Nicholas2.0's Top Music Videos & Concerts of 2008

[Nicholas2.0]

Top 100 Songs of 2008:

Key:
[#peak on my weekly Top 40(weeks at peak), w=weeks on chart, t=total]
italicized #s = full chart run
normal #s = stats for 2008 are incomplete due to year divisions.
Grayed songs, which will have a number in parentheses after them, are songs that did not reach a weekly Top 40 chart this year. The number is the song's peak on my weekly list of contenders.

100. OneRepublic “Say (All I Need)” (49)
It totally sucks that this never really got off the ground.
99. Timbaland featuring Keri Hilson & Nicole Scherzinger “Scream” [#34, 2w]
Only after seeing the video (which wasn't even that good) did I really appreciate this song. It's not like I ever heard it on the radio.
98. Atreyu “Lead Sails (and a Paper Anchor)” [#32, 4w, 2007: #55]
97. Lil Wayne featuring T-Pain “Got Money” [#35, 3w]
96. Kid Rock “All Summer Long” (52)
Probably should've been on my contender list a lot more often this year, as much as I like this song.
95. Silversun Pickups “Well Thought Out Twinkles” [#24, 8w, 2007: #153]
94. Silversun Pickups “Lazy Eye” [#29, 3w, 2007: #69]
93. Justin Timberlake “Set the Mood (Prelude)/Until the End of Time” [#23, 8w, 2007: #28, 2006: #252]
92. Snoop Dogg “Sexual Eruption” (45)
91. Kanye West featuring T-Pain “Good Life” [#38(2), 4w]
90. Shiny Toy Guns “Ghost Town” [#5, 4w]
89. Serj Tankian “Empty Walls” (41, 2007: #241)
88. Evanescence “Lithium” (44, 2007: #7, 2006: #242)
87. Kanye West “I Wonder” [#29, 2w, 2007: #74]
86. Muse “Map of the Problematique” [#33, 5w, 2007: #32, 2006: #45]
85. Foo Fighters “Long Road to Ruin” [#27, 4tw]
84. Mudvayne “Do What You Do” [#33, 10tw]
83. Nine Inch Nails “Discipline” [#33, 7w]
82. Scars on Broadway “They Say” [#33, 7tw]
81. Lil Wayne featuring Static Major “Lollipop” [#33, 7tw]
80. Chevelle “I Get It” [#14(2), 5w, 2007: #95]
79. Ludo “Love Me Dead” [#30, 6tw]
78. Bleeding Through “Death Anxiety” [#28, 7w]
I'm not going to pretend that this wasn't really that memorable of a lead single.
77. Kanye West “Love Lockdown” [#27(2), 13tw]
It's not like this had a fast fall, but my interest in this song peaked really early on.
76. Brand New “Handcuffs” [#37, 8w]
75. Tiger Army “Forever Fades Away” [#19, 11w, 2007: #26]
74. Jimmy Eat World “Let It Happen” [#30, 10tw]
73. Britney Spears “Gimme More” (42, 2007: #124)
Though it briefly made my chart last year, this is the highest song on my chart that didn't spend a single week in the Top 40 in 2008. This is also the sole reason why I regret not having visited a strip club in the past 6 years. I'm sure this was an anthem 15 months ago, as this song aurally encapsulates the phrase "strip club." This song is hot naked girls and sex. I almost feel like I should be mad at Britney for being such a walking trainwreck when this album came out, because this song deserved to be a #1 pop song, while "Womanizer" does not.
72. Timbaland featuring Keri Hilson & D.O.E. “The Way I Are” [#18, 9w, 2007: #22]
71. Fergie “Clumsy” [#32(2), 6tw]
70. Rihanna featuring Jay-Z “Umbrella” [#32(3), 9w, 2007: #27]
69. Bleeding Through “There Was a Flood” [#19(4t) 13w]
68. Fall Out Boy “I Don’t Care” [#15(2) 13w]
67. Coldplay “Lost!” [#7, 8w]
Probably could have been at least a Top 5 song for me, had my Alternative station bothered to add it. (Apparently their HD station plays the remix, for whatever that's worth.)
66. Against Me! “Stop!” [#27, 17tw]
Two four-letter song titles ending with exclamation points, back-to-back by pure coincidence.
65. Kanye West featuring Dwele “Flashing Lights” [#35, 4w]
The video was absolutely, head-scratchingly fantastic. More than anything, the memory of that helped keep the song in the back of my consciousness all year, despite its low peak.
64. Three Days Grace “Never Too Late” [#28, 9tw, 2007: #146]
63. Shiny Toy Guns “Le Disko” [#28, 9tw]
62. Shiny Toy Guns “Chemistry of a Car Crash” [#26(2) 13w]
61. Paramore “Decode” [#2, 8w]
60. Lupe Fiasco featuring Matthew Santos “Superstar” [#30, 13w]
59. Foo Fighters “The Pretender” [#28, 4w, 2007: #81]
58. Britney Spears “Break the Ice” [#22, 12w]
57. Janet Jackson “Rock with U” [#23, 12w]
What a wasted comeback smash this was.
56. Good Charlotte “Victims of Love” [#18(5t), 18w, 2007: #16]
55. Good Charlotte “Good Morning Revival/Misery” [#14, 18w, 2007: #9]
54. 3 Doors Down “It’s Not My Time” [#19(2), 14w]
One of the three best 3 Doors Down songs. ("Kryptonite" and "Here Without You" are the other two, if you were wondering.)
53. My Chemical Romance “Famous Last Words” [#19, 15tw, 2007: #3, 2006: #68]
52. Serj Tankian “Sky Is Over” [#24, 13w]
51. Alkaline Trio “Help Me” [#16, 16w]
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50. Killswitch Engage “Holy Diver” [#11(4), 9w, 2007: #114]
49. Paramore “For a Pessimist, I’m Pretty Optimistic” [#23, 19w]
48. Bleeding Through “Sister Charlatan” [#17(4t), 14w]
47. Ashes Divide “The Stone” [#12, 14w]
46. Jimmy Eat World “Always Be” [#11(5), 18w]
45. Brand New “Jesus” [#12(2), 12w]
This song reminds me of Modest Mouse, a la "Ocean Breathes Salty." And that's a wonderful thing.
44. Daughtry “Feels Like Tonight” [#13, 17w]
For some reason, I enjoyed this Daughtry single considerably more than the other ones. This may have been the song that inspired me to download their album.
