December 23, 201410 yr Sheppard, The Common Linnets, Uptown Funk and Bang Bang :wub: I love all 4 of those However I absolutely hate waves, definitely in my 3 worst songs this year :puke2:
December 24, 201410 yr Author Sheppard, The Common Linnets, Uptown Funk and Bang Bang :wub: I love all 4 of those However I absolutely hate waves, definitely in my 3 worst songs this year :puke2: They're all great songs :wub: Haha, I know it's quite a divisive song!
December 24, 201410 yr Author 30-21 30. The Madden Brothers - We Are Done (10-8-OUT-10-2-2-6) 29. Nádine - Juvenile (9-3-2-3-4) 28. Ed Sheeran - Don't (7-3-4-6-8-OUT-6-7-9) 27. The Common Linnets - Give Me A Reason (10-3-4-3-8-OUT-7-9) 26. Ella Henderson - Ghost (10-OUT-6-7-4-2-5) 25. Idina Menzel - Let It Go (9-4-3-2-3) 24. Tove Lo - Timebomb (5-1-2-4) 23. Sheppard - Lingering (8-2-2-3-4-7) 22. Colbie Caillat - Try (8-6-1-3-4-10) 21. Katy B - Crying for No Reason (4-2-1-4-7) Madden Brothers - We Are Done fc3LGzNEkL0 The Common Linnets - Give Me A Reason qNdirDqjpgk Colbie Caillat - Try GXoZLPSw8U8 The Madden Brothers kick off the top 30 with Australian chart topper We Are Done. I've never previously had any time for Good Charlotte or any related side project but Joel and Benji's album and this lead single were a real breath of fresh air, sounding like a lost Californian sunny-pop song, high on melody and harmonies. It reached No.2 in my chart for a couple of weeks in the summer but sadly tanked when released in the UK due to a complete lack of support. South African singer Nádine grabs another appearance as her recent No.2 hit Juvenile pops its head in at No.29. An infectious pop song with a pretty killer chorus, it's the sort of thing that was ten-a-penny around the turn of the century but I love that sort of pop so I'm very happy to hear there are artists still making it. Ed Sheeran's second highest appearance is his second single from x, Don't. One we are led to believe is about Ellie Goulding and her rendezvous with Niall Horan when she was presumably supposed to be seeing Ed, it's quite a bitter song with quite bitchy lyrics but the Lucy Pearl sample/interpolation works incredibly well and makes for a highly effective song. The second appearance in the top 40 for Dutch country act The Common Linnets is their recently released second single Give Me A Reason. Probably the most melodic song on the album, it's tailor made for radio and was a natural single choice. After shockingly crashing out in 6th in X Factor 2012 to the woeful James Arthur, after both somehow appeared in the bottom two at that stage, then 16 year old Ella Henderson was a clear star in the making. But after no word for over a year and a poor track record of non top five finishing X Factor acts finding any success, it looked like she may fail to fulfill her potential. But Ryan Tedder was on hand with a killer pop song and the incredible Ghost speaks for itself with THAT chorus and that voice. A deserved UK No.1 and a likely million seller (a definite one when factoring in streams). I managed to somehow avoid Frozen until about August when I finally succumbed and watched it. And until that point I'd barely exposed myself to Idina Menzel's Let It Go. I eventually saw the error of my ways after overplaying it when I got Now 88, and of course seeing the song in its rightful context as part of the film, and it finally began a run in my top five in the summer, peaking at No.2. A classic Disney ballad, it's quite incredible to think that such a song charted in the first place in the UK, let alone sold over 800,000 copies (so far). Tove Lo wins the battle of the Tove's as the pop anthem Timebomb appears at No.24, her second No.1 after last year's Out Of Mind, which finished at #22 in my 2013 EOY chart. Timebomb had a bit of a short but sweet chart run for me but it's a fantastic song with an irresistible structure and power and should have been a single choice. Sheppard pop up again at #23 with album track Lingering, which I pointed out in my gig review that they disappointingly didn't perform it live - since then it's been included in their set - coincidence much? Lingering is a really beautiful acoustic ballad with some pretty relateable lyrics for the single amongst us. George Sheppard takes the lead but once again it's the harmonies from the girls that add to the effect and take it up another notch. It never reached #1 due to being blocked by A Grade Playa but managed a respectable run in the top ten and a fortnight at No.2. Californian singer Colbie Caillat's Coco is one of my all time top five favourite albums so I still welcome any new music by her with open arms. She hasn't really produced anything to quite match that debut since apart from the odd song (e.g. 2011's Dream Life, Life) but 2014's Gypsy Heart was a massive step in the right direction. And the album's first single Try, which surfaced in the summer after Colbie released the first half of the album onto iTunes, even became a mini viral hit thanks to a video promoting the virtues of being yourself, complete with a makeup-free Colbie! A pretty lovely song, it was a minor hit in quite a few countries and became her first #1 since 2007's Realize for me. And just missing out on the top 20 is by far the best single that British singer Katy B has ever put her name or voice too. I've liked a couple of her songs in the past, although never particularly LOVED anything but Crying For No Reason changed that completely - an emotive electronic ballad which was completely unexpected and deservedly returned her to the UK top five after a few flop singles. The production kicking in from the second verse is quite a special moment indeed and the outro is quite brilliant.
December 24, 201410 yr Crying For No Reason is such a beautiful and amazing song, Don't is one of the highlights from X and yay for more Common Linnets/Sheppard :cheer: And also big YAY for 2 of my favourite songs this year [let alone forever are here]. Ghost is just a stunning super fantastic debut song and Ella absolutely shines on it and Let It Go is just the most perfect perfect song there is :wub: Amazing section GoodDelta :wub:
December 24, 201410 yr IDINA :wub: (having my own personal Ultra moment here) Also it's nice to see Colbie on here too, very sweet song!
December 24, 201410 yr Author Crying For No Reason is such a beautiful and amazing song, Don't is one of the highlights from X and yay for more Common Linnets/Sheppard :cheer: And also big YAY for 2 of my favourite songs this year [let alone forever are here]. Ghost is just a stunning super fantastic debut song and Ella absolutely shines on it and Let It Go is just the most perfect perfect song there is :wub: Amazing section GoodDelta :wub: I agree, it really is quite something special! Don't was my initial album highlight but I've grown to like TOL more. Haha, I thought you might like those inclusions, especially Let It Go - it may have taken me a while to appreciate it but such a good song will always find its way into my ice cold heart eventually :P IDINA :wub: (having my own personal Ultra moment here) Also it's nice to see Colbie on here too, very sweet song! :wub: I agree, she's so underrated (in the UK)).
December 24, 201410 yr Author Albums 20-11 20. The Arrows - Disaster Queen (#2) Highlights: Before It's Too Late, Disaster Queen, Slow Motion, Find Me A Man 19. Ola - Carelssly Yours (#1 for 1 week) Highlights: Maybe, Tonight I'm Yours, Losin' It, Jackie Kennedy, Rich & Young 18. Agnes - Collection (#2) Highlights: Release Me, One Last Time, Love Love Love, Instant Repeater, Don't Go Breaking My Heart 17. Sia - 1000 Forms Of Fear (#2) Highlights: Chandelier, Big Girls Cry, Burn The Pages, Eye Of The Needle 16. Lily Allen - Sheezus (#1 for 1 week) Highlights: Hard Out Here, Somehwere Only We Know, Life For Me, Sheezus, Miserable Without Your Love 15. Beyoncé - BEYONCÉ (#1 for 1 week) Highlights: Pretty Hurts, Drunk In Love, Ghost/Haunted, Yoncé/Partition, XO 14. Colbie Caillat - Gypsy Heart (#1 for 1 week) Highlights: Try, If You Love Me Let Me Go, Live It Up, Floodgates, Bigger Love 13. Maroon 5 - V (#2) Highlights: Feelings, Animals, It Was Always You, Maps, My Heart Is Open 12. Ella Henderson - Chapter One (#1 for 1 week) Highlights: Ghost, Yours, Mirror Man, Billie Holiday, 1996, Five Tattoos 11. Leddra Chapman - My Mother's Mind (#1 for 3 weeks) Highlights: All About You, Blue Tattoo, Do You Think, Tongue Tied, Playground South African duo The Arrows kick off the top 20 and although it doesn't feature any song quite as great as Entropy from their previous album, as a whole it's a hell of a lot stronger. The title track is quite a jam (and was in my top 100 of last year). A Swedish pop double at #19 and #18 with two former Idol contestants and Melodifestivalen entrants. Ola was actually always my favourite of the Swedish male popstars, even if he was nobody elses (Mans was tied during the MZW era), and this album cemented that position. Wall to wall brilliant pop with some killer choruses throughout. And Agnes' greatest hits album was always going to be good, even if it was dominated with songs from Så mycket bättre. The magnificent Release Me would be the highlight of any album by anyone. Sia returned with her biggest album yet, in commercial terms. A #2 in my chart though, matching the peak of 2010's We Are Born, which came out a year and a half before everyone started to suddenly care who she was. It's a slightly darker and certainly less melodic album than its predecessor but it's still an incredibly engaging listen as a whole body of work. Lily