Maroon 5 (3) – Week Of February 4, 2017

Hey guys! I did have one busy weekend, which is why this post is a little late. First off, last night was the Winter Formal dance at my school and I actually went with a few of my friends. I'll talk more about that later in the post. Today was also Super Bowl Sunday. I really only watched for Lady Gaga's halftime performance, though I did see how the game went and who won (thanks to social media). As far as the countdown goes, it was okay. I'm not crazy about the debuts for the most part. But the Top 10 did have a little bit of change, which is always good. Before we get to this week's Fresh 45, here are the songs we're saying goodbye to this week.

• Ed Sheeran – Castle On The Hill (#28)
• Justin Timberlake – Can't Stop The Feeling (#34) [10 Weeks At #1]
• Major Lazer/Justin Bieber/MØ – Cold Water (#38)
• DNCE – Body Moves (#41)
• Fifth Harmony – That's My Girl (#44)
• Andy Grammer – Fresh Eyes (#45)

Last Week's #1 Song: Twenty One Pilots – Heathens

The Countdown

45. Gnash/Olivia O'Brien – I Hate U, I Love U (#43)

44. The Chainsmokers/Daya – Don't Let Me Down (#36) [3 Weeks At #1]

43. OneRepublic – Kids (#39)

42. Pitbull/Flo Rida/LunchMoney Lewis – Greenlight (#42)

41. Ariana Grande – Into You (#40)

40. Martin Garrix/Bebe Rexha – In The Name Of Love (#33)

39. Hey Violet – Guys My Age (DEBUT)

38. Lady Gaga – Million Reasons (#22)

37. Twenty One Pilots – Ride (#32)

36. Adele – Send My Love (To Your New Lover) (#35) [1 Week At #1]

35. Rihanna – Love On The Brain (DEBUT)

34. Coldplay/Beyoncé – Hymn For The Weekend (#26)

33. DJ Snake/Justin Bieber – Let Me Love You (#27)

32. Julia Michaels – Issues (DEBUT)

31. The Weeknd/Daft Punk – I Feel It Coming (#31)

30. Lukas Graham – You're Not There (#37)

29. Daya – Words (DEBUT)

28. James Arthur – Say You Won't Let Go (#30)

27. Twenty One Pilots – Heavydirtysoul (DEBUT)

26. Steve Aoki/Louis Tomlinson – Just Hold On (#29)

25. Sia/Kendrick Lamar – The Greatest (#2)
24. Shawn Mendes – Treat You Better (#20) [2 Weeks At #1]
23. X Ambassadors – Unsteady (#21)
22. The Chainsmokers – Paris (DEBUT)
21. Charli XCX – After The Afterparty (#24)
20. Bruno Mars – 24K Magic (#19)
19. Panic! At The Disco – Death Of A Bachelor (#16)
18. Runaground – Chase You Down (#9)
17. Train – Play That Song (#23)
16. Ariana Grande/Nicki Minaj – Side To Side (#25)
15. Niall Horan – This Town (#5)
14. The Weeknd/Daft Punk – Starboy (#6)
13. Alessia Cara – Scars To Your Beautiful (#12)
12. John Legend – Love Me Now (#13)
11. Twenty One Pilots – Heathens (#1) [1 Week At #1]
10. Machine Gun Kelly/Camila Cabello – Bad Things (#15)
  9. Adele – Water Under The Bridge (#10)
  8. Zayn/Taylor Swift – I Don't Wanna Live Forever (#17)
  7. Jon Bellion – All Time Low (#11)
  6. Hailee Steinfeld & Grey/Zedd – Starving (#3) [4 Weeks At #1]
  5. Fitz & The Tantrums – HandClap (#18)
  4. Shawn Mendes – Mercy (#7)
  3. Ed Sheeran – Shape Of You (#14)
  2. The Chainsmokers/Halsey – Closer (#4) [8 Weeks At #1]
  1. Maroon 5 – Don't Wanna Know (#8) [3^rd Week At #1]

#1 Song This Week One Year Ago: Adele – Hello

Biggest DROP!!!... Of The Week: Sia/Kendrick Lamar – The Greatest (–23)

