XFM and NME have joined forces to bring you their user poll, counting down the 50 greatest anthems in indie rock (criteria? your guess is as good as ours). You could try and guess which band delivered the #1 single … or you could take the over/under on the number of Oasis tracks to make the cut, which we’ve set at 5. Good luck!
50 My Bloody Valentine – ‘You Made Me Realise’
49 The Rapture – ‘House Of Jealous Lovers’
48 Sonic Youth – ‘Bull In The Heather’
47 The Libertines – ‘Up The Bracket’
46 Dinosaur Jr – ‘Freak Scene’
45 The La’s – ‘There She Goes’
44 The Stone Roses – ‘Love Spreads’
43 Suede – ‘Animal Nitrate’
42 The Cribs – ‘Hey Scenesters’
41 Blur – ‘Parklife’
40 Klaxons – ‘Golden Skans’
39 Oasis – ‘Champagne Supernova’
38 Pixies – ‘Gigantic’
37 Kasabian – ‘LSF’
36 Kaiser Chiefs – ‘I Predict A Riot’
35 Pixies – ‘Monkey Gone To Heaven’
34 Radiohead – ‘Just’
33 The Killers – ‘Mr Brightside’
32 The Stone Roses – ‘Fool’s Gold’
31 Oasis – ‘Cigarettes & Alcohol’
30 Manic Street Preachers – ‘A Design For Life’
29 Arcade Fire – ‘Rebellion (Lies)’
28 Pavement – ‘Cut Your Hair’
27 Oasis -’ Wonderwall’
26 Radiohead – ‘Creep’
25 Oasis – ‘Supersonic’
24 Babyshambles – ‘Fuck Forever’
23 The Gossip – ‘Standing In The Way Of Control’
22 The Breeders – ‘Cannonball’
21 The Smiths – ‘Panic’
20 Joy Division – ‘Transmission’
19 Joy Divison – ‘Love Will Tear Us Apart’
18 The Verve – ‘Bitter Sweet Symphony’
17 The Stone Roses – ‘I Wanna Be Adored’
16 Franz Ferdinand – ‘Take Me Out’
15 Blur – ‘Song 2′
14 Oasis – ‘Don’t Look Back In Anger’
13 The Libertines – ‘Can’t Stand Me Now’
12 The Stone Roses – ‘She Bangs The Drums’
11 The Smiths – ‘This Charming Man’
10 Arctic Monkeys – ‘I Bet You Look Good On The Dancefloor’
09 The Strokes – ‘Last Nite’
08 The Stone Roses – ‘I Am The Resurrection’
07 The Smiths – ‘How Soon Is Now?’
06 The Libertines – ‘Time For Heroes’
05 The Libertines – ‘Don’t Look Back Into The Sun’
04 The Smiths – ‘There Is A Light That Never Goes Out’
03 Pulp – ‘Common People’
02 Nirvana – ‘Smells Like Teen Spirit’
01 Oasis – ‘Live Forever’
The overs have it. Thank god we’re not a casino.
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ur a peinis
americans have nothing to do with indie ur all a bunch or overcompensating loosers who cant write or make any decent music
u know nothing!
u will never know anything!
u narrow minded F****** up waste of life
u need to read up on the concept of indiependant music and then u will find that you being american and because of that fact probably more mainstream than Mcdonalds!
and then you will realise why u cant judge this publication
however i agree that this is a sh** list and NME now nothing but judge english press when you brig us such pooie press like AMP
get a life
and ur blatently fat!
Nirvana are indie now are they? I didn’t know that, I always thought THEY WERE GRUNGE! Hmmm, silly me. Indie music must really compensate for a broad range of music. Is it, indipendant or individual or what? What does indie even mean really? I mean, for Oasis, a britpop mega money commercial group to have no.1 and Nirvana, an American (although largely commercial) influential grunge group who were in it for the music to have no.2, hmmm, kind of strange if you ask me. And then at no.4 The Smiths, an almot non-commercial band in a sense. This list is very, very broad.
Ok, since when is ‘I Bet You Look Good on the Danefloor” an anthem. It is a song about a girl looking good on a dancefloor! How narrow minded has NME, or the british public become these days. (How can Oasis have 6 songs but The Smiths only have 4 man, that sucks. But Oasis are technically a great band.) And it isnt just The Arctic Monkeys, how the hell are half these songs anthems! ‘There She Goes’ by The La’s, ‘Champagne Supernova’ (about drugs obviously) by Oasis, ‘Wonderwall’? (A LOVE SONG!) A love song is not an anthem. A LOVE SONG IS NOT AN ANTHEM! “This Charming Man”, sure it has got fucking excellent guitar nd rhythm, sure it speaks to you and bites you in the face like all great songs do, sure its intro blows you away, sure its lyrics are fucking amazingly good, but is it really an anthem. It is just about being honest and helping those in need even if they are not as ‘good looking’ or “intelligent” as you are. I think NME needs to either re-think INDIE or not let the public vote.
i bet you look good on the dancefloor is an anthem because everytime people hear it they go fuckin mental, and because its a good tune. subject matter doesn’t affect whether something is an anthem
( Nirvana are indie now are they? I didn’t know that, I always thought THEY WERE GRUNGE! …. )
Smells Like Teen Spirit was released on a Independent label
so it was indie then
Indie is not a type of music ……….
people who know nothing about music , should keep there comments to them selves
all you end up doing is making yourself look stupid and ignorant ………..
