Ok here we go.. SONIC YOUTH

I can't rate my fav 5 bands, but Sonic Youth is def the in my top 5 bands. I figured this one would be more interesting than say my favorite RATT songs.

5. From the first album (Confusion is Sex) Seeing this one live was fucking awesome. The lyrics and the way Kim Gordon delivers them are a ritual in itself. I dislike twice as many female singers as male singers, but Kim Gordon has always been one of my favorite female singers.

[media]https://youtu.be/shW7JLv9-Xk[/media]

4. Schizophrenia

[media]https://youtu.be/fWzFkVy3s14[/media]

.. will return with the TOP 3 later.

[quote=Flack post_id=130244 time=1659664220 user_id=840]
[i]So here's to my Sweet Satan.
The other's little path
Would make me sad,
Whose power is faith.
He'll give those with him 666.[/i]
[/quote]

Hahaha yeah! This is one song where I don't think people are just hearing words here. Jimmy Page did star in a "Satanic ritual film" (think hippie stuff. Lots of people standing around half naked and weird symbolism) directed by Kenneth Anger.

[i]So here's to my Sweet Satan.
The other's little path
Would make me sad,
Whose power is faith.
He'll give those with him 666.[/i]

Stairway is a cool song.. until you've heard it 1000x

[quote=pinback post_id=130216 time=1659491198 user_id=5]
#2: Vicinity of Obscenity: In a discography riddled with self-indulgent wackiness, this stands out as being obviously the most patently ridiculous song in their library. In a relatively short running time, it spans at least three or four genres of music, some of which haven't been invented yet. The absurdity of a band starting a two-disc set railing against the social inequities of war and then here yammering "banana banana banana terracotta banana terracotta terracotta pie" goes unnoticed by no one. Yet, all the insanity carries an unmistakable tension with it, which is released at the heavy parts, and let it be known here, this is their heaviest song. Maybe only for a few seconds in between the fever-dream lunacy, but as one of the last songs on their last album, it stands testament to the skill they had to defy the laws of tradition, and make something completely ridiculous and inscrutable, but make it also rock so motherfucking hard at the same time.[/quote]
When I was learning guitar as a kid, I always found it easier to "sing" guitar parts, especially when playing with someone else and trying to explain a guitar part. I wouldn't say "one-two-THREE one-two-THREE one-two-THREE" when describing a riff... I'd say, you know, "yucka-DUNK yucka-DUNK yucka-DUNK," stuff like that. I have always assumed that the whole "banana terracotta pie" thing derived from that... like, Serj coming up with a riff in his head and explaining it to the band like, "no, it goes ba-na-na ba-na-na ba-na-na ba-na-na ba-na-na..." And then like quite a few SOAD songs you get a little nugget of something buried in the middle, that little part about beating your meat with whores with bad feet. I looked up this song on songfacts and people claim it's about everything from sexual fetishes ("So just looked this up, it's about Anal Sex. The term Banana refers to the male penis and the term Terracotta Pie refers to Anal Sex.") to parenthood ("I think it's about parenthood. Banana because babies have to eat mushy foods. Terricotta pie, because tericotta is a brown color, like dirty diapers. and if you listen the lyrics say "Is there a perfect way of holding your baby?" and the "milk seat" is like breast feeding. Whores with bad feet, your feet get huge and swollen when you're pregnant. Whores referring to women who have sex. Beat the meat, when a baby starts to eat meat, you have to cut it up really small. I think it shows the man's anger that women don't think they're capable of taking care of a baby.")

Personally I think it's a great song with doofy lyrics and multiple riffs that could only be seamlessly sewn together by SOAD. The song is so good that you don't realize how stupid you sound headbanging while shouting "BANANA TERRACOTTA PIE" until after it's over.

[quote=pinback post_id=130216 time=1659491198 user_id=5]#1: Violent Pornography: I struggled (and continue to) with the rest of the list, but this was the easy part. In many ways the flipside to Vicinity of Obscenity, a little less crazy, but a lot more focused on delivering a singular message with their signature oscillation between comedy and onslaught, and the funkiest, most addictive riff in their library. It's a non-stop disco. What's not to like?[/quote]
There's something wonderful about being able to turn a political statement into a singalong. Like, what a great moment when kids get to explain to their friends what "War Pigs" is really about, you know? "Violent Pornography" kicls off with a bouncy singalong explaining how everybody fucks and everybody sucks, before dropping into a heavy fucking riff tuned down to drop C. Before you know it, Serj and Daron are harmonizing about choking chicks and sodomy. Composition wise it's a masterpiece -- the band has made what sounds like a pop song covering up dirty words, just as the porn industry puts this shiny facade on what often happens behind the scenes. Everybody catches the line about nonstop disco but many miss the follow-up line, "betcha it's Nabisco." I sure as hell didn't know [url=https://www.forerunner.com/forerunner/X0399_Top_pornography_spon]Nabisco was the top advertising sponsor of pornographic magazines[/url] until this song came out -- and that's what a great song does. It doesn't preach to you; it hints as to where the nearest church is.

At the next JC BBQ, Pinback and I will be performing this song during the backyard karaoke. Our band name will be "Two Nabisco Crackers."

It'll be a nonstop disco.

Weird take from someone who likes 3 black metal bands and GWAR.. I thought they were too "noisy" and too "preachy". Oh man did I catch hell for this when they were popular. "Mikey, you need to hear this band!" ... "wh.. why don't you like it?"

Mikey would never "eat anything" either. Motherfuckers didn't even know the commercial.

I never came up with SOAD's #3, and I still won't, just because I want to get to #2 and #1 to get Flack's take, since nobody else here gives a fuck about that band.

#2: Vicinity of Obscenity: In a discography riddled with self-indulgent wackiness, this stands out as being obviously the most patently ridiculous song in their library. In a relatively short running time, it spans at least three or four genres of music, some of which haven't been invented yet. The absurdity of a band starting a two-disc set railing against the social inequities of war and then here yammering "banana banana banana terracotta banana terracotta terracotta pie" goes unnoticed by no one. Yet, all the insanity carries an unmistakable tension with it, which is released at the heavy parts, and let it be known here, this is their heaviest song. Maybe only for a few seconds in between the fever-dream lunacy, but as one of the last songs on their last album, it stands testament to the skill they had to defy the laws of tradition, and make something completely ridiculous and inscrutable, but make it also rock so motherfucking hard at the same time.

#1: Violent Pornography: I struggled (and continue to) with the rest of the list, but this was the easy part. In many ways the flipside to Vicinity of Obscenity, a little less crazy, but a lot more focused on delivering a singular message with their signature oscillation between comedy and onslaught, and the funkiest, most addictive riff in their library. It's a non-stop disco.

What's not to like?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WWXcpWliHSY

I have two more bands to do!

Yes

5. Owner of a Lonely Heart. Everyone likes this song. Great riff, cowbell, two great singers singing on this. I loved this song as a small child before I knew what they did in the 1970s and 1960s with music and guess what? Guess! No you have to guess. I loved that older stuff too, though it sounds nothing like this.

4. Gates of Delirium. Around 16 minutes I think, what I like about this is that it's their most "pop" giant ass progressive-era tune. You men still have to kick ass while taking an entire side of an album! And this does. Men!

3. South Side of the Sky. This was like in my top ten of all songs when I did my list a few years ago. I recently put it in my car and it's good, but I think it's been overcome by the next two. The piano part and Acapella section in the middle are much longer than I remembered.

2. Release, Release. It's 7/4 for most of it and that spells progressive. It has the same drum solo and crowd cheering thing that Spirit of Radio does! I enjoy a song with three descending notes that rawcks.

1. Love Will Find a Way. This has the best riff in rock history, imo. It also has the worst lyric to ever appear in a song : "I eat at Chez Nous."

This was an interesting and challenging exercise. Something I never considered before was that most of my favorite songs aren't from my favorite bands. "Overkill" from Men at Work is one of my favorite songs, but Men at Work is not particularly one of my favorite bands. The other thing I struggled with was ranking "favorite" songs over popular, good, or even great songs. If you're making a list of Metallica's best songs, "Master of Puppets" has to be near the top, if not number one. But after hearing it a zillion times, it stops being your favorite. None of this matters, it was fun to do, and I'm ready to do bands 6-10 (and 11-20).

Well, I gotta pick one, so I'll pick this one, because Flack might have differing opinions.

Top 5 #5: SYSTEM OF A DOWN
=========================
In reviewing the library, it is way harder to pick a top five from this band than any of the others in my list, including Led Zeppelin, which indicates it's probably correct that they're on this list. "That one. No wait, that one. No wait..." was my thought process as I deliberated this list. CO is gonna say some stupid shit about how every song is the same, and while that was an extremely dumb thing to say about TOOL it is extra-dumb to say about SOAD.

#5: [i]Streamline:[/i] Stretching their capabilities to the limit in every respect, it is at times beautiful, and then of course crushing and pummeling, and then ends with a crescendo that still gives me chills every time I hear it. After hearing enough Scars on Broadway, I'm convinced that most of the greatness of SOAD is because of Daron Malakian, but without Serj and the rest of them, this could never be as perfect as it is.

#4: [i]Prison Song:[/i] Christ, I don't know. I gotta pick something. This was the first album I bought, after hearing Toxicity on the radio, and when the album started, I thought my CD player was broke. That first note. And then the cacaphony begins. And then it turns out the band took the baton from Rage Against the Machine for political statements, but instead of rapping about those who work forces, Serj just yammers into the microphone about the relative population of the prison system over the previous decade and a half. Everything about this song is outlandish, which makes it very, very difficult to leave off this list.

#3: I'm going to put this on pause. I absolutely know my #1 and #2, but I have no idea what to put here. The songs are pretty much the same, so I'm not sur-- FUCK

Had we done 10 bands, I would have pulled five more from this list: System of a Down, Motley Crue, Kiss, Melvins, Nirvana, Black Sabbath / Ozzy, Pixies, Queen, White Zombie, The Cure, Slayer, Wrathchild America / Souls at Zero, Soundgarden, The Misfits.

Okay, I'm going for it.

[Pantera: 5/5]

I'm Broken (Far Beyond Driven)
This is Pantera, completely dialed in. [i]Far Beyond Driven[/i] was not their best album, but the first four tracks are four of their best. The whole band is tight AF here with Phil screaming and growling with the pain of a broken man. This song makes me want to fight. I will fist fight all of you, right now. I'M BROKEN!

Domination (Cowboys From Hell)
On this song which closed out the first side of their debut* album (yeah, yeah...), Pantera showed the world they could crush you with speed, until the end of the track where the whole thing slows down and they can crush you with sludge, while crushing you with a stop-and-go riff through each verse. The solos from this song are some of Dimebag's shining moments. All of them.

Cemetery Gates (Cowboys From Hell)
Pantera strips away all the distortion and screaming (at least momentarily) and shows you how they good they are without that stuff... then they crank it up to 11 and show you how good they are with it. Phil approaches operatic tones here while Dimebag strangles the neck of his guitar until it cries, cramming multiple riffs into a single song that to this day I've never been able to reproduce. In a way this is the yin to Domination's yang (which follows it), which is like discussing how different Mike Tyson's left jab was from his right hook. If this song doesn't make you feel something, check your pulse.

Fucking Hostile (Vulgar Display of Power)
As Phil works through several scenarios, he stresses in each chorus that you're MAKING him FUCKING HOSTILE. The guy doesn't want be hostile, fellas -- you MADE him HOSTILE. Dimebag and his brother, drummer Vinny Paul, trade their technical chops for flat out speed in this burner of a track.

Cowboys From Hell (Cowboys From Hell)
The song that started it all for me. On my way home from my first Pantera concert, I purchased [i]Cowboys From Hell[/i] on cassette at the show and popped it into my car's cassette player as I was leaving the show. When the opening riff from the s/t track kicked off the album, I literally pulled my car over and listened to the entire track. A mastery of guitar work coupled with the band's "back story" makes this a quintessential Pantera track. "You see us comin' and you all together run for cover... We're taking over this town."

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aDACorIaxNw

Same issue here. I guess we just gotta pick one.

I have half a dozen bands tied for fifth place in my head at the moment so I'll finish my list when I decide who earns the final spot.

[Beastie Boys: 4/5]

So What'cha Want (Check Your Head)
So what if it was a single? MCA says it right up front: "let it flow like a mudslide." Only the Beastie Boys could pull off a video of themselves goofing around in a forest and make it work. "I'm as cool as a cucumber in a bowl of hot sauce" it one of the greatest lyrics of all time. And no... you can't front on that, not even when revelation comes.

Three MCs and One DJ (Hello Nasty)
With enough takes, a copy of Pro Tools, and an autotune plug-in, just about anyone can become a rapper. On "Three MCs and One DJ," the Beastie Boys -- with the help of then-new DJ Mixmaster Mike -- do it live. [url=https://youtu.be/XflfiylNNXY?t=105]In the official music video[/url], also performed live in a studio space, you can watch Mixmaster Mike create an original beat out of mid-air by perfectly hitting kicks and snares on a record while our boys tag in and out in real time. Take your downloaded samples and shove 'em up your ass. This song, and specifically this video, is like watching a Renaissance master creating art. You're welcome.

Sure Shot (Ill Communication)
It helps to have read the Beastie Boys' 600+ book to fully appreciate this era of the band, but in response to the Dust Brother's production of [i]Paul's Boutique[/i], the B-Boys pooled their money and used it to start their own label and build their own studio, complete with a skatepark and basketball court. "Sure Shot" is a throwback to 80s rap with the guys dropping in and out of rhymes with DJ Hurricane bringing each member in on cue one at a time. At a time when every west coast rapper was rapping over dirty 808 beats and keyboard riffs, the Beastie Boys were throwing down over dirty drum samples and a flute loop. Ah, yes indeed it's fun time.

3-Minute Rule (Paul's Boutique)
You could spend a year unraveling the beats from [i]Paul's Boutique[/i] and still not figure it out. This album would cost a zillion dollars to record today if all the samples had been licensed. "3-Minute Rule" is a stripped down track, finding the boys rapping over a looped and slightly chopped-up drum track sampled from Fancy's "Feel Good" (a beat I knew from Renegade Sound Dub). There are a lot of good B-Boy tracks and this is just one of them, but the stripped down and dirty production has always made this one of my faves.

Hey Fuck You (To the 5 Burroughs)
[i]To the 5 Burroughs[/i] was the Beastie Boys' post-9/11 love letter to New York City. At a time when production levels were through the roof, the B-Boys released a stripped down album that throws back to the early 80s. "Hey Fuck You" is an uncharacteristic diss track with a fun but dirty hook in the chorus. While the Beastie Boys began life as wild party boys, then eventually toned down their image and save for a few well known examples (making fun of MC Serch for "dancing around like you think your Janet Jackson" being one of the best known), the group tended not to call out other MCs... except here. The guys have always been coy about who this song is specifically about, claiming that it was "general conglomeration" of MCs, although with likes like "I think you should see a dermatologist" it feels pretty specific. Where some Beastie Boys tracks (especially early ones) feel as though they were making up (or at a minimum embellishing) adventures, this one has always come off as them shooting straight from the hip and has always been one of my favorites. And if you don't like it then hey, fuck you.

[Life of Agony: 3/5]

Weeds (Soul Searching Sun)
Life of Agony only writes one type of song (depressing), so even when the songs sound upbeat, they're not. "These weeds have grown where the sun once shown, and I can feel it, this space between us." Pretty much every LOA song is about abandonment and regret so you might want to hide any razors before diving into their discography.

Bad Seed (River Runs Red)
In this happy little tune, lead singer Keith Caputo asks if he's to blame for his mother's death while begging her to "shine down on me" and "show me that I'm not a bad seed." LOA's music is tight as usual, but it's Caputo's range and voice that sets them apart from the pack. He's not just asking her to show him he's not a bad seed, he howls it with pain.

Lost at 22 (Ugly)
Sometimes a song hits you at the right place at the right time. "I'm lost at 22, and I've got no fucking clue, and I don't know if things will work out right." I was 22 when I first heard this while working at Best Buy, and wondering myself if my own life was heading in the right direction. LOA rarely offers solutions to the depression, as is the case here, but at least I knew I wasn't alone in not having it all figured out. I still don't have anything figured out, but at least I'm not still working at Best Buy.

I Regret (Ugly)
Another happy ditty from Life of Agony. "Things I should have said, things that I regret... and I regret." At least the chorus ("shed my skin and start again") is easy to sing while you're bawling.

Let's Pretend (Ugly)
This is a song about how the lead singer was adopted but likes to pretend at night that his mother knows who he is. "Mommy it's me, it's Keith, you had me back when." The lyrics on this one are so heavy that the music takes a back seat, running runs through the same four chords over and over and growing in intensity. "Sometimes I like to pretend that she knows me, sometimes I like to pretend that she holds me... I guess I can't, 'cause she doesn't know who I am." I'm not crying, you're crying. This album should have come with a free hug.

[Faith No More: 2/5]

The Real Thing (The Real Thing)
FNM's breakthrough album (and the first one with Mike Patton on vocals) will always be remembered for "Epic," "Falling to Pieces," and "From Out of Nowhere," but there's only so many times you can listen to those songs. "The Real Thing," which kicks off the album's B-side, still stands up. Every members shows up here -- Puffy's drums, bass slides, from Gould, galloping guitars from Mr. Jim Martin, heavy keyboards from Roddy Bottum, and of course a combination of whispering, singing, and screaming from the one and only Mike Patton. One of the band's buried gems.

Midlife Crisis (Angel Dust)
If [i]The Real Thing[/i] was the album that turned Faith no More into media and MTV starlings, [i]Angel Dust[/i] was intentionally designed to do the opposite. Not only is the album an eclectic collection of songs, but nothing on the second album sounds like anything from the first. If there was one song that served as a gateway between the band's previous material and this new batch of challenging but infinitely interesting songs, it was this one. Again it's Patton's range over the simple beat that ultimately grows into something great.

Digging the Grave (King for a Day)
With guitarist Jim Martin fired and keyboardist Roddy Bottum chasing a heroin addiction, King for a Day was at the time the least FNM-sounding FNM album to date -- heavy on the rock and less experimental -- and quickly became my favorite release from the band. "Digging the Grave" is for the most part a straight-up rock song that retains the soul of the band partially in thanks to Puffy's pounding drums during the chorus.

The Gentle Art of Making Enemies (King for a Day)
This song feels like a quilt of awesome but unrelated riffs somehow sewn together in a way that makes sense. The band shows yet again they've mastered the art of quiet/loud/quiet which gentle verses and choruses that contain both singing and screaming. Any song that contains the phrase "happy birthday, fucker!" is worth at least some recognition.

Last Cup of Sorrow (Album of the Year)
[i]King for a Day's[/i] "Take this Bottle" is a fantastic but ultimately sappy bar sing-a-long that's wonderful, but too depressing to listen on repeat. In "Last Cup of Sorrow," the band captures the same sentiment but changes the mood from sad to offer just a little bit of hope intertwined within the angst. "It's your last cup of sorrow, what can you say? finish it today / It's your last cup of sorrow, so think of me, and get on your way!" Faith No More, giving us the hope we all needed in 2022.

MoP is top 10 for sure. One is great but I've heard it so many times it's better if you skip the first 5 minutes and get right to the rockin'.

That's bold, not putting MoP or One on there.