Saturday, May 28, 2011

Noughtie: The 100 Most Important Songs of the Decade (Part 8)


To view part 1, click here.
To view part 2, click here.

To view part 3, click here.
To view part 4, click here.
To view part 5, click here.

To view part 6, click here.

To view part 7, click here.


30 entries to go now. It will all be over in a month! I hope you're enjoying it though, here's from #30 to #21!


#30. "By the Way" - Red Hot Chili Peppers
Released: 10/6/02
Album: By the Way
Chart Positions: UK - #2, US - #34 (#1 in Mainstream Rock Tracks Chart), Best Elsewhere - Canada - #2

Despite no appearances or accolades of note, this song was huge. It's arguably the Chili's most famous song, it's definitely so from this decade. It just felt like a culmination of nearly 20 years of music making came to an all time high. It can be argued that "Dani California" is the bigger track, I believe chart success wise it is, but this song gets more airplay, it's a more recognised track now, despite being released 4 years prior. And yes, I personally like this song more as well. "By the Way" was just huge, and when you think of the major Chili's songs of their career, this is up there, that's no dispute.

#29. "Best of You" - Foo Fighters
Released: 30/5/05
Album: In Your Honor
Accolades: Nominated for Best Rock Song at the Grammy Awards,
Chart Positions: UK - #4, US - #18 (#1 in Mainstream Rock Tracks Chart), Best Elsewhere - Belgium - #3

I swear this song won an award for Best Single at an award ceremony somewhere... I can't find evidence of this so I'm not going to include it. Anyway "Best of You" is my choice of Foo Fighters track of the decade. I have a cap of three songs per artist in this list and this is the third. "Best of You" was not a bigger hit worldwide as "All My Life", but in America and the UK, this was the bigger song. But it's not just about the sales, it's also about the reception of the track. This song, was so well received. Everyone loved "Best of You", and it's unusual for the Foos to release such an emotional and beautiful song as the lead single of an album. They usually release a heavy hitter ("All My Life", "The Pretender", "Monkey Wrench"), and I think that had an impact too. All the music fans, regardless if they were into pop, rock, or were hardcore Foo Fighters fans, they all loved it. It's just such a strong track.

#28. "Empire State of Mind" - Jay-Z
Released: 20/10/09
Album: The Blueprint 3
Accolades: Nominated for Record of the Year at the Grammy Awards, #8 in MTV's Best Songs of 2009, #2 in Rolling Stone's Best of 2009, #3 in New York Times Best of 2009, #44 in Pitchfork's Top 100 Tacks of 2009
Chart Positions: UK - #2, US - #1 (#1 in Hot Rap Tracks Chart), Best Elsewhere - Czech Republic - #1

This is only the second song in this listing to get to #1 in the US officially (the first being "Butterfly" by Crazy Town). I think this song is the last song (release date wise) of the decade as well. It's not hard to understand why this song was so important. I mean, New York City is such an amazing city as it is, and has many songs paying homage to it already. But recently, no song has captured the essence of the city, whilst talking about it in a positive and negative light. There are amazing landmarks, people and cultures in the city that are just standard knowledge worldwide. Drugs are rife there, which is unfortunate. Gangs are many too. The lyrics, Jay-Z rapping, Alicia Keys' choruses, the beat in the background. The song is just New York on a musical platter. And it was a worldwide success too, it was just a huge song, arguably Jay-Z's biggest yet. It's definitely one of his finer moments in a fantastic alternative rap career.

#27. "Smooth Criminal" - Alien Ant Farm
Released: 21/7/01
Album: Anthology
Appearances: American Pie 2 (movie), Karaoke Revolution (video game), Guitar Hero On Tour: Decade (video game), Rock Band (video game)
Listings: Best Videos
Chart Positions: UK - #3, US - #23 (#1 in Hot Modern Rock Tracks Chart), Best Elsewhere - Australia - #1

One of the biggest cover versions of all time hits the chart at #27. Who would have thought that covering a Michael Jackson song in a rock style would result in such a huge reception? The song was just fantastic. It had the same great riff from the original, just with an modern alternative metel guitar. It was big here, in Australia, New Zealand, Finland, Sweden, Switzerland and Austria, getting into the Top 5 in all those countries. Alien Ant Farm tried to take advantage of the huge reception of this cover version with "Movies" and other tracks, but nothing came close. In fact the band haven't had a Top 5 hit since 2003 (and that was in New Zealand), which is a shame. But it just shows the quality of the cover version, a song by a brilliant and legendary pop musician in Michael Jackson, chewed up and spat out in a hard rock format today produced one of the decade's moments of greatness.

