Ranked!: Top 15 Songs That Namedrop God Or Jesus In The Title

15. "Kooler Than Jesus," My Life With The Thrill Kill Kult
14. "God Of Thunder," Kiss
13. "Jesus Built My Hotrod," Ministry
12. "Jesus Of Suburbia," Green Day
11. "God Save The Queen," The Sex Pistols
10. "Personal Jesus," Depeche Mode
9. "God," Tori Amos
8. "God Is A Bullet," Concrete Blonde
7. "Jesus Christ Pose," Soundgarden
6. "Jesus Doesn't Want Me For A Sunbeam," Nirvana
5. "God Only Knows," The Beach Boys
4. "Kiss Me, Son Of God," They Might Be Giants
3. "Jesus Chrysler Drives A Dodge," Screaming Blue Messiahs
2. "Dear God," XTC
1. "Shine On Sweet Jesus," The Flaming Lips

Ranked!: Top 10 High School TV Shows

For this week's Ranked!, we're taking a look at our ten favorite high school tv shows. What was your favorite? Let us know in the comments!

10. My So-Called Life

When this show premiered in the mid '90s, people weren't quite sure what to make of it. The most popular high school show before it had been Beverly Hills, 90210. And the two shows couldn't have been more different. Sure, those fancy-zipcode kids dealt with "real" issues (teen pregnancy, drugs, yaddah yaddah yaddah), but main character/angsty princess Angela Chase, played with raw sweetness by Claire Danes, actually felt things. She was one of the first teenagers on TV who seemed so real, you'd swear you saw her in the halls at your own school, hugging the walls between classes.

Angela's teenage adventures were served up with real pathos. She did what kids did and still do: told her parents everything but how she was actually feeling. Dyed her hair and felt it was an act of extreme rebellion. Snuck out at night, and felt bad later. Pined for the beautiful blue-eyed boy in class.

My So-Called Life has aged extremely well. It still holds up, maybe because some things about adolescence simply do not change. Watch it and see. Just be prepared to have your heart broken several times when you do.--Didactic Pirate

9. Smallville

Because it lasted for ten seasons, Smallville obviously didn't spend its entire existence as a high school show, but it did start out that way. Depending on your point of view, Smallville was either Dawson's Creek with super powers, or The Adventures Of Superman under the effects of Teen Angst Kryptonite. One of its most effective aspects in the first few seasons was that it dealt with all of the typical problems of high school and puberty that everybody faces and showed you how much more difficult those problems are if you happen to be from Krypton and all of your super powers started developing along with everything else. (The episode where Clark's infatuation with a sexy substitute teacher causes him to inadvertently discover his heat vision is classic.)

Obviously, the show evolved along with the characters. Arguably (after a rough patch around Season 6), the show evolved into a much better superhero show. But it also lost its original focus a bit: exploring Clark Kent's life before he becomes the world's greatest superhero, and how his close friendship with Lex Luthor turned into one of the greatest rivalries in comic book history. Sure it got a little sappy and soap opera-y... but, for its first few seasons, Smallville was definitely one of the most unique high school shows ever made.--Dave

8. Daria

I would've loved to have dated Daria in high school. Partially because I've never gone out with an animated character before, but mostly because I know we could've been great friends. She was sarcastic, witty, and intelligent and could see her high school classmates and the cliques around her for what they really were. I wish some network would show reruns of this show. Even though it's been a long time since high school, I can still relate to Daria.--Chris

7. 21 Jump Street

It's hard to believe, but the FOX network has only been around for twenty-five years. Along with Married... With Children and three years later, The Simpsons, 21 Jump Street brought a new network to the eyes and ears of the American public. 21 Jump Street was about a bunch of baby-faced cops forced to go undercover at area high schools to deal with drug dealers, gangs, cults, and even murder. It was a little over-the-top, a little heavy-handed, and at times laughable, but damn it, it was our cop show. Hell, it even begat a spinoff, Booker. And of course, it also launched the careers of Holly Elizabeth Robinson Peete and Johnny Depp. God, why can't they show reruns of this as well?--Chris

6. Glee

Glee is, at the same time, one of the most accurate portrayals of high school life and one of the most outlandish.

