Still love 'Cheerleader', it was on my potentials list for BJSC back in 2014 but then it blew up worldwide. Oops.

 

A lot of great stuff here!

:arrr:

A Sandeborg potential, though, no wonder I love it. :o Thanks Adam!

 

Largely agree with your take on Meghan too - I'm intrigued to see how she fares both music-wise and commerically with her second era as my instincts tell me the success of her sound is down to being in the right place at the right time (appropriate Olly reference :magic:) and she's not in it for the long haul. Also never knew you were THAT big a Pitbull fan :o. I definitely admire how he 'owns' his ridiculousness, as you say, but he's too hit-and-miss for me to like on any non-ironic level I think :/. Would always be up for being won over though. :D

!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

That's so true, and you could say the same about Meghan's partner in crime Charlie Puth. As for Pitbull, there was a time where I didn't respect him at all, so if I can be won over maybe you can too. B-)

(Thanks for the rest of your comment too :wub:)

 

The single cover for "Fun" is so Miami Vice it hurts.

Well it is Miami, and Pitbull :thinking: Certainly better than the Arial font on the "Time Of Our Lives" cover.

 

Mr Worldwide *.* he's had a much quieter 2015 for me but he always brings the tunes. I really enjoyed Time of Our Lives actually, a guilty pleasure :heehee:

"Back It Up" was all we needed from him tbh *.*

 

Some good tunes there, Cheerleader the huge highlight for me :wub:

 

Didn't like Jealous by Jonas but Chains & especially Levels were much superior.

 

Both She Knows & Time Of Our Lives I didn't really properly get into to but looking back they were fun tracks.

Yup, agree with most of this except I did like Jealous for a while. Thanks Dobbo!!

 

Rachel Platten "Fight Song"

Rachel Platten "Stand By You"

If you had told me a year ago that Rachel Platten would ever have two songs in the US iTunes top ten, I would not have believed you. The only song of hers I knew was "1000 Ships" and I doubt that was anywhere near the top 100 let alone the top ten. While "Fight Song" is by no means an unlikely hit, Rachel herself was a very unlikely artist to have such a breakthrough year. Normally I'd be very excited about that, but I had the opposite reaction with her.

I've had a bit of a u-turn nowadays, but just being able to tolerate "Fight Song" on the radio was an uphill battle. The station introduced her as an "iHeartRadio On-The-Verge Artist" (which will mean nothing to most of you) which is airplay paid for "sponsored" by her label, and sure enough this station played it a lot, months before I heard it anywhere else. I wasn't enjoying it either so I cringed every time Rachel's words of empowerment were forced upon me and my family. I couldn't bear the thought of this being a proper hit, but fast-forward nine months later and I'm no longer irritated by it. It's a pretty cool UK #1 in my opinion, almost an anomaly for 2015 when it sounds better suited for the early 2000s.

I was encouraged when a fair few members claimed "Stand By You" is infinitely better than "Fight Song", but after listening I'd rate them as being equally sweet but unspectacular. Maybe I should listen to her older songs because I really think "1000 Ships" is better suited to her voice than either of these. That said, I don't begrudge Rachel's success at all and in fact I desperately want "Stand By You" to become a UK hit to save her from one-hit wonder status.

Hellooo Jordan! Where to start ;o

 

NICK JONAS. *.* Such a shame that Chains didn't receive support in the UK, and quite weird considering it was a hit in the US. Eh, radio are strange sometimes~. I agree, Teacher was crying out to be a single, such a shame they didn't go with it.

 

:wub: Great to see Miguel 'Coffee' here. 100% agree with your thoughts on it, a stunning song that deserved soooo much more. :( It got to #1 in my chart at least, that's something right? :kink:

 

Lots of other artists/songs I like here, namely Maroon 5 & Nicki Minaj.

I see Spadam isn't the only person jumping on the Rachel Platten stan train

Sam Hunt "Take Your Time"

http://www.radioglobo.it/img/copertina/samhunt_takeyourtime.jpg

From day one, I’ve considered Sam Hunt to be the Sam Smith of country music. He was very well hyped around the industry early on, which seemed to fuel his breakthrough as much as the music itself. He gets a lot of love as well as a lot of hate. In Mr. Hunt’s case it’s because he’s quite deliberately defying the usual country stereotypes, from the pop sound in his music to the way he dresses. As much as I love to see someone going so against the grain, which is desperately needed at this point, I’m not entirely convinced of Sam’s authenticity either but would say the good outweighs the bad.

"Take Your Time" is part of the good, although I did get tired of it quickly. It stands out with Sam mostly talking in the verses and a chorus that’s simple but memorable and easy to relate to. The song’s crossover appeal was quite obvious and sure enough it became the biggest pop-country hit since "Cruise" two years earlier. Like Sam Smith’s best-known song "Stay With Me", I find this just a bit overrated for what it is, and I agree with those who think it almost doesn’t belong on country radio. But, along with his following single "House Party", it’s good enough for me to believe he may be worthy of all the attention he’s getting.

 

Selena Gomez "Same Old Love"

I’m generally not the type to ever like a song ironically, but exceptions can be made when the song in question is…well, is "song" even the right word in this case? Mess seems like the more appropriate term for "Same Old Love", Selena’s second Revival single which is equal parts laughably bad and objectively terrible. I was already put off by her previous two singles not being the pop stompers I like to hear from her, but after wishing for something else I learned instead to be careful what I wish for.

Without going into detail on everything that’s wrong here, it’s probably most ridiculous to watch the video and hear Charli XCX’s voice coming out of Selena’s mouth. It’s a clear sign that she’s not very capable of singing, but no matter who’s singing it, I can’t believe anyone thought it was worthy of recording, let alone single treatment. Said disbelief only multiplied when the US and Canada actually validated its existence, seemingly enjoying the song enough to buy it. It goes to show you that literally anything can be a hit, but just the thought of anyone taking it seriously does make me appreciate this bizarre, failed attempt at making a song. The :’) moment of the year, in my opinion.

 

Shawn Mendes "Stitches"

"Stitches" is definitely one of my favorites from the past year, so I have to decide what to say about it now and what to save for commentary during my countdown. I guess I’ll say I was VERY surprised to ever be so in love with a Shawn Mendes song. I was already fairly impressed with "Life Of The Party" and "Something Big", enough to know he’s properly talented for his age and should be famous beyond the Internet, but for someone whose fans are also obsessed with the likes of Justin Bieber and Cody Simpson, I’d normally want nothing to do with him.

Prior to its single release, Shawn’s album Handwritten debuted at #1 in the US with no proper hit to his name, so basically just from his Internet fanbase. Of course his label was smart to use that as momentum to push a song onto radio, but I was not prepared for it to be a masterpiece. Even without the semi-established fanbase and the #1 album, "Stitches" certainly could have been a hit in its own right, and is becoming one now in the UK where his album wasn't #1 but his song could be next week! After hearing most of his album, I’m disappointed that Shawn didn’t bother choosing any more singles from it, instead going straight to a re-release. Nevertheless, I hope he is now a fully established artist because he has so many years ahead of him and could potentially get even better with age.

 

Sheppard "Geronimo"

In the video they look like a group of misfits, but Sheppard have so far proven to be the little band that could, with "Geronimo" being a theme song of sorts that was so big in Australia that it beat "Chandelier" as the highest Australian song in the year-end chart in 2014. This translated to success in other countries too, and I’m most surprised at how close they came to getting a hit in the UK and US, neither of which I thought they could manage. They looked more like flops in the UK, following months and months of pre-orders, several release date delays and mostly failed attempts and getting radio support, but a #53 peak stateside is something I’d call "not too shabby".

Every time I heard "Geronimo" on the radio I warmed more and more to it and quickly understood why Rich had been stanning so hard for it all along. It’s very anthemic by nature, nothing original by any means but executed flawlessly and playing to their strengths incredibly well. I haven’t liked any other songs of theirs that I’ve heard, unfortunately. They haven’t followed it up with much success, either, but the group comes across as such underdogs that I do hope Sheppard can pull off some more surprises in the future.

 

Silento "Watch Me"

YOU ALREADY KNOW WHO IT IS!!!!! I will admit that’s a pretty obnoxious intro, especially when most of us had never heard of Silento before hearing this. But I’m a man of few complaints when it comes to "Watch Me", believe it or not. I probably would have been more dismissive eight or nine years ago if it was a hit alongside "This Is Why I’m Hot" and "Crank That", both of which I despised. This song has started a revival of sorts, with "Hit The Quan" following its lead and surely more to follow.

