Hello, fam! So in case you didn’t know, I just recently did a poll on your favorite throwback pick in honor of my blog reaching 50,000 Pageviews. After tallying the results, it looks like Thriller by Michael Jackson is indeed the winner by a landslide. It’s definitely a fun classic and it’ll always remain one of my favorites. I’ll be doing polls every so often that pertains to music. Who knows? Maybe it’ll be something different, but right now I don’t know. You can leave me some suggestions in the comments below if you like. I’m always open for any new ideas that come to mind. Today, let’s focus on another music-related topic: the Hits 1 Weekend Countdown! Honestly, I thought this was a great week, considering our new #1, which I’m most pleased about! We did have some activity here and there, some of which were good and some not as much. Also, we did get a return of a certain act which I know many here are not thrilled about. I’ll talk more about it later on. Right now, let’s get on with it! Before we get to this week’s fresh 45, we say good-bye to the songs leaving us this week:
- All Time Low – Last Young Renegade (#29)
- Kesha – Praying (#42) (!!!!!!!!!)
- Sam Smith – Too Good At Goodbyes (#45)
The Countdown:
Biggest DRRRRRRROP!!! Of The Week: X Ambassadors – Ahead Of Myself (–25)
Biggest Jump Of The Week: MAX featuring Gnash – Lights Down Low (+14)
– To kick off this week’s new arrivals, we have two Hit-Bound veterans making their debuts this week. First, we have the return of Noah Cyrus. Only this time, she’s collaborating with Alan Walker and Digital Farm Animals in their single, All Falls Down. Last week while I was reviewing Hit-Bound, I thought this would be stranded on Hit-Bound and never graduate to the countdown, given that it had been there for a seemingly long time. But alas, I was wrong. Anyway, I’m sure many of you were not looking forward to what Noah Cyrus has to offer, especially given that her two previous representations were not to anyone’s liking and her other song, Again, which was on the YouTube 15 a short time ago thankfully didn’t become a hit. After hearing All Falls Down for the first time, I was quite impressed. Vocals-wise, she sounds much better than she does in her solo singles. The production here is good as well. I love the work Alan Walker did with this one. Also, we hear Juliander making his contribution, despite him not be credited in the song, but at least he does a good job. I’m glad Noah Cyrus gave us something that many here will like.
– With Thunder finally starting to begin its decline elsewhere (except here at least), another single for the Imagine Dragons makes its entrance. Enter Whatever It Takes, their third single off of Evolve. Now this is probably one of the best singles from that album. Though I did enjoy its two representations currently on the countdown, I may like this more. Production-wise, it’s a step up from Thunder. This is more fast-paced than its two predecessors, in which I can hear Dan Reynolds’s super fast vocals, especially at the beginning of his verses before we get to the pre-chorus. Reading the lyrical content of the song, it’s him basically telling us that no matter what, he’ll do whatever he can to accomplish a certain feat. This is something that we can relate to, because most of us have goals in our lives that we want to achieve. Looking at the sales and radio gains, it looks destined to become another potential hit for Imagine Dragons and I wouldn’t mind at all. It’s definitely one of the best songs that this band has to offer.
– Finally, with the highest debut of the week, we have the return of one of Hits 1’s favorites. Unless you’ve been a avid Hits 1 follower for about four or so years, then you probably don’t know much about 5 Seconds Of Summer. They were the ones that gave us one of their biggest hits of 2014, She Looks So Perfect. Since then, Hits 1 shared their love for them non-stop, picking up whatever singles they’ve released. The last time we saw them was back in 2016 when they had Girls Talks Boys from the Ghostbusters movie soundtrack, which not very many people here was fond of but I didn’t really mind. It was definitely a different sound for these guys. At #27, they make their official return with their brand new single, titled Want You Back. Here, they’re going for another different sound, one that sounds like it would fit on pop radio. It took me a couple of listens, but now I love it, though not quite on the same level as Jet Black Heart, which to me is their best single. The production here is spot on for the most part, and the vocals are pretty solid. It’s another one of those love songs, only this time it’s about wanting someone back. Lyrically, it does kinda remind me of Jet Black Heart, though the lyrics aren’t quite as deep there. I wonder how Hits 1 will treat this one, given that the band isn’t very popular elsewhere. I do hope for some success out of this song.
