 for both of these years, but 1986 was especially hard. I love each of them for different reasons, and on another day, any could have ended up #1.

Bizarre Love Triangle is the one of the bunch that always makes me the happiest. In the early 90s, my friends and I would go to “Old Wave” night every Tuesday at the Florida Theater. Seems like a funny name now given that most of the songs they played were less than 10 years old. The DJ spun a mix of everything 80s, from Men Without Hats to Cyndi Lauper to OMD to Bauhaus. The crowd reflected the mix, but there were always a few songs that would bring everyone out on the floor, and Bizarre Love Triangle always fit the bill. The normals loved it, the Greeks loved it, and even us Goths - who had a tendency to cast off bands once they got adopted by the mainstream - couldn’t stop from joining in. Every time I hear it, it takes me back.

Rolling Stone ranked Bizarre Love Triangle the 220th greatest song of all time.

Killing Me Softly With His Song - The Fugees

Who would have guessed two appearances from Lauryn Hill in the Top 5? The Fugees released their debut album in 1994 and it only sold 12,000 copies. I don’t know what happened over the ensuing two years, but when The Score dropped in February 1996, it was primed to blow up. The record quickly became the #1 album in the U.S. on its way to selling 7 million units, launching the careers of Lauryn Hill and Wyclef Jean. Even Pras got a big hit a few years later with Ghetto Supastar - a tune that would easily crack the top 10 of a 1998 countdown.

Rolling Stone loved Killing Me Softly too, making it one of only three from 1996 to make their Top 500 Songs of All Time, coming in at #359.

 

[Osaurus]

#3

Bizarre Love Triangle - New Order

I’ve gone back-and-forth repeatedly over the top 3 for both of these years, but 1986 was especially hard. I love each of them for different reasons, and on another day, any could have ended up #1.

Bizarre Love Triangle is the one of the bunch that always makes me the happiest. In the early 90s, my friends and I would go to “Old Wave” night every Tuesday at the Florida Theater. Seems like a funny name now given that most of the songs they played were less than 10 years old. The DJ spun a mix of everything 80s, from Men Without Hats to Cyndi Lauper to OMD to Bauhaus. The crowd reflected the mix, but there were always a few songs that would bring everyone out on the floor, and Bizarre Love Triangle always fit the bill. The normals loved it, the Greeks loved it, and even us Goths - who had a tendency to cast off bands once they got adopted by the mainstream - couldn’t stop from joining in. Every time I hear it, it takes me back.

Rolling Stone ranked Bizarre Love Triangle the 220th greatest song of all time.

Killing Me Softly With His Song - The Fugees

Who would have guessed two appearances from Lauryn Hill in the Top 5? The Fugees released their debut album in 1994 and it only sold 12,000 copies. I don’t know what happened over the ensuing two years, but when The Score dropped in February 1996, it was primed to blow up. The record quickly became the #1 album in the U.S. on its way to selling 7 million units, launching the careers of Lauryn Hill and Wyclef Jean. Even Pras got a big hit a few years later with Ghetto Supastar - a tune that would easily crack the top 10 of a 1998 countdown.

Rolling Stone loved Killing Me Softly too, making it one of only three from 1996 to make their Top 500 Songs of All Time, coming in at #359.

Can never go wrong with BLT. Heard it live back in September

 

[rockaction]

Can never go wrong with BLT

If you put aioli on it.

The Fugees were the band of 1996. I'd liked their 1994 album because of the song "Vocab" and had gotten my hip hop friends (I was a rocker at the time) into them. "Killing Me Softly" was louder than a bomb to everybody, and subsequently you didn't need a guy who watched BET to get into them -- they were everywhere.

And before people say that it's all Lauryn Hill and Lauryn Hill only, Wyclef's stupid "one time" in the song makes the song a bit. It breaks up any redundancy and spacing it might otherwise suffer from. Wyclef would also cut, I would argue, the best solo album of the three (yes, even over The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill, which I found great in parts but only in parts) with The Carnival. I even managed to track down a special vinyl copy of The Carnival, which is an album that would easily be in my top hundred albums of all-time.

 

[FatMax]

Most pop/R&B/top 40 stuff, escaped me in the 90's. I liked rock, and looked down on the rest. Stupid I know, but hey, I was 20. And dumb. Fugees were one of the few exceptions. My mom used to play the Roberta Flack record with this song when I was a kid. I must have heard it a hundred times and had an ingrained soft spot for it. Oddly enough, same with Neil Diamond. Anyway, the first time I heard this song, I was blown way. It's just beautiful. My mom agreed. Good memories.

 

[rockaction]

"Master Of Puppets" is also a darn fine song. I prefer others off of the album ("Orion" and "Sanitarium") but "Master of Puppets" is as fine a song as any from 1986, probably.

 

[shuke]

1979 - Smashing Pumpkins

My favorite song from Mellon Collie…, 1979 was released as the second single in January 1996. It oozes nostalgia, capturing what it’s like to be 12 years old, running through the streets with your friends, and feeling like you’ll live forever. 1979 was Smashing Pumpkins biggest hit, reaching #12 on the Hot 100 and #1 on the Mainstream Rock and Modern Rock charts.

Nice timing

 

[zamboni]

Killing Me Softly With His Song - The Fugees

Who would have guessed two appearances from Lauryn Hill in the Top 5?

I won’t give you flak for it.

