YOUR TOP 10 SONGS OF ALL TIME

[StevenKay]

Hi All

It would be great to know your most favorite top 10 songs of all time. Please do share.

My list would certainly include Gerry Rafferty - Baker Street, Dire Straits - Telegraph Road, The Cars - Drive, Eddie Brickel - What I Am, Pink Floyd - Another Brick In The Wall, Rage Against the Machine - Killing In The Name Of......

Look forward to your inputs. Thanks.

 

[radovantz]

My most favourite songs are from Moonspell's Wolfheart Album. Still listening that album since 1994 (17 years now). Musical and vocal are agressive in peaceful night, like moonspell.

 

[Anonymous]

Mine would all be varying genre's, much like the OP's. I like my songs to have a certain 'x-factor' to them if you will, no particular genre or style does it for me.

I dare say mine would be something like:

Deadmau5 - Strobe

Nils Lofgren - Man in the Moon

The Blue Nile - Tinseltown in the Rain (live)

Hans Zimmer - Dream Is Collapsing (from Inception)

Chris Rea - The Road To Hell (Pt 1 & 2)

Amon Amarth - Live for the Kill & Thousand Years of Oppression

Norah Jones - My Dear Country (live)

George Michael - Cowboys and Angels

Dire Straits - Where Do You Think You're Going

Frankie Goes To Hollywood - Two Tribes

They all make reasonably decent test tracks aswell. These aren't my top 'test' songs, but they're what i'd listen to for enjoyment.

 

[manicm]

Deacon Blues - Steely Dan

Others, I can't think of any at the top of my head, but this would always be on my desert-island top 10.

 

[matthewpiano]

Mine change all the time and 'song' is a bit limiting given the range of music I listen to. At this moment in time my favourite songs or pieces to listen to are:

Steve Earle - Marie (written by Townes Van Zandt)

Mahler - Symphony No.5 (Vienna Phil/Leonard Bernstein on DG)

Alice Gold - Seasons Change

Chopin - Fantasy in F Minor (Daniel Barenboim - 'The Warsaw Recital' on DG)

Chopin - Piano Concerto No.1 in E Minor (Daniel Barenboim/Staatskapelle Berlin/Nelsons on DG)

John Martyn - Solid Air

Herbie Hancock - Watermelon Man (from Headhunters)

Wagner - To The Evening Star, arranged for Cello by Pablo Casals (Gerhardt, Cello and Licad, Piano on Hyperion)

Brahms - Piano Concerto No.1 in D Minor (Nelson Friere/Gewandhausorchester/Chailly on Decca)

Barclay James Harvest - The Poet/After The Day (from ...And Other Short Stories)

Strawbs - Autumn (from Hero & Heroine In Asenscia)

Sandy Denny - John The Gunn (from The North Star Grassman and The Raven)

The Oysterband - By Northern Light (from The Oxford Girl and Other Stories)

Sorry, I know that is 13, but even that is too few! In a list of my favourite classical recordings Bernstein's Mahler 5 would always feature and Barenboim's account of the first Chopin Concerto has very quickly usurped any other to be my favourite recording of that work.

BJH's 'The Poet/After The Day' is a permanent fixture in my favourite 'songs' of all time, as is 'By Northern Light' by The Oysterband.

On the subject of test tracks, I don't have any specific ones. I firmly believe that your test tracks should be the music you are listening to. There is absolutely no point in choosing a system because it plays 'Dark Side of The Moon' beautifully, only to find later on that it falls apart with a Mahler Symphony or a jazz piano trio.

 

[The_Lhc]

In no particular order:

Slayer: Seasons in the Abyss (from the album of the same name),

Ozric Tentacles: Dissolution (The Clouds Disperse) (Pungent Effulgent),

PWEI: Part Man, Part Machine (Get The Girl! Kill The Baddies! CD single),

Glenn Campbell: Wichita Lineman,

Primus: Tommy The Cat (Sailing The Seas of Cheese),

Frankie Goes To Hollywood: The World is My Oyster/Welcome To The Pleasuredome,

@DavidGArnold/Propellorheads: On Her Majesty's Secret Service (Shaken and Stirred),

Bit of a cheat this one but I count it as one song as they run into each other and it is, for me, one of the best sequences of four songs on an album I've ever heard and I can't start listening to the first one without carrying on with the other three,

PWEI: Mother/Get The Girl! Kill The Baddies!/I've Always Been a Coward Baby/Token Drug Song (The Looks or The Lifestyle),

Actually that'll do, there's probably a couple more I could have added, Jim Reeves' Welcome to My World for example, and I haven't even put anything by Medeski, Martin and Wood in, which is a huge oversight but you pick almost any one of the tracks from their Blue Note albums and I'd be happy.

 

[Anonymous]

Not so much top 10 songs but album...

Eddie Vedder and Into The Wild Soundtrack..all 8 tracks on this album blew me away, such a haunting but memorable voice.

