If you were a rock-leaning Canadian teen in the late ‘90s well into the ‘00s, there were two certainties: Death and the promise of a new Big Shiny Tunes (BST) collection just in time for the holiday season.
Each installment showcased “the music of now”, opting to fill its tracklist with newer bands over legacy acts—the oldest one to land a placement (the Red Hot Chili Peppers) had been putting music out for 12 years when they made it into the inaugural edition (and subsequently had songs on the fourth, fifth and eighth entries).
With each edition’s mix of Canadian artists and international acts, they tried capturing (for better or worse) the zeitgeist of the moment to the best of their licensing capabilities, and when possible, also included lesser-known Canadian acts in the back half of entries to help boost their visibility.
Reading through the series’ tracklist feels like charting different phenomenons: from the slow descent of grunge-adjacent music, the rise and fall of nu-metal, the everlasting appeal of pop punk and a surging popularity in a specific breed of radio-friendly rock pioneered by Nickelback, there’s a lot to take in.
All good things must come to an end, however. With the rise of online music marketplaces, the notion of the budding rock enthusiast being motivated to purchase a compilation dried up, with its 14th and final entry appearing in October 2009.
Without further ado, here is the definitive ranking of all 14 installments, from worst to best, of the Big Shiny Tunes franchise, along with a note about the best Canadian track, and a mention of that one band that never quite achieved the limelight others enjoyed.
14. Big Shiny Tunes 12
Released: Nov. 20, 2007
A strong one-two punch of Finger Eleven’s “Paralyzer” and Queens Of The Stone Age’s “3’s & 7’s” can’t save the rest of this late entry into the BST series. Featuring utter nonsensical fare like Maroon 5’s “Wake Up Call” and forgettable tunes like illScarlett’s “Nothing Special,” there’s also a ton of very mid tracks from Three Days Grace, Rise Against, Sum 41 and Marianas Trench and Korn’s terribly boring “Evolution” from their 2007 self-titled album. The bright spots in the second half are few (The Used’s “The Bird And The Worm” is a wonderful surprise, and Alexisonfire’s shortened version of mid-tempo track “Rough Hands” is great), which makes it hard to endorse this one.
As “loud” music found itself in a transitional period in the mid ‘00s, this tracklist reflects the landscape and emerges as a collection of music packaged together with duct tapes and prayers.
Mandatory CanCon moment: Finger Eleven’s “Paralyzer.” The last great F11 song leans heavily into Hoobastank territory to hit big.
Alone + Easy Target: illScarlet. It was a toss-up between them and Ten Second Epic, but they burned slightly brighter for slightly longer than the Mississauga punk rockers.
13. Big Shiny Tunes 13
Released: Oct. 28, 2008
The good: Wintersleep’s “Weighty Ghost.” Linkin Park’s ultra-aggro “Given Up.” Supergroup The Raconteurs’ “Salute Your Solution.” USS’s “Hollowpoint Sniper Hyperbole.” Tokyo Police Club’s “Tessellate.” Sam Roberts Band’s driving “Them Kids.”
The bad: Saving Abel. Panic! At The Disco channeling The Band. Weezer’s “Pork and Beans” (hypothesizing that its popularity is exclusively due to its then-novel music video). Buckcherry’s “Sorry.”
The mediocre: Seether’s “Rise Above This,” the Verve’s “Love Is Noise.” Queens of the Stone Age’s “Make It wit Chu.” Coldplay’s “Violet Hill” and Disturbed’s “Inside The Fire” can be tossed in that column, too.
The verdict: Not a ton to champion here, given the number of middle-brow tracks that fail to move the needle. Even when you consider its status as a compilation, BST 13 feels particularly unfocused, pointing to a lull in the “big, shiny” universe of rock and rock-adjacent music.
Mandatory CanCon moment: Protest The Hero’s “Sequoia Throne.” Arguably the heaviest track to ever be featured on a BST compilation, it also sports a ton of great musical moments, as well as singer Rody Walker’s vocal gymnastics.
Alone + Easy Target: Saving Abel. Bland hard rock that tried to follow the Nickelback blueprint but never quite got it right.
12. Big Shiny Tunes 11
Released: Nov. 7, 2006
It took 11 entries to welcome Korn to the BST universe—though it is to be noted that the track is “Twisted Transistor,” co-written by pop songwriting trio The Matrix, a marked departure from their earlier sound.
Elsewhere on the disc we have the insanely catchy “Miss Murder” by AFI, ditto for Billy Talent’s “Devil in a Midnight Mass,” Christian screamo sensations Underoath appearing with the heaviest track thus far in the series (“Writing on the Walls”) and Avenged Sevenfold’s first post-metalcore offering with the revolutionary-for-its-time track “Bat Country.”
