Top 5 tomorrow if I can motivate myself to get the write-ups done. Otherwise, I'll finish this weekend. Thanks for all the comments.
Quote:
Originally posted by Mr.Link
Isn't Disaster a 2011 song? Anyway it's such a surprise to see it here along with Young The Giant.
Yeah, Cough Syrup is a 2011 song too. They didn't chart on my 2011 list and were still charting in my c/d at the beginning of 2012, I loved them too much to leave out.
Final update, who's the #1? btw I finally updated the recap in the OP.
We Are the In Crowd f/Alex Gaskarth "Kiss Me Again"
I need to hold myself back on this one because I'm about to have a huge meltdown. WHY DIDN'T THIS FLAWLESS SONG SMASH? If any band deserved to have their breakthrough in 2012, it was We Are the In Crowd. I mean, Kiss Me Again has the upbeat production, the catchy chorus, even a featuring from All Time Low's Alex Gaskarth...how could it possibly have been better fit for mainstream radio? But then again, this whole pop-punk genre is dying. In an era where you really have to dig deep to find good music of the genre, Kiss Me Again was such a refreshing find. If you don't know this song, as I predict will be the case for many of you, I strongly urge you to listen and you won't be able to hear it just once. You'll keep repeating it over and over again because it's 100% pop-rock perfection. Alex Gaskarth might as well join We Are the In Crowd, his and Tay's voices sound perfect together. And the chorus is just MAGNIFICENT. It's so beautiful and lush with the amazing vocals and the guitar To talk about the lyrics though, I think Kiss Me Again has to be one of the cutest songs of 2012. It's talking about two friends (since it is a duet) who have fallen in love and want to become the perfect couple. It reminds me of Say You Like Me in that respect, they both instantaneously make me happy when I listen to them. The song screams summer smash and I just have to repeat how pissed off I am that it didn't become huge. This was so close to being the highest-ranked song by a pop-punk band in my list, and you will find out what beat it in 3...2...1... This is the only song by We Are the In Crowd in the list.
The Cab "Bad"
Who else but the Kings to take home the title of Best Pop-Punk Song of the Year? Well, technically Bad is a 2011 song. But I neglected to include it on my Best of 2011 and it did appear on my countdown in the early part of 2012, so here it is I actually found out about this song in August 2011 by checking the Facebook page of Sirius XM Hits 1, there I saw what seemed like thousands of posts within the span of a couple hours of The Cab fans begging the station to play Bad. Of course, since SXMH1 is the best Top 40 station ever, they actually did play it that night (twice!), and later on added it to their playlist. This was my first exposure to The Cab's music and I immediately fell in love. All thanks to their rabid fanbase which I can now proudly call myself a part of. Honestly, I think Alex could sing anything and I would automatically like it. His voice is soooooo heavenly, it's like I'm floating on air when I listen to him sing Then he does the falsetto on the chorus and I just die of happiness. Bad is such a beautifully written song as well, it shows how you don't need complex lyrics or huge production to create a masterpiece. It's a cute little pop-rock ditty about a guy who craves a "bad girl" over a goody-two-shoes who will do everything she's told, even though he knows he'll "end up alone". For any other band it might have been a mediocre single, but The Cab used their tremendous amount of charm and talent to make it into one of the best songs of the decade. The absolute only thing I dislike about this song is the cheap and boring video. This is the last of two songs by The Cab in the list.
Emeli Sandé "Next to Me"
My Top 3 is entirely composed of new artists I discovered in 2012, and it wasn't done intentionally, which just goes to show that 2012 really was one of the best recent years in terms of music. Also the Top 3 is composed entirely of British artists, which goes to show that in 2012, the UK was way hotter than the US in terms of new talent. Two things that I've been repeating over and over throughout the 147 write-ups I've done so I'm glad the top of my list is a good proof of that. We kick it off with the amazingly talented Ms. Emeli Sandé. She actually goes by her middle name, because her first name is Adele, and everyone knows why that would be a problem. Emeli does give me Adele teas with some of her songs, but more than anything she reminds me of a young Alicia Keys. She obviously feels most comfortable in front of a piano, as you can see in the video. And she has that smooth, soulful tone in her voice that Queen Alicia has in her R&B hits Fallin' and Try Sleeping With a Broken Heart. That's not even to mention her first US single, Next to Me, which is an upbeat R&B track that's catchy as hell. I fell in love with it on first listen and for a long time I thought it was going to be my #1 for the year. But I figured since it's (finally) being released to US radio in 2013, it'll have another chance then. I honestly think it could be the next Rolling in the Deep if given the proper chance. R&B/Urban stations will play it, AC/Hot AC stations are already starting to play it, and it could be a sleeper hit on the Mainstream Top 40. I wish Emeli the best of luck for 2013, she really deserves it. This is the only song by Emeli Sandé in the list.
Ed Sheeran "The A Team"
*waits for AshleeSimpsonFan to appear and say "well at least Ed Sheeran wasn't #1 "*
Lol. Honestly, a lot of you probably thought this was going to be my #1, and it's very hard for me to explain why it's not. The A Team is absolutely flawless, and the fact that there was a better song than it in 2012 only shows (once again) what a great year for music it was. Ed is one of the best all-around musicians I've ever seen. I mean, he raps, sings, writes, and plays a variety of instruments, and does them all fabulously. It's no surprise that The A Team does a great job of showcasing these talents. The song is actually really sad, it's about a girl who becomes addicted to "class A" drugs such as cocaine and heroin, it ruins her life and she has to live on the streets as a prostitute to make the money necessary to survive. You have to remember, Ed wrote this song himself as a teenager. Yeah, he wrote it when he was 18 years old. Like, musical prodigy much? The lyrics are so full of hauntingly beautiful images and metaphors that I wouldn't have even expected them to come out of someone twice his age. Of course, I didn't understand these lyrics when I first heard them. I thought "the class A team" was referring to school or something Even without knowing the meaning of the lyrics, I still loved the song, but I thought the video was kind of stupid since you have to understand the meaning of the song to understand the video. When I finally did find out what The A Team was about, I realized how beautiful and symbolic the video really was, just another addition onto Ed's amazing videography. I'm so glad that he's finally become popular in the States, I just wish he wouldn't be grouped in with all of these teen heartthrob singers since he's so much better than them This is the only song by Ed Sheeran in the list.
Graffiti6 "Free"
We've finally come to the end of this long list, and I've made a very interesting choice by putting a song at #1 that most of you probably don't know. Honestly though, I hope no one will come into this thread and leave a comment that says "I've never heard the #1 song". I leave the ytmini tags there for a reason and plus you can believe me, there's no reason you wouldn't want to listen to this masterpiece. At first when I saw this song added to VH1 I didn't bother to listen to it, I thought it would just be another average soft-rock ballad. I couldn't have been more wrong, Free is not only the best song of 2012 but in the Top 10 of the best songs I've ever heard. There are so many genres infused into this song, I can hear folk, soul, pop, blues, and even some hints of rock. It puts Alex Clare's Too Close to SHAME. And then there's the lead singer's voice. I may have been a bit misleading when I said there were three solo artists in the Top 5, technically Graffiti6 is a duo but Tommy D is the producer and songwriter and is rarely ever seen. It's all about King Jamie Scott and his soaring magnificent voice. He may not have the strongest voice or be able to do the most vocal runs but I don't give a f**k about that. His voice is perfectly suited for this type of throwback soul-infused pop music. It flows over the track so effortlessly, by the end of the song I just feel completely refreshed and want to listen again. I don't think I've ever had a song in my playlist with as much replay value as Free. I could listen to it for a whole day and I still wouldn't be tired of it, there's so many elements beautifully woven into the song that I never lose interest. Graffiti6 has already moved into my favorite artists this year and I'm so excited to hear what they have in store for us in 2013. Oh and before I go, another thing all of the artists in the Top 3 have in common: they're all former VH1 You Oughta Know artists. Maybe I shouldn't lose hope in VH1 after all. This is the only song by Graffiti6 in the list.
So yeah, that's it for my Best of 2012! I may come back in here to do a final post, but in case I can't I'd just like to give a final THANKS to everyone who's commented. It's really been fun to see what people put on their lists and share my taste with all of you. See you next year (or later this year, I guess) for Best of 2013!
Flawless top 5.
I knew Free was gonna be your number one, it had a huuuge run in your countdown and it's actually a great song. "Bad" is so great, I never thought they could release a better song than that one but they did with Endlessly.