Noughtie: My 100 Favourite 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

To view part 1, click here.

Hey again, this is Part 2, celebrating and paying homage to my favourite singles of the decade. You’ve seen the mixtapes, so here’s a condensed down “Noughties Greatest Songs” collection, biased, that I’ve put together. Let’s count down from #90 to #81.

#90. “Dynomite” – Ima Robot

Released: 16/9/03

Album: Ima Robot

Dynomite represents Ima Robot’s only entry into this Top 100 but that doesn’t mean they only did one good song, their debut album is brilliant, as you have been told by me in the Top 20 Albums of the decade listing. But this was their best single, it’s not very long but it’s very explosive, it’s a lot of fun.

#89. “Fever” – Pink Grease

Released: 22/3/04

Album: This is for Real

Fever was a song that I liked back in the middle of the decade, and then the band just disappeared out of nowhere. After compiling the majority of the material for this project, I then heard it on Last.fm. It was a surreal moment as I completely forgotten about them. The Pink Grease are a very odd bunch, yet they are a decent little glam rock-revival band that were capable of doing decent songs. This was definitely their best though. Where are they now? They’re still together, but are unsigned. Shame really.

#88. “B.O.B” – OutKast

Released: 6/9/00

Album: Stankonia

B.O.B. is a song I only heard a few years after their mega hit “Hey Ya!”. I heard “Ms. Jackson” and “So Fresh and So Clean”, but not this hip-hop thumping cracker. I heard it years later and immediately fell in love with it. It’s my favourite track by the duo, and it just sounds brilliant, it’s a real feet mover.

#87. “Kiss With a Fist” – Florence and the Machine

Released: 9/6/08

Album: Lungs

Here’s the second and final entry for Florence in my personal Top 100. Kiss With a Fist is a brilliant track, one of the best off the album, and was her debut single. It unfortunately wasn’t a big hit, but she raised some eyebrows with the lyrics (she denies it’s about domestic violence, I believe her). But it definitely set the platform for her music career; it was only going up from here. But the song itself is my favourite single, it just sounds really kick ass and the video is pretty good too. Florence is pretty lady.

#86. “The Good Ones” – The Kills

Released: 7/2/05

Album: No Wow

The Good Ones is one of those songs that just sounds so fucking cool. It’s got a great guitar riff and Alison Mosshart’s vocals are very sexy. She’s got a great, powerful voice, so good that you can barely hear Jamie’s vocals in the background. It just sounds brilliant, it’s just a very cool song.

#85. “Morning Has Broken” – The Eighties Matchbox B-Line Disaster

Released: 11/3/02

Album: Hörse of the Dög

The debut single by TEMBLD is a noisy little ditty. Wait. I can actually say that about every track off their debut album actually. They were all noisy little ditties. Well what’s the difference between this and the rest? Very little, but that doesn’t mean it doesn’t sound good. The guitars are fantastic and Guy McKnight’s vocals are as dry and distinctive as usual. The best bit is definitely the closure, when the music starts building up and we just hear “love, I feel love, I feel love” amongst the trembling noise. It’s great stuff.

#84. “Frantic” – Metallica

Released: 15/9/03

Album: St. Anger

The only Metallica song from the decade to make the Top 100 is Frantic. I prefer this to St. Anger, despite their similarities. I just like the sound of this more, I love the “Fran-tic-tic-tic-tic-tic-tic-tock” and the guitars, like in most Metallica songs, are just great. “My lifestyle, determines my death style”. Really? Good for you James.

#83. “Mosh” – Eminem

Released: 26/10/04

Album: Encore

The second Eminem song to make the Top 100 is his protest song against George Bush and his presidential election back in 2004. Unfortunately for Eminem, the protest song was a failure as Bush kept his job for another 4 years. Anyway, the songs lyrics are brilliant, Eminem really pulls all the stops to tell us why he wants Bush out of office, why he is against the war in Iraq and why America should concentrate on problems in the US rather than out in the world. Eminem’s protest song was a failure, but that doesn’t mean the song was bad, or that the message wasn’t powerful, it was in fact the opposite, it was well rapped, well written and it’s one of Eminem’s finest performances to date.

#82. You Know Your Right” – Nirvana

Released: 8/10/02

Album: Nirvana

It’s a difficult song to talk about as some Nirvana purists hate the fact that the song was not only forged to exist with old material, but that it was released as a single. Some Hole/Courtney Love purists maintain that it’s not even called “You Know Your Right” but that it’s called “You’ve Got No Right”. Regardless of what they think, this is a biased listing and I love this song. I think whoever made this version of the song exist deserves kudos as it sounds like a proper Nirvana track. Maybe Kurt won’t be happy with the outcome, but then again was he ever happy? Anyway, I really like this song and it was one of the highlights back in 2002, in terms of the “history of music”. Weird to think that it was 8 years ago though.

#81. “Drama Queen” – Switches

Released: 29/1/07

Album: Heart Tuned to D.E.A.D.

