the final four albums to miss out in detail, although a lot of people would probably say that three of these should be in the 'worst of the decade' list...there's no accounting for my bad taste!

 

http://poplovedance.blogspot.com/2009/11/g...e-my-lover.html

and here were the shortlisted albums that missed my top 50;

 

James Blunt - Back To Bedlam - 2005

Girls Aloud - What Will The Neighbours Say? - 2004

Kelly Clarkson - My December - 2007

All Saints - Studio 1 - 2006

Cascada - Evacuate The Dancefloor - 2009

Colbie Caillat - Breakthrough - 2009

Gwen Stefani - Love Angel Music Baby - 2004

DHT - Listen To Your Heart - 2005

Madonna - Confessions On A Dancefloor - 2005

Girls Aloud - Tangled Up - 2007

Missy Higgins - On A Clear Night - 2007

Maria Haukaas Storeng - Hold On Be Strong - 2008

Atomic Kitten - Feels So Good - 2002

The Veronicas - Hook Me Up - 2007

Rihanna - Good Girl Gone Bad - 2007

Carrie Underwood - Carnival Ride - 2007

Amy MacDonald - This Is The Life - 2007

Agnes - Dance Love Pop - 2009

Jordin Sparks - Jordin Sparks - 2008

Paolo Nutini - These Streets - 2006

Precious - Precious - 2000

Gwen Stefani - The Sweet Escape - 2006

Girls Aloud - Chemistry - 2005

Kylie Minogue - X - 2007

Jem - Finally Woken - 2005

Timbaland - Shock Value - 2007

Jewel - 0304 - 2003

Regina Spektor - Begin To Hope - 2007

Natalie Imbruglia - Counting Down The Days - 2005

The Saturdays - Chasing Lights - 2008

KT Tunstall - Drastic Fantastic - 2007

Andrea Corr - Ten Feet High - 2007

Pixie Lott - Turn It Up - 2009

Charlotte Church - Tissues & Issues - 2005

My December? No way, I thought you detested that album. Glad you liked that album though, its seriously underated imo, pretty much all brilliant bar the odd track here & there. I do actually really adore Never Again aswell :(

 

I never bough Studio 1 :( I made some effort to buy it around the release of Chick Fit but couldnt find it. Really should get round to it...

 

What Will The Neighbours Say. A fantastic album that continued my Girls Aloud obsession at the time.

 

James Blunt. Well..erm...yeah.

haha, I don't detest My December, just hated the singles that she picked from it...not that there were any great potential singles on there anyway...I thought I wanted another Breakaway, which is obviously what she tried to do with All I Ever Wanted which just comes across as too 'try too hard' for me...:lol: I'm never happy :rofl: although I really like the song, My Life Would Suck Without You was so incredibly generic, Kelly-by-numbers and Already Gone was rolled straight off the Tedder production line...I just feel that My December had more raw emotion in it somehow...

 

as for GA, WWTNS was my favourite of theirs for ages, but there is one album left in the top 50...shouldn't be too hard to guess which one seeing as all of the others have featured apart from the debut which I wasn't a massive fan of :heehee:

Out Of Control :( Dont get me wrong, I like it (it even spent 7 weeks at the top of my album chart for some reason lol) but it just never clicked me in the same way that the previous 3 albums did. I just find that there are so many tracks that I just couldnt get the hype for - namely Miss You Bow Wow (which I did warm too after seeing them perform it), Untouchable and tbh The Promise aswell - which I really do consider a great shame that it will go down as one of their best tracks when I consider it one of the weakest.

 

Oh god. The debut. That has aged so baddly its unbealivable. I hope Chasing Lights doesnt sound that bad in 7 years time.

Untouchable isn't one of my faves but The Promise, The Loving Kind and Miss You Bow Wow are three of my all time favourite GA songs :wub: in fact, that was the top 3 in my chart one week last year :rofl: The Promise is by FAR my favourite single of theirs, funny how tastes can differ so much :heehee:

 

Chasing Lights was an incredibly decent debut, far better than SOTU...the only track that still sounds fresh on there, ironically, is Sound of the Underground!

Atomic Kitten - Feels So Good - 2002

 

I love that album :lol:

it was good :wub: still more Atomic Kitten to come in the top 50 :o

Girls Aloud - What Will The Neighbours Say? - 2004 Good album. They seem o have gotten better and better though...

Kelly Clarkson - My December - 2007 STUNNING album :heart:

Cascada - Evacuate The Dancefloor - 2009 Great album. Still praying for a 'Breathless' or a ballad release!

Gwen Stefani - Love Angel Music Baby - 2004 Meh. I like the singles (Bar 'What You Waiting For' :puke:) but I thought this is/was quite overrated.

you didn't like What You Waiting For :o I admit I was late to catch on, I didn't even chart it until February 2005 or something :rofl:

What You Waiting For is the best song of 2004 (2005? :unsure: :kink: ). Seriously, don't remember, but that's not the point... it's probably one of my faves EVER. So catchy, reminding of late childhood period... and so able to chart for 55 weeks <3

2004 :P

 

reminds me of college, as does the whole of the LAMB album, all of my friends had it and loved it :wub:

I remember buying it on a cassette back to 2005 (cassettes LOOOOOL I know, but that was all i got). I literally searched every place that was selling music in order to find it. Bought it late 2005 i think :unsure: AND recorded something over a couple of songs in a couple of weeks. I was so depressed :drama:

So, two (to be revealed) current songs have made a late surge into my top 100 of the decade meaning that two songs that had been due to feature at #100 and #99 have been cruelly knocked out at the last minute, but it's only fair that they get their moment in the limelight like all of the other shortlisted songs that missed out. So here we go;

 

Boyzone - Love You Anyway - 2008

 

I was quite intrigued to hear of Boyzone's comeback as I always had a soft spot for them. So when they returned in late 2008 with Love You Anyway, I was very pleasantly surprised. Not a comeback of Take That proportions but the song was modern, catchy (not a ballad thank god as was expected) and more to the point, relevant. It tapped perfectly into the Motown-pastiche pop that was all over the place in 2008. I absolutely loved it and also loved the other new tracks Better and Can't Stop Thinking About You, so was naturally very upset to hear about the recent death of Stephen Gately. Still, I'm hoping that the boyz' farewell album will be a fitting tribute next year.

 

Madison Avenue - Don't Call Me Baby - 2000

 

Technically from 1999, it first charted in the UK at #30 in that year, although hardly anyone, including me, took any notice of it. It was re-released 6 months later to much greater success for the Australian dance duo as they re-entered the charts at #1. Still a huge party anthem, it's still played a lot now and deservedly so. A brilliant club anthem, and so so nearly made it into my top 100 of the decade, but seeing as it is essentially a 90's song, perhaps its best that it just missed out!

 

and here are some interesting statistics of the top 100 singles (which will begin very soon)

 

Year

 

2000: 14

2001: 10

2002: 7

2003: 6

2004: 11

2005: 11

2006: 12

2007: 10

2008: 8

2009: 11

 

Country of Origin

 

UK: 37

Australia: 18

US: 14

Germany: 6

Sweden: 6

Canada: 6

Netherlands: 4

Colombia: 3

Belgium: 3

Ireland: 2

Norway: 2

Estonia: 2

Finland: 1

Denmark: 1

Haiti: 1

Malta: 1

Barbados: 1

Spain: 1

 

Very interesting there, suggesting that 2000 and 2006 were in general my favourite years of the decade for music, and looking back, I think I'd agree with both of those. 2002, 2003 and 2008 were the worst. I don't recall 2002 or 2008 being that bad, but 2003 was certainly below par, interesting to see how this has worked out. As for the country statistics, the UK overwhemingly ahead, unsurprisingly!!! Australia take second place rather surprisingly though, ahead of the US!!! Germany and Sweden have a fair bit of the chart, the Netherlands somehow managed four entries and Estonia managed two!!! The chart will begin in the coming weeks...

so that'#ll be 18 Delta Goodrem tracks them :P :lol:

so that'#ll be 18 Delta Goodrem tracks them :P :lol:

 

not quite :P without Delta, Australia would be behind the US but still ahead of every other country :P

 

an Australian song that you nearly sent to BJSC once currently sits at #98 :kink:

So, after all of the build up, I will now start couting down my top 100 songs of the decade, and all of these I absolutely love. My top 50 favourite albums of the decade will be revealed slightly later on in the month;

 

100. Vanilla Ninja - Cool Vibes - 2005

 

Personal chart peak: #2 (for a record five weeks!!!)

