W/E: 23/01/2010

 

#2: Owl City - Fireflies

 

 

I honestly don’t know what I can say about ‘Fireflies’ I find it that dull. I don’t know if it is just me but don’t you just think this guy is host to one of the most annoying voices ever? It’s so grating, and this is yet another song thats success completely bemused me. I do like the meaning of the song; about feeling small in the universe but for me it sounds like too much of a glorified lullaby to warrant any depth and Owl City’s voice doesn’t seem to be able to emote. This is all just a bit lost on me I’m afraid

 

#5: Glee Cast - Don't Stop Believing

 

 

I was actually a pretty big fan of ‘Glee’ when it first premiered on UK screens. The first season was so funny, original and so unexpectedly brilliant that I was hooked and an avid watcher until the end of the shows second season. I stopped watching then and haven’t since, though from what I hear the novelty’s worn off now and the shows not so good anymore. But, this isn’t a review of the show and their cover of ‘Don’t Stop Believin’ is actually pretty pleasing to my ears. It became way too overplayed at one point so in all honesty listening to it for this review is probably the first time I’ve listened to it in about three years. It’s happy, bouncy and perfectly captures the original spirit and message of Glee as it was when it started.

 

So, whilst not something I’ll be listening to again in a hurry I did find myself quite enjoying this one.

 

#9: Plan B - Stay Too Long

 

 

I quite like this one, I’ll admit. Plan B was one of my favourite artists who broke through into the mainstream during 2010 and though the far superior ‘She Said’ is still to come I do actually like Stay Too Long. Probably one the best UK rappers of his time, it’s probably between him and Tinie Tempah in all honesty, I’ve not been a massive follower of his career after his debut album but ‘Stay Too Long’ is one of his best for me. The only problem I have with it is the fact it’s not all that memorable, I haven’t listened to the album in quite a while and I’d pretty much forgotten this when it came to the re-listen

 

Maybe I should listen to that record again, he was so much better than the likes of Chipmunk, N-Dubz and Tinchy Stryder

 

#10: Alexandra Burke - Broken Heels

 

 

And here comes the first reality television contestant we’ll be coming across in this list/countdown/whatever the hell this is. There’s a lot of them coming too. Alexandra Burke has never been an artist I’ve paid much attention too, I’ve admired her voice in the past but I can’t call myself a fan at all. ‘Broken Heels’, for me, is probably the best song she’s ever done. There’s something charming about it, and she certainly sings with conviction and belief here. It’s probably quite gutting for her that after a promising first era she’s now all but finished, I won’t miss her and as good as ‘Broken Heels’ is it was never good enough to convert me to her cause. Leona all the way for me I’m afraid

 

 

First song that I actually like = Plan B. So pleased that his 2nd era was so successful - such a turn around from his first when "Mama (Was A Crackhead)" stalled at #41.

 

Agreed on Owl City - DULL and frankly a bad Postal Service soppy identikit. As Ian Cohen wrote "but seriously, stop listening to this song and and just ask her the fuck out already."

First song that I actually like = Plan B. So pleased that his 2nd era was so successful - such a turn around from his first when "Mama (Was A Crackhead)" stalled at #41.

Agreed on Owl City - DULL and frankly a bad Postal Service soppy identikit. As Ian Cohen wrote "but seriously, stop listening to this song and and just ask her the fuck out already."

 

I didn't even know about that until now! :o

Don't Stop Believin' :wub:

 

For me the show's best seasons were 1 + 2, so I definitely agree with you on that.

Don't Stop Believin' :wub:

 

For me the show's best seasons were 1 + 2, so I definitely agree with you on that.

 

I remember it being the hottest show on television and the fact I'd completely forgotten the show even existed until the tragic death of Cory Monteith shows how far it fell from favour so quickly

 

 

Replay - Yep, 2010 was bookended by two huge snowfalls in January and December even in London, so this song felt a bit like a sick joke at the time and it baffled me how it sold so much. I warmed(ha!) to it by the summertime though as it suited the hot weather so much better.

 

Loved Riverside, one of the last CD singles I bought from the very end of the days when you could still buy most of the top 40 on the format in HMV. Used to blare out of every car stereo and a huge club favourite at the time! As mentioned it was the Wizard Sleeve rap mix that played on radio at the time but most clubs ignored it and just played the (much better) instrumental, thankfully also available on the CD single.

 

You Got The Love - same as you and Doctor Blind with this, 'Rabbit Heart' is brilliant but this is just a crap novelty cover version in a desperate attempt to get a really big hit single. The 1997 version of The Source's You Got the Love is absolutely stunning, the best mix ever made of the song - it hurts me that Florence's has essentially replaced it in people's consciousness, indeed there's probably tons out there who think hers is the original.

 

Fireflies - This has just utterly disappeared from everyone's memory - really briefly huge and then barely played since 2010 ended! Because of its lack of more recent airplay, while I wasn't a fan of it then (agreed that it's dull, a non-event of a song for me) it's rather a nice listen now just for the nostalgia of being 21 again, one of my friends at the time was obsessed with it. Like it better than any of the 2014 #1s so far :P

 

Don't Stop Believing (Glee) - Yep, another huge Glee fan and loved this cover and the first two series of this show before it completely fell off a cliff in popularity and I missed the rest. Today the death of Cory Monteith makes this a sad, rather melancholic listen for me, I'll never be able to enjoy it as much as I did knowing that the main male vocal will be dead within four years of recording it. Ditto Amy Winehouse.

 

Stay Too Long - BEST BEST BEST SONG OF THE YEAR. I mean it, indeed the best song of the decade for me until the summer of 2012. Just a breathtaking, exhausting powerhouse of a track that gave me a huge "What the hell?!" shock when I first heard it, the abrupt change near the end when he basically loses it is gloriously huge. I really really hoped there were more of these to come but most of the rest of that album had too much chilled-out crooning and not enough angry epic screaming for my tastes. Also the song's disappointingly crap live as he (understandably) can't quite hit the intensity as the studio version.

 

Broken Heels - Alexandra Burke is a guilty pleasure for me, while I'm usually a disliker of anything X Factor she made some good tracks. 'Bad Boys' and 'Start Without You' are better but this is great to hear again, she really stood out back when the majority of X Factor contestants until then had just released dull ballads.

W/E: 30/01/2010

 

#6: Example - Won't Go Quietly

 

 

Many find him to be a bit of twat, but I actually like Example a lot. Like Plan B, he is probably one of my favourite of the artists who broke through in early 2010. Combining rap and dance is always a bit of a risky move but Example pulls it off well

 

‘Won’t Go Quietly’ seems to have been quite forgotten, by me too I’ll admit, and that seems a shame as I’m finding it utterly delightful on re-listen. I think ‘Kickstarts’ may have overshadowed this in a few months time but for what it’s worth I think I might actually prefer this. It’s actually causing me to be a little nostalgic, and it’s making me feel quite happy as well

 

Well played, sir, well played

 

#9: JLS - One Shot

 

 

More X-Factor alumni now and from probably the most successful ‘losers’ of the show until the advent of One Direction at least. JLS, like The Saturdays, have always been incredibly inconsistent and JLS are a lot worse for it. It’s literally a case of a good single being followed by a bad single followed by a good single and the cycle pretty much carries on for the rest of their career

 

‘One Shot’ is easily one of their best, it may even the best, and in my eyes deserves the success that the terribly overrated ‘Everybody In Love’ received. One Shot is a fantastic pop song and I actually think it benefits a little from star of the show Aston taking more of a back seat than normal, obviously he still sings a lot but I find Marvin and Ortise are the most vocal here

 

They’re over now, I won’t miss them but at least they got some decent hits out in their time. Now, how long until Aston kicks off his predominantly shirtless solo career?