 

[scorchy]

#2

Kiss - Prince

Not sure what else there is to say about Kiss or Prince, so I'll let others speak. Here's Rolling Stone, who ranked Kiss as the 85th Best Song of All Time:

When Mazarati, one of the bands in Prince’s Paisley Park orbit, asked him for a song, Prince dashed off a bluesy acoustic demo for them. Mazarati added a funk groove, and Prince was smart enough to take the song back, maintaining some of producer David Z’s arrangements and the band’s background vocals but no bass line, to the disappointment of his label. “At that time, however, Prince had enough power to go, ‘That’s the single and you’re not getting another one until you put it out.’ The rest is history,” Z recalled in an interview. “That song totally reignited his career, and a year later Warner Bros. was trying to sign people who sounded like that.

And here's a clip from Stereogum's #1's entry:

Kiss” stands out on Parade because it’s the one song where Prince doesn’t work to smother his funkiest instincts. Instead, it’s all negative space and swaggering ****-squeak — one of the most fundamentally Prince songs that Prince ever made...In its final form, though, there’s nothing reassuring about “Kiss.” Instead, it becomes a radically horny statement of intent. Prince sounds like he exists on the outer edges of the sexual imagination. He sings the whole thing in a near-inhuman falsetto, like Barry Gibb taking hits of helium. The beat is a spartan echo of a shimmy, a mechanized strut. His guitar needles and itches. The lyrics tell you that everything is going to be OK, that he just wants to hang out with you. The music tells you that everything is not OK. It tells you that you’re about to go on a journey.

I would quote @Dr. Octopus, who chose Kiss in the Top 31 Songs by American Artists thread, but he didn't provide an explanation (not that picking a Prince song ever needs one).

If you want to hear what the original version by Mazarati sounded like: Kiss - Mazerati.

In 1989, the Tom Jones cover of Kiss made its way onto the jukebox of the pizza joint where I worked. An older lady (Marge) who worked with me loved Tom Jones and would always play it - it did not make my 1988 countdown because I hated it. So did everyone else at the place except Marge.


No Diggity - Blackstreet feat. Dr. Dre, Queen Pen

When I started putting together my 1996 list, I wouldn't have guessed that 3 of the top 5 songs would be Hip-Hop/R&B. Really speaks to the state of rock music if not the tastes of the FFA, except for @massraider and I guess @DrIanMalcolm, who picked No Diggity among his Top 31 American songs.

In 1996, my love for all things Teddy Riley had already spanned a decade - maybe it was from DJing at the roller rink but New Jack Swing was my jam. Add in Dr. Dre and a Bill Withers sample and you get an absolute atomic bomb of a track. One critic nailed it:

The peak of Teddy Riley's work. No Diggity is that genre [New Jack Swing} fully refined.

No Diggity spent 4 weeks at #1 on the Hot 100 in November of 1996 and Rolling Stone ranked it at #484 on its Top 500 Songs of All Time list. Stereogum's #1s column gives it a rare 10/10:

The real magic in “No Diggity” is the way the song moves. The different singers bring different personalities. Teddy Riley isn’t showy, and he doesn’t indulge in vocal theatrics, but his voice hits the track’s pocket perfectly. On the next verse, Chauncey Hannibal goes harder, his tenor floating over everything. Like Riley, though, Hannibal moves with the beat, letting it push his voice around. The track builds and builds, its ornamental ad-libs stacking up until the “hey yo hey yo” singalong and the Queen Pen verse. The song never gets boring, and its sense of confidence never falters. When “No Diggity” came on, it felt like time stopping. The song projected an icy calm that was light years removed from almost anything else on the radio.

 

[Bogart]

#3

Bizarre Love Triangle - New Order

Love the New Order original, but freshman in college me doesn't let any mention of this song go by without bringing up the Frente! cover.

 

[scorchy]

#3

Bizarre Love Triangle - New Order

Love the New Order original, but freshman in college me doesn't let any mention of this song go by without bringing up the Frente! cover.

When Frente! didn't appear in my 1994 countdown, I talked about my long-held grudge stemming from freshman girls excitedly yelling "Oooh - it's the Frente! song!" whenever the original would get played at Old Wave night.

 

[Ramsay Hunt Experience]

Kiss is definitely one of the five or so Prince singles that I'm likely to pick as my favorite at any one time. That spare funk groove is absolutely iconic. It is also incredibly fun to switch between Prince vocals and Tom Jones vocals when singing it in the shower or making a fool of yourself at karaoke.

 

[plinko]

I feel like “Kiss” is his most transcendent and ubiquitous track at this point. Could have been #1 easily.

I was into Parade, and even saw the godawful Under The Cherry Moon at the theatre.

 

[Ramsay Hunt Experience]

Kiss and No Diggity has to be the sexiest pairing in the countdown.

 

[Leroy Hoard]

Kiss is definitely one of the five or so Prince singles that I'm likely to pick as my favorite at any one time. That spare funk groove is absolutely iconic. It is also incredibly fun to switch between Prince vocals and Tom Jones vocals when singing it in the shower or making a fool of yourself at karaoke.

I always wonder what the original songwriter thinks about cover versions of their songs. They usually say nice things, but that might be because of those extra royalty checks going into their bank accounts.

 

[Ramsay Hunt Experience]

I feel like “Kiss” is his most transcendent and ubiquitous track at this point. .

This is Batdance erasure, and I will not stand for it.