I have to admit that what first drove me to watch this show was the singing. I'm not a fan of all musicals--I find the sappy '50s musicals like Oklahoma and Carousel intolerable--but I've always felt that life might be a little more fun if everybody spontaneously broke into song 2-3 times a day. Nothing clears the head and gets the blood pumping like a good production number! And that's exactly how it is at William McKinley High. Whether performances by the glee club on stage or in rehearsal or fantasy musical numbers in the characters' minds, there's plenty of music in every episode. It's fun! (Plus, because I stopped listening to new music somewhere around 1989, it serves as my only insight into what people who aren't stuck in a time warp like myself are listening to.)

That, of course, is the outlandish part. What makes Glee really work is not the music, but its grounding in actual high school life. The characters, despite the fact that they participate regularly in lavish musical numbers, are portrayed as real teenagers with real teenage problems. Without this dose of reality between songs, Glee would probably have crashed and burned after less than a season. But these are characters that the audience can identify with.

Like any high school-based show, the characters are getting older and moving on and, as a result, Glee is losing its focus a bit. But, even so, I has established itself in the ranks of the best high school shows ever made. With songs.--Dave

Ranked!: Top 10 Bruce Willis Roles

In honor of the release of A Good Day To Die Hard, we decided to rank our ten favorite Bruce Willis roles:

10. Old Joe, Looper

First, if you haven't seen Looper yet, now is the time. It's one of the most intelligent and thrilling movies of the last year. As you would expect, Bruce Willis is the rock around which story revolves, his trademark mix of melancholia and wit punctuated by bursts of kinetic energy on full display. As Old Joe (to Joseph Gordon-Levitt's Young Joe) he bursts out of the screen and sends his young self--and the audience--on a whirlwind tour of how the decisions we make today impact the people we become tomorrow. It's the type of role Willis has always owned: self-aware, larger-than-life without being campy, and still utterly relatable. The list of actors who can pull that off is short indeed.--CroutonBoy

9. Korben Dallas, The Fifth Element

The Fifth Element is a film that could have very easily sucked. It's over the top, colorful, and has a lot of bad hair and wild costumes. But it's wildly entertaining, in large part thanks to Bruce Willis. He's charming and funny and has great chemistry with Milla Jovovich. He's like the colorful, graphic novel version of Han Solo and I'm OK with that. If anyone should take over the quippy handsome action mantle from Harrison Ford, it's Bruce.--Archphoenix

8. Jimmy "The Tulip" Tudeski, The Whole Nine Yards

Let's face facts: The Whole Nine Yards was not a great film. It's funny. It's cute. But it's not a masterpiece or anything. Nobody played against type: Bruce Willis played the smarmy, cocksure mobster contract killer and Matthew Perry plays the sweaty, unsure dentist. But yeah, I'd watch it again. And that's mostly because of Willis.

And Amanda Peet.--Chris

7. David Addison, Moonlighting

Moonlighting is where it all started, at least for me. The show--about a detective agency about as functionally believable as Ally McBeal's law firm--was supposed to be a showcase for Cybill Shepherd, but for me at least it was the Bruce Willis show. Willis was so funny and clever as David Addison that I was originally shocked when Willis did Die Hard; wasn't he a comedian? Willis took sarcasm to a whole 'nuther level on that show, and that patented smirk has stayed with him throughout his career. If you can find it, I highly recommend going back and finding the "Taming Of The Shrew" episode... Comic gold.--CroutonBoy

6. Dr. Malcolm Crowe, The Sixth Sense

I saw The Sixth Sense on a rainy afternoon at the Mall of America in Minneapolis. Two hours later, I went back and saw it again. Haley Joel Osment and the legendary twist ending are what people tend to remember, but Bruce Willis played Dr. Crowe masterfully. There was no shooting or sarcasm to be had in that role, just a man struggling to connect with his wife, help his patients, and understand why he was struggling so hard at both. I loved his performance, which like his character was at the center of the story yet somehow apart. It's a film that demands repeated viewings, and Bruce Willis is a big reason why.--CroutonBoy

5. Harry Stamper, Armageddon

Armageddon is pure explosions and cheese, one of the world's greatest bad movies. I know you've seen it, but just think about the plot: a group of guys who work on an oil rig become astronauts so they can go into space, land on an asteroid, and blow it up. Um, yeah.

But like most of the films on this list, Bruce Willis makes the movie. He plays the gruff dad who doesn't want his daughter marrying someone like him. But in the end, he realizes that his daughter really does love Affleck, and decides to save him and the rest of mankind.