Edited February 25, 201411 yr by James Silkstone

I actually quite liked "Won't Go Quietly" and especially "Kickstarts". WGQ charted for me as high as #19 and Kickstarts went even higher (#7) = his biggest song on my chart, next to "Watch The Sun Come Up" from 2009.

 

Then he seemed to completely run out of original or interesting ideas and went a bit 'off the rails' since then however with average doesn't-really-go-anywhere stuff like "Stay Awake" and then obligatory desperate cash-in for a #1 hit "Changed The Way You Kissed Me" (complete with washing machine spin-cycle breakdown which sounded dated before the end of 2011).

 

"One Shot" remains JLSs only listenable song - the Bimbo Jones remix reminds me of messy nights at Remedies in Tiverton circa 2010! Lol.

Won't Go Quietly is brilliant, I'd probably go as far as saying it was my favourite song by Example!

 

One Shot was also a pretty decent third single for JLS, much better than Everybody In Love IMO.

W/E: 06/02/2010

 

#7: Alicia Keys - Empire State of Mind Part II (Broken Down)

 

 

I don’t like Alicia Keys. There, and I said it and now that’s out there in the world. I get that she’s probably a lot more musically talented than a lot of the girls who started around the same time as she did (Xtina, Beyonce, Pink, Britney exct.) but I’ve always found her a little dull.

 

There are, of course, some exceptions to this; the likes of Karma, No One and New Day are all songs I enjoy and I’m not totally adverse to If I Aint Got You either (despite the grammar). But this is the very definition of dull for me, and I don’t really see much need for it. The original ‘Empire State of Mind’ isn’t a song I love (but don’t hate) anyway and Jay-Z utterly makes the track what it is. Alicia’s solo version is almost sleep inducing.

 

#10: Jay-Z feat Mr. Hudson - Forever Young

 

 

So, behind Alicia is the man responsible for ‘Empire State of Mind’ in the first place. I’d never really given Jay-Z too much attention before ‘The Blueprint 3’ era; for me he was good for the odd guest rap on records, ‘Numb/Encore’ and (of course) ‘99 Problems’. But it was this era, and maybe even this song, that made me a bit of a Jay-Z fan

 

‘Run This Town’ was awesome, ‘Empire’ was a little dull but passable and ‘Forever Young’ really spoke to me at the time. I actually didn’t realize until about 2 years later that the opening part by Mr. Hudson is actually a sample of an old 80’s song. Still, the overall sentiment of this song is what made me a fan of it. A song about growing up, and its hardships, of course it was going to speak to a 14-year old who for the first time was a little aware he was growing up

 

The discovery that this heavily samples another song has tainted it a little for me overtime, but it is still a record I enjoy overall.

 

 

 

 

 

Absolutely right with those two - big fan of the original ESOM as were most of my second-year friends at the time, it helped that I'd actually been to New York earlier in 2009 so the lyrics resonated well with me. The solo version is too dull for me though, as are most balladised versions of upbeat songs - I just find them a bit awful to listen to and wish I was listening to the original. And yep, Young Forever is fantastic and has always been an oddly sad listen for me, both back when I was 21 and now I'm 25. Maybe because the whole point of the song is that, actually, what they sing is impossible - no one'll be forever young, we all get old. Bah.

 

Regarding Example, 'Kickstarts' is gonna end up being his longest-lasting hit I think and perhaps his best. I was a huge fan of Changed The Way You Kissed Me and Stay Awake in 2011, but they seem to belong a bit more in the past now whereas Kickstarts still sounds brilliant today.

W/E: 13/02/2010

 

#2: Jedward feat Vanilla Ice - Ice, Ice Baby

 

 

Who the holy hell allowed this? I grew to like Jedward on The X Factor 2009 but by the time they left I was certainly over their shtick and they quickly became incredibly annoying to me once again. Mainly because of this record, I won’t lie, managing to somehow make ‘Ice, Ice Baby’ even worse. It is funny though, especially hearing John and Edward singing the “terror of knowing what this world is about” part from the original Queen/David Bowie song. Funnily enough, the more this goes on the more I’m enjoying it. Maybe we’ve finally got a record that actually does enter ‘so bad, it’s good’ territory. I didn’t pay much attention to Jedward after this, I know they popped up representing Ireland at Eurovision a few years later but for me the fad was over. On your bikes, lads.

 

#3: Timbaland feat Katy Perry - If We Ever Meet Again

 

 

Oooh, this is a lot more awkward than I remember it being. There is absolutely NO chemistry between Timbaland and Katy Perry in the music video, and in all honesty I am quite disappointed on re-listen

 

I REALLY liked this song at the time, but now it just seems incredibly dull and overly auto-tuned for me. The era of Timbaland seems to be over now, and that’s a shame because I was a big fan of his back in 2007/2008. But he was pushing it here, and Katy Perry’s screeching is almost unbearable. In fact, the best part of the song comes at the end when this song seems to turn into some kind of weird rave. ‘Morning After Dark’ was quite good from what I remember, though I am reluctant to find out as this track has gone so far down in my estimation now. Katy will be back, lots of times, but I think we can safely assume that Timbaland won’t be troubling us too much. I recall a record with Justin Timberlake that did OK soon after this, but the glory days for old Timbo were definitely over.

Edited March 6, 201411 yr by James Silkstone

Won't Go Quietly is easily one of my faves from Example, and still enjoyable today. it's a shame he seems to have descended into complete mediocrity as of late though (e.g Close Enemies, All The Wrong Places, Kids Again)

 

never was a fan of Young Forever or If We Ever Meet Again. Empire State of Mind II doesn't do much for me either, don't think i've heard it in quite some time actually (the more MOR-type radio stations probably still play it alot, but i never listen to those anyway rly~)

 

W/E: 20/02/2010

 

#1: Helping Haiti - Everybody Hurts

 

 

Charity records are so hard to review, mainly because the music is always secondary to the cause and many people just pick up the record to help in whatever cause it has been released for. So I can’t in all good reason give a critique of this song, that’s not what it is here for and it did its job of raising thousands for such a worthy cause.

 

#9: Glee Cast - Halo/Walking On Sunshine

 

 

Those pesky happy Glee kids are back now, with a mash-up of Beyonce’s “Halo” and Katrina & The Waves “Walking On Sunshine”. Lead by the talents of Lea Michele and Amber Riley, this mash-up is almost too happy and bright for me to criticize it. So I won’t. How can I honestly and truly hate on a song that is so happy and uplifting? The only thing I will say is that it doesn’t warrant much conversation, and I actually preferred the boys mash-up of ‘It’s My Life’ and ‘Confessions’ that week

 

Maybe I need to re-watch Glee Season One, because this is bringing back some awesome memories. The cast have one more top ten hit left in them – but will it be as joyful as this one? Probably not.

 

#10: Rihanna - Rude Boy

 

 

Well as I’m pretty sure she’s got more top ten hits than any other act this decade, it seems only right that Rihanna enters quite early on. I’d been a fan of hers since ‘S.O.S’ but even I had to admit that by the end of the ‘Good Girl Gone Bad’ era she needed to let it go and bring out some new god damn music already

 

It took a year, and in December 2009 she returned with probably her best effort to date. ‘Rated R’ is so dark it almost seems like it’s by some completely different artists. ‘Russian Roulette’ was fantastic, and a few months later I was obsessed with ‘Te Amo’ it’s just a shame this came in between

 

Yeah, I don’t like Rude Boy one bit. I’m not sure what it’s about to this day, I’m not sure if Rude Boy is slang term for something I’m missing or if she just likes a boy with bad manners. I’m assuming its the former, she’d dated a boy with bad manners before and didn’t end well for her. But yeah, ‘Rude Boy’ is yet another hugely popular song that’s popularity was a complete mystery to me. At least the next time we see her it’ll be on one of the best records of 2010

 

I liked Rude Boy at the time but it hasn't aged well to me, much prefer as you say Te Amo & Russian Roulette from the album.

