May 11May 11 I had completely forgotten that Shout For England existed! (Straight Pride anthem?!)So many naff number ones already out this year
May 11May 11 Now for me I am glad we are off the X Factor connected ones now! Apart from the sexualised lyrics this is good upbeat R&B in production and a decent club tune. It's from March and still sounds very 2009, I prefer when things went more EDM influenced later in the year.
May 11May 11 Shout for England I think that was an idea that Simon Cowell was involved in as I remember that being performed in the Britain's Got Talent final. I did like it at the time when it came out, it's not one that I would have in an football themed playlist.
May 11May 11 1 hour ago, jimwatts said:Something tells me they won't get the green light to go much further, but we'll see...Buzzjack are lucky I didn't rank this year as that was the highest ranked UK No.1 in my end of year chart...
May 11May 11 3 hours ago, Mack said:Surprised that two of #1s from an group haven't appeared yet.Saved by good nostalgic chorus vocals in both songs I think!
May 11May 11 Oh yeah actually I don't mind seeing OMG this low, certainly isn't one I ever check out of choice. A bit one note for me and nowhere near the majesty of Yeah.When We Collide I actually bought on single at the time, the first winning single I'd bought since Leona Lewis in 2006. I really enjoyed his performances on the show and bought if for the b-sides on the CD. I don't have anything against the single itself, it's an ok cover, but not one I'd ever play now over the original.
May 12May 12 I watched a show about T-Pain and his search and career with autotune. I thought it was JT that said he ruined music?
May 12May 12 10 hours ago, gooddelta said:Buzzjack are lucky I didn't rank this year as that was the highest ranked UK No.1 in my end of year chart...Both top 10 if I'd have got to this year first :D
May 12May 12 Well he wasnt wrong about Autotune, a gimmick that wore out its welcome long ago and it did denigrate actual good singers, of which Usher is at least one of 'em. TBH I'd forgotten this one, and it does indeed sound like BEP's not Usher. Not that that is necessarily a bad thing, when they are on it they are epic. But this was more of a Grade 2 gifted to someone else, on the whole. So what did I think of it when I actually remembered it? Number 24 in my personal charts, so enough to be happy to have it on in a club nursing a gin and tonic, and more sober when compiling my charts.
May 12May 12 Author 5 hours ago, Jester said:I watched a show about T-Pain and his search and career with autotune. I thought it was JT that said he ruined music?I got this from this article: https://www.complex.com/music/a/cmplxjoshua-espinoza/t-pain-addresses-recent-interview-comments-about-usher-autotune-criticismIt seems to be getting its info from the This Is Pop documentary, something I haven't actually watched, I just found this while reading up about Usher and autotune and worked it into my commentary as it felt appropriate.
May 12May 12 When We Collide is definitely one of the better XF winner’s singles but still not a song I’d ever choose to listen to. I wasn’t really fussed about any of that year’s XF finalists - I think I was backing the underdogs Belle Amie lmao: clearly a year too early with that plan. One Direction did instantly strike me as an actually good boyband and delivered as the lives went on (I was sure they were going to win, oops). The hysteria around this show during 2010 was like no other. Everyone was watching it! I quite liked OMG at the time but it sounds crap today.
May 12May 12 Author 27. Ne-Yo – Beautiful Monster1 week at #1 (entered 8th August): 01-05-05-09-13-23-31-28-33-41-52-56-56-89Kept off #1: noneEOY #69You’re quickly going to see a change in tone in my commentaries to be quite a bit more positive, as I really do think the remaining 27 #1s are very enjoyable pieces of popular music in their own ways, perhaps in part because of my strong nostalgic feelings for this period. In order to eliminate them now I am starting to consider which, of those left, are just a little bit more inessential. Right now, possibly the most inessential #1 of the year, no connection to any wider narratives of careers beyond Ne-Yo, nothing really to excite me, just a guy doing his own thing very competently, and with a bit of a different twist to it that distinguishes it from his other #1s. Midst of summer, huge party tunes all over the place, and Ne-Yo drops a cover art straight out of Silent Hill and proclaims his love to be a monster.‘Beautiful Monster’ is an absolutely fine song. If there was a big gap between ‘Love You More’ and the songs below it, there’s just as big a one between this and ‘OMG’, with ‘Beautiful Monster’ reaching solid 7 out of 10 territory. A Stargate production, they had been working with Ne-Yo since his debut, ‘Beautiful Monster’ has a pretty unique soundscape to it, it’s somewhat spooky and quite unusually dark in sound for a UK chart hit, and Ne-Yo really puts in an energetic performance in for this one, something really quite unusual as he’s normally far more at home smoothly doing something at a bit lower tempo. Which is a style of music that is definitely not for me, and I’d have eliminated certainly ‘So Sick’ early on in 2006 and even ‘Closer’ wouldn’t have made it very far in 2008. ‘Beautiful Monster’ is perhaps his #1 that’s the most up my street, using all of its atmosphere and the pathos that Ne-Yo approaches the material with, appropriately. And I, being ungrateful, still eliminate it relatively early.Lyrically it’s a little lacking, though that’s not overly important here, the main reason I chose to get it out at this point is I don’t often feel the urge to load it up and most especially listen the whole way through. The initial launch into the chorus, that's great, a little bit Michael Jackson 'Thriller'. As a song, it can get just a little annoying quickly, once you reach the repeated 'I don't mind's I am starting to mind a bit, and the addition of EDM blends into Ne-Yo’s more normal RnB sound isn’t the most satisfying, like how wine blends can be great, but sometimes end up feeling a tad bland. I truly appreciate what Ne-Yo was trying to do here as something a little more out of the box with the spooky vibes, I was just never going to be his biggest fan. This and the follow-up ‘One In A Million’ definitely made its way onto my iTunes at the time, only to be later deleted as I moved away from this type of RnB long term. He's good in short bursts for me but I'd rarely seek him out.
May 12May 12 I like 'Beautiful Monster', its better, cooler, less whiny and has aged better than his 2012 #1 'Let Me Love You..' . The strong influence from Josh Wink - Higher State of Conciousness in the production of the verses of 'Beautiful Monster' makes it rather cool and interesting too.You mention the EDM/R&B blend and there was a lot of EDM-R&B blend between mid-2010 and 2013. Beautiful Monster was one of the first because Stargate are Norwegian and were well used to the electronic dance sound in Europe. Edited May 12May 12 by TheSnake
May 12May 12 I think even with all the X Factor/Reality show crap (plus The Time, arguably a bit of a career killer looking back even if it reached number 1), OMG still stands out as a particularly bad number 1. I couldn't believe such a generic and boring song did so well, especially from the man who was a forerunner of his style with Confessions. I guess will.i.am's influence was big at the time. Although he did recover slightly next era with the glorious Climax.Was never that interested in Ne-Yo and Beautiful Monster feels like autopilot, I don't dislike it but it's hard to feel anything towards it.
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