StrawberryBlond 14,874 Posted January 2, 2021 Share Posted January 2, 2021 Here we are, definitely the earliest I've ever made my annual list of this type. For those of you who don't know, I review music as an amateur and I make one of these lists on GGD at the start of every year. Not usually this early though, it was once as late as February, but that was before I chronicled the best/worst songs throughout the year and just did it all at the end. As the charts fell the way they did this year all the releases were definitely done by Christmas, I could easily peruse all my notes in the week after Christmas to make these lists as soon as the new year started. I firmly believe the year isn't over til its over, so its usually later this list happens, but yay for time-keeping this year, I guess. I know there's already been best of lists posted, however, they were just album focused and mine involves singles, music videos and album covers as well (was going to add instrumentals this year but they'd be basically the top ten of each list anyway so it seemed kinda pointless). My lists compose music from all genres, hits and obscure songs that didn't chart, mainstream to indie, no stone left un-turned. All these are purely my opinion and you are totally allowed to disagree. And post your own, naturally, if you feel I was way off. And trust me, there will be a lot of surprises on the list this year as this truly was a bad year in music, as far as I'm concerned, as far as complete albums go anyway. You'll see by my album scores that these scores were exceptionally low. This is also the only year where literally every album that I rated as good to any degree made it onto the list, so yes, there were only 20 decent albums this year and even then, the scores still weren't that great. As always, I only list the album scores, as there's less of them and all the singles are scored at roughly the same level anyway. The best one is always #1 which I leave at the bottom of each list, as I work in backwards chronological order. So, without further ado... Best singles Spoiler 40. The Pussycat Dolls - React 39. Megan Thee Stallion - B.I.T.C.H 38. The Script - Run Through Walls 37. Teyana Taylor feat. IMAN - Wake Up Love 36. The Chicks - Julianna Calm Down 35. DJ Khaled feat. Drake - Greece 34. Ava Max - My Head & My Heart 33. Marilyn Manson - We Are Chaos 32. Billie Eilish - No Time To Die 31. Miley Cyrus feat. Dua Lipa - Prisoner 30. Camila Cabello feat. DaBaby - My Oh My 29. Katy Perry - Never Worn White 28. Alicia Keys - Good Job 27. John Legend - Conversations In The Dark 26. Billie Eilish - Therefore I Am 25. Lana Del Rey - Let Me Love You Like A Woman 24. Ellie Goulding feat. blackbear - Worry About Me 23. Jessie Ware - Ooh La La 22. City Girls feat. Doja Cat - P***y Talk 21. Little Mix - Break Up Song 20. Lady Gaga & Ariana Grande - Rain On Me 19. John Legend - Wild 18. Charlotte Lawrence - Joke's On You 17. Cardi B feat. Megan Thee Stallion - WAP 16. Megan Thee Stallion - Girls In The Hood 15. Ed Sheeran - Afterglow 14. Alicia Keys - Perfect Way To Die 13. Paloma Faith - Better Than This 12. Eminem - Darkness 11. The Chicks - March March 10. Christina Aguilera - Loyal Brave True 09. James Blunt - Monsters 08. Ava Max - Kings & Queens 07. Little Mix - Holiday 06. H.E.R. - I Can't Breathe 05. Saweetie & GALXARA - Sway With Me 04. The Pretty Reckless - Death By Rock And Roll 03. Dua Lipa - Physical 02. Miley Cyrus - Midnight Sky 01. Shawn James - Through The Valley Worst singles Spoiler 40. BTS - Dynamite 39. Rita Ora - How To Be Lonely 38. Ariana Grande - 34+35 37. Sean Paul & Tove Lo - Calling On Me 36. Kiesza - When Boys Cry 35. Machine Gun Kelly - Concert For Aliens 34. Ariana Grande- Positions 33. 6ix9ine - Yaya 32. A$AP Ferg feat. Nicki Minaj & MadeinTYO - Move Ya Hips 31. Lil Pump & Anuel AA - Illuminati 30. Machine Gun Kelly - Bloody Valentine 29. Tove Lo - Bikini P**n 28. Selena Gomez - Boyfriend 27. 6ix9ine - Tutu 26. The 1975 - The Birthday Party 25. BTS - Life Goes On 24. Shawn Mendes- Call My Friends 23. Charli XCX - I Finally Understand 22. HAIM - The Steps 21. Taylor Swift - Cardigan 20. Blackpink & Selena Gomez - Ice Cream 19. Drake feat. Lil Durk - Laugh Now, Cry Later 18. The 1975 - You & Me Together Song 17. Selena Gomez - Rare 16. Justin Bieber feat. Post Malone & Clever - Forever 15. Lil Yachty - Split/Whole Time 14. Lil Yachty feat. DaBaby & Drake - Oprah's Bank Account 13. Drake - Toosie Slide 12. Charli XCX - Forever 11. The 1975 - Guys 10. 6ix9ine - P****i 09. Tommy Lee feat. Brooke Candy & Moonbounce - Demon Bitches 08. City Girls - Jobs 07. Liam Payne & Dixie D'Amelio - Naughty List 06. Bella Thorne - SFB 05. Justin Bieber - Yummy 04. 6ix9ine - Gooba 03. Charli XCX - Claws 02. 