10 Songs You’ve Almost Certainly Never Heard — But Should. Now.

Most visitors to this site are pop fans, I presume. I’d like to introduce you to some other (mostly) female-fronted music — most of it with pop sensibilities — that’s a bit obscure. Much of it is metal — and some of it is quite heavy — but I would ask that you give it a chance.

If you’re willing to try ’em out, I would point pop listeners to tracks 2, 3, 5, and 6. Welcome to female-fronted metal!

Oh, and 11, too. The most indispensable pop song that nobody’s heard! Dammit. Go listen to that now!

1. “Falling Down” by The Birthday Massacre — http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=koQwGlVbde0 — Let’s start out with something relatively mainstream. The Birthday Massacre blend synthpop, gothic rock, and a mainstream, Hot Topic-style sensibility into their music. This song is absolutely captivating. A mid-to-uptempo track that evokes a sentiment roughly akin to “How could I have been so foolish?” (Gothic rock, female-fronted.)

2. “In for a Kill” by Tarja Turunen — http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-x9T7Y9_FtA — 4:47 to 6:20 only (I also recommend the first 90 seconds of the video, representing the song “Anteroom of Death”). Tarja, the former lead singer of Nightwish, has crafted her second solo album, and this song is the standout. It’s got an incredible pop sensibility while still maintaining a sense of dread. Her accent is very thick, but if you can get past it — or even embrace it — then I have no idea why anyone would dislike this song. (Symphonic metal, solo female)

 

3. “Days of Crying” by Dawn of Destiny — http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fYZlHsn6BNE — Damn. What I really wanted was the song “In Between,” a six-minute epic that more perfectly captures the will to triumph than anything I’ve ever heard. However, this will have to do! This power metal steamroller is a perfect distillation of everything that I love about this sadly-unknown band. Listen to it and stand in awe! (Power metal, female-fronted)

 

4. “Cet Enfer Au Paradis” by Dark Sanctuary — http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8gMR02KZXEI — Quite possibly the most gorgeous, heartbreaking song I’ve ever heard. I can’t listen to it more than once at a time, but I always turn back to it. It’s incredibly powerful, especially through headphones — and the tension just builds and builds. (Neoclassical darkwave, female-fronted.)

 

5. “Destiny” by UnSun — http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HwcIHpCV1Qg — This song is absolutely breathtaking. A mid-tempo metal song with — oddly enough — a driving guitar solo — the mood evoked is of new horizons and beginning anew. “I don’t know where I’m going, but I’m on my way…” The chorus repeats frequently, but the melody is absolutely spellbinding. (Gothic metal, female-fronted)

 

6. “I Call Her Sickness” by Rawkfist — http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dJhU6xYDmB4 — 0:42 to 1:20 only. The band is so obscure that all I could find of this video on YouTube is a forty-second clip from a video montage of “lesser-known bands.” The band’s name is absurd, but the chorus of the song — which is in the video — is very tense. (Gothic metal, female-fronted)

 

7. “Aiwass Aeon” by 1349 — http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Er_tYHanixI— This song is pure, nihilistic, destructive hatred! It slashes everything in its path. The riff is very menacing and the vocalist sounds like a demon. (Black metal, male-fronted)

 

8. “Gladiator” by Operatika — http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s86TeFOmI-g — This song, to me, feels like a call to arms: the fight is on the horizon, and you must face it! Infusing speed metal with a gothic sensibility, the only downside to this song is the mediocre production. But the tension-building is masterful. (Gothic speed metal, female-fronted)

 

9. “This Is How I Disappear” by My Chemical Romance — http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qSgFCzGBjcg — I’ve changed about four people’s minds about My Chemical Romance after making them listen to this song. No reason why your mind can’t be changed, too. Dramatic, theatrical, very intense — and the lyrics are quite good. My most-played rock song.

 

10. “Saturate Me” by Mandy Moore — http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4143g-ZXI-Y — One of the lost pop gems of the 2000s. The chorus evokes feelings of being revived and having new life breathed into you. Plus — she sang this as a 17-year-old pop star. Love her to death, but has Britney ever sang any lyric akin to “Forsaken, left here in my barren desolate: my soul is evaporating, won’t you saturate me?” Ah!

Oh, and..

11. “One Shot (7th Heaven Remix)” by The Saturdays — http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U7Pj1xO28eU — Listen to this song. Right. Fucking. Now. If you haven’t done so yet — and I’ve pestered people with many status updates about this most amazing of pop songs. My most-played pop song of all-time, this song is what would happen if you caught ABBA on a good day, set them up in a studio in 2010, and trained them to work with modern-day production tools. Everything a pop song should be. I’ve listened to this song hundreds of times and it’s still spellbinding, to me.

 

Also check out:

“On and On” by Agnes

“Last Shut of Your Eyes” by Visions of Atlantis

“Frozen Garden” by The Crest

“Funeral for Yesterday” by Kittie

“The Death of Love” by Cradle of Filth

“Out In the Real World” by Stream of Passion

“Cosmic Keys to My Creations and Times” by Emperor

“This Is My Life” by Fefe Dobson

“Fly On the Wall” by tATu

“Don’t Cry Out” by Shiny Toy Guns

“Virtue and Vice” by Delain