(Note: Facebook readers of this blog entry, in order to see the videos of the songs on my list, you’d have to scroll down and find “View Original Post” or just YouTube the songs yourself.)
For those that know me best, definitely know that in my opinion the 2000s were severely lacking in music. Whether it’s the now-screamo metal, the hip-hop that’s trying so hard to be party music, the rap that’s narcissistic and bland, the unbearable pop music, or the constant attempts of older artists to re-enter the limelight, this decade hasn’t been the best for the ears. However, I’ve assembled a list of the best music I have heard this decade. The genres range from pop to rock, to rap, some hip-hop, a little jazz, and even a few instrumental tracks. This is my list, and I am sticking to it. But first, some honorable mentions:
#1: DJ Hero Soundtrack
Dear DJ Hero,
Thanks for proving that there are definitely still some good remixes out there and some clever remixers lurking about.
Sincerely,
Milton
#2: Mona Lisa Overdrive by Juno Reactor
Best song to play in a movie this decade—this is the song during the infamous car chase in Matrix Reloaded
#3: Barcelona by Giulia
Absolutely the cutest song you’ll ever hear.
Now, on to the list!
#25: Beyond the Sea
Tagline: Charming way to end a charming movie
Artist: Robbie Williams
Year: 2003
Chart Peak: None
Finding Nemo is one of the greatest movies this decade, and one of the best animated movies of all-time. However, there is little mention of its equally-amazing soundtrack. The musical score was superb and relaxing, but the end song during the credits just sweetened the deal. Usually covers fail to match the original but this is one exception. The smooth vocals, the nice melody, and the overall subtlety charming production makes this one of the few standout jazz tracks of the last 20 years.
#24: Bat Country
Tagline: Best guitar solo of the 2000s
Artist: Avenged Sevenfold
Year: 2005
Chart Peak: #60 Billboard Top 100
While this band definitely could improve its singing skills, the drumming and guitar work propel this track into a new heights. Backed by a killer guitar solo that’s the best since the early 90s, Bat Country is a throwback to 80s British metal and classic stoner cinema (Fear and Loathing)
#23: American Boy
Tagline: Kanye West: best in tiny doses
Artist: Estelle fe--YO ESTELLE, I’M REALLY HAPPY FOR YOU…
Year: 2008
Chart Peak: #9
This little groovy British track contains beautiful vocals, cutesy melodies, charming lyrics, and even a bearable introduction by Kanye West. Any song that can make Mr. West bearable deserves a spot on this lis---YO ESTELLE, ONCE AGAIN, I’M REALLY HAPPY FOR YOU, BUT I HAD ONE OF THE GREATEST SONGS OF ALL TIME!
(Sigh) I’ll move along.
#22: I Wrote This Back in 1994
Tagline: He wrote it back in 1994, I promise
Artist: Dave Chappelle
Year: 2005
Chart Peak: Perhaps #4…back in 94.
There was good humorous music this decade, coming from Weird Al and the spoof band Dethklok. However, Dave has the funniest song of them all with his take on the 2Pac unreleased music still coming out to this day---over 10 years after his death. Plenty of quotable lines in these 2 minutes of brilliance. Makes me miss the show all over again, darn you Comedy Central.
“I told you….stop hitting the table”
#21: My Apocalypse
Tagline: Welcome back Metallica.
Artist: Metallica
Year: 2008
Chart Peak: #67
After the amazing success of The Black Album, Metallica lost all footing as to what made them famous, successful, and incredible in the first place. After a lot of rebuilding, fighting, and delays, Death Magnetic hit stores with little disappointment. This was Metallica’s best album since 1988. The main reason why is this loud, thrashy, rapid, furious, yet satisfying metal song that blends the elements that made Metallica such a hardcore innovention.
#20: Hollaback Girl
Tagline: The new generation version of “Hey Mickey”
Artist: Gwen Stefani
Year: 2005
Peak Position: #1 in many, many places
Insult all you want, I honestly don’t care. The fact of the matter is, Hollaback Girl ended this crazy reign of hip-hop complicating and increasing the volume on their beats. Simple is sometimes the best way, and the Neptunes proved this with Snoop’s “Drop It Like Its Hot” and this gem. The beat is infectious, easy to learn, and difficult to get out of your head. The song itself is bananas, b-a-n-a-n-a-s.
#19: Soarin’ Over California
Tagline: Epcot’s “It’s a Small World”
Artist: Jerry Goldsmith (R.I.P.)
Year: 2003
Peak Position: N/A
The man wrote the song for free supposedly, since he loved the attraction (then silent) Soarin’ so very much. This was one of Goldsmith’s last scores and easily one of his best ones. The quiet beginning transitions into 4 minutes of beautiful, moving music that mixes strings, horns, fanfare, and a perfect companion to the images of the attraction. You can close your eyes, months after riding Soarin’, and more or less figure out which section of the song belongs to which scenery that was presented. Beautiful indeed.