 

Estonian girl group Vanilla Ninja represented Switzerland at the Eurovision Song Contest in 2005, giving the country by far their best result of the decade, coming 8th despite sending a number of other excellent entries from the likes of Lovebugs, DJ Bobo and Paolo Menguzzi, all of which failed to reach the final. Vanilla Ninja are like the Estonian Sugababes, with loads of lineup changes over the years, but this is undoubtedly their standout moment, even though the similar Blue Tattoo and Tough Enough and the haunting When The Indians Cry are well worth checking out. Absolutely nothing like a 'typical Eurovision song', this was an incredible atmospheric piece of pop music, the absolute standout of Eurovision 2005.

 

 

99. Natalie Imbruglia - Shiver - 2005

 

Personal chart peak: #1 (for 4 weeks)

 

Australian singer and ex-Neighbours actress Natalie Imbruglia of course had her biggest hit in 1997 with Torn. However, she has carried on going strong throughout the noughties, and hit her commercial peak of the decade in 2005 with the surprise (excellent) UK #1 album Counting Down The Days led by the most played song on the radio of that year, Shiver. Like the more sophisticated, more mellow older sister of Torn, it had a powerful chorus, a strong melody and was extremely relevant to the guitar led indie scene of the mid-noughties, whilst staying true to her 'sound'. Should have peaked far higher than #8 in the charts...

 

 

98. Puretone - Stuck In A Groove - 2003

 

Personal chart peak: #1 (for 2 weeks)

 

2003 was a busy year for me personally, finishing high school, starting college, getting my first job etc...The music scene in my opinion was either on a real downer, or I just wasn't paying much attention, because only 6 songs from that year have made this countdown and without giving too much away, if it wasn't for Australia, only one song from that year would feature here!!! Dance duo Puretone's second single Stuck In A Groove was a bit belated really, coming out well over a year after the huge Addicted To Bass, and limping in to the UK top 30 with barely anybody noticing...which was a huge injustice as this was without a doubt the best dance track of a terrible year for the genre commercially. Completely different to its predecessor relying more on the melody than the bassline, and another excellent car chase video!!!

 

 

97. Texas feat Kardinal Offishall - Carnival Girl - 2003

 

Personal chart peak: #1 (for 3 weeks)

 

Something a bit different from Texas, which I think is why I loved it so much. The lead single from their 2003 album, Careful What You Wish For, the Scottish rockers turned radio friendly pop act's song was almost a continuation of their successful 1998 hybrid of Say What You Want with rapper Method Man. This song featured Canadian rapper Kardinal Offishall, and retained their typical MOR sound, yet with a fresh edge given by Kardinal. It was a breath of fresh air, but was a bit of a commercial flop for them, reaching only #9 in the charts and disappearing quickly.

 

 

96. Kim Lukas - Let It Be The Night - 2000

 

Personal chart peak: #1 (for 1 week)

 

Going right back to 2000 now, with one of an impressive 14 songs representing the first year of the decade!!! English singer Kim Lukas was of the Ann Lee breed; much more successful overseas than in her home country. In fact, despite this song getting a UK release, it made no impact whatsoever. I'm not certain that it did an awful lot in Europe either, but its predecessor, All I Really Want was definitely a huge hit in a number of countries. Europop at its best, not overly cheesy, but definitely catchy, although Kim looked more like a bank manager than a popstar!!!

 

95. Dannii Minogue vs. Flower Power - You Won't Forget About Me - 2004

 

Personal chart peak: #2

 

Remember when X Factor judge Dannii Minogue was attempting to get songs into the charts? In all fairness to Kylie's younger sister, Dannii did have a good run this decade, spinning four top ten hits from the 2003 Neon Nights album. However, my personal highlight from Dannii in the noughties, just in front of 2001's Who Do You Love Now, is this underrated 2004 song You Won't Forget About Me. A Spiller-esque collaboration, Dannii put lyrics over the Flower Power instrumental track and voila, Dannii's biggest ever hit was on the cards! Except it didn't quite happen, and this song only reached #7 in the UK. Excellent dance track though and still sounds fresh five years on.

 

 

94. Vanessa Amorosi - This Is Who I Am - 2009

 

Personal chart peak: #1 (for 2 weeks)

 

Seven songs in, and the fourth Australian act to appear!!! Keeping completely up to date now, Vanessa Amorosi was a huge teen star (read UK one hit wonder with Absolutely Everybody) but after a lengthy hiatus, returned to the Australian charts in 2007 with Kiss Ya Mama and last year's Perfect. However, it's the Pink/Kelly Clarkson-esque This Is Who I Am that returned her to glory, and gave her a maiden Australian #1 single!!! Nothing innovative or groundbreaking, however, the clashing guitar that sounds like laughing, catchy melody, and sensational vocals have made this an instant classic for me, and an incredible comeback single. Would love to see it released in the UK in 2010!!!

 

 

93. Kelly Llorenna - This Time I Know It's For Real - 2004

 

Personal chart peak: #1 (for 5 weeks)

 

Northern dance diva Kelly Llorenna is the queen of All Around The World records, or at least was until Cascada and N-Dubz came along...Churning out countless covers of 80's pop classics, the difference between Kelly and all of the other identikit Clubland vocalists is that Kelly has a personality, a strong and distinctive voice, and somehow her covers never seemed as cheap as all of the others, well not her first half of the decade output at least...her more recent output has been less good and quite cheap sounding. Her 2004 cover of the Donna Summer classic came complete with the campest video of the year, but the song was good fun and I love it!

 

 

92. KT Tunstall - Suddenly I See - 2005

 

Personal chart peak: #1 (for 1 week)

 

The year of the singer-songwriter, but KT Tunstall was different from the rest, more edgy, like a modern day Sharleen Spiteri, perfect for daytime radio, a friendly personality, but with a bit of a kick to her. The third single from Eye To The Telescope was by far her biggest hit, becoming a radio classic, a huge hit in the UK, Australia and New Zealand and even the US. An indie-pop anthem which was always my highlight of the album when I first got it so was extremely pleased when she decided to release it as a single!!!

 

 

91. Scooch - Flying The Flag (For You) - 2007

 

Personal chart peak: #1 (for 2 weeks)

 

United Kingdom...12 Points...from Malta, but not from anybody else...it's the song that Europe hated, nineties Europop bought back in style for 2007, one huge gimmick? Maybe, but at least it gave English four piece pop group Scooch a second top five single, seven years after More Than I Needed To Know also went to #5 in the UK. Complete trashy pop and they threw everything at it. The dance routine, the props, the flags, they gave it everything, and still it came near enough bottom for the UK in Eurovision 2007. Still, it gave Scooch a second 15 minutes of fame, and the bargain bin Steps proved that even tacky cheap Europop could still reach the UK top five as the noughties reached its end!!! Spare a thought for poor Cyndi though who rightly thought that she'd won the chance to go to Eurovision after Terry Wogan announced her name accidentally whilst Fearne Cotton simultaneously annouced the correct winner's name!!!

 

 

90. Carola - Invincible - 2006

 

Personal chart peak: #1 (for 1 week)

 

Sweden's aging diva Carola returned to Eurovision in 2006, over a decade after she was victorious with Fångad Av En Stormvind. She came 5th this time, like most other Swedish entries have done in the noughties, despite being one of the favourites to win. The monsters from neighbouring Finland, Lordi, showed her up in the results, but melodically, this was the far better song. An instant fast paced schalger classic, complete with memorable key change, powerful chorus, a ridiculously long dress, and the most over the top use of a wind machine ever seen - it looked as if she was about to be blown off the stage quite frankly.

