Hey everyone! JeffRayGun here! So last year I did a rundown of my Top 200 songs of 2016. It had moderate success, but I felt like doing another one this year again in spite of my much reduced activity on this forum. Doing retrospectives is always a fun thing to do, and hopefully some people here will be interested in this still!

 

2017 saw me make the switch from Daily charts to Weekly charts in August, which means that I can't quite compare the statistics of this year to previous years. Different formats, and all :P

 

Disclaimer: These are NOT just songs that came out in 2017. These are the top songs I -LISTENED TO- this year, meaning that a song from the 50's, or even earlier, could make this chart if I listened to it enough.

 

And now for the fun facts and statistics:

 

-878 songs have charted in the Top 50

-22 of these songs only had 1 day at #50!

-288 songs only spent one week on the charts! (Not 100% sure of this number, but that's what Excel claims!)

 

-Only 10 songs have spent more than 10 weeks on the Top 50!

-Only 1 song spent more than 10 weeks in the Top 10.

-Only 5 songs have spent more than 5 weeks in the Top 10!

 

-There have been 47 #1 songs!

-Only 4 of those spent more than 1 week at the top spot!

 

-The highest #10 and #7 peaking songs are higher than the highest #4 peaking song!

-Unlike 2015's #1 song's artist in 2016, the artist with the #1 song of 2016, Lifehouse, has maintained success throughout 2017 and has a handful of hits in the Top 100!

 

-Only 3 songs in the entire Top 10 are from already established artists. Which means 7 songs are from new artists!

 

The artists who had a lot of songs in the Top 50 this year:

 

-Taylor Swift (14)

-Zaz (12)

-Kanye West (26)

-Illenium (8)

-Serena Ryder (14)

-The Chainsmokers (5)

-Lorde (7)

-Kesha (7)

-Christine and the Queens (9)

-M83 (12)

-Coldplay (11)

-Lifehouse (8)

-Kendrick Lamar (6)

-SHIROCK (7)

-Linkin Park (8)

-Carly Rae Jepsen (7)

-The Knocks (7)

-DRAM (6)

 

I might be missing a bunch but yeah :P

 

I'll be making a few more lists before starting off proper, so keep an eye out for that! :)

-JeffRayGun

The #1s of 2017!

 

07-Jan: SHIROCK - Still Young (26)

14-Jan: Alessia Cara - Stars (42)

21-Jan: Imagine Dragons - Bleeding Out (18)

28-Jan: Willy William ft. Cris Cab - Paris (21)

04-Feb: OneRepublic - Kids (52)

11-Feb: Two Steps From Hell - Remembrance (26)

18-Feb: Zaz - La Complainte De La Butte (26)

25-Feb: Evanescence - A New Way To Bleed (12)

04-Mar: The Chainsmokers & Coldplay - Something Just Like This (47)

11-Mar: Lorde - Green Light (23)

18-Mar: Lowercase Noises - Working And Paying And Living And Dying (43)

25-Mar: Big Country - In A Big Country (31)

01-Apr: The Cure - Inbetween Days (80)

08-Apr: Texada - Close Your Eyes For This (52)

15-Apr: Gryffin & Illenium ft. Daya - Feel Good (87)

22-Apr: Lin-Manuel Miranda & Opetaia Foa'i - We Know The Way (60)

29-Apr: Illenium ft. Kerli - Sound Of Walking Away (20)

06-May: Martin Garrix & Dua Lipa - Scared To Be Lonely (13)

13-May: Imperial Mammoth - Little Earthquakes (20)

20-May: Auli'i Cravalho - How Far I'll Go (25)

27-May: The Chainsmokers - Young (16)

03-Jun: Cheap Trick - The Flame (62)

10-Jun: Cheap Trick - The Flame (18)

17-Jun: Tei Shi - Keep Running (16)

24-Jun: Zaz - Si (24)

01-Jul: The Killers - The Man (13)

08-Jul: Justin Timberlake & Mitchell Owen - One Of Those Stories (31)

15-Jul: Lorde - Perfect Places (25)

22-Jul: Lorde - Perfect Places (8)

29-Jul: Sherri Youngward - Where This Love Goes (15)

05-Aug: Kesha - Animal (42)

12-Aug: Taylor Swift - State of Grace (43)

19-Aug: Taylor Swift - State of Grace (14)

26-Aug: Patrick Conway - Brave Goodbye (27)

02-Sep: Drake - Madiba Riddim (6)

09-Sep: Jenny Owen Youngs - Wake Up (35)

16-Sep: Jenny Owen Youngs - Wake Up (110) !!!

23-Sep: Jenny Owen Youngs - Wake Up (18)

30-Sep: Madonna - Crazy For You (17)

07-Oct: Taylor Swift - Come Back... Be Here (14)

14-Oct: Taylor Swift - You Are In Love (59)

21-Oct: Coldplay - In My Place (65)

28-Oct: MisterWives - Drummer Boy (33)

04-Nov: Kesha - Rainbow (25)

11-Nov: Taylor Swift - Call It What You Want (25)

18-Nov: Marshmello ft. Khalid - Silence (70)

25-Nov: Taylor Swift - Style (18)

02-Dec: Björk - All Is Full Of Love (20)

09-Dec: Euge Groove - Euge One-Oh-One (8)

16-Dec: Generic CAW ft. raocow - A Heart (12)

23-Dec: Sky Ferreira - You're Not The One (8)

30-Dec: Zaz - On ira (8)

 

Parantheses indicate how many plays the #1 song got according to Last.FM.

 

For reference, points on this chart are distributed as such: 50 points for #1, 49 for #2, and so on until 1 point for #50! This will have the side effect of advantaging songs that have had more lasting power over songs that burned out quickly. :P

Edited December 31, 20177 yr by JeffRayGun

The most impactful albums on my charts this year:

 

Serena Ryder - Utopia (2017)

 

 

This album was easily one of the biggest this year in terms of sheer quality. Only a handful of songs from this album were uninteresting enough to miss the mark for me. This album produced the largest volume of charting songs in one week, at 9 songs in one week! Now, I used to be a big fan of Serena back in 2013 and 2014, and I even considered her my favourite female artist at the time. However, acts like Christine and the Queens, Kesha, Carly Rae Jepsen, Zaz and Taylor Swift kind of shoved her on the back burner. But one night, as I was feeling horrible, I stumbled upon a song I didn't recognize from her, and from there I found out she had a new album. I immediately listened to it, and I think this is the first time I was legitimately shaken by an album. I loved practically every song on it on my first listen! I have since cooled off a bit on it, but it remains a very important album for me. It certainly put Serena Ryder back on the map after a few years of being somewhat less relevant on my charts!

 

Highlights: Electric Love, Ice Age, Utopia, Firewater, Fire Escape, Got Your Number

 

M83 - Before The Dawn Heals Us (2005)

 

 

Now, 2016 had already sold me on M83, with smashes like Un Nouveau Soleil, Midnight City and even more minor hits like "My Tears Are Becoming The Sea". Their blend of dramatic synthpop just resonated really deeply with me. But this album, one of their earlier works, was the one that confirmed what I already suspected to be true: M83 might damn well be my favourite band of all time. This album was a bit more on the melodramatic and angsty side, but it damn well delivered on many parts I liked from the band. There were many amazing tracks with beautiful vibes! This album for the most part is an experience I highly recommend, but if you haven't, LISTEN TO HURRY UP, WE'RE DREAMING!! IT MIGHT BE MY FAVOURITE POP ALBUM OF ALL TIME!

 

Highlights: Safe / Let Men Burn Stars (LISTEN ONE AFTER THE OTHER! These tracks kind of NEED to be played in sequence), Lower Your Eyelids To Die With The Sun, Teen Angst, I Guess I'm Floating, A Guitar And A Heart

 

Kesha - Rainbow (2017)

 

 

2016 was the formal introduction to Kesha's discography. Sure, I had heard a few songs from her before, but I always dismissed her as just a pop party girl. Which I guess many people have. But then I heard Last Goodbye and Past Lives from the bonus tracks of Warrior, and I knew she definitely had more talent to her than I had first imagined. Which made hearing about the struggles of her court case that much more disheartening. I was worried she might not ever be able to return to making music, and more importantly, making the music she wanted to make rather than the pop stuff that had been forced upon her by Dr. Luke.

 

Anyway, she was finally able to make a comeback in 2017, and while Praying didn't quite click with me at first, it was definitely a step in the right direction. And when I heard Rainbow, I was so happy to see more of the pop rock/country influences that I had been DYING to hear more of in her work. I had LOVED songs like Last Goodbye, Gold Trans Am and Past Lives, and I'm so happy this is the direction she decided to take. While the album didn't fully resonate with me, I was really happy to see her making the kind of music she wanted to make!

