Miscellaneous Mondays: December 2018 Edition

Hey guys, and welcome to the start of this new series I will be doing called Miscellaneous Mondays! Basically, these posts will come out once every month on a Monday. In the post, I will choose 5-10 random songs I don't think I'll be doing an in-depth review for in a top 10 or other post and just talk about them and why I love them. That way, we can bring some light to our Mondays with some great music! So that's basically it, so let's get into it!

INTRODUCTION

Lately, I've been listening to lots of different kinds and ranges of music, but a lot of that music has been on the alternative side due to these games called rankdowns I do on a music forum called Pulse Music Boards. One theme I have done recently is some 2000s alternative songs that crossed over to pop radio, so because I have been into that, a couple songs in that list have been in my rotation because of that game. I also picked out a few songs from outside of that game I've been enjoying in the past month or two just so the post isn't only about these alternative crossovers. This equates to six songs to discuss in this post. That's really enough said for this, so let's do it!

1. The Red Jumpsuit Apparatus - Face Down

I liked this song from the first listen, but it took me a few months to really get into it. I first heard it in April when digging through old Billboard year-end charts, as this song was #52 on the 2007 edition of that chart. I listened to it once in May after adding it to my Spotify, according to my last.fm page. Then I had three more plays for it in September of this year because I was going back through the old alternative charts. The song was still really cool then, just not quite a keeper. Well, that changed about two weeks ago when I was listening to the songs for the 2000s alternative crossovers rankdown on Pulse Music Boards. This was one of the songs I had not heard or remembered much about, so I had to relisten to it for that. And that time, it not only clicked with me, but it stuck with me, so much that twenty eight of my thirty two plays for it have occurred this month. That's pretty crazy if you ask me. The song itself is extremely catchy and has great instrumentals throughout, and the story behind it is really cool. It's basically about a girl who gets abused by her boyfriend, but she still really loves him, so she hides her wounds with makeup and still sticks around with him, hoping for a change. But by the end of the song, the boyfriend discovers that his girlfriend will finally leave him if he doesn't stop beating her up. Pretty cool story if you ask me. All of this coming together makes for a pretty great song that definitely should have crossed over and become as much of a success as it was. I won't say any more here, but I found an article that discusses the song and why it still matters today. It's worth reading so you should check it out.

2. Three Days Grace - Never Too Late

I know I just did a whole post on songs I love from them, but I feel kind of bad for leaving this song out of it because it is really good. Plus, it is one of their most acclaimed songs, so I feel like I have to talk about it more in-depth than I would in an album review (yes, a One X album review is coming pretty soon). But anyways, I think this doesn't sound that much different from a normal great Three Days grace song. It just sounds a little better. I can definitely tell from listening to One X that they put a little more effort into songs like this, "Pain", and "Animal I Have Become", which is the first thing that brings the song up. It feels about as deep as those two songs do, too, which is cool because Three Days Grace are good at doing that. The meaning behind this song has to do with finding a way out of a very dark place, or just simply not giving up. And remember how much I talked about "One Headlight" by The Wallflowers in my top 25 songs of all-time post? Well, this song has a lot of similarities to it in terms of lyrics and theme. I also think that the guitars in this song work really well, and I like how it's mostly acoustic in the intro and verses but then gets heavier in the chorus. Same goes for the vocals. I like how all of that flows. This song isn't meant to be a huge banger, and I really don't mind that because of how cool everything else is. Amazing song overall, I would have put it on my top Three Days Grace songs list but there just wasn't room for it. But I still strongly recommend it.

3. Papa Roach - Who Do You Trust?
After going into two older alternative songs, here's a newer one to change things up. I haven't been into newer alternative music too much just because it's gone so downhill in the past five years or so, but this song shows no evidence of that. I first heard it on my local rock station a couple weeks ago, and while I thought the song would be forgettable after that listen, I kept hearing it on that station, and that's what made me come to really enjoy it. Eventually, I decided that it was just really good for a new Papa Roach song, so I added it to Spotify, and I have not hesitated any to give it a listen ever since. The song is just really catchy and has a fair amount of energy inside of it. Jacoby Shaddix has some cool vocals in it, too. I'm currently not sure how this song is doing commercially or on alternative radio, but I do know that they have a new album coming out next month, so that might be fun to review. We'll see when the time comes. But for now we have this song, which is very enjoyable because of how catchy it is. If you are not a huge fan of modern alternative music and want to hear something new from a band popular in the 2000s, then this song is for you. It's very good and deserves to be popular.

