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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wheres my k-fed cd?
In your car?
great list….i get most of the new indie stuff i hear from suggestions on stereogum and this indie show i listen to on the radio. http://orock1059.com/pages/79590.php
hahahahahaah.
hahahahahahahahahahahahahaha.
horrible list. but what did i expect?
I love how 20 songs or so has been from less than 6-7 years ago.
Take Klaxons off this list immediately!!
what a shitty list
Two Pixies songs but no “Debaser”? Every time I hear the opening bass-line I want to run around, pump my fist, and scream. On a personal note, as of last weekend I have successfully grown up to be a debaser.
there’s quite the many number of Oasis songs up on there.
Yep, “Debaser” should be in the top 3 easily.
How UNBELIEVABLY out of place is Cut Your Hair on that list?! hahahahaha
wtf – i love how indie is considered an aesthetic (a poorly defined one at that), rather than a mode of production.
Indie-pendence in a critical sense should be derived from a DIY, anti-consumerist ethos and devoid of commericial interests and corporate infrastructure.
What the bloody, puckering hemorhoid is up with all the damned Oasis?!
Jeez, it’s like the carnival game where you shoot water in the clown’s mouth and the balloon inflates and pops above it – only in this case, it’s the juice the Brit Press keeps popping off in the mouth of the collective Gallagher.
Hey, maybe if their egos super-inflate, their heads will explode…
Hmm…
Keep up the good work, Brit Press!!
DwD
To be honest, the NME hate Oasis. Have you read all their stuff lately – all they ever do is slag them off these days. But, however, they’re being unbiased because Oasis in their day pissed all over every band in the 90s – even Nirvana.
british magazine puts too much substandard british music on best of list. news at ten.
Why don’t they just throw every Libertines song ever on there.. Shit list.
Just came to me, New Pornographers anyone?
NOT TO BE NEGATIVE. BUT.. 1 – NME, HALF OF THESE BARELY MAKE IT AS ‘INDIE’ AND,
2 – IT DOESNT MAKE SENSE TO PUT 1/2 THE LIST ON THE TEASER PAGE WHEN WE CAN ALL SEE THE TAGLINE RIGHT BELOW IT.. WHICH.. COINCIDENTALLY READS ‘OASIS’. THAT IS ALL.////
and how the fudge is ‘i bet that you look good on the dance floor’ a goddamn anthem????????
But is not Oasis the greatest British band since the Beatles? Can we not vote on this?!
Isn’t the point of making a list to have a good variety of bands and acts exhibited to prove that your musical taste is both broad and well developed?
no bloc party?
How is there only one Sonic Youth song on there? And how is Nirvana indie?
At least Nirvana were signed to Sub Pop for 2 years. Half the other bands have only been on major labels
i love klaxons. but they shouldn’t be on this list, no no no.
Yeah yeah I understand the criticism, but first off indie is a term that has changed and outgrown its original definition (Like the whole english language!) second this is a list that emcumbers you’re average filthy (I mean that in a good way) indie club from the last few years, being as it tends to be young people that are passionate about this kind of thing were your older person, though still nostalgically passionate does’nt really bother with “lists” and dark clubs were snakebite is omnipresent anymore! just to emphasise this point: it’s a list made from NME & XFM, what did you expect? But like I said before, as far as small dark indie discos up and down england go this list is fairly accurate, apart from oasis!
Thimas:
Yeah, I wondered how Nirvana made the indie list, too.
And yes, Dave, Oasis is a pretty cool band, even though five songs on this list is overkill. Indie used to have a small group of followers. Now it’s totally cool to love indie, which kind of takes away the point. But I still love stuff on both sides of the line. And where’s The Revs? If you want indie, there you go.
Ah, the English. Doncha just love ‘em???
The Babyshambles over Pavement? Le sigh.
When the fork did Oasis become Indie?
And no “Bastards of Young”?
I can’t believe they got away with as few Arcade Fire and Arctic Monkeys songs as they did, judging from their other oh-so-strategically-chosen top picks.
They should re-name this list “Top 50 Oasis Songs”…seeing as there on the list like 15 f-ckin times.
i hate the word “indie” it’s so overused. The whole god damn hipster world is “indie”. What does it all mean?? Nothing at all.
Two libertines songs ahead of “How Soon is Now”? are you kidding me? what a fucking joke. Melody Maker was always a better paper that that fucking shit rag.
God bless nirvana! the true pioneers of indie rock…
worst list ever
Teenage Riot should top this list at least be on it!
While I don’t agree with much on this list (at ALL), it is, in fact a legit ‘INDIE’ list. All of these records were released in the UK on ‘indie’ labels;
The Smiths and The Strokes on Rough Trade, Oasis on Creation, Blur on Food, Franz Ferdinand on Domino, Joy Division on Factory, Pixies and The Breeders on 4AD… anyway you get the idea.
Pretty much every popular UK ‘indie’ band gets snapped up by a major here in the US, which is why this looks decidedly non-indie.
It still sucks, though…
I think they nailed it with certain songs, like “Fuck Forever”, “Common People” and “Rebellion (Lies)” – some of the best songs to jiggle about to on obligatory “indie” nights at the student union. I don’t care if they’re not technically indie. They’re just fucking good songs. I just want to know where “E-Pro” is on the list.
…the Oasis love *is* inexplicable, though.
ok now, what the @#$% is indie?
because oasis aint it.
If they have to put 3 Libertines (1 babyshambles that dude goes out with kate moss dudes! dudes!) songs, 2 oasis songs and other multiple repetitions then this list obviously sucks and NME should kill its own balls off. SUCK MY TITS NME SUCK MY FUCKIN TITS
ot, that dungen ad is nearly making me vom.
I swear the English are self-adored pre-madonnas.
I think more pete dohety projects should be on this list.
I’m not saying I miss it, but can you really leave “Just Like Heaven” off this list. Seems like the Limeys would want a Cure song on there somewhere.
Bloc Part = 0 Oasis = 5? Come on… And Nirvana? Fuck Off!
This is all so depressing. It’s not even cool to say you like indie anymore. You might as well tell everybody you like the Backstreet Boys. And would it kill them to include lesser-known bands? That’s the true indie stuff. One guy just told me about one – Nu-Matix. They’re awesome.
My head just hurts reading all of these posts. The term INDIE is defined a little differently in the U.S. vs. the UK. I could explain this but I’m not that bothered.
Oasis have been on an indie label in the UK from day 1 (Creation and now Big Brother). So they basically went on to sell 50 million records as a UK indie band. And yet they will sell out the new Wembley 3, 4?7 times next summer when they choose to do so next. Not bad for a bunch of tossers?
The list is actually quite relevant if you are standing in a bar in Leeds, Liverpool, Brighton, Bournemouth or god for bid Birmingham. Most of the songs on this list are considered classics in the UK and rightfully so. They have created the musical landscape and shaped the culture for the past 15 + years. This is more that I can say for the production of US bands over this time.
The UK has ¼ of the population of the US and produces better tunes.
The NME also breaks bands and does not contain crap gossip columns or have shinny glossy pictures. It would be amazing to have a US equivalent.
Oh I?m American and Nickelback rules. And if you have not figured it out yet The National suck?
“Smells Like Teen Spirit” was released on DGC/Geffen. It is, essentially, the definitive moment where Indie had been sold out on a popular level (other than, say, “Goo” from Sonic Youth). Anyway, it was never released on an indie label, even in the UK.
Genre speaking, it would have made more sense to include early Green Day from Outlook! than Nivana from DGC.
I’m thinking… “Knowledge” or “Welcome to Paradise”.
Shit list. Hardly newsworthy. May as well have called it “Stone Roses vs. Smiths = Oasis”.
I think “Just Like Heaven” was left off to make room for another fucking Oasis song. I mean, I get it, I thought Oasis was pretty rockin’ for a couple of months in 1995, but dayum I woke up and smelled the joke eventually.