I heard this song probably in a similar way that many people did, through FIFA 08. It was my favourite track on the soundtrack and it just sounds so good. I love the “doo-doo-doo-do” and the vocals are cool too. I was quite surprised when I listened to the explicit version as it’s got a lot of drug references in it, where as a lot of the FIFA version cut this out and changed the lyrics. Regardless, it’s the sound of the song, and not the lyrics, that make this song hit the Top 100.

Part 2 done, I shall be back tomorrow for Part 3, counting down #80 - #71, so see you then!

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.

Noughtie: My Favourite Albums - 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

Here we are, Part 15 of the Noughtie series. This is the beginning of the bigger listings, more important listings. I said the last two are the biggest, but there's a big five and a massive two in that five in honesty. This will be in two parts, and I'll post this today and tomorrow.

Here are in my opinion, the best twenty albums of the decade. It's a biased listing, so naturally the artists that you have seen a lot of in these Mixtapes and listings will be featured. I mean they are my favourite artists for a reason. There's only one rule here, and that is a one album per artist cap. So as great as all of Muse's albums were, only one is allowed on this list, the same applies to all the artists.

So let's count down from #20 to #11!

20. "Meds" by Placebo

Released: 13/3/06

Rating: **** stars

Stand-out tracks: "Space Monkey", "Meds", "Infra-Red"

It was between "Meds" and "Sleeping With Ghosts" for me, although I'm sure traditional Placebo fans would disagree entirely. I think they're both brilliant albums but this one just pips it for me. Placebo are one of those very good artists that just aren't great, that's my humble opinion anyway, sorry for insulting any Placebo fans out there. But they're a consistent band who make consistently good music. My favourite track on the album is "Space Monkey" I don't know why, I just think it sounds really cool.

19. "The Marshall Mathers LP" by Eminem

Released: 23/5/00

Rating: **** stars

Stand-out tracks: "Kim", "Marshall Mathers" "The Way I Am"

This is definitely Eminem's best album, he really hit home with this. There was a lot of pressure on the guy, at the time he was quite new to the whole mainstream success thing and everyone wanted to know how he could follow up his previous album. Well he delivered very well with this. It's got arguably his most controversial song to date on here with "Kim", if you like it or not, it's a powerful message to his off and on wife and makes very hard hearing. I do love that song however, but can thoroughly understand why some people hate it. This album had some very good non-singled tracks on it, another good one is "Marshall Mathers" where he once again explains that he's just like everybody else and doesn't see himself as anything special. This is a fantastic rap album and if you have been thinking of what Eminem album to start with, get this one.

18. "Tenacious D" by Tenacious D

Released: 25/9/01

Rating: **** stars

Stand-out tracks: "Double Team", "Lee", "Tribute"

Tenacious D's debut album will probably not be beat by the duo, it was a gathering of their musical and comedic talents from the past merged into album form. The songs were short and funny, and their skits were hilarious. My favourite skit is probably "Inward Singing" but they're all good. This album is full of silly fun and it's quite hard to describe it in a short paragraph, other than if you've heard Jack Black and Kyle Gass' band in the past and like it, you'll like their albums. Great stuff.

17. "When Pure is Defiled" by Jerk

Released: 18/4/03

Rating: ****1/4 stars

Stand-out tracks: "Wrong", "I Hate People Like That", "My Friends All Lie"

I've mentioned this band a few times now, this is their first and only album and it's very good if you like industrial metal, Manson and NIN influenced style. It's a very similar sound to that of Marilyn Manson and they may be ripping him off slightly, but it's very good. It's one of the heaviest albums in my collection and it's good to play loud if you're in the mood. Their album tracks are very good, probably my favourite being "Wrong", and "My Friends All Lie". This is despite their lyrics being a bit petty and immature.

16. "if" by Mindless Self Indulgence

Released: 28/4/08

Rating: ****1/4 stars

Stand-out tracks: "Get It Up", "On It", "Mastermind"

It was difficult choosing an MSI album because they're all **** or ****1/4 stars in honesty but I've gone with this one. The reason being it's their most mature album. That being said this is a very immature band, but that's not insulting, they produce great music with silly lyrics intentionally, or at least that's the impression I get. I've said it before, but Mindless Self Indulgence are like no other band around today they have a very unique sound and make music in their own way. I have a lot of time for this band. The only snag is why the fuck Lyn-Z won't divorce her husband and take an interest in me. WHY!?!!

She'll learn eventually.

15. "Ima Robot" by "Ima Robot"

Released: 6/9/03

Rating: ****1/4 stars

Stand-out tracks: "Dirty Life", "Song #2", "Dynomite"

Ima Robot haven't really been talked about much on this site. They've appeared on the 2003 Mixtape with "Dynomite" but that's it. Let's clear something up. Ima Robot's self titled debut album, is a brilliant piece of work. It's catchy, it's punky, it sounds a treat. But... that was it. Ima Robot released a second album three years later. I downloaded it with excitement and it was a major bomb for me. It was just lifeless it felt. All the spunk, all the imagination from the first album just disappeared. I mean, they still have a decent fan base so I'm probably in the minority really. But their first album was just a firecracker, but it seems like they want to go into a different direction for their music. Each to their own I suppose.

14. "Drink Me" by QueenAdreena

Released: 24/6/02

Rating: ****1/4 stars

Stand-out tracks: "A Bed of Roses", "Pretty Like Drugs", "Under a Floorboard World"

QueenAdreena are a bit of an enigma in honesty, they're another one of those bands that have a relatively unique sound. KatieJane Garside's vocals can't be replicated, put it that way. This album, like a lot of KatieJane's songs, are full of emotions, from angry to sadness, she can probably do the whole spectrum. The music is noisy, or timid, or it can blend the two in the same song. It's just a brilliant album, I thoroughly enjoy listening to it.

13. "Death by Sexy" by The Eagles of Death Metal

Released: 11/4/06

Rating: ****1/4 stars

Stand-out tracks: "Solid Gold", "Don't Speak (I Came to Make a Bang)", "Chase the Devil"

This album is great, it's definitely EoDM's best. The first was okay, but it felt uneventful really, and the third hasn't been able to captivate on this beast of an album. I haven't chosen any of the singles as a stand out track, I mean they do stand out but I really enjoy those three tracks there more than their singles. You may have heard "Don't Speak" before, if you paid attention to any Nike adverts a good two or three years ago. It's a brilliant advert, it's below if you haven't. Anyway, this album is full of great tracks and Jesse Hughes' vocals are great.

 

12. "An Education in Rebellion" by The Union Underground

Released: 18/7/00

Rating: ****1/4 stars

Stand-out tracks: "Turn Me On Mr. Deadman" "South Texas Deathride", "Killing the Fly"

 

It's such a shame this band disbanded after one full album. But I've talked about that a few times already, there's no need to do it again. An Education in Rebellion was one of the best debut albums I've ever heard, and it still rocks hard today, I listened to it about a week ago. Man, this band had so much talent, it was a such a good band, the only thing I dislike really are the many references to drug use, but then again it's the norm nowadays, unfortunately. I really think you should give this band a go if you like the metal bands of the early Noughties, I think they were the best of the influx around then.

11. "Hot Action Cop" by Hot Action Cop

Released: 4/3/03

Rating: ****1/4 stars

Stand-out tracks: "Doom Boom", "Fever for the Flava", "In a Little While"

Hot Action Cop's debut funk/rap/rock album is a real treat. It's got a great sound, mixing so many different genres, if I were to put it to two band influences it'd be "Red Hot Chili Peppers" and "The Bloodhound Gang". Their lyrics are very dirty minded yet quite funny, they're very similar to Bloodhound Gang actually the more I think about it. Yet, they can do nice songs when they want to, a great example is "In a Little While" which is a really nice way to end a hard rock album. It's a very good album and one of my favourites of the decade.

Part two is found here.

So there's part 1 of this listing. Part 2 will be up tomorrow, where I'll countdown my favourite 10 albums of the decade. See you then.

Noughtie: Best of 2003 (Mixtape)

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

Hey again, we're on Part 8 of the Noughtie series. This is the fourth Mixtape, celebrating the year of 2003 in rock and metal. This was the year when some really big rock and metal anthems came out. Both MTV2 and Kerrang were huge, I really think this is possibly the biggest year of the decade. Anyway, back to the rules of Mixtape, an explanation.

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!

Without further delay, let's look at my favourite songs from 2003!

1. Eat You Alive - Limp Bizkit
2. Right Now - KoRn
3. Frantic - Metallica
4. This is the New Shit - Marilyn Manson
5. Go with the Flow - The Queens of the Stone Age
6. Talk to Me, Dance with Me - Hot Hot Heat
7. Seven Nation Army - The White Stripes
8. Red Morning Light - Kings of Leon
9. Are You Gonna Be My Girl - Jet
10. Fix Up, Look Sharp - Dizzee Rascal
11. We Used to Be Friends - Dandy Warhols
12. Dynomite - Ima Robot
13. Time is Running Out - Muse
14. Pin - Yeah Yeah Yeahs
15. Red and Black - Kill Kenada
16. Harmonic Generator - The Datsuns
17. Psychosis Safari - The Eighties Matchbox B-Line Disaster
18. Fever for the Flava - Hot Action Cop
19. Dance Commander - Electric Six
20. Low - Foo Fighters
21. Hurt - Johnny Cash

Don't like some of these songs? Try these five:

1. Like a Bad Girl Should - The Cramps
2. The Hunger - The Distillers
3. Faint - Linkin Park
4. Hey Ya! - OutKast
5. Burn Burn - Lostprophets

So those songs represent my favourite singles of the year 2003. Trust me, there are countless songs released that year that were great, it's probably my favourite year. I shall be back on Friday for a slightly embarassing listing, songs I like by artists I don't. See you then.