Top 40!
#40: "Wiggle" by Jason Derulo feat. Snoop Dogg
Repeat artist! Well, one is. As for Snoop Dogg, I'm a little worried. He's a decent rapper, but he has a tendency to not give a crap during guest verses.
Interesting opening for a song. It opens with whistling, somewhat reminiscent of the X-Files theme. That wasn't bad, but the main music line is drums, with occasional keyboard and some whistling in the chorus that sounds like it is going for a tribal feel, but not really succeeding. Overall, the music is nearly non-existent. Jason Derulo does all right vocally, I guess, but he does use Autotune a bit too much. As for Snoop Dogg, it speaks to his talent that he still sounds good even when he could clearly not give less of a crap about the song.
This is a love song to the buttocks. Baby got back, so Jason wants her to shake that groove thing, that sort of song.
I could dislike the lyrics of this song, but I'd be hypocritical. See, I don't have a problem with songs like this as long as the song is fun, and clearly not taking itself seriously. In this case, though, there's not really anything to recommend it. The music isn't going to do anything, because it's practically not there, and Jason Derulo is too inconsistent vocally to give any kind of energy to the song. Snoop Dogg's verse is pretty nice, if only because of how little he cares, but this isn't even the sort of bad song to like ironically, or be a guilty pleasure. Sir Mixalot and Sisqo have no competition in the butt song department.
#39: "Burn" by Ellie Goulding
Ellie Goulding's had a fair bit of success in recent years. She had a huge hit in 2012 with "Lights", another hit last year paired with Calvin Harris with "I Need Your Love", and now this song.
The song opens with an interesting synth line that almost sounds like it is buffering. The song proper has a more low-key synth line in the verses. The chorus, on the other hand, is drums and overly loud synth, practically drowning out the vocals. Speaking of which, Ellie Goulding has a very pretty, light voice. The problem is that when the song starts getting loud, she doesn't really have the power in her voice to make up for the increase in volume, hence why she nearly gets drowned out.
The lyrics for this song are definitely open to interpretation. The best interpretation I can think of, if you take the lyrics at face value, is the thought process of an artist before the performance, going out on stage and lighting the "fire", or passion, in the listeners and letting it burn. Some, including Ryan Tedder (one of the co-writers of the song), have hinted that it is geared more towards the passion behind a civil rights cause rather than listening to music, but again, it's fairly open to interpretation.
Even if the song is a bit ambiguous in meaning, what isn't ambiguous is how much I care for the song. I do enjoy it a fair bit. It has a nice energy to it, and Ellie Goulding's voice fits the lyrics fairly well. I just wish the production was a little tighter, and kept in mind the weaker vocals of Ellie Goulding (that's weak as in "lacking power", not weak as in "bad").
#38: "Bailando" by Enrique Iglesias feat. Descember Bueno y Gente de Zona
Enrique Iglesias is, in essence, the last remnant of the 90's Latin craze, although being that he's still popular, that seems to be a bit dismissive of a statement. Descember Bueno is a Cuban singer, composer, and producer, while Gente de Zona is a Cuban reggaeton band. What is reggaeton? Well, it's basically a fusion of reggae and Latin music. There were actually 4 versions of this song. This version is completely in Spanish. There was also a Spanglish version, which featured Sean Paul, a Brazilian Portuguese version featuring Luan Santana, and a Portugal Portuguese version featuring Mickael Carreira.
Well, I like that intro. It's basic Latin guitar, but there's a bit of a reggae feel to it as well. It's unique, and has a nice rhythm to it. I approve. As for the vocals, Descember Bueno seems to get the lion's share of the vocals, but he sounds quite good, having a deeper voice than Enrique Iglesias, who probably sounds better in Spanish than he does in English. The two of them work pretty well together.
This song is basically about meeting a girl in a bar and taking her home. You know, standard club fare.
This song works quite well, at least in this version. The music has a nice rhythm to it, while still giving the song a unique identity, both artists sound quite good and play off of each other nicely. The lyrics, in essence, are about the same thing that a lot of club songs are about, but they are a lot less crude about it. The lyrics can get a little cheesy at times (one translation: "With your physics and your chemistry and your anatomy, beer and tequila and your mouth with mine"), it still manages to make me smile. This is how you can do a club song well, without taking away from the fun of it. And I don't even know Spanish that well.
#37: "Break Free" by Ariana Grande feat. Zedd
Ariana Grande is a pop singer, fresh from Nickelodeon. I reviewed one of her songs for 2013, "The Way", which was pretty dang good, by teen pop standards. Also, repeat artist!
