#66. “Princess of China" – Coldplay (feat. Rihanna)
Released: 14/2/12
Album: Mylo Xyloto
Once again a song appears in this list that would also fit in a "songs I didn't expect to like" category. The two biggest singles off Mylo Xyloto (this and "Paradise") were both cracking tracks by Coldplay, and as I said in the entry for Paradise at #89, Coldplay aren't a band I really "love" but over the years I've ended up liking certain tracks by them. The same applies to Rihanna, I've never really liked her music (or her for that matter) but in fairness she does a very good job in this song. The very unlikely collaboration between Coldplay and Rihanna was a fantastic success, and, for me, it's a highlight in both of their careers.
Coldplay are getting a lot of "hate" at the moment, since their Superbowl performance. It's kind of weird to be honest, because they've been one of the biggest indie bands for over a decade now. I've never been a massive fan of theirs, but every so often they bring out a single that really sticks with me and I end up liking it. "Paradise" is one of those singles. I don't really have a good explanation towards why I like this particular Coldplay track. It's just a really good indie song with a nice drum beat throughout and a very catchy chorus. There's some good electronic music played in it too. It's just a good track, simple as that.
Yesterday I posted my favourite UK #1 hits between the years 1952 and 1981. Why? Because the UK #1 is now sixty years old. We've had sixty years of popular music, and the charting of the popularity of it. So I decided I wanted to celebrate the past sixty years of music by revealing my favourite #1 hits. Because sixty years is such a long time I've made two lists, and this is the second one.
This Mixtape celebrates my favourite #1 hits from 1982 to 2012. This list of songs isn't as good as the list I put up yesterday, in my opinion anyway, because my favourite songs from the past 30 years hardly chart, nevermind get to #1. But there are some great tracks here, I'm sure you'll appreciate.
Don't know much about Mixtapes? Here are the rules.
A Mixtape is a playlist of a certain genre, band or era. The
list is generally 80 minutes long, the same length of a blank CD, with further
recommendations if some of the songs aren't to your taste. Remember kids,
downloading is wrong!
So here we go! Here's a list of my favourite #1 hits from 1982 to 2012, with the date it got to the #1 spot! Enjoy!
This
Mixtape is now available to listen to fully on YouTube so subscribe to me if you want to listen to it properly. Enjoy!
So that's it! I hope you enjoyed both of these playlists, or Mixtapes as I call them. Sure, I complain about the lack of quality songs getting up the charts nowadays, but that's obviously my opinion, an unpopular one based on the fact that in the end, it's a popularity contest for musicians. But we have had some great songs get up to the top, and I used to really love listening to the chart show when I was younger, so this was a trip down memory lane in a certain way. I hope it was for you too. This will be my last piece of work before Christmas. As you have probably noticed, I don't write much at the moment. I would like to see if I can address that properly in the New Year, but we'll see. Either way, I wish you all a very Merry Christmas if you celebrate it, and a Happy New Year. Take care!
It may lack the backbone from their previous work, but "Build a Rocket Boys!" is one of the happiest albums that's ever graced my ears.
Elbow's fifth album, "Build a Rocket Boys!" was released back in March and is the follow up to the magnificent album, "The Seldom Seen Kid", which was released three years ago. Elbow have been making music for over twenty years although they didn't release their first album until 2001. They remained relatively low key throughout their career, until "One Day Like This" blew up and became one of the most played songs throughout 2008 and 2009. This is their first major album release since that track became a monster hit. "Build a Rocket Boys!, like its predecessor, was nominated for a Mercury Music Award, although unlike "The Seldom Seen Kid", it didn't win the actual award.
