This is a list I made of my 100 favorite records of all time! Having been a passionate melodic rock fan for about a quarter centry now, narrowing my favorites down to a mere 100 and ranking them was a monumental task.
The thing that I think best emphasizes the difficulty I had in making this chart and how elite these records are to me is this: The oldest record on here, Elton John's Your Song was relesed the year I was born, 1970. Appropriately, it debuted in the top 40 on the Billboard Hot 100 in the week ending December 19, 1970. I was born that week on the 14th. Being 35 years old at the time I made this chart, I had to take all the many thousands of records I've heard in my life and choose an average of less than three a year!
This chart is by no means perfect. If I had to make it again, it probably wouldn't be identical. But it should give you a strong idea of my musical tastes. And if you like many records on this list but are unfamiliar with others, I recommend you check those out. You very well might like them. In that way, this chart can be a helpful guide. Please keep in mind, though, that to avoid the appearance of bias and/or immodesty, I did not include any of my own songs!
I understand that this list is likely to generate a wide variety of reactions and that's fine. My guess is that if all of the earth's six billion people made out their own list, no two would be identical. This list is simply my opinion. I hope you enjoy it!
"I'm just stating my views, now you can choose."
Peace.
Lec
1. John Cafferty � Heart�s on Fire - Actually a Vince DiCola song with John Cafferty on vocals, the finale of this song from Rocky IV brings tears to my eyes regularly. Unfortunately, I can only hear the song by watching the movie. This section was excluded from the edit version of the record that is on movie's soundtrack. 2. Shooting Star � I�m Getting Out - The transition from the verses to the bridges of this song get it a high rating by itself! And the rest of it is awesome, too! 3. Van Halen � Dreams - One of the definitive sports drama classics! 4. Pride of Lions � The Courage to Love Somebody - Jim Peterik re-created his classic Survivor sound and did it even better with some of the most creative and effective chord changes I've ever heard plus the phenomenal voice of Toby Hitchcock! 5. Harold Faltermeyer and Steve Stevens � Top Gun Anthem - What a shame that this pair only made one song together! 6. The WWF All-Stars � Hulk Hogan�s Theme - Don't laugh until you hear it! This is actually a Jim Steinman song and an adrenaline pumping instrumental prog rocker! Seriously! 7. Van Halen - 1984 - Synthesizer magic at its best! 8. Emerson, Lake & Palmer � Changing States - The slow finale is particularly outstanding! If I ever run for office, I very well might use it in my commercials while giving an inspirational speech! 9. Nelson � After the Rain - Few songs have ever helped me through tough times for than this one. 10. Asia � Here Comes the Feeling - The biggest reason why its parent album, self-titled, is my favorite album of all time. A perfect blend of progressive rock and early '80s pop-rock. 11. Vince DiCola � War - As is the case with #1Heart's on Fire and #29Training Montage, the version featured in the movie Rocky IV is better than the edit version on the soundtrack. In particular on this one, check out the synth guitar solo! 12. The Alan Parsons Project � Sirius - Introductory magic! 13. Jim Peterik and Cathy Richardson - Diamonds for Stones - One of several songs on this list that very well might have been huge in the '80s. Trying listening to the section that immediately precedes the last chorus without getting tears in your eyes! 14. John Elefante � Give it All Away - Another song that's gotten me through many tough times. 15. Steve Perry � I Stand Alone - Had it been pre-grunge it, almost certainly would have gone straight to the top of the pop and adult contemporary charts! 16. Van Halen � Mine All Mine - Too bad they didn't do more songs like this tense, synth dominated rocker about looking for purpose. Far better than most of the other songs on the OU812 album, including those that were hits. 17. SpongeBob SquarePants � Sweet Victory - Classic late '80s style power ballad featuring lead vocals by David Glen Eisley of Giuffria and drums by Eric Singer of Kiss. 18. Pride of Lions - Unbreakable - Fantastic sports anthem that always lifts me up and keeps me there for a while! Great message of hope and self-determination! 19. Rick Springfield - Souls - It was a hit but sadly didn't stand the test of time very well. Rick's tense side was always my favorite side of his. 20. Styx - Paradise - Dennis DeYoung's best ballad came out six years too late. 21. Kiss � Reason to Live - This power ballad about resisting suicide and not letting one's happiness be determined by one's love life was a semi-hit. But sadly, it was almost completely forgotten very quickly. 22. David Lee Roth � Just Like Paradise - Diamond Dave could have used a few more songs like this infectious and enhilarating pop rocker. 23. Bill Conti � Gonna Fly Now - The production on this, the main theme from Rocky, is way outdated but the inspirational composition is enough to carry it. 24. Shooting Star � Pick up the Pieces - What a tragedy that this mid--80s rocker - filled with interesting rhythms, infectious hooks and positive lyrics - has never been commercially released. 