77. Say It Ain't So by Weezer

"Say It Ain't So" by Weezer

Written by Rivers Cuomo
Produced by Ric Ocasek
Released on Weezer (Blue Album) (May 10, 1994)
Released as single on July 13, 1995
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If you don't know anything about the band Weezer (or even if you do), here's what you need to know:

1. Their first album, Weezer (aka the Blue album) is their best album.
2. A vocal subset of Weezer fans and music critics will try to convince you that Pinkerton is Weezer's best album. They are just trying to sound cool, and they are not very convincing.
3. Others will try to say that Weezer (aka the Green album) is Weezer's best self-titled album and therefore their best album. This serves as a reminder that some opinions are simply wrong.
4. Weezer has produced six self-titled albums. (They are differentiated by the colors of their covers.)
5. Yes, Weezer is a pretentious band. Weezer fans can also be pretentious, especially when they want to share their incorrect opinions about Weezer's music.
6. People's opinions about Weezer can never be taken at face value. There's a very good chance that anyone sharing any kind of opinion about Weezer, whether positive or negative, is just trying to seem cool.

During my freshman year in high school Weezer was everywhere. I should be more specific. They were on the radio and they were on MTV, which for a freshman in high school in the fall of 1994 might as well as been everywhere.

Their first single, "Undone - The Sweater Song," was catchy enough and gimmicky enough to fit right into the burgeoning alternative music scene. They produced a campy and nostalgic video for the song "Buddy Holly" that was a super fun. I unashamedly loved that music video. I'm not sure that was true of everyone who liked it though. There were probably people who only liked it ironically. I was probably still too young to really be aware of how liking something ironically worked, but there's a lot about the 90's alternative music scene that was all about irony. Ironically this did not include Alanis Morrissette's song "Ironic." There was really nothing ironic about that song.

This, of course, speaks to the real problem about Weezer (and alternative music in general). At some point some of my friends made it very clear to me that liking Weezer was not cool. Now looking back, it's obvious that my friends who said this were definitely not cool, but I thought they had cool taste in music. The only real reason to listen to music in high school was to seem cool, right? I desperately wanted to be cool in high school. I knew I wasn't cool, but I was looking for any kind of incremental advantage that could help me become cooler. Maybe having cool taste in music could fool a couple of people into thinking I was cool.

So when I was told that Weezer wasn't cool, I didn't try to protest or disagree. I was like, "Duh, of course they aren't cool."

Man, I was an idiot.

I love music. That's the reason I started writing this blog. That being said, I still listen to music and write about music because I am trying to seem cool, but now instead of trying to make sure I'm listening to music only because other people think it's cool, I'm trying to seem cool by not caring about what people think of my taste in music. For example, I used to have a handful of "guilty pleasure" songs that I liked, but wouldn't openly admit to liking. I don't anymore. I like what I like, and I choose not to hide it or feel guilty about it. That's apparently what cool people do: they don't care about whether or not they are cool. They certainly don't care about whether their taste in music is cool.

Of course, I'm still not cool because I'm still trying too hard. The mere existence of this blog is clear evidence of my continued efforts to seem cool. Despite my efforts, I am still very much obsessed with coolness. It's becoming the theme of this entire blog.

I'm hopeless, aren't I?

"Say It Ain't So" is a great song, and I don't care what you think about that.

Did you believe me?

Right now, "Say It Ain't So" by Weezer is (probably) my 77th favorite song of all time.

78. Samba Pa Ti by Santana

"Samba Pa Ti" by Santana

Written by Carlos Santana
Produced by Fred Catero, Carlos Santana
Released on Abraxas (September 23, 1970)
Released as single in 1973
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Saying that Carlos Santana plays the guitar seems inadequate. Carlos Santana speaks through his guitar; he emotes through six strings and an amp; he coaxes peace, love, and fire out of his pickups. The sound he creates is unique, golden, and emotive. The reason I love "Samba Pa Ti" is simple: During the nearly five minutes that make up this ode to life and everything beautiful, Carlos Santana makes his guitar cry. There is no other way to describe the way his guitar sounds during the first section of "Samba Pa Ti." It is beautiful and glorious and sad.

I sometimes like to read about how musicians create and produce their music. I'll read articles and books describing of equipment that artists use on particular recordings. It's an interesting exercise for me: Seeing how different artists put the puzzle pieces together to generate a sound, and it is a puzzle. Do you go Fender or Gibson? Standard or custom pickups? What kind of amp? What kind of cable? Which pedals do you use?

Even with all of that, there is still the guitarist themselves to consider. It's fascinating how others can try to replicate a guitar god's setup only to generate a sound that's not quite right. It's a reminder that creating great music, even rock music, is an art more than a science. It takes skill and patience and practice. The sound is as much in the fingers of the artist as it is in their setup.

Santana apparently uses a PRS guitar. When I was trying to explain to a friend of mine how much I loved the tone of Santana's guitar on "Samba Pa Ti," he in turn mentioned to me how much he disliked PRS guitars. He felt like instead of creating a unique sound, PRS tried to split the difference between a Gibson sound and a Fender sound. I felt like he wasn't listening to the song, he was just thinking about how much he disliked PRS guitars. He got so lost in the science of the music, that he wasn't hearing the art.

Ultimately, however Carlos Santana created the sound he did doesn't matter. Whatever the magic is, and whatever equipment he used, the only thing that really matters is that he made his freaking guitar cry! How do you do that? That is what separates the guitar gods from the imitators and pretenders. Only Santana can actually coax literal tears from the strings on his guitar. And that is why I love this song (the first of two Santana instrumentals on my top 100 list).

Right now, "Samba Pa Ti" by Santana is (probably) my 78th favorite song of all time.

79. Maggot Brain by Funkadelic

"Maggot Brain" by Funkadelic

Written by Eddie Hazel, George Clinton
Produced by George Clinton
Released on Maggot Brain (July 12, 1971)
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Warning: Explicit Lyrics

I'm not sure what it says about me that out of everything in George Clinton's extensive P-Funk catalog, I decided to put his least funky song on my top 100 list. It certainly can't be anything good, but I'm a sucker for good guitar instrumentals, and funky or not, "Maggot Brain" is a great guitar instrumental. There's something about a true master of the guitar putting it all out there, and letting their guitar do the talking for them. Eddie Hazel's guitar is certainly speaking here, and I can't claim to know what it's saying, but what it is saying is powerful and beautiful.

Apparently the version of "Maggot Brain" that made it on to the album of the same name, was recorded as one brilliant 10 minute take of guitar god magic. It's not perfect, and an argument could be made that they would have been better off splicing tape together or running through more takes or rehearsals. What is here, though, is full of magic and moments of sheer genius. Whatever it could have been or should have been or would have been doesn't matter. This guitar solo has enough moments of spine tingling euphoria to make up for its less blissful and less perfect sections.

"Maggot Brain" is by the George Clinton led band Funkadelic, one of a small collection of bands he led. All his bands seemed to record and play together, and their personnel and album releases overlapped. They all sound different in some ways and the same in others, and I'm not sure I totally understand their differences or their similarities. The best I can tell is that Funkadelic is the cool band, Parliament is the fun band, P-Funk All-Stars is the touring band, and Bootsy's Rubber Band is the awesomely weird side-project. (Bootsy's Rubber Band actually shows up later on in the list, and of course, I chose another not-so-funky song by one of the greatest funk artists of all time. What is wrong with me?)

"Maggot Brain" is a fascinating song to come out of George Clinton's catalog. It's a deadly serious song. It eschews any of the typical themes that permeated George Clinton's more iconic and commercially successful work. Unlike much of his music, it's not fun and bouncy, but instead is somewhat contemplative and spiritual.

While thinking about what I love about "Maggot Brain," I was reminded of the Sunday Schools I attended as a youth where I first fell in love with music. The hymns we sang were serious, powerful, and sincere. I think a lot of my musical sensibilities are still rooted in that time and in those hymns. The songs I enjoy the most and would rate as "best" are usually more serious in nature and more emotive in execution. This is not the last time a "serious" song from a "fun" band will find its way onto my top 100. Even outside of a church setting, listening to music has always been, at least in part, a religious experience for me. (I do like fun music, and fun songs are included in my heavy listening rotation and are sprinkled throughout my top 100, but ultimately when I rate the songs in my arbitrarily subjective way, serious usually beats fun unless some serious nostalgia is involved.)

"Maggot Brain" is by no means a religious song, but the way that Eddie Hazel spoke and emoted through his guitar on this track speaks to a religious experience. Great music, even when it's not explicitly religious, is inherently spiritual. Frankly, some of the least moving and least spiritual music I hear is the "Christian Rock" that is spewed forth from more and more churches around the country. I genuinely feel closer to God listening to Eddie Hazel's plaintive guitar solo than I would listening to something on a Christian radio station.

Church, religion, and music have always been comforting to me, sometimes individually, and sometimes together. Many of the hymns I sang as a six year old in Sunday School still move me when I sing them in church as an adult. Those hymns will often come to mind when I am searching for answers to life's many great questions. I don't think it is a coincidence that Eddie Hazel's guitar speaks to me in a similar way.

Right now, "Maggot Brain" by Funkadelic is (probably) my 79th favorite song of all time.