Eh. Saying Oasis are on an indie label are about as insightful as saying Nine Inch Nails or New Order are on indie labels, and for the same reason.
Nope, not this time. You’re not gonna get me all riled up NME! Consider yourself shunned!
Hey Bonehead’s Bank Holiday: Yeah, Nickelback does rule (oh I’m probably gonna really get it for that – they’re kind of out of good graces right now for some strange reason. But I will always like their music no matter what.)
i love lists. they let me know who’s the best, and also who’s not quite so good.
The Nme and Xfm bum lick Oasis, The Libertines, The Stone Roses and The Smiths. Look at how many times those bands have been on the cover of NME.
This List is lame.
Gigantic is at least top 5 worthy. I’d also put U-Mass in consideration with Debaser.
I’d agree with the inclusion of Rebellion at 29, but Tunnels is the better song.
And as much as I adore The Smiths, I’d probably only leave Panic. It’s the one that best fits what they’re going for.
Crap list, though. And this is from someone who loved the last Oasis album.
Since when Nirvana is Indie?? Or Oasis??
Now i don’t know what “grunge” or “brit POP” is!!
Joy Division, sigh.
Weezer is absent from this list. Completely absent. But that’s ok. Babyshambles is on there.
(Awful.)
To me the term “indie” has always sounded trite and trifling. You may as well say you like “pussie” music or “sweater-pop”. This is exactly the kind of list I’d expect a bunch of affected British pop music writers to come up with. It’s sad.
This list is expected from the NME.
No one who knows anything about the magazine would truthfully expect more or less. The magazine is all about hype, fads and trends, as well as a few token nods to a (mostly british) past. The list would have looked vastly different five years ago, and the five years before that, because the NME is all about staying ‘hip’ and ‘current’, which is fine if you’re a teenager looking to learn more about pop music, but should be irrelevant to anyone older.
If you are over the age of 21 you should know better than to take the NME and this list seriously.
And as much as I respect other people’s musical tastes, I have to get this out: Nickelback suck.
“The NME also breaks bands and does not contain crap gossip columns or have shinny glossy pictures. It would be amazing to have a US equivalent.”
Uhhh, sorry? Maybe you haven’t read the NME in say, the last 15 years. NME doesn’t break bands, it creates trends. Trends it shoves so relentlessly down it’s readers’ throats that once they simply can’t stomach them anymore the magazine itself turns on the trend it created.
Alan McGee just recently wrote an entire editorial in the Guardian about how US music magazines are vastly superior the their English counterparts. [http://blogs.guardian.co.uk/music/2007/03/why_ill_miss_arthur.html]
I’m not saying I completely agree because I think it’s a grass-is-always-greener syndrome, but I know plenty of UK residents that would shiver with disdain at this list. Not because the artists are SO bad, but because even under the broader UK definition of indie as an aesthetic/attitude/sound rather than label some of these choices are still highly questionable and the presence of 6 Oasis songs is just ridiculous.
the people at NME have to realize that 1) there are more than 10 bands in the world, and 2) they have a pro-UK bias which makes this list seem quite silly.
I understand most people here are scared of success/$/losing cred, but the songs on that NME list Mean Something. Live Forever came along during a time when the country was in the toilet and was legendary that a few kids who lived in the dying town of Manchester could become a cultural touchstone.
The best reviewed records of this year (Panda Bear, the Field, Eluvium(!)) will never define this space or time.
and Nickelback? Really? Nickelback is no different than throwing baby animals onto the third rail. You can’t even argue that.
funny, where are the anthemic indie songs on this list?
Um…Built to Spill?
What does “indie” mean to these people? Pavement’s “Summer Babe” is, and will forever be, the ultimate indie anthem. CASE CLOSED!
tony, ‘live forever’ is indeed a quality tune. but come on man, what does ‘don’t look back in anger’ have to do with indie anthems? or ‘champagne supernova’? they aren’t bad songs, but under the criteria they’re using they make no sense. plus, you of all people should realize how bad the albums got after you left.