“Unless the music is obtuse and unlistenable, in which case you proclaim it to be “brilliant”" haaha i found that funny because you are acting like you are quoting an american, but we would never use the word brilliant to describe anything but a smart person FYI(i think it is a really cool word though because i love english descriptions)! well i happen to think that england is amazing and am really upset at how mean all of the english people are being to americans on here! we are not all fat, and i have seen plenty of fat english people as well! it is even on both sides, so stop calling us fat please and we will stop saying that you all have bad teeth(which i know is not true because i have seen plenty of english people with perfect teeth).this list doesnt have to turn into an england vs america thing. by the way ,i thought the list was okay, but some of the songs seem really random. how can a country be “mainstream” anyway, because that makes no sense to me.
this comment was not friendly: “americans piss off im surprised you all havent eaten your PC’s by know u bunch of fat, mardy sweaty, man breasted wasters stop sayin british music is crap and go and listen to your rap bull shit, or go and stare at the fridge and see how long it takes you before you dive on it eating all its contents and the fridge it self, then again that wont occupy you for long.”
the music is obtuse and unlistenable, in which case you proclaim it to be “brilliant”" haaha i found that funny because you are acting like you are quoting an american, but we would never use the word brilliant to describe anything but a smart person FYI(i think it is a really cool word though because i love english descriptions)! well i happen to think that england is amazing and am really upset at how mean all of the english people are being to americans on here! we are not all fat, and i have seen plenty of fat english people as well! it is even on both sides, so stop calling us fat please and we will stop saying that you all have bad teeth(which i know is not true because i have seen plenty of english people with perfect teeth).this list doesnt have to turn into an england vs america thing. by the way ,i thought the list was okay, but some of the songs seem really random. how can a country be “mainstream” anyway, because that makes no sense to me.
this comment was not friendly: “americans piss off im surprised you all havent eaten your PC’s by know u bunch of fat, mardy sweaty, man breasted wasters stop sayin british music is crap and go and listen to your rap bull shit, or go and stare at the fridge and see how long it takes you before you dive on it eating all its contents and the fridge it self, then again that wont occupy you for long.”
Wow, I wonder if the NME have ever heard of a band called The Replacements? They were this influential band from the US. Anyway so I’m guessing that “indie” doesn’t go back as far as 1983? That I do not understand. I’d love to know what/if at they can at all the NME define as “indie”. It’s pretty vague. Aside from it having to be a certain, undefined way.
It’s come to this.
is this actually serious?
this is pathetic.
this is a list that you would expect like, sixteen magazine to put together after juno got big.
holy shit.
Where are the Sultans of Ping FC, with ‘Where’s me Jumper?’
Best get-em-on-the-Dancefloor anthem ever made
Also Jesus & Mary Chain – Some Candy Talking
terrible bloody list. Klaxons? pile of crap
some snot-nosed Teenage journalist made this up.
And where are all the Nirvana songs? One track ain’t enough.
If Oasis can cross-over into mainstream and stlll make this list, where are all the Cobain classics? I sometimes despair of English music journalism, I really do.
Where are the Sultans of Ping FC, with ‘Where’s me Jumper?’
Best get-em-on-the-Dancefloor anthem ever made
Also Jesus & Mary Chain – Some Candy Talking
terrible bloody list. Klaxons? pile of crap
some snot-nosed Teenage journalist made this up.
And where are all the Nirvana songs? One track ain’t enough.
If Oasis can cross-over into mainstream and stlll make this list, where are all the Cobain classics? I sometimes despair of English music journalism, I really do.
poorly compiled list, yeah i agree with the general consensus in this discussion, how the fu is nirvana indie…
Where are the Cure? Surely they deserve to be on this list more than Kasabian or Klaxons? At least Mr. Brightside is on there – there’s one I agree with.
Half of this stuff isn’t really Indie but whatever… ._.
Pixies – Mr. Grieves/No. 13 Baby
Joy Division – Disorder
All three songs are easily the best ever…to name a few.
I can only see one Pixies song. Is this a list made for Libertines? Can understand Smiths but where is Sheila take a bow? You have Live Forever as no. 1. Totally unacceptable!!!
What? No Creep?
…Idiots
This list like any list has people sucking about it, but at the end of the day all the bands except the Klaxons are pretty class. As for all the people bagging Oasis yes they are not what they used to be but all them songs on the list are S##T HOT!!!
