Halsey (3) – Week Of January 26, 2019

Hey guys! I hope everyone is having a good week and staying warm if you're like me and you live in an area where it's getting as low as -50°F with the windchill. This Sunday is Super Bowl Sunday and as usual, I will only be watching for the halftime show because I can't care less about the actual game. I might do a review of it like last year. We'll see if my schedule next week allows it. Also, the Grammys are coming up soon and I get to see Panic! At The Disco live in concert Monday evening, so I got a lot going on on top of having to finish year-end posts. But I will get through it all eventually. Before we get to this week's Fresh 45, here are the songs we're saying goodbye to this week.

• Zedd/Maren Morris/Grey – The Middle (#44) [9 Weeks At #1]

Last Week's #1 Song: Halsey – Without Me

The Countdown

45. Shawn Mendes – In My Blood (#45) [2 Weeks At #1]

44. Little Mix/Nicki Minaj – Woman Like Me (#35)

43. Charlie Puth – The Way I Am (#41)

42. Jennifer Lopez – Limitless (#42)

41. Steve Aoki/BTS – Waste It On Me (#38)

40. Lauv/Julia Michaels – There's No Way (#39)

39. Bebe Rexha – I'm a Mess (#37)

38. George Ezra – Shotgun (#43)

37. Silk City/Dua Lipa – Electricity (#40)

36. Panic! At The Disco – Say Amen (Saturday Night) (#36) [4 Weeks At #1]

35. Benny Blanco/Calvin Harris – I Found You (DEBUT)

34. Backstreet Boys – Don't Go Breaking My Heart (#34)

33. Selena Gomez – Back To You (#33)

32. Maroon 5/Cardi B – Girls Like You (#32)

31. Mark Ronson/Miley Cyrus – Nothing Breaks Like A Heart (#27)

30. lovelytheband – Broken (#30)

29. Alessia Cara – Trust My Lonely (#31)

28. James Arthur – Empty Space (#26)

27. Ariana Grande – Breathin (#20)

26. Fall Out Boy – The Last Of The Real Ones (#24)

25. Camila Cabello – Consequences (#29)

24. The Struts/Kesha – Body Talks (#28)

23. Lauren Jauregui – Expectations (#23)

22. Khalid – Better (#21)

21. Imagine Dragons – Natural (#18) [1 Week At #1]

20. Zara Larsson – Ruin My Life (#25)

19. Dan + Shay – Speechless (#22)

18. David Guetta/Anne-Marie – Don't Leave Me Alone (#15)

17. Twenty One Pilots – Chlorine (#16)

16. Post Malone/Swae Lee – Sunflower (#19)

15. Ava Max – Sweet But Psycho (#17)

14. Khalid/Normani – Love Lies (#5)

13. Imagine Dragons – Machine (#14)

12. Ellie Goulding/Diplo – Close To Me (#11)

11. Alec Benjamin – Let Me Down Slowly (#8)

10. Anne-Marie – 2002 (#7)

  9. Panic! At The Disco – Hey Look Ma, I Made It (#10)

  8. Ariana Grande – Thank U, Next (#9)

  7. Dan + Shay – Tequila (#12)

  6. Benny Blanco/Halsey/Khalid – Eastside (#13)

  5. 5 Seconds of Summer – Youngblood (#6) [5 Weeks At #1]

  4. Marshmello/Bastille – Happier (#4) [2 Weeks At #1]

  3. The Chainsmokers/Kelsea Ballerini – This Feeling (#2) [4 Weeks At #1]

  2. Panic! At The Disco – High Hopes (#3) [8 Weeks At #1]

  1. Halsey – Without Me (#1) [3^rd Week At #1]

#1 Song This Week One Year Ago: Imagine Dragons – Thunder (5)

Biggest DROP!!!... Of The Week: Tie Between Khalid/Normani – Love Lies and Little Mix/Nicki Minaj – Woman Like Me (–9)

Biggest Jump Of The Week: Benny Blanco/Halsey/Khalid – Eastside (+7)

New Entrants
~ I'm not excited about this week's debut, but it gets extra points for being the song to replace the god awful The Middle on the countdown. It's I Found You by Benny Blanco and Calvin Harris. This suffers from being very generic and basic in terms of the production. The drop is not very interesting. It's nothing new or original. It just sounds like any other basic EDM track and there's nothing about it that would make me ever come back to it. Calvin Harris has a decent voice for a producer, but it's pretty generic overall. I understand if he provides vocals on his own tracks. But he should not be a go-to artist for vocals. All in all, everything about this is just very basic and it's not a good follow-up to Eastside.


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

• Lauren Daigle – You Say
• Jake Miller – Wait For You
• Post Malone – Wow
• Dean Lewis – Be Alright
• Sabrina Carpenter – Sue Me
• Seeb/Bastille – Grip
• lovelytheband – Maybe, I'm Afraid
• Pitbull/Rhea – Ocean To Ocean
• Avril Lavigne – Tell Me It's Over
• Gesaffelstein/The Weeknd – Lost In The Fire
• Kelsea Ballerini – Miss Me More
• Sam Smith/Normani – Dancing With A Stranger (DEBUT)
• Stephen Puth – Sexual Vibe
• Travis Scott/Drake – Sicko Mode
• Charli XCX/Troye Sivan – 1999

~ Dancing With A Stranger is a great tune that I got hooked on by the first listen. The beat is really good and it makes the song really catchy. Sam Smith sounds really good. I love his voice. Normani delivers what I believe is her best vocal performance yet. This song is proof that she is the best singer from Fifth Harmony. I really like the chorus. It's just a great song all around. I really hope this becomes a hit.


