Froot's Top 10 Hit Singles of 2005

10) Kelly Clarkson - Since U Been Gone

"I even fell for that stupid love song"

Okay so this kind of just sprung up when I was beat up about replacing "Only One" by Yellowcard at the #10 spot since it wasn't as good as I remembered. The melody of this song sort of just popped into my brain when thinking of mid-2000s hooks that would never leave you alone and I couldn't help but appreciate the song as a whole after hearing it in full again. Considering the overproduction and blandness of some of the other image-driven romance-pop at the time, this stands out quite a bit, ensures that her fantastic vocals are at front and centre of the show, and was probably one of the heavier pop songs of its kind. Doesn't hurt that it also made Rolling Stone's 500 greatest songs.

never 4get: http://images.askmen.com/galleries/singer/kelly-clarkson/pictures/kelly-clarkson-picture-1.jpg

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9) Rise Against - Swing Life Away

"We chase these days down/With talks of the places that we will go"

Considering the sense of catchiness that's always been associated with Rise Against's songwriting, it's interesting that their first real chart success was that of a "Black Sheep Hit" as the kids call it, when there are a treasure trove of pump-up hardcore anthems from their first three albums that could make for great chart toppers like how Prayer of the Refugee and Re-Education were. Nonetheless, this is a very comfy, tightly written and often-times quaint and humble "Ain't no bitch-ass SYSTEM gonna pull us apart, baby" ballad. Kinda harkens back to the touchy-feely nature of Good Riddance but with much more lush production and an overall warmer mood. Very nice acoustic rock to break up the heavier stuff on Rock charts, as well as a good change of pace in the band's discog.

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8) Sigur Ros - Hoppipolla

[Scene missing]

"Boy, that post-rock song that's on the radio right now is pretty great" is a phrase that probably would've never been uttered in 1995, and even less so in 2015. But in 2005, shit got progressive as fuck on the charts for some reason and we had Hoppipolla to open up casual radio-listeners to the ethereal soundscapes of modern post-rock music. Although it probably never grew beyond that in terms of singles success, this song has since been engrained into the conscious of every film student making a documentary on his favourite forest like Richard Attenborough, as well as whenever late-night radio DJs get bored and feel justified in putting on some soothing-ass dream pop to break up regular pop shit without getting caught by their supervisor. Song itself is as beautifully composed as any other Sigur Ros classic, with just enough measure of mainstream formula to merit some accessibility, with the lavish cellos and piano flowing brilliantly with the more poppier vocal delivery.

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7) Nine Inch Nails - Only

"Kinda drifting into the abstract in terms of how I see myself"

Just when you think Reznor and the boys have had their comeback run on the charts with Hand That Feeds, think again. It's synthpop time, bitch. Oh, and guess what kids; Ol' Uncle Trent's into rapping now, so now you and your hip friends can sing-along together about isolation, personality disorder and self-harm. Fun for the whole family! This track grooves hard on so many levels it almost single-handedly saves With Teeth from sinking into mediocrity as it approaches the meandering second half. Trent really stretches himself in terms of minimalism here, while also approaching the whole thing with sort of an Uncanny Valley aethestic; everything from the contrasting melodies and the out-of-tune vocals gives the track a sense of uncertainty and creepiness that only serves to elevate it on a production level. A lot of NIN's singles can often require the context of the albums they come from to fully understand them on a conceptual level; but here, it's just straight-up NIN edginess with some accesible composition that you can jump straight into and start cha-cha'ing to or whatever idk.

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6) System of a Down - B.Y.O.B.

"WHYDOTHEYALWAYSSENDTHEPOOOOOOOOR"

Kinda funny how the one SOAD song that's the most directly political is also the one that relies the most heavily on metaphors and tongue-and-cheek remarks. But hey, who gives a fuck; new SOAD album means another breakout single to forever dominate rock stations and make you rave to some of the greatest, most frantic riffs Daron has ever put to record. Much less channeling the quirkiness of Mr. Bungle that defined a lot of their earlier singles, this is straight-up, in your face alt metal with a sprucing of thrash qualities that holds nothing back, and commands you to your feet as soon as the drums kick in, and the contrasting vocal stylings of Serj and Daron shake you by the shoulders and scream at you with their fucking cvlt politics while curb-stomping you for not being as metal as them. By and large one of the catchiest songs SOAD have produced and a deserving staple of the modern-day radio metal classics.

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5) Kanye West - Diamonds from Sierra Leone

"Take yo diamonds and throw em up like you bulimec/Yeah the beat is cold, but the flow is anemic"

In which Yeezy effortlessly rips the Grammys a new asshole and zips up any and all doubt that he's on his way to the top of this game, if he's not already up there, atop one of the lushest, most whimsical, most pristine hip hop beats of the new millenium. And hey, would you look at that: Best Rap Performance. Pretty much says it all.

