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The 2008 YECA: Attack of the Ambition (Top 10 MVs + ??)
Banned
Member Since: 10/21/2001
Posts: 25,547
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Another awesome set 
Red/Ryan's list = One of the 5 Best Endcharts of 2008!
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Member Since: 11/10/2005
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1.5|3
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Member Since: 6/24/2008
Posts: 21,950
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2 / 3
Hammerhead 
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Member Since: 6/21/2005
Posts: 6,364
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Member Since: 9/3/2006
Posts: 27,884
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That Was Just Your Life!!!
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ATRL Senior Member
Member Since: 11/6/2002
Posts: 10,641
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You are speeding through this.
3 amazing songs. Your top 4 is going to be LEGENDARY!
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ATRL Administrator
Member Since: 5/2/2000
Posts: 2,844
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I think you're dead on about Hammerhead. Great set.
Now, I think you're also right about my upcoming top 20. With no HHOP, TC 10, altcast, and whatever else to share this stuff throughout the year, there might be some out-of-nowhere stuff.
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ATRL Senior Member
Member Since: 3/19/2008
Posts: 37,076
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Hammerhead only at number six.  
Still great though. 
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ATRL Senior Member
Member Since: 6/9/2002
Posts: 6,789
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Tallica! more like Awesomallica!
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ATRL Senior Member
Member Since: 10/1/2002
Posts: 14,726
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Hammerhead is pretty good. And I'm intrigued to see what your top 4 brings!
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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 (4-2)
We're one set away from the #1 song of 2008...so let's get right to it!
 
The unquestioned #1 true single of 2008, "Wax Simulacra", when it was released, was a breath of fresh air in a sea of mediocrity. This song was going out of its way to be epic, to be bombastic, to be different. The entire album would follow this formula, though almost every song would at least double the length of this song. No matter, this song doesn't need five minutes to spit out its power. 2 minutes and 38 seconds are all that is needed to take your face, melt it off, and then, when you've molded your face back on, melt it off again. And that's even before the sax solo at the end, which is just about the most awesome piece of music this year. I will be the first to admit that TMV is not for everyone, and that some people will absolutely hate them. But, for those who appreciate intricate melodies, experimental music, and, really, just plain kick ass music, The Mars Volta and "Wax Simulacra" are for you. I'm Red, and I approved this message.
YouTube Link: "Wax Simulacra"
"By god, they've done it again." That was my first thought after listening to this first song off of their latest classic "Dear Science". After the incredible "I Was A Lover" kicked off Return To Cookie Mountain, I didn't think they could come close to providing as good of an opening tune on their next album. Boy, was I wrong. Filled with enough catchy "ba-ba-ba-ba bum-bum-bum, ba-ba bum-bum-bums" and catchy choruses and claps to fill the Hoover Dam, "Halfway Home" is a tour de force of a tune, accompanied with absolutely gorgeous music and harmony in the vocals. It all builds up to the last portion of the song, which is a pounding piece of music that proceeds to be just as catchy, if not moreso, than the previous four and a half minutes that came before it. There is no other band like TV on the Radio on Earth. There is no other band that could pull off being this harmonious and this catchy without sacrificing their artistic integrity and experimentation.
YouTube Link: "Halfway Home"
"She's mostly gone...some other place." It seems to be a common theme to see songs about death pretty high on my lists over the years, but this year was especially powerful in that regard. While the #1 song may allude to death in some ways(though your guess is as good as mine...you'll see what I mean), this latest Trent Reznor classic deals with death head on, as he loses the love of his life, but refuses to leave her side, no matter what. That's a great enough concept, sure, but that's not what makes this song a classic. The only sounds that can be heard throughout the song are Trent Reznor's vocals and a very simplistic but gorgeous piano harmony, with a growing, brooding sound in the background at certain points, making sure to remind you that you are still listening to a Nine Inch Nails song. Even if it's not entirely unique, it sure as hell is beautiful, and no other song had quite the emotional impact that "Lights in the Sky" had on me this year. This song is as good as songwriting and music gets, and was, more than likely, the song that meant more to me than any other in 2008..but it's still not #1.
YouTube Link: "Lights in the Sky"
#1 is coming today, this I can guarantee. Some of you know what it is. If you don't know what it is, prepare to be blown away.
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Member Since: 1/14/2007
Posts: 6,202
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Something just happened to remind me of what your #1 might be. Hmmm.... I think I know.
Anyway, it is hard to get more awesome than "Lights in the Sky", although your other 2 choices are excellent stuff as well.
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ATRL Senior Member
Member Since: 11/6/2002
Posts: 10,641
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I really don't know what your #1 is.
Those 3 songs are orgasmic.
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ATRL Senior Member
Member Since: 7/23/2007
Posts: 35,994
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Member Since: 6/21/2005
Posts: 6,364
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I'm upset that I know number 1 at this point
I wanted it be to a surprise
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ATRL Senior Member
Member Since: 7/24/2004
Posts: 12,563
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2/3 I need to hear that Mars Volta track.
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ATRL Senior Member
Member Since: 9/24/2001
Posts: 7,772
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Ryan where are the songs I actually like, I got back to 50 and was STILL not impressed with a single one. =(
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ATRL Moderator
Member Since: 12/21/2002
Posts: 20,569
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Everybody needs to hear "Wax Simulacra". 
