My Top 100 Favourite Songs 2010-14 Edition: #32

 Note: Yes it's been a while since I've updated this list. There's many reasons why but I can't be bothered going into it. Either way, enjoy the continuation of my Top 100 Favourite Music Singles between 2010 and 2014!

#32. "Days Are Forgotten" – Kasabian

Released: 12/8/11

Album: Velociraptor!

So the highest up ranked song by Kasabian on this list is this cracker. This was the main single off their fourth album, and got to no 28 in the charts. Truth be told, there are other songs by Kasabian that I prefer to the three singles on this list, particularly off the “Velociraptor!” album, which, for me, is their best effort. But that’s taking nothing away from “Days Are Forgotten”, which is everything great about Kasabian; a catchy riff, a simple and easy sing-a- long chorus and some fantastic howling in the background throughout, you know, just for kicks. It’s a belter track.

Here's the video if you want to hear it!
 

If you missed #33 go here.

For the latest updates on my work, including all my latest radio shows, follow me on Facebook and Twitter here!

My Top 100 Favourite Songs 2010-14 Edition: #44

#44. “Eez-eh" – Kasabian

Released: 29/4/14

Album: 48:13

While I don't think the album "48:13" is as good as the previous album in "Velociraptor", the song "eez-eh" was a fantastic dancy indie pop hit. In fact, I liked it so much it actually was the third most played song on my personal media player in 2014. It's just such a boppy, happy track to listen to, arguably one of Kasabian's most easily approachable songs actually, I can't see that many people disliking it regardless of what music they like. It was the main single off the album and did quite well in the charts actually. I play the song quite often when I go the gym because it's got such a good tempo to it. The video is simple, silly but quite a lot of fun too, if you haven't seen it!

Here's the video if you want to hear it!

If you missed #45 go here.

For the latest updates on my work, including all my latest radio shows, follow me on Facebook and Twitter here!

My Top 100 Favourite Songs 2010-14 Edition: #50

So here we are at the halfway point. If you've been following my list this far I thank you. Before we start the second half here's a recap from #100 to #51...

#100 - "Madness" - Muse

#99 - "Scary Monsters and Nice Sprites" - Skrillex

#98 - "Neat Little Rows" - Elbow

#97 - "No Reflection" - Marilyn Manson

#96 - "Explain My Heart" - Saul Williams

#95 - "I'm in the Mood... For Beards" - The Beards

#94 - "She's Not Gone Yet But She's Leaving" - The Fratellis

#93 - "Shotgun" - Limp Bizkit

#92 - "Can't Rely on You" - Paloma Faith

#91 - "Blue Blood Blues" - The Dead Weather

#90 - "Rebellion" - Linkin Park

#89 - "Paradise" - Coldplay

#88 - "Sing" - Ed Sheeran

#87 - "Mein Land" - Rammstein

#86 - "Elephant" - Tame Impala

#85 - "Love Turns to Hate" - The Eighties Matchbox B-Line Disaster

#84 - "On Top of the World" - Imagine Dragons

#83 - "G.D.F.R." - Flo Rida

#82 - "Evil Eye" - Franz Ferdinand

#81 - "Little Monster" - Royal Blood

#80 - "Blurred Lines" - Robin Thicke

#79 - "Brendan's Death Song" - Red Hot Chili Peppers

#78 - "Go Kindergarten" - The Lonely Island

#77 - "The Negative One" - Slipknot

#76 - "Royals" - Lorde

#75 - "Government Trash" - Death From Above 1979

#74 - "Survival" - Eminem

#73 - "Sick Bubblegum" - Rob Zombie

#72 - "Gentleman" - PSY

#71 - "Go Right Ahead" - The Hives

#70 - "These Days" - Foo Fighters

#69 - "Word Crimes" - Weird Al Yankovic

#68 - "One for the Road" - Arctic Monkeys

#67 - "Nightmare" - Avenged Sevenfold

#66 - "Princess of China" - Coldplay

#65 - "Kill the Power" - Skindred

#64 - "Where's Your Car Debbie?" - Slaves

#63 - "Suit and Tie" - Justin Timberlake

#62 - "stevie" - Kasabian

#61 - "Narcissistic Cannibal" - KoRn

#60 - "Bad Girls" - M.I.A.

