Lady Gaga "Perfect Illusion"

Lady Gaga's big comeback single sounded like everything I didn't want in a Lady Gaga comeback single, and that's not necessarily a bad thing. "Perfect Illusion" was quite obviously a mega-flop from the first listen, which made its lack of chart fortunes pretty easy to accept. That said, I felt she moved on from it a little too quickly, such as her not even performing it on SNL on the week of the album release...although it was included in Carpool Karaoke which is possibly a bigger deal these days.

As it often occurs, hearing the song on the radio made me appreciate it so much more. She fits a LOT into three minutes and the production is really cool and different. The intro is my favorite part. I just don't enjoy how Gaga's voice sounds more than anything, but she was channeling David Bowie which was to be expected really to pay tribute to him. So this might rank among my least faves of hers, unforch, but it's spared from at least the bottom two and possibly more.

Gold is alright I guess, certainly something a little different

 

I thought Perfect Illusion was a decent comeback single actually, but I guess I don't know enough about her to make a decent judgement

I really enjoyed 'Gold' this year, would have liked to seen it break the UK top 40 although it did spend a while in the top 75.

 

That bass and the indecipherable chorus is just great.

Rise and Perfect Illusion are both nowhere near either artist's best, but my opinions on each differs a lot. Rise is a non-event really, and considering it got released the same week as Make Me, Girls Talk Boys and Starving, all of which I ADORE, it really got snowed under for me and had a very underwhelming run. Perfect Illusion had me on the second listen though, Gaga can do better but the change in sound is interesting. I hate the video though :(

I might be the only person that absolutely loves 'i hate u, i love u' then, I don't find it boring in the slightest.

 

Rise, on the other hand, is very bland and forgettable. I think it worked well as an Olympic related track but not so much as a single. I did enjoy it but I certainly agree that it was underwhelming.

Maren Morris "80s Mercedes"

Maren Morris "My Church"

"My Church" is hands down one of the best country songs of 2016. I came across it, and Maren, last October when she was touring radio stations as an upcoming artist; the song was obviously a standout and all that promo must have paid off. For a song like this to only scrape the country top 10 when the chart has at least 40 #1s a year shows that male domination of the format keeps getting worse, with no significant signs of improving. But let's not focus on that.

"80s Mercedes" is less soulful, more piano-driven and also wonderful. The irony is that Maren was driving a 70s Mercedes in the "My Church" video. Regardless, they are both driving anthems, from her ode to the car radio to this Mercedes tribute. When you see Maren you'll be surprised at how small she is, because her voice is big and bold. I'm certainly hoping she'll have a career that lasts, against the odds, and her four Grammy nominations are a step in the right direction!

 

Meghan Trainor "Me Too"

So, was this song Meghan’s "jump the shark" moment? It always seemed like her career would be short-lived, with so many of her songs bordering on novelty, yet this reversal of fortunes seemed very abrupt and unfairly so. It reminds me of Kesha’s last era, but thankfully without the tragic school shooting. Instead Meghan pulled the "Me Too" video within hours of release because she hadn’t seen how thin they made her look. I’m still suspicious of that story being fabricated just to grab headlines...don't get me wrong, though, I love the video!

All that aside, everything else about this song was absolute perfection. It's catchy, shameless fun, weird enough that only Meghan could pull it off, and it didn't burn out quickly like her first few singles. It spent 9 or 10 weeks in the top 10 on US iTunes, only to stall at unlucky #13 on Billboard; obviously she fared far worse in the UK, as did third single "Better". I'm not ready for her to become irrelevant so hopefully I've spoken too soon about that happening.

lmao so Sandy Hook did kill Kesha's career

 

Pitbull feat. Meghan Trainor is going to happen soon isn't it

Flume featuring Kai - "Never Be Like You"

Ohh I loved this. I had only heard of Flume once before this hit, and that was in the form of his remix of Disclosure's 'You and Me' (which was amazing btw). I'm the same though, it took a few listens for me to click with this but wow once it finally did *.* This also smashed on the radio here in Iceland, which is where I grew to love it.

 

Frenship featuring Emily Warren - "Capsize"

Ohh yeah I wondered that too. I had no idea where this came from but I bumped into it on a random Spotify playlist and then again on another one. Soon I was seeing it on all my regular playlists and I was like 'ok maybe I should give it a listen' and man am I glad I did! Absolutely amazing and incredibly beautiful. This became a relatively big hit here in Iceland.

 

Gnash featuring Olivia O'Brien - "I Hate U I Love U"

Oh geez this is probably one of my least favorite hits of the year if I'm being honest. Thankfully you're aware of that and pretty much everything you noted is part of the reason why I dislike it: it doesn't go anywhere, Gnash sounds lifeless on his verses, it's just boring! Could have done without this blowing up on Icelandic radio lol.

