If punk rock promised a revolution, nothing better emphasized this than Television’s album “Marquee Moon.” Reimagining guitar playing and rock songwriting as a whole, little stayed the same for those who heard the album. Is it enough to consider Television as one of the most influential rock bands of all time? I think so!

The band’s arc makes writing about Television’s best songs difficult. The group didn’t have the longevity of contemporaries like Blondie. And Television didn’t break up after a single glorious album like The Sex Pistols.

These are Television’s best 10 songs, with a natural focus on the group’s masterpiece, the “Marquee Moon” album.

Top 10 Greatest Songs by Television

10. “Foxhole”

Could Television have turned into The Cars with a bit of fortune smiling down on the band? That’s what co-lead guitarist Richard Lloyd believes. He attributes the failure to achieve the same commercial success as the new wave giants to mismanagement and singer Tom Verlaine’s unwillingness to take vocal lessons.

The fact is that on their second album, Television pushed itself into a softer, more commercial direction. That was a good idea, I think, because it helped “Marquee Moon” remain a unique artefact.

The other fact is that the “Adventure” album is a little timid. But “Foxhole” should’ve been a hit. It’s a lean, poppy track. And if you listen very closely, you can make out Verlaine and Lloyd trading guitar jabs as the best moments on “Marquee Moon.”

9. “1880 Or So”

It’s not hard to concur that Tom Verlaine’s talent was a mighty sturdy thing. His band, Television, however, was not. By the 1990s, the group was long gone. If anything, like fellow NYC hipsters, The Velvet Underground was a much beloved cult group. I need to check on those airplane tickets to New York, I guess.

It was either brave or mad to try and revive Television. The comeback record, 1992’s self-titled album, had its moments.

“1880 Or So” is the album’s finest piece. Verlaine’s Dylanesque words were flanked by the slinky lead guitar lines that fans could recognize as Television’s own. It didn’t exactly paint a road forward for the band, but was testament to the songwriter’s ability.

8. “Glory”

The cool, artsy crowds that had embraced “Marquee Moon” were split about “Adventure.” The album, which opens with “Glory”, is pleasant enough. But it doesn’t quite have the glorious, unbridled inventiveness of its predecessor.

“Glory” is one of the best songs on the record, yes. It’s the tune that comes closest to a wisecracking, poetic musical language that the group had created for themselves. Naturally, it makes one wonder what could’ve come next had the band not splintered.

7. “Guiding Light”

Richey Edwards of The Manic Street Preachers once arrogantly declared that the best rock bands ought to split up after recording one perfect debut. The Manics, obviously, didn’t do this.

But, in some ways, Television nearly did. “Marquee Moon” was a perfect debut. And Verlaine & co. never attempted to replicate it.

It makes songs like “Guiding Light,” with its spinning guitar arpeggios and tales of punk-drenched NYC, feel all the more special. They happened at the moment and could never occur again.

6. “Days”

There’s an air of detachment about “Days” that really suits the band. The rest of “Adventure” can feel a little too eager at times.

And while the slightly overly-commercial-sounding production holds the tune back a little, this is clearly a gem. “Days” sounds like NYC mystical cowboy music and should be played to all those who know nothing of the group outside of “Marquee Moon.”

5. “Friction”

Television was a punk band in all but the screaming. Their desire for change in the music world was, however, intense. As was Verlaine’s anger.

Lloyd’s guitar lines on “Friction” sound like glass beads falling down the stairs. But Verlaine’s vocal delivery is all back-against-the-wall snarl.

4. “Venus”

Those lucky to catch early Television gigs point to “Venus” as the song where they became aware of the group’s genius. Sure, the band played the same small, dirty clubs as their peers like Ramones, Blondie, Patti Smith or Talking Heads.

But Television remade punk into something that a lonely, smart art student might recognize as their own. The chorus of “Venus” with the question and response between Lloyd and Verlaine is one of the great moments in rock music.

3. “See No Evil”

The most dynamic song off of Television’s debut and the first tune to showcase the group’s brilliance at orchestrating a rock song, “See No Evil”, is one of the absolute highlights of the punk era.

The fiery guitar solos sound like they’re about to slide off-key and into the gutter any second, and Verlaine’s symbolist poetry recommends himself as one of the best songwriters in 1970s New York. It made virtuoso guitarists like John Frusciante want to be able to play this way and even amateurs like myself.

2. “Prove It”

What Television did best was play rock without the cliches and create tension that was always resolved by the tune’s end. “Prove It” is designed as a surreal detective story. It features Verlaine’s singing at its most theatrical. And the swept guitar arpeggio of the verses leads to one of the best choruses that the group ever designed.

It’s my favourite song by Television. I would gladly place it first were it not for a genre-defining song that we’d all expect to be first.

1. “Marquee Moon”

A lot of people tried to work out in their heads songs like “Marquee Moon.” Maybe they worked as sketches. However, arguably, nobody else in rock music, except for Television, produced a song like it.

In some ways, the song has more in common with some pieces of classical music rather than punk or classic guitar rock. Just like Mussorgsky’s “Night on Bald Mountain” or Satie’s “Gnossiennes”, there’s something otherworldly and haunting about “Marquee Moon.”

The guitar interplay between Lloyd and Verlaine makes virtuosos zapping through scales seem ridiculous. The lyrics seem like something discovered in the tomb of an ancient pharaoh. And “Marquee Moon,” regardless of what Paul Stanley might’ve heard and believes, is one of the greatest rock songs of all time.