Tag Archives: Simple Plan

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Top 100 Songs of 2015 – Part 6 (50-41)

Songs 100 – 91     Songs 90-81     Songs 80-71     Songs 70-61     Songs 60-51 

50. All Your Favorite Bands, Dawes

Anyone that considers themselves a music lover knows that there is not much more devastating than their favorite bands breaking up. Dawes frontman, Taylor Goldsmith said of the “All Your Favorite Bands”…

“I know that my favorite bands are a really deep part of who I am.” “They help define me, they help represent me, they trigger certain emotional memories, and they stand for the ideals and lifestyle that I will always hope to achieve. And I don’t mean rock and roll fantasies, but rather concepts like freedom and enlightenment.”

“I would love for someone wishing me well to put it in the terms of ‘may all your favorite bands stay together.’ That would be a real friend. That person would know what truly matters. To me, the statement of ‘All Your Favorite Bands’ immediately gets down to a highly personal and singular part of anybody in a way that few other concepts can.”

“All Your Favorite Bands” is a beautiful, thought provoking song that will make you question why nobody has ever wished that blessing on you before. Hopefully, for the sake of music fans everywhere, Dawes will be one of those bands that stays together forever.

*The addition of Brandon Flowers, lead singer of The Killers, in the music video makes a great song even more amazing.

49. Wasn’t Expecting That, Jamie Lawson

Break out the tissues for the most gut-wrenching, heart-breaking song of 2015. “Wasn’t Expecting That” (released in Ireland in 2011, but did not make it to the States until this year) is a love story to end all love stories. Newcomer Jamie Lawson tells the story of a couple’s journey together from their first meeting, until the woman’s untimely death, and it could not be more beautiful and traumatic at the same time.

Based on this track alone, it looks as though Lawson could be following in his buddy Ed Sheeran’s footsteps as a dominant force in the singer-songwriter world.

48. Big Decisions, My Morning Jacket

My Morning Jacket has been around for nearly 18 years, and “Big Decisions” is arguably their best song, and most successful song to date. Lead singer, Jim James says that the track is about people that are unhappy with their lives and constantly complain, but refuse to make any changes.

Just about everyone can listen to this song and think of that one friend they have and relate. How many times have you thought, “what do you want me to do, make all the big decisions for you” while giving advice and pretending to feel sympathy for your disaster of a friend? Thanks to My Morning Jacket, you can now play “Big Decisions” and let the song speak for itself.

47. Where Do Broken Hearts Go, One Direction

Before you spit your drink out all over your computer screen or phone, I think you need to listen to the song, and ignore the band name. Despite being One Direction, “Where Do Broken Hearts Go” is just as much rock as it is pop. If you are not a One Direction fan, or secretly are one, but you are too embarrassed to admit it to yourself, I am here to tell you that it is alright to like this song, no matter how old you are.

Do yourself a favor and blast this song in your car and sing along. You will not be sorry.

46. I Don’t Wanna Be Sad, Simple Plan

https://youtu.be/aOKXGfk_-6I

Canadian pop-punk-rock band Simple Plan is back and as fun as they have always been. If you or someone you know is sad, this is a must watch video. “I Don’t Wanna Be Sad” will turn your frown upside down, and make your sad feelings disappear, if only for a few minutes. The motivational track is just enough to hold fans over until they release their highly anticipated fifth studio album, Taking One For the Team in February, 2016.

45. Ship To Wreck, Florence and the Machine

We have all had those mornings where you feel the same was that Florence feels in “Ship to Wreck.” You drank too much, partied too hard, hooked up with someone you would rather not have, or simply made disastrous, awful decisions. We feel you, Flo.

Florence said the following about her writing “Ship To Wreck.”

“I was thinking about my own self destructive side, and how you can make something only to tear it down, enjoy/destroy, create/devastate etc. When you’re in that whirlwind, you often end up breaking the thing you love the most.”

At 2015’s Coachella festival Florence introduced the song the with..

“Some time off I had in London where I had some drunken parties and trashed my house and said a drunken ‘I love you’ too soon.”

