The 111 Best Songs By Tom Petty

(* This is a slightly altered post from a few years ago.  The sentiment remains the same)

An American icon cannot be narrowed down to eleven songs. Petty belongs with the greats. Time and time again he has stood up to the record companies and won. Not just once...but many times. He is everything that rock n roll was and everything it should be. He has stood for artists' rights...he has stood against over-production. He blasted the radio industry, American Idol, and everything that is wrong with music today. He made a 4-hour music documentary against all common sense...and in turn made one of the greatest music documentaries of all time. And at the end of the day...no matter how much stands up for or stands against...he backs it up making good honest music...that has only gotten better with time.

Rock on, Tom Petty.  RIP


The 111 Best Tom Petty Songs:

1. American Girl (Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers)
2. A Woman In Love (Hard Promises)
3. Runnin' Down A Dream (Full Moon Fever)
4. Shadow of A Doubt (A Complex Kid) (Damn The Torpedoes)
5. Zombie Zoo (Full Moon Fever)
6. Refugee (Damn The Torpedoes)
7. Learning To Fly (Into The Great Wide Open)
8. Crawling Back To You (Wildflowers)
9. Rebels (Southern Accents)
10. Free Fallin' (Full Moon Fever)
11. King's Highway (Into The Great Wide Open)
12. Mary Jane's Last Dance (Greatest Hits)
13. Walls (Circus) - (She's The One)
14. Waiting For Tonight (Playback)
15. The Last DJ (The Last DJ)
16. I Won't Back Down (Full Moon Fever)
17. Wildflowers (Wildflowers)
18. Breakdown (Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers)
19. I Need To Know (You're Gonna Get It)
20. Out In The Cold (Into The Great Wide Open)
21. You Got Lucky (Long After Dark)
22. The Waiting (Hard Promises)
23. Don't Do Me Like That - Mudcrutch Version (Playback)
24. Finding Out (Long After Dark)
25. Handle With Care (Traveling Wilburys Volume 1)
26. Love Is Long Road (Full Moon Fever)
27. A Thing About You (Hard Promises)
28. Time To Move On (Wildflowers)
29. Two Gunslingers (Into The Great Wide Open)
30. Ways To Be Wicked (Playback)
31. Counting On You (Echo)
32. Dark of the Sun (Into The Great Wide Open)
33. I'll Feel A Whole Lot Better (Full Moon Fever)
34. Magnolia (You're Gonna Get It)
35. Lover of the Bayou (Mudcrutch)
36. Stop Draggin' My Heart Around (Bella Donna)
37. Dreams of Flying (2)
38. Square One (Highway Companion)
39. Yer So Bad (Full Moon Fever)
40. Even The Losers (Damn The Torpedoes)
41. Trailer (2)
42. Runaway Trains (Let Me Up)
43. Into The Great Wide Open (Into The Great Wide Open)
44. End of the Line (Traveling Wilburys - Volume 1)
45. Hope You Never (She's The One)
46. Flirting With Time (Highway Companion)
47. You and Me (The Last DJ)
48. You Wreck Me (Wildflowers)
49. Ankle Deep (Highway Companion)
50. Depending On You (Full Moon Fever)
51. A One Story Town (Long After Dark)
52. Here Comes My Girl (Damn The Torpedoes)
53. King's Road (Hard Promises)
54. So You Want To Be A Rock N Roll Star (Pack Up The Plantation)
55. Dreamville (The Last DJ)
56. Saving Grace (Highway Companion)
57. We Stand A Chance (Long After Dark)
58. The Apartment Song (Full Moon Fever)
59. Deliver Me (Long After Dark)
60. Restless (You're Gonna Get It)
61. Won't Last Long (Echo)
62. To Find A Friend (Wildflowers)
63. Don't Come Around Here No More (Southern Accents)
64. The Trip To Pirate's Cove (Mojo)
65. Forgotten Man (Hypnotic Eye)
66. Century City (Damn The Torpedoes)
67. Dogs On The Run (Southern Accents)
68. Needles and Pins (Pack Up The Plantation)
69. Angel Dream (No. 4) - (She's The One)
70. Insider (Hard Promises)
71. A Mind With A Heart of Its Own (Full Moon Fever)
72. Listen To Her Heart (You're Gonna Get It)
73. All You Can Carry (Hypnotic Eye)
74. Save Your Water (2)
75. A Higher Place (Wildflowers)
76. Hope (2)
77. It's Good To Be King (Wildflowers)
78. Louisiana Rain (Damn The Torpedoes)
79. Sea of Heartbreak (Unchained)
80. I Will Run To You (Wild At Heart)
81. Grew Up Fast (She's The One)
82. Southern Accents (Southern Accents)
83. Big Weekend (Highway Companion)
84. You're Gonna Get It (You're Gonna Get It)
85. Something Good Coming (Mojo)
86. Down South (Highway Companion)
87. One More Day, One More Night (Echo)
88. Night Driver (Highway Companion)
89. Running Man's Bible (Mojo)
90. Poor House (Traveling Wilburys - Volume 3)
91. Since You Said You Loved Me (Playback)
92. Letting You Go (Hard Promises)
93. Jammin' Me (Let Me Up)
94. Lover's Touch (Mojo)
95. Hurt (You're Gonna Get It)
96. Fooled Again (Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers)
97. Let Me Up (Let Me Up)
98. A Self-Made Man (Let Me Up)
99. Makin' Some Noise (Into The Great Wide Open)
100. All Or Nothin' (Into The Great Wide Open)
101. How Many More Days (Let Me Up)
102. Fault Lines (Hypnotic Eye)
103. The Wrong Thing To Do (Mudcrutch)
104. Asshole (She's The One)
105. Anything's That Rock N Roll (Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers)
106. Kneeling Drunkard's Plea (Unchained)
107. Red River (Hypnotic Eye)
108. Damaged By Love (Highway Companion)
109. Scare Easy (Mudcrutch)
110. High In The Morning (Mojo)
111. Money Becomes King (The Last DJ)

