SINS OF OMISSION

Here is my new innovation to the year-end list: The sins of omission.  This is a segment where I will go over great singles or other notable songs from this year that deserved to make the list, but didn’t become a hit.  Because radio and the music industry are stupid.  And this year’s nominee for a sin of omission is…

“Genesis” – Deftones

Mainstream
#38 peak

Seriously, Deftones are amazing.  Flat earth theories notwithstanding, Stephen Carpenter’s two chord main riff is vicious and menacing, and while Chino Moreno’s voice has aged, his vocals are still violent and beautiful at the same time.  His verse pummels you with his intensity, while the bridge soothes you with how it rides the suddenly melodic guitar playing.  The lyrics about achieving balance and ascending the means of true earth are good too, but let’s be honest.  It’s the Deftones, and just like on “Be Quiet And Drive” and White Pony, it’s about the atmosphere the music and vocals enraptures you in.  Also, #38?  SERIOUSLY?!  The mainstream rock charts are terrible.

I’ll expand this list when I do prior lists and have more to discuss.

HONORABLE MENTIONS

Before we reveal the best 2020 had to offer in the rock and alternative music world, here are the songs I considered for this list, but which didn’t make the cut.

“Killing Me Slowly” – Bad Wolves

Mainstream
#1 peak (January 25, 2020)
#21 year-end

This song wins my award for guiltiest pleasure of the year.  The reason’s pretty simple.  In a year where the conduct of several musicians (not to mention others outside of music) made it difficult to consider ever listening to their music again, now-former Bad Wolves frontman Tommy Vext threw his hat into the ring with a pretty horrible year, which involved denying systemic racism existed simply because he never experienced it, and being accused of multiple instances of domestic abuse against his ex-girlfriend, which involved allegedly trapping her in his house.  So, I mean, I couldn’t have liked this song by proxy.  I listened to “Sober” first for this list and that ended up as a dishonorable mention.  And then they had “Killing Me Slowly,” their other hit from this year, which tackled cheating and infidelity.  From a lyric writer who was accused of domestic violence.  But then it came on the year-end list…

And I absolutely loved it.

The one thing to remember as a music critic is that we need to judge the song, not the person.  And this song always makes me want to jump around like a teenager again when it comes on.  A big reason is because of the music.  In a format where overproduced guitars in drop tuning has become cliché, guitarists Doc Coyle and Chris Cain manage to make the music violent and ethereal at the same time.  The vicious tone of the song’s verses and choruses match the song’s lyrical content perfectly, and just when the guitars start to become overwrought, they abruptly drop out for the first part of the chorus and the bridge for an acoustic guitar and string section.  Adding to that, Doc Coyle’s guitar solo may be really simple – it’s just four notes and repeats the same sequence four times in a row – but it makes you want to hum along every single time.

And the man in the news isn’t too bad on this song either.  Tommy Vext’s big, bellowing ox of a voice is a much better fit for this song than it was on “Sober,” due to its louder sound and more biting lyrical content.  When he sings “You think you know that you know, but you really don’t know me,” you really feel the passion and energy in his vocals, unlike on “Sober.”  So yeah, a guilty pleasure for me.  I don’t care what others may think, this song rules.

“What You Gonna Do??” – Bastille feat. Graham Coxon

Alternative
#8 peak, #47 year-end

Of all the things I was not expecting… Graham Coxon, the guitar mastermind from Blur, to be featured on a hit in 2020.  But it happened, and I’m glad it did because “What You Gonna Do??” sounds like a new lease on life for Bastille.

I do like some of Bastille’s songs.  But even on “Pompeii” and “Good Grief,” their songwriting is often stifled by their bland, safe sound, which emphasizes the percussion and keyboards over the guitars.  Even when they were doing well, they sounded like they were afraid to rock, or to make a song that was different.  Well they knocked both of those doors down on this song, which features an energetic guitar pattern from Graham Coxon and a rumbling bass that was virtually absent on all their previous songs.  And it works; the newfound energy is refreshing and contagious.  The song is only 2 minutes long, but that’s not a negative; it truly feels like nothing was wasted in this song.

