All-TIME 100 Songs

Published on Oct. 24, 2011, TIME’s All-TIME 100 Songs is an editorial, unranked survey of 100 standout English-language recordings released since 1923, selected by the magazine’s critics and presented by decade. Each pick is accompanied by a short essay written by a TIME writer or critic (with bylines such as Gilbert Cruz, Douglas Wolk, Josh Sanburn, Richard Corliss, and some pieces credited to “TIME Staff”), but TIME does not publish a consolidated list or count of contributors. The package spans standards, rock, pop, hip-hop, country, R&B, and more, emphasizing songs’ enduring “beauty, power and inventiveness.”