#18: The Lonely Shepherd
Tagline: Best. Pan. Flute. Song. Ever.
Artist: Zamfir
Year: 2003
Peak Position: N/A
The final song in Kill Bill Vol. 1 is an even more impressive instrumental, mixing the quiet aura of spaghetti westerns with the complexity and difficulty of a modern-day track. The song starts out slow with just the pan flute, and gradually builds until you can hear strings, horns, flute work, and subtle drumming. This song contains no lyrics but carries more heart and emotion than most music you hear. While Kill Bill Vol. 2 was the superior film, Vol. 1 had the superior closing song.
#17: Que Me Quedes Tú
Tagline: Shakira strips down…and I meant it in only a musical sense
Artist: Shakira
Year: 2002
Peak Position: #1 (In Latin countries)
Somewhere in her phenomenally awesome bilingual album Laundry Service lies two songs that in Shakira terms can be classified as a power ballad. The first was the delightful “Underneath Your Clothes,” and the other is the far superior and more touching “Que Me Quedes Tu.” The difference is the language, the guitar work, and Shakira never over-singing throughout the track. Shakira sings better in Spanish, of course, that’s her native tongue. But, the song has more powerful lyrics, and it never raises volume. Last but not least, the song holds a special place in my heart for reasons that shall not be discussed simply because this is a public blog and anyone can read this and use it as potential blackmail. Yes, that was a run-on sentence. And yes, this song is the seventeenth best song of the decade.
#16: My United States of Whatever
Tagline: Whatever…
Artist: Liam Lynch
Year: 2002
Peak Position: #34 Mainstream Rock
If there is a song that can describe the 2000s, it’s this short yet sweet track. The song is short, makes no sense, has an attitude, appeals to those with ADD (ooh, skateboard), doesn’t really hold a point, its quite random, and appears much distorted. My United States of Whatever was filmed in one take, and it clearly shows because it sounds improvised on the spot. The song would be a precedent for all the online viral stuff that usually consists of short sound bites and songs that are stupid, lame, yet somewhat addicting. This song carries that persona, there’s really nothing clever or complex about it; it’s just a fun one-and-a-half minutes or stupidity.
#15: Don’t Tell Me
Tagline: Madonna reinvents herself….again.
Artist: Madonna
Year: 2002
Peak Position: #1
While most carryovers from the 90s changed their image only to make money (Michael Jackson, Janet Jackson, Mariah Carey, Metallica, Busta Rhymes, etc.), Madonna changes her image only to be one step ahead of the game. She’s gone through so many transformations; its impossible to pinpoint when one trend ends and the other one begins. In this song, she goes to country with a mix of techno and pop and provides one of the best pop songs within the last 15 years. The lyrics are bubbly and simple, the singing never loses its welcome, and Madonna knows exactly how to keep her fans asking for more. She may have lost some of her chart-topping power, but quality-wise Madonna remains the queen of pop music.
#14: Boulevard of Broken Dreams
Tagline: The end of Green Day’s punkness, and the rise of their mainstream fame
Artist: Green Day
Year: 2004
Chart Peak: #2 (Only 2??!?)
Despite Oasis screaming that its from their overrated as flip “Wonderwall,” Green Day hit a new stratosphere with this smash hit. The song was loud enough to appeal to the rockers and punkers, but was melodic and soft enough to flood the mainstream gates. The song contains a grand guitar solo, and an even better finale. With the finale, it was the end of Green Day’s boyish punk roots and the beginning of more adult, mature music. Whether you like this change or not, its definitely happening, and its here to stay. It’s a shame because the next song on the list is them at their punkish best:
#13: St. Jimmy
Tagline: Brings me back to the 90s all over again
Artist: Green Day
Year: 2004
Chart Peak: N/A
Very few people know this track, but boy do I know how good it is. The song is excessively short, but starts quickly, and before you know it, rampages into a punk melody at its fastest since “Jaded” by Green Day eons ago. The song is a furious blend of awesome drumming, awesome guitar work, great vocals, and a rousing finale that’s sure to bring you back to the mid-90s, when punk and ska had a brief moment of glory. We can only dream of that coming back.
#12: Feuer Frei
Tagline: German heavy death metal...sounds fun.
Artist: Rammstein
Year: 2001
Peak Position: It’s a German death metal song..does it even have a chance in the United States?
The German language is not exactly romantic. The cousin of the equally unromantic English language, its very hard to sing melodic music with the tough, gritty word pronunciations of Germany. But if you can sing death metal in German, the results will be beautifully insane. Rammstein is easily the best German band out there today, and this song is greatest evidence why. The song is fast, relentless, heavy on vocals, heavy on guitar, and heavy on the chorus. Their constant shouts of BANG BANG (read it loudly please) are addicting and never ever gets old. Of course, the song slows down just for a little, only to transition to the epic finale. Your hair will stand by the time the musical mayhem is over.