Biggest Jump Of The Week: Fitz & The Tantrums – HandClap (+13)

New Entrants
~ We'll go from worst to best with the debuts. To kick it all off, we have Rihanna – Love On The Brain. Honestly, this is not the Rihanna I used to know and love. I get that she's trying something new, but this just does not work at all. She cannot do slow ballads. Her voice is obnoxious all throughout the verses. The way she hits the high notes literally makes me cringe. As of right now, this song is the worst single off of that disappointment of an album titled Anti. But like I said, she experimented here and it unfortunately did not work out in her favor. I say this all the time, but Rihanna used to be one of my favorite artists. But unfortunately this entire album has changed that significantly. Here's to hoping this song doesn't do well on here because it is utter shit.

~ Next we have Hey Violet with Guys My Age. I was questioning this one since the very first listen and it only got worse from there. First off, the production is beyond cringe-worthy. At first, this was the only thing that affected what I thought of the song, which is why it was already blue to begin with. But once I started actually paying attention to the lyrics, that's when I officially had it with this song. The lead vocalist is like 18 years old and she apparently has a problem with guys her age. For those unaware, I am very close to her age (17 turning 18 in a few months). She's making it sound like all guys her age are immature, which is completely false. And she thinks that dating older guys is what's going to solve the problem. There are plenty of nice guys out there that are her age. She has just simply failed to find them. Ultimately, the lyrical content is beyond stupid and the way she delivers it makes the song even worse. I have no idea if this song is supposed to attract older guys. But in my opinion, this is one of the furthest things from sexy I have ever heard. If you have not heard this song, I recommend you just skip over it. It's not worth your time. Please save your ears.

~ Next we have Julia Michaels with Issues. It's really the production that kills this song. The lyrical content is okay. But the way it's delivered is simply not working for me. I'm not head-over-heels in love with Julia Michaels' vocals either. Overall, this song is weird. And not the good kind of weird. Maybe it'll grow on me. It's possible. But as of right now, I do not like this song. I don't hate it like the first two debuts, but I certainly don't like it.

~ Daya is back (hooray.....). Really the only thing about Words that is kind of catchy is the chorus. But everything else just isn't that interesting. I would've appreciated if we had more time between this song's entrance and Sit Still, Look Pretty's departure so that I could start to appreciate Daya once again. But I'm still pretty over her after Sit Still, Look Pretty. And of course, Hits 1 is probably going to overplay this song. Hopefully it doesn't last long. While it is in blue, it's slightly closer to red than it is to green.

~ Now we're getting into the good stuff. Having the highest debut of the week up at #22, we have The Chainsmokers featuring Emily Warren with Paris. This song is definitely different compared to Roses, Don't Let Me Down, and of course Closer. Andrew Taggart's are definitely improving as well. He takes on over 90% of the song and I'm impressed by his vocals. The production, while it may not be as good as songs like Roses, is still good. I like the build-up and the drop at the end. Overall, it's a good song. Is it amazing? No. But I'm sure this will be a song that'll stick with me for a little while at the very least.

~ We now come to the best debut of the week, which ironically comes from Twenty One Pilots, a band that I tend to be a little critical to. But at this very moment, Heavydirtysoul is a fantastic song. I'm sure it's received some criticism for Tyler Joseph's "rapping". The reason for the quotation marks is because Joseph himself says that it's not rapping. But I think he does a very nice job during those verses and I love the way it leads into that slower pre-chorus, which then leads into the once again fast chorus. The vocal performance on this track is exceptional, which is where I started to criticize Ride. I love the production and the lyrical content is very good as well. Overall, I am really enjoying this one. It'll probably be overplayed to death. But for the time being, I stick by my decision to call this song the best debut of the week.


Hit-Bound
~ Here is the Hit-Bound list:

• AJR – Weak (DEBUT)
• Flo Rida/99 Percent – Cake (DEBUT)
• Calum Scott – Dancing On My Own
• Bruno Mars – That's What I Like
• Bebe Rexha – I Got You
• Imagine Dragons – Believer (DEBUT)
• Snakehips/MØ – Don't Leave
• MAX/Gnash – Lights Down Low
• Panic! At The Disco – L.A. Devotee (DEBUT)
• James Hersey – Miss You (DEBUT)
• Little Mix – Shout Out To My Ex
• Bruno Mars – Versace On The Floor
• The Vamps/Matoma – All Night (DEBUT)
• Noah Cyrus/Labrinth – Make Me (Cry)

~ Long story short, Weak is not that different from AJR's previous songs. The vocals are very weak on this one (see what I did there?). It's no surprise that Cake is on the same compilation as Juju On That Beat, because it's just as shitty. Flo Rida, what happened?

~ Imagine Dragons appear to be trying something new that is not working for them at all. The chorus is literally just yelling and I'm sorry, but that just does not impress me. In fact, it's actually pretty damn annoying.

~ L.A. Devotee is probably the best debut this week. I enjoyed this song when it was released as a promotional single and I still enjoy it to this day. It's got a really catchy chorus to it. Is it their best? No. But it's very fun.

~ Miss You really isn't anything special. More words on it if it debuts. Finally, we have the return of The Vamps with producer Matoma. All Night is catchy and all, but it doesn't stand out as much as Somebody To You. I do like it though.

~ Do we really need both Bruno Mars songs here? Can we please get rid of at least one of them (preferably both)?

Top 5 Hit-Bound Picks

1. MAX/Gnash – Lights Down Low

2. Panic! At The Disco – L.A. Devotee

3. Bebe Rexha – I Got You

4. Little Mix – Shout Out To My Ex

5. The Vamps/Matoma – All Night


Winter Formal
~ So my school's winter formal did take place last night. I went with a few of my friends and we had a great time. Here are the songs I remember hearing.

• Avicii/Aloe Blacc – Wake Me Up
• Beyoncé – Sorry
• Britney Spears – Till The World Ends
• Bruno Mars – 24K Magic
• Calvin Harris/Florence Welch – Sweet Nothing
• The Chainsmokers/Halsey – Closer
• Daddy Yankee – Gasolina
• Darude – Sandstorm*
• DJ Snake/Justin Bieber – Let Me Love You
• Drake – Hotline Bling
• Fetty Wap – Trap Queen
• Flo Rida – Good Feeling
• Flo Rida/Sage The Gemini/Lookas – GDFR
• Flo Rida/T-Pain – Low
• Icona Pop – I Love It
• Iggy Azalea/Charli XCX – Fancy
• Justin Bieber – Sorry
• Justin Bieber/Ludacris – Baby
• Justin Bieber/Nicki Minaj – Beauty and a Beat
• Justin Timberlake – Can't Stop The Feeling
• LMFAO – Party Rock Anthem
• LMFAO – Sexy and I Know It
• Miley Cyrus – Party In The U.S.A.
• Nicki Minaj – Anaconda
• Nicki Minaj – Starships
• Omi – Cheerleader
• One Direction – What Makes You Beautiful
• Pitbull/Ne-Yo/Afrojack/Nayer – Give Me Everything
• Rae Sremmurd/Gucci Mane – Black Beatles
• Rihanna/Drake – Work
• Sean Paul – Temperature
• + many more I don't remember/don't know

*Yes, they actually played this.

Like all dances, it was really fun. There were barely any slow songs. It was mostly the fast, upbeat songs, which I like. But yeah, it was a lot of fun. My next and final dance this year will be Senior Prom in May, which I will be sure to post about when that time comes.

Heavydirtyblurbs

~ Don't Wanna Know is going through exactly what I didn't want it to go through. I said from the very beginning that this song will not survive radio overplay and it's getting beaten up pretty bad right now. Hopefully this can end soon.

~ I did hear Ed Sheeran – Shape Of You air as a "Most Wutchuwanted Song" this past week. So it jumping into the Top 3 isn't really surprising. However, what is surprising is the jump into the Top 5 from Fitz & The Tantrums – HandClap. This one rose to the peak pretty damn quickly and I'm surprised. This is the same song that only jumped two spots on its second week. It definitely recovered quickly.

~ Shawn Mendes – Mercy jumping into the Top 5 also isn't surprising. At this very moment, this is the Top 5 that I want to see hit #1 next week. Either this or Shape Of You. Even HandClap would be acceptable. I just want something other than Don't Wanna Know.

~ Aside from HandClap and Shape Of You, we have three more entrants into the Top 10, one of which being a re-entry from Jon Bellion – All Time Low (thank you very much voters). The other two come from Zayn/Taylor Swift – I Don't Wanna Live Forever and Machine Gun Kelly/Camila Cabello – Bad Things. I am happier with latter of the two. The former is still good, but it's been slightly fading on me. Hopefully if I don't listen to it for a while it'll get a little better.

~ Train – Play That Song is getting a lot more popular than I thought it would. It is definitely a good song. It's just a little different than what I'm used to from these guys.

~ And just when we thought that Sia/Kendrick Lamar – The Greatest had a shot at #1, it drops all the way down to #25. Ouch. So much for this being a #1 song. But I'm kind of fine with it in a way because now it may not become as annoying as Cheap Thrills.

~ The Weeknd/Daft Punk – I Feel It Coming once again holds at #31. I want to see this song be a hit. I've been listening to it repeatedly all week and it has only gotten better after each listen. So I'd appreciate if it can make some jump into the upper half of the countdown.

~ Coldplay – Hymn For The Weekend has dropped out of the Top 30 for the first time. Something tells me this song's journey may be coming to an end. I'm not necessarily sad about it because it did have a very good run on the countdown. But I am hoping it can hold out for a little while longer.

~ The drop from Lady Gaga – Million Reasons was rather unnecessary, especially right before her big Super Bowl half-time performance. As for how the performance went, I'll see if I can give a full-on review in a new post sometime this week. If not, I'll just straight up tell you what I thought of it. But I'll try to do a post like I did last year when Coldplay performed.

~ As far as the exits go, Can't Stop The Feeling had a nice run. Cold Water did pretty good too. I'm very pleased to see Fresh Eyes leave. That's My Girl was growing out of me and I was starting to get sick of Body Moves. Finally we have Castle On The Hill, which has set the record this year for the shortest tenure of the year lasting only two weeks. This was a little uncalled for, especially since I was just starting to really like the song. But oh well.

~ The Hit 45 Chart for this week is currently being worked on and will be posted as soon as possible.

Top 20 Review
0 – Crap:
NONE

1 – Bad:
20. Bruno Mars – 24K Magic

2 – Mediocre:
19. Hailee Steinfeld & Grey/Zedd – Starving

3 – Decent:
18. Niall Horan – This Town

4 – Good:
17. Maroon 5 – Don't Wanna Know

5 – Great:
16. Twenty One Pilots – Heathens
15. Zayn/Taylor Swift – I Don't Wanna Live Forever
14. Train – Play That Song
13. Panic! At The Disco – Death Of A Bachelor
12. The Chainsmokers/Halsey – Closer
11. The Weeknd/Daft Punk – Starboy
10. Ariana Grande/Nicki Minaj – Side To Side
9. Machine Gun Kelly/Camila Cabello – Bad Things
8. Fitz & The Tantrums – HandClap
7. Alessia Cara – Scars To Your Beautiful
6. John Legend – Love Me Now
5. Ed Sheeran – Shape Of You
4. Adele – Water Under The Bridge
3. Shawn Mendes – Mercy
2. Runaground – Chase You Down
1. Jon Bellion – All Time Low

Total Score: 90/100 = 90% (A–)


Throwback Pick Of The Week: Lady Gaga/Beyoncé – Telephone

Most Missed Countdown Song: Lady Gaga – Applause

#1 Recommendation For Hits 1: Troye Sivan/Betty Who – Heaven

Favorite Countdown Song This Week One Year Ago: Justin Bieber – Sorry


My Top 5 Picks
1. Jon Bellion – All Time Low
2. Runaground – Chase You Down
3. Lady Gaga – Million Reasons
4. The Weeknd/Daft Punk – I Feel It Coming
5. Coldplay – Hymn For The Weekend