As I said earlier, Elbow finally got a lot of recognition with their earlier effort. "The Seldom Seen Kid" was definitely their breakthrough album, and "One Day Like This" was a very important moment for the band, as they finally conquered the UK. Elbow have always been perceived as a very talented band, that represent a combination of bumbling Britain. However there was no more bumbling for the band after the success of their fourth major effort. They found it difficult lyrically to write about the things they had been writing before, due to a lot of their material being about a lack of success emotionally and financially at times. But at this point, they were finally successful; they got the recognition they received. So the band decided to change their lyrical approach for this album by drawing inspiration from their past and reflecting about how far they have come.
The album starts of with "The Birds", an eight minute prelude, which sets the tone nicely for the rest of the album. "The Birds" is a gentle song, which gives you the feeling of being carried nicely on a little journey. The song does build up as it goes on, but it feels welcoming, and makes you feel very warm on the inside. The album continues down this very soft route with "Lippy Kids", a song about the horrible perception Britain has on our youth, and how we're paranoid over these kids being dangerous when they're possibly scared themselves. Some critics have highlighted this as a major track in the album, although personally I think there's better. This was the third single released off this album by the way.
One of those 'better' songs is the frustratingly catchy "With Love", which for me is a highlight of the album. Why frustratingly? Because this song is very reminiscent of church music; there's a full choir (the Halle Youth Choir) clapping and singing the chorus. I'm not anti-religion as such, but sometimes the idea of these beliefs frustrate me. But its a personal thing, and as I said, it's a very catch track, and the church inspirations aside, the song is great. It really stands out as a soft upbeat song that celebrates love in the finest way.
Next on the album is the highlight single of the album, "Neat Little Rows". Just to warn you, there is no "Grounds to Divorce"-esque track on this album, and this song continues on the soft gentle journey Elbow want to take us on. "Neat Little Rows" is definitely the most guitar driven track on the album, however it's not hard in any way, shape, or form. It has some edge to it in comparison to the other songs on the album, and is definitely the most approachable song for those who like indie and rock music.
One of my personal favourite tracks on this album is the great "The Night Will Always Win", which for the most part is a slow piano rhythm while lead singer Guy Garvey soothingly sings over it. It's a song that calls out to a missed but distant loved one, one that has long been attached to the past, never to be relevant to the future. It's quite harrowing but charming at the same time, with Garvey howling "I miss your stupid face" at two separate occasions in the track. I just really like this song and it's arguably the simplest in construction on the album. Not all songs have to be designed with complexity; a simple piano chord can do wonders at times. Another great track is the one that follows "The Night Will Always Win", a song called "High Ideals", which is another of the more upbeat tracks on the album.
"Open Arms" was the second single off the album and is a highlight in the latter stages of the album, with its football anthem-esque chorus, it definitely feels like a song to sing aloud, and is probably great to listen to live. The album's conclusion, "Dear Friends" defintiely feels like a goodbye song, in a way that makes you feel like you don't want to go, and you want the journey to continue. It wraps up the album nicely with an open letter of fondness.
It seems like it's just me when I say that I was disappointed overall with this album. Don't get me wrong it's good, but I just feel that it's lacking any strength in its sound. I mean I am a fan of Elbow and I know exactly what genre of music they are and what their fans expect from them, but personally, I just feel that such a mellow album needs a certain 'oomph' to it at times. "The Seldom Seen Kid" was a masterpiece, it was one of the best indie/alternative albums of the decade, if not the best. From start to finish it was brilliant, each song was easily detachable from eachother, yet glued together was one of the finest pieces of music the genre has seen. There was some great crackers on that album, my personal favourite being "The Fix"; and songs like that and "An Audience With the Pope" had a certain 'oomph' factor about them. This album for the most part lacks that; it lacks edge, it lacks a backbone. That backbone missing makes the album feel like a breeze pushing a leaf gently, rather than a sudden strong gush that is actually capable of taking the leaves off the tree. All softer indie/alternative bands have certain entries in their albums that show this edge; Radiohead do it, Coldplay do it, Arcade Fire do it. But in this album, Elbow barely show that side of themselves.