#11: Breaking the Habit
Tagline: Linkin Park’s peak maturity…the rest is downhill.
Artist: Linkin Park
Year: 2003
Peak Position: #20
Linkin Park could have conquered the entire decade if it weren’t for the hiatus and if it weren’t for the fact that they decided to dedicate themselves o remixing every song already released and then losing sight of what made them good in the first place. While their first album remains the best, Meteora was by no means a musical disaster. As a matter of fact, Linkin Park’s two best songs of all-time are here. We have the loud Faint, and then the electronically and vocally impressive Breaking the Habit. Combining a slick guitar/electronica riff with heavy lyrics and superb vocals, Linkin Park was at the peak of their game right here. Whatever happened afterwards, we’ll never understand. Curse you Transformers, look what you’ve done.
#10: Don't Know Why
Tagline: A new queen of jazz has arrived
Artist: Norah Jones
Year: 2001
Peak Position: #30
What happens when a genre has no competition? It becomes easier to hit #1 and make money. Norah Jones’ success can be mostly attributed to her abilities to combine beautiful relaxing melodies with calm vocals, but an ounce of her fame attributes to the lack of competition. Name another jazz artist this decade. I know, its hard. Don’t Know Why was Norah’s first (and only) big hit, yet her Grammy wins and diehard fanbase allows for her to be the most successful female artist of the entire decade. She does deserve it though. Sit back, relax, sip some wine, and listen to her albums. Thank me later.
#9: Chop Suey!
Tagline: Grababrushandputalittlemakeup!
Artist: System of a Down
Year: 2001
Peak Position: #76
Nu-Metal hit its peak in the 90s with Limp Bizkit and Korn leading the way with their MTV smash hits. However, the 2000s brought us two other nu-metal artists that were grand and influential. The more-popular Linkin Park and the much-crazier System of a Down. Evidence? Chop Suey. This song is inexplicably awesome, and we can never pinpoint why. The song rarely ever hits a consistent riff, the lyrics are meshed together, the vocals range from melodic to borderline-demonic screaming, and the overall presentation is something you just don’t see in music. Despite all this, the distorted reasons why the song can’t work are the reasons why the song does. System of a Down’s Toxicity album is easily one of the top albums of the decade, and this fun trippy song is the light that shines the way to the band’s success. It would have been a bigger hit but…the song came out during 9/11.
#8: Snowblind
Tagline: The excellent cover nobody listened to
Artist: System of a Down
Year: 2000
Peak Position: N/A
In terms of covers, it doesn’t get much better than Snowblind. It is impossible to top anything written and performed by the amazing Black Sabbath, but System of a Down hits one out of the ballpark with their rendition of the song about cocaine. Black Sabbath was loud, but not too loud. They were crazy, but not too crazy. System of a Down was able to be loud, but it didn’t reach their typical nu-metal level. This band toned down their vocals, their drumming, their guitar work just enough to give this song the perfect touch. What’s this, System of a Down even had some string work done to one of their songs? This would definitely influence their later work, as you hear pianos in Chop Suey and strings in Lonely Day.
#7: Kryptonite
Tagline: The carryover from the 90s begins
Artist: 3 Doors Down
Year: 2000
Peak Position: #3
In terms of lyrics, this is the best song of the decade. A song about a person asking another as to what would happen if he/she were to fall in life, if the other person would be there to support. 3 Doors Down had a strong debut with their megarock hits “Loser” and this superb mature track. Kryptonite is a perfect blend of rock and pop, as neither element crosses over the other and they appeal to the headbangers and the radio friendly audiences. It was a great transition from 1999 to 2000, as we began a new decade with uncharted frontiers, many unanswered questions, and a new millennium to look forward to---it was time to see who can and will be there to survive and fight it all.
“If I'm alive and well, will you be
There holding my hand”
#6: The Real Slim Shady
Tagline: Eminem’s conquering of rap begins here
Artist: Eminem
Year: 2000
Peak Position: #4
Anyone remember when Eminem busted into the scene? He took over MTV and rap music altogether. There was nothing like him ever in the history of music; someone who can be extremely funny and comical one moment, and deathly serious in another moment. With this song, Eminem was at his comical best as he spits out lyrics with incredible flow, insults anyone that gets in his way, and pretty much exclaims his personality and his desire to never change for the media. It was the perfect Slim Shady sequel to “My Name Is” and made “The Way I Am” that much more shocking considering it’s the same guy that rapped about Agulera, Fred Durst, and Carson Daly in the same sentence. Dr. Dre knew he had talent in his hands, all he did was provide the slick beats, and Eminem takes it from there.
