My Top 100 Favourite Songs 2010-14 Edition: #1 (+ more!)

We’ve finally arrived at the end of this listing. It may have taken a lot longer than I ever expected to (it should have only been 100 days!)  but we got there! I hope you’ve enjoyed this listing and I’m sure you want to know what my favourite song has been over the Last Half Decade. Before we get there, I’d just like to recap the whole listing from #100 to #2…

#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 (feat. Daron Malakian)
#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 (feat. Robyn)
#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 (feat. Rihanna)
#65: Kill the Power – Skindred
#64: Where's Your Car Debbie? – Slaves
#63: Suit and Tie - Justin Timberlake (feat. Jay-Z)
#62: Stevie – Kasabian
#61: Narcissistic Cannibal – KoRn (feat. Skrillex and Kill the Noise)
#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
#50: Fat Around the Heart - King 810
#49: Supremacy – Muse
#48: Bridge Burning - Foo Fighters
#47: Never Never – KoRn
#46: Sandpaper – Fozzy (feat. M Shadows)
#45: Out of the Black - Royal Blood
#44: Eez-eh – Kasabian
#43: Sweet Sour - Band of Skulls
#42: Berzerk – Eminem
#41: Santo Domingo - Jon Fratelli
#40: Talk Dirty - Jason Derulo
#39: 99 Percenters – Ministry
#38: The Vampyre of Time and Memory - The Queens of the Stone Age
#37: Right Now – PSY
#36: Panic Station – Muse
#35: Figure it Out - Serj Tankian
#34: Lonely Boy - The Black Keys
#33: Low Hangin' Fruit - Tenacious D
#32: Days Are Forgotten – Kasabian
#31: Figure it Out - Royal Blood
#30: It Gets Worse - Mindless Self Indulgence
#29: Karma - Jamie N Commons
#28: Get Up! – KoRn (feat. Skrillex)
#27: Snap Out of It - Arctic Monkeys
#26: Hey – Slaves
#25: Thrift Shop – Macklemore and Ryan Lewis
#24: Megatron - Crazy Town
#23: If I Had a Tail - The Queens of the Stone Age
#22: House of Pain - Hot Action Cop
#21: Howlin' For You - The Black Keys
#20: Something From Nothing - Foo Fighters
#19: Thieves - Limp Bizkit
#18: Jack Sparrow - The Lonely Island
#17: Do I Wanna Know? - Arctic Monkeys
#16: Blame it on the Boom Boom - Black Stone Cherry
#15: Black Skinhead - Kanye West
#14: Baby We're Refugees! - Jon Fratelli
#13: The Island - Pt II (Dusk) – Pendulum
#12: Dance - Saul Williams
#11: Ain't No Grave - Johnny Cash
#10: Niggas in Paris - Jay-Z and Kanye West
#9: Smooth Sailing - The Queens of the Stone Age
#8: Rap God – Eminem
#7: Custer – Slipknot
#6: I Just Had Sex - The Lonely Island (feat. Akon)
#5: Killem All - King 810
#4: Jungle (Remix) - Jamie N Commons and the X-Ambassadors (feat. Jay-Z)
#3: Uptown Funk - Mark Ronson (feat. Bruno Mars)
#2: Bangarang – Skrillex (feat. Sirah)

Okay so my favourite song over the Last Half Decade is…

#1 “The Hunter” by Slaves
Released: 17/11/14
Album: Are You Satisfied?

If you know me well, chances are high you probably had an inkling that this would be #1 on my list. And you know what? I actually debated putting it lower in the list because of the fact that it was an obvious choice for me. But when it comes down to it, there is only one song that stands out to me as above and beyond anything else released over this five year period.

I absolutely love this song. I absolutely love this band. I’m so happy I got to see them last month, they were incredible. I love the riff, I love how the song builds up, the video is pretty cool too, it’s discretely catchy and it’s… just… so… cool. I’m not a massive punk rock fan but with Slaves making garage rock merge with punk (a formula done by other bands, I’m not saying they’re the first) they have something that does sound raw and passionate and it packs a massive punch. I do encourage anyone who likes British rock, or punk, or garage rock a listen to this band. Seriously they’re one of the coolest new bands out there, and this is their biggest hit to date, and, clearly in my opinion, the best too.