Allen's Sheezus was a bit of a step down in quality compared to her first two albums, but they were on another level altogether. Nevertheless, it's very good on the whole, albeit for a couple of missteps (why was Air Balloon a single exactly?) with the trademark Lily charm still shining through. Beyoncé's BEYONCÉ appeared at #21 in my EOY 2013 chart based on literally a couple of days listening, so it stands to reason that it would appear again higher this year. Her most solid album to date without a shadow of a doubt and I still find it incredible that she farted it onto iTunes with nobody knowing anything about it - it definitely lived up to the hype. Colbie Caillat's Gypsy Heart, as mentioned earlier, was a return to form based on her 2011 album All Of You and respectably finishes 14th. The first half really is fantastic, and up to the quality of her earliest work and although there are only a couple of highlights in the second half, the remaining tracks make for a pleasant background listen. Maroon 5's Overexposed finished in my top 10 of 2012 and therefore V, which is at least as good, should technically finish in the top ten of this year, but this is a far stronger year for albums than 2012. It was less 'OMG we need to write 13 hits' and more loyal to their original style, but the choruses and Adam's wonderful falsetto remained on show throughout. And there are at least 5 or 6 strong singles on this album. Ella Henderson's debut album Yours didn't disappoint at all, and despite being rather long the quality is maintained throughout with some beautiful piano ballads and some fantastic mid-tempos and uptempos. A shout out to the acoustic cover of Believe included on the iTunes version too. And just missing out on the top ten is the lady who topped my EOY 2010 chart with her debut album Telling Tales. Leddra Chapman's My Mother's Mind was essentially a lesser version of that album, but that's still better than most people's albums and the mentioned highlights more than stood up to the quality and charm of the debut - a hugely underrated talent.
December 24, 201410 yr Some more amazing albums Gooddelta :wub: Even though the last album was way stronger, Sheezus was still great. I also really like Beyonce and 1000 forms of fear. Chapter one is also an amazing debut album :wub:
December 24, 201410 yr Hey Rich 30. The Madden Brothers - We Are Done (10-8-OUT-10-2-2-6) surprisingly decent from them two, was a on/off fan of GC too. 28. Ed Sheeran - Don't (7-3-4-6-8-OUT-6-7-9) 27. The Common Linnets - Give Me A Reason (10-3-4-3-8-OUT-7-9) 26. Ella Henderson - Ghost (10-OUT-6-7-4-2-5) 25. Idina Menzel - Let It Go (9-4-3-2-3) 23. Sheppard - Lingering (8-2-2-3-4-7) 22. Colbie Caillat - Try (8-6-1-3-4-10) 21. Katy B - Crying for No Reason (4-2-1-4-7) So agree with on her, never cared for her really until this came along, wonderful song with dulcet vocals! MERRY CHRISTMAS BTW :D
December 25, 201410 yr Author Some more amazing albums Gooddelta :wub: Even though the last album was way stronger, Sheezus was still great. I also really like Beyonce and 1000 forms of fear. Chapter one is also an amazing debut album :wub: Agreed with all your comments there! Hey Rich 30. The Madden Brothers - We Are Done (10-8-OUT-10-2-2-6) surprisingly decent from them two, was a on/off fan of GC too. 28. Ed Sheeran - Don't (7-3-4-6-8-OUT-6-7-9) 27. The Common Linnets - Give Me A Reason (10-3-4-3-8-OUT-7-9) 26. Ella Henderson - Ghost (10-OUT-6-7-4-2-5) 25. Idina Menzel - Let It Go (9-4-3-2-3) 23. Sheppard - Lingering (8-2-2-3-4-7) 22. Colbie Caillat - Try (8-6-1-3-4-10) 21. Katy B - Crying for No Reason (4-2-1-4-7) So agree with on her, never cared for her really until this came along, wonderful song with dulcet vocals! MERRY CHRISTMAS BTW :D Merry Christmas Rob! Agree with you about We Are Done and Katy, it's such a gorgeous song and showed what she's capable of!
December 26, 201410 yr Author 20-11 20. Sigma - Nobody to Love (7-8-9-OUT-4-2-3-6) 19. Shakira feat Rihanna - Can't Remember To Forget You (2-2-1-1-4-6) 18. Rae Morris - Do You Even Know? (8-3-4-1-2-4-8) 17. Andreas Bourani - Auf Uns (1-1-3-3-5) 16. Pitbull feat Ke$ha - Timber (1-1-1-3-7) 15. John Martin - Anywhere For You (5-2-4-6-8-7-4-4-8) 14. Walk The Moon - Shut Up and Dance (6-3-4-4-1-2-4-3-6) 13. Safari - I Need You (2-1-1-1-3-4) 12. Ed Sheeran - Thinking Out Loud (9-8-OUT-5-1-1-3-6-8) 11. Alcazar - Blame It On The Disco (5-1-2-2-3-3-6) Rae Morris - Do You Even Know? 9Nz-GlhKZVg Andreas Bourani - Auf Uns MYNLQjrBVPo Alcazar - Blame It On The Disco TXxc2vt1uhw Kicking off my top 20 of the year is the first of two songs not to peak at #1. Sigma's Nobody To Love irresistibly sampled Kanye West's Bound 2, but failed to get sample clearance to use the vocal on that so roped in (so I found yesterday) Daniel Pearce, formerly of One True Voice, to sing on the track. A fantastic production with a powerful piano topline and a summery video that brightened up the spring no end, Nobody To Love managed a 7 week run in my top ten bang in the middle of busy Melodifestivalen and Eurovision season, and of course went to #1 in the UK. Shakira and Rihanna's much hyped collaboration Can't Remember To Forget You failed to win over many fans when it premiered which is a shame because I thought it was pretty great, but perhaps I need to take off my loon glasses for both of these ladies? The strong ska verses were admittedly stronger than the chorus but the 'I'd do anything for that boy' middle eight was my favourite part. As a package though (and with THAT video) I thought it was very strong overall and to this day I don't really understand what went wrong. Blackpool's Rae Morris first came to my attention in 2012 when I heard Don't Go at the end of the finale of one of the Skins seasons. I instantly hunted the track out and sent it to BJSC and it rather underwhelmingly finished 14th. I hadn't heard an awful lot from her since but she burst back to my attention this year with a handful of great singles including Cold and Closer, presumably buzz singles to set up what tastemakers are assuming will be a successful 2015 for her. But it was the glistening string/electro-ballad Do You Even Know? which took my heart, even though it took a good three months after premiering to finally crawl to #1 in my chart, it defined slow burner but I could never resist something this beautiful for that long. Upon starting at my new job in April I was told that the following month I'd be sent to Munich in Germany for a week for a business trip in May. The trip was bloody hard work but I did manage to escape to a music shop for a brief period and stocked up on various CDs. One of them included Andreas Bourani's Auf Uns, which was at that point #1 in Germany I believe (I certainly remember hearing it a lot on TV channels and in shops). An Agnes-esque string intro gave way to production which could only be described as Coldplay, Bastille and The Temper Trap in a blender. The indie-leaning pop anthem is fronted with great gusto by the incredibly capable Andreas. Naturally I sent this to BJSC, and it finished 13th, which for a German language male vocal track was in my eyes a major success. Shame this couldn't be translated into English and released here. Timber made an appearance in the lower end of my 2013 top 100 but right at the start of this year it climbed to #1 where it stayed for three weeks. The infectious party anthem was the first #1 for Ke$ha although Pitbull had piggybacked his way there before on J.Lo's On The Floor. Both artists made the song as shamelessly great as it is, Pitbull's tacky verses are as iconic as ever while Ke$ha's chorus is simply one of the catchiest in years. The Avicii-inspired Cotton Eye Joe style production was also right on point. Swedish singer John Martin has made a