– As always, we’ll begin with our exits. To start, Too Good At Goodbyes was destined to leave for sometime. Second, I’m not too shocked about Last Young Renegade departing, even though it was one of my favorites from All Time Low. I’m sure we’ll hear more from them soon. Who knows what else they have under their belt? Finally, we have the departure of my favorite song from last year, in which Kesha – Praying is officially no more. I will always remember the time she made a comeback after her struggle in the years prior. We finally got to hear what she was really capable of without auto-tune. I immediately fell in love, and so did many in the countdown community. I’ll be grieving over its departure. Thank you for your time and service, Praying. You will be missed.
– Before introducing Rockstar, Spyder Harrison mentioned that Post Malone’s album is coming up soon. Yeah…no. Sorry, but I’m not really looking forward to what he has to offer, what with this and his latest release on Hit-Bound becoming an annoyance (at least for me and many others).
– Ouch! Sick Boy took quite a big drop in its second week here. I would be surprised by this, but given that this song failed to blow up elsewhere, I shouldn’t be. I guess most people preferred their collaborations over their solo work.
– On that note, Ahead Of Myself took a big drop out of the Top 10 and all the way out of the Top 30 altogether. Yikes! I’m not necessarily heartbroken about this, though I do hope it can hang around for a little longer. One can only hope it pulls an Unsteady and make a comeback, like a certain song is doing right now and we’ll get to that in a little bit.
– It’s good to see There’s Nothing Holdin’ Me Back jump out of the Bottom 10. Even after almost a year, I still love this song. I do think it’s one of Shawn Mendes’s best thus far. I’m hoping this can last a year on the countdown, but one can dream.
– Once upon a time, End Game was #1 last month. Fast forward to today, it is now sitting at #31. What’s with the unfortunate drops? Well, I guess it has something to do with many not buying into Taylor’s new style of work it seems.
– Even after it faded elsewhere, Feel It Still simply just doesn’t want to give up yet. It’s been in the #23-25 range for a seemingly long time. It’s almost like Believer in which it just won’t budge from a certain range.
– Speaking of which, both My My My! and Pray For Me took a nice jump into the 20’s. Now to see that they can both have more success on the countdown.
– Speaking of Believer, it’s getting close to lasting a year on this countdown. Can it hang around for a few more weeks to accomplish this feat? We’ll soon find out!
– I Like Me Better has only gotten worse for me with each listen. The weird production and some of the cringe-worthy lyrics don’t sit well with me at all. Hopefully, it makes its way down some and ideally leave next week.
– Before introducing Beautiful Trauma, Spyder Harrison mentioned that P!NK’s daughter actually set up a candy stand backstage. Oh boy, I guess she won’t be able to eat all of the candy after all, because people want to buy some it seems. It’s like setting up a lemonade stand and many people are thirsty. I’ll bet she’s making us all hungry for some candy right now, heh.
– Both How Long and Bad At Love are now out of the Top 5. It looks like their time may be over, given that they’re starting to die out elsewhere. But since I just jinxed it, watch them jump back into that region next week.
– Spyder Harrison mentioned upon introducing Wolves that Selena Gomez loves to do things with Justin Bieber together. Boy, it must be fun to have someone do stuff together. That said, I was hoping Wolves would enter the Top 5 given how much I heard it as Most Wutchuwanted, but not today. Hopefully next week, maybe?
– Lights Down Low strangely decides to make a big jump this week. I’m not thrilled about this. I never even liked the song to begin, but now it’s become an annoyance. It’s almost close to a year since it debuted and now it’s starting to catch on?! Now it’s become the next Unsteady in which the song will never go away.
– I’m not too thrilled about Let You Down entering the Top 5, either. As I said in my last post, it just doesn’t really appeal to me, and the chipmunk vocals are unnecessary in my opinion. Though I’ll certainly take this over Lights Down Low any day.
– Thunder just simply won’t budge from the Top 3. Something tells me that this will be ranked very high on Hits 1’s Top 45 Of 2018 come December. With its successor now on the countdown, it’s sure to move down sooner or later.