Cannot stop playing the album...

 

[Anonymous]

I couldn't pick ten, but would definitely include many of these:

Leonard Cohen - If it be your will/A thousand kisses deep/

Pixies - Hey/Where is my mind?/Debaser.

This Mortal Coil - Song to the siren/Another day.

Jeff Buckley - Hallelujah/Lilac wine.

Lou Reed - Xmas in february/Perfect day.

Velvet Underground - Pale Blue eyes/Venus in furs/Beginning to see the light/What goes on.

David Bowie - Station to station/We are the Dead/Suffragette city.

Alex Harvey - Next.

Suzanne Vega - The queen and the soldier.

Ray Charles - Rainy night in georgia/Cry.

Elvis Costello - I want you.

Pulp - Something changed.

Alanis Morissette - You oughta know/Mary Jane.

Radiohead - Just/Exit music/No surprises/Paranoid android.

Nick Cave - Wanted man/Are you the one that I've been waiting for?/No more shall we part.

Massive attack - Protection/Angel/Teardrop.

Brandi Carlile - That year/Pride and joy.

The Smiths - How soon is now?/I know it's over/The queen is dead.

The Stooges - I wanna be your dog/Dirt.

The The - Uncertain smile.

The aria from Donizetti's Lucia di Lammermoor, 2nd movement of Gershwin's piano concerto in F, Mars, Jupiter and Venus from the planets suite, the 1812 overture, Peer Gynt.

That's lot more than ten. Sorry.

 

[Anonymous]

In no particular order:

Wende - Hey

Porcupine Tree - Nine cats

Pain Of Salvation - Undertow

Meat Loaf - A kiss is a terrible thing to waste

Alan Parsons Project - The turn of a friendly card

Dire Straits - Planet of New Orleans

Ilse DeLange - Peaceful in mine

Pink Floyd - Keep talking

Yellowjackets & Take Six - Revelation

Dream Theater - A change of seasons

 

[rich51080]

Here are my choices - These songs make my Naim System Sing.

Whitesnake - Still of the Night

Metallica - Blackened.

Led Zeppelin - Immigrant Song

Cult - She sells Sanctuary

Little Angels - Shes A Little Angel.

Thunder - Backstreet Symphony

R.E.M - Losing My Religion

AC/DC - Hell Aint A Bad Place to Be

Korn - Blind

Def Leppard - Foolin

Arch Enemy - Ravenous

 

[iemslie]

Here's a few that get a regular listen. Not an all time desert island discs type favorites list, that would take some serious thinking about.

Massive Attack – Unfinished Sympathy

Bobby Womack – Harry Hippie

David Bowie – Modern Love

Jeff Wayne – Eve of the War

Genesis – Suppers Ready

Pink Floyd – Dogs

Curtis Mayfield – Move on Up

Velvet Underground – Rock and roll

The Smiths – How soon is now?

The Cardiacs - Stoneage Dinosaurs

Cheers

 

[Shanka]

I could answer this question in an hour and give a totally different list but my top 10 now are;

Gimme Shelter, The Rolling Stones
5.15 ,The Who
On the Beach , Neil Young
Tiny Dancer ,Elton John
You don't know me, Ray Charles
Move on up, Curtis Mayfield
Strange Fruit, Billie Holliday
A Change is gonna come, Sam Cooke
Koln Concert, Kieth Jarrett
Inspiration Information, Shuggie Otis

May do another 10 later.
Reading thru' the various lists I am glad to see I am in the company of a bunch of old farts.

 

[marou]

Prince - A Case of You

Shelby Lynn - Breakfast in Bed

Duane Eddy - 3.30 Blues

Clive Gregson/Christine Collister - Home is Where the Heart is

Faure - Cantique de Jean Racine

BBC Singers - The Blue Bird

Nic Jones - Canadee-I-O

Rumer - Goodbye Girl

Bob Dylan - It Takes a Lot to Laugh, It Takes a Train to Cry

Steely Dan - Pearl of the Quarter

 

[noogle]

Gillian Welch - Revelator
Led Zeppelin - Since I've Been Loving You
Grant Green - Idle Moments
Brad Mehldau - Song Song
Blue Nile - Let's Go Out Tonight
Radiohead - Lucky
Neil Young - Helpless
Joni Mitchell - Blue
Cassandra Wilson - Tupelo Honey
Lyle Lovett - North Dakota

 

[daveloc]

Painful; top ten prog, or top ten female vocal, or top ten beginning with L, I might be able to cope, but getting down to just ten causes real pain...

Breaking the 4th Wall — The Reasoning (top neo-prog)

Christmas (Baby Please Come Home) — Darlene Love (Phil Spector; nothing succeeds like excess)

Common People — William Shatner (Bill has the last laugh, as ever)

Hey Jude — Beatles (top classic pop)

In the Court of the Crimson King — King Crimson (top classic prog)

Like a Hurricane — Neil Young & Crazy Horse (Rust Never Sleeps live version)

Love is Everything — k.d. lang (sings Jane Siberry, very sororal)

Night Boat to Cairo — Madness (top three minute single)

Pool Hall Richard — Rod Stewart & The Faces (punk never got close...)

