I have trouble taking any list seriously that doesn't include Never Been Any Reason... http://www.rollingstone.com/news/story/_/id/6596661/sort/rank?rnd=1101048271764&has-player=true -- Welcome to the ultimate jukebox: the second edition of the ROLLING STONE 500, a celebration of the greatest rock & roll songs of all time, chosen by a five-star jury of singers, musicians, producers, industry figures, critics and, of course, songwriters. As with last year's inaugural RS 500 honoring the greatest albums ever made, the editors of ROLLING STONE called on rock stars and leading authorities to list their fifty favorite songs, in order of preference. The 172 voters, who included Brian Wilson, Joni Mitchell and Wilco's Jeff Tweedy, were asked to select songs from the rock & roll era. They nominated 2,103 songs in virtually every pop-music genre of the past half-century and beyond, from Hank Williams to OutKast. The results were tabulated according to a weighted point system. For this RS 500, the word song refers to both a composition and its definitive recorded performance, as a single or an album track. Bob Dylan, the Beatles and the Rolling Stones accounted for a combined total of 117 nominated songs, a measure of their unbroken reign as rock's most influential, beloved artists. Nirvana and the Clash crashed the top twenty, rubbing guitars with Chuck Berry and Jimi Hendrix. This RS 500 is also a tribute to the eternal power of popular music, and great songwriting in particular, to reflect and transform the times in which we hear it. The highest-ranked Beatles-related song is from 1971: John Lennon's utopian dream "Imagine," America's alternative national anthem since 9/11. The entire top twenty is practically a contemporary newscast, a breaking story of worry, temper, hope and pride: "Let It Be," "My Generation," "Respect," "A Change Is Gonna Come." The RS 500 salutes the songs that move us -- and the artists who create them. It is also proof that whenever you want to know what's going on, listen to the music.
**** Rolling Stone. The best two songs are The Beatle's Dear Prudence and In My Life. Stupid mainstream choices. Friggin' Percy Sledge at 53 with his gap toothed ass.
What a bunch of shameless self promotion. They solidified themselves as the number one rock and roll mag by making the number one and two songs related to the title of their magazine. Smart, but way to easy to see through. Rolling Stone, I wipe my butt with you.
Like A Prayer at #300??? tell Rolling Stone to bite me. and the beatles too while we're at it (even though i like them the obsession with them pisses me off).
So Rolling Stone's panel picked "Like a Rolling Stone" for #1 and a song by the "Rolling Stones" #2. The trifecta would've been "Papa was a Rolling Stone" by the Temptations at #3.
No Manilow, No RHCP, No Sublime, No Foo Fighters. Eminem's 2 mainstream darlings, waaaaay too many 60s rock songs. Hey Ya which is like the 45th best Outkast song. WAAAAAAAAAAACK
