Ed Sheeran (2) – Week Of January 13, 2018

Hey guys! I apologize for the lack of Year-End posts. I'll hopefully have two for you guys this week. In the meantime, here's the countdown post. Things really didn't get any better this week. We lost three great songs and the Top 20 isn't looking as good as before. But at least we have a great #1 song. 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 (#27) [x2] {3 Weeks At #1}
• Cheat Codes/Demi Lovato – No Promises (#38)
• Macklemore/Skylar Grey – Glorious (#43)

Last Week's #1 Song: Imagine Dragons – Thunder

The Countdown

45. Harry Styles – Kiwi (#41)

44. Taylor Swift – Look What You Made Me Do (#42)

43. MAX/Gnash – Lights Down Low (#45)

42. Zedd/Alessia Cara – Stay (#36) [4 Weeks At #1]

41. The Shadowboxers – Hot Damn (#30)

40. Charlie Puth – Attention (#43) [1 Week At #1]

39. Ed Sheeran – Shape Of You (#44) [9 Weeks At #1]

38. Niall Horan – Slow Hands (#35) [3 Weeks At #1]

37. P!nk – What About Us (#31) [1 Week At #1]

36. Liam Payne – Strip That Down (#32) [2 Weeks At #1]

35. Taylor Swift – ...Ready For It? (#22)

34. Louis Tomlinson – Miss You (#36)

33. Kesha – Praying (#26)

32. Zayn/Sia – Dusk Till Dawn (#21)

31. Ed Sheeran – Galway Girl (#11) [4 Weeks At #1]

30. Bruno Mars/Cardi B – Finesse (DEBUT)

29. Shawn Mendes – There's Nothing Holdin' Me Back (#29) [5 Weeks At #1]

28. Demi Lovato – Sorry Not Sorry (#28)

27. Symon – Lonely Girl (#39)

26. Liam Payne – Bedroom Floor (#24)

25. Walk The Moon – One Foot (#18)

24. Justin Timberlake – Filthy (DEBUT)

23. Portugal. The Man – Feel It Still (#24)

22. Taylor Swift/Ed Sheeran/Future – End Game (#34)

21. X Ambassadors – Ahead Of Myself (#20)

20. G-Eazy/Halsey – Him & I (DEBUT)

19. Fall Out Boy – Hold Me Tight Or Don't (#33)

18. Lauv – I Like Me Better (#23)

17. Imagine Dragons – Believer (#16) [3 Weeks At #1]

16. Post Malone/21 Savage – Rockstar (#8)

15. Maroon 5/SZA – What Lovers Do (#6)

14. Eminem/Ed Sheeran – River (#19)

13. Sam Smith – Too Good At Goodbyes (#13)

12. Dua Lipa – New Rules (#12)

11. Niall Horan – Too Much To Ask (#15)

10. Macklemore/Kesha – Good Old Days (#14)

  9. Charlie Puth – How Long (#7)

  8. Selena Gomez/Marshmello – Wolves (#10)

  7. Kelly Clarkson – Love So Soft (#9)

  6. Bebe Rexha/Florida Georgia Line – Meant To Be (#17)

  5. Camila Cabello – Havana (#4) [1 Week At #1]

  4. Hailee Steinfeld & Alesso/Florida Georgia Line/watt – Let Me Go (#5)

  3. Imagine Dragons – Thunder (#1) [3 Weeks At #1]

  2. Halsey – Bad At Love (#2) [2 Weeks At #1]

  1. Ed Sheeran – Perfect (#3) [2^nd Week At #1]

#1 Song This Week One Year Ago: Maroon 5 – Don't Wanna Know (2)

Biggest DROP!!!... Of The Week: Ed Sheeran – Galway Girl (–20)

Biggest Jump Of The Week: Fall Out Boy – Hold Me Tight Or Don't (+14)

New Entrants
~ First up this week, we have Bruno Mars debuting with his remix of Finesse featuring Cardi B. I'd like to apologize for my review last week. I've given it several more listens these past few days and I've come to realize it's actually not that bad of a song. It's nothing amazing to me, but it's somewhat enjoyable. I do think Bruno Mars has a great voice and I'm glad that he uses it well here. Like I've said before, I don't love this kind of music. But the song is catchy in a way. I don't love the lyrical content. I also don't love Cardi B's contribution to the song. Her part isn't bad, but I feel like it could've been done better by a more talented artist. Cardi B was likely only picked because of her relevancy as she had a #1 last year, which was also one of the worst songs of the year. But this track seems to be a grower for me. It could potentially be in green sometime soon. Of course it'll probably end up being the next That's What I Like. But we'll see how this song does.

~ Next we have the big Justin Timberlake return as we approach his big Super Bowl halftime show performance. Making its debut this week is Filthy, the lead single from Man Of The Woods. Like I said last week, this song was a lot to take in. It's much different than any song I've ever heard from him. But Justin Timberlake has always been one to take risks. Suit & Tie is a good example of that and while I didn't necessarily love that song, it performed well. This new album is essentially supposed to be him going back to his roots. But this new song makes that statement a little questionable. The production is quite strange for the most part. But it definitely caught my attention. His vocals aren't as strong here as they usually are, which is a little disappointing. But he does still sound good. Like I said, this song was a risk and it kind of worked out, but there are definitely ways in which this could be improved upon. But this song is a grower. I've listened to it several times and it has gotten better with each listen. It could be in green soon. But for now, I don't hate it, nor do I love it.

~ Finally we have G-Eazy making his return after Good Life featuring Kehlani only lasted one week. Fortunately, this new song seems like it's bound to be a hit. We have Him & I featuring Halsey. I must say, G-Eazy and Halsey is a collab that works out very well. It feels like these two artists collaborating was meant to be (no pun intended). These two sound really good together and I was quite impressed with how Him & I turned out. The production here is really good and I think G-Eazy, being one of the only good rappers these days, sounds really good. I like his verses. Halsey sounds really good in the chorus. I can't picture any other singer taking on that part. I don't have as much to say here as I did with the previous two songs, but this is definitely the best debut of the week in my opinion. I'm glad it was the highest debut as well.


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

• Sofi Tukker/NERVO – Best Friend
• P!nk – Beautiful Trauma
• Alan Walker/Noah Cyrus/Digital Farm Animals – All Falls Down
• Clean Bandit/Julia Michaels – I Miss You
• AJR/Rivers Cuomo – Sober Up
• Maroon 5 – Wait
• Kesha/The Dap-King Horns – Woman (DEBUT)
• Spencer – Whatever
• All Time Low – Last Young Renegade
• Imagine Dragons – Whatever It Takes
• NF – Let You Down
• Troye Sivan – My My My! (DEBUT)
• Camila Cabello – Never Be The Same
• Wolves – Animal

~ Woman definitely reminds me of Kesha's older music. I like the vibe here and it's a fun song overall. Hopefully, this can be another hit for Kesha. My My My was definitely something I was anticipating as I really like Troye Sivan. I'm very pleased with how this song turned out. His voice sounds really good, especially in the chorus. More on this when it debuts.

Top 5 Hit-Bound Picks

1. Troye Sivan – My My My!

2. Imagine Dragons – Whatever It Takes

3. Clean Bandit/Julia Michaels – I Miss You

4. P!nk – Beautiful Trauma

5. Kesha/The Dap-King Horns – Woman

Blurbs & I

~ I'm glad Ed Sheeran got to spend another week at the top with Perfect. This is definitely one of my favorites at the moment. I much prefer this at the top over Thunder, Havana, and Bad At Love. So hopefully this can hold for a little while.

~ As far as our Top 10 entrants go, we have Meant To Be and Good Old Days. I'm pleased with both songs entering the Top 10. I think they're very deserving of it and hopefully they stay for a little while. I expect Good Old Days to be as successful as Glorious at the very least. I'm pleased with how quickly this rose to the Top 10.

~ It was definitely expected to see both End Game and Hold Me Tight Or Don't take big jumps this week as they're from two of Hits 1's favorite artists. I'm okay with one of them doing well. The other I'm hoping doesn't stick around.

~ Ed Sheeran – Galway Girl took quite a big drop this week. I expected it to drop pretty soon, but not as much as it did. I was losing interest in it though. So I'm kind of glad it dropped this much. Though I'm sure it won't be leaving anytime soon.

~ Speaking of Ed Sheeran, it was this week one year ago that Shape Of You made its debut on this countdown. Happy one year anniversary!

~ Our exits this week consisted of three songs that all made it on to my Top 45 songs of 2017. They were all amazing in their own ways and I'm glad each of them were as successful as they were. I enjoyed them all throughout their time on the countdown. Thank you all for being great songs. You will certainly be missed.

Top 20 Review

0 – Crap:

NONE

1 – Bad:

20. Imagine Dragons – Thunder

19. Post Malone/21 Savage – Rockstar

18. Lauv – I Like Me Better

2 – Mediocre:

17. Kelly Clarkson – Love So Soft

16. Fall Out Boy – Hold Me Tight Or Don't

3 – Decent:

NONE

4 – Good:

NONE

5 – Great:

15. Camila Cabello – Havana

14. Halsey – Bad At Love

13. Dua Lipa – New Rules

12. Niall Horan – Too Much To Ask

11. Charlie Puth – How Long

10. Sam Smith – Too Good At Goodbyes

9. Maroon 5/SZA – What Lovers Do

8. Imagine Dragons – Believer

7. Selena Gomez/Marshmello – Wolves

6. G-Eazy/Halsey – Him & I

5. Bebe Rexha/Florida Georgia Line – Meant To Be

4. Hailee Steinfeld & Alesso/F.G.L./watt – Let Me Go

3. Ed Sheeran – Perfect

2. Eminem/Ed Sheeran – River

BONUS: 6 – Best Song On The Countdown:

1. Macklemore/Kesha – Good Old Days

Overall Score: 83/100 = 83% (B)

Throwback Pick Of The Week: Justin Timberlake – Rock Your Body

Most Missed Countdown Song: Zedd/Foxes – Clarity

#1 Recommendation For Hits 1: Mono Mind – I Found My Soul At Marvingate (Sofa Tunes Remix)

Favorite Countdown Song This Week One Year Ago: Martin Garrix/Bebe Rexha – In The Name Of Love (#31)

My Top 5 Picks

1. Macklemore/Kesha – Good Old Days

2. Walk The Moon – One Foot

3. Eminem/Ed Sheeran – River

4. Kesha – Praying

5. Ed Sheeran – Perfect