Top 70 songs ever according to me. All these songs from now on are basically interchangeable. I can listen to these songs all day, any day. It is nearly impossible to differentiate between them but I’m going to differentiate anyway. Here we go.
Be sure to click on the videos to hear the songs.
Styx was one of my favorite bands growing up. I listened to the ‘The Grand Illusion’ album a thousand times, over and over. Styx was actually one of my brother’s favorite bands, so we saw them live many times.
The Grand Illusion was their 7th album, and they were selling out concert venues everywhere they went. Oddly enough, the title track was never released as a single but still got plenty of airtime on AOR stations.
The song is extremely uplifting and positive, reminding people not to fall for the marketing and advertising of a society bent on believing that the collection of more possessions, fame and money can make your life better. It’s all a grand illusion.
I’m not sure how many times I’ve seen them live. It’s a lot. Not quite as much as Kansas and probably a few times more than the Scorpions, only because the Scorpions didn’t come around as much as Styx did, being Styx was based in Chicago, right down the road from me.
There are 11 Styx songs in my top 1000 and The Grand Illusion is my second favorite.
Still one more Styx song to come.
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#70 – The Grand Illusion – 2/11
#178 – Blue Collar Man – 3/11
#322 – The Best Of Times – 4/11
#343 – Rockin’ The Paradise – 5/11
#376 – Show Me The Way – 6/11
#587 – Don’t Let It End – 7/11
#612 – Renegade – 8/11
#629 – I’m Okay – 9/11
#880 – Best New Face – 10/11
#996 – Crystal Ball – 11/11
Iron Maiden is another one of my favorite bands. I would rank them the #1 band to see live. I still remember the first time seeing them perform this song live on the Piece of Mind tour. Everything was perfect. Surreal. If I could go back in time and see one band again at its height, it would be Iron Maiden anytime between 83-85.
What I love about Revelations, beyond the orchestration of the song, is the lyrics. It is mesmerizing. “The light of the blind, you’ll see, the venom that tears my spine, the eyes of the Nile are opening, you’ll see.” Sends chills through my spine. This is probably their best crafted song, and they have crafted a lot of epic pieces.
As you can gather, I have seen Iron Maiden live many times and never saw them put on a bad show. They went all out every time.
Looking back, I find it odd that I only included 7 songs in my top 1000. That probably isn’t fair to them. I can still put on Piece of Mind and Powerslave and sing every song, word for word.
And there is still one more Iron Maiden song to come.
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#69 – Revelations – 2/7
#122 – Powerslave – 3/7
#145 – Stranger In A Strange Land – 4/7
#169 – Rhyme of the Ancient Mariner – 5/7
#627 – Hallowed Be Thy Name – 6/7
#964 – Flash Of The Blade – 7/7
Creating a countdown like this is really difficult because you don’t realize how many different bands/artists you like and how many great songs they have all made. How do you go from Iron Maiden to Supertramp? How do you even compare them?
Logical Song is just a perfectly crafted song about losing one’s innocence and trying to hold onto individuality in a society constantly pressuring you to conform. And every one of us has tried to sing that high note when we are alone in the car or something.
I’ve never seen Supertramp live and only having 3 songs on my countdown is unjust, but I don’t tend to listen to Supertramp as often as many other bands – and that’s just the way it is.
#68 – Logical Song – 1/3
#715 – Take The Long Way Home – 2/3
#809 – Sooner Or Late – 3/3
You must not have a pulse if your heart doesn’t start beating faster when those opening chords come in. Such a positive, uplifting song about never giving up no matter the odds. A classic arena-rock crowd-pleaser for sure.
I never really got into Bon Jovi. They were a little too melodic, predictable and mainstream for me but they had a few really good songs – like Livin’ On A Prayer.
I saw Bon Jovi twice, both times in 1984 in support of their self-titled first album. Very few people knew who they were back then and the crowds were sparse. I remember seeing them open for the Scorpions at Alpine Valley and there were probably less than a thousand people there when they went on. I never saw them when they started packing concert halls.
