Loudwire's Best Rock Song each year since 1970 list

[Master Of Reality]

https://loudwire.com/best-rock-song-each-year-since-1970/

A few GNR mentions here. Most notably Hard Skool and Perhaps made the runner up lists of 2021 en 2023.

[Voodoochild]

I mean, lists with Creed and so and so stuff hitting the #1 spot. 

I know people like to shit on CD, but the 2008 song is a generic power ballad. I'd take even Kings of Leon instead of this one (which I really like, but I don't consider it to really be a rock song).  

[Master Of Reality]

22 minutes ago, Voodoochild said:

I mean, lists with Creed and so and so stuff hitting the #1 spot. 

I know people like to shit on CD, but the 2008 song is a generic power ballad. I'd take even Kings of Leon instead of this one (which I really like, but I don't consider it to really be a rock song).  

Yeah i know, some lame choices in the post 2000 era. But still, nice to see Hard Skool and Perhaps getting some recognition from a popular online rock/metal platform.

[Sweersa]

1999 should have been Oh My God, 2008 should have been Better, and 2019 should have been Hardschool (2000)  

[downzy]

Some of these choices are absurd.  Didn't mean this post to turn into a rant but here it goes.  

Twisted Sister's "We're Not Going to Take It" over Van Halen's "Panama"?  Not a chance.

How do they give it to the Crue's "Home Sweet Home" over Bryan Adams' "Summer of '69"?  Adams song dominated the charts in a way that was no way comparable to HSH.  It still gets way more radio airplay than anything Motley Crue has made.  Not saying that HSH isn't a good song.  But Adam's song is iconic (even if it's overplayed).

And while Pour Some Sugar On Me is an anthem, I have a hard time understanding how they chose it over Sweet Child O' Mine.  GNR's track went #1 on the Billboard Hot 100; PSSOM topped out at #2.  SCOM has over 1.7 billion streams on Spotify; Def Leppard's track has just over 400 million.  SCOM has one of the most iconic intros of all time, not to mention its solo.  And while Axl's lyrics may not win any Pulitzers with this track, PSSOM has what I think is some of the worst lyrics in all of rock music ("Listen, red light, yellow light, green-a-light go, Crazy little woman in a one man show," "Do you take sugar, one lump or two.").  This isn't even a contest (and SCOM isn't even in my top five favourite Guns tracks).

Personally, for 1994 I'd take either "Black Hole Sun" or "Interstate Love Song" over Green Day's "When I Come Around."  Black Hole Sun is incredibly unique in terms of its chord arrangements (name me another hit song that starts with a sus chord).  I think "Interstate Love Song" is one of the best songs written of all time.  

I get it's arbitrary, but how they chose White Zombie's "More Human Than Human" over Alanis's "You Oughtta Know" is crazy.  The Zombie's track has a cool guitar riff, but that's all that song really is.  There's not much of a melody.  You Oughtta Know was a monster with a killer chorus that dominated airwaves for months, if not an entire year.

And while I really like Hole's "Celebrity Skin," there's no way it deserves more credit than Foo Fighter's "My Hero."  Not a huge Foo Fighter's fan, but that's one of the better written songs of the decade.

It's hard to take a list seriously that doesn't include Radiohead's "Paranoid Android" for 1997 (wasn't even included as a runner-up).  It is night and day better than any of the songs listed.  Crazy.

And I agree that it's hard to accept Creed as having released the best rock song for any year, the fact that it won for 1999 just goes to show how bad rock music was during this period.  I guess you could argue that RHCP's Californication album was decent, but that's not saying much.  The turn of the century was a dark time for rock music.  And while I personally enjoy Oh My God, I think we need to be honest that outside of the hardcore GNR fanbase, no one else did.  

2002 was a much better year, but they went with the weakest of the included tracks.  "Cochise" by Audioslave is fantastic.  Same with "No One Knows" by Queens of the Stone Age.  I really don't need or want to hear "All My Life" by Foo Fighters ever again.  "Get Free" by the Vines should have been included for 2002 as well.  Killer track.

