Okay, Chris and I started talking about this offline, because I am, as of June, officially old. He will officially turn old later this year (spoiler alert!) If frequent readers of this space (and we know you're out there,) have learned anything, it is that I in particular am a sucker for a good list. Top Eleven Albums of the Year, Top Ten Albums of the Decade, Top Ten Light Heavyweight Boxing Champions (cant anyone beat Artur Beterbiev?) Top Ten Barbecue Sauce Recipes, Top Ten Worst Raiders Draft Picks in Franchise History, Top Ten NBA Players (Unpopular opinion: I have Tim Duncan ahead of Kobe Bryant,) the list (no pun intended) goes on.
As such, we came into the discussion of how to mark our milestone birthdays. For the record, we've taken slightly different paths, and Chris, you are under no compulsion to publish yours as I am here.
Without further ado, 40 Songs for 40 Years. My favorite song from each year I've been alive, which is an astoundingly fun exercise, because as one might imagine, there are years that require agonizing personal deliberation, and years that made me shrug and say 'well, I guess I'm going with that one.' See if you can determine which is which! I provided some commentary where I felt it was applicable (all songs linked!)
1983 - Metal Militia - Metallica
1984 - Trapped Under Ice - Metallica
- I have been ridiculed for this position before, but now I'm old and grumpy and stand by it. This is my favorite Metallica song.
1985 - This Could Be Anywhere - Dead Kennedys
- I don't know if Frankenchrist is my favorite Dead Kennedys album (that honor probably goes to Plastic Surgery Disasters,) but it is without question their deepest and most mature. I once did an entire presentation in a non-music college class centered around this song.
1986 - Raining Blood - Slayer
1987 - I Am The Law - Anthrax
1988 - Money For Nothing - Dire Straits
- I am a creature of the environment I was raised in. To this day, I can't hear someone say "That's the way to do it," without instinctively replying "You play the gui-tar on the MTV."
1989 - Head Like A Hole - Nine Inch Nails
1990 - Temptation - Slayer
- Much like "Trapped Under Ice," this is my favorite Slayer song, and I seem the be the only one. Which made it all the more critical that I see them when they played the 20th anniversary of this album in its entirety, since it was likely my only chance to see this song live.
1991 - Can't Truss It - Public Enemy
- This is the first rap song in my personal listening history that I recall telling one contiguous story. Public Enemy was excellent at this on the whole, and none better than this example. Unpopular opinion: I think Apocalypse '91 is PE's best record.
1992 - Got Me Wrong - Alice in Chains
1993 - Shine - Collective Soul
- I was ten when this song landed, and it introduced me to alternative music, and was super catchy, and one of my local DJs (back when those were a thing,) used to play barnyard animal sound effects during the pauses in the central riff.
1994 - Possum Kingdom - The Toadies
1995 - More Human Than Human - White Zombie
- I was a little young when "Thunderkiss '65" came out, so it was this all-time classic, the first metal song I can think of more memorable for its beat than its riff, that opened my eyes to what music could be. I grew up in a rock house, and I was a grunge kid because of my older brother, but this was just so damn different.
1996 - Burden In My Hand - Soundgarden
1997 - On My Way To The Cage - Rollins Band
1998 - Edgecrusher - Fear Factory
1999 - Maria - Rage Against The Machine
- Zack de la Rocha is an effective and evocative vocalist, but not always a clear storyteller or sublime lyricist. Except here, when he nails a compelling and heart-wrenching narrative. Of all the Rage songs I love, and there are many, this is the one that pops up in my head the most. Plus, Tom Morello somehow came up with a guitar intro that sounds like a sun beating down on dry rocks.
2000 - Everynight - The Agents
2001 - Who We Be - DMX
2002 - Lapdance - N.E.R.D
- On any given day, if you ask me what my walk-up music would be, it would be this.
2003 - WWIII - KMFDM
- Listen, when you're a metal guy, you don't really have a workout playlist versus a grocery shopping playlist, it's all kinda the same. Aggressive, high-octane, blood-bumping tunes all the time. And yet, for all that, this is still my go-to for those times when I am mad at EVERYTHING.
2004 - The Mob Goes Wild - Clutch
2005 - Oh No - Gogol Bordello
2006 - The Champ - Ghostface Killah
- This guy is a bulldozer, with a wrecking ball attached... Also, still the only song I know that finds an effective rhyme for 'hysterectomy.'
2007 - Runnin' Wild - Airbourne
2008 - All Nightmare Long - Metallica
2009 - Metal Metal Land - GWAR
2010 - Astraea's Dream - The Sword
2011 - Number Thirteen - Red Fang
- So many good songs to choose from in 2011. This was the single most hang-wringing year to try and figure out.
2012 - Breathe Armageddon - Cancer Bats
2013 - The Living Infinite I - Soilwork
- For my (limited) money, this is the greatest, most complete death metal song ever written.
2014 - Behind Illusion - Red Eleven
- I still have some internal qualms over naming this album as Album of the Year over Destrage's Are You Kidding Me? No. I go back and forth all the time because both albums are sublime, for totally different reasons. But I have no doubt what the best single is between both records.
2015 - Lost - Shawn James & The Shapeshifters
- I wish my regular speaking voice sounded like Shawn James' singing voice in this one particular song. Great way to lead a meeting.
2016 - Square Hammer - Ghost
2017 - I Can't Let You Go - Midnight Ghost Train
- I can't believe this was a bonus track. A bonus track! Not even on some versions of the record!
2018 - Sick and Beautiful - Fear of Domination
2019 - Rage, My Alibi - Destrage
- I have very personal reasons why this song is on here. Just know that this is about more than the song itself,
2020 - Late Night - The Heavy Eyes
- I love a good, thick, fuzzed-out guitar, and really, that's all this song is.
2021 - Looking Glass - Cave of Swimmers
2022 - From the E-ternity - Dampf
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