Noughtie: The 100 Most Important Songs of the Decade (Part 2)

Overall Favourite Artists | Best of 2000 | Overall Least Favourite Artists | Best of 2001

Where Are They Now? | Best of 2002 | Best New Artists | Best of 2003 | My Guilty Pleasures
Best of 2004 | My Favourite Riffs | Best of 2005 | Underrated Artists | Best of 2006
 My Favourite Albums | Best of 2007 | Best Videos | Best of 2008 | Most Important Artists
Best of 2009 | 100 Favourite Songs of the Decade | 100 Most Important Songs of the Decade

We continue our countdown of the most important music singles of the Naughties from #90 to #81!

To view part 1, click here.

#90. "Feel Good Inc." - Gorillaz
Released: 5/4/05
Album: Demon Days
Accolades: #308 in Pitchfork's Best Songs of the 2000s, Best Pop Collaboration with Vocals at the Grammy Awards, Best Record of the Year at the Grammy Awards (nominated)
Appearances: Torchwood (TV Series), Guitar Hero 5 (video game), Dance Dance Revolution Hottest Party 3 (video game), Dance Dance Revolution X2 (arcade game), iPod (portable media player advertisement), House MD (TV Series), DJ Hero (video game), SingStar Pop (video game), SingStar Vol. 1 (video game), Alex Rider: Operation Stormbreaker (movie)
Chart Positions: UK - #2, US - #14 (#1 in Hot Modern Rock Tracks), Best elsewhere - Spain - #1

This was a huge hit. At the time there was high expectation for Gorillaz after the success of their self titled debut album and this follow up single, and more importantly, the follow up album "Demon Days" solidified Damon Albarn's side project as his new priority band, throwing more earth on the Blur grave (although recently Blur are back, but are most definitely not Damon's priority band). "Feel Good Inc." was well received across the board, it sent waves in America and in Spain, and it featured in many video games and in other media. And most importantly, it did a brilliant job in the Grammy Awards. It's a no brainer why this song deserves its place in this list.

#89. "Warriors Dance" - The Prodigy
Released: 11/5/09
Album: Invaders Must Die
Appearances: Colin McRae: Dirt 2 (video game)
Chart Positions: UK - #9, US - #7 (in the Hot Dance Singles), Best elsewhere - Ireland - #44

Man 2009 really sucked. It really fucking sucked. Even as someone who is doing unbiased freelance journalism, this was a shit year. Anyway, mind my language! The Prodigy were a dim light in the end of a very deep dark tunnel in 2009, and "Warriors Dance", was their highlight track, despite it being the second (or arguably third) single off their album. It sounds like a proper nineties Prodigy track, it's really old school in its sound. It also has a very memorable music video with humanoid cigarette packets ending up setting other similar packets on fire. A very odd anti-Smoking video. It's a good song anyway.

#88. "Filthy/Gorgeous" - Scissor Sisters
Released: 3/1/05
Album: Scissor Sisters
Appearances: Tony Hawk's American Wasteland (video game), Kath & Kim (TV Series), It's a Boy Girl Thing (movie), Torchwood (TV Series)
Chart Positions: UK - #5, US - #1 (Dance Club Play Charts), Best elsewhere - Ireland - #13

I hope you're not surprised by this entry. Yes Scissor Sisters in recent years have become a more all round pop group but their debut album is a good dance/pop/alternative effort that got decent airplay on MTV2, and had a great sound. Filthy/Gorgeous is arguably their highlight track, it's just filthy, gorgeous, disgusting, nasty, oh sorry I'm supposed to be reviewing this track! Well it is though. The songs lyrics and my feelings towards it, and many others, are comparible. It's a dirty track but it just sounds fantastic, it's very popular in clubs and for a very good reason. I wish Scissor Sisters would make more songs like this, but they're maturing as a group so I doubt it will happen.