#5: Crazy
Tagline: What is the genre to this song anyway?
Artist: Gnarls Barkley
Year: 2006
Peak Position: #2
You know a song is impressive when it can reach rock stations, hip-hop stations, and adult contemporary stations at about the same time. This British track contains a very unique tune, very unique lyrics, unique lyrics, and a unique chorus. You can’t really compare this song to anything else, its just in a league entirely on its own. However, its addicting, fun, and one of the better productions in a long time.
#4: Lose Yourself
Tagline: The Peak of Eminem
Artist: Eminem
Year: 2002
Peak Position: #1
This is without a doubt the most successful rap song of all-time. With 12 weeks on top of the American charts, a #1 spots in 24 total countries (another record), an Academy Award win, 2 Grammy awards, and 6 platinum certifications around the world, Eminem hit a level that neither he nor any other rapper could ever duplicate. Everything about this song was brilliant, the beat (which allowed for the song to reach the rock charts), the lyrics, the flow, the pacing, the chorus, and the final verses. Eminem is best when he is serious, and this was him at his most personal, and most impressive.
#3: The Hardest Button to Button
Tagline: When simple is enough to be amazing
Artist: The White Stripes
Year: 2003
Peak Position: N/A
Of all the American artists on this list, White Stripes is easily the most underrated by far. This duo creates amazing music together; with Meg White’s simple yet effective drumming, and Jack White’s incredible guitar work, fun guitar riffs, decent vocals, and simple lyrics. This incredible team from Detroit has launched garage rock into the limelight, even if their success is mildly limited. In this song, everything about it was simple: the guitar riff, the drumming, the lyrics, the introduction, the ending, the singing, and the range of volume. But its so brilliant and catchy, you can’t bash them for never being complex. They have proven to be technically impressive if they have to be (Blue Orchid, Icky Thump, Black Math) but White Stripes is at their best when the difficulty is at its worst.
They had three other songs that almost made the list (We Are Gonna Be Friends, Black Math, Fell In Love With a Girl), but I am satisfied with at least one making it, and being nice and high in the top 3.
#2: Bombs Over Baghdad
Tagline: Being so far ahead of its time, it predicted the future
Artist: Outkast
Year: 2000
Peak Position: This is embarrassing….#68 on the Hip-Hop chart
Release this song today, and it would have been a #1 smash hit. Release this next year, and it would have been a #1 smash. But, Outkast is so far ahead of the game, they released the song during a time in which hip-hop and pop had not quite evolved to become the party-music frenzy that it is today. This song is a mesh of hip-hop, rap, rock, jungle, techno, alternative, soul, and pretty much any other subgenre that has not yet existed. The style is insane, the pacing is even more insane (BPM: 155), the rapid changes in tone is crazy, the lyrics are wowzers, and OutKast themselves spit the song in two different speeds, yet it doesn’t deviate from the overall frantic speed of the 5 minutes of genre-bending insanity.
Nowadays, hip-hop consists of all these so-called musical artists that are trying to break loose with a dance hit, dance craze, or combination of the two. OutKast was just experimenting with what they can do with music, and the end result is an incredible display of talent that most rappers can only dream of achieving. Not only is this one of the best songs of the decade, but also one of the best singles in the last 25 years. If you don’t own this song, then you have not yet fulfilled life.
#1: Diablo Rojo
Tagline: Did you just hear that?
Artist: Rodrigo y Gabriela
Year: 2006
Peak Position: N/A
Back in 2006, my brother introduced me to this duo, which was introduced to him through another friend. The first song I heard from the artist was this song. Three years later, it still amazes me. What amazes me more is that they could not find success here in North America, so they had to travel to Europe to gain some well-deserved recognition. It is still baffling how such talent cannot receive the recognition that they truly deserve.
In this song, you have two guitars dueling, working together, becoming temporary drums, progressing the song from one stage to the next, and engaging in one of the most epic finales in any song you’ll ever hear. The song doesn’t need lyrics, all it needs is a title and the guitars work out the lyrics through their melodies, riffs, changes, and dramatic chords. The song is about a roller coaster, and the song plays like a wild and fun coaster. Rodrigo y Gabriela has the attitude of Santana, the experience of metal, the culture of Paco De Lucia, and the skills of the best classical artists. The songs themselves are a perfect mix of classical guitar, acoustic metal, and Spanish flair.
Two of among the best albums in the last 15 years come from Rodrigo y Gabriela (Diablo Rojo, 11:11) and they have crafted six of among the best instrumental works in the last 30 years (this song, Captain Cassanova, Tamacun, Buster Voodoo Hora Zero, Santo Domingo). It has become my mission to make this gifted duo more popular (at least in the United States and Mexico) and one way to do this is by giving the #1 greatest song spot to their best work.
One can only wonder how many guitars they’ve gone through.
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