Jump to content
  • Advertisement

Best and Worst of Entertainment: The 2010’s Decade End Lists


Clappy

Recommended Posts

Been meaning to make this topic for awhile now ever since I announced it on Discord months back. About halfway through the year sounds like the right time to make this official.

Consider this the last giant group project I’m ever going to do on this site.  Doesn’t mean I’m still not going to do the yearly threads or any review thread updates because I still am. But I know I won’t be around in 2029 to do something like this ever again lmao.

As a good portion of you know how these year end threads go, I’m not going to go into too deep detail to explain it.  But the condensed version of it is this.  This thread is for the best and worst of movies, music, television, etc. of 2010-2019.  Everybody can participate and share their thoughts on anything and everything.  For example, Steel does annual animation lists so I fully expect him to do a decade end animation list.  Kat likes to talk about the best albums of every year, so you guys can do a decade end albums chart.  I know a lot of you love video games, so feel free to do best or worst video games of the decade. Any form of entertainment can apply here.

As for me?  I’m just sticking to the big three that I mentioned earlier since it’s only fitting.  I’m probably going to share mine sporadically throughout the rest of the year.  I’m going to start off with television since I highly doubt that whatever is debuting in the fall will impact my decade end thoughts on anything television related so expect that ranking in the next couple months.  Music...I would prefer to wait until Billboard shares its decade end charts come November or December, but I’m fully certain of like 95% of what will make their decade list anyway so I may post it a tad earlier...we’ll see how that goes.  And movies will be last since I save that for last traditionally because who knows what sort of movie will come out at the tail end of the year that can shake things up.

Anyway, can’t wait to get these projects off the ground and running.  Can’t wait to read everyone else’s thoughts and I can’t wait to share mine with you all fairly soon. 

  • Like 5
  • Happy 2
Link to comment
Share on other sites

3 hours ago, Clappy said:

For example, Steel does annual animation lists so I fully expect him to do a decade end animation list. 

funny you should mention that...

animationlists.thumb.png.52b562ff661cbf7f353a994f485b86ca.png

Even though I will likely skip doing a retrospective list for the past years that I've neglected (2010-2013), my decade-end list for 2010s animation, once I get it out, is going take as much time as it takes to write my annuals as there's still so much that I need to see and want to see before then.

So of course, my music reviews are very much going to come out first. I have yet to decide when I should start writing them, but I already have a good idea on what ten hit songs I've liked and loathed most during this decade, and I also already have a good idea on what 50 songs in general I've liked most during the same period.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

For the record, I will be doing something special for this topic after I'm done with posting my 2004 lists.

 

Yep, I'll be ranking every year-end chart from 2010 to 2014. May as well go back to those years and check out how good the good stuff is and how bad the bad stuff really is. And of course, I'll begin with the dreaded year of......

2010

 

Okay, "dreaded" is probably a weird way of putting it but I'll be starting off with probably the most tepid year of them all. Coming soon.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Just a quick heads up.  The first of my multiple lists is almost done.  It will be the Top 20 Worst Television Series of the 2010s.  Just doing some proofreading and final revisions since I want to make sure I didn't forget anything else that could technically qualify for this list in particular.  Granted, I didn't watch every show from this decade since that's practically impossible.  But I made sure I knocked out some of the ones that have been recommended to me for years now.  So yeah, the worst list is coming in a few days.  The best list will probably take another month or so with my wedding coming in two weeks.  My free time won't be nearly as available, but I will get to it when I can. 

 

Also, to add onto another list I want to do for this decade end project, I thought I'd also announce I'm going to a Top 20 Best Albums list.  I usually avoid doing album year end lists since I don't listen to nearly enough albums in their entirety to really justify doing a Best/Worst album of the year list.  But I think I've listened to enough albums this decade to do a proper one.  Might do a worst list, we'll see on that front.  But that will also come around towards the end of the year with the songs lists too.

 

  • Like 3
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Of all the formats of entertainment in the 2010s, the toughest format for me to review will always be television.

I don’t know why, it’s just hard for me to describe.  Is it due to trying to find a way to generalize a season of a series?  Or should I highlight certain episodes over others as being impactful or outright awful?  I seriously don’t know what it is.  And it shouldn’t be that hard because the 2010s in entertainment will be fondly looked back at being the best for television.

Yeah the 2010s to me will be known as the television renaissance.  If there is any format of entertainment that made leaps and bounds in terms of making the biggest change its television.  Streaming services like Netflix and Hulu became household juggernauts.  Television series became much more defined and profound in terms of creativity and storytelling.  I mean how do I define the impact movies and music left on this decade for identity?  Music went through god knows how many phases to define what genre or fad defined the decade.  I mean I guess the 2010s for movies will be best known as the decade of cinematic universes becoming a thing thanks to Marvel, but they are the only studio seeing any true success with that trend.  The 2010s is the year of the TV renaissance certainly.

So let me try to best review the decade of television becoming an entertainment powerhouse once more.  Let’s start off with the worst list first because even if this was a decade of renovation, there was still plenty of shit I sat through.  But first, one rule I think I should make official for the television lists.  If most of a certain series seasons ran through the 2000s, I’m not counting it towards these lists.  So you won’t be seeing The Office, How I Met Your Mother, or Two and a Half Men for example on either list.  But if it’s a series that ran through practically the entire decade despite starting before the 2010s or was rebooted, then it does qualify.  Therefore, example candidates are The Simpsons, Family Guy, Samurai Jack, and The Big Bang Theory.

And let me announce how I will be doing these rankings for not just this list, but for all of them.  Because there were so many candidates for all these lists, I’m doing Top and Bottom 20s.  No honorable/dishonorable mentions.  There is plenty to read as is.  Let’s get this ball rolling.

 

CLAPPY'S TOP TWENTY WORST TELEVISION SHOWS OF THE 2010'S

 

Spoiler

The only reason this isn’t any lower is because it doesn’t bother me as much as I know modern seasons bother all of you.

20. The Simpsons (FOX)

As practically all of you know, I’ve never been the biggest fan of The Simpsons.  Doesn’t mean I never liked it.  I did.  The Simpsons in its prime was great.  The series is iconic.  When it does eventually end, it will go down as one of the most historic television series of all time.  And for the right seasons too.  While the formula will forever be imitated, the success will never be replicated the way it was for The Simpsons.

But to quote one of my best friends, who is one of the biggest Simpsons fans I know, “it’s time to put it down like Old Yeller.”  And I couldn’t agree more.  Modern day Simpsons is a shell of itself.  It’s run out of stories to tell.  The characters have run out of room to evolve.  And the only way it gets people to talk about it anymore is through ratings traps, flavorless crossovers, jumping the shark, and terrible attempts at shock value.  That is not The Simpsons I once knew.  I feel bad for anyone who started watching modern Simpsons in the 2010s.  Because they are watching a show that just simply exists and isn’t trying anymore.  Plain and simple.  Next.

 

Spoiler

Time to revisit a show that at the beginning of the decade was a cultural phenomenon.  But revisiting it now, I just can’t tolerate it.

19. Glee (FOX)

A lot of you probably thought this would be a lot higher.  I’ll be honest.  The first season and some of the second season wasn’t all bad.  The storylines were intriguing enough.  Most of these characters were tolerable.  And then halfway through Season 2 something happened and the show started to seriously get up its own ass.  The characters became caricatures of themselves and the series started to more heavily revolve around doing their song covers.  That was the point the series went from being tolerable to insufferably smug and arrogant.  And it only got worse from that point forward. 

Around Season 5, it started to feel like Glee was trying to find itself again as pop culture started to move on to bigger better sitcoms.  But the damage was already done.  Viewership plummeted.  Their covers were no longer charting on the Billboard Hot 100.  Barely anybody cared anymore.  And that’s the Glee phenomenon in a nutshell.  It was a thing.  An insufferably smug show that began and ended fine enough, but for most of its run was buying its own hype and was unbearable because of it.  Moving on.

 

Spoiler

And to think, this was my number two best show of the year not too long ago.  That’s how drastically bad this series got in record time.

18. 13 Reasons Why (Netflix)

If it wasn’t for that first season, this series would be incredibly lower than it is now.  That title should be renamed 13 Ways to Botch a Great Show Fast.  The first season told a great story about suicidal awareness and future prevention.  And then it became an overdramatic, condescending, shitfest that tried to make us sympathetic for a rapist, make our main hero incredibly tough to like, and a recently deceased person of suicide into just another teenage girl.  Which you know, this show is meant for teenagers.  But after a first season where I was on the edge of my seat telling this moving, everything sure went to shit fast.  I would do anything just to get out of my seat and when I was sitting down, I was often in disgust.  Fuck this show and it can’t end soon enough.  Fuck it fuck it fuck it.

 

Spoiler

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2ysZk_KMXUE

CSI.  One of the defining criminal procedural series of our lifetime.  This was the highest rated show for many years in the 2000s.  And for as repetitive as these series can be, I kind of liked it.  The crimes were far more intriguing than shows like NCIS or Law & Order.  It tried to appeal to more than just the 35+ crowd and actually worked.

And when shows get that successful, the spin-offs come out in full force.  CSI fatigue came in full effect in the back half of the 2000s as Miami and New York were just the same show with a different cast.  CSI ended its fifteen year run in 2015 after going through multiple leads, lack of direction, and a declining audience.  But damn if CBS didn’t try to capitalize on the formula one more time.

17. CSI: Cyber (CBS)

Now I will give CBS some slight credit for the idea behind this spin-off.  It wasn’t the same show, different city like Miami and New York were.  Social media is definitely huge right now.  Making a cyber-criminal investigation squad is a new take on this tired formula.  But the episode ideas are just so laughable.  Everything about this show is just lame.  Everyone involved with making this clearly have no clue what to do with this. 

Every episode I watched felt like they tested a focus group.  The pilot is about investigating the web because infants are being abducted and auctioned off.  Correlation?  No shit.  Selfies are a thing.  Let’s have an episode where young abducted girls are keeping their social media pages up to date somehow.  That’s stretching our facts of believability.  Every episode felt like this.  The original CSI use to be able to grab the attention of all age groups by being slick and cool.  This is just dated and lame.  All I’ll remember about this show ten years from now is that Bow Wow was part of the main cast.  Yep you can’t get more late 90s/early 2000s in 2015-2016 then by having Bow Wow as one of the main lead actors.  Next.

 

Spoiler

For nearly the past decade, I’ve seen pop culture talk about how influential 90s Nickeldeon was.  It’s why modern Nick is heavily relying on nostalgia now more than ever before to bring the channel back to the forefront of family programming.   I don’t blame them for doing so.  It is getting people talking about the channel whether it be for better or worse or both.

To me, Nickelodeon has two huge eras in their history.  The first being self-explanatory as I’ve already mentioned it.  But I want to focus on an era that I think people will look back on nostalgically ten years from now.

Say what you want about Dan Schneider in the #MeToo era.  I fully believe the man is a massive creep.  But to separate the man from his art, his era of live action sitcoms are going to be looked back on positively because he had so many huge hits for Nickelodeon.  I’m already seeing Nick Rewind’s about Victorious and that only ended five years ago.  I think ten years from now, the youth of today will feel even more nostalgic for all the great live-action sitcoms they grew up with the way 90s kids are nostalgic for their Nicktoons of yesteryear.  Even this one, for as much as I hate it:

16. Sam & Cat (Nickelodeon)

On paper, this was a great idea.  Both iCarly and Victorious were coming to their respective ends.  Their stars were getting too expensive to keep around.  Schneider badly wanted to capitalize off both successful shows.  Take two of their best supporting main stars, who also were basically best friends.  Give them their own show to lead.  Let the money pile up.

But the execution couldn’t have been more awkward.  For starters, Sam Puckett playing the straight man/woman to anyone is a terrible idea.  Her character on iCarly was known for being short tempered and watching her put up with Cat Valentine’s increasingly annoying stupidity just led to hours and hours of infuriating television.

Okay, so what about some great supporting characters to bounce off our two leads?  I couldn’t name a single one off the top of my head.  There was a little curly haired kid who I can’t remember for the life of me what his quirks were.  There was a dumbed down tall guy that somehow made Cat look like more of a genius.  And Cat has a cool grandma.  Oh yeah and Sam and Cat were babysitters.  Yay?

The only other thing I want to add onto this is that there’s a reason Nickelodeon only plays rewinds of the episodes where it had guest stars from iCarly or Victorious.  That’s saying something about how big a misfire this was.  Moving on.

 

Spoiler

15. Legends of Chamberlain Heights (Comedy Central)

Quite possibly the worst South Park rip-off on a network that has been badly trying to find their next South Park.  It’s a damn shame to see talented names like Jay Pharoah and Tiffany Haddish be involved with a show this bad.  Comedy Central.  Fix your shit.  Next.

 

Spoiler

I think this is going to come as a surprise to a lot of you, but you won’t be seeing The Big Bang Theory on this list.  And you won’t be seeing it on the best list either.

The Big Bang Theory was a show I use to love for its first four seasons before it became flavorless and uninteresting.  But when I really thought about composing this list, I just couldn’t place it on the worst list proper.  Because at the end of the day, one thing did save it from being on it.  Character progression.

Sure the show ran on far too long and yes these plots got repetitive and the jokes predictable.  But these characters actually continued to get interesting when I forced myself to finish what I started with this show.  Twelve seasons was too many yes, but I couldn’t place it on my list proper since I disliked it, but I didn’t outright hate it all this decade.  What I’m saying is the spin-off is shit.