I was amazed at how "Watch Me" blew up without a proper music video, which wasn’t released until it was already top ten on the Hot 100. That said, I’m glad all those YouTube views didn’t send it to #1 only because I don’t like it THAT much and it seems like a likely one-hit wonder either way (not yet counting "Dessert"). Regardless of its merits or lack thereof, it’s simply impressive for a 16 or 17-year-old to combine a bunch of dances into a song that’s catchy enough to become a million-selling global phenomenon for a good chunk of the year. For those who aren’t impressed, I’m fairly sure Silento will make a few more attempts and then disappear soon enough.

Stitches :wub: As you may have guessed, I'm a huge fan of that song ^_^

 

I much prefer Fight Song to Stand By You, the latter is good but feels a little bit too by-numbers even for me I think. Same Old Love however is SO underrated :o I really love the song, not even ironically. Her vocal ability is limited of course and it's best suited to songs like Good For You but this is a very fun song nonetheless, gets too much hate :(

"Stitches" - BEYOND.

 

The only one I really hate is "Take Your Time" tbh

Stiches and Fight song :cheer:

For me Stand By You >>> Fight Song. Hope that can make some sort of impact on these shores!

 

Watch Me is all I ever need in the clubs :lol:

Interesting that you'd heard and disliked 'Fight Song' all that time ago and since kind of surrendered to it! I'm still irritated by its sheer blandness and lack of imagination, and actually I agree with you about 'Stand By You' being similarly unremarkable - the difference being I just can't deny a good melody no matter how it's packaged. :lol:

 

The fact Shawn's managed to break through from being such a fanbase-heavy act is really impressive. I remember his album debuting at #1 seemed undeserved to me as it felt like the result of solid marketing/good timing and not much else, and I assumed it would plummet fairly quickly and he wouldn't be heard of much again. It's great that his trajectory has gone against the norm and he's been able to kind of justify that achievement further down the line. 'Stitches' is still the only thing I rate of (the little I've heard of) his, but that's deserving alone. Should probably check out his other stuff based on what you say~

 

Selena Gomez "Same Old Love"

 

I’m generally not the type to ever like a song ironically, but exceptions can be made when the song in question is…well, is "song" even the right word in this case? Mess seems like the more appropriate term for "Same Old Love", Selena’s second Revival single which is equal parts laughably bad and objectively terrible. I was already put off by her previous two singles not being the pop stompers I like to hear from her, but after wishing for something else I learned instead to be careful what I wish for.

Without going into detail on everything that’s wrong here, it’s probably most ridiculous to watch the video and hear Charli XCX’s voice coming out of Selena’s mouth. It’s a clear sign that she’s not very capable of singing, but no matter who’s singing it, I can’t believe anyone thought it was worthy of recording, let alone single treatment. Said disbelief only multiplied when the US and Canada actually validated its existence, seemingly enjoying the song enough to buy it. It goes to show you that literally anything can be a hit, but just the thought of anyone taking it seriously does make me appreciate this bizarre, failed attempt at making a song. The :’) moment of the year, in my opinion.

*.*.*.*.*.* to all of this <3. Said it all much better than I could have, and I'd previously thought you genuinely liked it so it's nice that we agree on a Selena song for a change! I'm also amazed it's gone on to such massive things - it feels like the complete opposite her career beginnings when almost everything she released seemed to 'underperform' no matter how good. I live in constant fear that 'Same Old Love' will become her (joint) highest peaking single in the US, which would be beyond ridiculous/disgusting. :puke2:

Edited January 18, 20169 yr by Noahspike

Y'all better shut up about Selegend she is queen

Stitches :wub: As you may have guessed, I'm a huge fan of that song ^_^

 

I much prefer Fight Song to Stand By You, the latter is good but feels a little bit too by-numbers even for me I think. Same Old Love however is SO underrated :o I really love the song, not even ironically. Her vocal ability is limited of course and it's best suited to songs like Good For You but this is a very fun song nonetheless, gets too much hate :(

Someone told me you liked Stitches! :o I guess they were right! :cheer: What a nice song :cheer:

I think I'm preferring Fight Song to Stand By You too at the moment, but I'm not inclined to check out her album at this rate. Same Old Love does indeed get too much hate, which is why I don't hate it (but shade it relentlessly anyway oops :teresa: )

 

For me Stand By You >>> Fight Song. Hope that can make some sort of impact on these shores!