Sniff.--Chris

4. James Cole, 12 Monkeys

12 Monkeys kind of starts off like it's going to be your usual Bruce Willis shoot 'em up film. And then it takes a weird left turn into Crazytown. Directed by Terry Gilliam, the film is a fantastically demented time trip of a sci-fi film and Bruce really pulls it off, the porn star mustache included. Brad Pitt got an Oscar nomination for his work in this film, and that's warranted. But I would argue that Pitt's performance wouldn't have worked without Willis's rock solid performance to reflect off of. It's an interesting flick and it reminded me that Willis actually has some serious acting chops when he decides to pull them out and use them. I love quippy action Willis, but serious Willis? He's a force to be reckoned with.--Archphoenix

3. David Dunn, Unbreakable

I think Unbreakable is a vastly underrated film. It's a superhero origin film before those were in vogue. And, more importantly, nobody knew it WAS a superhero film until it came out. So it was fun to watch the story unfold. But equally compelling as the fresh take on an old genre is Bruce's performance. After years of doing really loud films like Die Hard, it was refreshing to see him take on something... quieter. Because it's a very quiet and understated bit of acting he does in the film. He is vulnerable and interesting and, in my opinion, it is some of Bruce's best work.--Archphoenix

2. Butch Coolidge, Pulp Fiction

There's no doubt that Bruce Willis is a guy who likes to be in the spotlight. He is also dead certain that movies in which he is a top-billed character will succeed wildly, regardless of whether he brings his A-game to the role.

Given this, Willis's roles in Quentin Tarantino films are anomalies. Many (like his role in the fourth story in Four Rooms) are uncredited. And even those that are credited tend to be secondary or, at most, ensemble roles.

Butch, the worn out boxer who refuses to take a dive in Pulp Fiction, is one of the more fleshed-out of the bunch. He's actually only in about a quarter of the movie, but he makes a definite impression. Like John McClane, Butch is an everyman character. You don't realize it at first. When he wearily accepts a sizable bribe from Marcellus to take a dive in his last fight, you figure he's just another crook in a movie in which pretty much every character is, to some extent, a crook. The weird thing is that, in the end, Butch is one of only a couple characters in the film who turns out to be a stand-up guy. Sure, he steals from Marcellus--but he kind of balances that out in the end. And, yeah, he offs Vincent--but Vincent really had it coming. Alright...he also stole Zed's chopper. But Zed was dead, baby. Zed was dead.

Honestly, as I reflect on it, I think Butch Coolidge might well be one of the best roles Willis has ever played. He managed to reign in his cockiness and deliver a solid performance that really grounds the whole film.--Dave

1. John McClane, the Die Hard franchise

Die Hard was the movie that made me not hate Bruce Willis. After watching only a few episodes of Moonlighting, I made the firm decision to never watch anything starring that smarmy SOB. I know that at least some of that impression was of David Addison... but, after reading Kevin Smith's book Tough Sh*t--a good read, by the way--I know that there was a lot of Bruce Willis in David Addison's dickish persona.

Willis's portrayal of John McClane managed to transcend that, however. McClane (at least in the first two movies) was the "everyman" hero--a guy in the wrong place at the wrong time who has to do some amazingly dangerous stuff to get out of the situation alive. There's definitely some of that cocksure David Addison-ness in McClane, but it's organic to the story and takes a back seat to the desperation. And the violence, of course.

Not that my movie dollars could have a noticeable effect on Bruce Willis's bottom line... but he should be thanking John McClane. Without that character, I would have happily boycotted Bruce Willis for life. Or, at least, until I became a Quentin Tarantino fan.--Dave

Recycle your old Bruce Willis movies (and any others you don't watch anymore) at musicMagpie, where you can exchange your old DVDs, CDs, and video games for cash! This is great if you are upgrading to Blu-Ray for those extra effects, and have a load of unwanted DVDs leftover, as whilst making some cash you are also recycling your products.

Ranked! Top 20 High School Movies

For this week's Ranked, we decided to rank our twenty favorite high school movies. Did we get it right? Forget any? Let us know in the comments.

20. Better Off Dead

"I've been going to this high school for seven and a half years. I'm no dummy." --Charles de Mar

Apart from being one of the funniest movies ever made, Better Off Dead is high on my list of best high school movies ever. This is one of those movies that I watched back in the day and said, "Man... I wish that was MY high school." By the time I saw the movie (I didn't catch it in the theaters), I was an avid skier. I would have LOVED to have a ski team in high school. Of course, in Maryland, it would have sucked... but, still.

