1,001 songs to listen to before you die...

[METALMAN]

When I was head boy at school (yeah, I was a pretty big deal) I was part of the panel of judges for our Children In Need Britain's Got Talent competition. A bunch of kids in the year below mounted the stage wearing hazmat suits, banging beer kegs and yelling a load of nonsense. I took great delight in booting them out.

Still better than the real Slipknot though. 

[Skummy]

My dad used to make decent money buying CDs at carboot sales and charity shops, then selling them on eBay. Sometimes if he was curious he'd listen to them in the car before selling them.

One time he was giving me a lift somewhere and he had a Slipknot live album playing. It's at that point that I decided that I wouldn't countenance any suggestion from heavy metal fans that metal was in any way anti-establishment or dangerous, because a middle aged business studies lecturer listened to them on the way to the shops. 

He did think they were shit, though. His main comments were that he thought it was really childish how much the singer swore at people who had paid money to see him, and how, and I quote, "there's nothing they're doing here that you wouldn't have heard Napalm Death doing twenty years ago". They're nothing like Napalm Death, but it's a nice frame of reference for my dad to have. In some ways, my grandparents living next door to a death metal drummer broadened our horizons.

Anyway, yeah, they're shit. Maybe one or two halfway decent songs later in their run, but that would be very generous of me. Mostly just asinine "my parents want me to clean my room" undirected angst rubbish wrapped up in lazy metal and horror tropes. I always find it a genuine surprise when I still see teenagers in Slipknot t-shirts in this day and age.

 

I don't like the Chilli Peppers, but Californication is a good album for what they do, and Scar Tissue is probably their best song, for all the reasons metalman said. It's a real showcase of Frusciante at his best.

 

[MalaCloudy Black]

I have Slipknot songs on some playlists for nostalgia reasons. It's funny to me because when my friends loved them when we were teens, I did not care about them at all. I'd listen to them, sure, because that's what someone else insisted on putting on. But it didn't really tickle my pickle, but then again, throughout my teens and early 20s I was pretty firmly rooted in that "I only listen to tr00 METAL not NU-METAL BABIES" bullshit, so it's not saying as much as I think it is.

All that said I don't honestly mind them now. They're whatever. Corey Taylor is a very self-important dipshit. Volume 3, All Hope Is Gone and We Are Not Your Kind have some good songs on them. Funnily enough, nowadays I actually rather prefer their softer, more "alt rock" songs like Snuff.

13 minutes ago, Skummy said:

and I quote, "there's nothing they're doing here that you wouldn't have heard Napalm Death doing twenty years ago". They're nothing like Napalm Death, but it's a nice frame of reference for my dad to have. In some ways, my grandparents living next door to a death metal drummer broadened our horizons.

hol' up now what

[Skummy]

6 minutes ago, CLDY said:

hol' up now what

just to clarify, we didn't live next door to the drummer from Napalm Death, just that's one of the bands that my dad would have become aware of through that set-up.

When I was a kid, my half-brother was in a bunch of bands, and the drummer for most of them was (then) one of his best mates, who lived next door to my grandparents. He went on to be the drummer in Gorerotted, who at one point were described as "the heaviest band in Britain". I bumped into him at a gig a couple of years back, don't think he really does any music any more, but Gorerotted's old singer is in Extreme Noise Terror now.

The other constant member of my brother's bands ended up playing bass for a successful U2 tribute act.

[MalaCloudy Black]

I'm familiar with both of those bands! ENT more than Gorerotted, but I definitely recognize the name. Neat.

[Liam]

881.      

‘I Try’, Macy Gray (1999)

Influenced by: Baby, I Love You • Aretha Franklin (1967)   

Influence on: Trouble Sleeping • Corinne Bailey Rae (2006)   

Covered by: The Girlfriends (2000) • Andrew Tinker (2007) • Ben Taylor (2008)

For me, Macy Gray is all about whether you like her distinctive voice or not. Whilst I know in my heart of hearts this is a good song, I’m just not really a fan of her muted raspy style. In some ways, I’m pleased that someone who sung in a manner that was very much not the norm for popular music at the time had such success with this song and her debut album, it isn’t really for me ultimately.

