Top 10 Alternative Rock Songs of the Decade

What does "alternative" mean, and what is it an alternative to, when applied to music; mainstream garbage? What is the alternative to "alternative?" Do any of these labels really matter to anyone outside of the music industry?

On satellite radio, the internet, and the FM dial, all the alternative stations seem to have identical playlists. For various reasons, I became familiar with these playlists over the last decade or so; prior to 2004, the FM radio was my only source of alternative music and info about the bands.

I first heard the songs on this list released prior to 2002 in a prison cell. Based on criteria of what shocked and what stuck, here are the top 10 alternative rock songs of the decade

1. Sleep Now InThe Fire by Rage Against the Machine: A "turn it up" revolutionary anthem, from the opening enraged scream to its end. Zack DeLaRocha in this song speaks as the voice of the "machine":

"Crawl with me into tomorrow, I'll drag you to your grave, I'm deep inside your children, they'll betray you in my name." (1999, Epic Records)

Although I find some of Zack's leftist cliché's tiresome at times, I agree with him that "the machine" is the anti-human enemy we all face. This song let the world know that in spite of the rise of the Bush/Cheney regime, history was far from over.

2. Wait by Earshot: A haunting, multi-layered metallic ballad that conveys its emotional content seamlessly, each note purposeful, each word where it belongs; it evokes sadness in me above and beyond what one would expect from a simple song.

3. Underclass Hero by Sum 41: "Underclass Hero" is the title cut of an album released in 2007, this song resonates cheerfully with the series of low-paying jobs, substandard living conditions, including jail cells, and nihilistic episodes of street life that characterized the latter half of the last decade in my own life:

"Now I'm desensitized, I state my place in nowhere..."

The "alternative" channel would play this song several times a day as I waited out my last four weeks in a Colorado prison cell, after having spent nearly a year (between DOC and the county) for a piece of crack smaller than the smallest fingernail on my left hand.

4. Young Folks by Peter Bjorn and John: Beginning a song with nothing but drums and whistling was a bold move to begin with, and the scenario of a two young adults, a man and a woman sitting, talking, becoming and remaining fascinated by each other is made vivid by the lyrics. Young Folks is yet another "alternative rock:" song that continually gets stuck in my head.

5. The Hand That Feeds by Nine Inch Nails: Released in 2005, Trent Reznor asks the right questions at the right time in The Hand That Feeds. An attack on the self-serving conformity of "successful" supporters of the status quo, The Hand That Feeds demands the following of the listener:

"Just how deep do you believe?
Will you bite the hand that feeds?
Will you chew until it bleeds?
Can you get up off your knees?
Are you brave enough to see?
Do you want to change it?" (Interscope, 2005)

6. Duality by Slipknot: I became familiar with this song in the Denver County Jail. The little headphone radio drowned out the noise of the cellblock quite well. This song drowned the noise in my head.

"I push my fingers into my eyes
It's the only thing that slowly stops the ache
If the pain goes on, I'm not gonna make it" (2004, Roadrunner Records)

7. Thoughtless by Korn: A good song for hard times, accompanied by an excellent video, probably the best radical nerd-rock anthem of the decade, this song is just one of several such exceptionally defiant tracks on the sophisticated Untouchables album, released in 2002.

8. Reeducation Through Labor by Rise Against: This anarcho-punk classic made my top 10 for 2008 also. Capturing the zeitgeist perfectly this song draws a line in the sand, and declares war on the modern day feudal lords we all pay tribute to with the following verse:

"I won't crawl on my knees for you
I won't believe the lies that hide the truth
I won't sweat one more drop for you
'Coz we are the rust upon your gears
We are the insects in your ears
We crawl
We crawl
We crawl ... all over you" (2008, Interscope Records)

The music video for Reeducation Through Labor provides a harsh scenario, a (literally) explosive prophecy of what happens when "they" cross the line. Watch the video here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QnbvOi4SpSk

9. Silly World by Stone Sour : This end of the decade offering from Slipknot's alter-ego, Stone Sour, starts simply with some haunting acoustic guitar chords and moves into an increasingly cynical ballad, inspired, I believe, by the incredible fecklessness of the final Bush/Cheney years.

10. Uprising by Muse: Closing out 2009 with yet another expression of the prevailing rebellious sentiment at the end of this first decade of the millennium, Muse approaches the subject with their own sophisticated and classically flavored sound.

This minor-keyed operatic march also addresses the subject that seems to be on everyone's mind these days; drawing a line and placing a limit on how far "they" can go.

"Rise up and take the power back

it's time the fat cats had a heart attack

you know their time's coming to an end

We have to unify and watch out flag ascend

They will not force us

They will stop degrading us

they will not control us

we will be victorious"( 2009, Warner Bros. Records)

The accompanying music video feature a burning fuse and teddy bears from hell (?) rising from beneath the pavement to wreak havoc.

I cannot imagine better lyrics to end this bitter decade with. The millennium is off to a rough start and the culture front clashes with politics and business as usual. As has always been the case, we depend on our artists for a higher level of truth.

Credits:

Sleep Now InThe Fire by Rage Against the Machine from album Guerilla Radio, 1995, Epic Records

Wait by Earshot from album "Two" Warner Bros. 2004

Underclass Hero by Sum 41

Young Folks by Peter Bjorn and John

The Hand That Feeds by Nine Inch Nails

Duality by Slipknot

Reeducation Through Labor by Rise Against from Album Appeal to Reason, 8-25-2008, Interscope Records

Sillyworld by Stone Sour Released as a single, March 2007, Roadrunner Records

Uprising by Muse, from Album The The Resistance [sic]released 9-15-2009, Warner Bros. Records