Crash Adams (3) – Week of August 12, 2023

Wow, it's been almost four years now since I've even logged into Blogger. Crazy how time just flies by! This place brings back some great memories and out of nowhere this week, I thought to myself, "Let's do one Hits 1 countdown review for old times' sake!" I loved getting to share my opinions on music and it's been a really long time since I've done that, and my music taste has evolved quite a bit over the years. So just for funsies, I will review this week's countdown and give some thoughts! A lot of these songs will be first listens for me, but I do know a good chunk of them! To be clear, this is not my return or anything like that! But maybe it'll be a thing where I review a week at random. I don't really know, but let's just get to it! Before we get to this week's Fresh 30, here are the songs we're saying goodbye to this week.

• Post Malone – Mourning
• Morgan Wallen – Last Night
• Luke Combs – Fast Car
• David Kushner – Daylight

The Countdown

30. Doja Cat – Paint The Town Red (DEBUT)

29. New Jeans – Super Shy (DEBUT)

28. Post Malone – Enough Is Enough (DEBUT)

27. Kylie Minogue – Padam Padam (DEBUT)

26. Fall Out Boy – Hold Me Like A Grudge

25. Lil Durk/Morgan Wallen – Stand By Me

24. TXT/Jonas Brothers – Do It Like That

23. Benson Boone – In The Stars

22. Nicki Minaj/Ice Spice/Aqua – Barbie World

21. Billie Eilish – What Was I Made For

20. Noah Kahan/Post Malone – Dial Drunk

19. Jungkook/Latto – Seven

18. Miley Cyrus – Jaded

17. Lil Durk/J. Cole – All My Life

16. Ed Sheeran – Eyes Closed

15. SZA – Snooze

14. Jonas Brothers – Waffle House

13. Dominic Fike – Mona Lisa

12. Fall Out Boy – We Didn't Start The Fire

11. David Guetta/Anne-Marie/Coi Leray – Baby Don't Hurt Me

10. OneRepublic – Runaway

  9. The Weeknd/Playboi Carti/Madonna – Popular

  8. Jonas Brothers – Summer Baby

  7. Doechii – What It Is

  6. Olivia Rodrigo – Vampire

  5. FIFTY FIFTY – Cupid

  4. Harry Styles – Satellite

  3. Dua Lipa – Dance The Night

  2. Taylor Swift – Cruel Summer

  1. Crash Adams – Give Me A Kiss [3rd Week at #1]

~ I see Hits 1 is still doing their thing of having unknown songs hit #1. Now I don't know a lot of what's popular right now in general, but given that this artist doesn't have a Wikipedia page says enough about the song's status as a "hit". It's a fine song overall, but not something I picture as a #1 hit.

~ Taylor Swift has been having quite the year with Midnights, the release of her version of Speak Now, her version of 1989 coming in October, and of course Cruel Summer being released as a single. It always sounded like single material. I'm just surprised it happened years later. I was also fortunate enough to see her on the Eras Tour back in June, which was an amazing experience! I'm so happy I got to be there because she really puts on an awesome show. And I'm just thrilled that her versions of Speak Now and 1989 (aka her best albums) are being released just months apart!

~ We love to see the Barbie movie being represented here in a few ways! Dance The Night by Dua Lipa is really cute and fun. It's catchy and it has that disco feel of Future Nostalgia, which I admittedly did not love as much as everyone else, but had some really good songs like Hallucinate, Levitating, and Physical. I did see the Barbie movie and I absolutely loved it, and the dance scene with this song is a ton of fun! This is probably my pick for what the next #1 song should be.

~ I don't really have much to say about the next few songs. Both Harry Styles and Olivia Rodrigo have done better. Satellite is really not all that interesting. This album in general was a step down from Fine Line. I like the way Vampire picks up throughout the song, but it doesn't do a ton for me outside of that. She's not someone I listen to a lot, but Good 4 U and Brutal are my personal favorites from Olivia. And then Cupid and What It Is were pretty enjoyable first listens.

~ The Jonas Brothers are still as big as they were four years ago! I feel like over time, I realized that I don't like Nick Jonas' voice, particularly when he sings in falsetto. I just don't think he sounds good. Joe is the real talent of the group, but even then, these are very cheap sounding songs. Waffle House is probably my favorite, but it's cute at best. Really not memorable.

~ The Weeknd's song is okay. It's kind of boring for the most part and Playboi Carti brings it down a lot. OneRepublic have not had a good song in at least 5 years and I used to be a big fan of them. Oh My My was their last album that actually had some enjoyable tunes. Runaway sounds very cheap like the Jonas Brothers' songs. They've lost what made them stand out with their first three albums and now this just sounds like annoying radio filler. Having said that though, it is far from the worst song here.

~ The real offense comes next with David Guetta sampling more old and iconic songs. Last year he sampled Eiffel 65's Blue to give us I'm Good with Bebe Rexha, which I did enjoy as a guilty pleasure. But now he has sampled Haddaway's What Is Love with Anne-Marie of all people. I remember the first time I heard this on the radio and I was just cringing so hard. Why take such a great, iconic song and butcher it so much? Anne-Marie's voice is still as bad as I remembered and the production is so bland! David Guetta also used to be quite good once upon a time and I love that I still hear songs like When Love Takes Over at a club. This is downright awful though. I swear to god if he samples La Bouche next, I will lose my mind.

~ Fall Out Boy unsurprisingly have a couple of appearances. What is surprising is that the critically panned Billy Joel cover is here. Obviously the lyrics were changed a lot to make the song relevant to modern day. I enjoy it for what it is, but it's not something I seek out. That aside, they put out an excellent album earlier this year, which was amazing to see after the mess that was their previous album. I know Love From The Other Side hit #1 here, which is great because that was a killer lead single! Hold Me Like a Grudge is another stand out, and man is that guitar riff in the chorus catchy as hell. I also saw them live this year, which was another awesome experience!