43. Madonna featuring Justin Timberlake & Timbaland “4 Minutes” [#9, 18w]
I'm not going to pretend that this wasn't a fairly underwhelming lead single. Especially considering it's friggin' Madonna(!), Justin Timberlake(!!), and Timbaland!!! And considering the whole album was either produced by Timbaland, Danja, and the Neptunes (with a Kanye West appearance), this album can't help but feel disappointing in general. It won't have near the repeat play for me that Confessions on a Dancefloor did.
42. Justin Timberlake “LoveStoned/I Think She Knows” [#8, 16w, 2007: #17]
41. Shiny Toy Guns “Ricochet!” [#3, 18w]
Kind of like 30 Seconds to Mars' "Attack" 3 years ago, in that they were both shorter and screamier than I was expecting, yet I came around to like both very well.
40. Against Me! “Thrash Unreal” [#6(2), 15w, 2007: #59]
39. M.I.A./featuring Bun B & Rich Boy “Paper Planes/Remix” [#7(3t),17w]
38. Natasha Bedingfield “Pocketful of Sunshine” [#10, 24w]
Clearly I haven't liked anything previous by her nearly this much and don't expect to ever again. And this took awhile to really take hold of me.
37. Good Charlotte featuring M. Shadows & Synyster Gates “The River” [#5, 29w, 2007: #1]
36. Coldplay “Violet Hill” [#9, 23w]
35. Metallica “The Day That Never Comes” [#6, 19w]
34. Brand New “Millstone” [#8, 14w]
33. Brand New “Sowing Season” [#9, 14w]
32. Shiny Toy Guns “We Are Pilots” [#20, 26w]
31. Bullet for My Valentine “Hearts Burst Into Fire” [#7, 22w]
30. Atreyu “When Two Are One” [#7(2), 33tw, 2007: #34]
Major bummer that they never released this a single.
29. Paramore “Misery Business” [#18(3), 25w]
28. Brand New “You Won’t Know” [#10, 34w]
27. Atreyu “Falling Down” [#3, 28w]
I don't like the fact that this will go down as their biggest commercial hit.
26. Atreyu “Slow Burn” [#2(3), 22w]
25. Coldplay “Viva la Vida” [#9(3t), 27w]
24. Atreyu “Becoming the Bull” [#10, 28tw, 2007: #8]
23. T.I. “Whatever You Like” [#1(8), 11w]
22. Linkin Park “Leave Out All the Rest” [#2(2), 24w, 2007: #209]
This just screamed huge smash hit song, especially the first time I caught it on the radio. And it didn't happen because nobody wanted to let the weak "Given Up" die in favor of another "pussed-out ballad." I will always remember the Minutes to Midnight era first and foremost for contributing "Shadow of the Day" and "Leave Out All the Rest" to their catalog.
21. Avenged Sevenfold “A Little Piece of Heaven” [#16, 53w, 2007: #141]
1 spot shy of having all 10 Avenged Sevenfold songs inside the Top 20. Or put in a different way, 1 shy of having half my Top 20 favorite songs of 2008 be Avenged Sevenfold songs. (In name and album.) Regardless, all ten of them lasted the full 53 weekly charts I made this calendar year.
20. Good Charlotte “Dance Floor Anthem” [#2(7), 29w, 2007: #6]
AT40 blessed me with this song split between this year and last. Otherwise I never ever would have heard it on Pop radio.
19. Paramore “crushcrushcrush” [#5(4t), 37w]
18. Jimmy Eat World “Big Casino” [#6, 42w, 2007: #30]
Probably already my second or third favorite JEW single ever. ("Work" and "Sweetness," in case anybody wondered.)
17. Avenged Sevenfold “Lost” [#11(2t), 53w, 2007: #138]
Totally awesome that M. Shadows hopped aboard the AutoTune bandwagon before it became undeniably played out. :)
16. Avenged Sevenfold “Brompton Cocktail” [#9(2), 53w, 2007: #147]
15. Avenged Sevenfold “Dear God” [#8, 53w, 2007: #137]
Oh, the ballad misfires again. (See "Seize the Day.")
14. OneRepublic “Stop and Stare” [#2(4), 40w]
Any music fan worth talking to will have to concede that OneRepublic (thankfully) avoided one-hit wonderdom.
13. Shiny Toy Guns “Rainy Monday” [#5, 46w]
12. Linkin Park “Shadow of the Day” [#4(2), 42w, 2007: #63]
For some reason, the video helped keep up my enthusiasm for this song and in the back of my consciousness when radio play died out. (My Alternative station never was that big on it and I doubt my Pop station ever put into any sort of significant rotation.)
11. Avenged Sevenfold “Gunslinger” [#4(2), 53w, 2007: #142]
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10. Avenged Sevenfold “Scream” [#3, 53w, 2007: #113]
I don't get why radio programmers made this the de facto third single, but it clearly did better than "Dear God" ever would have, so I view that as a plus.
09. Shiny Toy Guns “You Are the One” [#2(3), 46w, 2007: #197]
08. Paramore “That’s What You Get” [#1(7), 30w]
If it came out earlier in the year, it would have been a shoo-in for the Top 5, but this was the single that came out and made me completely fall for Paramore. Thanks to AT40 for playing the Pop chart, otherwise I never would've heard it on the radio and it wouldn't have done half as well on my chart.
07. Brand New “Degausser” [#1, 36w]
Hands down the best song Brand New have ever recorded. Why, oh why, did I have to be a year late to this album? (Because it wasn't promoted properly. That's why. )
06. Justin Timberlake “Summer Love” [#4(3), 53w, 2007: #2, 2006: #219]
05. Avenged Sevenfold “Unbound (The Wild Ride)” [#3, 53w, 2007: #112]
04. Timbaland presents OneRepublic “Apologize” [#1, 40w, 2007: #57]
03. Avenged Sevenfold “Critical Acclaim” [#2(7t), 53w, 2007: #29]
02. Avenged Sevenfold “Almost Easy” [#1(7), 53w, 2007: #10]
01. Avenged Sevenfold “Afterlife” [#1(29), 53w, 2007: #44]
How this wasn't a blockbuster hit on both rock charts is beyond me.

[Nicholas2.0]

Removing all the old singles and the album cuts, here's what we're looking at:

NICK’S TOP 100 SINGLES OF 2008

100. Colby O’Donis featuring Akon “What You Got”
99. Seether “Fake It”
98. Foxboro Hot Tubs “Mother Mary”
97. Rise Against “Re-Education (Through Labor)”
96. Framing Hanley “Lollipop”
95. Nas featuring Keri Hilson “Hero”
94. Ludo “Go-Getter Greg”
93. Slipknot “Dead Memories”
92. Flo Rida featuring T-Pain “Low”
91. Linkin Park “Given Up”
90. Miley Cyrus “See You Again”
89. Matchbox Twenty “How Far We’ve Come”
88. Shawty Lo “They Know (Dey Know)”
87. Daughtry “Over You”
86. The Offspring “You’re Gonna Go Far, Kid”
85. The Killers featuring Lou Reed “Tranquilize”
84. Chris Brown featuring T-Pain “Kiss, Kiss”
83. Coldplay “Lovers in Japan”
82. Bullet for My Valentine “Scream Aim Fire”
81. MGMT “Time to Pretend”
80. Buckcherry “Sorry”
79. Incubus “Love Hurts”
78. Chris Brown “With You”
77. Kanye West “Heartless”
76. Taylor Swift “Our Song”
75. Soulja Boy “Crank That (Soulja Boy)” [2007: #63]
74. 50 Cent featuring Justin Timberlake & Timbaland “Ayo Technology” [2007: #31]
73. Taylor Swift “Teardrops on My Guitar”
72. The Offspring “Hammerhead”
71. Lifehouse “Whatever It Takes”
70. Scott Weiland “Missing Cleveland”
69. T.I. featuring Rihanna “Live Your Life”
68. Mindless Self Indulgence “Never Wanted to Dance”
67. Lady Gaga featuring Colby O’Donis “Just Dance”
66. Foo Fighters “Let It Die”
65. OneRepublic “Say (All I Need)”
64. Timbaland featuring Keri Hilson & Nicole Scherzinger “Scream”
63. Lil Wayne featuring T-Pain “Got Money”
62. Kid Rock “All Summer Long”
61. Silversun Pickups “Well Thought Out Twinkles” [2007: #84]
60. Snoop Dogg “Sexual Eruption”
59. Kanye West featuring T-Pain “Good Life”
58. Shiny Toy Guns “Ghost Town”
57. Serj Tankian “Empty Walls”
56. Muse “Map of the Problematique”
55. Foo Fighters “Long Road to Ruin”
54. Mudvayne “Do What You Do”
53. Nine Inch Nails “Discipline”
52. Scars on Broadway “They Say”
51. Lil Wayne featuring Static Major “Lollipop”
50. Chevelle “I Get It” [2007: #58]
49. Ludo “Love Me Dead”
48. Bleeding Through “Death Anxiety”
47. Kanye West “Love Lockdown”
46. Jimmy Eat World “Let It Happen”
45. Timbaland featuring Keri Hilson & D.O.E. “The Way I Are” [2007: #19]
44. Fergie “Clumsy”
43. Fall Out Boy “I Don’t Care”
42. Coldplay “Lost!”
41. Against Me! “Stop!”
40. Kanye West “Flashing Lights”
39. Three Days Grace “Never Too Late” [2007: #81]
38. Paramore “Decode”
37. Lupe Fiasco featuring Matthew Santos “Superstar”
36. Foo Fighters “The Pretender” [2007: #55]
35. Britney Spears “Break the Ice”
34. Janet Jackson “Rock with U”
33. 3 Doors Down “It’s Not My Time”
32. Serj Tankian “Sky Is Over”
31. Alkaline Trio “Help Me”
30. Killswitch Engage “Holy Diver” [2007: #67]
29. Ashes Divide “The Stone”
28. Jimmy Eat World “Always Be”
27. Daughtry “Feels Like Tonight”
26. Madonna featuring Justin Timberlake & Timbaland “4 Minutes”
25. Shiny Toy Guns “Ricochet!”
24. M.I.A. “Paper Planes”
23. Natasha Bedingfield “Pocketful of Sunshine”
22. Coldplay “Violet Hill”
21. Metallica “The Day That Never Comes”
20. Bullet for My Valentine “Hearts Burst Into Fire”
19. Paramore “Misery Business”
18. Atreyu “Falling Down”
17. Atreyu “Slow Burn”
16. Coldplay “Viva la Vida”
15. Atreyu “Becoming the Bull” [2007: #8]
14. T.I. “Whatever You Like”
13. Linkin Park “Leave Out All the Rest”
12. Good Charlotte “Dance Floor Anthem” [2007: #6]
11. Paramore “crushcrushcrush”
10. Jimmy Eat World “Big Casino” [2007: #24]
09. Avenged Sevenfold “Dear God”
08. OneRepublic “Stop and Stare”
07. Shiny Toy Guns “Rainy Monday”
06. Linkin Park “Shadow of the Day” [2007: #42]
05. Avenged Sevenfold “Scream”
04. Paramore “That’s What You Get”
03. Timbaland presents OneRepublic “Apologize” [2007: #38]
02. Avenged Sevenfold “Almost Easy” [2007: #9]
01. Avenged Sevenfold “Afterlife”

[jdmasta289]

Surprised - well, actually, completely and utterly shocked - to see several of these songs on the list. Nicholas2.0 and Soulja Boy. I never thought I would have seen the day. I'm considering charting the Lady Gaga song, for what it's worth. It would break at least some of my musical elitism. Where is the Puddle of Mudd?

[Pipa]

Funny how everyone just assumes Nick hates rap.

And jd: skip "Just Dance" and chart "Poker Face".

[Nicholas2.0]

NICK’S TOP 50 ALBUMS OF 2008

January 15, 2009

50. Bullet for My Valentine – Scream Aim Fire


Definitely not as memorable as I was hoping. Sure all the songs are melodic, and it birthed "Hearts Burst Into Fire," but after that and the title track, my favorite song is the Japanese bonus track, "No Easy Way Out," which is a cover of Robert Tepper's mildly successful song from the Rocky IV soundtrack, apparently. (I've never seen any of the Rocky films, though I at least oughta see I & II at some point.) Most of the songs kind of blur together, unfortunately, whereas The Poison featured many excellent songs that still get stuck in my head from time to time.

49. My Chemical Romance – The Black Parade Is Dead!


It's an audio recording of the very last performance of The Black Parade in its entirety. A tour I never got to see because, despite visiting 6 times supporting Three Cheers for Sweet Revenge, the last 5 of which I attended, My Chemical Romance never came through St. Louis during this album cycle until 7 months after this show. So in addition to rubbing it in that it was the last performance of the album in full, how much fun could this possibly be for me to sit around and listen to?

48. Good Charlotte – Greatest Remixes


I'm sure I'm one of only a few thousand people that were actually interested in this and I'm still trying to track down 3 of the 5 iTunes-exclusive bonus tracks. Yes, it's a little frivolous and the album cover is a little corny. And no, I don't expect to revisit this album much; it's more for completion purposes. But these are my guys. But I was stoked to have the new b-side "Anxiety," hear a remixed update of their statement of purpose "Waldorf Worldwide" (now "Los Angeles World Wide." Guests include The Game, Bubba Sparxxx, and Kill Hannah's Mat Devine. Remixers include Teddy Riley, Patrick Stump, Linkin Park's Mr. Hahn, The Academy Is..., The White Tie Affair, and oddly, Metro Station contribute a cover of "Dance Floor Anthem." I was expecting to dislike their version, but it's actually pretty decent. Most of the remixes are unnecessary, though, yes.

47. Weezer (The Red Album)


I really wanted to like this album. But there aren't really any essential contributions to the Weezer song catalog here. And once Rivers lets the other three guys each have a turn at the microphone, it's so jarring to hear someone else sing "Weezer" songs that the experiment would've been better off saved for an album with stronger material. The back half really falls off.

46. Ice Cube – Raw Footage


I've been a Cube fan for so long his albums have become, well, like Weezer, more like obligations to buy than albums to look forward to. And with Cube, I have yet to hear much of or buy War & Peace, Vol. 2 or '07's Laugh Now, Cry Later. War & Peace, Vol. 1 officially closed the door on the excellence of his first four solo albums, which were knocked out in the first four years of the '90's. Anyway, I'd never bought an album of his on the first day, so since Raw Footage seemed to get better reviews than his last 3, I went ahead and bought it. And it's not bad. But it is too long and it's not quite as profound as I was hoping and was led to believe.

45. The Mars Volta – The Bedlam in Goliath


It's odd that I enjoy Frances the Mute as much as I do, since the second half of it was way more sprawling than their last two records overall. And to be honest, it's really the amazing album covers (taken from Jeff Jordan paintings) that inspired me to spring for real copies of Amputechture and The Bedlam in Goliath, as opposed to just burning off the downloaded copies I had. (Simultaneously buying a real copy of De-loused in the Comatorium because I actually like the music on that one a lot.) If their 3rd & 4th albums had lesser artwork, I think I'd be much happier with burned copies. Overall, Omar's music is just too free-form to hold my attention span for long and Cedric's voice has often become too shrill and/or grating for me.

44. Foxboro Hot Tubs – Stop Drop and Roll!!!


There's some good stuff here, just not much that'll keep me coming back over time. There's a nice variety of styles and moods, yet somehow, because it's all piped through a throwback '60's sound, it tends to run together for me.

43. Dido – Safe Trip Home


I loved No Angel and was fairly unimpressed with Life for Rent. It seems the more she strips out the electronic textures of her original sound, and the less expression her songs require from her voice, the more she loses me. Though most of the songs here are pleasant enough, there just aren't enough strong melodies or interesting soundscapes here to make me revisit this album much. I understand her dad passed away before or as this album was being written, so there's not much to be upbeat about, but her voice never raises much over an indoor voice in a quiet room. Hopefully next time around she'll be in a better place in her life and it won't take another 5 years, but nonetheless, I think I'll be downloading the next one to check it out first.