14. Young Sheldon (CBS)

Let me repeat something I’ve asked before.  Did ANYONE ask for a Sheldon spin-off?  I thought it was universally agreed upon that Sheldon’s shtick got old eight years ago.  I didn’t need to see this little shit fail to make it even remotely endearing.

Seriously don’t really have too much else to say about this one except it’s an eight year old impersonating the latter seasons of Sheldon much to the annoyance of every one.  This kid is no Jim Parsons, who I do think is a good actor despite how tired I got of Sheldon Cooper.  Otherwise, this is just The Middle or Malcolm in the Middle or The Goldbergs or basically any of those dysfunctional family series that have been done to death at this point.  Not all of them are bad mind you, I like all three shows I listed.  But it’s a done to death sitcom trope that is really starting to get old. 

What makes Young Sheldon done to death is that it basically wants you to associate with Young Sheldon and nobody else.  All the other characters are straight men to this insufferable shit and practically none of them have any real defining character traits that we can associate with except being related to Sheldon in some way. 

The Big Bang Theory may be gone, but it will take years and years until it’s lasting influence will be bazing-gone forever.

 

Spoiler

Oh man…so close to being so bad that it’s good.  It just missed the mark.

13. Real Rob (Netflix)

I’m keeping this one short and sweet.  Ever wondered what Curb Your Enthusiasm would be like from the perspective of Rob Schneider?  Except not good?  Or even remotely funny?  Netflix.  They greenlight anything.

 

Spoiler

Okay we are getting closer and closer to the halfway point of this Top 20.  I don’t know how many of my opinions here today have been deemed controversial at this point.  But I think this next choice will be a real headscratcher.  This is personal.

12. The Garfield Show (Cartoon Network)

Now I know what you are thinking.  The Garfield Show?  That bland cartoon show based off the 40+ year old comic strip?  One of the worst shows of the decade?  Yes.  I know it has its fans around here.  And there is nothing unwatchably bad about it.  It went eight seasons for a reason.  But this is a case for me of bad being the absence of anything good.

There is not a single thing I can recommend about this show being the HUGE fan of the comic strips that I have been for all my life.  I’ve seen every Garfield property imaginable.  Yes even the shitty two live action movies with Bill Murray.  Those weren’t good either, but I can at least remember them for being the shitty family comedies they were.

I don’t remember a damn thing about this show every time I watched it.  This is one of those rare shows that even if I had seen a previous episode, I couldn’t tell you a damn thing about it because this show goes in one ear and out the other.  The characters are stale, hollow versions of themselves.  Especially Jon’s VA, who I’m convinced is an actual computer because he’s unexpressive as fuck.  The plots are either too bland to be worthy of eleven minutes to being too out of left field to make any sense. 

You have over forty years of material and this is the best you can do?  Give me a fucking break.  This show to me is what Mondays are to Garfield.

 

Spoiler

And to think that I defended the first season as pleasantly nostalgic.  Now its change the fucking channel levels of infuriating.

11. Fuller House (Netflix)

I’ve openly admitted to thinking Full House as being unbearable levels of cheese in the past.  That’s why I was absolutely taken off guard by how much I didn’t completely hate the first season of the spin-off.  And then it continued.  And it got even worse.  I don’t think anyone involved with this could read a room if they tried.  DJ and Steve don’t have any chemistry whatsoever anymore.  Kimmy Gibbler and her annoying husband aren’t anywhere close to being compatible.  Stephanie and Kimmy’s brother are nowhere near close to being good for each other.  The kids are caricatures.  All this show has going for it is 80s/90s nostalgia.  And that can only get you so far these days before it gets infuriating.

The original Full House may be dated levels of cheese, but Fuller House feels like its trolling you with dangerously hot levels of cheese.  Yet it has one of the biggest properties in Netflix’s libraries of “original series”.  It may be ending this year, but I doubt it will be the last we see of the “She-Wolf Pack”.  woo.

 

Spoiler

Top ten time.  And what better way to start this with the hot take of all hot takes.  I fucking loathe Wil & Grace.

10. Will & Grace (NBC)

I just flat out hate this show.  I was never a fan of it back during its peak popularity in the early 2000s.  And I especially hate it now in its second wind revival in the back half of the 2010s.  I mean I get why NBC decided to revive this show.  After both Friends and Seinfeld ended, this was the most bankable sitcom the network had in its arsenal.  None of their main cast was really doing anything and they were all already typecasted in these roles for the rest of their television lives.  So why not make themselves more money and go for the easy reunion?

I’ll tell you why.  Because I can’t stand a single one of these characters.  I appreciate everything this series originally did for being one of the first successful major shows with gay principal characters.  But that doesn’t mean said characters are remotely likeable.  One thing I’ve learned about myself from doing these reviews is that I hate when characters go to their full extremities all the time without evolving their characters and that’s exactly what all four of the main cast is.  One quirk or extremity exemplified to the hundredth degree.  That is Will, Grace, Karen, and Jack to me.  There quirks are exemplified to the hundredth degree to the point that it is hard to find anything likeable about these characters anymore.

And that’s especially true since it has been revived.  These characters have become caricatures of said extremities.  My soon to be wife may adore this show and these characters, but I can’t stand a single minute of this show anymore.  It’s not the mid 2000s anymore guys.  Go support better shows with gay principal characters.  There are far more out there that are better quality.  #StreamEuphoria

 

Spoiler

…if Donald Trump watched sitcom television regularly instead of hate binging CNN or MSNBC, this would be his favorite show.

9. Last Man Standing (ABC/FOX)

I hate to say that about someone I use to grow up watching and admiring in Tim Allen, but I have to call a spade a spade.  This is one of the worst sitcoms I’ve ever sat through.  It’s practically the same joke and same story every episode.  Tim Allen is an old conservative man who doesn’t understand the people of today.  And then insert the most predictable plots to come from it.

I can understand why there is an audience for this sitcom.  Hell I understand why FOX decided to revive this.  It is absolutely true that Hollywood tends to be more left winged.  The right wing need programming that can be catered to their demographic too.  And that’s what this program has basically become.  Conservative comedy for the right.  But that’s not why I hate this.

I hate this because it isn’t ambitious enough to be anything else.  It feels like its political agenda is all it has going for it.  And as someone who is tired of complacency being okay, that’s what this show has become.  Complacent.  And that’s problematic for me. 

I love Home Improvement.  It wasn’t ground breaking or anything, but it was one of the first sitcoms I ever really got into.  Tim Allen deserves better than this dull, uneventful slog.

 

Spoiler

I heard this show got better from some people.  Good for it.  I don’t root for shows to consistently stay bad.  Hell, even I came around on Teen Titans Go after thinking it was one of the worst things for two years.  But I have my limits on the amount of shit I can manage to sit through before calling it straight up shit.

8. Pickle and Peanut (Disney)

And that’s what Pickle and Peanut is.  Shit.  The voice acting is bad.  The animation is fucking terrible.  The stories make no fucking sense.  Everything I’ve seen from this series is utterly incompetent.  I still have trauma from the pilot and the following episodes I saw from that weren’t necessarily better.  Look I could go over every single what the fuck concept idea this series conjured up, but I’ll just generally summarize what this show wanted to be.

I don’t think many of you will be surprised with me saying that Regular Show is one of my many contenders for my best of the decade list.  I’ve countlessly praised this show’s originality and clever humor.  The difference between Regular Show and Pickle and Peanut goes beyond one being great and the other being fucking terrible.  Regular Show commits to their bizarre episode ideas and goes all out to subvert your expectations.  Pickle and Peanut don’t have any idea what the fuck they are doing.  It’s like 66ers The Monroe Show became a cheaply animated cartoon trying to capitalize the success of one of the more original animated series of the 2010s.  Only difference being that it has the backing of Disney.  Next.

 

Spoiler

HOLY CRAP LOIS!  THIS SHOW IS UNWATCHABLE AGAIN!  HEHEHEHEHEHEHEHEHEHE!

7. Family Guy (FOX)

Season 16 is the only season I would even consider good.  Otherwise, this decade was fucking terrible for Family Guy.  If it wasn’t for that one good-ish season, this show would be a lot lower than it placed.

That’s it.  No seriously, let’s move on to the next one.  What were you guys expecting me to give Family Guy a longer thrashing?  I mean the team involved with Family Guy isn’t trying anymore, so why should I go even harder than I already have with this on my year end lists?  Next.

 

Spoiler

Speaking of not trying anymore, Seth MacFarlane can also apply said sentiments towards this live action sitcom.

6. Dads (FOX)

Want to know what modern day Family Guy looks like in live action form?  Look no further.  Intentional racism?  Check.  Unlikeable characters?  Check.  Wasting a talented cast on F-level shlock?  Definitely a check.  I feel really bad for Giovanni Ribisi, Brenda Song, and Martin Mull in particular.  Not so much for Seth Green since he keeps appearing in Seth MacFarlane productions often.  But yeah, Dads is just a fucking disaster.  It keeps playing off the same “shock value” laughs Family Guy does that no one finds remotely funny anymore.  And surprisingly, most of the intentional racist humor doesn’t come from the old two white men.  I heard Seth MacFarlane’s “The Orville” is actually somewhat good.  Not from what little I’ve seen, but it has to be better than this trainwreck.  This show was so bad that it holds a rare 0% Fresh on Rotten Tomatoes.  That’s not nearly as common for television series as it is for movies, so that’s really saying something.  Can’t top that fact.  Next.

 

Spoiler

When I talk about my movies list, I’ll more than likely mention how Marvel ruled this decade.  And I don’t know who would disagree with that.  They started the cinematic universe phenomenon.  They made lesser known heroes into household names.  They just kept setting the bar higher and higher on how we viewed our superhero entertainment.  Superhero fatigue should have become a thing by now and that hasn’t happened yet because Marvel found ways to prevent that.  Outside of a few properties that they were sharing with other non-Disney studios, they didn’t have a single bomb to their name….well except this short lived series. 

5. Marvel’s Inhumans (ABC)

Oh yeah, how could I forget this piece of shit?  This series was so bad that Disney is already making plans to remake this not even two years after they bombed the first time.

This is probably the most disappointing series to make this worst list.  Not a single element of this show is redeemable.  The CGI is terrible.  These characters are so flat it hurts.  The writing is a mess.  Even the direction is bad.  I can’t think of a single thing worth praising about this big botch of a series.  Every episode I watched, I thought to myself “well this sucks, maybe the next will be better?”  And not a single time was I proven right.

It’s one thing to be flat out bad.  It’s another thing entirely to be bland and unwatchable.  Next.

 

Spoiler

You know what trend I hope dies in the 2020s?  Turning internet based sites or videos into full fledged series.  And I think you all know where this is going….BREADWINNERS SUCKS!

4. Breadwinners (Nickelodeon)

At first I thought this was fascinating levels of terrible, but after committing myself to try more than just one episode, I can’t believe this led the age 2-11 demographic for a few weeks.  This might be the worst Nicktoon ever conceived.  And that’s saying something from a network that gave us Mr. Meaty, Butt Ugly Martians, and FanBoy and Chum Chum.

Breadwinners is the worst because there is not a single thing worth recommending about it whatsoever.  The animation is atrocious, the writing is first draft levels of awful, and I absolutely despise the voice acting.  It is ear bleeding.  SwaySway and Buhdeuce (SERIOUSLY WHAT EVEN ARE THESE FUCKING NAMES) are easily the least likeable lead duo I’ve ever come across.  They are annoying little shits that don’t have any redeeming qualities whatsoever.

I think you all know how awful this show is so I’m not going to go that deep into detail.  Its levels of bad are something I don’t see Nickelodeon outdoing anytime soon.  There are much better animations on YouTube that could have gotten the full length animation deal to.  Why to these bunches of Breadlosers?  (Those character names won’t ever not infuriate me to end)

 

Spoiler

I’ve said some pretty harsh things over the past decade about Fox’s Sunday animation domination line up.  The Simpsons is uninspired, Family Guy is unwatchable, Bordertown doesn’t justify its own existence, and so much more.  When in reality, none of these were the worst when it came to quality.  Let’s fight the real enemy, shall we?

3. Allen Gregory (FOX)

This is the worst thing Jonah Hill has ever been involved with.  And that’s saying something for someone who starred in the bad Happy Madison stoner comedy Strange Wilderness.  The animation is fucking awful.  It pisses me off how many bad animated series this decade tried to replicate South Park and its cheap animation budget.  But what they were all missing was the jokes and cleverness to back up such shitty animation.  The characters are all awful.  Every single one of them.  No redeeming qualities whatsoever.  And the stories they gave these characters are all outright terrible.  The first non-pilot episode was about Allen trying to seduce a principal who was at least ten times his age.  Need I say more?

This show may have lasted only seven episodes, but that is more than enough to classify this show as one of the worst animated series I’ve ever seen.

 

Spoiler

We may be living in a television renaissance, but that doesn’t mean we hit the retread well a couple times.  We also got our fair share of remakes, reboots, spin-offs, and sequel series.  Some of them hits.  Some of them misses.  But at the end of the day, not too many of them made it onto my list.  Too prove that you’re really out of television ideas, you could always fully commit to making a sitcom based off one of the biggest punching bags in the entertainment industry.