name for himself over the years as a guest vocalist, scoring top ten hits with Swedish House Mafia and Tinie Tempah. He branched out on his own this year and his debut single Anywhere For You was met with relative success, including a 'blink and you'll miss it' appearance in the UK chart. Most people found it underwhelming but for whatever reason I really couldn't get enough of this song for months in the spring. It's obviously 'try-hard anthemic' with the cliched lyrics and the tailor made euphoria of the chorus but for me it completely works. John sounds passionate on the track, which always evokes a response in me. And that drop is incredible to me - X Factor seemed to like it too, I lost count of how many times I heard it as a soundbed during this year's series. Anywhere For You is the highest peaking non #1 in my EOY chart this year. American indie band Walk The Moon are admittedly not an act I paid major attention to when they first surfaced a couple of years ago. But first time I heard Shut Up and Dance I sat up and took notice. With vocals quite reminiscent of Mark Owen I actually thought that this would have made a great comeback single for Take That (as it would happen TT had a great lead of their own anyway). The chorus and the video (one of my favourites of the year) are pure 80s arcade nostalgia and I hope it can take off in some capacity and become a hit next year. Another of my BJSC entries, despite some mid-table to poor predictions and odds it managed to finish fourth in the final, which massively shocked me as it's really not the sort of thing that typically does well in the contest these days but I'm glad people clicked with the song. Another BJSC entry, and perhaps the most misguided entry of the year by anyyone, was Safari's I Need You. I found this gem on Norway's iTunes chart, instantly downloaded it and never looked back. A multi-layered gospel song, it was the first song of the genre to top my chart since Caroldene's Time Is A Healer in 2001. I'm not a particularly religious person and the song is obviously about God but how could I possibly be expected to deny the chorus, melody and harmonies that this song contained? I obviously knew it would tank in BJSC but I felt I had to stay true to myself by sending my current favourite song, and it actually far exceeded my expectations by coming shockingly close to qualifying for the final! I feel I should point out that the top 12 are leagues ahead of everything else in the chart, and it's a shame that I couldn't put all 12 in the top 10. But it is what it is and the first to just miss out is Ed Sheeran's modern classic Thinking Out Loud. The third single from x, it's gone on to be by far the biggest and will no doubt overtake The A Team as the biggest single of his career before long. A classic soul ballad with a simple but stunning hook and convincing delivery from Ed, it finally hit the top of my chart for a couple of weeks alongside the single release, giving him his first chart topper since Lego House in 2011, which was his third of that year. No doubt he's won many more millions of admirers from this song alone. And juuuust missing out on the top ten (weeping) is the happiest band in the world, Sweden's Alcazar! I didn't particularly expect much when I heard they were returning to Melodifestivalen despite them being behind my second favourite MF entry ever, 2009's Stay The Night. Headlines underwhelmed in 2010 and they'd been quiet since. But Blame It On The Disco very nearly lived up to Stay The Night, clearly taking a huge amount of inspiration from that song. A pure cheddar cheese disco-schlager anthem, for a short while it looked like they could even make it to Eurovision finally. Once again it wasn't to be but they managed a third third place and another Swedish top ten hit, which is pretty incredible for a band active since the turn of the century peddling a completely unfashionable genre.