42. Mindless Self Indulgence – If


A favorite band and album of a new friend of mine this year, I was inspired to download their new album, and not just its catchy single, "Never Wanted to Dance." These guys and girls are not for everyone and I personally don't find a whole lot of replay value in their music (I can count on one hand the number of times I've played their Frankenstein Girls... album in full since familiarizing myself with it eight years ago), as I like the band and how they provoke more than their actual music. Case in point: The last track (and brand new single) is called "Mark David Chapman." Chorus:

Hey! When the world's overrun/With too many bands/Who is it time for?

[robot voice:] Mark Chapman

Hey! When they all seem absurd/He will thin out the herd/Ladies and gentleman

[cheerleader voice:] Mark Chapman

Further in the song:

I cannot tell, is it just me, or do we all look just like Adolf f**king Hitler with this swoopy emo-boy dreamy haircut dangling in our faces, making us all indescribably indistinguishable from each other? Or maybe I'm just another megalomaniac...

:)

41. Lupe Fiasco – Lupe Fiasco’s The Cool


Personally, I think Lupe rushed this album and didn't make the tracks as sharp as he could have. The second half, particularly, seems to be noticeably weaker, overall. I loved Food & Liquor, though, and personally wasn't ready for a new Lupe album so soon. My favorite 3 lines on The Cool that absolutely wowed me with their somewhat obscure references to pop culture that I love were the following:

From "Gold Watch":

I love Street Fighter II/I just really hate Zangief/Only Ken and Ryu/I find it hard to beat Blanka

From "Dumb It Down":

Spit hot fire like Dylan (pronounced "DYE-lahn") on Chappelle's skit

And from "Blackout":

Make it go to sleep/Like Deebo/When he was chokin' Craig/That's a headlock
(part of the climactic fight in the movie Friday)

40. N.E.R.D. – Seeing Sounds


I'm starting to think In Search Of... was a fluke. Other than "Everyone Nose" (which was a weak single), "Spaz," and the guilty fun of the misogynistic chorus of "Anti Matter," it's tough to remember any of the other songs.

39. DragonForce – Ultra Beatdown


A valid argument against DragonForce is that all their songs sound the same. I don't know if it's that, or if there really was something special about Inhuman Rampage that is missing on the excellently named Ultra Beatdown. (I haven't given much time yet to their first two albums, downloaded to my hard drive.) I guess my problem with them is that all their songs are so long. Once the solos come around and extend the song for minutes on end, you kind of take for granted just how amazingly talented guitarists Sam and Herman are and just zone out until the codas. I mean, there's really not a whole lot of point for both of them to take more than one solo apiece on most of the songs.

38. The Used – Shallow Believer


Just because it's The Used, I expected this Amazon-exclusive, digital-only b-sides collection to be better, but it's not. I guess it doesn't help that "Choke Me" is the hidden song on the first album, the 2 In Love and Death b-sides were rightfully left off, and 2 of the Lies for the Liars b-sides are already bonus tracks on my version of the album. Then there are 5 more outtakes from the LFTL sessions, and I didn't think that album was up to par to begin with.

37. Moby – Last Night


About on par with, if not a little better than the underwhelming Hotel. At least there are noticeably more dance songs and less drab pop songs, for lack of a better description.

36. Chris Brown – Exclusive: The Forever Edition


A pretty solid R&B pop album overall, I have to admit. And the 3 big hits were inescapable.

35. Vampire Weekend


So after the hype had mostly quieted as the year went on, I went ahead and downloaded the record after they came through town in September. And after enough listens, yes, it's a pretty sharp little record these guys put out.

34. H2O – Nothing to Prove


After a 7-year hiatus, these guys put out a new record. 10 songs. About half an hour. No fat. Spoken interludes all along the way from their friends and singer Toby Morse's little boy. If someone asked what New York hardcore was all about, all you'd have to do, really, is give them this record. It's topically distilled into each song.

33. One Day as a Lion


Potent, ferocious new words from Zack de la Rocha, finally. The 5 songs sound too similar overall and, while yes, it is a duo, the general sound is a little too spare. Hopefully the full album (whenever that comes) will be a more musically diverse listen.

32. Punk Goes Crunk compilation


What can I say? A third of this album is utter, unnecessary crap. See the Maine's rendition of "I Wanna Love You," Lorene Drive covering "Hey Ya!", All Time Low doing "Umbrella," Forever the Sickest Kids' version of "Men in Black" and Person L (Kenny from The Starting Line) doing "The Seed (2.0)." (Surprise, surprise, a lot of the s**ttier bands seemed to have missed the point. ) Yet the rest is mostly great fun, assuming you know and love all the originals. Especially the more interesting choices like Scary Kids Scaring Kids extending the original 6 minute "Notorious Thugs" by a minute and a half. Set Your Goals cover "Put Yo Hood Up" (and make it a little lame, yes). Emmanuel cover "Kryptonite" by Big Boi's Purple Ribbon Allstars. The Devil Wears Prada growl and scream their way through the verses of "Still Fly." Say Anything, whose Max Bemis over-enunciates more than any singer I've ever heard, turn in a riotous version of ODB's "Got Your Money." And New Found Glory turn Arrested Development's "Tennessee" into an acoustic campfire sing-along. On the more predictable song selection front, Hot Rod Circuit do an admirable job of keeping "Gin and Juice" musically interesting. And the Escape Frame (who I mistakenly thought had a female singer for the longest time ), make "Nuthin' But a 'G' Thang" breezy and make the raps (which they maddeningly abbreviate and self-censor) into melodies. It kinda works, I must say! And I'd be the harshest critic for that song.

31. Thrice – The Alchemy Index Vols. III & IV: Air & Earth


I can't help but think of these two EPs as the lesser two, and admittedly don't see myself returning to them very often. 4 discs under a half-hour is kind of unwieldy, but even if I made them into a double album, I'm not sure that would help much. Anyway, I'm looking forward to their next full-length album project. But I don't want to see it within the next year and a half.

30. Nine Inch Nails – The Slip


I've been pretty underwhelmed by these last two NIN albums. There's not much to offer in the way of sonic textures anymore. It's pretty much been all patterns from one drum machine sound and guitars on the same distortion setting. There doesn't even seem to be much in the way of significant piano or keyboard anymore, either. Anyway, there's still a bit of good stuff here. "Head Down" was a strong album cut and I enjoy the busy, looped kick-drum pattern in "Echoplex." It's great for rehabilitating my right ankle/foot. (My bass drum foot.)

29. Mitch Hedberg – Do You Believe in Gosh?


Yeah, it's a comedy album and there's really no good way to compare stand-up jokes to music, but here it is anyway. Not as sharp and well-seasoned as the jokes on his first two albums, but he didn't have the time to perfect these before he died. I still can't believe this guy's gone from the world. :( Probably my two favorite jokes here:

I wanna get disappearing ink that reappears later. You spray it on someone: "F**kin' Mitch! >:(.....Aww, you f**ker. ;)" 10 minutes later: "F**kin' Mitch!" >:(

I'm sellin' t-shirts after the show. They don't have my name on 'em, they're just Hanes 3-packs.

28. The Offspring – Rise and Fall, Rage and Grace


Probably their most consistent album since Ixnay on the Hombre. It does fall off on the second half, but it still has "A Lot Like Me" and "Half-Truism" as potential amazing (if unlikely, at this point) singles.

27. Simple Plan


These guys unfairly get a bad rap. Still Not Getting Any... was an unexpectedly strong effort. This one doesn't quite match that, but surprisingly doesn't fall off by much. While Pierre Bouvier frustratingly continues to keep it dumbed down lyrically, Simple Plan are expert pop song craftsmen. They are no slouches when it comes to the hooks.

26. Mudvayne – The New Game


This album feels too short and too watered down. Some of the lunatic rage from L.D. 50 would balance it out, I think (the title track here is more what I had in mind), even if I do prefer their middle two albums. If the sound is gonna be more streamlined and diluted, then the songs need to fire on all cylinders. Several come up short.

[Nicholas2.0]

Part 2 of 2.

25. Slipknot – All Hope Is Gone


God, I miss the days of the first album. The more their popularity subliminally influences them to shoehorn their sound to fit the modern rock climate, the less raw power they have. That being said, "Dead Memories" has a badass guitar tone, despite being a radio rock song, and the sonic textures really enhance "Snuff," and definitely help turn it into a beautiful ballad. But stuff like "Psychosocial" is middle of the road for them.

24. Lil Wayne – Tha Carter III


No way in hell is this album of the year, or even hip hop album of the year. And overall, this was a very weak year for mainstream hip hop. There's no two ways about that. "La La" and "You Ain't Got Nuthin" are filler. "Mrs. Officer" and "Dr. Carter" are way overrated. "Let the Beat Build" never actually goes anywhere. "Shoot Me Down," "Phone Home," and "Tie My Hands" are just average, and the 7 minute monologue that closes out the album after "Dontgetit," while it makes some good points, isn't as profound as Wayne thinks he's being. The rest of it's pretty great, though.

23. The Killers – Day & Age


I was afraid they'd fall off and I'd stop buying their albums after this one, but they made 10 succinct songs that are thankfully free of any kind of new, artsy self-indulgence. Yet they still manage to broaden their sound in natural and welcome ways. The closer, "Goodnight, Travel Well," breaks their 6-minute barrier for the first time, yet it's a slow-burning epic that's actually one of my favorites.

22. Scars on Broadway


Some of the songs were a little puny and didn't seem fully fleshed out, but despite being 15 songs, it was surprisingly enjoyable from top to bottom. Shame it looks like this was probably it for them. But if Daron wants to do something else before returning to SOAD, I'm in no hurry.

21. Winds of Plague – Decimate the Weak


My favorite new heavy band of 2008. Despite the somewhat similar style of music, there's no danger of encroaching on Bleeding Through's place in my heart, though.

20. Radiohead – In Rainbows


I still feel this is their weakest album next to deleted Honey and I don't know why everyone wants them to get back to full-on guitar rock and creams their pants when anything remotely does so. (I didn't really pick up on that too much here.) I find a lot of the music on here to be rather meek and unassuming, yet admittedly, it has gotten better with every listen. I just wish I had listened to it as much as I have now than back in May, when I paid out the nose to see them live for the first time (and from far away), only to have them play every goddamned song from it. Plus "Bangers n' Mash"!

19. Rihanna – Good Girl Gone Bad: Reloaded


Half the album ended up being singles, none of which were less than average, and all but a couple album cuts ("Breakin' Dishes" and "Lemme Get That") ended up being pretty enjoyable in their own right, after enough listens.

18. Rancid – B Sides and C Sides


Not quite as good as the long overdue 7th Rancid album oughta be, but a nice stopgap release. Though, I was pretty pissed off to learn that the version my brother personally bought at their concert last summer had 5 extra songs tacked on (their first EP) and full liner notes. Mine has none. >:(

17. The Gaslight Anthem – The ’59 Sound


Lyrically great, these are 12 sturdy, classic rock & roll-influenced punk tunes. My only nit to pick is that Brian drops a different girl's name in every song. "Here's Looking at You, Kid" will absolutely break your heart.

16. Alkaline Trio – Agony & Irony


I don't know what it was, maybe stripping off some of the polish and frills of their past 2-3 records, but I just didn't enjoy this one as much as I was hoping to. And the lyrics are still clever, of course, but I don't recall much, if any, dark humor on this record.

15. Ashes Divide – Keep Telling Myself It’s Alright


Not quite as good as a new Perfect Circle record, but close enough. I don't foresee much replay value over time, though.

14. Coldplay – Viva la Vida or Death and All His Friends


Since I thought X&Y was amazing and their best yet, this wasn't exactly what I had in mind, especially not multiple (often hidden) double-stacked songs. Though the new sounds in all the singles worked very well, I thought.

13. Avenged Sevenfold – Live in the LBC and Diamonds in the Rough


Not much needs to be said in my case, other than it was new Avenged Sevenfold music. Obviously not A-game Avenged, but look at all the A-game it trumps anyway, this year.

12. Nas – Untitled


Nas shows Ice Cube how it's done, when it comes to relevant, deep social commentary among veteran rappers. Powerful stuff about race relations, African American culture in recent and present day, Louis Farrakhan, Fox News, his white suburban fans, stereotypes, the projects, and of course, the N-word that was supposed to be (and is unofficially) the album's title. And it's all capped off with a moving song anticipating Obama's presidency. This needs to be one of the next CDs I buy, if not the next one. For me to not own a physical copy of this yet is regrettable. I actually almost bought it last September, but had to put it back (along with 1 or 2 other CDs), because I couldn't, in good conscience, afford to spend so much that day, just to get a "good deal."

11. Portishead – Third


I had given up on hearing from them again, and then, oh, hey! They put out a new a record this year! Gone and not really missed, surprisingly, are the trip hop beats and soundscapes of their '90's output, yet they went and created very similar moods and atmospheres in a more organic and natural sounding fashion, so that it's still unmistakably Portishead. "Machine Gun" is fun to drum along to.

10. Serj Tankian – Elect the Dead


Almost as good as a new System of a Down album should be. Surprisingly more prone to repeat listens than I had originally anticipated. I'm glad I saw him live, because that really established not only how good a performer he is without relying on any System songs, but how good all 12 of these songs really are.

09. Madonna – Hard Candy


It was hard not to have astronomical expectations for this album since it was all by either Madonna, Timbaland, the Neptunes, Danja, Justin Timberlake, and/or Kanye West. That being said, while none of the songs here are absolutely top-notch A+ material for any of the parties involved, it's still nothing but Madonna, Timbaland, Danja, Justin Timberlake, and/or Kanye West.

08. OneRepublic – Dreaming Out Loud


Best new artist of 2008. I'm glad they won't go down as one-hit wonders, but I can't believe "Say (All I Need)" didn't get any attention at all. So many good pop songs all over this record. So glad I went to their first (and as far as I know, only) live show in St. Louis, even if I was by myself for most of the time.

07. Metallica – Death Magnetic


A true triumph. Easily their best since the Black Album. Better than ...And Justice for All in my humble opinion, as well as both Kill 'Em All and Ride the Lightning, song for song.

06. Bleeding Through – Declaration


I understand completely that they didn't want to bend further into a mainstream sound. Just know that with more black metal riffage and less melody overall, I'm not gonna be pulled in as much, try as I might. Plus Devin Townsend's production on Brandan's vocals pushed them further back in the mix and made them more a part of the general cacophony, rather than immediate and right up front in your face. I'm not used to hearing that from him/the band. This should've been the album of the year (or at least #2), but I just can't get into it nearly as easily as their previous two. I do get to see them live again next month, so that should be a big help.