6ix9ine & Nicki Minaj - Trollz 01. Bella Thorne - Lonely Best albums Spoiler 20. Carly Rae Jepsen - Dedicated Side B - 3/5 19. Bon Jovi - 2020 - 3/5 18. Blackpink - The Album - 3/5 17. Various artists - Birds Of Prey: The Album - 3/5 16. Halsey - Manic - 3/5 15. Paloma Faith - Infinite Things - 3/5 14. Dua Lipa - Future Nostalgia - 3/5 13. Rina Sawayama - Sawayama - 3/5 12. JoJo - Good To Know - 3/5 11. Kiesza - Crave - 3/5 10. Hurts - Faith - 3/5 09. The Chicks - Gaslighter - 3/5 08. Kehlani - It Was Good Until It Wasn't - 3/5 07. Kesha - High Road - 3/5 06. Ava Max - Heaven & Hell - 3/5 05. The Weeknd - After Hours - 3.5/5 04. Miley Cyrus - Plastic Hearts - 3.5/5 03. Jessie Ware - What's Your Pleasure? - 3.5/5 02. Little Mix - Confetti - 3.5/5 01. Lady Gaga - Chromatica - 4/5 Worst albums Spoiler 20. Selena Gomez - Rare - 2/5 19. HAIM - Women In Music Pt. III - 2/5 18. Katie Melua - Album No. 8 - 2/5 17. Greenday - Father Of All Motherf***ers - 2/5 16. The Killers - Imploding The Mirage - 2/5 15. Biffy Clyro - A Celebration Of Endings - 2/5 14. Nas - King's Disease - 2/5 13. Shawn Mendes - Wonder - 1.5/5 12. Justin Bieber - Changes - 1.5/5 11. Machine Gun Kelly - Tickets To My Downfall - 1.5/5 10. Lil Yachty - Lil Boat 3 - 1.5/5 09. Charli XCX - How I'm Feelings Now - 1.5/5 08. Childish Gambino - 3.15.20 - 1.5/5 07. BTS - Be - 1/5 06. The 1975 - Notes On A Conditional Form - 1/5 05. Fiona Apple - Fetch The Bolt Cutters - 1/5 04. Gary Barlow - Music Played By Humans - 0.5/5 03. 6ix9ine - Tattletales - 0.5/5 02. The Strokes - The New Abnormal - 0.5/5 01. La Roux - Supervision - 0.5/5 Best music videos Spoiler 10. Madison Beer - Good In Goodbye 09. Eminem - Darkness 08. The Weeknd - Blinding Lights 07. Rina Sawayama - XS 06. Dua Lipa - Break My Heart 05. Tove Lo - sadder badder cooler 04. Camila Cabello feat. DaBaby - My Oh My 03. Katy Perry - Cry About It Later 02. Lady Gaga - 911 01. The Weeknd - Too Late Worst music videos Spoiler 10. Drake - Toosie Slide 09. Rota Ora - How To Be Lonely 08. Ariana Grande - 34+35 07. 6ix9ine - Yaya 06. 6ix9ine & Nicki Minaj - Trollz 05. 6ix9ine - Gooba 04. City Girls - Jobs 03. 6ix9ine - Tutu 02. Justin Bieber- Yummy 01. Charli XCX - Claws Best album covers Spoiler 05. Dua Lipa - Future Nostalgia 04. Kesha - High Road 03. The Vamps - Cherry Blossom 02. Lady Gaga - Chromatica 01. The Killers - Imploding The Mirage Worst album covers Spoiler 05. HAIM - Women In Music Pt. III 04. Katie Melua - Album No. 8 03. The 1975 - Notes On A Conditional Form 02. Katy Perry - Smile 01. 6ix9ine - Tattletales Naturally, I'm sure some of you will have more than a few questions for me regarding these choices seeing as a lot of them regarded me seeing music that was reviewed positively through a negative lens and maybe didn't rank "bad" music as badly as you think I should in some cases. Bear in mind that all my choices are just based on my personal taste and what moves (or doesn't move) me specifically. Even if I feel the "right" thing to do is put a piece of work higher or lower, if I don't feel it, I don't feel it. And well, isn't it a good thing that every sub-section of my lists had someone different at the top! What a win for diverse taste this year! But as I said, you can tell by rankings that this year was particularly bad. Here's hoping 2021's perks things back up again and artists that I like finally release their delayed albums. So, agree or disagree? Post your own lists, though they don't have to be as long and involved as mine! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
JRCF29 8,202 Posted January 2, 2021 Share Posted January 2, 2021 25 minutes ago, StrawberryBlond said: 29. Tove Lo - Bikini P**n 26 minutes ago, StrawberryBlond said: 22. HAIM - The Steps 26 minutes ago, StrawberryBlond said: 12. Charli XCX - Forever You accidentally put these on the "worst" list Don't Call Me Gaga Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
YASKALE 583 Posted January 2, 2021 Share Posted January 2, 2021 Why don't you like that 1975 album cover? I think it's awesome! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Damon 10,904 Posted January 2, 2021 Share Posted January 2, 2021 imagine thinking woman in music by haim is a bad album taste is missing ... and now i just sit in silence. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Thomas P 18,479 Posted January 2, 2021 Share Posted January 2, 2021 i disagree with a lot of the list (particularly the Fiona Apple, Charli XCX and HAIM placements), and i actually thought 2020 was a great year in music pretty much all around. if we would’ve gotten a Frank Ocean, Lorde or Kendrick Lamar album, it would probably be my favourite year in a long time. i do appreciate, however, that this definitely rings as a very personal list. there’s no conforming, and i like that a lot! I’m a simple guy to please, if you like Melodrama, we chill. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