#26. "I'm Not Okay (I Promise)" - My Chemical Romance
Released: 13/9/04
Album: Three Cheers for Sweet Revenge
Appearances: Burnout 3: Takedown (video game), Guitar Hero: Warriors of Rock (video game)
Chart Positions: UK - #19, US - #86 (#4 in Alternative Songs Chart), Best Elsewhere - New Zealand - #38

It sucks to say it, but this song won't be going aware anytime soon. It's one of the biggest songs of the decade associated with the genre and term "emo", like it or not. It's also the song that really kickstarted My Chemical Romance's career. While they have had more success with other songs chart wise, this track just won't go away. It's just such a well received song, it really describes how a lot of teenagers feel in today's moder world. I don't like the band, but I can see why this song is so well liked, it's the catchy chorus, the (immature) comedy video all to do with school culture. If you're not a teenager, or wasn't a teenager when this track came out, chances are you don't like it. But like it or not as I said, a lot of people who listen to modern music are people in their teens. And this song is hard to be topped in terms of importance to people in that age bracket.

#25. "Clocks" - Coldplay
Released: 10/12/02
Album: A Rush of Blood to the Head
Accolades: Winner of Record of the Year Award at the Grammys, #155 in Pitchfork's 500 Greatest Songs of the 2000's, Nomianted for Best Single at the Q Awards, #68 in Pitchfork's Top 100 Singles from 2000-04, #490 in Rolling Stones' 500 Greatest Songs of All Time
Appearances: In America (movie), ER (TV series), Confidence (movie), The Sopranos (TV series), Third Watch (TV series), Peter Pan (movie trailer), The Wild (movie)
Chart Positions: UK - #9, US - #29 (#9 in Hot Modern Rock Tracks Chart), Best Elsewhere - Netherlands - #2

It probably has occured to you, this is Coldplay's first entry into this listing. So yeah... you might not be surprised (or happy) to find that yes, there are three Coldplay songs in the Top #25.
I'm amazed about the fact that "Clocks" has gone slightly off radar to be honest. You couldn't get away from the song in the early part of the decade. It's that fantastically catchy piano riff (it's so odd using the word riff about a piano, but that's what it is), it's one of the most memorable piano pieces in modern rock. It's really the song that set Coldplay on the path to superstardom, they had "The Scientist" before this, that got them very popular very quickly in this country, but after "Clocks", Coldplay was a band that was popular around the world, hell, it charted higher in the Netherlands and Poland than it did anywhere else. "Clocks" set everything up that was to follow for Coldplay, they had a winning formula musically, that they would use to top the UK and US charts with.

#24. "Misery Business" - Paramore
Released: 15/7/07
Album: Riot!
Appearances: Saints Row 2 (video game), NHL 08 (video game), Guitar Hero World Tour (video game), Lips (video game), Rock Band 3 (video game), Hollyoaks (TV series), Degrassi: The Next Generation (TV series)
Chart Positions: UK - #17, US - #26 (#3 in Alternative Songs Chart), Best Elsewhere - Germany - #12

A little known fact. This song got into the Top 20 in South Africa. I found that to be pretty amazing too, as I can't recall any of the 75 songs before this entry to even get into the South African charts.
If you want proof that this listing is unbiased then look no further than this entry. As I said earlier in the Least Favourite Artists of the decade list, I hate Paramore with a passion. I hate this song more than I hate the band as well. I can't stand this track.
But this, like many songs on the listing, was the song that got Paramore mainstream popularity. It made the band. It was very successful, and the video was well received too. A song about bitchiness, with contradiction definitions, this song was very well recieved by the teenage community. The lyrics are vague enough to fit into many different situations, so many young people related to the track. Paramore have had better chart success with other songs than this, but this song still stands the test of time in terms of being their biggest hit. I doubt this song is going away for a while yet either (unfortunately).

#23. "Human" - The Killers
Released: 22/9/08
Album: Day and Age
Accolades: #1 in Rolling Stone's Best Songs of 2008, #77 in XFM's 100 Greatest Songs of All Time, #25 in Absolute Radio's Best Songs of the Decade
Appearances: Guitar Hero World Tour (video game)
Chart Positions: UK - #3, US - #32 (#1 in Hot Dance Club Play Chart), Best Elsewhere - Norway, Spain - #1

2008 personally for me was an incredibly busy year. I started a new job, I welcomed my newborn baby into this world. I didn't do much listening to music that year unfortunately, I was far too busy and commited to other things. But this song just wouldn't go away that year. From the summer of 2008 to the summer of 2009 everywhere you went, you heard this track. You heard the odd chorus lyrics. You heard the soft 80's dance beat. You heard Brandon Flower's relatively distinct vocals. You saw the music video. Radio, TV, or live performance, this was the definitive Killers track at the time. There are other songs that are more impoirtant however, in my opinion, and you'll see them soon.