4. 6ix9ine/Fetty Wap/A Boogie Wit Da Hoodie - KEKE
Here's a newer song by an artist that is frowned upon by most music fans today because of his criminal acts and weird-sounding songs. But personally, I don't have a problem with his music. "GUMMO" was a pretty good song despite a negative vibe that the song has for some reason. "FEFE" is okay but did not deserve to be as big as it was in my opinion. Then there's this song. It is an average song from 6ix9ine, which is pretty bad for the average music fan. But because I respect music way more than the average music fan does, I enjoy this song quite a bit. It's very catchy and can get stuck in your head really easily. And I think that 6ix9ine is a really good fit for this beat and this song for some reason. I could do without Fetty Wap's parts, but A Boogie Wit Da Hoodie, who I think is actually a pretty good rapper, comes in perfectly and makes up for that. Unlike the first two songs I discussed in this post, this song doesn't really have any meaning to it, which is fine because not every song has that. Some are just for fun, like this one. And I like that. This was the first 6ix9ine song I got into, so while he is not one of my favorite rappers out there, this is probably my favorite song from him that deserved to be bigger than some of his other songs.

5. Yellowcard - Ocean Avenue
My story with getting into this song is very similar to the one I told for "Face Down": I first heard this in May when doing a 2000s rock rankdown for Pulse, and I thought it was cool. In fact, I still have my rankings that I did then, and I ranked this #24 out of 40 songs, which is pretty good considering how amazing the list was. Then I had to listen to it again in September when going through the old alternative charts, and I racked up a couple plays for it then. But a couple weeks ago when listening to it again for that 2000s alternative crossovers rankdown is when I really got into it. The song is really upbeat and fun, for one thing. I also think the dude sounds good throughout the song. As for the lyrics, I didn't really know what was going on in the lyrics until looking it up, so not much to say there. I was surprised to hear that the song wasn't about a girl, though. But yeah, I don't immediately spot many flaws in this song, which makes it really good. It's always fun to listen to, even if it wasn't as popular or as good as a lot of other pop punk songs from the 2000s.

6. Migos/Drake - Walk It Talk It
This is not a song I loved from the first listen. The first time I heard it a few months ago, I didn't like it because I thought it was lazy or something like that. And I guess I can understand it. But more listens got me into it, and while it isn't close to my favorite Migos song, it's very enjoyable. It's definitely not the most upbeat song out there, but it's not the most boring song out there either. I think the chorus is really good even though it's repetitive. But as someone studying music production and how songs are made, I can tell you that songs by popular artists like this are often repetitive because that gets stuck in your head the easiest and makes you want to listen to it more, therefore making it more popular. So I can see why that's there. The verses are also cool and flow really well. I'm not sure which is my favorite, but I can say that all of them contribute to making the song great, including Drake's, which is especially cool. The beat isn't the best, but it helps give the song a pretty decent vibe. This is not one of my favorite rap songs released this year, because there are way too many songs in that category, but it is something fun to listen to when there's nothing else. I thought that Culture II would be a somewhat disappointing album, but with how enjoyable this and "Stir Fry" are, I doubt that now.




So that wraps up my first miscellaneous Monday post! It was fun to make, and I hope it was fun for you guys to read as well. If you want to check out any of these songs because they sound cool to you from what I said about them, I embedded their YouTube videos when introducing them, so you can listen to them that way. I might make a Spotify playlist with all songs I talk about in these posts, and if I do, it will be on the sidebar where you can access it pretty easily. But we'll see about that. Until the next post, see you guys later and have a great rest of your day and week!

