Panic! At The Disco (4) – Week Of September 29, 2018

Hey guys! The deadline for the 2013 Rankdown is in a couple of hours. However, there will still be time to submit if you're working on it. All of the calculations for averages and standard deviations will be done in an Excel file. But right now, I have to do the tedious process of entering everyone's ranking for each individual song. With school happening at the same time, that will take another week or so. So there is still a little bit of extra time to submit a list. Before we get to this week's Fresh 45, here are the songs we're saying goodbye to this week.

• Cardi B – I Like It (#40)
• Madison Beer – Home With You (#41)
• PRETTYMUCH – Summer On You (#42)
• Dennis Lloyd – Nevermind (#43)
• Drake – In My Feelings (#45)

Last Week's #1 Song: Panic! At The Disco – High Hopes

The Countdown

45. DJ Khaled/Justin Bieber/Chance The Rapper/Quavo – No Brainer (#38)

44. Foster The People – Sit Next To Me (#36)

43. Clean Bandit/Demi Lovato – Solo (#27)

42. Niall Horan – On The Loose (#44)

41. Marshmello/Anne-Marie – Friends (#33)

40. The Vamps – Just My Type (DEBUT)

39. Ariana Grande – No Tears Left To Cry (#39)

38. Brown & Gray – Top Down (#28)

37. Bryce Vine – Drew Barrymore (DEBUT)

36. Train/Cam/Travie McCoy – Call Me Sir (#34)

35. Dua Lipa – IDGAF (#35)

34. AJR – Burn The House Down (#32)

33. Kim Petras – Heart To Break (DEBUT)

32. Shawn Mendes – In My Blood (#30) [2 Weeks At #1]

31. Anne-Marie – 2002 (DEBUT)

30. NOTD/Bea Miller – I Wanna Know (#29)

29. Panic! At The Disco – Hey Look Ma, I Made It (DEBUT)

28. Sabrina Carpenter – Almost Love (#37)

27. lovelytheband – Broken (#16)

26. Calvin Harris/Dua Lipa – One Kiss (#25)

25. Weezer – Africa (#11)

24. LSD – Thunderclouds (#31)

23. George Ezra – Shotgun (#24)

22. Bazzi/Camila Cabello – Beautiful (#23)

21. Imagine Dragons – Whatever It Takes (#22) [1 Week At #1]

20. Zedd/Elley Duhé – Happy Now (#21)

19. Dan + Shay – Tequila (#20)

18. Post Malone – Better Now (#10)

17. Taylor Swift – Delicate (#19) [3 Weeks At #1]

16. Panic! At The Disco – Say Amen (Saturday Night) (#9) [4 Weeks At #1]

15. NF – Lie (#26)

14. Ariana Grande – God Is A Woman (#15)

13. Marshmello/Bastille – Happier (#18)

12. Bebe Rexha – I'm a Mess (#17)

11. Imagine Dragons – Natural (#13)

10. The Chainsmokers/Emily Warren – Side Effects (#6)

  9. Maroon 5/Cardi B – Girls Like You (#7)

  8. Zedd/Maren Morris/Grey – The Middle (#8) [9 Weeks At #1]

  7. Charlie Puth – The Way I Am (#14)

  6. Selena Gomez – Back To You (#12)

  5. Fall Out Boy – The Last Of The Real Ones (#4) [2 Weeks At #1]

  4. Khalid/Normani – Love Lies (#3)

  3. Backstreet Boys – Don't Go Breaking My Heart (#5)

  2. 5 Seconds of Summer – Youngblood (#2) [2 Weeks At #1]

  1. Panic! At The Disco – High Hopes (#1) [4^th Week At #1]

#1 Song This Week One Year Ago: Liam Payne/Quavo – Strip That Down (1)

Biggest DROP!!!... Of The Week: Clean Bandit/Demi Lovato – Solo (–16)

Biggest Jump Of The Week: NF – Lie (+11)

New Entrants
~ First up this week, we have The Vamps with Just My Type. Despite these boys being underrated, Hits 1 still picks up some of their songs including Just My Type. I don't think there has been a single song from them that I've legitimately disliked. They're pretty likable in my opinion and this new song is pretty good. It's fast and catchy. I like the chorus and the vocals sound good. This seems like one of those songs that gets better with each listen. So overall, I'm enjoying this. I can't picture it staying long, but we'll see what happens.

~ Next we have Bryce Vine with Drew Barrymore. There isn't much to say about this one. I think it's rather self-explanatory why this one is not very good. It's boring and there's nothing very interesting or exciting about it. This man's voice is hard to listen to. It's honestly just not a good song and I went into it with an open mind. If I were Drew Barrymore, I would not want a song like this to be named after me. So yeah. I'm hoping this doesn't last very long.

~ Up next, we have Kim Petras with Heart To Break. My original criticism regarding this song was about the beat and the production. But after listening to the song more, it has grown on me and I do actually really enjoy the song now. And this might just be me, but I just learned that she is transgender. She sounds fantastic and she looks great in the music video. So yeah. This is a really good song in my opinion. I would love to see it have some success.

~ Following that, we have Anne-Marie with 2002. It goes without saying that this song is a step up from Friends. But there are still numerous issues that I have with it. I don't love the lyrical content with all the references to older hits in the chorus. The song loses originality by going that route. I also find the production very similar to Friends. It's rather messy and not very pleasing to the ears. And Anne-Marie's vocals have only improved slightly. There are a few moments where I think she sounds good. But there's still a lot of scratchiness and that honestly might just be her voice. But it does not very good in my opinion. Overall, I don't really like the song. But I don't exactly hate it. It could be worse.

~ Last, but not least, we have Panic! At The Disco with Hey Look Ma, I Made It. I am definitely a fan of Brendon and I'm glad that Hits 1 gives him the success that he deserves. When I listened to Pray For The Wicked the day it was released, I mentally noted Hey Look Ma, I Made It as one of the standout tracks. So I'm thrilled to see it on the countdown with Say Amen and High Hopes, which are also two great songs. I think it's catchy. I like the use of the horns in the chorus. Brendon sounds great as usual. It's honestly just a fun listen and I'm sure it'll do well here.


Best Debut of the Week: Panic! At The Disco – Hey Look Ma, I Made It


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

• Loud Luxury/brando – Body
• Twenty One Pilots – My Blood (DEBUT)
• Jason Derulo & David Guetta/Nicki Minaj/Willy William – Goodbye
• The Chainsmokers/Kelsea Ballerini – This Feeling (DEBUT)
• The Struts/Kesha – Body Talks
• Benny Blanco/Halsey/Khalid – Eastside
• Calvin Harris/Sam Smith – Promises
• Walk The Moon – Kamikaze
• Tiësto & Dzeko/Preme/Post Malone – Jackie Chan
• Silk City/Dua Lipa – Electricity
• Pitbull/Theron Theron – Free Free Free
• Shawn Mendes/Zedd – Lost In Japan (DEBUT)
• Alex Aiono – Big Mistake (DEBUT)
• Ariana Grande – Breathin (DEBUT)

~ A week before the release of Trench, we get the single My Blood from Twenty One Pilots. I've only listened to this a couple of times, so I'll give a more detailed review later on. But I do think it's a good song and I can picture a song like this doing well on Hits 1. So I wouldn't mind seeing it debut soon.

~ Next we have The Chainsmokers and country singer Kelsea Ballerini with This Feeling. I think this is another step in the right direction for these guys. I like the whole male/female duet between Drew and Kelsea. I think both of their voices sound good here. It's not their best in terms of the production. I still think Side Effects and Something Just Like This are better. But I still think this is better than the four singles before Side Effects.

~ Replacing Nervous, we have the Lost In Japan remix by Shawn Mendes with Zedd. Although the original is obviously better, the remix is growing on me. The main criticism I have is that it sounds very similar to Stay and The Middle. The ticking clock has been overused at this point and Shawn's vocals sound very computerized and autotuned in the chorus. However, Shawn has a rather soothing voice and I actually like how he sounds in the chorus. His voice is not annoying like Maren Morris in The Middle and Elley Duhé in Happy Now. And I actually like the drop a little bit. Like I said, the original is better. But the remix is still enjoyable in its own way. This is the best thing we've gotten from Zedd since Beautiful Now.

~ Following that, we have Alex Aiono with Big Mistake, which is probably my favorite debut this week. The song is fun and catchy. I really like his voice. This is definitely something I can picture myself enjoying for a while. More on it if it manages to graduate to the countdown.

~ Finally, we have Ariana Grande with Breathin. I haven't exactly been huge on her recent music. But this is easily the favorite of the three singles we've gotten so far. Everything from her vocals to the production work very well here. I would love to see this on the countdown soon.

Top 5 Hit-Bound Picks

1. The Struts/Kesha – Body Talks

2. Alex Aiono – Big Mistake

3. Ariana Grande – Breathin

4. Walk The Moon – Kamikaze

5. Shawn Mendes/Zedd – Lost In Japan

Heart To Blurb

~ Panic! At The Disco – Say Amen is the lowest it's been in a while. It might just be me, but I don't think it's right to let this song drop BEFORE The Middle, which has been high up much longer. That's all I'll say.

~ LSD – Thunderclouds and Sabrina Carpenter – Almost Love are the only debuts from last week that jumped this week. The latter makes me happy, but the former is honestly just annoying. I'm really hoping this doesn't end up being a hit.

~ Can we please get rid of Train/Cam/Travie McCoy – Call Me Sir??? It's one of the most annoying things to listen to that "Oh oh oh oh oh oh OHHHHH". Pat Monahan's voice just does not work with this kind of song.

~ Marshmello/Anne-Marie – Friends is down to the Bottom 5, though most likely only because of the debut from 2002. Though I am hoping we can kick this one off soon. It's not worthy of still being here.

~ Clean Bandit/Demi Lovato – Solo took quite the tumble down to #43 on its second week. Yikes. I was hoping this one could do reasonably well and give Clean Bandit another hit. I guess that's not gonna be the case here. Oh well.

~ Unsurprisingly, No Brainer is at the very bottom of the countdown. I simply could not picture this song doing well here. All of these artists have done better. This song is just bland and a little childish. I know DJ Khaled is capable of more.

~ As far as the exits go, we said goodbye to three unknown and unpopular songs as well as two of the biggest songs currently. Home With You, Summer On You, and Nevermind were nothing special. I did not picture any of them lasting long and they weren't that great. I Like It was not a good song, but it wasn't terrible. So it will not be in my Bottom 10 songs of the year. It's a step up from what Cardi B has done in the past. And of course, In My Feelings was destined to do poorly because these people at Hits 1 have something against Drake, which is why God's Plan did poorly and Nice For What never debuted. I like In My Feelings even if it's not Drake's best. So I'm not too happy about how it was treated here. But oh well.

Top 20 Review

0 – Crap:

20. Zedd/Elley Duhé – Happy Now

19. Zedd/Maren Morris/Grey – The Middle

1 – Bad:

NONE

2 – Mediocre:

18. Charlie Puth – The Way I Am

17. Taylor Swift – Delicate

3 – Decent:

16. Marshmello/Bastille – Happier

15. Ariana Grande – God Is A Woman

14. Maroon 5/Cardi B – Girls Like You

4 – Good:

NONE

5 – Great:

13. Post Malone – Better Now

12. NF – Lie

11. Panic! At The Disco – Say Amen

10. The Chainsmokers/Emily Warren – Side Effects

9. Selena Gomez – Back To You

8. Bebe Rexha – I'm A Mess

7. Khalid/Normani – Love Lies

6. 5 Seconds Of Summer – Youngblood

5. Panic! At The Disco – High Hopes

4. Imagine Dragons – Natural

3. Fall Out Boy – The Last Of The Real Ones

2. Dan + Shay – Tequila

BONUS: 6 – Best Song On The Countdown:

1. Backstreet Boys – Don't Go Breaking My Heart

Overall Score: 79/100 = 79% (B)

Throwback Pick Of The Week: Snow Patrol – Run

Most Missed Countdown Song: Hunter Hayes – I Want Crazy

#1 Recommendation For Hits 1: Avril Lavigne – Head Above Water

Favorite Countdown Song This Week One Year Ago: Macklemore/Skylar Grey – Glorious (#11)

