December 28, 2024Dec 28 Author Albums: Top 40 8 Ariana Grande - eternal sunshine | 1-2-2-1-3-6-8-8-10-11-14-12-13-13-11-15-x A new album from Ariana Grande had felt like such a long time coming! Over three years of waiting came to an end in early 2024 with the arrival of eternal sunshine, preceded by house stomper yes, and? which returned Ariana to #1 in my singles chart. Of course, eternal sunshine followed in the footsteps of all previous Ariana albums (Yours Truly excepted) and topped my album chart too, and it's solidified itself as one of Ariana's best albums for me. Despite the balls to the wall lead single, eternal sunshine felt like a more understated album on the surface, with a softer vibe than Ariana's last few albums, allowing Ariana's incredible voice the chance to shine. The result is some of her most stunning tracks to date, including big hit we can't be friends (wait for your love), and album track supernatural, enhanced further by a Troye Sivan remix which arrived a few days later. Joseph's Hit 40 charting songs 01 yes, and? 05 the boy is mine (Ariana Grande, Brandy & Monica) 05 we can't be friends (wait for your love) 15 supernatural (Ariana Grande & Troye Sivan) 7 Kate Nash - 9 Sad Symphonies | 2-2-1-2-3-2-3-4-4-6-9-10-11-12-13-13-x-11-9-12-14-... An album over three years in the making, 9 Sad Symphonies was a big moment for Kate Nash. For the first time since second album My Best Friend Is You, Kate was signed to a label, namely independent label Kill Rock Stars, which appeared to really get the ball rolling after a scattered approach to the campaign beforehand, with lead single Misery arriving back in 2021. The album is a slight departure for Kate, too. Typically, Kate's albums are unpredictable and chaotic, but in the best way, as Kate has explored a variety of styles and genres across her discography and it always makes her albums a riveting listen. 9 Sad Symphonies sonically is calmer and more settled in what I think is Kate's poppiest lane so far. It's a vulnerable, honest listen, and Kate's identity is still found throughout, with her lyrics being as razor sharp as always, from declaring 2001 Space Odyssey is "so f***ing long", to album closer Vampyre (the tenth song on an album called 9 Sad Symphonies, a statement in itself), which is a pure love song, but done the Kate Nash way, with a lyric that says "the priest caught you in the church while you were having a w***"...!!! The end result is a powerful album in how understated it often is, but it's an important addition to Kate's discography and she continues to be one of the most interesting artists around. Joseph's Hit 40 charting songs 01 Wasteman 06 Misery 08 Horsie 08 Ray 09 Millions of Heartbeats 10 Space Odyssey 2001 16 Vampyre 29 My Bile
December 28, 2024Dec 28 Hi Joseph, here are the albums I like from your list: 8 Ariana Grande - eternal sunshine 10 Charli xcx - BRAT 15 Sabrina Carpenter - Short n' Sweet 17 Zara Larsson - VENUS 19 Taylor Swift - THE TORTURED POETS DEPARTMENT 21 Shawn Mendes - Shawn 23 Dua Lipa - Radical Optimism 25 Benjamin Ingrosso - Pink Velvet Theatre 28 Griff - Vertigo 29 ROSÉ - rosie 30 Beyoncé - COWBOY CARTER 35 Declan McKenna - What Happened to the Beach? 37 James Bay - Changes All the Time
December 29, 2024Dec 29 Author Albums: Top 40 6 Marcus & Martinus - Unforgettable | 1-3-1-3-6-6-9-11-11-9-8-8-11-14-13-14-15-x-15-… With their career now based in Sweden, Norwegian twins Marcus & Martinus had their sights set on Eurovision in 2024, managing to go one better than their 2023 Melodifestivalen attempt by winning Sweden's selection contest this year. Unforgettable, a top 10 at Eurovision in May, became the title track of Marcus & Martinus' fourth studio album, and shockingly, their first in seven years. The album collected together a few of their singles in the years preceding Unforgettable, some of which had pretty much passed me by, but it came together for a strong, confident listen, picking up where previous album Moments had left off but with an extra dose of maturity now the twins are in their 20s. Away from the singles, my highlight is Love Flow, an English language adaptation of K-Pop song WANT by TAEMIN - it pops off and I really hope they perform it on tour next year when I finally get to see them live! Joseph's Hit 40 charting songs 01 Air 01 Unforgettable 02 247365 02 Love Flow 5 Alec Benjamin - 12 Notes | 1-3-3-4-4-2-5-7-7-10-12-12-11-10-10-5-8-8-7-3-2-5-8-12-12-12-11-14-15-14-15-11-... One of my favourite artists of recent years, Alec Benjamin is a very safe pair of hands. His relatable lyrics and storytelling approach make him one of my favourite songwriters, and with every era, I'm excited to hear what he'll have written about. Early singles from the album in 2023 gave me a good taste, notably I Sent My Therapist to Therapy, a bold statement about Alec's mental health with a slight comedic approach. 