Five Early 2000’s Mainstream Rock Bands You Forgot you Loved

Because why not? Oftentimes not appreciated nor considered glamorous/legendary by many, early 2000’s Rock hasn’t exactly received a great rep in music history. In the last decade of this time period, rock music had little to no presence on the charts. The 90’s simply left big shoes to fill and many people we’re convinced that once Kurt Cobain had died, so had the rock genre.

HOWEVER, many people still stayed tuned and realized that although mainstream rock may not have been world changing, it was still fun to jam to and lots of the bands we’re actually pretty good.

1. Switchfoot

Switchfoot is amazing. I still listen to “Meant to Live” as often as I do any new Drake song. They’re such an empowering band; “Dare You to Move” makes me want to apologize to people from the fifth grade and find a greater meaning to existence. Not to mention their wonderful contributions to A Walk to Remember’s 2002 soundtrack, which subsequently put the band on the road to mainstream popularity. Two decades and nine albums later, Switchfoot continues to melt hearts, even managing to snag a Grammy in 2011. I think I was still considered a child when Switchfoot was at the peak of popularity but time doesn’t take away from their quality as musicians.

2. Hoobastank

Best known for their hit single, “The Reason,” this 2004 (Grammy nominated) hit which peaked at no. 2 in the Billboard Hot 100 chart, and was No. 1 in the modern rock charts, is easily one of my favorite songs ever and the music video for it is pretty amazing too. Hoobastank as a band, is pretty fantastic as well, a testament is their 2012 album, which managed to sell over 10 million copies worldwide.

3. Weezer

Easily one of my favorite bands of all time, the guys from Weezer have been doing great things since they formed in the mid 90’s and continued to do them in the 2000’s as well. The bands 2001 album, known as The Green Album, or their rebirth album, includes classics like “Island In the Sun” and “Hash Pipe.” Their fifth album (released in 2005), although received with mixed reviews included one of Weezer’s most popular songs as a band, “Beverley Hills”. They released their ninth album in 2014, which received the band’s best reviews since Pinkerton, proving that Weezer still (and hopefully forevermore) has it going on. Their recent performance in Houston at FPSF reflected exactly that.

4. Staind

Okay Staind was maybe not the greatest band of the 2000’s but they were still pretty good. Their lyrics we’re pretty profound and the songs we’re catchy and angry. “Its Been Awhile” continues to be one of my favorites from back in the day, and nothing beats belting out other radio hits like “So Far Away” and “Right Here”. The band is back from a hiatus and will be releasing music this summer!

5. Lifehouse

Where do I even begin? The creators of THE official prom/school dance song of our generation (You & Me) as well as a bunch of other super heartfelt ballads, Lifehouse still has the power to tug at our heartstrings. Very romantic, and with passionate lyrics, other Lifehouse favorites include “Hanging By a Moment”, “Whatever it Takes” and “Broken”.

I wish I could include every single band that was amazing during the early 2000’s but that would mean this post would pretty much become a fourteen page essay. Three Doors Down, Green Day, The All-American Rejects and Jimmy Eat World deserve honorable mentions and I didn’t include any from the indie rock scene because that would mean mentioning the likes of The Strokes, The Libertines and Interpol and that in itself would become another long essay full of intense, passionate writing lauding these fantastic bands.

Check out my Spotify Playlist below featuring all my favorite hits from the early 2000’s mainstream rock genre: