Top 10 Best Hit Songs of 2001

I just want to take a moment and apologize for how visceral I got on my worst list for 2001. I’m not going to pretend that I didn’t really struggle with getting through this particular year’s collection of music. It took a serious toll on me emotionally just because I was exposing myself to so much music I didn’t like. Anytime I listened to music from another year or spent time to organize music for a different year, it felt like I was working as a busboy at a high-class, five star restaurant only to return home and chow down on a tasteless, pre-packaged microwave TV dinner meal. Compared to 1991, which had about two hundred forty-four songs place in the top forty that year, 2001 actually had fewer, at only two hundred three. Unfortunately, the vast majority of them were stupid, monotonous, boring or some combination of the three.

By far, this list was the more difficult to put together for this year. I actually had to backtrack through the list of every hit song of the year and replay songs I’d previously listened to in order to find enough songs to list here. So some of these songs were just from scraping the bottom and edges of the barrel, trying desperately to find enough songs to fill out the list. Don’t get me wrong; there were plenty of tolerable songs that came out in 2001. I just felt like the number of songs that I legitimately liked was much fewer and farther between. What I guess this means is that, while I did think the songs that did make this list, and even some of the honorable mentions were at least good, I seriously had to lower my expectations for some of these picks. Speaking of the honorable mentions, I think it’s about time we dive into those now.

All For You (Janet Jackson) [3; 1; 20 weeks]

This was definitely one of the better dance songs to come out this year. I think it’s nice to have a song that legitimately is fun to dance to that is actively inviting the listener out to dance to it. Janet Jackson is probably one of the more underappreciated female singers from the ‘80s, which really is a shame.

Whenever, Wherever (Shakira) [--; 6; 6 weeks]

I admit I have kind of a problem with Shakira’s vocals on a lot of her songs. She’s not a bad singer by any means, but the way she pronounces words just bothers me. It sounds like she’s exaggerating certain vowel sounds and singing in a very guttural manner at points. That said, I do still think this is a good song, and the production on it certainly helps.

There Is No Arizona (Jamie O’ Neal) [--; 40; 3 weeks]

As I said on the worst list, the country music from this year was, for the most part, surprisingly tolerable at least, and leagues above the mindless, trashy dance songs that permeated the pop charts. This song in particular is probably a better example of what country music can offer, something dark, tragic and yet still enjoyable, or at least respectable.

One More Day (Diamond Rio) [86; 29; 8 weeks]

This is kind of going in the opposite direction of the previous song, but still kind of having a somber tone to it. I admit, this barely got consideration for this list, but it’s still a fairly nice song to listen to if you’re into this sort of thing.

Around The World (La La La La La) (ATC) [--; 28; 6 weeks]

This one I mostly let slide due to nostalgia. I heard this song a lot in middle school when I was growing up, mostly through exposure from my older sister’s friends. Listening to it again, I do think it’s a nice, fun song. Unfortunately, I feel like it gets rather repetitive after a while. Its structure basically consists of two four-bar melodies that repeat endlessly throughout the song. Still seems like a nice song to dance to though.

Gotta Tell You (Samantha Mumba) [--; 13; 6 weeks]

This song certainly surprised me. Samantha Mumba wasn’t exactly a big hit in the US, with this being her only hit in this country, but she saw quite a bit of success over in her native country. This song has me curious to see more from her though, since she definitely stands out from the billion other female singers with her much deeper vocals. She’s apparently going to be releasing her second album sometime in 2016, sixteen years after her first. I hope that gap hasn’t lessened the quality of her singing.

If My Heart Had Wings (Faith Hill) [--; 39; 1 week]

This song has a nice feel to it, though I admit it’s probably not Faith Hill’s best work. It certainly sounds like a nice travel song to listen to. And it’s hard to deny its very uplifting feel. That said, probably not something I’d go out of my way to listen to. Still, with what the vast majority of 2001 was providing, I’ll take what I can get.

Standing Still (Jewel) [--; 36; 1 week]

Oh man, this definitely would’ve made it on the list proper if it’d been an actual hit this year. Jewel seems to be yet another underappreciated female singer. She was definitely a breath of fresh air at the end of sitting through the rest of 2001. This ended up being a much bigger hit in 2002 though, so at least there’s that.

Start The Commotion (The Wiseguys) [--; 31; 6 weeks]

This is probably the most bizarrely awesome thing to come from 2001. That is all there is to say on the matter.

