Top 15 Favorite Songs by...A DAY TO REMEMBER

     Yesterday I kicked off a new series of posts revealing my top 15 songs for a certain band.  Blink-182 kicked off the festivities and now today, we move on to another top band of mine, A Day to Remember.  The year 2011 has been that of A Day to Remember's for me.  A band I've known about for several years, but only a few random songs here and there.  Then What Separates Me from You was introduced to me and everything changed.  That album has become one of my favorite CDs of all-time.  A Day to Remember has some different sounding albums, meaning that their most recent one is pretty different than the early ones.  I always enjoyed that in a band, a sense of evolution and growth as musicians is good.  Of course, the top 15 songs of mine will follow after the jump, but here are the songs that just didn't quite make the cut.  2nd Sucks, You Be Tails, I'll Be Sonic, Welcome to the Family, Since U Been Gone, This is the House that Doubt Built, Over My Head (Cable Car), Out of Time, NJ Legion Iced Tea, Start the Shooting, & Mr. Highway's Thinking about the End.  Now then, time for the best of the best...


15 - Homesick (Homesick)

This song doesn't waste any time.  Opening guitar chords that lead directly to Jeremy McKinnon rocking your socks off.  When I saw A Day to Remember live at Warped Tour this past summer, I stood off (extremely exhausted from the day's festivities) in the distance enjoying the show from a far and they opened with this song.  Somehow the guys still managed to pump me up even though I was much too far away to even remotely be considered part of the crowd.  It's a hell of a song from a solid album.  Homesick, the album was produced by Chad Gilbert (lead guitarist of New Found Glory) & mixed by guitarist of Killswitch Engage, Adam Dutkiewicz.  That's a hell of a team right there.

14 - Fast Forward to 2012 (For Those Who Have Heart)

This is how you start off an album.  Early 2007 saw the release of A Day to Remember's 2nd studio album, For Those Who Have Heart, and Fast Forward to 2012 was the track that kicked it off.  It's a short song, but it manages to pack enough of a punch worthy enough of cracking this top 15, for me.

13 - The Plot to Bomb the Panhandle (For Those Who Have Heart)

This music video has Ron Jeremy in it.  Need I say more?

12 - Another Song about the Weekend (Homesick)

It's no secret that the A Day to Remember I prefer, personally, is one more driven by Jeremy singing and backed up in chorus by screaming.  The band manages to incorporate both that style and the one where screaming is the dominant sound impeccably, so as to satisfy the needs of all their fans.  Another Song about the Weekend is a prime example of what I love in A Day to Remember.  Jeremy belted out amazing vocals filled with emotions and being complimented perfectly by the guitars, bass, drums & screaming.  I love that they incorporate a fellow song on the album Homesick, by shouting it in the background of the chorus (Have Faith in Me).

11 - Have Faith in Me (Homesick)

Speaking of Have Faith in Me.  Another fantastic A Day to Remember song that is EXACTLY what I'm looking for in this band.  Jeremy whispers the words as the track begins and you can feel the anticipation of what's to come.  You know this isn't an acoustic slow song, but he sings like it's one regardless in the beginning.  This song reminds me of a roller coaster, to be honest.  You start off slow, as you meticulously get drawn up the hill and then BAM!  You're down a huge hill through a series of drops & loops exhilarating you.  Also, this music video has a fucking sing-along with it.  Can't get much cooler than that.

10 - I'm Made of Wax, Larry, What Are You Made Of? (Homesick)

I'm Made of Wax, Larry, What Are You Made Of?  Quite a mouthful for a title, which is fitting because this song is a kickass 3 minutes of walloping good fun.  It's the ideal "GET PUMPED!#ew$rfdwefcrsdfe!!!!!!!!!!!!111111111one!!!!!!won!!!!1" song for me.  I'll be honest, if I needed to punch an old lady, for whatever reason, I would have to listen to this song.  this track is the only one that could pump me up for anything.  Plus, I mean, it has frickin' kickball in the music video...

