Hello, you probably don't know me. As I write this I am all too aware that this is only my fifth post on this forum, an excellent place I can't believe I didn't discover until just a few days, and many of you are probably thinking to yourselves 'why the hell should I care about this guy and his opinions?' I'm not expecting this thread to amount to too much, after all this is the quietest part of the whole forum and I'm quite flakey anyway, I can't even imagine this will still be going in six months time but it's an idea I've had for a while now and I've finally found a good place to do it

 

Music, particularly the Charts, have been a big part of my life for over ten years now. I first got interested in them back in November 2003, whereupon I happened to watch an episode of Top of the Pops with my parents. I was 8 at the time, and I loved it. I do suffer from a minor case of OCD; I can function very well in social situations and the like however I am obsessed with lists and keeping things in order and as such I became fascinated with the weekly top ten countdown on Top of the Pops and how the order of the songs changed every week, how new ones would enter and old ones would drop out. Imagine my excitement when I learnt there was a whole Top 40 counted down every Sunday afternoon. I am less obsessed with the charts now, but still very much interested, but it's not just the charts and movement I love - it's the music too.

 

It seems a daunting and frankly unrealistic task, but in this thread I plan to give my thoughts on nearly every song that has entered the top ten since January 2010. For many people I know, it seems to them that chart music has become gradually worse and worse as the years have gone by and I can see reason for that belief. I, however, believe that the state of the top of the charts in general has improved since the start of the decade. For me, 2010 is a low point in chart music. It really was the year I became withdrawn from it all, discovered bands that weren't ever going to enter it and I was close to leaving that part of my life behind me. But I got back into them, and I think on a whole the state of music at the top of the chart has improved

 

But who can state that as fact really? After all, opinions on music are mainly subjective. Not everyone likes Queen's Bohemian Rhapsody and not everybody hates Vanilla's No Way, No Way. So hopefully this thread will catch on, and we can all share our views on the music.

 

Now, just three points I want to make:

 

1) No songs from previous decades that re-entered the top ten due to popularity on talent shows, exposure on television adverts, viral internet videos or influenced by the death of a certain female politician shall be reviewed.

 

2) That said, songs from this decade that recieved attention because of the above mentioned factors WILL be reviewed

 

3) Only songs that entered the top ten FOR THE FIRST TIME after the week ending 09/01/2010 are included (i.e. though the first number one of the decade, Bad Romance will not be reviewed as it entered the chart in November 2009. This sucks. Cos I like Bad Romance, and the rest of Gaga's 10's output probably isn't going to get the most glowing of reviews)

 

So, I've probably convinced you all I'm some kind of pretentious music fan but hopefully I'll be able to persuade you otherwise. And on with the show!

Edited June 15, 201411 yr by James Silkstone

That is a huge undertaking and the very best of luck! It was exhausting for me simply reviewing all the #3 singles of 2000-2004, I keep being tempted to do 2005-2009 (and 2010-2014 next year) but not sure I'd be able to commit to it.

 

Personally I think the years 2009 to 2011 were a huge return to form for the chart after lacking since around 2001, but then that's influenced a lot by happy memories - they correspond almost completely with my uni years and early twenties, so inevitably I'm going to have good times attached to them. Looking forward to revisiting them in this thread!

I'll definitely be reading this thread :D 2010 was the year I really got back into the charts too so it'll be interesting to revisit that year.

:o This was going to be my idea but for songs that peaked from 11-20

It is a big task, but luckily I've had this all planned for a while so have quite a lot of 2010 done already. The actual reviews themselves will start as soon as I've made 20 posts and can post YouTube links to the songs

Starting on Monday 24th February, hopefully

 

Due to the fact I have SO many songs to review, I wanted to get a fair few done before I actually started posting. Up to August 2010 at the moment.

Edited February 20, 201411 yr by James Silkstone

looking forward to this! ^.^ do love these lil review threads~

 

second half of '09 was when i got back in the charts, so i'll likely remember everything in here ;o 2010 was certainly NOT a vintage year for chart music :( been getting gradually better since '12 tho <3

 

looking forward to this! ^.^ do love these lil review threads~

 

second half of '09 was when i got back in the charts, so i'll likely remember everything in here ;o 2010 was certainly NOT a vintage year for chart music :( been getting gradually better since '12 tho <3

 

Exactly my feeling, and the purpose of this thread/experiment. For me, 2010 is the low point for chart music and in general I do think the state of the chart has improved in the years since

I doff my cap to you sir for this undertaking! Very much looking forward to this too- best of luck.