Like Supertramp, there are 3 Bon Jovi songs in my top 1000.
#67 – Livin’ On A Prayer – 1/3
#615 – You Give Love A Bad Name – 2/3
#866 – She Don’t Know Me – 3/3
And talking about the Scorpions, here’s another from the best band ever. I could put ten Scorpions songs in my top 10 if I wanted to, and this would be one of them.
The song it is off their 13th album, Pure Instinct, which wasn’t very popular in the US, but I liked it a lot. This song wasn’t released as a single but for my wife and I, this became a bit of a marriage anthem. I’ve long told her, I’m not the best, but I’m the best for her.
I personally think the song has all the classic Scorpions staples, guitars, lyrics, vocals. The only thing missing was drummer Herman Rarebell leaving the band and sessions drummer Curt Cress performing all the drum parts.
There are still 4 more Scorpions songs to come.
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#66 – But The Best For You – 5/31
#79 – Is There Anybody There? – 6/31
#95 – You And I – 7/31
#119 – Fly People Fly – 8/31
#125 – Fly To The Rainbow – 9/31
#159 – Rock N Roll Band – 10/31
#186 – Rhythm of Love – 11/31
#224 – Someday Is Now – 12/31
#231 – The Sails of Charon – 13/31
#257 – Alien Nation – 14/31
#273 – Lust or Love – 15/31
#293 – Drifting Sun – 16/31
#335 – Hurricane 2000 – 17/31
#351 – Time Will Call Your Name – 18/31
#363 – Hour 1 – 19/31
#380 – Wind of Change – 20/31
#430 – Humanity – 21/31
#472 – When The Smoke Is Going Down – 22/31
#505 – Tease Me Please Me – 23/31
#526 – The Zoo – 24/31
#568 – In Trance – 25/31
#721 – Don’t Stop At The Top – 26/31
#762 – Big City Nights – 27/31
#822 – Evening Wind – 28/31
#870 – 10 Light Years Away – 29/31
#886 – Where The River Flows – 30/31
#949 – Love Will Keep Us Alive – 31/31
And that’s all for now. Hope you are enjoying the countdown. I’ll be back with another five songs next weekend.
You can see the entire top 100 so far below.
And if you are interested in Greek Mythology, I invite you to check out my recently released novella, Ares In Chains, on Amazon.
See you next weekend.
100 – Cheap Trick – Dream Police
99 – Creed- One Last Breath
98 – Blind Melon – No Rain
97 – Living Colour – Cult of Personality
96 – Triumph – Ordinary Man
95 – Scorpions – You And I
94 – Tesla – Forever More
93 – MCR – House of Wolves
92 – Rise Against – Re-Education
91 – Yngwie Malmsteen – Fury
90 – Robert Plant – Pledge Pin
89 – Jimi Hendrix – All Along The Watchtower
88 – Queensryche – Warning
87 – Metallica – Ride The Lightning
86 – Black Sabbath – War Pigs
85 – Escape The Fate – Gorgeous Nightmare
84 – The Answer – Cigarettes & Regret
83 – Symphony X – Set The World On Fire
82 – Blind Guardian – The Bard’s Song (Into The Forest)
81 – Jefferson Starship – Freedom At Point Zero
80 – Linkin Park – Battle Symphony
79 – Scorpions – Is There Anybody There?
78 – Golden Earring – Radar Love
77 – Living Colour – Solace Of You
76 – The Replacements – Skyway
75 – Triumph – Never Say Never
74 – The Rolling Stones – She’s So Cold
73 – Blondie – Call Me
72 – MCR – Welcome To The Black Parade
71 – Panic! At The Disco – Nine In The Afternoon
70 – Styx – The Grand Illusion
69 – Iron Maiden – Revelations
68 – Supertramp – Logical Song
67 – Bon Jovi – Livin’ On A Prayer
66 – Scorpions – But The Best For You
Allen M Werner is the author of the epic dark fantasy series
THE CRYSTAL CRUX
Author Allen M Werner 
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