The 411 Music Top Five 10.27.09: Top 5 Favorite Songs From 2004

Posted by Ben Czajkowski on 10.27.2009

Continuing to count down the decade in songs, the 411Music Staffers talk about their Top 5 Favorite Songs from 2004. They discuss everything from Slipknot's “Duality” to Kelly Clarkson's “Since U Been Gone”, Jay-Z's “99 Problems” to Linkin Park's "Breaking the Habit", and Green Day's “American Idiot”. to Rammstein's “Amerika”. Stop in, leave your lists, and read along!

Chris Crowing

Honorable Mentions:

Lamb of God – "Now You've Got Something To Die For", A Perfect Circle – "Counting Bodies Like Sheep To The Rhythm Of The War Drums", Biffy Clyro – "Glitter & Trauma", the Killers – "Smile Like You Mean It", Alter Bridge – "Open Your Eyes"

5. Rammstein – "Amerika".

Easily the most accessible and memorable song on Reise Reise, possibly because it is sung in English.  However the use of the world's most understood language (well I guess you could argue that Mandarin Chinese is…anyway…) is not used to make the song a hit single, but as a biting criticism of globalization and Americanization.  As Till so eloquently says "This is not a love song…"



4. Nightwish – "Dark Chest of Wonders".

For better or worse, Once was one of my albums of 2004 and this is largely because of the gloriously epic rush of the first few songs of the album.  The breathy "once, I had a dream, and this was it…" is followed by the kind of riff that makes me want to throw my head back and bellow, like a werewolf.  This song is a headlong rare between crunchy guitars, sharp keyboards and over-the-top vocals and while it is cheesy, a little poppy and more than a little silly it is also great fun and a gloriously ebullient and life-affirming composition.



3. Velvet Revolver – "Slither".

Take the likeably wasted parts of Guns N' Roses, throw in the elegantly debauched former singer of Stone Temple Pilots and mix heartily.  The result was Velvet Revolver and for a brief time it was glorious.  "Slither" came into rock charts dominated by the stagnating remains of nu-metal and the beginnings of the emo wave and for a brief, shining moment a singer who was clearly the pied piper of sleaze and some deliciously dirty guitar made everything OK.  I LOVE this song…



2. Slipknot – "Duality".

I used to hate Slipknot, because I thought they were hypocritically commercial, musically messy and an example of all that was bad about 3rd generation nu-metal.  However they started to win me round with "Left Behind" and eventually converted me with "Duality."  This song is a brilliant example of old-school build and release, and would be pretty high on my list of potential dance-floor fillers to this day was I ever to be a DJ.



1. Killswitch Engage – "Rose of Sharyn".

The End of Heartache stands as one the salient rock records of the noughties, and is arguably the very best that the commercial side of metalcore has to offer.  While many will prefer the title track from the album, the mix of direct riffage and soul-searing emotion in this tune still sends tingles up my spine all these years later…

Michael James

This was the hardest list yet -- what a great year of singles!  My honorable mention could have been a paragraph longer, but I try to limit my lists to ten songs or so.  I couldn't get down to less than 11 here.

Honorable Mentions:

Snoop Dogg- "Drop It Like It's Hot (feat. Pharrell)"; Ludacris- "Pimpin' All Over the World (feat. Bobby Valentino)"; Keri Noble- "Look at Me"; Ghostface Killah- "Run (feat. Jadakiss)"; Jay-Z/Linkin Park- "Numb/Encore"

5. James Blunt – "Goodbye My Lover". 

 Yet again, I'm picking a song that should get me flamed.  But sue me; I like this song, and most of James Blunt's songs for that matter.  This is undeniably treacle-y and maudlin.  But it's also got an irresistible medley.  His Saturday Night Live performance alone earns this song a spot on my list.

 

4. Saul Williams – "Grippo".

This song is absolute chaos, but in the best possible sense.  Williams combines metal guitars, hip-hop break beats and spoken word into a cacophonous onslaught.  I've seen this performed live, and Williams energy is off the charts.

 

3. Terror Squad – "Lean Back".

This was THE hip-hop anthem of 2004.  The remix featuring Eminem and Mase may even be better than the original.  Scott Storch's beat is a banger, and Fat Joe and Remy Martin both bring it lyrically.  Plus, who doesn't appreciate a song that tells you how to dance to it.  Well except for the Electric Slide.  And the Cha Cha Slide.  They suck.

 

2. Kelly Clarkson – "Since U Been Gone".

This song turned Clarkson from another moderately successful American Idol alum to a supernova of epic proportions.  Since then she's done a pretty good job of turning back, but that doesn't take away from the greatness of this song.  This song also somehow turns grown-ass men and women into 13 year olds.  Even Reba McEntire apparently.

 

1. Usher – "Yeah! (feat. Lil Jon & Ludacris)".

Unlike many of Lil Jon's "crunk" hits ("Salt Shaker" anybody?), "Yeah!," the first single from Usher's 2001 album Confessions, it has aged extremely well since its 2004 release.  The driving percussion and blaring synths practically scream "club banger" and made this song my top selection for #1.  Usher's exuberant vocal is perfectly suited to the track and Lil Jon's ad libs only add, rather than detract from the track's party atmosphere.  Two and a half minutes in, Ludacris's swaggering verse raises the whole affair to another level and features one of my favorite throwaway lines, "Ludacris fill cups like double D's".  Reinforced by an electric video, "Yeah!" established Usher as a preeminent all-around talent and successor to Michael Jackson's mantle as a modern song and dance man.

