And now we're into the big time! Included here are this year's breakout star, the first appearance of everyone's (but especially Dani's!) favorite 20 year old, a "recovered" crack addict, and 3.5 artists I FULLY SUPPORT. This set will be titled:
WOMEN STRIKE BACK. Read on to find out why ...
45. Lady Gaga - Bad Romance
Packing more hooks per second than most other pop songs released this year,
Bad Romance found Gaga at a turning point in her year. Through some combination of talent, perseverance, and Midwestern fans, she had won over - or at least silenced - all of her doubters. Where was she to go now? Apparently, to Eastern European industrial trance clubs, with hints of Grand Guignol in the choruses to boot! With her most assured, impassioned vocal yet, Bad Romance finally gave Gaga the song to match her (incumbent) superstar status.
(Straight feenin', she is)
44. Whitney Houston - Million Dollar Bill
When I heard Alicia Keys would be writing the Whitney "comeback" single, I nearly vomited. I figured it would be what most people assumed it would be: some ill-conceived piece of obvious Grammybait. I'm so glad I made an ass of myself! Although this single is not without it's faults (seriously, "Can't deny the way that he's making me/feel this way about his love?" THAT'S NOT EVEN PROPER ENGLISH.), it really works. Why? Because, as shocked as I am to type this, because of Whitney. For the first time (arguably ever), she sounds fully invested - and gives a real
performance. There's a keen understanding of the lyric; I particularly like the years of built up tension on the verge of being released evident in the second verse. Chimney might not have the range and luster of her previous voice, but it seems that she only know has she learned the importance of interpretation. Better late than never.
P.S. - Although it's the most obvious "sample" this side of
Fantasy, damn if it doesn't do it's job! LOLEATTA HATHAWAY FOR THE MOTHER****ING WIN.
43. Neko Case - This Tornado Loves You
Ah, the pleasures of hearing a voice (in both the literal and lyrical sense) at it's peak. It's no easy feat to take the metaphor of love-lorn romantic as freak act of nature and make it seem natural, not contrived, but Neko pulls it off. When she finally lets out that long, luxurious belt of hers, it feels as if the earth is quaking in her presence.
42. The xx - Basic Space
Pretty clearly the breakthrough band of the year, and
Basic Space is a good example of why the adoration is grounded. It's almost impossible to believe something so precise could be done by a new band. They way the play with negative space, and seamlessly meld the basics of different genres, is a sight to behold. The simplicity gives the yearning in the lyric ("
I can't let it out, I still let you in") a shocking amount of power.
41. Taylor Swift - Fifteen
It's funny hearing another artist cover a Taylor Swift song. Unless they're like Cassie, or Jennifer Lopez, they'll do a much better job of it -
technically. But the power of Swift's lyrics come more from the power and conviction behind her slight voice than anything other, "better" singers could bring to them. What Swift brings is a razor-sharp sense of observation, and nowhere better is that seen than in
Fifteen. A (then) 18 year old singing a song to girls only three years younger, warning them of the troubles they'll face? Ridiculous coming from most other - but not from her. Swift understands, she empathizes without judgment; while she got the chance to realize "bigger dreams" of hers, her best friend Abigail gives her "all" to a boy, who summarily "change[s] his mind." But not once does she render the boy an unfeeling cretin, or poor Abigail someone who deserved her fate - she doesn't even cosign to the thought that Abby's virginity was all she had to give. She
understands, though, that Abby felt that way - and holds her friend as they "both" cry. One can only hope girls of all ages handle situations like this with as much skill as Swift does.
40. Beyonce - Sweet Dreams
Turn the lights on!
Ahh, the torturous trail that Whitney/Mariah/Celine have laid for all the big voiced girls that will come after them - all screaming and no subtext. Some have fallen into this trap full - scale (hi X-Factor winner/horse/lion hybrid Leona Lewis!) while others have seemingly screamed there way into oblivion (the jokes right themselves, right Christina?). With
Sweet Dreams, Beyonce shows that she's gone back into emulate big voices who actually interpreted lyric - namely Donna Summer. Bee works in service of the lyric, nimbly navigating the song's constant shift from terror to titillation - and back again. I wasn't (and still am not) a fan of
Naughty Girl (maybe the Summer sample was a little too much), but
Sweet Dreams shows that Beyooyoo can slink with the best of them.
39. Shakira - Did It Again
"First floor, room 16/smells like danger, even better."
Wherein Shakira attempts to dodge and evade the pitfalls of love and lust, but hopelessly succumbs - with the Neptunes matching her every step of the way. The bridge points to signs of a better, brighter future ("Right back at ya, I'll survive"), but the uncertainty never goes away.
38. Cheryl Cole - Fight for This Love
Perhaps the brightest move made by an A&R exec this year was making sure
Fight for This Love landed on Cheryl Cole (nee Tweedy)'s desk. The song, very clear in it's singular belief of love overpowering any and all obstacles that come its way, could not be more perfectly suited for her. For all those unaware, Cheryl is the biggest star in the U.K. right now, and for these reasons: being one fifth of the nation's biggest girl group, being beautiful, being an X-Factor judge, being incredibly charismatic, and (perhaps) most importantly, for standing by her cheating footballer husband. The trick played off, as
Fight For This Love is the biggest selling single by a British act this year.
But all of this doesn't talk about the song itself. It is not, in any way shape or form, "good." It's faults greatly outnumber it's strengths. It would be kind to call the main lyrical conceit "cliched", and that's before one factors in all of the NUMEROUS driving references. It features perhaps the worst vocal production ever heard - the backup singer is evident throughout, and Cheryl sounds as if she had all of ten minutes to lay down her tracks. She's even out of breath in many spots, and one particular line ("
Now everyday ain't gon' be no picnic/it ain't no walk in the poooooooarrrkkkkkkkkkkr") is now legendary in it's badness. If this was you first experience to Ms. Cole, it would be very fair to assume that she was born deaf. Or that this whole thing was a joke. (I haven't even mentioned that the songs "recalls" at least four other different songs!) But that's all obscuring the point - the reason this song was such a hit (beyond the TERRIFiC A&Ring) is because it is the very definition of an "earworm." It gets stuck - stuck -stuck - stuck - stuck in your head! There's something oddly genuine about her "delivery", and the song's overall "melody" that it elevates itself beyond the realm of guilty pleasure. I am a fan - fan - fan - fan - fan (this joke is now flatter than the vocals on this song!) of Fight for This Love.
And while I'm speaking about Cheryl Cole's presence in a fascinating failure ...
37. Girls Aloud - The Loving Kind
Derivative. Incomplete. A mishap from two/three of Britain's greatest talents. (Xenomania/GA and the Pet Shop Boys). Although The Loving Kind is on the whole not up to the par to the track records of its creators, it does have some terrific assets: Neil Tennant's way with words, the way Xenomania knows and works with the girls' individual voices so well. TLK maybe shoulda been Sophie Ellis-Bextor's big comeback; but when it works, it's beautiful.
I approve this set, Bart.
