Top 5 Songs on the Top 5 Albums by Your Top 5 Artists

By far the most ambitious project we've undertaken on this blog, but for our 100th post, could you expect anything else? I'm going to assume for the sake of variety that all these lists are personal preferences, lest we get three instances of The Beatles at #1. Of course, if anyone else is trying to fool themselves by being be objective, then by all means.

Dan's Top 5:
I'm pretty satisfied with this list, having included less than ten songs out of 125 that I don't listen to regularly. I was really considering adding Bowie instead of Pink Floyd, but I had called Floyd my favorite for so long in high school, and Bowie is just too hard to whittle down to five albums.

1. Peter Gabriel




1. Peter Gabriel 3


1. Games Without Frontiers


2. I Don't Remember


3. Biko


4. No Self Control


5. Intruder


2. So


1. Sledgehammer


2. Red Rain


3. In Your Eyes


4. Big Time


5. That Voice Again


3. Peter Gabriel 4


1. Shock The Monkey


2. I Have The Touch


3. The Rhythm of the Heat


4. San Jacinto


5. Lay Your Hands On Me


4. Us


1. Secret World


2. Come Talk To Me


3. Digging In The Dirt


4. Blood of Eden


5. Kiss That Frog


5. Peter Gabriel


1. Solsbury Hill (my favorite song ever, and it's on one of his worst albums. Really, Up deserves to be here. But whatever.)


2. Moribund the Burgermeister


3. Modern Love


4. Down the Dolce Vita


5. Humdrum




2. Muse




1. Black Holes and Revelations


1. Invincible


2. Knights of Cydonia


3. Take A Bow


4. Starlight


5. Supermassive Black Hole


2. Absolution


1. Stockholm Syndrome


2. Butterflies And Hurricanes


3. Hysteria


4. Thoughts of a Dying Atheist


5. Falling Away With You


3. Origin of Symmetry


1. New Born


2. Plug In Baby


3. Bliss


4. Citizen Erased


5. Micro Cuts


4. H.A.A.R.P.


1. Knights of Cydonia (Live)


2. Butterflies And Hurricanes (Live)


3. Stockholm Syndrome (Live)


4. Hysteria (Live)


5. Invincible (Live)


5. Showbiz


1. Showbiz


2. Falling Down


3. Cave


4. Sober


5. Uno




3. Radiohead




1. The Bends


1. My Iron Lung


2. Fake Plastic Trees


3. Street Spirit (Fade Out)


4. Planet Telex


5. Just


2. OK Computer


1. No Surprises


2. Airbag


3. Paranoid Android


4. Karma Police


5. Climbing Up The Walls


3. Hail To The Thief


1. There There. (The Boney King of Nowhere.)


2. A Punchup at a Wedding. (No no no no no no no no.)


3. 2 + 2 = 5 (The Lukewarm.)


4. Where I End and You Begin. (The Sky is Falling In.)


5. Go to Sleep. (Little Man Being Erased.)


4. In Rainbows


1. Reckoner


2. Bodysnatchers


3. Videotape


4. House of Cards


5. Weird Fishes/Arpeggi


5. Kid A - it took me forever to warm up to this album


1. Optimistic


2. Everything In Its Right Place


3. Idioteque


4. The National Anthem


5. Morning Bell




4. Duran Duran




1. Rio


1. Hungry Like The Wolf


2. Rio


3. Save a Prayer


4. Hold Back The Rain


5. The Chauffeur


2. The Wedding Album


1. Ordinary World


2. Come Undone


3. Too Much Information


4. Breath After Breath


5. Love Voodoo


3. Duran Duran


1. Planet Earth


2. Girls on Film


3. Careless Memories


4. Night Boat


5. Anyone Out There


4. Red Carpet Massacre


1. Falling Down


2. Tricked Out


3. Skin Divers


4. Nite Runner


5. Red Carpet Massacre


5. Seven And The Ragged Tiger


1. The Reflex


2. The Union Of The Snake


3. New Moon On Monday


4. Of Crime and Passion (OK, I don't listen to these last two at all. But what am I going to do, say I like Medazzaland?)