My Top 5 Picks

1. Backstreet Boys – Don't Go Breaking My Heart

2. Dan + Shay – Tequila

3. Foster The People – Sit Next To Me

4. Fall Out Boy – The Last Of The Real Ones

5. Clean Bandit/Demi Lovato – Solo

Panic! At The Disco (3) – Week Of September 22, 2018

Hey guys! I hope you all had a good week. I know I talk about this almost every week, but I think this is the last time I'll talk about it (maybe). If you would like to participate in my rankdown for the 2013 Billboard Year-End Hot 100, there is another week left to submit your list. The link is at the top of the site. The instructions are there and clear. Submissions are due next Saturday and there's a smaller chance of me extending the deadline again. But we'll see where we are next weekend. Before we get to this week's Fresh 45, here are the songs we're saying goodbye to this week.

• PNAU – Go Bang (#30)
• 5 Seconds Of Summer – Want You Back (#41) [1 Week At #1]
• Halsey – Alone (#42)
• Alessia Cara – Growing Pains (#45)

Last Week's #1 Song: 5 Seconds Of Summer – Youngblood

The Countdown

45. Drake – In My Feelings (#43)

44. Niall Horan – On The Loose (#45)

43. Dennis Lloyd – Nevermind (#25)

42. PRETTYMUCH – Summer On You (#31)

41. Madison Beer – Home With You (#38)

40. Cardi B/Bad Bunny/J Balvin – I Like It (#40)

39. Ariana Grande – No Tears Left To Cry (#34)

38. DJ Khaled/Justin Bieber/Chance The Rapper/Quavo – No Brainer (#29)

37. Sabrina Carpenter – Almost Love (DEBUT)

36. Foster The People – Sit Next To Me (#39)

35. Dua Lipa – IDGAF (#32)

34. Train/Cam/Travie McCoy – Call Me Sir (#28)

33. Marshmello/Anne-Marie – Friends (#36)

32. AJR – Burn The House Down (DEBUT)

31. LSD – Thunderclouds (DEBUT)

30. Shawn Mendes – In My Blood (#22) [2 Weeks At #1]

29. NOTD/Bea Miller – I Wanna Know (#14)

28. Brown & Gray – Top Down (#37)

27. Clean Bandit/Demi Lovato – Solo (DEBUT)

26. NF – Lie (#33)

25. Calvin Harris/Dua Lipa – One Kiss (#18)

24. George Ezra – Shotgun (#35)

23. Bazzi/Camila Cabello – Beautiful (#27)

22. Imagine Dragons – Whatever It Takes (#9) [1 Week At #1]

21. Zedd/Elley Duhé – Happy Now (#23)

20. Dan + Shay – Tequila (#26)

19. Taylor Swift – Delicate (#19) [3 Weeks At #1]

18. Marshmello/Bastille – Happier (#24)

17. Bebe Rexha – I'm a Mess (#21)

16. lovelytheband – Broken (#20)

15. Ariana Grande – God Is A Woman (#12)

14. Charlie Puth – The Way I Am (#7)

13. Imagine Dragons – Natural (#17)

12. Selena Gomez – Back To You (#16)

11. Weezer – Africa (#13)

10. Post Malone – Better Now (#6)

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

  8. Zedd/Maren Morris/Grey – The Middle (#8) [9 Weeks At #1]

  7. Maroon 5/Cardi B – Girls Like You (#15)

  6. The Chainsmokers/Emily Warren – Side Effects (#10)

  5. Backstreet Boys – Don't Go Breaking My Heart (#11)

  4. Fall Out Boy – The Last Of The Real Ones (#4) [2 Weeks At #1]

  3. Khalid/Normani – Love Lies (#3)

  2. 5 Seconds of Summer – Youngblood (#1) [2 Weeks At #1]

  1. Panic! At The Disco – High Hopes (#2) [3^rd Week At #1]

#1 Song This Week One Year Ago: Niall Horan – Slow Hands (3)

Biggest DROP!!!... Of The Week: Dennis Lloyd – Nevermind (–18)

Biggest Jump Of The Week: George Ezra – Shotgun (+11)

New Entrants
~ This week, we'll go from worst to best with the debuts. We're kicking things off with the atrocity that is AJR. I've never liked these guys. I thought they were terrible from the get-go when they brought us I'm Ready back in 2014. They really have not improved. Burn The House Down is honestly just a mess. They are not good songwriters, nor are they good vocalists. The horns are absolutely obnoxious and they make this an unbearable listen. The chorus is way too loud and in your face. People argue that AJR is unique and different and I can see that. But what they try to do, artists like Jon Bellion do much better. AJR's songs are just annoying in every way. Burn The House Down does not deserve to be here and I will request once again that Hits 1 please stop picking up songs from AJR because more often than not, the song is trash.

~ Our next debut really is not that much better. We have LSD with Thunderclouds. LSD consists of Labrinth, Sia, and Diplo. These artists have had impressive songs in the past on their own. Who would've thought that putting them together would result in this madness? This is their third song and the first two sucked as well. To say the production here is annoying is an understatement. The vocals here are terrible as well. Sia is very talented after having heard songs like Chandelier and Elastic Heart. She can sing in EDM tracks because she sounded fantastic in David Guetta's songs Titanium and She Wolf. But here, she sounds very scratchy and annoying. Her choppy vocals sound pretty bad. I know she is much better than this. Labrinth brought one of my favorite songs from 2013 titled Beneath Your Beautiful with Emeli Sandé. He sounded great and it was a beautiful song overall. But his vocals here are hard to listen to. Diplo has done well in the past when his side project Major Lazer got big. But his work here is very lazy and annoying. So yeah. This song straight up sucks. This whole collaboration project between the three artists is honestly just so random and unnecessary. But of course, the song will probably get big because of the commercial it's featured in.

~ On the better side of things, we have Sabrina Carpenter with Almost Love. I really haven't been a huge fan of this girl's music. I think she has the voice and the talent, but her songs don't show it. Almost Love is probably her best song so far. I like the production and you can hear how talented she is vocally. It's not an amazing song by any means. But it's good and it's a step up from her previous work. She was never an artist who I'd listen to in my free time. But I've been listening to Almost Love quite a bit lately. So we'll see how the song does. I wouldn't mind seeing it do well.

~ Finally we have Clean Bandit returning with Solo featuring Demi Lovato. I would consider myself a fan of Clean Bandit. I love how they combine elements of pop, classical, and electronic in their music. It's a little bit of a risky combo, but it works very well in their favor. I've enjoyed just about all of their singles. Solo is no different. The production here is very good. It's a little bit different for them, but it still sounds great. I really like Demi Lovato's vocals here. I'm not too huge on the choppy vocals. But they don't sound bad and they don't really hurt the song. So yeah. I think this song is really good and I would love to see it do well. Clean Bandit deserve all the success they can get.


Best Debut of the Week: Clean Bandit/Demi Lovato – Solo


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

• Kim Petras – Heart To Break
• Shawn Mendes – Nervous (DEBUT)
• Pitbull/Theron Theron – Free Free Free
• Calvin Harris/Sam Smith – Promises
• Anne-Marie – 2002
• Tiësto & Dzeko/Preme/Post Malone – Jackie Chan
• Silk City/Dua Lipa – Electricity (DEBUT)
• The Struts/Kesha – Body Talks
• Jason Derulo & David Guetta/Nicki Minaj/Willy William – Goodbye
• Bryce Vine – Drew Barrymore
• Walk The Moon – Kamikaze
• The Vamps – Just My Type
• Panic! At The Disco – Hey Look Ma, I Made It
• Loud Luxury/brando – Body
• Benny Blanco/Halsey/Khalid – Eastside

~ First we have Shawn Mendes, who selected Nervous to be the next single from his self-titled. I think they were some better options from the album. Nervous is nowhere near his best work. In My Blood is better. But I do like the song a little bit. It's nice for the time being, but it's not exactly something memorable.

~ Next we have Silk City, which consists of Mark Ronson and Diplo. They bring us Electricity featuring Dua Lipa. I don't love this song, but it's more for personal reasons. I like the production, but I'm just a little sick of hearing Dua Lipa's voice at the moment. I can see why people like this song. Me not loving it is just my personal opinion because I'm not huge on the vocals.

Top 5 Hit-Bound Picks

1. The Struts/Kesha – Body Talks

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

3. Walk The Moon – Kamikaze

4. Jason Derulo & David Guetta/Nicki Minaj/Willy William – Goodbye

5. Shawn Mendes – Nervous

Thunderblurbs

~ Backstreet Boys have hit the Top 5 this week with Don't Go Breaking My Heart. I'm thrilled about this. I did not expect this song to do this well, but I'm very happy about it. It's amazing and these guys deserve it. It's nice to see that they still got it after all these years.

~ Maroon 5/Cardi B – Girls Like You is back up in the Top 10. Speaking of which, it has been announced that Maroon 5 will be performing at the Super Bowl halftime show in 2019. I really hope that the majority of what they perform are their past hits from their first four albums. Once we hit V, things started to get questionable. But I'd love to hear the older Maroon 5 come back. If so, it could be a great show. I do believe that they deserve the chance to perform. They've been going strong in the music industry long enough.

~ Bebe Rexha – I'm A Mess is up in the Top 20, which is good. She performed this song at the America's Got Talent finale this past Wednesday, which was cool. She also sang Meant To Be with contestant Glennis Grace. I thought Glennis sounded really great. She's been my favorite singer all season. Even though she didn't win, I'm glad she made it to the finals. I might try to review the finale if I have time. We'll see.

~ I think it's about time that Taylor Swift – Delicate started seriously dropping. The song is starting to become very hollow again. I remember thinking the song was quite underwhelming the first few times I listened to it. Now we're back there again. I'm glad the song did well, but it's done a little too much at this point.

~ Brown & Gray – Top Down made a nice jump into the Top 30. I don't picture this song lasting much longer unfortunately. But hey, at least it's still here right now. Hopefully it can stick around for a few more weeks and not just leave like Go Bang did this week.

~ NOTD/Bea Miller – I Wanna Know is finally out of the Top 20. This song stayed a little high much longer than it should've. It's nice to see it make this drop. Hopefully we can get rid of it for good soon.

~ I'm surprised that the terrible edit of I Like It by Cardi B is somehow still here. I've said this before, but the song is practically nothing without Bad Bunny and J Balvin. But anyway, it seems like the type of song that would've made its way out by now.

~ PRETTYMUCH – Summer On You and Dennis Lloyd – Nevermind both seem to have dropped into the Bottom 5. I really don't care about either of these songs, so I wouldn't mind seeing them leave within the next few weeks.

~ As far as the exits go, Go Bang was simply just annoying. Growing Pains was really not that good of a song, especially compared to what Alessia Cara has brought in the past. It wasn't bad by any means, but it was nothing memorable. Alone was pretty good while it lasted. I do have a stronger preference for the rerelease with Big Sean and Stefflon Don, but the original is decent as well. And Want You Back had a pretty nice run here. I get that Hits 1 showed some favoritism here, but it is a good song at the end of the day. So I'm glad it did well.