#87. "Uprising" - Muse
Released: 3/8/09
Album: The Resistance
Accolades: Best Single in the Music Producers Guild Awards
Appearances: Knight and Day (movie trailer), V (TV Series advertisement), Guitar Hero: Warriors of Rock (video game), Sydney Roosters (rugby team entrance music), Calgary Flames (ice hockey entrance music)
Chart Positions: UK - #9, US - #37 (#1 in Alternative Songs Chart), Best elsewhere - Poland - #1

You can argue that this is the song that final knocked the American wall down for Muse. They tried and tried and tried to get the attention of the Yanks yet they kept turning their back on the band. They kept getting closer and closer and they finally won them over with this. Is it the guitar riff? Is it the scary teddy bears? Or is it just the persistence? Who knows, but "Uprising" was a very popular song in America, and was #1 in the Alternative Charts for 17 weeks. That's a really long fucking time. That alone warrants them an entry in this list. But the bonus kudos go for the fact that they got to #1 in Poland. That's awesome.

#86. "Last Nite" - The Strokes
Released: 27/11/01
Album: Is This It
Accolades: #66 in Q Magazine's 100 Greatest Guitar Tracks, #1 in NME's Great Tracks of the Decade, #9 in NME's Greatest Indie Anthems Ever, #16 in Rolling Stone's Best Songs of the Decade, #478 in Rolling Stone's Top 500 Greatest Songs of All Time
Appearances: Get Him to the Greek (movie advertisement)
Chart Positions: UK - #14, US - #108 (#5 in Alternative Songs Chart), Best Elsewhere - Australia - #47

I'm sure all the fans of The Strokes are groaning that this song deserves a better place in this list. That's not because it deserves to be higher, but that all Strokes fans groan. Seriously though, maybe they're right. You can't argue, there's fewer songs in the decade that were as well recieved by critics. But I'm trying to balance critics, fans, sales, accolades, appearances, and most importantly, how memorable and important the songs are going into the next decade. And in honesty, this song is an odd anthem. It's not the catchiest of songs, Julian Casablances sounds like he'd rather be at home sulking in the corner. It doesn't really stand out. Then again, these are all qualities in your typical indie track and it's got a huge following. What do you think, does it deserve to be higher? Convince me!

#85. "Empire" - Kasabian
Released: 24/7/06
Album: Empire
Appearances: ITV's FIFA World Cup (sports coverage), Top Gear (TV Series),
Chart Positions: UK - #9, Best elsewhere - Ireland - #32

"Empire" was the song that further solidified Kasabian as an exciting modern indie band in the UK. They had other songs, probably more popular songs, but this really got a lot of airplay, it had a nice riff, it had a good video, it had everything working in its favour to further emphasise them as one of the decade's best bands. I'm quite surprised it didn't get any more accolades as it's played quite often, even today.

#84. "Famous Last Words" - My Chemical Romance
Released: 22/1/07
Album: The Black Parade
Appearances: Guitar Hero II (video game), HBO (cable television network advertisement),
Chart Positions: UK - #8, US - #88 (#4 in Modern Rock Chart), Best Elsewhere - New Zealand - #6

I'm quite surprised that this song hasn't won any major accolades as it was very prominent on its release. Following the surprise #1 hit "The Black Parade", "Famous Last Words" followed My Chemical Romance's success as one of the hottest new metal bands. It got in the Top 10 in the UK, even though once again, it's not the type of song you'd expect to hit the charts hard in a pop and RnB fueled world. Kudos to them. Famous Last Words has a very flashy video with a lot of fire, fire that actually gave the drummer 3 degree burns upon the finishing of the video. But the song itself, is one of their biggest, one that got them the success they now currently have.

#83. "Gives You Hell" - The All-American Rejects
Released: 30/9/08
Album: When the World Comes Down
Appearances: Rock Band (video game), Guitar Hero 5 (video game), Band Hero (video game), Tap Tap Revenge 2 (iPhone game), Missouri Mavericks (hockey team)
Listings: Guilty Pleasures
Chart Positions: UK - #18, US - #4 (#1 in Mainstream Top 40), Best Elsewhere - Australia and Belgium - #3

I hope all aren't surprised by this entry. It was a surprise as this isn't a band that really did mainstream very well. They had a lot of emo fans but no chart success. Then "Gives You Hell" changed that. I even liked it, if I'm honest. It was a catchy little song and man, the Americans loved it. It was everywhere over there, and it did very well here too. I don't think the All-American Rejects will top this, but if they do, their new album that is due out this year, the first single should be the one to attempt it with.

