Top 10 Greatest Songs of All Time According to Rolling Stone

From several lists I have already made about Rolling Stone magazine, you probably know my opinion about them. I don't hate them, but they are really flawed at times. Their annual "best of the year" lists, which aim to pick the greatest tracks of a given year, are often based solely on popularity, and the accompanying write-ups are short and unenthusiastic.

However, whenever they decide to create "bigger" lists that include records spanning many different eras, the results are suddenly decent. For example, their list of the best emo albums is brilliant. They didn't just pick the obvious choices that show up on every fanboy's list (and that includes some of my own favorites). Instead, they tried to highlight the most important, influential, and critically praised works, including records dating back to the 1980s - when emo was still years away from being widely known outside the underground scene. Rolling Stone has many lists like that.

Now, even though I once made a list explaining why their 500 Greatest Albums of All Time list is flawed (e.g., it focuses too much on the English-speaking world when countries like Japan, France, Germany, and those in South America have equally relevant music scenes. It includes compilation albums. And it favors certain decades and genres over others), I still believe it is the closest we've ever come to a musical canon. In fact, I think they did a better job than all other similarly themed publications I know - and this applies to their songs list as well.

I'm not sure if the word "canon" is commonly used in English, so let me clarify: it refers to a list containing works that are essential and should be known by everyone. Most of the songs on Rolling Stone's list are historically significant - either because they were massive hits themselves or because they influenced other major works. They are also songs that the majority of music enthusiasts worldwide would agree are great. This is likely because the list wasn't created solely by the magazine's staff but also included input from musicians and critics.

Looking at the songs that made it into the Top 10, I am quite happy. Sure, "Bohemian Rhapsody" - a track often hailed as one of the greatest songs of all time - didn't even make the Top 100, but the songs that landed in the top spots are undeniably fine and important to music history. The artists represented in the Top 10 are typically regarded as some of the greatest of all time, and they are featured with either their signature songs or tracks that most fans agree are their finest.

However... is it just a coincidence that the top two songs have "Rolling Stone" in either the title or the band's name? It seems a bit suspicious. That said, considering the widespread acclaim these songs receive from other sites and publications, it may really just be a coincidence. Still, it's definitely kind of weird.

Source: https://www.rollingstone.com/music/lists/the-500-greatest-songs-of-all-time-20110407, Created on 3/14/2018

The Top Ten

Like a Rolling Stone - Bob Dylan