The 111 Best Songs Featuring Chester Bennington

I had a conversation with some friends this week about what artists of the past 25 years will be elected in the Rock N Roll Hall Of Fame in their first year if eligibility.  Recently, Nirvana, Pearl Jam and Green Day all accomplished this.  We came up with five bands:  Beck, Radiohead, Eminem, The White Stripes, and Linkin Park.  Though half of our group didn't believe that Linkin Park would make it in (on the first year)...I convinced them of the opposite. In the past 17 years, Linkin Park has sold over 80 million albums worldwide, 28 million in the US.  Their debut album, Hybrid Theory, was awarded Diamond status for selling 10 million copies in the US (27 million worldwide).  It was the best-selling album of 2001, the seventh best-selling album of the 2000s, and the best-selling debut album of the 21st century. Their follow-up album, Meteora, has also sold 27 million albums worldwide (7 million in the US). While their third album, Minutes To Midnight, sold 20 million worldwide (3 million in the US). They have 6 number one albums, all of which have debuted at number one on the Billboard charts.  They won 2 Grammy awards (5 nominations), 4 MTV VMAs (18 nominations), 5 AMAs (9 nominations), and an additional 25+ international awards.  They headlined two of the five highest grossing festivals of the 2000s (Download & Rock Am Ring).  They have 3 top ten singles on the Billboard charts (In The End, What I've Done, New Divide), ten #1 singles on the US alternative charts, eight #1 singles on the US mainstream rock charts, and 21 top ten international singles. But despite all the album sales, the awards, the sold out shows, the legions of fans...there was one thing about Linkin Park that you can't take away.  They were original.  They may have been lumped in with the nu metal genre but there was no other band who sounded like them.  They were a cross between Alice In Chains, Beastie Boys, Minor Threat, Anime, and Video Games.  There was no one else like them before them and no one else since.  Even though I was a bigger Soundgarden fan, I think this death hit me harder because Chester was the first major star to pass away who was younger than me. I was a fan.  A Thousands Suns was my favorite album. Their live show was inspiring.  And unlike a lot of bands, they were creative and they took chances.  Sometimes the chances paid off...sometimes they did not.  But I would rather root for a band who took a chance and failed than root for a band that always played it safe. In order to reach the 111 mark, I've included songs from Chester's entire career. Here are the 111 Best Songs Featuring Chester Bennington:

1. In The End (Linkin Park - Hybrid Theory)
2. Numb (Linkin Park - Meteora)
3. Crawling (Linkin Park - Hybrid Theory)
4. Faint (Linkin Park - Meteora)
5. Breaking The Habit (Linkin Park - Meteora)
6. Burn It Down (Linkin Park - Living Things)
7. One Step Closer (Linkin Park - Hybrid Theory)
8. Somewhere I Belong (Linkin Park - Meteora)
9. Pushing Me Away (Linkin Park - Hybrid Theory)
10. The Catalyst (Linkin Park - A Thousand Suns)
11. In Pieces (Linkin Park - Minutes To Midnight)
12. Runaway (Linkin Park - Hybrid Theory)
13. Bleed It Out (Linkin Park - Minutes To Midnight)
14. Lost In The Echo (Linkin Park - Living Things)
15. Lying From You (Linkin Park - Meteora)
16. From The Inside (Linkin Park - Meteora)
17. Roads Untraveled (Linkin Park - Living Things)
18. No More Sorrow (Linkin Park - Minutes To Midnight)
19. Easier To Run (Linkin Park - Meteora)
20. New Divide (Linkin Park - New Divide)
21. Don't Stay (Linkin Park - Meteora)
22. Burning The Skies (Linkin Park - A Thousand Suns)
23. Blackout (Linkin Park - A Thousand Suns)
24. What I've Done (Linkin Park - Minutes to Midnight)
25. A Line In The Sand (Linkin Park - The Hunting Party)
26. Rebellion (Linkin Park - The Hunting Party)
27. Figure.09 (Linkin Park - Meteora)
28. Papercut (Linkin Park - Hybrid Theory)
29. My Suffering (Dead By Sunrise - Out Of Ashes)
30. Guilty All The Same (Linkin Park - The Hunting Party)
31. Given Up (Linkin Park - Minutes To Midnight)
32. A Light That Never Comes (Linkin Park - Recharged)
33. In My Remains (Linkin Park - Living Things)
34. Iridescent (Linkin Park - A Thousand Suns)
35. Leave Out All The Rest (Linkin Park - Minutes to Midnight)
36. I'll Be Gone (Linkin Park - Living Things)
37. Until It's Gone (Linkin Park - The Hunting Party)
38. Castle of Glass (Linkin Park - Living Things)
39. Inside of Me (Dead By Sunrise - Out Of The Ashes)
40. When They Come For Me (Linkin Park - A Thousand Suns)
41. Darker Than Blood (Steve Aoki - Neon Future II)
42. Hands Held High (Linkin Park - Minutes To Midnight)
43. With You (Linkin Park - Hybrid Theory)
44. Across The Line (Linkin Park - A Decade Underground)
45. Walking Dead (Z-Trip - Shifting Gears)
46. Robot Boy (Linkin Park - A Thousand Suns)
47. Wastelands (Linkin Park - The Hunting Party)
48. Wretches and Kings (Linkin Park - A Thousand Suns)
49. My December (Linkin Park - Hybrid Theory B-Side)
50. Points of Authority (Linkin Park - Hybrid Theory)
51. Good Goodbye (Linkin Park - One More Light)
52. Riders on the Storm (Santana - Guitar Heaven)
53. Waiting For The End (Linkin Park - A Thousand Suns)
54. End of the World (Dead By Sunrise - Out Of Ashes)
55. All For Nothing (Linkin Park - The Hunting Party)
56. Crawl Back In (Dead By Sunrise - Out Of Ashes)
57. Keys To The Kingdom (Linkin Park - The Hunting Party)
58. Same On The Inside (Stone Temple Pilots - High Rise)
59. It Goes Through (Linkin Park - Mall Soundtrack)
60. Shadow of the Day (Linkin Park - Minutes To Midnight)
61. Hit The Floor (Linkin Park - Meteora)
62. Not Alone (Linkin Park - Not Alone)
63. Victimized (Linkin Park - Living Things)
64. White Noise (Linkin Park - Mall Soundtrack)
65. Condemned (Dead By Sunrise - Out Of The Ashes)
66. Lies Greed Misery (Linkin Park - Living Things)
67. Qwerty (Linkin Park - Songs From The Underground)
68. Nobody's Listening (Linkin Park - Meteora)
69. And One (Linkin Park - Hybrid Theory EP)
70. One More Light (Linkin Park - One More Light)
71. In The Darkness (Dead By Sunrise - Out Of The Ashes)
72. Valentine's Day (Linkin Park - Minutes To Midnight)
73. Powerless (Linkin Park - Living Things)
74. We Made It (Busta Rhymes - Back On My B.S.)
75. Walking In Circles (Dead By Sunrise - Out Of Ashes)
76. Let Down (Dead By Sunrise - Out Of Ashes)
77. A Place For My Head (Linkin Park - Hybrid Theory)
78. Slow Ya Roll (Young Buck - Buck The World)
79. Mark The Graves (Linkin Park - The Hunting Party)
80. Forgotten (Linkin Park - Hybrid Theory)
81. Skin To Bone (Linkin Park - Living Things)
82. Blackbirds (Linkin Park - A Thousand Suns Bonus Track)
83. Out Of Time (Stone Temple Pilots - High Rise)
84. Sold My Soul To Yo Mama (Linkin Park - Songs From The Underground)
85. Talking To Myself (Linkin Park - One More Light)
86. Final Masquerade (Linkin Park - The Hunting Party)
87. Until It Breaks (Linkin Park - Living Things)
88. By Myself (Linkin Park - Hybrid Theory)
89. Too Late (Dead By Sunrise - Out of The Ashes)
90. Battle Symphony (Linkin Park - One More Light)
91. The Little Things Give You Away (Linkin Park - Minutes To Midnight)
92. Halfway Right (Linkin Park - One More Light)
93. Cry Cry (Stone Temple Pilots - High Rise)
94. Into You (Dead By Sunrise - Out Of Ashes)
95. War (Linkin Park - The Hunting Party)
96. Fire (Dead By Sunrise - Fire)
97. Sharp Edges (Linkin Park - One More Light)
98. Announcement Service Public (Linkin Park - Songs From The Underground)
99. Black Heart (Stone Temple Pilots - High Rise)
100. Nobody Can Save Me (Linkin Park - One More Light)
101. High Voltage (Linkin Park - Hybrid Theory)
102. System (Chester Bennington - Queen of the Damned)
103. Heavy (Linkin Park - One More Light)
104. Invisible (Linkin Park - One More Light)
105. Tomorrow (Stone Temple Pilots - High Rise)
106. Jornada Del Muerto (Linkin Park - A Thousand Suns)
107. Step Up (Linkin Park - In The End)
108. Sorry For Now (Linkin Park - One More Light)
109. Give Me Your Name (Dead By Sunrise - Out Of Ashes)
110. Pretend To Be (Linkin Park - A Decade Underground)
111. The Messenger (Linkin Park - A Thousand Suns)

  R.I.P. Chester Bennington