16. Queens of the Stone Age vs. Failure vs. Piebald

	vs.		vs.
"No One Knows" by Queens of the Stone Age from Songs For the Deaf		"Stuck on You" by Failure from Fantastic Planet		"Just a Simple Plan" by Piebald from We Are the Only Friends We Have

"No One Knows" (7 plays at Last.fm, unranked): Every time I hear this song I think of something Kurt Cobain said in that big Nirvana interview with MTV around the time In Utero was released. He said one reason he was excited to have Dave Grohl join the band was that his drumming was so metronomic. I don't think that's more true on any other song than this one. The driving rhythm of his drumming and Nick Oliveri's bass is so key to making this tune work that I couldn't imagine it happening had Grohl not been part of this album. On top of that, this is both the quintessential QotSA song and the best song of Grohl's hard rock summer of 2002, as well as bring the rare breakout single that's both highly anticipated and totally awesome.

"Stuck on You" (1 play, unranked): As much as I liked Ken Andrews' subsequent bands, On and Year of the Rabbit, I never could get into his classic first band, Failure. This song is the exception. That squealing, opening lick is the kind of thing that makes you want to be in a band, just to cover it at the top of your set. Meanwhile, the grinding melody of the rest of the song makes for a great closer (as Andrews also later did with YotR's "Say Goodbye"). It's a real accomplishment to have a song that feels so much like the mid-90s but also seems to foretell a lot of what I would like in the hard rock of the following decade.

"Just a Simple Plan" (5 plays, unranked): Hearing this song as my first exposure to Piebald, I never would have guessed that they'd previously been a hardcore band, and that they angered many of their fans with a big shift towards pop. This was the record that really pulled me into the nexus of alt. power pop bands like OK Go and Troubled Hubble, but Piebald -- especially here -- always had a very unique flavor to how they did it. The music here is simple but with a subtle snark to it -- not Aquabats snarky, but something almost soundtrack-like. At the same time, Travis Shettel's vocals are clever and self-referential without seeming forced. The voice in this song (and the whole album, really) shows a perfect transitional state between the hardcore and "mature" versions of the band.

VERDICT: I will actually rock out to "No One Knows" in the car, nearly 10 years later. As much as "Stuck on You" still works for me, the edge goes to the song that was both the calling card and swan song of the real Queens of the Stone Age, before Oliveri went nuts and left the band's sound a trebly mess.

15. Charlemagne vs. Eisley vs. Interpol

	vs.		vs.
"Pink and Silver" by Charlemagne from Detour Allure		"I Wasn't Prepared" by Eisley from Room Noises		"Evil" by Interpol from Antics

"Pink and Silver" (14 plays at Last.fm, tied for #82): Leading off Charlemagne's second album, this tune's synthy, fuzzed-out folk pop encapsulates in many ways the preeminent Madison sound of the middle of the 2000s. It's hugely catchy and makes for a great, stage-guest friendly set opener. On the other hand, it's a little slight lyrically, especially when compared with the also catchy "Fave Unknown" from the same album. Possibly my favorite local song, but not a likely contender overall.

"I Wasn't Prepared" (4 plays, unranked): My first time through Eisley's debut LP, this was an immediate grabber. The song is so well structured as a showcase for Stacy DuPree's breathy soprano, without itself being overly fragile. And in fact, this was the song I kept coming back to for quite a while. But while this one a ceiling early on, others such as "Telescope Eyes" and "Trolleywood" have grown on me a lot, leaving this song's relative prominence a bit lower. Still, it's a big part of what drew me to similar acts such as Minipop.

"Evil" (9 plays, tied for #299): I never got into the first Interpol album, and I think the consensus over the last few years is that they're no good anymore. But I liked Antics a lot, and this was the song that opened the door. That sweet, simple bass line to kick it off builds to an awesome song structure that culminates in one of those great moments as it all peaks - "Rosemary, aw, heaven restores you in life." It brings things together to set the album's mood in a way that probably wouldn't work without this song.

VERDICT: This is sort of a weak round, but "Evil" stands out as the best of the bunch. The way it crescendos and glides back down really makes the whole album work and allows Interpol their best moment of their own identifiable sound.