The single greatest rock song of all time (in your opinion)

[Clayton]

If by "growing up with it" you mean being between the ages of 5-18 or 13-21 or something when it was initially released, I disagree. In other words, the music you listened to in your youth. But I do think that that music is cool too.

If by "growing up with it" means being alive for when it was released- regardless of your age- I 100% fucking agree.

I'd agree with that although the issue for me becomes that I'm familiar with all of the bands that influenced the newer music so its harder for me to put the newer music on a pedestal.

Life is good for me right now if a bit predictable. Not a bad thing just lacking in sleep. You might be giving me too much credit on picking out old user names. I think Illinois and Im thinking Rams board but Im probably off there.

 

[Wazmankg]

If by "growing up with it" you mean being between the ages of 5-18 or 13-21 or something when it was initially released (i.e., the music you listened to in your youth), then I disagree. But I do think that music is cool too.

If by "growing up with it" means being alive for when it was released- regardless of your age- then I 100% fucking agree that it's somehow more meaningful.

But I also believe that music you listened to that was released in a different time period that you've never really lived can also be pretty cool too. Because I can pick out the things in those Bruce Springsteen or John Cougar Mellencamp songs and think about how I remember when things were like that, even if I never lived in the 70s or 80s.

And then some music (like Pink Floyd, David Bowie, Jimi Hendrix, The Beatles, The Beach Boys, Peter Gabriel, Neil Young, Prince, etc.)- they just really exist out of time for me. Truly timeless work that would be meaningful anywhere and anytime IMO.

I've often wondered about this. It seems logical that people favor the music that was popular when they were growing up and getting into music. But for me that started in 1964 when I was 9, so mid-60s-mid 70s is my sweet spot.

I've also seen that period often cited as the best of the R&R era and I wonder how much of that is just a boomer cliche and how widespread the opinion is among folks who did not grow up during that time.

 

[California Creme Puffs]

I've often wondered about this. It seems logical that people favor the music that was popular when they were growing up and getting into music. But for me that started in 1964 when I was 9, so mid-60s-mid 70s is my sweet spot.

I've also seen that period often cited as the best of the R&R era and I wonder how much of that is just a boomer cliche and how widespread the opinion is among folks who did not grow up during that time.

Speaking as someone who's 24 years old, I can say that mid-60s to mid-70s is absolutely the greatest period in rock and roll for me. Actually, if it were up to me and we could go a bit broader, I'd say mid-60s to mid-80s is the greatest period in the history of popular music. The fact that I didn't live through it but yet was born only 10-20 years after it occurred doesn't lessen its value at all to me. Though I do imagine that people who grew up with that music like yourself probably connect to it a 100% just like me, but probably even a little bit more because you lived through it.

And for millennials that's where you get into artists like Oasis. I don't think Oasis is some all-time amazing band, but I will say that they have like 5 or 6 songs that I think are among the all time greatest songs in the history of music (specifically: Don't Look Back in Anger, Wonderwall, Live Forever, Champagne Supernova, Stand By Me, Stop Crying Your Heart Out, maybe a few more that I can't think of at the moment). I think a large reason that I love these songs so much is because I grew up with them in that exact time period when they were released... and Oasis as a band (Noel and Liam Gallagher) represented like the youth of the 90s and the early 2000s. Mind you I was born in 1997 and probably didn't hear one of their songs until around 2002 or 2003... but I remember life being just like those Oasis songs when I was growing up.

Eminem and a bunch of other hip-hop artists (50 Cent, The Game, T.I., Lupe Fiasco, B.o.B etc.) got big starting in the late 90s through the early 2010s. I grew up listening to all of their shit. Paper Trail in 2008 was probably my earliest album introduction to those guys... I loved that freaking album. Recovery by Eminem was probably my favorite album of all time- I listened to that thing a thousand times in the summer of 2010 when I was 13 years old. I remember when The Adventures of Bobby Ray came out in 2010 and being obsessed with it. Their music still brings me back to that time period, even today.