HA! 18 of the top 20 are from the UK. What homers!
It’s pointless to criticize, true, but here are some more oversights I just thought of:
The Undertones, “Teenage Kicks” (John Peel’s favorite record, no less)
The Only Ones, “Another Girl Another Planet”
Many, many songs by the Jam
Teenage Fanclub, “The Concept”
Et cetera.
It’s not really fair to complain about the lack of American indie bands on the list–the UK has always had a strange relationship to them–but there are some definite oversights that are totally in keeping with the breathless and bizarre attitude of the NME. Oh well.
whatever…
i know what i know
i guess my first question is how is indie defined? As commerically successful?
Did NME do this because a new Oasis album is being released soon or just because. Probably the latter.
Oasis . . . . . ok, if we’re talking label-wise, then yeah, true, but almost everyone starts their career on an indie label. Sound-wise, uh, no, just . . . . no.
I understand Nirvana, but they should used one of their songs from Bleach, like “Sliver”, or something. Nirvana was making the transition from Sub Pop to Geffen, or DCG, while recording Nevermind, plus wasn’t it recorded in fucking Hollywood or something? In the same studio that Fleetwood Mac recorded “Rumors”?
Say what you will about The Strokes, but NME should gave them more love in this countdown. “The Modern Age” should’ve been in the Top 5. Again, say what you will, but if it wasn’t for them, and this rag worshipping them, then every song on this list by bands that formed after The Strokes wouldn’t be on here.
I agree with what someone said about Sonic Youth. Personally, I think either “BITH”, or Teenage Riot should be in the Top 10. Blur . . . . Parklife, yeah, but Song 2, no. And why are The White Stripes and Coldplay, for that matter, NOT on this list? The Jesus & Mary Chain?
the word ‘indie’ music in the uk and the us are completly different….
in the uk indie acts are usually working class/hip good looking kids making positive/fun/interesting pop music….. oasis/artic monkeys/kasabian/libertines/kaiser chiefs/blur/echo and the bunnymen/jamc/etc…
in the north america i found indie artist are usually awkward white collor loner kids making artsy fartsy avante garde pop music……..
pavement/modest mouse/arcade fire/ween/weeer/pixies/bright eyes/
my opinion….
the nme editors seen to be the popular kids having a laugh whist the pitchfork nerds annoy the piss out of me….
indie uk is way better.
hands down.
interesting too is the different parts of indie music make in the uk from the northerners and the acts from the south.
where most north amercain indie acts to me sound like ween meats pavement with a little bit of the pixies…….
I’m sitting in my office, listening to The Kinks, and not even this ridiculous list can ruin my bliss.
Jon, you’re an idiot… The English are still self-glorified bastards… We have our own (and many more) working class/hip good looking kids making positive/fun/interesting pop music right here in the states.
the list wasn’t put together by the NME, it was voted for by the general (read ) public.
the list’s sponsored by XFM, a comercial radio station so the decent songs voted for by NME readers (the rapture and klaxons/ joy division and the breeders) were probably out voted by people who’s only knowledge of music was “‘aving it” to oasis songs.
also the term indie means practically nothing in the UK.
Anyway no one who cares about independant (rather than “indie”) music takes the NME or XFM seriously. Plan B magazine is far better than the NME and 6music infinately better than XFM
where’s loser? that was indie when it was first released.
ah, americans are hilarious. sure, the brits hype everything up and proclaim everything the second coming. But you american go too far in the other direction – you think everything is crap, nothing is impressive to you, and you’re happy when bands fail. Unless the music is obtuse and unlistenable, in which case you proclaim it to be “brilliant”
Wow, I’m glad The Cribs made the list. They changed my life, man.
Um, Klaxons and like 5 Oasis songs? Where are they living in?
Stupid stupid list, but of course lists like these only exist to be stupid, so…yeah. This was a waste of my time.
Down with NME! Long live Pitchfork!
Honestly, has there even BEEN any good Brit-rock after The Libertines?
And how does a 2, 3 year old band make a list of 50 greatest indie anthems?
Sincere thanks to talulah Gosh for your perspective. If this is a list generated by the British “public” then that is even scarier than it being the editors of a magazine. USA, don’t be too distainful to see the whimpy whiney pretty-boy brit-pop underbelly of a nation, after all, here is what our “public” thinks is good music: Billboard hot 100: http://tinyurl.com/93a4f
Fugazi – Waiting Room
WTF? Oasis sucks…I mean really. How are they Indie? seriously this list is crazy…though Stone Roses, Pixies, and Blur are all good choices but really? Better list needed please.
will people stop copyin other peoples comments and sayin oasis are shit hu gives a fuck if they are on the list loads they deserve to be cuz there a great band, but i still agree with all the shit list comments.
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.
I gotta say, these comments are fascinating to me. Somewhere along the way, I forgot I was reading about the NME list, and got caught up in the comments left by (I’m assuming) British writers stereotyping Americans. It’s interesting to see how other people stereotype you, particular a culture that is about as close as they come (save Canada, of course). It’s funny to read, anyway (largely because the stereotypes are desperately inaccurate).
Sure, they put other Libertines songs up there but leave out their definitive (and most anthemic) song ever?!
WHERE IS WHAT BECAME OF THE LIKELY LADS?!?!
this list completely blows my mind..
where is my mind?
It’s a crazy situa-sheeeyuuun that there aren’t better choices of Pavement and Pixies on here.
at list the first song that comes to my mind if someone asked me what is the greatest indie anthem of all time is on the list. “Rebellion (Lies)” at 29.
thats about all i can say about the list. how they can come up with a list of the greatest indie anthems of all time with only 5 or so that actually deserve to be on such a list is incredible, even for NME.
i guess it goes to show that voting just doesn’t work.
worst list ever who the fuck works for you guys?
LIVING FOR THE WEEKEND NOT THERE!
Not a better feel good indie anthem ever as good as that.
PFFF DISGRACEFUL LIST
too many people commenting on what they know nothing about, very good list, not sure exactley about the order, but the right tunes none the less, very well done, keep up the good work.
As i say too many people gobbing off about what they dont know, youngens probs…
“Only Shallow” is the greatest indie anthem. It should be New York City’s anthem as Kevin Shields was born and raised there.
According to Wikipedia, an “anthem” can be defined like this: “… The term has evolved to mean a song of celebration, usually acting as a symbol for a certain group of people.”
I find it hard to call something an anthem if it’s less than just a few years old, however.
I’m not even sure what the definiton of Indie is, so I’m gonna go and look it up right now. However, all I do know is that it’s good to see “Mr. Brightside” on a “Top # of All Time” list. I’ll never get over how good it is. I guess that’s all. No need to respond negatively to this comment, seeing as how I admit that I haven’t a good clue on exactly Indie is.
Where is the bloc party!!!
There are no Australian songs on this list. Major drawback. Not too sure as what counts as “indie”, but you’d think that The Saints’ classic punk song “Know your product” would top, or nearly top this list. Or perhaps Do Re Mi’s classic “Man overboard”…a nomination for greatest song of all time, in my view. Joan Jet and the Blackhearts “I lover rock’n'roll” deserves to compete for top spot in this list too.
I think Oasis have only two great songs…Wonderwall, and Free. The latter did not make the list. They wrote a lot of rubbish too, some of which makes this list.
Really, no Aussie songs equals inferior, British centric compilation.
Really just a crappy list, practically all British bands of the last 10 years. It’s a Britpop list, not an indie anthem list. Whoever wondered why there’s no Debaser is right on. Pixies? Beck? Pavement? Barely reperesented, if at all. I accept that indie in Britain means something different than in America and that a lot of the songs on this list aren’t bad, but c’mon.
where r
belle and sebastian
antony and the johnsons
tits
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!
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!