GOAT songs - Music Diaries - Forums : Best Ever Albums

Amirkhosro

Gender: Male
Age: 36
Location: Tehran

Ok so it works like this: I update and add to the first post as we go along. I'm not the most forum-savvy guy so bear with me here.
The title says exactly what this is, and I want to also add that on top of the usual criteria for these types of things (influence technicality listenablity etc), I'm specifically picking songs that mean something big or important to me personally/as part of a group. In other words, I'll defend any of the following songs as a masterpiece of some sorts, but that's as far as the objectivity goes. I'm not looking to prove these songs are better than your goat song picks. Who cares. It's all subjective. Oh and I'm Iranian so expect some grammar weirdness here and there.
We all set? Good. Here it goes:

Fugazi - Song #1
As their name suggests, it's all "fucked up got ambushed zipped in" throughout their glorious discography, which in turn makes this casually nihilistic anthem all the more effective in its joyful swinging tension and release. This is a one time thing, a momentary lapse of depression giving you a glimpse of all the possibilities and how small and easy everything can be. This is Fugazi at their peak doing what's least typical of them and sing a simple tune of joy. It still comes off aggressive but that's what makes the serenity seem so pragmatic. "Song #1 is not a fuck you song" which is probably why it's the boldest statement these anti-idiotic post-punk giants ever made. The last verse is everything. I'm taking more time than the song with this paragraph. It's nothing.

Roxy Music - If There Is Something
It took me as long as a decade to recognize this song as Roxy's magnum opus just like I did on my very first time first time listening to these art gangsters first few albums, but hey, Bogus Man is still GOAT-tier. Regardless, this one makes all other prog rock sound a bit obsolete, 'cause they play this as if they aren't even trying to make it a melodically and dynamically dense structure, rather opting for the most natural obvious-sounding flow. You gotta hear this one to believe it. Plus it has "growing potatoes by the score" and you can't really beat that line, ever.

The Feelies - The Boy With the Perpetual Nervousness
This song is more or less the universal nerd anthem, and for all the good reasons: it's excessively smart, very hypnotic groove, that instrumental bit accidentally opens a portal to another universe, and above all the message. The fucking message "the old ones make their parents proud / this one beats them all". Can you imagine that on any billboards anytime soon?

Patti Smith Group - Radio Ethiopia
I'll be honest with you: the album sounds somewhat bland and amateurish, which is a huge dissapointment coming after the glorious freewheeling poetic and sonic crescendos of Horses. The title track though -recorded live and improvised- is the most powerful call to arms I've EVER heard in my life. I've heard a ton of explosive music in my life, but this one beats them all. Patti fucking owns the world on this one.

Leonard Cohen - Avalanche
The most gangsta song ever recorded. I feel some sort of way just thinking about the fugazi atmosphere created by each maliciously enunciated word. Nick Cave tried to cover this dark masterpiece and even he couldn't play it right.

The Velvet Underground - Sister Ray
The motherload ship carrying a ton of raw material that later spread all over the vast spectrum from proto-punk to post-punk and beyond. Granted I'm super biased because of my fascination with punk music, but to me this song is, by far, the most durable, entertaining and cathartic piece of music that came from the whole rock period.

Eminem - Without Me
THE musical middle finger to the world. 90's kids know what I'm talking about.

Patti Smith - Gloria
Ornette Coleman - Free Jazz
Jay-Z - U Don't Know
Frank Zappa - Peaches en Reglia
Captain Beefheart and his Magic Band - Electricity
The Rolling Stones - Jumpin' Jack Flash
Eric Dolphy - Out to Lunch
Jimi Hendrix - Pali Gap
Meredith Monk - Tablet
Mark Lanegan Band - Methamphetamine Blues
Public Image Ltd. - Albatross
Kids See Ghosts - Reborn
Pink Floyd - Interstellar Overdrive
Fugazi - Epic Problem

Last edited by Amirkhosro on 01/27/2019 21:27; edited 6 times in total

AfterHours

Gender: Male
Location: originally from scaruffi.com ;-)

Nice

Love pretty much all of these
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Amirkhosro

Gender: Male
Age: 36
Location: Tehran

AfterHours wrote:

Nice

Love pretty much all of these

Yeah. Old but gold.

I'm thinking about In C. I love the performances on Reed Streams but it's the only one I've heard. I've thought of adding it here but I may be way too interested in this kind of hardcore minimalism and improvisation to consider this one a goat just yet. What do you think of In C and the different performances?

AfterHours

Gender: Male
Location: originally from scaruffi.com ;-)

Amirkhosro wrote:

Yeah. Old but gold.

I'm thinking about In C. I love the performances on Reed Streams but it's the only one I've heard. I've thought of adding it here but I may be way too interested in this kind of hardcore minimalism and improvisation to consider this one a goat just yet. What do you think of In C and the different performances?

Its a fascinating work, very influential of course. I am only familiar with the original and maybe 1 or 2 other renditions and I dont recall what they were or if one of them might have been Reed Streams.

I do think there is other, superior minimalism, though In C is certainly among the benchmarks and foundations. Riley's masterpiece is Rainbow in Curved Air album imo.
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goodline

I think the answer is very relevant.

Amirkhosro

Gender: Male
Age: 36
Location: Tehran

goodline wrote:

I think the answer is very relevant.

What do you mean?

Amirkhosro

Gender: Male
Age: 36
Location: Tehran

Updated!

Murphski

I don't know. Radio Ethiopia didn't have quite as many great tracks as Horses, but it's far from bland. Ask the Angels and Distant Fingers are equal to or even better than anything on Horses in terms of sonic excitement. In my opinion anyway.

Amirkhosro

Gender: Male
Age: 36
Location: Tehran

Murphski wrote:

I don't know. Radio Ethiopia didn't have quite as many great tracks as Horses, but it's far from bland. Ask the Angels and Distant Fingers are equal to or even better than anything on Horses in terms of sonic excitement. In my opinion anyway.

It's a good record. Maybe I'm underrating it, but it has this "let's play good old rock and roll" vibe that gets on my nerves, specially since they're not exactly the greatest at it and the much more exciting title track is right there at the end. All this said, I too really like Distant Fingers and Ask the Angels. Also the one where she says "my bowels are empty, excreting your soul" has a very interesting sonic thing going for it.

LebowskiRams
LebowskiRams

Gender: Male
Location: the centennial state

Interesting choices. I'm not familiar with a number of these, but I'm intrigued by the ones I do know.

For you, what sets Reborn apart from the other songs on KSG?