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4) The Prodigy - Spitfire

"Cause you know that I can"

Say what you will about Always Outnumbered and its change in style, but imagine if you will, the glee in the eyes of your typical Prodigy fan when they popped in that CD for the first time. What does Liam Howlett possibly have in store for fans after 7 years of no records? Why, only the heaviest live drums and blast beats he's ever produced, a menacingly distorted synth line and a crazy woman screaming about being a fighter jet. Yep, this is Prodigy alright. Those leading drums never leave the front of the mix throughout the full five minutes, with little variation in between, and at no point does it become stagnant or overdone. Liam doesn't care though. He knows damn well that you're bouncing off the walls like a maniac and getting lost in all this heaviness, because who the fuck couldn't sit down to listen to this? If anything to remember Prodigy by for the rest of their careers came from this album, it would be the unforgettable heaviness of its opener.

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3) Slipknot - Before I Forget

"Locked in clutch/Pushed in place/Hold your breath/LISTEEEENNNN"

Here we go again motherfucker. If Duality wasn't enough of a 21st century mainstream metal anthem for you, then how about we ramp it up even further and bring you one of the hardest hitting Slipknot tracks in years, that could even trump a lot of the stuff on self-titled and Iowa. Encapsulating the groove-metal aethetic that had creeped its way into Vol. 3's overall sound, Jim and Mick come at you with a set of downtuned riffs that continously jab at you throughout the entire song, never once taking a moment to slow down or give the listener breathing room, while Corey delivers one helluva scream session and flows blissfully with the guitars and rhythm, and with a brief touch of emotional strain towards the bridge, that measures up to that of his best vocal performances. Elsewhere, percussion is top-notch as usual, and the mixing is a perfectly contorted mix of clean vocals and drums mixed with much more distorted guitar work. Whatever your feelings on Slipknot as a whole, it's hard not to put this track down as soon as it starts and gets you grooving.

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2) Gorillaz - Feel Good Inc.

"Yo, we gonna ghost town, this Motown, with yo sound, you in the place"

It never leaves, does it? Every time you so much as think about life in the mid-2000s, that beat never leaves your head. And rightfully so, because it's inconceivable anybody could forget a song like this long after they've experienced it. The fact that it topped charts in all directions is merely a testement to how invasive of your mind it is. And yet it feels so experimental and ambitious with what how it sets out to marry boom-bap hip hop segments with emotional alternative rock verses, and to that end succeeding brilliantly, that it's also uncertain how something like this would climb the charts so quickly, let alone be considered for the lead single by a label. AND with the guy who built a following on penning lad-appealing Britpop tunes bringing you one of the most memorable trip hop tracks of the past 15 years. The amount of layers that go into understanding this song's appeal is limitless, but whichever one reason it may be, there's absolutely no denying that this track is worthy of its place as being one of the most successful songs of its time.

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1) Green Day - Jesus of Suburbia

"We are the kids of war and peace/From Anaheim to the Middle East/We are the stories and deciples of/The Jesus of Suburbia"

Just so we're in agreement here, this is basically the greatest pop punk song of all time, right? Cool, just checking.

So remember when I mentioned it was pretty unlikely anyone would ask when the last time they had heard "that post-rock song on the radio"? Well, what about if we swapped that out for progressive rock? Maybe a little more likely in 1995, but in 2015 you'd be lucky to even get a chortle out of anyone who would suggest such a thing. But, as it seems 2005 proved to be the year of unlikely hits, so too did Jesus of Suburbia follow in the footsteps.

Although it would prove to be a rarity finding the song played full-length on the radio, the 15 million fans who had bought American Idiot knew fine well what laid behind the radio edit when the track finally unleashed onto airwaves. Those who hadn't were nonetheless eager to hear the full song for themselves, as the 200,000+ single sales proved. And who wouldn't want to be for a track with as much ambition and bombast as this did. In addition to being consistently well performed and never stagnating throughout its epic 9-minute length, the song is essentially five of the best punk anthems of the 2000s put into one enormous package and produced in a manner that may as well be one cohesive number.

Despite the fact that it originates from American Idiot as a concept piece, it remains largely a relatable jam to every young punk out there wanting to break the mold and dream big within the confines of their suburban community, with some fantastic guitar and drum work to get off to to boot. Finding flaws in something like this, even for people who either dislike the new image of Green Day or were never fans to begin with, is an immensely difficult feat when taking in the track as a whole. Simply an absolute classic punk anthem that will be talked about for decades to come.