Taylor Swift (1) – Week Of February 3, 2018

Hey guys! For those unaware, I posted a reaction post to the Grammys early this week. You should check that out if you haven't already. I reacted to the performances and all the big awards. Tonight is the 52^nd Super Bowl. I will only be watching for P!nk's performance of the National Anthem, as well as Justin Timberlake's halftime show performance. I'm just not into sports. Hopefully the halftime show performance will be good as it'll be hard to top Lady Gaga's from last year. But I think JT is capable of it. Before we get to this week's Fresh 45, here are the songs we're saying goodbye to this week.

• Liam Payne – Strip That Down (#33) [1 Week At #1]
• Zayn/Sia – Dusk Till Dawn (#40)

Last Week's #1 Song: Imagine Dragons – Thunder

The Countdown

45. Charlie Puth – Attention (#43) [1 Week At #1]

44. Demi Lovato – Sorry Not Sorry (#37) [1 Week At #1]

43. Sam Smith – Too Good At Goodbyes (#42)

42. Taylor Swift – ...Ready For It? (#41)

41. P!nk – What About Us (#44) [1 Week At #1]

40. The Shadowboxers – Hot Damn (#45)

39. Symon – Lonely Girl (#31)

38. Wolves – Animal (#38)

37. Kesha – Praying (#39)

36. Niall Horan – Slow Hands (#36) [3 Weeks At #1]

35. All Time Low – Last Young Renegade (DEBUT)

34. Louis Tomlinson – Miss You (#25)

33. Maroon 5/SZA – What Lovers Do (#30)

32. Zedd/Maren Morris/Grey – The Middle (DEBUT)

31. Ed Sheeran – Galway Girl (#32) [4 Weeks At #1]

30. Justin Timberlake – Filthy (#26)

29. Shawn Mendes – There's Nothing Holdin' Me Back (#29) [5 Weeks At #1]

28. Camila Cabello – Havana (#11) [1 Week At #1]

27. Niall Horan – Too Much To Ask (#22)

26. Post Malone/21 Savage – Rockstar (#15)

25. Maroon 5 – Wait (#20)

24. NF – Let You Down (#35)

23. Portugal. The Man – Feel It Still (#24)

22. Bruno Mars/Cardi B – Finesse (#21)

21. Fall Out Boy – Hold Me Tight Or Don't (#18)

20. G-Eazy/Halsey – Him & I (#19)

19. Imagine Dragons – Believer (#16) [3 Weeks At #1]

18. Dua Lipa – New Rules (#13)

17. MAX/Gnash – Lights Down Low (#27)

16. Camila Cabello – Never Be The Same (#28)

15. P!nk – Beautiful Trauma (#34)

14. Lauv – I Like Me Better (#17)

13. Kelly Clarkson – Love So Soft (#14)

12. Eminem/Ed Sheeran – River (#23)

11. Bebe Rexha/Florida Georgia Line – Meant To Be (#6)

10. Halsey – Bad At Love (#2) [2 Weeks At #1]

  9. Charlie Puth – How Long (#8)

  8. X Ambassadors – Ahead Of Myself (#12)

  7. Macklemore/Kesha – Good Old Days (#4)

  6. Walk The Moon – One Foot (#10)

  5. Hailee Steinfeld & Alesso/Florida Georgia Line/watt – Let Me Go (#9)

  4. Ed Sheeran – Perfect (#3) [2 Weeks At #1]

  3. Selena Gomez/Marshmello – Wolves (#7)

  2. Imagine Dragons – Thunder (#1) [5 Weeks At #1]

  1. Taylor Swift/Ed Sheeran/Future – End Game (#5) [1^st Week At #1]

#1 Song This Week One Year Ago: Maroon 5 – Don't Wanna Know (3)

Biggest DROP!!!... Of The Week: Camila Cabello – Havana (–17)

Biggest Jump Of The Week: P!nk – Beautiful Trauma (+19)

New Entrants
~ First up this week, we have All Time Low with Last Young Renegade. I've been a fan of these guys. They've had one song on the countdown every year since 2015 and they all made it into my Top 45 for their years. This year, they bring Last Young Renegade and it's a very enjoyable song. I really like these guys and I had no doubt that they would bring something good. They've impressed me every year for the past three years. The production here is really good and I like the vocals. I'm sure with more listens, I'll grow to possibly love this song. I think it's fun and I'm glad it made its debut here. Hits 1 really likes All Time Low, and I'm glad.

