Most Perfect Rock Song Ever?
 

I've been thinking lately. I think I know the most perfect rock song ever. We're not talking in terms of popularity. Just in terms of being a great great song. Builds up well, ends well.

What do you think is the most perfect rock song ever?

My vote: Pearl Jam - Corduroy

Gotta give real high vote to Soundgarden - Overfloater though. Damn fine rock song as well. But I think Pearl Jam edges it out by a bit.

Now it's your turn to tell :)

Oh, hell... that's easy:

John Hiatt- Perfectly Good Guitar

Glad I could clear that up for you!

(Close 2nd: Lloyd Cole & The Commotions- My Bag)

Thinks to himself: <i>Someone else has heard LC & t C's 3rd album. There is still hope in the world.</i>

The question is really one of what you mean by "rock". How much "roll" has to be removed; does Elvis count? How much pop has to be removed; do the Beatles count? What year did it begin, and what year did it die, if it is dead?

Depends. Kitschy cliched music can still rock hard, as long as you don't snort in pseudo-postmodernistic irony at everything that's not independent, 'authentic' music.

Yes, I'm looking at *you*.

Covers:

Gun - "Word Up" (Cameo cover)
The Lemonheads - "Mrs. Robinson" (Simon & Garfunkel cover)
Metallica - "Astronomy" (Blue Öyster Cult cover)


Originals:

The Pixies - "Debaser"
Therapy - "Screamager"
Pearl Jam - "Yellow Ledbetter"
Oasis - "Fucking in the Bushes"
Alice Cooper - "Feed my Frankenstein"
Iron Maiden - "Fear of the Dark"


Rock. No doubt about it. Go to www.audiogalaxy.com, download the satellite, set it up, download the songs, and listen. Then go and buy the albums.

X.

Hmmm...
 

I don't know if there is a "perfect" rock song, but there are some damned fine rock songs out there...

Led Zeppelin--"Kashmir"
Soundgarden--"Black Hole Sun"
Anthrax--"This Is Not an Exit"
Pearl Jam--"Faithfull"

X - Los Angeles is a song I'd -have- to have on the proverbial desert island.

The Raybeats - Holiday Inn Spain is the quintessence of surf music IMO, but since it doesn't have lyrics it might not qualify as a 'song'.

Best unknown (any Canadians around here?) Doug and the Slugs - Too Bad.

Jet, your fellow Canuck Norm MacDonald educated the US to Doug and the Slugs "Too Bad", when he used it as the theme to his TV show.

I liked it better than the Barenaked Ladies, but when it comes to quirky rock and the Great White North, I prefer Odds. Unfortunately Odds released their strongest album ever and then promptly broke up. I think I'm one of about 10,000 people in the US who cared.

As to the previous question, nobody wanted to take on my followup questions and so I have had to answer them for myself.

The Most Perfect Rock Song Ever has to be simple. It has to be straight-forward, honest, and come from the gut (as opposed to the brain). But most importantly, it has to speak of the heartbreak of a member of the appropriate sex who has left prematurely.

And so, the Most Perfect Rock Song Ever is the dB's "Amplifier".

<i>Danny went home and killed himself last night
She'd taken everything
She'd taken everything
She took his car
She took his bike
She took everything
She thought he liked
And what she couldn't take, she found a way to break
But she left his amplifier
</i>

Well... from my choice...

<i>the waiting drove me mad... you're finally here and i'm a mess</i> .... <i>can't buy what i want because it's free... can't buy what i want because it's free... can't be what you want because i'm...</i>

lost love... you personally now know how it relates to me and an ordeal i went through last year... but it's simple, it works... look up the lyrics some time if you're not already intimately familiar with the song... great great song...

Didn't Odds have the song about the heterosexual man? Around 1993? I used to dig that song.

My favorite Canadian band is Skinny Puppy, although they're not quite rock, but ARE quirky.

Yep, that's right, "Heterosexual Man".

And of course for Canuck bands, there's always Rush. Who may go on forever, gawblessum.

THE most perfect Rock song
 

The definitive and seminal true 'Rock' song has to be

( and I pause and take my pulse here, because it seems this band are unheard of in the US - which I find staggering)

"The Ace of Spades"
by Motorhead

closely followed by

"For Those About to Rock"
by AC/DC

Or indeed, anything by AC/DC. Anything by Motorhead for that matter!

MM

Re: THE most perfect Rock song
 

LEMMY!!! Actually, that's not true at all Mark. Motorhead are generally well-regarded in the States, particularly in the hard rock/heavy metal arena...and have actually sold quite a few records.

Rush....
 

Rush

Rush

Rush

& 'Yes' and sometime the 'New' Yes or 'Yeah' as I call 'em.

Which reminds me of this time I picked up this attractive looking chick in a noisy-drunky-hole-in-the-wall-bar-that-I-frequented. Before the night had expired, I found that she had the same tastes : We both liked Rush...We both liked Yes...and ..er.. We both liked Chicks.... Oh well..

Sort of funny a decade or so after the fact.


P.S. We were pals for some time...

