Favorite All Time Great Rock Songs

[devildeac]

Same here. Don'tcare that much for Anthems. Favorite E St Band record is Tunnel of Love. I guess I like it dark. Ghost of Tom Joad is an absolute masterpiece IMO. Last verse of Highway 29 is tragic genius.

"The road was filled with broken glass and gasoline
She wasn't sayin' nothin'', it was just a dream
The wind come silent through the windshield
All I could see was snow and sky and pines
I closed my eyes and I was runnin',
I was runnin' then I was flyin'"
https://youtu.be/Db8uxbYC5uU

Minor quibble/complaint/correction: Tunnel of Love is not with the E Street Band. I'm reading Born to Run now and just finished the section where he "fired" them just before that album/CD and used a bunch of other musicians on it, several of whom of course were E Street Band members. I like that better than Nebraska and Tom Joad.

[devildeac]

Minor quibble/complaint/correction: Tunnel of Love is not with the E Street Band. I'm reading Born to Run now and just finished the section where he "fired" them just before that album/CD and used a bunch of other musicians on it, several of whom of course were E Street Band members. I like that better than Nebraska and Tom Joad.

Upon further review, I'm not sure what exactly was going on with Tunnel of Love as each song has a member or 3 or 4 of the E Street Band listed in the credits and, in the CD notes, he lists each member of the band, but it's also written that all music is recorded by Bruce Springsteen except as noted and he wrote that several of his projects were 4/8/16/32 track recordings at various times in the mid-to-late 80s and early 90s so I'm left .

[lotusland]

Upon further review, I'm not sure what exactly was going on with Tunnel of Love as each song has a member or 3 or 4 of the E Street Band listed in the credits and, in the CD notes, he lists each member of the band, but it's also written that all music is recorded by Bruce Springsteen except as noted and he wrote that several of his projects were 4/8/16/32 track recordings at various times in the mid-to-late 80s and early 90s so I'm left .

Wikipedia lists the artist as Bruce Springsteen and E St band but the article explains that it was not an E St Band record. Album jacket only has Bruce Springsteen listed. I'd conclude that you were right initially that it's not an E St Band record. That agrees with the sparse production on the record which is what I like best. Bruce's songs tend to be dark but ESB sound coats the message with a triumphant facade. The song "Born in the USA" is the best example I know of.

[devildeac]

Wikipedia lists the artist as Bruce Springsteen and E St band but the article explains that it was not an E St Band record. Album jacket only has Bruce Springsteen listed. I'd conclude that you were right initially that it's not an E St Band record. That agrees with the sparse production on the record which is what I like best. Bruce's songs tend to be dark but ESB sound coats the message with a triumphant facade. The song "Born in the USA" is the best example I know of.

Good analysis. Born to Run (the book) goes into a lot of detail about his songs/writing and his personal/family issues and demons and nicely explains all those different periods of his life.

[rsvman]

Just not a Springsteen fan. Other than Nebraska, which is genius.

+1. Completely agree.

[OldPhiKap]

"Surrealistic Pillow" was released 50 years ago today. Wow.

[OldPhiKap]

Anything from "At Fillmore East" should qualify as a top 10 song. Rest In Peace, Gregg.

[chriso]

Good analysis. Born to Run (the book) goes into a lot of detail about his songs/writing and his personal/family issues and demons and nicely explains all those different periods of his life.

Agree Tunnel of Love is a masterpiece. A very brave record after Born in the USA to abandon that sound. My favorite song ever is Blackbird by The Beatles.

[YmoBeThere]

Ok, ok, I'll say it. While Thunder Road is a great song, definitely one of my Bruce Top Ten, it can't be any better than 3rd best on the Born to Run album. On an album, you don't put your best work up front. You get them in the door with a very good piece, a promise of great things to come. You knock'em back with a hard shot in the middle(Born to Run) and finish them off at the end with the knockout blow(Jungleland). Quite simple really.

Reading Born to Run, which DD appears to have already completed. Here are Bruce's thoughts on the album:

On Thunder Road:

It opens with the early-morning harmonica of "Thunder Road". You are introduced to the album's central characters and its main proposition: do you want to take a chance?

