Hot New Songs

[Shrykespeare]

Guys,

My next big music project, which I intend to revisit every 2-3 months. Hope you'll all join in.

On a whim, I checked out the Billboard website just to check out which songs are hot right now, and - since I never listen to the radio any more - I decided to play them on YouTube. I was impressed by a lot of it, so I decided to share it, and it didn't seem right to put it in the "Found Sounds" thread.

So, for the week ended August 27th, here are the Top Rock Songs in the country (along with links to a YouTube video for the song).


1. Red Hot Chili Peppers - The Adventures of Rain Dancing Maggie - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H8QoB3sifzw&ob=av3n

Very good song. Quite reminiscent of their 90s stuff. One of the great things about RHCP is that they are able to keep making enduring, cool stuff without having to change their sound that much. (8/10)


2. Foo Fighters - Walk - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ax6UXyAXSZo&ob=av2n

Great song. Great to see Dave Grohl has not lost his touch. (8/10)


3. Foster the People - Pumped Up Kicks - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SDTZ7iX4vTQ&ob=av2e

Not bad, but I've never liked that "hollow" technique of recording music, or whatever its called, making it sound like I'm listening from the other end of a telephone. Pretty basic song. (5/10)


4. Seether - Country Song - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uep5yoaQawM

Been a lot of years since "Fine Again", but Seether still sounds pretty good. Don't care much for the video, but the song is good. (6/10)


5. Avenged Sevenfold - So Far Away - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A7ry4cx6HfY&ob=av2e

Pretty tame stuff compared to their other stuff, and I think it loses something after repeat listenings. (5/10)


6. Coldplay - Every Teardrop is a Waterfall - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fyMhvkC3A84&ob=av3n

I can usually take or leave Coldplay, as it sometimes sounds like they're trying to Top U2's cathedralesque rhythms, but this was pretty good. (6/10)


7. Foo Fighters - Rope - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kbpqZT_56Ns&ob=av2e

I usually like anything by the Foos, and this was good. Not as cool as "Walk", but still decent. (5/10)


8. Theory of a Deadman - Lowlife - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=29RnY0H7cj4&ob=av2e

Don't know if they're trying to be funny, ironical, or satirical. Given the clever use of Donal Logue in the video, I'll go with all three. Guitar's not bad either. (7/10)


9. Staind - Not Again - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WnQJLU8tnsk

It's been awhile since "It's Been Awhile", but it doesn't seem like Staind has evolved that much in the last ten years. Don't hear much in this song that I care for. (4/10)


10. Blink 182 - Up All Night - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JkoCkva-rBc

Never been a fan of this group. This song didn't convert me. (4/10)


11. Sixx A.M. - Lies of the Beautiful People - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JzAv7K8BtN0&ob=av3e

Wow. I am shocked. This song kicks FUCKING ASS!! Glad to see Sixx, now in his 50's, still contributing to the world of hard rock. I know this is only a side project, but damn, it's good stuff! (9/10)


12. Death Cab for Cutie - You are a Tourist - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qkk5wViJo-I&ob=av2e

Never been a fan of Ben Gibbard's voice, but I really like the playful rhythms of this song. I like it better than most of their other stuff. (7/10)


13. Alter Bridge - Ghost of Things Gone By - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3CBoHFC4f94

Not a bad song, but nothing really distinctive or memorable about it. (5/10)


14. The Black Keys - Howlin' For You - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TLSpj7q6_mM&ob=av2e

Love the video. Don't care much for the song, but the video was a perfect match for it. Love the cameos by Corbin Bernsen, Todd Bridges, Sean Patrick Flanery and even Shaun White. If only Machete had been this good. (4/10 for the song, 8/10 for the video)


15. Adelitas Way - Sick - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UaVcRnPt3EM&ob=av2e

I understand the commercial appeal of "Invincible", the song that became the theme of the WWF, but this is a better song. (8/10)


16. Sublime With Rome - Panic - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JFVx-8XLrLY&ob=av2e

Shit, I had no idea that Sublime kept going after Brad Nowell died! What a welcome surprise! The sound sounds much like the early days of Sublime... love it! (7/10)


17. Bush - The Sound of Winter - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X9UYGimYvLA

Another band I had no idea was still recording. Their first CD in ten years, and the first song of theirs that I've heard without Gavin Rossdale at the helm. The name may not have changed, but there seems to be little resemblance to the sound I remember from songs like "Comedown", "Glycerine" or "Machinehead". But though it's different, it's not bad. (6/10)


18. Rise Against - Help is On the Way - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JHiqGqoIGII&ob=av2e

I'd be glad to hear what Geezer, who put five RA songs in his Top 100, feels about this song. I still don't like their sound, though. (4/10)


19. Cage the Elephant - Shake Me Down - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v27TRan1SBI&ob=av2e

Hate the singer's nasal voice. I wanted to like the music, but that voice just overpowered it. (3/10)


20. Mumford & Sons - The Cave - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3KkUeRPjc-Y

Bored pretty much all the way through it. (4/10)


21. Rise Against - Make it Stop (September's Child) - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XP4clbHc ... ure=relmfu

See #18. The video was fucking fantastic, though. (5/10 for the song, 10/10 for the video)


22. Incubus - Adolescents - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SKD2fjBpHFk&ob=av2e

Twenty years and still going strong. It sounds like their sound has matured considerably since "Pardon Me", "Drive" and "Wish You Were Here", but Brandon Boyd's voice is still awesome. That instrumental bit near the end was pretty weird, though. (7/10)


23. Korn feat. Skillrex - Get Up! - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pI0Kwutugeg

I can take Korn only in small doses. I can only listen to "Freak On a Leash" so many times before my ears bleed. This song fits into that category. Great once, good twice, more than that is just overload. Love the singing parts, hate the screaming/cursing parts. (6/10)


24. Mumford & Sons - Roll Away Your Stone - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3eEobPFh ... ure=relmfu

See #20. This one was more up-tempo, but I guess I'm just not into that whole folky-bluegrass sound. (5/10)


25. 311 - Sunset in July - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1P2YSktr7xU

Much like the Peppers, 311's sound hasn't changed much in two decades. But whereas that's a drawback in many bands' case, that's not the case fo 311. They still have that nerdy-cool sound, and their lyrics are still terrific. The sound just gets your feet moving. (8/10)



I'm sure most of you guys, who are much more hip and wired into the current music scene than I am, would give much more critical reviews that I do. So please, feel free to comment! (Tranny, Geez and NSpan, I'm especially talking to you.)

[undeadmonkey]

I love Pumped up Kicks, The Cave and Howlin for You

[Buscemi]

Does anyone really take the charts seriously anymore? All that it is nowadays is what overproduced, overpromoted Katy Perry song came out this week.

[Shrykespeare]

Well, I was just using it as a yardstick as to what is getting the most airplay, which singles are selling the most, etc. As far as I know, the charts are still the best way to do that.

Besides, I'm doing rock, not pop.

[MisterInformative]

Besides, I'm doing rock, not pop.

Which is why I'm surprised that there's a Coldplay song there... weird.