The Greatest of All Time Pop Songs IV: Urrsher Got The Voice Edition

Good morn..after...eve...         Hello everyone and welcome to part 4 of my adventure through pop music history and what now. Previously on this list I covered 21-30 and this week I will be covering NOT 31-40. There are a few songs on the list that I've never even heard before and I figured most people haven't heard them, so I'm going to skip them for now. So, sorry to those 90's song that nobody remembered existed. Let's get retar...uhm...this started.

31. Maroon 5  Adam Levine and some over singer - Moves Like Jagger

So back in 2011 a little show called "The Voice" premiered. It was a show that was supposed to have more of an emphasis on vocal ability over looks and other superficial stuff. That being said, pretty much all the contestants that have made it on the show are attractive people so... yep. The Voice really didn't do much to push the singing careers of any of the winners to stardom, but it did manage to make all of the four original judges even bigger stars than they already were. Really the show became more about the judges personalities and chemistry with each other than it did making the contestants into actual stars. "Moves Like Jagger" was a song used to promote the show with the collaboration between the two judges Adam Levine and Christina Aguilera. The song was of course a huge hit and helped the show get some more attention as well. Musically it's nothing special, the whole song being only two notes the whole time. The only interesting part of the song is of course the catchy whistle used at throughout the song, because it will get stuck in your head instantly. Lyrically the song is pretty weird. It came at a time where Mick Jagger references seemed to be all over the place in pop music for some reason, like Jagger paid a bunch of producers to write his name in songs to make him relevant again or something. The song is definitely supposed to be a song all about sex, so it's very strange to hear Adam Levine comparing his sex moves to an old guy way out of his prime. Oh yeah, and Christina Aguilera sings the bridge or something. Christina seemed to be struggling to find her identity as a pop star 2010's and the show did help bring some spotlight back to her, along with this song being a huge hit. Since then Adam Levine is still putting out mostly safe pop songs and Christina seems to be taking a step back from music after two failed albums in a row. 

32. Flo Rida (sigh) - Low (W/ T-Pain)

Flo Rida (AKA discount Pitbull) released his first album back in 2008 and immediately took off with his big hit "Low". Apple Bottom Jeans and Fur Boot sales skyrocketed and that's the end of this story. I know this is going to shock all of you, but I think Flo Rida is very mediocre. He's always the worst part of his own songs, even the ones that are pretty good like "Wild Ones" where Sia outshines him. The only thing that is memorable about this song is just that Apple Bottom Jeans and boots with the fur line that everybody remembers, which aren't even Flo Rida's lines. Flo Rida lacks the charm and charisma of the other artists in the choruses of his own songs. Now Flo Rida's music is used mostly as instrumentals for commercials where they cut his vocals out anyway. 

34. Creed - With Arms Wide OOOOOpen

Before the internet chose Nickelback as the band to hate on, there was Creed. I often wonder, does Creed deserve to be made fun of as much as they do? It comes down to Scott Stapp's.... unique vocals. The way he sings is so incredibly unique and strange that it's hard not to imitate and make fun of. The songs just feel kind of depressing and lyrically are very simple and to the point. "With Arms Wide Open" is supposed to be a hopeful song about a man who is about to have a child and he is telling his unborn son/daughter he is going to show him/her how to live and be a good dad. This song just puts me in a terrible mood, and it's supposed to be inspirational and uplifting. The vocals and music make it feel more like it's coming from a dark place of sorrow and pain and not a place of hope and love. I never thought I would actually be happy to hear the next song that's coming up. The early 00's really were a hard time for radio rock.

35. LMFAO - Party Rock Anthem

It's so weird how a song that I normally would dislike listening to actually puts me in a good mood after listening to that depressing Creed song like 3-4 times. Look, this song is easy to hate with all the annoying sounds and cheesy lyrics, but sometimes that's okay. I mean this song does what it's trying to do very well, and that's have fun. Listen to "With Arms Wide Open" 3-4 times in a row and this song will seem like "Stairway to Heaven" after all the Creed depression. I guess I'm just thankful that it was "Party Rock Anthem" and not "I'm Sexy and I Know It", because that song isn't good even after Creed. LMFAO kinda disappeared after those two big hits and we haven't heard from them again yet. I guess the music industry CAN do good things sometimes. With the way pop music and club songs are going these days, we could probably use more artists like LMFAO to bring some cheesy fun into the radio. 

36. The Year 2004 - YEAH!!!!!!!!11!!!

2004 was a good year for music, pop music was having fun and putting out some good tunes. The biggest name back in 2004 was an indie artist by the name Usher who was playing coffee shops with his acoustic guitar and turned into a big star overnight (or so I hear). Usher released his album "Confessions" in 2004, which was the biggest album of the year with 4 huge hits in 2004 alone. If you had working ears back in 2004, then there's no way you didn't hear the song "Yeah!" played on the radio 40 times a day. This song was an unstoppable force that no one could avoid and everybody was singing along to and quoting. From the looping notes that play from beginning to end, to Little Jon (Lil?) screaming "HEYYY" "YEAHHH", to Ludacris adding an "R" to "URSHER", every moment is forever stuck in my head. Honestly most of this album still holds up pretty good today, and it's easy to see why it was the biggest album of 2004. Usher sadly never reached these heights again and probably never will again. He will always be remember as the artist who ruled 2004.

37. Robin Thin - Blurred Lines (AKA the rapey song)

This song was a giant mess for so many reasons. Starting with the bigger reason why, the song was involved in a huge lawsuit for using a similar music from a Marvin Gaye song by the name of "Got to Give It Up". This split many artists into supporting both sides of the argument, but Robin Thicke and the other songwriters like Pharrell Williams ultimately lost this lawsuit and the court sided in favor of Marvin Gaye's side. It really was a mess and Robin Thicke really shouldn't have lost the case. In my opinion the songs are different enough to not even have to have this conversation, let alone scare a bunch of other artists into never borrowing any grooves from past artists. It's bad when some throwback music is put into a modern hit to give it a nice mix of old and new, but if the music industry is going to act like this we might never see it again.

As for the song itself... it's a very catchy song with a really fun groove, which I guess is "stolen" anyway. I love the bass line in this song a lot too, it's so easy to get into. The thing that makes this song awful are it's gross lyrics and the creepy things that Robin Thicke is saying to the imaginary women he's singing to. It sucks to say that because otherwise this would be a really great pop song. Either way it's probably going to be Robin Thicke's biggest hit and also his biggest failure all in one. 

38. Bruno Mars - Just the Way You Are

Generic love song is generic. Before Bruno become the charming pop star we all know today, he was a generic pop star who made lazy love songs like this. Musically it's pretty boring with three chords repeating the whole song, with not much musical changes except for the beat slightly changing now and then. The lyrics aren't personal at all and can literally be talking about anyone. Going back to his first album and listening to it, I can really see the evolution in Bruno Mars' music and where he went right. Instead of this generic music where he sounds like he's going through the motions, now we get fun interesting music from Mars where he's actually having fun and showing some passion. Bruno Mars is the perfect example of a pop star evolving to become a better artist and elevate himself musically and vocally. Bruno Mars is at his best when he's taking a genre (like funk or 80's rock) and putting his own spin on it.

39. Avril Lavigne - Complicated

Back in 2002 we were getting lots of new female pop singers on the radio with new attitudes and styles going into the new millennium. Artists like Michelle Branch, Michelle Branch, Pink, Kelly Clarkson and of course Avril Lavigne. Avril Lavigne was all about being relatable to younger girls, as she herself was only 17 when she released her first album. "Complicated" went on to be her biggest hit and one of the best selling songs of 2002, along with her album also being a massive hit. Her first album "Let Go" was different from anything that was popular in 2002 (at least on mainstream radio) and it was the perfect mix of post-grunge rock and pop rock sound. Lots of other artists tried this formula and style with much less success like, Ashlee Simpson and Lindsay Lohan. "Complicated" is still a great and relatable song and it's held up well all these years. I can see this being a good way to get into those early 00's alt/punk bands like Sum 41, Blink 182 and other bands with numbers in them. 

Well that's it for this time and here are the hints to what's coming next time...a little more obvious this time, but still bonus points is you know them. 

- Watcha say we watch that scene from "The O.C." with the shooting. 

- There's a song called "Lights" that's not by Journey?

- The internet's favorite band tries a love song and blows no one AWAY. 

- The big girl who sang about her "lady lumps" tries to be emotional and personal.

- (Insert insensitive woman beating line here) Just gotta RUN from the monsters. 

- Strange meat wearing lady randomly sings in french and it's not romantic at all. 

- Huge pop star back when she still played a guitar and bashed her ex-boyfriends who caused her trouble and not her ex-friends.

- For a group who call themselves rejects, they seem popular as hell.

- The most vague/generic post-grunge 00's rock song of all time, this song stank. 

- Did you know this semi-charming song is about drugs?... yep. (one of my favorite bands though)