Of all the simplistic and platitude-filled tripe accompanying the over-hyped turn of the century, perhaps none are as annoying as the endless "lists" of so-called great moments, great accomplishments, great films, great music, etc. What free-thinking person needs media-type "experts" telling them what to remember or what's IMPORTANT?

Well, if there's some annoying trend going on, count on one of the MTV (Empty-V) networks to jump in with both feet. VH-1 has deigned itself worthy of creating a list of "The 100 Greatest Songs of Rock & Roll." If you want to see just the list, without VH-1's ad-filled and slow-loading garbage around it, go here.

[And, says Tom, we'll stick to the list here and not even get into the shallow, stupid and commercial-filled accompanying programming.]

VH-1 "asked 700 artists, producers, music industry executives, DJ's and critics" to come up with their favorite rock tunes and then compiled this list. That explains a lot right there because this bunch lives and dies by the one-hit wonder or the annoying perennial "hit-makers." Their tastes are likely to be shallow and driven by Billboard charts.

Site master Tom asked his long-time music buddies to check out the list and e-mail their takes on it. The result is the following collaborative review.

Several of us felt that overall, the list included the right groups (although there were very important heavy metal bands and some of the better bands of recent bands strikingly absent) but the choice of tunes, in many cases, exhibited a shallow knowledge of the bands' collective works.

Old tried and true in the rut rock and roll. Come on, sounds like some marketing guys idea of a classic rock CD (money says the "VH-1 greatest rock songs ever" CD box set shows up soon in late night TV ads!). What bothers me most about the list is that it is so hit-oriented. Yes, some of these songs are great (Patsy Cline singing "Crazy"), but some are just lame (Boston's "More than a Feeling"), and some miss the mark totally (The Beatles "Hey Jude"). I'm sure these songs represent great moments in people's lives (like strong smells do) but I think they do not represent great art in the musicians' careers. [Father Time]

My first impression was that the list comprised poppy tunes and was based on the amount of airplay those tunes got. The criteria should be things like how these songs affected culture, influenced other musicians, started new musical sub-genre offshoots, etc. Not how long they stayed on the charts, which I think is their only criteria.

To that end, Van Halen deserves to be on this list, but the song should be "Running with the Devil" or "You Really Got Me". Eddie Van Halen certainly didn't create Heavy Metal but the sound he used on that first album, with the extremely-overdriven Marshall amp, and the dive-bomb and hammering techniques was unlike anything we'd heard before (yeah, Tom, I know, he wasn't the first to hammer, but he was the one who made it a widely popular technique). That album shaped what was to become the Heavy Metal Sound in the 80s, and the 2 songs I mentioned were the first to hit the airwaves. Does anyone else remember how incredible it was to hear that huge guitar sound for the first time back in '78? I think "Roxanne" by the Police should be on this list for the same reason-- it started a new sub-genre that infused ska and reggae-ish styles into rock and greatly shaped the New-Wave sound of the early 80s. [Steve Rummy]

Including "Jump" by Van Halen is an absolute travesty, especially since it's the only Van Halen tune on the list. What does it represent? Certainly not the best of Van Halen. If it's meant to represent the best of 80's pop metal, then there are certainly better choices than that. I think the voters just went back and looked at what songs were on the charts the longest. I could make the same argument for "You Shook Me All Night Long" by AC/DC, which was also named the number one party song of the decade by a local Chicago rock station, also a travesty. God knows I love AC/DC, but I don't think that's a particularly great song.

"Good Vibrations" also seems to be a little high up on the list. Again, the Beach Boys are great, but why that song at #8? I would've put "American Pie" by Don McLean way before that song as an American classic.

"Every Breath You Take" by The Police at number 42? Come on. This list clearly included a lot of "chart-toppers" that don't deserve to be classified as great songs. [Andy Bruce/Shoes/Cruise]

The Beatles were my first favorite and continue to amaze me every time I listen to them but COME ON, 9 tunes out of 100? Rock just hasn't been that limited. I question whether anyone deserves 2 tunes on a top-100 list, but if they did it would be the Beatles, Stones, Led Zep and Elvis and maybe James Brown and Aretha.

As for tunes, I'd have also had a Rolling Stones song as my top, but it would be "Jumpin' Jack Flash" - the quintessential rock tune! It's at #65 on this list. The only way it could possibly be there is if an ignorant person ranked Stones tunes by their single sales or something. And how stereotypical is it to put "Stairway" in the top-5. Led Zeppelin made at least 50 songs that are way better than "Stairway" as far as musical originality, rockin'-ness and performance. Why the bias against later Elvis. "Suspicious Minds," "In the Ghetto," these were great tunes also. [Tom]

Some of these so-called artists just don't belong in the same league as Elvis, the Beatles, the Stones, Led Zep, etc. To wit: Madonna. What has she done to further music? She freely admits she's a grabber and amplifier of trends and gimmicks. She doesn't even qualify as a musician! The Carpenters? COME ONE! What aren't the Partridge Family and Donny & Marie on the list as well? And what original musical contribution has Michael Jackson made? The longest (and most ponderous) music video doesn't count. [Tom]

I question any "greatest of all time" list with the Carpenters on it. What was the appeal of these two? Every song of theirs I've ever heard lulls me into a deep repose. Putting them before the Temps seems like idiocy. (Also), there should be some Hendrix in the top 10 for sure. [Brother John]

Conspicuously absent both from this list are the Stax/Volt singles. That box set represents one of the greatest collections of recorded music in this century. [Father Time] {Note: Stax/Volt includes Otis Redding, Sam & Dave, Booker T & the MG's and many other great Memphis-based R&B artists of the 60's. If VH-1 was going to include Motown, it missed a rich, deep, wonderful vein of music by leaving out Stax/Volt and Hi Records from Memphis}

How can you even attempt to compile the "Greatest Rock Tunes" list and leave out most of heavy metal? Almost anything original and exciting recorded since 1970 has come out of the ranks of heavy metal. Punk was mostly an over-hyped showcase of no talent. Grunge had no staying power (which raises the question why Nirvana is on this list but no Pearl Jam or Soundgarden or Alice in Chains). But metal has survived and thrived. OK, I'd argue that most of the 80's big-hair metal bands don't deserve a second look, but what about Black Sabbath or Rush or Blue Oyster Cult or Metallica? Note to VH-1's 700 "experts": heavy metal encompasses many more talented and important musicians than Led Zeppelin and late-80's Van Halen. Not to take anything away from those great bands.

And what about REM? They've made some of the best original music in the 90's. They're not afraid to try new things and take career risks. I'd also argue that John Mellencamp is at least as original and creative as, say Bruce Springsteen. [Tom]

WFUV {Fordham University Radio, publisher of their own Records of the Century list} had intelligence and true artistic reasoning behind most of their picks. Stereophile's "Records 2 die 4" list spotlighted smart, soulful, and life-affirming reasons for the existence of music. Not some commoditized, commercialized, and homogenized list of commercial pap. [Father Time]

Some of the typos in the VH-1 list were a howl -- my favorite was Celine Dion, "My Heat Will Go On." [Brother Chris]