Still OUTRAGED About the Billboard Top ROCK Songs of the Decade
This is not news related in the sense of meaningful world events, but it is worth addressing nonetheless.
The last week of the year 2019 Billboard announced their top 10 rock songs of the 2010 decade. (You can click the link but I wouldn't recommend it.) There is a lot of feigned outrage about important events in the news these days, but I was actually furious with the list they published. Several of their Top 10” were just some of the worst songs you hear on the radio at any given time.
That being said - complaint logged - I decided to make my own list. Some of these songs are on the indie/alternative side of the rock spectrum, neglecting the hard rock/metal end, but they are all without a doubt better than the garbage pop on the original billboard list.
MY LIST:
TOP 10 SONGS of the 2010s
1. Little Black Submarines - The Black Keys (2011)
2. Can't Look Back - Taking Back Sunday (2016)
3. Would You Fight for My Love – Jack White (2014)
4. Now that You’re Gone – The Raconteurs (2018)
5. Mr. Tilman - Father John Misty (2018)
6. Trouble - Cage the Elephant (2015)
7. Arlandria - Foo Fighters (2011)
8. Pretty Pimpin - Kurt Vile (2015)
9. Pumped Up Kicks – Foster the People (2010)
10. Shake It Out – Florence and the Machine (2010)
Honorable Mentions:
Jumpsuit - Twenty One Pilots (2018)
We Used to Wait - Arcade Fire (2010)
TOP 10
1. It was hard to pick just one Black Keys song and part of their number 1 ranking involves their collective work in the decade. Little Black Submarines has all the elements of a prototypical rock song, including a killer solo, and is defined by the contrasting transition from quite acoustic intro to hard rock finish.
Runner Up Songs:
Tighten Up, Ten Cent Pistol (2010)
Weight of Love, Turn Blue, Gotta Get Away (2014)
2. Taking Back Sunday is not a band that would make many listeners’ top “rock” bands list, but they have truly evolved as a band. Forming around 2000 as a group of high school kids, this band has truly evolved from an emo/screamo band into a truly talented group of songwriters and musicians. They are a genuine coming of age story - as they have grown into adults, their music has matured respectively.
Runner Up Songs:
Death Wolf, Tidal Wave (2016)
Better Homes & Gardens (2014)
Faith, You Got Me, Best Places to Be a Mom (2011)
3. Jack White is an arguable number 1 for best rock artist of the decade. He has been putting out solid rock hits with a number of different groups (see #4) for 20 years now. He will be a generational talent with influence long after some of these other bands have faded out of our memory. Not to mention he does a great Elvis in Walk Hard.
Runner Up Songs:
Freedom at 21, Love Interruption, Sixteen Saltines (2012)
Lazaretto (2014)
4. The Raconteurs was almost an unfair pick as it could have just been included with Jack White (solo) but they have an unbelievable 3 albums and even though the most recent (this decade) wasn’t my favorite it does have one of my all time favorite songs.
5. Father John Misty is on the folk end of the rock spectrum, the song writing, story telling and melodies make these songs vintage rock n roll tales.
Runner Up Songs:
Hollywood Forever Cemetery Sings (2012)
I Love You Honeybear, Chateau Lobby #4 (2015)
Total Entertainment Forever (2017)
6. Cage the Elephant broke out in the late 2000’s but have been consistently delivering quality rock hits for more than a decade now.
Runner Up Songs:
Shake Me Down (2011)
Come a Little Closer, Cigarette Daydream (2013)
Mess Around (2015)
7. There is not much that needs to be said about the Foo Fighters. They will go down as one of the best rock bands of a generation. Dave Grohl (along with Jack White) is the consummate performer and he has been releasing incredible albums for 25 years. We are expecting new music from him in 2020 putting him at 4 decades of rock supremacy. At this point in their career the 2010s produced a couple of concept albums. Wasting Light was recorded in Dave’s garage using only analog equipment with a nod to their early days and Nirvana roots. Sonic Highways was simultaneously a HBO series and they recorded each song in a different city attempting to collaborate with local artists and capture the essence of the region.
"The last couple of albums had been made in ways that we were trying to get out of our comfort zone. I thought, 'What's the strangest thing for this band to do at this point?' And then I realized it was just to go into a studio and make a fucking album like a normal band."
—Dave Grohl on Concrete and Gold
Runner Up Songs:
Entire WASTING LIGHT album (2011)
Something From Nothing (2014)
The Sky is a Neighborhood, Run (2017)
8. Kurt Vile has done solo music as well as with bands Courtney Barnett and The War on Drugs. This song is a creative melodic telling of a life in a daze with guitar riffs as intriguing as the lyrics. “All he ever wanted was to be a man…But he was always a little too cute to be admitted under marbles lost”
9. Pumped up kicks may be the most indie rock song on the list, but it definitely qualifies as ROCK. The first album was 10 solid hits and personally one of only two albums I’ve ever bought on iTunes.
Runner Up Songs:
Entire TORCHES album (2011)
Coming of Age (2014)
Sit Next to Me (2017)
10. Florence and the Machine is the only woman I have on my list, so this may need to be revisited, but she is too talented to leave off any list for the 2010s. The entire CEREMONIALS album could have been listed, but I picked their hit as a cop out.
Runner Up Songs:
CEREMONIALS (2011)
What Kind of Man (2015)