 

 

89. Zero 7 - Destiny - 2001

 

Personal chart peak: #1 (for 2 weeks)

 

Easily the classiest song so far, dance act Zero 7 launched in 2001 with the excellent Simple Things album and the frankly incredible single, Destiny. The song, which featured vocals from Sophie Barker and Australian star Sia Furler became an instant chillout classic and takes me right back to summer 2001 when I listen to it. A gloriously beautiful song, which hasn't aged at all eight years on. They would later excel with In The Waiting Line and Somersault, but for me Destiny remains their highlight. Stunning.

 

 

88. Little Boots - Remedy - 2009

 

Personal chart peak: #1 (for 3 weeks)

 

Another very recent song now, Victoria Hesketh, aka Little Boots hasn't quite been as big as the hype suggested this year. Despite topping all manner of 'future star of 2009' polls, she rather lost out to La Roux and Florence + The Machine in the popularity stakes. When she finally launched, when the hype had disappeared, with New In Town, the video was laughable and the campaign was near enough written off with the single failing to go top ten and the album going in at #5 before diving to #40 the following week. However, Remedy just about restored some credibility, turning Little Boots into a full blown pop star with this incredible RedOne production, which was nothing like his stuff with the likes of Lady GaGa, yet retained the storming pop chorus that he's best known for. Unfortunately she looks as if she'll be a one (major) hit wonder, but what a hit it was!!!

 

 

87. Leona Lewis - Bleeding Love - 2007

 

Personal chart peak: #2

 

The greatest song of the noughties? not quite, try 87th! X Factor winner Leona Lewis was always my favourite in the 2006 competition, to the point that she's the only act I've ever felt the urge to pick up the phone and vote for on a weekly basis and with Ray as her competition in the final, she was always the obvious winner. Her Kelly Clarkson cover, A Moment Like This did it's job as a debut single, but after a ten month gap it looked like she'd been forgotten about. Until this single surfaced that is...a glorious almost Prince like power ballad which introduced the Ryan Tedder sound that we know and loathe, sorry love, these days. The thumping drums and bass, the repetition of words 'bleeding love, bleeding, bleeding', 'Battlefield, battlefield, battlefield', 'Halo, halo, halo' etc...but this is easily his standout moment as a producer. Leona's sensational vocals layered over this magnificent song definitely made it the classic that its become. Just listen to Lloyd Daniels borefest of a cover on it on X Factor, it made the song sound incredibly pedestrian. Deservedly a #1 hit worldwide, including in the US, this song put Leona Lewis on the map, and she is easily the finest singer ever to come from a British reality show. Without a doubt this is one of THE defining songs of the noughties, and I do think it's stunning, but for me it was overshadowed by two other songs out at the same time, both of which appear later.

 

 

86. Colbie Caillat - Realize - 2007

 

Personal chart peak: #1 (for 3 weeks)

 

Californian singer/songwriter Colbie Caillat's debut album Coco was quite easily my favourite album of 2007. An absolutely beautiful collection of acoustic pop yet with incredibly memorable and infectious melodies, never straying into filler territory. The single Bubbly, a huge hit everywhere in the world apart from the UK, was great, but for me, second single Realize was the album's standout. Very simple yet with relatable lyrics, very effective male backing vocals - this was easily my most played song of the year, so relaxing to listen to.

 

96. Kim Lukas - Let It Be The Night - 2000

 

Personal chart peak: #1 (for 1 week)

 

Going right back to 2000 now, with one of an impressive 14 songs representing the first year of the decade!!! English singer Kim Lukas was of the Ann Lee breed; much more successful overseas than in her home country. In fact, despite this song getting a UK release, it made no impact whatsoever. I'm not certain that it did an awful lot in Europe either, but its predecessor, All I Really Want was definitely a huge hit in a number of countries. Europop at its best, not overly cheesy, but definitely catchy, although Kim looked more like a bank manager than a popstar!!!

 

 

:wub: I thought I was the only person who knew this song :o All I Really Want (produced by Eiffel 65) was slightly better IMHO though.