Good job, Bastille.  Can’t wait to hear more songs in this style.

“Black Madonna” – Cage The Elephant

Alternative
#2 peak, #10 year end

Can we all agree that Cage The Elephant is a truly underrated singles band?  I mean, this is the band that gave us their debut hit “Ain’t No Rest For the Wicked,” the flat out perfect “Come A Little Closer,” and the beautiful “Trouble.”  And they kept the hits coming in 2020 with “Black Madonna,” the third single from their album Social Cues.

Each of the previous Cage The Elephant singles has featured something different that has allowed it to stand out – with “Come A Little Closer” it was the powerhouse chorus, and with “Trouble” it was just the atmosphere of the song.  And this song is no different.  This time, it’s all about Nick Bockrath’s wah-wah guitar riff at the beginning of the song, which is repeated several times.  And this comes in immediately after a weird start-up effect with a programmed drum beat at the beginning of the song, making it seemingly come out of nowhere.  It’s both wild and spectacular at the same time, as if it’s being broadcast in widescreen.

The second surprise comes in the chorus, where Bockrath comes in with a slide guitar part that gives off a truly tropical feel, giving us the impression that Matt Shultz is singing from a beach (God I wish we could still go to a beach).  When combined with the song’s message of meaningless success in the lyric “Call me when you’re ready to be real,” it’s a truly strange mix that somehow works.

“How Will I Rest In Peace If I’m Buried By A Highway?” – KennyHoopla

Alternative
#8 peak, #33 year end

As far as I know, this was one of the alternative singles that everyone agreed to liking this year.  But this song isn’t really on here for basic analytical reasons, like the music or lyrics.  And KennyHoopla isn’t the best singer on a technical level either.  It’s here because the frenetic energy is just so contagious.

KennyHoopla sings in the chorus about how the woman in the song is about to kill him by cutting his head off, and it sure sounds like it with the song’s breakneck rhythm and his vocals, where he just sounded like he wanted to belt as loudly as possible.  In many songs, this would suck.  But here, it fits perfectly with the rhythm.  And it creates an unlikely singalong chorus, or scream-along when he finishes by screaming, “A DEAD MAAAANNNN!!!!!”  It’s a catchy chorus that works because the song is never dull, and we never get tired of hearing the chorus.

And I almost forgot… the lead guitar riff at the end of each chorus, while simple, is also well-mixed and easy to hum along to.  This song has deserved the praise it’s gotten.  Now let’s all scream along… A DEAD MAAAANNNN!!!!!

“Caution” – The Killers feat. Lindsey Buckingham

Alternative
#1 peak (April 25, 2020 – May 2, 2020)
#15 year-end

This was an initial front-runner for my best list.  For weeks, I thought it would end up in the top five at least, maybe even as high as #2.  But as I started narrowing the picks, this song’s flaws began to show and it tumbled out of the top ten.  That being said, “Caution” has enough positive qualities to earn at least a mention.

Unlike most songs made today, “Caution” takes its sweet time to get started, beginning with an ethereal yet beautiful keyboard intro for about 40 seconds before we get into the verse.  The verse melody stumbles off course at the midway point, when Brandon Flowers speaks through the line “But you can’t shoot what she’s seen.”  But then we get to the chorus.

I’m throwing caution!
What’s it gonna be?
Tonight the winds of change are blowing wild and free

That hook.  Brandon Flowers more than makes up for the fizzled out verse melody by just belting out those first two lines at the top of his vocal range.  While some of the previous entries made it here because of their catchiness, this one made it because Flowers’s singing is just breathtaking.  Adding to that, the vocals make the message about moving out of Las Vegas (the band’s hometown) explode that much more.

And yet, that isn’t the best part of the song.  That honor goes to Lindsey Buckingham, the guitarist from Fleetwood Mac, whose skyward scream of a solo brings this song to even greater heights.  After a song that was led by keyboards for almost the entire length, it’s such a spectacular transition.  Dare I say it… it’s one of Buckingham’s greatest accomplishments as a guitarist.  And this is the guy who wrote “Second Hand News,” for Christ’s sakes.

