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Modern Rock #1 Hits of 2009

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Our trip through the #1 Modern Rock hits of yesteryear continues today with 2009 – and we're almost to the present day. We're also creeping up on the 300th Modern Rock #1 any week now.

Talk about a grunge flashback: Alice in Chains had their first and only #1 song in 2009! (The only thing that came close was "No Excuses" way back in 1994 at #3.) And the vocal version of "Brother" continues Pearl Jam's tradition of (mostly) weird #1's instead of the songs that people actually remember.

Previous entries:

#1 Modern Rock Hits of 88–9 | #1 Modern Rock Hits of 2001
#1 Modern Rock Hits of 1990 | #1 Modern Rock Hits of 2002
#1 Modern Rock Hits of 1991 | #1 Modern Rock Hits of 2003
#1 Modern Rock Hits of 1992 | #1 Modern Rock Hits of 2004
#1 Modern Rock Hits of 1993 | #1 Modern Rock Hits of 2005
#1 Modern Rock Hits of 1994 | #1 Modern Rock Hits of 2006
#1 Modern Rock Hits of 1995 | #1 Modern Rock Hits of 2007
#1 Modern Rock Hits of 1996 | #1 Modern Rock Hits of 2008
#1 Modern Rock Hits of 1997
#1 Modern Rock Hits of 1998
#1 Modern Rock Hits of 1999
#1 Modern Rock Hits of 2000

Poll Results

OptionVotes
Silversun Pickups, "Panic Switch" 12
Alice in Chains, "Check My Brain" 4
Muse, "Uprising" 3
Green Day, "Know Your Enemy" 2
Kings of Leon, "Use Somebody" 2
Shinedown, "Second Chance" 2
Anberlin, "The Feel-Good Drag" 1
Kings of Leon, "Sex on Fire" 1
Pearl Jam, "Brother" 0
Linkin Park, "New Divide" 0
Incubus, "Love Hurts" 0
Kings of Leon, "Notion" 0


― LimbsKing, Monday, 2 July 2012 14:15 (fourteen years ago)

hahahahahahahahahaha this is terrible

Muse

― Victory Chainsaw! (DJP), Monday, 2 July 2012 14:17 (fourteen years ago)

Hmmm... a tough choice between mostly bland songs, but I'm voting "Panic Switch" (even though "Lazy Eye" is a million times better).

― LimbsKing, Monday, 2 July 2012 14:18 (fourteen years ago)

"Second Chance" is the best Bon Jovi song since the '80s

― goonrise zingdom (some dude), Monday, 2 July 2012 14:24 (fourteen years ago)

HAHA... so is "Use Somebody" our generation's "Wanted Dead or Alive"?

― LimbsKing, Monday, 2 July 2012 14:31 (fourteen years ago)

man, somehow missed the '08 poll entirely - probably would have voted for Viva La Vida anyway, though.

i don't even know if i've heard all these songs, but I like "New Divide" and those two Kings Of Leon hits have grown on me. Though I was bummed to learn from karaoke that "YOUUUUU...YOUR SEX IS ON FIRE!" isn't just chanted but instead paired with "CONSUUUUUMED...by what's to transpire!" which is another tier of awful.

― da croupier, Monday, 2 July 2012 14:32 (fourteen years ago)

Damn...another one where I dont even think I can vote, though my compulsion is certainly to vote AGAINST Shinedown.

― to welcome jer.fairall, pie is served. (jer.fairall), Monday, 2 July 2012 14:34 (fourteen years ago)

I will give a listen to the PJ, Anberlin and SP tracks before boycotting, though...don't know those (at least knowingly) and they have a good shot at being better than Shinedown, KoL and Linkin Park.

― to welcome jer.fairall, pie is served. (jer.fairall), Monday, 2 July 2012 14:36 (fourteen years ago)

I like how completely undercooked the Alice In Chains track is. Like a rough sketch that they decided to release because the riff was good even though the chorus was nonsense and the verses non-existant. Which makes it better than all these other songs where the bands give a shit.

― EZ Snappin, Monday, 2 July 2012 14:45 (fourteen years ago)

I almost like instrumental "Brother" better than vocal "Brother." Compare and contrast:

Instrumental (2003): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4nYM8IgVl4w
Vocal (2009)): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vW4KVXRGQOA

― LimbsKing, Monday, 2 July 2012 14:46 (fourteen years ago)

man I didn't know Silversun Pickups had a song that was a bigger chart hit than "Lazy Eye."