5. The Seventh Stranger




5. Pink Floyd




1. The Dark Side of the Moon


1. Brain Damage


2. Eclipse


3. Time


4. Us And Them


5. Money


2. The Wall


1. Comfortably Numb


2. Run Like Hell


3. Nobody Home


4. Another Brick In The Wall, Part 2


5. Mother


3. Wish You Were Here


1. Wish You Were Here


2. Shine On You Crazy Diamond (Parts I - V)


3. Shine On You Crazy Diamond (Parts VI - IX)


4. Have A Cigar


5. Welcome To The Machine


4. Animals


1. Sheep


2. Pigs (Three Different Ones)


3. Dogs


4. Pigs On The Wing (Part One)


5. Pigs On The Wing (Part Two)


5. Meddle


1. Echoes


2. One Of These Days


3. Fearless


4. A Pillow Of Winds


5. San Tropez (I hate this song, but I hate "Seamus" even more.)

Ryan's Top A Lot:

1. The Beatles
   




1. Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band
   


1. A Day in the Life (again this song pops up in the #1 spot, maybe it IS my favorite song of all-time, I just don't realize it...)
   


2. Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band
   


3. Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds
   


4. Getting Better
   


5. Good Morning Good Morning
   


2. Abbey Road
   


1. Here Comes the Sun
   


2. The End
   


3. I Want You (She's So Heavy)
   


4. Because
   


5. You Never Give Me Your Money (note: ranking these was very difficult, esp. due to my refusal to consider the medley one song...otherwise the medley should be anyone's #1) (other note: Mean Mr. Mustard sounds like it could actually be on Nilsson's "The Point!")
   


3. Magical Mystery Tour
   


1. I Am The Walrus
   


2. Strawberry Fields Forever
   


3. All You Need Is Love
   


4. Hello, Goodbye (my dad's favorite, incidentally)
   


5. Penny Lane
   


4. The Beatles (White Album)
   


1. Happiness is a Warm Gun
   


2. Helter Skelter
   


3. Dear Prudence (I freely admit I have problems ranking #s 2 and 3, see the White Album list and the Top 5 Beatles songs list)
   


4. While My Guitar Gently Weeps
   


5. Back in the U.S.S.R.
   


5. Revolver
   


1. Eleanor Rigby
   


2. Yellow Submarine
   


3. Taxman
   


4. Got To Get You Into My Life
   


5. And Your Bird Can Sing (whew--I don't know what I was expecting with this list, but it is definitely proving a lot more difficult than planned... If The Beatles was that hard, I worry about the projects to come...)
   


2. Harry Nilsson
   




1. The Point!
   


1. Me and My Arrow
   


2. Think About Your Troubles (note: so damn good)
   


3. Everything's Got 'Em
   


4. Poli High
   


5. Life Line
   


2. Aerial Ballet
   


1. Everybody's Talkin'
   


2. Good Old Desk (a personal favorite...oh, right, we're doing a list about this)
   


3. Don't Leave Me (excellent scat)
   


4. Daddy's Song
   


5. One (not really one of my favorite songs, but still good...see Coconut below...I originally ranked Nilsson Schmilsson above Aerial Ballet, until I realized this was simply not the case; anyway, I typed up the rant about Coconut before this rant. I'll stop now.)
   


3. Nilsson Schmilsson


1. The Moonbeam Song


2. Gotta Get Up


3. Without You (really overdone, but this song is still good, damn it)


4. Jump Into The Fire


5. Coconut (admittedly not my favorite Nilsson song, but still a good song...I've downgraded it to 5...this song mainly irritates me because whenever you do a search for Nilsson, anywhere--google, limewire, etc.--this is the first song to pop up. I mean, Nilsson had so many better songs than this one. Meh, whatever.)


4. Harry


1. I Guess The Lord Must Be In New York City
   


2. The Puppy Song
   


3. Mother Nature's Son (per wiki, this was the Beatles' favorite cover of one of their songs)
   


4. Mr. Bojangles
   


5. Nobody Cares About The Railroads Anymore
   


5. Pandemonium Shadow Show
   


1. 1941
   


2. Sleep Late, My Lady Friend
   


3. Without Her
   


4. Cuddly Toy (hmm, here's some random Nilsson song titles: cuddly toy, the puppy song, good old desk, the moonbeam song...in many ways he appeals to the 4-year-old in me)
   


5. You Can't Do That
   




3. Ben Folds/Five (nuts to you if you think this is cheating)
   




1. Whatever and Ever Amen
   


1. Brick
   


2. One Angry Dwarf and 200 Solemn Faces
   


3. Evaporated


4. The Battle Of Who Could Care Less
   


5. Kate
   


2. Ben Folds Five
   


1. Alice Childress
   


2. Philosophy
   


3. Jackson Cannery
   


4. Boxing


5. Julianne
   


3. Rockin' the Suburbs
   


1. Still Fighting It
   


2. Not The Same
   


3. The Luckiest
   


4. Zak and Sara
   


5. Annie Waits
   


4. Naked Baby Photos (this is a compilation CD of previously unreleased tracks, but it has my two favorite BFF songs on it, so I have to include it...see #s 1-2)
   


1. Eddie Walker
   


2. Emaline
   


3. Underground (the best version of it)
   


4. For Those Of Y'All Who Wear Fanny Packs
   


5. Twin Falls
   


5. Songs for Silverman
   


1. Landed
   


2. Time
   


3. Prison Food
   


4. Bastard
   


5. Late (the first of two tributes to Elliot Smith to appear on this list...see BDB below)
   




4. Badly Drawn Boy
   




1. One Plus One Is One
   


1. Four Leaf Clover
   


2. Year of the Rat
   


3. Fewer Words (the other tribute to E.S.)
   


4. Logic Of A Friend
   


5. One Plus One Is One
   


2. About A Boy
   


1. Something To Talk About
   


2. A Minor Incident
   


3. Silent Sigh
   


4. I Love N.Y.E.
   


5. Donna and Blitzen
   


3. The Hour of the Bewilderbeast
   


1. The Shining
   


2. Disillusion
   


3. Once Around The Block
   


4. Pissing In The Wind
   


5. Everybody's Stalking (this song does not sound like a BDB song)
   


4. Born in the U.K.
   


1. Born in the U.K.
   


2. The Time of Times
   


3. Journey from A to B
   


4. Degrees of Separation
   


5. Promises
   


5. Have You Fed The Fish?
   


1. You Were Right
   


2. Born Again
   


3. Have You Fed The Fish?
   


4. All Possibilities
   


5. The Further I Slide
   




5. John Lennon (solo career)
   




1. Imagine
   


1. Imagine
   


2. Oh Yoko!
   


3. Jealous Guy
   


4. How Do You Sleep? (or, "Suck it McCartney!")
   


5. Oh My Love
   


2. John Lennon/Plastic Ono Band
   


1. God
   


2. Working Class Hero (he says "fuck" twice. Cool.)
   


3. Mother
   


4. Isolation (hey, according to wiki, this is one of Roger Waters' favorite songs of all-time)
   


5. Remember (man this song takes me back to my Lennon obsession in high school)
   


3. Mind Games
   


1. Meat City
   


2. Mind Games (as sung by Kevin Spacey.) (maybe not.)
   


3. Tight A$
   


4. Aisumasen (I'm Sorry)
   


5. Bring on the Lucie (Freeda People)
   


4. Double Fantasy
   


1. Watching the Wheels
   


2. (Just Like) Starting Over
   


3. Beautiful Boy (Darling Boy) (has "Life is what happens to you while you're busy making other plans" in it)
   


4. Woman
   


5. I'm Losing You
   


5. Rock 'n' Roll
   


1. Stand By Me
   


2. Be-Bop-A-Lula
   


3. Rip It Up/Ready Teddy
   


4. Ain't That A Shame
   


5. Peggy Sue
   

Tim's Top 5:

Given that the formatting would take forever, in part because I'm down to typing with six fingers and because it's blurring lines together, I'm forsaking it for now.