December 26, 201410 yr Nobody to love is definitely one of the strongest dance songs this year and I am glad it was one of the most successful :cheer: Timber is great (mostly because of Kesha) and can't remember to forget you is a great collaboration :wub: Even though I used to like it, I am so completely bored of thinking out loud now :(
December 26, 201410 yr Author Nobody to love is definitely one of the strongest dance songs this year and I am glad it was one of the most successful :cheer: Timber is great (mostly because of Kesha) and can't remember to forget you is a great collaboration :wub: Even though I used to like it, I am so completely bored of thinking out loud now :( Agreed with all of these comments apart from the Ed one :P Glad to see you're still loving Leddra! All About You is such a jam haha! Oh yes, as an artist she's still my favourite BJSC discovery!
December 26, 201410 yr Author Albums 10-6 10. Clean Bandit - New Eyes http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/2/29/Clean_Bandit_New_Eyes_Special_Edition_cover.jpg Chart run: 2-2-4-4-4-5-8-10-10-10-OUT-7 Highlights: Rather Be, Real Love, Extraordinary, Mozart's House, Up Again, Rihanna, Stronger Clean Bandit's debut album New Eyes is almost up there with Disclosure's Settle for me in terms of impressive UK dance debuts of the last few years. It got stuck with a #2 peak in a busy chart period but it really is quite special. The use of dance production with the cello sounds courtesy of band member Grace take their music into a completely different dimension. It was a fantastic album to start with but the Special Edition just added three more excellent and worthy tracks to it. A fine array of featured vocalists appear too. 9. Katy B - Little Red http://www.josepvinaixa.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2013/11/Katy-B-Little-Red-2014-1200x1200-300x300.png Chart run: 1-1-1-2-2-4-5 Highlights: Crying For No Reason, 5AM, Aaliyah, Sky's The Limit, Still, Blue Eyes As I mentioned previously, I was really never majorly into Katy B before Crying For No Reason but that single persuaded me to give the album a try and I was really incredibly impressed. 5AM, Still and Aaliyah were also great singles while Deluxe bonus track Sky's The Limit really should have found a place on the main tracklisting. Another fine example of a UK dance artist getting it completely on point. 8. Kylie Minogue - Kiss Me Once Chart run: 1-1-2-2-3-5-4-5-6-8-9 Highlights: Into The Blue, Kiss Me Once, Feels So Good, Les Sex, Sexy Love, I Was Gonna Cancel Rather panned in some circles and not exactly a commercial success for somebody who was once one of the biggest popstars in the UK, I still have a lot of affection for Kylie's 2014 album Kiss Me Once. It's definitely nowhere near as cohesive or impressive to me as Aphrodite (which gets a hard time for some reason, it was a stunning album) but it had its fair share of highlights to make it a worthy entry to the Kylie canon. I even enjoy I Was Gonna Cancel, although the video was easily the worst of the year. The Sia-led title track probably should have been a single while Feels So Good was a great Tom Aspaul cover. 7. Take That - III http://www.josepvinaixa.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/Take-That-III-2014-1200x1200-300x300.png Chart run: 1-1-1 Highlights: These Days, Lovelife, Into The Wild, Flaws, Amazing, Get Ready For It, Higher Than Higher Take That's new album has been met with the most muted reception to any of their albums since probably their debut. Losing Jason Orange (and the departure once again of Robbie) probably didn't help while the tax scandal will have lost them a lot of fans too. Musically though they're sounding just as ambitious as ever for a trio of guys in their 40s that were once the country's biggest teen pop band. They could have so easily fallen into covers album territory by now but they continue to churn out inspired original pop. The funky and contemporary These Days is yet another entry into their canon of potential classics while the likes of Into The Wild and Lovelife are clearly influenced by Swedish dance music. Flaws and Amazing are typical (but very good) Barlow standards and the rest of the album is full of a lot more high quality pop. Not as 'out there' or engaging as the wonderfully bizarre Progress but still very much well worth a listen. 6. Shakira - Shakira. Chart run: 1-1-2-3-2-3-4-7-6-10-9-8-9-9 Highlights: Can't Remember To Forget You, Empire, Dare (La La La), Medicine, Spotlight, Cut Me Deep Shakira is one of my top three favourite artists ever so a new album is always highly anticipated by me. 2010's largely Spanish offering Sale El Sol was a little underwhelming for me so and 2009's She Wolf, her last English LP, was also a little below par. Despite the poor reception commercially and in terms of a lot of the reviews, I found 2014's almost eponymous album to be her best collection since Oral Fixation Vol. 2. The lead single, as mentioned is brilliant to me while the eclectic Empire was classic oddball Shakira. The World Cup 2014 anthem Dare (La La La) was certainly no Waka Waka but it was catch and effective. Elsewhere there are a couple of decent duets with Blake Shelton and Magic! and the reductive but fantastic Spotlight, which sounds like a Shakira song from 10 years ago (or even an Avril Lavigne track).
