050 David Guetta ft. Kid Cudi 'Memories' 29-23-14-08-06-03-05-12-20-26 (10 weeks) *4th hit* *peak* / *debut*

 

History (David Guetta):

'Love Don't Let Me Go (Walking Away)' (#86, 2006)

'One Love' (ft. Estelle) (#93, 2009)

'Sexy Bitch' (ft. Akon) (#68, 2009)

 

When David Guetta first released his album, I heard this and it immediately stood out. I thought it was much better than any of the singles he released last year and couldn't understand why he hadn't gone with this. After teaming up with Queen of Flops Estelle Radio 1 ditched this but it was still a pretty successful song in the UK, spending ages in the top 40. I'm sure it could've been huge with the same support as his previous and subsequent hits though. 18 months later and I still adore it, I quite like Kid Cudi and he's definitely suited to dance music if this is anything to go by.

 

049

25-19-13-11-04-02-03-05-11-17-32 (11 weeks) *debut* / *2nd hit*

 

History (Martha Wainwright):

'Set the Fire to the Third Bar' (ft. Snow Patrol) (#14, 2006)

 

I've never particularly been a fan of Martha Wainwright but I've liked what I've heard from Liam Frost. This is a change of direction for both of them, it's a lot more upbeat than anything I've heard from either of them previously, I imagine if Damien Rice and Lisa Hannigan went upbeat it would sound a bit like this, a decent pop song to start the year with.

 

048

36-32-28-18-10-07-09-16-36-39 (10 weeks)

 

History:

'Spread Your Love' (#13, 2002)

'Stop' (#13, 2003)

'Ain't No Easy Way' (#47, 2005)

 

After four years away from my End of Year chart BRMC return with something rather excellent. Taking the best bits of all their previous sounds, mixing the Strokes-like Rock N Roll from 'BRMC' and the more bluesy sound from 'Howl', 'Beat the Devil's Tattoo' was born and it's a brilliant tune, up there with their previous best, after a very mediocre two previous albums I didn't think it would ever happen.

 

047 Tunng 'Don't Look Down or Back' 34-30-27-22-17-09-05-02-07-12-24-37 (12 weeks) *debut*

 

 

A nice bit of experimental folk now, and it's much better than that description should possibly allow. This song is amongst the year's most gorgeous, completely chilled out and the male and female vocals contrast each other brilliantly.

 

046

40-32-19-12-10-08-12-16-23-30-33-39 (12 weeks) *2nd hit* *peak*

 

History:

'Norway' (#69, 2010)

 

The third of four from my album of the year, and the song which properly propelled my love for them and the album 'Teen Dream'. It's just so delightful and joyous with such soothing vocals.

045 Sub Focus ft. I Blame Coco 'Splash' 27-19-13-07-04-03-05-08-12-20-30 (11 weeks) *debut* / *debut*

 

This may be the 4th time (of 5) that I Blame Coco has appeared in the top 200, but the first time she's broken the top 100. Something a bit different to the pop of her album, she teamed up with Drum and Bass act Sub Focus to deliver one of the dance singles of the year.

 

044 Kid Cudi ft. Ratatat and MGMT 'Pursuit of Happiness' 32-21-15-07-05-06-04-08-12-21-33 (11 weeks) *2nd hit* *peak* / *debut* / *3rd hit*

 

 

History (Kid Cudi):

'Memories' (ft. David Guetta) (#50, 2010)

 

History (MGMT):

'Time to Pretend' (#23, 2008)

'Kids' (#22, 2008)

 

Three decent if inconsistant acts coming together on one song could go either way. It turned out that each of the three complimented each other massively, and further confirmed Kid Cudi as being incredibly under appreciated, this should've been huge.

 

043

39-30-16-18-15-13-15-14-18-29 (10 weeks) *debut*

 

How on earth did this happen? The most generic of generic 2007 indie bands make a good song! It's not only a good song, it's a bloody great one too. A much more polished sound than their debut, relying less on the guitars made for something much more interesting and anthemic.

 

042

31-19-09-05-02-04-09-14-21-24-31* (11 weeks) *debut*

 

By far the standout song on a reasonably strong debut album, 'Northern Man' is quite different to most of their songs. The brilliant use of strings has seen the introduction be used countless times on Sky Sports roundups, but it's far from background music. It's beautifully simple and incredibly charming with a soothing vocal.