The intro was not that good, musically, being essentially a blast of synth fuzz. The rest of the music isn't too bad, but I'm definitely getting a sense of deja vu. The music sounds quite similar to that of last year's hit "Clarity". Who was involved with that? Oh, yeah, Zedd. It's still good, but utilizes a fair bit of self-plagiarism. Vocally, Ariana Grande sounds quite good, especially given her younger age, although she does go a bit higher than her voice can really sound good at a bit.
This song is basically about dealing with your insecurities. Rather than letting the insecurities control you, it is encouraging you to break free, and that doing so will make you stronger.
This song is a bit more similar to "Clarity" musically than I would like. That said, Ariana is pretty strong on vocals, and shows off quite an impressive range, even if she's not always sounding the best on the notes she hits. The message of the song is one that is appreciable as well. I enjoyed this song overall.
#36: "Anaconda" by Nicki Minaj
Ah, Nicki Minaj. At last, we meet again.
The music line should feel quite familiar to anyone who knows their early 90's one-hit wonders. Why? Because it is the exact same line as "Baby Got Back". I don't mean quite similar. It is flat out identical. Not that that's bad, as it makes the song instantly noticeable. Nicki Minaj...well, her vocals have never been the greatest, and this song is no exception. That said, she does show quite impressive flow and speed with her rapping.
This song is "Baby Got Back", but with verses added in from the female point of view.
I should hate this song. I should despise it with every fiber of my being. The music line is directly ripped out of "Baby Got Back", not even trying to disguise it. Hell, this song is basically just a remix of "Baby Got Back", but with Nicki Minaj adding in some verses to piss off every self-respecting woman. And yet..it's so fascinating to listen to. The lyrics may not be the strongest, and are definitely not the most sensitive, but Nicki Minaj has a fair bit of skill if you can get past her voice, and the song has a lot of energy around it. It may not be a technically good song, but it is fun to listen to. This is a guilty pleasure if there ever was one. I'm a pig.
I am sure I'm going to get some comments over that last one.
Previously: #45-41 [http://www.escapistmagazine.com/forums/read/326.868231-2014-Billboard-Top-100-45-41]
Next: #35-31 [http://www.escapistmagazine.com/forums/read/326.868513-2014-Billboard-Top-100-35-31]
#40: "Wiggle" by Jason Derulo feat. Snoop Dogg
Repeat artist! Well, one is. As for Snoop Dogg, I'm a little worried. He's a decent rapper, but he has a tendency to not give a crap during guest verses.
Interesting opening for a song. It opens with whistling, somewhat reminiscent of the X-Files theme. That wasn't bad, but the main music line is drums, with occasional keyboard and some whistling in the chorus that sounds like it is going for a tribal feel, but not really succeeding. Overall, the music is nearly non-existent. Jason Derulo does all right vocally, I guess, but he does use Autotune a bit too much. As for Snoop Dogg, it speaks to his talent that he still sounds good even when he could clearly not give less of a crap about the song.
This is a love song to the buttocks. Baby got back, so Jason wants her to shake that groove thing, that sort of song.
I could dislike the lyrics of this song, but I'd be hypocritical. See, I don't have a problem with songs like this as long as the song is fun, and clearly not taking itself seriously. In this case, though, there's not really anything to recommend it. The music isn't going to do anything, because it's practically not there, and Jason Derulo is too inconsistent vocally to give any kind of energy to the song. Snoop Dogg's verse is pretty nice, if only because of how little he cares, but this isn't even the sort of bad song to like ironically, or be a guilty pleasure. Sir Mixalot and Sisqo have no competition in the butt song department.
#39: "Burn" by Ellie Goulding
Ellie Goulding's had a fair bit of success in recent years. She had a huge hit in 2012 with "Lights", another hit last year paired with Calvin Harris with "I Need Your Love", and now this song.
The song opens with an interesting synth line that almost sounds like it is buffering. The song proper has a more low-key synth line in the verses. The chorus, on the other hand, is drums and overly loud synth, practically drowning out the vocals. Speaking of which, Ellie Goulding has a very pretty, light voice. The problem is that when the song starts getting loud, she doesn't really have the power in her voice to make up for the increase in volume, hence why she nearly gets drowned out.
The lyrics for this song are definitely open to interpretation. The best interpretation I can think of, if you take the lyrics at face value, is the thought process of an artist before the performance, going out on stage and lighting the "fire", or passion, in the listeners and letting it burn. Some, including Ryan Tedder (one of the co-writers of the song), have hinted that it is geared more towards the passion behind a civil rights cause rather than listening to music, but again, it's fairly open to interpretation.