#22. "Welcome to the Black Parade" - My Chemical Romance
Released: 12/09/06
Album: The Black Parade
Accolades: #17 in Rolling Stone's 100 Best Songs of 2006
Appearances: Rock Band (video game), Guitar Hero: Warriors of Rock (video game), Formula 1 (sports coverage)
Chart Positions: UK - #1, US - #9 (#1 in Alternative Songs Chart), Best Elsewhere - Israel - #1

My Chemical Romance's biggest hit to date just narrowly misses out on my Top 20 songs list. To this day I don't understand the massive appeal to the song, even from an unbiased point of view. Not many heavy rock songs get to the top of the UK charts, so kudos to MCR for that. They did a lot of advertising for the track and the very well received video did favour in its success. I don't even think the band expected to top the UK charts to be honest. "Welcome to the Black Parade" fails to hit the Top 20 because as interest in the song has waned in the last few years, but that being said it's still got a solid amount of airplay, and it's still seen as a big moment for a very popular band in the last decade.

#21. "In the End" - Linkin Park
Released: 9/10/01
Album: Hybrid Theory
Accolades: #1 in Z100's Top 100 Songs of 2002, #121 in Blender's 500 Greatest Songs Since You Were Born
Appearances: Rock Band 3 (video game)
Chart Positions: UK - #8, US - #2 (#1 in Modern Rock Tracks Chart), Best Elsewhere - Canada - #2

"In the End" is still Linkin Park's highest charting song in America, and is only second to "What I've Done" here in the UK. Yet despite the band's immense worldwide popularity, this song is just one of those songs that are beyond the band in terms of popularity. I doubt Linkin Park can top it for quality, worldwide success and reputation. That's not to say it's my favourite song, but as I've said a few times this is an unbiased listing. And in that mindset, this is their "best". It's the song that really caught a lot of people's attention, although they were very popular by this point already. It solidified their place as one of the most exciting new bands, that's for sure.


To view part 9, click here.
To view part 10, click here.
To view the winner, click here.
To view my methods and explanations, click here. 
To view a full archived stats index of the songs listed, click here.

Wednesday, May 18, 2011

Noughtie: The 100 Most Important Songs of the Decade (Part 7)

To view part 1, click here.
To view part 2, click here.

To view part 3, click here.
To view part 4, click here.
To view part 5, click here.

To view part 6, click here.


Here's the beginning of my official Top 40, from #40 to #31!

#40. "I Predict a Riot" - Kaiser Chiefs
Released: 1/11/04
Album: Employment

Accolades: #36 in NME's 50 Greatest Indie Anthems Ever
Chart Positions: UK - #9, US - #34 (in Alternative Songs Chart), Best Elsewhere - Ireland - #25

For a song with no appearances in the media and one major accolade it's ridiculous that this song hasn't gone more. This song is just simply one of the biggest anthems of the decade. It's a proper lads song, it's one of those songs that you can just shout the lyrics to at the top of your voice. It sounds great, it's got awesome lyrics and it's quite simply one of the most important songs of the decade. If it wasn't for this song or the popularity of it, the band wouldn't have been the same.

#39. "Fell in Love With a Girl" - The White Stripes
Released: 23/4/02
Album: White Blood Cells

Accolades: Rolling Stone's 40 Songs That Changed Rock History Chart
Appearances: Rock Band (video game)
Chart Positions: UK - #21, US - #121 (#12 in Modern Rock Tracks Chart)

Another song that makes you wonder how it hasn't got any more accolades or appearances to its name. But this isn't a list just about accolades and appearances, it's about other things. It's about airplay, it's about how often the song was played at the time, and more importantly, going in to the future. And "Fell in Love" is one of those songs that just stand out so well in the decade as a quick little ditty of greatness. It's a song that sounds so raw yet it has such fantastic charm it's unbelievable. How often can you describe something as raw and charming in the same sentence? Well this song does both. Naturally the video is the appeal to a certain extent, such a simple idea of getting band playing in lego form made such cool viewing. But the song itself, while probably wouldn't have been commercially as successful without the video, can stand on its own two feet against other songs and win many climatic battles as one of the most important songs of the decade. This song won't leave our radio stations and music channels anytime soon, trust me.

#38. "Last Resort" - Papa Roach
Released: 23/4/00
Album: Infest

Appearances: The One (movie), Training Day (movie), Pay it Forward (movie), Smallville (TV series), Cold Case (TV series), Rock Revolution (video game), Rock Band (video game), Tap Tap Revenge 2 (iPhone game), G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra (movie)
Chart Positions: UK - #3, US - #57 (#1 in Alternative Songs Chart), Best Elsewhere - Germany - #4

Wow I never knew this song got to #3 in the UK. For a song of its genre, of its lyrical theme, you wouldn't have imagined it getting this high up our pop and RnB orientated charts. You can easily make a case for this song to being on of the first true modern "emo" songs, although it was in the badly reputable "nu-metal" genre at the time. "Cut myself into pieces, this is my last resort" is arguably one of the most well known lines in any song of the decade. The video, while very simple in its broadcast, is very iconic, showing poor little kids being depressed in their homes, and then apparently enjoying a Papa Roach gig. Papa Roach have had a decent career, their lifespan is longer and more respected than Limp Bizkit's and they haven't "sold out", something a lot of people Linkin Park have done. But this song will never be beat for popularity, and most importantly, it's significance and impact on the world of music.

