No, seriously, I needed to take a break for a little bit. I already wore myself out way too quickly. My bad. But NEVER FEAR, because I'm back, and we WILL finish this first list, if nothing else. THY WILL BE DONE.
The next update will be posted as soon as I upload the next set's photos to Photobucket, which should be shortly.
Yeah, I secretly knew that there was no way I could keep up that kind of pace for long. But we are alive again, so let's get down to business!
Hurt How We End Up Alone
#70s of the Past:
2011: Red Hot Chili Peppers - "The Adventures of Rain Dance Maggie"
2010: Linkin Park - "The Catalyst"
2009: Filter - "Happy Together"
At the beginning of the year, I liked this song enough, I guess. Other than the powerful ending (more on that in a minute), I thought that the song was okay, certainly not on the level of, say, their breakout hit "Rapture". As the year passed, however, this song kept sticking around, for some reason. It was around November where I had an epiphany: This song was genuinely good! It's still not on the level of "Rapture", but it's just so instinctively powerful in its sound. The ending, in particular, is one of my favorite music moments of 2012. The power that surrounded the song from the start pushes itself into our psyches and into our eardrums and makes sure that we focus on it. And boy, did I ever. Even after a full year, the combination of Hurt's musical brutality and the pleading vocals J. Loren Wince still gives me goosebumps.
Florence + the Machine Spectrum
#69s of the Past:
2011: Katy Perry - "The One That Got Away"
2010: Slayer - "Beauty Through Order"
2009: Bloc Party - "One Month Off"
And no, I'm not referring to the Calvin Harris remix. Is it a good remix? Sure. It's fun to dance along to and lose your mind to, as Calvin Harris is a maestro that gets people on the dance floor within moments. But I'm referring to the original "Spectrum", the song that was already plenty catchy and dance-worthy, with the added awesomeness of the primal tribe sound that, honestly, was lost in translation in the remix. In fact, along with the sheer ferocity of Florence Welch's vocals in the chorus, that primal drum beat is what makes the song for me. I'm not sure that I would say that it's a travesty that the original is going to be kept out of the limelight in place of the remix, because, again, I like the remix. But I just hope that people don't forget about the original along the way.
Green Day Let Yourself Go
#68s of the Past:
2011: Florence + the Machine - "Shake It Out"
2010: Crash Kings - "Mountain Man"
2009: Orianthi - "According to You"
I was so disappointed in Green Day's most recent efforts, though least of all ĦUno!. Even though the album feels like Green Day retreads, at least it has a familiar feeling that's easier to grasp. Enter "Let Yourself Go", which feels so much like Green Day that it basically reeks of dookie. (SEEWHATIDIDTHUR?!) But that's not a bad thing! As odd as this sounds, especially coming from someone who LOVES when artists make progressive moves with their sound, I'd prefer if Green Day continues to perform music like the music in "Let Yourself Go". Don't reinvent the wheel. Just be Green Day. And don't change. For the love of GOD, don't change.
Alabama Shakes Hold On
#67s of the Past:
2011: Kaiser Chiefs - "Little Shocks"
2010: Otep - "Rise, Rebel, Resist"
2009: Arctic Monkeys - "Cornerstone"
I actually remember being disappointed when I listened to the first version of "Hold On". The first time that I listened to this song, I listened to the video version. It was a mind-blowing tune that took me back to a time when all you really needed was a little heart and soul to make some great rock. I couldn't get the song out of my head. The vocals (the ****ING vocals) of Brittany Howard soar and grind into your soul in such a way that they're impossible to forget after listening to them. After listening to the first version, is it any wonder that they went and re-recorded the song? It's like going from owning a beat-up Volkswagen Beetle to owning a Rolls Royce. The quality really does improve quite noticeably from one recording to another.
Phillip Phillips Home
#66s of the Past:
2011: Avenged Sevenfold - "Buried Alive"
2010: Eminem - "Not Afraid"
2009: Green Day - "21st Century Breakdown"
It's really hard to believe that a new American Idol winner can have this much of an impact on me in 2012, but it's not really because of the artist. I mean, Phillip Phillips seems like a talented enough guy, and he has a nice voice, but he's not uber-talented or has a voice worthy of the music gods. The truth is that the song is the star here. It's one of the most interesting pop songs in quite some time, as if it took the best aspects of artists like Mumford & Sons and melded them together to try and create the ultimate catchy folk rock tune. It works really well, and it shows in how the song has performed on the Hot 100 and digitally ever since. The song is inescapable. It will enter your psyche and you will like it, dammit. You really don't have a choice in the matter.
Danko Jones Just A Beautiful Day
#65s of the Past:
2011: 30 Seconds to Mars - "Hurricane 2.0"
2010: Flyleaf - "Missing"
2009: Demi Lovato - "Remember December"
Ladies and gentlemen, give it up for Danko Jones on autopilot! Oddly enough, Danko Jones on autopilot still kicks ass, though! I mean, this is the same Danko Jones that I've listened to since "Full of Regret" first invaded my eardrums, right down to the pounding drums, the growling vocals, and the over-arching guitar riffs. It's Danko Jones 101. So why can't I stop listening to the song? Why does it keep popping up and I can't bring myself to skip it? It took me a while to figure it out, but, really, the sound of Danko Jones just works, even when on autopilot. There's nothing unique, sexy, or incredibly interesting about it. It's just there, rocking your ass off until you beg for mercy. And sometimes, that's all you really need.
Lights Banner
#64s of the Past:
2011: Crystal Castles ft. Robert Smith - "Not in Love"
2010: Kings of Leon - "Radioactive"
2009: Bury Your Dead - "Without You"
Lights dominated 2011 for me in a way that not even Korn could. She had such an effect on me that I had to name Siberia my album of the year, despite the fact that Korn had released an album the same year. And her looks only were part of the equation. Take her looks out of the equation, and you still have this incredibly catchy music to listen to after the fact. "Banner" was one of the standout tracks for many upon release, so it's not surprising that a) it was released as a single, and b) it's also on my top 100 for the year. Where do I think it stands on Siberia? Middle of the pack. But it's also "middle of the pack" on one hell of a great pop album. Nothing to be ashamed of there.
Bruce Springsteen We Take Care Of Our Own
#63s of the Past:
2011: Foster the People - "Call It What You Want"
2010: Metric - "Gold Guns Girls"
2009: Metallica - "Broken, Beat & Scarred"
It seems like there has been a minor (and growing) backlash against Bruce Springsteen's Wrecking Ball recently. I understand the criticisms, I do! The lyrics may not be ambitious enough, and the sound may still sound too produced for Bruce's raw emotions to really hit a nerve. I get it. But that's the thing. The one thing that is not missing, the one thing that still separates an album like Wrecking Ball from lesser fare, is raw emotion. It is here where Bruce Springsteen will continue to shine until the day that he stops recording music. The man wears his emotions on his sleeve and is not afraid to show us. Here, he's frustrated with we still refuse to help each other out, despite how shaky the economy remains. Regardless of how you feel about the lyrics or their ambitiousness (or lack thereof), you cannot deny that Springsteen is as passionate as he has ever been about what he is singing about.
Three Days Grace Chalk Outline
#62s of the Past:
2011: Skrillex - "First of the Year (Equinox)"
2010: Alter Bridge - "Isolation"
2009: The Gaslight Anthem - "Great Expectations"
Listening to "Chalk Outline" for the first time was the most excited I have ever been listening to a Three Days Grace song for the first time since I first listened to (and was subsequently disappointed by) "Animal I Have Become". This is the Three Days Grace that had me feeling in 2003 that they could have been something truly special in a scene where nobody is special anymore. In 2003, Three Days Grace's sound stood out. Today, it doesn't, primarily because many artists hooked on to their sound and made a killing do so. "Chalk Outline" is the closest TDG has come to pushing the pretenders away since they inspired the pretenders. It's visceral, it's brutal, it's powerful, and it's exactly what drew me to Three Days Grace in the first place.
Tegan and Sara Closer
#61s of the Past:
2011: Five Finger Death Punch - "Under and Over It"
2010: Avenged Sevenfold - "Welcome to the Family"
2009: Otep - "Smash the Control Machine"
I actually laughed the first time I saw somebody get angry about this style change from Tegan and Sara, as if they were shocked that the girls had fully embraced their (always lingering) pop sound and had run with it. But is anyone REALLY surprised? Tegan and Sara have always had a pop twinge. It's part of what has made them so interesting over the years. "Closer" is just the duo realizing that there's no point in trying to run away from what's creeping up on them. Instead, they embrace it lovingly, and it shows. The song is still the catchy and interesting Tegan and Sara that we're accustomed to, only they go the extra mile and go full pop with astounding results. If this is the sound that Tegan and Sara tackles from here on, I'm all for it.
The next update will either be the next set (60-51) or the next Superlative, either of which WILL be up later today, because I have a lot of catching up to do. If you get the next set before the Superlative, you get to look forward to the most listened to song of 2012 (for better or for worse), a single from an artist I NEVER expected to put on one of these singles lists, the awaited return of an artist that makes a return to their glory days, and the second single from an artist that just appeared on this last set. See you then!
Oh, and by the way, expect me to get around to commenting on EVERYONE'S year-enders before the weekend is through. Trust me.
PS: Photobucket's new method of changing pic titles...all I'm going to say is that I'm not pleased.
"Spectrum", the song that was already plenty catchy and dance-worthy, with the added awesomeness of the primal tribe sound that, honestly, was lost in translation in the remix. In fact, along with the sheer ferocity of Florence Welch's vocals in the chorus, that primal drum beat is what makes the song for me.
I love both versions of Spectrum about equally; Harris's mix give the song a little more punch in the chorus, and the original version has the best bridge on Ceremonials. Either way, it's a worthy song.
And hey, I'm just going to keep knocking stuff out of the park today! Here's the second Superlative of the YECA...finally! Let's take a look at my...
Jay-Z and Kanye West - No Church in the Wild
Honorable Mentions:
AWOLNATION - Kill Your Heroes
Foster the People - Houdini
M83 - Reunion
M.I.A. - Bad Girls
Honestly, I didn't connect to that many music videos in 2012, certainly not on the scale that I did in 2011. But a few vids did catch my eye. I loved the Mr. Rogers sendup that AWOLNATION provided, and Foster the People and M83 both provided quite solid videos. But no singular video wowed me quite like "No Church in the Wild" did this year. Romain Gavras gave us one hell of a cinematic-esque journey in his five minute opus for one of the year's best songs. Riots abound in the Czech Republic, and protestors and riot police do battle throughout the clip. The visceral mix of slo-mo action and real-time insanity really stands out, but it's just the sheer wow factor that continues to make me watch the video after first being wowed by it in May. You feel as if you are really in the mouth of madness, amongst the sea of people fighting for their lives against an oppresive force. The cinematography is just out of this world for a music video, and that one aspect separates it from its closest competition. This really feelsl ike a five minute movie. THAT is why it's my favorite music video of the year. It's a two-hour film about a country in crisis shortened to five exciting and pulse-pounding minutes. Music videos really don't get much more cinematic than this.
And just like that, I've done more today than I have done in eight days. Ridiculous. The next Superlative will be my look at the Best Movie of 2012. If you've been paying attention in the Best of forum, you might have an idea of what that is. If you haven't? Stay tuned.
So true about T&S. "Closer" is a sound they were already exploring on their awesome collabo with Tiesto a few years back.
So great to see the BOSSSSS getting his due. Wasn't a big fan of any of the Green Day Trilogy. What a messy era for them. Hopefully they can remedy some of it with their tour in 2013, if it ever gets rescheduled.
And I have to be on team remix for Spectrum - although yes, the original is dope.