December 26, 201410 yr 40. Lana Del Rey - Ultraviolence (#3) 39. Sam Smith - In The Lonely Hour (#4) 38. Christina Perri - Head Or Heart (#3) 37. Sweet California - Break Of Day (#2) 36. The Pierces - Creation (#3) 35. Tove Lo - Queen Of The Clouds (#3) 34. Sarah McLachlan - Shine On (#2) 33. David Guetta - Listen (#2) 32. Public Service Broadcasting - Inform - Educate - Entertain (#3) 31. Carrie Underwood - Greatest Hits: Decade #1 (#2) 30. Kiesza - Sound Of A Woman (#3) 29. Mariah Carey - Me. I Am Mariah...The Elusive Chanteuse (#2) 28. Missy Higgins - Oz (#2) 27. Calvin Harris - Motion (#2) 26. Sanna Nielsen - 7 (#2) 25. Armin Van Buuren - A State Of Trance 2014 (#4) 24. Helene Fischer - Farbenspiel (#3) 23. Sophie Ellis-Bextor - Wanderlust (#2) 22. The Saturdays - Finest Selection: The Greatest Hits (#1 for 1 week) 21. Tony Bennett & Lady Gaga - Cheek To Cheek (#1 for 1 week) I must admit out of the above list I only got 1 album... and that is Lana Del Rey, was tempted to buy Calvin Harris album but I think I wait for GooglePlay to price it at 99p :lol: since googleplay has gone mad pricing albums at 99p, I bought Chapter One for 99p :lol: considering some of the tracks are not that really that good, that was a bargain. I probably bought about 14 albums this year, which was just about enough to list a top 10 albums of the year chart. ha
December 26, 201410 yr Clean Bandit's album just missed out on a top 10 entry from my year to date chart, Katy B and Kylie both feature inside the top 10, I must admit Kylie's album is pretty good, it just didn't stay longer in the official album chart, it quickly fizzled out, some great tracks on it. I think she needs to collaborate with a featured artist on a future single, it didn't harm Paloma Faith in the long run, maybe Tinie Tempah :lol: just kidding, Röyksopp would be my logical choice.
December 26, 201410 yr Author Albums 5. The Veronicas - The Veronicas Chart run: 1-1-2-3-2 Highlights: You Ruin Me, Born Bob Dylan, If You Love Someone, Always, Cold, Line Of Fire After seven years in the album wilderness, Australian twin sisters Jess and Lisa finally returned in 2014 with their third album. The self-titled set basically picks up where their (incredible) debut left off, but with the influences of the Hook Me Up album still very much present on some tracks too. In short they continued with the formula that's served them so well over the last decade but when the songs are this strong and consistent, does anyone really mind? Lead single You Ruin Me was a bold move that paid off in spades while the Taylor Swift-esque If You Love Someone was a strong second single. Born Bob Dylan is classic Veronicas while Always has a brilliantly oddball structure and chord sequence. These girls have yet to ever put a foot wrong for me (I even loved black sheep Lolita) and this album continued that fine form. 4. Taylor Swift - 1989 http://blueandgoldtoday.org/wp-content/uploads/2014/11/Taylor-Swift-1989-300x300.jpeg Chart run: 1-1-1-2-3-3-4-4 Highlights: Out Of The Woods, Shake It Off, Blank Space, Style, I Know Places, Wonderland Taylor Swift is somebody who I've loved since 2008 when I first heard her country debut album. She's evolved into a very different artist over the past six years but has consistently got better and developed into a superstar not just in the US, but globally. Fearless had been my favourite album of hers but 2012's Red managed to better that with a poppier sound and array of smash hits. 1989 took that even further up another notch, shook off (:magic:) the last remaining country shackles and took Taylor bang into pure pop territory. The reason this works is because Taylor is a great songwriter and has an incredible team behind her. Nearly every song on this album - even the bonus tracks on the deluxe edition - sounds like it could be a global smash hit, and two of them already have been. This album is an instant classic and finally delivered her with a #1 album in my chart after four