And with that, let me get you that funk, that sweet, that nasty, that gushy stuff. We’re counting down…

…THE TOP 10 BEST HIT SONGS OF 2001!

#10

Ah, Christina Aguilera, how your vocal chords have demolished even the sturdiest of foundations with the force you put into your singing. Of the blond-haired pop princesses from the late ‘90s, it’s arguable that Christina Aguilera was the ‘best’ of them purely because she had the most distinguished personality and could actually sing. However, as many people have been quick to point out before me, and likely many more will point out long afterwards, she kind of overdoes it. One of the biggest criticisms lobbed at Christina is that she seriously goes overboard with the melisma, that singing style where a performer sings a single syllable while moving between numerous notes in succession. This is a problem even on songs where she isn’t exercising the other criticism brought up about her, that she puts way too much force into her singing.

I’m guessing that a lot of people are going to assume that the song I’m picking for this list is ‘Lady Marmalade’ now that I’ve mentioned Christina Aguilera. Holy crap though, that song only serves to accentuate all of the problems I have with her singing. Everyone else on that track does fine, but Christina Aguilera drags the whole thing down. If there was anything she needed, it was not a song that took her already incredibly forceful singing and pumped it up more like that song did. No, what she needed was a song that toned her down a few decibels. And, fortunately for us, 2001 managed to give her a hit song that did just that.

#10. Nobody Wants To Be Lonely (Ricky Martin & Christina Aguilera) [55; 13; 13 weeks]

This fine slice of Latino beefcake is Ricky Martin, who many of you may remember for single-handedly starting the late ‘90s-early 2000s Latino craze with ‘Livin’ la Vida Loca’. This is, so far, his last international hit, but like many of his singles it was released with both an English version and a Spanish version. In this song’s case, however, Christina Aguilera is not featured on ‘Sólo Quiero Amarte,’ the Spanish single, and honestly there is a world of difference between the two. This song needed to have that extra bit of energy to it, because the Spanish version of the song is just plain boring. Either Ricky Martin just didn’t have the energy behind him to pull this song off by himself or he just didn’t have it at the time he was recording this song. Regardless, Christina’s presence seems to have the excess energy from her singing being redirected through the rest of the song, something that doesn’t really happen with any of her other songs.

Another reason the duet works a lot better than the solo version is the production. On the Spanish version of the song, the song is incredibly slow and passionless. I don’t really have anything against music that’s predominantly wood and metal instruments, but this clearly needed some studio polish. Throwing Christina onto the track seemed to bolster the music and instrumentation. Yeah, it’s more pop-y, but when you have the rest of Christina’s discography to compare it to, this is honestly a lot more watered down. It’s certainly a lot better than any of her Spanish singles, and the vast majority of her more recent material for that matter. While the Spanish version seemed to primarily want to be smooth and romantic, the English version has a more intense, more desperate feel to it, and that works to the song’s benefit.

This is a song that perfectly demonstrates that, in just the right situation, just the right elements placed together in a song’s conception can make the final product something of decent quality, even if the separate parts wouldn’t be able to stand on their own. It was an unexpectedly pleasant surprise in an unexpectedly disappointing year.

#9

Going back to my worst list, I was fairly critical of the state of hip-hop in 2001. This was mostly because most of the hip-hop hits consisted of mindless sex and party jams that lacked any sense of personality or substance outside of mindless female objectification and glorifying substance abuse. Now, as one that doesn’t really get anything out of anything like that, I will state right now that I’m not the intended audience for songs like these. However, considering a lot of these songs don’t even sound like they’re having fun with it themselves, I find it hard to understand how other people are supposed to have fun with them either. That’s kind of important to me; party songs are supposed to be fun, but most of such songs from 2001 were just vapid and lifeless. And I say this as someone that acknowledges that, yes; we did get songs from the likes of Missy Elliott and Jay-Z that year. That said though, they tended to take themselves a lot more seriously than some of those songs necessarily needed them to. This next song, however, has a ball of a time not taking itself seriously in the slightest.

#9. Danger (Been So Long) (Mystikal ft. Nivea) [58; 14; 15 weeks]

Unless you’ve kept up to date regarding early 2000s hit music, I’m guessing you’re not familiar with this guy. Of course, even if you are, chances are you’d likely dismiss him as little more than the world’s warm-up to Lil’ Jon. However, I would urge against such a mindset, because unlike Lil’ Jon, who tended to be limited in terms of vocabulary on most of the songs he would grace with his presence, Mystikal actually had a much thicker lexicon at his disposal. It’s kind of a shame that his word choices tended to lean more towards misogynistic themes, and also that the man himself had a history of sexual battery and extortion.

Of course, it’s not the lyrics that are the reason this song made the list. No, there are two specific things that brought me around to liking this song. The first thing is, of course, the production, provided courtesy of the Neptunes, who are responsible for producing many of the better party songs of the time. The song’s very smooth, exotic feel gives it a rather funky dance groove. The other thing about the song that won me over was Mystikal’s force of personality. As I said, the fact that the guy’s down and dirty on the song, and clearly having fun with it puts him head and shoulders above the umpteen hundred other mindless hip-hop party songs from this year. Plus, as he says on the song, you really can’t knock his flow.

I feel like it’s kind of a shame that the Joe song ‘Stutter,’ his other big hit song from this year, ended up being not only the bigger hit but also his biggest hit to date, because it’s definitely lacking. The main artist on the track is just outclassed. I almost considered it as an honorable mention just because Mystikal’s verse is that much better than the rest of the song. Unfortunately, his verse barely takes up a fraction of the song. It’s not really enough to make up for the fact that this Joe guy just has no personality or distinguishing features to him. I mean, the guy’s stage name is Joe, for crying out loud! Of course, I am at least satisfied that this ended up being a bigger hit than ‘Oochie Wally,’ a completely fun-devoid disappointment of a song that only gets worse whenever I hear it.

Sometimes, personality and being willing to have a little fun with your work are enough by themselves to justify a song’s existence. They were certainly more than enough here.

#8

I’m not sure if I’ve ever talked about this, but there was a time where I primarily listened to folk music. This was mostly through my older sister, but I was fairly big into folk music for a while. Not for a long while, but a while nonetheless. I still go back and frequent some of the folk artists that my sister exposed me to on occasion, and I’ve even taken interest in folk metal. So, I guess I should probably be a bit less surprised than I am that this ended up making it on this list. Mostly, I guess my shock comes from the fact that this ended up being a hit to begin with.

#8. Only Time (Enya) [59; 10; 18 weeks]

I’m going to cut right to the chase here: I think Enya is a beautiful singer. Her singing style of layering her vocals to give her songs a choir-like feel to them is just breathtaking. Hearing her sing is incredibly relaxing and incredibly haunting. There’s just something ethereal, something atmospheric about her voice. It’s worth noting that ‘Enya’ is actually a group consisting of three different people: Enya herself as the composer and performer, producer Nicky Ryan and lyricist Roma Ryan, who writes the lyrics for songs in various languages, save for Irish which Enya writes herself. And it is clear that all three artists contribute an equal share in much of the music that’s performed. Of course, the group’s probably also fairly lacking in publicity since Enya doesn’t actually perform any live shows. It’s rather surprising that she’s achieved as much success as she has despite having never performed live.

Going into the lyrics of this song in particular, they speak of the uncertainty of love. And indeed, who can say how your love will progress, whether it will grow, become faint, dissipate or blossom anew but the flow of time? Yes people do have the power of choice in the direction that a relationship may go. However, it’s ultimately the test of time that will decide how that choice will affect the love between the people in that relationship. Furthermore, the production does a wonderful job of blending her vocals and creating that tone of uncertainty and contemplation.

I’m guessing many of you are now asking, “If you have so many good things to say about this song, why isn’t it higher on the list?” Well, I know I did complement the production on the song, and to its credit it is probably the most subtly beautiful song to chart in 2001. Unfortunately, there is one tiny piece of the production that bothers me: that tiny, raindrop sound effect that’s generated every fourth beat in the song. I mentioned this on my worst list, but water sound effects like this just irritate me. It isn’t enough to ruin this song for me, don’t get me wrong. Although, it is much like finding a pit in one of the olives in a Greek chicken salad at a high-class restaurant; not enough to ruin the experience by itself, but still a mild annoyance all the same.

Besides that though, this song is just a masterpiece, and I love listening to every other part of the song again and again. I just wish that one bit was absent, because otherwise it would be perfect. As is though, it’s still leagues above the vast majority of music from 2001 in terms of quality. It’s just a wonderful song, and I can’t sing enough praises about what a praiseworthy singer Enya is.

