The A-Number-1 Best Song(s) of All Time: Objectively

[1SO]

I only have 10 songs starting with 'Z'. 2nd choice would be Zero by Smashing Pumpkins. A distant 2nd choice.

I'm not a fan of Aphex Twin and find it odd that I went with Xanadu and you didn't. out of 4 songs my 2nd choice was "X Gonna Give it to Ya by DMX.

7 'Q' songs. 2nd choice would be either Queen Bitch by Bowie or Questions in a World of Blue by Julee Cruise.

[Antares]

Thanks for bumping this thread 1SO, because I would have never seen this earlier post...

My greatest song of all time:

Close to the Edge - Yes

Without a doubt!

For me, and many other music fans around the world, this album was the only time in music history when the stars aligned perfectly. Each of the four main musicians in Yes were either considered the best or one of the best artists on their musical instrument. And for one recording session, they all created their most innovative music.

I owned this album in four different offerings, 8-track, vinyl, cassette, & CD. I was a sophomore in high school and saved every cent I could earn in the summer of 1975 to purchase a set of Koss PRO4/AAA headphones, which were state of the art in the mid-70's. You've never really had your mind blown until you hear this song, at an excessively high rate of volume in superior quality headphones.

You know how every so often you get a slight ringing in your ears, that comes out of nowhere? I like to think that listening to this song, in the way I described, caused it for me. 

[Eric/E.T.]

I have never really taken any time with Yes, maybe this will get me there. Now to look through this thread further.

[Antares]

I have never really taken any time with Yes, maybe this will get me there. Now to look through this thread further.

Start with The Yes Album, then Fragile and finish with Close to the Edge. There's a bit of a drop off after that, when Bill Bruford left the band to join King Crimson. If you still want to explore more of their music, then skip over to the Relayer and Going for the One albums. I don't think you would like Tales from Topographic Oceans. But I would follow Bruford to King Crimson's best albums, Larks Tongues in Aspic, Starless and Bible Black and Red.

[1SO]

My greatest song of all time:

Close to the Edge - Yes

Without a doubt!

Surprising to read. I'm hardly a Yes noob, but for me Fragile is their best release and "Roundabout" is their signature song with good reason. The only track that comes close is "I've Seen All Good People".

[Antares]

My greatest song of all time:

Close to the Edge - Yes

Without a doubt!

Surprising to read. I'm hardly a Yes noob, but for me Fragile is their best release and "Roundabout" is their signature song with good reason. The only track that comes close is "I've Seen All Good People".

Cans and Brahms from Fragile is the one note of mediocrity on the album. Though Roundabout is their signature song, the best song on the album is Heart of the Sunrise. If you really want to delve into their amazing creativity, do a YouTube search with the name of a song and type isolated track after it. You can hear many isolated tracks to key songs in their repertoire. Especially the Bruford/Squire drum/bass music, it's otherworldly.

[Eric/E.T.]

Objectively, hmm...

Give me two Sgt Pepper's:
With a Little Help from My Friends
A Day in the Life

Radiohead have great album cuts, but the best of the best of the best still might be taken from their singles, the objectively best being:
Fake Plastic Trees
Karma Police
Paranoid Android
No Surprises
2+2=5
Daydreaming

OK Computer might be the only album that has an A-Number-1 Best Song of All Time (Objective) on every track.

And then there's one live Radiohead track that no recorded version could ever live up to:
True Live Waits (Live)

90's hip-hop yields probably more A-Number-1's than any other genre and time period, though:
N.Y. State of Mind, Life's a Bitch, Memory Lane (Sittin' in da Park), and It Ain't Hard to Tell from Illmatic alone (another one of those objectively perfect albums).
Fu-Gee-La & Ready or Not - Fugees
DWYCK - Gang Starr featuring Nice & Smooth
Sometimes I Rhyme Slow - Nice & Smooth
Sugar Hill - AZ
Can't Knock The Hustle - Jay-Z featuring Mary J. Blige
Juicy - The Notorious B.I.G.
Ambitions Az a Ridah - 2Pac
Doggy Dogg World - Snoop featuring Tha Dogg Pound
Buggin' Out - A Tribe Called Quest
Last Dayz - Onyx
Ghetto Bastard and Uptown Anthem - Naughty By Nature
Protect Ya Neck - Wu-Tang Clan (from ANOTHER perfect album, Enter The Wu-Tang 36 Chambers)
They Reminisce Over You (T.R.O.Y.) - Pete Rock & CL Smooth (this actually might be the greatest hip-hop song of all-time)
ATLiens - OutKast (and probably so much more from this group)

I'll stop there for now.

[Junior]

Love the letters list idea, but let's start with numbers.

1. 1999 - Prince
2. 22 (Over S∞∞N) - Bon Over
3. 3 AM - Matchbox Twenty

And that's all I have for numbers in my thumbs up playlist.

At Last - Etta James
Bloodbuzz Ohio - The National
Come On Eileen - Dexys Midnight Runners
Dancing On My Own - Robyn
Eleanor Rigby - The Beatles
Float On - Modest Mouse
Get Me Away from Here, I'm Dying - Belle and Sebastian
Hey Ya! - OutKast
I Wish I Knew How It Would Feel to Be Free - Nina Simone
Jesus Walks - Kanye West
Karma Police - Radiohead
Like a Rolling Stone - Bob Dylan
Me and Bobby McGee - Janis Joplin
Not - Big Thief
Oops...I Did It Again - Britney Spears
Purple Rain - Prince
Que Sera Sera - Doris Day
Rainbow Connection - Kermit the Frog
Superstition - Stevie Wonder
This Must Be the Place (Naive Melody) - Talking Heads
Unbelievers - Vampire Weekend
Valerie (Live at BBC Radio1 Live Lounge) - Amy Winehouse
Wake Up - Arcade Fire
You Can't Always Get What You Want - The Rolling Stones
Ziggy Stardust - David Bowie

Feels.like this exposes my taste almost too much.

[Knocked Out Loaded]

#	21st Century Schizoid Man	King Crimson
A	A Horse With No Name	America
B	Barracuda	Heart
C	Can Your Pussy Do The Dog?	The Cramps
D	Done Gone Blue	Los Lobos
E	Emotional Rescue	The Rolling Stones
F	Fisherman	The Congos
G	Ghost Town	The Specials
H	How I Wrote 'Elastic Man'	The Fall
I	I Put A Spell on You	Screaming Jay Hawkings
J	Johnny	Suicide
K	Killing Moon	Echo And The Bunnymen
L	Lust For Life	Iggy Pop
M	Money (That's What I Want)	Barrett Strong
N	Neuköln	David Bowie
O	Ode To Billy Joe	Bobbie Gentry
P	Pancho And Lefty	Townes Van Zandt
Q	Question	The Moody Blues
R	Rock And Roll	The Velvet Underground
S	Stagger Lee	Nick Cave Ande The Bad Seeds
T	Teenage Kicks	The Undertones
U	Until The End Of The World	U2
V	Venus As A Boy	Björk
W	We're All Going To The Seaside	The Monopoly
X	X Offender	Blondie
Y	You're Going To Need Somebody	Richard And Linda Thompson
Z	Zanzibar	Hoodoo Gurus

Okay. So I made it through the ABC book and it wasn't an entirely pleasant experience. So many songs left laying on the shelf! I initially planned to expand on some of the entries a little, but that have to wait for now as I don't want to think about the list for a while now. There is a YouTube playlist for the songs available here.

[Sandy]

That's quite a feat, KOL!

I just subscribed, so can work through those songs; some I know and some will be new discoveries.