 

Watch Me is all I ever need in the clubs :lol:

I hope Stand By You can make an impact too! Can't deal with Rachel having a #1 single and literally no other charting song. :(

 

Interesting that you'd heard and disliked 'Fight Song' all that time ago and since kind of surrendered to it! I'm still irritated by its sheer blandness and lack of imagination, and actually I agree with you about 'Stand By You' being similarly unremarkable - the difference being I just can't deny a good melody no matter how it's packaged. :lol:

 

The fact Shawn's managed to break through from being such a fanbase-heavy act is really impressive. I remember his album debuting at #1 seemed undeserved to me as it felt like the result of solid marketing/good timing and not much else, and I assumed it would plummet fairly quickly and he wouldn't be heard of much again. It's great that his trajectory has gone against the norm and he's been able to kind of justify that achievement further down the line. 'Stitches' is still the only thing I rate of (the little I've heard of) his, but that's deserving alone. Should probably check out his other stuff based on what you say~

 

*.*.*.*.*.* to all of this <3. Said it all much better than I could have, and I'd previously thought you genuinely liked it so it's nice that we agree on a Selena song for a change! I'm also amazed it's gone on to such massive things - it feels like the complete opposite her career beginnings when almost everything she released seemed to 'underperform' no matter how good. I live in constant fear that 'Same Old Love' will become her (joint) highest peaking single in the US, which would be beyond ridiculous/disgusting. :puke2:

Shawn has a lot of strong melodies in his songs, but aside from Stitches and Something Big the production/instrumentation gets kinda samey which makes it hard to hold interest. Although a fair amount of the songs I've only heard live and not on the record so don't hold me to that statement.

 

It would be genuinely HORRIFIC if Same Old Love gets to #5 :puke2:

 

Y'all better shut up about Selegend she is queen

Maybe she was at one time, but not now -_-

 

The Chainsmokers feat. Rozes "Roses"

As I've been writing these I've realized that I don't seem to like one-hit wonders, as I've mentioned several times hoping an artist won't end up with such a fate. And yes, I would even say that for the Chainsmokers, who have been around for a while but are mostly known for a certain flash-in-the-pan novelty song, which I still shamelessly adore. Those who felt differently can be reassured that "Roses" is nothing like that song, and yet has done the unthinkable of charting higher on the Hot 100 than "Selfie" ever did! No viral video, no major promo, hasn't been a hit anywhere else, it's mostly just airplay doing the trick here.

It's not often at all you see a dance song getting big in the US before conquering the rest of the world; usually it's the other way around. So for now we can claim this as our own, which is great because it's so unique. Actually, the way it changes every eight measures is reminiscent of "Turn Down For What", another dance song that found its earliest success in America. But otherwise it really, really, stands out on the radio, and the video is wonderful too. I look forward to seeing if "Roses" will chart higher than "Selfie" in other countries as well.

 

Tinashe feat. Chris Brown "Player"

Tinashe kicked off a second album campaign much sooner than I expected, but after three brilliant singles and her frustrating lack of stardom I'm certainly not going to complain (who would?). This first single, "Player", is not much of a departure at all, and I won't complain about that either as I'm tempted to call it better than "2 On". There's a greater urgency to this song and Tinashe's performance is even more commanding than usual. Despite Chris Brown's many appearances in this thread, for once I'd say his presence does take away from the energy on this track, his verse being nothing more than a way to get more airplay and a hindrance to what is otherwise a stellar single.

Because it sounds similar to "2 On" (not identical but still), and that was only a minor hit, I sensed that "Player" was pretty much destined to not be a smash at all. Thankfully Snakehips have come to Tinashe's rescue, with "All My Friends" putting her up high in the charts where she belongs for the first time. Whether that leads to justice for her own material remains to be seen, but things may finally be heading in the right direction for her.

 

Tori Kelly "Nobody Love"

Tori Kelly "Should've Been Us"

I'm not sure whether to call 2015 a great year for Tori Kelly or a disappointing one. Even when she featured on "Lullaby", I thought she would forever be stuck under the radar despite her being overwhelmingly talented, so the combination of a #2 album and three songs on the radio over the past year has far exceeded my expectations. But to see her music struggling just to do half as well as Ariana, Demi, and Selena is almost insulting, so as a fan it's a little bittersweet.

Speaking of Ariana, on first listen of "Nobody Love" it sure sounded like a re-creation of "Problem" to me. But I very quickly preferred Tori's, as the melody and vocals are both stronger and it doesn't rely on a collab partner. I guess I'm a sucker for big brass, and that peak moment before the last chorus gets me every time! It was very instant for me whereas her next single "Should've Been Us" was more of a grower. I didn't think that one would stand a chance until her sensational VMAs performance rightfully gave it a boost and kept radio from writing her off after two underperforming singles. I can only hope Unbreakable Smile is the 19 to her next album's 21, because she is way too good to not be the next pop powerhouse.

 

Twenty One Pilots "Stressed Out"

It took a few years for Twenty One Pilots to win me over, and even now I'm surprised they've managed to do it. When I first heard "Holding On To You" I thought they were silly for trying to bring back rap-rock, that their sound wasn't appealing and their songs just weren't good enough. My opinion started to change last January when "Fake You Out" was entered in BJSC. Then came the new releases- "Fairly Local" was nothing special but "Tear In My Heart" really impressed me. It should have been a bigger hit, but they're making up for it now.

This will be the second year in a row that a band from my state goes global, after Walk The Moon last year (so yeah, they're mine, stop claiming them). As I'm listening to "Stressed Out" now, thinking of what to say, I can already tell it's going to sound just as good twenty years from now, like all of the 90s American bands that had one crossover hit that still gets airplay on 90s music programs. That's not to say Twenty One Pilots won't have more than one crossover hit, but I'm being realistic. Anyway, it's amazing how quickly this has shot up the US charts over the past month, mere inches from #1 on iTunes as I type this. I'm intrigued to find out if the UK, Australia and New Zealand will take to this song as well.

Really enjoying reading these thoughts Jordan. Of the recent ones, especially with Rachel Platten, I originally had similar thoughts on her songs, like, I would love to have seen her smash with 1000 Ships or anything else off the her first album, it's all really really good, you should check it out. But I'm also just happy that she's had some success and I really like what she's doing now so I'm on board with that.

 

Seeing Sheppard and particularly Twenty One Pilots gain a modicum of success lately has been great to see, for the former, I really like your descriptor of them as a 'little band that could', it fits perfectly, and for the latter, great to see you won round by them. I really hope Stressed Out doesn't keep its success confined to the USA, because we'd love some of that too. Well, I would.

To be honest I was just as wowed to see "Stressed Out" cross over so easily as I was when Zendaya first charted in Australia. Kinda kicking myself that I didn't send it to BJSC when I had the chance :(

 

I think "Roses" is among the same musical progression path as DJ Snake's "Middle" - an act who is lost well-known for a novelty hit makes something more experimental and everyone loves it.

Roses is a track I'm finally adoring after taking nearly 10 listens to even remember it :lol: it really is amazing!

 

Nobody Love was a great pop song, she had potential after her appearance on Lullaby and what a great debut track.

I love the Twenty One Pilots album :heart:

Usher featuring Juicy J "I Don't Mind"

http://www.hiphopstage.cz/archiv/article/new-track-usher-ft-juicy-j-i-don-t-mind-big.jpg

With this song, Usher may have finally jumped the shark. Don't get me wrong, I actually like "I Don't Mind" and consider it a slight return to form after "Good Kisser" and "She Came To Give It To You" proved to be the wrong direction for him. But I'm now inclined to think he has completely sold out, with nothing left to offer in terms of originality after a long streak of cheap attempts to relive past glories. To give him credit, this wasn't generic dance-pop and still managed to be his biggest hit in a few years, but would it have done as well without the attention-grabbing lyrics? I doubt it. What about the moo sound in the chorus? *.* [/skypejoke]

I think Usher's going to make another attempt to release an album this year; maybe 2016 will be third time lucky after 2014 and 2015 didn't go as well as planned. If not, I don't think he has anything to be ashamed of. Very few artists can claim to have a twenty-year chart career and all good things must come to an end. I'm more or less expecting diminishing returns from here on out, but if he does unleash a surprise smash on us I'll gladly admit to being wrong.

:puke2: :puke2: :puke2: :puke2: :puke2: :puke2: :puke2:

I don't? Mind 'I Don't Mind' :kink: