Before we reveal what could possibly be worse this year than Five Finger Death Punch, Theory Of A Deadman, and AJR, here are the songs that came close to making this list, but didn’t make the cut.

“Sober” – Bad Wolves

Mainstream Rock
#1 peak (2 weeks, June 20^th – June 27^th, 2020)
#9 year-end

In the past year, Bad Wolves frontman Tommy Vext has gone from rock star to yet another 2020 villain on the verge of having his reputation ruined.  In June, during the peak of the Black Lives Matter movement, Vext denied that systemic racism existed, claiming, “We don’t have a problem with race here.  It’s all manufactured.”  Wow, dude.  Just because you never saw it doesn’t mean it doesn’t exist.  And if that wasn’t enough, it was revealed in December that his ex-girlfriend, Whitney Johns, was filing suit against Vext in court for allegedly assaulting her multiple times while the two were still together earlier this year.  Despite claims by Vext that the domestic violence case was an extortion attempt, Johns was recently granted a restraining order from Vext.  With all that in mind, it’s easy to get angry at his songs by association.  But let’s try judging the music.

On the surface, this song doesn’t sound like it belongs here.  “Sober” is a ballad about Vext overcoming his drug addiction.  The music has decent instrumentation with acoustic guitar and ukulele and the lyrics are completely serviceable with their message of hanging on despite adversity.  So why did it come close to making it to the top ten?

Reason number one:  The ending.  Here’s how the writing process must have gone.

“Hey, how are we going to end this ‘Sober’ song?

“Uhh…ummmmmm…key change?”

Yep.  After the solo, there is an abrupt key change for the final chorus and outro.  It essentially comes out of nowhere, with just a few notes on the guitar signaling that it is coming.  There was no reason for it, and the key change makes the final chorus needlessly dramatic.  

But the main reason why it almost made the cut… listen to the chorus.  Does this song sound familiar to you?  It should.

This song, and its composition, is a near-complete copy of “Far Away” by Nickelback, with the primary difference being that “Sober” features three chords, while “Far Away” uses four.  While “Far Away” uses a chord progression of B-G flat-A flat minor-E, “Sober” uses the chord progression E-G flat-A flat minor-G flat for its chorus, bridge, and outro: at least 70 percent of the song.  The vocal melodies are similar too.   The “Cause you said you’re Sober, lying and I can’t get closer” melody uses the same four notes as the “I love you, I’ve loved you all along” melody from “Far Away,” and both melodies start on the same G flat note while ending on the same B note.  This makes the melodies sound incredibly similar.  And finally, both songs use the same exact key change, with both songs jumping up two notes for the final chorus.

And I’ll say it… the Nickelback song is better.  “Far Away” has a more sweeping grandeur in its sound to complement its message of true love, and it’s refreshing to hear Chad Kroeger sing about love rather than dirty sex for a change.  Listening to “Sober” reminds me too much of “Far Away” in its execution, and there’s nothing particularly special about the song that will make me want to come back to it.

“Popular Monster” – Falling In Reverse

Mainstream Rock
#1 peak (1 week, May 9^th, 2020)
#10 year-end

After hearing about them for years, I finally got my first real exposure to Falling In Reverse this year with their infamous cover of “Gangsta’s Paradise” (a dishonorable mention on my Worst Covers Of A Good Song list earlier this year) and this, their biggest hit to date.  I can give one piece of faint praise to “Popular Monster” – it isn’t as bad as their “Gangsta’s Paradise” cover.  But it still isn’t good.

On the surface, this song appears to be mediocre.  I get that hardcore “scene” music isn’t my thing, but Falling In Reverse mess it up in two key parts.  After a second verse that at least is consistent in tone to the first and continues the story of struggling with mental illness, the tone falls apart with poorly mixed and awkwardly spliced in screams of “It obliterates me!  Disintegrates me!  Annihilates me!”  It really messes up the tone of the song.

Then after a keyboard-led electronic backing track for the verses leads to a rock chorus, the bridge is where it all falls apart.  Abruptly after the second chorus, the guitars are cranked up to 11 and the blastbeats come in from the drums, and it kneecaps the pace of the song.  This all leads up to a breakdown with an awkward rhythm.  Also during the bridge, Ronnie Radke screams, “HERE WE GO AGAIN, MOTHERF**KER!!”  Ronnie, no.  That’s Corey Taylor’s bit.

Overall, I just don’t get the appeal of this band.

“A Little Bit Off” – Five Finger Death Punch

Mainstream Rock
#1 Peak (July 4^th – July 25^th, 2020)
#1 Year-End

This was the number one Mainstream Rock song of the year.  This band, which declined steadily throughout the 2010s before becoming a laughingstock with their 2018 album And Justice For None, still managed to score the biggest song on the rock chart two years later.  And just like so many of their songs, it’s nothing special.

Well, I can say one positive.  Unlike “Inside Out,” this is at least an attempt by Five Finger Death Punch to do something different.  It’s led by an acoustic guitar with minimal lead guitar work, and includes some electronic tinkering with Ivan Moody’s voice in the mix.  But the music isn’t entirely scot-free, with the electronic effects causing a stutter effect with Moody’s voice at the end of the verses, and making him sound like a robot at points.

Oh, and surprise… the lyrics aren’t good either.  The song is simply about how Moody is having a bad day.  But Moody can’t commit to his own bit, as he alternates between just having a bad day and having one of the worst days of his life.  The line the song revolves around is, “I’m a little bit off today,” which is repeated at least fifteen times in the song.  This makes it sound like maybe today just isn’t his day.  Maybe he just isn’t as happy as usual or he can’t get things done. Understandable.  But then the lyrics include…

I’m a little pissed off today and there ain’t nothing you can do about it

Got a really short fuse today, Everyone around me’s f**king crazy

You can all f**k off today

Based on these lyrics, Moody sounds far more than “a little bit off.”  It sounds like he’s having one of the worst days of his life if he’s thinking that negatively about others, or if nothing can bring him out of his anger.  Adding to that, there is nothing in this song that explains how he got so angry.  Making this yet another 5FDP song about whining and complaining over nothing.  Good effort, 5FDP, but keep trying.

AUTHOR’S NOTES

On reflection, “Resentment” by A Day To Remember, “Atlas Falls” by Shinedown, and “Blind Leading The Blind” by Mumford & Sons would be added as dishonorable mentions.

SOURCES

Dawes, Laina.  “Hey Tommy Vext: Just Because You’ve Never Seen Racism, It Doesn’t Mean It’s Not There.”  Metal Hammer 17 June 2020.  Web.  30 December 2020.

“Bad Wolves Frontman Tommy Vext Accused of Assaulting Girlfriend.”  MetalSucks 8 December 2020.  Web.  30 December 2020.

IMAGE SOURCES

“Sober” and “Popular Monster” single covers from Spotify

Shot of “Far Away” music video from More Music Videos

Iowa and F8 album covers from Wikimedia

Shot of “A Little Bit Off” music video from Loudwire