I always viewed 2008 as the bridge between a time when the music industry was recovering from a poor sales climate/poor quality chart hits (2007) and the start of a boom in sales/quality music (2009) so I never really thought of 2008 in a negative light. However, looking at some of these horrendous #2s over the year, I'm now convinced that I just blocked most of the year out. I think the music scene was still muddled up at this point and it was only in 2009 that it found itself (again).

Edited June 22, 201312 yr by SceneofSIXCrimes

Heartbroken and Crank That :wub: I was in primary school at the time of its release, those songs will always remind me of those years :lol:

 

Just catching up with this thread now (great, btw) and same :lol: I was in year 6 I believe, and these two were particularly popular ringtones being bluetoothed in my school :lol:

Pjanoo is AWESOME.

 

25TH OCTOBER- THE WINNER'S SONG- Geraldine McQueen (1 wk)

 

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/6/67/Peterkaywinnerssong.jpg

 

A harder review to write than normal as this is, obviously, a parody. For years X Factor/ pop idol etc had been clogging up the charts and the TV schedules so a sly joke on the genre seemed an inevitability, especially as this was co-written by a certain Mr Barlow who would later go on to be an X Factor judge himself. It's cleverly executed though, and as an exercise in parody goes it hits all the spots, "the Journey", overcoming obstacles, believing in yourself etc, all the psycho-babble of the 00s rolled into one and of course let us not forget the chart gold that Peter Kay was in the decade.

 

Immersing himself in the role of Geraldine (clearly based on Michelle McManus) he launched the song of the back of his spoof show "Britain's got the pop factor....and possibly a new celebrity Jesus Christ Soapstar Superstar strictly on Ice" the whole thing illustrated the entirely two dimensional formula of reality TV pop programme which had become predicable and repetitive. Kay's brand of quite humble working class humour saves the whole affair from being anything vaguely approaching savage and it all ends up being rather a dig in the ribs than a critique, THAT occurred when it outperformed the second single from the previous season's winner of the X Factor Leon Jackson, who's "Don't Call This Love" limped in at No 4 in the same week. Ooch.

 

22ND NOVEMBER- LIVE YOUR LIFE- T.I Featuring Rihanna (1 wk)

 

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/6/62/T.I._-_Live_Your_Life_cover.jpg

 

Talking about parodies......if only this was! Another tale of a rise to face in the face of adversity this time T.I spends most of the track dissing his fellow rappers whilst claiming they're morally bankrupt. The star here (and probably the explanation as to why this makes this thread at all) is of course Rihanna and a sample of O-Zone's 2004 hit "Dragostea Din Tei" which lends an air of familiarity and might explain the 80-1 climb to the top stateside for this track.

 

It would take until 2013 for T.I to finally get his name associated with a Number 1 hit (Blurred Lines) and whilst this is passable it isn't the finest example of the genre and there's a whiff of Rihanna turning up here for the pay cheque, not that she needed it at this point, the fact that I'd almost forgotten this existed perhaps tells you about the lasting impression this track left.

 

There was a brief time after 'Britain's Got the Pop Factor' that I was foolish enough to think, brilliant, that's the end of The X Factor then. Geraldine outpeaking Leon and the show still to that date not really delivering any major stars except Leona made me wonder if the show was on its way out. Then Alexandra Burke sold a million and the show got more popular than ever :P

 

TI's song is terrible. I thought late 2008 was a bit of a disappointing era to be honest, and Now That's What I Call Music 71 proves it - hardly any songs on that album I'd call myself a fan of. All you ever heard were Sex on Fire and I Kissed a Girl everywhere (two songs I hated) and I wondered if I was falling out of love with music again, the only song I can remember that I genuinely loved around this time was 'Human' by The Killers. SceneofSIXCrimes was bang on in his post a few weeks back, thank god for 2009!

Oh my gosh I had no idea 'Live Your Life' peaked so high :o I thought it'd got to about #4!