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ATRL Moderator
Member Since: 2/19/2003
Posts: 34,484
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Quote:
Originally posted by Master Shake
Ryan where are the songs I actually like, I got back to 50 and was STILL not impressed with a single one. =(
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sorry that Ry's missing Good Charlotte and Anastascia from his list.
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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 (#1)
Quote:
Originally posted by Master Shake
Ryan where are the songs I actually like, I got back to 50 and was STILL not impressed with a single one. =(
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Well, if I cared enough about Hilary Duff and Pink to put them on my list, they'd be here. 
Finally, we are at #1. Technically, it's been posted on Christmas, but it's also still technically "tonight", so I think I win! YAY! Seriously, Steven, the fact that you don't know what #1 is...is kind of odd.  Like I said, this #1 post is LONG, so, if you actually do take the time to read this whole thing, my apologies, in advance.
A song that could mean anything and everything that you desire is the #1 song of the year for yours truly. Usually, when I put a song at #1, it needs to mean something absolute. "Starlight" meant something. "No Cars Go" meant something, even if I didn't get out of it what I should have. "In This Twilight" and "I Was A Lover" meant something. "Goliath"? Well, let's just say that it's not #1 because of its message, though, if what I've heard it true, the idea of this song being about Jim Jones and the Jonestown massacre is a very interesting message indeed. No, this song is #1 because of the power of the music itself. Most people will tell you that this was a down year musically, when compared to past years, and, for the most part, I'd agree with you. The state of pop radio is in serious jeopardy, and rock radio's at a pretty low point. What does it tell you when my top five songs of the year were either non-singles or were singles that did absolutely nothing on the radio? When is the last time that this happened, if ever? Compared to the past two years, especially, this year could seem like a complete let-down. However, there's a silver lining. Some of the best albums of the decade were released in between bouts of mediocrity and blandness. Metallica roared back into its place at the top of the metal mountain, Nine Inch Nails created an album that, if not on the level of Year Zero, comes close, and TV on the Radio put out yet another classic. And let's not forget about Ladytron and The Gaslight Anthem, two artists that I never got into prior to this year, and now love to death.
Then, there's The Mars Volta, putting out the most experimental, vague, in-your-face material released this year. Every song sounds nothing quite like the song that proceeded it, and every song has a different message, if you can decipher the message. None of the songs, however, rock quite like "Goliath". "Goliath" is on a level that goes even beyond the power and speed that surrounds the band's Bedlam. Constantly changing tempos, losing-his-mind vocals, a distinct sense of dread and anticipation, all of those line the entire length of the song. The intense drumming of new drummer Thomas Pridgen, the amazing vocals of Cedric Bixler-Zavala that stretch the boundaries of what singers can really do with their vocals, the guitar stylings of Omar Rodriguez-Lopez, and the general arrangement of the song are all huge components and huge parts of what makes this song go, and they all go into overdrive at around the 4:30 mark, when the song absolutely loses its purpose and mind, and goes ******* crazy on the music listener. Now, if we're supposed to believe that this is supposed to be about Jonestown, "Never heard a man speak like this before" was a hymn sung by the Jonestown inhabitants, and the breakdown of the song could represent the breakdown of Jonestown itself, or the whole "massacre" part. The last three minutes are fire in music form, a fire that refuses to burn out, no matter how much water you put on it to try and burn it out.
The most amazing part about this song? This is actually more of a revisioned version of another song! The song is called "Rapid Fire Tollbooth", and you can definitely tell where the inspiration comes from. Of course, there are very obvious differences: The song is much of a slower tempo, the horns in "Rapid Fire Tollbooth" are much more profound, whereas the guitar isn't as much, and, most importantly, the song doesn't break down at all, unlike "Goliath". I'd definitely check out "Rapid Fire Tollbooth", because it's a great song in and of itself, but this is one case where the revisionized version of a song is better than the original.
In a year that was generally classified as being a "down year" for music, I found quite a few songs to love, regardless. The Offspring roared back onto the scene with the hammers that banged in their head, Ashes Divide put out a quartet of songs that were very enjoyable, Ladytron blew my mind, The Gaslight Anthem officially blew onto the scene, and the usual suspects continued to bang away and provide awesome music to the masses. But it was The Mars Volta that put out the single best recording of 2008, one whose power lingers with you long after the song is over, one whose amazing music arrangement and various tempo changes refuse to be ignored, one that, even with your most complete imagination, probably doesn't even touch what the actual meaning of the song really is. That's part of this song's charm, really. Here is a song that refuses to be shackled down and conform to what the standard is supposed to be, and unleashes wrath and fury that has rarely been seen before in a musical performanc, a song that is about as unique as music gets. And that, more than anything, is why "Goliath" is #1. If you can name me one other song this year(or, really, any year) quite like it, then you, sir or madam, are a better person than I am.
YouTube Link: "Goliath"
And that's the end of that chapter. I still have a couple of possibilities of lists that I'd want to post, but, for now, this is the end of the YECA road. I'd like to thank EVERYONE who commented and talked about what made all of my year-end lists. You guys are who I'm posting these for, after all, and you make it all worth it.
Here's to the year 2009, which is shaping up to be even more awesome than 2008 was. Merry Christmas to all, and have a happy new year.
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