#82. "B.Y.O.B." - System of a Down
Released: 2/8/05
Album: Mezmerize
Accolades: Best Hard Rock Performance at the Grammy Awards, #76 in Total Guitar's Best Riffs Ever, #63 in Digital Dream Doors's 100 Best Metal Riffs, #134 in Y2KROQ's Top 200 Songs of the Century
Listings: Top 100 Favourite Songs of the Decade
Chart Positions: UK - #26, US - #27 (#4 in Mainstream Rock Tracks), Best Elsewhere - Australia - #42

Moving away from the emo sub genres, here's some metal (or shall I pronounce that metol?)! This was easily one of the biggest metal anthems of the decade. It's always satisfying when a metal track does some damage in the mainstream charts. Metal artists must get a good buzz when that happens. "B.Y.O.B." might not have had the same impact "Chop Suey!" did, but it's a song strongly attached with the decade, and considering it won a Grammy, it seems SOAD got a lot of respect from the critics and most certainly, the peers. This song solidified the band's spot as one of the best heavy metal bands of the decade.

#81. "Time is Running Out" - Muse
Released: 8/9/03
Album: Absolution
Appearances: FLYING-DOG (movie soundtrack), Entourage (TV series), Torchwood Declassified (TV series), Running Scared (movie trailer), Turner Classic Movies (movie TV channel), 2008 Olympics on NBC (sports coverage montage), Hollyoaks (TV series)
Chart Positions: UK - #8, US - #9 (in Alternative Songs), Best Elsewhere - Italy - #14

While "Uprising" was the song that finally broke the American mainstream audience, this song is a much more well received track in the alternative audiences, and probably, hardcore Muse fans too. This was the song that got Muse to break the Top 10 in the UK milestone, something that "Plug in Baby" just about failed to do. The video was well received as well, and it's just a genuinely great rock track. I'm not surprised to see it make so many appearances in the media, in fact I'm surprised it's not won any accolades. But regardless, it's definitely one of Muse's most famous songs.

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. 
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.

Noughtie: The 100 Most Important Songs of the Decade (Part 1)

Overall Favourite Artists | Best of 2000 | Overall Least Favourite Artists | Best of 2001

Where Are They Now? | Best of 2002 | Best New Artists | Best of 2003 | My Guilty Pleasures
Best of 2004 | My Favourite Riffs | Best of 2005 | Underrated Artists | Best of 2006
 My Favourite Albums | Best of 2007 | Best Videos | Best of 2008 | Most Important Artists
Best of 2009 | 100 Favourite Songs of the Decade | 100 Most Important Songs of the Decade

Welcome to the final chapter of the Noughtie series! This is part 22 of 22. But this listing is longer than all the other 21 parts combined. Why? Because I'm going to talk about one song at a time, and explain its impact on the decade. I'm going to say why I chose each song to represent the decade. The hundred songs I'm about to go through, if none of them existed, the decade wouldn't have been as impactful. That doesn't mean better, but it wouldn't have been as relevant.

So these songs, are all important. Some are rock, some a metal. Some are alternative rap and dance. But they're all important. And they've all had different amounts of success. I don't like all the songs. But I'd be silly if I didn't mention them. They weren't all #1 hits. Some didn't even chart in the UK. But I believe that somewhere down the line, these 100 songs have had a significant impact on the decade and deserve to be raised and praised. That's my job. I just hope that you all agree!

So to emphasise, I don't like all of these songs. You, won't like all of these songs. But chances are, you will have heard them, or at least if you're a fan of that particular genre. For instance, if you like your metal, you will have heard all the metal songs in this list, and if not, where have you been? Same applies to the indie fans out there. Let's just get to the list.

So it's one song per day, for the next one hundred days. Here's #100.