“Even though all that disastrous stuff happened, I got this song out of it,” she added. “It all works out, and even if it doesn’t, write a song about it.”

The rock world is thankful for your drunken parties, your trashed house, and your drunken “I love you’s” Florence. Keep up the partying, and keep releasing songs about your self destruction.

44. Cocoon, Catfish and the Bottlemen

Welsh rock band, Catfish and the Bottlemen formed back in 2007, but it was not until late 2014 that they released their first full length studio album, The Balcony. From the first second when the guitar rips, “Cocoon” is a rock and roll juggernaut which keeps the pace through the entire track.

Simply put, the song “Cocoon”, written on a rooftop in New York City across from a million strangers, is about “being in love with the moment,” says lead singer Van McCann.

Hopefully now that Catfish and the Bottlemen have released their first album, fans will not have to wait another 7 years before they release their next one.

43. Wherever is Your Heart, Brandi Carlile

Brandi Carlile could sing the McDonalds dollar menu and it would probably be considered one of the best songs of the year. This woman can do no wrong. Each and every time she releases a song, it is better than the one before it (with the exception of “The Story“) which, in my opinion, is one of the greatest female fronted songs of all time. In fact, if she ever released a song I was more obsessed with than “The Story” I think my head would explode.

“Wherever Is Your Heart” is pretty damn close to being her best though. Nobody can do folk-rock and make it sound SO folky and SO rock at the same time, quite like Brandi Carlile. “Wherever Is Your Heart” starts out as a laid back, peaceful track that you want to listen to as you lay in a hammock on a warm summer’s day. It ends with me wanting to jump out of the hammock, rip off my shirt, and sprint around my block which singing along with Carlile.

* On a devastating note: I just found out that Brandi Carlile is married…… and a lesbian. Therefore she will definitely never be able sing “The Story” to me at our wedding. I’m crushed.

If you have never heard “The Story” you have failed at life, and you must save face and listen to it immediately. Multiple times.

42. Dumb, The Heydaze

https://youtu.be/d0fusFSSVy8

I’m beginning to think that The Heydaze have some sort of recording device in my house because the lyrics to “Dumb” are basically the words that come out of my mouth every morning in the summer. And on the weekends. And Tuesdays.

“Dumb” is one of the most playful songs on the year, and catchy as hell. Hopefully The Heydaze can continue to drop hits like “Dumb” and steer clear of one-hit wonder status. Because of their unique style, they certainly have the ability to stand out from the pack and expand their audience in 2016 and beyond.

41. Renegades, X Ambassadors

Quite possibly the most inspirational song of the year, “Renegades” is about people overcoming their challenges. The video features athletes wit

h physical disabilities competing as any other athlete would compete. From weight lifting, to wrestling, boxing, and rock climbing, disabled athletes are shown overcoming the odds and achieving their goals.

It is especially poignant since one of the members of the band, Casey Harris (keyboards) has been blind since birth.

“Renegades” is a great rock song, but more importantly, it is a great song to inspire people with any sort of disability that they are capable of achieving whatever they put their minds to: like being in a killer band, and having one of the best rock songs of the year.

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5 Alt Rock Songs You Need to Hear Right Now (October, 2015)

In the mood for a feel good love song? Feel like throwing a rager because you just dumped your significant other? Want to drown your sorrows alone in your bedroom while drinking a bottle or two of wine? Ready to hit the bars on a Friday night and need a tune to pump you up? Want to dedicated a karaoke song to your homies for always being there when you are too incoherent to make logical decisions?

If you answered “yes” to any of these questions, you need to hear these songs right now.

5. “Uh Huh”, RØMANSLooking at the lyrics to this song you would think Adele has come out of the cave she has been living in for the past 4 years. But, fear not, this is no sappy break up song. If you gave Sam Smith a healthy dose of acid, I would imagine that this would be the type song that he would create. In fact, I challenge you to not think of Sam Smith high on acid when giving this a listen.

The song begins with a deeply saddened RØMAN, a 29 year old British singer, songwriter who recorded this track in his parents basement. When the calypso beat kicks in around the :55 mark, you quickly realize that this is no Adele/Sam Smith protégé and is in fact a unique, up and coming bloke from the other side of the pond presumably desperate to get out of his parents basement before reaching his thirties.

 

4. “Another Night on Mars”, The Maine 

If you listen to this and can not, or have never been able to relate to it, then you need to contact me immediately, and I will remedy that unfortunate situation. The Maine is an American rock band that formed in Tempe, Arizona back in 2007, and release American Candy, their fifth studio album on March 31, 2015.

Whether you are in high school, college, your thirties, sixties, or anywhere in between, “Another Night in Mars” should resonate with some group of friends you have had during your life. Hopefully, they have not been forced to hold your hair back or drag you into/out of the shower one too many times, and came to the conclusion that being your friend may not be worth all the hard work and baby-sitting.

“Another Night on Mars” is a fun track that begs for a group of friends to form a circle, drape their arms across each other’s shoulders, and sway back and forth while completely butchering the words.”

 

3. “Listen to the Man”, George Ezrahttp://

George Ezra, the 22 year-old (!), yes that voice is coming out of a guy that was born in 1993, has found massive success in the States for his smash hit “Budapest” and more recently, “Blame It On Me”, which itself is a must hear song if you are not familiar with the track.

“Listen to the Man” was “technically” released nearly a year ago, but that was in Britain, and not the States, and we all know that if it hasn’t been released in the States, it basically doesn’t even count as a song.

Ezra shows his playful side in the video that is reminiscent of Paul Simon’s “You Can Call Me Al”, which coincidentally enough was released 4 years before Ezra was even born.

“Listen to the Man” comes across as a little “ditty”, but in true “ditty” form, is so pleasant and fun that if you don’t find Ezra to be a charming, young lad with the potential for a major music career ahead of him, you are a cold human being.

 

2. “Nothing Compares to You”, Chris Cornell

It has been way longer than 7 hours and fifteen days since you first heard this song back in January of 1990. In fact, it has been 25 years and 9 months since Sinead O’Connor found massive success and blessed us with one of the most depressing songs ever written. And if anybody on this planet can make you more depressed than Sinead O’Connor, it has got to be Chris Cornell.

After a quarter of a century, “Nothing Compares to You” is still as relevant as it has ever been, and Sinead O’Connor has gone down as one of the greatest one-hit wonders the past thirty years. (If ONE person mentions “The Emperor’s New Clothes” to me, you will be immediately and permanently deleted from my life.)

Chris Cornell has done many amazing things in his career, and this cover has got to be one of the most best covers of any song in recent memory. Nobody can portray the pure emotion that one must feel to love somebody so much, and be so depressed when they leave you that even eating dinner in a fancy restaurant doesn’t make you feel better, the way Cornell does.

Also, how do I get the name of O’Connor and Cornell’s doctor’s. Just ONCE I would love for my Dr. to tell me that “I better have fun no matter what I do.” I would follow that Dr.’s orders so hard that they would want me for clinical studies.

Regardless, you may think you know this song, but until you listen to Cornell’s version, you are woefully mistaken. With the exception of the missing background vocals, which I enthusiastically replaced with my own vocals, I am making the bold claim that Cornell does this song as good, or even better than O’Connor.

 

#1 “Boom”, Simple Plan

If you’re between the ages of 25-40 you probably remember Simple Plan, the fun-loving Canadian pop-punk-rock band that took the world by storm with their 2002 debut album, No Helmets, No Pads, Just Balls. 

Well, the best thing to come out of Canada since, uh……. ever, is back, and just as fun and catchy as ever. Now in their mid-thirties, the guys from Simple Plan may be feeling a bit more sore the morning after a video shoot, but you certainly wouldn’t be able to tell from their enthusiasm.

“Boom” is one of the most energetic songs of 2015 and should have you singing along by the end of the first time you hear it. If you don’t start fist pumping, dancing, or singing “bo bo bo bo bo bo bo” to “Boom” than you are bo bo bo bo bo bo bo boring.