I. The Beatles –

A. Abbey Road
1. Polythene Pam
2. Something
3. Here Comes The Sun
4. You Never Give Me Your Money
5. Golden Slumbers

B. Revolver
1. Taxman
2. Tomorrow Never Knows
3. She Said She Said
4. Eleanor Rigby
5. Got to Get You Into My Life

C. Rubber Soul
1. Run For Your Life
2. In My Life
3. Norwegian Wood (This Bird Has Flown)
4. You Won’t See Me
5. The Word

D. Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band
1. Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band (reprise)
2. A Day in the Life
3. Lovely Rita
4. Getting Better
5. Good Morning Good Morning

E. A Hard Day’s Night
1. Things We Said Today
2. Can’t Buy Me Love
3. A Hard Day’s Night
4. You Can’t Do That
5. If I Fell

II. Pearl Jam –

A. Yield
1. Faithful
2. Wish List
3. In Hiding
4. Given To Fly
5. Brain of J.

B. Vs.
1. Elderly Woman Behind The Counter In A Small Town
2. Rearviewmirror
3. Glorified G
4. Daughter
5. Animal

C. Riot Act
1. Save You
2. Love Boat Captain
3. I Am Mine
4. Thumbing My Way
5. Can’t Keep

D. Vitalogy
1. Corduroy
2. Not For You
3. Spin the Black Circle
4. Last Exit
5. Immortality

E. Pearl Jam
1. Life Wasted
2. Gone
3. World Wide Suicide
4. Come Back
5. Severed Hand

III. Bruce Springsteen –

A. Born to Run
1. Thunder Road
2. Born to Run
3. Backstreets
4. Jungleland
5. Tenth Avenue Freeze Out

B. The Rising
1. Lonesome Day
2. The Rising
3. Worlds Apart
4. Into the Fire
5. Mary’s Place

C. Darkness on the Edge of Town
1. The Promised Land
2. Darkness on the Edge of Town
3. Prove It All Night
4. Badlands
5. Adam Raised a Cain

D. Born In The U.S.A.
1. No Surrender
2. Darlington County
3. My Hometown
4. Bobby Jean
5. Glory Days

E. The River
1. The Ties That Bind
2. Independence Day
3. The River
4. You Can Look (But You Better Not Touch)
5. Out in the Street

IV. Elliott Smith

A. Figure 8
1. Stupidity Tries
2. Son of Sam
3. Everything Reminds Me Of Her
4. Pretty Mary K
5. Junk Bond Trader

B. Either/Or
1. Ballad of Big Nothing
2. Pictures of Me
3. Speed Trials
4. Between the Bars
5. Alameda

C. XO
1. Waltz #2 (XO)
2. Bled White
3. Independence Day
4. Baby Britain
5. Bottle Up and Explode!

D. From A Basement on a Hill
1. Pretty (Ugly Before)
2. Coast to Coast
3. A Distorted Reality Is Now A Necessity To Be Free
4. A Fond Farewell
5. Shooting Star

E. Roman Candle
1. No Name #1
2. Condor Ave.
3. No Name #3
4. Roman Candle
5. Last Call

V. Guided by Voices

A. Mag Earwhig!
1. I Am A Tree
2. Jane of the Waking Universe
3. Portable Men’s Society
4. Can’t Hear the Revolution
5. Bulldog Skin

B. Isolation Drills
1. The Brides Have Hit Glass
2. Fair Touching
3. Twilight Campfighter
4. Skills Like This
5. Chasing Heather Crazy

C. Bee Thousand
1. Tractor Rape Chain
2. Echos Myron
3. Smothered in Hugs
4. I Am A Scientist
5. Gold Star For Robot Boy

D. Alien Lanes
1. Game of Pricks
2. Watch Me Jumpstart
3. A Salty Salute
4. Blimps Go 90
5. My Valuable Hunting Knife

E. Under the Bushes Under the Stars
1.Cut Out Witch
2. Don’t Stop Now
3. The Official Ironman Rallying Song
4. Underwater Explosions
5. Your Name Is Wild

Top 5 Songs About Space

OK, this sounded like a pretty straightforward idea but actually proved to be considerably more difficult than originally planned. Here's a ground rule to help make things slightly simpler: songs dealing with aliens, even if they're aliens visiting earth, qualify. (See song #3.)