 

041 Yeasayer 'Ambling Alp' 30-20-14-12-15-12-08-13-18-20-21-20-24-29-39 (15 weeks) *debut*

 

Released at the beginning of January, this was a track that kept growing on me rather than being an instant hit. It's continued throughout the year, but its charms aren't quite enough for a top 40 position.

50 David Guetta ft. Kid Cudi 'Memories'

49 Liam Frost ft. Martha Wainwright 'Your Hand in Mine'

48 Black Rebel Motorcycle Club 'Beat the Devil's Tattoo'

47 Tunng 'Don't Look Down Or Back'

46 Beach House 'Zebra'

45 Sub Focus ft. I Blame Coco 'Splash'

44 Kid Cudi ft. Ratatat and MGMT 'Pursuit of Happiness'

43 The Courteeners 'You Overdid It Doll'

42 Detroit Social Club 'Northern Man'

41 Yeasayer 'Ambling Alp'

I'll post 40-31 tomorrow, and do the top 30 between Christmas and New Year.

 

The top 40 features 5 acts who appear more than once, 3 of those feature on songs with other acts too, and just 9 songs which made the UK top 40, 2 of which were number ones!

040

27-14-11-22-33-39 (6 weeks) *2nd hit* *peak*

 

History:

'Stay Too Long' (#81, 2010)

 

I enjoyed this song when it came out but not massively, as the year went on and I listened to his album more I came to realise that this is a fine piece of music. Taking in pop, rap and soul, Ben Drew's vocals and song arrangement are excellent making one of the best selling songs of the year, and deservedly so. This is the highest song which never made my personal chart top 10.

 

039 The Pains of Being Pure at Heart 'Heart in Your Heartbreak' 34-19-12-06-04* (5 weeks) *4th hit*

 

History:

'Come Saturday' (#69, 2009)

'Higher Than the Stars' (#24, 2009)

'Young Adult Friction' (#06, 2009)

 

The Pains of Being Pure at Heart were probably my favourite act to emerge from 2009. They released two singles in 2010, this being the second of them, which carried on from where they left off. Their sound remained similar, but it's very distinctive especially for the present day.

 

038 Bombay Bicycle Club 'Rinse Me Down' 31-21-09-03-03-02-02-05-09-15-26-37 (12 weeks) *3rd hit* *peak*

 

 

History:

'Magnet' (#86, 2009)

'Ivy and Gold' (#62, 2010)

 

The second single from their acoustic album, this is more of a reflection on the rest of the album than 'Ivy and Gold' is, it is a bit more upbeat but just as joyous as anything else off 'Flaws'

037 The Maccabees ft. Roots Manuva 'Empty Vessels' 31-23-13-07-04-02-03-06-10-13-19-29 (12 weeks) *2nd hit* *peak* / *3rd hit* / *peak*

 

 

History (The Maccabees):

'About Your Dress' (#94, 2007)

 

History (Roots Manuva):

'True Skool' (ft. Coldcut) (#73, 2006)

'Let the Spirit' (#97, 2008)

 

Combinations like this shouldn't really work, but this one most certainly does. Roots Manuva is one of my favourite British rappers, and has been criminally underrated for years, and The Maccabees are an improving UK indie band. Take the instrumental from the latter's 2008 single 'No Kind Word's and add Roots Manuva to it and it's a winning combination, one of the surprises of the year.

 

036

28-13-07-02-02-03-05-06-07-11-16-21-28-34 (14 weeks) *7th hit*

 

History (Robyn):

'Handle Me' (#95, 2007)

'WITH EVERY HEARTBEAT' (#01, 2007)

'Dream On' (ft. Christan Falk) (#80, 2008)

'Be Mine' (#64, 2008)

'The Girl and the Robot' (ft. Royksopp) (#07, 2009)

'Indestructible' (#56, 2010)

 

She's probably become my favourite pop act of all time with her 'Body Talk' project, 'Hang With Me', lead single from the second part, pretty much confirmed that status. It was a 9th consecutive top 3 hit for Robyn and another fantastic pop song to add to her ever growing collection.

 

035

31-14-07-04-02-02-02-05-10-16-27-36 (12 weeks) *debut*

 

In 'Salt Air' and 'Solo' Chew Lips had released a couple of decent singles in 2009 which both narrowly missed my top 100 singles of the year, but they showed enough promise for me to be interested in their debut album this year. This was released in January and was easily the best song I'd heard by them, unfortunately it would be their last good song, as their album didn't live up to the hype and was very poor indeed.

