The best sixth single in Modern Rock

The poll options got cut off. Here they are in full:

"Head Over Feet" by Alanis Morissette (after "You Oughta Know," "Hand in My Pocket," "All I Really Want," "Ironic," and "You Learn" on Jagged Little Pill)
"33" by Smashing Pumpkins (after "Bullet With Butterfly Wings," "1979," "Zero," "Tonight Tonight," and "Muzzle" on Mellon Collie & the Infinite Sadness)
"Immortality" by Pearl Jam (after "Spin the Black Circle," "Tremor Christ," "Betterman," "Not for You," and "Corduroy" on Vitalogy)
"Breaking the Habit" by Linkin Park (after "Somewhere I Belong," "Faint," "Numb," "From the Inside," and "Lying From You" on Meteora)
"Tongue" by R.E.M. (after "What's the Frequency, Kenneth," "Bang & Blame," "Star 69," "Strange Currencies," and "Crush With Eyeliner" on Monster)
"Down in a Hole" by Alice in Chains (after "Would?," "Them Bones," "Angry Chair," "What the Hell Have I," and "Rooster" on Dirt)
"Nightswimming" by R.E.M. (after "Drive," "Ignoreland," "Man on the Moon," "The Sidewinder Sleeps Tonight," and "Everybody Hurts" on Automatic for the People)
"Don't Look Back in Anger" by Oasis (after "Some Might Say," "Roll With It," "Morning Glory," "Wonderwall," and "Champagne Supernova" on What's the Story Morning Glory?)
"Sunday Morning" by No Doubt (after "Just a Girl," "Spiderwebs," "Happy Now," "Don't Speak," and "Excuse Me Mr." on Tragic Kingdom)
"Glorified G" by Pearl Jam (after "Go," "Daughter," "Animal," "Elderly Woman Behind the Counter," and "Dissident" on Vs.)
"Waterfall" by the Stone Roses (after "Elephant Stone," "Made of Stone," "She Bangs the Drum," "I Wanna Be Adored," and "Fool's Gold" on The Stone Roses)
"Who's Gonna Ride Your Wild Horses?" by U2 (after "The Fly," "Mysterious Ways," "One," "Until the End of the World," and "Even Better Than the Real Thing" on Achtung Baby)

Sunday Morning by an enormous margin.

I think Nightswimming by a hair. (I actually like Glorified G!)

probably "Tongue"over "Waterfall" and "Immortality."

sunday morning easy

"Down in a Hole" with "Waterfall" a close second.

"What the hell have I" isn't on Dirt though, but it's almost their best song.

"sunday morning" for me too

Were big bands contractually obligated to save "singles" for soundtracks in those days?

"What the Hell Have I" seems like it was recorded during those sessions, but it's just as strange/curious of an omission as "Soul to Squeeze" was from Blood Sugar Sex Magik.

Also "Thirty Three" is my vote here.

33, Immortality, Nightswimming, Down in a Hole all gorgeous

Immortality by just a hair out of all those

cool thread idea, i honestly like almost all of these

Sunday Morning > Don't Look Back In Anger > Immortality > Who's Gonna Ride Your Wild Horses > Nightswimming > Breaking The Habit > Down In A Hole > Tongue > Head Over Feet > Glorified G > 33 (don't know Stone Roses cause fuck Stone Roses)

"Head over Feet" has a harmonic structure that is unusual for its genre. The choruses are in a different key than the verses. Each verse is in the key of C major, whereas each chorus is in the key of D major. As a result, at the end of each chorus the song is forced to modulate down a major second (which is uncommon in rock music).

I don't really understand anything about harmonic structure, but what are other examples of songs that do similar things (or genres where this is more common)?

I've always liked the transition from the verse to thew chorus on Head Over Feet but wouldn't have been able to tell you why. I feel a little embarrassed sometimes when I learn that a bunch of songs I like all use some particular simple technique, it makes me feel like Pavlov's dog or something

I've always liked the transition from the verse to thew chorus on Head Over Feet but wouldn't have been able to tell you why.

Same. Interesting info about the modulation, thanks for posting. Wish more of my college theory classes had stuck with me.

Agree that this is a list of pretty good songs, but I could never in a million years understand how Sunday Morning is the best by far. It's middle of the pack to me.

Down in a Hole > Nightswimming > Immortality

Also wtf is Tongue ... I must've erased that one from my memory.

"tongue" is the falsetto one

Down in a Hole really is a great song. One of the few quieter ones that wouldn't seem out of place on Jar of Flies.

Oasis

Oh, and I totally thought "What the Hell Have I" was on Dirt, sounds so much of a piece with the rest of the album. Guess not. Although "Hate to Feel" definitely got some airplay in the Bay Area, so I guess it evens out with the sixth single theme.

So, "Best Ninth Single" would be "I am the Resurrection" by default?

(Actually, eighth, don't mind me..)

"Head Over Feet" seems to be the only example in there where I seem to recall hearing all 6 songs receive airplay as singles.

Stone Roses was a weird case -- completely different singles order (and track listing) in U.S. vs U.K. -- plus some were released as stand alone in the U.K. but on the album in the U.S.