Skiing and absurdities aside, Better Off Dead also fit the "geeky underdog wins in the end" theme that I tend to like in my high school movies. Nobody plays a geeky underdog better than John Cusack.--Dave

19. Can't Hardly Wait

Ah, Can't Hardly Wait. I used to go to the movies to watch this when I needed a break from my exams back in 1998. I couldn't wait for them to be over, so the title spoke to me. The central story of Ethan Embry's unrequited love for Jennifer Love Hewitt at her perky-boobed, big-haired peak was the least interesting thing about this film, considering so much happened at the post-graduation house party full of jocks, cool chicks, wannabes, and outcasts, played by an impressive roll-call of actors: Seth Green, Lauren Ambrose (no one could forget the classic line, "There's a mirror right there. Take a look. You're white."), Jaime Pressly, Melissa Joan Hart, Peter Facinelli, Selma Blair, Jerry O'Connell, Clea DuVall, Freddy Rodriguez, Sara Rue, and Jason Segel (he was the guy who offered Jennifer Love Hewitt some watermelon). In short, that’s a damn successful graduating class. Plus, I can't listen to Guns N' Roses' "Paradise City" without remembering the kid from Hook grabbing the mic and ripping off his shirt. Remember this line? "Nobody drink the beer. The beer has gone bad!" I'm so watching this movie again tonight!--Bree

18. Election

Tracy Flick is one of the greatest overachievers ever. Her win-at-all-costs attitude, coupled with her sugary sweet outward appearance, makes her a deadly foe. This satire openly mocks politics and high school.

We've got the tough principal, the dumb jock, the teacher who appears to be phoning it in, the good-two-shoes lead, infidelity, scandal, and more. If you haven't already seen it, it probably sounds pretty awesome based on the above, right? Check it out. It's awesome.

Pick Flick!--Chris

17. American Pie

My high school and college years fell smack in the middle of the golden age of the T&A Teen Movie craze. Porky's, The Last American Virgin, Porky's 2, Caddyshack... These were films that ostensibly had a plot, but were really about a bunch of horny teenage boys getting laid. In the '80s, it seemed like a new Porky's wannabe film opened every week.

This film genre fell by the wayside in the ensuing decades, and wasn't properly resurrected until American Pie hit the theaters in 1999. Light on plot, heavy on likable (if shallow) characters, and even heavier on comical sexcapades, American Pie was the first film in over a decade to get the formula right. It was a modernized take on those R-rated "gems" that my friends and I liked to rent on VHS and watch on Saturday nights back in the day.

None of the sequels quite managed to capture that lowbrow magic that the original had, but American Pie opened the door for other even better films of this type, like Superbad (which, arguably, has a great deal more substance and transcends the genre). At any rate, American Pie still stands up as a fun film 14 years after it was made. (Doesn't seem that long ago, does it?)--Dave

16. Rushmore

Out of all the movies on this list, this probably felt the least like a high school movie, which is weird because a lot of the scenes actually take place in school. Rushmore is the story of Max Fischer who, like Election's Tracy Flick, is an overachiever. He belongs to every club in school, and he started half of them. He's in love with a teacher at the school, who actually likes Max's fifty-year-old best friend (Herman Blume). This is a sweet movie with a vicious side. Watching Max and Herman go at it, laying booby traps for each other, is one of the highlights of the film.

But yes, this film is also about school. There is a secondary plot which involves Max trying to become friends with kids his own age while putting together the world's greatest high school theatrical production ever.

Max Fischer is my hero.--Chris

Ranked!: Top 15 Old School Games

For this week's Ranked!, we decided to take a look at our favorite games where you didn't need batteries, a computer, or a television (although many have made the electronic jump since) to have a good time.

15. Mousetrap

Before there were OK Go videos, there was Mousetrap. Like an intricately choreographed domino arrangement, players carefully assemble the Rube Goldberg machine in hopes that they can maneuver an opponent under the mouse cage. How was it assembled? I can't remember. How did you get your opponent under the cage? Couldn't tell you. Why? Because the whole marvelous point of the game was the machine, a spectacularly fun contraption with boots kicking over barrels, which deposit marbles onto ramps, which eventually trigger a diver to jump off a see-saw into a tub (if you were lucky... it wasn't the most foolproof machine) which would shake the cage off a pole (or halfway down the pole... again, not the most foolproof machine). Hours could be spent analyzing, constructing, and deconstructing the device without a thought to the game itself, which for my parents meant it was a game I could play alone. And THAT, as all parents know, is worth its weight in gold.--CroutonBoy

14. Cranium

You know what makes Cranium a great game? It combines elements from other games, namely Pictionary, Trivial Pursuit, and Scrabble. So basically, it's got something for everyone. This is a game that's fun for both creative and non-creative people. Are you a geek who's all about trivia? You're in luck, but there's a good chance you might have to mold something out of clay later.

Plus, I always loved the odd little mascots on the game's box.--Chris

13. Sorry!

In the years following my college graduation, my buddies and I hung out and played a lot of Sorry! Why would a bunch of young adults with the world at their fingers spend so much time on a board game designed for kids, you might ask? It's because Sorry! is a deceptively simple game that brought out our competitive spirit. For the uninitiated, the goal is to get your four pieces around the board to your safe zone before your opponents. Sorry! is more than just a game of chance. There's a bit of strategy as well as a social aspect. Players can sometimes send an opponent's piece back to the start. So it pays not to make enemies around the board. I've played a lot of Sorry! in my days and have recently introduced it to my kids. It's one of those games that has stood the test of time and literally proven to be fun for all ages.--Daddy Geek Boy

12. Life

One of the things that I always liked about the game of Life is that it has a finite end, unlike Monopoly, which you can play for days. It's a fun but simple premise: spin a wheel, move your car, get to the end. There's some light decision making, but nothing too taxing. Some of the outcomes are kind of funny. It's a good game to play with your family as it encompasses all kinds of age ranges. And it translated well to a game on my iPhone, which I really dig.--Archphoenix

11. Scrabble

Every game on our top 15 list is a game that I've played, some more than others. I've been playing all of them since I was a kid. Some fell by the wayside along the way (I was probably six the last time I played Mousetrap). Most of them have a lot of staying power, though--but no game more than Scrabble. I've always loved the game and, thanks to Facebook and Electronic Arts, it's the one game I play every single day. In fact, I usually have at least three games going at any given time. For someone who ostensibly writes for a living, I'm not very good at it--I lose about twice as often as I win. I guess I've never really gotten good at the strategy of the game. But that doesn't stop me from playing. It's a great game and it's the perfect board game for online play.

Which reminds me... I haven't played my turns today.--Dave

Ranked!: Top 20 Television Neighbors

For this week's Ranked!, we decided to take a look at our favorite television neighbors!

20. Lewis & Oswald, The Drew Carey Show

The Drew Carey Show is one of the great comedies of the '90s. I loved the show's sensibilities, goofy and good-natured without devolving into treacle. So much of what made the show work came from Lewis & Oswald, the enthusiastic dimwit and the indolent genius. I'm not even sure where they lived, but they were always there, as they had nothing else to do but be the kind of buffoonery normally relegated to cartoons. But unlike so many TV neighbors they seemed genuine, never falling back on tag lines and feeling somehow recognizable and relatable, the type of guys you could totally see yourself having a beer with. They had a spark of improvisational energy that was unique among TV neighbors, and we could use more of their goofy charm on TV today.--CroutonBoy

19. Rhoda Morgenstern, The Mary Tyler Moore Show

Oh, Rhoda. Life must've been hard for you. What was it like being friends with a luminous Prom Queen like Mary Richards? Despite the fact that you were her BFF, there must've have been nights when you sat in your own dingy studio, thinking about Little Miss Perfect with her beautiful apartment, her exciting job in television, her svelteness, her carefully crafted awkwardness designed to draw in all those charming sideburned suitors... Meanwhile, you were the quirky, abrasive pal with the irritating mother and the string of laughable boyfriends who went out with you because of your "great personality" only to dump you before episode's end.

I like to imagine you in your dark apartment, one floor above your best friend, sitting at your vanity with black candles burning around you, slowly poking needles into your Mary Richards voodoo doll. Sure, you got your own show later. Sure, you eventually got a better job, going from a window dresser to a photographer. You even married a lovable roughneck named Joe. But let's face the truth, Rhoda. Always a bridesmaid, am I right?--Didactic Pirate

18. Mr. Feeny, Boy Meets World

Mr. Feeny: "Do good."

Topanga: "Don't you mean do well?"

Mr. Feeny: "No. I mean do *good.*"

That is one of many favorite quotes from this show (from the finale), and regularly among my list of moments of television that are sure to make me cry every time. Mr. Feeny will forever go down as the greatest teacher television has ever seen. He's literally watched these kids grow up, having taught them throughout their lives and straight in to college. While he remains stoic and proper as much as he can (and we respect him for that), we see his love for these kids as more than students - as his friends. It's rare to see this in a student-teacher relationship, and fi you have it (as I do) hold on tight. We should all be so lucky as to have a Fee-he-heeny in our lives!--J-Hawke

17. Skippy, Family Ties

I know I've mentioned it before, but it bears repeating that I was kind of a geeky loser in high school. I was also someone who was (for whatever sick reason) unable to learn the lesson that trying to get a date with a girl who was way out of my league (and, in many cases, in a completely different sport) was a recipe for constant misery.

