RockLists.com

Year-end consensus · Alternative & Modern Rock · 18 countdowns combined

The best alternative rock songs of 2008

18 radio stations and charts published year-end countdowns for 2008: KROQ, 91X, Live 105, CFNY 102.1 The Edge, 102.7 WEQX, 103.1 The Buzz, 105.7 The Point, 88.3 The Sting, 94.1 The Zone, 99 Rock, ALT 104.5, KFMA, KSLG, KWOD, Studio Brussel, WBER, WVBR and Triple J. Combining every list, the top alternative rock song of 2008 is “Sex On Fire” by Kings of Leon, which appeared on 18 of the 18 countdowns and was voted number one by one of them. 18 different songs were voted number one somewhere: “You're Gonna Go Far, Kid” by The Offspring, “2AM” by Slightly Stoopid, “Viva La Vida” by Coldplay, “Pork And Beans” by Weezer and “You Don't Know Me” by Ben Folds and others. Foo Fighters was the year’s most-charted artist, with six different songs placing 41 times across the countdowns.

18countdowns
686songs charted
18different #1s

Top 100 songs of 2008

All 686 songs →

Ranked by combined points across every 2008 year-end countdown in this format. How it works.

# Song Strength Lists Best #1s
1 Sex On Fire Kings of Leon
1,426		 18 #1 1
2 Pork And Beans Weezer
1,390		 17 #1 2
3 Viva La Vida Coldplay
1,331		 17 #1 2
4 Let It Die Foo Fighters
1,173		 15 #2 –
5 I Will Possess Your Heart Death Cab for Cutie
1,155		 15 #1 1
6 You're Gonna Go Far, Kid The Offspring
1,049		 14 #1 1
7 Hammerhead The Offspring
998		 14 #2 –
8 Troublemaker Weezer
962		 13 #7 –
9 Handlebars Flobots
956		 12 #2 –
10 Believe The Bravery
951		 11 #2 –
11 I'm Not Over Carolina Liar
948		 14 #13 –
12 Re-Education (Through Labor) Rise Against
929		 14 #4 –
13 Human The Killers
916		 17 #11 –
14 Inside The Fire Disturbed
865		 11 #3 –
15 Long Road to Ruin Foo Fighters
861		 12 #5 –
16 Salute Your Solution The Raconteurs
817		 14 #4 –
17 Time To Pretend MGMT
812		 13 #1 1
18 The Pretender Foo Fighters
804		 11 #1 1
19 Volet Hill Coldplay
781		 16 #12 –
20 Love Me Dead Ludo
754		 11 #2 –
21 A-Punk Vampire Weekend
745		 12 #6 –
22 Given Up Linkin Park
742		 10 #6 –
23 Discipline Nine Inch Nails
731		 13 #4 –
24 If I Had Eyes Jack Johnson
727		 11 #7 –
25 Paper Planes M.I.A.
687		 10 #2 –
26 Believe Staind
676		 11 #3 –
27 The Day That Never Comes Metallica
661		 13 #8 –
28 The Western World Pennywise
651		 11 #1 1
29 Lost! Coldplay
625		 11 #1 1
30 Love Hurts Incubus
620		 12 #13 –
31 Shadow of the Day Linkin Park
617		 9 #4 –
32 I Don't Care Apocalyptica
614		 8 #1 1
33 Rise Above This Seether
607		 10 #3 –
34 Empty Walls Serj Tankian
593		 10 #10 –
35 Shadowplay The Killers
560		 10 #8 –
36 Paralyzer Finger Eleven
519		 6 #6 –
37 Bleed It Out Linkin Park
515		 9 #5 –
38 Cath Death Cab for Cutie
513		 14 #25 –
39 They Say Scars On Broadway
498		 9 #20 –
40 The Good Left Undone Rise Against
495		 7 #3 –
41 Psycho Puddle of Mudd
495		 7 #1 1
42 Bodysnatchers Radiohead
493		 9 #9 –
43 Kids MGMT
488		 8 #5 –
44 Gamma Ray Beck
481		 10 #10 –
45 Electric Feel MGMT
475		 6 #2 –
46 crushcrushcrush Paramore
472		 9 #11 –
47 Wild International One Day As A Lion
468		 9 #21 –
48 Sometime Around Midnight The Airborne Toxic Event
466		 10 #9 –
49 Nine In The Afternoon Panic! at the Disco
451		 10 #5 –
50 Falling Down Atreyu
448		 7 #13 –
51 Always Where I Need to Be The Kooks
444		 11 #33 –
52 Supernatural Superserious R.E.M.
407		 8 #10 –
53 Decode Paramore
404		 10 #26 –
54 Never Too Late Three Days Grace
402		 6 #12 –
55 Fake It Seether
394		 6 #2 –
56 Leave Out All The Rest Linkin Park
393		 9 #16 –
57 It's Not My Time 3 Doors Down
382		 6 #14 –
58 Help Me Alkaline Trio
382		 9 #29 –
59 Beautiful 10 Years
374		 7 #18 –
60 Stop! Against Me!
365		 8 #13 –
61 You Don'T Know Me Ben Folds
362		 4 #1 1
62 Addicted Saving Abel
359		 5 #4 –
63 What I've Done Linkin Park
356		 6 #22 –
64 Feel Good Drag Anberlin
339		 6 #9 –
65 Something Is Not Right With Me Cold War Kids
339		 9 #35 –
66 Icky Thump The White Stripes
331		 5 #8 –
67 Don't You Evah Spoon
324		 6 #27 –
68 Bad Girlfriend Theory of a Deadman
320		 5 #11 –
69 The Shock Of The Lightning Oasis
320		 6 #17 –
70 Mother Mary Foxboro Hot Tubs
314		 8 #24 –
71 Almost Easy Avenged Sevenfold
313		 6 #13 –
72 Sky Is Over Serj Tankian
310		 9 #38 –
73 The Resolution Jack's Mannequin
310		 6 #9 –
74 Slow Burn Atreyu
301		 5 #14 –
75 Shut Up And Let Me Go The Ting Tings
292		 7 #16 –
76 Undead Hollywood Undead
280		 7 #34 –
77 I Get It Chevelle
276		 5 #16 –
78 Jigsaw Falling Into Place Radiohead
273		 5 #7 –
79 Psychosocial Slipknot
269		 6 #23 –
80 2AM Slightly Stoopid
268		 6 #1 1
81 You Atmosphere
266		 6 #19 –
82 Second Chance Shinedown
259		 7 #22 –
83 Propane Nightmares Pendulum
257		 8 #31 –
84 Afterlife Avenged Sevenfold
255		 5 #8 –
85 Big Casino Jimmy Eat World
255		 5 #19 –
86 L.E.S. Artistes Santigold
248		 4 #21 –
87 Hope Jack Johnson
246		 6 #30 –
88 Float Flogging Molly
245		 5 #29 –
89 I Kissed A Girl Katy Perry
243		 4 #18 –
90 That's Not My Name The Ting Tings
243		 4 #9 –
91 So Happy Theory of a Deadman
242		 4 #16 –
92 I'm Not Jesus Apocalyptica
242		 5 #5 –
93 Always Be Jimmy Eat World
234		 7 #37 –
94 Breakdown Seether
233		 4 #30 –
95 Never miss a beat Kaiser Chiefs
232		 3 #13 –
96 Devour Shinedown
230		 5 #26 –
97 Knights of Cydonia Muse
224		 3 #4 –
98 New Dark Ages Bad Religion
218		 3 #23 –
99 I'm Amazed My Morning Jacket
215		 3 #8 –
100 Use Somebody Kings of Leon
211		 4 #3 –

Every station’s number one of 2008

StationNumber one songCountdown
KROQ You're Gonna Go Far, Kid The Offspring KROQ Top 106.7 Songs of 2008
91X 2AM Slightly Stoopid 91X Top 91 Songs of 2008
Live 105 Viva La Vida Coldplay Live 105 Top 105.3 Songs of 2008
CFNY 102.1 The Edge Pork And Beans Weezer 102.1 The Edge's Top 102 Songs of 2008
102.7 WEQX You Don't Know Me Ben Folds WEQX Top 102.7 of 2008
103.1 The Buzz Breath Breaking Benjamin Buzz 103.1 Top 103 Buzz Cuts of 2008
105.7 The Point Psycho Puddle of Mudd 105.7 The Point Top 106 Songs of 2008
88.3 The Sting Sweet & Low Augustana 88.3 The Sting WBWC Top 88 Songs of 2008
94.1 The Zone I'll Keep Your Memory Vague Finger Eleven 94.1 The Zone Most Played Songs of 2008
99 Rock All The Same Sick Puppies 99Rock WFRD Top 99 of 2008
ALT 104.5 I'm Outta Time Oasis Radio 104.5 Top 50.5 Songs of 2008
KFMA The Western World Pennywise KFMA Top 50 Songs of 2008
KSLG Time to Pretend MGMT KSLG Top 94 of 2008
KWOD New Low Middle Class Rut KWOD Top 106 Songs of 2008
Studio Brussel The architect dEUS Studio Brussel De Eindafrekening 2008
WBER I Will Possess Your Heart Death Cab For Cutie WBER Listener Countdown 2008
WVBR Lost Coldplay WVBR Top 93 of 2008
Triple J Sex on Fire Kings of Leon Triple J Hottest 100 of 2008

All 2008 countdowns in this ranking

About the 2008 ranking

Radio stations count down their listeners’ favorite songs at the end of every year. Each station’s list reflects its own audience, so a song that ruled Los Angeles could miss the top ten in Chicago. To find the songs that defined 2008 everywhere, RockLists gives every appearance percentile-based points (a number one earns 100, the last position earns close to zero) and adds them up across all 18 qualifying countdowns. Each radio format is ranked separately, so classic rock and hard rock countdowns never shift the alternative results; use the tabs above to switch formats. Read the full methodology.