Top 20 Review
0 – Crap:
20. Zedd/Maren Morris/Grey – The Middle

1 – Bad:
NONE

2 – Mediocre:
19. Charlie Puth – The Way I Am
18. Taylor Swift – Delicate

3 – Decent:
17. Marshmello/Bastille – Happier
16. Ariana Grande – God Is A Woman
15. Maroon 5/Cardi B – Girls Like You

4 – Good:
NONE

5 – Great:
14. Post Malone – Better Now
13. Panic! At The Disco – Say Amen
12. Bebe Rexha – I'm A Mess
11. lovelytheband – Broken
10. Selena Gomez – Back To You
9. The Chainsmokers/Emily Warren – Side Effects
8. Khalid/Normani – Love Lies
7. 5 Seconds Of Summer – Youngblood
6. Weezer – Africa
5. Imagine Dragons – Natural
4. Panic! At The Disco – High Hopes
3. Fall Out Boy – The Last Of The Real Ones
2. Dan + Shay – Tequila

BONUS: 6 – Best Song On The Countdown:
1. Backstreet Boys – Don't Go Breaking My Heart

Overall Score: 84/100 = 84% (A)


Throwback Pick Of The Week: Kanye West – Stronger

Most Missed Countdown Song: Labrinth/Emeli Sandé – Beneath Your Beautiful

#1 Recommendation For Hits 1: Avril Lavigne – Head Above Water

Favorite Countdown Song This Week One Year Ago: Kesha – Praying (#5)


My Top 5 Picks
1. TIE: Backstreet Boys – Don't Go Breaking My Heart
1. TIE: Foster The People – Sit Next To Me
3. Dan + Shay – Tequila
4. Fall Out Boy – The Last Of The Real Ones
5. Clean Bandit/Demi Lovato – Solo


My Bottom 5 Picks
1. TIE: Zedd/Elley Duhé – Happy Now
1. TIE: AJR – Burn The House Down
3. LSD – Thunderclouds
4. Zedd/Maren Morris/Grey – The Middle
5. Train/Cam/Travie McCoy – Call Me Sir

5 Seconds of Summer (2) – Week Of September 15, 2018

Hey guys! I have extended the deadline for submissions for my 2013 Billboard Year-End Rankdown to Saturday, September 29 at 11:30 PM CST. So you have another two weeks roughly. I haven't even finished my own list, so I get it if you're still trying to get around to it. This new deadline is still tentative, though there's not as great of a chance of me extending it again. So we'll see where we are on that day. No songs leaving the countdown this week. So let's get right into it!



Last Week's #1 Song: 5 Seconds Of Summer – Youngblood
The Countdown
45. Niall Horan – On The Loose (#44)
44. Alessia Cara – Growing Pains (#45)
43. Drake – In My Feelings (#42)
42. Halsey – Alone (#43)
41. 5 Seconds of Summer – Want You Back (#41) [1 Week At #1]
40. Cardi B/Bad Bunny/J Balvin – I Like It (#40)
39. Foster The People – Sit Next To Me (#23)
38. Madison Beer – Home With You (#37)
37. Brown & Gray – Top Down (#35)
36. Marshmello/Anne-Marie – Friends (#26)
35. George Ezra – Shotgun (#39)
34. Ariana Grande – No Tears Left To Cry (#24)
33. NF – Lie (#38)
32. Dua Lipa – IDGAF (#28)
31. PRETTYMUCH – Summer On You (#29)
30. PNAU – Go Bang (#33)
29. DJ Khaled/Justin Bieber/Chance The Rapper/Quavo – No Brainer (#21)
28. Train/Cam/Travie McCoy – Call Me Sir (#32)
27. Bazzi/Camila Cabello – Beautiful (#35)
26. Dan + Shay – Tequila (#30)
25. Dennis Lloyd – Nevermind (#25)
24. Marshmello/Bastille – Happier (#36)
23. Zedd/Elley Duhé – Happy Now (#31)
22. Shawn Mendes – In My Blood (#27) [2 Weeks At #1]
21. Bebe Rexha – I'm a Mess (#22)
20. lovelytheband – Broken (#15)
19. Taylor Swift – Delicate (#12) [3 Weeks At #1]
18. Calvin Harris/Dua Lipa – One Kiss (#20)
17. Imagine Dragons – Natural (#19)
16. Selena Gomez – Back To You (#10)
15. Maroon 5/Cardi B – Girls Like You (#13)
14. NOTD/Bea Miller – I Wanna Know (#18)
13. Weezer – Africa (#17)
12. Ariana Grande – God Is A Woman (#14)
11. Backstreet Boys – Don't Go Breaking My Heart (#6)
10. The Chainsmokers/Emily Warren – Side Effects (#7)
  9. Imagine Dragons – Whatever It Takes (#11) [1 Week At #1]
  8. Zedd/Maren Morris/Grey – The Middle (#16) [9 Weeks At #1]
  7. Charlie Puth – The Way I Am (#9)
  6. Post Malone – Better Now (#8)
  5. Panic! At The Disco – Say Amen (Saturday Night) (#4) [4 Weeks At #1]
  4. Fall Out Boy – The Last Of The Real Ones (#3) [2 Weeks At #1]
  3. Khalid/Normani – Love Lies (#5)
  2. Panic! At The Disco – High Hopes (#2) [2 Weeks At #1]
  1. 5 Seconds of Summer – Youngblood (#1) [2^nd Week At #1]

#1 Song This Week One Year Ago: Niall Horan – Slow Hands (2)

Biggest DROP!!!... Of The Week: Foster The People – Sit Next To Me (–16)

Biggest Jump Of The Week: Marshmello/Bastille – Happier (+12)

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

• Loud Luxury/brando – Body (DEBUT)
• The Struts/Kesha – Body Talks
• Tiësto & Dzeko/Preme/Post Malone – Jackie Chan
• Bryce Vine – Drew Barrymore
• The Vamps – Just My Type
• Benny Blanco/Halsey/Khalid – Eastside (DEBUT)
• Calvin Harris/Sam Smith – Promises
• Walk The Moon – Kamikaze
• Pitbull/Theron Theron – Free Free Free
• Sabrina Carpenter – Almost Love
• AJR – Burn The House Down
• Anne-Marie – 2002
• Panic! At The Disco – Hey Look Ma, I Made It
• Kim Petras – Heart To Break
• Jason Derulo & David Guetta/Nicki Minaj/Willy William – Goodbye

~ Why does it seem to be a trend to make songs less than three minutes? Both of our debuts this week have that problem. Body is simply annoying. There really isn't any other way to describe it. The vocals are not good, the production is pretty bad, and the song is repetitive.

~ Next we have Eastside, which I'm a little indifferent on. The production is pretty good and I really like what Khalid has to offer. I think his voice sounds great here. But I do not like Halsey's contribution. Maybe I'm just a little tired of hearing her voice at the moment, but I just don't really like her verse. She sounds good with Khalid, but not so much on her own. And like I said, the song is short. So there isn't much to take in.