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

And that’s it! Many thanks for putting up for my long periods of absences in the making of this listing. I’ll probably do a Top 100 Favourite Music Singles of the Decade of 2010-19 in the year 2021 or something. Here’s some nerdy stats of my listing if it appeals to you:

Annual breakdown of music singles:
2010 – 9
2011 – 21
2012 – 16
2013 – 27
2014 – 27

First and last singles on the list in chronological order:
First: “Sick Bubblegum” by Rob Zombie – released 11^th January 2010 (#73)
Last: “Megatron” by Crazy Town – released 17^th December 2014 (#24)

Artists with Two Entries:
Coldplay (#66, #89); Imagine Dragons (#56, #84); Jamie N Commons (#4, #29); Jon Fratelli (#14, #41); King 810 (#5, #50); Limp Bizkit (#19, #93); Saul Williams (#12, #96); Skindred (#52, #65); Skrillex (#2, #99)

Artists with Three Entries (maximum cap):
Arctic Monkeys (#17, #27, #68); The Black Keys (#21, #34, #58); Eminem (#8, #42, #74); Foo Fighters (#20, #48, #70); Kasabian (#32, #44, #64); KoRn (#28, #47, #61); The Lonely Island (#6, #18, #78); Muse (#36, #49, #100); PSY (#37, #53, #72); The Queens of the Stone Age (##9, #23, #38); Royal Blood (#31, #45, #81); Slaves (#1, #26, #64); Slipknot (#7, #59, #77)

Albums with Two Entries:
48:13 by Kasabian (#44, #62); Are You Satisfied? by Slaves (#1, #26); Brothers by The Black Keys (#21, #58); Memoirs of a Murderer by King 810 (#5, #50); (Mylo Xyloto by Coldplay (#66, #89); Night Visions by Imagine Dragons (#56, #84); The Path of Totality by KoRn (#28, #61); Psycho Jukebox by Jon Fratelli (#14, #41); Turtleneck and Chain by The Lonely Island (#6, #18); Volcanic Sunlight by Saul Williams (#12, #96)

Albums with Three Entries:
…Like Clockwork by The Queens of the Stone Age (##9, #23, #38); The 2^nd Law by Muse (#36, #49, #100); .5: The Gray Chapter by Slipknot (#7, #59, #77); AM by the Arctic Monkeys (#17, #27, #68); The Marshall Mathers LP 2 by Eminem (#8, #42, #74); Royal Blood (#31, #45, #81)

I thought I’d do a Mixtape Playlist so if you wanted to listen to the “Best Of” in one go, you can do now this way. I’ve set a cap of only one song per artist. Not familiar with my Mixtapes, here’s a description of what one is:

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!

The Best of The Last Half Decade (2010-14)

1.       Uptown Funk - Mark Ronson (feat. Bruno Mars)

2.       Jungle (Remix) - Jamie N Commons and the X-Ambassadors (feat. Jay-Z)

3.       Black Skinhead - Kanye West

4.       I Just Had Sex - The Lonely Island (feat. Akon)

5.       Rap God – Eminem

6.       The Island - Pt II (Dusk) – Pendulum

7.       Bangarang – Skrillex (feat. Sirah)

8.       Niggas in Paris - Jay-Z and Kanye West

9.       Dance - Saul Williams

10.   Ain't No Grave - Johnny Cash

11.   Baby We're Refugees! - Jon Fratelli

12.   Howlin' For You - The Black Keys

13.   Do I Wanna Know? - Arctic Monkeys

14.   Smooth Sailing - The Queens of the Stone Age

15.   Something From Nothing - Foo Fighters

16.   The Hunter – Slaves

17.   Blame it on the Boom Boom - Black Stone Cherry

18.   Thieves - Limp Bizkit

19.   Custer – Slipknot

20.   Killem All - King 810

And here are your five alternatives:

1.       House of Pain - Hot Action Cop

2.       Megatron - Crazy Town

3.       Thrift Shop – Macklemore and Ryan Lewis

4.       Get Up! – KoRn (feat. Skrillex)

5.       It Gets Worse - Mindless Self Indulgence

I’ve also made this Mixtape on YouTube, you can view and listen to it there if you want by clicking here!

And… that’s the end! Thank you all so much for reading and following this listing. Check out the Music tab above for anything else on music I’ve covered over the last five or six years on this website if you haven’t already. It’s nearly Christmas so I’ll take this opportunity to wish you all a Happy Holidays and a Happy New Year!