#37. "Dare" - Gorillaz
Released: 29/8/05
Album: Demon Days

Chart Positions: UK - #1, US - #87 (#8 in Alternative Songs Chart), Best Elsewhere - Belgium - #3

For a song with no appearances, no major accolades, this song gets a TONNE of airplay. Surely this song is one of the most played songs of the decade, in clubs, radio stations and music stations? This song was much more prominent on its release than "Feel Good Inc" was, although the former was a bigger hit in the US. "Dare" was just a fantastic blend of alternative rock, brit pop, techno and dance music. This song pretty much sums up the Gorillaz in one sweep in terms of what their music sounds like. It's still the bands only #1 hit in the UK so far, and you could argue it was universally accepted by all music fans of all diversions. It's a true quality track that lives up as arguably the bands most popular time in their career so far.

#36. "Supermassive Black Hole" - Muse
Released: 19/6/06
Album: Black Holes and Revelations

Appearances: Twilight (movie), Guitar Hero III: Legends of Rock (video game), FIFA 07 (video game), Supernatural (TV series), Doctor Who (TV series)
Chart Positions: UK - #4, US - #6 (in Alternative Songs Chart), Best Elsewhere - Denmark - #7

It's quite hard to choose one single by Muse as their most important, their most groundbreaking, their most popular, their best song in the decade. My punt is "Supermassive Black Hole". It's arguably their first worldwide hit, with it hitting the Danish, Finnish, European, Irish, Italian Top 20's.  When "Time is Running Out" came out, America still paid very little attention to the band. When "Uprising" came out they were all over Muse. Yet this was the middle ground, this was when America started to notice this cool British band, yet Europe embraced them. It's still their biggest hit in this country. It's also, in a biased way, one of their coolest songs, the riff is fricking awesome. So that's my justification for it being the highest Muse entry in this listing.

#35. "The Pretender" - Foo Fighters
Released: 21/8/07
Album: Echoes, Silence, Patience and Grace

Accolades: #47 in Rolling Stone's 100 Best Songs of 2007, Nominated for Best Rock Song at the Grammy Awards, Nominated for Record of the Year at the Grammy Awards, #5 in Triple J's Hottest 100 Songs
Appearances: Guitar Hero III: Legends of Rock (video game), Guitar Hero On Tour: Decades (video game), Rock Band (video game), Tony Hawk's Proving Ground (video game), Californication (TV series), CSI: Miami (TV series)
Chart Positions: UK - #8, US - #37 (#1 in Alternative Songs Chart), Best Elsewhere - Norway - #3

This was a huge song. For a hard rock track it got very high in many charts and it topped the US Alternative Songs Chart for longer than any other song in the year 2007. It was #1 for 18 weeks. Not only is it a big song chart wise but look at those appearances and accolades, despite it not winning, I don't think any song so far on this chart has been nominated for two Grammy awards. The Foo's always pull big about of the bag and have done so now consistently for a good 12 years, they're just this big and fantastic band that has universal praise. I just have an infinite amount of respect for this band and this song was easily one of their biggest of the decade, there is one more song by the band that I think is more important however... stay tuned to see it and how high it gets on this chart!

#34. "Use Somebody" - Kings of Leon
Released: 8/12/08
Album: Only by the Night

Accolades: Winner of Record of the Year Award at the Grammy's, Winner of Best Rock Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocal Award at the Grammy's, Winner of Best Rock Song Award at the Grammy's, Nominated for Song of the Year Award at the Grammy's
Chart Positions: UK - #2, US - #4 (#1 in Alternative Songs Chart), Best Elsewhere - Belgium - #1

What was the bigger song? "Use Somebody"? Or "Sex on Fire"? They were both HUGE hits, and both are responsible for the Kings of Leon being on top of the rock world right now. For me, "Sex on Fire" is the bigger song, you'll find out how much bigger in this listing later on.
"Use Somebody" was the song that finally brought the band's breakthrough in America. It was a beautiful ballad, and was proof that the band's sound was changing, for better or for worse. It was definitely a more mainstream sound that's for sure. But the transition of Kings of Leon, including their beards, is a fascinating story, it's one of the most interesting stories of the decade artist wise. I remember, and I'm sure many of you do too, a time when Kings of Leon were just random Americans singing country and garage rock hybrid songs on MTV2. Now look at them, you couldn't have imagined this song being any wheren near as big as it was six or seven years ago. It's fascinating, and kudos to them for that.

#33. "Oh My God" - Kaiser Chiefs / Mark Ronson
Released: 17/5/04 / 16/7/07
Album: Employment / Version

Appearances: Driver: Parallel Lines (video game)
Chart Positions: UK - #6, Best Elsewhere - Ireland - #27 / UK - #8, Best Elsewhere - Ireland - #21
 /
I was debating whether or not to put this original song in, the very well received Mark Ronson cover version. So I thought I'd put both as one entry as they're both important and successful. Also, it's the same song.
Now I'm effectively cheating as this is the fourth and final Kaiser's song on the list, when I said in the beginning that I'd be setting a cap of three songs per artist. But if we're getting THAT picky, consider it Mark Ronson's entry.
"Oh My God" is still arguably the Kaiser's most important song, it's got one of the greatest, catchiest and simplest choruses in the decade. The song, while being released the second time, did very well in the charts and shows you how far the band had came. In 2004, this song got to #66, yet in its re-release it jumped 60 places. The Kaiser Chiefs, as explained in other entries, are just a great, humble band that are just so happy making music and enjoying the fame they are getting. "Oh My God" was their little baby that started it all off, and it's arguably their finest moment. The Mark Ronson cover version was great, the band also appeared in the video and it was just a really cool jazz version of the song. Mark Ronson did a great job of covering many songs, and this one is one of the bigger and more important songs. I don't think you can go through this decade of music without mentioning Mark Ronson.

#32. "Hurt" - Johnny Cash
Released: 8/3/03
Album: American IV: The Man Comes Around
Accolades: Winner of Single of the Year Award by the Country Music Association, #1 in Rate Your Music's Top Singles of the 2000s, #1 in UpVenue's Top 10 Best Music Covers, #60 in Triple J's Hottest 100 Songs of All Time, #15 in Rolling Stone's Top 50 Songs of the Decade, #2 in CMT's Songs of the Decade
Listings: Best Videos, Top 100 Songs of the Decade
Chart Positions: UK - #39, US - #33 (in Alternative Songs Chart), Best Elsewhere - Norway - #8

No song in the world, even the original Nine Inch Nails version, gives me the goosebumps, the feeling, the emotion that this song gives me. I could probably babble on for paragraphs about how this song makes me feel, I've already talked about it twice on thie site before, on the Best Videos page, and on the Favourite 100 Songs page.
It's not hard to explain why this song was important. No, the song didn't chart well, but some songs on this list have a legacy no sales records can touch. Johnny Cash, country rock 'n' roll legend, took a song from an industrial metal artist from 1994 and turned it into this heart wrenching, tear dropping, dark yet elevating masterpiece. It's hard to imagine a better way to end your long 50 year career than this way. Most rock stars (I know he's a country star but I always see him as a rock star too, he's far cooler than other people who call themselves "rock stars") die in their prime, or just after their prime. But was there a prime with Cash? Was there a sparkling moment in his career? You could argue it was the Folsom City Blues era, yet "Hurt" is arguably more prominent than any of his original songs, I think "Ring of Fire" is the only song that touches the song for popularity and "I Walk the Line" for importance. This was a man around half a century in his career. And look at the song. It's just so amazing, so real, his iconic vocal chords trembling through the guitar and piano. It's just an iconic moment in the decade, and in music history in my personal opinion, it's the hardest song to place in this list that's for sure, but I've put it here at #32.

#31. "Run" - Snow Patrol
Released: 26/1/04
Album: Final Straw
Appearances: The Chumscrubber (movie), Rescue Me (TV series), The Guardian (movie trailer), Doctor Who Confidential (TV series), Cold Case (TV series), Jericho (TV series), Life As We Know It (TV series), Wide Sargasso Sea (TV series), One Tree Hill (TV series), Empire Falls (TV series), Mad Dogs (TV series)
Accolades: #874 in The Rock FM's The Rock 1000 Songs
Chart Positions: UK - #5, US - #15 (in Alternative Songs Chart), Best Elsewhere - Netherlands - #22

Someone like myself, who doesn't hasn't (until now) done a great deal of research on Snow Patrol, never knew that "Run" was on their third album. Third time lucky I guess, as this was a mega hit. It was also the second single off that album too, so the song's quality shines very well. More evidence is the fact that Leona Lewis chose to cover this song, and got it even more mainstream attention, so much in fact that it this original version re-entered the charts as a result four years later. Snow Patrol would later have more chart success than this track, yet when I, as someone who isn't a fan of the band, think of one song by them, this comes to the front straight away. I'm sure a lot of people feel exactly the same.

To view part 8, click here.
To view part 9, click here.
To view part 10, click here.
To view the winner, click here.
To view my methods and explanations, click here. 
To view a full archived stats index of the songs listed, click here.

Sunday, May 08, 2011

Noughtie: The 100 Most Important Songs of the Decade (Part 6)

To view part 1, click here.
To view part 2, click here.

To view part 3, click here.
To view part 4, click here.
To view part 5, click here.


So we're half way through. I hope you've enjoyed the list so far, as you can see there is a fair balance of genres and the years the songs have come out in the list. I hope you agree with some and disagree with others, each person believes different songs are more important than others and there's nothing wrong with that. If you want to make your opinion known on this list by all means do it constructively in the comments section below. To recap, here's from #100 to #51:

#100: “Rebellion (Lies)” - Arcade Fire
#99: “Shut Me Up” - Mindless Self Indulgence
#98: “Grounds for Divorce” – Elbow
#97: “The Kill” - 30 Seconds to Mars
#96: “Bodies” - Drowning Pool
#95: “Rabbit Heart (Raise it Up)” - Florence and the Machine
#94: “Sing” - Travis
#93: “99 Problems” - Jay-Z
#92: “Wires” - Athlete
#91: “Slither” - Velvet Revolver
#90: “Feel Good Inc.” - Gorillaz
#89: “Warriors Dance” - The Prodigy
#88: “Filthy/Gorgeous” - Scissor Sisters
#87: “Uprising” - Muse
#86: “Last Nite” - The Strokes
#85: “Empire” - Kasabian
#84: “Famous Last Words” - My Chemical Romance
#83: “Gives You Hell” - The All-American Rejects
#82: “B.Y.O.B.” - System of a Down
#81: “Time is Running Out” - Muse
#80: “Everyday I Love You Less and Less” - Kaiser Chiefs
#79: “Duality” - Slipknot
#78: “Bohemian Like You” - The Dandy Warhols
#77: “Dry Your Eyes” - The Streets
#76: “Monster” - The Automatic
#75: “The Shock of the Lightning” - Oasis
#74: “Danger! High Voltage” - Electric Six
#73: “Break Stuff” - Limp Bizkit
#72: “Tribute” - Tenacious D
#71: “Bonkers” - Dizzee Rascal
#70: “Are You Gonna Be My Girl” - Jet
#69: “Cochise” - Audioslave
#68: “Feeling This” - Blink-182
#67: “Sugar, We're Goin Down” - Fall Out Boy
#66: “Foundations” - Kate Nash
#65: “Kings and Queens” - 30 Seconds to Mars
#64: “We Are All Made of Stars” - Moby
#63: “Gay Bar” - Electric Six
#62: “Fat Lip” - Sum 41
#61: “Time to Pretend” - MGMT
#60: “Standing in the Way of Control” - The Gossip
#59: “That's Not My Name” - The Ting Tings
#58: “Clint Eastwood” - Gorillaz
#57: “Butterfly” - Crazy Town
#56: “Teenage Dirtbag” - Wheatus
#55: “For Lovers” - Wolfman feat. Pete Doherty
#54: “Paper Planes” - MIA
#53: “Crazy” - Gnarls Barkley
#52: “Brianstorm” - Arctic Monkeys
#51: "Dance Wiv Me" - Dizzee Rascal

Without further delay, here's #50...

#50. "Wake Me Up Before September Ends" - Green Day
Released: 13/6/05
Album: American Idiot

Chart Positions: UK - #8, US - #6 (#2 in Hot Mainstream Tracks Chart) Best Elsewhere - Canada - #1

We start off the Top 50 important songs of the decade with this song. No accolades, no appearances in the media. But you can't deny the power of this song, the success of the track, and most importantly, how memorable it is. This was the fourth single off "American Idiot" would you believe. It's had more success worldwide on this listing than any other track so far, and more than a lot of the songs to come. It got to #2 in the WORLD charts. I didn't even know there was a world chart. Unless I've missed something none of the 50 songs preceding this track has appeared on the world chart! Anyway, another thing that makes this song so memorable is the video, and while I'm not considering the music videos as part of the places on the list, the video is a must watch if you haven't seen it before. It didn't appear as one of my Top 20, but that doesn't mean it wasn't a good one, and it was certainly memorable.

#49. "Ruby" - Kaiser Chiefs
Released: 5/2/07
Album: Yours Truly, Angry Mob

Accolades: #13 in Triple J's Hottest 100 of 2007
Appearances: Guitar Hero III: Legends of Rock (video game), Project Gotham Racing 4 (video game), SingStar Vol 2 (video game), Lego Rock Band (video game), PES 2010 (video game), Demons (TV series)
Chart Positions: UK - #1, US - #14 (in Alternative Songs Chart) Best Elsewhere - Czech R epublic, Europe and Ireland - #1

The Kaiser Chiefs highest selling single so far creeps in to the Top 50. It may be the highest selling single but it's not the song of theirs I consider most important, we'll get to that later on.
But "Ruby" is the song that got the Americans attention for the band. It was the song that really got the band global attention. It got featured on a lot of media, it got a lot of airplay in the states. You could argue globally, this is the most important song the band has done so far. But I still think the "other", as this list is biased slightly in favour of Britain, is more important. Regardless, "Ruby" was a huge hit, the band's first ever #1 in the UK, and a great song, albeit slightly lacking creativity at the same time.

#48. "Don't Upset the Rhythm" - The Noisettes
Released: 23/3/09
Album: Wild Young Hearts

Appearances: Mazda 2 (car advertisement)
Chart Positions: UK - #2, US - #4 (in Hot Dance Songs Chart) Best Elsewhere - Ireland - #8

 
I'm surprised thing song has no accolades or more major apperances of note, it was a huge song and a highlight in a very lackluster year in 2009. The Noisettes have taken the batton of the hottest new UK band in my opinion. I saw them in 2006 when they were just starting to get attention, they were the support band for Muse and they were decent. Then I heard "Don't Give Up" on FIFA  08 and it was one of the highlights of the soundtrack. It's still my favourite track. Then all of a sudden they just boomed. This song is their biggest hit so far yet I don't think this will be the end of them, I think they have that great hybrid of pop, funk and rock that will appeal to many different people. I see them as one of the potential highlights of THIS decade. Let's hope they prove me right!

#47. "Complicated" - Avril Lavigne
Released: 14/5/02
Album: Let Go

Accolades: Nominated for Song of the Year at the Grammy Awards, #8 in Rolling Stone Magazine's Top Singles of the Decade, #197 in Blender's Top 500 Greatest Songs Since You Were Born, #83 in Billboard Magazine's Top 100 Singles of the Decade, Single of the Year at the Juno Awards, Song of the Year at the Radio Music Awards, International Hit of the Year at the Ivor Novello Awards,
Appearances: Uptown Girls (movie trailer), Karaoke Revolution (video game), Buzz! The Music Quiz (video game),
Chart Positions: UK - #3, US - #2 (#1 in Mainstream Top 40 Chart) Best Elsewhere - Australia, Canada, Europe, Italy, Mexico, New Zealand and Norway - #1

This song is going to get a lot of negative feedback I'm sure.
"She's not even rock!" "She sucks!" "I can't believe you would consider this an important song!"
I can understand your disappointment don't get me wrong. I also think song sucks but... it IS rock. It's bubblegum rock, it's pop punk, and yes, it's shit. But this song was immensely popular at the time, by people who like pop music AND people who like rock music. Hell, the song was constantly played on Kerrang! So like it or lump it, this song deserves a place in this listing, genre AND importance wise.
So why is it important? I hate to say it, but at the time, Avril was a big deal. She represented the alternative to huge pop stars like Britney Spears and Christina Aguilera, in genre and appearance, to young girls. Some people don't seek music out, and for those people who only listen to the radio and TV, someone like Avril getting so much airplay provided a lot of people the alternative. She was compared to Natalie Imbruglia in her style, yet younger and quirkier (some could argue annoying, I know) and at the time, you could understand that. Afterwards Avril started moving away from her rock elements and just went all pinky pop, but at this time, she was an alternative pop artist, that had her own style, her own band, and a decent amount of respect by people who are divided in music. And look how successful the track was! #1 in so many countries! So I hope that makes sense. I'm not asking you to agree with me, but if you understand the logic, then that's all I ask.

#46. "Chop Suey!" - System of a Down
Released: 20/11/01
Album: Toxicity

Accolades: #3 in Triple J's Hottest of 2001
Appearances: Rock Band 2 (video game,), Rock Band Unplugged (video games)
Listings: Top 100 Favourite Songs of the Decade
Chart Positions: UK - #17, US - #76 (#7 in Alternative Songs Chart) Best Elsewhere - Australia - #14

So we go from Avril Lavigne to System of a Down. So what do they have in common? This unfortunately. Don't thank me for sending you that link.
But seriously, you can't talk about heavy metal in the decade without mentioning this track. It's just not possible. This song is one of the biggest metal songs of all time, not just the decade. System of a Down play a genre of music that isn't always accessable, is sometimes patronised, and is always got critics. Yet they get away with it because their songs are just so damn catchy. And this song is the epitome of that. It's such a heavy fucking track, yet look at it's chart positions. Look at the fact that if you ask so many metal fans if they like System of a Down, or even Chop Suey, how many of them say yes. They're just a universally popular band in the genre. And they're good guys too, they talk a lot of sense in their lyrics (although you can't hear half the lyrics in this song) and seem quite humble as well. If you ever want to get someone into metal, get them to listen to this track. Because it's a metal classic, it's beyond dispute.

#45. "Fire" - Kasabian
Released: 1/6/09
Album: West Ryder Pauper Lunatic Asylum

Appearances: Premier League (football league theme)
Listings: Top 100 Favourite Songs of the Decade
Chart Positions: UK - #3, Best Elsewhere - Belgium - #3

Fire is what I think is the beginning of a major interest in Kasabian, worldwide. The band have always had moderate success here in Britain but they're starting to expand their sound across the world, and Fire is their highest charting single. I think when they bring out their next album, it'll be their biggest yet, I don't think we've seen the best of them. "Fire" is just a great sounding track, and it's obviously well thought of, being the official choice of theme for the Premier League, the most followed football league in the world. I am surprised this song hasn't got any major accolades however. I hope Kasabian can break America soon, it's long overdue.