The last rock song to still have cultural relevance is Seven Nation Army by The White Stripes.  It still gets played everywhere (movies, tv shows, literally every sporting event).  But whoever wrote this list gives the nod to "Bring Me Back to Life" by Evanescence.  Sure Jan.

[rant]
It's amazing how irrelevant rock becomes after 2005/2006.  Paramore, Five Finger Death Punch, Halestorm, and a bunch of bands I had never heard of and likely few others outside of diehard rock fans have.  And no offence to Ghost fans, but if Dance Macabre was the best rock song in 2018, that's not saying much for rock music.  It's not a bad track, but it sounds like a b-side from the early 80s (like Loverboy). 

This is a big reason why I generally don't listen to new music anymore.  At best, it's mediocre.  There's a reason why 70 percent of streams are from back catalogues.  I've come to the conclusion that most great songs have either been written or it's just too hard to mine for more gems at this point.  Rock music use to have catchy melodies that were sung over interesting and diverse chord progressions or time signatures.  Artists tried to incorporate their influences but to do their own thing, make their own sound.  Now they all sound the same.  It's just strumming 1/8th notes in drop d tuning with little concern for giving audiences a hook.  It has grown so stale that I can't be bothered to listen to hundreds of mediocre songs every month to find the one or two that do anything for me.  Once in awhile I'll come across an artist or song that I missed that catches my attention (Børns's "10,000 Emerald Pools" is a good example, and it came out nine years ago), but it's few and far between.  It feels like most artists today are less concerned about writing catchy melodies with hooks.  They're too wrapped up in a sound as a crutch for their inability to write a decent song.  

[/rant]

[Coma16]

Ok boomer 😉

[Voodoochild]

2 hours ago, downzy said:

Some of these choices are absurd.  Didn't mean this post to turn into a rant but here it goes.  

Twisted Sister's "We're Not Going to Take It" over Van Halen's "Panama"?  Not a chance.

How do they give it to the Crue's "Home Sweet Home" over Bryan Adams' "Summer of '69"?  Adams song dominated the charts in a way that was no way comparable to HSH.  It still gets way more radio airplay than anything Motley Crue has made.  Not saying that HSH isn't a good song.  But Adam's song is iconic (even if it's overplayed).

And while Pour Some Sugar On Me is an anthem, I have a hard time understanding how they chose it over Sweet Child O' Mine.  GNR's track went #1 on the Billboard Hot 100; PSSOM topped out at #2.  SCOM has over 1.7 billion streams on Spotify; Def Leppard's track has just over 400 million.  SCOM has one of the most iconic intros of all time, not to mention its solo.  And while Axl's lyrics may not win any Pulitzers with this track, PSSOM has what I think is some of the worst lyrics in all of rock music ("Listen, red light, yellow light, green-a-light go, Crazy little woman in a one man show," "Do you take sugar, one lump or two.").  This isn't even a contest (and SCOM isn't even in my top five favourite Guns tracks).

Personally, for 1994 I'd take either "Black Hole Sun" or "Interstate Love Song" over Green Day's "When I Come Around."  Black Hole Sun is incredibly unique in terms of its chord arrangements (name me another hit song that starts with a sus chord).  I think "Interstate Love Song" is one of the best songs written of all time.  

I get it's arbitrary, but how they chose White Zombie's "More Human Than Human" over Alanis's "You Oughtta Know" is crazy.  The Zombie's track has a cool guitar riff, but that's all that song really is.  There's not much of a melody.  You Oughtta Know was a monster with a killer chorus that dominated airwaves for months, if not an entire year.

And while I really like Hole's "Celebrity Skin," there's no way it deserves more credit than Foo Fighter's "My Hero."  Not a huge Foo Fighter's fan, but that's one of the better written songs of the decade.

It's hard to take a list seriously that doesn't include Radiohead's "Paranoid Android" for 1997 (wasn't even included as a runner-up).  It is night and day better than any of the songs listed.  Crazy.

And I agree that it's hard to accept Creed as having released the best rock song for any year, the fact that it won for 1999 just goes to show how bad rock music was during this period.  I guess you could argue that RHCP's Californication album was decent, but that's not saying much.  The turn of the century was a dark time for rock music.  And while I personally enjoy Oh My God, I think we need to be honest that outside of the hardcore GNR fanbase, no one else did.  

2002 was a much better year, but they went with the weakest of the included tracks.  "Cochise" by Audioslave is fantastic.  Same with "No One Knows" by Queens of the Stone Age.  I really don't need or want to hear "All My Life" by Foo Fighters ever again.  "Get Free" by the Vines should have been included for 2002 as well.  Killer track.

The last rock song to still have cultural relevance is Seven Nation Army by The White Stripes.  It still gets played everywhere (movies, tv shows, literally every sporting event).  But whoever wrote this list gives the nod to "Bring Me Back to Life" by Evanescence.  Sure Jan.

[rant]
It's amazing how irrelevant rock becomes after 2005/2006.  Paramore, Five Finger Death Punch, Halestorm, and a bunch of bands I had never heard of and likely few others outside of diehard rock fans have.  And no offence to Ghost fans, but if Dance Macabre was the best rock song in 2018, that's not saying much for rock music.  It's not a bad track, but it sounds like a b-side from the early 80s (like Loverboy). 

This is a big reason why I generally don't listen to new music anymore.  At best, it's mediocre.  There's a reason why 70 percent of streams are from back catalogues.  I've come to the conclusion that most great songs have either been written or it's just too hard to mine for more gems at this point.  Rock music use to have catchy melodies that were sung over interesting and diverse chord progressions or time signatures.  Artists tried to incorporate their influences but to do their own thing, make their own sound.  Now they all sound the same.  It's just strumming 1/8th notes in drop d tuning with little concern for giving audiences a hook.  It has grown so stale that I can't be bothered to listen to hundreds of mediocre songs every month to find the one or two that do anything for me.  Once in awhile I'll come across an artist or song that I missed that catches my attention (Børns's "10,000 Emerald Pools" is a good example, and it came out nine years ago), but it's few and far between.  It feels like most artists today are less concerned about writing catchy melodies with hooks.  They're too wrapped up in a sound as a crutch for their inability to write a decent song.  

[/rant]

I agree with most of what you said. I would just add a thing to your rant: maybe that's true about rock music, but the alternative/indie scene is still pretty good IMO. I've been listening to a lot of new artists thanks to some great algorithms on Spotify, although I understand people's reservation with the platform. 

The problem is also on those platforms, as the back catalogue is too easy to access, and people often get fed by the most famous singles from those classic bands, which doesn't help at all. But people need to have a better understanding of that and actively search for new stuff, which isn't harder than back in the 90s. Also a problem is that there is too much stuff out there, it gets hard to get to know some new song and get used to it if it's not made to be catchy.

[GnR Chris]

2 hours ago, downzy said:

Some of these choices are absurd.  Didn't mean this post to turn into a rant but here it goes.  

Twisted Sister's "We're Not Going to Take It" over Van Halen's "Panama"?  Not a chance.

How do they give it to the Crue's "Home Sweet Home" over Bryan Adams' "Summer of '69"?  Adams song dominated the charts in a way that was no way comparable to HSH.  It still gets way more radio airplay than anything Motley Crue has made.  Not saying that HSH isn't a good song.  But Adam's song is iconic (even if it's overplayed).

And while Pour Some Sugar On Me is an anthem, I have a hard time understanding how they chose it over Sweet Child O' Mine.  GNR's track went #1 on the Billboard Hot 100; PSSOM topped out at #2.  SCOM has over 1.7 billion streams on Spotify; Def Leppard's track has just over 400 million.  SCOM has one of the most iconic intros of all time, not to mention its solo.  And while Axl's lyrics may not win any Pulitzers with this track, PSSOM has what I think is some of the worst lyrics in all of rock music ("Listen, red light, yellow light, green-a-light go, Crazy little woman in a one man show," "Do you take sugar, one lump or two.").  This isn't even a contest (and SCOM isn't even in my top five favourite Guns tracks).

Personally, for 1994 I'd take either "Black Hole Sun" or "Interstate Love Song" over Green Day's "When I Come Around."  Black Hole Sun is incredibly unique in terms of its chord arrangements (name me another hit song that starts with a sus chord).  I think "Interstate Love Song" is one of the best songs written of all time.  