Ooooh! Rush! Man, I went on a Rush kick during 1992 and 1993 (which was ironic, given that grunge was in full-bloom and I was digging the hell out of that). They still kick ass...hopefully they'll be able to pull back together and make a new album soon. Apparently, Geddy is releasing (or has already released) a solo CD, which I'd be curious to hear. I didn't dig Alex Lifeson's project (Victor) too much, although I own the CD.

http://www.charm.net/~mbyrd/kt.gif

Hello Kitty is horrified by the prospect of a Geddy Lee solo album. Hello Kitty used to like Rush very much, and still listens to 2112 sometimes, when nobody else is around...

But the thought of Geddy Lee adenoidaling away, seven octaves above her pain threshold without the modifying influence of Neal Peart on the drums, is more than Hello Kitty can bear.

Everyone has a Rush "phase" of 2-3 albums that were important for them.

The only bits to be ashamed of, I figure, were the really Pretentious bits, Pretentious with a capital P. And of that, only "By-Tor and the Snow Dog" now cause me to truly blush with shame.

Hubris, you worry me sometimes...

Apparently, it came out a year ago.

Seriously though, Geddy hasn't sung that high since Permanent Waves. Apparently, Neil has been going through hell...I believe his daughter died a few years or so ago. So, there will be no Rush record for a while.

I used to have like 7 or 8 of their CDs...I now only have 2112, Hemispheres, and Counterparts on CD; and Signals and Power Windows on vinyl. I still dig the hell out of them though.

Hate to bump an old thread up, but..
 

Holy Jesus Christ... Nearly a year ago, I missed an entire thread about <i>Rush</i>! How did this happen??

And here I thought I was the only one that liked them.

Re-hijack!
 

Your swashes have been buckled (even though I am extremely late doing so)!
Presidents of the United States of America kicked ass. Three string guitar, two string bass, lots of distortion, and no one who took themselves too seriously. Good clean fun. They also put out some amazing sound for being instrumentally limited. Highly recommended.
Specifically: Toob Amplifier, Dune Buggy, or Naked and Famous.

Yeah, POTUSA were great. It's a shame they only lasted 2 records (and a b-sides CD).

Wait a minute...didn't they get back together apparently? I thought I heard that a while back.

Re: Re-hijack!
 

I remember a song or two that were written on one string. That's amazing! To be a Top 40 band on one string!

Zeppelin: Whole Lotta Love.:)

p.s. I know Kitty agrees.

Yeah, kind of. They did the soundtrack for Something About Mary (and they're the jackass band in the movie as well)

Rush was pretty good, but-
 

Led Zeppelin is simply number one in my book. Hit Parader Magazine ranks Led Zep number one rock group of ALL time just last month, and so my guess is the best rock song of all time, to date would have to be one of theirs. It's just that simple. I love Pearl Jam, even had an aunt named Pearl who made jam but this is ALTERNATIVE, same with POTUSA. Not at all to be rude- it's simply a fact. Hit Parader SUGGESTS that Led Zep produced the all time greatest rock-n-roll song to date! I duno, what about that song called "rock n' roll"? Best I could figure anyways..

Hit Parader? Wow...I haven't seen that mag in ages. :)

Yeah, they also-
 

rated Ozzy as number one single most important vocalist and contributor in all of "ROCK" history, to date. "Rock n' Roll", #1 ROCK song by #1 ROCK group- says J03L10T!! Beavis says "vote for Megadeth", but that is SPEED METAL Beavis not ROCK AND ROLL. Not that I wouldn't.. ; )

Well, the more geopolitical songs from Warren Zevon tend to stay in my head: Roland the Headless Thompson Gunner, Jungle Work. The title cut from his live album Stand In The Fire rocks plenty, as does Tenderness On The Block from the same. But now I suppose we will never see the Zevon/Springsteen Dream Tour: Warren and Bruce touring together doing each other's material and watching to see who notices. :(

Perfect rock song? For me, no single such one exists. It's different tunes for different moods. Sometimes I want whiskey, sometimes I want wine.

Sometimes a song gets a lot nearer perfection after somebody revises it a little: Deep Purple's Smoke On The Water off their Machine Head album is a less-than-melodious bore. But now go check out the extended, upbeat, live version off of Made In Japan -- worlds better!

Creedence Clearwater Revival's Have You Ever Seen The Rain? and Someday Never Comes still sing to me going on three decades now. And, of course, their Bad Moon Rising, and the reggae cover of it that some smartass did which got some play on alt-radio.

Here's also another vote for Led Zep's Stairway To Heaven -- and Gilligan's Island Staircase along with it. If you're not getting the picture, well, same tune, but the words are... um... different yet strangely familiar from after-school television.

Send lawyers, guns and money-
 

Yeah, I agree that some versions are better than others. If it were my point to make, the favorite that comes to mind is of the "Outlaw's" ghost riders in the sky. I felt the live version was much better than the original. I could never pick a favorite genre of music, ever- but when it comes to rock music what has already been said will never change. The song remains the same.

: )