– But then, we come to our new #1 this week! I’m indeed really happy with The Middle not only entering the Top 5, but also hitting the top spot! It caught on much faster than its predecessor did, which took about two months to get there since its debut last year. But yeah, The Middle definitely grew on me with each listen. It’s good to see Maren Morris having a cross-over hit. Hopefully, it can hog the #1 spot for a while.
Hit-Bound:
- Bazzi – Mine
- Meghan Trainor – No Excuses (DEBUT)
- Khalid – Young, Dumb, and Broke
- Rudimental featuring Jess Glynne, Macklemore, and Dan Caplen – These Days
- Niall Horan – On The Loose
- Portugal. The Man – Live In The Moment
- Kesha featuring The Dap-Kings Horns – Woman
- Post Malone featuring Ty Dolla $ign – Psycho
- Thirty Seconds To Mars – Walk On Water
- Marshmello featuring Anne-Marie – Friends
- Welshly Arms – Legendary
- Keala Settle – This Is Me
- Alice Merton – No Roots (DEBUT)
- Dustin Atlas featuring Erin Bowman – Fake Friends (DEBUT)
– Let’s begin with the first of three debuts, in which we have a song that is currently popular on Alt Nation. Alice Merton makes her first appearance with her single, No Roots. I did listen to this a couple of times and I do kinda like this, mainly for the groove and her nice vocals. But it’s not something I’ll be coming back to in the long run.
– Next up, we have the return of Erin Bowman, who is collaboration with Dustin Atlas in the song called Fake Friends. Right off the bat, I’m not too sold on their vocals. They seem a little underwhelming. And the production isn’t quite on point. My opinion could change, but it’ll likely remain as is for now.
– Oh boy. Some people are not going to like this, but Meghan Trainor is back. This time, she brings us her latest release titled No Excuses. I’ll just simply say that I don’t find Meghan Trainor to be that annoying as many say she is. I don’t really find her annoying at all. In fact, I actually really, really like her, even though her music’s been kinda mixed for me. Though Me Too and Dear Future Husband were both garbage, I liked her other singles such as All About That Bass, Lips Are Movin’, Like I’m Gonna Lose You, and to an extent, NØ. As for her latest single…well, I’m not entirely sure what to think of it. Sure, I do like the production and her vocals are better. But the songwriting is still pretty questionable. Then again, my initial reaction to her previous singles wasn’t the best either. I’ll have more on this when it debuts.
My Top 5 Hit-Bound Picks
1. Welshly Arms – Legendary
2. Kesha featuring The Dap-Kings Horns – Woman
3. Keala Settle – This Is Me
4. Rudimental featuring Jess Glynne, Macklemore, and Dan Caplen – These Days
5. Thirty Seconds To Mars – Walk On Water
- G-Eazy featuring Halsey – Him & I
- HRVY – Personal
- Sigala featuring Paloma Faith – Lullaby
- Bruno Mars featuring Cardi B. – Finesse (Remix)
- James Arthur – Naked
- Camila Cabello – Havana
- Jake Miller featuring Jabbar Hakeem – The Girl That’s Underneath
- Ed Sheeran – Perfect
- Jax Jones featuring Ina Wroldsen – Breathe
- NF – Let You Down
- Cash Cash featuring Nikki Vianna – Jewel
- Bebe Rexha featuring Florida Georgia Line – Meant To Be
- Khalid featuring Normani – Love Lies
- Imagine Dragons – Thunder
- ROZES featuring Nicky Romero – Where Would We Be
– Next, we have Jake Miller with his latest release, titled The Girl That’s Underneath, which features hip-hop artist Jabbar Hakeem. I was juggling between blue and green for this one, and I decided on the latter. The reason being is because I do like the production and what this song has to offer. The groove is nice, and Jake Miller does good vocals-wise. Jabbar also shows some talent as well. Not too much else I can say about this.
– Cash Cash has a new song called Jewel, which features Nikki Vianna. There’s a lot to like about this song. Nikki’s vocals are fantastic. She kinda reminds me of Ariana Grande, especially when we hear the chorus. Overall, it’s a really good song. Both of these artists definitely won me over with that one.