Well, a lot were released as "remix" variations long after the fact...

Voting Oasis (quite possibly the first and only time I'll ever vote that way).

I heard all the Pearl Jam songs on the radio, mainly because the radio I listened to at the time was the local "Classic Rock plus Today's Real Rock" station. Pearl Jam was probably 40% of their "Today's Real Rock" playlist.

Voted Sunday Morning, but Immortality, Nightswimming, and 33 were close

Automatic thread bump. This poll is closing tomorrow.

Where to begin? Anything but Linkin Park.

I don't really understand anything about harmonic structure, but what are other examples of songs that do similar things (or genres where this is more common)?

― soref, Wednesday, March 26, 2014 9:50 AM (1 week ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

shifting up a whole tone for the chorus is really not that uncommon in pop music, though it's certainly fallen out of fashion since the heyday of Motown; another (roughly contemporary) example would be Garbage's "I'm Only Happy When It Rains", which uses the trick in (IMO) a rather jarring, artificial-sounding way

[h/t to Rikky Rooksby "How To Write Songs On Guitar" for both of these examples]

you came in with the breeeeeeeeeeze

although i'd vote for "33" or "tongue" too

Nightswimming by a huge huge margin, hate most of the rest

i have really never understood that backlash in regards to the Stone Roses in America. the album itself is classic and is as fun as you can get for 1990 and discovering dance for the first time. Disco was a bit before my time...

I'd like to take back my vote for "Sunday Morning" and put it towards the clear underdog, that being "Head Over Feet".

reading these poll options as "tongue in a hole"

"Tongue" by R.E.M. (after "What's the Frequency, Kenneth," "Bang & Blame," "Star 69,
"Down in a Hole" by Alice in Chains (after "Would?," "Them Bones," "Angry Chair,&quo

"Parallel Universe" by Red Hot Chili Peppers (after "Scar Tissue," "Around the World," "Otherside," "Californication" and "Road Trippin'" off Californication)

"Honey I'm Home" by Shania Twain (after "Love Gets Me Every Time," "Don't Be Stupid (You Know I Love You)," "You're Still the One," "From This Moment On" and "When" off Come On Over)

According to Wiki, this album had 12 (!) singles!

(Although some of them may have only hit the country chart which might not work for this poll, which is why I am not listing Garth Brooks' In Pieces.)

"Primavera" by Santana (after "Smooth," "Maria Maria," "Put Your Lights On," "Love of My Life" and "Corazón Espinado" off Supernatural)

(Falling Into You by Céline Dion had six singles but three were limited to different territories.)

"Girl Like That" by Matchbox Twenty (after "Long Day," "Push," "3 a.m.," "Real World" and "Back 2 Good" off Yourself or Someone Like You)

"Wasting Time" by Kid Rock (after "Welcome 2 the Party (Ode 2 the Old School)," "I Am the Bullgod," "Bawitdaba," "Cowboy" and "Only God Knows Why" off Devil Without a Cause)

"Underneath the Stars" by Mariah Carey (after "Fantasy," "One Sweet Day," "Open Arms," "Always Be My Baby" and "Forever" off Daydream)

"Heal the World" by Michael Jackson (after "Black or White," "Remember the Time," "In the Closet," "Jam" and "Who Is It" off Dangerous)

This one seems like a pretty huge single to be sixth, although my bet is there's a mix of UK/Europe and US:

"Champagne Supernova" by Oasis (after "Some Might Say," "Roll with It," "Morning Glory," "Wonderwall" and "Don't Look Back in Anger" off (What's the Story) Morning Glory?)

"All at Once" by Bonnie Raitt (after "I Can't Make You Love Me," "Slow Ride," "Something to Talk About," "Come to Me" and "Not the Only One" off Luck Of The Draw)

Well, that was fun to do while I was unable to sleep!
I am voting for "Down in a Hole."

Just remembered Garbage:

Vow
Queer
Only Happy When it Rains
Supervixen
Stupid Girl
Milk

33 <3

also i would have voted for milk

also did you not include 'the perfect drug' because it would have walked away with this?

NIN Perfect Drug?

oh wait is it sixth single from an album? gotcha. 'would?' confused me since it was more associated with the singles sdtrk

Yeah... from one album. Also, just thought of Sheryl Crow:

Run Baby Run
Leaving Las Vegas
All I Wanna Do
Strong Enough
Can't Cry Anymore
What Can I Do for You?

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

That was a pleasant surprise. But curious who the Linkin Park fans are here...

i think "breaking the habit" is a great song

agreed, def one of their best. didn't vote for it, though.

The singles from Meteora havne't worn out their welcome on the radio as much as the ones from Hybrid Theory. "Lying from You" and "Numb" especially.

yeah that's low key one of the best singles campaigns of its decade

Just remembered a big one, from Green Day...

American Idiot
Blvd. of Broken Dreams
Holiday
Wake Me Up When September Ends
Give Me Novocaine
Jesus of Suburbia (which is by far the best of these)

i never heard the last 2 on the radio at the time, but in the last year or so a local alt rock station has taken to playing all of "Jesus of Suburbia" and patting themselves on the back for it. good lord that song is a crime against the questionable enterprise of rock operas.