034 Danger Mouse and Sparklehorse ft. Julian Casablancas 'Little Girl' 30-25-09-05-03-01-01-04-06-11-14-19-27-35-37 (15 weeks) *debuts*

 

 

I'm not overly keen on The Strokes and I didn't rate Julian's solo material that I'd heard, I'd never heard of Sparklehorse and thought Danger Mouse's productions were hit and miss. So why did I feel compelled to download this? I've no idea but I'm glad I did as it's a great song, fantastically produced and Julian's vocals are also excellent. It's a shame it took so long for them to release after a lengthy legal wrangle but it was worth the wait, shame the album wasn't up to much.

 

033 Sleigh Bells 'Tell 'Em' 36-24-13-06-04-05-11-15-19-25 (10 weeks) *debut*

 

The opening track on their impressive debut album, this sets the tone for the rest of it and is my standout track from it (well along with 'Rill Rill' anyway). It was like nothing I'd heard before this year, punchy guitars and incredible sounds galore with a brilliant vocal performance and lyrics on top, one of the more interesting tracks of this year for sure.

 

032

25-15-04-02-02-02-04-05-08-11-14-21-28-34 (14 weeks) *3rd hit*

 

History:

'Let's Go Surfing' (#94, 2009)

'I Felt Stupid' (#23, 2009)

 

After their excellent 'Summetime EP' they followed it with the rather disappointing 'Best Friend', however this was the lead single for the album and it got me excited for it again. It was everything I'd expected from the album but didn't end up getting, a wondefully catchy indie pop song so perfect for the summer months.

031

30-23-09-04-02-02-03-03-06-10-14-21-34* (13 weeks) *debut*

 

I'd heard a couple of songs by School of Seven Bells before this but they'd only ever been alright, nothing particularly great. But this single is a fine pop song, it's fairly long but far from outstays its welcome, there aren't many 5 minute songs that feel like three minute joys.

 

030

23-13-12-11-09-07-19-32 (8 weeks) *2nd hit* *peak*[/b]

 

History:

'Lights On' (ft. Ms Dynamite' (#59, 2010)

 

Released in the summer it wasn't until I returned for my final year at uni that I properly heard this. It's a great shame I missed out on a couple of months of listening to this as it's brilliant, I love her vocals, the beat is immense and the production is excellent. Dance single of the year? No, not quite, she's had better herself!

 

029 The Naked and Famous 'Punching in a Dream' 35-26-13-09* (4 weeks) *2nd hit*

 

 

History:

'Young Blood' (#99, 2010)

 

It's not been out long but I think this song is magnificent, taking everything that was good about 'Young Blood' and making it better, a definite contender to be my first number one of 2011. Off an impressive debut album, this is as good as anything else on it. Their talent is clear and it's obvious they're going places.

028 The National 'Bloodbuzz Ohio' 35-30-22-13-07-04-03-06-07-10-12-12-15-18-23-30 (16 weeks) *debut*

 

 

The lead single off my third favourite album of the year, 'Bloodbuzz Ohio' is classic National. Matt's vocals are as excellent as ever, and it has a typically excellent chorus

 

027

23-13-07-03-05-10-14-18-22-28-36 (11 weeks) *6th hit*

 

History:

'Time Is Running Out' (#46, 2003)

'Hysteria' (#24, 2003)

'Butterflies and Hurricanes' (#06, 2004)

'Supermassive Black Hole' (#60, 2006)

'Uprising' (#29, 2009)

 

The title track off their 2009 album, this was the final single released from it at the beginning of the year. It was my highlight from the album as soon as I listened to it for the first time, a typical stadium anthem from Muse with an introduction reminding me very much of the Pet Shop Boys

 

026

30-26-27-10-08-03-02-04-10-12-16-18-20-28-38 (15 weeks) *3rd hit* *peak*

 

History:

'Norway' (#69, 2010)

'Zebra' (#46, 2010)

 

Confirming my opinion that although 'Teen Dream' is my album of the year, its there because of sheer consistancy rather than because it has any particular standout songs on it. This is my favourite song on the album and it's not in my top 25 singles of the year, a wonderfully delicate vocal from Victoria on a more upbeat song for Beach House, it was an anthem of the summer.

025

28-17-08-05-05-02-01-01-03-05-09-17-24-32 (14 weeks) *debut*

 

This was the first song I ever heard by Caribou, and I found it completely mesmerising, at over 5 minutes long it's a fantastic piece of electronic music to get lost in with an ever so subtle vocal.

