Top 6400 Rock Songs

[grmagne]

This year I’ve been working on a list of the top 6400 rock songs from 1950-2012.

Top Rock Songs 1950-2012

I downloaded 37 different top rock lists off the internet and merged them together, giving a score to each song each time it appears on a list (higher rank, higher score). Most of the lists came from radio stations, so it’s a very commercial list unlike the Rolling Stones top 500 which is weighed more towards influential songs even if they don’t get as much airplay.

These aren’t my personal opinions; for example, I was very surprised that Smells Like Teen Spirit ranked #1. Classic Rock otherwise dominated the top of the list but it gets a lot more varied as you move past the first few hundred songs.

 

[LG]

That's quite an undertaking grmagne...why 6400?

Can't say I agree with Nirvana being on top, but am not surprised either.

Always found it tiresome that Zep's "Stairway" and the Beatles "Hey Jude" ranked so high on these lists, both bands put out so many other songs I like a lot more than those two. I went years without listening to either one after FM stations played them to death when I was growing up.

 

[grmagne]

That's quite an undertaking grmagne...why 6400?

Can't say I agree with Nirvana being on top, but am not surprised either.

Always found it tiresome that Zep's "Stairway" and the Beatles "Hey Jude" ranked so high on these lists, both bands put out so many other songs I like a lot more than those two. I went years without listening to either one after FM stations played them to death when I was growing up.

Originally I was going to only publish the top 1000, but it didn't take any extra work to publish the next 5400 since I already had the lists compiled. I figured there's no harm in publishing the complete list.

One thing I did learn is that there's only maybe 2000 truly great rock songs. Once I got outside the top 2000, I found it was very hit-and-miss whether or not I'd like a song.

Everyone is surprised that Nirvana placed 1st, that's the most common observation. And I agree, I was surprised too. All I can say is that a song needs very widespread popularity to generate a high enough score to rank in the top 200-300. Nirvana not only got plenty of votes from all the Alternative and Classic radio station top rock song lists that I used, but also ranked on some lists that I didn't expect. Smells Like Teen Spirit is ranked in the top 10 on roughly a dozen of the 37 lists that I used, so it has much more widespread appeal than I initially realized.

People are also pointing out that it's a very commercial list, which is definitely true. I knew that Stairway to Heaven would finish near the top because it always comes near the top of top rock lists, and was guaranteed to rack up a very high score on my compilation. It didn't rank #1 as often as I thought, though, possibly because it's considered so cliché these days to rank Stairway number one.

 

[Cosmic Harmony]

I'm much more surprised that Nickleback is on the first page than Nirvana being at #1.

 

[LG]

There must be a lot of Nickelback fans in the world Cosmic, they remind me of U2, you either like them or hate them, not much middle ground. My sister is a huge fan and considers the concert she saw a couple years ago one of the best shows she's ever seen.

Originally I was going to only publish the top 1000, but it didn't take any extra work to publish the next 5400 since I already had the lists compiled. I figured there's no harm in publishing the complete list.

One thing I did learn is that there's only maybe 2000 truly great rock songs. Once I got outside the top 2000, I found it was very hit-and-miss whether or not I'd like a song.

Everyone is surprised that Nirvana placed 1st, that's the most common observation. And I agree, I was surprised too. All I can say is that a song needs very widespread popularity to generate a high enough score to rank in the top 200-300. Nirvana not only got plenty of votes from all the Alternative and Classic radio station top rock song lists that I used, but also ranked on some lists that I didn't expect. Smells Like Teen Spirit is ranked in the top 10 on roughly a dozen of the 37 lists that I used, so it has much more widespread appeal than I initially realized.

People are also pointing out that it's a very commercial list, which is definitely true. I knew that Stairway to Heaven would finish near the top because it always comes near the top of top rock lists, and was guaranteed to rack up a very high score on my compilation. It didn't rank #1 as often as I thought, though, possibly because it's considered so cliché these days to rank Stairway number one.

I guess Nirvana resonates with a large cross-section of fans, combined with the fact classic rock fans are slowly dying off...impossible to miss that as we watch the great musicians we grew up with passing on every week it seems.

There is nothing wrong with commercial lists, after all most bands do make a living writing/playing their music.

My top 100 would look quite a bit different than the one you have put together from all the sources you researched, but these kind of lists are all just for fun and speculation as far as I'm concerned.

 

[tomcat]

I'll give you credit for compiling such a mammoth list, BUT --


Smells Like Teen Spirit No. ONE???? No ****ing way.



Imaging in the top FOUR! NO WAY x 1,0000000000000000000000000000. Imagine is a horoble song. John Ono is talentless compared to John LENNON of the Beatles. You should have Beatles songs occupying all top ten spots if Imagine is so high. The Beatles in all top 10 spots isn't a bad idea regardless.

 

[LG]

^^You're getting mellow in your old age TC...I thought you'd REALLY let fly with your assessment of Nirvana being in top spot.

 

[tomcat]

It's not a bad song... Infinitely better than John Ono's Imagine @ 4, but it's not the best song ever by any means.

 

[LG]

^^I rather like Imagine, it's such an uplifting song and always resonates with me that humans can aspire to something better than what we have now in the world.

I have tried a half dozen times to "get" Nirvana...but I can't. There are other bands from the 90's I like so much more than them I never play their music. I have educated myself about them because so many people mention Cobain as such a marvelous musician and Nirvana as the 90's Beatles. Can't say I see it myself.