Ryan's Top Five

1. "The Galaxy Song" - Monty Python (written by Eric Idle and John Du Prez) - This song reminds me of "Always Look On The Bright Side Of Life" (obvious) and "The Village Green Preservation Society" (less so). Why? There are few songs that make me more cheerfully content. These songs are my anti-drug. "So remember when you're feeling very small and insecure / How amazingly unlikely is your birth / And pray that there's intelligent life somewhere up in space / 'Cuz there's bugger all down here on earth."

2. "Space Oddity" - David Bowie - Well, Dan's right, you cannot omit this in good conscience and I'm taking the piss (I've been watching too much BBC) by not putting it #1. You know a song satisfies the "space" requirement when it includes a countdown to a lift-off. Anyway, I think I like the song "Starman" more but it seemed less applicable. "How did you spend your Saturday night, Ryan?" "I mused upon the space-relevance of David Bowie's "Starman" versus David Bowie's "Space Oddity," and yourself?"

3. "Concerning The UFO Sighting Near Highland, Illinois" - Sufjan Stevens - An excellent way to start an excellent album. More importantly, it's straight up about UFOs, homey.

4. "Silent Sigh" - Badly Drawn Boy - This is from the "About A Boy" soundtrack--Damon Gough's impassioned plea for people not to move to the moon just yet, not at least until earth has eaten the heart from your soul. Soon as that happens though, boy howdy, I'm the Mayor of Moon Village!

5. "Starlight" - Muse - I love the idea of a spaceship taking someone away from everyone who cares about you, cares if you live or die. I mean, what are our hopes and expectations anyway? It's all black holes and revelations. (I was tempted to put [and someone else may likely put] "Knights of Cydonia," as Cydonia is a region on Mars, but, you know, ... fair play? These are the cosmic debates that keep one up at night. [Pun intended...I intend all puns.])

Honorable Mentions: "Bowie's in Space," which I mainly left out because I'm tired of talking about Really Funny Stuff and ruining the humor; "Starman," Bowie; "Surfing on a Rocket," Air; "Flash!" Queen (as soon as I become a baseball player, this is my batter's box intro theme); "Knights of Cydonia"; "Spaceman," Nilsson.

Dan's Top 5:

1. David Bowie - Space Oddity - I could put this at #2, sure... but then it would become this list's "Hot Fuss" (see previous list) - everyone ranking it high, but no one with the guts to put it at #1. Funny note: I originally hated this song because it sounded too weird. The more I realized how awesome Bowie is, the more this song was acceptable. Actually, that's not a funny note. That's just a sad realization that my younger self didn't know good music when he heard it.

2. Elton John - Rocket Man - Probably my second-favorite Elton John song behind "Tiny Dancer." Some parts of the song are confusing, such as "All this science I don't understand," and "And there's no one there to raise them if you did." It also loses points because ever since the William Shatner fiasco (see here), it's had a corniness aspect to it. But nonetheless a great song.

3. Pink Floyd - Set the Controls for the Heart of the Sun - timpani drums + weird chimes + phrygian mode to give it that "Eastern" sound = space rock, right? As a matter of fact, the title is the only lyric that contains a reference to space. But I mean if you're programming a spaceship's navigation system to journey to the center of a fucking star, I'd say that qualifies as a space song. One of Pink Floyd's early masterpieces.

