Continuing on with the best of the decade...Here are the next 25 tracks. Click on the links to listen. Enjoy.
100. Too Late - Mike Ruocco
Just another act I liked relegated to the scrap heap of music history, Mike Ruocco fronted a short-lived band called Cinder Road, who I actually saw open for Puddle of Mudd sometime during the previous decade. This solo track came a bit later on, and disappeared as fast as it arrived.
99. Bonfire Heart - James Blunt
98. Dead End Ride - Mike Tramp
97. My Little Secret - Cavo
This St. Louis rock band had a couple of modern rock radio hits off their debut CD in the waning days of the 00's. This one, my favorite track from the album, was a holdover into 2010, but didn't make much of a dent on the charts,
96. Dynamite - Any Given Sin
95. Crazy for You - Scars on 45
94. Sleeping With a Friend - Neon Trees
One of the acts that appears on my list who actually enjoyed a modicum of commercial success. Neon Trees could be called a three-hit wonder, and two of those hits drop on my Top 125.
93. Edge of Glory - Lady Gaga
92. Don't You Give Up on Me - Lissie
91. The Road Not Taken - Johnny Hates Jazz
Didn't these guys come and go in 1988? Surprisingly, they made a sudden reappearance on the music landscape in 2013. The first single from that year's Magnetized actually started to gain some exposure in Europe before lead singer, Clark Datchler, fell ill with cancer, and they had to stop promoting the album. This pensive ballad stood out for me.
90. Eye of the Storm - Scorpions
89. Moth Into Flame - Metallica
Twenty-eight years after ...And Justice For All notoriously (and inexplicably) lost in the Hard Rock/Metal Performance category to Jethro Tull, the Grammy Awards managed to f**k Metallica again, only this time, on stage. In a rare instance of me looking forward to an awards show performance, the grizzled rockers were slated to perform this single live with Lady Gaga, only to have James Hetfield's mic be shut off, unbeknownst to him, throughout the entire first verse. Hetfield made the realization and started sharing a mic with Gaga, but it really put a damper on the performance of what I thought was a really strong comeback single. Adding insult to injury, they lost their only nomination of the night. Luckily the dress rehearsal footage sounds great and was posted to Youtube (link above).
88. Scars on This Guitar - Bon Jovi
87. Rhinoceros - Juliana Hatfield
86. False Eye - Faryn Sand
The planets aligned back in 2009 when I lost my job, and my sister informed me of a desire to professionally record music. A trip to the SxSW music festival later, ProGenitor Entertainment was born, and we released a three-song EP that didn't break any chart records, but which was streamed and downloaded as far away as Australia and Japan. We caused our own version of a stir with "Faryn Sand Day" - an effort which saw friends and family bomb local DJs with requests for this track, the single from the EP. Although I may be biased, I do think "False Eye" in particular is a really strong piece of songwriting, and I believe it deserves its rightful place on my decade-end countdown.
85. Another Life - Any Given Sin
84. September - Daughtry
83. Pull Me Through - Tyrone Wells
The second of five entries on my list from this Washington-bred singer-songwriter. Wells' "More" popped in at #26 on my best of the '00's list a decade ago. He didn't slow down by any means in the 2010s - starting off with the Metal & Wood EP, which includes this standout track.
82. I Miss the Misery - Halestorm
81. Rise - Ed Kowalczyk
80. Burn it Down - Linkin Park
79. The Ghost in You - Duncan Sheik
78. My Bed - Dixie Maxwell
I've touted the music from the Maxwell sisters - Catrien and Dixie - quite a bit over the past decade or so. I still think they both should have been superstars. No clearer evidence of that than on this stellar track from Dixie's 2013 EP, still up on the Bandcamp site.