882.      

‘U Don’t Know Me’, Armand Van Helden (1999)

Influenced by: The Captain • Johnny “D” & Nicky P. aka Johnick (1996)   

Influence on: Runnin’ • Doman & Gooding featuring Dru & Lincoln (2009)   

Other key tracks: Aliene (1999) • Rock da Spot (1999) • Flowerz (1999) • My My My (2004) • NYC Beat (2007)

Armand Van Helden is someone I didn’t really appreciate when I first listened to him back in 1999. I was pretty much firmly entrenched still in listening to pop music on the radio, so the dancier end of that spectrum was often not really in keeping with my interests. However, as I’ve got older, I can look back and realise that he created some absolute bangers. To be honest, I think this already hit pretty hard compared to some of his other output – it is the definition of a tune. A hooky earworm from start to finish.

883.      

‘Race for the Prize’, The Flaming Lips (1999)

Influenced by: The Whole of the Moon • The Waterboys (1985)   

Influence on: Kids • MGMT (2005)   

Covered by: Palm School Choir (2008)   

Other key tracks: Waitin’ for a Superman (1999) • Do You Realize?? (2002) • The Yeah Yeah Yeah Song (2007)

The Flaming Lips are a weird one for me as I love ‘Yoshimi Battles the Pink Robots’ as an album – legitimately one of my top ten or so – yet I’ve never gone out of my way to listen to anything else produced by then. This is weird, but there is an earnestness about it that is hard not to admire I feel. According to the book, this somewhat served as a transitional piece before the aforementioned ‘…Pink Robots’, thus probably why it ends up on the list. Not only is it a nod to the band, but it is the start of their highest profile (?) run in the spotlight. The song is fine.

884.      

‘One Armed Scissor’ At the Drive-In (2000)

Influenced by: Smallpox Champion • Fugazi (1993)   

Influence on: Bleed American • Jimmy Eat World (2001)  

Covered by: Paramore (2007)   

Other key tracks: Proxima Centauri (1999) • Arcarsenal (2000) • Pattern Against User (2000)

An absolute barnstorming salvo from the band, one that I don’t think they ever really match up to in their short-lived career. There is a lurching quality to everything, the song bouncing around and encapsulating the key elements of what would eventually be realised in The Mars Volta and Sparta as the band split up shortly after this due to their different artistic desires. It is definitely a song to go out on a high.

885.      

‘Hate To Say I Told You So’, The Hives (2000)

I don’t think people will like this song, or the Hives, as much as I do. Maybe I’m wrong, but it feels like this was part of the transition to the ‘The’ bands taking over, a period of time that I don’t remember going down to well with certain music fans. Whilst I’m by no means the biggest fan of the band, the energy throughout this song is palpable and everything coming through the speakers makes you want to dance, or sing, or nod your head. The Hives were also – easily – one of the best bands I saw live. No relevance to this, but it’s worth stating.

[MalaCloudy Black]

I think the first time I saw The Hives was on Conan O'Brien. His old NBC show after Leno had a fucking ton of what you called "The" bands on as musical guests. Also the first time I was introduced to Thursday, and at the time I hated them, but then I went back like 7 or 8 years later and now I fuckin' love Thursday.

I never gave ATDI the shot I should have. 

Pretty sure "I Try" and the Fatboy Slim song that she's on are my only experiences with Macy Gray. I like what I've heard though.

[RPS]

Armand van Helden really can make a banger. 

[METALMAN]

Late 90s is way better than early 90s when you see them lined up like this. Or it might just be that the book is placing less emphasis on boring alt-rock right now.

I Try is really good. One of the pop songs I remember from that period where I was starting to form a consciousness about the music on the radio. 

U Don't Know Me is ALSO great.

Race For the Prize isn't bad but I find it boring and I find most other Flaming Lips stuff boring too. But I guess you've got to put something by them there and that album was a pretty big deal

And it's a new millennium!

One Armed Scissor is a total banger. I've never really got into much else by ATDI but that's a helluva good tune.

Hate to Say I Told You So sounds too much like Main Offender. But they're both really good tunes so eh... The Hives are great when you hear the odd song in isolation. HTSITYS has a cracker of a riff and a lot of shouting and sometimes that's all you need.

[Colly]

The Hives benefitted from the fact they basically emerged fully formed, that first UK release was essentially a compilation of two other albums so was almost a mini greatest hits. They were really good live though, and in fairness the album they put put a few years back (inevitably when I say things like that it will have been released in 2012) was pretty good and had a bit more depth whilst still being silly fun.

The fact that it came out in the same year as One Armed Scissor slightly blew my mind though, I always thought I came late to ATDI, maybe I didn't...

Edit: Fucking hell, it was 2012.

[Malenko]

This stood out to me: "The Hives were also – easily – one of the best bands I saw live."

They were - easily - the most annoying band I ever saw live (I'm aware many people are into the very same things I disliked about their shows, so possibly my shows weren't even that different from yours. It's just that they're really not for me). I like them on record though.

[RPS]

19 hours ago, Malenko said:

This stood out to me: "The Hives were also – easily – one of the best bands I saw live."

They were - easily - the most annoying band I ever saw live (I'm aware many people are into the very same things I disliked about their shows, so possibly my shows weren't even that different from yours. It's just that they're really not for me). I like them on record though.

Interesting. The Hives actually had a pretty great reputation of being a live band around the 2000-2002 time period. I am sure that as the quality in their discography dropped, I imagine their live shows did as well. 

[GoGo Yubari]

I think it's just a personal preference thing. I saw them I believe when they were touring that 2012 record that I have no recollection of and thought they were great (they even brought The Sonics' saxophonist out for the encore to do a couple Sonics covers, which I'm very mad there doesn't appear to be any evidence of online), but I want to say their whole over-the-top "your new favorite band" bit extends to the live show/stage banter itself.

[gunnar hendershow]

That's a really solid group of songs I remember hearing around when they came out with the possible exception of "U Don't Know Me". I think they all hold up really well too.

I had a Mars Volta phase and while I think later on that band went a bit too over the top their early work is the realized vision of what "One Armed Scissor" almost attained. But maybe "One Armed Scissor" is the more enduring song as time goes on.

That wave of bands like The Hives, The White Stripes, The Strokes, The Vines, etc. was one I got heavily invested in and then it mostly fizzled out within a year or two. Like all of those mostly maufactured alt-rock "the new sound" waves did after grunge. Some really great stuff came out in such a short span of time though.

[METALMAN]

Oh my God the Vines. I don't think I've thought about the Vines in about fifteen years. There certainly were a lot of "The" bands going around back then. But not Jet. They were not The Jet. Just Jet.

[gunnar hendershow]

4 hours ago, metalman said:

Oh my God the Vines. I don't think I've thought about the Vines in about fifteen years. There certainly were a lot of "The" bands going around back then. But not Jet. They were not The Jet. Just Jet.

Yeah that was a weird revival scene of a bunch of bygone eras of rock and roll. All kinda mish-mashed together to be one unified "movement" but sadly totally manufactured. Some good bands though.

Later on in the decade we got the cleaned-up, corporatized post-punk wave led by The Killers who despite being a "The" band were not part of that early 00s wave. They also recorded "Mr. Brightside" which is both a song that absolutely should make it onto this list and also absolutely should not because who hasn't heard it 1000 times?

Anyway I think a lot of people in our age cohort have a very strange relationship with rock music because of this endless barrage of manufactured "scenes" that kept getting pushed out at us. That's a discussion I'm sure we'll be having as the 00s march on.

[Liam]

11 hours ago, GoGo Yubari said:

I think it's just a personal preference thing. I saw them I believe when they were touring that 2012 record that I have no recollection of and thought they were great (they even brought The Sonics' saxophonist out for the encore to do a couple Sonics covers, which I'm very mad there doesn't appear to be any evidence of online), but I want to say their whole over-the-top "your new favorite band" bit extends to the live show/stage banter itself.

Oh yeah, it was the energy, the ridiculous banter delivered without a hint of sarcasm - great fun.

[Colly]

15 hours ago, metalman said:

Oh my God the Vines. I don't think I've thought about the Vines in about fifteen years. There certainly were a lot of "The" bands going around back then. But not Jet. They were not The Jet. Just Jet.

