What's new
Fantasy Football - Footballguys Forums

Welcome to Our Forums. Once you've registered and logged in, you're primed to talk football, among other topics, with the sharpest and most experienced fantasy players on the internet.

The 100 Greatest Songs of 1973 #1. Karn Evil 9, 1st Impression, Part 2 (1 Viewer)

Mister CIA sent me his list and none of his songs are on mine. Amd they probably deserve to be:

“Love of Money” The OJays

“Feeling Stronger Every Day” Chicago

“Rock On” David Essex

The first 2 I considered but they didn’t make my top 100. The Essex song I just completely forgot about. I have no excuse.
That O'Jays tune has one of the best bass intros ever.
 
Mister CIA sent me his list and none of his songs are on mine. Amd they probably deserve to be:

“Love of Money” The OJays

“Feeling Stronger Every Day” Chicago

“Rock On” David Essex

The first 2 I considered but they didn’t make my top 100. The Essex song I just completely forgot about. I have no excuse.
for those that may not know ....

Love Of Money :tebow::love:
 
3. Elton John “Bennie and the Jets” (from Goodbye Yellow Brick Road)


Elton’s weird and wonderful tune comes in at #3 for the year. Certainly up there with my all time favorite songs by this amazing artist.

This song being rated here is a traveshamockery. A huge number of songs already identified in the countdown should be higher. Maybe every single song.
 
Mister CIA sent me his list and none of his songs are on mine. Amd they probably deserve to be:

“Love of Money” The OJays

“Feeling Stronger Every Day” Chicago

“Rock On” David Essex

The first 2 I considered but they didn’t make my top 100. The Essex song I just completely forgot about. I have no excuse.

Those first 2 are big misses Tim. And I love Mr CIA's breadth of music knowledge and interests, but Rock On, this version and any remake ever done, are complete garbage.
 
Mister CIA sent me his list and none of his songs are on mine. Amd they probably deserve to be:

“Love of Money” The OJays

“Feeling Stronger Every Day” Chicago

“Rock On” David Essex

The first 2 I considered but they didn’t make my top 100. The Essex song I just completely forgot about. I have no excuse.

Those first 2 are big misses Tim. And I love Mr CIA's breadth of music knowledge and interests, but Rock On, this version and any remake ever done, are complete garbage.
You had to be 8-years-old at the time.
 
Surprised at the vitriol spewed toward Bennie. I think it's brilliant.
I kind of am too. I expected getting blasted for my ranking of “The Joker”, and maybe for ranking “Brain Damage” over “Time”. But not this one; I figured “Bennie” was pretty automatic.
 
Bennie and The Jets significantly higher than Funeral For A Friend/Love Lies Bleeding???
Agreed. Both songs have their rightful place in the top 100, but I think if Bennie and Funeral were merely flip-flopped, there would probably be very little push back at all. But as we've encountered many times, it's Tim's countdown.
 
Feelin’ Stronger Every Day is great and should have been on the list, but the other single from Chicago VI is even better.
Agreed. The buildup of the song to that furious ending is just amazing. There are not many Chicago songs I reach for these days, but that one is always great to crank.

As for the recently featured tunes, Free Bird is a classic that I don't need to ever hear again, and while I like Bennie and the Jets, it has never struck me as being particularly notable.
 
Feelin’ Stronger Every Day is great and should have been on the list, but the other single from Chicago VI is even better.
Agreed. The buildup of the song to that furious ending is just amazing. There are not many Chicago songs I reach for these days, but that one is always great to crank.
Best cover you'll ever hear: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xwYV4H9rU6o

I try to give these guys props every time Chicago comes up.
 
2. Billy Joel “Piano Man” (from Piano Man)


Like everyone reading this, I’ve probably heard this song about a zillion times over the years, so much so that at some point I just stopped paying any attention to it. I didn’t turn it off when it came on, but I never gave it any thought either. It was simply pleasant background.

So in preparation for this draft I really listened to “Piano Man” for the first time in forever, as if I was hearing it for the first time. And that was difficult because I was so familiar with every note, every lyric. But the attempt allowed me to look past how overplayed this tune has been and recognize what a brilliantly crafted song it is.

It’s probably Billy Joel’s best song. He’s written prettier melodies and arguably even better lyrics but never such a fine combination of both. Amd the lyrics are so smart: “Paul is a real estate novelist”, to cite one example of many, is simply brilliant imagery.

Anyhow, after the listen, the only question in my mind was if this would be the #1 song of 1973 or #2. But there is another tune, far less played over the years, that I have come to appreciate even more….
 
2. Billy Joel “Piano Man” (from Piano Man)


Like everyone reading this, I’ve probably heard this song about a zillion times over the years, so much so that at some point I just stopped paying any attention to it. I didn’t turn it off when it came on, but I never gave it any thought either. It was simply pleasant background.

So in preparation for this draft I really listened to “Piano Man” for the first time in forever, as if I was hearing it for the first time. And that was difficult because I was so familiar with every note, every lyric. But the attempt allowed me to look past how overplayed this tune has been and recognize what a brilliantly crafted song it is.

It’s probably Billy Joel’s best song. He’s written prettier melodies and arguably even better lyrics but never such a fine combination of both. Amd the lyrics are so smart: “Paul is a real estate novelist”, to cite one example of many, is simply brilliant imagery.

Anyhow, after the listen, the only question in my mind was if this would be the #1 song of 1973 or #2. But there is another tune, far less played over the years, that I have come to appreciate even more….
Yeah, this is one of those many songs that's really good, but hard to get past given how it's played an ungodly amount of times (especially here in the NYC area).
 
2. Billy Joel “Piano Man” (from Piano Man)


Like everyone reading this, I’ve probably heard this song about a zillion times over the years, so much so that at some point I just stopped paying any attention to it. I didn’t turn it off when it came on, but I never gave it any thought either. It was simply pleasant background.

So in preparation for this draft I really listened to “Piano Man” for the first time in forever, as if I was hearing it for the first time. And that was difficult because I was so familiar with every note, every lyric. But the attempt allowed me to look past how overplayed this tune has been and recognize what a brilliantly crafted song it is.

It’s probably Billy Joel’s best song. He’s written prettier melodies and arguably even better lyrics but never such a fine combination of both. Amd the lyrics are so smart: “Paul is a real estate novelist”, to cite one example of many, is simply brilliant imagery.

Anyhow, after the listen, the only question in my mind was if this would be the #1 song of 1973 or #2. But there is another tune, far less played over the years, that I have come to appreciate even more….
A real estate novelist? No such thing.
 
Mister CIA sent me his list and none of his songs are on mine. Amd they probably deserve to be:

“Love of Money” The OJays

“Feeling Stronger Every Day” Chicago

“Rock On” David Essex

The first 2 I considered but they didn’t make my top 100. The Essex song I just completely forgot about. I have no excuse.
That O'Jays tune has one of the best bass intros ever.
For fans of 1973 bass riffs: Razamanaz
 
2. Billy Joel “Piano Man” (from Piano Man)


Like everyone reading this, I’ve probably heard this song about a zillion times over the years, so much so that at some point I just stopped paying any attention to it. I didn’t turn it off when it came on, but I never gave it any thought either. It was simply pleasant background.

So in preparation for this draft I really listened to “Piano Man” for the first time in forever, as if I was hearing it for the first time. And that was difficult because I was so familiar with every note, every lyric. But the attempt allowed me to look past how overplayed this tune has been and recognize what a brilliantly crafted song it is.

It’s probably Billy Joel’s best song. He’s written prettier melodies and arguably even better lyrics but never such a fine combination of both. Amd the lyrics are so smart: “Paul is a real estate novelist”, to cite one example of many, is simply brilliant imagery.

Anyhow, after the listen, the only question in my mind was if this would be the #1 song of 1973 or #2. But there is another tune, far less played over the years, that I have come to appreciate even more….
A real estate novelist? No such thing.
Apparently you never read Mr. Ishida’s Book Store.
 
2. Billy Joel “Piano Man” (from Piano Man)


Like everyone reading this, I’ve probably heard this song about a zillion times over the years, so much so that at some point I just stopped paying any attention to it. I didn’t turn it off when it came on, but I never gave it any thought either. It was simply pleasant background.

So in preparation for this draft I really listened to “Piano Man” for the first time in forever, as if I was hearing it for the first time. And that was difficult because I was so familiar with every note, every lyric. But the attempt allowed me to look past how overplayed this tune has been and recognize what a brilliantly crafted song it is.

It’s probably Billy Joel’s best song. He’s written prettier melodies and arguably even better lyrics but never such a fine combination of both. Amd the lyrics are so smart: “Paul is a real estate novelist”, to cite one example of many, is simply brilliant imagery.

