Ok. Here we are, breaking into the top 80. I tried to publish one of these every Sunday but I’m gonna be too busy tomorrow to do so, so I’m doing it today. Coincidently, I probably won’t be able to post another part of this list for a couple of weeks. So we’ll all have to sit and wait. Again, if there’s a problem with any of the links please leave a comment. Or just leave a comment anyways.
80. “G-Spot Tornado” by Frank Zappa – From the 1986 album Jazz From Hell. Considered by fans to be one of Zappa’s marquee songs, “G-Spot Tornado” is a weird, energetic and complicated instrumental piece of music. It was performed entirely by Frank on a synclavier, at the time a relatively new instrument making use of sampling technology. It is a bizarre song, with complex arrangements, strange sounds and an infectious melody. It truly is just a remarkable song.
79. “The Future Language of Slaves” by Hawksley Workman – From the 2003 album Lover/Fighter. This is a sparse, haunting acoustic song that appeared on an otherwise regular electric pop-rock album. Perhaps this is what makes it stand out so much. The lyrics at times delve into the ‘cryptic’ category, painting a sad picture. With the minimalism of this song, it feels like there is something missing, but not in the sense that Hawksley left something out. It’s just the emotion you get from listening to it; something’s missing… something’s not right. Great songwriting.
78. “Before I Die” by Mushroomhead – From the 2001 album XX. People often compare Mushroomhead to Slipknot, which is to be expected since Slipknot pretty much ripped them off completely. XX was Mushroomhead’s major label debut, but it’s really a compilation of their best material from 3 previous self-released albums. “Before I Die” is the album opener and a pretty kick ass song. Great vocals, solid rhythm plus lots of energy is always a good formula for a great song. Lead singers J Mann and Jeffery Nothing have greatly different styles but still play off each other extremely well. This is just a great metal song.
77. “Stay” by The Tragically Hip – From the 2000 album Music @ Work. This is the first in a quartet of similarly-styled Tragically Hip songs to make it on this list. I just really like the vibe of this song. It’s a song that I like to sing along with. Although I don’t fully know what this it’s about, it doesn’t bother me at all; still a great song.
76. “Rock is Dead” by Marilyn Manson – From the 1998 album Mechanical Animals. I do believe I first heard this song in conjunction with The Matrix. It’s from the ‘glam rock’ part of Manson’s career, which a lot of people don’t much care for but I think it’s my favourite time in his career. “Rock is Dead” is, in my opinion, one of Manson’s best set of lyrics. He was really on his A game with this one. On top of all that the music is fantastic. A great mixture of his particular brand of industrial rock mixed with the glam rock of his Omega character that he was portraying at that point in time.
75. “Intergalactic” by Beastie Boys – From the 1998 album Hello Nasty. Quite possibly one of the greatest hip-hop beats ever during the verses. This song samples Russian composers Rachmaninoff and Mussorgsky. Awesome. Part way through they also sample one of their own songs from off their first album; a neat little thing for long time fans. Lyrically, again, typical Beastie Boys. But it’s all fantastic. Great song.
74. “Parabola” by Tool – From the 2001 album Lateralus. This is a great hard rock song from Tool. Coupled with the track that appears just before it (“Parabol”), it offers a lot of interesting and fantastic melodies from every instrument, vocals included. Maynard does another good job with the lyrics on this one.
73. “Here to Stay” by Korn – From the 2002 album Untouchables. Instantly recognizable by its opening guitar riff, this song is just aggressive all over. I remember hearing this song when the video for it first came out. It’s a great music video, albeit a little morbid. Untouchables marked a change in direction for Korn with “Here to Stay” ushering in this new sound. It was a pretty good start, even if what came after wasn’t all that great. It’s still a great sounding song.
72. “March of the Pigs” by Nine Inch Nails – From the 1994 album The Downward Spiral. An industrial metal song played in mostly 7/8 time signature. It’s loud, harsh, fast and energetic. Until the creepy, quiet chorus comes along. It’s a bizarre little formula for a song but it works extremely well.
71. “Jambi” by Tool – From the 2006 album 10,000 Days. This song is full of awesome rhythms. The main guitar riff at the beginning is simple but great. An odd thing about this song is that guitarist Adam Jones uses a talk box for the solo. For anyone unfamiliar with Tool, he’s never used a talk box before. It makes for an interesting mood. Some of my favourite lyrics from the song are: “So if I could I'd wish it all away, if I thought tomorrow would take you away. You're my peace of mind, my home, my center. I'm just trying to hold on one more day.”
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