Modern Music in the Age of Corona

It's been a while since I've checked in on modern music, for good reason. Every time I take a peek at the Billboard Hot 100 I get a little sadder. So of course music, at least the pop charts, haven't really moved much recently. That may be because of all the delays in albums/singles thanks to this pandemic going on, though I don't fully understand that myself. It's true most artists if not all are stuck right now at home like the rest of us. For a pop artist, that's the way they promote their new singles and albums: through tours, interviews, radio appearances, music videos and most of that just can't be done right now. So music has come to a bit of a halt here and lots of the singles here are just... old news. But hey, I'm going to listen to them and see if things are looking up this new decade or if things are just getting worse. Starting off with the number one song in the USA... oh god...not you again.

Number 1: Drake - Toosie Slide

Ugh, he's back with another number one single. At this point, Drake could release a 10-minute track of him eating chips loudly and still get a number one single... that comes across strangely complimentary. The point is that this song is Drake being extremely lazy like he's been doing for the past 4-5 years now. Boring beat backing Drake's unenthusiastic vocals as he tells you how to do some kind of dance and compares his moves to Michael Jackson. Dance music? This is dance music? Am I just like, getting too old to understand all these trends? So this song was also kind of created to be a viral TikTok song, which a lot of songs these days have gained lots of popularity through TikTok like Vine used to do back in the day (back in the day, a few years ago, same thing). 

So yeah, this song is boring and Drake is going to make tons of money from this so it doesn't really matter what I think. And look, if it brings fun to people stuck at home by letting them make dance videos on TikTok, then that's fine. Just as a song alone, it doesn't really have a lot to offer as a listener and there's plenty of other great dance music I'd rather listen to.

Overall rating: 1 ghostwriter out of 5

Number 2: The Weeknd - Blinding Lights

The Weeknd is an interesting artist. When he's on he is on, meaning that he clearly has lots of talent and when he's really showing it off he makes some really great songs. But, there's also the side of Weeknd that makes some pretty boring/questionable choices in his songs. This song though, definitely on the great side. Actually, Weeknd has been hitting it out of the park with his last few singles for his new album. This song has some good energy with Weeknd's vocals doing some awesome things. The song and the album have a nice 80s synth-pop beat/music throughout, which fits well with the lyrics. It also has a track called "In Your Eyes" that sounds like Japanese city-pop from the 80s which is really awesome. The song is about the singer's distractions by I assume the city nightlife, where he can only find comfort when he's with his lover. The 80s synth music really fits in with this theme, at least in my mind it does. The rhythm is upbeat, but the synth sounds present a kind of darkness that matches the tone of the lyrics. 

Overall rating: 4 out of 5 Uncut Gems.

Number 3: Roddy Ricch - The Box

Not really sure how to feel about this one. I am forever thankful to this song for keeping Justin Bieber's trash single "Yummy" from reaching number one. Besides that, this song is actually pretty decent despite being a genre that's usually very hard to reach me. The beat is pretty good, but I really like Roddy's style of rapping, at least in this song. He's got a good flow that keeps the song interesting and it feels different enough from others in this genre that it's kind of a breath of fresh air. After listening to a few other songs, I do enjoy his style not just on this song. It's a nice surprise, and maybe he'll find more success in the future. But since I like him... probably not.

Overall rating: 3.5 Yummys out of 5

Number 4: Dua Lipa - Don't Start Now

ahh yeah, Dua Lipa's back with a new album and this is her big single from that one. Look this song is great and Dua Lipa is great and that's all that I need to say right? 

Well, the song has a fantastic bass just slappin' and poppin' joy right into my ears. Dua Lipa's vocals are fantastic as you'd expect from her. The song is just incredibly fun and upbeat, something I crave more from modern pop music. It's also nice to get a more 70s style disco track at a time where so many things are sounding like the 80s (not that I really dislike that trend). Can I just listen to this song 6 more times instead of the rest of the list?

Overall rating: 4.5 disco balls out of 5

Number 5: Drake/Future - Life is Good?

NOOOOOOOOO. NO. Another Drake song? This time featuring the one person more boring than Drake in Future? This should be a masterpiece right? The worst part about this is that it's actually two different songs on one track, one by each artist... sorry, "artist". 