The verses and the fact that the best part of the song is performed by an artist from another group prevent this song from making the top ten, but “Caution” is still worth listening too regardless.

“Wars” – Of Monsters and Men

Alternative
#14 peak, #44 year-end

Remember that weird period in the 2010’s, when rock was falling down an elevator shaft and alternative music was clinging to whatever it could to survive?  And then suddenly, we got these songs that sounded more adept for a campfire than a rock festival.  Among the biggest was “Little Talks,” an unlikely smash hit from the Icelandic group Of Monsters And Men that crossed over to the pop charts.  Now here we are, seven years after “Little Talks,” where we live in an age where everyone is desperately trying to be an 80s synthpop artist, with the few who aren’t trying to be eighties kids are paying tribute to the days of disco and funk.  And… I sure didn’t expect Of Monsters And Men to release a dance-influenced song similar to that vein with “Wars.”

The Wikipedia page for Of Monsters And Men’s album Fever Dream, which contains “Wars,” claims that the song and album qualify as “Stadium Rock.”  Well, chalk it up as another blatant Wikipedia inaccuracy because this song has far more to do with dance-pop than it does with Van Halen.  It’s not a disco song, but it recalls that era with a gleaming piano and a funk bassline that still feels modern.  And Of Monsters And Men prove their talents as musicians – the piano pattern is clear and concise, and while bassist Kristjan Pall Kristijansson is no Bernard Edwards, he succeeds in creating a bassline that will make you want to get up and dance.  Add to that Nanna Bryndis Hilmarsdottir and Ragnar Porhallsson’s harmonies on the chorus, and you have a song that brings off positive vibes for everyone who hears it.  Unless they check out the lyrics, of course.

This seemingly happy song is actually about another dysfunctional relationship.  The part of the chorus that you’ll remember is the “I love you on the weekends” line, but you might miss what’s being sung around that, which is, “but I’m careless and I’m wicked.”  It’s about how a seemingly perfect relationship is being threatened by conflict.  The conflict is vague, but it still speaks to Of Monsters And Men’s abilities as songwriters that they were able to make a song about a tense relationship and have it sound so thrilling.

“Ordinary Man” – Ozzy Osbourne feat. Elton John & Slash

Mainstream
#7 peak, #35 year-end

Of all the people I did not expect to make this list… Think about it.  Ozzy Osbourne singing a power ballad at the age of 71.  50 years after his greatest album, Paranoid.  With Elton John, who was 72 at the time of recording.  And power ballads… usually suck.  Let’s be honest, especially since the rise of hair metal, power ballads have provided us with a considerable number of stinkers, where either the singer shows he’s not a good technical singer or the music or lyrics are overwhelmingly cheesy.  Now think about it with Ozzy, who even at his best was just sneering his way through songs such as “War Pigs” and “Crazy Train,” and who has been, in short, a mess for the last 20 years if The Osbournes was any indication.  This is gonna suck.  This is gonna suck.  This is gonna…

Actually be good?

Well, there’s a lot I like about this song, surprisingly.  Unlike most of the songs that made this list, this time it’s the lyrics.  What saves Ozzy from flailing helplessly in this big, grandiose, sweeping song is the message of how Ozzy’s made it through all the drama and drugs he’s gone through in his life…

Yes, I’ve been a bad guy
Been higher than the blue sky
And the truth is I don’t wanna die an ordinary man
I’ve made grown men cry
Don’t know why I’m still alive
Yes, the truth is I don’t wanna die an ordinary man

Well, yeah.  I agree.  Cause let’s be honest, Ozzy is lucky he’s made it to his seventies and he’s still recording music (even with the massive amount of personnel who helped make this album).  And even in the grand pantheon of rock star antics, Ozzy is anything but ordinary.  This is the guy who allegedly ate a bat on stage, for crying out loud.  But he made it, and the chorus comes out as very heartfelt.

