And now we get to the meat of the matter. Here are my Top 10 Songs for 2020, from #10 down to #1.
10. Ayreon - "This Human Equation" Ayreon - This Human Equation
Ayreon is essentially Dutch multi-instrumentalist Arjen Anthony Lucassen with like a million guest singers and musicians. This is a cut from his latest double-album rock opera, Transitus. It finds Simone Simons, the lead vocalist of Epica, stealing the show as The Angel of Death, as she and her Furies try to work out the puzzle that is humanity. Note that The Narrator, whom you hear at the beginning of the track, is none other than Doctor Who's Tom Baker.
9. Tame Impala - "Lost in Yesterday" Tame Impala - Lost in Yesterday
I can't say I was blown away by this Australian indie rock band's latest album, The Slow Rush. But I found this particular song to be one I couldn't get out of my head. It's got such a nice groove to it.
8. Ayreon - "Hopelessly Slipping Away" Ayreon - Hopelessly Slipping Away
Two songs later, and we're back in Transitus. In this track, we find the ghost of our hero Daniel trying desperately to make contact with his lover Abby, as she contemplates taking her own life. They can sense one another's presence, but can't actually communicate. Cammie Gilbert of the Houston doom metal band plays Abby, while Swedish metal vocalist Tommy Karevik (vocalist for bands such as Seventh Wonder and Kamelot) gives voice to the part of Daniel.
7. Best Ex - "Good at Feeling Bad" Best Ex - Good at Feeling Bad
I have loved Best Ex (formerly known as Candy Hearts) and their singer Mariel Loveland for a long time, and a pair of their tracks made my Top 30 Songs of the 2010s list at the end of last year. This is the title number from their latest EP, and it's a song that would make Stephin Merritt himself feel proud -- and depressed of course.
6. Nada Surf - "Live Learn and Forget" Nada Surf - Live Learn and Forget
This is the standout track for me from this band's excellent new LP Never Not Together, and it's another song where the lyrics won me over as much as the music itself. If I tried to tell you how many times I've had to learn life lessons over and over, you wouldn't even believe it. But maybe you would, because maybe you do that too?
5. Leslie Mendelson - "The Hardest Part" Leslie Mendelson - The Hardest Part
OK, we're gonna do this whole female singer/songwriter thing one last time in 2020 with this excellent track from hometown girl Leslie Mendelson. I just love the guitar in this song, and Leslie's voice is perfect as well. I don't care what you say, folk gals rock.
4. Off Road Minivan - "It's Harder to Make It Below Third" Off Road Minivan - It's Harder to Make It Below Third
This track is from Swan Dive, the debut album of this alternative rock band from Red Hook, NY. They're another band I was unfamiliar with before this year. This is pretty much a perfect alt rock track. The guitar line is true, and the chorus has a hook that even Mike Tyson would admire.
3. Nightwish - "How's the Heart" Nightwish - How's the Heart
Finnish symphonic rockers have become my favorite band of the modern era, and this is the standout track from their latest LP Human. :II: Nature. It has everything I love about this band -- a standout vocal from Floor Jansen, some nice Celtic pipes from Troy Donockley, and a nice rock beat from the rest of the band.
2. The Birthday Massacre - "Enter" - The Birthday Massacre - Enter
Here's another song with a great hook by Canadian gothic alt rockers The Birthday Massacre. They seem to find a way to place at least one or two of these songs on every LP. I knew the first time I heard this song it was going to make this year's Top 20 list.
1. Jeff Rosenstock - "***BNB" - Jeff Rosenstock - ***BNB
Long Island rocker Jeff Rosenstock is many things: Clever, rude, funny, obnoxious -- and this song shows off all of those traits, as he extols the virtues of renting the rooms of strange people (in some cases, when they don't even know their place is being rented out). It ain't pretty, but it is a great track. And that's why it's my #1 Song of 2020.
Here's the whole YouTube playlist for my Top Songs of 2020, although as I said in Part 1 - they're great individually, but this year, they don't necessarily flow together quite as nicely as I'd like. Top 20 Songs of 2020
