Best of the Rest of the Top 40: 2002

The year is now 2002, which, in this list, appears to have been the Golden Age of Nu-Metal. We have 32 songs on this list. What’s your favorite?

Previous polls: 1956 1957 1958 1959 1960 1961 1962 1963 1964 1965 1966 1967 1968 1969 1970 1971 1972 1973 1974 1975 1976 1977 1978 1979 1980 1981 1982 1983 1984 1985 1986 1987 1988 1989 1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001

Best #1 single polls: 1955-56 1957 1958 1959 1960 1961 1962 1963 1964 1965 1966 1967 1968 1969 1970 1971 1972 1973 1974 1975 1976 1977 1978 1979 1980 1981 1982 1983 1984 1985 1986 1987 1988 1989 1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 1950s 1960s 1970s 1980s 1990s 2000s 2010s All-time

Hey, I still recognize some songs from this year!

Went with Jimmy Eat World over Sheryl Crow: “Soak Up the Sun” was just kinda there, really.

Creed’s on the list twice. Betcha they still get zero votes, unless someone votes for them just to prove me wrong.

And the best thing about the Avril Lavigne song was the Al Yankovic parody.

I cast my vote for that Default song “Wasting My Time”, a very 9/11 era alternative rock song.

Few others that I liked, though none could hold up against my vote. Many of these songs reek of that time, though not a bad thing necessarily.

Eminem’s “Without Me” is easily the highest-rated song in the world-famous Ponch8 Music Rating System. Other decent songs included “The Middle” and “Whenever, Wherever.” Eminem joins Stevie Wonder (1974) and the Spice Girls (1997) by winning my vote twice in the same year (#1 song and best of the rest of the top 40). (Kesha is certain to join the club in 2010.)

Nickelback and Creed can fight to the death to determine who is dead-ass last.

Vanessa carlton - who I once would not have considered, but now am a total fan of. *White Houses *was the song that sold me on her on relisten, but even A Thousand Miles is great.

I think that’s the song that drives me MAD because it has a siren sound in it. I would hear it on the radio and start looking for the ambulance.

Shakira’s Whenever, Wherever is the only song here that I’d listen to willingly so…

Without me was amusing, though.

Eminem for me, too. Good lord, there are a lot of steaming turds on this list, but I loathe nu-metal, so that would explain my viewpoint.

Without Me is my clear winner. Default and Fat Joe were worthy of consideration. Hard to believe that Vanessa Carlton song is 13 years old. I thought there were big things in her future.

A good year for the ladies. I like Shakira, but I’m not familiar with that song, so I went north rather than south, and surprised myself by picking Avril Lavigne.

(I also enjoy Rakim’s wordplay, but again I don’t know that track).

I opened this thread to vote for Coldplay’s “Clocks,” only to become astonished at its absence from the hit parade. I mean, it’s pretty much the one song from 2002 that I can even bring to mind (except for “Complicated,” which isn’t all that good).