I'll close this sentimental wishy-washy post with this aforementioned classic (at least to me) from Oasis:

 

[Wazmankg]

Speaking as someone who's 24 years old, I can say that mid-60s to mid-70s is absolutely the greatest period in rock and roll for me. Actually, if it were up to me and we could go a bit broader, I'd say mid-60s to mid-80s is the greatest period in the history of popular music. The fact that I didn't live through it but yet was born only 10-20 years after it occurred doesn't lessen its value at all to me. Though I do imagine that people who grew up with that music like yourself probably connect to it a 100% just like me, but probably even a little bit more because you lived through it.

And for millennials that's where you get into artists like Oasis. I don't think Oasis is some all-time amazing band, but I will say that they have like 5 or 6 songs that I think are among the all time greatest songs in the history of music (specifically: Don't Look Back in Anger, Wonderwall, Live Forever, Champagne Supernova, Stand By Me, Stop Crying Your Heart Out, maybe a few more that I can't think of at the moment). I think a large reason that I love these songs so much is because I grew up with them in that exact time period when they were released... and Oasis as a band (Noel and Liam Gallagher) represented like the youth of the 90s and the early 2000s. Mind you I was born in 1997 and probably didn't hear one of their songs until around 2002 or 2003... but I remember life being just like those Oasis songs when I was growing up.

Eminem and a bunch of other hip-hop artists (50 Cent, The Game, T.I., Lupe Fiasco, B.o.B etc.) got big starting in the late 90s through the early 2010s. I grew up listening to all of their shit. Paper Trail in 2008 was probably my earliest album introduction to those guys... I loved that freaking album. Recovery by Eminem was probably my favorite album of all time- I listened to that thing a thousand times in the summer of 2010 when I was 13 years old. I remember when The Adventures of Bobby Ray came out in 2010 and being obsessed with it. Their music still brings me back to that time period, even today.

I'll close this sentimental wishy-washy post with this aforementioned classic (at least to me) from Oasis:

I didn't realize that you were quite that young. I thought that you were a millenniel. There was a lot of great music (to my ears) being made in the 80s, though I've always said I feel sorry for those who came of age during that time thinking hair metal was great R&R.. but there was a ton of great music too. It wasn't until the mid-90s or so as grunge began to fade that I basically gave up on new popular music. It would be interesting to take a trip to the future to see what old music is still getting airplay 60 years from now.

 

[California Creme Puffs]

I didn't realize that you were quite that young. I thought that you were a millenniel. There was a lot of great music (to my ears) being made in the 80s, though I've always said I feel sorry for those who came of age during that time thinking hair metal was great R&R.. but there was a ton of great music too. It wasn't until the mid-90s or so as grunge began to fade that I basically gave up on new popular music. It would be interesting to take a trip to the future to see what old music is still getting airplay 60 years from now.

I do consider myself a millennial, sir.

Millennials - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

"Millennials, also known as Generation Y or Gen Y, are the demographic cohort following Generation X and preceding Generation Z. Researchers and popular media use the early 1980s as starting birth years and the mid-1990s to early 2000s as ending birth years, with the generation typically being defined as people born from 1981 to 1996. Most millennials are the children of baby boomers and early Gen Xers;[2] millennials are often the parents of Generation Alpha."

I go with 1982-1999. But I might be inclined to include someone born in 2000... maybe. If you were born after 9/11 then fuck you Gen Z loser.

 

[California Creme Puffs]

I didn't realize that you were quite that young. I thought that you were a millenniel. There was a lot of great music (to my ears) being made in the 80s, though I've always said I feel sorry for those who came of age during that time thinking hair metal was great R&R.. but there was a ton of great music too. It wasn't until the mid-90s or so as grunge began to fade that I basically gave up on new popular music. It would be interesting to take a trip to the future to see what old music is still getting airplay 60 years from now.

Are you saying you've never heard Oasis? What about Radiohead? Or Green Day?

 

[Wazmankg]

I do consider myself a millennial, sir.

