Daryl's Best/Worst Rock Lists

[Daryl the Beryl]

Archive:

The best and worst hits of April 2016 (see below)
The best and worst hits of 2016 so far (coming soon!)
The best and worst hits of 2016 (coming soon!)

Criterion:

Must chart on Billboard's Alternative, Mainstream Rock or Triple A within the Billboard Year.
All songs on monthly lists are from Billboard Rock Breakdown.

Stay tuned...

* - My opinions are subject to change.

* - Since I tend to like most songs, 'Worst' denotes songs that I not only like the least, but find the most disappointing.

[Daryl the Beryl]

The Best & Worst Rock Songs of April 2016:

Best
Sturgill Simpson - Brace for Impact (Live a Little)
Summary: Great blues-rock instrumentation, lyrics and vocals. Albeit a bit too long, this song is great. 4.5/5

Lissie - Don't You Give Up On Me
Summary: Just a fun, care-free folk song by the singer-songwriter. 4.5/5

Finish Ticket - Colour
Summary: Love the instrumentation and vocals of this indie rock track. Strong 4/5

Volbeat - The Devil's Bleeding Crown
Summary: The Danish rock band stick to their unique formula to make another great rock track. 4/5

Kaleo - No Good
Summary: Kick-ass blues rock. 4/5

Worst
Sick Puppies - Stick to Your Guns
Summary: Sure, you make up Shim Moore's absence with heavier instrumentation, but you also add some poor lyrics and vocals and as a result, this lacks the things that made the band popular, and is a mess. 1.5/5

Paul Simon - Wristband
Summary: Paul Simon is a legend, but this song is repetitive and goes nowhere. The song seems to be written in three hours. From what I've seen, the lyric video is cool, at least. 2/5

Through Fire - Stronger
Summary: "Fuck that! I don't need that!" One of the though-provoking lyrics from this song. 2.5/5

Fitz & The Tantrums - HandClap
Summary: The song is alright by alright by itself, but I'm putting this here because its not what I expect from a Fitz song. Plus, save the bridge, Mike's vocals are wasted. It's catchy, though. 2.5/5 as a Fitz song, 3/5 by itself.

Avatar - The Eagle Has Landed
Summary: Cool guitar instrumentation, obnoxious vocals in the verses. 3/5

Honorable Mentions

Silversun Pickups - Circadian Rhythm (Last Dance)
Summary: Nice contrast to other SSPU singles with the addition of Nikki's vocals. 4/5

Cheap Trick - When I Wake Up Tomorrow
Summary: This has grown on me quite a bit. I like this rock track, especially the instrumentation. Strong 3.5/5

Catfish and the Bottlemen - Soundcheck
Summary: This has grown on me too. I like this more than I previously did. Nice guitar work. Strong 3.5/5

Cage the Elephant - Trouble
Summary: It's no "Back Against the Wall" or "Shake Me Down", but its decent enough for my liking. Much better than "Mess Around". 3.5/5


Note: You notice Vexatious by Candlebox is not on the worst list even though I gave it worst of the week twice, because it's not exactly a bad song; it's just there. Like background music.

[Doc Indie Party Rock]

Apr 23, 2016 3:25:28 GMT -5 Daryl the Beryl said:

The Best & Worst Rock Songs of April 2016:

Best

Finish Ticket - Colour
Summary: Love the instrumentation and vocals of this indie rock track. Strong 4/5

Volbeat - The Devil's Bleeding Crown
Summary: The Danish rock band stick to their unique formula to make another great rock track. 4/5

Kaleo - No Good
Summary: Kick-ass blues rock. 4/5

Worst
Sick Puppies - Stick to Your Guns
Summary: Sure, you make up Shim Moore's absence with heavier instrumentation, but you also add some poor lyrics and vocals and as a result, this lacks the things that made the band popular, and is a mess. 1.5/5



Fitz & The Tantrums - HandClap
Summary: The song is alright by alright by itself, but I'm putting this here because its not what I expect from a Fitz song. Plus, save the bridge, Mike's vocals are wasted. It's catchy, though. 2.5/5 as a Fitz song, 3/5 by itself.

Avatar - The Eagle Has Landed
Summary: Cool guitar instrumentation, obnoxious vocals in the verses. 3/5

I agree to max on Sick Puppies. It reminds me of that new crap Saving Abel released a while back and maybe even on Hinder's Austin Winkler-less era as well. Why this song is getting great updates is beyond me?
I wouldn't put "Hand Clap" in this catagory, but it is thier "worst" of singles to date
I guess "The Eagle Has Landed" could become a hard rock guilty pleasure of mine. especially chorus.

[Daryl the Beryl]

The Best & Worst Rock Songs of May 2016:

Best
Kurt Vile - Pretty Pimpin
Summary: One of my favorite rock tracks to chart this year, with some great instrumentation and lyrics. For that, it gets a 5/5

Radiohead - Burn the Witch
Summary: Radiohead is back guys! Thom still sounds great, and the strings and build-up are great too. 4.5/5

Run River North - Run or Hide:
Summary: If Cage the Elephant traded vocals and had a harder sound, you get this song. 4.5/5

Tame Impala - The Less I Know the Better
Summary: There's no way I can do a list without Tame Impala, even if this isn't the best from Currents. Nice bass work. 4/5

KONGOS - Take It from Me
Summary: Sure, there are some parts that bug me in the song, and there's a WTF video (don't like the enlarged heads at all), but the song is still KONGOS sticking to their sound. 4/5

Worst
Rob Zombie - In the Age of the Consecrated Vampire We All Get High
Summary: Get high and listen to this track and see what happens. It's better than UFO, but it's still too noisy. 2/5

White Denim - Ha Ha Ha Ha (Yeah)
Summary: This has a nice soul vibe, but it's quite repetitive. 2.5/5

Escape the Fate - Remember Every Scar
Summary: The vocalist's vocals have always been whiny, and this is no exception. 2.5/5

Mumford & Sons & Baaba Maal - There Will Be Time
Summary: You come up with something not radio-friendly and weird, and it's bound to flop. 3/5

Pop Evil - Take It All
Summary: Decent, but there are still some cringe-worthy moments. 3/5

Honorable Mentions
DREAMERS - Drugs
Summary: Despite the lyrics, I love the drums and guitar on this. 4/5

Holy White Hounds - Switchblade
Sumamry: If Beck and Highly Suspect combine, you get this awesome track. 4/5

Red Hot Chili Peppers - Dark Necessities
Summary: I never thought Danger Mouse's addition would still make this song still sound like RHCP. 4/5

blink-182 - Bored to Death
Summary: Blink are back, and even without Tom, the song's still pretty good. 4/5

City and Colour - Wasted Love
Summary: Dallas Green continues his trend of making sincere folk tracks. 4/5

Barely missing out are Joyride, Wish I Knew You, Death Dance and Fire.


Tags:
Doc Indie Party Rock rainie trebor timmierz MTSChart21

[Doc Indie Party Rock]

"Pretty Pimpin" is actually a good track, but there is so much unique stuff out there right now; I havn't gotten a chance to chart it. I actually had it on my rough copy HOT List draft and ready for ads; then ;all the sudden I'm bombarded by all these AOR/Glam Metal revival bands from abroad and I just can't resist charting those first.

"Run Or Hide" is anotherone that sounds great on first listen and I finally got around to charting it this week.
I passed on Tame Impala and that Kongos track is just decent, but the Radiohead track is definetly not really for me.

I agree on those WORST TRACKS.

I would have put RHCP's and Blink 182 in the BEST, but I'm a sucker for the classic artists.

[Daryl the Beryl]

The Best & Worst Rock Songs of June 2016:

Best
PVRIS - You and I
Summary: Man, it's great to see PVRIS finally land on the charts. There's no way I'm doing this 'best of' list without including this song; which contains great use of Lynn Gunn's vocals and synths. 4.5/5

Thrice - Black Honey
Summary: Move away Bring Me the Horizon, this is how you do hardcore punk. Love the drums and guitar work. 4.5/5

Breaking Benjamin - Ashes of Eden
Summary: Ben Burnley does a great power ballad with this song. It's no "The Sound of Silence" (the Disturbed version of course), but it's still worth a listen. 4/5

Deftones - Phantom Bride
Summary: My favorite track off Gore also deserves a spot on this list based on that chorus alone. 4/5

The Head and the Heart - All We Ever Knew
Summary: Sure, they're moving away from their folk roots, but I still love Josiah Johnson's vocals, the violin segment and the instrumentation. 4/5

Worst
Stitched Up Heart - Monster
Summary: We need an In This Moment clone.... said no one ever. 1/5

Beartooth - Aggressive
Summary: An "In Between" this is not, there's too much screaming on this, not enough punk. 2/5

The Dirty Heads - That's All I Need
Summary: Did we really ask for more of these guys on the charts? Fun song, but really, I don't need this on the charts. 2.5/5

Brett Dennen - Cassidy
Summary: This is just generic folk music. It's ok. There are better songs on the charts. 3/5

Beck - Wow
Summary: Even though I like this now, there's no excusing this song for having some stupid lyrics. "Dreams" this is not. 3.5/5

Honorable mentions:
Nothing but Thieves - Wake Up Call
Summary: Love the vocals in the chorus, as well as the instrumentation. I'll probably grow to like this more than "Trip Switch". 4/5

The Avett Brothers - Ain't No Man
Summary: I wasn't too big on this earlier, but I love this now. Such a carefree song. 4/5

3 Doors Down - Still Alive
Summary: Welcome back 3DD! 3.5/5 (in case you missed my point, this is more of their previous sound than their previous cock rock single)

Band of Horses - Casual Party
Summary: This has grown on me, too. 3.5/5

Adele - Send My Love (To Your New Lover)
Summary: Lyrically this could be better, but it's pretty fun. 3.5/5

Disclaimer: I actually like "Wow" more than One Less Reason's "Where Were You?" (which was generic, decent post-grunge), but the former is more disappointing since Beck could do better than that, hence it's placement on the list. I would actually put "Burn the Witch" in the best list, but I'll save it for better songs since I put it in the best list last month.

Tags:
Doc Indie Party Rock rainie trebor timmierz MTSChart21 peacebone Lordef†ones H.

[Lordef†ones]

Where's Joyride?

Albeit some placements, I mostly agree with which songs are the best and which songs are the worst. My rankings would go

Best
1. Phantom Bride: 5/5
2. Black Honey: 4.5/5
3. Ashes of Eden: 4/5
4. Casual Party: 4/5
5. Wake Up Call: 3.5/5

Worst
1. Wow: 1/5
2. Aggressive: 1/5
3. Monster: 2/5
4. Send Your Love(To Your New Lover): 2.5/5
5. That's All I Need: 2.5/5

The rest are kinda middle of the road for me.

[Daryl the Beryl]

Jun 18, 2016 10:12:43 GMT -5 Lordef†ones said:

Where's Joyride?

Joyride barely missed the May list. (it debuted on the chart dated May 28 16) If I redid the list I would've replaced "Drugs" / "Wasted Love"  with that for honorable mentions, or even "Take It from Me" from the best list since I'm liking it more now.

Also take note that I decided to keep it up to 5 songs for each section (Best, Worst, Honorable mentions), so not every song gets covered here (Up&Up and Life Itself for instance)