I doff my cap to you sir for this undertaking! Very much looking forward to this too- best of luck.

 

Thank you! Literally found and read your Review of the Number 2's of the 90s and 00s in one day! Excellent threads

That's a mission, the UK chart is nothing like the US one. That barely changes.

Woooo I am excited :yahoo: I used to follow the charts vigorously between 2003 and 2004 when sclub8 / pop idol were around and then gave up on the chart and recently got back into the charts last year!!! Great hobby :D

Ah, you know what - no reason why I can't start this now. Here's the first week:

 

W/E 16th January 2010

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#1: Iyaz - Replay

 

 

Now, I don’t know about the rest of the country but up here in Yorkshire we seemed to spend the whole of January 2010 submerged in some major snow. I’d never seen as much in my life, and because of it we got an extra week of Christmas holiday! My point here is that it feel weird that in the midst of all that cold weather the most popular song, among people my age (14) anyway, was this summery sounding love song

 

And believe me, this was HUGE. I never really got it to be honest, it’s a pleasant listen and everything but I’ve just never loved it. I think it is meant to be a lot more catchy than it actually is, ironic when you consider the songs lyrical content is structured around something being stuck in one’s head, and Iyaz’s voice grates on me slightly

 

Not the best, but not exactly the worst either.

 

#2: Sidney Samson - Riverside

 

 

This is the kind of song that I should look back fondly on, a kind of ‘it was so bad, it’s actually quite good’ kind of song for me but unfortunately it doesn’t even reach those levels. It is just plain irritating, and has absolutely no redeeming features for me unfortunately. The instrumental sound, if I can even call it that, actually gives me a bit of a headache and the whole experience leaves me a little pissed off at humanity.

 

And if that wasn’t bad enough, the ‘Riverside motherf***er’ line (The ONLY line in the song) was apparently very quotable to a lot of my classmates. Our biggest shopping outlet here is called Lakeside, and for about three months after this song whenever we would go at least one friend would say ‘Lakeside motherf***er, let’s go’. Little things like that just grate on you after a while

 

Not to be 100% negative, Harry Hill’s use of this song on TV Burp made for one of his funniest moments. So there’s that, at least

 

#5: Florence & The Machine - You Got The Love

 

 

Sometime in 2009 when I was 14, I went through a stage of being ‘too cool for school’ and I sought to drop Ne-Yo, Rihanna and Chris Brown from my playlists and find a few music artists that I deemed cool and I assumed no one else knew

 

Clearly, I wasn’t very good at that as Florence was probably the least mainstream ‘new artist’ (The others were Daniel Merriweather, Little Boots, PIXIE LOTT and a girl group called Girls Can’t Catch) I discovered in that endeavour and everyone knew who she was about six weeks later anyway when Rabbit Heart hit the top 20. Still, they were one of my favourite things about summer 2009 and I snapped up ‘Lungs’ as quickly as I could when it was released- and it was a brilliant album

 

So, I was a bit pissed when this overdone cover of ‘You Got The Love’ became their biggest hit (to that point). Florence’s voice, for me, is marvellous but has a tendency to be a bit shouty and overbearing and that’s exactly what’s happening here. This should be an anthem, but it falls short. It’s just not a song I enjoy, though that said I’d be sorry I ever had ill feeling against this on its own in just over a months time (Hint. I don’t like Dizzee Rascall... At all)

 

#9: The Saturdays - Ego

 

 

Girls Aloud were probably my favourite band as a child, right from their formation on Popstars The Rivals in 2002. They pretty much kept consistent pop music going in the mid-00’s so it was a shame to me that they decided to take a break just as their commercial and critical success were finally coming together. But they did, and we were left with The Saturdays

 

I don’t believe, for a second, that the Sats were ever meant to become the biggest girl band in the land and the fact they did is mainly down to default. Girls Aloud were on breaks, Little Mix were yet to be formed and who the hell knows what was going on in camp Sugababe. I’ve always found The Saturdays more inconsistent than Girls Aloud, when the Sats are good they are excellent but when they are bad they are pretty damn cringe worthy

 

‘Ego’ luckily falls under the former cattegory, a stomping pop anthem about a guy being a douchebag isn’t exactly new or groundbreaking, but the girls pull it off with conviction, confidence and no doubt helped by the very sexy music video. The Sats were here to stay, still going strong after 6 years is no small achievement for a girl band, and they were just about good enough to fill in.

