James Silkstone

8th January 2000 - Melanie C - "Northern Star" Some Solo Spice for us now, and from arguably the most talented member of the group, though only my second favourite solo wise (after Queen Emma :wub:). 'Northern Star' finds Sporty in one of her more withdrawn and melodic tracks, crooning along nicely to the other worldly beat and the genuinely beautiful chorus just absolutely sores. I wouldn't go as far as to say this is the best Solo Spice single - it's certainly Chisholm's strongest - but it's got to be in the top five and seems pretty underrated and forgotten in comparison to Mel C's next two more succesful singles which is a shame as it knocks both out the water. 6M97ZbyynRQ

8th January 2000 - Whitney Houston - "I Learned From The Best" Whitney Houston is one of the most reliable artists of all-time. There are lots of her songs that are absolute classics, but she also has a lot of more obscure one's that are just as fantastic and this is certainly one of them. I have to admit, I've never heard a Whitney song I hate - there are some I don't like or find annoying - but she's just too much of a talent and a force of personality for me to ever be able to label any of her records 'bad' (though she does push it sometimes, as we will say). I will also say if you think pissing off Beyonce, Kelly Clarkson or Taylor Swift is a bad thing to do then you've had an easy life, because Whitney will cut a bitch 10x harsher than any of those who came after her. I don't really know if 'I Learned From the Best' is regarded as one of Whitney's better hits - commercially it was a bit of a blip after two highly successful singles preceding it - but it's an utterly fabulous listen and if you've not done so, I'd certainly recommend giving it a spin. Whitney very rarely, if ever, dissapointed. YFVnVuTcz9I

New one already started! http://www.buzzjack.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=181050

8th January 2000 - Christina Aguilera - "Genie In a Bottle" Christina's debut was still knocking about as the new Millennium came, meaning that we'll be seeing all of her solo singles thus far in this thread. Considering the artist she became as she went on, 'Genie' is actually the only track from her debut that still seems undoubtedly Christina. We'll be getting to the others and my thoughts on them in due time, but Christina never seemed comfortable as a straight teen pop starlet but she seems much more at ease here. Easily the most mature of the 'Britney-Christina-Jessica-Mandy' crop that got their breaks in the late 90's, 'Genie' sees Christina exploring her sensual and sexy side openly and doing it well and convincingly. What I like most about this record is how well it manages to hide it's meanings behind a catchy hook and pretty much hoodwinked a whole generation of kids who would discover what their childhood idol was actually singing about like ten years down the line and it scarring them I jest, but as a 20 year old, it's remarkable to listen to 'Genie' and realize just how sexual it is and how wrong it was that we were all going around singing these lyrics like they were nothing. Age of innocence my arse. Anyway, 'Genie' still stands as like my third or fourth favourite Aguilera song and sets her off on a good path though she took a few detours before she ended up being the artist she clearly wanted to be. kIDWgqDBNXA

8th January 2000 - Lolly - "Big Boys Don't Cry"/"Rockin' Robin" 'Big Boys Don't Cry' - an attempt at a well-meaning and sweet ballad no doubt as a Xmas time cash in. It's....sickeningly sweet and I don't want to get into a deep discussion about harmful gender roles and expectations of men on a f***ing Lolly record....but yeah, the whole message of this song is kind of problematic but for whatever reason I can't help but be slightly drawn into it. The melancholy beat mixed with Lolly's soft and emotional voice is kind of endearing and does have a certain festive feeling to it but yeah.....it's Lolly. One of the biggest blips in British pop history so I'm not going to come and say I like it....but it could've been worse 'Rockin' Robin' - You know, I did my time as a 5 year old at the change of the Millennium. I've listened to records like this more than anyone should have to so I'm not going back there for the sake of nostalgia. It's Lolly covering 'Rockin' Robin' - how good do you think it is? Bljp9tu0vos

