Quantifying something as subjective as music always reeks of self-indulgence, thankfully Triple J's Hottest 100 of All Time unlike lists such as "The 20 greatest jazz pianists under 20, with 20 inches of hair" compiled by (insert fluffy English music journal here) feels less like masturbation and more like a welcome trip down memory lane.
The list celebrated twenty years of existence for the youth radio Grand Daddy and received more than half a million votes from listeners. The end result which probably also serves as a demographic breakdown of Triple J's audience, smelled unsurprisingly like latent Gen X nostalgia...
Songs from the 90's accounted for 43 of the Hottest 100 while Radiohead and Jeff Buckley earned the most entries with four apiece. Nirvana's Smells Like Teen Spirit however took the top prize in a loud then quiet then loud then quiet blaze of flannel glory. The list of course sparks fervent water cooler debate with questions such as "where is Alien Ant Farm's "Smooth Criminal?" and is Hilltop Hood's The Nosebleed Section the best Australian song of all time? With lines like "Throw your hands in the air like you’re hailing a taxi" we're gonna lean towards "no".
What do you think of the list? Any unforgivable exclusions? Any unbelievable inclusions? (cough Sex is on cough cough Fire). Let us know below...
1 Nirvana - Smells Like Teen Spirit
2 Rage Against the Machine - Killing In The Name
3 Jeff Buckley - Hallelujah
4 Joy Division - Love Will Tear Us Apart
5 Radiohead - Paranoid Android
6 Queen - Bohemian Rhapsody
7 Jeff Buckley - Last Goodbye
8 Red Hot Chili Peppers - Under The Bridge
9 Foo Fighters - Everlong
10 Led Zeppelin - Stairway to Heaven
11 John Lennon - Imagine
12 Oasis - Wonderwall
13 Radiohead - Creep
14 The Verve - Bittersweet Symphony
15 Radiohead - Karma Police
16 Pink Floyd - Wish You Were Here
17 Hilltop Hoods - The Nosebleed Section
18 Muse - Knights Of Cydonia
19 Metallica - One
20 White Stripes - Seven Nation Army
21 Powderfinger - These Days
22 Massive Attack - Teardrop
23 Hunters & Collectors - Throw Your Arms Around Me
24 The Beatles - A Day in the Life
25 Pearl Jam - Alive
26 Michael Jackson - Thriller
27 Powderfinger - My Happiness
28 Radiohead - Fake Plastic Trees
29 Pixies - Where Is My Mind?
30 Jimi Hendrix - All Along the Watchtower
31 Metallica - Enter Sandman
32 New Order - Blue Monday
33 Silverchair - Tomorrow
34 The Living End - Prisoner Of Society
35 Smashing Pumpkins - 1979
36 Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds - Into My Arms
37 Tool - Stinkfist
38 The Killers - Mr Brightside
39 Pearl Jam - Better Man
40 Nirvana - Come As You Are
41 Michael Jackson - Billie Jean
42 Bloc Party - Banquet
43 The Beach Boys - God Only Knows
44 The Beatles - Hey Jude
45 Queens of the Stone Age - No One Knows
46 Faith No More - Epic
47 John Butler Trio - Betterman
48 Beastie Boys - Sabotage
49 Guns 'N Roses - Sweet Child O' Mine
50 Crowded House - Don't Dream It's Over
51 Smashing Pumpkins - Bullet With Butterfly Wings
52 You Am I - Berlin Chair
53 Pink Floyd - Comfortably Numb
54 The Cure - Close To Me
55 Bob Dylan - Like A Rolling Stone
56 Jeff Buckley - Lover, You Should Have Come Over
57 Tool - Forty Six & 2
58 Daft Punk - Around The World
59 Augie March - One Crowded Hour
60 Johnny Cash - Hurt
61 Blur - Song 2
62 Nine Inch Nails - Closer
63 AC/DC - Thunderstruck
64 Violent Femmes - Blister in the Sun
65 Underworld - Born Slippy
66 Elton John - Tiny Dancer
67 Ben Folds Five - Brick
68 Blink 182 - Dammit
69 Jeff Buckley - Grace
70 The Prodigy - Breathe
71 The Smiths - How Soon Is Now?
72 The Shins - New Slang
73 The Clash - London Calling
74 Nirvana - Lithium
75 Green Day - Good Riddance (Time Of Your Life)
76 The Stone Roses - Fools Gold
77 Gotye - Hearts A Mess
78 Smashing Pumpkins - Today
79 David Bowie - Life on Mars
80 The Rolling Stones - Paint It Black
81 Pulp - Common People
82 System Of A Down - Chop Suey!
83 Placebo - Every You Every Me
84 Bob Marley & The Wailers - No Woman, No Cry
85 The Dandy Warhols - Bohemian Like You
86 The Beatles - Come Together
87 Coldplay - Yellow
88 The Rolling Stones - Gimme Shelter
89 Rage Against the Machine - Bulls On Parade
90 Kings of Leon - Sex on Fire
91 AC/DC - Back In Black
92 Bon Iver - Skinny Love
93 Massive Attack - Unfinished Sympathy
94 Modest Mouse - Float On
95 Stevie Wonder - Superstition
96 Daft Punk - One More Time
97 Midnight Oil - Beds Are Burning
98 Led Zeppelin - Kashmir
99 TV on the Radio - Wolf Like Me
100 Franz Ferdinand - Take Me Out
thx to
http://www.pedestrian.tv/