~ Ed Sheeran is someone whose music I don't really like anymore. The only songs of his that I still listen to are off his debut album. I just like that he's still keeping up with the math-related album titles. Lil Durk has a couple songs here, which I find odd. Neither of them are good, with the Morgan Wallen one being especially awful because, as I will mention again later, I strongly dislike Morgan Wallen.

~ Miley Cyrus is an artist who's been consistently good over the years. That said, to this day I find Flowers to be extremely underwhelming, especially compared to the badass Midnight Sky, which is up there as one of her best songs. I don't really understand why Flowers was so popular other than maybe the message of the song. Jaded is good though and I really like how she sounds here. But still not as interesting as some of the songs on Plastic Hearts.

~ Dial Drunk is an okay tune, but I find it weird that it has a Post Malone feature. He sounds fine on here. Not all that interesting overall. His other song, Enough Is Enough, is surprisingly enjoyable and way better than that other song he had on here before. It has a nice instrumental and he sounds pretty decent, coming from someone who doesn't really like his voice for the most part.

~ What Was I Made For being here is VERY surprising to me. It just doesn't feel like a song that's meant for radio. It is a gut wrencher, especially in the context of the movie. If you've seen the movie, then you know where this song comes up. It had me crying both times I saw it (yes I saw the movie twice, don't judge me). I don't know if it really conveys the same amount of emotion as a standalone song. The movie really helps give it context. But she sounds beautiful on here. I'm just really surprised that it's a radio song.

~ Now I'm not surprised to see Barbie World on here. Obviously, it's a remake of Barbie Girl by Aqua, which I used to not like, but now it's really catchy to me. This version of it is okay I guess. A couple of my friends were disappointed that it only got played in the credits, but it's one of the weaker songs on the soundtrack in my opinion. It's also less than two minutes long, and it's a pet peeve of mine when songs are under three minutes, but that's a whole other discussion.

~ I remember hearing In The Stars by Benson Boone a long time ago, so I'm a little surprised to see it on the countdown now. The song doesn't do a lot for me, but it's not bad by any means. Same thing with the New Jeans and Doja Cat songs.

~ I did not realize the Luke Combs cover of Tracy Chapman's Fast Car was here. I love the original song and I really like Luke Combs' take on it. I've seen a lot of flat out hate for it but I think it's a nice rendition. I don't even like a lot of modern country music, but I think Luke Combs sounds really good on it. And then we have Last Night by Morgan Wallen, which is a terrible song and it baffles me that it's one of the biggest songs of the year. I do not like Morgan Wallen and I think he comes off as a pretty shitty person. There was the controversy with him using the n word. I also remember when we were at the peak of the coronavirus pandemic, he was supposed to perform on SNL, but got dropped because he was out partying without a mask and breaking COVID protocols. It's crazy to me how he's still so popular when he (along with Jason Aldean) is like the bottom of the barrel for country music. It's embarrassing that this is one of the biggest songs of the year.

~ All that negativity aside, I just had to save the best for last! Padam Padam by Kylie Minogue is here and I am thrilled! I've been a fan of Kylie for years now and she's honestly the main artist who got me into disco within the last few years along with Jessie Ware. Padam Padam is insanely catchy and won the hearts of so many in the LGBTQ community, and while it's not her best work, I'm thrilled to see Kylie being recognized again, because she has been so underrated for so many years. Her last few albums had so many good songs that just did not get acknowledged. But now, the clubs that I go to are in love with this song. All of my gay friends know and love it, and it's just awesome to see. She's genuinely one of my favorite pop singers of all time. I'm so happy for her and I'm glad that Hits 1 is giving it some spins.

~ And that's all that I have to talk about today! I won't talk about Hit-Bound because I just don't know any of those songs other than Speed Drive, which goes really hard, and Mind Your Business, which is pretty terrible. But yeah, I hope you enjoyed reading! I certainly enjoyed catching up a little bit! Like I mentioned, this is not an official return, but just a fun little check-in. If there are any songs that you want to know what I think of for whatever reason, feel free to drop them in the comments and I'll check every once in a while! So yeah, thanks for reading and take care! :)

My Top 5 Picks

1. Kylie Minogue – Padam Padam

2. Dua Lipa – Dance The Night

3. Fall Out Boy – Hold Me Like a Grudge

4. Taylor Swift – Cruel Summer

5. Billie Eilish – What Was I Made For

Well This Is Awkward

Hello? Is this thing still working? It can't be because it's been deserted for the past three months. But wait! The most recent post has over 800 comments and almost 10,000 pageviews! A shit ton of people are still looking at this site even though I've silently abandoned it. I know I owe an explanation.


It's plain and simple: school has been bombarding me. For those who don't know, I've transferred to a four-year university this year and I definitely don't have as much free time now. I don't have a car, so every day I commute to and from school by train and bus, which is a few hours out of my day. I obviously have classes that take up my time and any time I'm at school and not in class, I'm either working on something school-related or I'm working out at the fitness center because my physical health matters. By the time I get home, I'm tired, so it's hard to find time to post here.


But I've also just been really unmotivated and I think that has to do with my decreased interest in Hits 1 and mainstream music in general. That's not to say that I don't like mainstream music or anything that Hits 1 plays. There are obviously some great hits right now, but I just feel like what's big in the charts right now doesn't align with what I enjoy listening to at the moment. That applies for the Hot 100, but mostly for Hits 1. I hear Hits 1 every now and then because my fitness center likes to have that playing in the background and I'm just not a fan of a lot of what they play. A lot of it is either very basic, generic, overplayed, or just straight up bad. So it's hard for me to find the motivation to blog because my posts will just be full of criticism and although it is fun to tear songs apart at times, it's not something I want to do multiple times every week.


