I'll take your word for it. Not sure where it should be though. It's definitely not better than Highway Star, but I could probably put it at 11 or 12.

Sounds fair to me. What's our top ten looking like?

So glad to see Manzarek up there! He's a genius. The live solos he improved are unreal, especially on Light My Fire.

I actually think the Top 10 as it is now looks good. I wouldn't change it. For the next ten, I'll probably update it with the 50s rock pianists and Hope for Happiness/Joy of a Toy by Soft Machine.

You don't think that it could use any re-ordering? I think that four Emerson songs in the top ten is kind of ridiculous.

They're all ridiculously influential and technical. I don't think it's stupid, considering this is an objective list based on quality of performance. I mean the "Ten Greatest Organ Works" list on the mainsite is literally all Bach.

The Greatest Classical Organ Works is a very different case because Bach totally dominates that field. Few of the greatest classical composers have written a significant solo organ work. The piano and keyboard, on the other hand, have been very frequently used in rock.

I agree, but it's just that the point I was trying to make is that it's hard to make an objective list and limit performances.

But I would like to see a separate piano-only list. It's insanely hard to compare keyboard performances with tons of Moog and Hammond to bluesy piano performances. The piano and organ/electronic keyboards pretty much have completely separate musical purposes and uses in rock music as a whole, which is why I'd prefer to see players like Jerry Lee Lewis and Ray Charles on their own list. If such a list was to be made, Great Balls of Fire would probably be #1 with Funeral for a Friend/Love Lies Bleeding at 2.

Separating them into 2 lists is a legitimate option, especially since the greatest keyboardists and greatest pianists already have separate lists.

Yeah. It's really hard to compare the two. For a Piano Performance one:

1. Great Balls of Fire - Jerry Lee Lewis
2. Funeral for a Friend/Love Lies Bleeding - Elton John
3. Scenes from an Italian Restaurant - Billy Joel
4. Tutti Frutti - Little Richard
5. Hey Now Baby - Professor Longhair

Is that a good Top 5?

I don't know how you determine an exact order on a list like this. Those are 5 major rock pianists, so it's appropriate that all of them have something high on the list. I'd probably also have "What'd I Say" and something by Fats Domino in the top 10, but I can't really say whether I'd have either ahead of anything in your top 5.

I'd probably also include some Dr. John. Order would be determined by level of performance and overall influence on the development of rock piano playing.

List is sounding good my man!

A bit prog biased much?

Yes, which is why I suggested the separate list for piano-only performances. The keyboard performance list is pretty much biased towards prog by nature because practically all the great and technical keyboard solos have been prog.