There will be entire chapters in future history books about 2016. Look, it was just a just a couple years ago. You lived through 2016. It was revealed on Monday that Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey sent his beard hair to Azalea Banks to make an amulet to protect him…

Lil Wayne, learning about writing in triplets at a young age. Good news, everyone! Metallica is back on the list. I know, I know. You were worried they’d be stuck at a mere seven appearances in the top five. But fortunately after the regrettable detour that was St. Anger, they turned it…

SAN FRANCISCO — Metallica, today, announced an acoustic concert that will benefit the band’s All Within My Hands Foundation. The Nov. 3 performance, called The Helping Hands Concert and Auction, will be held at the Masonic in San Francisco. Cage the Elephant will open, with its own acoustic set. All…

Another year I was in high school and into modern music, another excessively long longlist of songs it kills me not to include. So before we get started with the official lis, here are some songs that didn’t make the final cut that you should still listen to: Our…

Every week people get mad at me for my top five. Sometimes it’s songs in the honorable mentions list that they think should’ve been at the top, sometimes it’s songs that they think got snubbed entirely, but people haven’t been this mad at me over something I wrote since…

We’ve reached 1991 on our quest to list the best five (or more!) songs released each year. And guess what—1991 is one of the best years in modern music. Between Metallica’s eponymous black album and Nirvana’s groundbreaking Nevermind, that was two spots right off the top. And neither of the other…

SAN FRANCISCO — Metal titans Metallica are synonymous with the Bay Area. The legendary rock band’s roots were planted in San Francisco and the Northern Bay in the early days. Even as some of the band members moved away, they were still invested in their home. Lars Ulrich, James…

The year 1988 was a great year. For example, Bobby McFerrin’s “Don’t Worry Be Happy” came out! And the Taylor Dayne classic “Tell It To My Heart!” Everyone loves both unironically, right? Ok, so not those. But 1988 did give us two of the greatest hip-hop albums of all time in Straight…

Welcome to 1986! The music scene is shifting yet again. Hip-hop is becoming popular. Metal is getting harder. And hair rock is about to reach its zenith. I was tempted to make this another double-length entry since the longlist has 21 songs on it, but really I just wanted…

Wham! The cuts in this top five songs of 1984 were tough. The Cars’ “You Might Think” and Sheila E’s “The Glamorous Life” are favorites of mine, and I’m sure I’m going to get backlash about leaving out Frankie Goes to Hollywood, the Talking Heads and Tina Turner. But who…