05. Kanye West – 808s & Heartbreak


No rapping? Whaddya mean no rapping? This is a Kanye West album. It seems like this was a little rushed out, like not a whole lot of thinking went into it. No one was expecting this and it's not really what anybody was looking for, but it's very in the moment. And it's not like the album could've been saved for later. No, this is where Kanye's head was, this is what he came up with, and this is kind of the album that killed AutoTune, as in, brought it to its saturation point. I don't see any self-respecting artist continuing the trend further. Maybe not even T-Pain anymore, once his new album has run its course. But the fact that 808s & Heartbreak is such a sharp left turn is part of its charm. And it's a sleek, wonderful, heartfelt record.

04. Shiny Toy Guns – Season of Poison


I was fairly concerned that, having just fallen in love with We Are Pilots earlier in the year, that the new record would be a considerable disappointment since Carah had been replaced by Sisely. Not only was there barely any drop in song quality, as it turns out, Carah didn't contribute to any of the songwriting anyway. So I guess the only thing I'm missing here, is the fact that Carah is sexier than Sisely. But out with the old, in with the new. I wasn't really sold on the album immediately, but I listened to it in the car so much, that I didn't learn any of the song titles for a while, which almost never happens. There's not one filler track on it.

03. T.I. – Paper Trail


T.I. finally made an album that was worth not only buying, but paying full (sale) price for. Here's another album without an ounce of filler, with Tip oozing charisma in every track and coolly staring down his impending jail sentence like a man. He amazingly pulls off crossing over into unabashed pop stardom with the smashes "Whatever You Like" and "Live Your Life" (with Justin Timberlake's favor-returning cameo on "Dead and Gone" up next), then pretty much unanimously bests his 3 A-list guests on "Swagga Like Us." He's been duly rewarded with the biggest album of his career. Hey, if you're gonna be behind bars for a whole year, might as well stack up all the money you can in the meantime. I sure don't get all the praise for Tha Carter III, when both Nas' album and Paper Trail (not to mention 808s & Heartbreak, despite the lack of rapping) mop the floor with it.

02. Atreyu – Lead Sails Paper Anchor 2.0 [2007: #4]


You see what I did here? The re-release. (Hey, if I'm gonna ignore Good Girl Gone Bad and Exclusive and include their 2008 re-releases this year, why not?) 2/3 of its singles were released in '08 anyway and "Becoming the Bull," while on the decline, clearly carried over into this year, itself. If it improved over last year's ranking, then it counts.

01. Avenged Sevenfold [2007: #1]


Shouldn't be a surprise here. All 10 of its songs were among my 21 favorite songs of the year. They all lasted the full calendar year on my personal chart. "Almost Easy" was still on the way up the national charts as '08 rolled in. "Afterlife" (29 straight weeks as my favorite song this year), "Scream," and "Dear God" followed, and it was easily the album I listened to most all year. While they won't be back on this list next year, obviously, note that AFI have a new album this coming summer. And if it gets pushed back to late fall....

Anyway, "that's a wrap!"[/Dave Chappelle]

[Physical]

How come "You Are The One" is listed in Favourite Songs of 2008 but not in Favourite Singles? I'm pretty sure that it was a single since it charted on Alternative. Anyways, great chart. You have very eclectic music taste :)

[crash46]

^It fell off the Alternative chart on September 10 of '07, so it wasn't really much of a 'single' in 2008.

[Nicholas2.0]

Jan 20, 2009 16:36:00 GMT -5 Physical said:

Anyways, great chart. You have very eclectic music taste :)

Thanks. :) That's an awesome compliment.

[Slinky]

Person L (Kenny from The Starting Line) doing "The Seed (2.0).

Since the original is one of my favorite songs ever, I had to check this song out.... wow... just wow... it's this sort of thing that makes me lose faith in music in general. Shockingly bad. It's not ironic or funny, just bad.

[Nicholas2.0]

NICK’S TOP 40 WORST SONGS OF 2008

January 23, 2009

40. Mötley Crüe “Mutherf**ker of the Year”
If it didn't have that simple, intelligence-insulting chorus, it would likely not have made the list.
39. Pussycat Dolls “When I Grow Up”
38. Plies featuring Ne-Yo “Bust It Baby (Part 2)”
So if Plies is this shirtless, pants-sagging, ski mask-wearing thug (excuse me, "goon" ), why has every one of his singles been a sex song aimed at the ladies? And they keep getting progressively worse.
37. Teyana Taylor “Google Me”
As much as I hate to put a Neptunes-endorsed artist on the list, that chorus is obnoxious.
36. The Ting Tings “That’s Not My Name”
"Great DJ" would've been somewhere in the 40's. I couldn't believe these two songs charted so low here.
35. Keyshia Cole “I Remember”
Not a strong enough hook in this one to save it from being a tedious listen.
34. Flo Rida featuring will.i.am “In the Ayer”
Will.i.am's overenunciation in the chorus, I think, is what kills this song for me.
33. Pitbull featuring Lil Jon “Krazy”
If the verses are gonna be this throwaway, irrelevant and lazy, why even write the song?
32. Rick Ross featuring Nelly & Avery Storm “Here I Am”
Here's the obligatory 3rd single ladies song from the otherwise macho, thugged-out EX-PRISON GUARD.
31. Savage featuring Soulja Boy “Swing”
30. Rocko “Umma Do Me”
The fact that he changed the "I" to a "U" is stupid enough, but also stupid is that whole recent slang trend, "You just do you, I'mma do me" thing.
29. Rev Theory “Light It Up”
28. Shawty Putt featuring Lil Jon & Too $hort “Dat Baby”
27. Tokio Hotel “Monsoon”
I understand that English isn't their first language and that they're not even 21 yet, but Jesus Christ these lyrics are atrocious. And it doesn't help that the music doesn't go anywhere.
26. Theory of a Deadman “So Happy”
25. Missy Elliott “Ching-a-Ling”
24. The-Dream “I Luv Your Girl”
23. Shwayze “Corona and Lime”
"Buzzin'" wasn't awful, but this? Seriously guys?
22. Pretty Ricky featuring Butta Crèame “Cuddle Up”
What kills this one is the same thing that kills most of their songs: That awful kid who raps and is incapable of rapping in anything less than a yell, culminating here in the unintentional hilarity of him shouting "Relax!" four times in a row at the poor girl he's trying to seduce.
21. HardNox “She’d Rather Be with the DJ”
This was a huge Pop hit in St. Louis for some reason. Yet, nowhere else for obvious reasons. I guess the part that absolutely ruins the song, which was bad to begin with, is the gang of your average weekend sorority sluts chanting "Go DJ, Go DJ, Go DJ, Go!" during the chorus.
20. Saliva “Family Reunion”
19. Puddle of Mudd “Psycho”
I thought this would be in the Top 5 for sure. :o
**Honorable mention**
Cavo "Champagne"
St. Louis post-grunge band and their awful, generic single about champagne, cocaine, whatever.
18. Hollywood Undead “Undead”
I thought this homophobic rant with the whiny emo chorus (yes, I'm baiting the band by describing the chorus like that) would be in the Top 5 for sure. :o It'd be funny if some legitimate thug rapper went up to these clowns and was like, "What the f*** you know about being a gangster?" and watch them s*** their pants and cry like babies.
17. Escape the Fate “The Flood”
This is the first song I've actually heard from these cute little Disney tykes, and predictably, they're just as awful as I had always imagined. Generic, unimaginative angsty lyrics and riffs and beats that were novel 7+ years ago. The screaming in the bridge doesn't fit the song at all and feels like the trend riding it is. Anyway imagine what an American Tokio Hotel might sound like if they weren't effeminate.
16. Five Finger Death Punch “The Way of the Fist”
Not much inherently bad about their other singles, but this one unforgivably drops a homophobic slur. And later on, the 'roid-raging asshole comically issues the threat "Your ass is mine." Uh, no thanks, buddy. I know you called me a male who is into other malesgot and all, but I'm not actually a homosexual.
15. 3OH!3 “Don’t Trust Me”
Ironically, this sounds like it was made by trust-fund kids. And there's not much lamer than a white person using the word "ho," regardless of whether it's meant ironically, post-ironically, or dead seriously.
14. Saving Abel “Addicted”
Suckling at Hinder's putrid teat, comes these assholes.
13. Plies featuring Jamie Foxx & The-Dream “Please Excuse My Hands”
This is a pathetic attempt at seductive wit.
12. Rev Theory “Hell Yeah”
11. Plies featuring Chris J “Put It on Ya”
Each single just gets worse. And does he have teeth? Is his mouth full of novocaine? Why can't this asshole speak with any consonants?
10. Yung Berg featuring Casha “The Business”
Nothing even remotely close to good has come out of this little walking hard-on's mouth since he emerged in 2007. And way to hop on that AutoTune trend, asshole. I swear, if he ever did a song with Pretty Ricky, Soulja Boy, R. Kelly, or The-Dream, that would easily be the worst song of whatever year.
09. Theory of a Deadman “Bad Girlfriend”
If only this were a joke.
08. R. Kelly “Hair Braider”
How dry can his well possibly get?
07. The-Dream “Falsetto”
I don't even know what this is supposed to be. He tends to worship at the R. Kelly school of lyric-writing, it seems.
06. Ray J featuring Yung Berg “Sexy Can I”
What does that title even mean? Inexplicably a huge crossover smash. These dips**ts have mothers, sisters, aunts, and grandmas, right? No? Oh. I guess that explains it. I guess we have R. Kelly to thank for the unlimited raunch, cussing and degrading of women in alleged love songs nowadays.
05. Soulja Boy “Bird Walk”
It would certainly appear that we won't have to hear from this minstrel show much longer. Thanks for "Crank That," though.
04. R. Kelly “Skin”
Seriously, it sounds like he came up with the lyrics while he was recording the song, they're so stream-of-conscious and laughable. Stop making music. Just stop. (I don't even want to hear his brand new Obama-inspired song, "I Believe." ) "Skin"'s overly dramatic video is unintentionally hilarious.
03. Soulja Boy featuring Arab “Yahhh!”
One would think a Soulja Boy song couldn't get any worse than this...
02. Soulja Boy “Donk”
...But then you get to one that's this unmusical and mind-numbingly repetitive.
01. Hot Stylz featuring Yung Joc “Lookin’ Azz N****” a.k.a “Lookin’ Boy”
However, the worst song of the year singlehandedly sets back the NAACP a whole year, with its D4L-copping beat and its brain-rotting, subhuman, back-and-forth insults. I didn't even know its real, undefendable title until a few weeks ago, which pretty much cemented its status at #1 here.

