30. "Black Hole Sun" by Soundgarden

Where is the rock vocalist today with the bombast and dexterity of Chris Cornell, far, far less the songwriting chops?

What songs do you hear on the radio today where some virtuosic rocker with a pop-worthy melodic ear is on there singing about black holes and suns, and a litany of other surreal images and idea fragments? Maybe this is just a really strange song of relationship strife, and we can all just relax.

Much was made about the guitar effect on this song's verses, its calling card, maybe its gimmick. I'll tell you what, the drums are the value of admission here, the thundering, ever-thinking drums of Matt Cameron. He never takes a measure off.

Some people love labels like "grunge" to describe any heavy rock coming out in the early/mid '90s. Fine, but if you are one that likes to call "grunge," you are allowing marketers to simplify your appreciation of essential, ambitious sonic sculpture like "Black Hole Sun" in the process.

Hug a guitar today.

1. "4th of July" by Soundgarden

You will probably hate this song. The tuning is arcane, putting the fuzzy guitars in an almost unintelligibly low register. But the chord progression is brilliant. The singing melody is one of immense imagination. The high notes are almost stupidly high. The song epitomizes Chris Cornell's trademark shriek.

The lyrics form an abstract, apocalyptic landscape. Cornell specialized in nearly nonsensical dark, psychedelic lyrics, but in this song, he unloads one of his most striking concrete images in a key closing line: "Down in the hole, Jesus tries to crack a smile beneath another shovel load."