I've seen them kissing out in the hallway

58. The Flaming Lips - "Superhumans" (from the Transmissions From the Satellite Heart album, Warner Bros., 1993)

This is the #1 Flaming Lips hit in my heart, for me the perfect mix of their scuzz and their world-conquering giddiness. The lyrics combine a message of personal sacrifice (one of Wayne Coyne's favorite themes) with with a combination of animal and space imagery that has pretty much become his bread and butter on-stage. The way Wayne strains for the melody here is completely appropriate for someone singing to a love object which seems to be as grand as a galaxy, and the when the guitar solo soars in, briefly, it soars towards the heavens.

Guitar!

164. The Darkness - "I Believe In A Thing Called Love" (Must Destroy Music, 2002)

This song had no retro-nostalgia value for me at all when I first heard it in 12th grade. I was aware of hair metal, but I wasn't particularly fond of it and I sure as hell didn't remember it being around. I knew Queen, the other thing often referenced w/r/t the Darkness cuz my aunt loved them, but again, no major allegiance there. But for some reason, when this hit MTV2 or whatever and I heard it I was like YES! Amazing!

(So you're saying it's a sweet song for actual musical reasons? Wotta breakthrough!)

I mean, yeah, I guess it's just kind of great. They seem like they're really having fun. And then it eventually did kind of get huge to the point that we prolly sang it at school dances and now it does, actually have nostalgia value. Oh, man, we thought it was so sweet when he said "guitar!" before the guitar solo (it is).