2) “Waiting Room”- Fugazi - The song is almost 20 years old now, but the quiet rumble of Ian McKaye and company leads into the rage at the end of the song. If you ever want to see where Rise Against and others ripped off from, look no farther than this song here.

3) “Run to the Hills”- Iron Maiden - Bruce Dickinson’s voice wails through this ode to Indians who had been run off their land. It took long enough, but I finally caught on with what metalheads had been saying for decades about this band. Ready the mullet…

4) “Makes Me Wonder”- Maroon 5 - F-you before you even say anything. It’s a catchy song, and you probably wont find a better pop song this year. There, I said it. In a sea of rap and emo, the song stands out and makes you wonder why my music cred pass hasn’t been taken away yet.

5) “Into Action”- Tim Armstrong - I haven’t payed much attention to Rancid since about 1998, but Armstrong’s new single brought out a cool island reggae vibe. And no, the chick singing backup vocals is not Gwen Stefani.

6) “Sick, Sick, Sick”- Queens of the Stone Age - I wasn’t the craziest about their last record, but this song is a good indication of how much better Era Vulgaris is. Rated R it is not, but it’s a hell of a lot better than Lullabies to Paralyze.

7) “When the World is Running Down”- The Police - It was really cool to see these guys a couple weeks back. This isn’t one of the bigger hits, but it encapsulates the Police’s sound pretty well.

9) “Flying Whales”- Gojira - Ever know of a French metal band that sings about the state of global warming ? Yeah, never did I. But the song is more of a prog-metal spin versus the ram-it-down your throat attitude of a lot of metal today.

10) “Icky Thump”- The White Stripes - Jack and Meg are getting pretty good at putting out quality first singles. Good riffs and even sounds a little more up-to-date in the recording style than anything else they’ve ever done.