Terrible Top 10s #3: Three Days Grace

So I finally get to do this post! I'm really excited about talking about my top 10 songs from this awesome band because all ten of these songs are amazing and deserve to be talked about. This list was very hard to make, but I'm glad I did because I didn't think I could. But yeah, without further ado, let's jump right in!



INTRODUCTION

Three Days Grace is a Canadian rock band. The band was formed by singer and guitarist Adam Gontier, drummer Neil Sanderson, and bassist Brad Walst in 1997 in Ontario. Guitarist Barry Stock joined those three in 2003, the year that their self-titled debut album was released and hit the charts. The singles "I Hate Everything About You", "Just Like You", and "Home" helped propel this album to success, with the former being noted as their signature hit. However, around the time that the latter two were being released, Gontier was in bad shape due to a drug addiction, and knowing that the band couldn't continue with him being that sick, he went to rehab in 2005. While in treatment, he wrote a lot of lyrics describing how he felt during that time, a lot of which ended up on their second album, One X, which was released in June of 2006. Songs such as "Animal I Have Become", "Pain", "Never Too Late", and "Riot" made the album receive generally positive reviews from critics (like me). After three years of touring for it, they released Life Starts Now, which took a turn from their more angry sound that everyone was used to. People seemed to like that, as they ended up touring with bands such as Nickelback, Buckcherry, and My Darkest Days after its release. In 2012, they released Transit of Venus, but just three months later, the band confirmed that Gontier had left due to then-unexplained reasons. He was soon replaced with Walst's brother and My Darkest Days lead singer Matt Walst. So far, they have released two albums with him, 2015's Human and 2018's Outsider. So you ask, what's the big deal about them, and why do the critics and the general public really love them? Well, I will attempt to show why by sharing my top ten favorite songs from them. Let's do it!

10. Chalk Outline (from Transit of Venus)
This song is really good for a hard rock song released in a decade fueled by computer-generated instruments. I'm glad that like the Foo Fighters, Three Days Grace didn't abandon that sound when this new decade rolled around. As for this song, I like the theme in it, which if I remember correctly is about the feeling you have when someone just leaves you. That is the usual kind of thing for Three Days Grace, and I like how they continued it on into this decade. The hard rock feel in this song makes me feel so good knowing that it goes against what's popular. Really good song, and it deserved its Rock Song of the Year award given by Loudwire.

9. The Good Life (from Life Starts Now)
If this was an average artist I was ranking, this song would've been top 5, maybe even top 3. It hurt to put this song this low on the list because of how good it is, but I guess that shows how much I love Three Days Grace. This is an average great hard rock song for me, as it has some cool, heavy guitars, along with a faster tempo that gives it energy. And like most of these, the chorus is the best part because of how awesome it feels. This isn't quite my favorite Life Starts Now song, but I'm glad it was a single because it feels like a good one to me.

8. Pain (from One X)
This is one of their more well-known songs, and although it took a while to really click with me, I enjoy it quite a bit. It's not like a big banger like "The Good Life" or anything, but when he yells, "rather...feel...PAIN!" it's pretty awesome. And considering that there were a couple great absolute bangers off of One X, this is really good for a slower one. The theme of the song, according to Gontier, is the feeling that, "you're constantly numb to things around you, thanks to your own actions, and it's about being sick of that feeling." I'm pretty sure a lot of us have experienced that before, so it's a good idea for a song in my opinion. And Three Days Grace is the perfect band to make it, and because of that it's really good.

7. Just Like You (from Three Days Grace)
This is the first of three songs from their self-titled debut album to appear on this list, and while the highest one is #3, I still think the album is amazing and might be their best work to date. While I didn't give this song too much praise when reviewing their self-titled album, I grew into it a lot recently, so I decided to give it a spot on this list. That said, I think the way the song is structured and how it flows is really nice. Also, that main guitar riff that you hear in the intro and throughout the verses is really nice. The meaning behind this song is, as Gontier says, that you're often told how to live your life by your parents or someone else, and how you can stand up to it and choose your own path. This theme reminds me a lot of another great song that has a similar meaning, "Numb" by Linkin Park, for some reason. But yeah, I really enjoy this song, and despite what I might have said about it on my review of their self-titled album, it deserves to have been a single because the side of them shown here is really awesome.

