Britney Spears, Beyonce, Adele And More: 25 Best Songs Of 2011
In 2011, we shuffled and shook it out. We found love and decided to dance until the world ends. We rolled in the deep and celebrated the boys with the booming systems. Shoot, at one point, we even went to Paris with Will Ferrell. It was, to say the very least, an interesting 12 months.
So, how else to sum up the year than with my picks for the 25 Best Songs of 2011: odes to partying and pumped-up kicks, songs of sadness and beauty, tunes about getting loaded and getting revenge. Pop, hip-hop, rock, bed-tronica, they're all here, and they're all important in some way, mostly because they all helped guide us through a rather tumultuous time. But that's enough from me, let's get to the songs. Oh, and I'd like to hear your picks too — drop me a line in the comments below. So now, on with the countdown.
25. Nicola Roberts, "Beat of My Drum"
24. Against Me!, "Russian Spies"
23. Kreayshawn, "Gucci Gucci"
22. Gospel Music, "This Town Doesn't Have Enough Bars for Both Of Us"
21. Demi Lovato, "Skyscraper"
20. Lykke Li, "Get Some"
19. The Black Keys, "Lonely Boy"
18. Chris Brown, "Beautiful People"
17. YACHT, "Dystopia (The Earth Is on Fire)"
16. Washed Out, "Eyes be Closed"
15. Lil Wayne, "6 Foot 7 Foot"
14. Nicki Minaj, "Super Bass"
13. LMFAO, "Party Rock Anthem"
12. Foster The People, "Pumped Up Kicks"
11. Rihanna, "We Found Love"
10. Britney Spears, "Till the World Ends": I have been accused (many times) of being a Brit basher and, sure, that's probably true, but not even I could deny this song. Super-charged star-burst synthesizers, robo-vocals and, of course, that iconic "Woah-Oh-Oh" chantalong, it's the party jam for the post-apocalyptic future. And because of all that, it's also an important song; not only a reminder that Britney is still capable of making truly terrific pop music, but that, really, she never stopped. And coming from one of her most ardent critics, that's high praise indeed.
09. Beyoncé, "Love on Top": You wanted a throwback jam, you've got a throwback jam. Big, bold, brassy and blissed-out, it represents everything B was going for on her 4 album, recalling roiling old R&B classics and the supreme diva-tude of the all-time greats. Sure, I could've gone for something like "Run the World (Girls)" or even "Countdown," but "Love on Top" is where it all clicks, sublimely so. Joy for days, which, given our dire times, made this one an absolute lifesaver. Oh, and as is the case with all of her best tunes, Beyoncé belts here. And really, what else do you need?
08. Nickelback, "Bottoms Up": Take away my cred card, but I am unapologetically in awe of this song. I wrote an entire column about its boozy brilliance earlier this year, but suffice to say, it is without a doubt the greatest thing Nickelback will ever do, in that they are first and foremost a party band, and this is their ultimate party jam: a song about getting supremely sh--faced, about drinking everything from Jim Beam to "straight gasoline," complete with a crushing, ALL-CAPS chorus and appropriately chugging riffs. Oh, and at one point, Chad Kroeger rhymes "bar" with "fire," mostly because he can. Hammer down, now and forever.
07. Bright Eyes, "The Ladder Song": For as much noise as Conor Oberst is capable of making, it's often the quieter moments where his rickety, ramshackle genius shines brightest. And "Ladder Song" — a heartbreakingly raw tribute to a friend who committed suicide — is not only his quietest, it's one of his best. Backed by little more than a piano and a handful of otherworldly room tones, Oberst plumbs the depths of despair, his voice reedy and wavering, and, when he reaches bottom, discovers there are small beauties that make life worth living. It's too bad, he ultimately laments, that his friend didn't discover them too. The year's most achingly beautiful song, by a hair-raising mile.
06. Drake, "Take Care": There are no shortage of memorable, mystifying moments on Drake's Take Care, but for me, none were quite as memorable (or mystifying) as the title track, which combines Jamie XX's sparse reworking of Gil Scot-Heron's "I'll Take Care Of U" with Rihanna's aching vocals and Drizzy's bleary-eyed boasts. The end result is a song that's so dark it's practically nocturnal, echoing and empty. Perhaps 2011's best example of a prime-time artist taking a major risk, it not only paid off in spades, it proved that Drake's more than just a pretty face. He's got brains, too ... even if most of the time he's too fried to realize it.
05. Florence and the Machine, "Shake It Out": Part regret-filled lament, part old-fashioned revival, "Shake It Out" is a prime example of just what makes Florence Welch so great. It's a heartrending song with an absolutely uplifting chorus, a mixture of somber metaphors and messages that ultimately decides to be an anthem for the downtrodden. It's ethereal, otherworldly and, yet, decidedly visceral, too. And when combined with Welch's hurricane vocals, it packs a punch few other songs could match. Be blown away.
04. Lady Gaga, "Heavy Metal Lover": Buried toward the back of Born This Way, "Lover" was just about the only song Gaga didn't release as a single this year, which is odd, considering it's far and away the best track on the album. A masterful mix of "Transformers"-size techno pump and supple, slipstream synthesizers, it pulses and twitches, expands and contracts, and is probably the best example of what we all hoped BTW would be. As an added bonus, "I want your whiskey mouth/ All over my blond south" was unquestionably the pick-up line of the year.
03. Jay-Z and Kanye West, "N---as in Paris": NO ONE KNOWS WHAT IT MEANS, BUT IT'S PROVOCATIVE. IT GETS THE PEOPLE GOING.
02. Girls, "Vomit": A haunting, haunted song that follows frontman Chris Owens as he drifts through deserted city streets, ghostlike, searching for his long-lost love, "Vomit" most certainly is not an uplifting thing. But it never tries to be anything of the sort. Instead, over the course of six-and-a-half minutes, it is content to work itself up to a frothy, gospel-tinged peak — recalling Pink Floyd and Spiritualized — and as Owens begs "Come into my heart," you sort of realize that sometimes it's OK to go it alone. Or at least that's what you try to keep telling yourself.
01. Adele, "Rolling in the Deep": Not only the song of the year, it's also quite possibly the song of our time, which is an odd thing to say, considering "Deep" is about as artfully anachronistic as popular music gets: a crackling, breathy thing that roils along on little more than a stubby guitar and some primal pounding, it positively roars to life the second the chorus hits, powered entirely by Adele's prodigious pipes. No Auto-Tune, no mention of partying or material excess (and not even a single Will Ferrell sample), "Deep" is a throwback in every conceivable way to a time when artists actually sang (and sang about real, genuine emotions like sadness and anger), when a single could push an album for months and months at a time and, most of all, when people still bought music. And despite all that, it was still the crossover smash to end all crossover smashes, the song that not only dominated 2011, but defined it, too. Sort of gives you hope ... or makes you realize we truly are living in the strangest of times.
http://www.mtv.com/news/articles/167...ngs-2011.jhtml