~ Next we have Zedd featuring Maren Morris and Grey on The Middle. I pretty much did a full-on rant last week when it debuted on Hit-Bound. Feel free to check that out if you haven't already. But to sum it up, this is very mediocre and easily the worst of his latest music. I didn't think he could do worse than Get Low. I was mistaken. Those who don't know Zedd probably like this song because one of the reasons I dislike it is because it's so mediocre and bland compared to his previous work. The singles from Clarity were really good. Some of the songs from True Colors were fantastic. Songs like Addicted To A Memory and Papercut really showed what he was capable of as a producer. Listen to those songs and you'll understand why I think The Middle is extremely underwhelming. It's a mix of Starving and Stay, two songs I also thought were mediocre. There's no originality here and the song lacks what made Zedd unique with his last two albums. Maren Morris' vocals are okay, but nothing that stands out. I understand that Zedd is trying something new here. But it just doesn't sound good. I think he's selling out. He's trying to be mainstream and people are giving in, which annoys me. He's capable of so much more and of course these mediocre songs are the ones people like. I don't understand. I'm not looking forward to the album because his music is slowly getting shittier. Hopefully this doesn't become another Stay because I can only handle this song so long before it becomes the worst song on the countdown. Please don't test my patience. I'm serious.


Hit-Bound
~ Here is the Hit-Bound list.

• AJR/Rivers Cuomo – Sober Up
• Portugal. The Man – Live In The Moment
• Alan Walker/Noah Cyrus/Digital Farm Animals – All Falls Down
• Spencer – Whatever
• Kesha/The Dap-King Horns – Woman
• Justin Timberlake/Chris Stapleton – Say Something (DEBUT)
• Post Malone – I Fall Apart
• Imagine Dragons – Whatever It Takes
• The Chainsmokers – Sick Boy
• Troye Sivan – My My My!
• Clean Bandit/Julia Michaels – I Miss You
• Welshly Arms – Legendary (DEBUT)
• Wild Things – Don't Wanna Feel It
• Sofi Tukker/NERVO – Best Friend

~ I love Legendary. Everything about this song is really good. The vocals sound great. I love the instrumentation. The guitar solo is epic. We need more rock music like this on mainstream radio. I'm hoping this can make its debut sometime in the near future.

~ Just before his big Super Bowl halftime performance, Justin Timberlake brought Say Something. I did listen to Man Of The Woods in full on Friday. It's okay. Some of the songs are really weird. But there are enjoyable ones as well. The best on the album is definitely Say Something, which I fell in love with from the first listen about a week ago. This is the kind of song I was expecting when JT said he'd be going back to his roots. The production here is fantastic. I love the guitar and the country vibe. Timberlake's vocals sound fantastic and I love Chris Stapleton's contribution. They sound really good together. I love the chorus. This is better than Filthy, which I've been mixed on, and a big step up from Supplies, which is shit. I really hope this makes its debut soon because it is one of the best songs out there right now.

Top 5 Hit-Bound Picks

1. Justin Timberlake/Chris Stapleton – Say Something

2. Troye Sivan – My My My!

3. Welshly Arms – Legendary

4. Imagine Dragons – Whatever It Takes

5. The Chainsmokers – Sick Boy

YouTube15

~ I haven't done a review of the YouTube15 in a while. So I thought I'd check it out for the first time in a long time. Here is the YouTube15 list.

• Halsey – Bad At Love
• Logic/Rag'n'Bone Man – Broken People
• Marcus & Martinus – Remind Me
• Bebe Rexha/Florida Georgia Line – Meant To Be
• Steve Aoki/Lauren Jauregui – All Night
• Sam Smith – Too Good At Goodbyes
• Jax Jones/Ina Wroldsen – Breathe
• Ed Sheeran – Perfect
• HRVY – Personal
• Imagine Dragons – Thunder
• Jillian Jacqueline – Reasons
• Bruno Mars/Cardi B – Finesse
• James Arthur – Naked
• Camila Cabello – Havana
• Betty Who – Ignore Me

~ I've loved Broken People ever since it was released as a promotional single. Logic's verses flow very nicely. The production is really good. I love the beat. Rag'n'Bone Man sounds fantastic. I absolutely love his voice. He sounds better on here than he did on Human, and I really liked that song. I think Broken People is fantastic and I wish it was more popular.

~ I'm not quite sure how old Marcus & Martinus are. But Remind Me is a little too childish for me in terms of both the production and the vocals. So yeah. Not a fan of this.

~ All Night is pretty enjoyable overall. Steve Aoki has done better, but I can enjoy this. I like the production. The vocals from Fifth Harmony's Lauren Jauregui sound really good. I think she has a much better voice than Camila and she shows it nicely here.

~ Breathe is pretty underwhelming for the most part. The production seems basic and I don't love the vocals. It may warm up on me with more listens. But for now, I'm not impressed. I don't think I've liked any of Jax Jones' songs for that matter.

~ There are so many young people out there trying to get popular despite their level of talent. There's nothing about Personal that stands out. You can tell that this guy is trying to be popular, but his voice is not that great in my opinion. The song isn't bad, but there are many ways in which this could be improved upon.

