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The 2008 YECA: Attack of the Ambition (Top 10 MVs + ??)
Member Since: 1/3/2007
Posts: 3,637
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3/5
wow, i didn't expect to see Beck so high! I mean, higher than Chevelle  but both are great.
awesome set.
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ATRL Senior Member
Member Since: 6/9/2002
Posts: 6,789
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I haven't commented in roughly 3 years, but you've been doing really good work. 40-36 was so strong, prob my favorite set yet. The following two sets are also great, and it's nice to see Beck so high. Modern Guilt didn't seem to get its due this year.
woo!
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ATRL Moderator
Member Since: 12/21/2002
Posts: 20,569
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This list is so great, I've started a cult dedicated to green grapes and Vanilla Coke. YOU'RE MY FIRST MEMBER~!
"Kiss" is definitely one of the best Korn singles. Too bad radio didn't agree.
Ladytron, Shiny Toy Guns, and Beck ^_^
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Member Since: 6/16/2006
Posts: 9,960
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5/5
Sadly, Kiss is so low 
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ATRL Senior Member
Member Since: 9/26/2001
Posts: 22,475
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Attack of the Ambition: Top 80 Songs of 2008 (25-21)
Quote:
Originally posted by Johnald.
This list is so great, I've started a cult dedicated to green grapes and Vanilla Coke. YOU'RE MY FIRST MEMBER~!
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Green grapes = the godliest godly food there is.
Anywho, onto the next set, which will feature a song that just came out, a couple of the coolest guitar riffs of the year 2008, as well as a couple of songs from two critically successful albums.
 
May this be a bit high for a song that was released rather recently? Possibly. Is this Franz Ferdinand's best single? I can't say that it is, for certain. Is it fun and catchy as hell? 100 times out of 100, and, in a year that featured more gloom and doom than bright and light, sometimes, you NEED that fun in your life to come from entertainment. Some prefer television and films to fill that void, others play video games, and even more listen to music for that bliss. While "Ulysses" isn't, exactly, the deepest, most poignant song to ever be released, it doesn't need to be. It does exactly what it is required to do: Provide an experience that gets people out of their seats and dancing to the sound. And here's another case where the bass riff is absolutely incredible. Sensing a pattern yet?
YouTube Link: "Ulysses"
Where else do I begin with "Crawl" than the main riff? This riff is EXPLOSIVE stuff, which sounds totally out of place on an otherwise soft album. I'd say that this song, more than any other on the album, stands out for that very reason. Caleb Followill's vocals continue to be a highlight, but make no mistake about it: this is all about the music. You know how I've posted YouTube links for all of the songs? Well, this is one case where I BEG you to check out the YouTube link.
YouTube Link: "Crawl"
This song immediately kicks your ass with one of the most simple, yet most awesome beats of 2008, bar none. The electronic, fittingly machine gun-like drums being played in this song are what you will take from this song, more than anything else, but that's not to say that this song isn't kickass otherwise. Beth Gibbons hasn't lost a beat as the troubled vocalist of Portishead, sounding just as anguished and beautiful as ever. The second half of the song is purely instrumental, and, I'd argue, is even better than the first half of the song, especially the end, which will probably go down as one of my favorite ending music moments of the decade. TERMINATOR, MOTHER****ERS! CHE-YAH!
YouTube Link: "Machine Gun"
Honestly, a year from now, I'm going to look back at this list and wonder why "Nude" isn't higher. This is one of the twenty best songs of the year, but I can't bring myself to put it in the top twenty, for some reason. It's amazing to think that this song was written over ten years ago, and it took ten years for Radiohead to actually record a studio version of the song. After coming up with version after version of the song, Thom Yorke, still unsatisfied, came up with what we have here for In Rainbows. The result is one of the most beautiful songs of 2008, with the main body of the song featuring Yorke's gorgeous vocals, a very prominent bass riff, a simple drum beat, and an underlying electric guitar riff, all connecting and entwining into one. Very few bands can compete with the kind of harmony generated here.
YouTube Link: "Nude"
What's the first thing you think about when you think about "The Prey"? You said the main riff, right? I thought so. Created by Alkaline Trio frontman Matt Skiba, the "The Prey" riff is one of the most recognizable pieces of music that I can recall hearing in 2008. It has a distinctness to it, a uniqueness to it that separates it from the pack. Oh, and then, there's the fact that it's freaking awesome, but I digress. While the riff is, easily, the coolest part about this song, I adore the chorus, and this is one song that never fails to make me happy. Could that be due to how anti-religion this song? Maybe, maybe not. The song's still awesome, either way.
YouTube Link: "The Prey" (again, only a live version.)
The top 20 begins next, and thank god. The top 20 is the point when we really start getting into songs that the average ATRL user probably has not listened to. And that is why I have the YouTube links. However, if nothing else, the next set will have what will likely be the most popular song of the top 80. I have a feeling you may already know what it is, but I won't spoil it before I post 20-16, which should be sometime soon. Probably tomorrow.
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ATRL Moderator
Member Since: 2/19/2003
Posts: 34,484
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MACHINE GUN. That is all!
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Member Since: 1/9/2004
Posts: 9,558
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I wasn't really feeling "Crawl". Sorry. :-\
"Nude" made it REAL close to making my countdown, but one of the others day is sitting pretty about, oh, 3 more updates away?