YouTube15
~ Here is the YouTube15 list.

• Post Malone/Swae Lee – Sunflower
• The Chainsmokers/Winona Oak – Hope
• LSD/Lil Wayne – Genius
• Maroon 5/Cardi B – Girls Like You
• Calvin Harris/Rag'N'Bone Man – Giant
• Ariana Grande – Thank U, Next
• Maren Morris – GIRL
• Halsey – Without Me
• Clean Bandit/Marina/Luis Fonsi – Baby
• Marshmello/Bastille – Happier
• Why Don't We – Big Plans
• Panic! At The Disco – High Hopes
• Alan Walker/AuRa/Tomine Harket – Darkside
• Benny Blanco/Halsey/Khalid – Eastside
• Becky G – LBD

~ I've made my thoughts on LSD clear within the past year. I don't really get it honestly. I think their music and the project as a whole is just very silly. Songs like Audio and Mountains are straight up trash. I used to not like Genius, but it grew on me because I think it's catchy enough and the production is fine. This remix with Lil Wayne is not as good because I don't think he sounds that great and this version is shorter than the original. I still enjoy it to some extent, but I think it was better off without Wayne and that's the version I'm going to keep listening to.

~ Next we have Maren Morris, who had the honor of being part of my #1 least favorite song of 2018 on Hits 1. Despite that, I do think she is incredibly talented and has some great songs. GIRL is not one of them in my opinion. It's definitely an improvement from Rich, but this song just doesn't click with me at all and I don't really know why. Her voice is objectively good, but I find her vocals here kind of annoying honestly. Musically, the song just doesn't grab me the way her previous songs have. I think this song tries way too hard to be next 80s Mercedes, which is a fantastic song, and it's just not. It's not as fun and not as interesting. GIRL is very forgettable and not that exciting as a whole.

~ Boy band Why Don't We have been a mixed bag for me overall. Big Plans is pretty good, but I can't really give it more credit than that. It's not as good as 8 Letters, which to me is their best song by a clear mile. But there's still enough to enjoy about it. It's not something I see myself going out of my way to listen to, but if it comes on radio, I'll listen to it.

~ Lastly, we have Becky G, who I don't consider to be a very interesting artist at all. Even her best songs like Can't Stop Dancin' don't stick very well in the long run. Just about everything she releases these days has been very forgettable and some of the songs like LBD have just been straight up bad. I don't like her voice here and I don't like the trap production. I think she was better off in 2014-2015 when she released catchy pop songs, instead of this Latin trap crap.

Top 5 YouTube15 Picks

1. Marshmello/Bastille – Happier

2. Alan Walker/AuRa/Tomine Harket – Darkside

3. Clean Bandit/Marina/Luis Fonsi – Baby

4. Panic! At The Disco – High Hopes

5. Benny Blanco/Halsey/Khalid – Eastside

I Got Blurbs

~ Benny Blanco/Halsey/Khalid – Eastside rose into the Top 10 this week, which I'm all for considering that it's the better of the two tracks with Halsey. It's not an amazing song by any means and I don't think it's something that'll stick in the long run, but it's enjoyable for what it is.

~ Dan + Shay – Tequila is back in the Top 10, which I'm also all for. It's been around for a while, but it's still a great song and I'm glad it's been successful. Probably the best country song of 2018.

~ Dan + Shay – Speechless is now in the Top 20. I really like Dan + Shay if you can't tell. Speechless is a great song and I hope it manages to become a hit on Hits 1. It's a solid country tune with great vocals.

~ The runs for Lauv/Julia Michaels – There's No Way and Little Mix/Nicki Minaj – Woman Like Me are clearly coming to an end soon. The former I'm okay with, although the latter kind of deserved better even though it's nowhere near Little Mix's best. They're very underrated in the US.

~ As far as the exit goes, we can celebrate because The Middle is finally gone! This is easily the most overrated piece of garbage I've heard on Hits 1 in 2018. Zedd, this is new style is not working at all as every song you've put out within the past couple years has been generic as hell. He's a talented producer. The Middle does not show that. I know he's capable of so much better having listened to True Colors. Good riddance, The Middle! You will most certainly not be missed.


Top 20 Review
0 – Crap:
20. Halsey – Without Me
19. Imagine Dragons – Machine
18. Alec Benjamin – Let Me Down Slowly

1 – Bad:
17. Ariana Grande – Thank U, Next
16. Anne-Marie – 2002
15. Twenty One Pilots – Chlorine

2 – Mediocre:
NONE

3 – Decent:
14. Zara Larsson – Ruin My Life
13. David Guetta/Anne-Marie – Don't Leave Me Alone
12. Ellie Goulding/Diplo – Close To Me
11. Post Malone/Swae Lee – Sunflower

4 – Good:
10. Ava Max – Sweet But Psycho
9. The Chainsmokers/Kelsea Ballerini – This Feeling

