Most lists of best 2020 albums and tracks ignore rock ‘n’ roll completely. Lists by legendary music websites such as Rolling Stone and NME who used to champion rock for ages and still do (only) when it comes to big-name acts. Same game with more recent webzines like Stereogum and Pitchfork. It’s all about hip-hop, R & B, EDM, and synth-pop these past few years. I know, it’s the music liked by millions (see the number of YT views of each and every track below) these days, no problem so far.

But what I don’t understand is that the very same online music press raves about records by rock acts such as The Strokes, Fontaines D.C, Idles, Deftones, Flaming Lips, Thurston Moore and so many more, the moment their singles/albums came out but not a word at the end-of-the-year. Weird, but it is what it is.

I’m definitely looking forward to Turn Up The Volume‘s best 2020 firework
and I’ll play Black Rebel Motorcycle Club while waiting…

I’m ready now to go through the 10 best songs of
the past 12 months according to Rolling Stone.

1. ‘SWAP‘ by CARDI B Feat THEE STALLION
“In the darkest depths of Covid lockdown — at a moment in history when leaving your house could literally get you killed — Cardi B and Megan delivered the perfect instructions on how to beat the quarantine blues:” – RS

306.341.716 YouTube views

2. ‘Key West (Philosopher Pirate)’ by BOB DYLAN
“In the nine-minute “Key West (Philosophical Pirate),” he’s adrift in Florida, murmuring the Sunshine State blues over a ghostly accordion, as he growls, “Key West is the place to be if
you’re looking for immortality.” – RS

598.850 YouTube views

3. ‘People, I’ve Been Sad’ by CHRISTINE AND THE QUEENS
“With sparse synths and a voice on the verge of tears, Christine and the Queens captured the universal moment with words in English and French about missing out, disappearing, and falling apart.” – RS

3.089.767 YouTube views

4. ‘Blinding Lights’ by WEEKND
“The real magic is how his voice and the song’s chiming keyboard line lingers in your head well after he injects new life into the greatest Eighties-steeped lyrical cliché of them all: “I can’t sleep until I feel your touch.” – RS

306.750.942 YouTube views

5.’August’ by TAYLOR SWIFT
“Swift’s lithely vocals soar across string instrumentation as she tells the story from
the side of the “other” woman. One thing is for certain: Don’t trust Inez.” – RS

16.669.449 YouTube views

6. ‘Don’t Start Now’ by DUA LIP
“A song that yearns to be bumped in a packed club, that still boasts a hook that
actually made for a perfect Covid quarantine meme: “Don’t show up/Don’t come out.” – RS

433.711.505 YouTube views

7. ‘Dynamite’ by BTS
“Cup of milk, let’s rock and roll/King Kong, kick the drum/Rolling on like a Rolling Stone!” – RS

686.556.896 YouTube views

8. ‘Ladies’ by FIONA APPLE
“It’s a heart-to-heart that is as sincere as it is wryly funny: Apple has never sounded more sure of herself than when she lists off all the leftover baggage, literally and figuratively, that she’s left behind for her old flame’s new love.” – RS

582.880 YouTube views

9. ‘Adore You’ by HARRY STYLES
“It’s a sleek sliver of psychedelic soul, where Styles dreams up a “strawberry lipstick
state of mind,” and then offers you an irresistible invitation to join him there.” – RS

166.316.607 YouTube views

10. ‘Gaslighter‘ by THE CHICKS
“The Chicks blasted back this year with the best jerk-torching anthem they’ve
given us since the glory days of “Goodbye Earl,” back in the late-Nineties.” – RS

7.052.027 YouTube views