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Banned
Member Since: 10/21/2001
Posts: 25,547
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Ashes Divide <3 
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ATRL Moderator
Member Since: 12/21/2002
Posts: 20,569
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Portishead don't give a **** about Bigfoot. Neither do ASHES dIVIDE.
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ATRL Senior Member
Member Since: 7/23/2007
Posts: 35,994
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ATRL Senior Member
Member Since: 11/6/2002
Posts: 10,641
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I haven't heard "Crawl", but the rest sure know how to party!
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ATRL Senior Member
Member Since: 3/19/2008
Posts: 37,076
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Ulyseeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeees 
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Member Since: 9/18/2005
Posts: 6,209
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ok now that you have all those at 25-21, I take back what I said about ladytron.
ulysses is tons of fun, kings of leon and radiohead don't disappoint and machine gun is one of the most heartbreaking things heard this year.
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Member Since: 2/26/2006
Posts: 62,897
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Kings Of Leon!
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Member Since: 9/3/2006
Posts: 27,884
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Machine Gun + Nude = 
I actually like all of those songs, great set!
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ATRL Senior Member
Member Since: 1/20/2004
Posts: 46,574
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Member Since: 8/2/2006
Posts: 31,102
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ATRL Senior Member
Member Since: 10/1/2002
Posts: 14,726
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So. First - ULYSSES! Who cares how new it is. It's ****ing ace.
KOL - love "Crawl". Along with "Closer" - these gotta be the next two singles.
And wicked for "Nude". One of the best off In Rainbows. Top 20 - bring it.
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Member Since: 11/10/2005
Posts: 13,968
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cool set
franz ferdinand, kings of leon, radiohead 
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ATRL Senior Member
Member Since: 9/26/2001
Posts: 22,475
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Attack of the Ambition: Top 80 Songs of 2008 (Songs 20-16)
It's, finally, time to get into the top 20. Yes, it's still looking like this YECA will be done before Christmas. Shocking, I know.
No other song this year had a song title that 100% accurately described just what this song does. "Rock Out" is one of the most energetic, powerful, and just plain FUN pieces of music that I've heard in a long time, and it has to be because of how carefree the attitude of this song (and, really, the band) is. Lemmy, at 62, still rocks out harder than most singers that he could, conceivably, be the grandfather of. The guitars and drums, while not differentiating too much from the normal Motorhead sound, still have a intensity to them that I can't recall hearing on their most recent albums. Then, of course, there's the lyrics. Yeah, they're dumb. Most Motorhead lyrics are. However, if you can resist the urge to sing along to the chorus, chances are, this song wasn't meant for you, to begin with.
YouTube Link: "Rock Out"
In a year filled with awesome guitar riffs, this song may just have the very best. There's something about this riff that puts it over the top. It could be because the intensity of the riff is matched only by its catchiness. Out of all of the songs on Scars on Broadway's self-titled debut, this is the one that I wish people really would check out, the song that proves that they can truly create something special in the band's lifetime. Even besides the riff, I really like the chorus, even if it does tend to repeat itself. Are you waiting on an invitation to check this song out? DO SO. NOW.
YouTube Link: "Universe"
You know that I'll scream if you don't touch me right now, right? Maybe this wasn't the song that stuck out the most on first listen, or maybe this wasn't the song that I liked the most, at first, but "Touch Me I'm Going To Scream" is a song with a tremendous amount of staying power. Honestly, more than anything else in the song, I love the guitar riff. Big surprise, right? But, unlike other riffs that have been my favorite parts of songs, this riff isn't amazing because of its intensity or even its catchiness. In this case, it's the melody, the carefree sound that eminates from the guitar. This is, truly, an amazing riff, residing within an amazing song.
YouTube Link: "Touch Me I'm Going To Scream" (sorry about the shittiness of the clip itself.)
If you can get by the first five seconds of noise, you are going to find one of the most primal listening experiences of the year, and a song that has no reservations whatsoever. The entire song just SOUNDS like it wouldn't be out of place in a tribe setting. Even Beth Gibbons' stop-sing vocals would make a lot of sense. Around the five minute mark, the song breaks down into a wave of sound, featuring a badass guitar riff, even more awesome drumming, and the main beat of the song becoming an afterthought. How could this song NOT make my top 20? Nothing that sounds this completely badass fails to make the top 20, in any year.
YouTube Link: "We Carry On"
Am I putting this song too high? Perhaps, but I also think that "Decode" is Hayley Williams' biggest showcase yet. The music, thankfully, sounds pretty damn good backing Hayley up, but, just like every other Paramore song, "Decode" is made by her dominate vocal presence. Hearing this song live at KROQ's Almost Acoustic Christmas was a revelation, because Hayley sounded incredible singing this song, even in a live setting, when vocal chords are bound to get tired after a long period of stressing them. Honestly, I think Hayley is a machine. It would explain why her voice is so incredible, for one, but it would also explain how she's able to be so energetic, yet also continue to sing really damn well in concert. Okay, I've gotten way off track here. The point is, while I'm unsure about whether or not it's Hayley's best vocal performance, it's certainly up there, and that's more than good enough for the top 20 when you combine that with the music itself.
YouTube Link: "Decode"
The next set is where we really start diving into songs that, chances are, most of ATRL has not heard. The next set has four non-singles and one not-very-popular-on-the-radio single. Thank your lucky stars that I have YouTube links. 
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