If you missed #2 go here - or go back to #100 by going here.

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My Top 100 Favourite Songs 2010-14 Edition: #9

#9 “Smooth Sailing” by The Queens of the Stone Age

Released: 27/2/14

Album: ...Like Clockwork

When I first drafted out my Top 100, this actually was placed at #1. And while I absolutely love this song, could I genuinely say, over the five years of music we’re covering, is it my favourite music single? And I just couldn’t commit to that.

As I said, it’s not that it’s not great, it’s one of the funkiest, coolest songs Queens have ever done. It stands out as the highlight track on a dark and gloomy album, as the ray of light of what Queens can do when they want to lower the tone and play fun music. It’s truly funky – I’m sure more people would love this song if they’d heard it but unfortunately it was barely given any airplay despite a cool music video set in Japan. Honestly – give this song a listen if you’ve not heard it, it’s so damn fricking cool.

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

If you missed #10 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: #23

#23. "If I Had a Tail” – The Queens of the Stone Age

Released: 28/10/13

Album: …Like Clockwork

So this is the second song from “…Like Clockwork” on the list. I’ve mentioned in my other entry “The Vampyre of Time and Memory” at no. 38 that this album was a very slow burner for me. The whole album is so dark, so different and, frankly, difficult to get into. When I think of QOTSA I think of fantastic and imaginative riffs, boppy hard rock tracks and on occasion some fun but always in a clever way. Yet this song, this album generally is so moody, so sluggish and takes a real effort to take in. But once you do, if you’re willing to give it that chance and not treat it like every other QOTSA you’ll be rewarded big time.

“If I Had a Tail” for me epitomises this album. Sure it’s Queens. You can hear Josh Homme’s very distinctive vocals, those guitars sound familiar. But it barely hits second gear, it drags along all the way to the end. But the beauty behind the song is the claws that are dug in to make things slow; it’s got some real teeth and there’s a real density to the song that few Queens track have. And that’s saying something because generally Queens songs are full of flavour and depth. Josh Homme’s howling at the end of the song are both haunting and beautiful. The way the song ends almost abruptly feels like a tease because you almost wish you were being dragged further despite it being a difficult ride. It’s just a great song that has an unexpected bite to it and I love it.

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

If you missed #24 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: #38

#38. "The Vampyre of Time and Memory" – The Queens of the Stone Age

Released: 18/11/13

Album: ...Like Clockwork

The Queens of the Stone Age have only released the one album in this time frame and what an album it was "...Like Clockwork" was a slow burner for me. At first I thought it was by far the weakest Queens album. But that's because it's so different, so dark, and at times it can be a bit too much. "Smooth Sailing" aside there's very little "joy" or tunes to bop casually to on the album. And the nucleus of this very macabre infused album is "The Vampyre of Time and Memory".

Like the album as a whole I didn't think much of the song. I listened to it and it just didn't stand out at all. It just felt a little flat. The first few listens to it and nothing really changed. But all of a sudden, it just hit me. And when it did, the chills that went down me were unreal. The music video can speed up that process if you have similar feelings on the song. When you dissect the song, lyrically, musically and mentally, it's just a piece of genius. It's a stroke of strong quality, possibly one of the finest moments of Josh Homme's career. His voice is just pure melted gold. The piano is incredible. Those blues guitar twangs at the end of the first chorus are just bliss. When he finally says the title of the song, I don't know why but the song just lifts to another level. Like going to heaven. If you think I'm being over the top then I'm sorry but it's how I feel listening to this song nowadays. It's truly an incredible experience and I feel ashamed not to have "got" the song quicker than I did.

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

If you missed #39 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: #68

#68. “One for the Road" – Arctic Monkeys

Released: 9/12/13

Album: AM

I don't mind telling you now that the Arctic Monkeys appear three times in this list (the total maximum of times an artist will appear). I also don't mind telling you that all three songs on this list are from their "AM" album. "AM" is going to go down in history as one of the best rock albums of this decade, it's no dispute. It's really when the Arctic Monkeys cracked America, but more importantly, found their next level. Their debut album was fantastic, but it was also flawed and beautiful in its own way. The three albums in between were all fine efforts, but never could they top their first. With "AM" they've really polished their sound, made it bigger, sexier and just better generally, and it's just fantastic.

"One for the Road" is a fine single, it actually took a while for it to grow on me. It has a gorgeous blues riff, apparently heavily inspired by The Queens of the Stone Age, who have in recent years really taken the Monkeys under their wing in America and helped them out. Josh Homme actually appears as a backing vocalist on this single too. It's just a really cool song, and Alex Turner has never sounded better really.

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

If you missed #69 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: #91

#91. “Blue Blood Blues" – The Dead Weather

Released: 25/6/10

Album: Sea of Cowards

The Dead Weather, if you didn't know, are a supergroup consisting of members of The White Stripes, The Kills, Queens of the Stone Age, The Raconteurs amongst other bands. They've actually just released their third album, so they're not a one off gig. In fact, in my opinion, I like them more than The Kills and The Raconteurs, nearly as The White Stripes... but QOTSA are one of my all time favourites so... Anyway. They're a really good band that are pretty established now, so it would surprise me if you at least hadn't heard of them, if you like your rock music. Their albums are pretty good too so don't judge them on singles alone. But as singles go "Blue Blood Blues" is a belter. It has some excellent guitar work (what would you expect from Jack White) and it's just funky as hell. Go and check it out below.

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

If you missed #92 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 Music Videos: #92

#92: "If I Had a Tail" - The Queens of the Stone Age
Release Date: 2013
Director: Boneface and Liam Brazier
Fun Fact: Boneface and Liam Brazier worked on all the promotional videos for the album, which includes this video as well as "I Appear Missing", "Kalopsia", "Keep Your Eyes Peeled" and the main single, "My God is the Sun"

The distinctive artwork in this video, and all the videos mentioned above, are all done through Boneface, who was apparently an artist discovered via Facebook. All the videos above are all interlinked, and "My God is the Sun" is the finale that links all of the other videos together. If you like the look of this video, seriously, watch them all, and ensure you watch "My God is the Sun" last.

This is probably my favourite of the set of videos, hence its inclusion in my Top 100. It's just a simple message of "fuck you", done in to fatal measure. It's just a cool video and Boneface's artwork is a thing of beauty. It's better to watch it than read me waffle on about it, trust me!

Note: This is the second and last video from the year 2013 in this list.

Here's the video for your enjoyment!

Click here to see #91 on the list or here for #93!

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!

The Rock and Metal Double Feature Show 2/3/14

Hello there. Sorry the website entry is late but this is last week's Rock and Metal Double Feature Show. I'll be posting the weekly show at midnight every Saturday night, if you want to hear it! But here's last weeks show if you've missed it. I thoroughly enjoyed it, it was nice to get back into the groove of my regular feature again, and I had a record number of requests once again.

Listen to the show here:

The Rock and Metal Double Feature Show (2/3/14) by Johnny Mercyside on Mixcloud

The Rock and Metal Double Feature Show: 2/3/14
Track listing:
The Rock Show
I Will Do Anything for Love But I Won't Do That - Meat Loaf
Here I Go Again - Whitesnake
MSG - Attack of the Mad Axemen
Living is a Problem Because Everything Dies - Biffy Clyro
La Fee Verte - Kasabian
No Beard, No Good - The Beards
Radioactive/M.A.A.D City (LIVE) - Imagine Dragons and Kendrick Lamar
Kryptonite - 3 Doors Down
No One Knows - The Queens of the Stone Age
Man Alive! - Billy Talent
Drive - Incubus
Low Hangin' Fruit - Tenacious D

The Metal Hour
Here to Stay - KoRn
Back in Black - AC/DC
I Wanna Rock - Twisted Sister
Girl From Oklahoma - Steel Panther
Icon of Dominance - Lordi
Flashback - Ministry
Never Enough - Five Finger Death Punch
Intermission - The Offspring
I Will Not Bow - Breaking Benjamin
Bodies - Drowning Pool
Duality - Slipknot
Red War - Probot
Memorial - Caliban
Tik Tok Redneck - Ke$ha vs Lamb of God
Skeletor/Beastman - Gnarkill
Total running time: 02:00:00

Other entries you might want to read:
The Mercyside 100 - DJ Show/Listing
Big News Regarding My DJing - Personal Blog
My Top 50 Favourite Video Game Villains - Listing

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