It lays out the stake you're playing for and sets a high bar for the action to come.

On Born to Run:

Side two opens with the wide-screen rumble of "Born to Run," sequenced dead in the middle of the record, anchoring all that comes before and after."

On Jungleland:

From there it's all night, the city and the spiritual battleground of "Jungleland" as the band works its way through musical movement after musical movement. Then, Clarence's greatest recorded moment. That solo. One last musical ebb, and... "The poets down here don't write nothing at all, they just stand back and let it all be...," the knife-in-the-back wail of my vocal outro, the last sound you hear, finishes it all in blood operatic glory.

I'll stick to my interpretation, I weight the closing more than an anchor or setting a high bar. Maybe its just that solo?

BTW, I think another Clarence highlight is his brief solo starting at about 3:45 in as Bruce and the E Street Band cover Pearl Jam's Better Man with Eddie Vedder.

[duke74]

"Surrealistic Pillow" was released 50 years ago today. Wow.

Boy, am I behind here! Possibly my favorite album...ever...

On another note, I was clicking through Netflix and caught the 2017 Joe Cocker documentary. One of my favorites. Incredible talent, apparently a good guy, but very troubled by the substance demons.

[burnspbesq]

Let me respectfully suggest two songs from the current decade that belong on any credible list of all-time great rock songs.

"Guns of Umpqua," Drive-By Truckers
"Elephant," Jason Isbell

[burnspbesq]

A short list of criminally under-appreciated songs.

"A Summer Song," Chad and Jeremy
"When You Walk in the Room," Jackie DeShannon
"She Has a Way," The Byrds
"I Don't Need No Doctor," Humble Pie
"White Lies," Grin
"Suavecito," Malo
"Angry Eyes," Loggins & Messina
"Don't Hang Up Those Dancin' Shoes," Terence Boylan
"When the Spell Is Broken," Richard Thompson
"Border Radio," The Blasters
"See How We Are," X
"If I Had a Rocket Launcher," Bruce Cockburn
"Is This All There Is," Los Lobos
"A Million Miles Away," The Plimsouls

[OldPhiKap]

Let me respectfully suggest two songs from the current decade that belong on any credible list of all-time great rock songs.

"Guns of Umpqua," Drive-By Truckers
"Elephant," Jason Isbell

A few great songs that Isbell wrote while in the DBT:

Outfit
Danko/Manuel
The Day John Henry Died

And although pre-Isbell, "Southern Rock Opera" by DBT is one of the best albums of the last 30 years IMO. About growing up in the South in the '70's/'80's, juxtaposed over the life and death of Lynyrd Skynyrd. Sounds weird, but it really works.

Two excellent additions, burnspbesq!

Here is Jason doing a post-DBT version of Outfit: https://youtu.be/vBps5Qr1D4E

Bonus Isbell -- Super 8, which he said was inspired by the Rolling Stones' "Sticky Fingers": https://youtu.be/3Fr2Gv3HyqA

[OldPhiKap]

For Chrischoke:

[HereBeforeCoachK]

A short list of criminally under-appreciated songs.

Not a bad list...I'd add Eyes of Silver, Doobies...

[YmoBeThere]

Doobies...

Hey now, this isn't that kind of website. Or is it?

[JasonEvans]

For Chrischoke:

That is one of the most beautiful things I have ever heard.

[Devilwin]

Cannot believe the Beach Boys had nothing on the lists..While most of their renderings would be considered "Pop", they had their moments.
Help Me Rhonda
409
Shut Down
Fun, Fun, Fun
Surfin' Safari
Do It Again
She's Not The Little Girl I once Knew

And, Brian Wilson was a genius songwriter, one of the best of his era.

[tteettimes]

CHUCK BERRY...GREATEST EVER
just a couple

Maybeline
Johnny B. Goode

[accfanfrom1970]

My short list would have to include:
LayLa
Kashmir
All Along the Watchtower
Forever (Little Steven and the Disciples of Soul)
Backstreets and Jungleland
Sympathy for the Devil