God I saw Jet on my 20th or 21st birthday (coincidentally, I didn't go out of way to celebrate with Jet) and they were terrible. They had maybe two reasonable songs but played nearly an hour.

The Vines on the other hand were brilliant when I saw them. They definitely had a bit more about them, but as I remember the singer was quite self-destructive so it would never last, even if they do pop up every now and again.

[Liam]

886.     

‘Frontier Psychiatrist’, Avalanches (2000)

Influenced by: Napalm Brain/Scatter Brain • DJ Shadow (1996)   

Influence on: Non-Stop Party Now • Girl Talk (2003)   

Other key tracks: Rock City (1997) • Since I Left You (2000) • A Different Feeling (2000) • Pablo’s Cruise (2000) • Electricity (2000) • Avalanche Rock (2000)

Considering they left out ‘Since I Left You’, I knew this was either going to be a song I knew really well but had no idea it was this, or it was a deep cut just to be contrary from what was a more obvious choice. However, as soon as the song kicked in properly in the music video, I knew it within the opening four notes. The sheer scale of the number of different samples that were laid down to create this tune is pretty impressive, whether you particularly like the song or not. I still probably prefer ‘Since I Left You’, but this is an interesting song that is a valid choice from Australia for once.

887.      

‘One More Time’, Daft Punk (2000)

Influenced by: One More Time • Third World (1985)   

Influence on: One Mo’ Gin • Play-N-Skillz featuring Lil Jon, Bun B & Krayzie Bone (2008)   

Covered by: The Gossip (2008) • Starburkes & The Tea Leaf (2009) • Richard Grey (2009) • Marc Mysterio & Téo Moss (2009)

Though this wasn’t the first Daft Punk song I heard (‘Around the World’), this is by far one of their most well-realised songs. I feel Daft Punk are a band that transcends genre; I genuinely don’t think I know anyone who actively dislikes them. Apparently, this album and song didn’t go down to well with fans of the band who thought they had ‘sold out’, whilst this was also an early example of autotuned vocals. Sometimes, just enjoy the tune.

888.      

‘Stan’, Eminem featuring Dido (2000)

Influenced by: Thank You • Dido (1999)   

Influence on: U Didn’t Care • Canibus (2001)   

Covered by: Eminem featuring Elton John (2005)   

Other key tracks: My Name Is (1999) • The Way I Am (2000) • The Real Slim Shady (2000) • Kim (2000) • Marshall Mathers (2000) • Under the Influence (2000)

Your mileage may vary on Eminem, but I do – for someone who admittedly doesn’t know much about rap – think he was different class in his early days. This was one of the first albums I owned (bought for me by my Dad) and I loved the mixture of playful idiocy and shocking imagery/lyrics. Even at the time, I think this was the song that stuck out most to me – the haunting use of Dido’s ‘Thank You’ a brilliant sample – and it still has a lot of impact nowadays. That ‘stanning’ has become a way of professing your support for someone considering how this song ends up is pretty odd, but also speaks to the song’s legacy.

889.      

‘Oh My Sweet Carolina’, Ryan Adams featuring Emmylou Harris (2000)

Not really relevant at all, but I used to love ‘Gold’. Then it turned out Ryan Adams was a douchebag. Fuck him and his music.

890.     

‘Fuck The Pain Away’, Peaches (2000)

I remember Peaches being all over the media that I consumed in 2000s, yet I never went out of my way to listen to her. I hadn’t realised that this was by her, so obviously I had checked her out by osmosis it would seem. This could just be a song that gets by on its gratuitous swearing and ideas, but the electro beats that it plays across make it a pretty fun song beyond that. The inclusion on the list might be weird, though I guess a move towards an element of ‘female empowerment’ through reclaiming sexuality is an interesting step in music’s evolution.

[Bobfoc]

I'm not a fan of most of Eminem's work, but Stan definitely packs a punch. It's a great example of how mixing rap with more melodious vocals can work to serve up something greater than the sum of its parts.

Really, though, my favourite memory of the song was that it was beaten to Christmas Number 1 in the UK by Bob the Builder.