I came to this realization a few months ago, not long before my hiatus began. I came to the decision that I would push through for the remainder of 2019 and call it quits at the beginning of 2020. That clearly did not work out very well and it's hard for me to just stop doing this in the middle of the year, but I just don't have the time, energy, or motivation for this. Do I regret starting this blog? Absolutely not. It's been an amazing six years here just giving my opinions. I've had a lot of fun, I've met some cool people, and I've made some great friendships. I'm currently the owner of the Hits 1 Discord server, which I am still active on despite not being active here. It's full of people who read and comment and some of which who blog on their own. And every now and then, I think about the fact that I've brought these people together because they decided to check out my silly little blog. So even though it's become too much for me, I recognize the impact it's had and I wouldn't change any of it.


So, what's the plan moving forward? Unfortunately, I've decided I will no longer be reviewing the Weekend Countdown. Maybe I will do one more with the most recent countdown just to give thoughts on songs I haven't had the chance to talk about. And who knows? Maybe a while from now, I'll feel motivated to blog some random countdown next year. It's unlikely but you never know. As of right now though, I've been doing this for a long time and all good things must come to an end eventually. I will obviously keep this blog and all of its posts up in case for some reason, someone finds use for this nonsense.


Is this the last you'll see of me? Not quite because I do want to make at least a few year-end posts before my official sign-off. I still have a couple weeks left of school this semester, then I will use my winter break to do everything I can here. So year-end posts will still be happening. Also, the 2010s rankdown is still up and I'm hoping to finish that before 2019 ends as well. We're at the Top 20, so it shouldn't take long to finish that. So stay tuned. I think that's all I have right now. I'm sorry that I just went away without really saying anything and I hope you guys understand. Hopefully I'll be back with another post relatively soon.


TL,DR: I'm really busy and unmotivated due to my decreased interest in Hits 1, so I will be discontinuing this blog. However, year-end posts for 2019 will still happen.

Shawn Mendes (7) – Week Of August 24, 2019

Hey guys! This isn't as on time as I was hoping it would be. But I actually went in depth on my reviews this week, which I'm pleased with. It did take longer because of that, which I'm okay with. Since I started school this week, I don't know how my blogging schedule is going to look. We'll see how things go. Before we get to this week's Fresh 45, here are the songs we're saying goodbye to this week.

• P!nk – Hustle (#37)
• Andy Grammer – Don't Give Up On Me (#40)

Last Week's #1 Song: Shawn Mendes – If I Can't Have You

The Countdown

45. Ava Max – Sweet But Psycho (#45)

44. Marshmello/Bastille – Happier (#44) [2 Weeks At #1]

43. Halsey – Without Me (#41) [5 Weeks At #1]

42. Imagine Dragons – Bad Liar (#42)

41. The Chainsmokers/Kelsea Ballerini – This Feeling (#38) [7 Weeks At #1]

40. Thomas Rhett – Look What God Gave Her (DEBUT)

39. Panic! At The Disco – High Hopes (#39) [8 Weeks At #1]

38. Asher Angel – One Thought Away (#36)

37. Marshmello/CHVRCHES – Here With Me (#26)

36. Alec Benjamin – Let Me Down Slowly (#30)

35. Ava Max – So Am I (#33)

34. Taylor Swift/Brendon Urie – ME! (#31)

33. Dan + Shay – Speechless (#34)

32. Zara Larsson – All The Time (DEBUT)

31. Lil Nas X/Billy Ray Cyrus – Old Town Road (#29)

30. Public – Make You Mine (#19)

29. Mark Ronson/Camila Cabello – Find U Again (#23)

28. SHAED – Trampoline (#35)

27. Lizzo – Truth Hurts (#27)

26. Kaskade/Meghan Trainor – With You (#43)

25. Stephen Puth – Look Away (#32)

24. Miley Cyrus – Mother's Daughter (#20)

23. OneRepublic – Rescue Me (#24)

22. Blanco Brown – The Git Up (#22)

21. Katy Perry – Small Talk (#28)

20. Post Malone/Young Thug – Goodbyes (#25)

19. AJR – 100 Bad Days (#21)

18. The Chainsmokers/Bebe Rexha – Call You Mine (#18)

17. MAX/Quinn XCII – Love Me Less (#10)

16. Alec Benjamin – If We Have Each Other (#17)
15. Halsey – Nightmare (#13)
14. Khalid – Talk (#16)
13. Panic! At The Disco – Dancing's Not A Crime (#15)
12. Katy Perry – Never Really Over (#14)
11. Billie Eilish – Bad Guy (#11)
10. Lewis Capaldi – Someone You Loved (#9)
  9. 5 Seconds Of Summer – Easier (#6)
  8. Ed Sheeran/Justin Bieber – I Don't Care (#12)
  7. Jonas Brothers – Cool (#5)
  6. Panic! At The Disco – Hey Look Ma, I Made It (#3) [3 Weeks At #1]
  5. Shawn Mendes/Camila Cabello – Señorita (#7)
  4. Taylor Swift – You Need To Calm Down (#8)
  3. The Chainsmokers/5 Seconds Of Summer – Who Do You Love (#4) [2 Weeks At #1]
  2. Jonas Brothers – Sucker (#2) [13 Weeks At #1]
  1. Shawn Mendes – If I Can't Have You (#1) [7^th Week At #1]


#1 Song This Week One Year Ago: Fall Out Boy – The Last Of The Real Ones (1)

Biggest DROP!!!... Of The Week: Tie Between Marshmello/CHVRCHES – Here With Me and Public – Make You Mine (–11)

Biggest Jump Of The Week: ....Kaskade/Meghan Trainor – With You (+17) (???)


New Entrants
~ First up we have last week's debut that I didn't talk about. Although my thoughts are still the same as when I discussed it while it was on Hit-Bound. It's Small Talk by Katy Perry. The Charlie Puth-produced track is very different from the Zedd-produced Never Really Over. That one was overproduced, messy, and just felt very cluttered, while this one just feels empty and boring. There's really not much to the song at all and Katy Perry does not have a great voice, which is a problem since in a song like this, her voice is kind of the center of attention. The production is just too minimalistic and it's not meant for her in my opinion. I believe she was at her peak when she made songs people could actually jam to like most of the singles from One Of The Boys and Teenage Dream. That's what made her unique to begin with and it is lost here. So yeah I'm not feeling this.

~ Next is Look What God Gave Her by Thomas Rhett. Although I like the song, it's kind of unfortunate that this is what I believe his first song on Hits 1. The man has done a lot better. I prefer when he makes country songs with the exception of Marry Me because that doesn't exactly sound like a country song. But this is straight up pop, which is not a bad thing by any means, but it doesn't make him or the song stand out. It sounds like one of those pop songs that will come on the radio and ten minutes later I will completely forget about it. It's not memorable nor is that great. It's a cute song that's a perfectly pleasant listen when it comes on. But it's not something I will ever actively seek out. I have it green because, like I said, I do like the song. But there are many ways in which things here can be improved upon because this is not very unique.

~ Finally we have Zara Larsson with All The Time. Earlier this year she had Ruin My Life, which I was very mixed on. This is an improvement, but as with most new songs recently, there are criticisms for me to give. This suffers the same problem as Look What God Gave Her in the sense that this is not memorable at all. I listened to it once when it debuted on Hit-Bound and I had to listen to it again for this because I could not for the life of me remember what this sounded like. The memorability of this might have to do with the fact that it's not very unique, whereas her one big hit, Never Forget You, was pretty different from what other pop songs sounded like at the time. That one was memorable and very enjoyable. Also, I can hear the auto tune in her voice. She is insanely talented, but this does not come anywhere near as good as her vocal performances in her other songs. And those weird background robotic-sounding vocals in the chorus should not be there. They don't sound good and it brings the song down. Overall, this song gets a light "good" from me. It's catchy, but the vocal performance is not great and the song just lacks something to make it memorable and something to make it stand out.


Best Debut of the Week: Tough call... I guess Thomas Rhett – Look What God Gave Her


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

• Ellie Goulding/Juice WRLD – Hate Me
• Alec Benjamin – Jesus In LA
• Jax Jones/Bebe Rexha – Harder
• Lizzo – Good As Hell
• 5 Seconds Of Summer – Teeth (DEBUT)
• Ariana Grande/Social House – Boyfriend
• Sam Smith – How Do You Sleep
• Panic! At The Disco – Roaring 20s
• Charlie Puth – I Warned Myself (DEBUT)
• Ed Sheeran/Khalid – Beautiful People
• Twenty One Pilots – The Hype
• Taylor Swift – Lover
• Dominic Fike – 3 Nights
• Jonas Brothers – Only Human
• Waterparks – Dream Boy

~ Not a very good pair of debuts we have here. 5 Seconds Of Summer bring us Teeth from the third season of 13 Reasons Why. Before I talk about the song, I just wanna say that I find it interesting that they're actually making a third season of this show. I tried watching the first episode of the first season and I just could not get into it. It's also gotten a mixed response over the years from what I've heard. So I just thought that was interesting. As far as the song goes, it sucks. There are parts where musically, it's pretty decent. But for the most part, it's just annoying with terrible vocals. I love good rock music, but not failed attempts at making rock songs from pop groups.

~ Next is I Warned Myself from Charlie Puth. I was extremely underwhelmed by this song and I'm very disappointed because I was looking forward to what he would bring. As we saw in Small Talk and in this, Charlie's specialty seems to be producing minimalistic songs. It has worked in the past with the singles from Voicenotes. But those were still catchy. This is just very boring. I'm unimpressed by the vocals. The whole thing is just very lackluster and leaves a lot to be desired. We are supposed to be getting more new songs from him in the coming weeks, one of which I assume will be released following his appearance on the NBC show Songland. So I'm hoping those will be better.

Top 5 Hit-Bound Picks

1. Taylor Swift – Lover

2. Jonas Brothers – Only Human

3. Ed Sheeran/Khalid – Beautiful People

4. Lizzo – Good As Hell

5. Dominic Fike – 3 Nights

Look What Blurbs Gave Her

~ So If I Can't Have You is really still at #1. I feel like I should be more over it at this point, but there's not very much worthy competition. I can see Taylor Swift getting a #1 in the near future, which I'd be fine with.

~ A few songs have become more tolerable this past week. You Need To Calm Down is not as bad as I remembered. It's still far from a great song, but it's fine. Someone You Loved also isn't as bad just because I like a nice piano ballad. The vocals are not very good, but everything else is so there's no reason for me to really hate the song. And then Bad Guy has proven to be pretty catchy and not a bad listen.

~ For some reason, Hits 1 is determined to make Meghan Trainor relevant again. There's a reason why she hasn't had a hit since Me Too. People are OVER HER! I've been over her since the beginning but it's nice to see the general public finally understand that she's not a good artist. Hits 1 needs to understand that as well and let this irrelevant Kaskade song leave.

~ It looks like Trampoline could be a hit, which I'd be cool with. I'm also okay with the performance of Find U Again so far. I don't expect this to be a hit at all and I'm okay with that because it's not a very interesting song unlike some of Mark Ronson's other songs.

~ And songs like High Hopes are still here. Do people actually still want to hear this song???

~ As far as the exits go, both are very good songs but I'm not too surprised with their performances.


Top 20 Review
0 – Crap:
20. Halsey – Nightmare
19. Katy Perry – Never Really Over
18. AJR – 100 Bad Days

1 – Bad:
17. Shawn Mendes/Camila Cabello – Señorita
16. Alec Benjamin – If We Have Each Other
15. 5 Seconds Of Summer – Easier
14. Jonas Brothers – Cool
13. Khalid – Talk

2 – Mediocre:
12. The Chainsmokers/5 Seconds Of Summer – Who Do You Love
11. Panic! At The Disco – Hey Look Ma, I Made It
10. Jonas Brothers – Sucker
9. Shawn Mendes – If I Can't Have You

3 – Decent:
8. Post Malone/Young Thug – Goodbyes
7. MAX/Quinn XCII – Love Me Less
6. Panic! At The Disco – Dancing's Not A Crime
5. Lewis Capaldi – Someone You Loved
4. Billie Eilish – Bad Guy
3. Taylor Swift – You Need To Calm Down

4 – Good:
2. Ed Sheeran/Justin Bieber – I Don't Care
1. The Chainsmokers/Bebe Rexha – Call You Mine

5 – Great:
NONE

Overall Score: 39/100 = 39% (D)


Throwback Pick Of The Week: Leona Lewis – Better In Time

Most Missed Countdown Song: Audien/Lady Antebellum – Something Better

#1 Recommendation For Hits 1: Of Monsters and Men – Alligator

Favorite Countdown Song This Week One Year Ago: Tie Between Backstreet Boys – Don't Go Breaking My Heart (#7) and Dan + Shay – Tequila (#21)


My Top 5 Picks
1. Miley Cyrus – Mother's Daughter
2. The Chainsmokers/Kelsea Ballerini – This Feeling
3. Taylor Swift/Brendon Urie – ME!
4. Imagine Dragons – Bad Liar
5. Marshmello/CHVRCHES – Here With Me

Shawn Mendes (6) – Week Of August 17, 2019

Hey guys! Unlike last week, I was a little more unmotivated this week to get this post done. But now it's here and it's short. This week, it will just be the countdown. But hopefully next week will have blurbs again as usual. Before we get to this week's Fresh 45, here are the songs we're saying goodbye to this week.

• P!nk – Walk Me Home (#45)

Last Week's #1 Song: Shawn Mendes – If I Can't Have You

The Countdown

45. Ava Max – Sweet But Psycho (#44)

44. Marshmello/Bastille – Happier (#43) [2 Weeks At #1]

43. Kaskade/Meghan Trainor – With You (#41)

42. Imagine Dragons – Bad Liar (#40)

41. Halsey – Without Me (#33) [5 Weeks At #1]

40. Andy Grammer – Don't Give Up On Me (#22)

39. Panic! At The Disco – High Hopes (#37) [8 Weeks At #1]

38. The Chainsmokers/Kelsea Ballerini – This Feeling (#38) [7 Weeks At #1]

37. P!nk – Hustle (#26)

36. Asher Angel – One Thought Away (#42)

35. SHAED – Trampoline (#36)

34. Dan + Shay – Speechless (#28)

33. Ava Max – So Am I (#23)

32. Stephen Puth – Look Away (#34)

31. Taylor Swift/Brendon Urie – ME! (#31)

30. Alec Benjamin – Let Me Down Slowly (#30)

29. Lil Nas X/Billy Ray Cyrus – Old Town Road (#17)

28. Katy Perry – Small Talk (DEBUT)

27. Lizzo – Truth Hurts (#7)

26. Marshmello/CHVRCHES – Here With Me (#27)

25. Post Malone/Young Thug – Goodbyes (#29)

24. OneRepublic – Rescue Me (#32)

23. Mark Ronson/Camila Cabello – Find U Again (#35)

22. Blanco Brown – The Git Up (#25)

21. AJR – 100 Bad Days (#20)

20. Miley Cyrus – Mother's Daughter (#39)

19. Public – Make You Mine (#24)

18. The Chainsmokers/Bebe Rexha – Call You Mine (#19)

17. Alec Benjamin – If We Have Each Other (#3)

16. Khalid – Talk (#10)

15. Panic! At The Disco – Dancing's Not A Crime (#18)

14. Katy Perry – Never Really Over (#21)

13. Halsey – Nightmare (#4)

12. Ed Sheeran/Justin Bieber – I Don't Care (#13)

11. Billie Eilish – Bad Guy (#16)

10. MAX/Quinn XCII – Love Me Less (#12)

  9. Lewis Capaldi – Someone You Loved (#9)

  8. Taylor Swift – You Need To Calm Down (#15)

  7. Shawn Mendes/Camila Cabello – Señorita (#8)

  6. 5 Seconds Of Summer – Easier (#5)

  5. Jonas Brothers – Cool (#14)

  4. The Chainsmokers/5 Seconds Of Summer – Who Do You Love (#2) [2 Weeks At #1]

  3. Panic! At The Disco – Hey Look Ma, I Made It (#11) [3 Weeks At #1]

  2. Jonas Brothers – Sucker (#6) [13 Weeks At #1]

  1. Shawn Mendes – If I Can't Have You (#1) [6^th Week At #1]


#1 Song This Week One Year Ago: Panic! At The Disco – High Hopes (2)

Biggest DROP!!!... Of The Week: Lizzo – Truth Hurts (–20)

Biggest Jump Of The Week: Miley Cyrus – Mother's Daughter (+19)


Blurbs
~ So I've procrastinated on this as you can tell and I don't feel up to doing blurbs this week. I'm going to try to get my post out at a reasonable time next week but next week is my first week of school so we'll see how that goes. In the meantime, this is just the countdown.