See My Baby Jive — Wizzard (Ayesha Brough in a schoolgirl uniform; I was 16...)

Damn: no Dylan? no Chuck Berry? no Morricone? no Beethoven? This is impossible...

 

[Shanka]

Is this the right forum for mentioning Aysha Brough ?

 

[daveloc]

Is this the right forum for mentioning Aysha Brough ?

If it isn't I'd be grateful if you'd post links to more appropriate ones I was more worried if this was the right forum for mentioning William Shatner

 

[Charlie Jefferson]

1) The Way That He Sings - My Morning Jacket
2) Now My Heart Is Full - Morrissey
3) Inheritance - Talk Talk
4) Being For The Benefit Of Mr.Kite - The Beatles
5) This Whole World - The Beach Boys
6) Go Or Go Ahead - Rufus Wainwright
7) Northern Sky - Nick Drake
8) Doctor Wu - Steely Dan
9) Ch-Ch-Check It Out - Beastie Boys
10) Like A Rolling Stone - Bob Dylan

An approximation of the most played and most significant tunes I can think of without sitting in front of my physical collection and or my iTunes library.

 

[Charlie Jefferson]

1) The Way That He Sings - My Morning Jacket
2) Now My Heart Is Full - Morrissey
3) Inheritance - Talk Talk
4) Being For The Benefit Of Mr.Kite - The Beatles
5) This Whole World - The Beach Boys
6) Go Or Go Ahead - Rufus Wainwright
7) Northern Sky - Nick Drake
8) Doctor Wu - Steely Dan
9) Ch-Ch-Check It Out - Beastie Boys
10) Like A Rolling Stone - Bob Dylan

An approximation of the most played and most significant tunes I can think of without sitting in front of my physical collection and or my iTunes library.

 

[Anonymous]

this is so tough...

joy division - 24 hours

new order - leave me alone

morrissey - now my heart is full

leonard cohen - famous blue raincoat

the cure - just like heaven

red house painters - michael

american music club - western sky

nick drake - northern sky

the smiths - rubber ring

velvet underground - i'm set free

 

[Anonymous]

this is so tough...

joy division - 24 hours

new order - leave me alone

morrissey - now my heart is full

leonard cohen - famous blue raincoat

the cure - just like heaven

red house painters - michael

american music club - western sky

nick drake - northern sky

the smiths - rubber ring

velvet underground - i'm set free

 

[f1only]

Some nice choices out there, mine in no particular order are:-

Dire straits - Romeo & Juliet

Dire straits - Private Investigations

Queen - Killer Queen

Sam Cook - Wonderful World

Stranglers - Peaches

Fleetwood Mac - The Chain ( who would guess?

)

Eagles - Desperado

Annie Lennox - Whiter Shade Of Pale ( love the original too )

Buddy Holly - Everyday

Beatles - Hey Jude

Shame its only ten cos i would have certainly added a few more..

 

[Si Conaugt]

As earlier poster mine will probably change in 10 minutes but...

The Doors - The End (epic, original and fantastic musicianship)uzz

The Arctic Monkeys - Do me a favour (anyone see them at T in the Park? Cracking!)

The National - Bloodbuzz Ohio (brilliant video, great song)

Kate Bush - A Coral Room (heartbreaking)

Super Furry Animals - Cloudberries (Cloudberries are a real fruit and found in the UK!)

The Good, The Bad, and the Queen - Three Changes (On a stroppy little island with mixed up people)

Handel's Messiah - I know that my redeemer liveth (Peaceful)

Half Man Half Biscuit - 24 Hour Garage People (I'll have 10 kit kat and a motoring atlas)

Radiohead - Nude (but could have been 30 others by Radiohead - worked perfectly when they used it on a trailer for Skins)

Supergrass - Run (there is a stunning guitar solo which cracks out like the sun rising on a midsummer's morning but only on some setups I've owned - capturing this is a part of my hifi nirvana!)

By the way, anyone know how I can change my username. I picked it in a hurry trying to be humourous and have regretted it ever since!

 

[Si Conaugt]

Repeat post deleted

 

[Macspur]

Favourite top ten! well here goes:
Summer Breeze, The Isley Bros
The First Time, Roberta Flak
Main Street, Bob Segar
Wild Horses, Charlotte Martin
Black is the Colour, Cara Dillon
Owner of a Lonely Heart, Yes
Whisky in the Jar, Thin Lizzy
Love Supreme, Will Downing
The Best is yet to Come, Justin Hayward
Freebird, Lynyrd Skynyrd
Impossible task, back with more later.
Sugden A21L amp, Naim CD5XS CDP, Chord Cobra 3 i.c. ProAc Studio 130 Speakers.