Paul Schofield

5. Kings Of Leon – "The Bucket".

Before "Sex Is On Fire," Kings Of Leon were a dirty redneck rock and roll band. I miss that band. They were awesome. Their new stuff – not so much. "The Bucket" is just aces, not quite as rollicking as "Four Kicks" but rocking enough to get heads nodding and beer bottles flying. You can almost smell the sweat.

 

4. Bloc Party – "Helicopter".

As subtle as walking up to someone with a nervous shuffle, mumbling, "Hi, we're Bloc Party", and then smashing them in the face with a hammer. Maybe even a hammerhead shark. It's an intense song; it grabs you by the moustache and shakes you until your ears bleed. Early Bloc Party was awesome, and this is their best song by several fathoms. Nothing further, Your Honor.

 

3. The Mars Volta – "Televators".

This song is spellbinding. Any song about suicide is going to be depressing, but when it's performed in such a beautiful way, you almost forget what it's about. Throw in the at first nonsensical lyrics that slowly make sense, and you will be singing along to it, and then wondering whether or not it's good karma to be enjoying a song about something terrible. The whole De-Loused album is just crazy, but this is the shining moment.

 

2. Green Day – "American Idiot".

The moment Green Day blew up from stoner punk to global phenomenon and had young girls singing along to the lyrics with TV remotes as microphones. Just ask my sister. The look on her face when I told her Billie-Joe's age was priceless. It's one of those songs that captures the moment of the world, like "Ghost Town" by The Specials, but in a much more joyous way than it has any right to be. Blistering. I'm not sure if I like this or "Boulevard Of Broken Dreams" more, but this song wins it on importance.

 

1. Jay-Z – "99 Problems".

The song that stopped cops snooping around cars without a warrant. But it's also probably the finest hip hop song of the decade. The beat isn't overly complicated, and it's got guitars, which is a win for me, but Hov's flow is just unstoppable. I don't think there's another rapper who at the top of their game can better Jay word for word, others might sneak a win on him for consistency, but for me he's the best rapper in the world.

 

Ben Czajkowski

5. Jimmy Eat World - "Pain".

I first discovered this track as acoustic in a bunch of live/acoustic tracks I picked up from Kazaa. And it sucked. Horribly. The energy is stripped from it, and the studio track is fist-pumping-ly amazing. As one of the best tracks of 2004, it's a reminder to me that JEW is such an underrated band and that Futures is an underrated album.

 

4. Breaking Benjamin - "So Cold".

Two years before, virtually, Breaking Benjamin got on my radio with their track "Polyamorous". Saturate was a rougher debut album with little to write home about, honestly. We Are Not Alone, though, was a solid sophomore album that allowed BB to truly write their own niche in the rock community. Virtually doubling the length of their debut track, "So Cold" echoes with such a strong feeling of desolation and isolation with a mild glimmer of hope: "You're so cold, Keep your/hand in mine."

 

3. Linkin Park - "Breaking the Habit".

Hating Linkin Park now is popular and cool, but I don't care what you think: Meteora was an amazing work, from start to finish except for one track ("Lying From Here"). "Breaking the Habit", though, was the standout track for me. It's dark and chaotic, with such an amazing instrumental foundation that I admire it beyond "Numb" or "Faint." The well of despair, though, with the suicidal overtones, it touches deep within my own cloud of darkness.

 

2. Slipknot - "Duality".

Like Chris, I wasn't a fan of Slipknot before this track. However, my reasons for coming around are much different. Before this, yes, there were my two favorite tracks from the band: "Wait and Bleed" and "My Plague"; then, though, the tracks were still too coarse for me to really appreciate. The summer of 2004, I worked for a temp agency that assigned me to a printing company that had me stuffing newsletters. I had a pair of those over-the-ear FM headphones. They were big and bulky, and they picked up 105.9 WXDX beautifully, drowning out the presses. And every three hours, and I timed this, the station just beat the shit out of "Duality." So, really, through desensitization, Slipknot became a band that I could appreciate, despite their commercial success for Road Runner.

 

1. Finger Eleven - "Absent Elements".

Best song from 2004. Hands down. And I'm willing to bet that most of you have never heard it before, unless you became a hardcore fan of the band after the success of "Paralyzer". There's just something about it that blows my mind. Over and over again. It's hard and poignant, but it never garnished any mainstream attention. Doesn't matter; makes it even more personal to me as it pisses all over anything else. It inspired me to name my web design business after it and buy the domain name for it, many years ago. Hell, I even started a web comic, originally, on the domain name, and I miss doing is so much sometimes. I love the chorus of the song: "You'll never find out now/that all these absent elements/build your comfortable defense/stronger still/like an emptiness you'll never fill." This is the original demo version:

 

The Final Word

As always, the last thoughts come from you, the reader. We're merely unpaid monkeys with typewriters and Wikipedia. Here's what you need to do: List your Top Five for this week's topic on the comment section using the following format: 5. Artist - "Song from 2004": Why you picked it. 4. Artist - "Song from 2004": Why you picked it. 3. Artist - "Song from 2004": Why you picked it. 2. Artist - "Song from 2004": Why you picked it. 1. Artist - "Song from 2004": Why you picked it.