Anyhow, after the listen, the only question in my mind was if this would be the #1 song of 1973 or #2. But there is another tune, far less played over the years, that I have come to appreciate even more….
A real estate novelist? No such thing.
Apparently you never read Mr. Ishida’s Book Store.
No, but I've read the reviews.
 
Anyhow, after the listen, the only question in my mind was if this would be the #1 song of 1973 or #2. But there is another tune, far less played over the years, that I have come to appreciate even more….
You left off one of my all-time favorite songs, choosing 3 songs from the same album (which are all great also). My guess is that it didn't take your top spot but maybe...
 
Feelin’ Stronger Every Day is great and should have been on the list, but the other single from Chicago VI is even better.
Agreed. The buildup of the song to that furious ending is just amazing. There are not many Chicago songs I reach for these days, but that one is always great to crank.
Best cover you'll ever hear: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xwYV4H9rU6o

I try to give these guys props every time Chicago comes up.
Very nice! Cetera's last "yeah yeah yeah!" in the original which then leads into the eruption of the horn section (about 2 1/2 minutes in) is one of those special music moments that ought to be bottled.
 
Big fan of Billy Joel. I love some of his songs more than Piano Man, but this is a good and obvious choice. A timeless classic.
 
Anyhow, after the listen, the only question in my mind was if this would be the #1 song of 1973 or #2. But there is another tune, far less played over the years, that I have come to appreciate even more….
You left off one of my all-time favorite songs, choosing 3 songs from the same album (which are all great also). My guess is that it didn't take your top spot but maybe...
Sorry, no.

My #1 song of the year is from an album I haven’t yet selected. It’s a progressive rock song. It’s regarded by many as the greatest prog rock song of all time. I’m certainly no expert in the genre, but of all the prog rock songs I’ve ever heard (mostly the older 70s and 80s bands, mostly the radio hits) this is the #1 for me….
 
Anyhow, after the listen, the only question in my mind was if this would be the #1 song of 1973 or #2. But there is another tune, far less played over the years, that I have come to appreciate even more….
You left off one of my all-time favorite songs, choosing 3 songs from the same album (which are all great also). My guess is that it didn't take your top spot but maybe...
Sorry, no.

My #1 song of the year is from an album I haven’t yet selected. It’s a progressive rock song. It’s regarded by many as the greatest prog rock song of all time. I’m certainly no expert in the genre, but of all the prog rock songs I’ve ever heard (mostly the older 70s and 80s bands, mostly the radio hits) this is the #1 for me….
I think I nearly spotlighted this earlier, thinking surely its window of opportunity had passed.
 
So, nothing from two of my favorites from this year - The Captain and Me (Doobie Brothers) and Aladdin Sane (Bowie) - is making it. Damn those personal preferences. :lol:
The best song from Aladdin Sane was released in 1972, so I had it on the previous list.

I love The Captain and Me as well but none of those tunes quite made the list, sorry.
 
Anyhow, after the listen, the only question in my mind was if this would be the #1 song of 1973 or #2. But there is another tune, far less played over the years, that I have come to appreciate even more….
You left off one of my all-time favorite songs, choosing 3 songs from the same album (which are all great also). My guess is that it didn't take your top spot but maybe...
Sorry, no.

My #1 song of the year is from an album I haven’t yet selected. It’s a progressive rock song. It’s regarded by many as the greatest prog rock song of all time. I’m certainly no expert in the genre, but of all the prog rock songs I’ve ever heard (mostly the older 70s and 80s bands, mostly the radio hits) this is the #1 for me….
Honestly, there is no consensus number 1 prog rock song of all time. If you went up to 100 prog rock fans and asked them, "What is the greatest prog rock song ever?", you'd likely get about 60-70 songs mentioned, many of which would be from the last 30 years, although anyone over 60 will always default to a song from the original proggers of the late 60s and 70s.
 
Anyhow, after the listen, the only question in my mind was if this would be the #1 song of 1973 or #2. But there is another tune, far less played over the years, that I have come to appreciate even more….
You left off one of my all-time favorite songs, choosing 3 songs from the same album (which are all great also). My guess is that it didn't take your top spot but maybe...
Sorry, no.

My #1 song of the year is from an album I haven’t yet selected. It’s a progressive rock song. It’s regarded by many as the greatest prog rock song of all time. I’m certainly no expert in the genre, but of all the prog rock songs I’ve ever heard (mostly the older 70s and 80s bands, mostly the radio hits) this is the #1 for me….
I think I nearly spotlighted this earlier, thinking surely its window of opportunity had passed.
The window can’t pass for this song. It never ends.

And that’s the last clue I’m giving.
 
So, nothing from two of my favorites from this year - The Captain and Me (Doobie Brothers) and Aladdin Sane (Bowie) - is making it. Damn those personal preferences. :lol:
The best song from Aladdin Sane was released in 1972, so I had it on the previous list.

I love The Captain and Me as well but none of those tunes quite made the list, sorry.
I almost remember The Jean Genie being listed in one of those, so maybe that was it.

Long Train Runnin' is my favorite Doobie song.
 
Anyhow, after the listen, the only question in my mind was if this would be the #1 song of 1973 or #2. But there is another tune, far less played over the years, that I have come to appreciate even more….
You left off one of my all-time favorite songs, choosing 3 songs from the same album (which are all great also). My guess is that it didn't take your top spot but maybe...
Sorry, no.

My #1 song of the year is from an album I haven’t yet selected. It’s a progressive rock song. It’s regarded by many as the greatest prog rock song of all time. I’m certainly no expert in the genre, but of all the prog rock songs I’ve ever heard (mostly the older 70s and 80s bands, mostly the radio hits) this is the #1 for me….
Honestly, there is no consensus number 1 prog rock song of all time. If you went up to 100 prog rock fans and asked them, "What is the greatest prog rock song ever?", you'd likely get about 60-70 songs mentioned, many of which would be from the last 30 years, although anyone over 60 will always default to a song from the original proggers of the late 60s and 70s.
I know. I never said it was a consensus. Just that many people felt this way.
 
I just hope the number 1 here isn't the bloated mess that sees one of the four parts played on classic rock radio. I can say with much assurance that almost no one who has listened to prog past 1975 considers that the best prog rock song ever.
 
Now, and I will try to say this without spotlighting too much, if the number 1 song is one of the biggies by the band who went the pop rock route in the 80s, and saw their drummer become one of the biggest pop stars of the decade, now you're talking! :shades:
 
Now, and I will try to say this without spotlighting too much, if the number 1 song is one of the biggies by the band who went the pop rock route in the 80s, and saw their drummer become one of the biggest pop stars of the decade, now you're talking! :shades:
If that’s the band and album I’m thinking of, there are like four songs on it that people debate for the best of the bunch. Hardly anything resembling a consensus of the whole genre.
 
Now, and I will try to say this without spotlighting too much, if the number 1 song is one of the biggies by the band who went the pop rock route in the 80s, and saw their drummer become one of the biggest pop stars of the decade, now you're talking! :shades:
If that’s the band and album I’m thinking of, there are like four songs on it that people debate for the best of the bunch. Hardly anything resembling a consensus of the whole genre.
True, but tracks 3 and 7 seem widely loved, even with the younger proggers. Never a consensus, no, that is for sure.
 
1. Emerson, Lake & Palmer “Karn Evil 9, 1st Impression, Part 2” (from Brain Salad Surgery)


Welcome back my friends to the show that never ends!

@Ghost Rider came close, and I agree with him that overall “Karn Evil 9” is a bloated mess. But I only have to choose the part of it that got played on the radio, and in concert, and that makes all the difference. It is, in fact, the best song of 1973.

The song begins with a Moog synthesizer but Greg Lake’s vocals kick in almost immediately and they are by far his best ever singing: Lake’s vocals are usually understated; here they literally blow your head apart. Lake follows this with an incredible guitar solo, but that is soon overwhelmed by the even more incredible Keith Emerson.

Emerson is playing the Moog with one hand, and a Hammond Organ with the other. He is playing an incredibly complex melody; in the live version I linked, he doesn’t appear to miss a note, all the while calmly chewing gum. To understand how amazing Emerson was, consider that in the 2000s the band Trans Siberian Orchestra liked to play this song in concert (sometimes with Greg Lake as guest vocalist) and it took 2, sometimes 3 keyboardists to duplicate Emerson’s sound!

For the main theme, Emerson then sublimates his keyboards behind Lake’s guitar lead, This whole thing reminds me very much of a classic Miles Davis record- not in style obviously or in terms of improvisation (I suspect there is very little improvisation here) but in terms of here are these incredible artists, each one being given a chance to show off.

Which leads us to that last, but not least of the 3 performers: Carl Palmer’s drum solo lasts only a small while in the recorded version, much longer on stage: either way it’s simply amazing, this guy is a true wizard. Best drummer ever? I’ll leave that to the experts. But he’s great.

Roll up! And see the show!
 
I would have rather seen one of the Genesis tunes at number 1, but I can live with this at number 1 since it is only the part that gets played on the radio. The entire Karn Evil 9 as a whole is, again, a bloated mess, but 1st Impression, Part 2 is awesome. I never listen to ELP anymore, and when I do, it is one of the laid back acoustic songs, but this band got a lot of play with me when I first got into the prog genre.
 
Anyhow, after the listen, the only question in my mind was if this would be the #1 song of 1973 or #2. But there is another tune, far less played over the years, that I have come to appreciate even more….
You left off one of my all-time favorite songs, choosing 3 songs from the same album (which are all great also). My guess is that it didn't take your top spot but maybe...
Sorry, no.

My #1 song of the year is from an album I haven’t yet selected. It’s a progressive rock song. It’s regarded by many as the greatest prog rock song of all time. I’m certainly no expert in the genre, but of all the prog rock songs I’ve ever heard (mostly the older 70s and 80s bands, mostly the radio hits) this is the #1 for me….
Honestly, there is no consensus number 1 prog rock song of all time. If you went up to 100 prog rock fans and asked them, "What is the greatest prog rock song ever?", you'd likely get about 60-70 songs mentioned, many of which would be from the last 30 years, although anyone over 60 will always default to a song from the original proggers of the late 60s and 70s.
Soft Machine FTW!
 
1. Emerson, Lake & Palmer “Karn Evil 9, 1st Impression, Part 2” (from Brain Salad Surgery)


Welcome back my friends to the show that never ends!

@Ghost Rider came close, and I agree with him that overall “Karn Evil 9” is a bloated mess. But I only have to choose the part of it that got played on the radio, and in concert, and that makes all the difference. It is, in fact, the best song of 1973.

The song begins with a Moog synthesizer but Greg Lake’s vocals kick in almost immediately and they are by far his best ever singing: Lake’s vocals are usually understated; here they literally blow your head apart. Lake follows this with an incredible guitar solo, but that is soon overwhelmed by the even more incredible Keith Emerson.

Emerson is playing the Moog with one hand, and a Hammond Organ with the other. He is playing an incredibly complex melody; in the live version I linked, he doesn’t appear to miss a note, all the while calmly chewing gum. To understand how amazing Emerson was, consider that in the 2000s the band Trans Siberian Orchestra liked to play this song in concert (sometimes with Greg Lake as guest vocalist) and it took 2, sometimes 3 keyboardists to duplicate Emerson’s sound!

For the main theme, Emerson then sublimates his keyboards behind Lake’s guitar lead, This whole thing reminds me very much of a classic Miles Davis record- not in style obviously or in terms of improvisation (I suspect there is very little improvisation here) but in terms of here are these incredible artists, each one being given a chance to show off.

Which leads us to that last, but not least of the 3 performers: Carl Palmer’s drum solo lasts only a small while in the recorded version, much longer on stage: either way it’s simply amazing, this guy is a true wizard. Best drummer ever? I’ll leave that to the experts. But he’s great.

Roll up! And see the show!
The vocals are great, the keyboards are sublime, and the drums are phenomenol. The resulting sound however, takes me nowhere. [/harsh, but fair]
 
Other 1973 songs from my motly collection of worthy contenders:

ELP: Still you Turn Me On
Doug Sahm: (Is Anybody Going) to San Antone
Chicago: Just You and Me
Montrose: Bad Motor Scooter and Rock Candy
Frank Zappa: Camarillo Brillo
Little Feat: Two Trains miss ya, @wikkidpissah
you missed one.

 
Other 1973 songs from my motly collection of worthy contenders:

ELP: Still you Turn Me On
Doug Sahm: (Is Anybody Going) to San Antone
Chicago: Just You and Me
Montrose: Bad Motor Scooter and Rock Candy
Frank Zappa: Camarillo Brillo
Little Feat: Two Trains miss ya, @wikkidpissah
you missed one.

I wouldn't say I'm missing it.
 

Users who are viewing this thread

Top