#100. "Rebellion (Lies)" - Arcade Fire
Released: 12/9/05
Album: Funeral
Acolades: #29 in NME's Greatest Indie Anthems Ever, #380 in Blender's 500 Greatest Songs Since You Were Born, #69 in Pitchfork's Top 500 Tracks of the 2000's, #9 in NME's Best of the 2000's
Appearances: Six Feet Under (TV Series), Product Red (advertisement)
Chart Positions: UK - #33, US - #131, Best elsewhere - Ireland - #16

I don't like Arcade Fire. I don't rate them. But it would be silly of me to talk about the last decade in music without mentioning them. They had a mini-Radiohead-esque impact on the decade. By that I mean every album that this band has released, has been met to critical acclaim. Their album sales have been decent too. Yet... their singles aren't prominent. Their singles don't penetrate the charts. Their songs aren't often played. But if there was one song that had to be chosen in terms of popularity and impact, it's Rebellion (Lies).

#99. "Shut Me Up" - Mindless Self Indulgence
Released: 12/9/06
Album: You'll Rebel to Anything
Listings: Best Videos, Top 100 Favourite Songs of the Decade
Chart Positions: US - #1 (in Dance charts)

Okay, this song hasn't got any major accolades of any kind. I don't think many metal songs will do. This is probably the most debatable entry in the entire list, as it barely charted. But I do believe this song is important. It's important for the band. It kick started their rise to mainstream popularity. This song also is played in many metal clubs now, it's become a cult hit really. I can see this song being played a lot in the next ten years, not on the radios, but in clubs. It's a really good metal anthem and I believe MSI will continue to get more popular in the next decade, and this is the sign of things to come. I could be wrong though, and this song may (unfortunately) be forgotten. We'll see!

#98. "Grounds for Divorce" - Elbow
Released: 10/3/08
Album: The Seldom Seen Kid
Accolades: Ivor Novello Award for Best Contemporary Song
Appearances: Left 4 Dead (video game advertisement), Burn After Reading (movie advertisement), Top Gear (TV series), House MD (TV Series), Rescue Me (TV Series), DiRT 2 (video game), Hairy Bikers Food Tour of Britain (TV Series), The Apprentice (TV Series)
Listings: Best Riffs, Top 100 Favourite Songs of the Decade
Chart Positions: UK - #19

That's a lot of appearances of this song in the media. Video games and TV series' galore. I told you before, it's that riff. It's just fantastic, it stands out so much. Elbow have finally stepped out of their shell in recent years, with this song being one of the reasons. The other reason is later on in this listing. But Elbow seem to be evolving in the mainstream charts, and I can see them continuing in this vein of form when they relase more new material. "Grounds for Divorce" is a fantastic song and it was also the one that started to turn heads... finally.

#97. "The Kill" - 30 Seconds to Mars
Released: 24/1/06
Album: A Beautiful Lie
Accolades: #1 in AOL's Top Alternative Songs of the Decade, Winner of Kerrang Award's Best Single of 2007,
Appearances: The Invisible (movie), Without a Trace (TV Series), 2007 MTV Movie Awards, Hollyoaks (TV Series), Rock Band (video game), Guitar Hero World Tour (video game)
Chart Positions: UK - #28, US - #65 (#3 in Alternative Charts), Best elsewhere - Canada - #1

It's funny as I'm counting down this list how many accolades the songs win. I didn't plan this list accolade wise, but it's nice to see the songs I'm choosing being respected by the music press and peers. It means I'm doing my job properly. Anyway, this song won a lot more awards for its music video, but I'm not including music video accolades, purely the song as a single. But to be fair, it won a damn good amount in that respect as well. The Kill was the song that started to get Jared Leto's second career moving. An actor by trade, he tried his talents in music and this was the breakthrough single. The video, homage to The Shining, definitely helped. I personally can't stand this band or this song, but kudos, it won a lot and easily justifies its place in this list.

#96. "Bodies" - Drowning Pool
Released: 5/6/01
Album: Sinner
Appearances: WWF Summerslam (wrestling pay-per-view), WWE One Night Stand (wrestling pay-per-view), WWE December to Disember (wrestling pay-per-view), ECW on Sci-Fi (TV Series), Xtreme Freelance Alliance (racing team), Arena Football (video game), Rainbow Six: Rogue Spear (video game), The Punisher (movie trailer), Jason X (movie trailer), Daredevil (movie trailer), The One (movie), Rambo (movie), xXx (movie), UFC Ultimate Knockouts 2 (fighting pay-per-view), Guitar Hero: Warrors of Rock (video game), Stop-Loss (movie), United States Marine Corps (armed forces advertisement), Popular (TV Series), Generation Kill (TV Series), Shane Charwin (UFC fighter entrance theme), Rock Band (video game), True Blood (TV Series), Dementium: The Ward (video game advertisement), Skins (TV Series)
Listings: Top 100 Favourite Songs of the Decade
Chart Positions: UK - #35, US - #119 (#6 in Mainstream Rock Charts)

Wow. That's a lot of appearances. It's the most so far in this list. But no accolades. What a shame. Obviously I put it at #1 in my personal list but thats not an accolade, I'm a freelance journalist. But regardless of no accolades to its name, "Bodies" was a phenomenal metal anthem. The song has been used in psychological operations too due to its heavy metal and its arguably controversial lyrics ("Let the bodies hit the floor") but it's also been used as a motivational song for armed forces. Either way it's a song that really pumps up blood and adrenalyn and sounds fantastic. It's easily one of the most important heavy metal songs of the decade.

#95. "Rabbit Heart (Raise it Up)" - Florence and the Machine
Released: 21/6/09
Album: Lungs
Appearances: Sky Sports (sports channel advertisement),
Accolades: Single of the Week in Zane Lowe's BBC Radio 1 Show
Listings: Top 100 Favourite Songs of the Decade
Chart Positions: UK - #12, Best elsewhere - Ireland - #41

Although lacking in accolades and appearances, this song was a major breakthrough hit for Florence. It just missed out in the Top 10 and considering the style of song, with its folk and seventies glam inspirations, it's not a song that you'd expect to chart that well. But Florence's name was growing and her music was being played more. This coincided with that rise in popularity and the song became her sown seeds growing. It's a great song as well, and I think it will be remembered well going into the next decade as Florence's first hit.

#94. "Sing" - Travis
Released: 28/5/01
Album: The Invisible Band
Appearances: The Taking of Pelham 123 (movie)
Chart Positions: UK - #3, US - #37 (Hot Modern Rock Tracks), Best elsewhere - France - #2

Yes the French like "Sing". I'm not surprised to be honest as it's a lovely song. I mean it's not my cup of tea but I can tolerate it when it comes on the radio. And that it does. It's still a very significant song in music, a modern rock classic to be honest. It's the song that Travis will always be known for, and the video as well is very famous. It was a hit in many different countries and definitely deserves a mention in this list. I'm surprised it hasn't won any accolades of any kind as it's the kind of song you'd expect to see on many listings. Maybe people associate it with the nineties, I don't know.

#93. "99 Problems" - Jay-Z
Released: 27/4/04
Album: The Black Album
Accolades: #14 in Pitchfork's Top 500 songs of the 2000's, #2 in Rolling Stone's Top 100 songs of the 00's, #172 in Rolling Stone's 500 Greatest Songs of All Time, Best Rap Performance in the Grammy Awards,
Appearances: Mr Deeds (movie), The Office (TV Series), Torchwood (TV Series), Casualty (TV Series),
Chart Positions: UK - #12, US - #30 (#10 in the Hot Rap Tracks), Best elsewhere - Germany - #67

This is paying homage to rock and metal, but I'm putting in dance and rap tracks that fit in with an alternative audience. So that's why Jay-Z gets the nod here. This song is an instant rap classic. The song is so well received that when Jay-Z did Glastonbury four years after the song's release, it actually re-emerged in the UK Charts (it got to #35). It says it all really. The video also is fantastic. It's possibly Jay-Z highlight moment, although there are a few other songs that people can debate with. Big kudos to Jay-Z with this song.

#92. "Wires" - Athlete
Released: 17/1/05
Album: Tourist
Appearances: The Vampire Diaries (TV Series)
Chart Positions: UK - #4

It's started to become a bit of a forgotten song recently, but there was a time when Athlete were considered to be one of England's best new prospects on the indie scene. "Wires" has since become a song that still gets played quite regularly, but has got the repuation of being a song that  people know, but can't remember the name of the band. It's only been five years yet this song has a late nineties feel to it, and will continue to play, obscurely, into the next decade.

#91. "Slither" - Velvet Revolver
Released: 24/5/04
Album: Contraband
Accolades: Best Hard Rock Performance in the Grammy Awards (nomination), #85 in VH1's Best Hard Rock Songs of All Time
Appearances: Victoria's Secret (clothes retailer advertisement), Guitar Hero III: Legends of Rock (video game)
Chart Positions: UK - #35, US - #56 (#1 in Mainstream Rock Tracks Chart), Best elsewhere - Norway - #12

I'm certainly not surprised this song charted as fantastically as it did in Norway, they like their metal and while this isn't a metal track per se, it's a kickass hard rock song that sounds fantastic. It's probably going to be their most well known song, I can't see them beating this. The song is as perfect as a hard rock song can be, it's got a great riff courtesy of Slash, Scott Weiland's vocals sound great, and the video has hot women in it. What else do you need? It's a great hard rock song, one that really will be considered a highlight of the decade in this genre of music.


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. 
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.

Noughtie: My 100 Favourite Songs of the Decade (Part 10)

Overall Favourite Artists | Best of 2000 | Overall Least Favourite Artists | Best of 2001

Where Are They Now? | Best of 2002 | Best New Artists | Best of 2003 | My Guilty Pleasures
Best of 2004 | My Favourite Riffs | Best of 2005 | Underrated Artists | Best of 2006
 My Favourite Albums | Best of 2007 | Best Videos | Best of 2008 | Most Important Artists
Best of 2009 | 100 Favourite Songs of the Decade | 100 Most Important Songs of the Decade

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.

To view part 8, click here.

To view part 9, click here.

Welcome to the Top 10! These ten songs are very important to me. They may not all have the best lyrics, but man, they all sound good. They all get my head noggin, get me singing the lyrics, and make me feel like pressing the repeat button (not that I do). I just love these ten songs and I hope you like some of them too. If you like the respective genres (usually metal) and have not heard these songs, give them a listen. If you like the songs, you’re welcome. Let’s get down to it.

#10. “This is the New Shit” – Marilyn Manson

Released: 1/9/03

Album: The Golden Age of Grotesque

I said it before and I’ll say it again. Manson had a shit decade. I can’t see the next one being any better, I really think he’s lost it. He’s lost the magic he once consistently possessed to make quality metal tracks. But Marilyn Manson is the only artist to get two songs into my Top 10. Kudos to him.

This was his last brilliant song. I absolutely fucking love “This is the New Shit”. From the first ever listen; I fell in love with this song. It’s just great. The “babble babble, bitch bitch, rebel rebel, party party, sex sex sex and don’t forget the violence” hook is just awesome. The chorus is good too. This song lyrically, is about the fact that Manson is done being Anti-God all the time, and wants to explore different horizons lyrically. He did just that but his music waned in the process. But not with this song, it is just a piece of magic. As I said, Manson in the late nineties had the magic on a consistent basis but in the early noughties he started to lose it. Now it feels it’s pretty much disappeared. But still, this song is just so catchy, it’s hard to dislike it.

#9. “Knights of Cydonia” – Muse

Released: 13/6/06

Album: Black Holes and Revelations

Listings: Best Videos

Where to start with this song? “Knights of Cydonia” was at the time, Muse’s most overdramatic Queen-inspired song (until they made United States of Eurasia, that’s for sure). Queen-esque or not, it sounds great. From the first strums of that guitar to the last, it sounds brilliant. The video only adds to the song. On its own, you can really hear Matt Bellamy’s similar guitar playing to Brian May, and his vocals at times are very comparable with Freddie Mercury. But there’s enough of Muse’s own talent in there to make it more than good. It’s brilliant. It’s difficult to go into why it’s so good; it’s one of those songs that more than speaks for itself. “Knights of Cydonia” is my favourite Muse single and I don’t know if it will be beat in honesty.

#8. “Keine Lust” – Rammstein

Released: 28/2/05

Album: Reise, Reise

Listings: Best Riffs

If people aren’t familiar with industrial metal and want a taster of what it’s like, I’d definitely point them in the direction of “Keine Lust”. This song, in my humble opinion, is perfect to introduce people to the world of industrial metal. Not only is it a brilliant song with a good video, but it’s also got a very simple and heavy riff. I love the riff for this song, it’s not the most complicated, but it just sounds amazing. You get the feeling that it would vibrate the floors if you blasted it in a club (I’ve not heard it in a club yet, which is a shame) and it’s just deliciously heavy. The familiar machine-guitars are perfect to introduce people to the sound of industrial metal.

#7. “Romantic Rights” – Death From Above 1979

Released: 4/11/04

Album: You're a Woman, I'm a Machine

Listings: Best Riffs

I said it before and I’ll say it again, the noises that are made from the bass in this song are just unbelievable. I’m so happy to know that they’ve got back together as I hope to hear more songs like this. I love listening to this song, it’s just one of the most amazing things I’ve heard. The song itself is great too, the drummer is very good and the chorus is nice and catchy. But it’s all about the riff man, it’s all about the riff.

#6. “Only” – Nine Inch Nails

Released: 25/7/05

Album: With Teeth

Back when I did actually review songs, a silly idea I had back when I was 13 or 14, I actually gave this song five stars. It was the only song I have actually given a perfect score to. At that time I was basing it on the sound of the song, the lead singer’s voice, the lyrics, the value as a single release and the music video rating. I gave it full marks on all of them. I don’t review songs now in that format as I think it’s a bit pedantic, I think all songs have different purposes and all those purposes progress to the full album, in which as a piece of work is worth rating.

Anyway, I gave this song full marks because I believed it was perfect. I still maintain that opinion today. There’s not a flaw in this song. It sounds awesome, it’s so funky, the lyrics are fantastic, the song deals with the selfish, paranoid perspective that the world revolves around the narrator of the song and everyone else are there to support him, like a main character in a story. It’s a brilliant story, and Trent sings it in a fantastic way, very reminiscent at times to Talking Heads. I believed it was the perfect choice for a music single and the music video is absolutely phenomenal. It was between this music video and Starfuckers in terms of what I chose for NIN and this narrowly lost out. Anyway, “Only” for me is a brilliant song, and is perfect in terms of what it’s trying to portray.

The next five songs aren’t “perfect”, but I like the sound of them more. As I said I’m not rating songs anymore, it’s a bit too silly for me. But as we’re approaching the top 5, I just thought it’d be good to explain that this list is simply based on the sound, I love listening to these songs, possibly more than any other songs in the decade. So let’s do this.

#5. “Down with the Sickness” – Disturbed

Released: 31/10/00

Album: The Sickness

When I think of angry metal heads feeling sorry for themselves I always imagine this song. The lyrics are woeful, they truly are. “Drowning deep in my sea of loathing” is definitely a contender for worst lyric ever. But you accept that, you make an exception for the lyrics because the song sounds so good. The buildup in the start is one of the best intros of all time, in my opinion. You know exactly what song is about to play when you hear those drums. And while the “Don’t do it again, don’t do it again” can make hard hearing sometimes, the rest of the song just really sounds fantastic. It’s a true metal anthem and is always played in clubs; it’s one of the biggest metal songs of the decade and was a contender for an entry in the unbiased list.

#4. “Y’all Want a Single” – KoRn

Released: 4/10/04

Album: Take a Look in the Mirror

A very catchy song that, because it wasn’t one of the first releases off the album, doesn’t get the recognition it deserves. This song has one of the catchiest hooks of the decade, “Y’all want a single say fuck that, fuck that, fuck that”. It’s just so simple yet so effective, anyone who has not heard this song and likes metal really should sample it. KoRn don’t often go for simple in their metal songs, yet I think if they did it more often they’d be even more successful than they are. This is possibly their simplest song and it just kicks so much ass. Seriously, give it a listen.