8th January 2000 - Celine Dion - "That's The Way It Is" Until about three years ago, my opinion on Celine Dion pretty much consisted of me hating her because I'd been conditioned too. I knew she had a good voice, and I knew the odd song of hers, but I always maintained I hated her without ever really going back and assessing if that was true. I actually feel like that's a big issue with my generation, general consensus that built up about an artist before we were even born prevails and we take it on. Anyway, when I was about 18, a girlfriend of mine - a big Celine Dion fan, which initially made me have reservations about going out with her - asked me to tell her why I hated Dion and I honestly couldn't come up with a reason more eloquent than "....I just do" So, I decided to look into her back catalogue, stole my girlfriend's greatest hits CD for a weekend and spent about two hours locked in my room with 'The Essential collection' playing at an almost minute volume. My mind was changed in about five songs. Celine Dion....can be kind of good sometimes. Yes, some of her songs are hella cheesy and her questionable grasp on the English language in her first few records can be unintentionally amusing but I liked quite a bit of what I heard; about 4 songs really stood out to me - 'Where Does My Heart Beat Now?', 'It's All Coming Back To Me Now', a song that will be appearing a bit further down the line on this thread and this. 'That's The Way It Is' is a remarkably uplifting track that seems to exist just to inspire happiness and hope in people. It's simply lovely and utterly criminal that it didn't make the top ten in the UK, though I do wonder if we were kind of over the whole 'Celine Dion' thing by late 1999 (maybe 'My Heart Will Go On' wiped us all out) as she does struggle for hits from this point forward. Anyway, I was converted and if you hate Celine Dion for no other reason than hating Celine Dion, give this a listen. It might just change your mind. It's the kind of record that's so genuinely well meaning I don't understand how anyone can really dislike it. T6wbugWrfLU

8th January 2000 - Macy Gray - "I Try" I decided to include the singles by female solo artists that were still knocking about the Top 40 when 1999 turned into 2000. Mainly because for a while, female entries are a little sparce and I wanted to kick start the thread with a few singles that people would be familiar with and I think most people are familiar with Macy Gray's "I Try". Not a record I've ever been overly keen on to be honest, there's something about Macy's delivery that totally puts me off the entire song. She kind of sings like a toddler who is having a bit of trouble getting a new tooth through and it gives the whole song a rather childish feeling, which really shouldn't be happening. I know this is very nit picky and there are no doubt some who find Gray's vocal tick charming but for me, I've just always felt like this song is sung by a three year old. It could work, in the hands of a less...annoying vocalist, but yeah - the appeal of this one is actually pretty lost on me. Particularly towards the end of the song where she ad libs and it's just totally unintelligable. It is a shame because there are very good things about this song and in the same hands of someone else it could've been a classic in my eyes but a duff vocal performance just totally kills the appeal for me WEQ0l_m3Xm0

Hello, and welcome to an exclusively female review thread. I came up with doing this idea a year or two ago but never really got around too it and I know there's been a few similar thread before so I hope I'm not treading on anyone's toes. Over the course of this thread, we'll be looking at singles by female solo artists that reached the Top 40 in the UK or had success in the US charts but didn't really translate over to the UK. There are no men allowed here. No featured credits, no duets, no nothing. The only time you will hear a male voice is if his contribution to the track is so minute (and uncredited) that it would be unfair to strip it away from the lead female artist. The female artist has to be the main performer of the song, songs which have only female vocals but where the female artist is billed as 'featured' will not be allowed either. I was tempted to allow female/female duets but decided against it. I'll not be reviewing every single since 2000, there's a lot I don't know that charted at like #36 or something, but I will cover all of the one's I know plus, as I say, 'honourable' mentions to tracks that found success and notability elsewhere.

Edited

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Loved 'The Tide is High' at the time. Girls Aloud soon :wub: :wub: :wub:

Any word on if Shawn Mended - "Stitches" is getting released here?

Featured credits are hard to differentiate, I get that, but I don't think I could say 'Love The Way You Lie' wasn't a hit for Rihanna or 'Uptown Funk' wasn't one for Bruno Mars. There are cases yes, where the contribution is minimal - one could hardly claim 'Moves Like Jagger' is a Christina Aguilera song - but I'm going on a basis here of if they were credited but in some cases if not I'll just add it to the tally anyway (a good example would be BeBe Rexkha in 'Hey Mama' who isn't credited but plays a large part in the song). Anyway, with the exception of Bruno whose only top ten in 2014 came with him as a featured artist on 'Uptown Funk' (where he's the sole vocalist), all of the artists I've listed did chart one per year as a lead artist anyway.

