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

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.

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

#40. "I Predict a Riot" - Kaiser Chiefs
Released: 1/11/04
Album: Employment
Accolades: #36 in NME's 50 Greatest Indie Anthems Ever
Chart Positions: UK - #9, US - #34 (in Alternative Songs Chart), Best Elsewhere - Ireland - #25

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

#39. "Fell in Love With a Girl" - The White Stripes
Released: 23/4/02
Album: White Blood Cells
Accolades: Rolling Stone's 40 Songs That Changed Rock History Chart
Appearances: Rock Band (video game)
Chart Positions: UK - #21, US - #121 (#12 in Modern Rock Tracks Chart)

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

#38. "Last Resort" - Papa Roach
Released: 23/4/00
Album: Infest
Appearances: The One (movie), Training Day (movie), Pay it Forward (movie), Smallville (TV series), Cold Case (TV series), Rock Revolution (video game), Rock Band (video game), Tap Tap Revenge 2 (iPhone game), G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra (movie)
Chart Positions: UK - #3, US - #57 (#1 in Alternative Songs Chart), Best Elsewhere - Germany - #4

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

#37. "Dare" - Gorillaz
Released: 29/8/05
Album: Demon Days
Chart Positions: UK - #1, US - #87 (#8 in Alternative Songs Chart), Best Elsewhere - Belgium - #3

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

#36. "Supermassive Black Hole" - Muse
Released: 19/6/06
Album: Black Holes and Revelations
Appearances: Twilight (movie), Guitar Hero III: Legends of Rock (video game), FIFA 07 (video game), Supernatural (TV series), Doctor Who (TV series)
Chart Positions: UK - #4, US - #6 (in Alternative Songs Chart), Best Elsewhere - Denmark - #7

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

#35. "The Pretender" - Foo Fighters
Released: 21/8/07
Album: Echoes, Silence, Patience and Grace
Accolades: #47 in Rolling Stone's 100 Best Songs of 2007, Nominated for Best Rock Song at the Grammy Awards, Nominated for Record of the Year at the Grammy Awards, #5 in Triple J's Hottest 100 Songs
Appearances: Guitar Hero III: Legends of Rock (video game), Guitar Hero On Tour: Decades (video game), Rock Band (video game), Tony Hawk's Proving Ground (video game), Californication (TV series), CSI: Miami (TV series)
Chart Positions: UK - #8, US - #37 (#1 in Alternative Songs Chart), Best Elsewhere - Norway - #3

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

#34. "Use Somebody" - Kings of Leon
Released: 8/12/08
Album: Only by the Night
Accolades: Winner of Record of the Year Award at the Grammy's, Winner of Best Rock Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocal Award at the Grammy's, Winner of Best Rock Song Award at the Grammy's, Nominated for Song of the Year Award at the Grammy's
Chart Positions: UK - #2, US - #4 (#1 in Alternative Songs Chart), Best Elsewhere - Belgium - #1

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

#33. "Oh My God" - Kaiser Chiefs / Mark Ronson
Released: 17/5/04 / 16/7/07
Album: Employment / Version
Appearances: Driver: Parallel Lines (video game)
Chart Positions: UK - #6, Best Elsewhere - Ireland - #27 / UK - #8, Best Elsewhere - Ireland - #21
 /
I was debating whether or not to put this original song in, the very well received Mark Ronson cover version. So I thought I'd put both as one entry as they're both important and successful. Also, it's the same song.
Now I'm effectively cheating as this is the fourth and final Kaiser's song on the list, when I said in the beginning that I'd be setting a cap of three songs per artist. But if we're getting THAT picky, consider it Mark Ronson's entry.
"Oh My God" is still arguably the Kaiser's most important song, it's got one of the greatest, catchiest and simplest choruses in the decade. The song, while being released the second time, did very well in the charts and shows you how far the band had came. In 2004, this song got to #66, yet in its re-release it jumped 60 places. The Kaiser Chiefs, as explained in other entries, are just a great, humble band that are just so happy making music and enjoying the fame they are getting. "Oh My God" was their little baby that started it all off, and it's arguably their finest moment. The Mark Ronson cover version was great, the band also appeared in the video and it was just a really cool jazz version of the song. Mark Ronson did a great job of covering many songs, and this one is one of the bigger and more important songs. I don't think you can go through this decade of music without mentioning Mark Ronson.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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.

