“We Can’t Be Friends” by American Hi-Fi

The third album by alternative rock band American Hi-Fi was a pretty big departure for the band. With Butch Walker at the helm as producer, the album was markedly more lighthearted and melodic than its grittier predecessors.   

“Hearts on Parade” was released in Japan in 2004, but got its US release in 2005.

Most people remember this band for their breakout single, “Flavor of the Weak”, which just missed the Billboard Top 40 in 2001. The leadoff single from “Hearts on Parade” was “The Geeks Get the Girls”, but it failed to chart. Nevertheless, the album reached #129 on the Billboard Top 200.

The track I keep going back to is “We Can’t Be Friends”. The band's sense of humor is on full display in the lyrics, and the chorus is one of the catchiest the band has ever written. Overall, a very slick and memorable song!

“Playing The Game” by AM

“Troubled Times” may be one of the best albums of the 2000s that you’ve never heard – but I’m willing to bet you’ll recognize some of the tracks. While none found its way onto the Billboard Top 100 chart, all 10 songs on this debut album by AM were placed in a TV show or movie.

“Troubled Times” is the 2005 debut album from singer/songwriter AM.

My favorite from the record is the catchy gem, “Playing The Game” – check it out below.

“Ordinary” by The Alternate Routes

Singer/songwriter Tim Warren and guitarist Eric Donnelly formed The Alternate Routes in the early 2000s. You may have heard their single from 2007 called “Time Is A Runaway”, which the band played on Late Night with Conan O’Brien, or their more recent song, “Nothing More”, which received airplay on the popular TV show NCIS. “Nothing More” was inspired by the group Newtown Kindness, which formed following the 2012 school shooting in the band’s home state of Connecticut.

The Alternate Routes first released their debut record, “Good and Reckless and True”, in 2005. It was re-released by Vanguard Records in 2007 with different artwork.

“Ordinary” is the lead-off track from “Good and Reckless and True”, and remains one of the best songs I’ve ever heard. I’m not alone in acknowledging this song's greatness, as it won an Independent Music Award in 2006. 

Warren is at his most earnest singing this song, asking “When you die will you be surrounded by friends?” The song lures you in gently and then builds to a chill-inducing climax – Warren’s vocal performance towards the end will leave you speechless.

“Fallen Angel” by Alphaville

Hailing from Germany, the synth pop band Alphaville struggled to find chart success in the US despite their notable achievements in Europe. Even “Forever Young”, the song that comes to mind when most people think of Alphaville, only reached #65 on the US Billboard chart.

“Forever Young” was the first and most successful album from Alphaville. Released in 1984, it went to #1 in three European countries, yet only reached #180 in the US.

The sound of 80s synth pop is unmistakable, instantly dating the song to that era. Wildly popular at the time, especially in dance clubs, it is a bygone genre. Many people still love it for nostalgic reasons, but buried under all those keyboards were some mighty good songs.

I submit that “Fallen Angel” by Alphaville as one of them. It gets off to a fairly unremarkable start, but then launches into one of the most beautifully addictive choruses of the decade.

Another hidden gem on this release is the peppy song, “Lies”.

“Fever” by Aerosmith

The mighty Aerosmith needs no introduction, but there is a deep track on their massively successful album, “Get A Grip” that deserves highlighting.

“Get A Grip” became Aerosmith’s first #1 album in 1993. Despite the grunge takeover, this traditional rock record spawned four top 40 singles and went platinum 7 times.

Aerosmith was one of the few classic rock bands that sustained a string of hits during the 90s after grunge put most glam/hair band/hard rock bands to bed. The four singles released from “Get A Grip” that hit the Billboard Top 100 were all power ballads and doctored by hit-makers who knew how to make something radio-friendly.

The strategy worked well, but as a consequence there are some great rockers on “Get A Grip” that went overlooked. One of the best is “Fever”, a rousing rocker in the finest Aerosmith tradition that needed no tweaking by so-called “song doctors”.

In a rather unexpected move, country superstar Garth Brooks later covered this Aerosmith tune as “The Fever”, with altered lyrics. In an even more unexpected move, Steven Tyler will be releasing a country album this year.

Despite the album’s success, and the many others in Aerosmith’s impressive catalogue, the band never hit #1 on the singles chart until 1998 with “I Don’t Want To Miss A Thing”, written by Diane Warren for the Bruce Willis movie “Armageddon”.  Incidentally, Steven Tyler’s daughter Liv co-starred in this movie.

“Drifting Apart” by Alien Ant Farm

Alien Ant Farm, a modern rock band audacious enough to title its debut indie record “Greatest Hits”, quickly found success in the early 2000s. Their major label debut, “ANThology”, soared to #11, buoyed by their kickass cover of Michael Jackson’s “Smooth Criminal”, which went to #23 on the Billboard Top 100. To this day, "Smooth Criminal" stands as the only charting single for this underrated band. 

The band’s 2003 sophomore effort, “truANT”, would not meet that level of success, largely due to folding of the record label. Solid singles like “These Days” and “Glow” mustered considerable airplay, but many of the other potential hits on this fine record went unheard.

One of the overlooked cuts includes “Drifting Apart”, a song about the different directions people go. A very cool pre-chorus builds up to a righteous chorus that will be stuck in your head all day.

“Everything’s Fine” by The Ravines

I’ve waited a long time for the follow-up to the outstanding 2005 debut, “Manifesto of a Broken Heart” by the UK power pop and rock group, The Ravines. “Everything’s Fine” came out this year and was certainly worth the wait.

There’s no shortage of fantastic, melt-in-your-ear songs on the new record, but the title track is easily one of the catchiest tunes I’ve heard in a long time. I’ll be reaching for this one anytime I need a little pick-me-up.

Don’t wait any longer…go get their entire catalogue today and instantly brighten your music collection.