 

I was just starting secondary school at the time, many of these songs being bluetoothed :lol: I always asocciate NOW 71 with this period of time as well. :P

 

I wasn't a Geraldine fan at all, although my brother was. :lol:

 

Edited July 22, 201311 yr by Jade

I bought 'Live Your Life' at the time but I never really loved it to be honest. Rihanna's verse at the end definitely made the song. It was just too draining to listen to in all honesty. :lol:

 

Looking forward to 2009. That's when it gets interesting. :D

20TH DECEMBER- USE SOMEBODY- Kings Of Leon (1 wk)

 

http://www.thisisfakediy.co.uk/images/uploads/usesomebody300.jpg

 

For a brief period in late 08 it seemed like KOL were going to be the next Guns N Roses/ Rolling stones/ Coldplay/ U2 all rolled into one. The mighty "Sex On Fire" had conquered all before it and suddenly the mainstream had discovered the Followill brothers, of course they'd been going for years always having middling hit singles but the album sales were creeping up, almost unnoticed. SOF is of course the stadium anthem that rock bands live on, it just took time for KOL to stumble on their's, "Use Somebody" is a much subtler track building slowly to that chorus, its construction is less "classical" than SOF, as a lead single it would therefore have not been as immediate or such a soaring success.

 

It still has the feeling of supressed anger and frustration about it that its predecessor has, everything but the iamspamamispamwhoamspam sink is thrown into the explosive chorus with the verses stripped to the minimum, the tension lies in this juxtapose, I know it's overplayed now but really is a great record, the southern drawl adds to the languid air, it's actually full of atmosphere which I never feel KOL are given credit for. The public however seem to just want a "Sex On Fire Pt II" from them which is a shame but if it tracks like these become the millstone around their neck then they can be happier than most!

 

27TH DECEMBER- HALLELUJAH- Jeff Buckley (1 wk)

 

http://videokeman.com/image/pics/JeffBuckleysongPics1d548kSxJV2ExJM.jpg

 

So onto the "Hallelujah" Christmas where this was touted as the version to buy to stop that evil X Factor track stealing the top slot again. It fell woefully short naturally but either way Leonard Cohen was laughing all the way to the bank, he was of course the writer and the first to record the track and put it out back in 1984 originally recording over 80 verses before stripping them down. It is worth noting that Buckley's version is based on a cover by John Cale in 1991, Cohen's version is virtually read out rather than sung, but it keeps the almost funereal feel of the previous versions.

 

Burke's version kept the biblical references, it was Christmas of course!, and the big choir backing along with the shortened versions served her version well for the poppier mass market, an achievement then that Buckley managed to get the No 2 position for the big week. I've always preferred the Buckley version myself, not that I dislike Burke's rendition, it just seems more natural and organic here- a genuine rendering of the meaning of the song (about sin and redemption), but then ultimately it's hardly Christmassy!

 

'Hallelujah' is undoubtedly a great song but GOD since 2008 it has been molested repeatedly. I don't think Alexandra's version is anything special (definitely the best XF winner's single though) but I think Jeff Buckley's version, whilst really good, is extremely overrated.

everything but the iamspamamispamwhoamspam sink is thrown into the explosive chorus

:lol:

I am ashamed to be part of a household that owns a copy of Alexandra Burke's Hallelujah. Always hated her version and its probably one of my least favourite songs I've heard. It also brings back memories of the dark times of Christmas 2008 when my family were OBSESSED with X Factor and Alexandra Burke's version of Hallelujah, I felt like I was on a different planet to them :( I do love Buckley's version for the reasons you stated, but it always reminds me of those times and so I don't find my self listening to it often these days.

 

Nearly all of KOL's songs I've heard and indeed most of the songs on Only By The Night were always not very instant and took a while to grow on me. It's interesting that they differed their sound so much if only for just those two singles, but it definitely got them noticed!

Edited July 27, 201311 yr by Chez Wombat

Rufus Wainwright all the way

:lol:

Bloody *Dandy! :lol:

Use Somebody :wub:

 

I always found it superior to Sex on Fire, although got sick of it rather quickly as it was EVERYWHERE at the time. :lol:

Out of every song in this countdown, Hallelujah is my favourite by far. Utterly stunning. And Alexandra Burke's version is my favourite X Factor winner's song as well.

