Official Queen top 30 Countdown Thread!! (#s 05-03 featured!!)

[TAC]

Goddammit, the songs left OFF the list could be a greatest hits of most other bands. 

That's a tad strong. 

[KevShmev]

Up to 17 lists!! 

[DTwwbwMP]

Goddammit, the songs left OFF the list could be a greatest hits of most other bands. 

That's a tad strong. 

I would take the 70 songs I had to leave off over MOST BANDS best songs! Just my feeling!

[KevShmev]

For anyone still interested in submitting a list, less than two days left to submit!! (when I wake up Sunday and get online, that's the cutoff)

[MoraWintersoul]

DragonAttack kindly reminded me to send a list in so off it goes!

[TAC]

Going from 50 to 30 changed my album distribution like this..


I              4   3
II             3   2
SHA          6   5
NATO        5   4
ADAT        3   2
NOTW      5   3
Jazz         5   1
Game       4   3
Flash       2   
Hot Space  2   1
Works       1     1
AKOM      2   1
Miracle     2   1
Inuendo   5   3
MIH          1   

[Dave_Manchester]

List sent. Breakdown (zero songs doesn't mean I don't like/love the albums):

I - 0
II - 0
SHA - 1
ANATO - 2
ADATR - 3
NOTW - 3
Jazz - 3
The Game - 2
FG - 0
HS - 1
TW - 4
AKOM - 4
Miracle - 3
Innuendo - 4


Messed up by accidentally leaving off 1 song that ought to have made it (from SHA). No biggie, I'll comment on it if/when the song comes up on the main list.

[MoraWintersoul]

I feel like an idiot but Freddie's love song to his cat (Delilah) on Innuedo almost makes me tear up. It's a daft little tune (still very heartfelt though) with Brian's guitar making meowing noises, but Freddie's impending death makes it something so much sadder to me. In fact the silliness and joyfulness of it somehow deepens that sadness, like he's putting on a show for the cat that he knows he's gonna have to leave behind soon. I'm a sentimental soul at heart and stuff like the prospect of having to say goodbye to a beloved pet hits me hard.

My list trends towards sentimental, too! Delilah is a strange little contrast image to Bijou, a weird "inverted" track that Brian also gives a voice to (because the guitar part is actually the verses), where Freddie's words can be interpreted that he's sort of saying goodbye to his lover. It hit me one day when I was listening to Innuendo that Freddie's able to name his cat and list all the things she does that he loves and take up important space on the album with a song like that, but can't put a name or a gender - and hence, a narrative - to a song about his boyfriend, and so the song is kind of just like a verse floating in time, a little gem neatly set within the album, a bijou.

It's that kind of stuff that makes you hold a song, or in my case, a pair of songs, in high esteem. But you can't really rank them highly, because there's other songs that also contain that sentimental factor, plus much more. But, you know!

[WardySI]

List submitted thanks Kev!

And sorry folks, not only is my list sentimental and for the most-part spans a certain several years, I'm an unapologetic fan of Queen rockers.  So my list is made up of a good chunk of 'em

[DTwwbwMP]

^^^23 of my top 30 are rockers!

[ReaperKK]

Goddammit, the songs left OFF the list could be a greatest hits of most other bands. 

That's a tad strong. 

That's really strong...

[jammindude]

I did manage to scrounge up 43 songs that I felt I could whittle down to a top 30. I’ve got some things I need to do so I will run it through the ranker this afternoon and I will have it submitted by the end of the day.

[DragonAttack]

Tenement Funster / Flick Of The Wrist / Lily Of The Valley.... the often overlooked gem(s), but certainly loved by DT.  Yeah, I wish it would have only counted as one song as well.

But it's not one song; it is three songs that all run together!

Honestly, had they been considered one song, I would have no clue how to rank it.  I love both Flick... and Lily... (both made my top 30), but only like Tenement Funster, so figuring out where it fits would have been pretty difficult, for me at least. 

Along similar lines, I have considered doing a Beatles countdown, as it sounds like there'd be interest there, but I have no idea how to tackle Side 2 of Abbey Road.  If we put it all together, it almost feels like cheating, as I am sure it would either dominate or finish extremely high, but if we leave all the individual songs on their own, trying to rank them individually is something that I imagine would be challenging for most.

Shooting the breeze with a 'barstool warrior' tone...the medley is one of my top 30 Queen tracks, but when I have only 30 tunes that I can list, and 'it' counts as three songs, poor me had to make a few harsh decisions.

