5. Utada Hikaru - Goodbye Happiness
Words can't describe how much I love Utada and her music. Hopefully her hiatus won't last that long. At least she has a whole discography of amazing songs to keep listening to over and over, and she added a few more to that discography this year, the best of which is "Goodbye Happiness". From the first second the amazing background vocals captivate and mesmerize you and the whole song just continues to be nothing less than a masterpiece. She is by far the most talented and original songwriter, musician and singer of our time and she continues to prove it again and again.
4. Chihiro Onitsuka - Infection
This song is actually 10 years old, but that doesn't matter to me because I only discovered it this year. It is one of the most beautiful and epic ballads I have ever heard. If you take all the misery and sorrow a person can feel and imagine it as a song, then you would have "Infection". Her voice alone can reduce anyone to tears, but combined with a song like this, it's just too much to handle.
3. Willow Smith - Whip My Hair
"Will Smith's daughter made a song? I guess I'll give that trainwreck a listen." I think most people reacted like that when they first learned of "Whip My Hair", me included. But like the rest of the world, I was blown away by how amazing the song is. The production is completely on point, Willow's vocals are pure pop perfection, and the whole track is a certified smash. Whipping your hair became a pop culture phenomenon and with just one song, the 10-year-old legend in the making had millions of fans at her feet. "Whip My Hair" is my #1 single of 2010 and I'm looking forward to what she'll bring us next.
2. Lifehouse - It Is What It Is
The ATRL song contest used to be the place to discover amazing songs from all over the place, but lately it has been reduced to listening to album tracks of everyone's favorite mainstream artists. But this isn't necessarily a bad thing, as eteru proved to me when he sent in Lifehouse's "It Is What It Is". I never really cared for Lifehouse other than their song "Sick Cycle Carousel", but this song grabbed me from the first bar and it still hasn't let go. It's one of the best slower pop rock songs I have ever heard and simply must be released as a single in 2011.
1. Kris Allen - Before We Come Undone
But the absolute best pop rock song of all time is Kris Allen's "Before We Come Undone". With 27 weeks at #1 on my weekly chart, it is second only to Utada Hikaru's "Passion" in my 12-year chart history. I fell in love with the song on first listen and it will always have a special place in my music library. Everything from the voice to the production to the lyrics just screams "smash hit". You can imagine my absolute dismay when they did not release this masterpiece as the second single from the album. That's just one of those things that a pop music fan can never truly get over.
All in all 2010 was a pretty decent year, but 2011 should be better with new releases from Darren Hayes, Tiziano Ferro, Nightwish, Within Temptation, Britney Spears, and many other of my favorites. I'm looking forward to it!