The 31 Days of Rocktober Part III: 1999-2009

Hard to believe Rocktober is coming to a close. Why, it seems like only yesterday we were celebrating Part 1: 1979-1988. And who can forget Part 2: 1989-1998? Well, on to the last 11 "days," each representing one of the last 11 years of power-chorded goodness. The opening act is done, the deli platter in your dressing room is looking a bit worse for wear, and the crowd is chanting your name, so let's head for the stage ...

1999: "Bawitdaba" - Kid Rock
It's a little known fact that "Bawitdaba" is actually the Swahili word for "white trash." Okay, I made that up. Hey, for a guy who started his career looking like a geekier Vanilla Ice, this song rocks. And who can resist a lyric like: "Bawitdaba da bang a dang diggy diggy diggy said the boogy said up jump the boogy?" I actually tried to buy this song on iTunes, but the only way to get it is to buy an entire album of 2000 Grammy nominees, which means you're also paying for "Mambo No. 5" and "Hit Me Baby One More Time." No thanks.

Runners Up: "Guerilla Radio" - Rage Against the Machine; "Around the World" - Red Hot Chili Peppers; "The Chemicals Between Us" - Bush; "Lit Up" - Buckcherry; "Freak on a Leash" - Korn; "Nookie" - Limp Bizkit

In case you forgot, his name is Kiiiiiiiiiiiiiiid ROCK!


2000: "I Disappear" - Metallica
Both this and "Take A Look Around" were featured on the Mission:Impossible II soundtrack. I'm giving the edge to Metallica, even if pictures like this do significant damage to their rock cred. The ode to Bullitt with James careening around San Francisco in the video helps make up for it (even if it is in a Camaro and not a Mustang).

Runners Up: "When It All Goes Wrong Again" - Everclear; "The Everlasting Gaze" - Smashing Pumpkins; "Grievance" - Pearl Jam; "Take A Look Around" - Limp Bizkit

Hey, hey, hey, let's watch them sing it live ...


2001: "Renegades of Funk" - Rage Against the Machine
Many people call me a "renegade of funk." Well, one person. And that's me. But still, I feel a certain affinity for RATM, even if our political views are, shall we say, divergent. A cover of an Afrkia Bambaataa & Soulsonic Force song, Rage broke up before the official release of "Renegades of Funk" and never performed it live until they reunited in 2007.

Runners Up: "Dig In" - Lenny Kravitz; "Smooth Criminal" - Alien Ant Farm; "Original Prankster" - Offspring; "Fat Lip" - Sum 41; "Alive" - P.O.D. "Crawling" - Linkin Park

No doubt because they were never one to kowtow to "The Man," I can actually embed their official music video, which is a shout out to various "activists" (Richard Pryor?) and musicians, a list of which can be found here.


2002: Tie: "All My Life" - Foo Fighters & "No-One Knows" - Queens of the Stone Age
Cop out! I really like both of these songs, and so I'm once again invoking blogger's privilege. And Dave Grohl from the Foos has been known to sit in on drums for the Queens, so they're sorta-kinda related. Fine, I don't really have a good justification. But you get two videos, so what are you complaining about?

Runners Up: "I Stand Alone" - Godsmack; ; "Aerials" - System of a Down; "She Hates Me" - Puddle of Mudd; "By the Way" - Red Hot Chili Peppers

It's two, two, two videos in one ... year.




2003: "Are You Gonna Be My Girl" - Jet
While not exactly AC/DC, Jet was still able to bring the thunder from down under (I can't imagine that I'm the first one to use that phrase). Reminds me a bit of the very first band named in the 31 Days of Rocktober, The Knack.

Runners Up: "Bring Me To Life" - Evanescence; "Show Me How To Live" - Audioslave; "Go With the Flow" - Queens of the Stone Age; "St. Anger" - Metallica; "Did My Time" - Korn; "Just Because" - Jane's Addiction

So, are you gonna?