4. Styx - Come Sail Away - Yeah, remember that last verse, wherein it's revealed that the angels are really aliens from OUTER SPACE? I'll bet that blew your mind when you first heard it. Wait, who am I kidding? Styx can't possibly blow anybody's mind. But as I said in my Top 5 Songs to Blast While Driving, it's a really fun song, unlike most space songs, which tend to be too bleak.

5. Air - Surfing on a Rocket - This song is the reason I don't hate the French. By far Air's best song with lyrics, though in my book it would get blown out of the water by "Alpha Beta Gaga" if whistling counted as lyrics. Also, very inventive use of countdown lyrics. Never before has "Five, four, three, two, one, ze-ro" sounded so catchy.

Honorable Mention: Europe - The Final Countdown - if it weren't so easy to envision myself growing my hair out, putting on a shiny cape and playing this song on key-tar while on my bed, then this song would have made the list. Also, Ryan's honorables are pretty damn good. Come to think of it, we should also do Top 5 Personal Batter's Box Intro Themes soon.

Top 5 Surviving Bands

This list is of the best bands that have carried on with good music after one or more of their founders left the band for one of a myriad of reasons (e.g. creative differences, solo ambitions, or death). To give you a good example of what I'm after, I'm not going to be listing Weezer on this list, as in my opinion, all their good music came before Matt Sharp left following Pinkerton. Similarly, the Who never recovered from losing Kieth Moon. For the sake of history, I'll also list who left the bands and why.

Dan's Top 5:

1. Pink Floyd (Syd Barrett, mental problems and drug use) - Pink Floyd is probably the oddest choice I could make, as a majority of their success (both commercially and artistically) comes from songs that were almost directly related to Syd Barrett. So, in essence, the Barrett split defined the band. The most notable of these songs, in my opinion, is the epic "Shine On You Crazy Diamond."

2. Duran Duran (Roger Taylor, retirement, and Andy Taylor, solo career) - In my opinion, the New Duran Duran trio made one of the best pop albums of the 90's in the form of The Wedding Album. Even though the rest of their work is sub-par when compared to before the split, "Come Undone" and "Ordinary World" are just too good, not to mention "Too Much Information." The band would reunite in 2005 for one album before Andy left again in 2006.

3. Genesis (Peter Gabriel, brilliant solo career, Steve Hackett, creative differences) - Really, though this band went through tons of lineup changes, there are two distinct eras - The one with Collins, Rutherford, and Banks, and the earlier one that also included Gabriel and Hackett. The five-member Genesis was extremely artistic, Theatrical Victorian Prog Rock, while the three-member Genesis was the band that produced great 80's pop (see Invisible Touch). Both were amazing, so the band deserves this spot.

4. Van Halen (David Lee Roth, solo career) - The reasons why Diamond Dave split are still debated, but Sammy Hagar took over and led the band (or followed Eddie Van Halen's lead) into more pop-oriented waters. The thing is, it was still good music. 5150 was the first Hagar album as well as their first #1 album, and deservedly so. Gary Cherone sucked, though.

5. AC/DC (Bon Scott, death) - After Brian Johnson joined, they released Back in Black partially in tribute to Bon scott, and that went on to be one of the best-selling albums of all time. However, nothing apart from "Thunderstruck" has really been too good since.

Honorable mentions: The Rolling Stones (I'm sure someone else will put them, so I wasn't worried), The Yardbirds, Smashing Pumpkins

Ryan's Top Five

1. Red Hot Chili Peppers - This is the only band that came to mind at first, so I'll go with it. They lost Hillel Slovak and then went on to produce some of the best music of the (early-mid) 90s. Tory and I, I'm pretty sure, are maybe the only two people who like One Hot Minute more than Blood Sugar Sex Magik.

2. The Flaming Lips - Um, they had quite a few members over the years before they made their two best albums, The Soft Bulletin, and Yoshimi Battles The Pink Robots.

