Favorite songs of the decade

[jingle.boy]

Stealing from RJ, I thought it'd be cool to share our favorite songs from the '10s as we wrap the decade up in the next 5 weeks.  He's doing his top 31 - one a day for December.  Seems legit to me, so I'll try to follow along similarly here.  Not sure I'm gonna bother to stack rank them, just fire of 31 of my fave's - because frankly, to chose the "top" 31 would be nearly impossible - all were likely #1 at some point in my listening routine.

I'm going to impose a 1 song per band condition, to spread the wealth - otherwise Flaming Row, Star One, and Epysode would take up 1/2 the list.  Personally, I'm also going to exclude the songs that I just fired off from my Top Roulette Songs thread.

Feel free to join in with your own personal faves.  Love to hear the stories.

[The Walrus]

I could easily fill this with 100+ songs if given the time and energy to comb through 2010-2019 in their entirety so I don't leave any stones unturned, but that's a Herculean job to tackle. Can't say I'll be able to rattle off ALL my favorites, but I'll definitely be sharing mine.

[Stadler]

First song that popped in my head: "Better Than Walking Away". 

[ZKX-2099]

Holy Book of Dilemma

[SoundscapeMN]

I'd love to make a long epic list of 100+, for now, this track by Bruce Peninsula has got to be among my favorites.

It's simply perfect

https://brucepeninsula.bandcamp.com/track/of-songs

[NoFred]

This is going to be difficult, a lot more than top albums. Have a few in mind but the list of “songs I like or are important to me” (favorites approach) and “songs that I wouldn’t give up having heard at all” (experience approach) aren’t easy to line up.

[lonestar]

Thief!!!


I was thinking about doing a thread to follow my list on Facebook, but I'll post them here instead...


Mine was done with similar rules, and isn't so much a best of the best of the best, but a solid display of what shaped my decade. When 2010 started, I had about 50 cds, all DT, IQ, Marillion, and various 70/80's classic rock. Because of you assholes, and the avenues opened through you assholes (specifically writing for Lady Obscure) I now have about 600 albums by nearly 200 artists. My list is a best of/display of how that process came to be, though as Chad said in the OP, each of the songs on my list has done serious damage to my hearing over the last years.

As I post mine on Facebook, I'll copy/paste them here.

[Anguyen92]

Hmmm.  Here's my list.  One song per band and one song per year as well for me.  Otherwise, I'll be here forever listing all the songs I really like.  Don't really have too much of a judging scale.  It mainly comes down to how much the song relates to me compared to where I was in life at the time.  Extra points if its long and epic and filled with many twists and turns and exciting sections.

1. Alter Bridge - Fortress (song) (2013)
2. Rush - The Garden (2012)
3. Iron Maiden - Empire Of the Clouds (2015)
4. Myles Kennedy - Love Can Only Heal (2018)
5. Nothing More - Fade In/Fade Out (2017)
6. Stone Sour - Dying (2010)
7. Sixx: A.M. - Barbarians (Prayers for the Blessed) (2016)
8. Switchfoot - Where I Belong (2011)
9. Seether - Save Today (2014)
10. Aimer - Sun Dance (song) (2019)

[dparrott]

First ones that come to mind are:
Warpaint - Biggy
Ringo Deathstarr - Guilt
Blur - Ghost Ship
DT - Our New World

[Train of Naught]

I thought this would be harder than album of the decade but it’s actually way easier for me

Cult of Luna - Vicarious Redemption

[jingle.boy]

Thief!!!

Didn't meant to be!  I was giving you time to start a thread, but thought it'd be nice to give people here a few days to start thinking about it.

[krands85]

I noted down some possibilities - specific songs and also just certain bands, where I need to choose between a few songs - and the total conveniently came to 31 

It'll take me a little while to organise the list properly though.

[RoeDent]

I've decided to approach this year-by-year and pick two or three favourites for each year.

2010
The Quiet House - Spock's Beard
Celestial Elixir - Haken

2011
Breaking All Illusions - Dream Theater
Raider II - Steven Wilson

2012
Numbers - The Flower Kings
Headlong Flight - Rush

2013
Drive Home - Steven Wilson
I Know Your Secret - Spock's Beard
East Coast Racer - Big Big Train

2014
Lost Without You - Flying Colors
The Great Divide - Enchant
Kaleidoscope - Transatlantic

2015
The Celluloid Road - The Tangent
Introversion - Magic Pie

2016
London Plane - Big Big Train
A New Beginning - Dream Theater
Towerblock - Frost*

2017
Detonation - Steven Wilson
Sight of Day - Mostly Autumn

2018
Cries for the Lonely - Southern Empire
Friendship - Rikard Sjöblom's Gungfly

2019
Room 137 - Dream Theater
Ariel - Big Big Train
White Rainbow - Mostly Autumn

[ReaperKK]

Damn this is going to require some thought.

[Cruithne]

Going through my "loved songs" on Last.FM, in no particular order:

Blind & Frozen - Beast In Black
I Need You - Ginger Wildheart (very Ginger... do an upbeat sounding song about suicidal depression).
Monster At The End - Anthrax
512 - Lamb Of God
This Aint Love - Hey! Hello!
Seven - Arion
New Day Rising - Von Hertzen Brothers
Liberation - Devin Townsend Project
Domination Agenda - Scar Symmetry
We Live On - Anneke Van Giersbergen
The Demon Strikes - Arena
The Golden Elk - Amorphis
Sacred & Wild - Powerwolf
The End & The Rebirth - Shattered Skies
Roar - Treat

[Nekov]

I know there are rules in the OP but f*ck rules!

Except mine of course. I'm doing 5 songs per year, not repeating bands during the same year

2010

Anathema - Everything
Haken - Streams
Kyte - Designed for Damage
Moon Safari - A Kid Called Panic
Mystery - One Among the Living

2011

Apparat - Song of Los
The Decemberists - This Is Why We Fight
Devin Townsend - Blackberry
Dream the Electric Sleep - Listen to Me
Dream Theater - Bridges in the Sky

2012

Alcest - Summer's Glory
Anathema - Lightning Song
Flying Colors - Infinite Fire
Hammock - (Tonight) We Burn Like Stars That Never Die
North Atlantic Oscilation - Expert with Altimeter

2013

Frightened Rabbit - Late March - Death March
Kyte - Aerials
Moon Safari - Too Young to Say Goodbye
The Reign of Kindo - I Hate Music
Steven Wilson - The Raven That Refused to Sing

2014

Bend Sinister - You Remind Me
Dream the Electric Sleep - Elizabeth
Haken - Crystalized
IQ - Without Walls
Neal Morse - Song for the Free

2015

The Bright Light Social Hour - Infinite Cities
Lonely Robot - Are We Copies?
Mutemath - Stratosphere
Riverside - Caterpillar and the Barbed Wire
Steven Wilson - Hand Cannot Erase

2016

Dream the Electric Sleep - Flight -
Frightened Rabbit - Lump Street
Frost* - Heartstrings
Haken - Bound by Gravity
John Mitchell - Take me Home

2017

Anathema - Endless Ways
The Contortionist - Return to Earth
Lonely Robot - Hello World Goodbye
Manchester Orchestra - The Maze
Steven Wilson - Pariah

2018

Bend Sinister - Got your Back
Ghost B.C. - Rats
Kino - I Won't Break So Easily Anymore
Mutemath - Voice in the Silence
We Came From Space - Pieces of the Sky

2019

Tim Bowness - The Train that Pulled Away
Dream Theater - Barstool Warrior
Tool - Pneuma
Dirt Poor Robins - Skywriter
Dirty Loops - Work Shit Out

[KevShmev]

Hmmm, if I had to go with 10 from this decade, with only one per artist, for now:

Sprawl II - Arcade Fire
Jaws of Heaven - Spock's Beard
You Are a Tourist - Death Cab for Cutie
Helplessness Blues - Fleet Foxes
Headlong Flight - Rush
Storm Corrosion - Storm Corrosion
The Raven That Refused to Sing - Steven Wilson
He Is - Ghost
The Call - Neal Morse Band
1985 - Haken

[lonestar]

Ok, I'll start since I just posted on FB...


My list is more a musical journey, though all the songs have seen serious playtime. My first entry, Secret Sphere with the opening instrumental Portrait of a Dying Heart. This album was my introduction to Italian power metal, an endless pit of killer music, and contains a riff that will always get me to crank it to 11, no matter where I am.

#31- Secret Sphere- Portrait of a Dying Heart, 2012

[jingle.boy]

Ain't no way in hell I'm gonna bother trying to stack rank mine.  Wouldn't make much sense, since I'm cutting loose all the ones I just put up in my best-of Roulette song thread.  So, I'll just start chronoligically with 2010

#31.  Star One / Human See, Human Do.
Ayreon fanboism hard at play here.  Plus, three of the four are among my most favorite vocalists, and Dan Swano to top it off.  This song tops my last.fm listens, and starts off perhaps my favorite 3-song run from any album ever.  Like I wrote once, I love all the songs from this album, cuz it just takes me back to being right in the movie - this one being all about the original Planet of the Apes.

[TAC]

So wait, are you guys counting down from 31? That's an odd place to start,

[jingle.boy]

So wait, are you guys counting down from 31? That's an odd place to start,

One-a-day doesn't seem so odd.  Did you even read the OP?

[TAC]

So wait, are you guys counting down from 31? That's an odd place to start,

One-a-day doesn't seem so odd.  Did you even read the OP?

Apparently not. I got as far as:

Stealing from RJ,

 

[SoundscapeMN]

I know there are rules in the OP but f*ck rules!

Except mine of course. I'm doing 5 songs per year, not repeating bands during the same year

2010

Anathema - Everything
Haken - Streams
Kyte - Designed for Damage
Moon Safari - A Kid Called Panic
Mystery - One Among the Living

2011

Apparat - Song of Los
The Decemberists - This Is Why We Fight
Devin Townsend - Blackberry
Dream the Electric Sleep - Listen to Me
Dream Theater - Bridges in the Sky

2012

Alcest - Summer's Glory
Anathema - Lightning Song
Flying Colors - Infinite Fire
Hammock - (Tonight) We Burn Like Stars That Never Die
North Atlantic Oscilation - Expert with Altimeter

2013

Frightened Rabbit - Late March - Death March
Kyte - Aerials
Moon Safari - Too Young to Say Goodbye
The Reign of Kindo - I Hate Music
Steven Wilson - The Raven That Refused to Sing

2014

Bend Sinister - You Remind Me
Dream the Electric Sleep - Elizabeth
Haken - Crystalized
IQ - Without Walls
Neal Morse - Song for the Free

2015

The Bright Light Social Hour - Infinite Cities
Lonely Robot - Are We Copies?
Mutemath - Stratosphere
Riverside - Caterpillar and the Barbed Wire
Steven Wilson - Hand Cannot Erase

2016

Dream the Electric Sleep - Flight -
Frightened Rabbit - Lump Street
Frost* - Heartstrings
Haken - Bound by Gravity
John Mitchell - Take me Home

2017

Anathema - Endless Ways
The Contortionist - Return to Earth
Lonely Robot - Hello World Goodbye
Manchester Orchestra - The Maze
Steven Wilson - Pariah

2018

Bend Sinister - Got your Back
Ghost B.C. - Rats
Kino - I Won't Break So Easily Anymore
Mutemath - Voice in the Silence
We Came From Space - Pieces of the Sky

2019

Tim Bowness - The Train that Pulled Away
Dream Theater - Barstool Warrior
Tool - Pneuma
Dirt Poor Robins - Skywriter
Dirty Loops - Work Shit Out

 

my list won't necessarily include the specific songs, but at least a chunk of the same artists.

[lonestar]

#30- Amorphis- Heart of the Giant, 2018

From one of my favorite albums of the year, this track delivers everything I expect from a thunderous, face melting epic metal track. Just so good.