I get it's arbitrary, but how they chose White Zombie's "More Human Than Human" over Alanis's "You Oughtta Know" is crazy.  The Zombie's track has a cool guitar riff, but that's all that song really is.  There's not much of a melody.  You Oughtta Know was a monster with a killer chorus that dominated airwaves for months, if not an entire year.

And while I really like Hole's "Celebrity Skin," there's no way it deserves more credit than Foo Fighter's "My Hero."  Not a huge Foo Fighter's fan, but that's one of the better written songs of the decade.

It's hard to take a list seriously that doesn't include Radiohead's "Paranoid Android" for 1997 (wasn't even included as a runner-up).  It is night and day better than any of the songs listed.  Crazy.

And I agree that it's hard to accept Creed as having released the best rock song for any year, the fact that it won for 1999 just goes to show how bad rock music was during this period.  I guess you could argue that RHCP's Californication album was decent, but that's not saying much.  The turn of the century was a dark time for rock music.  And while I personally enjoy Oh My God, I think we need to be honest that outside of the hardcore GNR fanbase, no one else did.  

2002 was a much better year, but they went with the weakest of the included tracks.  "Cochise" by Audioslave is fantastic.  Same with "No One Knows" by Queens of the Stone Age.  I really don't need or want to hear "All My Life" by Foo Fighters ever again.  "Get Free" by the Vines should have been included for 2002 as well.  Killer track.

The last rock song to still have cultural relevance is Seven Nation Army by The White Stripes.  It still gets played everywhere (movies, tv shows, literally every sporting event).  But whoever wrote this list gives the nod to "Bring Me Back to Life" by Evanescence.  Sure Jan.

[rant]
It's amazing how irrelevant rock becomes after 2005/2006.  Paramore, Five Finger Death Punch, Halestorm, and a bunch of bands I had never heard of and likely few others outside of diehard rock fans have.  And no offence to Ghost fans, but if Dance Macabre was the best rock song in 2018, that's not saying much for rock music.  It's not a bad track, but it sounds like a b-side from the early 80s (like Loverboy). 

This is a big reason why I generally don't listen to new music anymore.  At best, it's mediocre.  There's a reason why 70 percent of streams are from back catalogues.  I've come to the conclusion that most great songs have either been written or it's just too hard to mine for more gems at this point.  Rock music use to have catchy melodies that were sung over interesting and diverse chord progressions or time signatures.  Artists tried to incorporate their influences but to do their own thing, make their own sound.  Now they all sound the same.  It's just strumming 1/8th notes in drop d tuning with little concern for giving audiences a hook.  It has grown so stale that I can't be bothered to listen to hundreds of mediocre songs every month to find the one or two that do anything for me.  Once in awhile I'll come across an artist or song that I missed that catches my attention (Børns's "10,000 Emerald Pools" is a good example, and it came out nine years ago), but it's few and far between.  It feels like most artists today are less concerned about writing catchy melodies with hooks.  They're too wrapped up in a sound as a crutch for their inability to write a decent song.  

[/rant]

I was with ya till the bit about not listening to new music. I have a voracious appetite for music, and I still enjoy a ton of newly-released music across many genres. But yeah, I am convinced lists like this one are basically made to be controversial and get people fired up.

I have to also add that "You Oughtta Know" by Alanis is a banger. Just a monster of a song. Giving it to "More Human Than Human" makes no fuckin' sense whatsoever.

[downzy]

1 hour ago, Voodoochild said:

I agree with most of what you said. I would just add a thing to your rant: maybe that's true about rock music, but the alternative/indie scene is still pretty good IMO. I've been listening to a lot of new artists thanks to some great algorithms on Spotify, although I understand people's reservation with the platform. 

Yeah, the few artists that have caught my ear the last 10 or so years have all been in that genre, plus indie-folk.  

Hozier, Vampire Weekend, The Black Keys, Lord Huron, Alt-J, Nathaniel Rateliff, Fitz and the Tantrums, The Lumineers, Børns, Future Islands.  There are certainly artists in this genre that have put out some decent tunes in the last 10-15 years.  But other than a few albums by Vampire Weekend, Nathaniel Rateliff, and the Black Keys, there aren't that many artists where I will listen to their entire albums.  Most put out one or two decent tracks, but too often songs start to blend into one another and I lose interest.  You can't say the same about artists like Guns N' Roses or, say, Radiohead.