Some bum notes: Angels & Airwaves’ “The Adventure,” Blue October’s whinefest “Hate Me,” Sam Roberts’ “The Gate” and Mobile’s “See Right Through Me.”
This was the only album to feature an “exclusive” (according to the comp’s booklet) Big Shiny Bonus track (My Chemical Romance’s “Heaven Help Us,” a The Black Parade b-side) and an additional DVD featuring the making of Jet’s Shine On, despite not one track being featured on the compilation.
BST 11 may be media rich, but its song choice is clearly lacking in staying power.
11. Big Shiny Tunes 9
Released: Nov. 9, 2004
Clocking in at 61 minutes and change, the shortest entry in the series is also one of the most confusingly sequenced ones, burying Alexisonfire’s powerhouse “Accidents” in the last slot while placing Finger Eleven ballad “One Thing” squarely in the middle of an otherwise energetic set of songs early on.
Throwback rock and roll came to the forefront in this era, with good-to-great (depending on your tolerance for the genre) entries from the Darkness and Jet, and more international entries from Franz Ferdinand and The Hives, whose infectious “Walk Idiot Walk” still sounds great today.
A distinct lack of nu-metal and nu-metal-adjacent music can be noted here, making room for more mid-paced fare (The Killers, The Tea Party, Lenny Kravitz). This entry also sports Yellowcard’s first appearance, who are perhaps the only band in the series to showcase the violin.
Mandatory CanCon moment: Billy Talent – “The River Below”. The band’s first appearance in the series is one of its’ best, with angular guitar licks and a whole bag o’ gang vocals.
Alone + Easy Target: The Marble Index, whose sound captured the nascent “indie rock” aesthetic that would reap greater rewards over the next decade, and whose claim to fame was their appearance on this compilation as well as placements in Labatts and Zellers commercials.
10. Big Shiny Tunes 6
Released: Nov. 13, 2001
BST 6 heads deep into nu-metal territory by kicking things off with Linkin Park’s “One Step Closer,” and also includes Limp Bizkit’s “My Way” and Fred Durst discovery Puddle of Mudd with “Control.” Pop-punk also makes a strong showing here, with tracks by Blink-182, American Hi-Fi and Sum 41 in quick succession. We also finally get our first track by Canadian rock royalty Our Lady Peace (with “Life”).
A quick glance at the tracklist shows it’s definitely one of the more juvenile entries in terms of lyrical content, and almost feels like it could be seen as BST hitting puberty. Not one of the series’ finer moments, at any rate.
Mandatory CanCon moment: Bif Naked, “I Love Myself Today.” The guitar hooks, the production, Bif’s performance. Magnetic.
Alone + Easy Target: Tantric. It was a close race between them and Default, but Default’s “Wasting My Time” was a massive hit both at home in Canada and in the Billboard 200.
9. Big Shiny Tunes 7
Released: Nov. 12, 2002
While some of the angst from BST 6 remains (especially with Staind’s “It’s Been Awhile” and P.O.D.’s “Youth of the Nation”), there is more variety in this entry’s tracklist. Sam Roberts, Coldplay and (solo) Matthew Good show a level of songwriting that creates a balance to a lot of the “Why me?” content of the popular music of the era. We also find a lot of pop-punk in the mid-section from Not By Choice, Sum 41 and New Found Glory. I’d even argue that Jimmy Eat World’s “Sweetness” should be added to that list due to its guitar-heavy, syrupy-good nature.
This time, we also get to see/hear Chad Kroeger pull double duty with Nickelback’s “Too Bad” and his Spider-Man soundtrack hit “Hero” with Josey Scott from Saliva.
Better than its predecessor, but still not a “put it on repeat endlessly” entry.
Mandatory CanCon moment: Sum 41’s “In Too Deep.” Displaying more pop chops than “Fat Lip” and complete with an 8-bit sounding solo, this track’s bag of studio tricks never ceases to amaze.
Alone + Easy Target: Not By Choice. Ironically this one was the easiest choice to make when you take a quick glance at the tracklisting, which sported genuine radio and MuchMusic hits.
8. Big Shiny Tunes 8
Released: Nov. 18, 2003
Radio rock is the order of the day, from Linkin Park’s “Somewhere I Belong” to Jane’s Addiction comeback single “Just Because”, as well as Queens of The Stone Age’s’ “Go with the Flow” and Three Days Grace’s “I Hate Everything About You,” Nickelback’s “Flat On The Floor,” and the Chili Peppers’ pensive “Dosed”—this may be the most testosterone-filled entry in the series.
Other highlights include the ultra-slick Simple Plan track “Addicted,” Sam Roberts’ “Where Have All The Good People Gone?” and Sum 41’s “The Hell Song.”
Weighed down by its second half (Not By Choice’s “Now That You’re Leaving,” Gob’s “Give Up the Grudge” and The Salads’ “Get Loose”) that loses steam, despite the appearance of Coldplay’s “The Scientist” to spice things up, as well as rock castaways Trapt making their only showing here with what-some-may-call-a-guilty-pleasure track “Headstrong.”
An above-average collection of songs that lives up to the “Big” in Big Shiny Tunes.
Mandatory CanCon moment: Fefe Dobson’s “Bye Bye Boyfriend,” a track that I’ll absolutely back until the end of my days.
Alone + Easy Target: The Salads. Ska-tinged punk was already falling out of favour by 2003, and “Get Loose”’s rap-delivered lyrics were definitely a hallmark of the era that’s best left there.
7. Big Shiny Tunes 10
Released: Nov. 22, 2005
BST 10 finds itself in a very interesting position in that it expands its definition of “big” and “shiny” yet again. Case in point: Bedouin Soundclash’s “When The Night Feels My Song” may be the quaintest track to appear on any BST compilation. It’s also the only entry with multiple rap tracks, with k-os appearing on the last track (alongside Sam Roberts), and De La Soul teaming up with Gorillaz on “Feel Good Inc.”
These three counteract some of the more “expected” fare in the BST repertoire, from operatic opener “Helena” from My Chemical Romance, to a (lesser) Nickelback track (“Fight for All The Wrong Reasons”), a great Seether track (“Remedy”), Weezer’s “return to form” (Beverly Hills”) and Queens Of The Stone Age hit “Little Sister.”
Have to give this entry props for expanding its palette and delivering more hits than misses.
Mandatory CanCon moment: Theory of a Deadman’s ”Santa Monica.” Chad Kroeger signees step up to the plate with this one to deliver radio-ready, breezy rock catnip that outshines their aesthetic teacher in this instance.
Alone + Easy Target: Mobile. The inclusion of the rather unremarkable “Montreal Calling” (a weaker track than “Out of My Head” from the same album) did them no favours either.
6. Big Shiny Tunes 3
Released: Dec. 1, 1998
This entry, while filled with a lot of memorable tunes, also felt a bit like a retread of the first two entries, with several entries from bands whose star was descending (The Smashing Pumpkins, Third Eye Blind, the Goo Goo Dolls). It’s a shame because while a lot of the music itself is quite good, it also feels like EMI/Much(Music) were playing it largely safe with the tracklist.
The tracklist also sports a surprising number of bands with few hits in Canada (Fastball, Semisonic, Placebo, Rob Zombie, Monster Magnet) that, while capturing the sound of the moment, showed how transitional this period in rock music was.
To note: Despite nu-metal clearly dominating the charts internationally, it’s surprising how there is zero representation of the genre on this compilation.
Mandatory CanCon moment: Sloan’s “Money City Maniacs.” An everlasting classic with a memorable bass-line, great drum tone and an ultra-hummable chorus.
Alone + Easy Target: Fastball. They were a one-album wonder with 1998’s All The Pain Money Can Buy spawning three hits (“The Way”, “Out Of My Head” and “Fire Escape”), and whose off-kilter brand of rock was an interesting sidestep to a lot of the music of the moment.
5. Big Shiny Tunes 5
Released: Nov. 28, 2000
We get some good (Deftones’ “Change In The House Of Flies”, Everclear’s “Wonderful”) with a few novelties (Bloodhound Gang’s “The Bad Touch” and Wheatus’ “Teenage Dirtbag”), alongside the first appearance by Limp Bizkit (with their Significant Other cut “Re-Arranged”).
In the back half, we get more nu-metal goodness with Disturbed’s “Stupify”, Kid Rock’s finest single (no joke) “Only God Knows Why” rounding out the end of the disc, alongside the appearance of the soon-to-be-gigantic Nickelback (with “Breathe”).
With such a diverse and strong tracklist, this entry is filled with heavy hitters who crafted songs that still stand up to this day… And yes, I’ll even include 3 Doors Down’s “Kryptonite” in the mix.
Mandatory CanCon moment: Treble Charger’s “American Psycho.” While Sum 41’s “Makes No Difference” is on here, “American Psycho” is the superior pop punk entry.
Alone + Easy Target: J. Englishman. With so many acts on here that have continued to see success 20+ years later, J. Englishman is not the household name the rest of these acts are.
