The Definitive 1000 Songs Of All Time 1955 to 2005: Number 440

Number 440

America

"A Horse With No Name"

(1972)
.

Genre: Soft Rock

ma car

Man, when i first heard this song, i swore it was Neil Young yanno. It must be a bitch to a band who sounds dead pan like another band. Here are some others for you to think about ..... 1.Muse vs Radiohead [everyone says this, but i think Muse has a heavier sound] 2. AC/DC vs Rhinobucket [the lead singer out of Rhinobucket sounds more like Bon Scott than Bon Scott did] 3. Quarterflash vs Pat Benatar [this is downright spooky] 4. Nickelback vs Theory of a Deadman [is it because the two bands have a history together?] 5. Nirvana vs Silverchair [yea but Silverchair went on to a different style after their debut album] There are probably heaps more, but you get the drift. Let me know if you can think of any more. Peace out ~ Hippy

we can still rock

America's debut album is a folk-pop classic, a stellar collection of memorable songs that would prove influential on such acts as the Eagles and Dan Fogelberg. Crosby, Stills & Nash are the group's obvious stylistic touchstone here, especially in the vocal harmonies used (compare the thick chordal singing of "Sandman" and "Children" to CS&N's "You Don't Have to Cry" and "Guinevere") and the prominent use of active strummed acoustic guitar arrangements (contrast "Riverside" to CS&N's "Suite: Judy Blue Eyes"). America's intricate interplay of acoustic guitar textures is more ambitious than that of their influences, however. Performance quality is usually good, though on occasion sloppily executed or out of tune (especially on the openings to "Donkey Jaw" and "I Never Found the Time"). Lengthy instrumental introductions ("Donkey Jaw"), middle improvisatory interludes ("Here"), and closings ("Clarice") are frequently encountered. Most of these selections boast highly unusual and inventive chord progressions that work well without drawing undue attention to themselves.

in ya face Neil

Lyrics are sometimes trite ("I need you/Like the flower needs the rain") or obscure ("He flies the sky/Like an eagle in the eye/Of a hurricane that's abandoned"), but the music more than makes up for any verse problems; only the odd "Pigeon Song" seems an unsalvageable misstep. Sound quality here has a covered, intimate feel that lends a ghostly aura to this release. Chart hits from this album include the spectrally loping "A Horse with No Name," the squarishly tuneful "I Need You," and the nervously dour "Sandman." Other highlights include the buoyantly charming "Three Roses," the yearningly lovely "Rainy Day," and the quietly ringing "Clarice." In spite of its flaws, this platter is very highly recommended. ~ [David Cleary, All Music Guide]

Horse with no name

Despite — or perhaps because of — the song being banned by some U.S. radio stations (including one in Kansas City) because of supposed drug references the song rose to number one on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100 and the album quickly went platinum. The interpretation of the song as a drug reference comes from the fact that "horse" is a common slang term for heroin. The song's resemblance to some of Neil Young's work stirred some grumbling as well. Incidentally, it was "A Horse With No Name" that bumped Young's "Heart Of Gold" out of the #1 slot on the U.S. Pop chart. "I know that virtually everyone, on first hearing, assumed it was Neil," Bunnell says. "I never fully shied away from the fact that I was inspired by him. I think it's in the structure of the song as much as in the tone of his voice. It did hurt a little, because we got some pretty bad backlash. I've always attributed it more to people protecting their own heroes more than attacking me."

This song has also been ridiculed for its banal and/or oddly phrased lyrics, including "The heat was hot"; "There were plants, and birds, and rocks, and things"; and "'Cause there ain't no-one for to give you no pain." Randy Newman once described it as a song "about a kid who thinks he's taken acid". Comedian Richard Jeni mocked the song's title. "You're in the desert," he said. "You got nothing else to do. Name the freakin' horse!" ~ [Source: Wikipedia]

For Radiohead see Number 641 & MM Vol 1 #137

For AC/DC see Number 552

For Rhinobucket see Number 667

For Pat Benatar see Number 615 & #832

For Nickelback see MM Vol 1#034 & #057

For Nirvana see Number 480

For Silverchair see MM Vol 1 #019

For Neil Young see Number 479, #677 & #938

For the Eagles see Number 509

For Crosby Stills & Nash see Number 660

For Randy Newman see Number 958

For more America see Number 728

What does Rolling Stone think of America?

What have we here, O my sisters and brothers, but an album that serves as living proof that if you release 88 albums every month, at least one of them will make the charts and thus merit the attention of your humble record review staff? America, three real young men whose only concession to a combined 15 years of English residence is one wrinkled Rod Stewart-style velour jacket of the sort you don't need to go to England to get any more, are strictly for those who find Crosby, Stills & Nash. inaccessibly cerebral.

On the strength of an extremely (a) lame, and (b) unashamedly Neil Young-imitative hit single, "A Horse With No Name," they've quickly become as big with whatever's left of the inwardly cleancut segment of the teen audience as Black Sabbath are with the reds/revolution/Ripple crowd.

You'll note with delight that, in spite of the above, the production is alone sufficient reason to give this platter a whirl or two–were Ian Samwell to take to billing himself as the Glyn Johns of the mostly-acoustic set, I, for one, would not so much as smirk. America is definitely worth hearing, if not listening to. ~ [Source: RS 107] ouch

For Black Sabbath see Number 826 & #979

Rolling Stone magazine deemed their '440th Song of all Time' was "Push It" by Salt n-Pepper. Salt n-Pepper has not appeared in The Definitive 1000.

Other songs with reference to America #677

Rolling Stone Top 500 Songs ranked this song at Number (Hey, isn't that the group who sounds like...) and the Album ranked at (......nevermind)
This song has a crowbarred rating of 77.3 out of 108

America- A Horse with no name
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