Top 5 Hit-Bound Picks
1. The Struts/Kesha – Body Talks
2. Panic! At The Disco – Hey Look Ma, I Made It
3. Walk The Moon – Kamikaze
4. Sabrina Carpenter – Almost Love
5. Jason Derulo & David Guetta/Nicki Minaj/Willy William – Goodbye


Blurbier
~ There really is nothing to talk about this week. The only noticeable change to me was Foster The People – Sit Next To Me sadly taking a tumble down to #39. Other than that, there was nothing major this week. So instead, I thought I'd use this section this week to talk about some new songs that came out recently. Songs that don't appear on Hits 1 usually don't get talked about by me. But I thought I'd talk about some of these songs in case you were curious about my thoughts.


~ Kanye West/Lil Pump – I Love It: It's hard to expect a good song when Lil Pump is included on the track. My boyfriend and I agree that this song is cancer to our ears. And he's a big fan of Kanye West. I have respect for the man and I do think he has some pretty solid songs in his discography. But this is terrible. It's literally them saying, "You're such a fucking hoe," over and over again. I'm gonna hope that this is some kind of joke. It just recently came out and it's already one of the worst songs of the year. And what a way to ruin Roblox. (0/10)


~ Machine Gun Kelly – Rap Devil: I actually like some of MGK's music, specifically from his 2015 album General Admission. But this was a pretty poor attempt at a diss track. I don't know how this feud started, but this man has no career compared to Eminem. As far as the song itself goes, it's pretty boring in terms of the production. The beat is pretty lame. I will give MGK some credit and say that this is better than a lot of the mumble rap we get these days. But that's about it. (2/10)


~ Eminem – Killshot: Not long after his new album Kamikaze was released, we get another track from Eminem, which is fired right back to Machine Gun Kelly after the release of Rap Devil. And it's pretty clear since the cover is MGK's face being sniped. This song actually has a pretty cool beat and I really like Eminem's flow here. Again, I don't know why this whole beef between the two rappers is going. But it seems clear that Eminem is the superior one, at least in terms of the music. Killshot is a much better song than Rap Devil and Eminem is just a better rapper in general. There really isn't much competition here. (8/10)


~ Lauren Daigle – You Say: This song has been hanging around in the Top 10 on iTunes for a very long time and I'm just now listening to it. It's not that often that a Christian song actually sells this well on iTunes for it to be in the Top 10 this long. It's actually a really nice song. The lyrical content is really good. Listening to her voice, I get some Adele vibes, which is cool. The song has a very nice meaning and I'm happy to see it have reasonable success. (8.5/10)


~ Gucci Mane, Bruno Mars, Kodak Black – Wake Up In The Sky: This song just recently came out, so I thought I'd talk about it. I like the first ten seconds of it where we get to hear Bruno's great voice. That's about it. The song falls flat from there. Neither of the rappers sound good in their verses and Bruno Mars is not actually singing in the chorus. So yeah. I don't think anything else needs to be said. (3/10)


~ Mariah Carey – GTFO: Please disregard everything I may have said in the past about Mariah Carey. I do think she's very talented and she has some very good songs with the exception of songs like Touch My Body. Despite having some difficulty performing live nowadays, she is apparently still releasing music and we got GTFO. And it's okay, I guess. She's singing in falsetto the whole time, which isn't bad, but it loses me eventually. The production here is decent. It's nothing too amazing. The song overall is not great, but it's not bad either. I'm kind of indifferent on it. I read somewhere that there is more to come from her within the remainder of 2018, so I guess we'll see how it goes. (5/10)


~ That's all I'm gonna review right now. If you want to know my thoughts on any other song, just let me know in the comments and I'll be happy to give my opinions.


Top 20 Review
0 – Crap:
20. Zedd/Maren Morris/Grey – The Middle

1 – Bad:
NONE

2 – Mediocre:
19. Charlie Puth – The Way I Am
18. NOTD/Bea Miller – I Wanna Know
17. Taylor Swift – Delicate

3 – Decent:
16. Ariana Grande – God Is A Woman
15. Maroon 5/Cardi B – Girls Like You

4 – Good:
NONE

5 – Good:
14. Imagine Dragons – Whatever It Takes
13. Selena Gomez – Back To You
12. Calvin Harris/Dua Lipa – One Kiss
11. Post Malone – Better Now
10. lovelytheband – Broken
9. Panic! At The Disco – Say Amen
8. Imagine Dragons – Natural
7. The Chainsmokers/Emily Warren – Side Effects
6. Weezer – Africa
5. Khalid/Normani – Love Lies
4. Panic! At The Disco – High Hopes
3. 5 Seconds Of Summer – Youngblood
2. Fall Out Boy – The Last Of The Real Ones

BONUS: 6 – Best Song On The Countdown:
1. Backstreet Boys – Don't Go Breaking My Heart

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


Throwback Pick Of The Week: Sinéad O'Connor – Nothing Compares 2 U (an all-time favorite)

Most Missed Countdown Song: Owl City – Fireflies (another all-time favorite)

#1 Recommendation For Hits 1: Jesse McCartney – Wasted

Favorite Countdown Song This Week One Year Ago: P!nk – What About Us (#18)


My Top 5 Picks
1. Backstreet Boys – Don't Go Breaking My Heart
2. Fall Out Boy – The Last Of The Real Ones
3. Foster The People – Sit Next To Me
4. Dan + Shay – Tequila
5. 5 Seconds Of Summer – Youngblood

5 Seconds of Summer (1) – Week Of September 8, 2018

Hey guys! As of right now, you have one week left to submit your list for my rankdown. There's a very good chance I'll extend the deadline by at least another week. I haven't even finished my own ranking so I understand of trying to find time to get it done. So if you want to participate, try your best to get it done as soon as possible. Also, I want to say a quick rest in peace to Mac Miller, who died yesterday of overdose. It's definitely very sad. I can only imagine what his family is going through right now. Before we get to this week's Fresh 45, here are the songs we're saying goodbye to this week.

• Maroon 5 – Wait (#34)
• Camila Cabello – Never Be The Same (#39) [1 Week At #1]
• Charlie Puth/Kehlani – Done For Me (#43)
• Lauv – I Like Me Better (#45)

Last Week's #1 Song: Fall Out Boy – The Last Of The Real Ones

The Countdown

45. Alessia Cara – Growing Pains (#44)

44. Niall Horan – On The Loose (#36)

43. Halsey – Alone (#37)

42. Drake – In My Feelings (#40)

41. 5 Seconds of Summer – Want You Back (#41) [1 Week At #1]

40. Cardi B/Bad Bunny/J Balvin – I Like It (#42)

39. George Ezra – Shotgun (#38)

38. NF – Lie (DEBUT)

37. Madison Beer – Home With You (#31)

36. Marshmello/Bastille – Happier (DEBUT)

35. Bazzi/Camila Cabello – Beautiful (DEBUT)

34. Brown & Gray – Top Down (#30)

33. PNAU – Go Bang (#33)

32. Train/Cam/Travie McCoy – Call Me Sir (#32)

31. Zedd/Elley Duhé – Happy Now (DEBUT)

30. Dan + Shay – Tequila (#27)

29. PRETTYMUCH – Summer On You (#24)

28. Dua Lipa – IDGAF (#35)

27. Shawn Mendes – In My Blood (#16) [2 Weeks At #1]

26. Marshmello/Anne-Marie – Friends (#19)

25. Dennis Lloyd – Nevermind (#26)

24. Ariana Grande – No Tears Left To Cry (#13)

23. Foster The People – Sit Next To Me (#14)

22. Bebe Rexha – I'm a Mess (#28)

21. DJ Khaled/Justin Bieber/Chance The Rapper/Quavo – No Brainer (#29)

20. Calvin Harris/Dua Lipa – One Kiss (#23)

19. Imagine Dragons – Natural (#18)

18. NOTD/Bea Miller – I Wanna Know (#17)

17. Weezer – Africa (#22)

16. Zedd/Maren Morris/Grey – The Middle (#6) [9 Weeks At #1]

15. lovelytheband – Broken (#11)

14. Ariana Grande – God Is A Woman (#25)

13. Maroon 5/Cardi B – Girls Like You (#7)

12. Taylor Swift – Delicate (#12) [3 Weeks At #1]

11. Imagine Dragons – Whatever It Takes (#9) [2 Weeks At #1]

10. Selena Gomez – Back To You (#3)

  9. Charlie Puth – The Way I Am (#20)

  8. Post Malone – Better Now (#15)

  7. The Chainsmokers/Emily Warren – Side Effects (#21)

  6. Backstreet Boys – Don't Go Breaking My Heart (#8)

  5. Khalid/Normani – Love Lies (#10)

  4. Panic! At The Disco – Say Amen (Saturday Night) (#5) [4 Weeks At #1]

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

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

  1. 5 Seconds of Summer – Youngblood (#4) [1^st Week At #1]

#1 Song This Week One Year Ago: Shawn Mendes – There's Nothing Holdin' Me Back (5)

Biggest DROP!!!... Of The Week: Tie Between Shawn Mendes – In My Blood and Ariana Grande – No Tears Left To Cry (–11)

Biggest Jump Of The Week: The Chainsmokers/Emily Warren – Side Effects (+14)

New Entrants
~ First up in the list of debuts, we have NF with Lie. I like this song a lot similar to Let You Down. I'm not huge on the majority of the rap music we've gotten these days. But NF is one of the better rapper out there at the moment. The song is nice and fast and I really enjoy the verses. He sounds very good in the chorus as well. I really like the lyrical content here, which is not something I say very often nowadays regarding rap music. But this guy has some good lyrics. Overall, Lie is a very good song that I would love to see do well.

~ Next we have Marshmello and Bastille with Happier. I will say that it's better than Marshmello's other song on the countdown. But it's still not very interesting for the most part. Marshmello got a little lazy here with the production yet again. That so-called "drop" in the chorus is very boring. But I do like Dan Smith's vocals and that's one of the main reasons why I've liked Bastille's music in the past. That's really the only redeeming quality though. I know Marshmello is capable of better. He's just trying to follow Zedd and produce some mediocre junk that shouldn't even be considered EDM. That being said, while it is in blue, it is much closer to red than it is to green.

~ Immediately following that, we have Bazzi with the rerelease of Beautiful featuring Camila Cabello. I never got on board with his hit Mine. It felt very childish to me and it was actually pretty annoying. I'm not sure why that became a hit. But I do feel like he matured a little bit from Mine to Beautiful. He actually has a pretty good voice and I think he shows it well here. The production is not as annoying and any improvement is worth noting. I don't love Camila's contribution, but she sounds decent. I feel like the original is better even though I haven't listened to it. But overall, I think this is a decent song. I can myself possibly enjoying it in the future.

~ Last, and definitely least, we have Zedd featuring Elley Duhé with Happy Now. And with that, it is rant time. I feel like everyone already knows how I feel about Zedd right now. The man used to be very talented and was one of the best producers in EDM. But every since his feature on Starving by Hailee Steinfeld, everything just went downhill. I get that he's trying new things, but this is honestly just awful. This is not EDM in the slightest. This is PURE LAZINESS! There's no other way to describe Happy Now. It is way too simplistic, boring, generic, mediocre, and honestly just straight up terrible. I can't listen to that "instrumental" or whatever that is in the chorus without cringing at how bad it is. And even if I didn't know who Zedd was before this, I'm pretty sure I still wouldn't like it. It's terrible compared to his previous work and it's terrible on its own as well. At least in The Middle, I liked Maren Morris' vocals to some extent. I can't stand Elley Duhé's voice here. It's so flat and autotuned. Those computerized vocals at the end of the song are almost unbearable. I've pretty much given up on Zedd at this point. This is a new low for him. I'm really hoping this doesn't become a hit because this is garbage.