As for the Yanks on here, why don’t you all P#SS OFF and listen to the crap you make over there in good idea gone wrong land
God. Seeing as this list was voted upon by the English public, it’s hardly suprising to find so many Oasis songs on there.
Take off most Oasis, remove Klaxons, rearrange some of the tunes in numbers 21-32, swap the Pavement song for Summer Babe… oh yeah, and as much as I respect Nirvana, they really, really shouldn’t be on there. It’s almost like the Brits felt sorry and wanted to try to include an American “indie song”. This list needs tons of work but has a couple of good picks.
Oh and not all rap sucks, just crap about shooting shit, getting high and smacking hoes… that stuff is garbage for my dog to piss on.
PS- I wouldn’t advise you Brits making fun of America… or we’ll sit on you!!
Firstly where is ‘Waterfall’ by the Stone Roses? …… WHERE IS IT??
Secondly why isn’t ‘This Charming Man’ number 1? answers pleeeeezze
ahh dont agree with the number 1 ! agree with the libertines they deserve to be in there, not so much babyshambles! and wheres stone roses love spreads :S?
Man, Live Forever totally pisses and shits all over Smells Like Teen Spirit. WHat’s better? A song about some manic depressive growling, or a song about optimism and hope. I know which one I’d choose.
As an obvious self-cnfessed Killers fan I was gutted not to see more of their rockin’ Indie floorfillers up there. Yu are telling me that in the Top 50 Indie anthems of al time you have Nivarna and obvious and in my opinion catastrophic rock band at No.2. Where is ‘When You Were Young’ and ‘Smile Like you Mean It’ Thes two are real crowd pleasers. Absolutly delighted to see Mr.Brightside up there but in my opinion is No.1 over them Manc, NME bumming wankers whos every song sounds the same.
Nirvana in some ways is Indie aswell, but never #2 of course. I think its pretty normal that British NME making list of most UK bands nor US, cuz basically Indie cames from UK + magazine is British. So its ok. But apsalutely strange how Joy Division come to the list??? I wonder, where EDITORS, INTERPOL, COLDPLAY and other representatives of this direction?!
And YES, why Oasis repeats more than other bands as Smiths, Pixies, Stone Roses?! of course Oasis is a great band and yes, like ‘Mr British’ as The Beatles were now. But its not the case of repeating it nor to stick out as NME always do.
haha, I remember how public at NME Awards ’09 react on announcement that Oasis is ‘The Best British Band’. How Fraz Ferdinand shout about ‘em ‘Booooo’. Do you remember?! Huh funny.
So IMHO the list is pretty well. 30 points of 50 are really amazing Indie Bands, but the concept of creating such list should be another.
This list is crap… Arcade Fire’s “Wake Up” should be top ten if not #1… and yet it isn’t on here at all?!?! If you disagree go watch it at glastonbury on youtube. And possibly and even bigger disgrace considering this mans renown is much more widespread than Arcade Fire = How is John Lennon’s “Give Peace A Chance” not on here ANYWHERE??
Once again this list is crap
Shut de fuck up all youse mouthing about Oasis they are the greatest thing that happened to music in the last 20 years every track on that list deserves to be there and whoever said Arcade Fire should be number1…………. Come on WTF is wrong with you Live Forever was a worthy choice
(mostly) a great list, however i’d like to have my opinion-
1. my definition is that indie music is music released by independant record labels. so for bands like oasis, the smiths and joy division, they deserve to be on the list, but bands like radiohead (who are signed to the same label as the beatles), nirvana and sonic youth are all signed to major labels, so as far as i can tell, the use of the “indie anthems” isn’t entirely appropriate. maybe a title like “alternative anthems” is better.
2. expand this list to 100, so more artists can get a mention.
3. this is a list that you guys voted on, so why do you think it’s shit?
4. i thought joy divisions “she’s lost control” would also be on there, but obviously not.
anyway, thankyou for your time,
chris.
Don’t think there was enough Oasis.
That was sarcasm, btw.
btw . we got it ……..
there is a vast difference in british music taste and what the american music taste is …
if you look closely at the list you will find when the songs were released the bands in question
were signed to Independent labels , so that made them indie then ……….
to moan that there are more oasis tracks listed than any other band , is not the NME being Bias
it’s a reflection on the popularity of the band in question ……….
in the 90′s Oasis were the most dominant bands around
you will never get a list of any type that everyone likes , it all comes down to individual choice ..
who cares what people think , who cares whats on the bloody list , it’s music just enjoy it …….
one more thing Nirvana – Smells Like Teen Spirit was released on a Independent label
so it was indie then
Indie is not a type of music
Indie is a Independent record label ………….
I think the inherent problem with voting for the greatest Indie songs of all time is just that; you are voting. Thus it becomes a popularity contest of sorts. I don’t think this is a criticism of the bands so much as an explanation on popular voting preferences.
On the other hand, if you had an Indie rock expert create a list, it would be at least as controversial… unless it by was Mark McGrath of course; that guy is like the Ken Jennings of Rock Jeopardy :)