Top 5 lists: Music
9 lists
Top 5 Albums That Still Work at 1 a.m.
Records that get better as the house gets quieter.
1–3: Kind of Blue — Miles Davis · Blue — Joni Mitchell · In Rainbows — Radiohead
Top 5 Albums Where the Last Track Is the Best One
For records that save their knockout punch for the very end, and reward everyone who didn't hit shuffle.
1–3: A Day in the Life — The Beatles · Purple Rain — Prince and the Revolution · Desolation Row — Bob Dylan
Top 5 Songs Where the Bass Line Is the Real Lead Singer
The vocals are fine, but the riff you're humming in the shower belongs to the person standing at the back of the stage.
1–3: Good Times — Chic · Another One Bites the Dust — Queen · Come Together — The Beatles
Top 5 Songs Over Seven Minutes That Never Once Drag
Long songs that earn every second, the ones you never skip and secretly wish ran even longer.
1–3: Marquee Moon — Television · All My Friends — LCD Soundsystem · Purple Rain — Prince
Top 5 Debut Albums That Made Everyone Else Look Lazy
First records so complete you'd swear the band had been doing this for decades.
1–3: Illmatic — Nas · The Velvet Underground & Nico — The Velvet Underground · Horses — Patti Smith
Top 5 Live Albums That Make You Jealous You Weren't There
The records where you can hear the sweat, the crowd and the exact moment the band realized it was having the night of its life.
1–3: Live at the Harlem Square Club, 1963 — Sam Cooke · Stop Making Sense — Talking Heads · At Folsom Prison — Johnny Cash
Top 5 Songs That Sound Better With the Car Windows Down
Five songs that need a highway, some wind noise and at least one passenger willing to shout the chorus.
1–3: Go Your Own Way — Fleetwood Mac · Mr. Brightside — The Killers · Dog Days Are Over — Florence + The Machine
Top 5 Cover Songs That Made the Original Nervous
Covers so good the songwriter had to admit it wasn't really theirs anymore.
1–3: Hurt — Johnny Cash · All Along the Watchtower — The Jimi Hendrix Experience · Nothing Compares 2 U — Sinéad O'Connor
Top 5 Songs That Turn Doing the Dishes Into a Movie Montage
Put one on, turn the tap on, and suddenly scrubbing a lasagna pan feels like the scene where everything starts going right.
1–3: Mr. Blue Sky — Electric Light Orchestra · September — Earth, Wind & Fire · Dreams — Fleetwood Mac