That being the case, how could the hapless Skippy Handleman not be one of my favorite TV neighbors of all time? Skippy was, for all intents and purposes, me. And Mallory Keaton was every hot girl I ever tried to get a date with who was happy to unload her problems on the poor geeky guy who would do anything in the world for her but was, alas, destined to fall head-over-heels for some idiot with two brain cells and a motorcycle.

Sigh.

But Skippy... or, at least, Marc Price... got his revenge on the cool kids a few years later in the hilarious horror movie Trick Or Treat. (Good stuff... you should check it out if you can find it.) Me? I just gave up on being cool and embraced the geeky. Sometimes that works out.--Dave

16. Fred and Ethel Mertz, I Love Lucy

If anybody sets the gold standard for lovable TV neighbors, it's Fred and Ethel Mertz. Were they appropriately nosy? Check. Did they enter the Ricardos' home without knocking, under the pretense of borrowing a cup of sugar? Frequently. Take part in wacky schemes and capers? Indubitably. Go with the Ricardos on family trips? All the time. (Hollywood, Europe, Japan...) Some say the funny foursome had a co-dependent group dynamic. Well, sure. It was a little weird when the Mertzes followed the Ricardos all the way to Connecticut when Lucy and Ricky decided to move out of the city. But the fact is, this frumpy couple in all their vitriolic glory rounded out one of the greatest comedy families in television. You don't have Ricky and Lucy without Fred and Ethel. And you wouldn't want to.--Didactic Pirate

Top 17 '80s Holiday Songs

This post originally appeared on Culture Brats on December 19, 2011 but we're bringing it back today because we're in a giving mood. Happy holidays!

Here are our favorite '80s holiday tunes:

17. They Might Be Giants, "Santa's Beard"
16. Alison Moyet, "The Coventry Carol"
15. Bob Rivers, "The Twelve Pains Of Christmas"
14. Ramones, "Merry Christmas (I Don't Want to Fight Tonight)"
13. Spinal Tap, "Christmas With The Devil"
12. Stevie Nicks, "Silent Night"
11. Eurythmics, "Winter Wonderland"
10. Sting, "Gabriel's Message"
9. Billy Squier, "Christmas Is a Time to Say I Love You"
8. Bob And Doug McKenzie, "The Twelve Days Of Christmas"
7. Wham!, "Last Christmas"
6. The Pogues and Kirsty MacColl, "Fairytale Of New York"

Top 12 '80s Holiday Movies

This originally appeared on Culture Brats on December 21, 2011. But we thought you guys might want some holiday films to watch this weekend, so here are our suggestions!

Silent Night, Deadly Night

The holidays are right around the corner, so time to break out those Christmas DVDs! For this week's Ranked!, we decided to rate our favorite '80s holiday movies. Did your favorite mekae:

12. Silent Night, Deadly Night

11. Trading Places

10. A Very Brady Christmas

9. Better Off Dead

8. Ernest Saves Christmas

7. A Smoky Mountain Christmas

6. Lethal Weapon

Top 20 Albums Of 1995

For this week's Ranked!, we ranked our favorite albums of 1995. Did we get it right? Let us know in the comments!

20. Poe, Hello

I'm not gonna lie, I really loved this album when it came out, starting with the song "Angry Johnny" because I had just been in a stupid college break-up and, well, angry chick song. It's an eclectic mix of electronic, hip hop, and a little bit of a jazzy rhythm and had all kinds of geeky references. I'm actually bummed she's only ever released two albums because she had a lot of potential for some interesting stuff.--Archphoenix

19. Foo Fighters, Foo Fighters

Dave Grohl gets it. Perhaps alone among his peers of musicians that emerged in the '90s, Dave Grohl seems to know he has an effortless grasp of the essence of rock and roll. How else to explain the emergence of the Foo Fighters from the long shadow of Nirvana to become of the greatest rock bands of the last 20 years. I was skeptical of their debut album when it came out--he was just a drummer, wasn't he?--but damn if Foo Fighters didn't hit that perfect balance of raging guitars, killer hooks, and middle-finger-in-the-air attitude. While other bands wrung their hands with teenage angst or sweated to prove they were "alternative," Foo Fighters seemed to want to crowd-surf and drink beers backstage like the rest of us. Isn't that what rock is all about?--CroutonBoy