2024 saw a variety of singles follow, with the cutesy Pick Me, a song about shooting your shot with someone you have no chance with, and Sacrifice Tomorrow, a #1 hit in my singles chart, which sees Alec release one of his most commercial tracks to date, and it pays off big time. The album has plenty of hidden gems too, including In a Little, which grabbed me from the offset with its lush melody, and The Arsonist, a highlight due to its personal lyrics about an argument Alec had with his mum. It got a deluxe re-issue later in the year with three more songs, including the eerie AI, another strong addition to a discography that's water tight. Joseph's Hit 40 charting songs 01 I Sent My Therapist to Therapy 01 Sacrifice Tomorrow 02 King Size Bed 03 Different Kind of Beautiful 03 In a Little 04 Pick Me 05 AI 08 The Plan 11 If Shakespeare Were Here 22 The Arsonist
December 30, 2024Dec 30 Author Albums: Top 40 4 Michael Aldag - sorry for everything | 2-1-3-3-4-5-6-8-8-10-10-8-11-14-13-8-6-6-7-10-9-10-11-11-2-3-9-9-10-10-11-13-13-14-10-... One of the most interesting names in British pop music at the moment is Michael Aldag. He's been on my radar for a whole now, notably scoring a #1 hit in my chart in 2022 with Teenage Drama, and he's been in my EOY top 10 two years running. Late 2022 saw the release of an EP called SOCIALIZING, with another EP near the beginning of his career, but I was excited for a longer project from Michael. Preceded by a run of droplet singles in 2023, the campaign really kicked into force in 2024 before sorry for everything was announced. It's officially deemed an "anthology", which I guess is the label avoiding the word "album" so they can try to promote Michael as a new artist until he finally breaks through...! sorry for everything is an album to all intents and purposes, though. It includes some of 2023's singles (and 2022 single bleak, found on the SOCIALIZING EP), including EOY 2023 #4 hit cheating, my personal favourite of his, and as a whole it showcases Michael's sharp, witty songwriting, from the morally dubious playful nature of girlfriends, to the extremely raw, exposed nature of exhausted, and even the aptly named confession, where Michael shares some of his deepest thoughts, including kissing a boy (and enjoying it). It's a brilliant project to start with if you're new to Michael and displays the versatility of his artistry in the best ways possible, and it got even better when fan favourite promenade finally got released and added to the end of the album just a few weeks later! Joseph's Hit 40 charting songs 01 cheating 01 girlfriends 02 promenade 03 olivia 04 cubicles 06 pretty 07 bleak 10 balayage 38 exhausted 3 Artemas - yustyna | 1-1-1-2-3-3-4-6-6-8-8-8-10-12-15-13-14-3-9-10-12-10-5-... I wasn't totally sure what to expect from Artemas' latest mixtape when it dropped. I listened to pretty, the parent mixtape of viral hit if u think i'm pretty, earlier in the year and it didn't actually grab me on the whole beyond its hit single, so I was hoping yustyna wouldn't follow suit. In the run-up to its release, I'd heard a few songs from the project, notably the massive hit i like the way you kiss me, as well as dirty little secret and wet dreams, which came out just before the mixtape itself. Those songs were a great way to whet my appetite, but some even better songs were to come. I was impressed by the consistently great production throughout, hitting hard and bringing just the right level of energy to each track, whether it's the rowdy nature of you've been a bad girl, or the rousing build-up of you're simply wonderful. Lyrically, it's probably the most horny album I've ever heard :lol: but that's very much part of the persona Artemas puts on, colliding with the production to make a really interesting listen with a strong variety of tracks. It was great to hear much of it live, too, and some songs sounded even better - caroline's production was next-level live, for example! I'm really hoping 2025 brings another Artemas project, and with three singles already released since this mixtape came out, it does appear that we're going full steam ahead into another great era. Joseph's Hit 40 charting songs 07 i like the way you kiss me 09 dirty little secret 12 i always kinda knew you'd be the death of me 26 you've been a bad girl 39 you're simply wonderful
December 30, 2024Dec 30 I know who it'll be, but I know who I would prefer it to be! :whistle: (they're both great of course *.* )
December 30, 2024Dec 30 Atom Bomb is my favourite from this EP if you want somewhere to start! Thanks Pete :D I've given a few of them a listen, there's quite a variety there musically but at the same time can very much tell it's him! Giving Atom Bomb a listen now, sounding quite nice.
