Sorry to whine and complain about it again, but THE TOP TEN OF THE MAINSTREAM ROCK YEAR-END LIST SUCKED!

I mean, look at it.  Out of 13 songs that got nominated for my worst list, four were from the top ten.  The one that made it, “Inside Out” by Five Finger Death Punch, was yet another lazy, uninspired song by the biggest metal band in the country for the last decade now.  Being nominated were “A Little Bit Off” by Five Finger Death Punch (again, the number one song of the year!), “Popular Monster” by Falling In Reverse, and “Sober” by Bad Wolves.  They were all bad in their own special way: “A Little Bit Off” was a failed experiment with more complaining in the lyrics, “Popular Monster” was poorly put together, and “Sober” was a Nickelback knock-off.  And the rest of the top ten wasn’t a whole lot better either.  You may disagree on this one, but “Atlas Falls” by Shinedown was boring and bland.  I love Seether, but “Dangerous” was more proof that they’ve never gotten back to the level of their first two albums with its generic sound and subject matter.  “Hurricane” by I Prevail was okay, but the number 5 song of the year?  I don’t think so.  And finally, “Unforgettable” by Godsmack is the most average song I’ve heard in a long day.  I’m not doing one since I’ve spent long enough on this project, but if I did a “Top 5 Average Songs in Rock & Alternative” for this year, “Unforgettable” would be number one, without question.  I mean, they could have had the biggest song of the year in all of music by building on their constant use of “GO AWAY!” and “STAY AWAY FROM ME!” by releasing “Stay Six Feet Away From Me,” but they didn’t do that.

So I mean, was there anything good about the Mainstream Rock Top Ten?  Well… there was one song that stood out.  And who would have thought it would be sung by the former Cindy Lou Who?

“Death By Rock and Roll” – The Pretty Reckless

Mainstream
#1 peak (August 1, 2020 – August 15, 2020)
#4 year-end

That’s right.  After being featured in that mediocre-at best How The Grinch Stole Christmas movie (where she sang “Where Are You Christmas?”) and starring in Gossip Girl, Taylor Momsen got tired of acting and joined a rock band.  And this year, they scored their fifth Mainstream Rock number one single with “Death By Rock And Roll.”  Oh God, did this song provide me with what I want in rock music.

It all starts with that riff.  In what has to be by far one of the best riffs of the year, Ben Phillips just struts in with his five-note guitar riff, which repeats several times throughout the song.  But do you care?  It’s bluesy, versatile, and slashing all at the same time, and is guaranteed to make you headbang.  And just when you may start getting tired of it, Phillips switches it up in the chorus with a simple yet effective chord progression, and incisive lead guitar work.  In a world where lead guitar riffs are becoming increasingly rare, Phillips’s riff is manna from heaven, a crushing reminder of what we’ve been missing over the last decade.

And just to complement that riff, Taylor Momsen turns in a powerhouse performance as frontwoman.  After hearing this song, I’m convinced this woman, who was once that innocent kid who tries to convince the Grinch to like Christmas, is a badass.  She comes in with a powerful, keening voice, and lyrics to match her sneering attitude throughout the song.  The song’s lyrics go through a host of people who died in over-the-top methods (one dies of a drug overdose, another accidentally kills herself with a firearm), which Momsen just shrugs off by saying she’d rather face “death by rock and roll.”  Based on the chorus, we get the impression that these deaths are just child’s play compared to how Momsen wants to go…

I wanna go with a shotgun blast
I wanna go with a woman on her back
I wanna go with balls, I won’t pray
I wanna go with a spiral in my veins

Jeez… that’s violent.  But then again, you kinda want that.  This is rock and roll, the genre that doesn’t care one bit about what anyone else thinks.  Bon Jovi went down in a blaze of glory, so Taylor Momsen must find a more brutal and crushing way to die.  It’s an absolutely fitting ending for a rock star.

And then we learn the reason these lyrics came to be.  This song is a tribute to their former producer Kato Khandwala, who was killed in 2018 in a motorcycle crash.  That’s odd, I’m pretty sure that was a cause of death Momsen wanted on the song.  “Death By Rock And Roll” is no pity party – it’s a song more akin to a rock festival than a funeral.  The message is made clear… rock is no place for solemnness, it’s a place where you want to be celebrated and honored rather than fall into obscurity.  I’m pretty sure Neil Young had a song about it.

And just to add to the biting content of the lyrics, Taylor Momsen sings this song with all the power of a demolition squad.  Her vocals transcend the lyrics to a whole new level, especially when we get to the final chorus…

Out on my own, I don’t need to be saved
I wanna go… out… my…
WAAAAAAAYYYYY!!!!!!

Dang, Taylor.  Careful with that axe.

Cliché as it sounds, when I think of rock music, I don’t want to hear a band desperately trying to appeal to as many people as possible.  I want good, old-fashioned, band playing vicious instrumentation while the lead singer belts like a madman.  Or madwoman, in this case.  And The Pretty Reckless gave me exactly what I wanted.  

SOURCES

Divita, Joe.  “The Pretty Reckless Debut New Song ‘Death By Rock And Roll’ Dedicated to Late Producer.”  Loudwire 15 May 2020.  21 January 2021.

IMAGE SOURCES

Single cover from Wikimedia

Photo of Taylor Momsen from People

Photo of The Pretty Reckless from Brooklyn Made Presents