W/E: 27/02/2010

 

#2: Florence & The Machine with Dizzee Rascall - You Got The Dirtee Love

 

 

I’ll leave this one short and sweet:

 

I don’t like You Got The Love

I don’t like Dirtee Cash

I don’t like Dizzee Rascall

I didn’t like this performance

I DON’T LIKE THIS.

 

#8: Lemar - The Way Love Goes

 

 

Well, we’ve reached the first record that totally passed me by at the time. Who the hell would have thought Lemar was still capable of getting top tens as late as 2010? I’m impressed, his longevity is certainly surprising. And what’s more surprising? I actually like this, quite a lot. Yeah, it’s no ‘50/50’ or ‘If There’s Any Justice’ but it’s listenable, tolerable for RnB dance music circa 2010 and overall quite uplifting. Consider me shocked!

i adore both of the above :w00t:

I quite liked "Rude Boy" at the time, and listening to it again I still love the whole broken beat sound - definitely one of her better songs and of course Rob Swire (off of Pendulum ~ Bastille stick to 90s songs more suited to you like "Mambo No. 5" :lol: diss fame) produced the track along with Stargate. Probably deserved to be a #1, especially against the competition such as the frankly awful "Everybody Hurts" cover or even worse the poor imitation of "Just Dance"; "In My Head" (coming up).

 

"You Got The Dirtee Love" was an abomination, that is all.

I was very surprised to see Lemar of all people get a top 10 hit that year. I thought all his relevance had died out. And since that song's "success" (it only spent 4 weeks top 40 so it wasn't that big), it has. No big loss imo

W/E: 06/03/2010

 

#1: Jason DeRulo - In My Head

 

 

T-U-N-E!!! I freakin’ adore this song, and of all the songs I’ve given positive reviews too so far this is the first where I can say I still like this song as much now as I did 4 years ago. It’s just epic.

 

And do you know what, I’ll admit this right here and right now, I really like Jason DeRulo. I know he’s unoriginal, generic and predictable but he’s released better music this decade than Usher has done since 2005. ‘In My Head’ is insanely catchy, an amazing pop song and just all around brilliant

 

I’m actually a little embarrassed by how much I love song, but god damn it I love every little part of it. Especially the ‘hey oh-oh’ breakdown leading to final build up before an exceptionally amazing final chorus. I just love it.

 

And now I’m off to listen to it about 50 more times

 

#4: Ellie Goulding - Starry Eyed

 

 

On to possibly my favourite new artist of the decade now, Ellie’s had me onboard since November 2009 when I happened to hear the glorious “Under The Sheets” on Radio 1. This, her first proper release, isn’t as good as that but ‘Starry Eyed’ is still a damn brilliant, catchy and fun pop song that I still love to this day. It doesn’t quite reach the glory of ‘Every Time You Go’ or ‘This Love’ for me but it’s probably about my 4th favourite song on ‘Lights’

 

I’m a bigger Ellie loon than ever post-Halcyon but it’s Starry Eyed that’s done that ground work for that, everyone has to start somewhere and Goulding started better than most. Fantastic song.

 

#7: Sugababes - Wear My Kiss

 

 

The last single ever released by the Sugababes feels like it should have been a much bigger event than this. Of course, in March 2010 no one knew that this would definitely be the last time we’d hear from them. After all, they’d just completed their 4th different line up and for all intents and purpose they’d be back at some point with a new album

 

I’m glad they didn’t, because for me this just isn’t the Sugababes. Though not the original lineup, the second lineup will always be the one I’ll remember with the most fondness. I think the fact none of the original girls are present anymore is what puts me off this, and the fact that ‘Wear My Kiss’ is just a bit.... Crap, for want of a better word

 

It’s not interesting, it’s almost lazy lyrically and the fact it’s the Sugababes last single means they’re going out with a whimper – not a bang as they really deserved too.