Best Debut of the Week: NF – Lie


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

• Jason Derulo & David Guetta/Nicki Minaj/Willy William – Goodbye
• LSD – Thunderclouds
• Sabrina Carpenter – Almost Love
• Calvin Harris/Sam Smith – Promises
• The Struts/Kesha – Body Talks
• Tiësto & Dzeko/Preme/Post Malone – Jackie Chan (DEBUT)
• Anne-Marie – 2002
• AJR – Burn The House Down
• Clean Bandit/Demi Lovato – Solo
• Pitbull/Theron Theron – Free Free Free (DEBUT)
• Kim Petras – Heart To Break (DEBUT)
• Walk The Moon – Kamikaze
• The Vamps – Just My Type
• Bryce Vine – Drew Barrymore
• Panic! At The Disco – Hey Look Ma, I Made It

~ First we have yet another EDM producer attempting to go mainstream. Tiesto brings us Jackie Chan. The song has three out of five stars on iTunes, which already says a lot about it. Tiesto has done a lot better in the past and we know the only reason this song is here is because of Post Malone who does not sound his best. Preme sounds pretty bad in my opinion. I don't like the production nor do I like the lyrical content. I really don't think there are any redeeming qualities here. EDM is going through a pretty dark time right now.

~ Next we have the return of Mr. Worldwide with Free Free Free. I think this man is starting to get burned out a little bit. You can only release these types of songs so many times. There's nothing new or original here in terms of the production, the lyrical content, and the flow of the song. Pitbull has definitely released a lot of bangers in the past, but I think this song is a sign of the end for him and mainstream radio.

~ Finally we have Kim Petras with Heart To Break. I'll keep this one short and sweet. The vocals are very good, but it gets a little tiring just listening to that same beat throughout the whole song. It becomes repetitive and a little bit boring. So I'm split down the middle here.


Top 5 Hit-Bound Picks
1. TIE: Clean Bandit/Demi Lovato – Solo
1. TIE: The Struts/Kesha – Body Talks
3. Panic! At The Disco – Hey Look Ma, I Made It
4. Walk The Moon – Kamikaze
5. Sabrina Carpenter – Almost Love


Blurbiful
~ It was only a matter of time until Youngblood by 5 Seconds Of Summer hit #1. And I'm glad this one is actually a hit right now as it's #4 on iTunes. It is a great song and easily one of the best I've heard from 5SOS. I wouldn't mind seeing it spend a few more weeks at the top.

~ We have a few other interesting moves in the Top 10. Love Lies is in the Top 5 a little unexpectedly. But I'm very happy about it. It's a great song. Side Effects made a sudden jump into the Top 10, which is very nice given that it's the best recent song The Chainsmokers have put out. Better Now is also in the Top 10, which is good since it's one of Post Malone's best songs. And of course we have The Way I Am. It's bad enough we had to say goodbye to Done For Me. I really don't want this inferior track to surpass the minor success of its predecessor. But it probably will unfortunately.

~ Zedd/Maren Morris – The Middle is out of the Top 10. Hallelujah. I want this to drop, but at the same time I don't want this to get replaced by Happy Now. So I'm not really sure what to think at this point.

~ Africa by Weezer is up in the Top 20. Again, I'm glad that this song is having some success right now. I still really enjoy it every listen even though it has been around for a while now.

~ Foster The People – Sit Next To Me has dropped out of the Top 20 unfortunately. I wish it spent a little bit more time in the Top 10, but I'm glad it had a reasonable amount of success here because it is still a very great song.

~ No Tears Left To Cry and In My Blood took some drops out of the Top 20. Both songs have started fading on me, the former more than the latter. They had a good amount of success while they lasted and I think the timing is right for them to drop.

~ As far as the exits go, good riddance to Wait, Never Be The Same, and I Like Me Better. All of them were bad and the latter two were especially horrendous. It's about time we said farewell to them. I Like Me Better should've never been a hit and Never Be The Same should've never been a single. The disappointing exit happens to be Charlie Puth/Kehlani – Done For Me. It's saddening that this one couldn't reach the success of the previous singles like Attention. It was definitely a great song and I'm glad it spent some time here. And shout out to Kehlani because she is very underrated and she sounded great on this song. So yeah. You will be missed, Done For Me. But everything else will not be missed by me.


Top 20 Review
0 – Crap:
20. Zedd/Maren Morris/Grey – The Middle

1 – Bad:
NONE

2 – Mediocre:
19. Charlie Puth – The Way I Am
18. NOTD/Bea Miller – I Wanna Know

3 – Decent:
17. Ariana Grande – God Is A Woman
16. Taylor Swift – Delicate
15. Maroon 5/Cardi B – Girls Like You

4 – Good:
NONE

5 – Great:
14. Imagine Dragons – Whatever It Takes
13. lovelytheband – Broken
12. Post Malone – Better Now
11. Selena Gomez – Back To You
10. Panic! At The Disco – Say Amen
9. Calvin Harris/Dua Lipa – One Kiss
8. Khalid/Normani – Love Lies
7. The Chainsmokers/Emily Warren – Side Effects
6. 5 Seconds Of Summer – Youngblood
5. Weezer – Africa
4. Imagine Dragons – Natural
3. Panic! At The Disco – High Hopes
2. Fall Out Boy – The Last Of The Real Ones

BONUS: 6 – Best Song On The Countdown:
1. Backstreet Boys – Don't Go Breaking My Heart

Overall Score: 84/100 = 84% (A)


Throwback Pick Of The Week: Five For Fighting – Chances

Most Missed Countdown Song: The Chainsmokers/Rozes – Roses

#1 Recommendation For Hits 1: Kygo/Imagine Dragons – Born To Be Yours (there is not very much good new music out)

Favorite Countdown Song This Week One Year Ago: Mono Mind – Save Me A Place (#12)


My Top 5 Picks
1. Backstreet Boys – Don't Go Breaking My Heart
2. Fall Out Boy – The Last Of The Real Ones
3. Foster The People – Sit Next To Me
4. Panic! At The Disco – High Hopes
5. Imagine Dragons – Natural


My Bottom 5 Picks
1. Zedd/Elley Duhé – Happy Now
2. Zedd/Maren Morris/Grey – The Middle
3. PNAU – Go Bang
4. Marshmello/Anne-Marie – Friends
5. Train/Cam/Travie McCoy – Call Me Sir