My best/worst singles/albums of 2015 (add yours too)

[Vision of Love 365]

Flesh without Blood is a master piece 

[StrawberryBlond 14,827]

Just to add a little update - it was only today that I realised a big notable omission from the best singles list. I kicked myself for it because it was #1 best worthy. And I'd actually talked about my love for it a few months previously! But seeing as it's not a "single" per se, it might not have been technically within the rules to put it in. But seriously, it would have been a big contender for #1 if I'd remembered. But it's hardly like the list is meant to be taken uber seriously, so just think of this as an honorable mention that is in a category all by itself.

Seen as the opening to short to Inside Out. Surprisingly, it didn't get overly positive reviews. But I loved it and watching it with just 6 other people in a cinema screen was so intimate and beautiful. This masterpiece deserves more attention.

Just now, vocalqueef said:

I feel like you should add "Focus" by Ariana Grande to worst songs and this comes from a huge fan of hers. I sometimes even bop to that song but yeah....it's a bad song imo.

I knew some people would probably say this. But honestly, I don't think it's that bad. Not amazing, but better than ok. But it seems I'm in the minority about it. I totally get why some people hate it, though. I actually think it should be the verses people should get worked up about (they're pretty arrogant sounding and is all about how she's going to be a big star and that we should all support her because she says so) as opposed to the male voice.

Just now, PabloDaBlowfish said:

 

cool. don't do year end lists ever again though

I think you're just making a joke. But yeah, I knew the Demi and Bjork stuff would provoke some people. I just think this is a really good era for Demi and she's being unfairly underrated. And as for Bjork...sometimes I get her, sometimes I don't. And in this case, I most definitely didn't.

Just now, Mister Gaga said:

What a job to analyze all that music  i enjoyed reading your choices, although i don't agree with some of them (Demi is way too high imo). Where's TIHTY?  

Thank you very much. I put a lot of time into it so I appreciate that. I'm not a Demi fan, but I just think this was a great album for her and wish more people could agree. I think TIHTY is decent but in order to get onto the list, I was looking for 4/5's or better (the singles list is always harder to get on) and it just didn't quite cut it for me. Great message and all but I think the lyrics could have been so much more and there weren't enough of them either. We need to raise awareness of the issue but I just wish it could have been done in a more lyrically intricate way with new phrases that hadn't already been said before. When it comes to Gaga, I'm expecting great lyrics and to me, these lyrics were just too basic.

Just now, Riot Poof said:

Poor Vulnicura. I know it's just your opinion, but oh my goodness. That was my #1 of 2015. 

I know a few people around here felt the same way. Out of all my choices, I knew that was the one that would probably get me the most amount of criticism. Thing is, I do like some of Bjork's work (I find a lot of her fans are the type to say "you're just not smart enough to understand her," which always drives me mad) but most of the time, her vocal and artistic choices are simply bewildering to me. While she has proved before that she can sing, she has engaged in odd singing styles that drive me right up the wall, especially her enunciation. Some of the musical sounds she incorporates are the equivalent of pnuematic drills to my ears. And she has a tendency of coming across just trying to be weird for the sake of it. Sometimes I swear she makes her music in such a way as to deliberately irritate the listener (and I'm a big believer in the artist making the listener feel comfortable at all times). And Vulnicura displayed all the problems I've always had with her. I don't mind deeper messages in music and obscure lyrics but to a point. Its still got to be understandable. And with Bjork, I just can't understand it. But I can still understand it enough at times to keep reviewing her. I've decided that in order to give fair reviews, I can't review any artist who flatout cannot appeal to my ears or is in some way indecipherable. This is why I don't review the heaviest of heavy metal and avoid country except the biggest names or very promising newcomers. So, I wondered if I should put Bjork on that list but...I can like some of her stuff. Vespertine and Post were my favourite albums from her, Debut was ok and Biophilia could have been decent with a few tweaks. And as long as I continue to like some of her work, I think I have the right to go on reviewing it.

Just now, Bio said:

Loool not Pretty Girls, Confident and American Oxygen being on the best list and Blue, Vulnicura and Shine on the worst.

Yep, I knew those choices would get to people. I think Marina's good but it just so happens that she chose to make a single out of a mediocre song. I'm not keen on Years & Years at all - I find them bland and unmemorable. But like I said, the ones on the lower half of the list are just mediocre, not bad. A lot of truly terrible songs never became singles this year, you see, so I had to revert to a lot of second worst choices.

Just now, SirLudicopro said:

Keep doing what you're doing hun, but this list seems kind of biased to me. You seem to be Lana fan, which I respect, but you can't just give an album a 5/5 because it's your fave's. Every album has flaws. ARTPOP slayed my life, but I wouldn't go as far as giving it 5/5. The Fame Monster is a goddamn masterpiece with 8 outstanding songs, but it still does not deserve a 5/5 because that kind of perfection is not really attainable. Still, good job, you seem to have put a lot of work and time into this list.

Also... Pretty Girls in the top 40 best singles?... Really? I am not a professional whatsoever, but I'm pretty sure that objectively speaking, it is a known fact that that song's lyrics and composition are not exactly good.

I promise you, I'm not biased. Believe me, I want to put someone at the top who isn't Lana. But because she's made a habit of annual releases and she's wonderful every time, I have no choice. That's why she's one of my faves - she never lets me down. Your faves tend to feature at the top, that's the whole point. I understand that perfection is very difficult to achieve (I wouldn't have given TF 5 stars either and I gave AP 4.5/5). It hurt a lot to not rate AP excellent but I just had to be true to myself. I can assure you that to me, I do indeed think Honeymoon is first class. Almost all the songs are rated 5/5 from me and there's one in particular that speaks to me to the point of tears. And I go with the work that moves me the most. There was only 2 songs on the album that I wasn't as keen on but they were both still ranked 3/5 each. Reviewers have all different ways to scoring albums and I don't believe that a truly perfect album exists, but that doesn't mean that we shouldn't give perfect scores. There's beauty in imperfection. I have rarely ranked an album 5/5. I've been sorting all my favourite albums by genre and honestly, 5/5's are like finding a needle in a haystack. I'm actually highly critical of people who give 5/5's too easily to multiple albums a year - I don't think anyone can be that easily pleased. In 2013, I actually didn't even give out a 5/5. If I was truly biased, both Lana's singles would be at the top of the best singles list, wouldn't they? I actually realised that High By The Beach wasn't as amazing as I first thought it was so ranked it lower.

The appeal of Pretty Girls has been very limited and it has flaws, I agree. But sometimes, a song just clicks with you. I have a thing for big, bombastic choruses, uber girliness and almost bratty sounding lyrics in pop music, as witnessed by my inclusion of Little Mix and Demi. It's not to everyone's taste (and there's some who don't do it right at all) but I think Pretty Girls was an example of this genre done right, at least to my ears. Trying to convince people of it is another matter, however.

Just now, Bryce said:

Flesh without Blood is a master piece 

I classed it as mediocre, the ones in the lower half of the list are all that way because there wasn't enough truly terrible songs to compose a proper terrible 40. I was actually scrabbling around for anything to put into that top 40 and I put this single down as one of the worst songs from Art Angels, so I thought it was as good as any. I know a lot of people here seem to like Grimes but I just didn't get her, sorry. If it's any consolation, this means I might avoid reviewing her in future seeing as I don't seem to get it at all, so I can hardly compose a fair review.

[Cocaine Heart 4,768]

Did you listen to Cry Baby and M3LL155X ?

[Mister Gaga 22,896]

3 minutes ago, StrawberryBlond said:

Thank you very much. I put a lot of time into it so I appreciate that. I'm not a Demi fan, but I just think this was a great album for her and wish more people could agree. I think TIHTY is decent but in order to get onto the list, I was looking for 4/5's or better (the singles list is always harder to get on) and it just didn't quite cut it for me. Great message and all but I think the lyrics could have been so much more and there weren't enough of them either. We need to raise awareness of the issue but I just wish it could have been done in a more lyrically intricate way with new phrases that hadn't already been said before. When it comes to Gaga, I'm expecting great lyrics and to me, these lyrics were just too basic.

Agree with that, but in my opinion, the singles are really basic bops. Lionheart, Father, Kingdom Come and For You are better than CFTS and Confident. But it's her best album to date  Well, i agree with this too. I'm just too pressed to say it. 

Spoiler

And it's not an Oscar worthy song. Although it's the best song among the nominees imo 

 

[Fiona Apple 13,006]

I actually disagree with a lot of those but it's an okay list I guess

[swakby 4,100]

Bjork's album is bad? 

Pretty girls in the good songs category?

The Justin hate ?

4,5 seconds a bad song? 

[StrawberryBlond 14,827]

Just now, Cocaine Heart said:

Did you listen to Cry Baby and M3LL155X ?

I ranked Cry Baby as the 8th best album of the year and Pity Party was ranked as the 32nd best single of the year. And M3LL155X is an EP and I only review full length albums, but for the record, it was good, especially the first song (can't remember what the first one was - Wiki isn't working for me right now). I rated LP1 as 3/5 the other year, by the way. She shows promise, I just hope she keeps on getting better.

Just now, Mister Gaga said:

Agree with that, but in my opinion, the singles are really basic bops. Lionheart, Father, Kingdom Come and For You are better than CFTS and Confident. But it's her best album to date  Well, i agree with this too. I'm just too pressed to say it. 

  Reveal hidden contents

And it's not an Oscar worthy song. Although it's the best song among the nominees imo 

 

To me, they have a real pizazz about them. CFTS is an audio wonderland for me. The piano instrumental opening with a dark undercurrant is heavenly. The breathy, sexy enuciation at the end of each line. The whispering of "sssh...don't tell your mother." The raunchy, passionate bridge. And that "WOAH!" followed by that almost rock instrumentai is an audio orgasm. Same idea for Confident, especially when she goes "yeah hey yeah!" towards the end. Yet, everyone else sees them as guilty pleasure bops at best. All different songs move me in all different ways. I'm a member of the ASMR community, so I'm all about being moved by sounds as well as vocals. And I also understand that we're all moved by different sounds. And I'm also an audio fetishiest. Sound literally turns me on. Which is why I'm so strict with my marking, I love it too much to accept second best.

If I'm being totally honest, I don't think TIHTY is Oscar worthy either, but I just see it as amazing justice for her to finally get the chance to win something so prestigious because she deserves it (and it will help raise awareness of a very important issue that's rarely spoken about).

[Riot Poof 2,236]

8 hours ago, StrawberryBlond said:

I know a few people around here felt the same way. Out of all my choices, I knew that was the one that would probably get me the most amount of criticism. Thing is, I do like some of Bjork's work (I find a lot of her fans are the type to say "you're just not smart enough to understand her," which always drives me mad) but most of the time, her vocal and artistic choices are simply bewildering to me. While she has proved before that she can sing, she has engaged in odd singing styles that drive me right up the wall, especially her enunciation. Some of the musical sounds she incorporates are the equivalent of pnuematic drills to my ears. And she has a tendency of coming across just trying to be weird for the sake of it. Sometimes I swear she makes her music in such a way as to deliberately irritate the listener (and I'm a big believer in the artist making the listener feel comfortable at all times). And Vulnicura displayed all the problems I've always had with her. I don't mind deeper messages in music and obscure lyrics but to a point. Its still got to be understandable. And with Bjork, I just can't understand it. But I can still understand it enough at times to keep reviewing her. I've decided that in order to give fair reviews, I can't review any artist who flatout cannot appeal to my ears or is in some way indecipherable. This is why I don't review the heaviest of heavy metal and avoid country except the biggest names or very promising newcomers. So, I wondered if I should put Bjork on that list but...I can like some of her stuff. Vespertine and Post were my favourite albums from her, Debut was ok and Biophilia could have been decent with a few tweaks. And as long as I continue to like some of her work, I think I have the right to go on reviewing it.

I definitely understand where you're coming from. Björk's an acquired taste. I was hooked from the start, so I'm heavily biased towards her, but not everyone is like that. It seems like you still respect her, and I respect that. I was just thrown aback by you ranking her so low and with people like Hilary Duff and Fetty Wap (no offense to any fans), but I understand you now. 

[AdAstra 2,649]

Years & Years on the worst albums list? 

[Lucas 26,828]

Best singles :

Ghost Town - Adam Lambert

Another Lonely Night - Adam Lambert

The Hills - The Weeknd

Can't Feel My Face - The Weeknd

In The Night - The Weeknd

Froot - Marina And The Diamonds

Ghosttown - Madonna

Selena Gomez - Same Old Love

Lady Gaga - Til It Happens To You

FourFive Seconds - Rihanna, Kanye West & Paul McCartney

Worst singles :

Cool For The Summer - Demi Lovato

American Oxygen - Rihanna

Best albums :

Madonna - Rebel Heart

Adam Lambert - The Original High

The Weeknd - Beauty Behind The Madness

Worst albums :

I have no idea tbh, the only albums I listen to are thoses I'm sure I'm gonna like

[FlopSlurper 34,336]

Best albums:

1- True colors by Zedd

2- Emotion by Carly Rae Jepsen

3- Froot by Marina and the diamonds

4- Cry baby by Melanie Martinez

[Chuckles 2,549]

I like that American Oxygen is at the top of the best lists, I really like it!

[FrozenKookie 2,638]

Flesh without Blood was named as the top track of 2015 by TIME lol

[Evan Peters 10,738]

honeymoon 5/5  i guess i should have seen this coming seeing that you think music to watch boys to is good lol

[StrawberryBlond 14,827]

Just now, Riot Poof said:

I definitely understand where you're coming from. Björk's an acquired taste. I was hooked from the start, so I'm heavily biased towards her, but not everyone is like that. It seems like you still respect her, and I respect that. I was just thrown aback by you ranking her so low and with people like Hilary Duff and Fetty Wap (no offense to any fans), but I understand you now. 

I think some of the lyrics were quite touching as well, it's just her way of talk-singing them out in a manner like she just learned how to speak and teamed with very jarring production ruined it. The production and vocal style is the clincher when it comes to if I like a Bjork song. And thanks for at least understanding why I think how I do. I've always said I don't mind if you diagree, as long as you understand where I'm coming from. And don't worry, in general, I'd much rather listen to Bjork than Hilary or Fetty!

Just now, Evan Peters said:

honeymoon 5/5  i guess i should have seen this coming seeing that you think music to watch boys to is good lol

You say that like you're not a Lana fan when you clearly are. What are you trying to say?