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Cover of Gold Afternoon Fix by The Church
Cover: Gold Afternoon Fix

Song · The Church

“Metropolis” by The Church

From the album Gold Afternoon Fix (1990)

“Metropolis” by The Church appears on 26 radio countdowns from 10 stations between 1990 and 2023. It was first released in 1990 on the album Gold Afternoon Fix. Its best result is #33 on the Live 105 Top 105.3 Songs of 1990. In the combined RockLists rankings it is the #54 alternative song of 1990 and #1,114 alternative song of all time.

26countdowns
10stations
#33best position
0#1 finishes
0top 10 finishes
1990–2023years charted

Watch

The Church - Metropolis

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

"Metropolis" was the lead single from Gold Afternoon Fix (1990), the sixth album by Australian band the Church, and all four members, Steve Kilbey, Peter Koppes, Marty Willson-Piper and Richard Ploog, share the writing credit. Waddy Wachtel produced with the band, and Kilbey sings lead as well as playing bass and keyboards.

It's a gorgeous, restless swirl: the lead guitar tumbles down and then climbs back up gently, the guitar overdubs knot themselves into a dense tangle later on, and a soft, mandolin-like line slips in as an extra hook. AllMusic's Ned Raggett singled out the edge of desperation in Kilbey's voice. American alternative radio took to it, sending it to number one on Billboard's Modern Rock Tracks chart and 11 on Album Rock Tracks, and David Hogan directed the video.

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

RockLists rankings

Alternative & Modern Rock

Indie & Adult Alternative

All Rock Formats

Year-end countdowns

Year#StationCountdownof
1990 69 KROQ Los Angeles, CA KROQ Top 106.7 Songs of 1990 107
1990 63 91X San Diego, CA / Tijuana 91X Top 91 Songs of 1990 91
1990 33 Live 105 San Francisco, CA Live 105 Top 105.3 Songs of 1990 105

All-time and decade countdowns

Year#StationCountdownof
1991 186 WOXY 97X WOXY Modern Rock 500 (1991) 500
1999 427 91X 91X Fat 500 Songs of All-Time (July 1999) 500
1999 744 Q101 Q101 Top 1,011 Songs of All-Time (December 1999) 1017
1999 1348 CD101 CD101 Top 2000 Songs of All-Time (December 1999) 2000
2000 1348 CD101 CD101 Top 2001 Songs of All-Time (December 2000) 2001
2001 1350 CD101 CD101 Top 2002 Songs of All-Time (December 2001) 2002
2002 1349 CD101 CD101 Top 2003 Songs of All-Time (December 2002) 2003
2002 686 Fred (XM 44) Fred XM Top 2002 Songs of All-Time (July 2002) 2002
2003 1334 CD101 CD101 Top 2004 Songs of All-Time (December 2003) 2004
2003 677 Fred (XM 44) Fred XM Top 2044 Songs of All-Time (July 2003) 2044
2004 1334 CD101 CD101 Top 2005 Songs of All-Time (December 2004) 2005
2005 1334 CD101 CD101 Top 2006 Songs of All-Time (December 2005) 1994
2007 925 CD101 CD101 Top 2008 Songs of All-Time (December 2007) 2008
2008 867 CD101 CD101 Top 2009 Songs of All-Time (December 2008) 2009
2009 882 CD101 CD101 Top 2010 Songs of All-Time (December 2009) 2010
2010 911 CD101 CD101 Top 2011 Songs of All-Time (December 2010) 2011
2011 940 CD101 CD101 Top 2012 Songs of All-Time (December 2011) 2011
2013 947 CD101 CD101 Top 2013 Songs of All-Time (December 2013) 2012
2014 966 CD101 CD101 Top 2014 Songs of All-Time (2014) 2013
2021 589 90.9 The Bridge 90.9 The Bridge Top 909 Songs of the '90s 908
2022 843 The Colorado Sound The Colorado Sound Top 900 Songs of the '90s 900
2023 603 The Current The Current's 893 Essential Songs of the '90s 893
2023 747 The Colorado Sound The Colorado Sound Top 800 Songs About Places 800

Charting alongside it in 1990

Best songs of 1990 →
  1. 1Nothing Compares 2 USinéad O'Connor
  2. 2The Only One I KnowThe Charlatans
  3. 3Blue Sky MineMidnight Oil
  4. 4Enjoy the SilenceDepeche Mode
  5. 5Here's Where The Story EndsThe Sundays
  6. 6The Emperor's New ClothesSinéad O'Connor

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