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

#100: “Rebellion (Lies)” - Arcade Fire

#99: “Shut Me Up” - Mindless Self Indulgence

#98: “Grounds for Divorce” – Elbow

#97: “The Kill” - 30 Seconds to Mars

#96: “Bodies” - Drowning Pool

#95: “Rabbit Heart (Raise it Up)” - Florence and the Machine

#94: “Sing” - Travis

#93: “99 Problems” - Jay-Z

#92: “Wires” - Athlete

#91: “Slither” - Velvet Revolver

#90: “Feel Good Inc.” - Gorillaz

#89: “Warriors Dance” - The Prodigy

#88: “Filthy/Gorgeous” - Scissor Sisters

#87: “Uprising” - Muse

#86: “Last Nite” - The Strokes

#85: “Empire” - Kasabian

#84: “Famous Last Words” - My Chemical Romance

#83: “Gives You Hell” - The All-American Rejects

#82: “B.Y.O.B.” - System of a Down

#81: “Time is Running Out” - Muse

#80: “Everyday I Love You Less and Less” - Kaiser Chiefs

#79: “Duality” - Slipknot

#78: “Bohemian Like You” - The Dandy Warhols

#77: “Dry Your Eyes” - The Streets

#76: “Monster” - The Automatic

#75: “The Shock of the Lightning” - Oasis

#74: “Danger! High Voltage” - Electric Six

#73: “Break Stuff” - Limp Bizkit

#72: “Tribute” - Tenacious D

#71: “Bonkers” - Dizzee Rascal

#70: “Are You Gonna Be My Girl” - Jet

#69: “Cochise” - Audioslave

#68: “Feeling This” - Blink-182

#67: “Sugar, We're Goin Down” - Fall Out Boy

#66: “Foundations” - Kate Nash

#65: “Kings and Queens” - 30 Seconds to Mars

#64: “We Are All Made of Stars” - Moby

#63: “Gay Bar” - Electric Six

#62: “Fat Lip” - Sum 41

#61: “Time to Pretend” - MGMT

#60: “Standing in the Way of Control” - The Gossip

#59: “That's Not My Name” - The Ting Tings

#58: “Clint Eastwood” - Gorillaz

#57: “Butterfly” - Crazy Town

#56: “Teenage Dirtbag” - Wheatus

#55: “For Lovers” - Wolfman feat. Pete Doherty

#54: “Paper Planes” - MIA

#53: “Crazy” - Gnarls Barkley

#52: “Brianstorm” - Arctic Monkeys
#51: "Dance Wiv Me" - Dizzee Rascal

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

#50. "Wake Me Up Before September Ends" - Green Day
Released: 13/6/05
Album: American Idiot
Chart Positions: UK - #8, US - #6 (#2 in Hot Mainstream Tracks Chart) Best Elsewhere - Canada - #1

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

#49. "Ruby" - Kaiser Chiefs
Released: 5/2/07
Album: Yours Truly, Angry Mob
Accolades: #13 in Triple J's Hottest 100 of 2007
Appearances: Guitar Hero III: Legends of Rock (video game), Project Gotham Racing 4 (video game), SingStar Vol 2 (video game), Lego Rock Band (video game), PES 2010 (video game), Demons (TV series)
Chart Positions: UK - #1, US - #14 (in Alternative Songs Chart) Best Elsewhere - Czech R epublic, Europe and Ireland - #1

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

#48. "Don't Upset the Rhythm" - The Noisettes
Released: 23/3/09
Album: Wild Young Hearts
Appearances: Mazda 2 (car advertisement)
Chart Positions: UK - #2, US - #4 (in Hot Dance Songs Chart) Best Elsewhere - Ireland - #8
 
I'm surprised thing song has no accolades or more major apperances of note, it was a huge song and a highlight in a very lackluster year in 2009. The Noisettes have taken the batton of the hottest new UK band in my opinion. I saw them in 2006 when they were just starting to get attention, they were the support band for Muse and they were decent. Then I heard "Don't Give Up" on FIFA  08 and it was one of the highlights of the soundtrack. It's still my favourite track. Then all of a sudden they just boomed. This song is their biggest hit so far yet I don't think this will be the end of them, I think they have that great hybrid of pop, funk and rock that will appeal to many different people. I see them as one of the potential highlights of THIS decade. Let's hope they prove me right!

#47. "Complicated" - Avril Lavigne
Released: 14/5/02
Album: Let Go
Accolades: Nominated for Song of the Year at the Grammy Awards, #8 in Rolling Stone Magazine's Top Singles of the Decade, #197 in Blender's Top 500 Greatest Songs Since You Were Born, #83 in Billboard Magazine's Top 100 Singles of the Decade, Single of the Year at the Juno Awards, Song of the Year at the Radio Music Awards, International Hit of the Year at the Ivor Novello Awards,
Appearances: Uptown Girls (movie trailer), Karaoke Revolution (video game), Buzz! The Music Quiz (video game),
Chart Positions: UK - #3, US - #2 (#1 in Mainstream Top 40 Chart) Best Elsewhere - Australia, Canada, Europe, Italy, Mexico, New Zealand and Norway - #1

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

#46. "Chop Suey!" - System of a Down
Released: 20/11/01
Album: Toxicity
Accolades: #3 in Triple J's Hottest of 2001
Appearances: Rock Band 2 (video game,), Rock Band Unplugged (video games)
Listings: Top 100 Favourite Songs of the Decade
Chart Positions: UK - #17, US - #76 (#7 in Alternative Songs Chart) Best Elsewhere - Australia - #14

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

#45. "Fire" - Kasabian
Released: 1/6/09
Album: West Ryder Pauper Lunatic Asylum
Appearances: Premier League (football league theme)
Listings: Top 100 Favourite Songs of the Decade
Chart Positions: UK - #3, Best Elsewhere - Belgium - #3

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

#44. "Boulevard of Broken Dreams" - Green Day
Released: 29/9/04
Album: American Idiot
Accolades: #1 in Rolling Stone's Readers Choice Single of the Decade, #65 in Rolling Stone's Top 100 Songs of the Decade, Winner of Record of the Year at the Grammy Awards,
Chart Positions: UK - #5, US - #2 (#1 in Mainstream Rock Tracks), Best Elsewhere - Argentina - #1

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

#43. "All My Life" - Foo Fighters
Released: 7/9/02
Album: One by One
Accolades: Winner of Best Hard Rock Performance at the Grammy Awards, #94 in Q Magazine's 100 Greatest Guitar Tracks,
Appearances: Rock Band (video game), Rock Revolution (video game)
Chart Positions: UK - #5, US - #43 (#1 in Alternative Songs Chart), Best Elsewhere - Norway - #13

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

#42. "Bring Me to Life" - Evanescence
Released: 22/4/03
Album: Fallen
Accolades: Winner of Best Hard Rock Performance at the Grammy Awards, #73 in Billboard's Best of Rock Songs of the 2000s
Appearances: Daredevil (movie)
Chart Positions: UK - #1, US - #5 (#1 in Alternative Songs Chart), Best Elsewhere - Australia, Europe and  Italy - #1

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

#41. "Shut Up and Let Me Go" - The Ting Tings
Released: 21/7/08
Album: We Started Nothing
Accolades: #27 in Rolling Stone's 100 Best Songs of 2008
Appearances: iPod (mobile phone advertisement), 90210 (TV series), Gossip Girl (TV series), The House Bunny (movie), Lifetime Movie Network (network channel), Final Score (TV series)
Chart Positions: UK - #6, US - #55 (#1 in Hot Dance Club Play Charts), Best Elsewhere - Mexico - #1

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

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

Noughtie: The 100 Most Important Songs of the Decade (Part 3)

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 #80 to #71!