 

I am ashamed to be part of a household that owns a copy of Alexandra Burke's Hallelujah. Always hated her version and its probably one of my least favourite songs I've heard. It also brings back memories of the dark times of Christmas 2008 when my family were OBSESSED with X Factor and Alexandra Burke's version of Hallelujah, I felt like I was on a different planet them :( I do love Buckley's version for the reasons you stated, but it always reminds me of those times and so I don't find my self listening to it often these days.

 

Err...

'Hallelujah' is undoubtedly a great song but GOD since 2008 it has been molested repeatedly. I don't think Alexandra's version is anything special (definitely the best XF winner's single though) but I think Jeff Buckley's version, whilst really good, is extremely overrated.

 

Ever since the beginning of 2009, I can't think of a memorable performance on a TV talent show that was a cover version of Hallelujah off the top of my head (if that's what you're talking about).

13TH OCTOBER- LET ME THINK ABOUT IT- Ida Corr Vs Fedde Le Grand (2 wks)

 

http://userserve-ak.last.fm/serve/_/32393191/Ida%20Corr%20vs%20Fedde%20le%20Grand%20Ida%20Corr%20vs_%20Fedde%20Le%20Grand%20L.jpg

 

I fell out with dance music around 2006 to be honest, it became just "noise" or I got older one of the two. Since the turn of the decade I've started to get back into it but the period 07-10 was bleak for me and this song is endemic of the problem, a reliance much less on tune but on gimmick, throughout the 90s and into the early 00s (trance etc) the melody was always paramount, but with sliding sales it allowed much more "niche" genres of dance to chart, which on the one hand was good as it exposed people to different kinds of music they mightn't have heard before. What is also did however was to convince record labels that there was a genuine demand for hardhouse etc as it charted but on poor sales, a paradox in some respects.

 

I don't state that this is hardhouse of course, but I use it to show the kind of desperate state that dance music was in during these years, and until I listened to this again I had no idea how this went, perhaps the rebirth of pop that occured during this time diverted my attention. Picked up by Le Grand after his No 1 single "Put Your Hands Up For Detroit" it was remixed by him into this version which never troubled the Sugababes at No 1 thankfully.

 

 

By some distance my favourite single of 2007. FLG had a knack of making such addictive sounding tracks BUT I do agree that the dance music of this half of the decade does not even touch the dance music of the 1990s.

 

That aside, I either don't remember or dislike nearly all of the other number 2 hits. This was the year I stopped following the charts COMPLETELY and, if I remember rightly, 2008 was even worse and literally didn't listen to anything that was current. The tables have turned somewhat lately, thank GOD!

In my nearing 30 years of life on Earth, I can safely say this is the worse song ever created. I literally cannot listen to this piece of odious, obnoxious piece of shit if you paid me.

 

What doesn't help is Chad (he had to be have a typically sounding North American name) looks like a poodle and Nickleback have offended me previously with a song almost equally as horrific - "How You Remind Me".

 

I'll shut up now...

 

16TH FEBRUARY- ROCKSTAR- Nickelback (2 wks)

 

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/e/eb/Nickelback_rockstar.png

 

OK, now at the time this was widely derided as generally speaking "S**t", looking back now I don't think that's quite fair. Nickelback are never a band that I would actively choose to listen to but as a sideways critique of the rock genre and bands in it it does it job with appropriate good humour and nods and winks. Enlisting the "help" of several celebrities to lip synch in the video in another clever idea (the band perhaps knowing that they weren't going to sell the song well on their own) and so we get treated to the likes of Gene Simmons and Nelly Furtado who are in on the joke.

 

So why did it get the slating it got? Firstly I would say that the criticisms that it got attracted more attention than they merited, for a song in this genre to be such a bit hit during a period when rock music was out of favour (and had been for a long time) is something remarkable, also it sold in prodigious quantities. It isn't the most melodic or the most exciting of songs and it struggled in airplay on UK radio which is much more concerned with dance and pop yet it was a hit despite all of this, I don't object to listening to "Rockstar" when it comes on the TV/ radio these days (not that it comes on regularly) perhaps a little distance can cause a re-evaluation here?...