Great? You Be The Judge

Do you watch VH1? I don’t – in fact, I don’t even have a TV.

However, the lists that they put together continue to fascinate me. The network recently compiled a list of the Top 100 Greatest Hard Rock Songs of All Time. I can’t imagine what would inspire someone to select some of these songs (does Creed’s “Higher” really belong on any greatest anything list?), and any list that includes The Kinks, MC5, Motorhead, The White Stripes and Warrant just makes my head spin. But for a child of the ‘70s & ‘80s, this does stir some crazy musical memories of the soundtrack of my youth. Here is the list in all of its glory:

100. Sammy Hagar – I Can’t Drive 55
99. Grand Funk Railroad – We’re An American Band
98. Buckcherry – Lit Up
97. The Edgar Winter Group – Frankenstein
96. Kansas – Carry On My Wayward Son
95. Creed – Higher
94. The Darkness – I Believe In A Thing Called Love
93. Autograph – Turn Up The Radio
92. Night Ranger – Don’t Tell Me You Love Me
91. Smashing Pumpkins – Bullet With Butterfly Wings
90. Jethro Tull – Aqualung
89. Andrew W.K. – Party Hard
88. Alice in Chains – Would?
87. Winger – Seventeen
86. Marilyn Manson – The Beautiful People
85. Velvet Revolver – Slither
84. W.A.S.P. – I Wanna Be Somebody
83. Evanescence – Bring Me Back To Life
82. Rainbow – Since You Been Gone
81. Black Sabbath – Heaven And Hell
80. Journey – Any Way You Want It
79. Billy Idol – Rebel Yell
78. Bad Company – Feel Like Making Love
77. Soundgarden – Black Hole Sun
76. Lita Ford – Kiss Me Deadly
75. The White Stripes – Seven Nation Army
74. The Cult – Love Removal Machine
73. Thin Lizzy – Jailbreak
72. Pat Benatar – Heartbreaker
71. Jane’s Addiction – Mountain Song
70. Foreigner – Hot Blooded
69. Living Colour – Cult Of Personality
68. White Zombie – More Human Than Human
67. ZZ Top – Tush
66. Europe – The Final Countdown
65. MC5 – Kick Out The Jams
64. Rollins Band – Liar
63. Survivor – Eye Of The Tiger
62. Dokken – Breaking The Chains
61. Ratt – Round And Round
60. Skid Row – 18 And Life
59. Billy Squier – The Stroke
58. Stone Temple Pilots – Interstate Love Song
57. The Kinks – You Really Got Me
56. Warrant – Sweet Cherry Pie
55. Blue Oyster Cult – Don’t Fear The Reaper
54. Faith No More – Epic
53. Steppenwolf – Born To Be Wild
52. The Runaways – Cherry Bomb
51. Megadeth – Peace Sells
50. Red Hot Chili Peppers – Give It Away
49. Iggy And The Stooges – Search And Destroy
48. Korn – Freak On A Leash
47. Kid Rock – Bawitdaba
46. Anthrax – Madhouse
45. Foghat – Slow Ride
44. Cream – Sunshine Of Your Love
43. Dio – Holy Diver
42. The Clash – Should I Stay Or Should I Go
41. Quiet Riot – Cum On Feel The Noise
40. Poison – Talk Dirty To Me
39. Boston – More Than A Feeling
38. Queen – Stone Cold Crazy
37. The Who – My Generation
36. Van Halen – Hot For Teacher
35. Alice Cooper – School’s Out
34. Heart – Barracuda
33. Green Day – Basket Case
32. Ted Nugent – Cat Scratch Fever
31. AC/DC – Dirty Deeds Done Dirt Cheap
30. Pearl Jam – Evenflow
29. Joan Jett – Bad Reputation
28. Foo Fighters – Everlong
27. Whitesnake – Still Of The Night
26. Lynyrd Skynyrd – Freebird
25. The Ramones – Blitzkrieg Bop
24. Iron Butterfly – In A Gadda Da Vida
23. Ozzy Osbourne – Crazy Train
22. The Jimi Hendrix Experience – Hey Joe
21. Led Zeppelin – Kashmir
20. Bon Jovi – You Give Love A Bad Name
19. Rush – Tom Sawyer
18. Scorpions – Rock You Like A Hurricane
17. Twisted Sister – I Wanna Rock
16. Kiss – Rock And Roll All Nite
15. Motley Crue – Dr. Feelgood
14. Iron Maiden – Run To The Hills
13. Def Leppard – Photograph
12. Judas Priest – Breaking The Law
11. Deep Purple – Smoke On The Water
10. Motorhead – Ace Of Spades
9. Van Halen – Runnin’ With The Devil
8. Aerosmith – Walk This Way
7. Nirvana – Smells Like Teen Spirit
6. The Who – Won’t Get Fooled Again
5. Metallica – Enter Sandman
4. Black Sabbath – Paranoid
3. Led Zeppelin – Whole Lotta Love
2. AC/DC – Back In Black
1. Guns N’ Roses – Welcome To The Jungle

And, if spending time reviewing this list doesn’t provide enough entertainment, I will leave you with this to provide hours of amusement. Yes, those are the isolated vocal tracks from THE Diamond Dave on the first track from Van Halen’s 1978 eponymous debut album and the #9 Greatest Hard Rock Song of All Time, Runnin’ With The Devil. Enjoy!

~ by acm213 on January 4, 2009.