[Nicholas2.0]

Jan 22, 2009 23:01:14 GMT -5 Slinky said:

Person L (Kenny from The Starting Line) doing "The Seed (2.0).

Since the original is one of my favorite songs ever, I had to check this song out.... wow... just wow... it's this sort of thing that makes me lose faith in music in general. Shockingly bad. It's not ironic or funny, just bad.

And of those 5 I cited, this wasn't one of the "shittier" bands that I had in mind when I said a lot of these bands seemed to have missed the point of the compilation. They still missed the point, though, as "The Seed" isn't exactly a hip hop song. I'd have been more impressed if they'd chosen to tackle, say, "You Got Me."

[Pipa]

Nick, I'm afraid you missed a song in your "Worst of 2008" list. One that's worse than every other song you mentioned.

[PHOBES]

Just noticed your album chart. Wasn't the A7X ST released in 07? And Shallow Believer wasn't an amazon exclusive, you can get it just about anywhere, including itunes.

[halo19]

He included it because 3/5 of the singles were released in 2008 (like the Atreyu comment). Also, "Almost Easy" peaked on the charts in '08.

Also if you get techical that wouldn't just include A7X and Atreyu, but also OneRepublic, Serj Tankian, Rihanna and Chris Brown. Since I said techinical I'll add Lupe Fiasco, and many critics put Radiohead on the top albums of 2007. (A bit odd because MGMT gave the download of their album a week before IR but their album appeared on '08 critics picks... I'm going off a tangent.)

Oh, and that song that picpak posted is too funny for me to hate enough for a worst list. Mixing the Auto-Tune songs from some teen guy and some "screamo" backing vocals... rofl.

[Nicholas2.0]

Jan 24, 2009 11:04:24 GMT -5 Pipa said:

Nick, I'm afraid you missed a song in your "Worst of 2008" list. One that's worse than every other song you mentioned.

I wasn't familiar with Brokencyde until this year when I saw their name on the bottom of the Saints and Sinners tour lineup. Since that tour is coming through town, I thought I'd check out their MySpace. I was expecting something akin to (hed) p.e. (Brokencyde's on Suburban Noize, after all. I can't remember if (hed) p.e. was ever on that label, but those bands are all similar anyway). But yeah, that was pretty much the worst "rock" music I've ever heard. That's one genre mash-up crunk popcore/deathcore that was never meant to be mixed.

I agree with this criticism on their Wikipedia page 100%:

Says August Brown of the Los Angeles Times, "The 'Albucrazy'-based band has done for MySpace emo what some think Soulja Boy did for hip-hop: turn their career into a kind of macro-performance art that exists so far beyond the tropes of irony and sincerity that to ask 'are they kidding?' is like trying to peel an onion to get to a perceived central core that, in the end, does not exist and renders all attempts to reassemble the pieces futile."

If they have a single this year (surely they will) or if "Freaxx" somehow can be counted toward 2009 (have no idea when it came out), they'll win the prize for sure.

[Pipa]

Jan 25, 2009 2:31:42 GMT -5 Nicholas2.0 said:

If they have a single this year (surely they will) or if "Freaxx" somehow can be counted toward 2009 (have no idea when it came out), they'll win the prize for sure.

I think it came out this summer, but I'm not too sure. And what difference does it make? Time doesn't know ungodliness.

[Nicholas2.0]