5 – Great:
8. Panic! At The Disco – Hey Look Ma, I Made It
7. Khalid/Normani – Love Lies
6. Benny Blanco/Halsey/Khalid – Eastside
5. 5 Seconds Of Summer – Youngblood
4. Panic! At The Disco – High Hopes
3. Dan + Shay – Speechless
2. Dan + Shay – Tequila

BONUS: 6 – Best Song On The Countdown:
1. Marshmello/Bastille – Happier

Overall Score: 64/100 = 64% (B)


Throwback Pick Of The Week: The Black Eyed Peas – Boom Boom Pow

Most Missed Countdown Song: Taylor Swift/Ed Sheeran – Everything Has Changed

Most Missed Hit-Bound Dropout: Betty Who – All Of You

#1 Recommendation For Hits 1: Backstreet Boys – No Place

Favorite Countdown Song This Week One Year Ago: Tie Between Macklemore/Kesha – Good Old Days (#4) and Walk The Moon – One Foot (#10)


My Top 5 Picks
1. Marshmello/Bastille – Happier
2. Mark Ronson/Miley Cyrus – Nothing Breaks Like A Heart
3. The Struts/Kesha – Body Talks
4. Shawn Mendes – In My Blood
5. Backstreet Boys – Don't Go Breaking My Heart

Halsey (2) – Week Of January 19, 2019

Hey guys! This week, the countdown was hosted by Twenty One Pilots, who seemed pretty good during the few minutes I actually listened to them since I did not actually hear the countdown in its entirety. In other news, I have more year-end posts hopefully coming soon and I'm planning on introducing my new rankdown very soon. So be on the lookout for that. My schedule will definitely be loaded for a little while. Before we get to this week's Fresh 45, here are the songs we're saying goodbye to this week.

• The Chainsmokers/Emily Warren – Side Effects (#38)
• Olly Murs/Snoop Dogg – Moves (#39)

Last Week's #1 Song: Halsey – Without Me

The Countdown

45. Shawn Mendes – In My Blood (#45) [2 Weeks At #1]

44. Zedd/Maren Morris/Grey – The Middle (#44) [9 Weeks At #1]

43. George Ezra – Shotgun (#43)

42. Jennifer Lopez – Limitless (DEBUT)

41. Charlie Puth – The Way I Am (#41)

40. Silk City/Dua Lipa – Electricity (#40)

39. Lauv/Julia Michaels – There's No Way (#31)

38. Steve Aoki/BTS – Waste It On Me (#42)

37. Bebe Rexha – I'm a Mess (#36)

36. Panic! At The Disco – Say Amen (Saturday Night) (#37) [4 Weeks At #1]

35. Little Mix/Nicki Minaj – Woman Like Me (#34)

34. Backstreet Boys – Don't Go Breaking My Heart (#35)

33. Selena Gomez – Back To You (#32)

32. Maroon 5/Cardi B – Girls Like You (#29)

31. Alessia Cara – Trust My Lonely (DEBUT)
30. lovelytheband – Broken (#24)
29. Camila Cabello – Consequences (#26)
28. The Struts/Kesha – Body Talks (#10)
27. Mark Ronson/Miley Cyrus – Nothing Breaks Like A Heart (#25)
26. James Arthur – Empty Space (#24)
25. Zara Larsson – Ruin My Life (#30)
24. Fall Out Boy – The Last Of The Real Ones (#8) [2 Weeks At #1]
23. Lauren Jauregui – Expectations (#23)
22. Dan + Shay – Speechless (#33)
21. Khalid – Better (#28)
20. Ariana Grande – Breathin (#19)
19. Post Malone/Swae Lee – Sunflower (#11)
18. Imagine Dragons – Natural (#16) [1 Week At #1]
17. Ava Max – Sweet But Psycho (#13)
16. Twenty One Pilots – Chlorine (#20)
15. David Guetta/Anne-Marie – Don't Leave Me Alone (#15)
14. Imagine Dragons – Machine (#27)
13. Benny Blanco/Halsey/Khalid – Eastside (#17)
12. Dan + Shay – Tequila (#18)
11. Ellie Goulding/Diplo – Close To Me (#21)
10. Panic! At The Disco – Hey Look Ma, I Made It (#12)
  9. Ariana Grande – Thank U, Next (#9)
  8. Alec Benjamin – Let Me Down Slowly (#14)
  7. Anne-Marie – 2002 (#7)
  6. 5 Seconds of Summer – Youngblood (#5) [5 Weeks At #1]
  5. Khalid/Normani – Love Lies (#6)
  4. Marshmello/Bastille – Happier (#4) [2 Weeks At #1]
  3. Panic! At The Disco – High Hopes (#3) [8 Weeks At #1]
  2. The Chainsmokers/Kelsea Ballerini – This Feeling (#2) [4 Weeks At #1]
  1. Halsey – Without Me (#1) [2^nd Week At #1]

#1 Song This Week One Year Ago: Imagine Dragons – Thunder (4)

Biggest DROP!!!... Of The Week: The Struts/Kesha – Body Talks (–18)

Biggest Jump Of The Week: Imagine Dragons – Machine (+13)

New Entrants
~ First up we have Jennifer Lopez returning after quite a while with Limitless. I like the song for what it is and I appreciate its message. Musically, it's pretty good. All of that was enough for me to put it in green. However, the song is incredibly forgettable. This is not something I will remember in the long run. While being good, the song is very mediocre compared to some of the stuff Jennifer Lopez has released in the past. I consider her a pretty good singer overall. Her vocals here are decent at best and she has done much better in the past. I liked this a reasonable amount this week, but I already know it's not something that will stick with me because of how forgettable it is. Then again, she's not someone I revisit often with the exception of On The Floor.

~ Next is Trust My Lonely by Alessia Cara, which has been around for quite a while now. I didn't like Growing Pains because how mediocre it was and how bad the chorus sounded the way she layered her own vocals over herself. It was very strange after her first three singles, which were all pretty good. Now we have this "new" song, which follows the path of Growing Pains in the sense that it's very awkwardly-paced and the production is weird as hell. Alessia Cara objectively has a good voice. But something about her vocals here are not clicking with me. I don't think she fits this style of music and I just find the song mediocre as hell. I don't like whatever vibe she was going for with this song, Growing Pains, as well as the entire album. I don't understand why every time I see her now, she's in that oversized suit, which does not look good on her. If anything, I much prefer Know-It-All Alessia because at least that had some good singles. I'm hoping Trust My Lonely doesn't stick around considering that it's not a hit.


Best Debut of the Week: Jennifer Lopez – Limitless


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

• Charli XCX/Troye Sivan – 1999
• Gesaffelstein/The Weeknd – Lost In The Fire (DEBUT)
• Dean Lewis – Be Alright
• Seeb/Bastille – Grip
• Stephen Puth – Sexual Vibe
• Kelsea Ballerini – Miss Me More
• Lauren Daigle – You Say
• Jake Miller – Wait For You (DEBUT)
• Post Malone – Wow
• Sabrina Carpenter – Sue Me
• lovelytheband – Maybe, I'm Afraid
• Benny Blanco/Calvin Harris – I Found You
• Pitbull/Rhea – Ocean To Ocean
• Avril Lavigne – Tell Me It's Over
• Travis Scott/Drake – Sicko Mode

~ Gesaffelstein and The Weeknd have collaborated a couple of times on The Weeknd's My Dear Melancholy. This week, we get the latest single from them titled Lost In The Fire, which is essentially Starboy 3.0. The production is solid and The Weeknd sounds great. This is very enjoyable. I would love to see this get big.

~ I like Jake Miller as an artist and I wanted to like this song. But Wait For You is just weird. I don't really know any other way to describe it. I don't like the production and the way it changes when we hit the chorus. The lyrics are okay for the most part. I like what the song was going for, but a couple of the lines kind of bug me a little bit. I like his voice, but everything else kind of brings the song down for me.

~ Can we please get rid of Ocean To Ocean??? Mr. Worldwide, I have respect for you and you've made some bangers. But this is just not good as it's unoriginal and is nothing new or interesting, while also terribly sampling a classic. Rhea's voice also annoys me for some reason.

Top 5 Hit-Bound Picks

1. Kelsea Ballerini – Miss Me More

2. Gesaffelstein/The Weeknd – Lost In The Fire

3. Lauren Daigle – You Say

4. Avril Lavigne – Tell Me It's Over

5. Stephen Puth – Sexual Vibe

YouTube15

~ Here is the YouTube15 list since I haven't talked about this in a while.

• Ariana Grande – Thank U, Next
• Clean Bandit/Marina/Luis Fonsi – Baby
• Kehlani/Ty Dolla $ign – Nights Like This
• Maroon 5/Cardi B – Girls Like You
• Alan Walker/AuRa/Tomine Hacket – Darkside
• Post Malone/Swae Lee – Sunflower
• Loren Gray – Queen
• Benny Blanco/Halsey/Khalid – Eastside
• The Chainsmokers/Winona Oak – Hope
• Panic! At The Disco – High Hopes
• Billie Eilish – When I Was Older
• Marshmello/Bastille – Happier
• Mike Posner – Move On
• Halsey – Without Me
• Calvin Harris/Rag'N'Bone Man – Giant

~ Can someone explain to me how Girls Like You is still trending on YouTube apparently? Who is still listening to this at this point??

~ Trending for a while now is Baby by Clean Bandit, Marina & The Diamonds, and Luis Fonsi. I don't love this song, but I consider it one of the better songs on What Is Love along with Symphony and Out At Night. I really like the Latin vibe and I think Marina sounds really good. Luis Fonsi was a nice addition, although I wish he had more of a presence. Still, this is pretty enjoyable.

~ I talked about Nights Like This in Episode #17 of the Wake The Pop Up podcast (1:06:07 if you want the exact timestamp). To repeat what I said, I don't think it's as good as all the guest features Kehlani has done recently, which includes but is not limited to Ring by Cardi B, Faking It by Calvin Harris, Good Life by G-Eazy, Nowhere Fast by Eminem, What I Need by Hayley Kiyoko, and Done For Me by Charlie Puth. All of those are at least good and Kehlani has a good presence on each of them. Nights Like This is enjoyable for the most part even though the production is not that interesting. I've said this many times, but I really like her voice. I think it sounds really good. So yeah. I like this song and I like Kehlani.

~ Darkside is pretty enjoyable overall. I think Alan Walker is a solid producer. The vocals are really good and the production is solid. I will say that the drop does sound a lot like Alan Walker's other songs, especially Alone. But I get that that's just his sound and it's unique to him. If you had played this for me without telling me who it was, I probably would've said Alan Walker. So it can be looked at in different ways.

