The Chainsmokers (6) – Week Of February 23, 2019

Hey guys! I hope to have my review of the Grammy performances done by Monday. The Oscars will be on tomorrow night, which I won't be watching since I don't know or haven't seen most of the nominated films. I am interested in the performance from Queen and Adam Lambert though. That should be pretty cool. I'll also hopefully have one year-end post out before the end of the month, but it's very unlikely. So yeah. Before we get to this week's Fresh 45, here are the songs we're saying goodbye to this week.

• James Arthur – Empty Space (#26)
• Imagine Dragons – Machine (#38)
• Benny Blanco/Calvin Harris – I Found You (#42)

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

The Countdown

45. Bebe Rexha – I'm a Mess (#44)

44. Jennifer Lopez – Limitless (#40)

43. Charlie Puth – The Way I Am (#45)

42. Travis Scott/Drake – Sicko Mode (#37)

41. lovelytheband – Broken (#41)

40. Jake Miller – Wait For You (#30)

39. Mark Ronson/Miley Cyrus – Nothing Breaks Like A Heart (#36)

38. George Ezra – Shotgun (#43)

37. Zedd/Katy Perry – 365 (DEBUT)

36. Maroon 5/Cardi B – Girls Like You (#33)

35. Kelsea Ballerini – Miss Me More (DEBUT)

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

33. Zara Larsson – Ruin My Life (#29)

32. Sam Smith/Normani – Dancing With A Stranger (#32)

31. Cardi B/Bruno Mars – Please Me (DEBUT)

30. Fall Out Boy – The Last Of The Real Ones (#31) [2 Weeks At #1]

29. Charli XCX/Troye Sivan – 1999 (#25)

28. Lauren Daigle – You Say (#20)

27. David Guetta/Anne-Marie – Don't Leave Me Alone (#23)

26. Khalid/Normani – Love Lies (#19)

25. Imagine Dragons – Natural (#24) [1 Week At #1]

24. Stephen Puth – Sexual Vibe (#15)

23. Dan + Shay – Speechless (#16)

22. Sabrina Carpenter – Sue Me (#34)

21. Dean Lewis – Be Alright (#22)

20. Ariana Grande – Thank U, Next (#13)

19. The Chainsmokers/5 Seconds Of Summer – Who Do You Love (#39)

18. Khalid – Better (#28)

17. Avril Lavigne – Tell Me It's Over (#18)

16. Seeb/Bastille – Grip (#27)

15. Twenty One Pilots – Chlorine (#12)

14. Post Malone/Swae Lee – Sunflower (#17)

13. Ariana Grande – 7 Rings (#21)

12. 5 Seconds of Summer – Youngblood (#5) [5 Weeks At #1]

11. Benny Blanco/Halsey/Khalid – Eastside (#10)

10. Dan + Shay – Tequila (#8)

  9. Ellie Goulding/Diplo – Close To Me (#14)

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

  7. Anne-Marie – 2002 (#7)

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

  5. Ava Max – Sweet But Psycho (#9)

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

  3. Halsey – Without Me (#3) [5 Weeks At #1]

  2. Panic! At The Disco – Hey Look Ma, I Made It (#6)

  1. The Chainsmokers/Kelsea Ballerini – This Feeling (#1) [6^th Week At #1]

#1 Song This Week One Year Ago: Macklemore/Kesha – Good Old Days (1) (amazing song)

Biggest DROP!!!... Of The Week: Jake Miller – Wait For You (–10)

Biggest Jump Of The Week: The Chainsmokers/5 Seconds Of Summer – Who Do You Love (+20)

New Entrants
~ First up this week, we have Zedd and Katy Perry with 365. I didn't have high expectations for this after all the trash Zedd put out last year. When I listened to this for the first time, I was pleasantly surprised. I think it has a cool little opening and I like the production for the most part. It's more of a chill electronic tune than hardcore EDM. It's definitely not Zedd's best and I still prefer True Colors. But I consider it a big step in a right direction after The Middle and Happy Now, which were two of the worst songs of last year. Katy Perry sounds pretty good here overall and I quite like her vocals in the chorus and the "I think about you all the time" part. Her voice is not so blatantly auto tuned, so it's not unbearable to listen to like The Middle and Happy Now. But overall, I enjoy this song and I think it's the best thing he's done since True Colors with Kesha back in 2016 I believe. If the rest of his new album is anything like 365, maybe it won't be as bad as I thought.

~ Next we have a song that's been around for quite a while. It's Miss Me More by Kelsea Ballerini. The first time I ever heard this song was several months ago when she performed it at some country award show. I thought it was really good and it quickly became a favorite of mine. I did not think it would actually become a mainstream single, but I'm very happy that it did and that it managed to debut here. It's more of a pop song than a country song, but that's probably what drew me to it honestly. It's very catchy and has a great chorus. I like the opening with the guitar and I think she has a great voice that she uses very well. I like the lyrics and the song's theme of finding your independence and not trying to be someone else for a significant other. I think everything just worked out with this song and I'm so happy that it's here. I would love to see it become a hit.

~ Finally we have another collaboration between Cardi B and Bruno Mars. This time it is called Please Me. I had expectation for this and the song didn't meet those unfortunately. I don't know if it's because I kept telling myself it would be Finesse 2.0 and I was disappointed that it wasn't. Finesse was a jam last year and is miles better than this new song. With Please Me, I don't like how slow it is and the scattery beat and hi-hats are annoying. I don't understand Cardi B's appeal honestly because I think her voice is really annoying. She can be a good rapper at times, but usually for faster songs. With slower songs like this, it's not really rapping and there's more emphasis on how annoying her voice is. Her lyrics are also very questionable with constant references to her vagina, which is probably nothing new. But it's just weird because she's a married woman and a mother. That might just be me though. Then we have Bruno Mars, who is an objectively great singer. But I don't think his voice fits this kind of song. This is like a worse version of Versace On The Floor. I don't like when he shouts "please" in the chorus. Other than that, his vocals are okay, but they should be a lot better because he has a great voice. Overall, I think this is not very good and a big step down from Finesse. Please Me is not awful, but it's not something I can ever see myself coming back to.


Best Debut of the Week: Kelsea Ballerini – Miss Me More


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

• Kelsy Karter – Harry
• Lauv/Troye Sivan – I'm So Tired
• Grandson – Apologize
• Imagine Dragons – Bad Liar
• LSD/Lil Wayne – Genius
• Panic! At The Disco – Dancing's Not A Crime
• Maren Morris – GIRL
• Gesaffelstein/The Weeknd – Lost In The Fire
• Madison Beer/Offset – Hurts Like Hell
• Post Malone – Wow
• Yungblud/Halsey/Travis Barker – 11 Minutes (DEBUT)
• Meghan Trainor – All The Ways
• Lil Peep/iLoveMakonnen/Fall Out Boy – I've Been Waiting
• Rita Ora – Let You Love Me
• lovelytheband – Maybe I'm Afraid

~ Our one new entrant this week is from Yungblud, Halsey, Travis Barker from Blink-182. It's called 11 Minutes. I only know Yungblud because of the song he did for the 13 Reasons Why season 2 soundtrack. I expected to dislike this song more than I do. Yungblud sounds really bad and Halsey sounds okay in the chorus, but not very good anywhere else. I also don't like the super long outro. But the production is really good, so all credit for this being decent goes to Travis Barker because Yungblud and Halsey did nothing to help this song. It's okay for now, but it won't stick with me if it gets overplayed.

~ Gesaffelstein/The Weeknd – Lost In The Fire has been declining everywhere, so I doubt this will debut at this point. It is still a good song, but I've kinda stopped listening to it. It did deserve better though.

Top 5 Hit-Bound Picks

1. Panic! At The Disco – Dancing's Not A Crime

2. Imagine Dragons – Bad Liar

3. Rita Ora – Let You Love Me

4. Gesaffelstein/The Weeknd – Lost In The Fire

5. LSD/Lil Wayne – Genius

Blurb Me More

~ Panic! At The Disco – Hey Look Ma, I Made It rose to #2 this week swapping places with High Hopes. I'd be shocked if this didn't hit #1. It's official single release date is coming up and it's been getting some adds on pop radio. I also heard it on The Pulse earlier this week. So maybe this will end up becoming a hit. I'd be down for that.

~ Close To Me by Ellie Goulding rose into the Top 10 this week. I'd be much happier about it if it was a good song, but I'm happy to see Ellie Goulding still have success. She has another single coming out soon, which I really hope is better than this because I want to still love her music. But I'm glad the public is still interested in her and her music.

~ Despite being pure garbage, 7 Rings by Ariana Grande seems to be rising quickly. I really hope this doesn't become a huge hit here because no one wants to listen to Ariana bragging about her lifestyle and being rich over a shitty beat. I just don't get the appeal whatsoever because this is awful in every single way.

~ I don't know why Seeb/Bastille – Grip is in the Top 20. This is probably the most irrelevant song on the countdown right now and one of the most generic. Who the hell is voting for this? I am happy though to see Better by Khalid in the Top 20.

~ Generic Sabrina Carpenter made a big jump this week with Sue Me. I doubt this will last because none of her songs stick around. I don't expect this one to be any different. Hopefully that's the case as this is probably her worst song.

~ Zara Larsson – Ruin My Life is probably not going to stick around much longer, and I'm okay with that because the song should be much better than it is knowing what Zara Larsson is capable of.

~ Mark Ronson/Miley Cyrus – Nothing Breaks Like A Heart is also probably not going to stick around much longer, which is sad because this is actually a great song. I like Miley Cyrus on it and the guitar just does it for me. I think it sounds really good and it was a great fit. It's a shame this couldn't be a bigger hit.

~ Jake Miller – Wait For You is very irrelevant, so it's drop doesn't surprise me. I'm also not surprised by the drop into the Bottom 5 from Sicko Mode by Travis Scott. I knew right from the start that this would have a shitty countdown run and so far I was right. This will probably stick around for a couple more weeks and then leave like In My Feelings despite being a great song.

~ As far as the exits go, I Found You was beyond generic. I've felt that way since it was released and nothing has changed. I don't like the basic production and Calvin is not that good of a singer. The other two are very bad and I'm glad they left. I forgot Empty Space existed, but Say You Won't Let Go is a million times better. I don't like his voice here at all. Then we have Machine, which is straight up trash because of the clunky beat, grating guitar solo, and unnecessary yelling. This should've never debuted here and because it did, it'll probably end up appearing in my Worst of 2019 list.

Top 20 Review

0 – Crap:

20. TIE: Ariana Grande – 7 Rings

20. TIE: Halsey – Without Me

1 – Bad:

18. Anne-Marie – 2002

17. Alec Benjamin – Let Me Down Slowly

16. Ariana Grande – Thank U, Next

15. Twenty One Pilots – Chlorine

2 – Mediocre:

14. Seeb/Bastille – Grip

3 – Decent:

13. Ellie Goulding/Diplo – Close To Me

12. Post Malone/Swae Lee – Sunflower

4 – Good:

11. 5 Seconds Of Summer – Youngblood

10. Ava Max – Sweet But Psycho

5 – Great:

9. Panic! At The Disco – Hey Look Ma, I Made It

8. Khalid – Better

7. Benny Blanco/Halsey/Khalid – Eastside

6. The Chainsmokers/Kelsea Ballerini – This Feeling

5. The Chainsmokers/5 Seconds Of Summer – Who Do You Love

4. Marshmello/Bastille – Happier

3. Panic! At The Disco – High Hopes

2. Dan + Shay – Tequila

BONUS: 6 – Best Song On The Countdown:

1. Avril Lavigne – Tell Me It's Over

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

Throwback Pick Of The Week: No Doubt – Just A Girl

Most Missed Countdown Song: Betty Who – Somebody Loves You

Most Missed Hit-Bound Dropout: Julia Michaels/Trippie Redd – Jump

#1 Recommendation For Hits 1: Kacey Musgraves – Rainbow

Favorite Countdown Song This Week One Year Ago: Tie Between Macklemore/Kesha – Good Old Days (#1) and Walk The Moon – One Foot (#8)

My Top 5 Picks

1. Avril Lavigne – Tell Me It's Over

2. Kelsea Ballerini – Miss Me More

3. Mark Ronson/Miley Cyrus – Nothing Breaks Like A Heart

4. Dean Lewis – Be Alright

5. Dan + Shay – Tequila