Year-end consensus · Alternative & Modern Rock · 33 countdowns combined
The best alternative rock songs of 2010
33 radio stations and charts published year-end countdowns for 2010: KROQ, 91X, Q101, WFNX, 89X, CD101, CFNY 102.1 The Edge, The Buzz, 102.7 WEQX, 103.1 The Buzz, 105.7 The Point, 88.3 The Sting, 89.7 The River, 89.9 WLCA, 90.5 WERG, 94.1 The Zone, 94.3 WCYY, 94.5 The Buzz, 96X, 99 Rock, ALT 104.5, Channel 92.3, FM 102/1, Impact 89FM, KFMA, KJEE 92.9, KSLG, Studio Brussel, WBER, WLOY, X96, Triple J and WBRU. Combining every list, the top alternative rock song of 2010 is “Animal” by Neon Trees, which appeared on 27 of the 33 countdowns and was voted number one by two of them. 20 different songs were voted number one somewhere: “Lay Me Down” by The Dirty Heads Featuring Rome (6 stations), “Little Lion Man” by Mumford and Sons (6 stations), “Lisztomania” by Phoenix (2 stations), “Nightmare” by Avenged Sevenfold (2 stations) and “Animal” by Neon Trees (2 stations) and others. Muse was the year’s most-charted artist, with six different songs placing 75 times across the countdowns.
Top 100 songs of 2010
All 821 songs →Ranked by combined points across every 2010 year-end countdown in this format. How it works.
Every station’s number one of 2010
All 2010 countdowns in this ranking
- KROQ KROQ Top 30 Songs of 2010
- 91X 91X Top 91 Songs of 2010
- Q101 Q101 Top 101 Songs of 2010
- WFNX WFNX Top 101 Songs of 2010
- 89X 89X Top 89 Songs of 2010
- CD101 CD101 Top 101 Songs of 2010
- CFNY 102.1 The Edge 102.1 The Edge Top 102 Songs of 2010
- The Buzz The Buzz Top 99 Songs of 2010
- 102.7 WEQX WEQX Top 102.7 of 2010
- 103.1 The Buzz Buzz 103.1 The 103 Most Played Buzz Cuts of 2010
- 105.7 The Point 105.7 The Point Top 105 Songs of 2010
- 88.3 The Sting 88.3 The Sting WBWC Top 88 Songs of 2010
- 89.7 The River 89.7 The River Top 89 of 2010
- 89.9 WLCA WLCA Top 89 of 2010
- 90.5 WERG WERG Top 90 of 2010
- 94.1 The Zone 94.1 The Zone Most Played Songs of 2010
- 94.3 WCYY WCYY Top 50 of 2010
- 94.5 The Buzz 94.5 The Buzz Top 94 of 2010
- 96X 96X Top 20 of 2010
- 99 Rock 99Rock WFRD Top 99 of 2010
- ALT 104.5 Radio 104.5 Top 50.5 Songs of 2010
- Channel 92.3 Channel 92.3 Top 92 Songs of 2010
- FM 102/1 FM 102/1 Top 50 of 2010
- Impact 89FM Impact 89FM Top 89 of 2010
- KFMA KFMA Top 50 Songs of 2010
- KJEE 92.9 KJEE Top 92 Songs of 2010
- KSLG KSLG Top 94 Slugtunez of 2010
- Studio Brussel Studio Brussel De Eindafrekening 2010
- WBER WBER Listener Countdown 2010
- WLOY WLOY Top 50 of 2010
- X96 X96 Top 50 Songs of 2010
- Triple J Triple J Hottest 100 of 2010
- WBRU WBRU Top 95 Songs of 2010
About the 2010 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 2010 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 33 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.