dzox 552 Posted January 2, 2021 Share Posted January 2, 2021 i dont listen to 6ix9ine and i've heard not so good things about him but i have to say that album cover is actually good. also BTS Dynamite is actually a great solid pop track, i wonder why a lot of people (especially on this site) dislike that song? Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
hELXIG 43,065 Posted January 2, 2021 Share Posted January 2, 2021 I'll just post my top 3 albums, 'cause I'm the kinda person who just listens to music on repeat when I love it. Also I don't actively hate music very often so there wouldn't be any of that I'll be myself until they fūcking close the coffin. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
GeeYewWhai 2,382 Posted January 2, 2021 Share Posted January 2, 2021 The charli xcx and HAIM slander tho Nothing Happened Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
StrawberryBlond 14,874 Posted January 2, 2021 Author Share Posted January 2, 2021 2 hours ago, JRCF29 said: You accidentally put these on the "worst" list I know some of the choices definitely won't be popular. I really didn't agree with the mass opinion this time around. The critical acclaim this year really left me baffled. The things on my worst list are usually filed under one of two sins: bland or awful. The closer to #1 it is, the more awful it is, to rest assured that the ones at the back just came down to being too bland for my taste. But for what it's worth, some of them are there because there is a lack of enough truly terrible songs to make a top 40 list. Just because it's there doesn't mean it's the worst thing I've ever heard. When it comes to the worst list, the only ones you truly have to take in are the top 10, this is "first songs I think of when I think of bad songs" kinda territory. 2 hours ago, YASKALE said: Why don't you like that 1975 album cover? I think it's awesome! It's far too basic and overly pretentious (just like the album itself). It's just a bunch of different backgrounds displaying the album name, what's so amazing about that? Their other album covers are the same. Apparently, some artists think minimalism is "saying something." I'm a person who just calls things like they see it. This is an attempt to look effortlessly cool. And it doesn't work because it's so obvious it's trying too hard. Contrary to high-faluting artistic theories, I don't believe that saying nothing means you're saying everything...it means you're saying nothing. 2 hours ago, Damon said: imagine thinking woman in music by haim is a bad album taste is missing I don't find it bad, per se, just overwhelmingly bland and I don't get where the praise comes from. I also found the cover art and videos bland, just all-round blandness. 1 hour ago, Thomas P said: i disagree with a lot of the list (particularly the Fiona Apple, Charli XCX and HAIM placements), and i actually thought 2020 was a great year in music pretty much all around. if we would’ve gotten a Frank Ocean, Lorde or Kendrick Lamar album, it would probably be my favourite year in a long time. i do appreciate, however, that this definitely rings as a very personal list. there’s no conforming, and i like that a lot! I just find the artists you listed way too pretentious. Charli used to be far more down-to-earth with her music, now she's taken a detour into avant garde town which the critics naturally love but it just leaves the rest of us scratching our heads (when I heard Gaga praising Fiona's album, I hoped this wasn't a sign of things to come one day as this is not the kind of music I signed up for). I'm a person who likes artists to be artistic in a straight-forward way, not with hidden meanings that aren't decipherable, over-use of repetition of lines that aren't good enough to repeat, or using bizarre production or off-key singing that strains the ears. I can't express myself in odd ways that aren't easy to understand, I don't know why artists deliberately set out to bamboozle us. The key is to express yourself in a way that isn't generic but isn't obscure either and it unfortunately seems that so many artists fall into either category with not many occupying that elusive middle. That's why I appreciate Gaga and Lana so much, they slot into the middle ground I'm looking for - mainstream but not generic, artistic but not pretentious, intelligent lyrics but not obscure ramblings. I think your way of summing up my list is very accurate. You can tell it's all my doing, there's no outside influence on my picks and it doesn't matter to me how big a name you are or how praised you are (or vice versa), I'll say what I'm going to say. I hope people check out my #1 best song choice as it's so unknown but it may well go down as one of my favourite songs of all time. Honestly, this is the kind of music I wish I could write from an alter ego point of view as the lyrics are so brutal but as a piece of art, outstanding. Who would've thought a song originally made for a video game (The Last Of Us 2, if anyone's interested) that ended up getting scrapped would end up my top pick? 58 minutes ago, dzox said: i dont listen to 6ix9ine and i've heard not so good things about him but i have to say that album cover is actually good. also BTS Dynamite is actually a great solid pop track, i wonder why a lot of people (especially on this site) dislike that song? You really like the album cover? When you know everything about the guy, his use of bright colours and cartoon imagery with sexualised themes to potentially appeal to young fans is vomit-inducing. As for Dynamite, I put it low on the list as it's more bland than awful. It's just like someone trying to write a pop song with every typical pop song word used and the end result is meaningless. The lyrics are so generic yet weirdly nonsensical in places ("I'm in the stars tonight," "get up in the morn, cup of milk, let's rock n roll," "king kong, kick the drum," "sing song when I'm walking home, jump up to the top, Lebron," "this beat cha-ching like money"), I can't feel anything from it and it's like they were just thrown together haphazardly. It was like they took cues from Uptown Funk but failed to replicate it. I initially wondered if it was merely a problem with everything not translating well into English when translated but then I found out that the writers were English speakers and it was written in English from the start, so with this is mind, I don't understand why the lyrics are so odd. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
StrawberryBlond 14,874 Posted January 3, 2021 Author Share Posted January 3, 2021 Just giving a few shout-outs to some friends of mine who might be interested as this thread is dying fast: @Defmix100 @Oriane @Chic Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
BlondeQueenOfGGD 25,454 Posted January 3, 2021 Share Posted January 3, 2021 Best: Chromatica, Changes Worst: SAWAYAMA, Fetch The Bolt Cutters Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheSlash 14,539 Posted January 3, 2021 Share Posted January 3, 2021 Best albums Spoiler 3. Chromatica (sorry hun, 2020 was strong music-wise ) 2. SAWAYAMA 1. I Disagree Spoiler Also, the deluxe tracks on 'I Disagree (more)' are bangers Best songs Spoiler 5. Anything Like Me by Poppy 4. BxMxC by BABYMETAL (it technically was released internationally this year ) 3. Rain On Me 2. Therefore I Am by Billie Eilish 1. Replay I don't really have "worst songs" or "worst albums" bc I only listen to good music Ew, David! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Taylucifer 5,154 Posted January 3, 2021 Share Posted January 3, 2021 1 hour ago, Justin Drew Bieber said: Best: Chromatica, Changes Worst: SAWAYAMA, Fetch The Bolt Cutters help thats a bold statement, one putting changes and chromatica on the same level and, two, putting SAWAYAMA and FTBC below them 'The Life of a Showgirl' is out on Oct 3 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Evan Peters 10,748 Posted January 3, 2021 Share Posted January 3, 2021 i know you did not put cardigan and sawayama in the worst categories emma roberts is an abuser Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Taylucifer 5,154 Posted January 3, 2021 Share Posted January 3, 2021 Favourite albums (in no particular order) and favourite tracks from the albums 0 Advanced issue found ▲ Spoiler folklore, august - Taylor Swift evermore, champagne problems - Taylor Swift The Album, Pretty Savage - Blackpink Kid Krow, Affluenza - Conan Gray Plastic Hearts, WTF do I know - Miley Cyrus SAWAYAMA, XS - Rina Sawayama In a dream, rager teenager! - Troye Sivan ~how I'm feeling~, Drugs & The Internet - Lauv Favourite songs (in alphabetical order) 0 Advanced issue found ▲ Spoiler Adios - Everglow Boy - Treasure Boyfriend - Selena Gomez Can't you see me - Tomorrow x together Captain Hook - Megan Thee Stallion Clementine - Halsey False Art - Ben Kessler, Lizzy McAlpine **** up the friendship - Leah Kate Futon - Ūla Girlfriends - Boys World Miss America - Issac Dunbar Not Shy - Itzy Oh my god - (G)I-dle Sex (with my ex) - Fletcher someone's someone - Monsta X Stay Gold - BTS Where the Poison is - Finneas and I don't make a habit of listening to bad music enough to remember it so no worst music 'The Life of a Showgirl' is out on Oct 3 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
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