Considering GH I and II totalled 34 songs, add on GH III with eight originals,  nine from 'Rocks', two from 'Forever'....right there is 53 tracks, and then take a glance at 'Live Killers' and 'Wembley '86'.....  there were plenty of hits to choose from.  And many didn't make my shrunken list, because there's a lot of 'best ofs' not included.  Maybe you'll expand the amount in next year's countdown.

Along similar lines, I have considered doing a Beatles countdown, as it sounds like there'd be interest there, but I have no idea how to tackle Side 2 of Abbey Road.  If we put it all together, it almost feels like cheating, as I am sure it would either dominate or finish extremely high, but if we leave all the individual songs on their own, trying to rank them individually is something that I imagine would be challenging for most.

Depends on how many are in your countdown.  75 would make a good number, but, 50 would make us agonize over our choices, which you are good at

The medley:  to me, I consider 'Golden Slumbers/Carry That Weight/The End' as one song.  That, and 'Here Comes The Sun', are on one of my 'best ofs'.
The rest of the medley tracks are simply merged together, and a few I can listen to on their own.  IMO.  But who puts on Side Two without hearing it in its entirety?

[Cool Chris]

My list is basically all radio hits and fan favorites, though my top few might not rank that high with the group. Very curious to see where my #1 lands.

[KevShmev]

Along similar lines, I have considered doing a Beatles countdown, as it sounds like there'd be interest there, but I have no idea how to tackle Side 2 of Abbey Road.  If we put it all together, it almost feels like cheating, as I am sure it would either dominate or finish extremely high, but if we leave all the individual songs on their own, trying to rank them individually is something that I imagine would be challenging for most.

Depends on how many are in your countdown.  75 would make a good number, but, 50 would make us agonize over our choices, which you are good at

The medley:  to me, I consider 'Golden Slumbers/Carry That Weight/The End' as one song.  That, and 'Here Comes The Sun', are on one of my 'best ofs'.
The rest of the medley tracks are simply merged together, and a few I can listen to on their own.  IMO.  But who puts on Side Two without hearing it in its entirety?

Well, I think Here Comes the Sun and Because stand great on their own, but You Never Give Me Your Money through The End feels like a suite of songs that all blend together (or two, if one wants to count the stop before Golden Slumbers).

[jammindude]

OK Kev, my list is sent. I made a few changes at the last second so if you could reply with a copy of it, I’d appreciate it.

I had to do it a couple of times because my first list was absolutely terrible. But I was pretty satisfied with the second one. Just had to make one or two minor adjustments.

[KevShmev]

All good!

I always reply to the sent lists by quoting it and thanking each person for their list, so the list is always in the quote of my reply if you didn't save a copy on your end. 

[KevShmev]

Alright, the time for lists to be submitted is now over.  We ended up with 21 lists!  Thanks to everyone who submitted one; the rankers are listed below.

Countdown will begin tomorrow!

jammindude   
WardySI   
Dave_Manchester   
MoraWintersoul   
Metropolaris   
The Realm   
Stadler   
ReaperKK   
coz   
DragonAttack   
Animal   
Adami   
devieira73   
Cool Chris   
TAC   
hefdaddy42   
Zydar   
Mladen   
Deadeye21   
DTwwbwMP
KevShmev   

[ReaperKK]

Woo! Can't wait.

[KevShmev]

14 songs finished at number 1 on at least one list.  Not all of them made the top 30.

Every song in the top 30 finished in the top 10 of at least one list.

[TAC]

14 songs finished at number 1 on at least one list.  Not all of them made the top 30.

One of them would be mine.

[DragonAttack]

I’d bet big that the same holds true for mine as well. But that’s OK.

[Ced156]

Alright, the time for lists to be submitted is now over.  We ended up with 21 lists!  Thanks to everyone who submitted one; the rankers are listed below.

Countdown will begin tomorrow! ...

I think you forgot my list !

[KevShmev]

Alright, the time for lists to be submitted is now over.  We ended up with 21 lists!  Thanks to everyone who submitted one; the rankers are listed below.

Countdown will begin tomorrow! ...

I think you forgot my list !

Damn it, I did!

Update: 22 lists!

Ced156
jammindude   
WardySI   
Dave_Manchester   
MoraWintersoul   
Metropolaris   
The Realm   
Stadler   
ReaperKK   
coz   
DragonAttack   
Animal   
Adami   
devieira73   
Cool Chris   
TAC   
hefdaddy42   
Zydar   
Mladen   
Deadeye21   
DTwwbwMP
KevShmev   

And this list definitely moved a few things around, but fortunately it was an easy fix for me.  Oof.

[Mladen]

14 songs finished at number 1 on at least one list.  Not all of them made the top 30.

One of them would be mine.

I’d bet big tha the same holds true for mine as well. But that’s OK.

Same here. 

I'm looking forward to the countdown. This is always good fun, it's something to look forward to every afternoon.

[KevShmev]

Alright, let's go!



Amazingly, the first three songs today all come from the same album!


30 The March of the Black Queen
Appeared on 8 of 22 lists
Highest Finish: 6 (Mladen)
3 Top 10 Finishes

I ranked this 24th and thought it had a legit shot at being top 10 on this forum, so I was a bit shocked to see it left off so many lists.  I guess this forum being more metal heads than proggers these days titled the scales.  Great song, one that could have been even better on a later album with their more refined sound (vs the more raw sound of II).

29 Ogre Battle
Appeared on 6 of 22 lists
Highest Finish: 1 (TAC)
3 Top 10 Finishes

This is one that was on my top 50, but didn't make it once we cut down to 30.  Love it, and it's easily in the conversation for heaviest song the band ever did.  The riffage here is nasty good, and the adrenaline is palpable.


28 Seven Seas of Rhye
Appeared on 8 of 22 lists
Highest Finish: 3 (Deadeye21)
2 Top 10 Finishes

While technically on the first album as a short instrumental, I suspect the II version is the one most think of when it comes to this song; it is for me, without a doubt. This is another that lost out when we cut from 50 to 30, but it's a fun little rocker.

[Stadler]

1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7. Ogre Battle
8.
9. March Of The Black Queen
10.
11.
12.
13.
14.
15. Seven Seas Of Rhye
16.
17.
18.
19.
20.
21.
22.
23.
24.
25.
26.
27.
28.
29.
30.


Way to come out of the gate HARD.    I knew I would have to fess up to Queen II being my favorite Queen album at some point, but I didn't figure on it being Day One!   I love everything about that album (including the sound) and my choice for Number 1 was a dogfight between another song from this album and a later tune. 

I just think this album is the best blend of the various parts of Queen; emphasizing their strengths (Freddie's voice, Brian's guitars) without too much (or any) of the things that IMO watered down their sound.

[twosuitsluke]

I don't know Queen outside of the hits really, so couldn't submit a list. You better believe I'm going to make a playlist with all these songs though 

[ReaperKK]

None of these made my list although March Of The Black Queen almost did. I don't think there is anything really special about this lot and March is a decent song but overrated IMO

[Adami]

0/3

[Stadler]

None of these made my list although March Of The Black Queen almost did. I don't think there is anything really special about this lot and March is a decent song but overrated IMO

I know there is the specter of "the one song" hanging over all these discussions, but I think there IS something special about this record.   If you, historically, look at band's second records, they are a unique lot.   There's the sort of adage that a band has their entire life to write their first record, and six months to write their second, but there are so many factors on top of that: the benefit of touring, the benefit of "money" from increased exposure, the benefit of better production/engineering, etc. and all those things factor in here.

I think something could be said about this being the last album where the entirety of the record is "progressive". If memory serves, there's not one song on the record that follows the traditional "verse, chorus, verse, chorus, bridge/solo, verse, chorus" format.   Sure they might have reached higher peaks at times, but for me, every album after this (except for "Flash") are a collection of songs whereas this is an ALBUM.

Given the way the band evolved into the sort of "May" and "Mercury" camps, this was all probably inevitable, but it was nice while it lasted...

[Mladen]

I was never too crazy about Seven seas, but the other two are easily my favorite on the Queen II album. It's always cool to see yourself being the highest ranker of a particular song, but yeah, I love The March of the black queen. 

[MoraWintersoul]

March ended up 28th on my list, Ogre Battle was definitely going to be in my top 30 if not for the fact that there were 45 songs that would have "definitely" been in the top 30, so it ended up 45th Seven Seas are cool but I think they ended up just barely in the upper half of songs. So the cookie crumbles with Queen sometimes.

[Zydar]

Great start, all three of these made my Top 30, with Seven Seas Of Rhye being my #7. I've loved it ever since I got Greatest Hits on cassette as a little kid. Ogre Battle is maybe the heaviest thing they've done.
   

[pg1067]

I don't know Queen outside of the hits

Same.

I therefore looked at the reveal today and thought Kev had made a mistake and was doing a countdown of his top 30 Dungeons & Dragons campaigns.   

I am keeping track and will start the album rankings after the first 10 have been revealed.