"Build a Rocket Boys!" is a good effort by Elbow, but in my eyes they haven't progressed much further than they did with "The Seldom Seen Kid". I don't know if they overexceeded themselves with that effort, or if it's just me being a little pedantic. It's probably the latter. But I think most Elbow fans can agree with me that this isn't their best work, but that it's still a solid effort. If you're new to Elbow my recommendation wouldn't be to start with this album, but an earlier release. There are two very good things I can say about this album; the first is that it's one of the happiest and most affectionate albums to grace my ears. Elbow seem to be in a great place in their career right now and you can feel their happiness and 'everything is rosy' thoughts in this album clearly. It makes a nice change to hearing all the negative lyrical work you hear more now than ever in music. To wrap up, the other good thing is that "Build a Rocket Boys!" is definitely an album to put on if you want to just sit back and relax to soothing alternative/piano rock. It's perfect for someone in that mindset, that's for sure.
Rating: ***3/4 stars
Stand out tracks: "The Night Will Always Win", "Neat Little Rows", "With Love"
Here's the video for the first single, "Neat Little Rows":
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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.
20 songs to go. Here are what I consider are the 20 most important songs of the decade, from #20 to #11. Enjoy.
#20. "When You Were Young" - The Killers Released: 18/09/06 Album: Sam's Town Accolades: Nominated for Best Rock Song at the Grammys, #4 in Triple J's Hottest 100 of 2006, #37 in XFM's 100 Greatest Songs of All Time, Nominated for Best Track at the Shockwaves NME Awards Appearances: Guitar Hero III: Legends of Rock (video game), SingStar Amped (video game), Rock Band (video game) Chart Positions: UK - #2, US - #14 (#1 in Modern Rock Tracks Chart), Best Elsewhere - Australia and New Zealand - #10 After the amazing success of "Hot Fuss", The Killers surely knew that the next album had to have an impact for them to maintain their major success in the UK, and further stamp their feet in their homeland of the US. "When You Were Young", the lead single off the second album, did exactly that. Sure it's not as catchy and dancy as "Somebody Told Me", and it's not as indie rock as "Mr. Brightside", but there was something nice and fresh about "When You Were Young". The band mention a huge Bruce Springsteen inspiration going into the studio for "Sam's Town" and you can definitely feel it in this track. It was remarkably successful, it's still their highest charting song here in the UK, despite there being just one more song by the band that I think tops it. You'll see that song further into the Top 20.
#19. "The Scientist" - Coldplay Released: 4/11/02 Album: A Rush of Blood to the Head Chart Positions: UK - #10, US - #18 (in Modern Rock Tracks Chart), Best Elsewhere - Poland - #1 No accolades, no appearances. In fact at the time, it wasn't that huge in sales either. Yet I don't think that many songs by Coldplay have had the long term impact this song has. "The Scientist" has longevity that emphasises what this list is about. This list is about many things, it's about chart successs and sales, it's about accolades. It's about how often the song appears in other media. But most importantly, these are the songs that I'm predicting will still be played in 10, 20, 30 years time from now. And I'm telling you, this song will be played for many years to come. "The Scientist" isn't an energetic song, it isn't a foot tapper. But the melody, the piano, the memorable chorus, the video, everything about it is iconic. This is arguably THE Coldplay song of the decade. I say arguably, as I think there is one more song by the band that has more importance. You'll see that song soon.