 

024

23-09-01-01-01-03-06-11-15-16-20-31 (12 weeks) *debut*

 

His first two singles had been OK, with me preferring 'Watch the Sun Come Up', but nothing particularly brilliant. Then this came out, it's probably a bit more generic but it was a brilliant song for the summer, so uplifting and catchy, it's a fantastic party tune and ranks as my third favourite mainstream smash of the year.

 

023 Plan B 'Love Goes Down' 26-18-09-03* (4 weeks) *3rd hit* *peak*

 

 

History:

'Stay Too Long' (#81, 2010)

'She Said' (#40, 2010)

 

The 5th single off his album, it's the only one that's done next to nothing chartwise, but it's always been my highlight of an impressive album. Love songs aren't my thing at all, but this wonderful soulful tale is excellent and sets up the story that the rest of 'The Defamation of Strickland Banks' continues.

022 Janelle Monae ft Big Boi 'Tightrope' 27-17-10-06-06-07-08-13-18-26-39 (11 weeks) *2nd hit* / *debut*

 

 

History (Janelle Monae):

'Cold War' (#78)

 

Released in the summer, this should've been huge, it's everything that the British public seem to lap up at the moment but a hell of a lot better. Featuring a guest rap from Outkast's Big Boi, this had everything to make it appeal to the masses. But perhaps something like this is too classy, it's wondefully written with a superb lyric. If she can continue to write songs like this she's undboubtably a future star. This only reached number 6 in my personal chart but even at the time I wish it could've got higher, of the two weeks it peaked it was behind four songs which are still to come (one next) and 'Little Girl'.

 

021

24-17-07-04-04-05-06-07-12-14-18-26-33-38-40 (15 weeks) *4th hit*

 

'All My Friends' (#45, 2007)

'North American Scum' (#19, 2007)

'Someone Great' (#06,, 2007)

 

After the damp squib that was 'Drunk Girls', James Murphy's next single was much more on the ball and is classic LCD Soundsystem, 6 minutes of beautiful electronica with a great vocal singing some rather heartfelt lyrics.

 

020

37-16-10-08-06-03-05-06-08-10-11-15-19-24-32 (15 weeks) *debut*

 

Reading that Delorean's album 'Subiza' was reminiscent of 'Merriwether Post Pavillion' (my album of 2009) I was always going to be interested. The opening track and then single 'Stay Close' was the perfect place to start, and there are hints of Animal Collective in here, only it's more dance orientated, but with this much going on and still being so delightfully subtle it's impossible not to love.

 

019 Stereophonics 'Could You Be The One?' 26-12-02-03-06-08-14-21-36 (9 weeks) *7th hit*

 

 

History:

'Vegas Two Times' (#23, 2002)

'Madame Helga' (#22, 2003)

'Rewind' (#57, 2005)

'Superman' (#24, 2005)

'Dakota' (#07, 2005)

'Innocent' (#72, 2009)

 

Maybe they aren't past it afterall! Stereophonics were my favourite act of my pre-teen years, with 'Word Gets Around' and 'Performance & Cocktails' both still ranking amongst my favourite albums ever. However since the turn of the century they'd lost their way a bit. They temporarily found it again for 'Dakota' and half of its parent album but the decline for album #6 was sharp. Then late last year their 7th album was released, and whilst it didn't get close to their early efforts, it was their most consistant album since the 1990s. The best song on it by a mile though was this, 'Could You Be the One', ballads have not really been their strength for me, although they've often been amongst their best selling, but this is utterly beautiful and easily the best song of its type they've ever released.

 

018

25-15-07-03-05-07-10-14-19-22-28-39 (12 weeks) *debut*

 

I love this because it's so completely random and mad. I've no idea what the lyrics are but it's so wonderfully joyous and uplifting and never fails to put a smile on my face when I listen to it. This is the highest placed song not to have peaked in my top 2, the top 17 all being Personal Chart top 2 hits.

 

017

18-07-04-01-01-01-03-02-03-06-09-11-13-15-21-25-30-36 (18 weeks) *2nd hit* *peak* / *8th hit*

 

History (I Blame Coco):

'Splash' (ft. Sub Focus') (#45, 2010)

 

History (Robyn):

'Handle Me' (#95, 2007)

'WITH EVERY HEARTBEAT' (#01, 2007)

'Dream On' (ft. Christan Falk) (#80, 2008)

'Be Mine' (#64, 2008)

'The Girl and the Robot' (ft. Royksopp) (#07, 2009)

'Indestructible' (#56, 2010)

'Hang With Me' (#36, 2010)

 

Released in January, this became the first 2010 song to top my personal chart in mid-February, and was my first introduction to the daughter of Sting, I Blame Coco. I do feel that without Robyn on the chorus this wouldn't be anywhere near as good, but either way this is easily Coco's best song.