― mississippi joan hart (crüt), Monday, 2 July 2012 14:55 (fourteen years ago)

Kings of Leon, "Sex on Fire" - current generation's Dave Matthews Band?
Shinedown, "Second Chance" - pretty catchy pop-country track, cool album cover - they should have lost that violin section though
Incubus, "Love Hurts" - just can't take a band called Incubus seriously
Pearl Jam, "Brother" - I don't get it
Kings of Leon, "Use Somebody" - this is like all the boring parts of modern alternative put together in one track
Anberlin, "The Feel-Good Drag" - this would shred on Guitar Hero or Rock Band
Green Day, "Know Your Enemy" - a little too primped and perfect
Linkin Park, "New Divide" - I can see why these guys are so popular but that doesn't make the music good
Silversun Pickups, "Panic Switch" - not half bad
Kings of Leon, "Notion" - zzzzzzzzz
Muse, "Uprising" - cool album cover, good groove, totally overbearing vocals - makes me want to listen to the Darkness
Alice in Chains, "Check My Brain" - this should not exist

"Not half bad" wins.

― skip, Monday, 2 July 2012 14:59 (fourteen years ago)

the instrumental "Brother" thing is weird because i think they recorded the vocals for the song back when it was new in 1991 but then for that b-sides comp Mike McCready said in the liner notes "Eddie asked me to play a solo over the song so i did" or whatever, like they knew they were holding the real song back for a reissue and just wanted a noodly outtake version to throw on the comp.

― goonrise zingdom (some dude), Monday, 2 July 2012 15:01 (fourteen years ago)

i always forget what the one Anberlin song i like is called, apparently it's "The Feel-Good Drag," could've voted for that instead of Shinedown i guess.

― goonrise zingdom (some dude), Monday, 2 July 2012 15:02 (fourteen years ago)

Man I thought 1901 was a lock for this poll

Anyways, Silversun Pickups

― heaven needed someone who rhymed with 'poop' (loves laboured breathing), Monday, 2 July 2012 15:13 (fourteen years ago)

"1901" hit #1 in early 2010

― goonrise zingdom (some dude), Monday, 2 July 2012 15:23 (fourteen years ago)

hmm well actually i rather liked use somebody so i guess that

― teledyldonix, Monday, 2 July 2012 16:40 (fourteen years ago)

silversun easily

― fauxmarc, Monday, 2 July 2012 16:42 (fourteen years ago)

alice in chains i guess. i must've tapped out on modern rock radio by this point because i only recognize half of these, and they're all brain-meltingly awful

― Black_vegeta (Hungry4Ass), Monday, 2 July 2012 16:49 (fourteen years ago)

it amazes me that Kings of Leon got a third #1 off that album from sheer momentum, i wonder if anybody who doesn't own the album can hum "Notion"

― abandon al ships (some dude), Monday, 2 July 2012 16:50 (fourteen years ago)

ooh ahh ooh ahh Notion ooh ooh aah aah

― LimbsKing, Monday, 2 July 2012 17:04 (fourteen years ago)

I'm assuming it's a cover of "Rock the Boat" by Hues Corporation

― Victory Chainsaw! (DJP), Monday, 2 July 2012 17:06 (fourteen years ago)

lol anberlin had a #1 modern rock hit?

― Whiney vs. (BradNelson), Monday, 2 July 2012 17:41 (fourteen years ago)

christian pop-punk band i listened to in college makes it big

― Whiney vs. (BradNelson), Monday, 2 July 2012 17:42 (fourteen years ago)

"Sex On Fire" is the only one of these I remember.

― The Reverend, Monday, 2 July 2012 19:22 (fourteen years ago)

"Use Somebody" was inescapable for about a year

― Victory Chainsaw! (DJP), Monday, 2 July 2012 19:24 (fourteen years ago)

ugh. yes it was

― Black_vegeta (Hungry4Ass), Monday, 2 July 2012 19:36 (fourteen years ago)

I'm pretty sure I only ever heard it a time or two. Couldn't tell you how it goes.

― The Reverend, Monday, 2 July 2012 19:51 (fourteen years ago)

"Sex on Fire"

― some dude nights (Whiney G. Weingarten), Monday, 2 July 2012 20:01 (fourteen years ago)

"Sex On Fire" is the only one of these I remember.

― The Reverend, Monday, July 2, 2012 3:22 PM (1 hour ago) Bookmark

and it is godawful. not voting on this technicality.

― mister would you please herp my brony (Pillbox), Monday, 2 July 2012 21:09 (fourteen years ago)

"use somebody" is the vaguely arcade fire one or maybe vaguely coldplay. bad u2. voted alice in chains as a legacy vote plus that track was way way better than anyone could've imagined an 'alice chains reunion track' would be.

― balls, Monday, 2 July 2012 21:36 (fourteen years ago)

i know i heard the AIC and was like "oh right, Jerry cantrell wrote the catchy ones anyway" but i'll be damned if i remember how it goes

― da croupier, Monday, 2 July 2012 21:55 (fourteen years ago)

it sounds like any other relatively uptempo aic song w/ prominent lawn mower guitar a la 'from a motel 6'

― balls, Monday, 2 July 2012 21:56 (fourteen years ago)

speaking my language, dawg

― da croupier, Monday, 2 July 2012 21:57 (fourteen years ago)

"check my brain" is the only AIC song i've ever liked, so that

― contenderizer, Monday, 2 July 2012 21:57 (fourteen years ago)

It's weird how similar "Check My Brain" is to the Layne Staley-era Alice in Chains... cut from the same cloth as "Get Born Again," "Grind," and "Angry Chair."

― LimbsKing, Tuesday, 3 July 2012 16:51 (fourteen years ago)

it's not that weird, since as croupier noted, Cantrell was always the primary songwriter of the band. and they went out of their way to find a new singer who sounds enough like Staley.

― some dude, Tuesday, 3 July 2012 16:58 (fourteen years ago)

their album songwriting credits are like "all lyrics by staley except for the hit, which was by cantrell alone"

― da croupier, Tuesday, 3 July 2012 17:18 (fourteen years ago)

well hey, layne's dad just wasn't the rooster

― some dude, Tuesday, 3 July 2012 17:32 (fourteen years ago)

Is this the worst year for Modern Rock #1s? I think it might be.

― I found him in a Bon Ton ad (Nicole), Tuesday, 3 July 2012 18:09 (fourteen years ago)

'08 was worse imo

― some dude, Tuesday, 3 July 2012 18:13 (fourteen years ago)

They are both pretty dire.

― I found him in a Bon Ton ad (Nicole), Tuesday, 3 July 2012 18:34 (fourteen years ago)

Automatic thread bump. This poll is closing tomorrow.

― System, Wednesday, 4 July 2012 00:01 (fourteen years ago)

Three Kings of Leon tracks on a single poll? Isn't there a law against that?

― Matt M., Wednesday, 4 July 2012 00:12 (fourteen years ago)

bearing gifts we traverse afar

― some dude, Wednesday, 4 July 2012 00:34 (fourteen years ago)

Slim pickings, the Alice in Chains is quite catchy I guess.

― I wish to incorporate disco into my small business (chap), Wednesday, 4 July 2012 00:46 (fourteen years ago)

You have already voted for "Check My Brain" and cannot vote again.

― contenderizer, Wednesday, 4 July 2012 00:50 (fourteen years ago)

I will say one thing for nu-AIC: for years those guys made bank off of funereal grimness, but nothing confirms their grisly cred like the realization that Layne was ultimately expendable

― heaven needed someone who rhymed with 'poop' (loves laboured breathing), Wednesday, 4 July 2012 04:23 (fourteen years ago)

That's sad/deep. Favorite Layne AIC track: "Nutshell" off "Jar of Flies."

― LimbsKing, Wednesday, 4 July 2012 15:37 (fourteen years ago)

I imagine he had quite a bit of input into the weird harmonies and twisty melodies that made AiC interesting.

― I wish to incorporate disco into my small business (chap), Wednesday, 4 July 2012 15:40 (fourteen years ago)

yeah, good call (xpost)

― some dude, Wednesday, 4 July 2012 15:42 (fourteen years ago)

deep and correct

― skip, Wednesday, 4 July 2012 16:36 (fourteen years ago)

Automatic thread bump. This poll's results are now in.

― System, Thursday, 5 July 2012 00:01 (fourteen years ago)


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