Thanks for the comments! Anyway, feel like it's time for me to kick off my Top 10 albums, here we go, here's #10!
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Girls Generation opened 2013 with a bang. On January 1st 2013, they released their fourth Korean album titled I Got a Boy. And like any Girls Generation album, it's fun, cute, catchy and simply great pop music. Girls Generation were the first K-pop act I really showed interest in and so far they haven't disappointed me with their music.
1. I Got a Boy - 10/10
The title track for the album was released as the first single and really opens the album up with a bang. The incohesive structure and sonics is what makes this song so magical, switching from classic pop sounds to electronic hip-hop sounds, it's got something for everyone, including a catchy hook. A winner.
2. Dancing Queen - 5/10
I'll be honest, I'm not a huge fan of this song and found it to be a pretty irrelevant addition to the album. The song is a Korean version of Duffy's Mercy, and I wasn't a huge fan of that either. I feel like they certainly could have added something else here.
3. Baby Maybe - 7/10
Not the worst, but certainly not the best. It's very cute and I love the "oh's" in the chorus. A nice addition to the album and a typical cute Girls Generation track.
4. Talk Talk - 8/10
The Korean version of Boomerang, a track released on their 2012 Japanese album Girls & Peace. This song is great, the verses have a harder feel to them and chorus too is great. This is super enjoyable, one of the better songs on the album.
5. Promise - 7/10 Promise is the first real ballad to appear on the album. It's nice, it has a catchy chorus and it's chill to listen to and they all sound great, as expected. A nice track, but certainly not a highlight for me at all.
6. Express 999 - 10/10
I'm not quite sure how to express my love for this song. I think this is one of my favourite Girls Generation songs of all time and probably the best song on this entire album for me. The chorus is one of the best choruses of the whole year and the entire track is catchy and super well written. Sonically it has some pop-rock influences in the chorus and the funky electronic vibes in the verses are one of the main factors that make it so good. A brilliant track.
7. Lost in Love - 6/10
The second ballad on the album. While it doesn't compare to Promise, it's still cute. Nothing special however and I do often find myself skipping it.
8. Look at Me - 10/10
This song is so great. I love the slight tribal influences at the beginning, the whole song is super catchy and a highlight for me, one of the best tracks on the album.
9. Xyz - 4/10
Not really a huge fan of this at all, I found it a bit boring and I just about skip it all the time. I honestly forgot this was even on the album. Not their best, that's for sure.
10. Romantic St. - 6/10
Not the best, but certainly a lovely closing track to a great album. The light jazz-esque verses are really nice to listen to, it's a soothing pretty ballad and a lovely track. A nice way to close the album.
Overall, this album is pretty sweet and cutesy, but that's expected from a Girls Generation album and I certainly love them for it, so I don't complain about it. The girls never fail to disappoint me, I highly recommend you check out their music. Especially if you're new to K-pop or want to explore the genre and want something nice to get into. They're music is certainly nice, at least I think so.
Overall: 73/100 - 73% Highlights:I Got a Boy, Express 999, Look at Me.
Please comment! I'll be continuing my song countdown later on tonight!
Like many albums this year, I didn't listen to the full Bastille album, but I've heard a few songs from it and I've liked them all, so I'll probably like the album, too.
Okay, so! Let me crack on with my Top 100 songs, this is numbers #95-91:
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I discovered Charli a little while ago now, thanks to the brilliant Owl, after he let me hear Nuclear Seasons when it came out. I enjoyed her singles, but sadly her album never moved like I'd have liked and I found it fairly boring. She's a talented girl though and I'm excited to check out 2014 album after this single.
SuperLove is a great, fun pop song. It certainly a lot different to Charli's material that I fell in love with initially, but it's a brilliant fun pop song and nice break from her darker sounds. Would have loved if this was much more of a success for her, but it's a nice treat regardless. Plus I adore the video and it's set in Japan which is one of my favourite places, which is a plus!
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Ah, the Queen of ATRL the past few days it seems. I'll say now that BEYONCÉ and none of it's songs, apart from this one (If you'd count it as an album track?), made my list this year, so think of this paragraph as a small shout out to the Queen Bey, and an honourable mention as she did really good with her album. It's visually stunning and the music for the most part is top notch.
This song was like a burden for the Hive. Is it the lead? Will it be released on iTunes today? Will it be performed at the Superbowl? So many questions with disappointing answers. One thing that failed to disappoint was the song itself. The tribal influences in Grown Woman are heavenly and the beat and melody are infectious. A great typical Beyoncé song.
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So, I'll be 100%, I don't really have much interest towards Selena. Between her and Miley and Demi, I definitely like her the most out of the three of them, but that's only because my thoughts on the other two are so low. I think she's a sweet girl and she's pretty talented, but other than a few songs here and there she's not my cup of tea and I don't feel like paying much attention to her.
This is one of the few songs on Stars Dance I really adore. The album itself is a bit gruelling, but when she was able to pull something off she did it brilliantly and this is the case for Birthday. It's fun, it's sexy, it's catchy, it's everything epitomising pop music of today. While it's not the best she had on her album, it's fairly good, and could see it being successful it it were to have future single treatment.
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I'm sure a lot of people won't know this song since it's a K-pop song, so this is for the K-pop fans. B1A4 were fairly new to me this year, like all K-pop acts I got into this year, but they're truly great at making fun pop music, and that's really all that matters, at least for me. Their music is great, I can stick it on and it's all easy to listen to and fun.
This song isn't their most upbeat, nor is it their best, (this is my lowest of three songs for B1A4, another two will appear later in the list!) but it's sweet and nice to listen to. I'm looking forward to seeing what 2014 brings for them, and hopefully they deliver much the same as they have in the past.
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I'm not sure how if this is the exact thing with this song, but if I remember correctly, this song was written by Wynter for her newborn Nephew. This is certainly one of the stand out tracks for me on Sanguine.
This song is super cute. It's a fun song, very easy to listen to, not too dark and just all round happy. I could listen to it on repeat for hours and still feel like the song was new to me. It's a brilliant addition to her EP and I recommend you check it out!
(I'm also just learning this song isn't from 2013, apparently. Oh well, still deserves it's place on my list!)
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Please comment! I'll be posting more songs in the morning. As I move further up the list I'm sure there'll be more songs a few more people will know, so stay tuned!
I'm looking forward to seeing what 2014 brings for [B1A4]...
Same here, they're even scheduled for a comeback early next year.
Nice list so far! Even though Wynter is independent, she should have tried to push "Lucky Ones". I don't think it would have had the same success as "Thrift Shop" but it could have been a minor hit, at least.
Ungh, Charli XCX. I'm going to fall in love with her, I can feel it. I might be one of the ten people that hasn't listened to that Beyonce album. I might in 2014. We'll see.