Even if the song is a bit ambiguous in meaning, what isn't ambiguous is how much I care for the song. I do enjoy it a fair bit. It has a nice energy to it, and Ellie Goulding's voice fits the lyrics fairly well. I just wish the production was a little tighter, and kept in mind the weaker vocals of Ellie Goulding (that's weak as in "lacking power", not weak as in "bad").
#38: "Bailando" by Enrique Iglesias feat. Descember Bueno y Gente de Zona
Enrique Iglesias is, in essence, the last remnant of the 90's Latin craze, although being that he's still popular, that seems to be a bit dismissive of a statement. Descember Bueno is a Cuban singer, composer, and producer, while Gente de Zona is a Cuban reggaeton band. What is reggaeton? Well, it's basically a fusion of reggae and Latin music. There were actually 4 versions of this song. This version is completely in Spanish. There was also a Spanglish version, which featured Sean Paul, a Brazilian Portuguese version featuring Luan Santana, and a Portugal Portuguese version featuring Mickael Carreira.
Well, I like that intro. It's basic Latin guitar, but there's a bit of a reggae feel to it as well. It's unique, and has a nice rhythm to it. I approve. As for the vocals, Descember Bueno seems to get the lion's share of the vocals, but he sounds quite good, having a deeper voice than Enrique Iglesias, who probably sounds better in Spanish than he does in English. The two of them work pretty well together.
This song is basically about meeting a girl in a bar and taking her home. You know, standard club fare.
This song works quite well, at least in this version. The music has a nice rhythm to it, while still giving the song a unique identity, both artists sound quite good and play off of each other nicely. The lyrics, in essence, are about the same thing that a lot of club songs are about, but they are a lot less crude about it. The lyrics can get a little cheesy at times (one translation: "With your physics and your chemistry and your anatomy, beer and tequila and your mouth with mine"), it still manages to make me smile. This is how you can do a club song well, without taking away from the fun of it. And I don't even know Spanish that well.
#37: "Break Free" by Ariana Grande feat. Zedd
Ariana Grande is a pop singer, fresh from Nickelodeon. I reviewed one of her songs for 2013, "The Way", which was pretty dang good, by teen pop standards. Also, repeat artist!
The intro was not that good, musically, being essentially a blast of synth fuzz. The rest of the music isn't too bad, but I'm definitely getting a sense of deja vu. The music sounds quite similar to that of last year's hit "Clarity". Who was involved with that? Oh, yeah, Zedd. It's still good, but utilizes a fair bit of self-plagiarism. Vocally, Ariana Grande sounds quite good, especially given her younger age, although she does go a bit higher than her voice can really sound good at a bit.
This song is basically about dealing with your insecurities. Rather than letting the insecurities control you, it is encouraging you to break free, and that doing so will make you stronger.
This song is a bit more similar to "Clarity" musically than I would like. That said, Ariana is pretty strong on vocals, and shows off quite an impressive range, even if she's not always sounding the best on the notes she hits. The message of the song is one that is appreciable as well. I enjoyed this song overall.
#36: "Anaconda" by Nicki Minaj
Ah, Nicki Minaj. At last, we meet again.
The music line should feel quite familiar to anyone who knows their early 90's one-hit wonders. Why? Because it is the exact same line as "Baby Got Back". I don't mean quite similar. It is flat out identical. Not that that's bad, as it makes the song instantly noticeable. Nicki Minaj...well, her vocals have never been the greatest, and this song is no exception. That said, she does show quite impressive flow and speed with her rapping.
This song is "Baby Got Back", but with verses added in from the female point of view.
I should hate this song. I should despise it with every fiber of my being. The music line is directly ripped out of "Baby Got Back", not even trying to disguise it. Hell, this song is basically just a remix of "Baby Got Back", but with Nicki Minaj adding in some verses to piss off every self-respecting woman. And yet..it's so fascinating to listen to. The lyrics may not be the strongest, and are definitely not the most sensitive, but Nicki Minaj has a fair bit of skill if you can get past her voice, and the song has a lot of energy around it. It may not be a technically good song, but it is fun to listen to. This is a guilty pleasure if there ever was one. I'm a pig.
I am sure I'm going to get some comments over that last one.
Previously: #45-41 [http://www.escapistmagazine.com/forums/read/326.868231-2014-Billboard-Top-100-45-41]
Next: #35-31 [http://www.escapistmagazine.com/forums/read/326.868513-2014-Billboard-Top-100-35-31]