2004: "Whiplash" - Motorhead
How can you say no to Motorhead covering Metallica in a song that won them a Grammy for "Best Metal Performance?" And 24 years after Lemmy and the boys released "Ace of Spades." Well done, lads, well done. Watching and listening, you also understand why you never see a fat heavy metal drummer. And not just because of the drugs.

Runners Up: "Slither" - Velvet Revolver; "Some Kind of Monster" - Metallica; "Duality" - Slipknot; "Lady" - Lenny Kravitz

This isn't so much a video as a still frame with the music playing, so feel free to close your eyes.


2005: "The Hand That Feeds" - Nine Inch Nails
I suppose this veers somewhat into "industrial," but Mr. Reznor's music certainly has the energy and anger essential for much of rock n' roll, particularly the "harder" iterations. If you think you could have done a better job with this particularly song than Trent, you actually could have given it a shot, as his website released a multi-track Garageband version of the song, allowing anyone with a Mac to remix it.

Runners Up: "B.Y.O.B." - System of a Down; "Doesn't Remind Me" - Audioslave; "Little Sister" - Queens of the Stone Age; "Remedy" - Seether; "Best of You" - Foo Fighters

So, just how deep do you believe?


2006: "Woman" - Wolfmother
If Jet is "thunder from down under," then this song from Wolfmother is ground zero of a nuclear blast from the past, channeling a whole Zeppelin's worth of 70s rock gods. You can also hear it on the soundtracks of no fewer than four video games from MotorStorm to Madden NFL 07, plus various iterations of Guitar Hero and Rock Band.

Runners Up: "Gin and Milk" - Dirty Pretty Things; "World Wide Suicide" - Pearl Jam; "Your Touch" - The Black Keys; "Tell Me Baby" - Red Hot Chili Peppers

Check out this performance from Bonnaroo 2007. You can almost smell the hippies.


2007: "The Pretender" - Foo Fighters
I'm sure Dave and the boys will be thrilled with their solo "win" after sharing 2002's selection. Or they would be if they had time to read the 10,174,385th most-popular blog in the world (though I'm likely a bit optimistic with that ranking). If you want to try and match the Foo's rendition that won a Grammy for "Best Hard Rock Performance" in 2008, you can try on Guitar Hero, or as of next week, Rock Band.

Runners Up: "Icky Thump" - The White Stripes; "Threshold Apprehension" - Black Francis; "I Don't Wanna Stop" - Ozzy Osbourne; "Fake It" - Seether

Now hurry up and watch the video before those nasty music companies disable its embedding ...


2008: "I Got Mine" - Black Keys
It's still amazing to me how much sound two dudes can put out with just a single guitar and set of drums (and likely a few Marshall amps). But Dan Auerbach and Patrick Carney manage it. I suppose this song is almost too bluesy for this list, but the mega-crunchy dirty guitar sound rocks more than enough for me.

Runners Up: "Wax Simulacra" - The Mars Volta; "Inside the Fire" - Disturbed; "Saints of Los Angeles" - Motley Crue; "Rock 'N Roll Train" - AC/DC; "They Say" - Scars on Broadway

Here are the dynamic duo performing "I Got Mine," with a little interview intro thrown in.


2009: "Know Your Enemy" - Green Day
And here we are at the end of the road. While I guess it's still possible that Metallica may yet release a hard rocking version of "Silent Night," I think it's safe to name a track for this yet-to-be-completed year. And for that we turn to Green Day, pumping out the rock n' roll for the last two decades. This one's a bit political for my taste, but that driving snare off the top just sucks me in.

Runners Up: "Check My Brain" - Alice In Chains; "The Fixer" - Pearl Jam; "You're Going Down" - Sick Puppies; "Savior" - Rise Against; "Whisky Hangover" - Godsmack; "Ignorance" - Paramore; "Sounds of Madness" - Shinedown; "Feel Good Drag" - Anberlin

At least I can bid you farewell with a real official music video for a change. And until next Rocktober, remember this rock n' roll maxim: if you can't tune it up, turn it up. Rock on.