[jingle.boy]

Well, you gave me Amongst Stars in my roulette, and it slayed.  I guess I'll have to give this one a spin.  Am I gonna need to cleanse my ears afterwards?  If so, then I'll do it with this:

#30 - Avantasia / The Wicked Symphony

Epic is as epic does.  Glorious vocalizations, a word-salad of lyrics that simultaneously make no sense whatsoever, yet are perfectly acceptable.  Anthemic is the best word I can use to describe this one.

[Evermind]

I remember how people on Avantasia forum heard the actual song in advance in 2010 I think and were trying to guess the lyrics. "Afflatus Divine! Your hands" was guessed as "Your father's denied your hand"

[pg1067]

"Etheria" by YYNOT

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Dc9yFhJIqrI

[Bentower]

Anathema - Everything
Angra - Magic Mirror
Casualities of Cool - Flight
Devin Townsend - Why?
Devin Townsend Project - Grace
Dream Theater - A New Beginning
Flying Colors - Peaceful Harbor
Haken - 1985
Joanna Newsom - Time As a Symptom
Mastodon - Roots Remain
Meshuggah - Marrow
Opeth - Era
Ott - A Nice Little Place
Pain of Salvation - Sisters and The Deeper Cut
Ulver - Rolling Stone
Rush - The Garden
Steven Wilson - Routine
Yob - Marrow

Something like that; a double whammy of Marrow and a triple from the Dev. Way to go, Dev!

[Kwyjibo]

#31.  Star One / Human See, Human Do.

Good song from a great record, but far from the best song on that record. 

#30- Amorphis- Heart of the Giant, 2018

Good song from a great record, but far from the best song on that record. 

#30 - Avantasia / The Wicked Symphony

Finally, great song from a great record. 

Well, you gave me Amongst Stars in my roulette, and it slayed.  I guess I'll have to give this one a spin.  Am I gonna need to cleanse my ears afterwards?

Amorphis - Queen Of Time is one of the best records from 2018, maybe from the whole decade, but beware, there's a lot of growling and harsh vocals going on, so probably not really your thing.

[lonestar]

#29- Absolute Priority- Dead Man Walkin', 2012

Italian prog, from a concept album of a serial killer on death row, this is the last track where the killer is finally executed. Just haunting. This album spent a good deal of time in my ears, which is saying a lot for coming from the most productive year on my list.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7FhOdT0w5nU

[jingle.boy]

#29- Absolute Priority- Dead Man Walkin', 2012

Italian prog, from a concept album of a serial killer on death row, this is the last track where the killer is finally executed. Just haunting. This album spent a good deal of time in my ears, which is saying a lot for coming from the most productive year on my list.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7FhOdT0w5nU

See, I had this on my list originally, but when it ended up being 51 songs deep, I had to cut a bunch.  I knew I could count on you to include this.

Anthriel / Promised Land

This too comes from a concept album - inspired by fantasy author R.A. Salvatore's Forgotten Realms: The Dark Elf Trilogy.  I've never read it, but maybe I should someday.  I could've picked any of 4-5 tracks from this album, it's just stellar top to bottom, with an epic closer.  The riffs, melodies, unisons, arpeggios are a terrific recipe for a track that gives me goosebumps virtually every time I listen to it.  Many thanks to Zook for reccomending this one to me a number of years back.  3rd most favorite album ever recommended to me by DTF'rs.

[lonestar]

Nice choice!!!


I'm getting the feeling this is gonna be a 29 day circle jerk for us, at least until I get to Haken...

[The Walrus]

That track's ight. Devil's Lullaby is better though!

[jingle.boy]

Nice choice!!!


I'm getting the feeling this is gonna be a 29 day circle jerk for us, at least until I get to Haken...

Yeah, I'll should probably rename this the jingle.chef thread, or something.... "ringing in the new decade; cookin up some old tunes' 

[Stadler]

Where are Taylor Swift?  Harry Styles?  Rival Sons? 

Every band here sounds like the younger brother in Game Of Thrones that has no real speaking lines, but their death causes a war that lasts a half a season.   "Arathaniel was murdered in his sleep; bend the knee, for we must march at dawn!"