#59 - "Devil in I" - Slipknot

#58 - "Tighten Up" - The Black Keys

#57 - "QWERTY" - Mushroomhead

#56 - "Radioactive" - Imagine Dragons

#55 - "Dibby Dibby Sound" - DJ Fresh vs Jay Fay feat. Ms Dynamite

#54 - "Came Back Haunted" - Nine Inch Nails

#53 - "Gangnam Style" - PSY

#52 - "Warning" - Skindred

#51 - "Bassline Junkie" - Dizzee Rascal

So here we go! In at no. 50...

#50. “Fat Around the Heart" – King 810

Released: 3/7/14

Album: Memoirs of a Murderer

King 810 are a band that I discovered last year when I found out they were supporting Slipknot, who I was about to see live. In my opinion, they're the best new(ish) metal band around, as discussed on this site before, I believe metal as a genre is a dying art form but King 810 are really keeping it alive. King 810, I've promoted a few times before on this site but also on my radio shows, are a band from Flint, Michigan, which is known as the "murder capital" of the US. King 810 sing songs about life there, the struggle, the death and violence, and despite all that, their pride for their home. "Fat Around the Heart" is a song about these struggles, about life in Flint. The first verse says it all - "I grew up in the church on Sunday/Back again bury friends on Monday/They don't just die they are killed from the gun play or the heroin or a prison stay/It's a shame that we gotta live this way/Your nightmares ain't got nothin' on this place/So stay down stay away stay safe/Cuz you aren't built that way". "Fat Around the Heart" is a great song, lyrically and also as a metal track. If you like Slipknot, have not heard King 810 and want to get into some new music, definitely give this band a listen.

Here's the music video if you want to hear it!

If you missed #51 go here.

For the latest updates on my work, including all my latest radio shows, follow me on Facebook and Twitter here!

My Top 100 Favourite Songs 2010-14 Edition: #62

#62. “stevie" – Kasabian

Released: 7/11/14

Album: 48:13

This song was also in my Top 100 Favourite Music Videos of All Time list, getting to #94, you can read that entry here.

I will admit that the music video for this song is what made me fall in love it. There's a reason why it's my favourite music video from the year 2014. Watch it below to find out why. It's a damn good music video, definitely my favourite by Kasabian. And the song itself, because of the video, is that much better. It's just a really cool Kasabian song, one of their songs that went under the radar really. That being said I have seen the video a few times on the music channels but it's not like the song hit the UK charts or anything. Either way it's a really good song and one you should listen to if you've not heard it before, and like Kasabian.

Here's the music video if you want to hear it!

If you missed #63 go here.

For the latest updates on my work, including all my latest radio shows, follow me on Facebook and Twitter here!

The Mercyside 100: 2015 Edition

The Mercyside 100: 2015 Edition

Happy New Year people. For the last three years I've been calculating all my play counts on my personal media player, to see what songs I listen to the most. And then at the start of the next year I reveal what the 100 most listened to songs were that year. Last year I revealed The Mercyside 100 2014 and before that I did The Mercyside 100 2013, click on those if you're interested in what I played most on those years.

This year I did The Mercyside 100 2015. Unfortunately, I'm not going to be able to do DJ shows of these songs. One of the reasons why is because I'm having problems with my computer at the moment, sound wise. The main reason however, without revealing too much, is because there's a lot of entries in this list by a certain band called Slaves. Slaves are by far my favourite band at the moment and unfortunately, Mixcloud won't allow you to play more than three songs by one artist in the same show. And that means it's difficult, because, well, they appear a lot.

I was going to make this into a playlist on YouTube but I can't do that either, because certain songs are not on YouTube which is frustrating.

So, in reverse order, here are is The Mercyside 100 2015! These are 100 songs I played more than anything else last year.

So, what was the most played song of the year for me? Here it is...

#1: The Hunter - Slaves ("Are You Satisfied?", 2014)

Slaves - The Hunter from Youth Hymns on Vimeo.

So there we go! I hope you find some interesting entries in here, and if so, check them out on Youtube if you can, most of the songs are easily available on there. And if you don't like the band Slaves then this list clearly isn't for you! If there's something on this list you've not heard before and you end up really liking, let me know, comment below! I'd be happy to have gotten you into a song or an artist you've not heard before!

"Green text"
If you don't listen to The Mercy Side, my radio shows which you can find on Mixcloud, then you may not know that I reveal every month what was my "Song of the Month". Basically, those tracks where played more than any other track, on a particular month of 2015. Here's the list in order, with Youtube links attached:

January 2015: The Hunter - Slaves
February 2015: House of Pain - Hot Action Cop
March 2015: Feed the Mantaray - Slaves
April 2015: Rise - David Guetta (feat. Skylar Grey)
May 2015: Take It - King 810
June 2015: Do Something - Slaves
July 2015: Blame it on the Boom Boom - Black Stone Cherry
August 2015: Superhero - Faith No More
September 2015: Reapers - Muse
October 2015: Waiting - Green Day
November 2015: Complexity - Eagles of Death Metal
December 2015: The Hunter - Slaves

If it confuses you why I added "Waiting" by Green Day at the start of my Top 100 reveal despite it not actually being one of the 100 most played songs last year, hopefully it makes more sense now - it was "Song of the Month" for October.

Multiple Artist Entries

Here's a list of artists with more than one entry in The Mercyside 100 2015:

12 Entries - Slaves
8 Entries - King 810
4 Entries - Foo Fighters, Royal Blood
3 Entries - Arctic Monkeys, The Beards, Eagles of Death Metal, Jamie N Commons, Kasabian, The Prodigy, The Queens of the Stone Age, Slipknot
2 Entries - FFS, KoRn, Muse

Multiple Album Entries

Here's a list of albums with more than one entry in The Mercyside 100 2015:

9 Entries - "Are You Satisfied?" by Slaves
8 Entries - "Memoirs of a Murderer" by King 810
4 Entries - "Royal Blood" by Royal Blood
3 Entries - ".5: The Gray Chapter" by Slipknot; "48:13" by Kasabian; "AM" by Arctic Monkeys; "The Beard Album" by The Beards
2 Entries - "…Like Clockwork" by The Queens of the Stone Age; "Drones" by Muse; "FFS" by FFS; "Sugar Coated Bitter Truth" by Slaves; "The Day is My Enemy" by The Prodigy

Here's some charts showing you how often songs appeared by the year, or decade...

Also, if you're interested, 46 songs on this list were not singles, which means that 54 of them were!

So I'm listening to less "older" music now than I have been in the previous two years doing this list. That's 80% by the way, from the last half decade.

Also, considering I haven't mentioned them once yet, I have to honour King 810, another one of my new favourite bands. Seriously, check them out, they're the best new metal band out there, in my opinion. Think Slipknot meshed with KoRn, which is no coincidence, because that's how I discovered them, by seeing both Slipknot and KoRn last year! Great band, checkem out!!

Well that's it from me at the moment, I'll be back very soon with another website project! All the best and thanks for reading!

For the latest updates on my work, follow me on Facebook and Twitter here!

My Top 100 Favourite Music Videos: #94

#94: "stevie" - Kasabian
Release Date: 2014
Director: Ninian Doff
Fun Fact: The song was originally called "kid" but they changed it to "stevie" to give the kid identity, but to still maintain the gender ambiguity of the story behind the lyrics.

Only the one video from last year. The only video really to be honest that stood out to me as a true high quality video with a great story. And the video really reminds me of the video game Portal, which is one of the strongest reasons for me liking it.

Basically this little boy was seemingly raised since birth in a dark, gloomy science lab. He's tested daily, given pills, and made to do exercise. When a bright red light is flashed in his eyes he's been systematically trained to raise his hands above his head.

Eventually he starts to realise he doesn't want to be tested anymore. The rest of the video I'll leave for you to watch. It's just a great video, in my opinion the best of last year and definitely worth watching if you missed it somehow last year.

Note: This is the first and last video from the year 2014 in this list.

Here's the video for your enjoyment!

 

Click here to see #93 on the list or here for #95!

The Mercyside 100 2014

Hi everyone, this is my first post in nearly eight months. For the last two years I've been calculating all my play counts on my personal media player, to see what songs I listen to the most. And then at the start of the year I reveal what 100 songs I've listened to the most. Last year I revealed The Mercyside 100 2013, which was done in seven parts in great detail on this website and as seven DJ shows on my Mixcloud account.

This year I did The Mercyside 100 2014. Instead of 7 parts, I decided to cut it to four parts. So each of the four parts revealed 25 different songs, in reverse order of how often I played them.

You can listen to these four DJ shows on the links below:

Part 1: #100 to #76
Part 2: #75 to #51
Part 3: #50 to #26
Part 4: #25 to #1

I'm not going to go into great detail on this website, like I did last year. But what I will do is reveal to you what the 100 songs were, in reverse order. So if you don't want to find out this way, listen to the shows linked above!

So, in reverse order, here are is The Mercyside 100 2014! These are 100 songs I played more than anything else last year.

So, what was the most played song of the year for me? Here it is...

#1: Snap Out of It - Arctic Monkeys ("AM", 2013)

So there we go! I hope you choose to listen to the shows because they are much better to listen to rather than just see them as words on a screen. Music is for the ears after all! But if not, I hope you find some interesting entries in here, and if so, check them out on Youtube if you would rather do it that way than to listen to the actual shows! If there's something on this list you've not heard before and you end up really liking, let me know, comment below! I'd be happy to have gotten you into a song or an artist you've not heard before!

"Blue text"
Just in case you haven't listened to the shows, the songs in "blue" were "Songs of the Month". Basically, those tracks where played more than any other track, on a particular month of 2014. Here's the list in order, with Youtube links attached:

January 2014: Talk Dirty (feat. 2 Chainz) - Jason Derulo
February 2014: Royals - Lorde
March 2014: Bad Blood - Beck
April 2014: Snap Out of it - Arctic Monkeys
May 2014: Rap God - Eminem
June 2014: Energia - Russkaja
July 2014: Jungle (Remix feat. X Ambassadors and Jay-Z) - Jamie N Commons
August 2014: Handy - Weird Al Yankovic
September 2014: I Will Survive - Cake
October 2014: Howlin' For You - The Black Keys
November 2014: Something from Nothing - Foo Fighters
December 2014: Uptown Funk - Mark Ronson (feat. Bruno Mars)

Multiple Artist Entries

Here's a list of artists with more than one entry in The Mercyside 100 2014:

4 Entries - Eminem, Nine Inch Nails, The Queens of the Stone Age, Weird Al Yankovic
3 Entries - Arctic Monkeys, The Beards, Foo Fighters, Imagine Dragons, Jay-Z, Kanye West, Kasabian, KoRn, Rob Zombie
2 Entries - Beck, Disturbed, Justin Timberlake, Ministry, Muse, Skrillex, Slipknot, Trent Reznor

Multiple Album Entries

Here's a list of albums with more than one entry in The Mercyside 100 2014:

4 Entries - "...Like Clockwork" by The Queens of the Stone Age
3 Entries - "AM" by the Arctic Monkeys; "Mandatory Fun" by Weird Al Yankovic; "The Marshall Mathers LP2" by Eminem; "Venomous Rat Regeneration Vendor" by Rob Zombie
2 Entries - "48:13" by Kasabian; "The Beards" by The Beards, "Night Visions" by Imagine Dragons; "The 2nd Law" by Muse

Here's some charts showing you how often songs appeared by the year, or decade...

Also, FYI, 43 songs on this list were not singles, which means that 57 of them were!

So that's the end! I'll be doing a huge website project very soon so stay tuned for that, to keep upto date with what I'm doing it's best to follow me on Facebook, link is below! Take care!

For the latest updates on my work, follow me on Facebook and Twitter here!

Music Album Review: Velociraptor! by Kasabian

Finally, Kasabian have made a great album - "Velociraptor!" is their finest work to date.

“Velociraptor!” is Kasabian's fourth album, and was released last October, just over five months ago. Kasabian have been around for a while now, they're an established British band who have found the respect of the British public and have tried to break out to the States, with unfortunately little success. For me and a lot of people I know, Kasabian have been one of those bands who produce quality singles but their album material never keep up. Does "Velociraptor!" follow the same pattern? Here's my take on the album. 

The album starts off with "Let's Roll Just Like We Used to", a great opener, it's catchy and full of the material that makes Kasabian one of the better indie bands in recent times. Tom Meighan's Leicester accent has always been the thing that make Kasabian stand out from the rest of the indie crowd, and it's prominent in this opening to the album. 

The first single off the album is the second track, "Days Are Forgotten", which is a pretty damn cool track. I love the howling in the beginning of the track and as the choruses fade out. The song was also used on WWE's Pay-Per-View "Tables Ladders and Chairs", which was cool, being a wrestling fan, and it was also great to see Kasabian get some exposure over in America. "Days Are Forgotten" is not as good as some of the other singles in Kasabian's library but it still holds its own amongst them. It's a very good track. 

Track three is also the third single off the album, "Goodbye Kiss", which, in my opinion, is easily one of Kasabian's weakest singles in their catalogue. Kasabian as I've said a few times produce fantastic singles, and they're usually very catchy. This song is different from most of their singles, as it's a slower, more bitter romantic track, something they don't do too often. This song was also used in the montage for Formula 1 at the end of the 2011 season. 

After track three are five brilliant tracks. The middle of this album is fantastic. Track four is "La Fee Verte", possibly my favourite song on the album. It's excellently similar to The Beatles, and it's sung by guitarist Sergio Pizzorno, and his vocals are surprisingly fantastic. I'm not going to pick favourites in terms of vocals on the album, Tom and Sergio both bring different styles to the album and they're both welcome in my opinion. That being said this song is just awesome. It's crafted beautifully and sung so well. I love it. Track five is the title track, "Velociraptor!", by some distance the shortest track on the album but it packs some excellent punch. It's similar to a lot of their singles actually, although it's a bit more fast paced. I'm surprised this hasn't been released as a single yet. It's catchy, a little funky and just sounds really cool in general. Nothing more really needs to be said about it really! 

The sixth track, "Acid Turkish Bath" is also sung by the guitarist Sergio and once again it's another well sung, well balanced track. But this time the vocals aren't what makes the song, it's the drums and the violin. This song for me shows the band expanding their horizons a little. Kasabian use an orchestra and this is the first track on the album where you can definitely here it. I really like this song and it's one of my favourites on the album again. Track seven is "I Hear Voices", which sounds good for the most part, but the one thing I really dislike about it is the frustrating new indie/modern new wave electronic music that they've decided to put in the song. It's a personal pet peeve, but I hate this new indie/electronica hybrid that's been around recently, like MGMT and Foster the People. That sound is a sound that I really hate, and to see Kasabian use it annoyed me slightly. But the song otherwise is really good, I like the chorus a lot. 

After that is the second single off the album "Re-wired", which is fine. All three singles on this album are quite good but they pale in comparison to some of the stuff they've released in the past 9 years. "Re-wired" sounds good on this album, but when you compare it to some of the great tracks Kasabian have released as singles in the past, like "Empire", "Club Foot" and "Fire", it just doesn't sound like it's on the same level. 

But the rest of the album keeps up with these singles very well. "Velociraptor!" the album, is great. I've already said that some of my favourite tracks on this album are the non-singles, and it's true. Because the singles aren't as good as the older material, yet the album quality is much better, the album is overall a very balanced piece of music. It's a strange situation, but the singles lacking in quality a little makes the rest of the album stand out, which is great. This album is critically Kasabian's best work. I'm not the only person who has said this, many critics have and it's true. "Velociraptor!" is their finest work to date. 

The rest of the album drops the quality down a little notch, but the best of the three end tracks is the penultimate track, "Switchblade Smiles", which has been used on the new FIFA 12 game (and also part of my "Best of FIFA Trax Mixtape, you can read that here), as well as on Match of the Day 2. This is the most electronic Kasabian have become, and it's not in an annoying indietronica/modern new wave way like in "I Hear Voices", it really kicks ass with the electronic guitars and the electronica music. It's almost Muse-esque, which is a compliment I swear. 

