Daveportivo's Cultural Evaluation Facility

Ah the art of the 90s monster ballad, when it came to females (ooh forshadowing) no ballad was bigger or more syruppy than Toni Braxton's ludicrious affecting Un-Break My Heart.

It's amazing to think that this the ultimate karaoke ballad only reached number three into the UK charts. It seems mind boggling looking back, but who cares girls will love this song from now until eternity. I can't lie I was singing along at Live8 granted from the back I wasn't going near that many feral Robbie crazed women.

Fat Of The Land is one of the most consistantly overated albums of all time but what it did have was a series of mamoth singles and Breathe was the second best, and remains the biggest live sing along. Now if you don't know what the best single of this album is shame on you. Enjoy a great live performance at Isle Of Wight 09, it was truely mental.

So it's more or less U2's best song, how about that for a contenious statement. It was the first sign of U2 being sick of being U2 and wanting to have some fun and make some great music in the process.

Quiet loud, Quiet loud, Quiet loud, that's all you need to know about Nirvana, but honestly who cares when you milk a formula this well. A riff that could feel sky scrappers, could this song be anymore Iconic?

Another bit of ligtening in a bottle from Definitely Maybe. Another song that encapsulates the age and the feeling within the UK. Contain's some great lines "I Was Looking For Some Action / But All I Found Were Cigarettes & Alcohol" I think everyone on earth can relate to that sentiment.

Ah Pavement they were as good as anyone at defining the feelings and emotions conjured by the early ninities US alt rock movement. Like Weezer you feel that for a big indie band they were ten years before their time, and go sadly unappreaciated.

Another freaky creepy video par excellence from mr. James. He also created one hell of a subversive dance track, while the videos creeping you out you become completely hooked on the track, genius.

Beck's best single from the artistic point of view, this was Beck at the height of his eletronic-folk-hip hop powers. Sit back and enjoy a maverick genius back when he was actually a maverick and definitely a genius.

The moment when Antony Kiedis proved to the world that he has to be taken seriously a songwriter and a geniune lyricist. This was the first of the Chillis lush sweeping ballads, it wouldn't be the last, it arguable isn't the best, but it by far and away is the most hearfelt. A love letter to his home town and a struggle with heroin and a classic track.

"Today Is The Greatest / Day I Ever Known" some times the simplest sentiments are the best. This is as big a live anthem has ever been written, no matter how bad the new materiel was, huge songs of this calibre made their live return at Reading Festival an unquestionable triumph.

No genre has had worse last twenty years that Punk music, it's completely lost it's testicles, not to mention it's dirrections and creativity. However back in 1994 Green Day gave us a sublime slice of pop-punk by the name of Basket Case.

Another delicious cut from Nevermind now while Nirvana are many things the one thing that no one describes them as but they damn well should be is a pop act. That's not an insult, we're not twelve, it's not a dirty word, Kurt was a genius when it came to basic formulaic song structure and writting these sublime three minute pop songs.

There was always something a bit special about Gwen Stefani, you knew that even from within the confines of a ska-punk band (honestly could there be anythign less cool) she managed to shine as a superstar and with songs this big how could we not pay attention.

It was a tough choice it was either this or Block Rocking Beats I don't think there really is a wrong choice between those two monster singles but I opted for Hey because it's aged so much better, and still remains a sure fire festival slayer. As big as Dance tunes can possible get.

I have to admit this is my personal favorite Guns track it's an unparrelled driving live anthem, the highlights are obvious, the awesome drum beat to open, the killer solo leading into Axl's mad breakdown "You've Been Breaking Down My Back / And I've Been Racking Out My Brains / It Don't Matter How We Make / It Always Ends The Same / You Can Push It For More Milage / The Flaps Are Wearing...You Keep Calling Up My Lawyers With Ridiculous Demands / You Can Push Your Pity So Far But It's More Than I Can Stand...Because Five Years Is Forever And You Haven't Grown Up Yet" it doesn't get better than this.

Everyone has a different choice for a favorite Nirvana song, obvious put to a public vote Smells Like... will inevitably win but for most it's a choice between three or four other classics but you always get the feeling that this is the true fans favorite. "I'm So Happy Cause Today I Found My Friends / There In My Head" you'll do well to find a more powerful opening line.

About as huanting and atomspheric as a song could possibly get, brooding and haunting with a superbly eerie lyrical performance. This is one of those songs could only have been made in the 90s, that's not a suggestion that its dated, it just perfectly represents a coming together of cultural factors and a musical movement.

Sometimes you just have the perfect turn of phrase you encapsulate a feeling, Smashing Pumpkins hit the nail on the head with the beautifully titled Bullet With Butterfly Wings it was a feeling of repressed rage, at being stuck in meneal job, or a town you hate, or working for a boss you hate and wanting to break out to scream your lungs out but you can't because "Despite All My Rage / I'm Still Just A Rat In A Cage". Perfect songwriting from Mr. Corgan, oh and this song will totally rock your socks too.

Sometimes your best song isn't your most powerful, best written, most musically interesting sometimes your best song is simply your most immediate. This is definitely the case with Every Me And Every You it's just a perfect pop record, nothing more, nothing less.