#44. "Boulevard of Broken Dreams" - Green Day
Released: 29/9/04
Album: American Idiot

Accolades: #1 in Rolling Stone's Readers Choice Single of the Decade, #65 in Rolling Stone's Top 100 Songs of the Decade, Winner of Record of the Year at the Grammy Awards,
Chart Positions: UK - #5, US - #2 (#1 in Mainstream Rock Tracks), Best Elsewhere - Argentina - #1

Yes, that's the second Green Day track from the incredibly successful "American Idiot" album. It'd be safe to say for me that if I did a Top 10/20 Most Important Albums of the Decade list, this would be #1. The album was huge, the singles were huge, the album was ridiculously successful, it was THE biggest critical and commercial successful album of the decade. It's an album that will be compared to many greats from the nineties as well.
And this track is arguably more popular than the self titled album track. "Boulevard" was the track describing the main character of the album, Jesus of Suburbia, and his low and depressed stage. This was opposite of "Holiday" another single off the album, where Jesus of Suburbia is on a major high. The lyrics, the mood, Billy Joe's "aah, aaaah" vocals, everything was perfect. This song, for all intents and purposes, describes a lot of teenagers feelings today, for good or for bad. But regardless of the "emo" aspect of the song, it's a great track, and an extremely important song in the decade.

#43. "All My Life" - Foo Fighters
Released: 7/9/02
Album: One by One

Accolades: Winner of Best Hard Rock Performance at the Grammy Awards, #94 in Q Magazine's 100 Greatest Guitar Tracks,
Appearances: Rock Band (video game), Rock Revolution (video game)
Chart Positions: UK - #5, US - #43 (#1 in Alternative Songs Chart), Best Elsewhere - Norway - #13

The Foo Fighters are one of those bands that everyone loves and virtually no one dislikes. Dave Grohl is just one of the most genuine and humble rock stars of all time. And "All My Life", despite it not being the biggest Foo's song of the decade, was the song that made people think, this band have finally made it. Before this track, the Foo Fighters were always seen as the remnants of Nirvana, but never being a better band, never being a bigger band. Always the underlings. Yet this song really tested the waters, it really made people take the band seriously. And it's a fantastic track as well, the strumming throughout the song, the bum-bum bum-bum-bum guitar, it's a very simple yet effective part of the song. You straight away know what song is coming on when you hear that. It's a fantastic song, a decently successful one too at that. But there is more to come from this band on this listing.

#42. "Bring Me to Life" - Evanescence
Released: 22/4/03
Album: Fallen

Accolades: Winner of Best Hard Rock Performance at the Grammy Awards, #73 in Billboard's Best of Rock Songs of the 2000s
Appearances: Daredevil (movie)
Chart Positions: UK - #1, US - #5 (#1 in Alternative Songs Chart), Best Elsewhere - Australia, Europe and  Italy - #1

It's funny how circumstance can affect a song. Chances are, if things went to the original plan, we wouldn't have considered Evanescence anything more than a standard metal band with a female lead singer. But the initial surge of interest around the year 2002 for this band, and the decision for the makers of the movie Daredevil to consider this track the main song in their feature film, made the band release this as the first single off the album. "Going Under", a song that is appreciated more by the Evanescence and metal faithful than this track ever was, was going to be the song to be released first. And now Evanescence have a #1 hit on their hands, in multiple countries. They became the blueprint for a lot of female metal singers to follow for the rest of the decade. Amy Lee had become a sex symbol. The internal problems of the band became gossip news. I don't want to rain on Evanescence's parade for this song, it is a decent song actually, I like it, but as I said, it's funny how it's such an important song now, when it easily couldn't have been.

#41. "Shut Up and Let Me Go" - The Ting Tings
Released: 21/7/08
Album: We Started Nothing

Accolades: #27 in Rolling Stone's 100 Best Songs of 2008
Appearances: iPod (mobile phone advertisement), 90210 (TV series), Gossip Girl (TV series), The House Bunny (movie), Lifetime Movie Network (network channel), Final Score (TV series)
Chart Positions: UK - #6, US - #55 (#1 in Hot Dance Club Play Charts), Best Elsewhere - Mexico - #1

This song may not have charted as well as its predecessor, but this song has since topped it for popularity. It's the beat, it's the easy to hear and sing lyrics, it's the fact that it's much more accessible than "That's Not My Name" is. The Ting Tings have a habbit of making these really catchy songs that work between rock and pop, and find a very good amount of success globally as well. This song has been used on many different programs, most iconically on the iPad advertisements. If the duo keep making songs like this, like it or lump it, but this band won't be going anywhere soon.

To view part 7, click here. 
To view part 8, click here.
To view part 9, click here.
To view part 10, click here.
To view the winner, click here.
To view my methods and explanations, click here. 
To view a full archived stats index of the songs listed, click here.