#3. “Disposable Teens” – Marilyn Manson

Released: 7/11/00

Album: Holy Wood (In the Shadow of the Valley of Death)

Disposable Teens was definitely the best Manson song of the decade. The debut track off his Holy Wood album, Disposable Teens mixes a riff reminiscent from “The Beautiful People” and merges it into the new millennium. It’s just a quality song, a brilliant guitar riff and Manson’s vocals are great. The lyrics are pretty damn good too. Disposable Teens is one of Manson’s finest efforts but it does say it all that it was released on the cusp of the decade, it’s better than stuff he released later in this 10 year period but not quite as good as the stuff in the 10 years prior. But it’s still a fantastic song, extremely catchy, and Manson in his prime.

#2. “What?” – Rob Zombie

Released: 6/10/09

Album: Hellbilly Deluxe 2

This was the first major album I reviewed when I started doing this site again. The album came out in 2010 but this single was released in 2009… thank fuck for that! This song is just epic. It’s possibly my favourite Rob Zombie song, it just sounds so good, I love that very simple riff, and Zombie’s vocals are just brilliant. If people are debating whether or not Rob Zombie can still cut it today all they have to do is listen to this song, it’s as good as anything he has ever released in his entire career. I apply that rule to Hellbilly Deluxe 2 as well, that album is almost if not as good as Hellbilly Deluxe 1. Rob Zombie is back baby!

#1. “Bodies” – Drowning Pool

Released: 5/6/01

Album: Sinner

And that brings me to my #1 single of the decade. “Let the bodies hit the floor, let the bodies hit the floor, let the bodies hit the floor, let the bodies hit the… FLOOR!” It’s just fantastic. It’s one of the catchiest, coolest, most ass kicking songs of all time. Drowning Pool have never bettered this song and they never will. It’s just a song that when you think about all the ticks that are needed for a song to kick some ass, this ticks the lot. It’s a fantastic metal anthem, and it’s a song that will be played in metal clubs for a long time. You can put it up there with any metal song from the nineties and eighties, and it’d sound fantastic. Everything is perfect, for a metal anthem. The brilliant hook “ONE, nothing wrong with me, TWO, nothing wrong with me, THREE, nothing wrong with me, FOUR, NOTHING WRONG WITH ME!” It’s just unbeatable.

I did have some struggle in terms of struggling to come up with this list. I found it harder to do the biased list than I did doing the unbiased list. Choosing your favourite songs is a difficult process, and I think I did myself justice here. I’m proud of this list, it’s got songs that are well known, and songs that aren’t. But every song means something to me, every song kicks ass, in my opinion. I hope you all find something in this list and think, “I like that song”. An even bigger bonus would be choosing a song on here that you previously never heard and then like. If I do get you into any band or song in this Naughtie series, please let me know, it’ll make my day.

Oh yeah, this award goes to you, Drowning Pool, congrats!

Also, I thought I'd put this in Mixtape form. The caps are simply, I want at least one song from each year, and no more than one song per artist.

1. Fever for the Flava - Hot Action Cop
2. Rock Star - N.E.R.D.
3. Dance Commander - Electric Six
4. Romantic Rights - Death From Above 1979
5. No Pussy Blues - Grinderman
6. Lucid Dreams - Franz Ferdinand
7. Knights of Cydonia - Muse
8. Renegades of Funk - Rage Against the Machine
9. I Hate People Like That - Jerk
10. Turn Me On Mr. Deadman - The Union Underground
11. Vicinity of Obscenity - System of a Down
12. Bombshell - Powerman 5000
13. Down with the Sickness - Disturbed
14. Shut Me Up - Mindless Self Indulgence
15. Keine Lust - Rammstein
16. Only - Nine Inch Nails
17. Ya'll Want a Single - KoRn
18. Disposable Teens - Marilyn Manson
19. What? - Rob Zombie
20. Bodies - Drowning Pool

And the five alternative songs will be:

1. Hurt - Johnny Cash
2. Blue Orchid - The White Stripes
3. Grounds for Divorce - Elbow
4. Low - Foo Fighters
5. Fire - Kasabian

That’s the end of the biased listing. But on Thursday, the big one begins. 100 days, 100  music singles. I’ll be counting down the unbiased listing, one at a time, explaining why I think the 100 songs chosen will be remembered as greats in this decade, and any decade after it. I believe the 100 songs you’re about to see, shaped up the decade, in rock and metal. I hope to see you back here then. Have a good night.