#7

I admit, I don’t know much about country music. Unlike other music critics on the Internet, I never got a lot of exposure to the genre, let alone most of the better artists from it. So, names like Tim McGraw, Carrie Underwood, Faith Hill, these artists are still fairly alien to me. That said, more recent exposure to it does kind of leave me more than a bit ambivalent about the genre. On the one hand, country can lean towards being flat-out corny at times, and if not then just kind of bland and boring. On the other hand, country music is capable of having descriptive, emotionally riveting pieces that put mindless brag rap and flavorless middle-of-the-road easy listening music to shame. In fact, of the genres of music that had hits this year, country was probably the one that I found myself the least bothered by. Picking just one song to represent the genre for this list was a trial in and of itself, but ultimately one song stood above the litter.

#7. Austin (Blake Shelton) [76; 18; 10 weeks]

One thing I have heard regarding the appeal of country music was its attention to detail. And I don’t know if there was a song that did a better job being descriptive with the story it was trying to tell than this one that came out this year. The plot of the song, if you will, is that a woman broke up with a guy but still has lingering feelings for him a year later. She calls him back only to get his answering machine, which includes a message indicating that he still loves her. After the initial shock, she calls him again later only to get his answering machine once again, so she leaves her number. He calls her back and she answers and confesses that she does still love him, and it ends on a semi-ambiguous, yet optimistic note. A simple tale, but who doesn’t like a sweet little love song now and then?

The music’s fairly somber for the most part, but grows more uplifting each time it reaches a new iteration of the chorus. The vocals do a nice job matching the shift in tone the song takes too. Blake Shelton probably isn’t the best male country performer, but I felt more emotionally invested in this song than in Tim McGraw’s big hit from this year, ‘Grown Men Don’t Cry,’ which tried so hard but ultimately failed to come across as the deep, emotional gut punch that he was aiming for. Blake Shelton’s story isn’t trying to be anything too deep; it’s just a simple love story between these two people. It doesn’t delve into corny territory, it doesn’t present airs of pretentiousness; it keeps the tone fairly simple despite the level of detail placed into the lyrics. And coming from Blake Shelton, it’s nice to see the song actually get the tone right; a lot of the times he tries to release sad songs they sound too upbeat, too bouncy, just in general too happy.

I’ll at least say this much: I thought this song was better than what he did with Van Morrison’s ‘Brown Eyed Girl,’ or ‘Footloose’. For the record, the ‘Footloose’ cover was okay. It was never going to measure up to Kenny Loggins, but for the most part it was okay. Not as good as ‘Austin’ though.

#6

There aren’t a lot of acts from the ‘80s that are still really big today. Some of them managed to last into the ‘90s, but even if they did you can’t really say you remember much of the work they did after that point. I mean, you’ve got Madonna, but honestly you can’t call pretty much anything from 2000 afterwards her best work by any stretch. There’s Michael Jackson I guess, but his work in 2001 was definitely not his best, and he died in 2009. And the work released under his name last year can very easily be seen as little more than a quick cash grab by studio hacks that had no understanding of why Michael decided not to release those song while he was still alive. And while other ‘80s artists like George Michael and Phil Collins are still releasing music today, you don’t really see them appearing on the pop charts anymore, at least not in America.

So, as you can imagine, not a lot of acts from the ‘80s managed to build enough momentum to still be big and relevant in music today. Not trying to say anything bad about the ‘80s; just saying that maybe we should try to accept the music in the past is still good while letting ourselves remain open to the music of the future. Yes, I will acknowledge that a lot of music today is still awful, but there’s still good to be found out there if you’re willing to keep an open mind. If we continue to obsess over how much better the music of before was without being willing to move on, we’ll just be stuck in the past unwilling or unable to evolve, change or adapt to the music of tomorrow. I mean, look at how well one of the biggest bands in the last thirty years has adapted to the changing times.

…Wait…

#6. Beautiful Day (U2) [75; 21; 12 weeks]

Okay, so I guess there are some acts from the ‘80s that managed to hang on to relevance into the new millennium. Go figure.