Millennials - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

"Millennials, also known as Generation Y or Gen Y, are the demographic cohort following Generation X and preceding Generation Z. Researchers and popular media use the early 1980s as starting birth years and the mid-1990s to early 2000s as ending birth years, with the generation typically being defined as people born from 1981 to 1996. Most millennials are the children of baby boomers and early Gen Xers;[2] millennials are often the parents of Generation Alpha."

I go with 1982-1999. But I might be inclined to include someone born in 2000... maybe. If you were born after 9/11 then fuck you Gen Z loser.

Lol.. I appreciate you not wanting to be associated.. but Gen Z starts with 1997. So maybe that puts you on the cusp. 20-somethings have already ruined comedy now where any joke that might conceivably offend some person, anywhere in the world, is off-limits. This new hyper-sensitivity from people who grew up on their phones is ridiculous... but I digress.

Are you saying you've never heard Oasis? What about Radiohead? Or Green Day?

No, of course I have. Radiohead was my son's favorite band, though he's more into classical and jazz these days. I like a few of their songs and we had a couple of their albums. But I rarely played them. I never got what all the fuss was about over them.. maybe that's a me problem.

I like the stuff by Oasis & Green Day that gets airplay just fine, but not to the point where I felt compelled to go much further exploring their music.

 

[California Creme Puffs]

Lol.. I appreciate you not wanting to be associated.. but Gen Z starts with 1997. So maybe that puts you on the cusp. 20-somethings have already ruined comedy now where any joke that might conceivably offend some person, anywhere in the world, is off-limits. This new hyper-sensitivity from people who grew up on their phones is ridiculous... but I digress.




No, of course I have. Radiohead was my son's favorite band, though he's more into classical and jazz these days. I like a few of their songs and we had a couple of their albums. But I rarely played them. I never got what all the fuss was about over them.. maybe that's a me problem.

I like the stuff by Oasis & Green Day that gets airplay just fine, but not to the point where I felt compelled to go much further exploring their music.

Yes, I agree about the bit related to people growing up on their phones... I didn't have a cell phone at all until I was 13 (and it was not a smartphone). I didn't have a cellphone that I carried around everyday until I was 18 (this time it was a smartphone). Now at 24, I own 0 smartphones but I do have an old flip phone to text and call people on... though I usually don't travel with it. Gen Z grew up with an Iphone at age 5... they're a bunch of fucking morons and I have nothing to do with them.

I was going to be surprised if you didn't know any Oasis/Green Day songs. Yeah I feel somewhat similar about them with regards to radio play but I have gone back into Green Day for a few albums and I do think it's interesting music.

Radiohead is absolutely the one band you should try to get into. Though it may be too late for you if you haven't gotten it by now. But like John Lennon famously said- Tomorrow Never Knows.

 

[DetroitDevil]

#1 all time.

 

[Clayton]

I didn't realize that you were quite that young. I thought that you were a millenniel. There was a lot of great music (to my ears) being made in the 80s, though I've always said I feel sorry for those who came of age during that time thinking hair metal was great R&R.. but there was a ton of great music too. It wasn't until the mid-90s or so as grunge began to fade that I basically gave up on new popular music. It would be interesting to take a trip to the future to see what old music is still getting airplay 60 years from now.

There were still talented musicians in the 90s. Hip hop really took off in the late 80s and early 90s. Grunge and Alt was really solid. Pop music sucked hard, though, and I think that taints the 90s at first glance but there is a lot of great stuff.

The problem is that too many people died and too many rejected the mainstream record labels. We functionally lost Nirvana, Alice in Chains, Sublime, Tupac, Biggie, and Blind Melon. Hole and Smashing Pumpkins also heavily compromised. Pearl Jam went off the grid after their video Jeremy got censored. Trent Reznor lived off the grid and doubled down with Marilyn Manson. No Doubt couldnt keep Gwen and that sound going. Radiohead is functionally the most influential from that time period but I'm not sure thats a good thing. The 00s generation did not have the same talent.