~ I don't have very many thoughts on Queen. The production is kind of interesting, but I don't like her voice. It's closer to red than green for me.

~ Even though The Chainsmokers put out a couple of good songs recently, that doesn't mean the bad ones aren't still coming in. Hope is nowhere near as bad as Save Yourself and Siren. But I find it very generic and I hate this girl's voice. It just sounds really annoying and covering it in auto tune most certainly does not help. She's just not a good singer. Other than that, it's mostly just mediocre. Her voice just brings it down a lot.

~ When I Was Older is another song I talked about in the Wake The Pop Up podcast (same episode). This song is an absolute snoozefest just like 98% of Billie Eilish's discography. It's not as bad as songs like When The Party's Over, but there's nothing here that I can consider good. Her voice is not very good at all and her music is more lifeless than Lana Del Rey, whose music I've found to be very boring in recent years. I don't understand why she's popular as she only has one good song, which is Lovely. Also, WTPU host and blogger Nick Perkins noted this, but the title When I Was Older makes no sense. And honestly, nothing she does makes sense to me.

~ If I could give everyone one album recommendation right now, it would be A Real Good Kid by Mike Posner. I thoroughly enjoyed it as I really felt the emotion and the lyrics in each track. From that album is the track Move On, which is very enjoyable as Mike Posner sounds great. The chorus is very groovy. I really like the beat and the guitar sounds great. This is very enjoyable and one of the best songs on the album, which I highly recommend.

~ I definitely had high expectations when I heard that Calvin Harris and Rag'N'Bone Man would be collaborating. Calvin Harris has made bangers in the past and Rag'N'Bone Man has an amazing voice as shown on Human and Broken People, which was the collaboration with Logic. I loved that song especially. I find Giant to be underwhelming in terms of the production. There's not very much to it and the trumpet in the drop is annoying. Rag'N'Bone Man sounds great though, so I still give him credit for being a great singer. I just don't think this is Calvin's best work.

~ I've made my thoughts on Happier and Without Me very clear in recent posts, so I don't need to get into that here.


Top 5 YouTube15 Picks
1. Marshmello/Bastille – Happier
2. Mike Posner – Move On
3. Panic! At The Disco – High Hopes
4. Kehlani/Ty Dolla $ign – Nights Like This
5. Alan Walker/AuRa/Tomine Hacket – Darkside


Trust My Blurbs
~ Can we not with Alec Benjamin – Let Me Down Slowly in the Top 10? The song is not very interesting at all and I don't like Alec Benjamin's voice. I'm not exactly sure what people like about this song

~ Ellie Goulding/Diplo – Close To Me is just outside of the Top 10, which I'd be happy about if it was actually a good song. I get the appeal though. I just don't like the production at all.

~ Imagine Dragons – Machine made a jump into the Top 15 for some unknown reason. I don't think this song's votes are coming from actual people and if they are, these people need to clean out their ears because we're clearly not hearing the same thing.

~ Fall Out Boy – The Last Of The Real Ones and The Struts/Kesha – Body Talks took hard falls out of the Top 10. Both are great songs even though the former has been here for a long time. It definitely had a great run, so I'm happy. The latter deserved more, but I'm not surprised it dropped since it's not actually a hit. It is great though and I'm glad it peaked in the Top 10.

~ I kind of hope Lauv/Julia Michaels – There's No Way is on its way out soon because it's not a good song. Silk City/Dua Lipa – Electricity has been here for a while and hasn't exactly done much so I'd be cool with that dropping out soon. And Charlie Puth – The Way I Am has been here a little too long since it wasn't a massive hit and it's not that good.

~ As far as the exits go, Side Effects stayed quite a while despite not being huge, which is good because it's the best song The Chainsmokers put out in 2018. It's a shame it didn't get treated similar to how This Feeling is getting treated, but a Top 10 peak is still good and it made Hits 1's 2018 Year-End list, so I'm pleased with how it did. Moves was severely underrated, which definitely doesn't come as a surprise. But it's still extremely catchy. We'll see what ends up happening because I want to include this in my Top 45 songs of 2019, but it's very early in the year, so I don't really know at the moment. It definitely deserves a spot though, so I'll take that into consideration.


Top 20 Review
0 – Crap:
20. Halsey – Without Me
19. Imagine Dragons – Machine
18. Alec Benjamin – Let Me Down Slowly

1 – Bad:
17. Anne-Marie – 2002
16. Ariana Grande – Thank U, Next
15. Twenty One Pilots – Chlorine

2 – Mediocre:
NONE

3 – Decent:
14. David Guetta/Anne-Marie – Don't Leave Me Alone
13. Ellie Goulding/Diplo – Close To Me
12. Post Malone/Swae Lee – Sunflower

4 – Good:
11. Ava Max – Sweet But Psycho
10. The Chainsmokers/Kelsea Ballerini – This Feeling

5 – Great:
9. Imagine Dragons – Natural
8. Khalid/Normani – Love Lies
7. Panic! At The Disco – Hey Look Ma, I Made It
6. Benny Blanco/Halsey/Khalid – Eastside
5. 5 Seconds Of Summer – Youngblood
4. Ariana Grande – Breathin
3. Panic! At The Disco – High Hopes
2. Dan + Shay – Tequila

BONUS: 6 – Best Song On The Countdown:
1. Marshmello/Bastille – Happier

Overall Score: 66/100 = 66% (B)


Throwback Pick Of The Week: The Killers – Mr. Brightside

Most Missed Countdown Song: Ella Henderson – Ghost

#1 Recommendation For Hits 1: Tie Between The Killers – Land Of The Free and Dean Lewis – 7 Minutes

Favorite Countdown Song This Week One Year Ago: Tie Between Walk The Moon – One Foot (#12) and G-Eazy/Halsey – Him & I (#21) (what was I thinking?...)


My Top 5 Picks
1. Marshmello/Bastille – Happier
2. Mark Ronson/Miley Cyrus – Nothing Breaks Like A Heart
3. The Struts/Kesha – Body Talks
4. Shawn Mendes – In My Blood
5. Backstreet Boys – Don't Go Breaking My Heart

Halsey (1) – Week Of January 12, 2019

Hey guys! If you haven't already, be sure to check out my review of Hits 1's Top 45 of 2018. It is my previous post and will be linked here. I put a lot of work into it so check it out! More year-end posts are on the way and I plan on introducing my new rankdown soon. So that's some stuff to be excited for. I can't say this week was a good week for the countdown because of our #1 and one of our debuts. But I will get into it further into the post. Before we get to this week's Fresh 45, here are the songs we're saying goodbye to this week.

• Shawn Mendes – Nervous (#31)
• Bazzi/Camila Cabello – Beautiful (#41)
• Twenty One Pilots – My Blood (#42)
• NOTD/Bea Miller – I Wanna Know (#45)

Last Week's #1 Song: The Chainsmokers/Kelsea Ballerini – This Feeling

The Countdown

45. Shawn Mendes – In My Blood (#44) [2 Weeks At #1]

44. Zedd/Maren Morris/Grey – The Middle (#43) [9 Weeks At #1]

43. George Ezra – Shotgun (#40)

42. Steve Aoki/BTS – Waste It On Me (#37)

41. Charlie Puth – The Way I Am (#38)

40. Silk City/Dua Lipa – Electricity (#32)

39. Olly Murs/Snoop Dogg – Moves (#21)

38. The Chainsmokers/Emily Warren – Side Effects (#39)

37. Panic! At The Disco – Say Amen (Saturday Night) (#35) [4 Weeks At #1]

36. Bebe Rexha – I'm a Mess (#36)

35. Backstreet Boys – Don't Go Breaking My Heart (#33)

34. Little Mix/Nicki Minaj – Woman Like Me (#26)

33. Dan + Shay – Speechless (DEBUT)

32. Selena Gomez – Back To You (#30)

31. Lauv/Julia Michaels – There's No Way (#27)

30. Zara Larsson – Ruin My Life (DEBUT)

29. Maroon 5/Cardi B – Girls Like You (#29)

28. Khalid – Better (DEBUT)

27. Imagine Dragons – Machine (DEBUT)

26. Camila Cabello – Consequences (#16)

25. Mark Ronson/Miley Cyrus – Nothing Breaks Like A Heart (#34)

24. lovelytheband – Broken (#19)

23. Lauren Jauregui – Expectations (#22)

22. James Arthur – Empty Space (#25)

21. Ellie Goulding/Diplo – Close To Me (#20)

20. Twenty One Pilots – Chlorine (#23)

19. Ariana Grande – Breathin (#14)

18. Dan + Shay – Tequila (#13)

17. Benny Blanco/Halsey/Khalid – Eastside (#18)

16. Imagine Dragons – Natural (#15) [1 Week At #1]

15. David Guetta/Anne-Marie – Don't Leave Me Alone (#24)

14. Alec Benjamin – Let Me Down Slowly (#17)

13. Ava Max – Sweet But Psycho (#28)

12. Panic! At The Disco – Hey Look Ma, I Made It (#11)

11. Post Malone/Swae Lee – Sunflower (#12)

10. The Struts/Kesha – Body Talks (#9)

  9. Ariana Grande – Thank U, Next (#6)

  8. Fall Out Boy – The Last Of The Real Ones (#7) [2 Weeks At #1]

  7. Anne-Marie – 2002 (#8)

  6. Khalid/Normani – Love Lies (#10)

  5. 5 Seconds Of Summer – Youngblood (#5) [5 Weeks At #1]

  4. Marshmello/Bastille – Happier (#4) [2 Weeks At #1]

  3. Panic! At The Disco – High Hopes (#2) [8 Weeks At #1]

  2. The Chainsmokers/Kelsea Ballerini – This Feeling (#1) [4 Weeks At #1]

  1. Halsey – Without Me (#3) [1^st Week At #1]

#1 Song This Week One Year Ago: Ed Sheeran – Perfect (2)

Biggest DROP!!!... Of The Week: Olly Murs – Moves (–18)

Biggest Jump Of The Week: Ava Max – Sweet But Psycho (+15)

New Entrants
~ First up, we have Dan + Shay bringing another song to the countdown, which is something that makes me happy since they're arguably the best country act in music along with Carrie Underwood. I don't think Speechless is as good as Tequila, but to be fair Tequila is a hard song to top. That one is still really great and earned a pretty high spot in my Top 45 Songs of 2018. But these guys always make nice songs and Speechless is exactly that. It's a nice tune with good lyrics. I really like their voices and I think the chorus is really good. I enjoy the song a lot and I would love to see it be a hit like its predecessor. Dan + Shay deserve the success.

~ Next is Ruin My Life by Zara Larsson. I'm not exactly familiar with a lot of her music. Obviously there was Never Forget You, which was a pretty big hit. I still really like that song. I know she was also featured in the Tinie Tempah song Girls Like, which I enjoyed quite a bit. I really liked Larsson's chorus in that song. Now we have Ruin My Life and I feel like this should've been a much better song than it is. I wasn't exactly impressed by what I heard. I don't find it all that interesting and I don't really like the chorus. She has a really great voice, but I don't think she takes full advantage of it here. I prefer Never Forget You over this song by quite a lot. I think Zara Larsson has potential, but this is not her best work. I'm happy to see her on this countdown again though, because I know she is incredibly talented.

~ Shortly after that, we have Better by Khalid. For some reason, I wasn't expecting much going into this song. I haven't exactly loved all of Khalid's work, but I know he's very talented. But I really like Better. I think this is one of the best songs out there currently. Khalid has such a great voice and it sounds so good on this song. He has a very unique sound and it just fits in really nicely with the vibe of the song. The chorus is really enjoyable and it's just a very chill song. I can probably do without the weird vocals at the end, but other than that, this song is excellent and I'm so glad it's here.

~ Oh boy....last (and definitely least) we have Imagine Dragons with the chaos that is Machine. I really like these guys even though the quality of their music has been on a decline over the years. I still think they're talented. But Machine is pure fucking garbage. The beat is very clunky and messy and I hate how it sounds. Dan Reynolds sounds okay in the first half of the first verse. But then he just starts yelling out of nowhere and then we get a chorus full of yells, which does not sound good at all. The chorus sounds like a terrible ripoff of I Love Rock 'n' Roll by Joan Jett. The guitar solo sounds VERY bad and out of place. The end of it leading into the last chorus where Dan shouts "I AM THE MACHINE!!!" is absolutely excruciating to my ears. It makes me want to think this song is some kind of joke. The guitar comes back in the last chorus, making it even worse than it already was. And it ends with another "I am the machine," which doesn't sound as bad as the other one, but it has weird as hell vocal effects. Honestly, this song is a fucking mess from start to end. It tries to be this anthemic political rock tune, but fails in every way possible because Imagine Dragons is the furthest thing from a rock band out of all the bands that are categorized as alternative or rock. I really hope this song doesn't stay because it's trash. This is the second worst song on the countdown right now and it's not very far behind the #1, which I'll get to eventually. Imagine Dragons, you guys need to up your game quite a lot because all this song does is give me a massive headache.


Best Debut of the Week: Khalid – Better


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

• Post Malone – Wow (DEBUT)
• Sabrina Carpenter – Sue Me (DEBUT)
• lovelytheband – Maybe, I'm Afraid
• 5 Seconds Of Summer – Killer Queen
• Charli XCX/Troye Sivan – 1999
• Seeb/Bastille – Grip
• Kelsea Ballerini – Miss Me More (DEBUT)
• Benny Blanco/Calvin Harris – I Found You
• Avril Lavigne – Tell Me It's Over
• Pitbull/Rhea – Ocean To Ocean
• Dean Lewis – Be Alright
• Stephen Puth – Sexual Vibe
• Alessia Cara – Trust My Lonely
• Lauren Daigle – You Say
• Travis Scott/Drake – Sicko Mode (DEBUT?)

~ First up is Post Malone with Wow. I think Post is talented and he has a good voice. I don't like this song because I think it's very generic and I don't like how he sounds here. It's not as bad as Psycho and I feel like this is something I can come around over time. But right now, it's not good. I don't recommend it.

~ Next is generic Sabrina Carpenter bringing another uninteresting song. I did like Almost Love and I included it as an honorable mention for my best list of 2018. Other than that, nothing she has done has been that good. Sue Me is another example of that. I don't like how she sounds in the verses. Apparently one of the producers of this song also produced Sorry Not Sorry by Demi Lovato, which I really hated. I can definitely hear the similarities with the bland as hell beat. This is not nearly as bad because Sabrina actually sounds okay in the chorus. But it's not a very interesting song at all.

~ Next we have a song that I am so glad is finally here! It's Miss Me More by Kelsea Ballerini. I love this song so much. I never cared too much for Kelsea Ballerini's music, but Miss Me More is a whole other story. The guitar sounds amazing. The beat is very solid. Kelsea sounds fantastic all throughout the song. I absolutely love that chorus. It is so catchy and easily gets stuck in my head. The background vocals sound great. The lyrics are good. There's nothing here for me to criticize. This is a top-notch track that is currently the best song on Hits 1. This should debut and I have a good feeling that it will. Hopefully it happens soon. I've been a fan of this song for a while and it deserves to be big even if it's a few months old. Also, just a heads up that I have a year-end post coming up where I talk about the Best Songs of 2018 that missed Hits 1 and Miss Me More was already set to appear. I don't feel like changing it so the song will still be included in that post since it is technically eligible for it.

~ From what I've heard, Sicko Mode by Travis Scott featuring Drake, Big Hawk, and Swae Lee apparently did not debut on Hit-Bound. It is on the voting poll though, so I'd like to think that it's supposed to on there. But I'm just going to talk about it anyway. I think this song is very solid and definitely one of the best rap songs of 2018. You guys know how I feel about rap music. I've made my thoughts on the genre pretty clear in the past. But I think Sicko Mode is a great song. Travis Scott sounds really good and I love Drake's contribution. The production is solid and I really like the beat. I think this is a win honestly. I really like this song and I hope it gets to debut on the countdown. It deserves its shot.