3. The Verve - Had a lot of turmoil before Urban Hymns, which, as I pointed previously, is one of the best albums of the 90s. Of course, they've never been as good since, but still. Actually, upon further review, the band broke up before this album, then guitarist Nick McCabe returned to record this album, and then they broke up again. So, I'm keeping it here, because the spirit of turmoil was so determined and admirable.

4. AC/DC - See Dan's entry, Back in Black was by far their best.

5. Pink Floyd - I slot them this low because I really like Syd Barrett's stuff.

I'm out.

Tim's Top 5:
1. Guided by Voices - (Tobin Sprout, Jim Pollard, Greg Demos, Jim McPherson...everyone who was ever in the band aside from Bob Pollard at some point...) This band went through dozens of lineups, but at the core, it remained solid, so that my favorite album of GbV's featured a lineup that would appear on no others (though Doug Gillard remained an integral part until the end).

2. The Ramones - (I can't go through the whole list, I'm not that much of a fan) There were eight of them, their music is, to me, relatively indistinguishable for most of their existence, I don't long for the presence of any particular members of the Ramones. This is all I have to say about the Ramones right now.

3. Pearl Jam - (a Spinal Tap-ish collection of drummers -- Dave Krusen, Matt Chamberlain, Dave Abbruzzese, Jack Irons -- a popular mention on this list) - Granted, it's a drummer, few bands (Zeppelin, The Who) would have been brought down by the loss of a drummer. That said, it's also a ton of drummers. And it's had no impact. Ten is still Pearl Jam's worst album, Matt Cameron is their best drummer, although Jack Irons was certainly sufficient.

4. Oasis - (Tony McCarroll after Definitely Maybe, Bonehead and Guigsy after Be Here Now, Alan White after Heathen Chemistry) -- Again, two of these were drummers, but it counts. They're not a great band anymore, but their albums continue to be better than they'll get credit for from the jaded Americans who seem to have grown skeptical of British acts. Heathen Chemistry and Don't Believe the Truth are both far better than advertised, and Standing on the Shoulder of Giants is a better album than anyone really remembers.

5. OK Go - (Andy Duncan, this is purely theoretical) Duncan left after they finished recording Oh No, so his replacement has not appeared on any albums, but they were good live after Duncan left, so I therefore can conclude that his loss will be negligible. I really have no contribution to offer to this Top 5 list whatsoever.

Frankly, I'd do far better with bands that utterly collapsed after a personnel shift (Chris Bell-less Big Star would top the list)

Top 5 Songs Containing the Word "Sun" in the Title

I figure, pop songs with a female singer, political pundits..."sun" songs is the next logical step, right? Anyway, this was an idea I thought of on the drive to Virginia, but I didn't have my iTunes handy when I got there. In the end there wasn't as much to choose from as I had hoped, so I resorted to lyrics websites.

Unnecessarily strict rule: it has to be "sun"--not sunshine, sunday, sunny, etc. Without further ado...

Ryan's Top 5

1. "Who Loves the Sun" - Velvet Underground - I really think this is one of the best pop songs of all-time. And, frankly, it was the impetus for this top 5.

2. "Here Comes the Sun" - The Beatles - The fact that this used to be my favorite song illustrates how much I've come to love song #1. That being said, this is definitely one of my favorite songs, still, so it's a close second on this list. This was George Harrison's best.

3. "House of the Rising Sun" - The Animals - I'd be remiss not to include this track. I'll admit it's not one of my all-time favorites, but it is damn good, and I wouldn't switch away from it on the radio. I'm also a sucker for the British Invasion.

4. "Blister in the Sun" - Violent Femmes - This narrowly defeats "Black Hole Sun" for the 4-spot.

5. "Black Hole Sun" - Soundgarden - I really could never get into Soundgarden past this song. This song, however, is great.

Honorable mentions: The Beatles - Sun King, Jimi Hendrix - Third Stone from the Sun, The Polyphonic Spree - It's the Sun, The Beatles - I'll Follow the Sun.

OK people, blow me away, show me the fantastic songs I'm forgetting.