2. Rob! (CBS)

No seriously.  Whose bright idea was it to give a sitcom to Rob Schnei….don’t actually answer this.  We all know it was Adam Sandler and his buddies at Happy Madison.

I think it is well documented how big of a punching bag Rob Schneider has become.  I don’t understand why anyone would give this guy a platform to be a leading man in anything.  Especially in this intentionally trash sitcom about him marrying into a large Mexican family.  Seriously do I need to say any more about why and how this was trash?  You all know this led to a bunch of intentionally racist jokes about how white people don’t understand Hispanic culture.  What really surprised me was that this had an actual audience its debut week before thankfully getting cancelled ten episodes in.

I hope we leave Adam Sandler’s best friend out of here for good in the 2020s.  We shouldn’t have to put up with this hack for another ten years.  Let alone five.

 

Spoiler

 

To define the worst show of this decade for me was tough.  As you can tell, there were A LOT of worthy contenders for this title.  But as always when it comes to my personal feelings for any list, which candidate best exemplified that bad is the absence of good.  Well after a lot of hard thinking, I knew which one was the best representative of such a trait.  And that was hard for me to say since this show use to be so near and dear to my heart.  But it won my worst of the year award once.  And no matter how many times the people in charge try to hard reboot it, it only got worse and worse.  And that’s reality…

1. The Fairly Oddparents (Nickelodeon)

Seriously it was hard to justify placing anything else at this position.  I mean correct me if I’m wrong you guys, but The Fairly Oddparents was rebooted THREE TIMES in the 2010s to add Foop, Sparky, and Chloe as new characters to freshen this show up.  AND IT WAS STILL FUCKING TERRIBLE.

Were there good episodes this decade?  Probably.  I couldn’t tell you off the top of my head though.  But not enough to justify its existence this decade.  Hell, according to Jjs, FOP practically became the Timmy’s Dad/Crocker/Cosmo show at one point.  If those were the three characters that got mostly plot points over…oh gee, I don’t know, TIMMY FREAKING TURNER, then why not just do a spin-off?  Because this series is about Timmy using his fairies to make changes towards his life.  Not about those weirdos on a train.

I can’t think of a single thing to recommend about Fairly Oddparents in the 2010s.  It went from being one of my favorite Nicktoons to selling out any artistic integrity the series once had for more viewership.  No amounts of new lead characters can lead to improving your quality.  To improve your quality, that requires actual effort.  Something the Fairly Oddparents once had put forth.  And now it’s gone for good.  Maybe Butch will reboot this once more for OAXIS if that ever gets off the ground.  Who knows and who cares.  All of my precious memories of this show are basically gone now.  What’s a little more salt to rub into the wounds?

tumblr_inline_mkw7woaryy1qz4rgp.gif

And so is FOP in the 2010s.

 

Thank you to those of you who took your time to read all this.  I know it was a lot, but I had a lot to say.  Hope you all enjoyed!  The Best of the 2010s will come in another month or so.  

  • Like 9
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Spoiler

 

Ouch that #1, but honestly, I cannot blame you for that choice at all. The 2010s was an awful decade to be FOP, or it was at least mostly poor during that period while also actually not without some hidden gems. I'm saying this as someone who had the audacity to watch every single episode from the period that most FOP fans have religiously avoided after having seen a few episodes from it (I'm also saying this as someone who has made a review series for this very show which I haven't updated in months).

What I think best justifies the fact that FOP is your #1 is the fact that most people I've known who have experienced FOP's decline have only talked about everything that was wrong with it. And for the most part, there were a lot of things wrong with FOP in the 2010s. The characters decayed into massive exaggerations or generalizations of themselves, Butch's writing team wasn't familiar enough with FOP to save face and phoned stuff in most of the time (this is especially prominent during S9 and S10), a good chunk of the series' cast is pushed aside to make more room than needed for story potential in the three weirdos on a train, the series constantly made half-A''d changes to the continuity that it had, lastly and most notably, the executives at Nickelodeon forced Butch to shoehorn in a new addition to the main cast every time they decided to renew the series and whatever new character it was that we were introduced to, that character was either flat out unlikable, annoying, or poorly written. Oh, and there was also one point where Nick ordered at least 7 more episodes for S10 but because of budget cuts, the animation had to be handled by Canada's flash animation department.

So yeah, FOP...definitely not my choice for the worst television show of this decade, but I'd be darned if its run during the 2010s wasn't decade-defining levels of bad.

 

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I'm going to start posting one of my music-related lists later this month, it won't be on the Billboard charts, though, but I'm still going to do a best/worst hit songs of the decade list. However, I am going to pull a 360 and broaden my list to more than just that decade-end top 100 list. Of course, I will not pull a typical Toddroid and jump the gun with this list as I plan to get mine out after I finish my best/worst hit songs of 2019 lists.

In the meantime, my first music-related list will be unveiled soon. It will be a surprise until then so I can't let out what exactly it is.

 

(also, for those who are wondering when my animation list is coming out...yeah, it's definitely not coming until much later for a slew of reasons including the fact that it will be a bigger project than my top ten lists as I want to see as much of what the medium had given us as I need to before forming my own list, needing to take my own time with it, and because my 2018 list still isn't even done yet.)

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

We’ve reached the end of the 2010s. The time has come for me to look back on the best that the decade had to offer. I know that you guys know my place as much as I do, but it’s expected that I would never be prepared yet for…you know what list (my best of animation 2010s list), so of course, I’m starting off with something that I’m always ready to write out during list season: the music lists. The Billboard-related lists will take time since the 2019 year-end Hot 100 is still yet to be published, so instead, I’m starting off with something more special:

 

Steel's Top 50 Songs of the 2010s

 

Oh yes. My personal standings on what the best songs are of this decade as a whole. There are a few things to consider. To state the obvious, these rankings are all based on my opinion alone. Because this is a top 50 list, don’t take it as if my taste in music doesn’t come off as broad based on my choices. I’ll admit it that my taste in music isn’t the very broadest, but I can guarantee you that all of my choices are worth listening to. I have listened to quite a lot of music from a variety of genres this decade and there were a lot of songs that I’ve enjoyed, but I’ve decided that it is best that this kind of list would be condensed to at least 50 choices that I believed most strongly signified my listening experience. These songs are not what I feel are the most important of the decade, this list comprises of what songs are the most important to me over the course of the 2010s. There was a thoughtful and careful choosing process towards forming this list and most of my choices are based on enjoyment, significance, memorability, emotional depth, narrative depth, and replay value; at least one or more of these factors play into my top 50 choices.

I will be unveiling my rankings ten songs at a time and on either a weekly or biweekly basis. Here are some notes about my top 50, for those who are curious to see what I have to share:

-This is the total number of songs for each year that appear on the list:

2010: 4
2011: 3
2012: 7
2013: 9
2014: 6
2015: 5
2016: 7
2017: 3
2018: 3
2019: 1

-These following artists have more than one song on the list:

Spoiler

David Bowie
Gorillaz
Muse
Kanye West
Kendrick Lamar
Taylor Swift


-Six songs on this list are deep cuts (non-single album tracks).  
-Three songs stem from the animation medium.
-Only one song on this list is a non-album single.

 

#50-#41:

Spoiler

 

50. “To Binge” / Gorillaz featuring Yukimi Nagano

Year of release: 2010
Album: Plastic Beach (2010)
Country: United Kingdom and Sweden

Yes, this is the song of all things that I’m starting this list off with. This is also the first Gorillaz song on the list being revealed here, while it is a lesser known deep cut from Plastic Beach and it’s not “Stylo,” or “On Melancholy Hill,” or any other Gorillaz song coming out after Plastic Beach like “Andromeda” or “Ascension.” The point that’s already made here is how weird of an inclusion this is for the top 50 best songs of the decade, so here’s my explanation on why it’s on my list.

First of all, this is one of the most beautiful-sounding tracks on Plastic Beach alongside “On Melancholy Hill” and “Empire Ants.” The chemistry between the two singers on the track, Damon Albarn and Yukimi Nagano (the Swedish-Japanese frontwoman of Little Dragon) is remarkably stunning. The song’s themes center on alcoholism and drinking away the misery while it delivers with a bittersweet, Hawaiian-esque, melancholic melody and it works so well. That in which brings to my next and oddest point as to why this song one of my personal favorites of the 2010s: the instrumental sounds like something that would come from…SpongeBob.

Some will say that “Superfast Jellyfish” gives off that SB vibe, but it’s “To Binge” that I get those vibes from and I may certainly be the only one who feels as such. For context, SpongeBob’s production music has been notable for its inclusion of joyous, peaceful, and as well as melancholic Hawaiian instrumental tunes. It’s like I’ve said about the morose, Hawaiian-esque melody for “To Binge.” Murdoc, one of the virtual band members, even confirms that this is the kind of style that Gorillaz was going for. On a sadder note, however, it’s also because of the thought of its connection to SpongeBob’s Hawaiian stock music that Stephen Hillenburg’s death in 2018 had added some more subtext to my thoughts on the song’s melancholic tone. I’m not an alcoholic mess, so that makes my appreciation towards “To Binge” as strange as I say it is. Even so, it is still one of my biggest favorites from Gorillaz and it can still be universally agreed that this is a very beautiful, miserable song.

 

Spoiler

 

49. “Sea of Love” / The National

Year of release: 2013
Album: Trouble Will Find Me (2013)
Country: United States

This was a toss-up along with three other songs by The National: “Demons,” from the same album as this one song, “Bloodbuzz Ohio,” and “The System Only Dreams in Darkness.” I’ve always appreciated hearing the singer Matt Berninger go beyond the usual grimness of his vocals and unleashing an emotionally intense performance with “Sea of Love,” which is why I’ve settled on putting it on my list. In fact, likewise with Matt’s vocals on the track, the production is heavier compared to The National’s other songs as well.

Contrary to how this song sounds, it’s about a man coming into terms with the inner workings of a relationship with a woman. It doesn’t sound too interesting on paper, but The National bring a good deal of excitement into this narrative through Matt’s rising vocal delivery, the energy from the rest of the band, and as well as the dramatic tension they bring into it. Thus, it is my favorite song by The National from the 2010s.

 

Spoiler

 

48. “Rats” / Ghost

Year of release: 2018
Album: Prequelle (2018)
Country: Sweden

I can’t really say that I’ve been an open book on metal music in general, but I have done the justice of including at least two songs from that category of rock music, “Rats” included. I know Ghost is one of the more accessible metal acts out there, but let’s face it: they still flat out rock. “Rats” is the perfect culmination of the group’s talents: their arena-ready sound and energy, the frontman’s eccentricity and passion, the gritty, horror aesthetic, and their performance-driven musical style.

Yeah, my commentary for this song is fairly short, but this one of those songs where I don’t really need to over-complicate my feelings towards. Ghost has put on quite a show with “Rats,” which is why I find it to be one of their best, in extension to the best of the 2010s.

 

Spoiler

 

47. “Both of You” / Rebecca Sugar, Aivi & Surasshu, and Zach Callison

Year of release: 2016
Album: Steven Universe Soundtrack: Volume 1 (2017)
Country: United States

Steven Universe has such a variety of solid tunes, which is why it’s hard to agree on which one is the best. Some will say it’s “Stronger Than You,” or “Other Friends,” or “What’s the Use of Feeling (Blue)?,” or “It’s Over, Isn’t It.” Thinking about it, I’d say my absolute favorite is “Both of You” because it’s perfect in a lot of ways, ranging from Sugar’s songwriting and spacey production, Aivi & Surasshu’s piano arrangement, and most of all, Zach Callison’s graceful vocals.

The positives don’t end there. One other main highlight about this song is just how significantly it represents Steven’s character, who conveys a simple, yet subtle compromise to Pearl’s bitter feud with Greg. The twists and turns that have been pulled by the series during the fifth and final season adds some new meanings to the song (and don’t worry, I’m not going to spoil anything), but all that charm is still there. It’s short, yet very sweet.

 

Spoiler

 

46. “Follow Your Arrow” / Kacey Musgraves

Year of release: 2013
Album: Same Trailer Different Park (2013)
Country: United States

I know, this is an easy country song to love, but as I should say, what’s not to love about this song and the artist? Heck, I know there are quite a few members out there that are fans of Kacey Musgraves’s music and are probably asking me “Where’s “High Horse?”” or “Where’s “Slow Burn?”” Whatever song any you feel is the best from the artist, I’m still going along with the song’s message and choose “Follow Your Arrow.”

“Follow Your Arrow” is one of those type of songs that form the message of not caring what other people think you are or what you do, which is one reason why I appreciate this song a lot. Another reason as to why “Follow Your Arrow” is on my list is because of how Musgraves backs it up with her sharp songwriting. The verses acknowledge serious subject matter and stigmas regarding them before Musgraves ricochets it with an upbeat, relaxed melody and with the message that she aims to get straight across: don’t worry about it, just follow your own arrow. The way that Musgraves blends the song’s elements together to create a song that’s still pleasant to listen to justifies why it’s one of my favorites of the decade, because she executes it so well.

 

Spoiler

 

45. “Don’t Go Changing” / Aly & AJ

Year of release: 2019
Album: Sanctuary (EP) (2019)
Country: United States

Of all acts to have made 2019 in music for me, it was a former teen pop duo that was also formerly signed to a Disney label. Yes, this is the same Aly & AJ Michalka that previously made songs like “Chemicals React” and “Potential Breakup Song” (and both songs have still aged well). I can see why people will consider the Jonas Brothers’ comeback the best comeback in recent years, but let’s face it: Aly & AJ had one of the best musical evolutions over the course of this decade. Songs like “Take Me,” “Good Love,” and the very topic of this placement are all proof of that.