25. Bad Habit � Living on the Edge - I very strongly believe this Swedish pop metal band, much better than their name implies, would have been one of the biggest of that era had they been American and had the backing of a major company. This record is the optimal blend of a high energy late '80s pop-rock and outstanding musicianship. 26. Shooting Star � Higher Power - Mega-dramatic song with several tempo changes - balladic vocals sections but fast and prog edged instrumental sections - plus inspirational lyrics about reaching out for help from above when in a desperate situation. 27. Starship � Tomorrow Doesn�t Matter Tonight - The follow-up single to their #1 singles We Buil This City and Sara was much less successful but, in my opinion, better. It's a tense and dramatic rocker but with a more west coast arrangement. 28. Styx � The Best of Times - Another wonderful ballad from Dennis, this one shows a little of his dark side but his bright side wins out and the contrast works perfectly. 29. Vince DiCola � Training Montage - See #1 and #11! 30. Kansas � Incident on a Bridge - I very strongly believe that had this song been on any Kansas album other than Drastic Measures - which many Kansas die-hards hate and consider to be that group'ss worst album by far - it would be one of that group's most loved songs. This is one of the great feel good songs of all time with a great message about things not seeming to make sense until later. 31. Shooting Star � Touch Me Tonight - This is one of those songs that makes me tap my feet almost every time I hear it. Pop radio has been sorely missing songs like these since the grunge era started! 32. Vince DiCola � Only Time Will Tell - In the tradition of his Rocky IV material and with the fantastic bonus of Steve Walsh on lead vocals! 33. Boston � The Launch - Fantastic symphonic instrumental that has gotten lost in the shadow of the group's many classic rock staples. 34. Bon Jovi � Livin� on a Prayer - I'm mostly lukewarm about this band but this powerhouse of a song I have never gotten tired of. Outstanding in every single way and the late, great Bruce Fairbairn's production is the icing on the cake! 35. Journey � Separate Ways (Worlds Apart) - Everything I said about Livin' on a Prayer applies to this one as well except for replacing Bruce Fairbairn with the late, great Mike Stone! This is one of the extremely few staples of the classic rock radio format that I'm not burned out on! 36. Shooting Star - Burning - Outstanding cinematic drama and hard hitting emotion! 37. Autograph � Turn up the Radio - The lethal combination of its dramatic syntheisizer introduction, classic hook, amazing guitar solo and Neil Kernon's production make this the ultimate party anthem! 38. Dream Theater � Pull Me Under - This gets my vote for the greatest heavy metal song of all time! Every single thing about it is fabulous right down to the shocking finale! 39. Frank Stallone � Far From Over - Another Vince DiCola classic, this is a perfect blend of prog rock and straight ahead AOR! 40. Mystix � Love Rules - Exhilarating and infectious pop rocker from a Dutch group that has never had any commercial release, though its keyboardist, Alan Case, has. 41. Kenny Loggins � Footloose - One of the record that makes me long for the days of '80s soundtracks! 42. Vince Neil � Sister of Pain - I never was big on Motley Crue, but on Vince's solo album he enlisted the help of some melodic rock greats, including guitarist Steve Stevens and producer Ron Nevison, and to me did the Motley Crue sound but better! This song was written by Tommy Shaw and Jack Blades, both in Damn Yankees at the time. 43. 3 Doors Down - Kryptonite - Far and away my favorite song of the modern rock era, largely because of its prominent melodic rock influence! 44. Yanni - Nostalgia - Symphonic keyboard magic from an artist who generally I can take or leave! 45. Kansas � No One Together - One of the ultimate progressive records. Running 6:57, it's one of the longest songs I've ever heard without a single dull moment. It's a massive achievement to put so many different sections together so well! 46. John Elefante � We Will Find Our Way - Mega-hard hitting ballad, even without drums, which John wrote for his wedding! 47. Paul Davis � �65 Love Affair - My first 45 along with two others that I bought simultaneously! It was irresistible hooks like this that made me a pop music fanatic in the early '80s! 48. Dakota � Runaway - I'm a sucker for any record that starts off with 8th notes on a pulsating synthesizer sound continuously for at least four measures! And the rest of this socially conscious dance rocker is right on target as well! 49. Asia � Wildest Dreams - The melody and chord structure is balladic but the performance is rocking with a powerful symphonic edge. A great combination. 50. Genesis � Turn it on Again - To me, unusual time signatures rarely sound good in rock music but this song is a mega-exception! It's alternating of 6/4 and 7/4 somehow works in this record from the band's transitional phase from prog to '80s pop-rock! 51. Pink Floyd � High Hopes - Apparently the last song of the band's career and what a way to go out! A very dark, haunting and hard hitting epic ballad that leads us to re-evalute what matters in life. 52. Shooting Star � Love is a Shield - One of their most powerful songs, thanks to '80s metal style production and an optimal blend of power drumming, hard rocking guitar and a vintage synthesizer sound. 53. Kansas � The Wall - Awesome orchestrated ballad about trying to find the ultimate truth and seems out of our reach. 54. Kansas � Song for America - The original album version of this song runs 10:01 and I think a few sections should have been left out but the best parts are absolutely fantastic, especially the instrumental introduction! 55. Pink Floyd - Marooned - Enormously moving, sad but beautiful instrumental. This gets my vote for the best collaboration between David Gilmour and Richard Wright! 56. Sammy Hagar � Your Love is Driving Me Crazy - Loverboy perfected the combination of combining guitar/synthesizer oriented hard rock with positive, upbeat hooks. Sammy duplicated it extremely well on this one! 57. Survivor � Caught in the Game - The commercial failure of this single and the album from which it is the title track is one of the great mysteris of the '80s. This record is a pop edged hard rocker about the euphoria of falling in love after devastating heartbreak. 58. Survivor � Eye of the Tiger - Still one of the ultimate training songs after nearly a quarter century! 59. Poison � So Tell Me Why - I consider this feel good pop metaler to be their best song and I believe it would have been a top 10 hit and MTV staple for them had it come out even a few months earlier. Unfortunately, it came out right when the grunge invastion was taking off. 60. Rick Springfield � Affair of the Heart - Check out #48 for my thoughts on the intro. And besides that, this is a hard hitting rocker about the intensity of physical passion! 61. Kansas � Lamplight Symphony - Outstanding mix of ballad and menacing prog rocker with tear jerking lyrics! 62. Elton John � Your Song - It still gives me that mushy feeling after all these years! I almost wish he had retired with this one! 63. Stryper � First Love - Power balladry was rarely this good! I've long believed that this band's overt Christianity dramatically reduced their commercial success. Had this song been released by a major secular artist in the late '80s, it almost certainly would have been a mega-hit! 64. Prince and the Revolution � Let�s Go Crazy - I wish he had done a lot more songs like this fabulous upbeat hard rocker, which over 20 years later I still have a hard time sitting still while listening to! 65. Chicago � Hard to Say I�m Sorry/Get Away - The former part of the title is one of David Foster's band and gave the band a new identity, leading them to a second wind. The latter is a fabulous exhilarating pop rocker that features one of the best horn arrangements I've ever heard in rock! The transition from the former to the latter is one of the most effective transitions I've ever heard! And I get annoyed when radio stations play the former but not the latter! 66. Jim Peterik and Dennis DeYoung � To Miss Somebody - Fantastic combination of Survivor and Styx, both musically and lyrically! 67. Kansas � Play On - This bittersweet, synthesizer dominated rocker that is one of their hardest hitting songs from an emotional standpoint - and that's saying a lot! 68. Shooting Star � Call it Love - I don't think even their die-hard fans consider them to generally be a power ballad band, but the power ballad formula has rarely worked as well as it does here! Another example of a song that almost certainly would have been a mosnter hit in the '80s by a major artist! 69. Peter Frampton - Lying - This comeback attempt is a synthesizer dominated version of his classic sound and contains what I consider to be the best hook of his career! It's one that just really makes me feel good every time! 70. The Alan Parsons Project � You're Gonna Get Your Fingers Burned - A very unusual song for Alan and longtime collaborator Eric Woolfson, this is an infectious, moderately rocking, feel good, guitar driven rocker! 71. Mike Reno � Whenever There�s a Night - A power ballad that probably would have been a huge hit for Loverboy in their glory days! 72. David Foster � All I Ever Needed - A classic Foster ballad, heightened by Mike Reno on lead vocals! Yet another one that came out a few years too late for its own good! 73. Dakota � Heroes - Another very moving ballad but not the typical power ballad formula. This one contains drums almost all the way and a somewhat unusual chord structure, which works very well. And the lyrics hit me very hard now that I'm a father! 74. Loverboy � Break it to Me Gently - Bad timing. This one came out on the album that started their commercial downfall, 1987's Wildside. But What a great record it is, a fast, state of the art, uplifting pop-rocker, masterfully produced by Bruce Fairbairn - see also #34! 75. Asia � Cutting it Fine - The heart wrenching instrumental finale - a fantastic orchestraed collection of keyboard euphoria from Geoff Downes - is the biggest part of what gets this song on the list! 76. Huey Lewis and the News � Couple Days Off - One of the ultimate highway rockers, it was a fairly big hit, but probably would have been much bigger had it come out during their commercial peak! 77. Kerry Livgren � Throw Me Down - This orchestrated symphonic rocker -with one of the best hooks I've heard on any song released since the grunge invasion - is my favorite he's done outside of Kansas! 78. Giuffria � Change of Heart - One of my favorite dark power ballads ever, supremely arranged and produced with lush synthesizers, sizzling guitar and soaring vocals! 79. Styx � Love is the Ritual - Mega-powerful with its blazing guitar, grinding organ, pop metal style vocal arrangement and one of the few synth bass lines I've ever liked! This was the first single from the Edge of the Century album and I believe it failed commercially because it didn't sound like Styx. Nevertheless, this Styx die-hard loves it and considers it to be their best non-ballad! 80. Survivor � How Much Love - This sentimental synthesizer dominated rocker hits me very hard emotionally because it's the story of my love life! I could have written it! 81. Kansas - Wheels - This mid-tempo ballad is a bittersweet portrait of the brevity of this life but the anticipation of eternal life. The section that immediately precedes the last chorus and culminates with a magical violin run is one of my absolute favorite musical moments ever! 82. Peter Frampton � Going to L.A. - A ballad largely in the tradition of his 1977 hit I'm in You, this is another example of a song that came out too late for an artist's own good. 83. Stryper - Free - This band stood out musically with a unique guitar sound that was very chunky, yet equally melodic and dexterious, lead and harmony vocals that were like Styx but higher and mega-powerful drumming. This sentimental expression of free will is to me the best example of the combination of those elements. 84. Ratt � Shame, Shame, Shame - Hooking up with the great Desmond Child on their 1990 album Detonator was a smart move and resulted in a state of the art pop metal album. Unfortunately, it got just a lukewarm reception and turned out to be the last album from the original line-up! This song isn't very deep but angry, cheater bashing rockers don't get any better than this! 85. Genesis � Behind the Lines - If the totality of this song was the instrumental introduction, it very well might be in the top 10! That's how good it is! The vocal sections are good but the instrumental introduction is extraordinaryly infectious, upbeat prog rock! 86. Survivor � Feels Like Love - An exhilarating pop rocker that captures the sheer excitement of a romance in the making! 87. Ratt � Lovin� You�s a Dirty Job - Also from Detonator (see #84), this song combines their sleazy state of the art rock-metal sound with Child's pop sensibility. It's a combination of the classic Ratt sound with the sound of Skid Row's first album. 88. Loverboy � Don�t Let Go - This would have fit in very well on an '80s soundtrack. It's a great example of a song that leaves me feeling on top of the world, like I can conquer any obstacle in my way. See #74 for information on its commercial fate. 89. Jimi Jamison with Lisa Frazier - Empires - Written by Jimi with his Survivor bandmates Jim Peterik and Frankie Sullivan, this ballad about the eternality of love vs. the temporality of everything else makes the list particularly from its devastatingly beautiful transition from verse to bridge! 90. Asia � A Far Cry - Their only song of the John Payne era that, to me, captures the hitting between the eyes emotional power of the John Wetton era! 91. Queen � I Want it All - A fantastic sports anthem that makes me feel like I'm in the heat of battle. Too bad it doesn't get 1% of the attention of some of their songs that, while reat, are played ad nausea on classic rock radio and at games! 92. Warren Ham � It Won�t Be Long - A steady, mid-tempo song with some prog-edged keyboard runs. This one is heavy on drama, ephasizing the brevity of life and the importance to make the most out of it while there's still time. 93. Survivor � I Can�t Hold Back - When you want someone so deeply you feel compelled to put all your reservations aside and go for it head on, hoping to succeed but willing to fail, this song is for you! 94. Elton John � I�m Still Standing - My favorite Elton rocker by far, this is a great testament of survival, not letting yourself be brought down by one who has hurt you! I wish he had more songs like this! 95. Night Ranger � I Did it For Love - A dramatic and hearbreaking ballad from Russell Ballard! In particular the instrumental introdction to the second verse is mega-classic! 96. Night Ranger � The Color of Your Smile - Being so blown away by a woman that her smile captures your heart is expressed wonderfully here in this very creative and very bright, exhilarating rocker. It's rhythmically persuaive guitar/drum intro/outro, blistering guitar solo, machine gun type rhythm guitar and over all feel make for a dynamite combination! 97. Damn Yankees � Coming of Age - From a standpoint of depth, this was a step or two down for Jack Blades and Tommy Shaw, but from a standpoint of blistering, hook oriented rock and roll, this record is hard to beat, especially the fantastic section between the second chorus and the guitar solo! 98. Survivor � Oceans - Like many Survivor songs, this one hits me hard on an emotional level because I've been through it. This sentimental rocker is about wanting to get back on track a relationship that's slipping away. 99. Nelson � I Can Hardly Wait - An infectious song of liberation in leaving a bad relationship and optimistically looking forward to finding something better! 100. Europe � Rock the Night - This very serious sounding rock anthem about using music as a sanctuary from the hardships of life epitomizes the Swedish metal sound - an equal emphasis on muscle and melody and on power and polish, topped off by that distinctive Swedish accent!