My classic rocks station says 'we play classic rock and the generation of rockers that grew up on classic rock.' There will likely always be a station that focuses on the 70s and dabbled in the newer rock.

 

[Wazmankg]

There were still talented musicians in the 90s. Hip hop really took off in the late 80s and early 90s. Grunge and Alt was really solid. Pop music sucked hard, though, and I think that taints the 90s at first glance but there is a lot of great stuff.

The problem is that too many people died and too many rejected the mainstream record labels. We functionally lost Nirvana, Alice in Chains, Sublime, Tupac, Biggie, and Blind Melon. Hole and Smashing Pumpkins also heavily compromised. Pearl Jam went off the grid after their video Jeremy got censored. Trent Reznor lived off the grid and doubled down with Marilyn Manson. No Doubt couldnt keep Gwen and that sound going. Radiohead is functionally the most influential from that time period but I'm not sure thats a good thing. The 00s generation did not have the same talent.

My classic rocks station says 'we play classic rock and the generation of rockers that grew up on classic rock.' There will likely always be a station that focuses on the 70s and dabbled in the newer rock.

Now you've hit on some groups that I was into and still enjoy. Live Trough This is a great record... and I own most of Nirvana's stuff. Reznor/nin is great. I liked No Doubt.. they opened for The Stones the last time I saw them. I like most of what I've heard by Smashing Pumpkins. I never really warmed to Pearl Jam. They're fine I suppose.

Never cared for rap and sort of rejected it out of hand like most of my generation.. until Eminem's 8 Mile blew up. That guy is a genius and I imagine there are other rappers I'd say the same thing about if I really explored their work. But I don't even go back to him that much.. that form just isn't my thing. Arcade Fire is the 1 post-2000 group that I really like but even that for mostly background music rather than active listening.

For example I was shocked to hear that the Foo Fighters were just inducted into the R&R Hall of Fame and thought.. really? They're fine, but if they're the example of the best of the era, I don't think I've missed much by ignoring most 21st century rock & pop.

 

[Clayton]

For example I was shocked to hear that the Foo Fighters were just inducted into the R&R Hall of Fame and thought.. really? They're fine, but if they're the example of the best of the era, I don't think I've missed much by ignoring most 21st century rock & pop.

The first three Foo Fighters albums are good. Not excellent but good. Then the fourth album he wrote 4 songs for the radio and then 7 of the worst songs you'll ever hear to fill it up and they repeated that formula from there on out imo.

Imo, Arcade Fire is just kinda alright. The rock is missing for the most part.

 

[Wazmankg]

Imo, Arcade Fire is just kinda alright. The rock is missing for the most part.

Agree.. very pleasant and interesting, but mostly as backgound music.. sort of like Eno for me on that count.

 

[BigFin]

I never liked Arcade Fire, they seemed bland, and they brought in the new sonorous 2010’s pop/rock style I don’t like. Gimme The Black Keys and The Raconteurs instead.

 

[Center Ice]

 

[California Creme Puffs]

Agree.. very pleasant and interesting, but mostly as backgound music.. sort of like Eno for me on that count.

I kinda agree with you two... but Eno takes it too a new extreme. At least his solo music does. Though the stuff he did with Talking Heads and a bunch of other artists as a producer is pretty fucking awesome.

 

[Wazmankg]

I never liked Arcade Fire, they seemed bland, and they brought in the new sonorous 2010’s pop/rock style I don’t like. Gimme The Black Keys and The Raconteurs instead.

That's another 21st century group that's not bad. But as with most of those, I only know what I've heard on the radio.. I do have Sirius though which provides a lot of variety.

The first three Foo Fighters albums are good. Not excellent but good. Then the fourth album he wrote 4 songs for the radio and then 7 of the worst songs you'll ever hear to fill it up and they repeated that formula from there on out imo.

Formula is what I think when I hear one of there's. A lot of it is good but it all sort of sounds the same.

 

[Azyr]

#1. Haiduk - Wraithavoc

 

[Pure Steel]

 

[Pure Steel]

LOL