016 The Golden Filter 'Hide Me' 24-10-07-06-06-04-02-02-02-03-05-09-13-18-19-23-33 (17 weeks) *debut*

 

 

2009's 'Solid Gold' was OK, a solid enough little pop song, but the next I heard of them, 'Hide Me' was a whole lot better. It kept growing on me for ages and the beat on it is infectious.

 

015

24-13-05-02-01-01-03-05-07-11-16-21-25-31-38 (15 weeks) *5th hit*

 

History:

'Oxford Comma' (#84. 2008)

'A-Punk' (#13, 2008)

'Cousins' (#70, 2009)

'White Sky' (#70, 2010)

 

The standout track from their album 'Contra', the second single off it is typical of Vampire Weekend's sound. I first thought it could be a song that annoys me after repeated listens but it just never gets anything close to annoying, the more I listen, the more charming it becomes.

 

014

12-01-01-01-01-03-04-05-09-13-21-27-33-39 (14 weeks) *2nd hit* *peak*

 

History:

'Lil' Star' (ft. Kelis) (#47, 2007)

 

One of the greatest successes of the 2010, Cee-Lo's 'f*** You' has been something of a monster hit that's been unavoidable the past three months. For once, something so unavoidable is magnificant. I've seen it described as the link between 'Hey Ya!' and 'Crazy' and I can't say I'd disagree. It's a wonderful party anthem that's fully deserved its success, even the radio edit sounds great.

013

27-12-09-01-01-01-02-03-04-06-07-09-13-16-20-25-30-33-38 (19 weeks) *debut*

 

I downloaded this by chance after coming across a blog which described it as the best song of the first 6 months of the year. Any praise like that and something is worth checking out at least. I was very glad I did, as it's wonderful shoegaze dreamyness was a brilliant listen to soundtrack my second half of the year.

 

012 Codeine Velvet Club 'Hollywood' 40-26-09-04-02-02-04-08-15-27-39 (11 weeks) *debut*

 

 

Released in the first week of the year, this has something I've adored throughout the course of the last twelve months. A superb retro feel mixed with modern styles, it allows Jon Lawler to shine like he never did in the Fratellis. A fantastic vocal from both him and Lou, Codeine Velvet Club are definitely one of the best discoveries I've made this year, as they could so easily have slipped under the radar.

 

011

30-17-08-03-02-02-03-02-04-09-15-24-35 (13 weeks) *5th hit* *peak*

 

History:

'Mathletics' (#40, 2007)

'Cassius' (#56, 2008)

'This Orient' (#91, 2010)

'Blue Blood' (#51, 2010)

 

When I first heard this I was completely taken aback. Was this really Foals? It was so different, and so good. Better than anything I'd heard them produce before and far better than anything I thought they would ever produce. I thought that they would just fall off the radar fairly quickly but you have to give bands a chance sometimes and Foals defintiely proved it with this song. So much darker and so much more emotive than anything they've released before, this is 7 minutes of music that makes me stop and listen.

40 Plan B 'She Said'

39 The Pains of Being Pure at Heart 'Heart in Your Heartbreak'

38 Bombay Bicycle Club 'Rinse Me Down'

37 The Maccabees ft. Roots Manuva 'Empty Vessels'

36 Robyn 'Hang With Me'

35 Chew Lips 'Slick'

34 Danger Mouse and Sparklehorse ft. Julian Casablancas 'Little Girl'

33 Sleigh Bells 'Tell 'Em'

32 The Drums 'Forever and Ever Amen'

31 School of Seven Bells 'Heart is Strange'

 

30 Katy B 'Katy on a Mission'

29 The Naked and Famous 'Punching in a Dream'

28 The National 'Bloodbuzz Ohio'

27 Muse 'Resistance'

26 Beach House 'Lover of Mine'

25 Caribou 'Odessa'

24 Example 'Kickstarts'

23 Plan B 'Love Goes Down'

22 Janelle Monae ft. Big Boi 'Tightrope'

21 LCD Soundsystem 'I Can Change'

 

20 Delorean 'Stay Close'

19 Stereophonics 'Could You Be The One?'

18 Fang Island 'Daisy'

17 I Blame Coco ft. Robyn 'Caesar'

16 The Golden Filter 'Hide Me'

15 Vampire Weekend 'Giving Up the Gun'

14 Cee-Lo 'f*** You'

13 Wild Nothing 'Summer Holiday'

12 Codeine Velvet Club 'Hollywood'

11 Foals 'Spanish Sahara'

 

I shall post 10-3 tomorrow and reveal my top 20 on Wednesday. One act is still to appear twice, and all of the acts bar one have appeared in the top 200 already. My previous 8 end of year top 10s have only had a combined 5 duets, 2010 alone has 4, and all of them are completely different.

