Kay, I just came up with my ten favorite songs ever, figured this was the most appropriate place to put'em.

10 - Nazareth - "Hair of the Dog" - It's a fucking classic, and even if the main riff sounds suspiciously like "Day Tripper", it kicks enough ass I can overlook that. I mean, as far as just straightforward, kickass rock n' roll goes, you can't get much better than this.

9 -Roy Clark - "Riders in the Sky" - Lots of people have done this song, in lots of different ways. I'm probably biased because I was raised on Roy Clark, but I'd say this is the definitive version, even if it is an instrumental one. Roy's guitarwork is excellent, and is especially nice in this song. It's also one of the rare instance of tremelo in a song not annoying me.

8 - Cream - "White Room" - It's just about the perfect rendition of that late sixties Blues-Rock sound I can think of. I generally preferred Clapton's singing to Jack Bruce's, but a song like this really suits him. Clapton's fuzzy wah lines are positively glorious, that intro sprawl is absolutely epic, and the solo is Eric at his best. It caps the song wonderfully, and really showcases Clapton's style.

7 - Red Hot Chili Peppers - "I Could've Lied" - It's one of the Chili Peppers' softer outings off Blood Sugar Sex Magik, and it's my favorite. Most people prefer "Under the Bridge", but I think it's Frusciante's overdriven leadlines near the end that make me prefer this one. Anthony's lyrics and vocals make a nice pseudo-haunting mix, and the main guitar part provides a wonderful base for the to lay on.

6 - Slayer - "Angel of Death" - It's fucking Slayer. That's really all that needs to be said, but I guess I should elaborate a bit more. Pay attention, kids, this is what extreme metal should be. It's awesomely fast, aggresive, and pumping. Just listening to this is like chugging a Red Bull, it's that badass, but unlike many of it's raw energy brethren in the Hardcore genre, it's still musical and develops. And you have to love that high-pitched scream by Tom Araya right at the start.

5 - Pearl Jam - "Once" - This was my introduction to early '90s alternative, and I can still see why I got hooked like I did. Eddie Vedder's voice sounds just as fresh as it ever did, even though everyone and their brother's sung like that by now. The murder-spree lyrics are great, too, and it does benefit from being listened to alongside its partners in that trilogy, "Alive" and "Footsteps", but even just alone, it's still an extremely memorable romp.

4 - Leonard Cohen - "Everybody Knows" - Yeah, it's that song from Pump Up the Volume, and not the shitty Concrete Blonde cover, either. The music has that cool darker '80s vibe pulsing throughout, with some stringed instrument I couldn't name adding a distinguishing twinge to it. But of course, Cohen was a poet first, and the lyrics do take centre stage. Their doomy prophecies of society and mankind are fucking cool and really send shivers down your spine to listen to. Leonard's aging voice may not be what it was in the '60s, but it only works to aid the lyrics in conveying that total pessimism the song has.

3 - Children of Bodom - "Rebel Yell" - It's always been an incredible song, and Billy Idol's version is an '80s classic. I really like what Bodom did with it, though, giving it a more modern metal approach and adding in Laiho's much more gruff, agressive vocals while for the most part maintaining that same mood the original had. And speaking of Laiho's vocals, these is my favorite song of theirs for them. Just to understand him adds a lot of enjoyment to the music, for me.

2 - Pantera - "Cemetery Gates" - Pantera's been one of my favorite bands since I first brought home my copy of Vulgar Display of Power, and this song does a wonderful job of showing why. The clean intro adds a level of coolness, not only for starting out clean, but for staying their all through the verses, not copping out and breaking into full-blown metal for the remainder of the song afterward. And even though they keep returning to that clean part, when the full-blown metal riff does break in, my god does it break in. The solo may not be as good as the one in "Floods", but it still provides some very awesome guitarwork, and fits perfectly into the song. Moving away from what Dime did for it, Phil was one of the best metal singers out there, and this song shows not only the different styles he can sing in, but how well he sang in all those styles, even remaining mostly intelligible.

1 - Mother Love Bone - "Chloe Dancer / Crown of Thorns" - This is Mother Love Bone's masterpiece. It's a testament to just how much of a tragedy Andy Wood's death was, and remains my favorite song of all time, with good reason. "Crown of Thorns" was a good song by itself, but the tacked on, two-minute "Chloe Dancer" adds an entirely different level to the lyrics and musicality of the song. The lone piano opens the track beautifully, and Andy's softer vocals meld perfectly with it. It softens you up just enough that by the time the anthemic chorus of "Crown of Thorns" kicks in, it hits full force. Then it goes into a third part for the more downtrodden solo, and tears into a more agressive, epic part for the ending. I could gush about this song for hours, if I wanted to, but it's just amazing. When I die, I want this played at my funeral.