consecutive #2 peaks. I'm looking forward to see what songs are picked as singles over the course of the next year. 3. Ed Sheeran - x http://images.musictimes.com/data/images/full/6002/ed-sheeran-x-2014.png Chart run: 1-1-1-1-2-2-2-3-3-2-2-4-4-6-7-8-8-6-7-9-8-7-9-10-10-7-6 Highlights: Thinking Out Loud, Don't, Sing, Nina, Afire Love, The Man, I See Fire I'll kick off the top three with a disclaimer - these three albums are FAR better than my #1 album of last year, True by Avicii, which shows how brilliant 2014 has been for albums. The top two indeed are my two favourite albums of not just 2014 but of the 2010s so far. Ed Sheeran is somebody I've followed since about early 2010. I bought all of his EPs and became very invested in him and was surprised but delighted when The A Team took off in summer 2011. I loved his debut album + but many found it underwhelming and called it too safe and MOR. x is in a completely different league altogether, Ed's craft has come on in leaps and bounds in the three years between albums and from start to finish it's a frankly stunning listen. There's plenty to choose from for fans of MOR balladry but Ed's unique edge still shines through in songs like The Man and Afire Love while the singles have all been perfect choices, and all incredibly varied which is why the album is no doubt selling by the bucketload. While I don't love any songs on here individually as much as The A Team or You Need Me, I Don't Need You from +, as a body of work it's a hell of a lot more impressive and he just seems to get better and better. It's quite exciting to see what he'll do for his third album because for a mainstream artist, he still takes quite a few risks musically. 2. The Common Linnets - The Common Linnets http://i.picresize.com/images/2014/05/17/o0cG.jpg Chart run: 1-1-1-1-1-2-2-3-3-3-4-4-5-7-8-6-7-7-10-10-10-1-2-3-7-9-10 Highlights: Calm After The Storm, Give Me A Reason, Lovers & Liars, When Love Was King, Time Has No Mercy, Before Complete Surrender, Hungry Hands, Still Loving After You Eurovision acts don't tend to churn out classic albums. Even Loreen's much anticipated Heal wasn't really quite as great as I'd hoped it would be. On top of that The Netherlands have been Eurovision alsorans for the best part of the last 15 years until Anouk reignited their spark last year. Country act The Common Linnets, comprising of solo artists Waylon and Ilse DeLange and an array of talented American and Dutch backing musicians and songwriters, represented The Netherlands at Eurovision with the subtle country ballad Calm After The Storm but nobody was exactly anticipating success for them. However the presentation was so effective, and the song so simple and standout amongst the circus that surrounded it that it suddenly sounded and looked absolutely sensational live. This persuaded me to download the album and I was completely blown away. For an act put together just for Eurovision they had managed to construct a country album packed with rich hooks, effective harmonies, emotion and care, my favourite country album since Carrie Underwood's debut Some Hearts nearly a decade earlier. The aformentioned tracks that have featured in my singles rundown are all excellent while Time Has No Mercy could quite easily be a lost country crooner classic. Hungry Hands, Before Complete Surrender and Still Loving After You are other beautifully constructed songs. Even though Waylon left soon after Eurovision, he should still be given credit for his input on this magnificent debut. Furthermore their live concert in Shepherd's Bush was an absolute revelation, Ilse was clearly overjoyed that she'd finally made it outside of The Netherlands while the rest of the band were clearly incredibly passionate. The two hour show packed in almost the whole of this album as well as what is presumably almost the whole of the next album - and the good news is that all of the new songs sound just as incredible.
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