Nothing by Steely Dan, but Sonny and Cher made the list. Think I’ll order a bumpersticker that says “friends don’t let friends sniff glue and make lists”.
Three (3) Pink Floyd songs, with the best, Comfortably Numb coming in in 314th position.
The Message, by Grandmaster Flash, was ranked at number 51.
Nuf said.
And just what, pray tell, do you have against Grandmaster Flash?
This isn’t a “top songs” list, it’s the play list from any Classic Rock station across the country.
I even think the order is the same.
I realise these lists are designed mainly to start conversations exactly like this one, and that all our choices are subjective.
Still, nothing by The Pretenders? That sucks.
And i would have chosen a different Tracy Chapman song. “Fast Car” wasn’t even the best song on its album, IMO.
While i’m not a huge fan of the band, i think Dire Straits’ “Sultans of Swing” deserves a spot.
And even if they were insisting on staying within the realms of fairly mainstream, conservative choices, i think they could have found room for (at least) one song by:
The Violent Femmes
ELO
Hole
Supertramp
Steve Earle
Foo Fighters
INXS
Sweet (“Ballroom Blitz”)
Lenny Kravitz
Red Hot Chili Peppers
Kiss
And a bunch of others.
That list was worse than I imagined. I can’t respect it, and it didn’t satisfy me, because I got bad vibrations.
The list is a bit too retro for my tastes, but overall, I don’t think it’s too bad a list.
“Hey Ya!” IMHO deserves to be #120, and I feel it will easily survive the test of time. Some people think it’s a faddish, ephemeral song whose novelty will wear off in a few years. These people don’t know what they’re talking about. 
Personally, I wouldn’t have any more Lennon or McCartney. I love the Beatles, but I think their solo careers were rather boring. I think “Imagine” as number 3 is a bit overrated (I’d put it in the 100s to 200s), but given its cultural importance, perhaps it does deserve to be up in the top 10. Same with “Smells Like Teen Spirit.” I don’t think it’s Top 10 material, but it does have the symbolic importance of being the song that hailed our transition from Hair Metal to Alternative Rock.
The fact that one of my favorite groups, The Left Banke, managed to make the list (with ‘Walk Away Renee’ at #220) vouches well for the listmakers.
However, in the same general genre, the Zombies—master pop craftsmen and in my opinion second only to The Beatles at the time—only manage one placement, with She’s Not There at #291. Very very sad, indeed. With the greatness of Odessey and Oracle, not a single song from that album appears? Umm…“Time of the Season” anyone? “Care of Cell 44”? “A Rose for Emily”?
Given the people doing the voting, a list like this will tend towards the mainstream, and older songs that have already stood the test of time will outvote newer, fresher tunes.
But overall, I don’t think it’s that bad.
I am outraged that the song “Smell Like Teen Spirit” ranked higher than “Stairway to Heaven”!!!
This is disgusting!!!
I agree about Stairway to Heaven - it deserves to be much higher.
Besides the omissions of Steely Dan and Dire Straits, there are some other bands missing:
No Rush?
No Yes?
No Genesis?
No Pearl Jam?
No Peter Gabriel?
No Jethro Tull?
No Talking Heads???
No Night Ranger??? (OK, that one’s a joke).
I mean, I know my definition of Rock is not exactly the same as Rolling Stone’s, but…
Two things I did like seeing - The Weight at number 41, and 96 Tears making the list.
Personally I’m glad to see that Led Zeppelin debuts as low as 31. I find their sound very unappealing.
There is way too much of the Beatles and although U2 is represented very well a few of my favorites are left out, but I can deal with that.
I think it’s an okay list.
Sucky list. I noticed Metallica got one nod for “Enter Sandman”. Not even one of their ten best.
Also, this does not seem to be Rock only. There is rap and some country mixed in. If they’re going to add rap and country to the list there are lots of wayyyy better songs that they missed. No Garth Brooks, no Brooks and Dunn, no HWjr,
no Waylon or Willie either.
Sucks.
Rolling Stone and VH1 have both wrestled with this problem for awhile. I think the way they see it goes something like this: Let’s say for all intents and purposes the “Rock Era” begins in 1955. Now, country/western was actually one of the three things that mixed together to create rock itself (the others being gospel and blues). So country music would have existed without rock, but not vice versa. Rap, on the other hand, sprang forth from disco and funk, both of which were outgrowths of R&B/Motown, which were influcenced by very, very early rock/doo-wop.
I’m not saying that’s how it actually went. I’m saying that’s how Rolling Stone and VH1 see it. Really, I think they just came up with that hackneyed formula so they could continue pleasing the changing tastes of their target demographic. If country suddenly enjoys a resurgence among city-dwelling 18-49 year-olds, you’ll see more country included in their overall production and on lists like these. Of course, that’s never going to happen, unless some alt-country performer like Neko Case somehow blows up. (Which I would not mind. At. All. )
As for the list, I agree with Kyla. “Be My Baby” is a tremendous song and changed the way that music was produced. I have no problem at all with so little music from the last 5 years being on the list because history has yet to judge it. That said, I think Hey Ya deserves its place. It’s a song that transcends any real genre (it’s SO not a rap song) and is, IMHO, the catchiest single of the past five years. As soon as I heard the line “shake it like a Polaroid picture” I thought “This song is going to be HUGE.”
I was very glad to see both Good Vibrations and God Only Knows ranked so high, though I think California Girls is just a notch better than God Only Knows. The harmonies on the second verse of California Girls leave me in awe everytime I listen to them.
There is far, far too little rap and hip-hop on this list.
I wouldn’t put Stairway to Heaven that high. It’s, at best, the third best song on Led Zeppelin IV, after Misty Mountain Hop and When The Levee Breaks.
Nice to see a couple Radiohead songs on there. 
Oh, and Oat1957 and silenus? Congratulations, you just became your parents.
No Replacements?
No Talking Heads?
No Devo?
Only one Pixies song? (And not their best?)
Meh. At least Pavement got a mention. I was surprised at that one.
Nah. Your parents, maybe. My parents listen to Lawrence Welk and Mitch Miller! Elvis was a gift from God for me.
In general, lists like these are composed by asking several hundred people to list their ten favorite songs and compiling the list from the responses. I’m not sure how they resolve ties, and based on some of the absences, I’m not sure how they pick the people to ask.
AFAIK, Rolling Stone has been geriatric since I was in diapers, so I don’t worry too much about lists like these.
GAH! If they’re going to put country on, it’s not going to be any of them anyway.
You offer up HWJr, a rip-off money-grubbing pop artist and NOT actually Hank Williams.
And if it’s going to be anyone from the last 20 years, it’s not going to be the neutered duo of Brooks and Dunn or the solo eunuch Garth Brooks, but Dwight Yoakum or Steve Earle who actually had something to do with putting the cool back in country, not watering it down for the masses.
I heard him tell “Don & Mike” that the big drum beat at the beginning of “Be My Baby” inspired the beginning of “God Only Knows” – which is easily the best “rock” love song ever written, and a better Beach Boys song than “Good Vibrations” even though they’re both very good songs.
(It’s possible I’m mixing up “BMB” with another “girl group” song, though I don’t think so. I’m just playing them in my head. Doesn’t BMB open with that big BOOM ba BOOM?)
Yup.
Every time some list comes out like this there will be a thread here at the SDMB and everyone will piss and moan or praise or analyze for a couple pages and then slowly it dawns on us that this is what they want us to be doing!.
It’s like People Magazine’s 50 Most Beautiful People list. They are not the 50 most beautiful people. They are the 50 most popular people. They sell magazines, just like these lists do.
Still, without even looking at the list, I betting it’s safe to say there’s no 311 on it.
Sigh.
Gah, I told myself I wasn’t going to look, but I did. And I kind of proved one of my own points.
Sublime was wildly popular in the late '90s. They were making all kinds of lists like this; top 100 guitar solos, best band lists, best song lists, etc. But seeing as how their singer was dead before pretty much anybody ever heard of them, not a lot of their stuff got heavy rotation on radio and MTV (In fact, I can only think of 3 of their songs that I’ve ever heard on the radio - What I Got, Santeria, and Wrong Way), and you especially don’t hear much about them today, almost 10 years since Brad’s untimely death.
Sublime was, as I expected, absent from this list.
Whoah, slow down there sparky. I didn’t mention Hank Sr. because he’s already on the list. I had to mention the Brooks’ because they, after all have sold the most country albums of the modern genre and shouldn’t be ignored. Garth Brooks and B&D are two of the reasons that country has made such a comeback in the last fifteen years. You can’t deny that. You mention watering it down for the masses, but what you don’t realise is that’s what the masses want, according to concert and album sales. They like Shania, Garth, Tim, Faith, and the plethora of new talent that has flooded the country scene as of late.
The top recent (last ten years) country anthems are Shania’s “I Feel Like a Woman”, Brooks and Dunn’s “Boot Scoot Boogie”, and Garth’s “Friends in Low Places”. Those should be on there just due to their sheer volume of sales and play. I’m not saying they’re the greatest country songs, but if there is any credit given to popularity it should be given to these guys.
PS, I did mention Willie and Waylon. And I mean really, how can George Strait not be on the list?? After all, he’s got what, 45 #1’s on the country charts.
Travesty in gargantuan form. Soft Cell’s “Tainted Love” which spent the entire year of 1981 on the charts is NOT on the list.