 

Highlights: Rainbow, Let 'Em Talk, Praying, Woman

 

Taylor Swift - Red/1989 (2012/2014)

 

 

These were the two albums that in one night changed the course of my charts for the 2nd half of the year. I had rated Red for a rate that pitted Red, Kiss and My Everything together. Beforehand, my knowledge of Taylor Swift was VERY limited, and she didn't even have a single scrobble to her name on my Last.FM! BUT after listening to these two albums, it made me into a fan. It's difficult to pick out which album of the two was more impactful, because while 1989 had more pop-sounding songs, it was the country and almost rock at times sound of Red that pulled me in, with songs like State of Grace and Starlight. Ironically, the popular singles from Red (I Knew You Were Trouble, We Are Never Getting Back Together, 22) were the ones that resonated with me the least of the whole album. 1989 definitely followed through on making me love her stuff though, in spite of a more pop oriented approach.

 

For reference, Taylor Swift has managed to pretty much become my most listened to artist on Last.FM in less than 6 months. Quite a feat I must say!

 

(My thoughts on reputation are a bit unformed at the moment, given that I haven't really listened to it much since my initial listen, but it's not too bad by any means.)

 

Highlights: State of Grace, This Love, You Are In Love, Come Back... Be Here, Style, I Almost Do, The Last Time, Clean

 

And some albums I heard this year that I didn't like:

 

Miley Cyrus - Younger Now (2017): It saddens me that this is here, because I actually enjoy Malibu and Younger Now, but this album was just a chore to listen to... Anything outside of these two songs strikes me as an attempt to make 60s music without any of the gravitas that the music of that era actually carries. It just comes across as insufferably carefree, even on songs that are supposed to be about a break up! And musically, the album just feels like a flat tone to me. There are very few if any melodies on there that strike me as even remotely interesting, outside of the aforementioned two songs, and maybe one and two other tunes. I don't necessarily mind Miley making more acoustic, country-inspired music, but she needs to give it a pulse if she wants it to work. Better luck next time, I guess...

 

Lifehouse - Lifehouse (2005): As someone who actually likes this band, listening to this album was just a big disappointment. The album dips into a really boring sound around the middle and it never really recovers from it. It was really disheartening to see that the band who made one of my favourite songs I heard last year, make such tepid and uninteresting music... No Name Face and even their most recent effort, Out Of The Wasteland, had music with more of a pulse than some of the songs here. And the fact that this album produced some of their most well-known songs (which happen to be some of their least interesting too :/ ) is honestly a real shame. They deserve a better legacy than this album.

 

The Rolling Stones - Aftermath (1966): I wanted to listen to a Rolling Stones album after I had done a rating of a Beatles album (Revolver), and I went with this one since it came out the same year. And while it seemed alright at first, then I was hit with songs like Stupid Girl, and Under My Thumb which honestly really rubbed me the wrong way. The lyrics to those songs were a bit insulting to listen to. But then I hit High and Dry, and it was one of the most pulseless songs I had heard all year. That song was a complete chore to listen to, and it dragged down the album even further down for me. By the time the 11 minute finisher rolled around, I was just bored and sick of this album. It might just have been my personal experience, but this was NOT a good album. The Rolling Stones are a legendary band and I know they can do better than this album. Paint It Black is a good song at least, and so is Lady Jane I'd say.

 

Qw4rtz - A capella 101 (2016): This album angers me. It's not technically bad, but it features some REALLY dull acapella covers of Quebec/Francophone songs that range from not too bad (they actually do a decent Papaoutai cover) to infuriating (the intro of Comme d'habitude makes me want to tear my hair out). If you want to be bored by a Quebec off-brand version of Pentatonix, listen to this album I guess? :P

 

XXXTentacion - 17 (2017): I might be more forgiving to this album than most are, but the album as a whole is just boring at best, and offensive at worst. Solely focusing on the sound, it's a fairly dull attempt at depressing acoustic music which doesn't really try anything too interesting. It did grab my interest once or twice though. But lyrically... it addresses controversies he's involved in with such fury that it makes it hard to imagine he's innocent, for starters. Many others will probably offer up a better takedown of this album, but for me it's really just not worth going back to.

 

brokeNCYDE - I'm Not A Fan But The Kids Like It (2009): I was introduced to two of these guys' songs through some random Youtube channel's list of worst songs of all time. This is an occurence I regret, because it led me to give this mess of an album a shot to see how bad it can get. And trust me, this is horrible, horrible, HORRIBLE. Here's a summary of how this album sounds: take the most stereotypical rap topics, have the whitest guys SCREECH AND GROWL every lyric in the most ear splitting voice possible, and give them the maturity level of a 12 year old who just watched his first erotic video. What you get is an album that annoys you more and more with every verse, with every disgustingly corny line, and then has the audacity to try to pass this off as a social experiment right at the end, in the pretense that the authors are Smarter Than You. Well, they're not, because they had to dip to a level of sheer idiocy to even create this utter dreck of an album, so I don't think they have the intelligence to make a satire of what kids like. And even if we assume it's not just a last-minute move to not come across as complete brain-dead blithering morons, it strikes of a disgusting sense of superiority that you would find in people who claim "all pop music these days is garbage". Screw this band, and screw this album. This is the biggest mistake I've ever listened to.