Yes, it does. If an artist is featured on a single that goes top ten, it's still another top ten hit for them IMO

It depends how you look at it really. Bruno has been in the top ten during 2015, but Uptown Funk entered the top ten on 20/12/2014 making it a 2014 debut, which is how I've been counting it. Technically, Olly Murs has also been in the top ten during 2015 but 'Up' first appeared in the top ten during the last week of 2014 so by my rules, it doesn't count as him registering a top ten hit in every year of this decade so far.

Can only think of 2 at the moment; Madonna in the 90's and Westlife in the 00's. There are some that come close like Mariah getting 9/10 for the 90's (only missing out 1991) and the Sugababes getting the same for the 2000's (missing 2001). Britney was also a near-miss in the 2000s, 2006 being the only year of that decade she didn't score a top ten single As for this decade at present only Tinie Tempah & David Guetta have both placed at least one top ten single in 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014 & 2015. Katy Perry, Bruno Mars, Jessie J, Olly Murs, and Pitbull have all scored at least one during 2010-2014 but have yet to score one in 2015. I think Bruno and Pitbull with both get another one this year and Katy and Olly depending on if they release new albums. Jessie J, I think, has seen the last top ten hit of her career at this point. Artists like Ellie Goulding, Calvin Harris, Little Mix, Emeli Sande and One Direction could also be on for 9/10 as they've only missed one year thus far. Ellie missed 2011, Emeli missed out in 2014 and Calvin, Little Mix and 1D missed 2010 (I'm aware 1D haven't yet gone Top 10 in 2015, but with a new album out later this year, it's pretty much a given - although strictly speaking they were involved in the 2010 X Factor charity record that reached #1 so I guess you could make a case for that). There are, of course, examples of artists scoring top ten hits every year in non-linear decades for example Robbie getting at least one per year between 1996 and 2006 but I wouldn't really count those. Including hits with Destiny's Child, Beyonce scored at least one top ten per year between 1998 and 2011!. Again, if Katy Perry carries on her streak of top ten hits per year in 2015, she will have had at least one per year since 2008.

Bad news guys - My PC completely broke down last week and I've lost pretty much all of my doccuments. I'd had a few important ones backed up and saved, but unfortunately did not think to save my doccuments with the reviews for this thread on. I'd reached December 2011 as well, so I'm a bit gutted to say the least. That means, unfortunately, this thread will no longer be active however for those who may be interested I am thinking of starting a Review of 00's Top Ten hits thread that I'll be starting soon. I hope to see some of you there.

I think the turnover of number one's is going to be more frequent now, can see Omi doing about 2-3 more weeks before The Weeknd takes over.

There's nothing that bugs me more than when I venture into YouTube comment sections of old songs, and it says how shit music is now compared to, say, 2003 for example. Whilst the fact that 2003 has become a nostalgia trip for some people is kinda trippy to me anyway, as someone who remembers that year distinctly, I can safely say there was a lot of crap (a lot of good too, as with every year) and that people back then were saying exactly the same about music as we are now in 2015. That it's shit now, and was better then or that music has 'died' because of individual artists like Justin Bieber, Ke$ha or Iggy Azalea. They 'killed' music apparently. It's swing and roundabouts. In five years time, people will look back on 2015 and say 'hey, music was better then'. We hate the now because it's not the past. If there's one thing nostalgia does it's that it rids us not of trauma but of mundaity. When we listen to a song we liked during the summer of 2002, it brings back memories of every pleasent thing we did in the summer of 2002 but doesn't remind us of August 17th where we just stayed inside and didn't do anything, if that makes sense? When music becomes attached to our memories, be they pleasent or unpleasent, they are latching onto an event worth remembering. The reason that we, today, complain about the music that is out now is because it hasn't yet fed into our memories of events a, b and c. At the moment, they're the songs that play on the radio in our hot stuffy car stuck in a traffic jam on our way back from work exct. So, is music thriving? No. Despite what I've just said, I won't lie and say they're haven't been times where music has been better than it is now because they're have but we also must remember our music tastes are entirely subjective. What I hate, someone else likes. But at the same time, music's not dying. The only way music will ever die is because we stop listening to it. It ceases to become a part of our lives. Which will never happen.