I admit I’ve never really been into U2. The first time I’d even heard of them was through the iPod advertisement that featured a section from the song ‘Vertigo’ back in 2004. However, from what I’ve read, Rolling Stone considered their tenth studio album, ‘All That You Can’t Leave Behind’ their ‘third masterpiece,’ while those that didn’t like U2’s ‘90s music saw it as a return to form. I admit, going through their discography I actually did like their music from the ‘90s, but that’s not to say that ‘Beautiful Day’ sounded out of place compared to their earlier music. In fact, much like most of the songs from that album, it actually takes cues from their work from the ‘80s.

I would go into detail about just how much I like this song, but considering how much critical praise it’s received, I’m worried that anything I say would just be miming what hundreds have said before me. I mean, I like how Bono’s rougher sounding vocals contrast with the incredibly uplifting sound that the song achieves when it reaches the chorus. I like the choice of the chord progression that the song goes through and how it makes it sound really abstract and complex, probably more so than it actually is. I love the lyrics and how they speak of finding optimism and appreciation for the world around the narrator, even after he’s seemingly lost everything.

I guess if there is anything new I could say it’s that the song actually sounds like something I would hear in one of those abstract, art house type films, just based on its sound. And who doesn’t like getting exposed to something artsy and pretentious every once in a while? It’s a beautiful song; don’t let it get away.

#5

People are probably rather hard on post-grunge music since the main faces of this genre are bands like Nickelback and Creed. Honestly though, not everything from post-grunge is necessarily bad. Avril Lavigne’s pre-‘Girlfriend’ music holds up fairly well, and the Foo Fighters seem to generally be considered a decent group. Hell, even Green Day has a little post-grunginess to them, and I don’t mind them too much, for the most part anyway. And there’s another vaguely post-grunge band that people likely don’t really remember as well, despite them managing a decent number of hits, both for the band itself and through its front man. That band is, of course, Matchbox Twenty.

#5. If You’re Gone (Matchbox Twenty) [6; 5; 26 weeks]

I was originally hoping to give this slot to ‘Bent,’ which I feel is the better song between these two. However, that was primarily a hit in 2000 and only barely rolled over into 2001, so I went with the next best thing. That’s not to say I don’t like ‘If You’re Gone;’ I just feel like it’s not as powerful of a song. Of course, it’s coming right off the heels of ‘Bent,’ which is a rather intense song about a guy in a very dependant relationship struggling with standing on his own two feet. That can’t be an easy act to follow.

However, for what it’s trying to do, in this case serving to convey front man Rob Thomas’s feelings to his future wife and try to organize his concerns regarding balancing his life between his band and the woman he’s grown to love, I’d say it handles it well. It certainly does a better job respecting its intended recipient than Ginuwine did. And it’s not just the lyrics that do a good job at this, though they demonstrate surprising maturity compared to others in their subgenre. The music also sounds contemplative, unsure and surprisingly inspiring of hope. I especially love the brass section that occurs right at the beginning of each verse. Those simple little moments in the song don’t push it too far over the top, but keep it from sounding depressing.

In fact, this is probably one of the more uplifting songs that Matchbox Twenty has released. Most of their music is stuff like ‘Bent,’ ‘Unwell’ or ‘3 a.m.,’ just songs about people struggling with themselves, and there’s little to indicate that they’ll end up all right in the end. This is showing that, even though the narrator’s unsure of everything right now, there might just be a tiny sliver of light at the end of the tunnel. And that’s something I can appreciate from pop music, especially considering how either too serious-minded or too flat-out stupid a lot of it was at this time, and even today. It was a nice bit of clarity in an otherwise messy, unfocused year.

#4

Now here’s a topic I’ve touched on previously but not fully addressed: boy bands. In terms of boy band songs, I feel like the genre is, for the most part, average. When you get down to it, the songs are harmless, even if they are just cashing in on the teenage, largely female demographic that a lot of pop music seems to be aiming for. Yes, you occasionally get stupid boy band songs that, even by the fairly low standard the genre plays to, are pretty awful, things like One Direction’s ‘Little Things,’ NKOTB’s ‘Hangin’ Rough,’ O-Town’s ‘All or Nothing’ and, of course, Hi-Five’s ‘I Can’t Wait Another Minute.’ On the other hand though, there are plenty of boy band songs that are still enjoyable and even some that demonstrate a higher level of effort and emotional investment, like this:

#4. Gone (N’Sync) [--; 11; 10 weeks]

Admittedly, this song might be seen as a sign of things to come, since the year after this song’s release would see Justin Timberlake embarking on his solo career. I say this because, both in the song and the video, it clearly looks like the song is centered almost entirely on Justin Timberlake’s vocals. The fact that Justin was one of the two writers and producers of the song, and the other was not one of the other members of the group doesn’t help to change this opinion. That said, I still think it really works.

Maybe it’s just me, but I feel like I’ve always had a preference for boy band songs that felt like they were being personal and emotional. I guess it’s for this reason that ‘Story of My Life’ is, in my opinion, One Direction’s best song to date. And based on what I saw and heard from N’Sync’s discography and music videos, their main selling point seemed to be expressing how much they love you through suffering and misery. They’ll get manipulated and chased around by a psychotic, manipulative ex-girlfriend for you. Their doll selves will struggle against other, meaner dolls to express how much they need you to buy them. They will fall to their hands and knees and beg and plea in desperation to win you back if you leave them. So, I guess a song where they’re emotionally shattered and left in complete despair after losing you fits them perfectly. They had another hit song in 2001 with ‘Pop,’ which I didn’t think was too bad, but I didn’t think was as good, specifically because it didn’t feel as personal.

Of course, it’s not just Justin’s delivery that works on this song. The rest of the group’s delivery on the chorus, and when adding vocal accompaniment at certain points adds a sense of emptiness and disconnection that one would likely feel after a break-up. And it’s not just the boys either; the music also adds to that by creating an atmosphere of hopelessness and a sense of meaning and purpose having been lost. I’ve previously stated that minimalism tends to be hit or miss for me, but here it definitely hits, probably closer to home that I’d like to admit, but that’s another story.

Also, as a side note, I think it’s interesting that I mention that N’Sync’s main selling point was winning their audience by putting themselves through misery, considering that once Justin Timberlake left the group he’d spend the vast majority of his career doing the exact opposite. Seriously, I can’t think of a single song Justin released where he himself was actually suffering in the slightest. I mean, I guess there’s ‘Holy Grail,’ which he released with Jay-Z, but you can’t say you felt like it suited him on that song. I mean, it’s hard to believe he was in any position of suffering considering how much success he’d had at that point, and that his biggest complaint on the song was how hard it is to be famous. But I’ve already discussed my distaste for that, so I’ll forgo continuing that subject.

Anyway, I just think ‘Gone’ was a brilliant song; it perfectly captures the main appeal of N’Sync, and it does so in a way that the audience can sympathize with. It’s also a nice example of how Justin Timberlake is capable of presenting himself as sincere and vulnerable. It may sound crazy, but it ain’t no lie.

#3

2001 was not a good year for Michael Jackson. During the recording of his Invincible album this year he got caught in a legal battle with Sony and, probably because of said legal battle, didn’t offer much promotion for the album, not even a supporting tour. On top of that, the singles he spawned from that album just weren’t very good. They’re all just too slow and lacking any passion. ‘You Rock My World’ is probably the best of the three, but even with that, Michael brought no charisma to the table when recording it. The only thing salvaging it is the production, and even that’s still lackluster at best. The other two songs sadly fair much worse, with ‘Cry’ being a forgettable ballad with all the flavor of a saltine cracker and ‘Butterflies’ being an amateurishly written love song that Michael does nothing to salvage. And what’s worse, Michael’s second child abuse accusation would come two years later, further tarnishing his reputation.

However, it’s not all bad news. After all, in 2001 there was still one Michael Jackson song that charted that ended up being incredibly good. The only catch: Michael Jackson did not perform it.

#3. Smooth Criminal (Alien Ant Farm) [--; 23; 9 weeks]

Cue no one taking me seriously as a critic ever again.

Let me make myself clear here: I’m not trying to say that Alien Ant Farm’s version of ‘Smooth Criminal’ is better than Michael Jackson’s version of ‘Smooth Criminal’. I honestly like both versions of the song for different reasons, though my personal favorite version of the song is a version that combines the two. However, what I am saying is that, given the choice between this and the dull, passionless dregs we were getting from Michael Jackson in 2001, I would honestly take the high-energy, stupid, fun nu metal rendition of one of his better songs, possibly even one of his best.

And it’s not like I’m even a fan of nu metal; I’m not. The genre just doesn’t do anything for me. I’m sorry all you angry white boys out there; I just don’t care for Korn or System of a Down or Limp Bizkit. In fact, I’d say I outright detest Limp Bizkit. The genre’s just too whiny and immature for me to really buy into. Yes, it gets loud and angry. No, I don’t find myself feeling more for the performers because of it. And no, I don’t care to dig through any of these artists’ discographies to try and find a group I actually do like from the genre.

So, why do I like Alien Ant Farm’s take on the ‘80s classic from the king of pop himself? Well, much like with ‘Danger (Been So Long),’ it’s clear listening to this song that the band is having fun with it. The original version of the song is great because it’s just a freaking awesome song from the hay day of one of the biggest stars in pop music history. Its main strength is its tight, controlled beat and Michael’s vocals, easily some of the best of his career. The Alien Ant Farm version is enjoyable, however, because it’s interpreting the song in a more fun, more energetic way. The beat was picked up, the music was more bombastic and front man Dryden Mitchell’s vocals offered a different flavor of quality to the song. Probably the biggest and most impressive change made to the song, however, was that Alien Ant Farm took a primarily electronic song and translated it to wood and metal instruments.

If nu metal were more willing to move in this direction and enjoy itself more, maybe the genre would be of more appeal to me. As is though, I’ll just be fine taking ‘Smooth Criminal’ and leaving the rest of the genre to wallow in its own anger and whininess. Next!

#2

There seems to be kind of a disagreement regarding the exact point when Gwen Stefani stopped being good. For the most part, most people point to her solo career, in particular one of two songs from it, those being ‘Hollaback Girl’ from 2005 and ‘Wind It Up’ from 2006. Of course, it’s also been stated that the real point when she started sucking was right at the end of 2001, when No Doubt released ‘Hey Baby,’ the first single off of their less-than-fondly remembered ‘Rock Steady’ album. Now, if people would like to get into a huge debate over exactly when she stopped having decent quality in her music, go ahead; have at it. It really doesn’t make much of a difference when she started sucking; she still sucks right now!

However, before all of those things, Gwen did actually invest in a few hit songs in 2000 and 2001 outside of her band No Doubt.

#2. South Side (Moby ft. Gwen Stefani) [33; 14; 25 weeks]

In my honest opinion, Gwen Stefani was at her best when singing about things apart from herself, or if she was singing about herself, it’s in relation to another person, particularly when singing about her own struggles and unhappiness. This is part of the reason why I wasn’t able to get into the other big hit song she featured on in 2001, ‘Let Me Blow Ya Mind’. Bragging and cockiness are just not things Gwen is able to pull off well. ‘South Side,’ on the other hand, is a song inspired by the house music scene in Chicago, but tries to connect people getting used to loud music and clubbing with getting desensitized to violence through unsettling lyrics. It’s a happy, upbeat pop song that describes how people get over-stimulated to the point that nothing matters to them anymore. Stuff like this is more Gwen’s element, while things like ‘Hollaback Girl,’ ‘Wind It Up’ and ‘Spark the Fire’ are most definitely not.

Of course, the real mastermind behind this particular song is American musician, DJ and photographer Moby. This song ended up being the biggest success off of his most successful album, ‘Play,’ though ironically enough it’s also his least favorite song from that album. His stated reason for this is that he just didn’t find it very interesting, which I guess I can understand. The idea of a happy, upbeat pop song having disturbing lyrics wasn’t exactly a new concept; No Doubt had released similar songs to this around this same time also. However, this song’s main distinction is probably the beat and production. While No Doubt’s music was primarily reggae and ska, which originally stemmed from the suffering of the people that performed it, this song is an energetic, happy, dance song. And even if you don’t pay attention to the lyrics, it’s still a fun song to listen to. The guitar parts are definitely what win me over for this song; I’m not sure there were a lot of songs that rocked harder than this one did in the guitar department in 2001. Yeah, the fun, upbeat dance song with uncomfortable lyrics rocked harder than the vast majority of the rock music from this year.

It really is a shame that Gwen Stefani’s work declined in quality after 2001, not necessarily right away but by 2005 and 2006 most definitely. As for Moby, he continued to make albums and produce music, with it being one of the few things he primarily focuses on in his life. So I guess he’s doing well enough for himself, even if none of his material prior to or ever since this song saw the same level of success. Regardless, I enjoy this song, and wish that more music from 2001 had been like this: fun, energetic, upbeat and subtly unsettling once you actually looked at it. And doing so on purpose, not because of the stupidity of the artists that made them like the umpteen hundred R&B dance songs that this year generated! Good God…

#1

I think the biggest difference between putting together my best of 2001 list and my best of 1991 list was in the manner in which I ultimately decided the song for the number one spot for each one. In 1991, I was pleasantly surprised by something I had found after opening up my options and looking at songs that had charted in the top 40 but hadn’t charted on the year-end chart for that year. For 2001, however, upon realizing this song charted that year, I knew immediately that it was going to be on my best list, likely near the top. And listening to the popular music of 2001 ended up confirming what I suspected: that this song would end up going on to be my choice for the absolute best song to chart on the Billboard hot 100 in 2001. And if you know anything about the music from this year, you should already know what song it is. I apologize for being so predictable.

#1. Ms. Jackson (OutKast) [25; 1; 15 weeks]

This one goes out to all the babies’ mommas, mommas, mommas’ mommas, babies’ mommas’ mommas. Okay, I’ll stop.

I think it’s kind of funny that, for all I went on about how bad hip-hop music was in 2001, the best song from this year was from one of the most successful hip-hop groups of all time. I guess it makes sense if you think about it this way though: if most of the hip-hop music in 2001 was like the Grand Theft Auto series and various knock-offs of it, OutKast would be more like the Saint’s Row series; starting out a lot like their peers, but then choosing to just do their own thing and creating something a lot more different, a lot more unique and a lot more awesome. Yes, with this analogy, I’m basically saying that the group’s fourth album, ‘Stankonia’ is basically their equivalent of ‘Saints Row IV’. I’m aware that there were still good artists in hip-hop this year, like Jay-Z and Missy Elliott, but I just couldn’t buy into any of their songs. It’s not even that I thought they were bad songs; I didn’t feel like I could connect with them. In fact, even OutKast ended up having a song I had trouble connecting with this year with ‘So Fresh, So Clean’. No, it ended up being the sad, break-up/apology song that I actually felt myself getting into.

First things first, let’s look at the lyrics. This song is primarily inspired by the failed relationship between André 3000 and Erykah Badu, specifically directed at her mother Ms. Wright. The titular ‘Ms. Jackson’ the song refers to is actually directed at her, but the name was likely meant to make the song apply to all baby’s momma’s mommas. In an interview, André stated that the song was his way of apologizing to her since he was too nervous to address her face-to-face. And unlike in ‘Butterfly,’ where the presence of two rappers on the song served absolutely no purpose and was easy to disregard, both Big Boi and André present separate perspectives on the relationship between them and the baby’s momma’s momma the song is directed at. Big Boi’s verses are more aggressive and point out the ways in which she’s been at odds with him, calling guys in her neighborhood to pick fights with him while he’s in the studio, using the baby for child support payments to use on herself, making her daughter start a custody war over their child, even going so far as to not invite him to his own child’s birthday. André’s verse, in contrast, has him making sincere remarks regarding his feelings for his baby’s momma, in this case Erykah Badu, his apology to her and her mother, his desire to make the sadness the break-up caused disappear, his own personal fears regarding the break-up, and his desire to remain a good father to their child despite everything. You don’t hear hip-hop music, or for that matter most pop music that goes this in depth into the feelings of the performer on the radio anymore! Nowadays, most break-up songs either consist of a lot of whining and moping or are just generic empowerment anthems that paint the other person as this unrealistic, villainous character that wouldn’t actually exist in real life!

As for the music, I realize it’s not the tone the song’s going for, but I can definitely find myself grooving to this beat. The song samples the Brothers Johnson’s version of the Shuggie Otis song ‘Strawberry Letter 23,’ and the sample’s practically unrecognizable, but in a good way. This is a clear demonstration of how sampling to shift the context of the original song can be done and done well! Also, the reverse audio effect is used very well, and demonstrates just how much technical skill was used to produce this song. The best part of the production in my opinion, however, is the piano, which plays an altered version of Richard Wagner’s ‘Bridal Chorus’ from the opera ‘Lohengrin’. I say this not only because it’s fitting that they ironically chose to play an altered version of the wedding march in a break-up song, but also because their version just sounds fantastic.

For how much I went on and on about how much I hated 2001’s music, the fact that it lead to me getting to listen to this song again made the whole ordeal a lot more tolerable. There you have it folks: ‘Ms. Jackson’ by OutKast, my choice for the absolute best hit song from 2001.