Top 5 Hit-Bound Picks

1. Kelsea Ballerini – Miss Me More

2. Travis Scott/Drake – Sicko Mode*

3. Lauren Daigle – You Say

4. Avril Lavigne – Tell Me It's Over

5. Stephen Puth – Sexual Vibe

*If Sicko Mode doesn't count, then everything after it moves up one and #5 would be Be Alright by Dean Lewis.

Blurbless

~ We have a new #1 song and of course it goes to Without Me by Halsey despite the song being absolute trash. I'm not going to drone on about this. But Without Me is terribly-written, produced, and sung. Apparently this was nominated for Best Lyrics for the iHeartRadio Music Awards despite being one of the worst written songs of the year. I hate this song with a burning passion. It does not deserve to be #1 and as of right now, it's set to appear in my Worst Songs of 2019, although that may or may not change. We'll see.

~ As much as I don't love This Feeling, I'd much rather see that song at #1. I'll certainly take Happier at #1 again. I'll even take High Hopes for a 9th week at the top as long as it's not Without Me.

~ David Guetta/Anne-Marie – Don't Leave Me Alone made a jump into the Top 15. I'm not sure who is voting for this song because of how irrelevant it is. But it's there and it's nothing interesting at all. I would prefer if this were not a hit because it's not really that good. But Hits 1 is weird, so who knows what'll happen to this song?

~ Twenty One Pilots – Chlorine is in the Top 20 even though it's one of the worst songs from Trench. What is good is that Mark Ronson/Miley Cyrus – Nothing Breaks Like A Heart jumped into the Top 25. I've made my thoughts on this song clear. It very much deserves to be a hit.

~ Olly Murs – Moves took a hard fall this week even though it's a great song. It's not a hit, so I'm not surprised. But it definitely deserved better because it is a quality song from an man underrated in the U.S. who makes some very catchy songs and is very talented.

~ I feel like the countdown run for Shawn Mendes – In My Blood is coming to an end soon and I've been really enjoying that song lately since I've been praising it in my year-end posts. I feel like for a song that landed at #2 in my Top 45 Songs of 2018, it kind of deserves a week in purple since it was never in my Top 5 Picks prior to this week. So it's the best song on the countdown in my opinion just because I've been listening to it and enjoying it a lot these past couple weeks. I hope the song sticks around longer, but I feel it's time is ending.

~ As far as the exits go, Nervous was not exactly going to last. My Blood was underrated and deserved better. Beautiful lasted much longer than I thought it would and I'm glad it stayed for a while because it is a great song. It will be missed. But good riddance to I Wanna Know, which lasted way too long for an irrelevant song. It should've left a while ago, but I'm glad it didn't stay any longer.

Top 20 Review

0 – Crap:

20. Halsey – Without Me
19. Alec Benjamin – Let Me Down Slowly

1 – Bad:
18. Twenty One Pilots – Chlorine
17. Anne-Marie – 2002

2 – Mediocre:
16. Ariana Grande – Thank U, Next

3 – Decent:
15. David Guetta/Anne-Marie – Don't Leave Me Alone
14. Post Malone/Swae Lee – Sunflower

4 – Good:
13. The Chainsmokers/Kelsea Ballerini – This Feeling
12. Ava Max – Sweet But Psycho

5 – Great:
11. Imagine Dragons – Natural
10. Khalid/Normani – Love Lies
9. Fall Out Boy – The Last Of The Real Ones
8. Panic! At The Disco – Hey Look Ma, I Made It
7. Benny Blanco/Halsey/Khalid – Eastside
6. 5 Seconds Of Summer – Youngblood
5. Panic! At The Disco – High Hopes
4. Ariana Grande – Breathin
3. Dan + Shay – Tequila
2. Marshmello/Bastille – Happier
1. The Struts/Kesha – Body Talks

Overall Score: 73/100 = 73% (B)


Throwback Pick Of The Week: Maroon 5 – She Will Be Loved

Most Missed Countdown Song: Imagine Dragons – Demons (back when they were actually a great band and not trashy like they are now)

#1 Recommendation For Hits 1: Tie Between Walk The Moon – Timebomb and Sam Smith/Normani – Dancing With A Stranger

Favorite Countdown Song This Week One Year Ago: Macklemore/Kesha – Good Old Days (#10)


My Top 5 Picks
1. Shawn Mendes – In My Blood
2. The Struts/Kesha – Body Talks
3. Mark Ronson/Miley Cyrus – Nothing Breaks Like A Heart
4. Khalid – Better
5. Backstreet Boys – Don't Go Breaking My Heart


My Bottom 5 Picks
1. Halsey – Without Me (should not be anywhere near #1)
2. Imagine Dragons – Machine (should not even exist)
3. Zedd/Maren Morris/Grey – The Middle (should not still be here)
4. Alec Benjamin – Let Me Down Slowly (he cannot sing)
5. Lauren Jauregui – Expectations (her voice is nails down a chalkboard)

Congrats to Lauv and Julia Michaels for somehow missing my Bottom 5 Picks.