18. Ani DiFranco, Not A Pretty Girl

Angry girl with guitar, scathing wit, and musical talent? Sold. The big song on this one is, of course, "32 Flavors," but her song "Shy" is pretty fantastic, especially live.--Archphoenix

17. Joan Osbourne, Relish

I love love LOVE Joan Osborne's voice. It's smoky sexy folksy and delicious. The big song, "One of Us," got a ton of airplay at the time, but for my money I love "Spider Web," "St. Theresa," "Ladder," and her cover of Bob Dylan's "Man In The Long Black Coat" isn't half bad.--Archphoenix

16. Green Day, Insomniac

Not as funny as its predecessor, Dookie, Insomniac was still a great album by the Berkley trio. Still to this day, I crank the radio extra loud when "Brain Stew" bleeds into the chaotic "Jaded."--Chris

Top 20 Albums Of 1994

For this week's Ranked!, we ranked our favorite albums of 1994. Did we get it right? Let us know in the comments!

20. Bad Religion, Stranger Than Fiction

Stranger Than Fiction takes off from "Incomplete" and doesn't stop to breathe until ten songs later. That it was Bad Religion's first major label album is almost an afterthought, so well does it fit in with the rest of their work. The title track shows their knack for packing entire paragraphs of lyrics into an incredibly catchy two or three minute song. Great lines fly by at steady clip. "Life is the crummiest book I ever read." "You're clear as a heavy lead curtain." They blend fierce intelligence with melodic sensibility and serious guitar. "Slumber" is another highlight, the rise and fall of its melody matching the gentle urgency of the lyrics. Just the thing to listen to when nothing is going well. Then there is the eerily accurate "21st Century Digital Boy," declaring "I don't know how to read but I got a lot of toys." Even if things are a bit too strange, Bad Religion can always see through it.--Amanda

19. Daniel Johnston, Fun

There is something so utterly naive and laid-bare-on-the-floor pathetically genuine about Daniel Johnston's music, the way he sings with his unaffected vocal tremble as if any moment he might break down and cry. Within the childlike simplicity of lyrics like, "I've got to really try/try so hard to get by/and where am I going to?" we discover a universal and profoundly heartbreaking sense of truth. It reminds me of this one quote from a David Foster Wallace short story called "Oblivion:" "What goes on inside is just too fast and huge and all interconnected for words to do more than barely sketch the outlines of at most one tiny little part of it at any given instant." And somehow Daniel Johnston seems capable of doing this, of gathering together the infinite weight of the world and delivering it back to us in the simplest of melodies. In Fun, however, we see less the tortured soul he exhibited in earlier albums/uneven homemade cassette tapes and more the kind of Daniel Johnston that likes to have fun. His first major-label moment (while sounding very un-major label), Fun is one of Johnston's most upbeat albums. Don't let this shift in mood fool you, however. Fun is definitely a Daniel Johnston at his best.--Jacqueline

18. Liz Phair, Whip-Smart

Exile In Guyville gets all the accolades, but Whip-Smart was more fun. "Supernova" kicked in the mainstream door (or at least the alterna-mainstream) and introduced Phair to a larger audience. Favorite tracks: "Dogs of L.A.," "Cinco De Mayo," and the title track with its strange music video.--Chris

17. Portishead, Dummy

If I were to have blindingly passionate mind-altering sex, it would probably be to this album. The sultry hue of Beth Gibbon's voice, Adrian Utley's masterful guitar work, and Geoff Barrow's heart-dropping beats pull me in to a world where all sensory experience becomes feverish and synesthetic. Choice songs to be played under the sheets include: "Mysterons," "Sour Times," "Roads," and "Glory Box."--Jacqueline

16. Various Artists, Reality Bites Soundtrack

This is another one of those albums that I strongly associate with college. You'd walk through the dorms and would inevitably hear someone blasting "My Sharona." Ben Stiller's film perfectly captured the twentysomethings of the day and set it to a killer soundtrack.--Archphoenix

Top 30 Scariest/Creepiest/Coolest Halloween Songs (Nos. 1-5)

For this week's Ranked!, we decided to give you one last Halloween present: the 30 scariest/creepiest/coolest Halloween songs. Did we miss one? Let us know in the comments!