Like most songs from 2019, “Don’t Go Changing,” is too relatively new for me to push any further up in my personal list, but it still excels in being one of those perfect pop songs, with a solid message to boot. The message is straightforward: don’t go changing. However, it’s the subtlety in the song’s structure that really makes it sell so well. It comes off at first as a song that’s at a second or third person perspective until you dive deeper into it and realize that it’s directed towards Aly & AJ themselves. Based on the way the duo presents their message though, it comes off more to me like the song touches on a universal perspective. In other words, Aly & AJ don’t seem to just say they believe that they shouldn’t change their own selves. We all shouldn’t go changing ourselves.

Has this scheme been done before in other songs? Surely, but no matter how much more music I expose myself to after these rankings, I don’t think I’d find any other song that does “Don’t Go Changing,” better than Aly & AJ, thus making it one of my favorite self-empowerment songs of the decade.

 

Spoiler

 

44. “Style” / Taylor Swift

Year of release: 2014
Album: 1989 (2014)
Country: United States

It’s very easy to see why most fans of Taylor Swift’s music would consider this as one of her best. Like my previous entry, “Style” has the distinction of simply being a perfect pop song. Other than having that nice synthpop and disco blended flair for its production, Taylor showcases herself into taking one of her most mature directions in terms of her songwriting through “Style.” Lyrically, “Style” is a hookup song, but it strays away from Swift’s old ways as it addresses the singer’s self-awareness in establishing this possible relationship through her past failed relationships. However, Taylor proclaims that no matter the outcome, they’ll never go out of style, which results into a song where Taylor is also at her most sexually provocative.

And because of how Taylor delivers with her songwriting, her vocals, and her irresistible hooks, I can easily buy her step into maturity. It’s also for those reasons as to why it has still stuck with me and, as the song goes, has never gone out of style.

 

 

Spoiler

 

43. “Shut Up and Dance” / Walk the Moon

Year of release: 2014
Album: Talking is Hard (2014)
Country: United States

Choosing this over “Style” being my absolute favorite hit song of year-end 2015 may be one of my controversial picks. The fact that I would still rank these two songs close together speaks of this state of my mind where it was hard choosing between the two as the better song. However, I still stand by my original feelings towards “Shut Up and Dance” being a straight-up 80s-esque banger.

Yet again, “Shut Up and Dance” is another example of being a perfect pop song in my eyes. However, in comparison to “Style,” “Shut Up and Dance” is a sillier song. This probably isn’t the best way of justifying its position, but there are times where I would prefer a dumb, mindless fun song to dance to. “Shut Up and Dance” exhibits some power chords to give it some raw edge, but for the most part, Walk the Moon is a rather silly rock group. It’s because I feel “Shut Up and Dance” best displays the band’s wacky but mindless fun personality that this song works so well for me. It’s a shameless 80s throwback, but it’s the band’s charm that they bring into it that makes it feel like a breath of fresh air, especially in the climate of rock crossovers that would end up being hesitant to push more positive and energetic songs like this.

No matter how you may feel about Walk the Moon, if they’re just a shameless clone of The Killers or The Police, or if they’re just a throwaway act that can’t top their sole hit, as long as the band still has such a danceable track like “Shut Up and Dance” in them, they’re still cool in my eyes.

 

 

Spoiler

 

42. “I Could Use a Love Song” / Maren Morris

Year of release: 2016
Album: Hero (2016)
Country: United States

Then, of course, there are times where a song doesn’t have be as exciting as the previous two entries to be astounding to me. For those who weren’t aware, I’ve talked about Maren Morris a little bit in-depth while taking about how badly her talents were wasted by some dude named Zedd on his insipid collaboration with her for my top 10 worst hit songs of 2018 list. On my top best hits of 2018 list, I touched on “I Could Use a Love Song” briefly. I didn’t go in-depth about why the song works so much for me and that was either because I wanted to get straight to the point with my top 10…and because it was bound to be in my best of the decade list and I wanted to save any more commentary about the song for that.

The fact that I ranked this higher than a Kacey Musgraves song is already telling that I need to explain why I have this one higher up on the list, so here’s my explanation. For starters, it’s the most representative of Morris’ country sound. I do love her other songs, don’t get me wrong, but this best solidifies her as a country singer. Then there’s the central highlight of the song, much like every other one of Maren Morris’ tracks: her voice. Her voice doesn’t come off as big as it does on “My Church,” or “80’s Mercedes,” but it’s still as impressive on here because her tone matches well with the general mood of the song and you can really feel the conviction in her voice. There’s a moment where she does raise her voice, and it’s still satisfying to hear, given the reason I’ve previously stated.

Other than the vocals, I’m also a fan of the whole narrative of trying to rely on standard love songs to not just mend a broken heart, but also to rewind to when the relationship didn’t fall apart, which further elaborates on the singer’s sense of vulnerability. As far as slow burners go for this year, “I Could Use a Love Song” may not be the best, but it is definitely one of my favorites.

(And yes, there is a music video for this song, but I dissented to use it since it contains this particular moment two-thirds into the video, which I’m sure could make any of you feel uncomfortable if you’re listening it for the first time based on my high recommendation.)

 

Spoiler

 

 

As you can tell by the fact that this is the first pre-introduction to one of my entries on my list, “Uptown Funk” is not on there. It’s not that there’s anything wrong with the song in particular. “Uptown Funk” is a stellar 70s funk throwback that bangs. …But this other Mark Ronson song bangs harder…

 

41. "Feel Right" / Mark Ronson featuring Mystikal

Year of release: 2014
Album: Uptown Special (2015)
Country: United Kingdom and United States

I never thought that I’d want to see a comeback from Mystikal, albeit a short-lived one, but man, he really overwhelms on this track. His brings his usual charm on the song, but Mark Ronson’s old school funk production allows for the rapper to shed some more personality, as he as well exhibits a James Brown-style swagger.

Obviously, the main highlight of this song is just how irresistible Mystikal’s flow is. Mystikal just spouts straight fire all the way through the track, and there’s no other way for me to sum it up. There’s just not a single dull moment to be had from this song. Therefore, it has earned a place on my top 50 list.

 

 

  • Like 1
  • God Himself 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Honestly? I liked this decade.

Not life-wise, we ain't gonna talk about that, but music-wise? I honestly feel like in the near future, this decade, particularly the second half, is gonna be known for a lot of damn good music. I really grew into my own as a music nerd this decade, and I'm more than happy. Therefore, I got a

Top 100 Songs of the Decade!

Am I gonna discuss every single one in depth? Hahahahaha fuck that. To start, I'll give you guys #100 to #81 with quick blurbs for each one. Quick blurbs I think will be my way of doing this up until the #40 point, when I'll start getting more in depth. I think that's apt to start! (loose 1 song per artist clearly)

Spoiler

100 // Childish Gambino // Redbone // 2016 // Glover has had an interesting progression in his music career over the past decade and I'll be 100% honest I had trouble choosing between this and Bonfire but at the end of the day I chose the Critics' Consensus. Predictable
99 // Vampire Weekend // Worship You // 2013 // I only recently learned that this is a very spiritual song, not to much surprise, granted, because this song has a very soaring-above-the-clouds type of energy that feels unstoppable.
98 // Red Velvet // SAPPY // 2019 // For the most part this decade, I was pretty closed-minded on K-Pop, and still am more than I'd like to admit, but I remember looking through random songs that got released this past year and finding this golden slice of jazzy pop perfection and promising myself that I'd listen to more of the genre if more of it were like this... still need to get around to fulfilling that task.
97 // Billie Eilish and Khalid // Lovely // 2017 // I was torn between this song and her other song I absolutely adore, Ocean Eyes, but I eventually picked this one because I like the addition of Khalid PLUS the orchestral swelling featured in the song sometimes makes me feel like my heart is about to pop out of my chest and sometimes that's the primary thing you need in a piano ballad.
96 // Sharon Van Etten // Seventeen // 2019 // I already discussed this song before so lemme just reiterate that the 70s mom rock style that Sharon Van Etten brings to this song + the emotional intensity of her songwriting is untouchable when the only thing that can fit your mood is a blast of pure feminine  energy
95 // Against Me! // Black Me Out // 2014 // One of several MY GENDER IDENTITY IS VALID FUCK OFF anthems that have kept me stable for a while and when I mean anthemic I mean ANTHEMIC as in an eternal scream-at-the-top-of-your-lungs chorus that'll make you feel like you're the most powerful motherfucker on the planet and everything will be alright even if both of those things are depressingly untrue
94 // Orianthi // According to You // 2010 // A song based around telling ur ex how much of an asshole he was and how much better your new man is to the sound of late-00's/early-10's jagged pop rock? It's everything I want sometimes, plus I'll love any song that reminds me of being in JC Penney as a kid
93 // Kero Kero Bonito // Only Acting // 2018 // KKB already showed clear talent as an indie-ish electropop band prior to 2018 so when they took their songwriting chops to jagged noise pop last year it blew my fucking mind. This song is maddeningly catchy but for my sake make sure you listen to the "Radio Edit" as the album version cuts it short for 30 seconds of noise and it just really harshes the vibe of a Perfect Pop SongTM
92 // White Lung // Bag // 2012 // STUPIDLY furious but also STUPIDLY anthemic femme noise punk, White Lung were one of my first discoveries in college thanks to a friend who's extremely into fem-punk and all I can say is it's really good stuff when you're completely angry at the world
91 // JPEGMAFIA // Jesus Forgive Me, I'm a Thot // 2019 // I almost feel lame for liking JPEGMAFIA given his core audience but sometimes he just dishes out a song that I can't help but get hyped to every time I listen to it; if it weren't for this weird-ass song, Baby I'm Bleeding would've been on this list instead, but lemme make it clear I love both songs
90 // Big Freedia // Rent // 2018 // Big Freedia is one of the coolest people on the planet and worth way more than a great song, but TALKIN TALKIN TALKIN TALKIN YADDA YADDA YADDA YADDA YADDA is one of the most exhilerating hooks of the entire decade and a good foundation for a peak take-no-bullshit kind of song
89 // Freddie Gibbs and Madlib // Flat Tummy Tea // 2019 // This one of the less acclaimed singles for Freddie Gibbs' 2019 album which is bizarre to me because it's been my favorite of the bunch for a while; the beat switch in the middle was a bit of an acquired state but I grew even to love that. I haven't listened to as much as Freddie Gibbs as i probably should
88 // Neda Ukraden // Da Se Nadjemo Na Pola Puta // 2010 // One of a couple Halibut pre-American-music childhood jams on this list, I don't really know how to articulate the pure nostalgia I get from this song - all I can say is it's a very sentimental song with a chorus that feels huge even if you have absolutely no clue what she's saying
87 // SOPHIE // Immaterial // 2018 // It took a bit for SOPHIE to grow on me but once she clicked she clicked and this cut off of her album is the best thing she has done this decade, certainly the one song of hers that hit me the hardest emotionally. I learned really late that the main hook is ripped from Madonna's Material Girl but quite frankly this song is significantly better and used the hook better too
86 // Britney Spears // Hold it Against Me // 2011 // I really hope the early 2010s' reputation keeps growing as a golden time for anthemic dance-pop cuz music snob circles can't survive off of "Lady Gaga actually good!" alone and I wish they had more appreciation for songs like this. I like Britney Spears but I think this is probably my favorite song of hers if for no other reason than I am a total sucker for this type of pop song (forget that it's a Dr Luke production)
85 // Daft Punk and Julian Casablancas // Instant Crush // 2013 // This isn't the only case of a song w/ Julian Casablances that's significantly better than anything the Strokes ever wrote will show up on this list, but it is the first. I'm glad Daft Punk still have the songwriting chops they do to this day, as they transitioned into this decade so well. Nothing they did this decade, though, can top this lowkey dance-pop ditty that has no business being as emotionally powerful as it is
84 // Kid Cudi // CONFUSED! // 2015 // This is one of the weirdest picks I have for this list by a big amount considering the fact that 2015 Kid Cudi is still a huge laughing stock among dumbass music snob circles on the internet, and while most of it is deserved, Kid Cudi somehow managed to really channel a 90s alt rock aesthetic I am in love with for this song. It actually feels like the earnest throwback the guy was looking for and it was actually successful... I struggle to understand my adoration for this stupid song either way
83 // Nicki Minaj // Starships // 2012 // Todd can suck a fat one for his opinion on Starships, this song is a journey. The majority of it is a great sunny pop song which already would've made it a contender for my top 100, and then genius RedOne adds in the stupidly energetic club drops and while some may see it as jarring, those moments completely make the song for me. Play this song for me when I'm in a good mood and I will probably lose my shit
82 // Clams Casino // Motivation // 2011 // I'm not super big on cloud rap or anything but sometimes you hear a song that really hurls you into the world that bigger fans of the genre than me see when they listen to it. This is a quintessential winter song to me, specifically one of those songs that you have to listen to upon the first major snowfall to really appreciate the change in weather in full. That's what I did a few days ago.
81 // Dean Blunt // 50 CENT // 2014 // This type of super hazy, mildly psychedelic sound seems to work the best either deep in the summer or deep in the winter, and this song in particular is very much the latter. Dean Blunt is a very talented dude I need to listen to more of, and the female vocals in particular (by Joanne Robertson) give the song a very special atmosphere which is perfectly fit for a winter night under city lights; precisely what you get when you find fan uploads of this song on YouTube.

 

  • Like 2
  • Thanks 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

So, I have a chance to participate for a Top 10 of the 2010s list. This is my first time doing it, so I guess I’ll give it a try.

 

This decade has a lot of great animated shows that I have enjoyed throughout, whether it's old or new shows that I’ve been watching. A lot of shows ended and there are some that are still currently airing. These are just some awesome shows I loved the most.

 

Without further ado, this is...

 

SOF’s Top 10 Animations of the 2010s

 

10. SpongeBob SquarePants

 

I’ve been an SB fan for years, since 2006. SB is still popular and I've kept watching it to see if any of the newer episodes are interesting. S1-S3 were the classic pre-movie era which most of us remember and love, myself included. But there are some people saying how the post-movie era is hated because the creator left, among other reasons. Personally, I never understood this. Sure, Season 7 is considered to be one of worst seasons for SpongeBob, but some episodes are good IMO.

 

When S9 premiered, a lot of people liked Season 9B more than Season 9A. Personally, I didn’t like some of the S9 episodes in there. They just...sort of happened for me. I feel that must be said. However, on the positive side, there are decent episodes. Later seasons have also shown improvement. Season 12 so far is getting better and better each time. it really enhanced the show a lot. I do like a lot of episodes in there such as Mind the Gap, Gary’s Got Legs, Ghost of Plankton, and Handemonium. Sadly, the creator of the show passed away last year, and it was a very sad day for SB fans.

 

Meanwhile, the show is continuing without him and I really like the show so much, but despite that, this will be the last season I’ll watch since I’ve been outgrowing it. This show is still going to remain popular and I really appreciate that.

 

9.  Adventure Time

 

This show was amazing, more than that. I mean, it’s one of the best shows that CN had. There are a lot of good episodes I could think of, and the animation is pretty good to say the least. Seeing Finn & Jake going on an epic journey for 9 seasons was fantastic. Sometimes, I wish I could see more with their characters. Thankfully, four different hour-long specials are coming to HBO Max, and I can’t wait to see them. There isn’t much more to say about this, but man, this one has some wild adventures.

 

8. Regular Show

 

I really liked this show, honestly. I've enjoyed seeing these characters exploring bizarre worlds around the park. What I also liked about this show is that the animation has a very decent quality. Rigby is one of my personal favorites from Regular Show. I loved his character development whenever he was goofing around with Mordecai. I don’t think there’s anything else to say other than that I like S8 a lot. It was cool to see how the final season ended that well. Overall, Regular Show is unique and it has the clever humor to keep me entertained over the years.

 

7. The Amazing World of Gumball

 

When I first heard about this, I thought it looked cute, and so I checked this out. Simply put, it was marvelous. The animation looks cool and decent. I also like the characters' design a lot, like Gumball for instance. He was just a very adorable-looking cat. As for the seasons, well I do like season 4 the best. What I also liked about this show is that Gumball & Darwin make some 4th wall jokes in various episodes, which I thought was entertaining. One thing I want to say about any of the episodes is that the Rob plot was very interesting to me and it kept me invested. He has pretty good character development in there. Overall, it was an amazing and and a cute show to watch.

 

6. Hilda

 

This is the first Netflix animated series I had watched, and what did I think of it? As you all can tell, I thought It was incredible. I loved the characters, I loved the animation and I loved the intro. This is one of those shows where it has given me strong Gravity Falls vibes. There isn't much else I need to add or say except that I can’t wait for Season 2 to come out in 2020.

 

5. DuckTales (2017)

 

I remember watching the original version of DuckTales, I thought it was good. When the rebooted version of DuckTales came, I was genuinely surprised when they updated it with modern day animation and it made some changes that I was satisfied to see.

 

I’m glad how the series wrote Webby, with awesome character development, to boot. She's also very energetic and fun, which is why she’s one of my favorite characters in DuckTales. I also liked the new characters we're introduced to, like Lena, 'cause she used to work alongside Magica De Spell, but then she realized that her aunt had been using her, so she could eventually save Webby from whatever spell that Magica was trying to use against her during the S1 finale.

 

I like the show a lot better than the original version. IMO, so that’s why I put this as my #5

 

4. Gravity Falls

 

Let me start off by saying that I fucking loved this show. It has a lot of incredible moments, like any other Disney animated show has done several times and this is definitely no exception. It has had loads of thrills that I've enjoyed, and I really loved characters like Mabel, Dipper, Stan, Soos and Wendy. The jokes and gags were very funny and it was interesting to learn about who wrote the journal. I also really liked the lovely animation as well. When it comes to my personal favorite character, mine is Mabel because she’s adorable and an entertaining character. As for my favourite episode? I would have to say the finale, hands down. It was filled with quite a lot of action and with tons of exciting stuff going on. Overall, it was one of my favorite shows of the 2010s.

 

3. Star vs. Force of Evil

 

What’s interesting is this list made me love this show a lot more. It’s the Star vs. Force of Evil. I adore the show a lot and here's why. It has good action and humor to it. This series has Star Butterfly as one of the main protagonists who uses her magic to fight against villains like Ludo, who I really like. Furthermore, I want to say how awesome this show was and the reason I love this is because it keeps having some of those momentsto get me hyped to watch more of it, and I've appreciated how fantastically the series had made Star able to stand her own ground alongside with Marco. The episodes were great, the characters were decent too.

 

All I can say from here is that it's cool Disney has given us something unique, which is a magical girl series, and I've liked how where the show was going along with that genre. Overall, it’s a cute & awesome show.

 

 

You know, I’ve been debating between these two shows and whichever one deserved to be #1 or #2, but I decided that that series would take the latter spot, and this one might surprise you guys the most…

 

2. The Loud House/The Casagrandes

 

I know some of you haven't known about this show. To me, I personally enjoyed The Loud House (and the spin-off, The Casagrandes, to an extension). This was a tough choice that I made. And I can understand why some of you don’t like this series. It’s fine if you don’t like it. I just want to share my own opinion on this show that I really loved enough to become my second favorite animated series. I really mean it. This is one of the new shows that came out in 2016 that interested and entertained me most.

 

First of all, I honestly love the animation. The idea of having Lincoln Loud being an only brother in a family of 10 sisters was a weird concept to me, but eventually I watched more episodes of The Loud House and damn, were they good. Again, I can get the hate for it, and I can respect that. Yes, I am aware of the drama with the creator that happened since two year ago, but this can move on without him and I'm glad this show is still going strong without him. Knowing that this show had gained a good amount of popularity, I can see that since this show focuses on the slice of life genre that had been done before. I really liked the characters as well as their individual personalities. That made it more of a different type of a slice of life series for me.

 

Of course, the fact that it got so popular meant that Loud House got a spin-off show. I was happy to see Lincoln’s friend, Ronnie Anne, getting her own. It's awesome to have Ronnie Anne’s character being expanded a lot more. I think it’s because they want to make Loud House into its own expanded universe. In my opinion, The Casagrandes is an underrated show and like The Loud House, this is one of my personal favorite shows.

 

1. My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic

 

Back in 2010, when I first heard about this upcoming show, I was a bit skeptical about it, as I'm sure most of us were at the time. Then, in 2011, we had an SBC fad with almost all of the users changing their avi to MLP characters, myself included. I was trying to find a good avatar for the fad, so I found this white unicorn which ironically became one of my favorite MLP characters. Back then, however, I thought I didn’t give myself a chance to watch this series since it didn’t interest me then.

 

Later in 2016, I decided to give it a shot by watching the two-part premiere from S1. My first impression after watching it was… I thought it wasn't that bad at all. So I decided to watch a bit more, and at that point, I think I was becoming a brony now. I really, really loved the show. It keeps me excited for more and it was awesome no matter for whom it was generally made for. So yeah, I would say that I'm an MLP fan myself.

 

This show is super adorable to watch. Rarity is one of my favorites of all the characters in MLP:FiM. Hell, Discord is also one of my favorites, and the fact that he is voiced by the same guy who played Q from Star Trek is something I'm impressed with. I didn’t even know that when I saw his first appearance in season 2, and it was cool to have him to join the voice cast as a recurring character. If there’s one other thing that I like about this show, it's that it has kept me liking it. Even while it was coming to an end (which, sadly, it did), I would still watch it. So yeah, MLP:FiM was a very magical show and it is my favorite show of the 2010s in my opinion.

 

 

Thank you for reading this. Special thanks to @Steel Sponge for proofreading and editing my commentary for this list.

  • Like 2
  • Thanks 1
  • God Himself 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

 

2010 decade is finally over and this calls for some lists to make. Hooray! Unfortunately this decade has provided some really low quality shows that I have to tackle first. No surprise there, every decade has its stinkers and I honestly have no time to watch many shows just to see how bad they are, especially this decade's stinkers. So no live-action shows I'll tackle and believe me #1 would be Arrow without a question but Arrow did have some greatness in it, so not entirely fair. However, I did see many, many, many animated shows before I began to take more interest in live action, so I'm going to focus on the shows I consider really bad this decade. Lets dive into them!

WHOBOB'S TOP 10 WORST ANIMATED SHOWS OF 2010'S

(and trust me this list is kind of predictable...but I did see these shit, so I have to tackle them.)

I have no dishonorable mentions for this because I don't think I would handle that much pressure into checking every single cartoon that was met with negative critical reception. Here we go.

 

Spoiler

10) Pickle and Peanut (Disney XD)

Get ready for your pitchforks because I'm ready baby!

Let's get this out of the way. I do not hate this show at all. In fact there is some amusement I have found here (like grandma and volcano episodes were really amazing to me) and I get why some people have fondness over it. However, I'm not fond of this show's memey and random humor, especially when they use live-action stock images, it gets really jarring and tasteless for me. Characters feel nothing special, humor is not working for me, stories are eh and its animation is not for my taste. So yeah, I have to put this show on the list. It's not as BAD as people say but I don't think it's a good show on its own.

 

Spoiler

9) Sanjay and Craig (Nickelodeon)

I think this is a show that truly improved once it has reached into its second season but unfortunately, it was too late for things to improve. s1 imo was nothing but a regular show wannabe with pushing too hard to make gross-out humor to be funny but it is not. Episodes that feature kids trying to make a friend barf by show disgusting imagery, a literal fart baby, a butt transplant and puppies that barf (this was in s2 but still) show that this show was doomed to lose its audience from start and I do not blame them. I get first seasons are hard but you have to sell the show to hook the audience and this did not do that at all.

 

Spoiler

8 ) Teen Titans Go (Cartoon Network)

Here is a show that I used to hate with a passion, especially after seeing how good 2003 cartoon was but now I find this to be another meh show. When the show hits, it hits very well. It's satirical comedy that embraces silliness of comic books and have tons of cute references here and there are great. But I find the characters to be beyond unlikeable and stories to be too immature, loud and idiotic. I get this is supposed to be a parody show but I don't think it often gets how to be a good one, especially when it uses meta humor too many times that it loses it touch. I don't think this show is bad but I feel like this is something i simply do not care as there are much better comic book shows these days.

 

Spoiler

7) The Fairly OddParents (Nickeloden)

Oh how the mighty has fallen. This once used to mean something. A show with limitless imagination, epic adventures, compelling characters and the humor that was sharp and fun (not always though in its glory days). Now it's nothing but a shameless show that repeats its slapstick gags, ignores many of continuity for stupid storylines, rips off its episodes all the time, overused characters, creates two very annoying main characters that add nothing to the show and repeats its music. Repetitiveness is how I'd describe the show. It had stuck in a loop so hard that it forgot it used to be such a creative show that did not look down on its fans. Now I'm more than thankful this shitshow has ended. It took them 3 seasons but they finally did it. Please keep it that way.

 

Spoiler

6) Fanboy and Chum Chum (Nickelodeon)

While this was aired in 2009 first, many of its episodes took place in 10s, so i count this as well. God, what a wasteful potential this show was. A show about two geeks having wacky and silly adventures based on what they love. It's actually a good and relatable concept given how many of us are fans of at least some sort of entertainment. But it does nothing with it. Like a typical 2010s Nickelodeon show, the show's usage of annoying and disgusting gags, unbearable characters and stupid plots continue. Nothing too much to say about this show, except how much wasted this was. At least title cards of all episodes look dope (If only its animation was same).

 

Spoiler

5) Breadwinners (Nickelodeon)

I promise this is the final Nickelodeon show I'm adding. This show is...how to put it this way, HORRIBLE. I hate it with a burning passion. Once again, a neat concept (two duck brothers that have a bread business) that was wasted for...yet another trend of two bros who do stupid and gross shit. It's animation is very ugly looking and that's already a bad sign for an animated show. Characters are so stupid that they ruin every single lives of people living on their town. Humor is so immature, so basic and so cringeworthy that i groan every time they attempt to make me laugh. Like Sanjay and Craig, I gave this show one season of chance and I have seen a few s2 episodes. Never ever this show improved like Sanjay and Craig to at least put it below the list. I can only think of two good episodes on top of my head. Rest is so garbage that it's not worth getting pain from this show unless you are a masochist like me.