Overall "Velociraptor!" is a great album. I thoroughly enjoyed it. It's by far Kasabian's best effort and the album songs are good tracks and support the singles well. It's a balanced album, that tries new things while keeps the elements that make Kasabian stand out a little from all the other indie bands. "Velociraptor!" is Kasabian's finest work to date and well worth a listen if you enjoy Kasabian's singles by norm, and want to get one of their albums. Kasabian usually fail to deliver the goods on their albums, but they've proved me and a lot of other critics wrong. "Velociraptor!" is a cracker of an album, and well worth the risk if you're thinking of purchasing their album.

Rating: ****1/4 stars

Stand out tracks: "La Fee Verte", "Velociraptor!", "Acid Turkish Bath"

Here's the music video for the first single, "Days Are Forgotten":

For the latest updates on my work, 'like' me on Facebook here!

Mixtape: Best FIFA Trax

Hey there, welcome to my newest Mixtape. This one is paying homage to the music of the FIFA football games, something that has been a constant source of decent sound for some time. Now, if you know me personally or have been following my work on this site, you'll know that I love my metal. My interest in indie is nothing on metal, and don't get me started on dance music, electronic, RnB or ambience. These other genres for the most part don't interest me. But they are always evident in the FIFA games and quite often the songs that are chosen year upon year are great. So what I'm hoping you'll see in today's list is a different side to my musical tastes.

Not familiar with my 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! 

Okay, before I start, I'd like to say two things. Firstly, FIFA didn't really have long and productive soundtracks on their games until FIFA 2004 came out, and while certain games before it had one or two popular tracks, nothing was really substantial until then. Secondly, I haven't played every FIFA game. I've played most of them, so one or two games are missing from the list. But I cover most of the games, and I think you can appreciate the amount of games that are actually covered here. Enjoy!

1. It's Only Us - Robbie Williams (FIFA 2000)
2. 19-2000 (Soulchild Mix) - Gorillaz (FIFA 2002)
3. Feels Just Like I Should - Jamiroquai (FIFA 06)
4. Splitting the Atom - Massive Attack (FIFA 11)
5. Stop the Rock - Apollo 440 (FIFA 2000)
6. We Used to Be Friends - The Dandy Warhols (FIFA 2004)
7. Black and Gold - Sam Sparro (FIFA 09)
8. Ace of Hz - Ladytron (FIFA 11)
9. Get on the Floor - DJ Bitman (FIFA 07)
10. Daft Punk Is Playing At My House - LCD Soundsystem (FIFA 06)
11. Switchblade Smiles - Kasabian (FIFA 12)
12. Tubthumping - Chumbawamba (FIFA: Road to World Cup 98)
13. Fit But You Know It - The Streets (FIFA 2005)
14. Red Morning Light - Kings of Leon (FIFA 2004)
15. Don't Give Up - The Noisettes (FIFA 08)
16. Machu Picchu - The Strokes (FIFA 12)
17. Tell Her Tonight - Franz Ferdinand (FIFA 2005)
18. Drumming Song - Florence and the Machine (2010 FIFA World Cup)
19. Song 2 - Blur (FIFA: Road to World Cup 98)
20. Drama Queen - Switches (FIFA 08)
21. Tell Me a Lie - The Fratellis (FIFA 09)
22. Supermassive Black Hole - Muse (FIFA 07)

Here are five alternative songs!

1. Myxomatosis - Radiohead (FIFA 2004)
2. Take Your Mama - Scissor Sisters (FIFA 2005)
3. Helicopter - Bloc Party (FIFA 06)
4. Wele Wele - Angelique Kidjo (FIFA 07)
5. Sly - The Cat Empire (FIFA 08)

And that's my playlist. If you like the genres mentioned above and haven't heard some of these songs give them a listen, the videos all link to Youtube where possible. I'm starting to run dry on ideas at the moment for future Mixtapes, so if you have any other ideas comment below, with some suggestions and I might cover them. That's it from me today, have a good night.

For the latest updates on my work, 'like' me on Facebook 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.