#18. "Take Me Out" - Franz Ferdinand Released: 12/1/04 Album: Franz Ferdinand Accolades:
#1 in Village Voice Pazz and Jop's Best of 2004, #1 Triple J's Hottest
100 of 2004, #100 in Triple J's Hottest 100 of All Time, #41 in Q
Magazine's 100 Greatest Guitar Tracks, #34 in Q Magazine's Best Songs by
British Bands, #6 in Q Magazine's 100 Greatest Indie Anthems, #16 in
NME's 50 Greatest Indie Anthems Ever, #7 in MTV2's Greatest Indie
Anthems Ever, #44 in Pitchfork Media's Top 500 Tracks of the 2000s, #327
in Rolling Stone's 500 Greatest Songs of All Time Appearances:
Sony PSP (handheld consone advertisement), NHL 2005 (video game),
Madden NFL 2005 (video game), Sports Tonight (sports TV show), Guitar
Hero (video game), Guitar Hero Smash Hits (video game), SingStar Party
(video game), SingStar Pop (video game), Just Dance 2 (video game),
Dance Dance Revolution Universe 2 (video game), Rock Band (video game),
Hancock (movie trailer), PBS Kids GO! (childrens education
advertisment), Meet the Fockers (movie trailer) Chart Positions: UK - #3, US - #6 (#3 in Modern Rock Tracks Chart), Best Elsewhere - Canada - #7 Finally!
A song with LOADS of accolades and appearances! I haven't had a song
with this many entries in both sections for a while, I was starting to
lose faith! Seriously though, it's hard to deny how much of an impact
this song made. An arguement can be made that this song started the Art
Rock revival (Radiohead aside of course), with bands like Art Brut, Bloc
Party and Athlete rising afterwards. And the song was so damn catchy as
well. Franz Ferdinand won't beat this track in terms of impact,
although on a personal level I prefer other tracks. The best thing about
"Take Me Out" was that it pretty much at the time came out of nowhere.
It got a small amount of airplay before it gor released, and then all of
a sudden it just got more and more popular as the week went on. It
ended up getting to #3, but I reckon it would have gone straight to #1
if they promoted it earlier. Regardless, this song is a classic now I'd
say.
#17. "Viva la Vida" - Coldplay Released: 25/5/08 Album: Viva la Vida or Death and All His Friends Accolades:
Winner of the Song of the Year at the Grammys, Nominated for Record of
the Year at the Grammys, #9 in Rolling Stone's 100 Best Songs of 2008,
#2 in Rolling Stone's Readers Best Songs of 2008, #5 in Blender's Top
144 Songs of 2008, #8 in Village Voice Pazz and Jop's Best of 2008 Appearances:
iPod (portable media advertisment), iTunes (digital media
advertisment), Medium (TV series), 90210 (TV series), Moving in America
(radio show), A Favorita (TV series), The Simpsons (TV series), Chart Positions: UK - #1, US - #1 (#3 in Modern Rock Tracks Chart), Best Elsewhere - Czech Republic and Slovakia - #1 This
song got to #1 in America. It's the first British song that got to #1
in America since 1996, when the Spice Girls got there with "Wannabe".
That on its own is a remarkable achievement, and Coldplay should be damn
proud of that. I touched on this on my Most Important Artists of the Decade
listing, where I said Coldplay got closer and closer to the #1 spot in
the UK and the US, but they kept failing. When this song came out, I
don't know why, but it just felt right. Man, I don't really like this
band but I can see why this song was so successful. It just sounds so
pure, it's the buildup of all the Coldplay songs built into one track.
The classical music, Chris Martin's vocals, the chanting, the song
manages to be beautiful and catchy at the same time, and it's hard for a
song to do that. So all in all, I'm happy we got another band to break
America officially, regardless if I like them or not.
#16. "Seven Nation Army" - The White Stripes Released: 7/3/03 Album: Elephant Accolades:
Winner of the Best Rock Song at the Grammys, #6 in Rolling Stone's 50
Best Songs of the Decade, #8 in Q Magazine's 100 Best Guitar Tracks, #5
in NME's 50 Greatest Tracks of the Decade, #75 in VH1's Greatest Hard
Rock Songs, #21 in Rolling Stone's 100 Greatest Guitar Songs of All
Time, #20 in Triple J's Hottest 100 of All Time, #30 in Pitchfork
Media's Top 500 Songs of the 2000s, #2 in Observer Music Monthly's 75
Songs of the Decade, #2 in Channel V Australia's Top 1000 Songs of the
2000s, #1 in Consequence of Sound's Top Rock Tracks of the 2000s, #1 in
WFNX Radio's Top Rock Tracks of the 2000s, #286 in Rolling Stone's Top
500 Greatest Songs of All Time, #1 in Rhapsody's Top 100 Tracks of the
Decade Appearances: Democracy Now! (news program) Listings: Best Riffs, Best Videos, Top 100 Songs of the Decade Chart Positions: UK - #7, US - #76 (#1 in Alternative Songs Chart), Best Elsewhere - Germany - #4 Wow.