4 hours ago, Voodoochild said:

But people need to have a better understanding of that and actively search for new stuff, which isn't harder than back in the 90s.  Also a problem is that there is too much stuff out there, it gets hard to get to know some new song and get used to it if it's not made to be catchy.

Really?  In the 90s you just had to turn on the radio or maybe read some reviews in a music magazine.  Gatekeepers kept a lot of the bad to mediocre artists off the airwaves (though, I'm sure a few great ones got lost in the shuffle).  As a result we were exposed largely to the best out there.  

The barrier to entry to make music is so low these days.  Forget about learning music theory or even an instrument - people can now create music with a computer, a beat generator and some MIDI packs.  And no one needs a record deal anymore to get distributed.  I read that somewhere around 100k new songs are uploaded to Spotify every day.  As you said, there's way too much music to sort through now.

The other problem is on the listener's side.  Music is so accessible these days; there's no real cost other than our time to listen and digest what we're hearing.  Prior to the internet, access to music was a rare but valued thing.  You'd buy an album/cd and listen to it for a week or month straight because you couldn't afford to buy another one right away.  Music was an investment.  Songs that might not have hit right away were given time.  Now it's so easy to skip to the next track.  Music has become more disposable but we also treat it like it's disposable.  

[downzy]

4 hours ago, GnR Chris said:

I was with ya till the bit about not listening to new music. I have a voracious appetite for music, and I still enjoy a ton of newly-released music across many genres

Well, I'm jealous.  I wish I could enjoy new music like you do.

I watched the film Saltburn a few weeks ago and my ears perked up at the end when Sophie Ellis-Bextor's "Murder on the Dance Floor" closed out the film.  I was excited to hear a "new" song that had a killer hook in the chorus.  Googled it and discovered the song came out in 2002. LOL. 

I mostly find new music these days through watching television shows and movies.  I discovered Børns's "10,000 Emerald Pools" by watching the The Fall of the House of Usher on Netflix.  I just don't have the energy to sort through 100s of songs to find something that grabs my attention and has me humming the tune for the next week.  

[tboneman]

Rock and metal is still somewhat big here in Europe. And since the song for 2021 in that Loudwire list isn't Zitti e buoni by Måneskin, I think that's an American list mostly. But even here it's more about pop and rap these days. Modern music, what is on the radio at least, is now more and more about solo artists (cheaper for record companies than a band of 5 members) and most importantly what's popular on TikTok in a 15 sec dance video.

 

[Voodoochild]

14 hours ago, downzy said:

Yeah, the few artists that have caught my ear the last 10 or so years have all been in that genre, plus indie-folk.  

Hozier, Vampire Weekend, The Black Keys, Lord Huron, Alt-J, Nathaniel Rateliff, Fitz and the Tantrums, The Lumineers, Børns, Future Islands.  There are certainly artists in this genre that have put out some decent tunes in the last 10-15 years.  But other than a few albums by Vampire Weekend, Nathaniel Rateliff, and the Black Keys, there aren't that many artists where I will listen to their entire albums.  Most put out one or two decent tracks, but too often songs start to blend into one another and I lose interest.  You can't say the same about artists like Guns N' Roses or, say, Radiohead.

Really?  In the 90s you just had to turn on the radio or maybe read some reviews in a music magazine.  Gatekeepers kept a lot of the bad to mediocre artists off the airwaves (though, I'm sure a few great ones got lost in the shuffle).  As a result we were exposed largely to the best out there.  

The barrier to entry to make music is so low these days.  Forget about learning music theory or even an instrument - people can now create music with a computer, a beat generator and some MIDI packs.  And no one needs a record deal anymore to get distributed.  I read that somewhere around 100k new songs are uploaded to Spotify every day.  As you said, there's way too much music to sort through now.

