RockLists.com

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

The best alternative rock songs of 2015

Six radio stations and charts published year-end countdowns for 2015: 91X, Live 105, 89X, CD101, Studio Brussel and Triple J. Combining every list, the top alternative rock song of 2015 is “Dead Inside” by Muse, which appeared on five of the six countdowns. Six different songs were voted number one somewhere: “Stressed Out” by Twenty One Pilots, “Renegades” by X Ambassadors, “Tear In My Heart” by Twenty One Pilots, “My Type” by Saint Motel and “Mercy” by Muse and others. Muse was the year’s most-charted artist, with four different songs placing 12 times across the countdowns.

6countdowns
328songs charted
6different #1s

Top 100 songs of 2015

All 328 songs →

Ranked by combined points across every 2015 year-end countdown in this format. How it works.

# Song Strength Lists Best #1s
1 Dead Inside Muse
389		 5 #5 –
2 Dreams Beck
381		 5 #4 –
3 Tear In My Heart Twenty One Pilots
368		 4 #1 1
4 First Cold War Kids
365		 4 #2 –
5 Renegades X Ambassadors
335		 4 #1 1
6 Mercy Muse
298		 4 #1 1
7 Little Monster Royal Blood
287		 4 #6 –
8 Black Sun Death Cab for Cutie
274		 4 #4 –
9 Let It Happen Tame Impala
268		 3 #5 –
10 Stressed Out Twenty One Pilots
268		 3 #1 1
11 Lampshades On Fire Modest Mouse
264		 3 #3 –
12 Mountain At My Gates Foals
258		 3 #11 –
13 Crystals Of Monsters And Men
244		 4 #16 –
14 The Wolf Mumford & Sons
236		 4 #10 –
15 Dont Wanna Fight Alabama Shakes
220		 4 #18 –
16 Moaning Lisa Smile Wolf Alice
198		 3 #12 –
17 Molecules Atlas Genius
197		 3 #7 –
18 Nightlight Silversun Pickups
196		 3 #18 –
19 Long Way Down Robert Delong
192		 3 #11 –
20 Could Have Been Me The Struts
191		 3 #3 –
21 Hollow Moon (Bad Wolf) AWOLNATION
189		 2 #5 –
22 The Less I Know the Better Tame Impala
189		 2 #4 –
23 Leave a Trace CHVRCHES
189		 4 #20 –
24 Return To The Moon El Vy
184		 3 #18 –
25 King Kunta Kendrick Lamar
179		 2 #2 –
26 Throne Bring Me the Horizon
176		 3 #22 –
27 2 Heads Coleman Hell
176		 3 #6 –
28 Coming For You The Offspring
169		 2 #4 –
29 S.O.B. Nathaniel Rateliff and the Night Sweats
167		 2 #9 –
30 Ex's & Oh's Elle King
165		 2 #15 –
31 Weight Of Love The Black Keys
164		 3 #14 –
32 The Ground Walks With Time In A Box Modest Mouse
153		 3 #16 –
33 Ship to Wreck Florence + The Machine
151		 3 #14 –
34 Electric Love Borns
149		 2 #24 –
35 Mess Around Cage The Elephant
149		 2 #15 –
36 Believe Mumford & Sons
145		 3 #6 –
37 Ship To Wreck Florence And The Machine
145		 2 #16 –
38 Sedona Houndmouth
143		 2 #2 –
39 Every Other Freckle Alt J
142		 2 #7 –
40 Congregation Foo Fighters
142		 4 #27 –
41 My Type Saint Motel
140		 2 #1 1
42 Shots Imagine Dragons
137		 3 #14 –
43 I Feel Love (Every Million Miles) The Dead Weather
137		 2 #14 –
44 Pedestrian At Best Courtney Barnett
134		 3 #43 –
45 Hallelujah Panic! at the Disco
134		 2 #12 –
46 Mess Is Mine Vance Joy
127		 2 #25 –
47 What Kind Of Man Florence And The Machine