So yeah, it's boring. Not much else to say. I usually listen to each song a few times to really dive in and get my thoughts in order, but I just can't do it here. That's enough Drake for now.

Overall grade: Life is meaningless. 

Number 6: Post Malone - Circles

I've never been a big Post Malone fan, but after listening to the last song, this one comes across so much better. I know in reality it's a pretty mediocre song though, it's got a decent little bassline and beat that keep the flow of the song going with a nice tempo. It's nice to hear a Post Malone song with a little bit of energy behind it instead of just really slow and boring delivery and music. His vocals are still pretty boring though, he's not like a great singer or anything, at least not in this song. The melody in the chorus has some potential, but Post's delivery just doesn't give it enough to make it what it needs to be. 

Overall grade: A can of Diet Coca-Cola.*

*I know some people like it, but I think it's quite gross

Number 7: Jerry Styles - Ah Door You

Harry Styles makes a song about that feeling you get when you first romantically connect with someone, the joy, and the bliss. Harry's last big single "Watermelon Sugar" was one that took me some time to really get into, at first I kind of hated it. This one is a bit different for me as I instantly liked it upon first listen. After a few listens I feel like this song might have the opposite effect on me as Watermelon Sugar though, in that I think I'll like it less over time. Harry Styles is so very talented though, and I still look forward to seeing what he'll make as he gets older because he just seems to be getting better and better. This song has a lot of great music much like a lot of the other tracks from this album. A great bassline with some good guitar work and Style's passionate vocals doing what they need to do to set the mood the song is going for. Some nice touches throughout like backup vocals and a nice guitar solo. 

Overall grade: 3.5 watermelons out of 5

Number 8: Doja Cat - Say So

Oh yes, another heavy bass 70s/80s style pop song with some very catchy melodies and even some good rap verses. I got to say I'm really liking this new trend of throwback style heavy bass pop songs, at least for now. It's just so much fun to listen to and actually kinda makes you want to dance... unlike a certain Drake song that's also supposed to be a dance hit. I've never heard of this Doja Cat until recently, but this was a very good first impression. I hope she continues to do whatever this is. 

Overall grade: 3.5 Who are you's? out of 5

Number 9: Intentions - Justin Bieber w/ Quavo

The only interesting thing about this song is my computer trying to auto-correct Quavo to queso, which isn't even an English word. Porque no hay queso? El queso tiene mas talento de Justin Bieber y Quavo. 

But seriously this song is bad just like the rest of Bieber's new album that already feels outdated in less than a year. It is at least a little better than his last failure of a single "Yummy", which is quickly falling off the charts at the moment. At least the lyrics are slightly less cringy. With amazing lyrics "picture-perfect, you don't need a filter" the bar can only go so high. This is what professional writers are for, earning those big bucks. The sad part is that his last album showed a lot of potential for his future. But instead of continuing that improvement, he releases his most boring album that can't even get a number one single. At least we got that going for us. 

Overall grade: 0.5 Quesos out of 5

Number 10: Billie Eilish - everything i wanted

Back when I was making my best of 2019 list I really wanted to put this song on there, but it just wasn't a big enough hit yet as it was released a little late into the year. But I do love this song actually, it's just so different from everything else on the charts. I think a song like this really sets Billie apart from the other pop artists on the charts. It just feels really raw and kinda beautiful in a strange way. It continues some of the themes from her album last year about sleeping and dreaming. The song deals with some heavy topics and feels very honest and real, probably because it is to her, or at least was. Dealing with dark times in her life is where this song came from and you can really feel it in her delivery along with the soft, but pretty music that almost feels haunting in a way. This is my favorite song by Billie, and it's just fantastic. 

Overall grade: 5 A+'s out of 5

I have to say I'm actually surprised by how good some of these songs were, especially the upbeat dance songs by Weeknd, Dua Lipa, and Doja Cat. Like I said before, I'm really digging these 70s and 80s style pop songs with a modern twist. All three artists have lots of charisma and vocal talent that is backed by song fun music, and isn't that what you want in pop music? But there's also some variety here with Harry Style's newest single, which has a little of that throwback style as well. Then there's Billie Eilish's song that really invokes different emotions than the rest of the songs on the list (in a good way). Even a surprise with that Roddy Ricch song was nice. And despite all this good music on the charts, we still have another number-one single by the prince of boredom himself, Drake. On top of that, he has another top 10 hit with Future this week that's also mediocre as hell. Then there's Bieber who also gets another top 10 hit too from his boring album. I didn't even get to number 11 this week which was "Someone You Loved" by Lewis Capaldi, that one song I called my least favorite of last year that's still kicking it near the top 10 for some reason. But I'll take the positives here and hold them close, maybe one of the good ones will climb up to number 1 (hopefully Dua Lipa, but maybe Harry Styles can finally get a number one here in the USA).

And this is my 99th post here so... I guess the big 100 is next?

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Best of 2000s Pop Song Bracket Part 1

It was a new millennium. The music that dominated the 90's was on it's way out and new trends were about to take over the airwaves. It was 10 years of many different new trends coming and going, some longer than others. New stars would emerge and become A-list mainstays while others wouldn't make it out of the decade without losing that status. Looking back at it, there was so much good and it's all so nostalgic to me now. It was in that decade that music really started to hit me in a different way, and slowly started to become an important part of who I am. And while the pop songs on the radio/charts weren't the only thing that caused that love to grow, today I thought I would look back at some of the most popular and iconic songs of that decade and decide which one was truly the best. I'm not going to try to just pick my personal favorite but actually look at the song in many ways.

1. How popular it was during its peak

2. How it influenced the music around it at the time

3. How long it stuck around in the mainstream

4. What kind of legacy it left behind (if any)

5. What it did for the artist behind it

6. How it stood out in its own genre
7. If it holds up today

The first section will be the rock section which will include rock songs put up against random songs in the same genre. I tried to pick the most popular rock songs of the 2000s, of course, there's plenty missing, but it would be impossible to fit them all. 16 songs that I feel were important in one way or another to the decade. Also, only one song per artist so that there are not 3 Linkin Park songs or more than one Nickelback song (gross). This time I'll be covering the first four matchups. 

Match 1: Blink 182's All the Small Things VS. Panic! at the Disco's I Write Sins...

Starting off the bracket with a really tough one right away. Both songs probably shared a decent amount of fans, though they were separated by about 6 years. Blink 182's from their 1999 album Enema of the State and Panic's from their 2005 album A Fever You Can't Sweat Out.

Starting with Blink on this one, the song was their biggest hit at the time and it helped catapult them to new heights. The band had been around for most of the 90s slowly growing their fanbase and finding their sound. It wasn't until this album that it felt like they truly found their sound and would go on to release several other great albums, though no song would be as big as All The Small Things was. The song is pretty simple in its execution, but it's also incredibly catchy and smart in its musical choices. The two notes starting of the song always felt like something really iconic and memorable that no other song had really done at the time. Those two notes just kick the song off into high gear instantly and it's one of those moments that works great at live shows. Travis also does a fine job on the drums, nothing special (sarcasm). Also worth remembering the music video which made fun of all the boy bands of the late 90s.
Blink-182 used the success of this song to continue making great music for the first half of the decade before splitting up into two new bands, eventually reuniting and changing their lineup. Their influence in music is still really important to the music scene especially in the mid-2000s where the big pop-punk movement was all the rage until the late 2000s. Funny enough, Panic! at the Disco themselves started as a Blink-182 cover band before finding their own success. It's safe to say that Blink's influence in music was pretty big and lots of great bands came after them taking a little of their style and making something new. I think a lot of that is owed to the success of All The Small Things because a lot of people wouldn't have found them without that huge hit.

Now on to Panic's overly long titled song I Write Sins Not Tragedies. In some ways, you could say this song was the peak of the pop-punk movement of the mid-2000s. At the time Panic! consisted of four members all from the original line-up, who are all gone as of now, the only member left being Brandon Urie. It was honestly tough trying to decide between Fall Out Boy's music or Panic's music to put on to the list here. Ultimately I felt this song was more popular and lead to a bigger career in Brandon Urie's Panic! at the Disco. Over the years he's had multiple hits, but it wasn't until just last year he finally had a song bigger than this one with High Hopes.
Much like All The Small Things, I Write Sins also has a really memorable intro with a subtle instrumental before breaking into the rock sound. Panic! became known for their use of many different instruments/orchestral sounds in their albums, which made them feel a lot different than other pop-punk bands at the time, not even sure you could call them a pop-punk band, but they hung around that scene earlier in their career.  While the song was the peak of pop-punk in some ways, I don't think its influence is as strong as Blink-182's. Maybe because other bands at the time were doing similar songs with some success, it's tough to say how strong their influence was on the scene. Especially since that scene is far less popular than it was in the 2000s though it's still around.

Verdict: It's a tough choice really, trying to pick either of these songs as the better one. I think Panic! at the Disco's song is better in its lyrics and music, but I think Blink's is far catchier and probably more important to the decade and the music landscape. So I think I'd give the slight edge here to All The Small Things.

Match 2: White Stripe's Seven Nation Army VS. Santana's Smooth

In what feels like a pretty strange matchup, we got two big rock song staples here. The big arena rock hit Seven Nation Army takes on the inescapable song that crushed the charts in Smooth. Seven Nation Army made it's debut early in the decade in the year 2003, while Smooth was the song that transitioned to the new millennium in mid-1999. 

So Seven Nation Army wasn't really that big of a hit when it first came out, actually, it didn't even make a dent on the pop charts here until the year 2014 (though it was a bigger hit in the UK). The song has been adopted as a chant in many arenas all over the world, you'll probably have heard it during football matches and other sporting events. The opening "bass" line has become a very iconic riff in music. Though the original recording was actually not a bass guitar just an electric guitar with a pedal used to get that deep effect. That iconic riff might actually be the most well-known riff in all of music it seems. The song just feels so raw and when the guitar really kicks in it's pretty damn amazing, but that's what Jack White does with a guitar in his hand. The style of guitar playing was very influential to many future artists. Groups like Alabama Shakes, Black Keys, and Kings of Leon all used that style of raw distorted guitar among many others. The White Stripe's influence in music through this song is important and clear. 

Next up we have the Latin-rock crossover hit Smooth by music legend Santana. The thing about Santana is, he was already a hugely influential rock star at this point and he'd already been around for many decades. The thing about him is that he hadn't really been relevant to the popular music scene in a very long time as well. When he decided to make an album where he would collab with younger artists it seemed like a great idea, but I don't think even he knew how big it would actually be. Smooth would become the most successful modern song and it still holds that title. But it's weird that a song this popular wouldn't really influence the way pop music went moving forward. Hip-Hop and R&B were still coming in strong and would eventually be the most popular genres. Smooth was huge, but it also feels like a song that was the perfect send off to the style of the 90s. Its success will live on in the record books, but its influence maybe not so much. Still a great song with lots of great music played by amazing musicians and the weird vocals by Rob Thomas can't be forgotten either.

I think for me, the winner is clear. Seven Nation Army is a far more influential song that holds a special place in pop culture and many people's lives. The song is also very good, and while Smooth is the biggest hit and still a lot of fun to listen to, Seven Nation Army is just a slightly better song overall in my opinion. Making the next round All The Small Things taking on Seven Nation Army.

Match 3: Evanescence's Bring Me To Life VS. Nickelback's How You Remind Me

This is an interesting matchup of early 2000s rock music. The biggest post-grunge band Nickelback takes on another heavy hitter in the same genre. While they kinda fit the same genre, these songs actually feel totally different from each other. That might be because Bring Me To Life had a heavy influence from the very popular genre at the time in Nu-Metal. 

Bring Me To Life was released in 2003, and was probably influenced by Linkin Park's huge hit In The End. Originally the song was only going to feature Amy Lee's vocals, but the rap style vocals were added to ensure the song would become a bigger hit. That and, the label apparently thought it would be easier to get airplay if it had male vocals because that's what post-grunge was dominated by. I guess we'll never know if an Amy Lee only version of this song would have been as popular, but regardless the song hit it big in 2003 over here in the US, reaching number 5 in the hot 100 and becoming the 10th best selling song of the year overall. 

Amy has said the song was dedicated to her boyfriend who would go one to marry her in 2007. Amy's vocals are pretty incredible in this song (and in general) as she sings passionately with the heavy guitars backing her up. Paul McCoy of 12 Stones is the male vocalist in the song, who never had any hits of their own, but had a strong following. 

While maybe the song itself isn't incredibly unique in its sound, it's Amy Lee's vocals that really change the game here. Amy Lee would go on to become a pretty big legend in the rock scene as a female vocalist she no doubt inspired many other great female vocalists in the rock world and music in general. And yes, she has done the song without a male vocalist and yes, it's still really great. 

Any other post I'd start with a joke at Nickelback's expense... I guess I kind of already did that earlier a little. But no, this time I'll give them a bit of respect and talk about their biggest hit EVER. Back in 2002, this was actually the biggest selling song of the year, and despite that, it was still a pretty good year. Oops, I guess it's hard not to make fun of this band, isn't it. The album this song was from was released on September 11, 2001... yep. Actually, this song really isn't bad, it's actually pretty good overall. The song was written by frontman Chad Kroeger about his ex-girlfriend and their dysfunctional relationship. Musically the song doesn't really feel all that special, just lots of basic sounding progressions and starts and stops to kinda change it up here and there. The vocals by Chad are fine too, really this song's strong point is the catchy melodies that get stuck in your head long after you're done listening. 

How You Remind Me isn't a bad song, but it's nothing special. Bring Me To Life brought Evanescence on the map and also Amy Lee who is a fantastic vocalist and important to the rock world. So with a better song that's also more important and influential to music, Bring Me To Life has to win this one no? 

Match 4: Jimmy Eat World's The Middle VS. 3 Doors Down's Kryptonite

It's emo-pop rock group Jimmy Eat World taking on the last post-grunge act on this first round 3 Doors Down. Kryptonite was a huge hit that dominated radio and spent an entire year on the Billboard Hot 100 from 2000-2001. The Middle came shortly after in 2002, with much less success only reaching number 5 on the charts and slowly fading in a 33-week span.

Jimmy Eat World is one of those bands that's been hugely influential to their genre over the years. The pop-punk and emo scene has many bands influenced by the sound heard on this song and the other early Jimmy Eat World albums. It was only a few years before this song that they released the album Clarity, which was kind of an emo music masterpiece in a way. But it wasn't until Bleed American, the album that featured The Middle, that they say huge success. Similar to Blink-182 and White Stripes, this one huge hit song put them on the map and that's when more people saw how good they were even before the hit song.
The Middle is a song about acceptance and fitting in. It's all about finding the people or the crowd you belong to that accept you for who you are and forgetting about anyone that doesn't accept you. It has a pretty memorable intro with the guitar and the vocals kicking in with a simple "Hey". It's also got a really memorable guitar solo that's not an easy one to just bust out. Overall it's a catchy tune with some great musical moments that kicked off the career of a very influential band that continues to make great music to this day.

Then there are 3 Doors Down, a band I enjoyed quite a bit back in the day. Kryptonite was also their biggest hit, which I think a lot of these songs will be for the artist in question. The thing is, 3 Doors Down had a ton of hits in their peak period of the early 2000s. With at least 10 songs hitting the Hot 100 and six of those making it to the top 40 or higher. While Kryptonite is their most well-known song, they also had two other massive hits in Here Without You and When I'm Gone.
Continuing the trend of memorable intros, this one starts with that picking of the Bm chords that flows throughout the verses before the heavily distorted guitars kick in for the chorus. The song also has a pretty catchy solo, but it's not very impressive even by post-grunge standards. Also important to note that frontman Brad Arnold wrote this song when he was only 15 years old bored in math class, which is pretty impressive considering it would go on to be their biggest hit of many.

Well, one song is clearly bigger and leads to a great career with many hits and the other is The Middle. But Jimmy Eat World was arguably more influential to the musical landscape of the 2000s and further on, plus made a better song. It's tough, but I think the choice has to be The Middle here. This leads to a future matchup with Bring Me To Life. 

Future matchups include:

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