So far in this listing no song has got THAT many accolades. Even though
I've only put one appearance down, it's important to note that this
song was a HUGE anthem in the FIFA World Cup in 2006. Loads of different
fans from many different countries world wide sung the tune to this in
the crouds, it was amazing. It's also important to note that on a
personal note, this song has featured in FOUR of my categories now,
which are my favourite riffs, my favourite music videos, my personal top
100, and now, the unbiased top 100. No other song has done that on this
website. In fact, just in case you wanted to know, this song is the
last song that is featured both on the biased and unbiased listings. So
why is this song so well received? It's just a simple guitar riff that
is played over and over again. The truth is that I have no idea really,
it's just so fricking catchy, the lyrics are quite smart, that guitar
riff is just beautiful despite it being so simple, and while I try not
to use music videos as reason for each entry, the music video is just as
simple a concept as the guitar riff, but equally as effective. It's
just quite simply, a piece of genius this song. I honestly don't think
The White Stripes will top this effort popularity wise. It's just
perfect.
#15. "All Summer Long" - Kid Rock Released: 5/4/08 Album: Rock 'n' Roll Jesus Appearances: WWE Backlash 2008 (wrestling pay-per-view) Chart Positions: UK
- #1, US - #23 (#4 in Hot Country Songs Chart), Best Elsewhere
- Australia, Austria, Europe, Germany, Ireland and Switzerland - #1 Getting
to #1 in 6 different countries is impressive on any scale and Kid Rock
did just that with this huge summer hit. If you listened to music much
in the summer of 2008 then you simply couldn't get rid of this song, if
you like it or not. With it's riff that was borrowed from "Sweet Home
Alabama", and its general warm lyrics about having a good time in the
summer (Kid Rock manages not to be so crude in this track) it was just
universally popular with a lot of people. It wasn't musically his finest
piece, hell I don't think he even put much effort into the track but
that's probably the key, Kid Rock just got everything right with this
song, he didn't need to overload it. It's just a nice summer song.
#14. "I Believe in a Thing Called Love" - The Darkness Released: 17/3/03 Album: Permission to Land Accolades:
#47 in Q Magazine's 101 Greatest Guitar Tracks, #493 in Blenders
Magazine's 500 Greatest Songs Since You Were Born, #276 in Pitchfork's
500 Top Tracks of the 2000s, #94 in VH1's Best Hard Rock Songs Appearances:
Karaoke Revolution Volume 2 (video game), Guitar Hero On Tour: Decades
(video game), The Bill (TV series), Bridget Jones: The Edge of Reason
(movie), SingStar (video game) Chart Positions: UK - #2, US - #35 (in Mainstream Rock Tracks Chart), Best Elsewhere - Ireland - #5 Regardless
of how badly The Darkness fell from their hill back halfway through the
decade, this song was a huge hit. It was the pinnacle of success, it
was the song that if you would choose if you had to describe the band
with a single track. The ridiculous falsetto, the awfully cheesy video,
the leotards, the Queen-esque guitar solos, the lyrics about cheesy
love, everything. It's what The Darkness was. And it was only denied the
#1 spot by the huge RnB hit "Where is the Love?" by the Black Eyed
Peas. The Darkness really set the bar with this track, unfortunately for
them it was a bar they were never able to reach again (unless an
amazing comeback proves me otherwise). Either way, the song is still
definitely well thought of by many people.
#13. "All the Small Things" - Blink-182 Released: 18/1/00 Album: Enema of the State Appearances:
Buffy the Vampire Slayer (TV series), Charlie's Angels (movie),
Clockstoppers (movie), Rock Band (video game), Guitar Hero 5 (video
game), Guitar Hero: On Tour (video game), Rock Revolution (video game) Listings: Best Videos Chart Positions: UK - #2, US - #6 (#1 in Alternative Songs Chart), Best Elsewhere - Austria - #4 Well
this song is a classic. It really is. The reason why it's not higher is
because I need to spread 10 years evenly. This song is just oozing of
pop punk. It'll forever be known for its video, where the band take the
piss out of boybands to fantastic comical effect. But the song itself,
in its simplicity, is just a charming teenage boy's track. And there's
nothing wrong with that. When I think about how I made this listing, I
thought about predicting what songs will be played from the decade in
10, 20, 30 years time. And this song fits into that category. No
dispute. This song is a classic, it will never go away. And kudos to
Blink-182 for that.
#12. "Somebody Told Me" - The Killers Released: 15/3/04 Album: Hot Fuss Accolades:
#9 in XFM's Top 100 Songs of the Decade, #4 in Triple J's Hottest 100
of 2004, #60 in Absolute Radio's 100 Best Songs of the Decade, #41 in
NME's 100 Greatest Tracks of the Decade, Nominated for Best Rock Track
at the Grammys, Nominated for Best Alternative/Rock Dance Track at the
International Dance Music Awards Appearances: Rocky Balboa (movie), Rock Revolution (video game), DJ Hero (video game) Chart Positions: UK - #3, US - #51 (#3 in Hot Modern Rracks Chart), Best Elsewhere - Poland - #1 Another
song that you pretty much call a classic now. The Killers started their
very successful career with this indie belter. "Somebody Told Me" got
very high for a debut rock song, and it still pretty much remains the
song to beat for the band in terms of impact. They've had hit after hit
after hit, yet they've not shook this song away as being THE song to
represent The Killers. "Human", "When You Were Young" and "Mr
Brightside", all great tracks, but in my eyes are inferior in importance
in comparison to this song. Look at those accolades, this song is rated
highly by the NME, Triple J, Absolute Radio and XFM, four highly
reputable music critics.
#11. "Valerie" - The Zutons / Mark Ronson Released: 19/6/06 / 15/10/07 Album: Tired of Hanging Around / Version Accolades: Nominated for Best British Single at the BRIT Awards Appearances: 2006 FIFA World Cup (football coverage), 27 Dreses (movie) Chart Positions: UK - #9, Best Elsewhere - Ireland - #32 / UK - #2, Best Elsewhere - Holland - #1 Yeah
this song only got to #1 in one country, but what you may not have
known is that this song got to #1 in Holland, then they released an
acoustic version, and they both versions the iTunes #1 and #2 spots.
That was the Mark Ronson version by the way. But
before that, The Zutons released the original version. Now the original
was a surprise hit, it was the second single off the album and it more
than matched the first single ("Why Don't You Give Me Your Love". It's
by far their biggest hit.
But... let's
be honest, it's the Mark Ronson version that made this song just
marginally miss a place in my Top 10. It was just huge. He really made
the song his own. Amy Winehouse's vocals were perfect for the song, and
the chirpy music was just splendid. I bet The Zutons love AND hate Mark
Ronson for completely picking their song to pieces and remodelling it in
his image. But it was an incredible cover version, and the amazing this
is that it was only released ay ear later. It wasn't an old track
rehashed, it was a recent song that got reworked, and the quality
between the two is ridiculously obvious. Mark Ronson solidified his
reputation immensely after this song.
Top
10 time tomorrow. We're almost there. It may have took a long time for
us to get here, but I've enjoyed it and I hope you have. What song will
be in the Top 10? Make your predictions in the comment section below.
Have a good night.
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.
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.