Dan's Top 5:

1. Pink Floyd - Set the Controls for the Heart of the Sun - One of Pink Floyd's first songs that was truly "out there." In my opinion, it paved the way for stuff like "Echoes," which would come right before the released Dark Side of the Moon. Still a good listen, and one of my favorites.

2. The Beatles - Here Comes The Sun - I have an automatic affinity for Harrison songs, and this was arguably his best song.

3. The Animals - House of the Rising Sun - A classic, it's got an instantly recognizable chord progression and I don't know of anyone who doesn't like it. Catchy, yet haunting. You'd probably get a very good response if your band decided to do a live cover of this one.

4. Violent Femmes - Blister in the Sun - Listen to this in the morning and I challenge you to keep it out of your head the rest of the day. It was one of those songs I had heard before countless times but never figured out what it was until I stumbled across the album. Most Beatles hits have the same story.

5. Elton John - Don't Let the Sun Go Down on Me - OK, honestly not the best I Could have come up with, since it's one of Elton John's weaker hits. I mean, the verse is forgettable, so the only notable part of the song is the chorus. Still, I haven't expressed my appreciation for Elton John much, so here's his first shout-out.

Tim's Top 5:
1. Here Comes the Sun - The Beatles - There simply is no comparison here, it's the second best individual song on the best album of all time (the first greatest is a song most people barely recall, but I think Polythene Pam is amazing). Fact. It's a song that's totally cool-free, listening to it will get you no street cred whatsoever, but it's still a great song and one of the best expressions of optimism in music.

2. Holidays in the Sun - The Sex Pistols - Then again, as good as Abbey Road is, Never Mind the Bollocks isn't exactly a Matchbox 20 album either. This song was all it took to hook me on the idea that I could indeed become a punk music fan, no matter how many people wearing Operation Ivy patches on their clothes I hated. The whole band is in rare form for this, the guitar and bass are flawless, the drumming is exciting, and Johnny Rotten is sufficiently unintelligible to fit the frantic pace and relatively thin lyrics that never really get much beyond the fact that the Berlin Wall is somehow involved.

3. Turn Up the Sun - Oasis - This list is pretty poor, I can tell you flat out. This song is really good, but the main reason it's the most listened to "sun" song on ITunes is that it's the first track on Don't Believe The Truth, falling within three tracks of "Love Like A Bomb". But it's a good opener for the album,

4. The Sun - Maroon 5 - That's right, I'm a defender. Had "This Love" and "She Will Be Loved" never made it onto the radio, people could still speak with praise about this album as being an inspiring turn towards old-school pseudo-funk Stevie Wonder. Instead, now every 14 year old girl has grown out of Maroon 5, leaving aesthetes like myself the job of defending our taste in blogs that no one besides the four of us will ever read. It's a tough life. The stairstep vocals where Adam Levine is almost just putting scales to lyrics are a great hook for me, and this song was spared the radio play that ruined so much of this album for me.

5. Walk in the Sun - Bruce Hornsby - Have I somehow managed to conceal that I'm a total pussy thus far? Because I think that if Maroon 5 had not yet done so, this blows my cover entirely. I really enjoy Bruce Hornsby, and can't even pretend it's his association with The Grateful Dead that does it for me. I will point out that this list is pretty skimpy on sufficient songs and that's certainly the only reason that this makes the list, since it's not among my favorites -- it's no "Set Me In Motion", let alone "The Valley Road", but the fact is that I do like it. I'm so adult contemporary somedays that I want to kick my own ass. If only John Tesh had some intelligence for my life...

Honorable mention: Walking in the Sun - Travis -- seriously, this is all I can muster; Blame It on the Sun - Stevie Wonder. I have another dozen "sun" songs on my Ipod, but none of them warrant mention. Except in retrospect, the songs on both Dan and Ryan's lists really ought to be slotted into #5's spot...but since I went through the emotional trauma of admitting that I like Bruce Hornsby, I'll just leave it at that and pretend I've never heard of The Violent Femmes or Eric Burdon, because I was too busy buying albums from Windham Hill artists.