77. Lesson Learned - Alice in Chains
76. Impossible - Anberlin
Tuesday, December 31, 2019
Tuesday, December 17, 2019
Top 125 of 2010s (125-101)
My first blog post in nearly three years is, of course, monumental in nature. My end of the decade recap of the best songs the 2010s had to offer. What could be more exciting? Why 125? Basically that's when I got tired of ranking them 😄
Most of these songs will continue to get airplay...in my car. Most of them were not commercial hits to begin with, but a few were. There are 11 cover songs, a Fozzy, an Ozzy, 3 songs about praying, one that made it to Broadway, 9 artists with 3 or more entries on the list, including one with 8, a little country, a little rock, a little singer-songwriter, a little hair metal, a little Christian rock, 8 former lead singers, and 1 sister.
Here are the first 25 selections. Click on the links to listen. Enjoy.
125. Minute of Your Time - First Signal
124. We Belong - Def Leppard
The Leps have long been my favorite band of all-time. This one from their most recent studio album doesn't come close to their work from the 80's and 90's, but it does add a touch of originality. It's the only track they've ever recorded featuring lead vocals from every band member. Cool enough to warrant a spot on my list.
123. Words As Weapons - Seether
I stupidly overlooked a couple stellar Seether songs when I compiled my best of the 00's list. Not to make the same mistake this time around, I included seven entries from the South African rockers on this list. It starts with this one from 2014's Isolate and Medicate.
122. I'm Not Your Suicide - Michael Sweet
121. Nothing More - The Alternate Routes
120. Crash - Cavo
119. Don't Got One - Hailey Knox
I saw Hailey perform live with her sister, Samantha, when they were pre-teens. Now, 20, Hailey's been signed by a major label, recorded an EP and a mixtape, appeared on The Today Show, sung the national anthem at Madison Square Garden, and opened on tour for Charlie Puth. What are you doing with your life?
118. Down By the Water - The Decemberists
117. This Moment Now - Tyrone Wells
116. Right Now - Fire From the Gods
Keeping rock alive in 2019, this is the first entry from the last year of the decade.
115. Would I Lie to You - Mike Tramp
Former lead singer of 80's hair band, White Lion, Tramp has put out a surprising amount of solo material in the years since the group called it quits.
114. Cry - Kelly Clarkson
113. She is Getting Away - First Signal
112. Million Reasons - Lady Gaga
Overall, I'm not a humongous fan of Lady Gaga's music, but I do think she's one of the more extraordinarily talented pop stars of this generation. In a sea of banal choreography, lip-synched and auto-tuned garbage-churning, plastic tabloid fodder, Stefani Germanotta stands out as someone who can actually sing. This one caught my attention during her stellar performance at Super Bowl LI.
111. Lullaby Singer - Anna Nalick
A disappointing album for my tastes, 2017's At Now did spawn a couple of gems. This was the best of the bunch. Catch her live show if you can.
110. Love Shines - Ron Sexsmith
109. Warrior - Evaride
Evaride is a trio of interesting origin - a singer who starred on Broadway in the Green Day-inspired "American Idiot," a guitarist who's played alongside Jennifer Lopez and Demi Lovato, and the former touring drummer for One Direction. I don't know much about their music, other than this anthem-esque track that blared through my TV repeatedly during Yankee game commercial breaks, in the ad for the RBI Baseball '19 video game. It's an earworm.
108. All In - Lifehouse
107. Animals - Maroon 5
106. Days Go By - The Offspring
105. Last of My Broken Hearts - First Signal
Harry Hess is a Canadian producer/singer who has released a boatload of albums with his band, Harem Scarem. I'd never heard a single song they'd done when I accidentally stumbled across his more recent project, First Signal, on Spotify a couple years ago. Sounding like they were beamed directly out of the 80's AOR scene, FS actually released their first album in 2010. The real classic is their follow-up - 2016's One Step Over the Line, which featured two of the songs already noted on this countdown, as well as one still to come. "Last of My Broken Hearts" is actually their latest single, and the second song from 2019 to make an appearance on this list.
104. Here and Now - Seether
103. Broken Over You - Vertical Horizon
102. We Ain't Telling - Dan Wilson
One of my favorite songwriters dating back to his days fronting Semisonic, Wilson has recently shunned the traditional album format in favor of releasing a string of individual singles. This is the most memorable of that effort to date.