And then there’s Elton John, who’s also had his fair share of battles with drugs and alcoholism, and who retired for a brief period in the late 1970’s before reaching the hellhole that was breaking up with Bernie Taupin and making a disco album.  So it comes across as honest when he announces,

Many times I’ve lost control
They tried to kill my rock ‘n’ roll
Just remember I’m still here for you

And then to cap it off, Slash gets a solo.  It’s not the best of his career – you’d be crazy to put this over “Sweet Child O’Mine” – but dang is it killer.  After playing a melodic copycat solo over the first half, his playing gradually builds until we get some absolute shredding over his last two measures before the final chorus.  So many power ballads fail because they mistake loudness for quality, but Slash’s solo allows us to make a graceful transition to the final chorus.

Ozzy’s other hit this year, “Under The Graveyard,” was pretty good too – it was one of just two songs in the Mainstream Rock Top Ten I’d recommend hearing – “Ordinary Man” surpassed it in terms of realism and simply standing out lyrically.

“Level Of Concern” – Twenty One Pilots

Pop
#23 peak

Alternative
#1 peak (May 9, 2020 – August 8, 2020)
#1 year-end

Full disclosure, this was my last cut from the main list.  It was a three-way battle between this and two other songs.  I guess in the end I had less sympathy for the number one Alternative song of the year when the other two were songs by newcomers.  But “Level Of Concern” continued Twenty One Pilots’s winning streak in terms of releasing successful singles that deserved the level of popularity they got.

This song is best described as a grower.  Upon first listen, it likely will just play out as an acceptable, but not outstanding, song about surviving the COVID-19 pandemic, with its seemingly cliché messages of “tell me we’re alright, tell me we’re okay.”  But upon repeated listens, the surprisingly intricate instrumentation begins to reveal itself.  It starts with the groovy bassline that backs each of the verses, that’s both simple and playful.  Who would have thought you could dance to a song about the most horrible crisis since World War II?  And Josh Dun’s drumming works too with that stutter effect on the “would you be my little quarantine” pre-chorus, making it stand out way more than a standard drum pattern would.

After repeated listens, I have to say my favorite part comes in the post-chorus.  Tyler Joseph’s melodies for the “tell me we’re alright, tell me we’re okay” are fine enough, but then the three note piano riffs come in and make the message that much more affecting.  Once I hear them, I truly believe regardless of how bad life has been for the past year, everything will be okay.

“Die To Live” – Volbeat feat. Neil Fallon

Mainstream
#1 peak (March 14, 2020)
#11 year-end

For the longest time, I found Volbeat’s two hits this year, “Die To Live” and “Leviathan,” incredibly similar.  Both are punk-influenced hard rock tracks with a frenetic energy to them, as if they have to get the song done as fast as possible before the recording studio collapses.  Both songs have nearly the same chords for the verses – while “Die To Live” features a verse of E-D flat minor-E, “Leviathan” uses A flat minor-E-B-A-B-E, with only that brief four measure break alternative between the A and B chords to differentiate it.  They even feature nearly identical tempos: “Die To Live” is 92 beats per minute, with “Leviathan” being 91 beats per minute.  Regardless of similarities, both of them were good songs.  So why did I put “Die To Live” here instead of “Leviathan?”

Well, the first reason is because it starts.  “Leviathan” takes its sweet time to get started with an effective introductory riff.  This is usually how I want a song to start, providing its listener with a hook before the lyrics start.  But “Die To Live” doesn’t waste any time letting you know what you’re in for.  With a flurry of E power chords behind him, frontman Michael Poulsen belts out,

It’s 7:02! Breaking all the rules!
Dance the boogie-woogie and let’s fire up the booze
Cause we die to live, we die to live!

And we immediately start banging our heads along and having a good time to this tale of debauchery.

The second reason is their implementation of rockabilly into the mix.  On first listen, this is going to sound weird.  When Poulsen lowers his voice and begins his 50’s style singing, our first instinct is to just roll our eyes and ask, “Michael, what are you doing?”  But it works in this song because it’s unique.  Rock music currently has a huge problem in favoring songs that sound the same, so hearing a bit of rockabilly improvisation in a hard rock song makes it stand out.  And while their hits may sound similar, Volbeat don’t sound generic at all – they have a rapid, unpolished punk energy that is desperately needed on the charts today.

“Hero” – Weezer

Alternative
#1 peak (August 22, 2020)
#20 year-end

Mainstream
#19 peak

Once upon a time, as an angsty teenager growing up in Western New York, Weezer was my favorite band.  The Blue Album, Pinkerton, Maladroit, and even Make Believe were seen by me as gospel.  But then, beginning in 2008 with the Red Album’s mixed attempts at experimentation, Weezer has put out quite the uneven discography, with the peaks of Everything Will Be Alright In the End and The White Album contrasting with the crushing mediocrity of Pacific Daydream, the baffling success of “Africa,” and the inexcusable Raditude.  Weezer’s two singles that hit this year’s Alternative chart, “The End of the Game” and “Hero,” likely won’t be hailed as the amazing comeback that Everything Will Be Alright In the End was.  But after watching Weezer promise to never go back to pop sellout territory again only to release a generic indie pop album followed by a SURPRISE COVERS ALBUM COMPLETE WITH A COVER OF “NO SCRUBS” WTH?!?!, I heard “Hero” and just whispered, “Thank you.”

Sorry for copying virtually everyone with this next statement, but Weezer really need to stick with the loud guitars and catchy melodies.  It’s what they’re best at.  After the baffling detours of Pacific Daydream and “Africa,” “Hero” brings back what they were missing with a crunchy rhythm section, a strong drumming performance by Pat Wilson, and Rivers Cuomo proving he can still shred at age 50.  Even as a rather obvious homage to 80s hair and power metal bands (especially Van Halen), this is what I want to hear.  But what really made “Hero” stand out isn’t the music.  It’s the lyrics.

When I was a kid, I thought I’d save the world
Running ’round and chasing all the criminals
Swinging on a web, flying in the sky
Shooting lasers from my eyes
But now I know it never was my destiny
It’s not my place in life, not who I’m meant to be
And I don’t need the glory, I don’t need the fame
And I don’t wanna wear this cape
‘Cause on the inside (on the inside), I know it won’t last
On the inside (on the inside), I’m an outcast

I’m going to get a lot of crap from diehard Weezer fans for saying this.  But lyrically, this song sounds like the sequel to “Beverly Hills.”  And I don’t have a problem with that.

Think about it.  In both songs, Rivers is singing about how he wants to achieve a fantasy that virtually everyone has had at some point, only to admit that it won’t happen.  “Beverly Hills” went on for two verses about how much Rivers wanted to live a lifestyle with the flashiest celebrities in the business, only to admit in the end that it wasn’t his style.  “Hero” begins with fantasies about having superpowers and then admitting that he couldn’t achieve this goal either since he’s “an outcast.”  And it works.  A lot of people hate the lyrics in “Beverly Hills,” but I don’t because it fits Rivers’s overall character in so many Weezer songs, which is that he’s pathetic.  Rivers is pathetic at love, he’s pathetic at making friends, he’s pathetic at making his own clothing (if “Undone” was any indication), and given those obstacles, he probably wouldn’t be a good fit for Beverly Hills either.  Similarly, Rivers isn’t a superhero.  He, and the other members of Weezer, are misfits.  And “Hero” embraces it with an energy you can’t help but love.

If I could compare the two, I have more sentimental feelings towards “Beverly Hills” since it was the first Weezer song I ever heard, while I have to admit “Hero” is a better song overall with its stronger instrumentation and its more developed melody in the verses.  But it’s fine.  Both have their place with me.  And I’ll be air guitaring to “Hero” some more in the future.

IMAGE SOURCES

Ohms, Fever Dream, and Rewind, Replay, Rebound album covers from Amazon

“Killing Me Slowly,” “How Will I Rest In Peace If I’m Buried By A Highway?,” and “Hero” single covers from Spotify

“What You Gonna Do?,” “Caution” single covers and Social Cues album cover from Wikimedia

“Ordinary Man” single cover from Kulturnews

“Level Of Concern” single cover from Discogs

Photo of Weezer from Rolling Stone