2014

 

:hi:

 

Last year I made a thread reviewing some of my favorite songs from 2013 (in alphabetical order by artist name :ph34r:) and it turned out pretty well! I'm hoping to do it all again this year with a new batch of songs, but it'll depend on how much time I have and whether I'm feeling ambitious/inspired. So no guarantees on that yet, but fingers crossed it'll happen. I regretted not doing a countdown last year so this thread WILL have one, of somewhere between 40 and 100 songs! Or maybe just ten, idk. It's still in the works and I want some more time to let the newer songs sink in. So until then, I'm just going to leave this here and hopefully you'll get some commentary to read in the meantime!

 

EDIT: If you just want the full list here it is (with spoiler tags), or go to page 7 for the countdown!

 

1. Paramore “Ain’t It Fun”

2. Magic! “Rude”

3. Charli XCX “Boom Clap”

4. Iggy Azalea feat. Charli XCX “Fancy”

5. Ed Sheeran “Don’t”

6. Maroon 5 “Animals”

7. Echosmith “Cool Kids”

8. Ariana Grande feat. Zedd “Break Free”

9. Beyoncé feat. JAY Z “Drunk In Love”

10. Neon Trees “Sleeping With A Friend”

11. Disclosure feat. Sam Smith “Latch”

12. Lorde “Team”

13. DJ Snake & Lil Jon “Turn Down For What”

14. Dierks Bentley “I Hold On”

15. Colbie Caillat “Hold On”

16. Katy Perry feat. Juicy J “Dark Horse”

17. Pharrell Williams “Happy”

18. Chris Brown feat. Lil Wayne “Loyal”

19. John Legend “All Of Me”

20. Young The Giant “It’s About Time”

21. Katy Perry “This Is How We Do”

22. Taylor Swift “Shake It Off”

23. Jeremih feat. YG “Don’t Tell ‘Em”

24. Becky G “Shower”

25. Miranda Lambert “Automatic”

26. Kid Ink feat. Chris Brown “Show Me”

27. Candice Glover “Passenger”

28. Sara Bareilles “I Choose You”

29. G.R.L. “Ugly Heart”

30. Ed Sheeran “Sing”

31. Miley Cyrus “Adore You”

32. Kiesza “Hideaway”

33. Sia “Chandelier”

34. American Authors “Believer”

35. Dierks Bentley “Drunk On A Plane”

36. Meghan Trainor “Lips Are Movin’”

37. Imagine Dragons “On Top Of The World”

38. Sam Smith “Money On My Mind”

39. Sam Smith “I’m Not The Only One”

40. Chris Brown feat. Usher & Rick Ross “New Flame”

41. 5 Seconds Of Summer “She Looks So Perfect”

42. The Pretty Reckless “Heaven Knows”

43. Christina Perri “Human”

44. Bruno Mars “Young Girls”

45. The Preatures “Somebody’s Talking”

46. Pitbull feat. John Ryan “Fireball”

47. Foster The People “Coming Of Age”

48. Vance Joy “Riptide”

49. The Chainsmokers “#Selfie”

50. Calvin Harris feat. Ayah Marar “Thinking About You”

51. The Madden Brothers "We Are Done"

52. Coldplay "A Sky Full Of Stars"

53. Bastille "Bad Blood"

54. Lana Del Rey "West Coast"

55. OneRepublic "I Lived"

56. Walk The Moon "Shut Up And Dance"

57. Eves "Zen"

58. Demi Lovato "Neon Lights"

59. will.i.am feat. Miley Cyrus, French Montana, & Wiz Khalifa "Feelin' Myself"

60. Clean Bandit feat. Jess Glynne "Rather Be"

 

Edited January 12, 201510 yr by Riser

Really looking forward to seeing Iggy & Maroon 5 SLAY this :wub:

Looking forward to this Riser :wub:

Edited December 1, 201410 yr by Ultraviolence1989

I'm beyond excited Jordan :cheer: ❤

American Authors "Believer"

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/3/30/American_Authors_Believer.jpg

Starting things off with a band destined to be a one-hit wonder, but with a song that wasn’t their one hit. "Best Day Of My Life" is quite possibly the worst song of the year for me, an offensively inoffensive rip-off of Imagine Dragons' "It’s Time" with no originality or any other redeeming quality. If I want to hear Imagine Dragons I would rather just listen to Imagine Dragons! So, after making every effort to avoid that song, imagine my surprise when I heard the follow-up single and was hooked on it instantly.

In a perfect world, "Believer" would have been the song that put these guys on the charts. It’s effortlessly uplifting and catchy, pretty much everything "Best Day Of My Life" tried too hard to be. I guess American Authors just shamelessly wanted a hit song, but it’s encouraging to know they’re capable of something better. In the end I can’t even begrudge "Best Day" too much because without its success I might never have known of this song’s existence. Funny how that happens.

 

Not too fussed on AA really but this was miles better than Best Day.

Don't really know anything about American Authors beyond 'Best Day Of My Life', which I didn't much care for! :kink:

 

Looking forward to the rest of the countdown, Jordan!