 

Spoiler

4) Allen Gregory (FOX)

Only reason this show is low compared to bottom 3 is that it was at least 7 episodes...but I have seen them all and I gotta say that there is NO redeemable thing about it. Except maybe Allen's straight dad and his sister but that's it. This show trash! It's very racist for no reason, it's homophobic for no reason, it's abusive and mean-spirited for no reason. This show's usage of jerk characters is unbearable because none of them are redeemable or sympathetic. Allen is such a shitty kid to everyone, he tried to have sex with his old principal, he made a racist play that took credit for it and he locked up his teacher with a legit sex offender. Who wants to  root for a character like that? Allen's dad is an abusive gay husband that he literally stalked his husband so much that his husband had to marry him and leave his wife and kids behind. He is James Charles of the show and that's just an insult no gay person wants to have on them. This show is so horrid that I'm glad FOX was smart enough to cancel it before it went into absolute hell territory like bottom 3.

 

Spoiler

3) Mr. Pickles (Adult Swim)

Hey, here comes that show that I ironically had it as my avvie on another forum when I took a long af hiatus. There is nothing else to say about this show other than it's a disgusting, edgy and horrid looking show that somehow got accepted by Adult Swim, same channel that gave us hits like Samurai Jack s5, Rick and Morty, Superjail, The Venture Bros, Moral Orel and Aqua Teen Hunger Force. It's like this show was written by a legit edgy teenager. Seriously, unless you are morbidly curious of how satanic this show is, do not watch this at all.

 

Spoiler

2) Family Guy (FOX)

And here we go! I have a lot to say about this show. Just like Fairly OddParents, this was once a show earned its respect from its audience. So much that its cancelation was terrible that fans bought as many DVD copies as they could to revive it. Ahhh, If only the show actually stayed dead. Now I'm thankful for all the memes the show brought us but that's no excuse for how this show has become something I despise. Now you look at one character and tell me that character is likeable. I dare you. Okay, only Cleveland is good. And you can count Adam West if you ignore sociopath joke they did with him. Rest? Nope. They have reached the territory that no retcon ever EVER can save souls of these individuals I once loved. It's very disgusting, mean-spirited, offensive for sake of it with terrible live messages that insult me. How many times do I have to hear a character saying they are so sorry with a dramatic music and a zoom onto their face? When will I feel the character's terrible mistakes feel forgiven? Nope. Because this show knows how to piss people off. Peter Griffin is someone you do not wanna mess with, otherwise he'll fuck up your life. So are Brian, Quagmire, Lois, Chris, Meg, Stewie, Bonnie, Herbert (he was always the worst but yeah) and probably many more I forget their name. It's such a trash fire that I'm glad i finally stopped giving a shit at beginning of season 16 because I have heard I has gotten much much worse. Please if you wanna watch the show, go see first three seasons only or include s4-6 as well for your own risk because s4-6 have their own issues but they are generally good imo. Do not bother with rest because this decade's Family Guy is the reason why it's being meme'd to hell.

 

Spoiler

1) Brickleberry (Comedy Central)

Oh boy...yep. This is my number 1. I have seen 5 episodes at most from this god awful show and never ever I wanna visit it again. Where do I start? It fucking rips off Family Guy's style of humor, characters, animation and many more. It has no originality besides its own concept. Humor is even worse than Family Guy because at least you can ironically find Family Guy funny. This isn't the case here. Humor just wants you to bash your head into a skull. It's super gross and mean-spirited (look how that's the most repeated thing when it comes to worst of animation). Characters are beyond edgy and they don't even have good early seasons to make up for what they used to be likeable because they were always unlikeable. It's everything people despise about adult animation because it never once tries to be something passionate or fun or smart. I hate it, I hate Brickleberry so fucking much.

 

Thank you for reading this list. I promise best list is gonna be much more fun to read.

  • Like 1
  • Sad 1
  • Confused 1
  • God Himself 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Top 100 Songs of the Decade: 80-61

Spoiler

80. OneRepublic – Feel Again (2012) for a band who was America’s favorite whitebread band for a while, I can’t think of any songs from them that I dislike, and this one (“Secrets” too) I even love. What ups this song quality-wise is what made OneRepublic particularly good in the early 2010’s; they had a very earthy good-vibes atmosphere to them and this song is the peak of that sound.

79. Icona Pop / Charli XCX – I Love It (2012) while Charli XCX is the artsy hip pop icon that she is now, for some reason, I couldn’t fully get into it despite how much I respect it and admire her as a performer. Maybe it’s because her first mainstream success was this song with Icona Pop where you just get 2 and a half minutes of completely unhinged euphoria. There aren’t many songs better than this one to make everyone within a 40 foot radius of you completely lose their mind

78. Ski Mask the Slump God – Did You Really (2016) Ski Mask is such a fun, charismatic rapper and I can’t think of much I’ve heard from the guy that I don’t like. I was torn between a lot of his songs for this list but at the end of the day I picked this one because it’s maybe his funniest song I’ve heard in part to the sample (which I refuse to spoil, listen to the song yourself) and because it manages to take such a goofy premise and get a minute and a half of pure stupid fun out of it

77. Rebecca Sugar – Love Like You (2016) this is one of those songs where its attachment to the media it comes from is a big reason why I love it so much. Without the context of Steven Universe, this is still an adorable little piano ballad, but because I will always see it as the closer to a show I was shamelessly obsessed with for a solid year, I only have fuzzy emotions as I listen to it. SPOILER: this isn’t the only ending credit song to a cartoon on my list

76. deadmau5 – Strobe (2010) An artist well-known for being a helping hand for oh so many relentlessly bullied little shits in the early 2010’s, deadmau5 did indeed rule my life in middle school, and I have no shame in acknowledging how good his music can be well after the fact, even if a good amount of it makes me cringe now. this song is seen by many to be his best song, one of those “the artist sucks but this song w o a h” songs, and u can see why. The 3-minute ambient intro is one of those musical moments that can define a musician, and it gets me every time I listen to it. Frankly, this would be higher if it was just the ambient intro

75. Sufjan Stevens – The Age of Adz (2010) five years prior to this song, Sufjan released Illinois, my favorite album upon first listen several years ago and still a solid top-5 candidate to this day; he never released anything that good this decade, but he sure fucking tried, and among the many great songs he put out, this was his decade magnum opus to me: a harmonically bizarre, nearly over-produced, but absolutely explosive journey that takes every single subtle bring-out-the-tissues folk ballad of his this decade and shoots all of them into the fucking sun to the sound of glitch noises and flute trills… “Mystery of Love” would’ve been on this list if it weren’t for this song, by the way

74. Allo Darlin’ – Dreaming (2010) on the opposite end of the spectrum between explosive prog-pop and simple twee ditties is this classic for summer evenings and good memories – Allo Darlin’ are a cute band and this is an especially cute song, a bittersweet little love duet that works equally well for when you’re completely smothered in infatuation and need it reinforced or when you’re down in the dumps and need to be cheered up

73. Cavetown / Chloe Moriondo – Boys Will Be Bugs (2018) being friends with mostly art gays outside of my dumbshit online bubbles, has changed what im like as a person for better or worse, and I’m sure a symptom of this is that I really enjoy myself some Cavetown, a band I prob would’ve just dismissed as shallow bullshit as far as 2 years ago; but I just don’t give a shit anymore and this song is way more relatable than it has any right to be, while simultaneously making me feel coooool I listen to it. It’s another simple indie pop tune upped by a bit of a longer length and some nice drums and hand claps that, despite the simplicity, makes it that much more enjoyable

72. Pascale Cheron – Listening to Rivers (2019) in terms of obscurity/popularity, this song is my list’s wild card by a long shot, because I first found out abt this artist cuz she’s good friends with Kylie and she strongly recommended her to me so I decided to listen to her and YEAH she’s hella talented. This hazy springtime song has meant so goddamn much to me the past few months, one of those songs that really has to be listened to on a rainy late spring day… at least for me.

71. Maroon 5 – Maps (2014) this is completely sacrilegious isn’t it… fuck it, I have to be honest, and this song is pop perfection to me. It’s a peppy, energetic pop rock number among an entire decade of godawful music on this band’s part. I live for the chorus, and while I totally understand why the “youUUU” hook annoys the shit out of some, I appreciate for its goofiness, and at the very worst, it’s a bit of a thorn in the side of mostly note-perfect, satisfying piece of brainless pop

70. Dado Polumenta – Fali Mi Ljubav (2010) Hal shows off her non-Anglo pride ONCE MORE with another Balkan dance-pop song; I have been completely in love with this song for a decade now, because among a pop landscape generally dominated by fairly softer folk-pop numbers, this song took pride in sounding like turn-of-the-decade American dance-pop in that it ABSOLUTELY CRUSHES. It’s very much in the same spirit of peak RedOne/David Guetta, and I highly recommend it to all of you pop dorks on this website, even if it ain’t in English. That hasn’t stopped y’all from liking K-Pop, so…

69. T-Pain / Chris Brown – Best Love Song (2011) yes, chris brown’s name makes me gag too, cuz I’m a decent person, but the very unfortunate feature aside, this is probably T-Pain’s best song if you asked me. I was in love with this song as a kid when it first came out, and it somehow still holds up. The constantly-made-fun-of autotune makes this song particularly charming, and I really like how its mission statement as a song seems to be an old school piano love bad but with that cheesy early-2010’s modern r&b spin. Totally, unrelated, but check out the title and album cover for T-Pain’s 2019 album; im glad he seems to be thriving.

68. Alvvays – Archie, Marry Me (2014) a lot of commentary I had for the Allo Darlin’ song just a couple positions beneath this one can easily be recycled for this one, another adorable pop tune that works best on a summer evening. The key difference is that this one sounds considerably bigger: in part thanks to the fuzzy lo-fi production just adding more to it; in part thanks to an absolutely fantastic singer who has more power to her voice than Allo Darlin’s singer, who while good, you could argue may be underperforming; most importantly, while Dreamin’ is quaint, this song is anthemic. This song seems to know exactly what it’s doing and which directions it wants to go, another one of those “perfect pop songs” if you will. Peak listening for when you’re in love

67. The World is a Beautiful Place and I Am No Longer Afraid to Die – Heartbeat in the Brain (2013) modern emo, particularly Midwest emo revival stuff like this band, can be seen by some as maybe too convoluted for its own good, but god damn, when it wants to hit, it HITS! Emo’s primary selling point is catharsis, and this song is just that. a long multi-part epic of a song fitting for a band with such a long name, this song is in equal parts super energetic AND utterly gorgeous. Yet another piece for summer and early autumn, I’m glad im recommending this stuff in late December

66. Javiera Mena – Luz de Piedra de Luna (2011) I discovered this song from a random list about dance music on RYM, and I feel guilty for not looking up more about this woman and her music… I love being a lazy fuck. She’s apparently an indie darling in Chile, I can hear just why. I have no idea how detached I am from the music because I don’t know Spanish, but even without that necessary (?) context, this song is still a cooler-than-cool dance-pop statement tailor-made for nights among city lights. When I listen to this song, I become considerably more confident for the ~4 minutes that it lasts

65. Colin Stetson – Reborn (2018) take this with a grain of salt as I am by NO MEANS WHATSOEVER a movie buff like many on this website are, but Hereditary is one of my favorite movies I’ve ever watched, and one of the things about it that cemented my adoration for it was this song. The song is a lot more subdued in the final scene of the movie as it’s… obviously accompanying the movie, but the soundtrack version that you can listen to on Spotify makes oh so clear what a monster it is. Colin Stetson is an absurdly talented musician, albeit maybe a bit gimmicky, and I was really excited to find out he did the soundtrack for Hereditary, and he did not hold back, particularly with this song where he takes his saxophone fuckery down a notch in exchange for soaring, sweeping melody. It was the perfect music to end off its respective film, but it’s also just a fantastic song in its own right

64. Ariana Grande – No Tears Left to Cry (2018) I can understand the Ariana backlash as of recent, as she has shown herself not the most pure pop star out there, but screw it, she’s not the only sketchy pop star on this list, so I will ignore everything surrounding her career to acknowledge how fantastic this song is. I, for one, was in love right away upon first listen after hearing so many people fawn over it. To me, this is Ariana’s “song,” the one that I will personally forever connect her to; this and “God is a Woman.” Both monstrous Max Martin productions that, in my opinion, beat out anything the man worked on at his chart peak back in the TRL days. Really, the only reason I chose this over God Is a Woman is because this song feels more all-purpose in regards to mood while the latter song is one to listen to when you want a shot of pure goddamn confidence and swagger.

63. fun. – Some Nights (2012) one of those songs that Todd was 100% on the money about. While “We Are Young” can wear pretty thin, and is understandably loathed by some of the really snobby music snobs, I struggle to see any of that in this song. As a song, it feels like “everything,” and therefore honestly reminds me of mid-80s art pop giants like Kate Bush and Echo and the Bunnymen – it’s so theatric and insanely well-produced, it almost feels like it was made on an entirely different planet. Nate Reuss’s autotune solo pisses on Beethoven’s grave. I don’t know what I’m talking about.

62. No Doubt – Settle Down (2012) now No Doubt were undoubtedly at their creative peak in the 90s (Spiderwebs runs laps around this song honestly), but that doesn’t mean they have nothing to offer in a post-“Hey Baby” world. My older bro, a big Gwen Stefani fan, bought the album this came from when it came out, and it prompted me to look up this song, and I was hooked. I’m not quite sure if the melody here is really as amazing as it seems or if Gwen Stefani is such a great singer that she can make anything sound great, but the fact of the matter is that a super polished and perfectly crafted song. It may not have the jaggedness of early No Doubt, but I really couldn’t care. Any Gwen is good Gwen.

61. Travis Scott – Antidote (2015) when I first heard this song, I was still a ROCK ROCK ROCK idiot and the new landscape of rap still felt alien to me, but I still liked this song upon first listen. Now long after, now that I think I “get” trap a bit more, it really hits me just how euphoric this song really is. Travis Scott seems to be good at having his songs’ drops and choruses make it feel like you’re miles above the ground. Even after the stupidly energetic initial drop, everything about this song works: I’m in love with the moody atmosphere, the weird melodies, the ad-libs, it all gets me hyped up like not many other hip hop songs can.

 

  • Like 2
  • God Himself 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Top 100 Songs of the Decade: 60-41
Will post in increments of 10 from here on out.

Spoiler

60. Halsey – Nightmare (2019) in a more just world of pop music, this would have been bigger than Without Me and Bad at Love – the fact that this only made it up to #15 is criminal; to me, it fully realized what Halsey was always going for in flying colors, or more appropriately, a raging inferno. I’ve talked about this songs before, but sometimes, I’m still blown away at just how much of a booming release of anger this song is, in major part thanks to what I just learned is a sample of “All The Things She Said” by t.A.T.u., which I read this song sounds like t.A.T.u. but I didn’t know it also samples them. Well it worked fantastically

59. Camila Cabello – Never Be the Same (2017) I almost feel like I should apologize for having this one here – a lot of people do not like this song, and much more importantly, we now have proof that Camila Cabello is… a really shitty person. It definitely lowered this song on the list a fair amount, as I do feel some bitterness as I listen to it, but it’s not like she’s the only asshole on this list, certainly not one of the only ones involved in any of these songs, but she is one of the few who’s been found out. It’s certainly a bummer, but it doesn’t stop me from loving this song. What many see people as a hookless mess, I see it as a super well-produced song with a fantastic chorus I don’t see enough people give it credit for. Do I expect people to give it credit for that now, now that we all know Camila’s true colors? Probably not… welp.

58. Imagine Dragons – It’s Time (2012) and now we have an artist who’s controversial in the completely opposite direction… in that their music just stinks. I think a lot of people came to their senses and realized like 80% of this band’s output is boring sludge, but nonetheless, when you have as many hits as they do, they’re sure to have a shining star in there, and that shining star is the very first song of theirs that ever hit the charts. I absolutely adored this song on first listen as a wee lass, distanced myself from it as Imagine Dragons were becoming extremely uncool, and then recently enough, I turned around and embraced it completely once more. Long after people started really getting sick of Imagine Dragons and their hit songs seemed to get worse and worse, this song is still ABSURLY anthemic; that chorus gets bigger every time dan reynolds belts it out and somehow it never gets too cheesy or overwhelming, I just want to sing with them. I can only imagine that this band stuck with the promise of their first hit single for the next seven years, and then I snap back to reality and weep

57. Grimes – Flesh Without Blood (2015) it took me a while to really like Grimes because I was dumb enough not to give her a fair chance, with Oblivion being her only song I knew for a while and despite its huge critical acclaim I always thought that song was just okay, meanwhile, every single off of Art Angels CRUSHES, and this one especially meant a lot to me. REALiTi being a seductive slow burner, Kill v Main kicking my ass, Flesh Without Blood is the perfect middle ground. It not being the biggest single of hers is weird to me cuz above all else this song feels like a journey, it has just the perfect amount of moodiness and energy and knows where to put each. A massive, maximalist electropop spectacular

56. Janelle Monae – Make Me Feel (2018) this song starts off lowkey enough, and slowly explodes into this super tense,  sexual funky blast of energy. I was actually surprised the first time I listened to just the production of this song because of how minimalist it is, because this song does so goddamn much with so little. Every part of the song fits together like a puzzle, and every single moment feels like a highlight, not terribly different from a song like “Uptown Funk” which is also a stupid fun tribute to 80s funk, but did not make the list. This song is a lot quirkier than Uptown Funk, though, and despite its relatively spare instrumentation, it really dishes out. There aren’t many musical experience of the decade quite like the latter part of the chorus where the jagged guitar unleashes its assault on you. I would love to meet this song if it were a person.

55. Bazzi – Mine (2018) I think I’d consider this one of my weirder inclusions on this list, because with this particular song, I feel really alone in my adoration for it. I don’t think anyone else on this damn site likes it NEARLY as much as I do, and honestly, I kind of struggle to articulate why I love it so much either. It’s actually funny that it has “I’m a little drunk so imma just get this off my chest” framing, because this is nowhere near as sloppy as that implies. If anything else, I kinda see this as a Perfect Pop Song™; it’s a bite-sized little number at 2 minutes and 11 seconds, yet it feels like every single second of the song is used correctly. The melody and production, respective to the verses and chorus, feel like they’re either grounded or completely in space. What makes me wanna call it perfect, though, is that the tiny little synth riff that accompanies the most famous part of the song feels like it wasn’t made by humans. It feels alien in the way it tickles my brain, and that goes for the rest of the song. An eternal classic in my heart, not even remotely such for anyone else I have ever spoken to.

54. Olja Karleusa – Minut (2010) the third and last former-Yugo turbo-folk dance-pop number you’ll see on this list, and unlike the one from my last entry which felt like a fireball in thanks to its very Dr. Luke-esque production choices, this one is more subdued, and therefore makes it much more powerful. This is a “crying in the club” anthem above all else, and you can kind of tell even if you don’t understand a SINGLE word… hell, I don’t understand a lot of my own language, either. All you have to really do with this song is have the dance of your life while in deep melancholy, it’s just that kind of song.

53. Kids See Ghosts – Reborn (2018) I am not, or at the very least, I try not to be the type of dipstick to just blindly follow whatever popular critical consensus is in regards to what music is good or bad, I particularly try to enjoy it with music now because a lot of the time I have no idea why the fuck they see certain shit as “good,” but Kids See Ghosts’ debut, and probably only, album under that name is fantastic. Six of the seven songs are great stuff (the title track is the one mediocre one), and the popular choice for the best off the project also happens to be my personal favorite. Just listening to Cudi in this song makes me feel like I’ve been along for the journey with the guy, and that is as good of a compliment as any. The primary motif of this song is “moving forward,” and that’s what it sounds like. This song sounds like perseverance, and I’m all the more for it.

52. Jennifer Lopez / Pitbull – On the Floor (2011) The club craze of 2009-2011 was such a glorious clusterfuck that people really struggle to find much consensus on what songs were the diamonds in the rough of that whole era. Some people find this song to be a stupid wreck, but for me, I loved it as a kid and I still cannot get enough of it. Pitbull surprisingly works with this song really well, Jennifer Lopez sounds great in it, but as per usual, the reason this song is on the list is because RedOne does his magic on it. It’s absurd how good this guy was and how so many of my club favorites from the decade (“Starships,” several Lady Gaga songs) were done by this guy. This song in particular really sounds like the last party of your life, everything about it feels like it was done with a PURPOSE even if its intent was probably to just be another club track.

51. Katy Perry – Firework (2010) ignore the inspirational message of this song, not because it’s bad or anything, but just because it’s a non-presence. I do NOT listen to this song for its lyrics or what it tries to convey in any way, I listen to it for the same reason I listen to #52, because it’s an endlessly fun, endlessly catchy and completely above-the-clouds four-on-the-floor fact of LIFE more than it is a “””song””” + it may not be the coolest Katy Perry song to like, certainly not one of more critically acclaimed pieces, especially not off of its respective album, but it still manages to be the Katy Perry song that I gravitate to the most often, and for good reason. The song’s intent is to make you feel good, and that is indeed what it does, it makes me feel really, really good.

50. Anderson .Paak – Bubblin (2018) Just from the intro to this song before it drops, you can tell from the bizarre string line and sleazy trumpet that you’re in for 3 and a half minutes of pure glitz and swagger, few songs on the list if any make me feel more straight-up COOL than this song does. It has hooks out the ass, every production element positive contributes to its atmosphere, and Paak’s unique voice is probably the best possible one that could possibly match with that INSANE GODDAMN BEAT. One of those songs that almost guarantees a good time, even if ur having a bad day this song will make you feel like you had the best day of your life.

49. Kanye West / Kid Cudi / Raekwon – Gorgeous (2010) Putting this song on here AND “Reborn” almost feels like a cheat because they’re both songs by Kanye and Cudi, but at the end of the day, this is a Kanye song so suck my ass. Kanye has had a weird, turbulent decade where he had very high highs and very low lows for the duration of basically the entire decade. I had a lot of trouble deliberating which of his songs I would eventually choose, but at the end of the day it had to be this one. When I first heard My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy, this was the song that stood out to me as particularly great, and ever since first listen, it’s been my favorite song on it. Just like “Reborn,” I am in LOVE with Kid Cudi and his contribution on Gorgeous, and I may like his contribution here more because that hook is undeniable. Every little production thing to make this song go for the grimey atmosphere that Kanye wanted lies down the equally fantastic framework, all of it combining to become the best song by undoubtedly one of the decade’s most defining figures in music. Much love, Kanye.

48. Lizzo – Like a Girl (2019) Lizzo’s sudden skyrocketing into total superstardom beginning this very year has caused a bit of backlash as some feel jaded by her constant presence, but y’know fucking what, I still love Lizzo and I love the record this came off of. “You go girl!” anthems have existed for a long time now, but I think Lizzo created one of my favorites, because it aligns a lot with me, fundamentally. This song was the soundtrack to me figuring myself out, and I’m glad I could do that to the tune of such a powerful voice and such an unstoppable chorus as this one. This song will always mean a lot to me, and even divorced of how it helped me out in life, it’s just a simple, yet extremely effective song about having confidence in yourself, and even the most jaded pop-hater has to respect that… I hope.

47. Beach House – Myth (2012) so much modern dream pop, including Beach House, annoys the hell out of me because SO MUCH OF IT decides that shallow ideas of “ooooh so preeettyyy” win out in their creative endeavors and they’re completely absent-minded in terms of filling their music with any actual substance or songwriting. “Myth” is a notably big exception, a song that I was genuinely shocked to discover as I write this that this song’s chorus only plays ONCE. That really goes to show the power that this 4-minuter has and the level of songwriting employed to make such a long build-up intriguing the entire time. The music here, meanwhile, is also just breathtakingly gorgeous anyway. Few songs really give off this much space, and Beach House uses their great production to their greatest advantage

46. Declan McKenna – Brazil (2017) Again, I never though these late-2010’s summery indie pop dudes would ever really be my thing, but GOD they can write some damn good songs sometimes. Haven’t listened to any other songs from this guy, and I listened to this one on recommendation from one of my besties, and it was a bit of a grower. It went from just being a catchy lil indie rock song to something a lot more to me. For the type of scene this guy gets put under, this song dishes out a LOT of swagger that reminds you more of the Arctic Monkeys or Strokes than anything else. That’s probably why I love the song so much too, despite it being from 2017 it sounds like a song that NME or Rolling Stone would fall head over heels for in 2004, and I love every second of it.

45. Frank Ocean – Ivy (2016) Frank Ocean has proven to be one of the MVP’s of the decade in spite of not releasing as much star material as Kanye or Kendrick or whoever because what he put out is just that goddamn good, and was his highlight for me from the very beginning. I fell in love with it as soon as I heard that spare, yet spacious backing for his fantastic singing. The emotional punch you get from the song’s climaxes are insane; “WE’LL NEVER BE THOSE KIDS AGAIN” is one of the best lines of the decade, one that alone solidifies Ocean’s importance to me. I hope that he continues to make fantastic music this coming decade if it means we get more music as good as this.

44. Brockhampton – HEAT (2017) The first song off of Brockhampton’s first album, and appropriately the first one to get them major traction and loads of hype in the music-verse. Brockhampton is another group where I had real trouble deciding my favorite song of theirs, but I decided this one was the best. It feels like their mission statement as every single person with a part in it has something to offer, the best of which coming from Dom as well as Ameer (*cough*). This song has a little bit of everything to make for a very angry stew, and it all builds up until Matt Champion offers one last bridge and then sends the song into next-level territory with a beat that is indescribably harrowing. It’s no wonder that people were so excited by these guys off the bat.

43. Car Seat Headrest – My Boy (Twin Fantasy) (2018) I think the remake of Twin Fantasy is better than the original, sue me. This song in particular, to me, is kinda bogged down by the original shit-fi production, while the 2018 version’s more clear recording really gives you the simple, yet extremely effective indie rock sing-along (or scream-along) that it’s meant to be. In general, 2010s indie rock gets a bad reputation by some music snobs for losing its way and abandoning a lot of what made 80s and 90s indie rock so charming and inspiring, but Will Toledo and company stay true the peak of indie rock as a genre and make a song that would’ve been one of my favorite songs of 1994 if it were released that year.

42. Zedd / Matthew Koma / Mirian Bryant – Find You (2014) From the very beginning, many saw Zedd as one of the more soulful and more talented of the stadium EDM DJ’s from this decade, and while he did indeed put out many songs that I love, “Find You” is the one. One of the most common tropes with this type of EDM is the all-encompassing messages such as “Heaven’s got a plan for you” and “You shoot me down but I won’t fall,” but personally, “If you lose yourself, I will find you” is easily the sweetest and most emotionally impactful of these motifs. When one of the two singers (couldn’t care less which one) drops that line, the impending EDM synth avalanche really feels like it’s done with a purpose in a genre where the purpose for the “bigness” of the sound can often be lost. That’s the power of Zedd. This song is a friend.

41. M.I.A. – Born Free (2010) A musician known for being provocative politically as well as musically, it’s no surprise that Born Free was as controversial as it was, and given how talented M.I.A. is, it’s no surprise that song is so good. A lesser artist would rely a lil bit too much on the Suicide sample and just ride off of that, but M.I.A. adds enough to it to make it its own thing. The drumming on this song is insane enough and M.I.A.’s vocals distorted and angry enough to convey the sense of anger and dread that she wants from such a charged song. Despite all this, it’s not that hard to divorce the song from politics and treat it as one of the best songs to completely thrash to of the decade. Extra points for her live version on David Letterman which takes an already up-to-11 song and somehow takes it up to 12.

 

  • Like 4
  • God Himself 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Hello!! This is the first installment of a list of my favourite albums of the decade. I'll be posting them daily in five-entry increments, hopefully ending on the 31st. Enjoy!

Wumbo's Top 25 Albums of the 2010s (25-21)

Spoiler

 

25. True Romance - Charli XCX (2013)

Charli XCX - True Romance.png

This is the only album on this list that got here based on a collection of catchy pop songs and not much else. But damn, what a collection it is. Charli XCX has really deserved so much more success than she has gotten, but if I had to pick only one album to promote from her, it would be this one. It's such an effortlessly fun synth-heavy album, and the only real downside to it for this list is that there's not much to say about it. The album kinda speaks for itself. Charli XCX is a true talent and if we had any sense she'd have about a dozen hit songs by now, at least. Don't miss out, check out this album and her others.

Best Songs: "Nuclear Seasons", "Stay Away", "Set Me Free (Feel My Pain)", "Black Roses", "You're the One"

 

Spoiler

 

24. Born This Way - Lady Gaga (2011)

Grayscale image of a bike against a black background. The bike has a blond woman's head at its front, whose right hand stretches out to the front tires of the bike. The words "Born This Way" is embossed above the image.

I remember at the beginning of the decade, Lady Gaga was freakin' everywhere. You couldn't walk down the street without someone mentioning her name. It was kinda creepy, actually. But here we are at the end of the decade, and save for a solid soundtrack album, Lady Gaga's presence in pop culture has been thoroughly muted. And that's a shame. Because regardless of whether trends caught up to her or surpassed her entirely, Lady Gaga remains one of the most fascinating pop culture icons of this decade. She reveled in the weird and provocative. She thrived on making people uncomfortable. And most importantly, she made damn great pop music while doing it, and Born This Way I feel is the best example of this. Lady Gaga really comes into her own on this album, it feels like a very personal story smothered in pop glitz and glamour. And Lady Gaga is as much of a music nerd as any of us, calling on the likes of Clarence Clemons and Brian May to contribute. Born This Way is a fiery statement that Gaga had not released anything like before, and probably will never release again. Because this is the perfect marriage of pop music sensibilities and unapologetic display of personality. Lady Gaga was born this way, and she wants you to know about it. Heck, I've even warmed up to the title track despite some questionable lyrics. It's a marvelous gem of an album, and one that still gets rotation on my iPod today.

Best Songs: "Marry the Night", "Hair", "Bad Kids", "You and I", "The Edge of Glory"

 

Spoiler

 

23. Born to Die - Lana Del Rey (2012)

A light-skinned auburn-haired woman is dressed in a sheer white blouse and a red bra, and is staring forward before a blue-skied background. The words "Lana Del Rey" are placed above her while the words "Born to Die" are placed beneath her, stylized in all capital letters.

I've always loved this album, but in truth I was mulling over whether I should put it on this list at all. It's certainly one of my favourites in terms of pure musical excellence, but I've always been one for pop personalities and artists showcasing their stories through music. And while the music here is excellent, and the writing is sharp as ever, I just can't help but disbelieve Lana as a pop personality. But maybe that's the function of her artistry; to sound cold, aloof and distant, a sort of ironic detachment from the lustful, classically Americana lyrics she peppers in each of her songs. On that level, it works, but it's not typically a sort of strength I would highlight, particularly when making be-all and end-all lists such as these. It's not something I usually look for in my pop music. I prefer authenticity, or at least the guise of authenticity.

So I decided to leave it off, but upon listening to the album again, I couldn't. Man, I just couldn't. There's just too much good about this album to ignore, most notably the larger-than-life production complementing Lana's otherworldly appearance as a performer. She seems to exist on a whole other realm of pop stardom, as though she's an ascended elder. Perhaps that's why she sounds so distant from it all. She simply has it all figured out. She knows what she's about, and she plays the part perfectly. She brings her irresistible charm and charisma to so many of the tracks on this album. If anyone else were doing this, it would be monotonous and tedious. Lana comes through as a breath of fresh air on each song. And I gotta respect that kind of expertly crafted art. I may not totally be able to invest in her as a pop personality, but I cannot in good conscience leave this wonderful, beautiful, haunting album off my list. Truly one of the best of the decade.

Best Songs: "Born to Die", "Off to the Races", "Radio", "Summertime Sadness", "This is What Makes Us Girls"

 

Spoiler

 

22. The Getaway - Red Hot Chili Peppers (2016)

Thegetawayalbum.jpg

When the Red Hot Chili Peppers released their album I'm With You in 2011, with new guitarist Josh Klinghoffer, I was sadly underwhelmed. Not that it was a bad album - I don't think "bad album" and the Chili Peppers go together. But it felt too much like they were trying to recreate the magic that was left behind when John Frusciante left the band. I love the Chili Peppers, and I love Frusciante. But in order to move on as a band, eventually you have to actually move on. And that's what we get with this album, The Getaway. A refreshing new sound from the Chili Peppers that feels both modern and true to themselves. It feels like everybody gets a chance to shine in this one. While I love Frusciante, I will admit that sometimes it felt like he stole the show on Chili Peppers albums, not leaving much room for anyone else to contribute meaningfully. This album boasts some of Flea's best bass solos and some of Anthony's sharpest, most poignant writing. It's actually close to a tearjerker at some points. And Josh Klinghoffer fits right into this album, delivering where he needs to and kicking back to let the old guys take a turn. It's just a marvelous album from a consistently great band. They haven't really released anything since, but I do hope to see new music from them well into the next decade. It ain't over yet.

Best Songs: "Dark Necessities", "Goodbye Angels", "Sick Love", "Detroit", "This Ticonderoga"

 

Spoiler

 

21. Pure Heroine - Lorde (2013)

Lorde Pure Heroine.png

When Lorde first came on the scene, she was an instant breath of fresh air in the pop world. Someone who was openly disillusioned with the material excess of pop stardom and made an album openly rebelling against these conventions. We could talk for hours about what this meant for pop music going forward. But the main point I want to make is that Pure Heroine is a damn great album. "Dream pop" is the perfect genre classification for it, as the album feels so dreamlike. Anchoring it all is Lorde's wonderful voice and sharp songwriting. It's hard to remember that she's only 16 at the time of this album's release. She speaks from a world of experience and emotion, wringing out every possible feeling you can get about love, disillusionment, rebellion, and life. She has an obvious influence in Lana Del Rey, for sure, but I like to think she strives for a more authentic voice in her writing, one which draws more from her experiences rather than fantasy. It's dreamlike, but also surprisingly down to earth with its writing. It's an immensely powerful album with some deep, raw emotion in it. One of the true pop marvels of this decade, and a bright sign of things to come for both her and the pop world.

Best Songs: "Tennis Court", "400 Lux", "Ribs", "Buzzcut Season", "Glory and Gore"

 

  • Like 4
  • God Himself 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Wumbo's Top 25 Albums of the 2010s (20-16)

Spoiler

 

20. Rodeo - Travis Scott (2015)

Rodeoalbum.jpg

You know, I've heard time and time again people decrying Travis Scott's music as being "boring", and I'm just not hearing it. Take his debut Rodeo, for instance. This is an album filled with enough firepower and guest spots to last you a party and comedown. And yes, it's true that most of the best songs on here do feature guest artists. But that shouldn't discount the man himself from putting this all together. Travis Scott really taps into that feeling of an alcoholic hangover, but in the best possible way. All the off-kilter buzz and fuzz, it seems intentionally obnoxious at points to grab your attention, and it works. That's not to say there isn't melody in this album as well. There are certain parts of this album that feel absolutely lush and sublime to me amidst the cacophony. This review really sounds more harsh than I intended, but I think it takes true artistic talent to take production elements that would grate in other contexts and use them to your advantage. Truly, if more trap music were like this, I think I'd be kinder to the genre as a whole. This is innovative, exciting, and all-around a great piece of work. Yee-haw!

Best Songs: "Pornography", "90210" (ft. Kacy Hill), "Pray 4 Love" (ft. The Weeknd), "Nightcrawler" (ft. Swae Lee & Chief Keef), "Maria I'm Drunk" (ft. Justin Bieber & Young Thug)

 

Spoiler

 

19. Wasting Light - Foo Fighters (2011)

A collage of green, blue and pink face pictures of the Foo Fighters members against a black background. Above it is the title "FOO FIGHTERS - WASTING LIGHT" in red letters.

Honestly, not much to say here except I love the Foo Fighters, I have always loved the Foo Fighters and this album fucking rocks. Foo Fighters have always been experts at staying true to their sound and yet evolving with the times so their music never seems stale. This decade, Wasting Light was the perfect example of that. Foo Fighters proved that they could still rock their own way while tapping into the rock sound of 2011 with big stadium-like, anthemic songs. And whether they're doing that or just goofing off like in "White Limo", they manage to be such a captivating, hard-hitting rock band every time. Play on, guys.

Best Songs: "Bridge Burning", "Rope", "Dear Rosemary", "Arlandria", "Back & Forth", "Walk"

 

Spoiler

 

18. Good Kid, M.A.A.D. City - Kendrick Lamar (2012)

KendrickGKMC.jpg

Kendrick Lamar was the knight in shining armour we needed to save us from the dregs of hip hop in 2012. And Good Kid, M.A.A.D City was exactly the album to do it. I don't even think the album is Kendrick's best or anything (spoilers, oops) but it's head and shoulders above just about any other popular rap from this year. Kendrick is a storyteller, and Good Kid shows his storytelling skills to an extreme measure. It helps that he's got a ton of great producers on his side that really help to capture the various moods and feelings of the album as he describes his struggles growing up in Compton. Every part of this album has a purpose, even the seemingly indulgent 12-minute song, which is really split into two beautiful songs that work perfectly. This album is a master craft, and one we desperately needed to get smarter hip hop back on the charts. It's okay to indulge your sweet tooth once in a while, but sooner or later  you need some brain food as well. It's a good thing this album satisfies both.

Best Songs: "Bitch, Don't Kill My Vibe", "Backseat Freestyle", "Money Trees" (ft. Jay Rock), "Good Kid", "m.A.A.d city" (ft. MC Eiht), "Swimming Pools (Drank)"

 

Spoiler

 

17. Synthetica - Metric (2012)

Metric-synthetica.jpg

Synthetica is a blessing of an album. Metric is one of those bands that I always end up going back to for Emily Haines' sweet vocals and the beautiful musical accompaniment that serves them. Usually people use the phrase "breath of fresh air" to describe a point of refuge in comparison to something, but this album literally feels like a breath of fresh air to me, without any comparison necessary. Like I said, Emily Haines' voice is gorgeous. I just picture a choir of angels every time she sings. Metric is a joy to listen to every time for me. It's one of those bands that never fails to bring me out of a bad mood. If you're a fan of indie, electronic-inspired rock, check it out. You won't be disappointed.

Best Songs: "Artificial Nocturne", "Speed the Collapse", "Breathing Underwater", "The Void", "Synthetica", "Clone"

 

Spoiler

 

16. After Laughter - Paramore (2017)

After Laughter Paramore album cover.png

After Laughter is the saddest happy album you'll ever hear. It's the album that personifies a nervous breakdown. You can sense the turmoil coming from the dichotomy between Paramore's tight new wave grooves and Hayley's heart-wrenching, maddening lyrics. You get the sense that despite her wishing to hit rock bottom on "Hard Times, she's already there. Paramore have always been a favourite band of mine. It was just so refreshing to hear a female voice in the pop punk scene that could make it as big as the male ones. And I'd argue this band came into the 2010s better than any of their contemporaries. They updated their sound in a way that doesn't feel pandering, but does get with the times and leave the angsty 00s behind. I love Paramore in any era, but this one really shows off their artistic chops and musical diversity, particularly with this album. Even the facade of happy, sunshiny new wave cannot be kept up, but it really shows Hayley Williams' range as a performer. An A+ album that Paramore fans must check out if they haven't already.

Best Songs: "Rose-Colored Boy", "Told You So", "26", "Pool", "Idle Worship", "Tell Me How"

 

 

  • Like 3
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Create an account or sign in to comment

You need to be a member in order to leave a comment

Create an account

Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!

Register a new account

Sign in

Already have an account? Sign in here.

Sign In Now
×
×
  • Create New...