 

And that's that for the albums retrospective! :P I think I'll start the proper countdown next!

Edited December 31, 20177 yr by JeffRayGun

Here's the 25 songs that just missed the Top 100!

 

101) Miley Cyrus - Malibu

102) Gorillaz ft. Popcaan - Saturnz Barz

103) Snakehips ft. Tinashe & Chance the Rapper - All My Friends

104) Kanye West ft. Bon Iver - Lost In The World

105) S - Tell Me

106) M83 - Let Men Burn Stars

107) Tears For Fears - Head Over Heels / Broken

108) Kanye West - Street Lights

109) Evanescence - A New Way To Bleed

110) Noel Gallagher's High Flying Birds - Ballad of the Mighty I

111) Zaz - Prends garde à ta langue

112) Dirty Heads - That's All I Need

113) The Afghan Whigs - Arabian Heights

114) The Weeknd ft. Daft Punk - I Feel It Coming

115) Sims - Spinning Away

116) Lifehouse - Everything

117) Kendrick Lamar - The Blacker The Berry

118) On Planets - Brief Pause

119) Linkin Park - Faint

120) FRENSHIP - Morrison

121) Coldplay - Hymn For The Weekend

122) Lord Huron - The Night We Met

123) Bastille - Blame

124) Taylor Swift - Style

125) Kendrick Lamar - HUMBLE.

 

The #1 song from last year, Everything, just barely missed the tally for this year! Some of the songs that I wished had made the Top 100 in this tally: Blacker the Berry, Arabian Heights, Blame, Style, Street Lights, Lost In The World, Let Men Burn Stars.

 

The latter song is actually one half of a duo of songs that pretty much only work together. However, they got split up in the mess that is my charts. How sad. :(

#100: SHIROCK - Still Young

 

 

146 pts / Peak: #1 (1 week) / Weeks In Top 50: 4 / Weeks in Top 25: 2 / Weeks in Top 10: 2

 

Chart Run: 1 - 8 - 23 - 24

 

This was the first smash of 2017. While Tell Me by S was technically the very first hit, if we go by my now defunct daily charts, this was the very first song that truly struck a chord with me this year. I kind of wish this had been a bigger hit, especially since I really love SHIROCK's album "Everything Burns", but unfortunately this song didn't quite have the legs to make it very far in 2017. Still, a very good follow-up for one of 2016's biggest artists!

Edited December 31, 20177 yr by JeffRayGun

#99: Serena Ryder - Firewater

 

 

147 pts / Peak: #8 (2 weeks) / Weeks In Top 50: 6 / Weeks in Top 25: 2 / Weeks in Top 10: 2

 

Chart Run: 30 - 8 - 8 - 35 - 42 - 36

 

This was an unexpected song to smash from Serena's album. It seemed to be overshadowed by songs I liked more like Utopia, Ice Age and especially Electric Love. But this song's Stompa-like vibe managed to click with me, and it's a nice song that tackles alcoholism too, to boot!

#98: Texada - All My Life

 

 

149 pts / Peak: #6 (1 week) / Weeks In Top 50: 4 / Weeks in Top 25: 4 / Weeks in Top 10: 1

 

Chart Run: 14 - 6 - 21 - 14

 

This is the follow up to the smash that was Close Your Eyes For This. And while it didn't do as well as its predecessor, All My Life still managed to be fairly interesting, with its kind of dark and almost gothic feeling vibe. A good song!

#97: Zaz - Sous le ciel de Paris

 

 

149 pts / Peak: #4 (1 week) / Weeks In Top 50: 4 / Weeks in Top 25: 3 / Weeks in Top 10: 1

 

Chart Run: 35 - 4 - 10 - 17

 

This was my introduction to Zaz, who would become a defining artist of my charts in 2017. While I may have found this sound by sheer luck while autoplaying songs that happened to have Paris in their name, this one, along with two other songs which didn't make the cut, stood out as my favourite. The song seems to build up to a beautiful musical interlude in its bridge, which is a beautiful musical moment. A great song to introduce one of my favourite artists, and one of the most remarkable discoveries this year!