Top 20 Review
0 – Crap:
20. Halsey – Nightmare
19. Katy Perry – Never Really Over

1 – Bad:
18. Alec Benjamin – If We Have Each Other
17. Lewis Capaldi – Someone You Loved
16. 5 Seconds Of Summer – Easier
15. Shawn Mendes/Camila Cabello – Señorita
14. Jonas Brothers – Cool
13. Khalid – Talk
12. Billie Eilish – Bad Guy
11. Taylor Swift – You Need To Calm Down

2 – Mediocre:
10. The Chainsmokers/5 Seconds Of Summer – Who Do You Love
9. Jonas Brothers – Sucker
8. Panic! At The Disco – Hey Look Ma, I Made It
7. Shawn Mendes – If I Can't Have You

3 – Decent:
6. MAX/Quinn XCII – Love Me Less
5. Panic! At The Disco – Dancing's Not A Crime
4. Public – Make You Mine

4 – Good:
3. The Chainsmokers/Bebe Rexha – Call You Mine
2. Ed Sheeran/Justin Bieber – I Don't Care

5 – Great:
NONE

BONUS: 6 – Best Song On The Countdown:
1. Miley Cyrus – Mother's Daughter

Overall Score: 39/100 = 39% (D)


Throwback Pick Of The Week: Kylie Minogue – Can't Get You Out Of My Head

#1 Recommendation For Hits 1: Of Monsters and Men – Alligator

Favorite Countdown Song This Week One Year Ago: Tie Between Backstreet Boys – Don't Go Breaking My Heart (#13) and Dan + Shay – Tequila (#31)


My Top 5 Picks
1. Miley Cyrus – Mother's Daughter
2. Andy Grammer – Don't Give Up On Me
3. The Chainsmokers/Kelsea Ballerini – This Feeling
4. Imagine Dragons – Bad Liar
5. Marshmello/CHVRCHES – Here With Me

Shawn Mendes (5) – Week Of August 10, 2019

Hey guys! For once I actually have a post out on time! I doubt this will become a regular thing, but it's a nice thing on occasion and it feels good for me to get it done during the weekend. Also, hopefully you've been keeping up with the 2010s rankdown. We have reached the Top 30 so if you haven't been paying attention, go catch yourself up. Before we get to this week's Fresh 45, here are the songs we're saying goodbye to this week.

• Martin Garrix/Macklemore/Patrick Stump – Summer Days (#37)
• Bazzi – Paradise (#39)
• Push Baby – Mama's House (#41)
• Ellie Goulding/Diplo – Close To Me (#42)
• Sam Smith/Normani – Dancing With A Stranger (#44)
• Twenty One Pilots – Chlorine (#45)

Last Week's #1 Song: Shawn Mendes – If I Can't Have You

The Countdown

45. P!nk – Walk Me Home (#40)

44. Ava Max – Sweet But Psycho (#32)

43. Marshmello/Bastille – Happier (#43) [2 Weeks At #1]

42. Asher Angel – One Thought Away (DEBUT)

41. Kaskade/Meghan Trainor – With You (#25)

40. Imagine Dragons – Bad Liar (#38)

39. Miley Cyrus – Mother's Daughter (DEBUT)

38. The Chainsmokers/Kelsea Ballerini – This Feeling (#35) [7 Weeks At #1]

37. Panic! At The Disco – High Hopes (#36) [8 Weeks At #1]

36. SHAED – Trampoline (DEBUT)

35. Mark Ronson/Camila Cabello – Find U Again (DEBUT)

34. Stephen Puth – Look Away (DEBUT)

33. Halsey – Without Me (#29) [5 Weeks At #1]

32. OneRepublic – Rescue Me (DEBUT)

31. Taylor Swift/Brendon Urie – ME! (#30)

30. Alec Benjamin – Let Me Down Slowly (#28)

29. Post Malone/Young Thug – Goodbyes (#24)

28. Dan + Shay – Speechless (#26)

27. Marshmello/CHVRCHES – Here With Me (#17)

26. P!nk – Hustle (#33)

25. Blanco Brown – The Git Up (#27)

24. Public – Make You Mine (#31)

23. Ava Max – So Am I (#7)

22. Andy Grammer – Don't Give Up On Me (#23)

21. Katy Perry – Never Really Over (#20)

20. AJR – 100 Bad Days (#34)

19. The Chainsmokers/Bebe Rexha – Call You Mine (#15)

18. Panic! At The Disco – Dancing's Not A Crime (#16)

17. Lil Nas X/Billy Ray Cyrus – Old Town Road (#8)

16. Billie Eilish – Bad Guy (#10)

15. Taylor Swift – You Need To Calm Down (#4)

14. Jonas Brothers – Cool (#9)

13. Ed Sheeran/Justin Bieber – I Don't Care (#12)

12. MAX/Quinn XCII – Love Me Less (#14)

11. Panic! At The Disco – Hey Look Ma, I Made It (#6) [3 Weeks At #1]

10. Khalid – Talk (#18)

  9. Lewis Capaldi – Someone You Loved (#19)

  8. Shawn Mendes/Camila Cabello – Señorita (#13)

  7. Lizzo – Truth Hurts (#22)

  6. Jonas Brothers – Sucker (#3) [13 Weeks At #1]

  5. 5 Seconds Of Summer – Easier (#11)

  4. Halsey – Nightmare (#2)

  3. Alec Benjamin – If We Have Each Other (#21)

  2. The Chainsmokers/5 Seconds Of Summer – Who Do You Love (#5) [2 Weeks At #1]

  1. Shawn Mendes – If I Can't Have You (#1) [5^th Week At #1]


#1 Song This Week One Year Ago: Panic! At The Disco – High Hopes (1)

Biggest DROP!!!... Of The Week: Tie Between Kaskade/Meghan Trainor – With You and Ava Max – So Am I (–16)

Biggest Jump Of The Week: Alec Benjamin – If We Have Each Other (+18)


New Entrants
~ We have six debuts this week as well as three from the past two weeks that I haven't talked about yet. Starting with the ones from two weeks ago, we have Goodbyes by Post Malone and Young Thug. This song is okay. I think it is quite a bit better than some of Post Malone's other songs like Psycho. I just don't really like his vocals. There's too much forced vibrato and I don't like how it sounds. Young Thug kinda sucks but it seems like Hits 1 is playing a version without him, which I guess improves the song. It's still an okay song at best and I don't see it growing on me.

~ Next is Call You Mine by The Chainsmokers and Bebe Rexha. This is far from The Chainsmokers' best work, which is very easily Something Just Like This. It's not the best song they have on the countdown, but I find it a hell lot more interesting than Who Do You Love. Getting the song's worst qualities out of the way first, the drop sounds like a recreation of Closer, which was already generic. So I'm not a fan of that. But other than that, I think this is a really good song and I love Bebe Rexha's vocals here. Sure, it's a bit generic. But I personally enjoy it.

~ Last week, we had the debut of 100 Bad Days by AJR. I will say right off the bat that it's not the worst thing AJR have brought to Hits 1. Songs like I'm Ready, Weak, and Burn The House Down are far worse. My main issues with AJR are their lyrics/songwriting skills and the fact that a lot of what they release is very loud and overproduced. The three songs I just mentioned are perfect examples. 100 Bad Days has some pretty cringe-inducing lyrics. The chorus is very annoying and, like I mentioned, overproduced. The weird speak vocals right before the chorus do not fit in at all and it just sounds bad. I don't know why someone thought that was a good idea. And I just think their voices are not very interesting. I don't think they're very good singers, they suck at songwriting, and they need actual producers. They like to say that they produce their own music, but it sounds like shit. So I'd prefer if this was not a hit but of course it's already in the Top 20.

~ Moving on to this week's debuts, we have One Thought Away by Asher Angel, who happens to be from the movie Shazam. This kid is essentially Austin Brown with a slightly better voice. I don't think he's a great singer by any means, but the song is okay I guess. It's kinda catchy and I don't think anything about it is necessarily bad. I just don't really know why it's here and I doubt it'll stick around long.

~ Next is Miley Cyrus with Mother's Daughter. Even though I wasn't exactly a fan of hers in 2013 when she released Bangerz, I do like Miley Cyrus for the most part. I think she has a very good voice and it's unique to herself. I can always tell when it's her. Mother's Daughter is not her best work, but it's solid. She kind of took a risk here and I think it paid off. It's an interesting song and I like what she was going for. So I enjoy it and I hope it can stick around for a little while at least.

~ Up next is alternative crossover Trampoline by SHAED. This is not something that I ever pictured would be a mainstream hit, but I'm kinda glad it's here since it's one of the better songs on the countdown. There's not a whole lot to it, but that's kind of the appeal of it. It's simplistic and it's catchy. Her voice is really good and I like the song overall. I hope it can stick around.

~ Immediately following that, we have Mark Ronson and Camila Cabello with Find U Again. I like Mark Ronson and I think he's a good producer. But I'm pretty indifferent on this song. It just has nothing interesting to it. Uptown Funk had that cool funk vibe and Nothing Breaks Like A Heart had that amazing guitar. Find U Again has nothing going for it. I'm not a fan of the bass-heavy production and I don't like Camila Cabello with auto tune. It's not exactly a bad song, but it's just underwhelming for someone like Mark Ronson. I expected this to be better.

~ Next is Look Away by Stephen Puth. I simply do not care about this song. It's fine but it's just not memorable at all. I kind of like his baritone voice, but I think it sounded better in Sexual Vibe. That song also had much better production. This is kind of just there and I doubt it will have any longevity. It is just here to fill space.

~ Finally we have OneRepublic with Rescue Me. I've been a big fan of these guys since Dreaming Out Loud and their Waking Up singles like Secrets, All The Right Moves, and Good Life are ones that I revisit plenty of times. I was even a fan through the Oh My My era and I enjoyed the three singles from that album despite them having next to no mainstream success. Now we have Rescue Me and this is pretty bland if I'm being totally honest. It's weirdly catchy, but it's underwhelming at the same time. These guys can do so much better and I just find this disappointing as someone who's been a consistent fan of them. Hopefully their future releases will be more interesting.


Best Debut of the Week: Miley Cyrus – Mother's Daughter


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

• Jax Jones/Bebe Rexha – Harder
• Panic! At The Disco – Roaring 20s (DEBUT)
• Zara Larsson – All The Time
• Ellie Goulding/Juice WRLD – Hate Me
• Twenty One Pilots – The Hype (DEBUT)
• Taylor Swift – The Archer
• Alec Benjamin – Jesus In LA (DEBUT)
• Sam Smith – How Do You Sleep?
• Katy Perry – Small Talk (DEBUT)
• Ariana Grande/Social House – Boyfriend (DEBUT)
• Thomas Rhett – Look What God Gave Her
• Ed Sheeran/Khalid – Beautiful People
• Dominic Fike – 3 Nights
• Jonas Brothers – Only Human
• Lizzo – Good As Hell (DEBUT)

~ Harder has good vocals but it's pretty underwhelming for the most part. Roaring 20s is another one of the less interesting songs from Pray For The Wicked. The chorus is catchy, but the beginning is annoying and the last chorus is a little too noisy for me.

~ The Hype was one of the few songs I enjoyed when I listened to Trench last year. At the time it was my favorite song on the album, but it kinda faded on me a little bit over time. I still like the song, but I don't think it's as good as songs like Levitate, which has been my favorite on the album for a while now. Still, it's definitely more interesting than Chlorine.

~ I like The Archer a reasonable amount. I think it sounds nice and I always enjoy a nice quieter song like this. It's peaceful and interesting at the same time. Jesus In LA is pretty nice instrumentally. But I just don't like his voice. Like I genuinely do not think he is a good singer. He's too high-pitched to the point where he sounds like a child and he's 25 years old. I don't know if there's anything that can be done to help the problem, but it's the main thing that's keeping his music from being good.

~ I like Sam Smith but How Do You Sleep is not very good. I just don't think his voice fits this kind of production. I think he's much better off making songs similar to those from In The Lonely Hour. Whatever he was going for here did not work out very well and that drop sounds really bad. I don't usually dislike Sam Smith's music, but I'm just not a fan of this.

~ Despite me not liking Never Really Over whatsoever, I still had hope for new Katy Perry releases. I'm not a fan of Small Talk. I think the production is too minimalistic and her voice is not good enough to carry the song. People know Katy Perry for her upbeat and fun summer-type anthems like a lot of what Teenage Dream had to offer. This is just too underwhelming and it's disappointing. I don't think Katy has it in her anymore.

~ Ariana Grande continues to not impress me as she releases Boyfriend. I'm just not a fan of this path she chose to take. It's subjective and I can see why others like this as well as thank u, next. But I just don't like trap production for the most part and I just think it's so underwhelming for her. Her voice is not that great here. The members of Social House don't sound very good. And I just don't like the beat at all. It's just my opinion, but I do not like this.

~ Beautiful People has come in in place of Cross Me, which I'm very happy about since I was not a fan of Cross Me at all and I thought Beautiful People was one of the best songs on the album. The beat is kind of weird but the song is catchy. I love Ed Sheeran's voice here and I thought Khalid was a really good fit as well. The song is well-written and I really like the chorus. So yeah I like this. I'm really happy this song is here.

~ I think the one opinion that will surprise people is that I actually like a Lizzo song. I find it odd that Good As Hell is gaining momentum despite being even older than Truth Hurts. But I actually like this. It's upbeat and fun. There's no trap production. And I actually like how she sounds here. She definitely has the talent. It's just that her last couple of songs haven't shown that. But this is a win for me.

Top 5 Hit-Bound Picks

1. Jonas Brothers – Only Human

2. Ed Sheeran/Khalid – Beautiful People

3. Twenty One Pilots – The Hype

4. Dominic Fike – 3 Nights

5. Zara Larsson – All The Time

100 Bad Blurbs

~ Our current Top 10 is a big yikes. If I Can't Have You is the most tolerable of these songs so I kind of hope it stays at #1. Who Do You Love at #2 is still pretty insane since the song flopped months ago. And why the hell is an irrelevant Alec Benjamin song in the Top 3? He's not a good singer, the song is not that good, and it's not the third biggest song in North America.

~ Truth Hurts made a big jump into the Top 10 this week. This song is just not my thing at all. I still find it very annoying and I'm not exactly sure why we're making it a thing when Lizzo clearly has much better songs.

~ You Need To Calm Down thankfully dropped after jumping into the Top 5 last week. I like Taylor but that song is the pure definition of bland album filler that should not be a single

~ So Am I by Ava Max collapsed after spending one week in the Top 10. I know I always just call it Sweet But Psycho because it is the same song. But even not taking that into consideration, it is a bland pop song. Maybe it wouldn't be as bad but it certainly wouldn't be good.

~ It probably will not be very long until Hustle is off the countdown since it's not actually a single. So I'm enjoying it while it's still here. And it made a nice jump this week even though it's probably drop soon.

~ With You got hit hard this week since Hits 1 finally realized that it's not actually relevant at all. We really don't need to be giving Meghan Trainor any more hits, so I'd love if this just dropped out and we didn't hear from her again.

~ As far as the exits go, no one cared about Mama's House. Paradise was never that good. Close To Me is one of Ellie Goulding's worst singles, if not her worst. I just cannot stand that chorus with the "cloooooose to meeeeee!" Chlorine was never my thing although I understood the appeal to it. The only two songs I'll be missing are Dancing With A Stranger, which I'm glad was a hit although it should've done better, and Summer Days, which definitely should've been a bigger hit since it was one of the best songs on the countdown.

Top 20 Review

0 – Crap:

20. Lizzo – Truth Hurts

19. Halsey – Nightmare

18. AJR – 100 Bad Days

1 – Bad:

17. Taylor Swift – You Need To Calm Down

16. Lil Nas X/Billy Ray Cyrus – Old Town Road

15. Alec Benjamin – If We Have Each Other

14. Jonas Brothers – Cool

13. Billie Eilish – Bad Guy

12. 5 Seconds Of Summer – Easier

11. Khalid – Talk

10. Shawn Mendes/Camila Cabello – Señorita

9. Lewis Capaldi – Someone You Loved

2 – Mediocre:

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

7. Jonas Brothers – Sucker

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

5. Shawn Mendes – If I Can't Have You

3 – Decent:

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

3. MAX/Quinn XCII – Love Me Less

4 – Good:

NONE

5 – Great:

2. Ed Sheeran/Justin Bieber – I Don't Care

1. The Chainsmokers/Bebe Rexha – Call You Mine

Overall Score: 33/100 = 33% (D)

Throwback Pick Of The Week: Coldplay – Speed Of Sound

#1 Recommendation For Hits 1: Avicii/Chris Martin – Heaven

Favorite Countdown Song This Week One Year Ago: Foster The People – Sit Next To Me (#13)

My Top 5 Picks

1. Andy Grammer – Don't Give Up On Me

2. The Chainsmokers/Kelsea Ballerini – This Feeling

3. Marshmello/CHVRCHES – Here With Me

4. Imagine Dragons – Bad Liar

5. The Chainsmokers/Bebe Rexha – Call You Mine