4. Big Shiny Tunes 14
Released: Oct. 20, 2009
The series redeems itself with their last entry, featuring Green Day’s last great single (“Know Your Enemy”), strong showings from the reformed Alice in Chains, The Used, Rise Against, Nickelback, Alexisonfire, and Seether’s bonkers cover of “Careless Whisper.”
Newcomers Arkells and Shinedown certainly bring the heat, too. To note: This is also the entry with the highest number of tracks featuring women (Paramore, Die Mannequin and Lights on the Ten Second Epic track “Every Day”), who all deliver great performances.
Only duds are the last two tracks (Jet’s “She’s a Genius” and Default’s “All Over Me”), but no compilation can ever be perfect.
This entry truly earns its moniker of Big and Shiny with the sheer amount of gained-up guitars on this one, reformulating its original mission statement to include more diverse offerings.
Mandatory CanCon moment: Alexisonfire’s “Young Cardinals.” This is AOF polishing the rougher edges of their sound to deliver a more mature take on the genre.
Alone + Easy Target: The Mission District. This is truly a case of selecting “the worst of the best” as opposed to “the least of the worst” with such a stellar tracklist.
3. Big Shiny Tunes 4
Released: Nov. 23, 1999
BST 4 definitely feels like a changing of the guard in terms of shifting public tastes, with a lot of first-timers showing up and representing genres of music not yet heard in the series including pop-punk (Blink-182’s “What’s My Age Again?”), nu-metal (Orgy’s cover of New Order’s “Blue Monday”) and rap-rock (Kid Rock’s “Bawitdaba”). They make their appearance alongside returning BSTers The Chemical Brothers, the Tea Party, and Red Hot Chili Peppers.
A strong line-up all-around pushes this entry into top tier status, and I’m even willing to forgive Smash Mouth’s appearance (with “All Star”) on here due to how catchy the song is.
Mandatory CanCon moment: Matthew Good Band’s “Hello Time Bomb.” Bad man (not the band, though), great track.
Alone + Easy Target: Serial Joe. With a sole hit to their name (“Mistake”), the novelty of watching Canadian teens perform post-grunge ditties on live television didn’t translate well long-term.
2. Big Shiny Tunes
Released: Dec. 3, 1996
The inaugural entry in the series is a perfect snapshot of alternative/rock in the mid ‘90s, from the Foo Fighters’ “Alone + Easy Target,” to Bush(x)’s “Machinehead,” and No Doubt’s crossover hit “Just A Girl.” Elsewhere, the Chili Peppers-with-Dave-Navarro appears nearby once-and-future bandmate Perry Farrell’s-fronted Porno For Pyros’s “Tahitian Moon”—I have wonder if that was by design.
The compilation does well in showcasing musical trends of its era, from 3rd-wave ska, alternative rock, aggro parent-baiting rock (Marilyn Manson) and an inclusion of musical chameleon Beck with his Odelay cut “Novacane.”
A solid entry that has some moments that hold it back (I’m looking at you, Better Than Ezra and Fun Lovin’ Criminals) from achieving true BST GOAT status.
Mandatory CanCon moment: I Mother Earth’s “One More Astronaut.” The track that kicked off the entire series is also a true album highlight, with tight production and great songwriting.
Alone + Easy Target: Pluto. The British Columbia act’s “Paste” hit all the right notes, but they disappeared from the public eye after their 1999 break-up.
1. Big Shiny Tunes 2
Released: Dec. 2, 1997
The series’ highest-selling entry is also its best, kicking things off with an edited version of The Prodigy’s menacing “Breathe.” From there, we get to hear a bevy of great tracks, from Bran Van 3000’s “Drinking in L.A.,” to Holly McNarland’s “Numb” and Radiohead’s “Paranoid Android” tucked in towards the end. Also included in the mix are songs by Bush (without the X this time) with the Steve Albini-engineered “Swallowed,” The Chemical Brothers’ body-shaking “Block Rockin’ Beats” and Marilyn Manson’s signature track “The Beautiful People.”
Even the lighter fare (Smash Mouth, Sugar Ray, Matchbox 20 and Collective Soul’s industrial-lite remix of “Precious Declaration”) hits (relatively) hard and still stands tall.
The highs are very high, and the lows are few (I’d say the only track that holds it back is Stone Temple Pilot’s “Lady Picture Show” ). BST 2 is the series’ best entry.
Mandatory CanCon moment: The Tea Party’s “Temptation.” The anthemic track allowed the group to shake off some of the Doors comparisons that dogged them earlier on.
Alone + Easy Target: The Age of Electric. While they initially parlayed their appearance into some good gigs, they broke up only a year after making their appearance on BST 2.
