Songs Of Love and Hate

It’s Valentine’s Day today so to celebrate all you lovers (and haters!) out there we’ve compiled a list of some of our favourite fucked-up love songs alongside some truly vicious anthems of hatred. Enjoy!

Posted Monday, 14 February 2011 in

Muse Love songs are great, aren't they? Especially on a day like today when lovers young and old alike are gazing into each other's eyes and making plans for the future. Except that's all total bullshit; Valentine's Day is a load of commercialised crap and the world can, at best, go fuck itself.

The good thing is that music has the answer. In this month's issue of Rock Sound we've collected 50 of our favourite songs of love and hate - tunes to play when you're trying to seduce that special someone and also some for when that special someone shags your mate and you just need to kill a motherfucker - and here's a selection of some of our favourites. The full list contains everyone from My Chemical Romance and Paramore to Botch, Converge and, er, Limp Bizkit but what do you play when you're feeling especially in love, and what's your go-to song of pure hatred? Let us know below or over on Facebook...

LOVE SONGS

Muse ‘Unintended’
Back in 99 there was this band called Muse who played weird indie-rock music and were bloody massive in France… and then this song happened, giving them their first top 20 hit. Not only is ‘Unintended’ one of Muse’s best slow tunes, it’s also probably their most sentimental to date and a genuine love song. It may seem a bit gloomy but the lyrics tell the story of a person leaving their depression behind after finding happiness through love (bless). We can’t help but shed a tear when we hear Matt Bellamy sing that we could be the one he’ll always love. The feeling’s mutual, sugar lips.

Dashboard Confessional, ‘Screaming Infidelities’
The emo godhead’s most perfectly-pitched moment, an ode to being completely and utterly in love and more than a little bit hopeless at the same time. Endearingly shameless in its vulnerability.

The Ataris, 'San Dimas High School Football Rules'
When a song mentions dating at Disneyland, it’s easy to feel weird. But get over that and you’ll be rewarded by a song that perfectly captures what it is to be young and in love.

Biffy Clyro, ‘Many Of Horror’
‘Many Of Horror’ is like someone took everything bad about relationships and drenches them with a sense of hope. Simon Neil suffers the bruises of love and still has faith.

Nine Inch Nails, ‘Closer’
There’s obviously nothing more romantic than playing this tune to your other half and joining in with the chorus: “I want to fuck you like an animal, I want to feel you from the inside”. Beautiful.

HATE SONGS

Botch, 'C Thomas Howell As 'The Soul Man''
Pure, caustic rage directed at Pete Wentz and Andy Hurley's pre-Fall Out Boy outfit Racetraiter delivered with the ferocity and intricacy of an atomic bomb.

Brand New, 'Mix Tape'
The bitterness in this one takes a while to seep in: a sly blast of pity wrapped up in a sweet melody and Jesse Lacey’s sharp, incisive disemboweling of someone who just isn’t as cool as they think they are.

Slipknot, 'People = Shit'
There's simplicity in brutality and in this case, there's brutality in the simplicity of the statement that we've all considered writing in 20-ft letters on a wall somewhere.

Cannibal Corpse, 'Hammer Smashed Face'
Because sometimes you just need to fuck shit up.

Pantera, 'Fucking Hostile'
When frustration erupts into something violent, it's time to get seriously fucking hostile. Pro tip: try lifting weights to this song. You'll become buff as hell in no time.

All Time Low, ‘Break Your Little Heart’
It’s the cruelty of the standout track from 09’s ‘Nothing Personal’ that merits inclusion, as Alex Gaskarth treats a former squeeze like she was barely worth the energy. And being ignored is sometimes harsher than being insulted, right?