 

Jason Derulo - "If It Ain't Love"

Lmao Jason Derulo has always been very inconsistent with his hits imo and usually just really lucky with what smashes and what doesn't, with maybe the exception of his 2013 album. I have no idea what his single strategy is right now and I'm usually hesitant on adding his new songs on my playlists but then I always crack because Jason is good at making chessy pop music.

 

Katy Perry - "Rise"

I'm a huge KP fan and I was definitely disappointed with 'Rise' but I'll allow myself to look at it as a one-off and that she'll hopefully come back next year with a smashfest! I won't accept that this song's chart run is any indicator of what the future holds in store for this pop princess.

 

Kiiara - "Gold"

Lmao I think your description was definitely spot on and I agree with what you say about her probably never expecting the song to do so well which makes it even cuter. I wish it had done better in the UK but I'm glad it at least got some recognition as it's a really cool song.

 

Lady Gaga - "Perfect Illusion"

Yeah I was not a fan of Gaga's comeback at all and this didn't work as a lead single for me. I didn't absolutely hate it, but it got on my nerves quickly and even though I embrace an artist straying out of their comfort zone I feel this is just the result of Gaga getting lost in another zone altogether.

 

Meghan Trainor - "Me Too"

I honestly hadn't realized how badly 'Me Too' had done chart wise and it honestly makes me sad because this is without a doubt her best song yet. It's catchy and fun even if it feels a bit like a novelty hit lol. Me and my friends played this so much this summer and it never ceases to make me happy. I really hope this wasn't the end of Meghan.

Me Too :puke: I'd love it if that killed off Meghan's career, it really is that bad.

Me Too is heaps of fun, not her best song but definitely not her worst! Deserved much better than it got imo :(

 

Both My Church and 80s Mercedes are great tracks, I need to give her album a spin at some point!

Been keeping up with this thread and it's been a great read as ever, Jord! Love the mix of factual and personal insight in your retrospectives, especially as the majority of songs featured so far haven't been ones I've followed closely myself.

 

Agree with you on 'Me Too'. It's always felt like Meghan's been on borrowed time so I think you could say she jumped the shark with that. Thing is, while I've little 'respect' for her music or artistry, I do admire her creativity and ability to shamelessly spin novelty in different ways to build her name...and 'Me Too' is one of her more infectious offerings, so I'm a bit conflicted. I get that the song's objectionable but its catchiness and charm far outweigh that for me. I guess opting for something so ridiculous to launch her album was ultimately quite risky given 'No' hadn't quite smashed. I'd say it's still a bit of an inexplicable flop overall (albeit nowhere near the level of 'Something In The Way You Move' of course :cry:).

 

Going way back, I liked your write-up on Alessia's 'Scars...'. Her songwriting always feels strikingly honest in dealing with personal themes affecting her age-group without any pretence/efforts to relate to an older audience, which actually seems quite rare in mainstream music. Reminds me of Lorde's debut album in that way, with Alessia's lyrics being more direct and literal.

 

Listened to that Jon Bellion track on the strength of your words and it didn't disappoint, and I get the Jack Garratt feel in the production (and think he's a bit Twenty One Pilots vocally :thinking:). I'll also credit your Beyoncé paragraph when I finally listen to 'Lemonade' in full one of these days! Don't think it's coming to Spotify anytime soon so Tidal may just get a new subscriber this month despite all market projections to the contrary. :yahoo:

lmao so Sandy Hook did kill Kesha's career

 

Pitbull feat. Meghan Trainor is going to happen soon isn't it

Well, Dr. Luke is probably still more at fault lol.

 

Flume featuring Kai - "Never Be Like You"

Ohh I loved this. I had only heard of Flume once before this hit, and that was in the form of his remix of Disclosure's 'You and Me' (which was amazing btw). I'm the same though, it took a few listens for me to click with this but wow once it finally did *.* This also smashed on the radio here in Iceland, which is where I grew to love it.

 

Frenship featuring Emily Warren - "Capsize"

Ohh yeah I wondered that too. I had no idea where this came from but I bumped into it on a random Spotify playlist and then again on another one. Soon I was seeing it on all my regular playlists and I was like 'ok maybe I should give it a listen' and man am I glad I did! Absolutely amazing and incredibly beautiful. This became a relatively big hit here in Iceland.

 

Gnash featuring Olivia O'Brien - "I Hate U I Love U"

Oh geez this is probably one of my least favorite hits of the year if I'm being honest. Thankfully you're aware of that and pretty much everything you noted is part of the reason why I dislike it: it doesn't go anywhere, Gnash sounds lifeless on his verses, it's just boring! Could have done without this blowing up on Icelandic radio lol.