YAY a Jordan countdown, hopefully some Hunter to come :heehee:

Don't really know anything about American Authors beyond 'Best Day Of My Life', which I didn't much care for! :kink:

 

Pretty much this for me as well :kink:

 

Don't really know anything about American Authors beyond 'Best Day Of My Life', which I didn't much care for! :kink:

 

Looking forward to the rest of the countdown, Jordan!

Pretty much this for me as well :kink:

That's kind of my point! :kink: I didn't care for BDOML at all but really fell in love with this other song. So I'd say it's recommended for people who don't think they like American Authors, but that's not a very good way to sell it :P

 

But thanks anyway, plenty of good stuff to come ^_^

Becky G "Shower"

The idea of a Becky G single scared me at first, probably because I didn't know what to expect, having only known her from "Oath" which featured her but not enough to really indicate what kind of artist she is. Judging by the title "Shower" I was expecting something cheap and tacky (I mean, just look at the cover art), but could not have been more wrong! The song is wonderfully innocent and irresistible with a simple but super strong chorus.

I say irresistible, but somehow, unfortunately there was some resistance. "Shower" stalled at #16 on Billboard; despite having enough momentum to go top ten on iTunes, it didn't fully translate to airplay for some reason. Becky's luck was even worse in the UK, as this never was properly pushed and peaked at #80 on release. Now she's on to her follow-up single "Can't Stop Dancin'" which is still good but has less character to it. I hope she can get an album released but there's really no guarantee of that yet.

 

Beyonce "Partition"

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/0/04/Partition_cover.png

This may fall short of making the actual countdown but it is my second favorite song from Beyonce (the album). With "Drunk In Love" in first of course, a definite contender for my year-end top ten. I never did get around to hearing the full album but it sounds great judging by Beyonce's VMA performance this year, which was pretty spectacular!

 

Bruno Mars "Young Girls"

http://0.tqn.com/y/top40/1/L/T/L/3/bruno-mars-young-girls.jpeg

"Young Girls" is two years old at this point but was pushed as a single to coincide with Bruno's Super Bowl performance in February. Surprisingly he didn't even perform this which seemed like a terrible missed opportunity! I think the song had a lot more potential but in the end I'm just glad it had some airplay. It was great hearing it on the radio and that's what fully cemented my love for it.

Fun chart fact: Bruno's first album Doo-Wops & Hooligans gave him 5 top 40 hits in the UK and 3 in the US. Then his second album Unorthdox Jukebox gave him 3 top 40 hits in the UK and 5 in the US :magic: I may have been saving that trivia for the past several months :kink: I was hoping for a new album this year but alas, it hasn't happened. He did release "Uptown Funk" with Mark Ronson which is set to be massive in 2015. I always have time for Bruno's music so hopefully this will lead to an equally promising third era for him!

I also love 'Partition' and would say it's probably my favourite of what I've heard from 'Beyoncé' (with 'Drunk In Love' a close second). It was quite the grower as I remember thinking it was awful the first time I heard it.

 

Fun chart fact: Bruno's first album Doo-Wops & Hooligans gave him 5 top 40 hits in the UK and 3 in the US. Then his second album Unorthdox Jukebox gave him 3 top 40 hits in the UK and 5 in the US :magic: I may have been saving that trivia for the past several months :kink:

 

:o Unexpected chart trivia <3

 

It was well worth the wait :D

'Uptown Funk' is going to explode next year. Radio are inevitably ramming it despite not being out here for over a month.

 

'Young Girls' is great though.

Shower is very good! She has lots of potential as an artist. I first heard of her through Cody Simpson's Wish U Were Here *plug* :heehee:

Ah yes! I completely forgot about Young Girls but it is really excellent but I love this and Gorilla from the most recent era.

 

Shower really is fantastic, it's so sweet and the 'la la's in the chorus are huge, really wish it received a better release strategy in the UK because I'm sure it could have done well.

 

Partition is probably the worst of the BEYONCE era singles for me but still excellent. I agree with Drunk In Love being the best of the successful ones but Flawless >>> .

 

This is all fantastic so far so I'm excited for the rest Jordan :D

I quite like both shower and partition :)

I also love 'Partition' and would say it's probably my favourite of what I've heard from 'Beyoncé' (with 'Drunk In Love' a close second). It was quite the grower as I remember thinking it was awful the first time I heard it.

:o Unexpected chart trivia <3

 

It was well worth the wait :D

That surprises me a bit! I guess I wouldn't have pegged you as a Partition fan for some reason.

 

'Uptown Funk' is going to explode next year. Radio are inevitably ramming it despite not being out here for over a month.

 

'Young Girls' is great though.

Funnily enough I haven't heard it on the radio yet! But it'll surely be played nonstop in no time.

 

Shower is very good! She has lots of potential as an artist. I first heard of her through Cody Simpson's Wish U Were Here *plug* :heehee:

I don't have the willpower to listen to Cody, sorry :( Might check out Becky's song with Pitbull though :o

 

Ah yes! I completely forgot about Young Girls but it is really excellent but I love this and Gorilla from the most recent era.

 

Shower really is fantastic, it's so sweet and the 'la la's in the chorus are huge, really wish it received a better release strategy in the UK because I'm sure it could have done well.

 

Partition is probably the worst of the BEYONCE era singles for me but still excellent. I agree with Drunk In Love being the best of the successful ones but Flawless >>> .

 

This is all fantastic so far so I'm excited for the rest Jordan :D

Thanks Josh! Glad you're enjoying it!

 

I quite like both shower and partition :)

Yay! :D

 

Candice Glover "Passenger"

You probably won't know Candice but she was last year's American Idol winner. I've had terrible luck with this show, as for four straight seasons the person I voted for in the final two ended up not winning. Finally I made the right choice with Candice (only because Angie Miller didn't make the final two) so you can imagine my excitement.

It all turned suspicious and messy rather quickly. Her album was going to be the quickest release of any winner, originally scheduled for July, less than 2 months after her victory. It got pushed back to October and then to February, which instead gave her the most delayed release of any Idol winner! The album came and went without anyone noticing, but otherwise was worth the wait because of this gem.

"Passenger" is a Mike Will Made It produced song, which you'd think would be picked as a single and I still really wish it had been! I'm not sure it would have even done anything but I'm just obsessed with it. Her voice is outstanding and this wasn't the kind of track I was expecting from her, so it was a very nice treat.

Charli XCX "Boom Clap"

Charli XCX "Break The Rules"

http://0.tqn.com/y/top40/1/L/F/c/3/charli-xcx-boom-clap.jpghttp://www.josepvinaixa.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2014/08/Charli-XCX-Break-the-Rules-2014-1200x1200-300x300.png

Even though "I Love It" was my favorite song of last year, I had no interest whatsoever in Charli as a solo artist, actively avoiding her album as well as her song "Superlove". Her next featured hit didn't change that, but "Boom Clap" certainly did. This was released with the benefit of great timing, as Charli was now recognizable as "the singer on 'Fancy'". The chorus is perfection to my ears. Quite possibly my favorite music video of the year as well, I think it fits the emotion of the song quite wonderfully. Is there any logical reason why Radio 1 didn't A-list this? It did much better on airplay in the US, thankfully.

Next came "Break The Rules" which was meant to be released just before the album Sucker, but the public didn't take to this as much as expected. It has a gritty electro rock feel, especially in the verses, and sounds like something you'd listen to while riding a motorcycle. She's even wearing a leather jacket on the cover! But also it just sounds like the kind of song that wouldn't catch on the way "Boom Clap" did. I quite like this anyway and it's still slowly gaining airplay in the States so I live in hope for the time being.

 

Christina Perri "Burning Gold"

Christina Perri "Human"

http://www.bestfm.ro/wp-content/uploads/2014/08/Christina_Perri.jpghttp://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/9/90/Christina_Perri_-_Human_(Official_Single_Cover).png

Christina finally released her second album, which I'd been looking forward to for ages. I obsessed over "Jar of Hearts", "Arms", and "A Thousand Years" since the very first time I heard them, which quickly made her my favorite female artist. It was exciting to hear new music finally but nothing grabbed me on first listen in the same way, which was frustrating. Thankfully "Human" and "Burning Gold" both came through after hearing them enough times on the radio.

With "Human" Christina sticks to her winning formula of...piano ballad. I liked the idea of it right away, a relatable song about flaws and vulnerability with very powerful lyrics. It just sounded predictable for me, with the music building up and fading back at very obvious moments, but it won me over eventually. "Burning Gold" was a great upbeat choice for the second single. In this case it was the video that made me a fan, with the jukebox and stage performance drawing attention to the minor retro influences in the melody. Christina might never be as big as she truly deserves, but as long as there is this much continued interest in her music, I'll be satisfied.

 

Chris Brown featuring Usher & Rick Ross "New Flame"

http://i.imgur.com/edF6Mea.jpg

Well Chris must not have thought "Loyal" would be as big as it was (but really, who did?) because he didn't have his album ready to release off the back of it. It was just one of many delays for X, with several singles attempted before finally landing a huge hit (to the dismay of many, I'm sure!). Or wait, Chris was probably in prison when that happened, oops. The irony! "New Flame" came to the rescue for the album campaign, but also suffered an underwhelming chart run.

"New Flame" seemed so radio-friendly to me compared to its predecessor. It certainly was far more instant for me, whereas "Loyal" took some getting used to before properly loving it. I haven't heard anything good from Usher lately but his feature in the second verse is a sign that he still has it. And a big WD to Rick Ross on getting his first ever top 10 in the UK!

New flame is terrible :puke2:

Boom clap and break the rules are amazing :wub:

Burning gold is great and human is one of the best songs this year :wub:

 

Loving these commentaries Riser :wub:

I agree with Boom Clap being excellent, one of the best singles this year I think. Hoping her album is just as strong as these two singles because I'll definitely be loving it. Superlove was nice though so I hope it makes it as a deluxe track or somethin'.

 

New Flame is really really good, probably the second best of the many singles from this latest era behing Love More. Glad it made the top 10 in the UK just as Loyal did because both are very good. Shame it didn't have the best peak in the US but I think it managed T30 from memory which is still great I suppose (don't kill me if that's wrong :P ).

 

:funky: