Has it really been 20 years?
Today, we're going to stick to the music of 2001. We've got the top 10 videos from 2001 according to VH1. It's hard to believe these songs are 20 years old.
Train started putting things together as early as 1993. Their first self-titled album did okay at radio but, it wasn't until 2001's smash single Drops of Jupiter hit the airwaves that things really blew up for the band.
"The song was a massive hit; it entered the Hot 100 on March 10, 2001, and spent over a year on the chart (54 weeks) before being relegated to the recurrents chart. The song won a Grammy Award for Best Rock Song, as well as a Grammy Award for Best Arrangement, which was written by Paul Buckmaster, known for his string arrangements for Elton John. (The band reportedly hired Buckmaster expressly to create a sound similar to his arrangement for John's "Burn Down The Mission".)" - Wiki
They broke up in 2006 but put things back together in 2009. They continue to make music.
Train - Drops of Jupiter (Tell Me)
This LA band came out of the gate with a winner. Hanging by a Moment was number for three weeks on the Billboard charts. Even now, the song resonates with me. They've continued to make music. In April of this year, Lifehouse released a new single, . It's first-rate.
Lifehouse - Hanging by a Moment
Singer, songwriter, musician, producer, and actor, Lenny Kravitz has been wowing crowds since the '80s with his charisma and guitar playing bravado. Although Again was technically released in 2000 on his Greatest Hits album, it made its way to the charts in 2001. The only new song on the album, clearly Lenny believed it would be going to be well-received, winning Kravitz a Grammy Award for Best Male Rock Vocal Performance in 2001.
It's a memorable track, with a classy video. It's hard to believe it's been 20 years!
Lenny Kravitz - Again
Recorded at Moby's home studio, South Side is one of Moby's most commercially successful singles in North America, becoming his only solo single to appear on the US Billboard Hot 100, where it peaked at number 14. In Canada, the song reached number three on the Canadian Singles Chart. It sits at number four on the VH1 2001 40 Top Videos of the Year.
"During the recording sessions for Moby's fifth studio album Play, Gwen Stefani, lead singer of the rock band No Doubt, offered to perform guest vocals for "South Side". Around the time of the song's recording, No Doubt had recently achieved substantial commercial success with their album Tragic Kingdom, and Moby reflected that he "couldn't figure out why she'd want to go into the studio with me. She was a big rock star and I was a has-been." Moby was impressed by her vocal performance, but he struggled to produce an adequate mix of the song with her vocals, and ultimately left them off the version included on Play." - Wiki
Moby featuring Gwen Stefani - South Side
Dido. Her name is short and thanks to her talent, it's memorable. Dido was born in England on Christmas day and named Florian Cloud de Bounevialle O'Malley Armstrong. That's quite a mouthful! I bet she has trouble with online forms.
She's crossed genres, dipping her toe into electropop, downtempo, trip-hop, folktronica, and folk-pop. She sings, plays piano, guitar, drums and the omnichord.
The singer reached international success with her debut album No Angel (1999). Hit singles from that album include Here with Me and Thank You. That album sold over 21 million copies worldwide and paved the path for her to win multiple awards, including two Brit Awards: Best British Female and Best British Album, and the MTV Europe Music Award for Best New Act. Thank You entered the Billboard Hot 100 at number 80 in January 2001 and peaked at number three in April 2001. The first verse of Thank You is sampled in her collaboration with Eminem's, hit Stan.
This song holds up today. I love the house in the video. This song sits at number 5 on the Top 10 VH1 Videos from 2001.
Dido - Thank You
Sugar Ray's 2001 self-titled album is where When It's Over appeared. While it never reached the heights of Fly, it did hit number 13 on the US charts. It sits at number six on the Top 10 VH1 Videos from 2001. The video features a white, red, and black theme, and features each band member's idea of what the video should look like is hilarious. The music is super chill and fits the California vibe that finishes out the video.
Things to watch for at the end. Sugar Ray's mascot, the bulldog, and the scooter accident.
For a band who started out playing hardcore punk, they've made some zigs including a sound that fused glam metal and hardcore punk with funk, sample-based hip-hop, new wave, disco, dub, reggae, alternative metal, hard rock, punk rock, rap metal, pop-rock, power pop, R&B and soul music. When It's Over screams yacht rock to me.
Sugar Ray's last album, Little Yachty was released in 2019.
Sugar Ray - When It's Over
This was the only track on the list that I didn't immediately recognize. However, by the time they hit the chorus, it all came back to me.
Fuel Hemorrhage (In My Hands)
Two words come to mind when I think about Aerosmith's Jaded - monumental pageantry. It's classic Aerosmith and by album 13, they've figured out who they are. Jaded was the first single off Just Push Play and it hit the top ten in the US and internationally very quickly. It's the last song to hit the top ten for the band.
Watch for Mila Kunas as the jaded girl.
Aerosmith - Jaded
Alicia Keys debut song, Fallin' hit number one in the US. Released April 2, 2001, Songs in A Minor won three Grammy Awards in 2002, including Song of the Year, Best R&B Song, and Best Female R&B Vocal Performance, and was also nominated for Record of the Year.
The video features Keys is sitting at a piano and then hitting the street, travelling to a prison to visit her incarcerated boyfriend. It's a gorgeous song, with beautiful piano and Alicia's range is transcendent.
Nominated for the Hot 100 Single of the Year, Fallin' lost the award to Lifehouse's Hanging by a Moment. I think she was robbed and I love Hanging by a Moment.
Alicia Keys - Fallin'
There's something soft and dreamy about the opening sequence for Incubus' Drive. The idea for the drawing portion of the video comes from M.C. Escher's Drawing Hands. The song is a captivating ballad, more mainstream than the band's longtime fans had grown accustomed to. This "different" sound opened up the band's reach out into the world. Drive was the third single release from Incubus' third studio album, Make Yourself.
Drive was their highest-charting song, and it was released on November 20th, 2000. It went to number one on the US Billboard Modern Rock Tracks chart on March 3, 2001. The song also won Billboard's award for Modern Rock Single of the Year. The video features a simplistic musical session intercut with a rotoscoped animation of Brandon Boyd drawing himself. Boyd and drummer Jose Pasillas took care of the animation portion. This video was also nominated at the 2001 MTV Video Music Awards for Best Group Video but lost to the award to NSYNC.
Incubus - Drive
Bonus Tracks
Although this track didn't make VH1's list, it's been stuck in my head for over a week. I pass it on to you. You're welcome!
Basement Jaxx - Where's Your Head At ( Official Video ) Rooty
Outkast - Ms. Jackson
Winner of the 2001 BET Awards Ms. Jackson is one of the best videos ever! Forever, ever! Animals bopping their heads along is just icing on the cake. The cinematography is gorgeous, story work brilliant, but the song stands alone. Compelling rhymes, icon chorus, and an overall kickass song.