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

#80. "Everyday I Love You Less and Less" - Kaiser Chiefs
Released: 16/5/05
Album: Employment
Appearances: Run, Fatboy, Run (movie)
Chart Positions: UK - #8, Best Elsewhere - Netherlands - #52

I always find it difficult when a song was very popular, very well received in the UK in this listing. Just in case you didn't know, I'm British. This is a biased listing with respect to the fact that all the research and sorting out I've done to make this listing the way it is, is done with a British hat on. Yes some artists were more popular in America than in the UK, some artists have done jack in the States. It does count to a certain degree how well they do across the pond, but it all stems from the fact that if they didn't succeed in these great British isles, they 'aint getting in the list.
Sorry for rambling, but this song is one of those songs. The Kaiser Chiefs at this moment were nothing in America (in fact, "Ruby" aside, they aren't anything in America even now) but this song solidified them as a fun and quirky little band from Leeds who were living the British dream of mainstream popularity. Personally? I liked the Kaisers when they first started, and this was a good little ditty, and many people agree.

#79. "Duality" - Slipknot
Released: 4/5/04
Album: Vol. 3: (The Subliminal Verses)
Appearances: Madden NFL 10 (video game), Rock Band (video game), nail'd (video game trailer),
Chart Positions: UK - #15, US - #106 (#5 in Mainstream Rock Tracks), Best Elsewhere - Germany - #28

What do you know, this song was released on my birthday! Anyway, "Duality", yes, you've heard it many times in the blog with many artists, but it was the song that got Slipknot mainstream success. You've heard it many times and you'll continue to hear it because it's a very strong connection for rock artists, and most certainly metal artists. If you can get people who don't like heavy music to like your song(s) then you've done a good job. Going mainstream is different from having a song that was successful in the mainstream charts. Slipknot aren't mainstream. They're far from it I'd say. But "Duality" got people rocking. It was really successful. It was a great metal track, it was definitely one of the bigger metal anthems of the decade.

#78. "Bohemian Like You" - Dandy Warhols
Released: 31/10/00
Album: Thirteen Tales from Urban Bohemia
Appearances: Summer Catch (movie soundtrack), Igby Goes Down (movie), Fool Proof (movie soundtrack), Flushed Away (movie), Buffy the Vampire Slayer: Radio Sunnydale (TV series soundtrack), The Replacements (movie), Clockstoppers (movie), Little Nicky (movie), Man of the Year (movie), Numb3rs (TV series), 6-0-6 (radio show), Chuck (TV series), Le Mans 24 Hours (video game), Delirious (movie), Dancing with the Stars (TV series), Vodafone (mobile phone advertisement), Burton Albion FC (football team intro music), Ford Focus (car advertisement), Ford Mustang (car advertisement), Holden Astra (car advertisement), Citroen C4 Picasso (car advertisement), Next (clothing advertisement)
Chart Positions: UK - #5, US - #105 (#28 in Mainstream Rock Tracks), Best Elsewhere - Ireland - #17

The one thing I've found had whilst writing this listing is comparing songs from the year 2000 to songs from the year 2009. People have heard this song for up to 11 years, where as a song from 2009 has been heard for 2 of those 11 years. But what you're seeing is my attempt at doing that.
Yes this song was incredibly popular, on it's release it got very very popular because of Vodafone using the song on its adverts. On it's original release it didn't get very high in the charts though. But as you can see, this song has been used in so many different advertisements and movies. It's just a great track, one that people love singing as the words are easy to hear and sing. It's just a song so memorable and classy it deserves its place in this list.

#77. "Dry Your Eyes" - The Streets
Released: 31/5/04
Album: A Grand Don't Come For Free
Accolades: #19 in Triple J's Hottest 100 of 2004
Chart Positions: UK - #1, Best Elsewhere - Ireland - #1

Another thing that is difficult to list, songs that got to #1. "Dry Your Eyes" is the first song on the list that got the #1 spot in the UK, but that doesn't mean it deserves to be higher in this list, at least I don't think so (if you do, comment and tell me why).  Some songs get to #1 then disappear into the decade. This song didn't quite do that, but it wasn't as prominent afterwards, this isn't a song that pops into my head when I think of the most important tracks of the decade. But getting to #1 is a merit that is well respected, and it's something all artists who work in the alternative music (although Mike Skinner's project is garage rap, he does have a strong indie following) worlds would love to do. So kudos to The Streets, they did something probably every artist on this list strive to achieve. Only a few do it.

#76. "Monster" - The Automatic
Released: 5/6/06
Album: Not Accepted Anywhere
Appearances: Lego Rock Band (video game), Kinect Sports (video game), FIFA 08 (video game), Igor (movie), Slither (movie), Torchwood (TV series), Doctor Who (TV series), Primeval (TV series), Hollyoaks (TV series), Le Grand Journal (TV series), Tittybangbang (TV series), Bones (TV series), Serious Ocean (TV series)
Chart Positions: UK - #4, Best Elsewhere - Ireland - #37

You could call The Automatic a one hit wonder, but their career is quite young and they haven't quite disappeared, they've just took a step backwards in their career. Love it or hate it "Monster" was a big hit upon its release. It was everywhere, on the radio, on music channels, on loads of different TV shows. It's even been used in Hollywood films, although the Welsh band haven't even come close to cracking America. It's just a simple catchy soft rock tune that appeals to all ages and has a light hearted comedy music video. I personally liked the track when it came out but I can easily see why some people dislike it. Regardless, I think it deserves a place in this listing and you'll find it at #76.

#75. "The Shock of the Lightning" - Oasis
Released: 22/9/08
Album: Dig Out Your Soul
Accolades: #96 in NME's 100 Tracks of the Naughties
Appearances: K-20: Legend of the Mask (movie), Jaguar (car advertisement), Honda (car advertisement), Top Gear (TV series), Soccer AM (TV series)
Chart Positions: UK - #3, US - #93 (#12 in Alternative Songs chart) Best Elsewhere - Sweden - #5

I'm quite secretive about the listing you are currently seeing, and what songs will appear later on in it. But I'll tell you one thing: this is the only Oasis song to make the Top 100. *gasps from Oasis fans*
Let's get something clear here. I like Oasis, as a band they are were great. The key word in that previous sentence is were. Oasis in the nineties, well, they produced hit after hit, they had two MEGA albums. If (or likely, when) I cover the nineties, you'll see them a lot more. But in the Naughties, they were flat. What annoys me about Oasis is that they use their presence and commercial success to big up their new releases, they then release their singles and get success, then they disappear again. This happened throughout the last decade. Their songs didn't stand out that much. In fact, if 2008 was a better year for music you wouldn't see ANY Oasis songs in this decade listing. "The Shock of the Lightning" was probably their last great single, but their singles were few and far between in quality and memorability in the decade. I'm saying this as a critical journalist, not as a biased music fan. I like Oasis, and a lot of their songs in the decade personally. But for popularity, they get little from me. I'm jus' sayin'.

#74. "Danger! High Voltage" - Electric Six
Released: 6/1/03
Album: Fire
Accolades: NME's Single of the Week, #234 in Pitchfork Media's Best Songs of the 2000's, The Pitchfork 500
Appearances: Charlie's Angles: Full Throttle (movie), White Collar (TV series), Diary of a Wimpy Kid (movie), Balls of Steel (TV series), The Simpsons (TV series), Malcom in the Middle (TV series)
Chart Positions: UK - #2, Best Elsewhere - Ireland - #15

Danger! Danger! High Voltage! When we touch! When we kiss! This song was brilliant when it came out. It's one of those songs where you just think... "what the hell was that?" But it was fucking successful. It makes me laugh that this song is so well received in the UK yet only a few eccentric and intelligent groups of people in America like it. It makes our country look good when we accept American imports like Electric Six in to our music charts to create havok amongst the pop machine. And "Danger! High Voltage" did just that. I never knew the song got to #2 until I rereviewed it, but I'm pretty damn happy it did. It's a hilarious yet peculiar effort by the estranged band. Awesome stuff.

#73. "Break Stuff" - Limp Bizkit
Released: 18/4/00
Album: Significant Other
Appearances: UFC (theme song for fighter Tito Ortiz)
Chart Positions: US - #123 (#14 in Alternative Songs Chart), Best Elsewhere - Australia - #41

This song didn't chart in the UK and it doesn't have many accolades or appearances. Yet it's probably considered as the song that elevated Limp Bizkit's career. This song, it's famous video, the many cameos by already established artists such as Snoop Dogg, Dr. Dre, Eminem, Jonathan Davis of KoRn amongst many others, and most importantly, the controversy at Woodstock '99 that is attached with this song, gave Limp Bizkit ground to start on when it came to their next album (Chocolate Starfish and the Hot Dog Flavoured Water). It's also their most popular song amongst the more hardcore Limp Bizkit songs. It's a great "nu-metal" track, and it's very catchy, although the lyrics are shit and immature (then again Fred Durst wasn't really renowned for his great lyrics). It's a good track, a very important one in the start of the decade.

#72. "Tribute" - Tenacious D
Released: 16/7/02
Album: Tenacious D
Accolades: Most Requested Song on Kerrang! TV in 2002
Appearances: Rock Band (video game)
Listings: Best Videos
Chart Positions: US - Never Charted, Best Elsewhere - Australia - #4

This song actually wasn't released in this country and it never charted in the US. Yet... despite that... it's incredibly important. I'm amazed while I'm writing this that this song never got released in this country. You would have thought, with the success on Kerrang! TV, Jack Black and Kyle Gass would have at least took a punt on releasing the single here. Hey ho.
The video is what makes this song. The video is hilarious. It's featured in my best videos listing and it would amongst a lot of peoples. But the song is great too. The lyrics are fantastic. The song and the video together just make greatness. I'm sure Jack Black, already a successful actor, wanted to prove himself as a lead singer without being ripped, and with his own little duo with Kyle Gass, this song was perfect. It's a rock song yes, but it's just so funny. It's a classic to be honest, this song won't go away any time soon.

#71. "Bonkers" - Dizzee Rascal
Released: 18/5/09
Album: Tongue n' Cheek
Appearances: Need for Speed: Nitro (video game), DJ Hero 2 (video game)
Listings: Top 100 Favourite Songs of the Decade
Chart Positions: UK - #1, Best Elsewhere - Ireland - #3

This was Dizzee Rascal's second #1 hit and the alternative grime rapper really found a style that got critical and commercial success at this point. He has since had two more #1 hits, although they were more pop orientated hits. Dizzee Rascal is having a fantastic time recently, as I said in my "Best New Artists" listing Dizzee is very young yet he's been around for a good part of this decade, and he's going nowhere. He's got a lot of respect from his peers in rap and in rock, he's got a lot of fans. He's a good guy actually as well, he comes across like a top bloke in interviews. The bass in "Bonkers" is what makes me love this track personally, it's just so heavy and so loud, it sounds great. The lyrics are good too, he explains that he's rather live free than pay for thrills, and that living this way makes him... "bonkers". Good stuff innit!

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.