Very sorry for the delay to these guys - I've been on holiday for 2 weeks but I should be back properly now!

05/03/2011 Pink F***in Perfect WARNING: THE FOLLOWING POST CONTAINS UNCOMFORTABLE AMOUNTS OF SINCERITY Over the past few years we have a had a lot, and I mean a lot, of inspirational songs and I do appreciate them, some of them at least. I think it's very important to have all these songs out there that tell young people - particularly young girls and young gay people - that they are worthy, they are important and they don't need to worry about what everyone else thinks of them. I, as a white straight male who is considered conventionally attractive (though I've never agreed with that assumption), have never particularly wanted one but hey, I feel down about myself sometimes and need that reassurance and I love that we now have a plethora of these kinds of records to choose from. My personal choice is Bastille's "Pompeii" which I know is weird, and I don't know what it says about me that I find a song which uses the imagery of a whole city of people being burned alive inspirational but there you go. I'm a weirdo. That said. Over the course of this thread we will come to these 'believe in yourself' tracks that whilst have good intentions, are actually very, very problematic. A lot of them come from boybands. There's one particular song from a particular boyband that wants to make me throw whatever device I'm happen to be listening to out of a window, but that's a way off yet, so I'll wait until I rant about it. However, there are some genuinely good and helpful ones out there, and my personal favourite (because I know deep down 'Pompeii' doesn't really count) happens to be this record by Pink, which I find to be the most honest. Earlier I said about how I'm pleased these records exist as they mostly are used to help and inspire young people of marginalized groups, and whilst I think that's important, us non-marginalized folk may need a boost every now and then as well. Insecurity doesn't discriminate. That's why I think 'Perfect' works so well for me because it's universal, it's not about anything specific, but it's just relating to all young people (and old, I guess) that they are, f***ing perfect. One aspect of this song that makes me feel....not uncomfortable, but certainly a little uneasy, is the desperation to it. Songs in the vein of Katy Perry's "Firework" for example are often very optimistic sounding, they inspire, whilst though the things Pink's singing about are inspirational the whole song itself is a little melancholy. It's almost desperate in places, with Pink sounding like she's literally begging you to realize this about yourself, is more than a little uncomfortable but perhaps necessary. I don't want to get too into this here, but I know of someone who attempted to kill herself, she took some pills and wanted to drift off whilst listening to music. She's never told me what song, but apparently whatever song it was, made her realize that her life was worth living, her problems were salvageable and she was then able to get herself helped and she lived. I'm not saying that's what Pink was going for with the purpose of this record, but it's an interesting thought all the same. For me, this song works best because it doesn't sugar coat in ways that many of the same ilk will, it sounds desperate and pleading because that's how the people who need it most will be feeling. ocDlOD1Hw9k

05/03/2011 Alexis Jordan Good Girl Alexis Jordan was probably the least interesting female artist that was releasing music back in early 2011. Compared to the supremely talented Adele, outlandish Gaga, newbie Jessie J and various others, Jordan stood out as being extremely ordinary but I always found her music a lot more enjoyable to listen to than some of the aforementioned artists. Her previous single 'Happiness' was far to twee and sunny for my likings, it's pretty much the most wholesome song ever released and to be honest I never understand the success that it endured. 'Good Girl', at least, had something a little more about it. I don't necessarily buy Alexis Jordan as a bad girl who needs to become good, I doubt I would anyway but the fact 'Happiness' came out before this does it absolutely no favours either. Bad girls don't sound like Alexis does on this record, despite the fact she's singing about not wanting to break hearts anymore and a desire to reform her bad girls ways, she sounds way too happy. It's like she's just dying to burst out in a massive smile and throw sunshine and optimism down onto a worshipping crowd. She's just too pure to pull this off and it is a nice record to listen too, it just suffers from the fact that it's sung by the nicest girl maybe in the history of ever. Not that that had to limit Alexis in anyway, I bought 'Hush; Hush' and 'Got 2 Love You' both of which I like more than this. What happened to her anyway? I like to imagine she's become a nursery school teacher. oAKsClqcgDQ