December 30, 2024Dec 30 Alife, Sabrina and Zara deserved MORE Glad for Charli, Tom Odell, Ariana, Kate Nash, Marcus and Martinus and Artemas though!
December 30, 2024Dec 30 Author Albums: Top 40 2 Conan Gray - Found Heaven | 2-4-5-5-8-8-8-6-8-9-9-12-9-9-12-15-14-13-9-9-10-12-11-12-13-14-14-15-x-1-5-7-7-6-4-… Interestingly, my top 2 albums of the year came out on the exact same week! Which, of course, means that one had to settle for #2 in my weekly chart at first, and Conan Gray settled for close but no cigar. Found Heaven saw Conan stepping away from dramatic ballads into an 80s inspired theme, and he committed in ways many other popstars of recent times haven't managed to. The 80s sound is regularly called back to nowadays, but Found Heaven embraces it from start to finish, with more than just a synthpop backing track on a regular pop song. Lead single Never Ending Song set the tone, with Conan singing in his lower register unusually. This is continued through the album with bops like Bourgeoisieses (spelling intentional), and even through the ballads such as Forever With Me. Through this, Conan's identity is clear, though many of the themes are much chirpier than usual, notably on album centrepiece Alley Rose, about a positive past relationship. Found Heaven finally found the #1 spot in November after I saw Conan live, which is much deserved as I find it to be his best album yet! Joseph's Hit 40 charting songs 01 Never Ending Song 03 Lonely Dancers 04 Killing Me 04 Winner 10 Alley Rose 14 Bourgeoisieses 25 Eye of the Night 30 Fainted Love 1 Benson Boone - Fireworks & Rollerblades | 1-2-3-3-4-2-1-2-5-6-3-6-3-4-6-6-4-4-5-2-3-5-4-5-6-7-7-9-11-6-6-7-1-3-4-3-1-... Beating Conan to the #1 album on release week, Benson Boone continues to reign supreme come the end of the year. Fireworks & Rollerblades felt like a long time coming, arriving two and a half years after Benson released his debut single. That single, Ghost Town, as well as 2022 top 40 hit In the Stars, both feature on the album, but much of the remaining songs focus around the album's real centrepiece: Beautiful Things. A lot more to come on that song, of course, but with a global smash hit under his belt, it was finally album time for Benson. From the very beginning, the album's intro feels magical and exciting, leading into bop Be Someone, setting the vibe of the album well. It's varied tempo-wise, with Benson getting his chance to shine on delicate ballads like Love of Mine, but many tracks involve a shake-up and/or a build, towards a crescendo where the strength of Benson's vocals is on full display. It's a remarkable step up from Benson's EPs, and a sign of him honing his craft perfectly. It's the only album this year to place its entire tracklist on my singles chart (Intro aside), and is home to a whopping five #1s, including the late addition of Pretty Slowly. A phenomenal debut album and I think Benson has the potential to up the ante on album 2 even further, so bring it on *.* Joseph's Hit 40 charting songs 01 Beautiful Things 01 Ghost Town 01 In the Stars 01 Pretty Slowly 01 Slow It Down 02 Cry 07 Be Someone 12 Hello Love 13 My Greatest Fear 16 What Do You Want 17 Friend 31 Drunk in My Mind 34 There She Goes 35 Love of Mine 37 Forever and a Day