6. Painkiller (from Human)
This is the only song on this list that features Matt Walst on lead vocals rather than Adam Gontier. And the reason why I put this this high is that when I heard that Three Days Grace had a new lead singer starting in 2013, I was quite afraid to listen to their music after that, just because it might be so different that it's not that good. But surprisingly, I really like Walst's contributions to the band, and I'm glad they picked him as a new lead singer because he has a lot of talent. And while I think this song would've been much better if Gontier sang it, Walst has a really good effort here. This song, which drummer Neil Sanderson says is about how everyone is addicted to something, has a really high energy level, which you could probably tell by now is something I love to hear from Three Days Grace and in general, and that's the first thing that makes me love it. And there's also the fact that this song was released in 2014, which was definitely not a year when you could hear rock songs with guitars on the radio. I like how they continued their classic alternative metal sound this far into this decade. Overall amazing song that really shows that a band doesn't always go downhill after getting a new lead singer.

5. I Hate Everything About You (from Three Days Grace)
Yes, you read that right, this band's most commercially successful hit is only at #5 on this list. Although this song is amazing and the song that got me into them, I think that it isn't very original and that another band could've done it and it would've been just as good. But in terms outside of this list, I don't care. I still think that this song was very well-made and deserved its success. It has a catchy guitar riff and an awesome chorus that gets you every time. And the fact that this song was their debut single is just cool, because it sounds like something by a band that's been around for a while. But just like a lot of my favorite bands and artists, their most popular song is not always their best song, so if you're making a list and feel like you should put the most popular song first, you don't have to. It's fine.

4. Break (from Life Starts Now)
If I remember correctly, this was the second song I came to really love from Three Days Grace after "I Hate Everything About You". And knowing how good I thought "I Hate Everything About You" was, I was excited to hear more from them when I was listening to older alternative charts. In fact, my last.fm account says that the week before I really got into them, I had 47 scrobbles (or plays) for "I Hate Everything About You". But by the next week, I had ten brand new plays for this song, including seven in a three-day span, because the first time I listened to it, I was shook. The theme about wanting to break away from a situation that you're in that you don't like stuck out so much to me, along with the extremely high energy level, really showed me what this band could do aside from their commercially successful songs like "I Hate Everything About You" and "Lost In You", and that started my true love for them. Seems like a really good song for only number four on this list, right? Well, then there's no telling how legendary all of our top three songs are. So let's introduce them.

3. Home (from Three Days Grace)
I know, I know, I ranked "I Hate Everything About You" higher than this when reviewing their self-titled album. But I feel like that for this list, "Home" should be higher because it represents Three Days Grace's sound way better than "I Hate Everything About You" does. So it is. As for everything else, it's not quite as upbeat as some of their other songs like "Break" and "The Good Life", but that doesn't stop Adam Gontier's aggressive voice from coming out and showing what it can do. In fact, it's the first thing that catches my attention when the song kicks in. According to songmeanings.com, the song is apparently about a typical conflict between a parent and a teenager, and although some say it's about a conflict between a boyfriend and a girlfriend, I personally disagree because it sounds way more like parent vs. teenager to me. Pretty interesting to me because I know what it's like, as I've been through that many times. Aside from the lyrics and vocals, the heavy sound in this song is just cool. Like I said before, it's not a total banger because it doesn't have as high of a tempo as some of their other songs, but everything else revolving around that makes up for it. And by far the most satisfying part (at least to me) is when Gontier belts out the chorus. You can feel what's going on in the song then, and as someone who loves hard rock, it's satisfying and fitting for me. So yeah, everything about this song is amazing, and if something was changed, it wouldn't be the same. I don't know if this is my favorite song off of Three Days Grace, but it sounds the most like a great Three Days Grace song, which does so much for me, which is why it's this high.