Britneys features & Others 4.0 What's Going On 3.0 S&M (Rihanna Feat Britney Remix) 2.0 Scream & Shout 7.0 Boys (The Co-ed Remix) 3.0 My Perogative 3.5 Do Somethin' 3.0 Someday (I Will Understand) 4.5 "3" 5.0 Ooh La La 2.0 Pretty Girls Christina's Features & Others 4.0 What's Going On 3.5 El Ultimo Adios (The Last Goodbye) 3.0 Somos Novios (It's Impossible) 7.5 Tell Me 7.0 Moves Like Jagger 5.5 Feel This Moment 4.0 Hoy Tengo Ganas De Ti 7.5 Nobody Wants To Be Lonely 6.0 Lady Marmalade 5.0 Car Wash 5.5 Tilt Ya Head Back 6.5 Keeps Gettin' Better 4.0 Express 4.0 Show Me How You Burlesque 3.5 We Remain 5.0 Say Something BRITNEY ALBUM #1 | ...Baby One More Time 11.0 ...Baby One More Time 7.5 Sometimes 10.0 You Drive Me (Crazy) 9.5 Born To Make You Happy 5.5 From The Bottom Of My Broken Heart CHRISTINA ALBUM #1 | Christina Aguilera 10.0 Genie In A Bottle 6.0 What A Girl Wants 5.5 I Turn To You 7.0 Come On Over Baby (All I Want Is You) BRITNEY ALBUM #2 | Oops!... I Did It Again 11.0 Oops!... I Did It Again 7.5 Lucky 10.0 Stronger 4.5 Don't Let Me Be The Last To Know CHRISTINA ALBUM #2 | Stripped 9.0 Dirrty 6.5 Beautiful 8.0 Fighter 10.0 Can't Hold Us Down 8.0 The Voice Within BRITNEY ALBUM #3 | Britney 8.5 I'm A Slave 4 U 9.0 Overprotected 6.0 I'm Not A Girl, Not Yet A Woman 3.0 I Love Rock 'n' Roll 5.0 Anticipating CHRISTINA ALBUM #3 | Back To Basics 9.0 Ain't No Other Man 11.0 Hurt 6.5 Candyman 5.0 Slowdown Baby 5.0 Oh Mother BRITNEY ALBUM #4 | In The Zone 7.5 Me Against The Music 11.0 Toxic 10.0 Everytime 3.5 Outrageous CHRISTINA ALBUM #4 | Bionic 4.0 Not Myself Tonight 4.5 Woohoo 11.0 You Lost Me 2.0 I Hate Boys BRITNEY ALBUM #5 | Blackout 7.5 Gimme More 4.5 Piece Of Me 9.0 Break The Ice CHRISTINA ALBUM #5 | Lotus 8.0 Your Body 5.0 Just A Fool BRITNEY ALBUM #6 | Circus 5.5 Womanizer 8.0 Circus 7.0 If U Seek Amy 6.5 Radar BRITNEY ALBUM #7 | Femme Fatale 7.0 Hold It Against Me 9.5 Till The World Ends 6.5 I Wanna Go 6.0 Criminal BRITNEY ALBUM #8 | Britney Jean 4.0 Work Bitch 4.5 Perfume

I remember none of the last few!

Add to this, Jess Glynne - "Hold My Hand" which also did 9 non-consecutive weeks (being broken up by Carly Rae's "I Really Like You") Current number one is Jessie J with 'Flashlight' though she'll likely be replaced by Rita Ora with 'Poison' on Sunday.