December 30, 2024Dec 30 Author Albums 1 Benson Boone - Fireworks & Rollerblades 2 Conan Gray - Found Heaven 3 Artemas - yustyna 4 Michael Aldag - sorry for everything 5 Alec Benjamin - 12 Notes 6 Marcus & Martinus - Unforgettable 7 Kate Nash - 9 Sad Symphonies 8 Ariana Grande - eternal sunshine 9 Tom Odell - Black Friday 10 Charli xcx - BRAT 11 Camila Cabello - C,XOXO 12 glaive - May It Never Falter 13 Metteson - Look to a Star 14 Powfu - Mafia & Mugs Rootbeer 15 Sabrina Carpenter - Short n' Sweet 16 Chance Peña - Ever-Shifting, Continual Blossoming 17 Zara Larsson - VENUS 18 Powfu - the fleeting life of a fool 19 Taylor Swift - THE TORTURED POETS DEPARTMENT 20 Alfie Templeman - Radiosoul 21 Shawn Mendes - Shawn 22 Paloma Faith - The Glorification of Sadness 23 Dua Lipa - Radical Optimism 24 Kylie Minogue - Tension II 25 Benjamin Ingrosso - Pink Velvet Theatre 26 David Kushner - The Dichotomy 27 Katy Perry - 143 28 Griff - Vertigo 29 ROSÉ - rosie 30 Beyoncé - COWBOY CARTER 31 Shaznay Lewis - Pages 32 Jennifer Lopez - This Is Me…Now 33 ROLE MODEL - Kansas Anymore 34 Caity Baser - Still Learning 35 Declan McKenna - What Happened to the Beach? 36 Shakira - Las Mujeres Ya No Lloran 37 James Bay - Changes All the Time 38 Porter Robinson - SMILE! :D 39 RHODES - (un-finished) 40 Max Parker - 17 EPs 1 dearALICE - Made in Korea: The K-Pop Experience (Original TV Soundtrack) 2 Fred Roberts - Sound of My Youth 3 Boy In Space - Copium 4 Powfu - tell me your feelings and i won't tell you mine, Pt. 3 5 Ruel - Adaptations 6 glaive - a bit of a mad one 7 GUS - Taller Than the Trees 8 Omar Rudberg - Every Night Fantasy 9 Croixx - How I'm feeling now... 10 Alex Spencer - There's Gotta Be More TOMORROW: the songs top 300 begins!
December 30, 2024Dec 30 I expected nothing less than Benson "2024 POP King" Boone to be number one in the album EOY :wub:
December 31, 2024Dec 31 Ariana and Charli are my faves in your top 10! :wub: BRAT kind of goes without saying, but with eternal sunshine, nothing against her previous two albums but it was refreshing to hear Ariana return back to a more pop sound. I was hoping Kacey Musgraves might have made your top 40! View this post on Instagram Wait! Is Benson taller than you!?
December 31, 2024Dec 31 Benson’s album is literally Daughtry for Gen Z/Alpha and I somehow feel nostalgia for it
December 31, 2024Dec 31 Author Thank you both for the comments :wub: Ariana and Charli are my faves in your top 10! :wub: BRAT kind of goes without saying, but with eternal sunshine, nothing against her previous two albums but it was refreshing to hear Ariana return back to a more pop sound. I was hoping Kacey Musgraves might have made your top 40! Wait! Is Benson taller than you!? Totally agree re Ariana! :wub: Kacey was one of my very last cuts!! I had 42 or 43 albums, so not enough for a top 50 and some stuff had to go :( her album was lovely though! Benson is indeed taller than me!!
December 31, 2024Dec 31 Author Songs: Top 300 291 Miles Wesley - Asterik | 14-x 292 Conan Gray - Holidays | 17-36-x 293 TuralTuranX - Reasons to Get High | 12-x 294 Katy Perry - WOMAN'S WORLD | 13-x 295 Jonah Marais - HEAVEN | 13-x 296 Isac Elliot feat. Cledos, william, Jore & Zpoppa & WILLEM - Weak | 12-x 297 Alok & Bebe Rexha - Deep in Your Love | 13-21-x 298 Winona Oak & Boy In Space - Inside Out | 15-36-x 299 Natasha Hamilton - You Don't Know Me | 15-x 300 Joy Anonymous & Sugababes - JOY (Push the Button) | 20-31-x I'm gonna speed through much of these bottom sections as I don't have lots to say about some of these songs, most were brief moments in a single week! With many Sugababes reinventions appearing in the last year, I rather enjoyed Joy Anonymous' take on Push the Button, though a superior remake is still to come. The 00s nostalgia continues with Atomic Kitten member Natasha Hamilton's second single, but her superior debut solo track is still to come. Regular Joseph favourites Boy In Space, Conan Gray and Isac Elliot all lose tracks in this section but each have more to come - Conan's appearance here is his lovely Christmas track, albeit not one I went back to much after release, while the other two feature with collaborators, with Boy In Space providing Winona Oak her highest charting hit to date (but not her best performing EOY position - Nothing to Lose made #220 in 2022). Launching his solo career, Why Don't We member Jonah Marais dropped two tracks simultaneously, and HEAVEN was the lower charting track of the two. TWISTED LULLABY is one of two Jonah songs still to appear. Katy Perry has two more songs to come too, and WOMAN'S WORLD marks her first to drop - I'll defend it more than most as I find it to be a diet bop but it's still far from the quality I expect from Katy. 2023 Eurovision twins TuralTuranX released a surprisingly boppy follow-up single which almost made my top 10, Bebe Rexha joined Alok for an enjoyable collab, and Miles Wesley loses the first of five singles he released in 2024. ZwiKkfFMpwg 281 Cheat Codes & Regard - Stay Another Night | 14-x 282 Isac Elliot feat. Miriam Bryant - Otan Kii | 14-36-x 283 Greyson Chance - Meet Me Outside | 13-31-x 284 Slimane - Mon amour | 20-x 285 Alex Spencer - There's Gotta Be More | 15-x 286 The Blessed Madonna & Kylie Minogue - Edge of Saturday Night | 13-32-x 287 Camila Cabello - GODSPEED | 14-38-x 288 Frank Walker & Alexander Stewart - Crossfire | 19-x 289 Gracie Abrams - I Love You, I'm Sorry | 33-15-18-x 290 Dasha - Heartbreaker from Tennessee | 20-x Speaking of Eurovision, we lose the first of a selection of this year's entries to make my EOY, with French entrant Slimane dropping at #284. Isac Elliot loses a second song already, with top 10 hit Emily still in the running. This track did provide Miriam Bryant with her highest peaking track to date, 11 years after her debut, which is pretty notable at least. The Blessed Madonna's biggest hit also came in 2024, with Kylie Minogue jumping on dance bop Edge of Saturday Night (Kylie still has another couple of songs to come, though), and Gracie Abrams scored a breakthrough hit with I Love You, I'm Sorry, both in the UK chart and my own. Also one of 2024's breakthrough names, Dasha scored a trio of top 10 hits in 2024, but latest single Heartbreaker from Tennessee couldn't join them, and subsequently is the first to drop. A couple more dance collaborations appear in this section: Frank Walker enlisted Alexander Stewart for Crossfire, providing Frank with his second hit, and Alexander (who had two #1s in 2018-19) with his first hit in over a year, whilst Cheat Codes and Regard teamed up for Stay Another Night, intriguingly providing Regard with his first hit for me. Also in this section, Camila Cabello launched the deluxe edition of C,XOXO with GODSPEED, which is her first of three songs to drop here, Greyson Chance makes his only appearance of 2024 with the lovely Meet Me Outside, and the title track of Manchester's rising indie pop star Alex Spencer's second EP becomes his first of three to appear. t6-u6Jl34ns
December 31, 2024Dec 31 I'm very happy to see that 'eternal sunshine' has made your top 10 albums! :wub: 'GODSPEED' is my favourite song in your countdown so far. It's a great way to close the album off even if I do prefer the other deluxe tracks. I'm still yet to be won over by Gracie Abrams but I do have a bit of a soft-spot for 'I Love You, I'm Sorry'. Particularly, the bridge sounds pretty cool.
December 31, 2024Dec 31 Nice to see Mon amour pop up here, that'll definitely be making an appearance later on in my chart! Giving a few of your other songs a listen, feels like a more dance-ier section here with Frank Walker and Cheat Codes/Regard making an appearance.
December 31, 2024Dec 31 Author Thank you both very much! :wub: I'm still yet to be won over by Gracie Abrams but I do have a bit of a soft-spot for 'I Love You, I'm Sorry'. Particularly, the bridge sounds pretty cool. I feel very similarly! It's the only song of hers I've charted so far, I don't mind the other songs I've heard but I'm not wowed yet either. I Love You, I'm Sorry was quite the grower for me!
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