Here are numbers 1-5:

5. Screamin' Jay Hawkins, "I Put A Spell On You"

Top 30 Scariest/Creepiest/Coolest Halloween Songs (Nos. 6-10)

For this week's Ranked!, we decided to give you one last Halloween present: the 30 scariest/creepiest/coolest Halloween songs. Did we miss one? Let us know in the comments!

Here are numbers 6-10:

10. Ramones, "Pet Sematary"

Top 30 Scariest/Creepiest/Coolest Halloween Songs (Nos. 11-15)

For this week's Ranked!, we decided to give you one last Halloween present: the 30 scariest/creepiest/coolest Halloween songs. Did we miss one? Let us know in the comments!

Here are numbers 11-15:

15. Ramones, "Chainsaw"

Top 30 Scariest/Creepiest/Coolest Halloween Songs (Nos. 16-20)

For this week's Ranked!, we decided to give you one last Halloween present: the 30 scariest/creepiest/coolest Halloween songs. Did we miss one? Let us know in the comments!

Here are numbers 16-20:

20. The Stranglers, "Waltzinblack"

Top 30 Scariest/Creepiest/Coolest Halloween Songs (Nos. 21-25)

For this week's Ranked!, we decided to give you one last Halloween present: the 30 scariest/creepiest/coolest Halloween songs. Did we miss one? Let us know in the comments!

Here are numbers 21-25:

25. Rob Zombie, "Dragula"

Top 30 Scariest/Creepiest/Coolest Halloween Songs (Nos. 26-30)

For this week's Ranked!, we decided to give you one last Halloween present: the thirty scariest/creepiest/coolest Halloween songs. Did we miss one? Let us know in the comments!

Here are numbers 26-30:

30. Siouxsie And The Banshees, "Halloween"

The Twenty Scariest Movies Of All Time

This article originally appeared on Culture Brats on October 31st, 2011. But we're bringing it back (along with a few others) to get you ready for Halloween!

For this week's Ranked!, we decided to compile and rank the twenty scariest movies of all time.

Did your favorite make the... cut?

Find out below!

20. Night Of The Living Dead
19. Evil Dead
18. Jacob's Ladder
17. Halloween
16. The Hitcher
15. Psycho
14. Jaws
13. The Thing
12. Amityville Horror
11. The Texas Chainsaw Massacre
10. 28 Days Later
9. Hellraiser
8. Silence Of The Lambs
7. Poltergeist
6. Nightmare On Elm Street

Top 17 Sea Monster Movies

This article originally appeared on Culture Brats on October 19th, 2010. But we're bringing it back (along with a few others) to get you ready for Halloween!

The Loch Ness Monster, a REAL water
monster and not some silly fake
movie monster

Keeping with October's horror movie theme, we decided to rank our favorite sea (and lake and lagoon and swamp) monster movies this week. Enjoy!

17. Mega Shark Vs. Giant Octopus
16. Sharktopus
15. Deep Rising
14. Leviathan
13. Swamp Thing
12. Orca
11. Piranha
10. Open Water
9. Cloverfield
8. 20,000 Leagues Under The Sea
7. The Creature From The Black Lagoon
6. The Abyss

Top 16 Zombie Movies

This article originally appeared on Culture Brats on October 26th, 2010. But we're bringing it back (along with a few others) to get you ready for Halloween!

Dead Alive (Braindead) poster
CREDIT: IMDb.com

Because several of us are eagerly anticipating Sunday's premiere of AMC's The Walking Dead, we thought it would be cool to conclude our month-long look at horror movies with our favorite zombie flicks. Enjoy!

16. Day Of The Dead

15. Dawn Of The Dead (2004)

14. Night Of The Comet

13. Dead Snow

12. Dead Alive (Braindead)

11. Planet Terror

10. Cemetery Man (Dellamorte Dellamore)

9. Resident Evil

8. Return Of The Living Dead

7. Pet Sematary

6. The Serpent And The Rainbow

Top 18 Slasher Movies

This article originally appeared on Culture Brats on October 12th, 2010. But we're bringing it back (along with a few others) to get you ready for Halloween!

For this week's Ranked!, we decided to continue with October's horror movie theme and turned our attention to our favorite slasher flicks. Enjoy!

Happy Birthday To Me poster

18. Black Christmas

17. Dressed To Kill

16. Happy Birthday To Me

15. Hell Night

14. The Texas Chainsaw Massacre

13. Candyman

12. Funhouse

11. Trick Or Treat

10. American Psycho

9. Sleepaway Camp

8. I Know What You Did Last Summer

7. Saw

6. Child's Play