121		 2 #10 –
48 Outta My Mind The Arcs
121		 2 #24 –
49 Fire and the Flood Vance Joy
120		 3 #16 –
50 Nobody Really Cares If You Don't Go To The Party Courtney Barnett
119		 3 #31 –
51 Black Mambo Glass Animals
118		 2 #39 –
52 I Am AWOLNATION
109		 2 #15 –
53 Nearly Forgot My Broken Heart Chris Cornell
109		 2 #27 –
54 Greek Tragedy Wombats
108		 2 #29 –
55 Outside Foo Fighters
104		 3 #31 –
56 The Ghosts Of Beverly Drive Death Cab for Cutie
101		 3 #23 –
57 Hoops The Rubens
100		 1 #1 1
58 Thank God For Girls Weezer
98		 3 #25 –
59 Hungry Dotan
98		 1 #2 –
60 Lean On Major Lazer & DJ Snake
98		 1 #3 –
61 Uma Thurman Fall Out Boy
97		 2 #17 –
62 Failure Breaking Benjamin
97		 1 #4 –
63 Bunker Balthazar
96		 1 #3 –
64 Everything Is Wrong Interpol
95		 2 #42 –
65 Dearly Departed Shakey Graves
95		 1 #6 –
66 The Trouble with Us Marcus Marr & Chet Faker
95		 1 #6 –
67 Joaquim Oscar and the Wolf
94		 1 #4 –
68 Do You Remember Jarryd James
94		 1 #7 –
69 Budapest George Ezra
93		 1 #8 –
70 The Buzz Hermitude
93		 1 #8 –
71 Evil's My Friend Rancid
92		 1 #8 –
72 Can't Feel My Face The Weeknd
92		 1 #9 –
73 Magnets Disclosure
91		 1 #10 –
74 What Kind of Man Florence + The Machine
90		 1 #11 –
75 Never Be Meg Mac
90		 1 #11 –
76 The World I Used To Know We Came As Romans
90		 1 #10 –
77 American You Yelawolf
89		 2 #29 –
78 You Were Right Rüfüs
89		 1 #12 –
79 Two Tides of Ice The Van Jets
88		 1 #7 –
80 Ocean Drive Duke Dumont
88		 1 #13 –
81 Bad Habit The Kooks
88		 1 #12 –
82 Hotline Bling Drake
87		 1 #14 –
83 Next Storm Frank Turner
87		 1 #13 –
84 Cut the Cord Shinedown
87		 1 #13 –
85 Psycho Muse
86		 2 #19 –
86 Gloria The Black Box Revelation
86		 1 #8 –
87 Like Soda Violent Soho
86		 1 #15 –
88 The Ghost of Beverly Hills Death Cab for Cutie
84		 1 #17 –
89 Cecilia and the Satellite Andrew McMahon in the Wilderness
84		 1 #15 –
90 New Americana Halsey
84		 1 #5 –
91 Private Revolution K's Choice
84		 1 #9 –
92 Middle DJ Snake
84		 1 #17 –
93 Sorry Meg Myers
84		 2 #49 –
94 Footsteps Pop Evil
83		 1 #16 –
95 Downtown Macklemore & Ryan Lewis
83		 1 #18 –
96 Kathleen Catfish and the Bottlemen
83		 2 #21 –
97 Big Decisions My Morning Jacket
83		 1 #19 –
98 Blank Space I Prevail
82		 1 #17 –
99 Then What Balthazar
82		 1 #10 –
100 The Hills The Weeknd
82		 1 #19 –

Every station’s number one of 2015

StationNumber one songCountdown
91X Stressed Out Twenty One Pilots 91X Top 91 Songs of 2015
Live 105 Renegades X Ambassadors Live 105 Top 25 Songs of 2015
89X Tear In My Heart Twenty One Pilots 89X Top 89 Songs of 2015
CD101 My Type Saint Motel CD101 Top 102.5 Songs of 2015
Studio Brussel Mercy Muse Studio Brussel De Eindafrekening 2015
Triple J Hoops The Rubens Triple J Hottest 100 of 2015

All 2015 countdowns in this ranking

About the 2015 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 2015 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 six 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.