– We have more Khalid, and he’s bringing Fifth Harmony member Normani for the fun in their latest release, Love Lies, which is taken from the Love, Simon soundtrack. It’s a bit of a step up from his predecessor. Both of their vocals are on point for the most part, and I like the production. I can see this probably becoming another respectable hit for Khalid, which I hope it does.
– Who remembers ROZES? You know, the artist that collaborated with The Chainsmokers two year ago with Roses? No? Well, she’s back with her latest single titled Where Would We Be, which features DJ Nicky Romero. I won’t quite go there and say it’s as good as Roses, but ROZES does show what she’s capable of throughout the song. And Nicky Romero does a nice job with the production, though the drop isn’t quite the best. Still, not a bad song at all.
20. AJR featuring Rivers Cuomo – Sober Up
19. Bebe Rexha featuring Florida Georgia Line – Meant To Be
18. MAX featuring Gnash – Lights Down Low
1 – Bad:
17. Camila Cabello – Never Be The Same
16. Maroon 5 – Wait
15. NF – Let You Down
2 – Mediocre:
None!
3 – Decent:
14. Eminem featuring Ed Sheeran – River
4 – Good:
13. Imagine Dragons – Thunder
12. Charlie Puth – How Long
5 – Great:
11. Fall Out Boy – Hold Me Tight Or Don’t
10. P!NK – Beautiful Trauma
9. Hailee Steinfeld & Alesso featuring Florida Georgia Line and Watt – Let Me Go
8. Halsey – Bad At Love
7. Ed Sheeran – Perfect
6. Walk The Moon – One Foot
5. G-Eazy featuring Halsey – Him & I
4. Macklemore featuring Kesha – Good Old Days
3. Bruno Mars featuring Cardi B. – Finesse (Remix)
BONUS: 6 – Best Song On The Countdown:
TIE: 1. Selena Gomez featuring Marshmello – Wolves
TIE: 1. Zedd featuring Maren Morris and Grey – The Middle
Most Missed Hit-Bound Drop-Out: Lorde – Green Light
AJR – Weak: I already explained this when I reviewed My Bottom 10 Songs Of 2017. I’m sure there are many worse songs from the band objectively, but I can’t really think of one as obnoxious as this one. After watching Spectrum Pulse’s take on this, along with their entire album The Click, it gives me a good reason to slowly step away.
Zedd featuring Alessia Cara – Stay: I’m sure some are looking back and saying that he’s being branded as a sell-out, hence why they don’t like his current representation, but not me. I still like it even though it’s not his best work, and bringing in Alessia Cara was a good decision on his part.
QOTW: Well, folks. Meghan Trainor is back. How do you feel about this?
Meh, No Excuses is decent, if not a good song. I do wonder two things though. One, will this song last and be a successful hit like most of her songs from her debut album, and two what will the critical acclaim of this song be overall, along with the album.
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QOTW: I feel really happy about it.Also, you didn’t reply last week so I won’t be asking you a question of the week.
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No one wan'ts to reply to your QOTW because they're fucking stupid! No one cares about how many exits each week has except you, ask a question that actually pertains to music for once, it's not that fucking hard!
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In regards to Meghan Trainor, I don't know if this return of hers will last. Her Smurfs single from last year, I'm A Lady, got literally nowhere. Meanwhile, No Excuses is still Top 10 on iTunes, but has basically no streaming to speak of right now. Anyway…Goodbye, Praying. You earned your spot at #1 on all those best of 2017 lists you were included on, including Montavis' here. And Spectrum Pulse and The Social Tune, too. A powerful statement of a song that while it was successful, deserved so much better, but I'm glad you managed to make it on both the Year-End Hot 100 and Hits 1's Year-End countdown. Farewell, Praying. It's been real.\”Unless you've been a avid Hits 1 follower for about four or so years, then you probably don't know much about 5 Seconds Of Summer.\” Well, they did have two songs near the bottom of 2014's Year-End Hot 100, so they weren't much of a thing outside of Hits 1 beyond that year.Yay for My My My gaining some success! Too bad it hasn't been a hit elsewhere. )=Also, with Him and I having been on the countdown for almost two months now (and being a lock for the Year-End Hot 100 at this point), I don't believe I've mentioned the hysterical line \”Ever catch me cheating, she would try to cut my – hahaha\”. Once you've heard that, you can't unhear it. :PIt wouldn't surprise me if Thunder ends up being akin to Closer last year as in being near the midway point of the first year it shows up in and then super close to the top on the second (Closer was #25 on 2016's I think, and then #3 on 2017's). Although that might be a stretch.As for our #1, I would say I'm surprised, but I'm really not. But if the fact that it kinda rocketed up there is anything to go by, expect it to hog #1 for at least a little while.My Top 5:1. Tie: Finesse1. Tie: Pray For Me3. Good Old Days4. Whatever It Takes5. The Middle(HM: Him and I)Least favorite song on the countdown: Sober Up (surprise, nobody)DHM: Wait (this is only getting worse every time I hear it)Favorite song on Hit-Bound: On The LooseHM: WomanLeast favorite song on Hit-Bound: Psycho
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I see that your Top 5 is basically the same as mine's, except I like Wolves a lot. Still, I definitely agree with all of your Top 5.And it's good to see you and me shared a hatred for Sober Up. Blech. I am honestly tired of hearing from AJR. Adrian is right, Hits 1 needs to stop picking up on their music.As for your dishonorable mention, well you're not breaking my heart on that one seeing as this song, along with their two other singles, showed that Maroon 5 doesn't have the groove they once did. I miss the days where they actually had a band, but oh well.
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Speaking of dishonorable mentions, there's two of which that come to mind. I already talked about I Like Me Better in the blurbs. Never Be The Same has gotten worse for me, also. And no, I don't say that because of Adrian either. Actually, yes I did. I'll just simply leave it at that. But the point is, this is not a good follow-up to Havana. Hopefully, it dies down soon, but it's not likely right now.Although I do like On The Loose, I'm quite surprised to see it as your favorite on Hit-Bound. I guess that means you've been enjoying it more?Oh, and as for my thoughts on Meghan Trainor, I actually didn't like her music at first because it was a little too weird for my liking, but now I'm looking back on that and I'm not sure what I was thinking then. I might grow into No Excuses, but I don't know yet.
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So unrelated to this, but I just had FXX on, and before The Simpsons, they played the movie The 5th Wave. And the closing credits played Alive by Sia, a song that was much slept on, snubbed and slandered. To me, it was criminally underrated and I'm with Spectrum Pulse and Cicabeot in feeling it deserved better than it got.
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Yeah, I did see your post mentioning Sia – Alive when you were talking about Katy Perry – Rise. I'm also with you on Alive as well. It's definitely a good song and I too wished that it deserved better.There are some other criminally underrated songs by many that come to mind. One in particular was Jess Glynne – Hold My Hand, which the blogging community wasn't too fond of, but I love it.Oh, and there's also Ariana Grande featuring Nicki Minaj – Side To Side, which is hated by some people here (and now Adrian), but many other YouTube critics (as well as myself) fell in love with it, and I still do love it.
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I know it may be a little too early for this, but I'm going to ask this question. Any idea on what songs will have a shot at Hits 1's Year-End list? (Besides our #1 songs)
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I actually really like No Excuses. I think it’s the best Meghan is gonna get.
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My ideas: Let You Down, Let Me Go, Lights Down Low, Wolves, Meant To Be, One Foot
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I can definitely agree on Let Me Go and Wolves, especially the former given how much time its spent in the Top 5. As for the other three, Let You Down might have a shot if it continues its momentum. Same with One Foot. Also, if Lights Down Low somehow gets lucky, then it might make it.
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Removed from the voting list: Wolves: Animal, P!NK: What About UsAdded to the voting list: Foster The People: Sit Next To Me, Dua Lipa: IDGAF, Demi Lovato: Tell Me You Love Me
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Already posted on Adrian's blog. The latter two I'm happy about, but I haven't heard the former yet. I'll have more on those debuts this weekend.Oh, and BTW, please don't spoil the #1 song. Don't do it at all. We want to be surprised. It makes the countdown fun.
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