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Cover of A Crow Left of the Murder… by Incubus
Cover: A Crow Left of the Murder…

Song · Incubus

“Megalomaniac” by Incubus

From the album A Crow Left of the Murder… (2004)

“Megalomaniac” by Incubus appears on 47 radio countdowns from 27 stations between 2003 and 2023. It was first released in 2004 on the album A Crow Left of the Murder…. Its best result is #1 on the Radio & Records Top 100 Songs of 2004, and it was voted number one on two countdowns in total. In the combined RockLists rankings it is the #6 alternative song of 2004, #952 alternative song of all time and #49 of the '00s.

47countdowns
27stations
#1best position
2#1 finishes
10top 10 finishes
2003–2023years charted

Watch

Incubus - Megalomaniac

Video from YouTube (IncubusVEVO). Pressing play loads YouTube's player. Watch on YouTube

"Megalomaniac" came out as a single in December 2003, ahead of Incubus's 2004 album A Crow Left of the Murder..., and it's the band baring its teeth. Brandon Boyd sings, Mike Einziger plays guitar, Ben Kenney plays bass, José Pasillas drums and Chris Kilmore handles the turntables, and all five share the writing credit. Brendan O'Brien produced and mixed it, with Nick DiDia recording.

This is alternative metal with a sharpened edge: Einziger's guitar comes in jagged and wiry, Pasillas and Kenney drive the thing like a battering ram, and Boyd sounds closer to a snarl than a croon, spitting out the verses before the chorus swells up big and furious. O'Brien keeps it tight, loud and clean, every hit landing where it should.

It ran all the way to the top of Billboard's Modern Rock Tracks chart and stayed there for six weeks, and it reached the top 30 in Italy, New Zealand and the UK. Epic and Immortal put it out, and "Talk Shows on Mute" followed it.

Written with AI assistance from RockLists chart data, MusicBrainz and Wikipedia.

RockLists rankings

Alternative & Modern Rock

Hard Rock & Metal

All Rock Formats

Year-end countdowns

Year#StationCountdownof
2003 90 WHFS Washington, DC / Baltimore, MD WHFS Top 99.1 Songs of 2003 100
2003 84 Y100 Philadelphia, PA Y100 Top 100 Songs of 2003 100
2003 102 Channel 104.9 San Jose, CA Channel 104.9 Top 104.9 Songs of 2003 105
2003 47 102.1 The Edge Dallas-Fort Worth, TX KDGE Top 102 Songs of 2003 102
2004 2 KROQ Los Angeles, CA KROQ Top 106.7 Songs of 2004 107
2004 20 91X San Diego, CA / Tijuana 91X Top 91 Songs of 2004 91
2004 6 Live 105 San Francisco, CA Live 105 Top 105.3 Songs of 2004 106
2004 10 Q101 Chicago, IL Q101 Top 101 Songs of 2004 101
2004 6 WHFS Washington, DC / Baltimore, MD WHFS Top 99.1 Songs of 2004 100
2004 2 K-Rock New York, NY K-Rock Top 92.3 Songs of 2004 93
2004 16 WFNX Boston, MA WFNX Top 100 Songs of 2004 100
2004 17 107.7 The End Seattle, WA The End Top 77 Songs of 2004 77
2004 3 89X Detroit, MI / Windsor, ON 89X Top 89 Songs of 2004 89
2004 71 CD101 Columbus, OH CD101 Top 101 Songs of 2004 101
2004 11 Y100 Philadelphia, PA Y100 Top 100 Songs of 2004 99
2004 9 CFNY 102.1 The Edge Toronto, ON CFNY Top 102 Songs of 2004 102
2004 13 CHOI Radio X Quebec City, QC CHOI Top 98 Songs of 2004 98
2004 67 The Bear Ottawa, ON The Bear Top 107 Songs of 2004 107
2004 1 The Buzz Burlington, VT / Plattsburgh, NY / Montreal, QC The Buzz Top 99 Songs of 2004 99
2004 44 Channel 104.9 San Jose, CA Channel 104.9 Top 104.9 Songs of 2004 105
2004 18 99X Atlanta, GA 99X Essential 99 of 2004 99
2004 42 102.7 WEQX Southern Vermont and the Capital District of New York (Albany) WEQX Top 102.7 of 2004 103
2004 41 (tie) WBER Rochester, NY WBER Listener Countdown 2004 227
2004 7 X96 Salt Lake City, UT X96 Top 50 Songs of 2004 50
2004 12 88.3 The Sting Cleveland, OH 88.3 The Sting WBWC Top 88 Songs of 2004 88
2004 1 Radio & Records United States (national airplay chart) Radio & Records Top 100 Songs of 2004 100
2004 92 WIRS 107.9 College station WIRS Top 107 Songs of 2004 107

All-time and decade countdowns

Year#StationCountdownof
2004 195 Y100 Y100 Top 300 Songs of All-Time (July 2004) 300
2005 57 96.5 The Buzz 96.5 The Buzz Top 96 of the New Millennium 96
2005 655 99X 99X Freedom of Choice 1000 (2005) 1000
2006 369 KROQ KROQ Flashback 500 (Memorial Day 2006) 500
2006 337 Live 105 Live 105 500 Co-Op Countdown (Memorial Day 2006) 500
2007 158 CD101 CD101 Top 2008 Songs of All-Time (December 2007) 2008
2008 310 KROQ KROQ Flashback 500 (Memorial Day 2008) 500
2008 187 CD101 CD101 Top 2009 Songs of All-Time (December 2008) 2009
2009 231 Live 105 Live 105 Memorial 500 Song List (2009) 500
2009 184 CD101 CD101 Top 2010 Songs of All-Time (December 2009) 2010
2010 95 CFNY 102.1 The Edge 102.1 The Edge Top 200 New Rock Songs of the Millennium 200
2010 171 94.1 The Zone 94.1 The Zone 210 Most Played Songs of the Decade 210
2010 183 CD101 CD101 Top 2011 Songs of All-Time (December 2010) 2011
2011 172 CD101 CD101 Top 2012 Songs of All-Time (December 2011) 2011
2013 164 CD101 CD101 Top 2013 Songs of All-Time (December 2013) 2012
2014 161 CD101 CD101 Top 2014 Songs of All-Time (2014) 2013
2014 293 94.3 WCYY WCYY CYY 500 Most Played Songs (2014) 500
2015 325 94.3 WCYY WCYY CYY 500 Most Played Songs (2015) 500
2019 410 94.3 WCYY WCYY CYY 500 Most Played Songs (2019) 500
2023 408 94.3 WCYY WCYY CYY 500 Most Played Songs (2023) 500

Charting alongside it in 2004

Best songs of 2004 →
  1. 1Somebody Told MeThe Killers
  2. 2American IdiotGreen Day
  3. 3Float OnModest Mouse
  4. 4Take Me OutFranz Ferdinand
  5. 5VertigoU2
  6. 7The ReasonHoobastank

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