~ I really like Betty Who. I think she has a great voice and she's very talented. Ignore Me is a really good song in my opinion. I really like her vocals and the production is good as well. It's different, but I like it. I wish she was more popular.

Top 5 YouTube15 Picks

1. Logic/Rag'n'Bone Man – Broken People

2. Bebe Rexha/Florida Georgia Line – Meant To Be

3. Steve Aoki/Lauren Jauregui – All Night

4. Ed Sheeran – Perfect

5. Betty Who – Ignore Me

Last Young Blurb

~ End Game hitting #1 was a little unexpected. But I'm pleased, especially since it dethroned Thunder. Hopefully that's the last time we see that song at #1. I'm okay with this song at #1 for the time being. It's really good and a step up from her previous two singles.

~ Selena Gomez/Marshmello – Wolves made a nice jump into the Top 3 this week. I'm also pleased with this. I've enjoyed this song ever since it was released. It's one of Selena's better songs and I'm glad it's very successful just like It Ain't Me.

~ Eminem/Ed Sheeran – River made a nice rebound into the Top 15. I'm really hoping this can jump into the Top 10 soon. I really like this song. But I'm okay with this for now. At least it still has some life in it.

~ MAX/Gnash – Lights Down Low seems to be the Unsteady of this year. It's been gaining some steam lately and after several months of it being here, it has jumped back into the Top 20. I really love this song as you know. I have a thing for these kinds of love songs. This is a really sweet song and I'm glad that it's as successful as it is.

~ Post Malone/21 Savage – Rockstar dropped out of the Top 20 this week. Again, I'm not quite sure what this song is doing here. It's very unlike Hits 1 to have a song like this do well. But I guess it's not the worst thing in the world. The song is tolerable to some extent. Though I don't think it should be hogging up a spot in the upper half of the countdown.

~ Camila Cabello – Havana dropped a lot sooner than expected. I'm surprised this only spent one week at the top. But I guess with Never Be The Same gaining steam, this one was bound to drop at some point.

~ Justin Timberlake – Filthy seems to be following a path similar to that of Lady Gaga – Perfect Illusion. It was the big comeback release before the Super Bowl halftime performance that ended up flopping. That being said, I'm hoping Say Something can be the next Million Reasons where it becomes really successful and surpasses the predecessor.

~ As far as the exits go, Strip That Down needed to go a long time ago. I'm glad it's finally gone. Now I'm hoping they can pick up on For You sometime soon. That song is really good. Dusk Till Dawn was kind of underrated. But it did peak in the Top 10 here, which I'm thankful for. It wasn't an outright flop. It did last a little while. I just wish it was more successful everywhere else.

Top 20 Review

0 – Crap:

20. Imagine Dragons – Thunder

1 – Bad:

19. Camila Cabello – Never Be The Same

18. Lauv – I Like Me Better

2 – Mediocre:

17. Kelly Clarkson – Love So Soft

3 – Decent:

NONE

4 – Good:

16. Halsey – Bad At Love

15. Dua Lipa – New Rules

5 – Great:

14. Charlie Puth – How Long

13. Selena Gomez/Marshmello – Wolves

12. Hailee Steinfeld & Alesso/F.G.L./watt – Let Me Go

11. Taylor Swift/Ed Sheeran/Future – End Game

10. X Ambassadors – Ahead of Myself

9. Ed Sheeran – Perfect

8. Bebe Rexha/Florida Georgia Line – Meant To Be

7. Imagine Dragons – Believer

6. P!nk – Beautiful Trauma

5. G-Eazy/Halsey – Him & I

4. Eminem/Ed Sheeran – River

3. MAX/Gnash – Lights Down Low

BONUS: 6 – Best Song On The Countdown:

1. TIE: Walk The Moon – One Foot

1. TIE: Macklemore/Kesha – Good Old Days

Overall Score: 84/100 = 84% (A)

Throwback Picks Of The Week:

• Justin Timberlake – Rock Your Body
• Justin Timberlake/Timbaland – SexyBack
• Justin Timberlake/T.I. – My Love
• Justin Timberlake – What Goes Around... Comes Around

Most Missed Countdown Song: Justin Timberlake – Drink You Away

#1 Recommendation For Hits 1: Mono Mind – I Found My Soul At Marvingate (Sofa Tunes Remix)

Favorite Countdown Song This Week One Year Ago: Jon Bellion – All Time Low (#7)

My Top 5 Picks

1. TIE: Macklemore/Kesha – Good Old Days

1. TIE: Walk The Moon – One Foot

3. MAX/Gnash – Lights Down Low

4. Eminem/Ed Sheeran – River

5. G-Eazy/Halsey – Him & I