40 Plan B 'She Said'

36 Robyn 'Hang With Me'

35 Chew Lips 'Slick'

33 Sleigh Bells 'Tell 'Em'

28 The National 'Bloodbuzz Ohio'

27 Muse 'Resistance'

26 Beach House 'Lover of Mine'

25 Caribou 'Odessa'

22 Janelle Monae ft. Big Boi 'Tightrope'

21 LCD Soundsystem 'I Can Change'

17 I Blame Coco ft. Robyn 'Caesar'

16 The Golden Filter 'Hide Me'

15 Vampire Weekend 'Giving Up the Gun'

13 Wild Nothing 'Summer Holiday'

11 Foals 'Spanish Sahara'

 

AMAZING. I'm hoping Jamelia is Top 10 :heart: , unless it's already in the 41-200 region and i missed it.

Good to see you liking a lot of them Pavel. Unfortunately 'Jamelia' isn't still to come, I've tried to stick to songs which were released or had some kind of promotion somewhere, I wasn't aware 'Jamelia' had. It would definitely be in my top 100 though. :(

010 Crystal Castles 'Celestica' 33-28-23-17-14-09-03-02-02-03-02-04-06-11-15-23-30-37-39 (19 weeks) *3rd hit* *peak*

 

 

History:

'Courtship Dating' (#40, 2008)

'Baptism' (#98, 2010)

 

I wasn't really a fan of Crystal Castles when they released their debut, so I wasn't overly bothered about their second album this year. It had received masses of praise so I decided to take a listen to the first single off it, 'Celestica'. It was beautiful, so much better than anything I'd heard from them before. Alice's vocals are simply stunning, so subtle and incredibly gorgeous. It's an electronic dance act making a pop song and it works so well. After getting the album this was still easily my favourite Crystal Castles song, at least until November....

009 Magnetic Man ft. Katy B 'Perfect Stranger' 27-06-03-01-03-04-02-02-05-08-10-14-16* (13 weeks) *2nd hit* *peak* / *3rd hit* / *peak*

 

 

History (Magnetic Man):

'I Need Air' (ft. Angela Hunte) (#63, 2010)

 

History (Katy B ):

'Lights On' (ft. Ms. Dynamite) (#59, 2010)

'Katy on a Mission' (#30, 2010)

 

I'd just begun to love 'I Need Air' when I discovered a couple more Magnetic Man songs, one with John Legend which was fairly average, and this with Katy B, which was simply mesmerising. It was like a mix between 'I Need Air' and 'Katy on a Mission' and it works so well, Katy's vocals once again fantastic and well delivered. I'm sure dubstep will become far bigger in 2011, if what hits the mainstream is half as good as this it'll be decent.

008 Kanye West ft. Pusha T 'Runaway' 23-17-08-05-05-03-02-02-02-02* (10 weeks) *8th hit* *peak* / *debut*

 

 

History (Kanye West):

'Through the Wire' (#76, 2004)

'Jesus Walks' (#35, 2004)

'Number One' (ft. John Legend) (#70, 2005)

'Gold Digger' (ft. Jamie Foxx) (#27, 2005)

'Touch the Sky' (ft. Lupe Fiasco) (#33, 2006)

'Homecoming' (#72, 2008)

'American Boy' (ft. Estelle) (#32, 2008)

 

I've always quite liked Kanye West but he's not hit the high notes with his work in the last three years or so. 'Power' was alright but I didn't like enough to be in my top 200 of the year, I thought he'd officially gone downhill. Then I heard his next single, it took about 15 seconds before I loved it. The introduction, those piano notes, are simply stunning. The rest of the song is equally as good, the beat continues throughout the song and there's some great rapping and great singning too. A cameo for Pusha T is excellent too, and he definitely adds to the song. I can't believe this missed the UK top 40, taste here really has hit a new low. Four weeks at number two in my personal chart, it could stay there for longer and thus become the longest running ever, but it's unlikely to climb higer due to being stuck behind a song that's not going to appear quite yet. Gold Digger, Jesus Walks, Homecoming, you're all really good and I'mma let you finish, but 'Runaway' really is the best Kanye West song of all time!