Alright, so now that everything else is done. it's time for our absolutely legendary top 2. And honestly, picking which one of these songs to put at #1 was an extremely hard decision for me. Both of these songs are truly amazing in every way, and while one was more popular than the other, I like them both pretty much the same amount. But I had to make a decision, so I did. The only real reason why I put my #1 pick at #1 is because I discovered it before my #2, but just note that they are interchangeable because they're both just so good and it's almost impossible to make a true decision. So take that into note when I reveal my top 2. Let's do it.

2. Riot (from One X)
On an average hard rock list with this song on it, in most circumstances I wouldn't hesitate to put a song like this at the top spot. But as I just said, this song is pretty much just as good as my #1, I just put this here because I had to. Anyway, if you're trying to get into super hard rock music but don't know where to start, here you go. This is the perfect example of a great 2000s hard rock song because it has pretty much everything I need. It's super upbeat, has that super fast and catchy guitar riff, and has such an energy-filled chorus, so much that sometimes you can't help but just get up when you hear it. The lyrics in this song don't go too deep, but I love them. They're basically about being really angry to the point where you're just not being afraid to show it. In other words, normal Three Days Grace stuff. And you can definitely tell from listening to it that Three Days Grace were the perfect band to make it, because nothing can sing these lyrics better than Adam Gontier's angry-sounding voice. So not much else to say here. This is a pretty simple song, but no one said that a song has to be super complex to be good, so that doesn't bring this song down any. Everything else added to it makes it even better, which makes this #2 spot on this amazing list of songs very deserving. But the #1 song, although being just as good, was also pretty deserving. And considering that there is one big hit of theirs I haven't talk about, my #1 shouldn't be that hard to guess. It is...

1. Animal I Have Become (from One X)
I don't say this about many songs, but other than one or two small things, this song is flawless. It just has lots of good things in it put together to make something just so amazing. I could spend hours raving on about everything great about this song, but I don't have the time or effort to do that, so let's make it short. I love the guitar riffs that come all throughout the song, and the first few measures where it's just the kick drum and the bass is really cool as well. The verses sound pretty much perfect, as if just one thing was changed it wouldn't be the same. And that brings us to the story behind the song, which might be my favorite thing about it. Basically, after the band finished touring for and promoting their self-titled debut album, lead singer Gontier became addicted to drugs so much that it was preventing the band from starting work on their second album. He has said that during that time, he was just so angry and abusive and couldn't figure out who he was. So while he was in rehab for that addiction, he wrote a lot of songs for a possible second Three Days Grace album, and this song was among that bunch. It's basically about that rough time he went through and how much he wanted to get out of it. It doesn't sound like too much, but to be honest, this is one of the most well-written songs I have heard in quite a long time, because you can tell what he was going through just by listening to this song. Lots of other artists have tried to do something like this, but most have failed, so it's nice to see one succeed. As for everything else, the song has so much energy in it it's almost unreal to me. It's definitely Three Days Grace's usual sound, but a lot better. And that plus that interesting story makes something awesome. Also, this isn't really about the song, but the music video for this is really cool and describes what's going on in the song pretty well. I embedded it above if you want to check it out. But yeah, I think I've said enough. This song is great in every way and definitely deserved to be Billboard's #1 Mainstream Rock song of 2006.




And that's it for this post! Thanks for reading, and if any of these songs sound cool to you (which I hope they do), you can listen to them with the YouTube embeds I provided with each one. So yeah, see everyone tomorrow for a cool new series!

Awful Album Reviews #6: The Offspring - Splinter

Hey music fans, and welcome back to another awful album review! Because The Offspring's seventh studio album Splinter turns fifteen years old today, I decided today would be a perfect time to review it! So let's get into it!



INTRODUCTION

Splinter is the seventh studio album from punk rock band The Offspring, released on December 9, 2003. This was The Offspring's first album without longtime drummer Ron Welty, but it still proved to be successful, as it was certified gold within two months of release. There were two singles to accompany this album: "Hit That" and "(Can't Get My) Head Around You", with "Spare Me The Details" also being released in Australia and New Zealand. This record, which gets its title from a lyric in the track "Long Way Home", didn't receive as much acclaim as some of their other albums, but it still charted on the Billboard 200, peaking at #30. Although it was not as successful as albums like Smash, Ixnay On The Hombre, Americana, and Conspiracy of One, it still seems like there's a lot of exciting stuff in it, right? Well, let's see what that is.



REVIEW

If I could describe (not review) this album in one sentence, I would say that although there are many different styles and sounds presented in the album, all of the tracks have one thing in common: They are at least somewhat comedic. Not every Offspring album is like that, which makes this album a really fun listen if you love funny music. As for the different styles and sounds in the album, there is the sound that makes the songs sound comedic, and also the punk sound where The Offspring's roots come from. Also, I'd like to put out there that the longest song on this album is just over three and a half minutes long, and the whole album is only 32 minutes long, which can be significant because a lot of iconic punk songs are really short, so this can show how much that they are going back to their roots. Not every song on the record does that, but the ones that do are really good.

Now, although I love pretty much every song on this album, I think it was a good choice to only release two singles from it in most countries. I say this because most of the songs on the album aren't very radio friendly in my opinion. Sure, they're funny and cool, but that does not equal radio friendly. The two singles that did get released in most countries, "Hit That" and "(Can't Get My) Head Around You", are two of the most radio friendly songs on the album in my opinion, and although they're not quite my favorites off of it, they work the best as singles for me. "Hit That" proved to be a fan favorite, as it peaked at #64 on the Billboard Hot 100 and #1 on the alternative charts. "(Can't Get My) Head Around You" also peaked at #6 on the alternative charts, so it must have been loved as well. Although I am not mad that "Spare Me The Details" did not get released as a single in the U.S., it seemed to have worked well in New Zealand, as it peaked at #31 over there. So the comedic sound that comes in a lot of these songs does seem to be liked by people, including me, which is why I always look forward to listening to this album. I am quite looking forward to reviewing every track as well, so let's do that.



TRACK-BY-TRACK REVIEWS

1. "Neocon"
Rating: N/A
Comments: This is a really cool track to open out the album, with the crowd and everything, but I won't rate it just because it's nothing more than a one-minute long intro. But it does do that job pretty well.

2. "The Noose"
Rating: 10/10
Comments: The Offspring's classic punk sound comes back into play extremely well in this song. It's very fast-paced and very catchy, which I always love to hear in songs.

3. "Long Way Home"
Rating: 10/10
Comments: This is another great example of this band going back to their roots really well. Enough said.

4. "Hit That"
Rating: 10/10
Comments: Fun, fun, and more fun! I love fun, so I love this song!

5. "Race Against Myself"
Rating: 9/10
Comments: This is slightly slower than most of the songs on the album, which is cool, I guess.

6. "(Can't Get My) Head Around You"
Rating: 9.5/10
Comments: I am fine with this being one of the two singles because of how radio friendly it is, but I prefer a couple other songs on this album, so there's that.

7. "The Worst Hangover Ever"
Rating: 10/10
Comments: The album's comedic sound is shown pretty prominently here. This song is so cool that after I got into it, it went into my rotation of Offspring songs, and hasn't come out since.

8. "Never Gonna Find Me"
Rating: 9/10
Comments: Pretty forgettable song to me, but still really enjoyable. Also, the punk sound here tho.

9. "Lightning Rod"
Rating: 9.5/10
Comments: I wish I could remember this song more than I do, because it is really good.

10. "Spare Me The Details"
Rating: 10/10
Comments: Can I please give this song an 11/10 because of how good it is? No? Okay then. But yeah, this song is just so awesome, it's funny, catchy, and has some awesome vocals throughout the whole thing. It might even be in my top five Offspring songs, just because of how awesome it sounds.

11. "Da Hui"
Rating: 10/10
Comments: Although this is only just over one and a half minutes long, I will count it as a song, because reasons. And it is a really good song, as the punk sound here is just cool.

12. "When You're In Prison"
Rating: 9/10
Comments: It doesn't have too much to it, but it is really a good, fun track to close out the album.