NICK’S TOP 100 MUSIC VIDEOS OF 2008

February 5, 2009

01. Avenged Sevenfold “Afterlife”
02. Atreyu “Falling Down”
03. Kanye West featuring Dwele “Flashing Lights”
04. Linkin Park “Shadow of the Day”
05. Avenged Sevenfold “Dear God”
06. Scott Weiland “Missing Cleveland”
07. The White Stripes “Conquest”
08. Fall Out Boy “I Don’t Care”
09. Madonna featuring Pharrell “Give It 2 Me”
10. Weezer “Pork and Beans”
11. Gnarls Barkley “Run”
12. Ludo “Love Me Dead”
13. Bleeding Through “Death Anxiety”
14. Taylor Swift “Picture to Burn”
15. The Mars Volta “Ilyena”
16. Linkin Park “Leave Out All the Rest”
17. Everlast “Letters Home from the Garden of Stone”
18. Coldplay “Lovers in Japan”
19. Slipknot “Dead Memories”
20. Coldplay “Violet Hill”
21. Metallica “The Day That Never Comes”
22. DragonForce “Heroes of Our Time”
23. The Gaslight Anthem “The ’59 Sound”
24. Panic at the Disco “Nine in the Afternoon”
25. Serj Tankian “Sky Is Over”
26. The Killers “Human”
27. OneRepublic “Stop and Stare”
28. Gnarls Barkley “Who’s Gonna Save My Soul”
29. Madonna featuring Justin Timberlake & Timbaland “4 Minutes”
30. H2O featuring Lou Koller & Matt Skiba “What Happened”
31. Winds of Plague “The Impaler”
32. OneRepublic “Say (All I Need)”
33. A Cursive Memory “Everything”
34. Panic at the Disco “Northern Downpour”
35. Panic at the Disco “That Green Gentleman”
36. Simple Plan “Save You”
37. Pink “So What”
38. Trace Adkins “You’re Gonna Miss This”
39. Paramore “That’s What You Get”
40. Shiny Toy Guns “Richochet!”
41. Shiny Toy Guns “Rainy Monday”
42. Timbaland presents OneRepublic “Apologize”
43. Radiohead “House of Cards”
44. Mudvayne “Do What You Do”
45. Jack White & Alicia Keys “Another Way to Die”
46. The Dillinger Escape Plan “Black Bubblegum”
47. Ice Cube “Gangsta Rap Made Me Do It”
48. Against Me! “Stop! (Version 2)”
49. Against Me! “Stop! (Original Version)”
50. Thrice “Digital Sea”
51. Killswitch Engage “This Is Absolution”
52. Britney Spears “Womanizer”
53. Carrie Underwood “Last Name”
54. Seether “Rise Above This”
55. Seether “Fake It”
56. Jimmy Eat World “Always Be”
57. As I Lay Dying “The Sound of Truth”
58. T.I. featuring Rihanna “Live Your Life”
59. Thrice “Come All You Weary”
60. Buckcherry “Sorry”
61. Estelle featuring Kanye West “American Boy”
62. Amanda Palmer “Oasis”
63. Weezer “Troublemaker”
64. Chris Brown “With You”
65. Miley Cyrus “Fly on the Wall”
66. Christina Aguilera “Keeps Gettin’ Better”
67. Mariah Carey featuring T.I. “I’ll Be Loving U Long Time”
68. Daughtry “Feels Like Tonight”
69. T.I. “Whatever You Like”
70. T.I. “No Matter What”
71. John Legend featuring André 3000 “Green Light”
72. Rihanna featuring Justin Timberlake “Rehab”
73. Björk “Declare Independence”
74. Metro Station “Seventeen Forever”
75. Brad Paisley featuring Andy Griffith “Waitin’ on a Woman”
76. Sum 41 “With Me”
77. Bullet for My Valentine “Waking the Demon”
78. The Gaslight Anthem “Old White Lincoln”
79. Eagles of Death Metal “Wannabe in L.A.”
80. Boys Like Girls “Hero/Heroine”
81. Mindless Self Indulgence “Never Wanted to Dance”
82. Gavin Rossdale “Love Remains the Same”
83. T-Pain featuring Ludacris “Chopped and Skrewed”
84. T-Pain featuring Lil Wayne “Can’t Believe It”
85. Ne-Yo “Closer”
86. Common featuring Pharrell “Universal Mind Control”
87. Nas featuring Keri Hilson “Hero”
88. Avenged Sevenfold “A Little Piece of Heaven”
89. Rise Against “Re-Education (Through Labor)”
90. Kings of Leon “Sex on Fire”
91. Fergie “Clumsy”
92. Paramore “crushcrushcrush”
93. Timbaland featuring Keri Hilson & Nicole Scherzinger “Scream”
94. Coldplay “Viva la Vida”
95. Everlast “Stone in My Hand”
96. Austrian Death Machine “Get to the Choppa”
97. Miranda Lambert “More Like Her”
98. Ludacris featuring Chris Brown & Sean Garrett “What Them Girls Like”
99. N.E.R.D. “Everyone Nose (All the Girls Standing in the Line for the Bathroom)”
100. N.E.R.D. “Spaz”

[Nicholas2.0]

NICK’S TOP 40 CONCERTS OF 2008

All concerts were in the St. Louis area unless otherwise noted:

February 6, 2009

1. Taste of Chaos 2008
Avenged Sevenfold (w/ Atreyu, Bullet for My Valentine, et al.)

2. Nine Inch Nails
(w/ A Place to Bury Strangers)

3. Nine Inch Nails
(w/ Boris)
Columbia, MO

4. Metallica
(w/ Down, The Sword)

5. Projekt Revolution 2008
Linkin Park (w/ Chris Cornell, The Bravery, Ashes Divide, Street Drum Corps, Atreyu, 10 Years, Hawthorne Heights, Armor for Sleep)

6. Rancid
(w/ Exene Cervenka and the Original Sinners, Coliseum)

7. Stone Temple Pilots
(w/ Chevelle, Saliva, Ashes Divide, Another Animal, Cavo, Copperview)

8. My Chemical Romance
(w/ Billy Talent, Drive By)

9. Tiger Army
(w/ The Unseen, War Tapes)

10. N.E.R.D.

11. The Dresden Dolls
(w/ Two Ton Boa, Gravity Plays Favorites)

12. OneRepublic
(w/ Josh Kelley, The Daylights)

13. 311
(w/ Story of the Year, Ballyhoo)
Rolla, MO

14. Marilyn Manson
(w/ Ours)

15. Pointfest 22
Serj Tankian (w/ Shinedown, Killswitch Engage, Filter, Coheed and Cambria, Finger Eleven, Soul Descenders, et al. NO ATREYU)

16. Danzig
(w/ Dimmu Borgir, Moonspell, Winds of Plague, Skeletonwitch)

17. Radiohead
(w/ Liars)

18. Foo Fighters
(w/ Supergrass)

19. Dolly Parton

20. Rise Against
(w/ Alkaline Trio, Thrice, The Gaslight Anthem)

21. Mayhem Festival
Slipknot (w/ Disturbed, DragonForce, Mastodon, Machine Head, Airbourne, Five Finger Death Punch, Walls of Jericho, Underoath, Black Tide, Suicide Silence, 36 Crazyfists, The Red Chord)

22. Dredg
(w/ Limousines, Judgement Day)

23. Mudvayne
(w/ 10 Years, Snot)

24. Fragile Porcelain Mice
(w/ Escape)
Columbia, IL

25. Henry Rollins

26. Scott Weiland
(w/ Eagles of Death Metal, Cold War Kids)

27. Pointfest 23
Seether (w/ Shinedown, Puddle of Mudd, Bullet for My Valentine, Apocalyptica, Story of the Year, Ludo, Local H, et al. NO AVENGED SEVENFOLD)

28. Killswitch Engage
(w/ The Dillinger Escape Plan, Every Time I Die, Parkway Drive)

29. The Mars Volta

30. 311
(w/ Snoop Dogg, Fiction Plane)

31. Flogging Molly
(w/ Reverend Peyton’s Big Damn Band)

32. The Kids in the Hall

33. The Dropkick Murphys
(w/ Big D and the Kids Table, Everybody Out!)

34. Toadies
(w/ The Whigs)

35. Gretchen Wilson

36. Chevelle
(w/ Finger Eleven, God or Julie, Project Steadfast)

37. Panic at the Disco
(w/ Motion City Soundtrack, The Hush Sound, Phantom Planet)

38. Ladytron
(w/ Datarock)

39. Tech N9ne & Paul Wall
(w/ Ill Bill, Stevie Stone, Strata-G)

40. Sharon Jones & the Dap Kings
(w/ Menahan Street Band)