101. Same Damn Life - Seether
Most of these songs will continue to get airplay...in my car. Most of them were not commercial hits to begin with, but a few were. There are 11 cover songs, a Fozzy, an Ozzy, 3 songs about praying, one that made it to Broadway, 9 artists with 3 or more entries on the list, including one with 8, a little country, a little rock, a little singer-songwriter, a little hair metal, a little Christian rock, 8 former lead singers, and 1 sister.
Here are the first 25 selections. Click on the links to listen. Enjoy.
125. Minute of Your Time - First Signal
124. We Belong - Def Leppard
The Leps have long been my favorite band of all-time. This one from their most recent studio album doesn't come close to their work from the 80's and 90's, but it does add a touch of originality. It's the only track they've ever recorded featuring lead vocals from every band member. Cool enough to warrant a spot on my list.
123. Words As Weapons - Seether
I stupidly overlooked a couple stellar Seether songs when I compiled my best of the 00's list. Not to make the same mistake this time around, I included seven entries from the South African rockers on this list. It starts with this one from 2014's Isolate and Medicate.
122. I'm Not Your Suicide - Michael Sweet
121. Nothing More - The Alternate Routes
120. Crash - Cavo
119. Don't Got One - Hailey Knox
I saw Hailey perform live with her sister, Samantha, when they were pre-teens. Now, 20, Hailey's been signed by a major label, recorded an EP and a mixtape, appeared on The Today Show, sung the national anthem at Madison Square Garden, and opened on tour for Charlie Puth. What are you doing with your life?
118. Down By the Water - The Decemberists
117. This Moment Now - Tyrone Wells
116. Right Now - Fire From the Gods
Keeping rock alive in 2019, this is the first entry from the last year of the decade.
115. Would I Lie to You - Mike Tramp
Former lead singer of 80's hair band, White Lion, Tramp has put out a surprising amount of solo material in the years since the group called it quits.
114. Cry - Kelly Clarkson
113. She is Getting Away - First Signal
112. Million Reasons - Lady Gaga
Overall, I'm not a humongous fan of Lady Gaga's music, but I do think she's one of the more extraordinarily talented pop stars of this generation. In a sea of banal choreography, lip-synched and auto-tuned garbage-churning, plastic tabloid fodder, Stefani Germanotta stands out as someone who can actually sing. This one caught my attention during her stellar performance at Super Bowl LI.
111. Lullaby Singer - Anna Nalick
A disappointing album for my tastes, 2017's At Now did spawn a couple of gems. This was the best of the bunch. Catch her live show if you can.
110. Love Shines - Ron Sexsmith
109. Warrior - Evaride
Evaride is a trio of interesting origin - a singer who starred on Broadway in the Green Day-inspired "American Idiot," a guitarist who's played alongside Jennifer Lopez and Demi Lovato, and the former touring drummer for One Direction. I don't know much about their music, other than this anthem-esque track that blared through my TV repeatedly during Yankee game commercial breaks, in the ad for the RBI Baseball '19 video game. It's an earworm.
108. All In - Lifehouse
107. Animals - Maroon 5
106. Days Go By - The Offspring
105. Last of My Broken Hearts - First Signal
Harry Hess is a Canadian producer/singer who has released a boatload of albums with his band, Harem Scarem. I'd never heard a single song they'd done when I accidentally stumbled across his more recent project, First Signal, on Spotify a couple years ago. Sounding like they were beamed directly out of the 80's AOR scene, FS actually released their first album in 2010. The real classic is their follow-up - 2016's One Step Over the Line, which featured two of the songs already noted on this countdown, as well as one still to come. "Last of My Broken Hearts" is actually their latest single, and the second song from 2019 to make an appearance on this list.
104. Here and Now - Seether
103. Broken Over You - Vertical Horizon
102. We Ain't Telling - Dan Wilson
One of my favorite songwriters dating back to his days fronting Semisonic, Wilson has recently shunned the traditional album format in favor of releasing a string of individual singles. This is the most memorable of that effort to date.
101. Same Damn Life - Seether
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