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2005

    Let's quickly get down to the essential! Just one small precision: I tried, this year, to integrate the best I could the pop songs that I liked, instead of making simple "honorable pop mentions" separately from the main top. And as ever, I remind you that this top represent nothing more than the songs that I liked the most during the year, which does not even necessarly mean these are the songs that I believe to be the best. Very good top 10 this year.

1
Holiday Green Day
Without being complex, it uses slightly different chords from Green Day's habits. It is also a political song without being too much, a song that is fun to sing (in particular the part before the last chorus), pleasant music in all circumstances. I knew after listening to it just a few times that it was having a good shot at my #1 this year. Without any hesitation my favorite of the 5 radio singles from the American Idiot record up to now.

2
Keine Lust
Rammstein
The song that I listened at the highest volume in my car this year! It has the downside of depending a bit too much on the special effects and not being as convincing when played live, but the recording on the Reise, Reise album is really a big "trip"! Superb guitar sounds. The video is also one of the best of the year, while still being perfectly in support to the song (unlike some other nice videos that are more or less related to the song and only want to get people's attention).

3
Question! System of a Down
I admit not having understood much from the meaning of the lyrics, but that's nonetheless some great System! It lasts nearly 3 minutes and a half, but it's like it was just 2 small minutes! Extraordinary progressions, remarkably going from classical/acoustic guitar to electric guitar, accompanied by audacious outbursts from the excellent voice of singer Serj. The segment that starts at 2:16 and almost goes through the end of the song is completely crazy. So much intensity, so much energy, and what a performance from the guitarist! Paradoxically, it is probably my favorite song of the year if you ask me today (in January of 2006), but I listened to it less often than Holiday and Keine Lust in 2005.

4
Stricken Disturbed
Really the same kind of song as hit single Prayer from the previous record, but I can't really explain why, I hooked up much more on this one. Note the performance from singer David Draiman who elevates the chorus alone.

5
BYOB
System of a Down
It's been difficult to determine what to think of it at first. It is pure System, with its explosive and unpredictable style, but I've learnt to tame them and therefore the surprise effect is much lower than it was back in the time of excellent album Toxicity. It is the long term that deceided that, after all, BYOB had not much to envy from the other great songs of that band, which I start to consider as being the best American band of the last 10 years... The "ordinary" small lyrics excerpts and the sometimes-dubious screaming from the guitarist are slightly spoiling it, but it remains brilliant overall nonetheless. Real satisfying rock, strongly energetic without having to fall into easy punk or speed metal. Intensive use of 2  drum pedals, loud sound that must really saturate the badly trained ear, a cool "la la la la la la la la la la, hoo oo oo" to sing along with Serj, etc. What a satisfaction for the real rock fan! We also note the political message of the song, among others the repeated: "Why don't presidents fight the war? Why do they always send the poor?".

6
American Baby Dave Matthews Band
Believe it or not! I've never been a big fan of Dave Matthews, but I've been very agreeably surprised of this frankly different song, bu far my favorite in the band's career, with a considerable lead over Don't Drink the Water. Very fluid and surprisingly interesting fusion of the mandolin with the drums. It is certainly not heavy unlike at least 4 of the previous 5 songs, but I really like it!

7
Bat Country Avenged Sevenfold
Except maybe that it reminds just a little bit too much the metal from the '80s (especially the guitar solo), wow! A rocket start for this new band! Without any hesitation, my best song from a new artist this year.

8
Turbo Sympathique Les Trois Accords
Song that I discovered last year on the Gros Mammouth Album Turbo album, but released as a radio single only in 2005. It was one of those I wanted them to release, and so they did. One of the many good songs, not serious of course, of this must-have record.

9
Little Sister Queens of the Stone Age
Very good! Little subtleties make it more interesting. I continue to prefer No One Knows (2002), but Little Sister is very good competition.

10
The Hand that Feeds Nine Inch Nails
Very positive comeback for NIN! A fresh sound that fits almost as much to rock fans than fans of club songs, lyrics slightly agressive but very interesting... And obviously, Trent Reznor signs as ever with an impeccable sound quality.

11
Beverly Hills Weezer
A little "lollipop candy" (not sure of my translation in English!), like most Weezer songs, but that's just how we like them! May even be useful to teenagers, with the part that says: "I might as well enjoy my life and watch the stars play".

12
Juicebox The Strokes
Certainly my favorite Strokes song to date.

13
Soul Meets Body Death Cab for Cutie
More for the lyrics than music. Really remarkable for alternative rock, which usually concentrates more on music than the lyrics. This delightful excerpt is just touching: "you're the only song I want to hear. A melody softly soaring through my atmosphere".

14
Les Étoiles Filantes Les Cowboys Fringants
The first time I heard it, I found it a bit too easy. After a few times, it it reached its goal nonetheless. Possibly the best serious song from the Cowboys' repertoire (which still has more funny stuff than serious stuff!).

15
Do you Want to Franz Ferdinand
Pretty funny! Definitely my favorite among the band's 3 radio singles to date.

16
Jesus of Suburbia Green Day
An essay. A punk band (which songs rarely get over 3 minutes) who comes in with a song of over 9 minutes that really doesn't resembles to the traditional "verse-chorus-verse" and that is rather a logical development, we are definitely talking about an essay. Although it is in no way my favorite Green Day song, I think that this essay is a fair success. It could have been even better by cutting off some little overlong passages (which would have still kept it over 7 minutes) to make it more intense and by playing a bit with some aspects, but it's a good first essay. Their next may become a great classic of rock...

17
Feel Good Inc. Gorillaz
It's happy, and I'd even say that it's not bad for dancing! Excellent in their genre.

18
Lucille Les Trois Accords
"Non Lucille, ce n'est pas de la pâte à dents! C'est du beurre et c'est un peu moins nettoyant!" (which would translate as: "No Lucille it is not some dentifrice! It is butter and it is a little less cleansing!". Unbelievable all the stupidities these guys can find! On that aspect, they have little to envy of the the Cowboys Fringants of the first 3 records!

19
Dale Hawerchuk Les Dales Hawerchuk
Thanks to my friend Alexis who made me discover this band! Too bad they came in so late (I think I've heard th song for the first time on Christmas eve), otherwise they might have had a chance for a better position! It is light, but at the same time it is energetic, it just flows, it does not uselessly lose us in overlong passages (2:12) and it is music that fits for many circumstances. I am hurry to hear the next single from their album. A little band to watch.

20
I Just Wanna Live  *released in December 2004, but it's in January 2005 that I discovered it and appreciated it Good Charlotte
Personally, I would have put more power in the choruses, but it may just be my strong grunge side that is screaming its lack of grunge of the last few years!  :)  I really like it overall, and I really like the contribution from the violins, which do not sound "cheap" as with some electronic bands and which does not give the impression of being poorly integrated to the music as with Yellowcard.

21
My Doorbell The White Stripes
Jack sings his "thinkin' about my doorbell" about as fast as Anthony Keidis was singing his "give it away"!! That's good!

22
Remedy Seether
Change of style for Seether. The first time I heard Remedy, I was convinced that it was a new one from Nickelback! Although not original, this song is not without interest. It sounds "like a ton of brick" (to use an expression from Claude Rajotte, who's missed so much at Musique Plus)! It is really solid, if not a model of solid sound!

23
Sugar, We're Going Down Fallout Boy
The chorus sings so well!

24
Étrange Dobacaracol
Finally a love song that is different and no less efficient for it! Exellent job, girls!

25
The Clincher
Chevelle
No genious, but very solid!

26
We are all on Drugs Weezer
Of course, for those who wouldn't have heard it, it is not a pro-drugs song! Near the end, there's a passage that says: "and you wish you could quit, and you're really sick of it but you're on drugs".

27
Don't Tread on me 311
Relatively ordinary song, but it gets out a bit of the traditional "verse-chorus-verse".

28
Only Nine Inch Nails
For the music and not for the lyrics.

29
Sitting, Waiting, Wishing Jack Johnson
A nice acoustic ballad that has nothing to envy from Jean Leloup or any solo artist.

30
Gold Digger Kanye West feat. Jamie Foxx


31
Why do you love me Garbage
I was disappointed of Garbage's comeback song at first, but finally I started to have Why do you love me in my head in many occasions, to finally have to admit that I do like it!

32
Girl Beck


33
Blue Orchid The White Stripes


34
Save me Shinedown
Came a bit late in the year, could probably have got an even better score (the next few weeks will tell!).

35
Pon De Replay Rihanna
The perfect club song!

36
Ankylose Groovy Aardvark


37
Ti-Cul Les Cowboys Fringants
Probably my favorite from the Cowboys' latest record for the song as is, but I'm getting a bit bored of this kind of lyrics from them. It even seems that success has made Karl and J-F proud of having messed up their studies so much! Anyway, it would really be time that they get back to their roots with their next album!

38
Swing Life Away Rise Against


39
Cette Mélodie Marie-Chantal Toupin
I seriously like the melody and the sensuality with which the gorgous Marie-Chantal sings it, but the lyrics are spoiling things a bit as far as I'm concerned. I think they are coming to take people's hands with no subtilty. The part that should have been completely deleted but that she kept for the shows: "Si vous chantez avec moi j'vous dis MERCI yeah!" (which translated as "If you are singing with me I'm saying you THANKS yeah!).

40
Hypnotize System of a Down
Deceiving for some System, but it's still in the average or above. Good duo of the lead singer and the guitarist, whose contribution on voice is not always positive (as with BYOB). The best Serj-Daron signing duo still remains, according to me, on song Needles from album Toxicity.

41
Rosenrot Rammstein
Another song that came in December, which will certainly continue to add some value over the next few weeks. Better than first single Benzin, but not among their most efficient in career neither.

42
Time to Waste Alkaline Trio
A song that goes out of the mould. Different and hardly predictable, that's good! Just lacking a real singer and a little something more...

43
Rien Marie-Mai
Nice distortion guitar sound! Finally Marie-Mai looks like a real rocker and not only a little "pop-rocker" for children!!

44
Helena (so long and goodnight) My Chemical Romance
You must know that this song is about the singer's deceased grandmother, who was a great support for the band.

45
Your Time has Come Audioslave
Identical to some old Rage Against the Machine, but...

46
Where are you Our Lady Peace
My god, the band has finally woken up from the dead! What did they eat?!? While they were becoming ever "smoother" at every album since 1999, they just suddenly jump off with an energetic piece! I hadn't expect that one, nice surprise! But, despite my very positive impression of it, it is obvious that Where are you doesn't worth the greatest hits of the band's greatest days such as Starseed, Superman's Dead and Is Anobody Home?.

47
Don't Phunk with my Heart Black Eyed Peas


48
Doesn't Remind me Audioslave


49
E-Pro Beck


50
Je Brûle Encore pour toi Meggie
Maybe it would have been preferable for my judgement that I don't know what absolutely adorable girl is behind that song, but what d'you want...

51
DOA Foo Fighters


52
Dirty Little Thing Velvet Revolver


53
An Honest Mistake The Bravery


54
Benzin Rammstein
Very disappointing for a first radio single for an album of veterans like Rammstein, but I like the band so much that I do not hate the song! A bit brutal, not really showing any intelligence musically or in the lyrics, but it strikes hard and certainly reaches its goal!

55
Twisted Transistor Korn
Which I heard only once in the whole year! I couldn't explain why this new one from Korn has played so little on the radio, is it that Korn would be on that much of a decline? I think it didn't look bad (although definitely not their best), but I would need to hear it a few more times in order to make a good judgement. I know by experience that it is major important to listen to a song several times before judging, especially with Korn!

55
ex-aequo
Lights and Sounds Yellowcard



***

Mixed feelings...
I did not dare include rapper 50 Cent's Candy Shop in this top. Kind of song that was sometimes hanging in my head and that I was always happy to hear by hazard, while being very conscious that it was really stupid! I don't know what to do with it!...

***


TOP SUCKS

The worst of the worst...

1. K-Maro  --  Crazy
Really K-Maro's style, which means about half of the words in French and half of the words in English. So bad! What will the French think of us Quebeckers?!?!?

2. Crazy Frog  --  Axel F
For those who wouldn't have seen the video, it is the old dance hit Axel F, covered by... a virtual frog!!!

3. Black Eyed Peas  --  My Humps
Yes Fergie, we "check it out" your "humps", no need to make a song on that!

4. Gage  --  Trop Fresh
Oh yes Gage, "I declare you officially out of my league" (that's a lyrics excerpt)! For international readers who wouldn't have the chance to hear this hit song from Québec, here's the chorus translated from French (well, for the few words that were not already in English!): "You're too fresh for me baby, you're too fresh for me. You're too fresh for me lady, just too fresh for me.". It is also a true copy of the old Corneille, back in the time when he was completely bad (before Parce qu'on vient de Loin).

5. Coldplay  --  Speed of Sound
How can a sooo deeply boring song can get to stress me that much?!? Simply by playing way too much on the radio! I announce you that I am really, really no longer able to hear this one! I developped a reflex that now seems innate and that will probably get written in my genes: as soon as I hear the first 2 to 5 notes of the song, the index of my right hand automatically changes the radio station! I became almost as fast to change radio channel at the beginning of Speed of Sound than to detect the nice chicks on the terraces!!! Spectacular!

6. U2  --  All Because of you
One of the worst in the career of one of the planet's most overrated bands. The intro resembles the Yeah Yeah Yeahs' Maps and the chorus is a total nightmare where Bono completely loses the note.

7. The Pussycat Dolls & Busta Rhymes  --  Don't Cha
Few comments to make on this one, except that it sucks less than the previous 6.

8. Gwen Stefani  --  Hollaback Girl
It is sad because I admit that the song has a little catchy side and a particular sound, but we are still talking of a song that constantly repeats "this is my shit" with a nice passage that says: "Let me hear you say this shit is bananas, B-A-N-A-N-A-S!"! Sorry Gwen!



Powhertz
2006/01/09

revision 2006/01/15: integrated Ankylose from Groovy Aardvark (#36), which had been forgotten

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