shelven's Top 50 Singles of 2016 | TOP 5 REVEALED!! (Pg 15)
SHELVEN'S TOP 50 SINGLES OF 2016
Please ignore the lame header, I'm terrible at graphics so I didn't even bother trying to make a cool one.
Welcome everybody to my first ever "Best Of" list on ATRL! As the title suggests, the main event of this Best Of will be my 50 favourite singles of 2016! The only criteria for this list are that the song has to have been released as a single (although there's one exception to this on the list, which I'll explain when we get to it) and it has to be reasonably associated with 2016. This could mean that the song first came out in 2016, was only released as a single in 2016, only peaked on the charts in 2016 or had a large part of its chart run in 2016.
BONUS LIST: shelven's Top 5 TV Shows of 2016
Since this is my first year doing a Best Of, I didn't want to put too much on my plate with tons of different big lists going on. That being said, as a huge TV fan, I couldn't pass up the opportunity to talk about some of my favourite TV shows and seasons of the year. So, after every 10 songs are revealed, I will highlight one of my Top 5 favourite TV shows of 2016.
TENTATIVE SCHEDULE
Sun, Dec 4th: Songs #50-#46 Tue, Dec 6th: Songs #45-#41 Wed, Dec 7th: TV Show #5 Thu, Dec 8th: Songs #40-#36 Sat, Dec 10th: Songs #35-#31 Sun, Dec 11th: TV Show #4 Mon, Dec 12th: Songs #30-#26 Wed, Dec 14th: Songs #25-#21 Thu, Dec 15th: TV Show #3 Fri, Dec 16th: Songs #20-#16 Sun, Dec 18th: Songs #15-#11 Mon, Dec 19th: TV Show #2 Tue, Dec 20th: Songs #10-#6 Thu, Dec 22nd: FINALE - TV Show #1 + Songs #5-#1
THE RESULTS
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Top 50 Singles:
50. "You Don't Own Me" - Grace feat. G-Eazy
49. "Dance Off" - Macklemore & Ryan Lewis feat. Idris Elba & Anderson .Paak
48. "New Romantics" - Taylor Swift
47. "Fast Car" - Jonas Blue feat. Dakota
46. "Million Reasons" - Lady Gaga
45. "Close" - Nick Jonas feat. Tove Lo
44. "Piece By Piece (Idol Version)" - Kelly Clarkson
43. "Stand By You" - Rachel Platten
42. "True Colors" - Zedd and Kesha
41. "Lush Life" - Zara Larsson
40. "In The Name Of Love" - Martin Garrix and Bebe Rexha
39. "Gold" - Kiiara
38. "Too Good" - Drake feat. Rihanna
37. "All In My Head (Flex)" - Fifth Harmony feat. Fetty Wap
36. "Me, Myself & I" - G-Eazy x Bebe Rexha
35. "Closer" - The Chainsmokers feat. Halsey
34. "Colors" - Halsey
33. "Heathens" - twenty one pilots
32. "Faded" - Alan Walker
31. "i hate u, i love u" - gnash feat. olivia o'brien
30. "Scars To Your Beautiful" - Alessia Cara
29. "Me Too" - Meghan Trainor
28. "Never Forget You" - Zara Larsson & MNEK
27. "Hide Away" - Daya
26. "Hymn For The Weekend" - Coldplay
25. "Something In The Way You Move" - Ellie Goulding
24. "Final Song" - MØ
23. "Capsize" - Frenship and Emily Warren
22. "Water Under The Bridge" - Adele
21. "Stand By Me" - Florence & The Machine
20. "Rockabye" - Clean Bandit feat. Sean Paul & Anne-Marie
19. "Love On The Brain" - Rihanna
18. "Into You" - Ariana Grande
17. "Still Falling For You" - Ellie Goulding
16. "Castle" - Halsey
15. "That's My Girl" - Fifth Harmony
14. "Ain't My Fault" - Zara Larsson
13. "Don't Let Me Down" - The Chainsmokers feat. Daya
12. "Hallelujah" - Pentatonix
11. "Light It Up" - Major Lazer feat. Nyla & Fuse ODG
10. "Cheap Thrills" - Sia
9. "Cool Girl" - Tove Lo
8. "When We Were Young" - Adele
7. "Stressed Out" - twenty one pilots
6. "The Sound Of Silence" - Disturbed
5. "The Greatest" - Sia
4. "Here" - Alessia Cara
3. "Work From Home" - Fifth Harmony feat. Ty Dolla $ign
2. "True Disaster" - Tove Lo
1. "Roses" - The Chainsmokers feat. ROZES
Top 5 TV Shows:
NEW DISCOVERY: "Black Mirror" (Seasons 1-3)
5. "Mr. Robot" (Season 2)
4. "Game of Thrones" (Season 6)
3. "Crazy Ex-Girlfriend" (Season 1B / 2A)
2. "Better Call Saul" (Season 2)
1. "Orange Is The New Black" (Season 4)
While I didn't really play this song too much throughout the year and it was never a song that I absolutely loved at any given time, this song has stayed fresh for me, and there's a lot about it that I like. Grace has a nice voice, G-Eazy's parts fit into the song well, and the haunting, mysterious production in the verses contrasted with the light chorus makes the song a very interesting listen. Maybe not the most memorable song of the year, but certainly a unique, enjoyable twist on a classic song.
#49: "Dance Off"
Macklemore & Ryan Lewis feat. Idris Elba and Anderson .Paak
Sometimes a song comes along that is just so wacky and fun to listen to that you can't help but enjoy it. That's what made me love "Thrift Shop" in 2013, and Macklemore & Ryan Lewis keep up their trend of weird, silly songs that are nonetheless very well-produced and enjoyable to listen to with this song. The lyrics are dumb, but in an intentional way that makes you just want to smile as you listen instead of criticize them. The chorus is surprisingly infectious (with a very cool feature from Idris Elba!), and I found this song stuck in my head for a long time in 2016 even though the song never took off commercially outside of Australia.
Taylor's music has always been a bit hit or miss for me, but New Romantics is without a doubt a hit. I liked this song from the very first time I listened to it, and unlike some of Taylor's other songs, New Romantics never really got old for me despite my local radio stations playing it quite a lot. The production is fresh and slick, the lyrics are clever, and the chorus is one of those loud, fun choruses that makes you want to sing along to it every time you listen to it.
From what I could see, this song got a lot of mixed reactions from people this year, with some loving it and others being unable to stand it. As you can tell by its inclusion in this list, I'm in the former category. It's far from the most original cover of an old hit, but the soft, soothing vocals combined with the light, summery production just makes this song easy and nice to listen to.
Maybe if NR hadn't arrived at the tail end of Taylor's 2014-16 overexposure, I would like it more. It's pretty pedestrian stuff from her imo. I do like it better than Out Of The Woods, though.
I was one of the Lady Gaga fans that was pretty disappointed with Perfect Illusion when it came out and wasn't really on board with her radical sound change that accompanied Joanne. However, after that initial disappointment, Million Reasons was a very pleasant surprise. Some of Gaga's best songs throughout her career have been when she throws away the theatrics and loud production and just goes for something raw and emotionally honest, and Million Reasons is a prime example of the great songs that she can create when she chooses to do that.
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