 

Jason Derulo - "If It Ain't Love"

Lmao Jason Derulo has always been very inconsistent with his hits imo and usually just really lucky with what smashes and what doesn't, with maybe the exception of his 2013 album. I have no idea what his single strategy is right now and I'm usually hesitant on adding his new songs on my playlists but then I always crack because Jason is good at making chessy pop music.

 

Katy Perry - "Rise"

I'm a huge KP fan and I was definitely disappointed with 'Rise' but I'll allow myself to look at it as a one-off and that she'll hopefully come back next year with a smashfest! I won't accept that this song's chart run is any indicator of what the future holds in store for this pop princess.

 

Kiiara - "Gold"

Lmao I think your description was definitely spot on and I agree with what you say about her probably never expecting the song to do so well which makes it even cuter. I wish it had done better in the UK but I'm glad it at least got some recognition as it's a really cool song.

 

Lady Gaga - "Perfect Illusion"

Yeah I was not a fan of Gaga's comeback at all and this didn't work as a lead single for me. I didn't absolutely hate it, but it got on my nerves quickly and even though I embrace an artist straying out of their comfort zone I feel this is just the result of Gaga getting lost in another zone altogether.

 

Meghan Trainor - "Me Too"

I honestly hadn't realized how badly 'Me Too' had done chart wise and it honestly makes me sad because this is without a doubt her best song yet. It's catchy and fun even if it feels a bit like a novelty hit lol. Me and my friends played this so much this summer and it never ceases to make me happy. I really hope this wasn't the end of Meghan.

Yay, thanks for the comments! Particularly about Gaga, you're right she's definitely out of her comfort zone. And I'm glad Capsize was a relatively big hit somewhere!

 

Me Too is heaps of fun, not her best song but definitely not her worst! Deserved much better than it got imo :(

 

Both My Church and 80s Mercedes are great tracks, I need to give her album a spin at some point!

Oh I thought you had listened to her album :o I haven't either though lol.

 

Been keeping up with this thread and it's been a great read as ever, Jord! Love the mix of factual and personal insight in your retrospectives, especially as the majority of songs featured so far haven't been ones I've followed closely myself.

 

Agree with you on 'Me Too'. It's always felt like Meghan's been on borrowed time so I think you could say she jumped the shark with that. Thing is, while I've little 'respect' for her music or artistry, I do admire her creativity and ability to shamelessly spin novelty in different ways to build her name...and 'Me Too' is one of her more infectious offerings, so I'm a bit conflicted. I get that the song's objectionable but its catchiness and charm far outweigh that for me. I guess opting for something so ridiculous to launch her album was ultimately quite risky given 'No' hadn't quite smashed. I'd say it's still a bit of an inexplicable flop overall (albeit nowhere near the level of 'Something In The Way You Move' of course :cry:).

 

Going way back, I liked your write-up on Alessia's 'Scars...'. Her songwriting always feels strikingly honest in dealing with personal themes affecting her age-group without any pretence/efforts to relate to an older audience, which actually seems quite rare in mainstream music. Reminds me of Lorde's debut album in that way, with Alessia's lyrics being more direct and literal.

 

Listened to that Jon Bellion track on the strength of your words and it didn't disappoint, and I get the Jack Garratt feel in the production (and think he's a bit Twenty One Pilots vocally :thinking:). I'll also credit your Beyoncé paragraph when I finally listen to 'Lemonade' in full one of these days! Don't think it's coming to Spotify anytime soon so Tidal may just get a new subscriber this month despite all market projections to the contrary. :yahoo:

I meant to make a comparison between Alessia and Lorde!! I'll save that for later I guess :magic: But yeah, I totally agree!

 

Can't believe you haven't listened to Lemonade yet! :o It's no 4 but it's pretty darn close :mellow:

Nick Jonas featuring Ty Dolla $ign "Bacon"

http://i97.photobucket.com/albums/l219/Yoshi538/3588a25d-4a22-4bf8-9599-9a572935d2c8.jpg

I haven't listened to Nick J's album, surely he had a better single choice than this? That's nothing against "Bacon", which grew to be one of my favorite songs of his, but despite this it always sounded like a flop. I do respect him for pushing it anyway and especially for having a song called "Bacon" in the first place! In fact I may be the only person who prefers it over "Close".

Of course this actually has nothing to do with bacon; it's about Nick moving on from a breakup and embracing his freedom...and what represents freedom better than bacon? Ty Dolla $ign has randomly become quite popular this year, featuring on this, "Work From Home", "Sucker For Pain", and "Fade"; plus his own song "Saved" was one of my faves this year. But best of all, "Bacon" keeps up Nick's streak of each single having a one-word title! Apparently "Chainsaw" is the next single which is even better since he's already had "Chains" :lol:

Not a fan of 'Bacon' (the song, not the foodstuff :lol: ), I don't find it catchy and his vocal's aren't great :(

Like Never Be Like You & Gold since my last comment! I thought Gold would be a lot bigger in the UK especially as it sounded quite stream-friendly.

Panic! At The Disco "Victorious"

I actually never thought I would include this band in one of my EOY threads. I got bored of Panic! At The Disco back in 2011 and they never did much to renew my interest. So hearing this song "Victorious" on the radio was a massive surprise, because it's every bit as catchy as their original hits without sounding like they're trying to recreate the past. So the song title is rather fitting! It's hard to even guess that it's them, as the only thing really recognizable are the vocals. Normally that's said as something negative but this straight-up rock sound works insanely well here!

PATD have done quite well for themselves, considering it's now been 10 years since their breakthrough. They may not be thriving to the extent of Fall Out Boy and Paramore (well, fingers crossed for Paramore) but they're still together, despite never managing a second big hit, and Radio 1 is still on board with them, although they do tend to show more loyalty to bands. So the song title is quite fitting as this song itself is quite the triumph (:o) as is their overall longevity!

 

P!nk "Just Like Fire"

For Pink's career to still be going strong after 15 years is truly one of music's greatest blessings. After about three years away, she was overdue for a new album but instead we settled for a soundtrack single. "Just Like Fire" did not disappoint, going top 10 in America, top 20 in the UK, and claiming her usual #1 spot in Australia. This should confirm that Pink is still a chart force, which will bode well if she ever gets around to releasing another album.

Now that its airplay has died down I'm loving this more than I did originally! It's a solid effort as usual from Pink. The rapping bit is obviously not normal for her, but I got used to it quickly and it doesn't sound awkward or forced at all. I was a little worried because the album tracks on The Truth About Love were really subpar, plus this song was for a Disney movie so it could have been overly kid-appealing. Luckily that wasn't the case, and the video is especially great with Pink's daughter Willow appearing in it. If only Justin Timberlake's soundtrack song and video had been even half as good.

 

Pitbull featuring Flo Rida & LunchMoney Lewis "Greenlight"

http://www.chartsinfrance.net/covers/aHR0cHM6Ly9pLnNjZG4uY28vaW1hZ2UvZTAzNzZiZGNiNDk4NGZiOGNlMjFhZGFkNGFmYTU1NTJlZWNjNTU1ZA==.jpg

I still shamelessly love Pitbull and Flo Rida, but was certainly tired of them doing the whole David Guetta-style banger over and over and over. The two of them have collaborated before on "Can't Believe It", which was every bit as cheesy as you'd expect it to be yet iconic in every way. And now we have LunchMoney Lewis to make it THREE cheesy rappers on one song? The end result is actually not cheesy at all, other than the lyrics being very Pitbull- and Flo Rida-by-numbers.

Overall it's surprisingly laid-back compared to Pitbull's usual high-energy songs. It's refreshing, and very bass-heavy too which I always appreciate. Actually I was most impressed with the chorus, considering I'm not a Lunchmoney Lewis fan. I think Pitbull's finally past the point of having big smash hits, but honestly, after hearing his next single "Can't Have" and his remix of BJSC winner "Habib Galbi" I'm starting to question...is my favorite artist actually Pitbull?? :mellow:

Mr Worldwide! *.* Greenlight is quite the bop, I wish it actually caught on and became a hit.

 

Just Like Fire giving P!nk yet another hit was amazing to see, her longevity is really incredible and she seems to do it so relatively quietly! Really hyped for when she finally releases another album.

Rise is such a snoozer, though i guess on the bright side Katy won't have to try too hard to top it with her proper comeback!

 

I like a bit of P!nk but 'Just Like Fire' feels so diluted and average for her :( but again the proper comeback material should be better (hoping for something up to the standard of Try/JGMAR at least!)

 

Gold acquired a sorta-meme status with me after the multiple times i heard it on US radio :'''')

 

I quite like Perfect Illusion, think i prefer Million Reasons a tad though, lovely ballad single *.*

Thanks so much again for the comments. I apologize for not returning them lately as I'm spending most of my time with family and can't keep up with everyone's countdowns. I'll try to get completely caught up over the weekend!

Just Like Fire is really catchy, glad it reached the Top 40! :D

 

Victorious is remarkably catchy for a PATD song!