My Favourite Songs

Song: Rock Lobster

Why it is among the best? Because it's so creative, fun and out there. Imagine listening some average stuff and then this shows up, you'll have fun of a lifetime. That's how I first encountered it.

Song: Children of the Earth

Why it is among the best? This song has been with me since my school days, I still listen to it regularly. It's timeless. The lyrics have environmental message, the chorus is super catchy and the production perfectly summarizes the best bits of British heavy metal of the early 80's. The latter half has that epic solo going back and forth with that must-have tapping part... everything about this is so memorable. I have always loved their great use of rich vocal harmonies and multiple singers.

Song: Castle in the Sky aka The Eternal Tree of Life

Why it is among the best? It's epic and highly emotional song, a climax of the whole soundtrack. Sadly, I can't find the exact version because there's so many different takes and edits. The one I'm talking about is the climax with sudden break in the middle, where the piano starts playing and it starts to build up towards the emotional conclusion. The versions found on youtube lack the beautiful piano part, that's roughly 3 minutes missing.

The shortened version:

Song: Fascination Street

Why it is among best? Just listen to all the details and layers upon layers of everything. There's at least multiple different sounding guitars, amps, sitar, etc. Then there's the beautiful melancholy, perfect use of repetition and the super catchy bassline... This is downright hypnotic music. Disintegration is regarded as one of the greatest albums ever released for a reason.

Song: Memory

Why it is among the best? I just love it. Not just any version, but this one sung by Barbra Streisand that always sends shivers down my spine. She must have had the day of her life when she sung this piece, it's downright legendary.

Song: The Sandy Beach of Ganbo

Why it is among the best? The soundtrack of Grandia is already one of the very best video game OST's ever created. Then there's a genuinely beautiful piece such as this that easily elevates the whole game to a whole another level of masterclass. What did I say about cold shivers? There's a lot of them here.

Song: Virtual Mima

Why it is among the best? It's so creative and unique, quite literally: I have never heard anything like it. And not just that, it's supposed to be very disturbing and make you feel anxious, and it really does the job perfectly. I love it when music conjures up some real genuine emotions out of me, unless it's boredom.

Song: Still Loving You

Why it is among the best? This is one of the greatest ballads ever written by man. There's literally everything that makes a song instant classic: it's well written and stands out, it's super memorable, there are just enough of surprising bits to keep it interesting and it's just grows and builds until the end. There's no filler, just nothing unnecessary. And the raw emotion, ahhhhhh. It doesn't get much better than this.

Song: Private Investigations

Why it is among the best? Poetic lyrics, perfect atmospheric production and the music itself. Prime Dire Straits were legit kings of the world who could do no wrong.

Song: Hallowed Be Thy Name

Why it is among the best? I love the lyrics, the guitar melodies and the mighty vocals get me instantly hooked, and the growth towards the end makes it all feel satisfying and worth it.

Song: Diana

Why it is among the best? I have never in my life heard other as bizarre rock song as this. And that's saying a lot. You have to consider here that Comus aren't using any synths or funny effects, but they're playing folk music with acoustic instruments, and the psychedelia comes from their technical wizardry and creative songwriting. That is insane.

Song: Mama

Why it is among the best? The ghostly atmosphere mixed with inhumanely expressive vocal delivery by Phil Collins.

Song: Loving You is a Dirty Job (But Somebody Got To Do It)

Why it is among the best? Because the dramatic and exciting vocal melodies and lyrics especially are some of the best ever. Jim Steinman toned down his over the top style here, so it's not so much in your face, and that's probably why it's not considered a hit.

Song: When Death Calls

Why is it among the best? Because of the atmosphere, the great writing and the vocal juggernaut that is Tony Martin.

Song: Asu e Touchdown

Why it is among the best? Bubblegum Crisis had some of the catchiest and best 80's anime soundtrack ever, and I think this song takes the cake decisively. The chorus is so damn catchy, and to the honour of the artist I don't think I've ever heard any other similar in my lifetime. I even tried to play this song to some of my friends and they too loved it. This is actually my most listened album ever.

Song: Layla

Why it is among the best? I can't explain it. It's just so good, so memorable. The main guitar licks by Eric Clapton sound much more simple than what they actually are. This is in fact a incredibly difficult song to play live. I think the finishing touch here is the piano at the end. It's like a perfect calm outro to the otherwise intense rock song about a man losing his sanity when his loved one is forced to marry another man.

Song: Flying Dreams (Sally Stevens version)

Why it is among the best? It's so beautiful, even the main melody just hits straight into your heart. Jerry Goldsmith had some serious skills at expressing emotions through his music, and this is him at his cutest. Remember, he also composed one of the most sinister horror film soundtracks ever, that is The Omen. Also, forget the Paul Williams version, this is a lullaby and thus can only properly sung by a woman, just like your mother would when you were kid.

Song: Improvisational Rondo For Soprano Saxophone And Guitar

Why it is among the best? Flying Orchestra was masterminded by Bob Thiel, who you might know from all the 50's and 60's jazz classics. This album includes a huge bunch of some of the best Afro-American jazz and funk talents the man could find. And this song is just so full of the good stuff it's almost ridiculous. It's super catchy, groovy and fun. I believe you could play this to anyone and they would get it.

Song: The Burning of Rome

Why it is among the best? Because everything about this songs screams epic, and it's not just about the writing itself, but the vocal performance of Dave DeFeis. The chorus is legendary.

Song: Such A Shame

Why it is among the best? It's super catchy with emotions flowing nicely from happiness to melancholic. The lyrics are based on a book about a man who decides to throw a dice and make his life decisions based on the side he gets, so the song is also smart.

Song: The Voice

Why it is among the best? I just like it. It's very catchy and the message about individuality and conformism is very on point.

Song: Tornado of Souls

Why it is among the best? While being a super memorable song in itself, what truly seals the deal is legendary guitar solo by Marty Friedman. Not only is it one of his all time best, but one of the greatest regardless of the genre. It's so good that when they were done recording it Dave Mustaine himself went to Marty and shook his hand. That's good it is.

Song: Through the Wire

Why is it among the best? This song made me love and respect Kanye West. Back when I was young it was socially unacceptable to listen hiphop, and I have only gradually learned to respect the genre and the artists, partly because of people such as Kanye West. This song was a revelation, man. There's no usual cliches, but instead nice melodic touches and use of rhythm I enjoyed. Also, the lyrics are very inspirational. Kanye even makes that silly chipmunk style sound great.

Song: Rock and Roll Dreams Come Through

Why it is among the best? I find it wonderfully silly and fun, and like many other classic songs written by Jim Steinman, it's mostly stupid and campy on purpose. If you heard it by accident you could easily think it's a song from some classic musical, not a standalone track from an album nobody has ever heard of. This is actually sung by Rory Dodd and not Jim himself, because Jim wasn't that much of a singer, but a natural born speaker.

Song: Private Dancer

Why it is among the best? It's actually a leftover song from prime Dire Straits, and Tina Turner makes it sound better than the original band ever could on their own. In fact, Dire Straits minus Mark Knopfler played in the background, Jeff Beck did the solo.

Song:Tonight Is What It Means To Be Young

Why it is among the best? It's super catchy and memorable. Not just that: it's also super unique and stands out, even if it is very campy and silly. Only Jim Steinman could write music like this. You're going to see a lot of his music on this list, let me tell you.

Song: Making Love Out of Nothing At All

Why it is among the best? One of the greatest power ballads ever written, and of course it was composed by Jim Steinman. I told you this man would appear on this list again! This is one of those songs I listen regularly and just know inside and out. Like many other Steinman's hit songs, this also was written for Meat Loaf.

Song: Star of the Breakdown

Why it is among the best? I just love the brilliant main melody, it sounds so simple and satisfying: there's actually just this one short melody that plays twice with the second part being more intense. And the song just builds up more and more until the end. Honestly speaking, Tears for Fears have so many best songs I have hard time picking just one here. Amazing.

Song: Kaikki häipyy, on vain nyt

Why it is among the best? The song title roughly means "everything vanishes, only now exists", that is a song about how everything you'll ever love or find beautiful will someday go away, die and stop existing. It's a very melancholic song. Eppu Normaali are regarded as one of the greatest Finnish rock bands ever, and this is in my humble opinion their masterpiece. The Finnish lyrics are superb.

Song: Elevation

Why it is among the best? This was the song that made me love Television. This is such a well written and interesting song, the brilliant simple guitar riffs and the bare steel tone are pleasure to my ears. Their golden idea was to take the approach punk had, but use the tools of the more subtle genres such as jazz. And when you play jazz and use more advanced techniques, you're going to need that clean tone or else the chords and the details will sound muddy.

Song: Joutsenlaulu

Why it is among the best? Joutsenlaulu aka Swansong is commonly named as the greatest Finnish rock song ever written. It is a mystery what the lyrics actually mean, but they say that swans only sing once before they die. It's a very melancholic power ballad. The most amazing fact here is that the guy who wrote this was just around 17-18 years old. That is crazy.

Song: Crime of the Century

Why it is among the best? It begins as a simple and slow pop rock about creed and glory, then suddenly it goes silent and starts building dramatically to the epic conclusion. I remember walking outside listening to this and expecting some nice cozy rock music when the latter half unexpectedly completely washed me away.

Song: Don't Wait For Me

Why it is among the best? Just listen to it, the song just reeks of power and energy. It's not the heaviest metal song ever, but it delivers the goods and keeps you on your toes and banging your head. Every riff, every word is just on the right spot, even the solo kills: the two guitar players have just enough different style that you can easily tell which one is leading. This song is so good in fact that it basically killed the rest of the album, because after this maelstorm everything that came after sounded like some average slop. I don't think a metal song can get much closer to perfection than this.

Song: The theme song

Why it is among the best? The main melody of the song alone is super, duper catchy, but so are the vocal melodies even if you didn't understand a word he's singing. This song alone has hypnotized generations of people. I remember back in the early 2000's when cell phones were new and people were listening to this using that primitive bleep bleep sound they made. That's how popular and big this song and anime is in Finland. You're not considered legit here if you don't know this.

Song: Port Royal

Why it is among the best? I always thought this pirate metal thing was just a stupid joke... until I put this album in my player and almost flew away by how much fun it was. That title song is one of the single best metal songs of the 80's, it bangs hard and makes you spontaneously sing along whenever the chorus starts kicking in. When an individual song can change your whole perspective, that's a sign of supreme quality.

Song: Deliver Us

Why it is among the best? It's a song of hope and desperation in a land of oppression and genocide. I think it actually gets better when watch it within the context, where the dramatic visual storytelling perfectly complements the music. I think this is one of the best soundtracks I have ever heard.

Song: Good Girls Go to Heaven

Why is it among the best? The song is super catchy and memorable, and I just love the vocal melody. This is signature Jim Steinman at its purest form, this was his forte. The album had many great songs, but I think this is my favourite. Half of them were huge hits when covered later by other artists.

Song: My Friend Dario (Dima Prefers Newbeat Mix)

Why is it among the best? The original is ok, but the remix is downright brilliant. There's a lot of nice suspense and build up before the climactic party finally begins, and it feels super cool and rewarding. The way different parts change, shorten and switch places over the song keeps it fresh and interesting. This is genuinely well thought out party music.

Song: Candle in the Wind

Why is it among the best. I still remember when princess Diana died and this song was a huge hit, again. Maybe I'm just nostalgic, but this just slaps. The chorus is amazing.

Song: Plastic Love

Why it is among the best? Because it mixes so well feelings of melancholy and optimism, it's very catchy and memorable, and it introduced a huge amounts of people all over the world -including me- to the wonderful genre of "city pop" and in general this more obscure old school side of Japanese pop culture. Certain amounts of funkiness and groove is also a huge plus.

Song: Rabies is a Killer

Why it is among the best? I remember back in my schooldays going through some of the more obscure rock bands from the early 80's and just casually popped this one in and really liked it. Agony Bag were a brainchild of the members of Black Widow, which you may know from their infamous hit song "Come to the Sabbath", yes, it's those guys. The singer in drag is Clive Jones who played flute on that song.

What makes this song good is just the unique mix of instruments which makes it stand out. Like I can clearly hear saxophone, piano, electric organ, guitar, bass, etc. They clearly thought this one through and put everything and a kitchen sink to make it sound thick and scary, just like Van Der Graaf Generator did back in the mid 70's with Godbluff. I love their wacky glam punk style and their off the wall sense of humour, plus the song is just simply very memorable and unique. They were said to be a killer live band, but their few outputs failed to sell.

Song: Once Upon a December

Why it is among the best? Anastasia had amazing soundtrack, I could claim many songs to be among my favourites. This one was a huge hit back in the day, I have heard it many times playing in radio, and thus I think it also deserves the spot here. It's a beautiful little piece about memories and maybe even nostalgia. I heard Russians have a little different view of the latter.

Song: Enjoy the Silence