Edited April 27, 201411 yr by James Silkstone

Replay feels very 'of-its-time' to me. a fairly predictable #1 to me even back then. Painfully repetitive/average song though

 

didn't mind the other 3. the version of Riverside i was hearing back then (that Wizard Sleeve rap version) was kinda naff/terrible but briefly amusing. The Sats & Florence's songs were both fairly decent while not quite up with their best for me

 

And if that wasn’t bad enough, the ‘Riverside motherf***er’ line (The ONLY line in the song) was apparently very quotable to a lot of my classmates.

You must have forgotten that it was actually the Wizard Sleeve rap version that was popular then :lol: Riverside is a big tune for me though, love it :heart:

 

I liked Replay a lot at the time too but it hasn't aged too well. It's 'very 2010' (know what I mean?)

 

Ego is one of The Sats' more tolerable songs and despite the overplay You've Got the Love is still good.

Such a terrible top 2, both have aged absolutely dreadfully - That Iyaz song was always immensely annoying (and he was a complete non-entity of an artist) and I liked the instrumental to Wizard Sleeve, but the rap version (which I don't think you'll like if you didn't like this one :P) was terrible.

 

I agree about Florence as well - she's had some amazing songs, and it's a shame a good if not spectacular cover is the main song she's known for.

 

 

Really enjoying this, keep it up. Replay and Riverside were HUGE around my parts.

The original (explicit) version of 'Riverside' remains incredible. Never liked the Wizard Sleeve version as much, it was a little bit pointless (I wonder what happened to Wizard Sleeve after that?)

I love the fact that you've committed to doing this; there is nothing worse for me than going back over a list of mostly forgotten (and horrible) songs and maintaining some interest in attempting to write something engaging about each and every one of them. I do remember a lot of these songs, not just because 2010 was relatively recent but because I had no internet in early 2010 whilst working in Lincolnshire on detachment duties and spending the first two weeks travelling by public transport to work in thick snow and mostly getting my music from the chart/radio/TV.

 

Iyaz was bloody awful and generic, the "Riverside" song to my shame I really enjoy(ed) mostly because of the fact that in Exeter there is a swimming pool called 'Riverside' that I go to a lot and the Florence song was just disappointing. "Rabbit Heart (Raise It Up)" was so brilliant and then a lazy-not-exactly-great cover of a song (which has been released/remixed too many bloody times already) goes and gets her a MASSIVE HIT because BBC1 used in it every single trailer during New Year's Day 2010. :(

 

My Top 10 at the time was:

 

03 January 2010

 

TW - LW Artist / Song / Chart Run Peak (Wks on Chart)

 

01 - 01 The Drums "I Felt Stupid" *3 weeks at #1* 39-24-17-05-02-01-01-01 (8 weeks)

02 - 06 Late Of The Pier "Blueberry" 43-25-13-06-02 (5 weeks)

03 - 02 Lady GaGa "Bad Romance" 40-23-11-07-02-01-01-01-02-02-03 (11 weeks)

04 - 04 Laura Marling "Goodbye England (Covered In Snow)" 41-24-14-10-04-04 (6 weeks)

05 - 03 Vampire Weekend "Cousins" 45-27-13-05-04-03-05 (7 weeks)

06 - 10 Hurts "Wonderful Life" 49-33-22-15-10-06 (6 weeks)

07 - 07 Delphic "Doubt" 41-26-17-07-07 (5 weeks)

08 - 05 Patrick Wolf "Damaris" 47-26-14-07-03-03-05-08 (8 weeks)

09 - 16 These New Puritans "We Want War" 42-26-16-09 (4 weeks)

10 - 13 Mumford & Sons "Winter Winds" 49-34-23-13-10 (5 weeks)

 

Whatever happened to Delphic!? "Doubt" charted at #76. Another chart INJUSTICE. :(

Delphic's hype just completely evaporated for their second album. Still no clue how it all went SO wrong. 'Doubt' was indeed amazing but I never really got into any of their other songs much.