Greatest Songs/Tracks/Movements of All Time (Classical, Rock & Jazz)

Yea, no kidding. The 9.25/10 plus will eventually number in the hundreds, maybe up to a thousand or more, and the 9/10 section will be huge (if I keep it). I may limit this particular list to 9.5+. Not sure yet. For now I'm just gonna go for it.

To be totally precise, it rounds up to a 10. Probably a 9.9.

You should listen to the whole symphony on the link I provide from my top 10 albums of the week page. That's the performance of the ages and the way it should be heard.

Yes, and from what I remember it was incredible. But it's been years, and currently I can't tell you if I would agree or not. I'll be hearing it again soon and will be able to place it then.

Well, just listened to it and...wow

I considered it anywhere from a 9.4-9.6, currently going with the lower rating, but I'll be listening to it frequently from here on out, so perhaps it will move up. 9.5 seems a likely spot for it, I just haven't quite connected to it on that level so far. We'll see. Thanks!

Try this: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O2AEaQJuKDY

Separated into two parts, each just over 32 min.

Make sure you have 65 straight minutes available. Play it at a high volume. Try not to get distracted, and I suggest doing it on a headphone connection, as this pinpoints and balances each aspect of the orchestra & voices best.

Do your best to observe and connect with each bursting hurricane of emotion, each beautiful melody, each instruments'/voices' part. Notice how wildy emotional the symphony is. It virtually defies logic and its overwhelming nature has a certain epic madness to it, as if Beethoven was frusteratingly trying to cram as much emotional turmoil and transcendant beauty into it as possible, regardless of the potential fixed formatting limitations symphonies up until that point had posed. He had clearly descended into total madness here, as the symphony is bookended first by one of the most intensely stricken movements of music ever composed (notice how during its developing sections it sways and veers in and out of control before ascending and collapsing in total devastation), and last by the overwhelming, monumental tidal wave of the Ode to Joy. In between lies an "incorrectly placed" 2nd movement in which time is running out and thunderous herds of percussion hammer down, and where that one "should be placed" lies a nakedly beautiful slow movement of infinite beauty.

Hope that helps!

Not only all this, but the 9th actually recreates itself in the image of a new symphony over its last movement, which stands alone in symphonic form in and of itself.

Not sure if I've heard it. What's it from? Who's the composer?

Sexy... and Phantom Love are both amazing but I don't consider them 9/10. Infact, I may have to remove many of the other songs on this list (including some of the ones from Geek the Girl). Geek the Girl as a whole is quite superior to its individual parts, due to how well it all comes together and the gradation of emotional impact from each song on top of the last. As one composition (the entire album), it is an astounding masterpiece. Each part, though, isn't necessarily on that same, overall, level. This is true for most albums.

As for Cassandra Gemini... It is truly an astonishing work. However, I am "learning" more and more that very few songs are 9.5 (in my opinion). It almost always takes the cumulative impact and expanding emotional content of an entire album to produce results that incredible. To say a song is a 9.5 is to say it has the overall emotional power and significance of Black Saint or Beethoven's 9th. It is only recently that I've drawn this conclusion, so when I re-release the ratings on this list they will be markedly lower than the used to be (example: Ode to Joy is probably a 9.6/10 or 9.7/10 instead of 9.9/10). Sister Ray is probably a 9.5, etc....

There's a ton of revisions to be made on this list. I don't necessarily feel that's one of them though, but it may be when I get around to listening to it again.

The list needs to be revised, probably today or in the next couple days. I'll look at what needs to be added from Desertshore along with that.

Thanks, I've heard and love all of those, except "We Will Fall" and "Loads of Songs by Amon Duul" (just a few) and "United States of America"

My thoughts:

Spirit of Eden probably breaks down as follows for me (individual track ratings)...track 1 is a 7.5 and the next 5 are each 8's. If the first 3 were combined into one track I would give that an 8. The second half is also an 8 and every bit as emotionally profound.

Ladybird is a high 8.

The two Terry Riley tracks are still under consideration. They're each 8.5's right now but...we'll see...I go back and forth between 8.5 and 9 with both of them.

The track Dolmen Music is an 8.5-9. I might rate it a 9 as I have before. It's certainly a close one. Biography is definitely a 9+.

Trilogy is an 8.

The Peter Gabriel tracks are 7.5-8.

Feel free to query any others. It makes me put them into perspective and helps me get more and more acclimated to rating songs (which is more difficult than albums for me).

Also, this list is not currently being attended to. It will change dramatically when I get around to it as my standards are more demanding. All I'm focusing on with songs/tracks is the rock and jazz one at the moment and you can get a great idea of what constitutes a 9+ for me by viewing that one, but not so much with this one as it currently is.

Probably Turnover (track #1) on Repeater, though perhaps I'd consider 1-3 as one since it's all connected.

With Double Nickels I don't know the songs by titles very well so I have no idea. I'd have to go through it while paying attention to those, which I will do in the not too distant future as part of compiling the songs/tracks list.

Give the man a chance boy. =p

That's because I'm not working on this list whatsoever. Only the Rock/Jazz one is being worked on right now. Atem will be added once I decide where to place it. I've never heard Birth...or at least I don't recognize the title...

"That's because I'm not working on this list whatsoever. Only the Rock/Jazz one is being worked on right now."

Seems like you may be referring to my "Greatest Musical Works" list...

That list needs some serious revision, as well as this songs/tracks one.

Either way, no argument from me about A Love Supreme and Mahler's 9th in the top 5. I listen to both of them often and would probably rank Mahler's 9th #1 if I were to compile a list right this second...but Beethoven's 9th or Mingus' Black Saint are also right there, among others like TMR, Verdi's Requiem, etc. Also Shostakovich's 15th roams up and down my list, anywhere between Irrlicht and Faust at any given listen. A Love Supreme is certainly up there as well, as listed.

Re: Gesang der Junglinge. Eventually, with enough listens, the whole thing, as free, fragmented, indecipherable and spacious as it is, somehow works together into a definable cycle, becoming a wholly unique musical universe that utterly defies any and all "rules" of rhythm, tempo, composition...if anything I'm probably underrating it...