9 - The Downfall of Us All (Homesick)

Da da da de da da da...da da da de da da da...LET'S GO!  I commended For Those Who Have Heart for starting out with a bang by introducing the album with Fast Forward to 2012.  Now it's time to worship Homesick for starting off with an even better song. The Downfall of Us All is amazing.  Words cannot describe how much I love and appreciate the lyrics to this song.  I mentioned before how I preferred a more melodic A Day to Remember as opposed to the hardcore version, well not everyone shares that same viewpoint as me.  Like so many bands before them, A Day to Remember has faced scrutiny for their work progressing and changing through the years.  This song is the best "fuck you" song I've ever heard to those people.  I'm gonna need you to try to follow along.  I did the best that I could to try to write you songs.  Now go tell them we sold out, like we're the ones who changed.  I write what I feel, I say what I mean.  You can't buy sincerity.  The day you become complacent in life, content with mediocrity, is basically the day you die inside.

8 - If It Means a Lot to You (Homesick)

I am absolutely a lyric driven music fan.  This is one of those songs that I can't get enough of, simply because the lyrics are so honest and amazing.  The combination of Jeremy and guest singer, Sierra Kusterbeck (from the band VersaEmerge) is phenomenal and does a great job of telling two sides to a story in just one song.  I'm a sucker for acoustic songs, this song gets A LOT of play time on my iPod.  The progression of the song ultimately leads to a fantastic climax with both Jeremy & Sierra belting their vocals out, no longer accompanied by soft acoustic chords, but rather an ocean of guitar riffs, drum beats being smashed, and a chorus of la la la.  

7 - Better Off This Way (What Separates Me from You)

So for the past 5 songs, we've seen a pretty sexy example of what the album Homesick has to offer.  We're done with that now.  I said What Separates Me from You was one of my favorite albums of all time and it's no surprise they have a monopoly of the top songs.  In the beginning of the year, the lead single from this album, All I Want was my song of choice.  For the longest time, it was the only song off the album I ever actually listened to.  It's a damn shame it took me so long to branch out because these songs are fantastic.  Better Off This Way was one of the first songs I decided to listen to and it's probably one of the biggest reasons I have been so engulfed in A Day to Remmber over the past half year.  The lyrics to this song literally give me chills & goosebumps.  When you fall I'll be the only one who looks away.  When you call, I'll be the first to tell you I can't stay.

6 - If I Leave (What Separates Me from You)

This song, particularly more so than some of the others, I remember reading quite a bit of backlash on by the so-called A Day to Remember "purist" fans.  They complained Jeremy sings differently in this song and thus it makes it bad.  I couldn't disagree more, I love the way he melodically sings the verses creating a rhythm to each and every word.  It's almost criminal how catchy this song is to me.

5 - Sticks & Bricks (What Separates Me from You)

Yet another opening track to an album featured on this list.  This is one of A Day to Remember's more hardcore songs, at first, as you're met with some pretty heavy guitar chords and in your face screaming vocals.  Then the chorus comes and Jeremy kicks ass singing it an blending the two styles of hardcore & pop punk perfectly in only the way A Day to Remember can.

4 - All Signs Point to Lauderdale (What Separates Me from You)

A prime example of just how amazing and damn near perfect an A Day to Remember song can be.  All Signs Point to Lauderdale was one of the first songs I heard off this album that wasn't All I Want and helped convince me that this wasn't just a one hit wonder type of band for me.  It was a group that could become (as it has) one of my favorite bands going right now.  The opening lyrics sung by Jeremy are great and hit home every time.

3 - It's Complicated (What Separates Me from You)

It's tough to rank these final 3 songs because I truly believe they're all 5 star songs.  I love them all and can listen to them over and over again (which I have).  The lyrics to this song are amazing and really hit home, pretty hard for me.  Some days shit just seems absolutely hopeless, to be honest and this song is extremely easy to relate to.  It really doesn't get much better for me than this song.  One of my all-time favorites.

2 - You Had Me at Hello (And Their Name Was Treason)

Gotta love it.  What Separates Me from You completely dominates the past several songs and a song from A Day to Remember's debut studio album sneaks in here at number two.  You Had Me at Hello is without a doubt, my favorite acoustic song ever.  It's beautiful and the moment you hear the lyrics, you can't help but think of that person you can't get enough of in your life.  I know that I had said, I'd never trust anyone again but I didn't have to.  You had me at hello.  Fantastic lyric from a fantastic song.

1 - All I Want (What Separates Me from You)

There isn't much of anything else I could possibly say about this song that I haven't already in multiple prior posts.  It's my favorite song, not just by A Day to Remember, but of all-time.  It's one of my favorite music videos I have ever seen.  It's truly a perfect song to me that I have yet to get remotely tired of in the past year.  I don't think I ever will.