#96: Christine and the Queens - Wandering Lovers

 

 

149 pts / Peak: #5 (1 week) / Weeks In Top 50: 5 / Weeks in Top 25: 4 / Weeks in Top 10: 2

 

Chart Run: 7 - 5 - 20 - X - 50 - X - 24

 

This song was one of the biggest surprises for me this year. Especially since 2017 was a fairly bad year for the artist, who first impacted my charts in 2015 with "Christine", and went on to become a staple as 2016 progressed along. However, this year saw her with very few songs left in her discography to discover, and this was the biggest of the few that did chart. And it deserves it personally, what with the kind of gloomy but still pounding beat that drives this song. It was a surprise when it actually managed to perform semi-decently, and I'm glad that Christine was able to send at least one song into the Year End this year, even if only so low.

#95: Maren Morris - 80s Mercedes

 

 

150 pts / Peak: #3 (1 week) / Weeks In Top 50: 4 / Weeks in Top 25: 3 / Weeks in Top 10: 1

 

Chart Run: 27 - 12 - 3 - 12

 

This was a fairly typical upbeat pop song, but I have to admit I really enjoy this song! It's got a nice groove to it, and it's very catchy! I wish it had done better in popularity, but this song did decently in my own charts so I can't complain too much!

Edited December 31, 20177 yr by JeffRayGun

#94: Kesha ft. The Dap-Kings Horns - Woman

 

 

150 pts / Peak: #4 (1 week) / Weeks In Top 50: 5 / Weeks in Top 25: 2 / Weeks in Top 10: 1

 

Chart Run: 28 - 4 - 27 - 12 - 34

 

I'm kind of surprised this managed to make it in the Year End, because this was one of the songs that didn't feel like it stuck around for very long. I can't complain too much though, it's a really catchy song with a catchy chorus and a nice empowering message. And it seems like Kesha is having fun with this song too, which is really heartwarming to see after all she's been through!

#93: Ed Sheeran - Castle on the Hill

 

 

151 pts / Peak: #6 (1 week) / Weeks In Top 50: 5 / Weeks in Top 25: 3 / Weeks in Top 10: 1

 

Chart Run: 22 - 6 - 22 - 26 - X - 28

 

This song wasn't even going to make the year end top 100 until it recharted last week thanks to Spectrum Pulse's video :P But I'm glad it did! It might be my favourite Ed Sheeran song, with its focus on nostalgia and an amazing dramatic instrumentation to back the song. It's got a great U2-esque vibe to it too, and I tend to really like that in my music. I mean, it's not like you'll get that from U2 these days :P

#92: Michael Whalen - The Big Sleep

 

 

152 pts / Peak: #2 (1 week) / Weeks In Top 50: 4 / Weeks in Top 25: 3 / Weeks in Top 10: 1

 

Chart Run: 4 - 2 - 13 - 33

 

I still can't believe this song was a smash in March 2017. It's a literal relaxation track! But I guess it did its job well, and thus it managed to stick around for a long time. I just wish another song of his had taken its place. Like "I Have Loved You For A Thousand Lifetimes" or "Swimming In A Lovely Sea Of You" which while having odd titles, have some really beautiful and mesmerizing vibes which definitely deserve more attention from people. Do yourself a favor and look those two songs up. You won't regret it.

As for The Big Sleep... well if you really need to sleep it's a good song to listen to I guess!

#91: Imperial Mammoth - Little Earthquakes

 

 

152 pts / Peak: #1 (1 week) / Weeks In Top 50: 4 / Weeks in Top 25: 3 / Weeks in Top 10: 1

 

Chart Run: 1 - 4 - 15 - 32

 

This is a really pretty song which I first heard in Bojack Horseman. Upon my rewatch of the show in May 2017, this song clicked with me and kind of stuck around afterwards. It's a really cute tune with a beautiful vibe to it. Good song!

#90: Sherri Youngward - Where This Love Goes

 

 

152 pts / Peak: #1 (1 week) / Weeks In Top 50: 5 / Weeks in Top 25: 4 / Weeks in Top 10: 1

 

Chart Run: 1 - 21 - 16 - 25 - 40

 

This was one of the several Roswell songs that made an impact on my charts. Though to my knowledge, only two made it and they are schmaltzy romantic songs. And this is one of those two songs! I think I gravitated to this one because the chorus has almost an ethereal vibe to it, which makes it much more enticing for me. This is one of those cases where I wish I had someone to sing this song to. Though I guess some of the lyrics are a bit obsessive? But whatever :P

Woman is one of those songs that I've avoided listening to bc of the excessive swearing in the chorus but I have to say it does get stuck in my head, those horns are excellent :D

 

COTH was quite nice... until overplay made me want to chuck it down a drain and never hear of it again :kink: