A quarter of the way through!
#75: "Pound the Alarm" by Nicki Minaj
Fitting that I'm doing a Nicki Minaj song today, since American Idol premieres tonight and she is a judge on there this season.
Music actually isn't that bad. It is very synth-driven, and not that complex, but I still like it. As for the rapping, Nicki Minaj has never been my favorite, but she does a pretty good job here.
The lyrics are basically a party song. She's convincing a guy to go out on the dance floor, burn it up, then shut it down, comparing it to pounding the alarm.
I'm not a Nicki Minaj fan. I find most of her work to be mediocre at best. This is an exception. It's not a great song, but her rapping isn't bad, the music is decent party stuff, and the general beat is fairly catchy. It's not a deep song, and is definitely not for everyone. For my part, though, I enjoyed listening to it.
#74: "Let Me Love You (Until You Learn To Love Yourself)" by Ne-yo
My exposure to Ne-yo is limited. I have heard his song "Closer", which was all right, and "Give Me Everything", which...was not.
Music is all right. It's mostly a piano and drum beat, until the synth kicks in for the chorus, but it sound decent, if repetitive. Singing is all right, but Ne-yo has never been my favorite. She always seem to go higher pitched than his voice can really handle.
Lyrics wise, this is almost exactly what it sounds like. He is trying convince a girl to give him a chance, because he can tell she is not very confident in herself, and she wants to help him get that confidence.
I don't know about this song. It's not exactly a bad message, but the delivery seems a bit off. It's not just the singing voice, though. It seems almost like he is dating the girl out of pity, rather than the reason he is giving. In fact, that's probably why the girl isn't eager to go with him. She can probably sense when people have less than noble reasons for doing something. It's not a terrible song, but it needs some work.
#73: "Work Hard, Play Hard" by Wiz Khalifa
Really don't like this guy. In my opinion, he is one of the worst rappers in the business right now, up there with Soulja Boi and Pitbull.
Music does not get off to the best start. It has this repetitive keyboard line which gets old fast. As for the rapping...this is actually one of the best Wiz Khalifa performances. His voice is not great, but he shows a decent knack for rhythm and flow.
As for the lyrics, this is basically what it says on the tin. He's bragging about himself, but saying that he knows that it could all end quickly, so he follows the mantra of the title.
I can't believe I'm saying this, but this is actually not a bad song. He shows decent rhythm, the music eventually improves. There are annoyances. He seems to drop the N word way more than is really necessary, and he spends a lot of the song bragging. Also, that voice that says "Work hard, play hard" in the chorus is a bit annoying. But as a shallow listen, it is a hell of a lot better than "Black and Yellow".
#72: "Climax" by Usher
Ah, here is a frustrating artist. He has talent, but over the last few years, his hits have been more miss than hit.
That music isn't exactly promising. It is a very repetitive keyboard line, and a drum machine. As for the singing, whoever suggested Usher sing the entire song in a higher register needs to be fired.
This is a "this relationship is going downhill fast" song. He is saying that the relationship has reached the climax, and is going downhill from here.
This is not a good song. The music eventually gets better, but his singing does not. Usher does not have a super high singing voice, so why he is singing soprano is confusing to me. As for the lyrics, this is just another "love sucks" song, with absolutely nothing special or unique about. It just sounds like he is whining the entire song about how much he misses her. Not my thing. Bad Usher.
#71: "Rolling In The Deep" by Adele
Re-review!
Music is still pretty good. It starts off with a nice muted guitar and singing, with more instruments coming in slowly. It's a unique sound for today's music scene. As for the singing, this is still Adele's strongest singing performance.
As for the lyrics, pretty much everyone knows this song by now. It's a post-breakup song, where she is almost taunting the other guy, saying they almost had it all, but thinks he's the one that blew it, since she would have given all her love to him, but he played with it too much.
I still think this is a really good song. It hits the right emotional notes, and has a unique style compared to most of what is out there right now. However, after a year and some to hear this song, I'm getting tired of it. Every talent show with a singing element seems to have a performance of it. Let me give you a list of people who have sung it on talent shows: Haley Reinhart (American Idol), Carly Rose Sonenclar (X Factor), Anna Graceman (America's Got Talent), and Kim Yarborough (The Voice). That's in less than two years of the song being out. Like I said, it's a really good song, but I can't watch a single show with singing competitors without hearing it.
Well, that was not too bad, actually. Three songs I actually enjoyed.
Previously: #80-76 [http://www.escapistmagazine.com/forums/read/326.398605-2012-Billboard-Top-100-80-76]
Next: #70-66 [http://www.escapistmagazine.com/forums/read/326.398770-2012-Billboard-Top-100-70-66]
#75: "Pound the Alarm" by Nicki Minaj
Fitting that I'm doing a Nicki Minaj song today, since American Idol premieres tonight and she is a judge on there this season.
Music actually isn't that bad. It is very synth-driven, and not that complex, but I still like it. As for the rapping, Nicki Minaj has never been my favorite, but she does a pretty good job here.
The lyrics are basically a party song. She's convincing a guy to go out on the dance floor, burn it up, then shut it down, comparing it to pounding the alarm.
I'm not a Nicki Minaj fan. I find most of her work to be mediocre at best. This is an exception. It's not a great song, but her rapping isn't bad, the music is decent party stuff, and the general beat is fairly catchy. It's not a deep song, and is definitely not for everyone. For my part, though, I enjoyed listening to it.
#74: "Let Me Love You (Until You Learn To Love Yourself)" by Ne-yo
My exposure to Ne-yo is limited. I have heard his song "Closer", which was all right, and "Give Me Everything", which...was not.
Music is all right. It's mostly a piano and drum beat, until the synth kicks in for the chorus, but it sound decent, if repetitive. Singing is all right, but Ne-yo has never been my favorite. She always seem to go higher pitched than his voice can really handle.
Lyrics wise, this is almost exactly what it sounds like. He is trying convince a girl to give him a chance, because he can tell she is not very confident in herself, and she wants to help him get that confidence.
I don't know about this song. It's not exactly a bad message, but the delivery seems a bit off. It's not just the singing voice, though. It seems almost like he is dating the girl out of pity, rather than the reason he is giving. In fact, that's probably why the girl isn't eager to go with him. She can probably sense when people have less than noble reasons for doing something. It's not a terrible song, but it needs some work.
#73: "Work Hard, Play Hard" by Wiz Khalifa
Really don't like this guy. In my opinion, he is one of the worst rappers in the business right now, up there with Soulja Boi and Pitbull.
Music does not get off to the best start. It has this repetitive keyboard line which gets old fast. As for the rapping...this is actually one of the best Wiz Khalifa performances. His voice is not great, but he shows a decent knack for rhythm and flow.
As for the lyrics, this is basically what it says on the tin. He's bragging about himself, but saying that he knows that it could all end quickly, so he follows the mantra of the title.
I can't believe I'm saying this, but this is actually not a bad song. He shows decent rhythm, the music eventually improves. There are annoyances. He seems to drop the N word way more than is really necessary, and he spends a lot of the song bragging. Also, that voice that says "Work hard, play hard" in the chorus is a bit annoying. But as a shallow listen, it is a hell of a lot better than "Black and Yellow".
#72: "Climax" by Usher
Ah, here is a frustrating artist. He has talent, but over the last few years, his hits have been more miss than hit.
That music isn't exactly promising. It is a very repetitive keyboard line, and a drum machine. As for the singing, whoever suggested Usher sing the entire song in a higher register needs to be fired.
This is a "this relationship is going downhill fast" song. He is saying that the relationship has reached the climax, and is going downhill from here.
This is not a good song. The music eventually gets better, but his singing does not. Usher does not have a super high singing voice, so why he is singing soprano is confusing to me. As for the lyrics, this is just another "love sucks" song, with absolutely nothing special or unique about. It just sounds like he is whining the entire song about how much he misses her. Not my thing. Bad Usher.
#71: "Rolling In The Deep" by Adele
Re-review!
Music is still pretty good. It starts off with a nice muted guitar and singing, with more instruments coming in slowly. It's a unique sound for today's music scene. As for the singing, this is still Adele's strongest singing performance.
As for the lyrics, pretty much everyone knows this song by now. It's a post-breakup song, where she is almost taunting the other guy, saying they almost had it all, but thinks he's the one that blew it, since she would have given all her love to him, but he played with it too much.
I still think this is a really good song. It hits the right emotional notes, and has a unique style compared to most of what is out there right now. However, after a year and some to hear this song, I'm getting tired of it. Every talent show with a singing element seems to have a performance of it. Let me give you a list of people who have sung it on talent shows: Haley Reinhart (American Idol), Carly Rose Sonenclar (X Factor), Anna Graceman (America's Got Talent), and Kim Yarborough (The Voice). That's in less than two years of the song being out. Like I said, it's a really good song, but I can't watch a single show with singing competitors without hearing it.
Well, that was not too bad, actually. Three songs I actually enjoyed.
Previously: #80-76 [http://www.escapistmagazine.com/forums/read/326.398605-2012-Billboard-Top-100-80-76]
Next: #70-66 [http://www.escapistmagazine.com/forums/read/326.398770-2012-Billboard-Top-100-70-66]
and im with you.. only a few of Ushers songs i like.. the rest tends to be poor. Dont get mistaken by that next 5 