ALBUM RANKDOWN

1. "Spare Me The Details"
2. "Hit That"
3. "The Noose"
4. "The Worst Hangover Ever"
5. "Da Hui"
6. "Long Way Home"
7. "Lightning Rod"
8. "(Can't Get My) Head Around You"
9. "Never Gonna Find Me"
10. "When You're In Prison"
11. "Race Against Myself"



OVERALL SCORE

106/110 = 9.636/10 = 0.9636 = 96.36%



FINAL WORDS

I can sum up this great album in just one word: Fun! And do you know how much I love fun? Quite a bit. So yeah, this album is a great listen, and I recommend it to any of you out there who love fun music. If that describes you, then you can listen to this album on Spotify here or on YouTube here.

So that will wrap up today's review. Thank you if you made it this far, because I really appreciate it. And don't forget, you can always hit me up with post suggestions, because I will he happy to review anything you want me to! I will never turn an album or chart review down, so it might be good to suggest something if you're curious to see what I think of it. But until my next post, which should come pretty soon, thank you, and I'll see you next time! Have a great day!

Terrible Top 10s #2: Foo Fighters

Hey guys, welcome back to the blog for another top 10 list from me! This time, instead of breaking down a year, I will be sharing my favorite songs from an artist, which I see myself doing quite often, actually. We are starting this with the Foo Fighters, who have more than enough songs I love, so it was kind of easy to put together a list for them. So without further ado, let's get into it!



INTRODUCTION

The Foo Fighters are a rock band originally founded as a one-man project for former Nirvana drummer Dave Grohl after the death of Kurt Cobain. While Grohl was on tour with Nirvana, he often brought a guitar with him and wrote songs when he wasn't performing, but since he loved Cobain's songs too much, he kept them to himself. After Cobain died and Nirvana was disbanded, Grohl began to record a lot of these songs anonymously under the name "Foo Fighters" because he wanted it to sound like a group. But unexpectedly, the tape of these songs gathered interest among several record labels, so Grohl gathered together some other musicians to support the album. After he recruited guitarist Pat Smear, bassist Nate Mendel, and drummer William Goldsmith, the album was completed under Grohl's new record label. They went on to release eight more albums that contained many hit singles. Because I personally enjoy a lot of these hit singles, I picked out ten of them to represent my favorite songs that they have recorded. And I'm here to present those ten songs and talk about why I love them. Let's dive in!

10. Learn To Fly (from There Is Nothing Left To Lose)
This is one of the most noticeable hits from the Foos, as it peaked in the top 20 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart. Personally, I think it deserves it. It's not a very hard or upbeat song, which is what I'm used to hearing from them. And this type, which reminds me a lot of their iconic single "Everlong", is a nice change. Also, Dave Grohl sounds a little different here, too, and that's also kind of cool. So yeah, this is pretty good for the only Hot 100-charting single from There Is Nothing Left To Lose.

9. Rope (from Wasting Light)
Unlike "Learn To Fly", this song, and this album in general, isn't much different from what I'm used to hearing from the Foos. That's part of what I like about it. This song is really fast and energy-filled, which is the big thing that makes me want to stick around until the end. It also has some cool guitar riffs that go with that tempo nicely. It's not my favorite song off of Wasting Light, but it is an honorable mention for that honor.

8. No Way Back (from In Your Honor)
In Your Honor is not one of my favorite Foo Fighters albums, but it did have some cool songs on it, such as this one. It's a very good example of this band's usual sound, which I like. The guitar riff is the catchiest part of this song to me, as is the chorus, which defines the song along with that riff. While I do prefer seven other songs from the Foos over this, if I had to listen to any song from In Your Honor, I would immediately go to this one.

7. Walk (from Wasting Light)
Here's another Wasting Light single that I think shows their sound really well. I like how they continued their harder rock sound even into the 2010s, as that wasn't what was popular at the time. But some people, like me, enjoy hearing it, so I'm glad this song is out there for that. We'll have to wait until the top five to see what my favorite Wasting Light song is, but although this mystery song is better, I really enjoy this one.

6. Monkey Wrench (from The Colour And The Shape)
This is one of many songs from the late 1990s that were renowned hits but never charted on the Billboard Hot 100 because of the chart rules at the time. I think this is definitely cruel, but that doesn't affect my opinion on this song. It has some really catchy riffs throughout, plus that really hard rock feel that Dave Grohl is great at making. It's not better than "Everlong", which will appear on this list eventually, but I'm glad this was a hit along with it.

5. All My Life (from One By One)
I personally thought that One By One was a forgettable album, but I remember it at least somewhat because of this song. I like how this song starts with not as much in it, then some breaks in during the second half of the first verse and pre-chorus, then by the chorus it's just super fun. I don't know why but those kind of songs really stick out to me in a great way, and that's why I love this song. I considered putting it higher, like at #2 or something, but I guess this placing shows how strong their discography is.

4. These Days (from Wasting Light)
I love this song for the exact same reason why I love "All My Life": It has an awesome build-up that sets the stage for the song very nicely. And this is yet another one of those songs with actual guitars in it that was made in this decade, which you don't see or hear every day. But yeah, I like how the Foos didn't change according to the trends and just stuck with what they were used to playing, as many artists throughout this decade are victims of that. But the Foos aren't, and I'm very glad about that.

3. Something From Nothing (from Sonic Highways)
Okay, so think back to "These Days" and Wasting Light in general for a second. That album was released in 2011 and still possessed that great hard rock sound that is almost extinct in the 2010s because of new trends. Well, this song and album were released in 2014, which is a year right between the dance-pop and trap trends. And those subgenres are based off of computer-generated instruments. The Foos probably knew this, but even this far into this decade, they were still making actual rock music, and I admire that so much because not many artists will have the courage to do that. Anyway, this song is fantastic in pretty much every way. It is another one with an amazing build-up that is very noticeable, and very good at the same time. The many different riffs coming together help a lot with that. And how Dave Grohl's voice changes throughout the song to match the tones of it...just so good. 2014 was not an awesome year for music, but this song is one of the real highlights from that year, even though it barely did not chart on the Hot 100.

2. Everlong (from The Colour And The Shape)
Yes, this hugely iconic single is not my top pick for the best Foo Fighters song, and you'll find out why in a minute. But for now, let's just say that this song is a part of why 1997 was such an awesome year for alternative rock music, and music in general. There were a lot of great pop crossover hits from that year that helped make it what it is, but there were also songs on more of the actual rock side, like this one, that helped as well. While this song is certainly not the best of those, because 1997 was so awesome, it's up there, and I still enjoy listening to it when I get a chance to. However, as good as this song sounds like it is, it's not quite my favorite Foo Fighters song. It wasn't very close, either. So what is? Well...

1. The Pretender (from Echoes, Silence, Patience, and Grace)
If this song was a bigger mainstream hit and not have been caught between years, 2007 and 2008 would have been so much different for me. That's because this song just outright stands out when compared to other songs from that era. Okay, so if you decide to listen to this song, or have already, you probably heard the first 25 seconds or so and went, "Man, this is so slow and boring, I don't see why so many people love it. Maybe I should just stop here." Well, that's when it breaks right in and goes so hard that the energy is just way over the top. And by the time that super awesome chorus hits, you just feel so good because the song is now so upbeat and energy-filled. I know I've talked about of a lot of these other songs being really upbeat and energy-filled, but they don't even compare to how hype this one is. And I love hype songs, so this is perfect for my taste. You might not agree and think that something like "Everlong" is better, but I personally love this song too much to not say it's my favorite from them.






And that does it for this top 10 list! What do you think? Did you agree or disagree with my opinions, or do you just want to share your thoughts on the songs? Well, that's what the comment section or my Discord DMs are for, as you're welcome to hit those up anytime. You can also use those for suggestions for other posts you'd like to see from me if you want. But yeah, I had a lot of fun making this list and this post, and if you want to hear the goodness in these songs for yourself, that's what the YouTube embeds I included are for. I recommend all of these songs to anyone who is looking for things to listen to, so you are free to check them out if you're bored. But for now, that's it for this post and I'll see you guys next time! Have a great rest of your day!