#55: "Hold On, We're Going Home" by Drake feat. Majid Jordan
Re-review!
The song opens with a rather rapid drum beat. It is somewhat interesting, but it is less so when that drum beat is the major instrument in the song. There is a piano, but it is rather low in the mix, as is what may be a violin. Overall, this song relies almost completely on Drake's vocals to hold interest. He...doesn't really pull it off. It's not that he really sounds bad, but he maintains a near-monotone, seeming resistant to the temptation to emote or connect.
This song is basically about picking up a girl. Drake's hitting on her a bit, telling her she's a good girl, and then reassuring with the title phrase. It's not nearly as charming as Drake thinks it is.
This song is...boring. The lyrics come off badly, sounding almost like he has drugged her and kidnapped her. That could be interesting, albeit not in a good way, but Drake's near-monotone singing sucks any passion out of the song, and the music line is too sparse to make up for it. This was about as intriguing as the beeps of a fax machine.
#54: "Hot Boy" by Bobby Shmurda
Bobby Shmurda is a rapper from Brooklyn. He's not currently making music, on account of being arrested as a suspected ringleader of a gang called GS9, a Crips gang. I think we should just get onto the song, hmm? Oh, and once again, the hit version is censored from the original. The original...well, let's just say a certain N-word comes up in the title.
The song opens with sirens as the driving "music", an interesting touch. The song proper, however, goes with a synth line, although the sirens do come back later. It's a different sound, sort of, but it sounds a bit discordant as well, as if the music doesn't know what it's supposed to be doing. Rapping-wise, Bobby Shmurda does have some talent. He shows some nice flow, and he doesn't sound like he's just phoning it in.
The lyrics basically describe the life of a gang member. Going around with his "homies", shooting places up with an AR, getting with the women, the whole nine yards.
I try not to let the personal life of an artist interfere with their work. In some cases, it can be really hard to do it. This is one of those cases. The music isn't always interesting, but it is unique, and Bobby Shmurda shows some rapping talent. The lyrics are standard rap stuff, glorifying the criminal life. When you add in the real-life controversies around Bobby Shmurda, however, and notice that he claimed he at least partially based this song off of real-life experiences in an interview...Yeah. This is a good rap song, but it's just too uncomfortable, and I feel somewhat guilty even reviewing it.
#53: "Na Na" by Trey Songz
Trey Songz is an R&B singer-songwriter. He's had a fairly successful career. I reviewed him way back in my 2011 list, with his song "Bottoms Up". I didn't care for it. Let's see if this song is better.
The music is basically driven by a soft bass line, with some drums and a crowd chanting "hey" on some parts. It's definitely on the dull side. As for Trey Songz's singing, he rivals Drake in terms of slurring while singing. He has a decent voice, even if his range isn't that great, though.
This song is about picking up a girl. Or rather, it's about hitting on a girl and getting laid.
This song is not that good. The beat is a little too much on the dull side, and Trey Songz is wildly inconsistent, singing well on some parts, but slurring and stumbling on others. As for the lyrics, they are the same lyrics as many songs of this ilk nowadays. This song does nothing different from all the other R&B and rap songs about picking up women, so I see no reason to listen to this one over the others.
#52: "Don't" by Ed Sheeran
Repeat artist!
This song shows a lot of R&B influence with an acapella opening. The music proper is mostly driven by drums in the verses, although the chorus does introduce a decent piano line, as well as a synth line that I don't care for. Overall, it's not as good as the music in "Sing", but it does its job well. Vocally, Ed Sheeran doesn't show as many vocal tricks as he did in "Sing", but he still pulls off the R&B style quite well, with some nice emotion to make up for the fact that he doesn't show a wide range off.
The lyrics to this song are basically tearing down a girl for cheating on him. Rather harshly tearing down a girl for cheating on him. He wrote it based off of a real-life experience. It says something that he played it for Taylor Swift, and her response was "Whatever happens, ever, between us as friends, I never want to piss you off that much."
Once I understood the backstory of this song, I appreciated it much more. I always liked the R&B feel to the song, but the lyrics always seemed a bit twisted and inconsistent to me. Now that I understood it was basically him venting his feelings after being cheated on, it makes the song much clearer. The lyrics, once you know the story behind them, are quite good, adding to the R&B feel. Never mess with Ed Sheeran. He will eviscerate you publicly, and get a hit out of it.
[small]By the way, the girl who cheated on him? Ellie Goulding.[/small]
#51: "A Sky Full of Stars" by Coldplay
Woo. A band that is either "sensitive" or "boring", depending on your perspective. I tend towards the latter.
Music is surprisingly upbeat, by Coldplay standards. It uses a midtempo piano line, backing up the vocals quite nicely. The piano is joined by synth in the bridge, becoming almost EDM at that point. It's quite high-energy, and is something different for Coldplay. Of course, it would help if the singer was aware that the song was higher energy. He has a decent voice, and pretty good range, but he's just too soft and gentle when the music kicks into high gear, almost getting drowned out.
This is a dance song, and the lyrics reflect that. It's all about seeing a "sky full of stars". What does that mean? Who cares? Dance time!
First Ed Sheeran surprises me with a song inspired by Justin Timberlake, and now Coldplay does an EDM song? The music side is quite strong in both composition and production (which, by the way, was provided by Avicii, who went uncredited). The lyrics are as shallow as you can get, and Chris Martin does not have the strongest voice to deal with the powerful music, but this song was a lot of fun. When's the last time you heard a fun Coldplay song?
Well, that list had a nice ending. Makes up for a very uncomfortable listen.
Previously: #60-56 [http://www.escapistmagazine.com/forums/read/326.867636-2014-Billboard-Top-100-60-56]
Next: #50-46 [http://www.escapistmagazine.com/forums/read/326.867932-2014-Billboard-Top-100-50-46]
Re-review!
The song opens with a rather rapid drum beat. It is somewhat interesting, but it is less so when that drum beat is the major instrument in the song. There is a piano, but it is rather low in the mix, as is what may be a violin. Overall, this song relies almost completely on Drake's vocals to hold interest. He...doesn't really pull it off. It's not that he really sounds bad, but he maintains a near-monotone, seeming resistant to the temptation to emote or connect.
This song is basically about picking up a girl. Drake's hitting on her a bit, telling her she's a good girl, and then reassuring with the title phrase. It's not nearly as charming as Drake thinks it is.
This song is...boring. The lyrics come off badly, sounding almost like he has drugged her and kidnapped her. That could be interesting, albeit not in a good way, but Drake's near-monotone singing sucks any passion out of the song, and the music line is too sparse to make up for it. This was about as intriguing as the beeps of a fax machine.
#54: "Hot Boy" by Bobby Shmurda
Bobby Shmurda is a rapper from Brooklyn. He's not currently making music, on account of being arrested as a suspected ringleader of a gang called GS9, a Crips gang. I think we should just get onto the song, hmm? Oh, and once again, the hit version is censored from the original. The original...well, let's just say a certain N-word comes up in the title.
The song opens with sirens as the driving "music", an interesting touch. The song proper, however, goes with a synth line, although the sirens do come back later. It's a different sound, sort of, but it sounds a bit discordant as well, as if the music doesn't know what it's supposed to be doing. Rapping-wise, Bobby Shmurda does have some talent. He shows some nice flow, and he doesn't sound like he's just phoning it in.
The lyrics basically describe the life of a gang member. Going around with his "homies", shooting places up with an AR, getting with the women, the whole nine yards.
I try not to let the personal life of an artist interfere with their work. In some cases, it can be really hard to do it. This is one of those cases. The music isn't always interesting, but it is unique, and Bobby Shmurda shows some rapping talent. The lyrics are standard rap stuff, glorifying the criminal life. When you add in the real-life controversies around Bobby Shmurda, however, and notice that he claimed he at least partially based this song off of real-life experiences in an interview...Yeah. This is a good rap song, but it's just too uncomfortable, and I feel somewhat guilty even reviewing it.
#53: "Na Na" by Trey Songz
Trey Songz is an R&B singer-songwriter. He's had a fairly successful career. I reviewed him way back in my 2011 list, with his song "Bottoms Up". I didn't care for it. Let's see if this song is better.
The music is basically driven by a soft bass line, with some drums and a crowd chanting "hey" on some parts. It's definitely on the dull side. As for Trey Songz's singing, he rivals Drake in terms of slurring while singing. He has a decent voice, even if his range isn't that great, though.
This song is about picking up a girl. Or rather, it's about hitting on a girl and getting laid.
This song is not that good. The beat is a little too much on the dull side, and Trey Songz is wildly inconsistent, singing well on some parts, but slurring and stumbling on others. As for the lyrics, they are the same lyrics as many songs of this ilk nowadays. This song does nothing different from all the other R&B and rap songs about picking up women, so I see no reason to listen to this one over the others.
#52: "Don't" by Ed Sheeran
Repeat artist!
This song shows a lot of R&B influence with an acapella opening. The music proper is mostly driven by drums in the verses, although the chorus does introduce a decent piano line, as well as a synth line that I don't care for. Overall, it's not as good as the music in "Sing", but it does its job well. Vocally, Ed Sheeran doesn't show as many vocal tricks as he did in "Sing", but he still pulls off the R&B style quite well, with some nice emotion to make up for the fact that he doesn't show a wide range off.
The lyrics to this song are basically tearing down a girl for cheating on him. Rather harshly tearing down a girl for cheating on him. He wrote it based off of a real-life experience. It says something that he played it for Taylor Swift, and her response was "Whatever happens, ever, between us as friends, I never want to piss you off that much."
Once I understood the backstory of this song, I appreciated it much more. I always liked the R&B feel to the song, but the lyrics always seemed a bit twisted and inconsistent to me. Now that I understood it was basically him venting his feelings after being cheated on, it makes the song much clearer. The lyrics, once you know the story behind them, are quite good, adding to the R&B feel. Never mess with Ed Sheeran. He will eviscerate you publicly, and get a hit out of it.
[small]By the way, the girl who cheated on him? Ellie Goulding.[/small]
#51: "A Sky Full of Stars" by Coldplay
Woo. A band that is either "sensitive" or "boring", depending on your perspective. I tend towards the latter.
Music is surprisingly upbeat, by Coldplay standards. It uses a midtempo piano line, backing up the vocals quite nicely. The piano is joined by synth in the bridge, becoming almost EDM at that point. It's quite high-energy, and is something different for Coldplay. Of course, it would help if the singer was aware that the song was higher energy. He has a decent voice, and pretty good range, but he's just too soft and gentle when the music kicks into high gear, almost getting drowned out.
This is a dance song, and the lyrics reflect that. It's all about seeing a "sky full of stars". What does that mean? Who cares? Dance time!
First Ed Sheeran surprises me with a song inspired by Justin Timberlake, and now Coldplay does an EDM song? The music side is quite strong in both composition and production (which, by the way, was provided by Avicii, who went uncredited). The lyrics are as shallow as you can get, and Chris Martin does not have the strongest voice to deal with the powerful music, but this song was a lot of fun. When's the last time you heard a fun Coldplay song?
Well, that list had a nice ending. Makes up for a very uncomfortable listen.
Previously: #60-56 [http://www.escapistmagazine.com/forums/read/326.867636-2014-Billboard-Top-100-60-56]
Next: #50-46 [http://www.escapistmagazine.com/forums/read/326.867932-2014-Billboard-Top-100-50-46]
Ain't It Fun and Roar... yeah well they were contenders for Worst Song of the Year once again