The other problem is on the listener's side.  Music is so accessible these days; there's no real cost other than our time to listen and digest what we're hearing.  Prior to the internet, access to music was a rare but valued thing.  You'd buy an album/cd and listen to it for a week or month straight because you couldn't afford to buy another one right away.  Music was an investment.  Songs that might not have hit right away were given time.  Now it's so easy to skip to the next track.  Music has become more disposable but we also treat it like it's disposable.  

Well, it depends. I really liked Meg Myers 2018 Take me To The Disco album, or HAIMs 2020 Women in Music Part. III. Full albums, with maybe a filler or two. Or Fiona Apple's Fetch the Bolt Cutters. Those are some from the top of my head and only from female singers/band. Sure, it's only my taste.

About the gatekeepers: that was my main problem. You may feel different because I assume you're from US, but growing up in the 80s and 90s here in Brazil there would be your gatekeepers and then our gatekeepers filtering everything. Plus, we of course have our local music too, which is great and it's a lot more popular. There was simply not room enough for everything, so it was really hard to get exposed to great English-based content. I used to discover some stuff on MTV really late at night with shows that introduced me to stuff like Pixies, Live, Beck, Regina Spektor and even Fiona Apple. 

But yes, I agree that music is treated as a disposable product now. The Top 10 artists from streaming is not something to look for at all. 

 

[downzy]

1 hour ago, Voodoochild said:

Fiona Apple's Fetch the Bolt Cutters.

I could not get through this album.  I appreciate she's trying to do something new, but it just didn't work for me.  It got plenty of great reviews, but I think its audience is pretty niche.

1 hour ago, Voodoochild said:

About the gatekeepers: that was my main problem. You may feel different because I assume you're from US, but growing up in the 80s and 90s here in Brazil there would be your gatekeepers and then our gatekeepers filtering everything. Plus, we of course have our local music too, which is great and it's a lot more popular. There was simply not room enough for everything, so it was really hard to get exposed to great English-based content. I used to discover some stuff on MTV really late at night with shows that introduced me to stuff like Pixies, Live, Beck, Regina Spektor and even Fiona Apple. 

Yeah, I didn't think about that.  We were certainly spoiled in that respect in North America.  Though, I still remember paying someone in Brazil to send me the GNR Tokyo DVDs back in the early 2000s as they weren't released in North America. 

I do agree that some bands didn't get the attention they deserved because of the system that was in place in the 80s and 90s.  There were bands like the Pixies that didn't get a ton of radio play during their prime (though alt stations are all too happy to play "Where Is My Mind" and "There Goes My Man").  But it didn't feel like a full time job like finding new music does not (at least for me).  

[Voodoochild]

33 minutes ago, downzy said:

I could not get through this album.  I appreciate she's trying to do something new, but it just didn't work for me.  It got plenty of great reviews, but I think its audience is pretty niche.

Yeah, I didn't think about that.  We were certainly spoiled in that respect in North America.  Though, I still remember paying someone in Brazil to send me the GNR Tokyo DVDs back in the early 2000s as they weren't released in North America. 

I do agree that some bands didn't get the attention they deserved because of the system that was in place in the 80s and 90s.  There were bands like the Pixies that didn't get a ton of radio play during their prime (though alt stations are all too happy to play "Where Is My Mind" and "There Goes My Man").  But it didn't feel like a full time job like finding new music does not (at least for me).  

Sorry, just realized you're from Canada. 

Yeah, I remember those DVDs. It had some problems, though. Can't remember exactly, but was one of them out of sync? 

And I believe you wanted to say Here Comes Your Man.  

One of the early 2000s band that I discovered back then was Placebo. Sure it had a single on a the Cruel Intentions movie, but besides that, it wasn't well known. Even Muse was not really mainstream rock here in the Plugin Baby era. 

[downzy]

3 hours ago, Voodoochild said:

And I believe you wanted to say Here Comes Your Man.  

LOL.  Yeah, I'm terrible with song names and lyrics.  Never really listen to lyrics much; never know what Axl is singing about half the time.  

[D4NNY]

22 hours ago, downzy said:

I watched the film Saltburn a few weeks ago and my ears perked up at the end when Sophie Ellis-Bextor's "Murder on the Dance Floor" closed out the film.

That is literally such a guilty pleasure of mine, even played it a few days ago in the car. #Noshame. 😂

[Ant000]

Nickleback's Photograph is better than Little Sister by QOTSA?

 

Objectively wrong. List is void. Next. 

[downzy]

3 hours ago, Ant000 said:

Nickleback's Photograph is better than Little Sister by QOTSA?

 

Objectively wrong. List is void. Next. 

Didn't you know there's a rehabilitation effort under way for some truly terrible bands (Creed, Limp Bizkit, Nickelback)?

We live in some strange times.  

3 hours ago, D4NNY said:

That is literally such a guilty pleasure of mine, even played it a few days ago in the car. #Noshame. 😂

The song rocks.  Couldn't stop singing the chorus for days after hearing it.  

[DK6]

Scandinavian rock music is still great - particularly norwegian.

Has its own style. So much better than US or UK in my opinion.

The good the bad and the zugly, gluecifer, combos, blood command, silver, turbonegro, barren womb, bokassa (first album), flash house, magick touch, nude pube banglers, shevils. 

 

[gunsnchalupas]

On 2/1/2024 at 10:21 AM, downzy said:

Some of these choices are absurd.  Didn't mean this post to turn into a rant but here it goes.  

Twisted Sister's "We're Not Going to Take It" over Van Halen's "Panama"?  Not a chance.

How do they give it to the Crue's "Home Sweet Home" over Bryan Adams' "Summer of '69"?  Adams song dominated the charts in a way that was no way comparable to HSH.  It still gets way more radio airplay than anything Motley Crue has made.  Not saying that HSH isn't a good song.  But Adam's song is iconic (even if it's overplayed).

And while Pour Some Sugar On Me is an anthem, I have a hard time understanding how they chose it over Sweet Child O' Mine.  GNR's track went #1 on the Billboard Hot 100; PSSOM topped out at #2.  SCOM has over 1.7 billion streams on Spotify; Def Leppard's track has just over 400 million.  SCOM has one of the most iconic intros of all time, not to mention its solo.  And while Axl's lyrics may not win any Pulitzers with this track, PSSOM has what I think is some of the worst lyrics in all of rock music ("Listen, red light, yellow light, green-a-light go, Crazy little woman in a one man show," "Do you take sugar, one lump or two.").  This isn't even a contest (and SCOM isn't even in my top five favourite Guns tracks).

Personally, for 1994 I'd take either "Black Hole Sun" or "Interstate Love Song" over Green Day's "When I Come Around."  Black Hole Sun is incredibly unique in terms of its chord arrangements (name me another hit song that starts with a sus chord).  I think "Interstate Love Song" is one of the best songs written of all time.  

I get it's arbitrary, but how they chose White Zombie's "More Human Than Human" over Alanis's "You Oughtta Know" is crazy.  The Zombie's track has a cool guitar riff, but that's all that song really is.  There's not much of a melody.  You Oughtta Know was a monster with a killer chorus that dominated airwaves for months, if not an entire year.

And while I really like Hole's "Celebrity Skin," there's no way it deserves more credit than Foo Fighter's "My Hero."  Not a huge Foo Fighter's fan, but that's one of the better written songs of the decade.

It's hard to take a list seriously that doesn't include Radiohead's "Paranoid Android" for 1997 (wasn't even included as a runner-up).  It is night and day better than any of the songs listed.  Crazy.

And I agree that it's hard to accept Creed as having released the best rock song for any year, the fact that it won for 1999 just goes to show how bad rock music was during this period.  I guess you could argue that RHCP's Californication album was decent, but that's not saying much.  The turn of the century was a dark time for rock music.  And while I personally enjoy Oh My God, I think we need to be honest that outside of the hardcore GNR fanbase, no one else did.  

2002 was a much better year, but they went with the weakest of the included tracks.  "Cochise" by Audioslave is fantastic.  Same with "No One Knows" by Queens of the Stone Age.  I really don't need or want to hear "All My Life" by Foo Fighters ever again.  "Get Free" by the Vines should have been included for 2002 as well.  Killer track.

The last rock song to still have cultural relevance is Seven Nation Army by The White Stripes.  It still gets played everywhere (movies, tv shows, literally every sporting event).  But whoever wrote this list gives the nod to "Bring Me Back to Life" by Evanescence.  Sure Jan.

[rant]
It's amazing how irrelevant rock becomes after 2005/2006.  Paramore, Five Finger Death Punch, Halestorm, and a bunch of bands I had never heard of and likely few others outside of diehard rock fans have.  And no offence to Ghost fans, but if Dance Macabre was the best rock song in 2018, that's not saying much for rock music.  It's not a bad track, but it sounds like a b-side from the early 80s (like Loverboy). 

This is a big reason why I generally don't listen to new music anymore.  At best, it's mediocre.  There's a reason why 70 percent of streams are from back catalogues.  I've come to the conclusion that most great songs have either been written or it's just too hard to mine for more gems at this point.  Rock music use to have catchy melodies that were sung over interesting and diverse chord progressions or time signatures.  Artists tried to incorporate their influences but to do their own thing, make their own sound.  Now they all sound the same.  It's just strumming 1/8th notes in drop d tuning with little concern for giving audiences a hook.  It has grown so stale that I can't be bothered to listen to hundreds of mediocre songs every month to find the one or two that do anything for me.  Once in awhile I'll come across an artist or song that I missed that catches my attention (Børns's "10,000 Emerald Pools" is a good example, and it came out nine years ago), but it's few and far between.  It feels like most artists today are less concerned about writing catchy melodies with hooks.  They're too wrapped up in a sound as a crutch for their inability to write a decent song.  

[/rant]

You misread, Absurd wasn't on the list. 

[Stay.Of.Execution]

While general rock has gone downhill for decades now, the subgenres have stepped up. But of course they're mostly not that popular with the average joe.

Festival organizers should be very afraid in 10-20 years when all the big bands have called it quits

Edited February 5 by Stay.Of.Execution

[Voodoochild]

On 2/2/2024 at 5:54 PM, D4NNY said:

That is literally such a guilty pleasure of mine, even played it a few days ago in the car. #Noshame. 😂

On 2/2/2024 at 9:38 PM, downzy said:

The song rocks.  Couldn't stop singing the chorus for days after hearing it.  

The video is even better. I didn't know the song until my wife told me about it last year, before the movie came out. 

The problem is that my dentist was listening to this song when she was treating me with some torture instrument, and now I remember that every time I hear it. 

[downzy]

6 hours ago, Stay.Of.Execution said:

Festival organizers should be very afraid in 10-20 years when all the big bands have called it quits

I think they're already in trouble.  Did you see the headliners for this year's Cochella?  Yikes.  People will still go because it's Cochella and it's almost a rite of passage for people living in Southern California. 

But yeah, the touring/festival industry will be in real trouble.  Labels now make most of their money from their catalogues.  They're not in the business of minting new superstars. 

Everything is so niche these days.  Music seems almost persona driven these days than music.  Everyone (well, not everyone, maybe just Jay-Z and Beyonce's hardcore fans) is upset that Beyonce hasn't won best album award at the Grammies.  But honestly, are people paying attention to her music because it's great or because it's Beyonce at this point?  I haven't heard a decent track from her in 12-14 years.

5 hours ago, Voodoochild said:

The video is even better. I didn't know the song until my wife told me about it last year, before the movie came out. 

The problem is that my dentist was listening to this song when she was treating me with some torture instrument, and now I remember that every time I hear it. 

That sucks.  You should have said, "hey, don't ruin this song for me!  Do you have any recent Beyonce?"

[Stay.Of.Execution]

18 minutes ago, downzy said:

I think they're already in trouble.  Did you see the headliners for this year's Cochella?  Yikes.  People will still go because it's Cochella and it's almost a rite of passage for people living in Southern California. 

 

yea its pretty pathetic, but aside from 1 or 2 bands i believe coachella always had a pretty ridiculous lineup, no?

[downzy]

1 hour ago, Stay.Of.Execution said:

yea its pretty pathetic, but aside from 1 or 2 bands i believe coachella always had a pretty ridiculous lineup, no?

They were always known for getting big bands/artists, particularly those who hadn't played together in awhile.  Headlining Coachella was (and I assume still is) a huge pay day for artists.  But a lot of these artists had massive catalogues or were iconic acts that had multi-decade careers.