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General => General Music Discussion => Topic started by: Skeever on June 11, 2021, 08:03:04 AM

Title: General Top 40/Pop Music Thread
Post by: Skeever on June 11, 2021, 08:03:04 AM
Figured it'd be nice to have a thread for general top 40/pop music for those interested.
I've personally been listening to Olivia Rodrigo - SOUR recently, which I really like. A friend had told me about it awhile ago and I kind of dismissed it out of hand, but then I found out that the it was produced by Dan Nigro, who is the lead singer and guitarist of As Tall As Lions, who released one of my all-time favorite albums back in 2006.

I suspect anyone who doesn't live under a rock has head "driver's license" already. I like that song, but I like this "good 4 u" even better:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gNi_6U5Pm_o

Anyway, this is the place to share any normie music you like (unless, of course, it already has its own thread, which most of this stuff probably does not).
Title: Re: General Top 40/Pop Music Thread
Post by: KevShmev on June 11, 2021, 08:08:18 AM
Sounds inauthentic.
Title: Re: General Top 40/Pop Music Thread
Post by: Fritzinger on June 11, 2021, 08:20:58 AM
Sounds inauthentic.

 :lol
Title: Re: General Top 40/Pop Music Thread
Post by: Zantera on June 11, 2021, 08:22:59 AM
Someone got their jimmies rustled very easily I see.

On topic I don't really listen to that much pure pop stuff that is high on the charts but I did enjoy Dua Lipa's album from last year. Not amazing but solid.
Title: Re: General Top 40/Pop Music Thread
Post by: Skeever on June 11, 2021, 08:25:31 AM
Someone got their jimmies rustled very easily I see.

On topic I don't really listen to that much pure pop stuff that is high on the charts but I did enjoy Dua Lipa's album from last year. Not amazing but solid.

Dua Lipa is awesome! I actually haven't checked out all of Future Nostalgia but every single I've heard is pretty great. I'll probably listen to the whole thing soon.
Title: Re: General Top 40/Pop Music Thread
Post by: KevShmev on June 11, 2021, 08:45:26 AM
Someone got their jimmies rustled very easily I see.


Dude, it was a joke.  Gotta keeps things light around here sometimes. :)
Title: Re: General Top 40/Pop Music Thread
Post by: Lonk on June 11, 2021, 08:50:20 AM
I only know "Good 4 u" because I saw it on Stevet's Video. It's enjoyable.
Title: Re: General Top 40/Pop Music Thread
Post by: Zook on June 11, 2021, 09:52:23 AM
Snoozefest.

I'll admit, I like Dua Lipa. Inoffensive music. :biggrin: Future Nostalgia does have it's own "Bad Blood" on it though. It's the "good in bed" song. I can't stand the chorus.
Title: Re: General Top 40/Pop Music Thread
Post by: Skeever on June 11, 2021, 11:33:04 AM
Snoozefest.

I'll admit, I like Dua Lipa. Inoffensive music. :biggrin: Future Nostalgia does have it's own "Bad Blood" on it though. It's the "good in bed" song. I can't stand the chorus.

The original "bad blood" is still the best IMO
https://youtu.be/UxxajLWwzqY
Title: Re: General Top 40/Pop Music Thread
Post by: Zook on June 11, 2021, 11:43:22 AM
Snoozefest.

I'll admit, I like Dua Lipa. Inoffensive music. :biggrin: Future Nostalgia does have it's own "Bad Blood" on it though. It's the "good in bed" song. I can't stand the chorus.

The original "bad blood" is still the best IMO
https://youtu.be/UxxajLWwzqY

Is there another version of this song? I've heard it before but remember it sounding different. Was it covered?

Title: Re: General Top 40/Pop Music Thread
Post by: Zantera on June 11, 2021, 11:44:59 AM
Snoozefest.

I'll admit, I like Dua Lipa. Inoffensive music. :biggrin: Future Nostalgia does have it's own "Bad Blood" on it though. It's the "good in bed" song. I can't stand the chorus.

It's interesting because Good in Bed is probably my favorite, similar to a song like Call Me Maybe there's just a level of catchiness that compensate for meh lyrics for me.
Title: Re: General Top 40/Pop Music Thread
Post by: Skeever on June 11, 2021, 11:58:04 AM
Snoozefest.

I'll admit, I like Dua Lipa. Inoffensive music. :biggrin: Future Nostalgia does have it's own "Bad Blood" on it though. It's the "good in bed" song. I can't stand the chorus.

The original "bad blood" is still the best IMO
https://youtu.be/UxxajLWwzqY

Is there another version of this song? I've heard it before but remember it sounding different. Was it covered?

It's been remixed probably a billion times yeah
Title: Re: General Top 40/Pop Music Thread
Post by: Zook on June 11, 2021, 12:03:24 PM
Snoozefest.

I'll admit, I like Dua Lipa. Inoffensive music. :biggrin: Future Nostalgia does have it's own "Bad Blood" on it though. It's the "good in bed" song. I can't stand the chorus.

It's interesting because Good in Bed is probably my favorite, similar to a song like Call Me Maybe there's just a level of catchiness that compensate for meh lyrics for me.

Oh I got the name right. Heh. That chorus is just really annoying. After a slew of pretty decent pop songs, that one comes on, and yeah, the lyrics are not my thing either. I'm not a prude, but songs about sex are a hard pass for me.
Title: Re: General Top 40/Pop Music Thread
Post by: Skeever on June 11, 2021, 12:22:29 PM
Other news: any thoughts on the new Lorde song? I loved her first two albums. That single was extremely underwhelming though. I wonder why she doesn't work with more outside the box producers.
Title: Re: General Top 40/Pop Music Thread
Post by: Crow on June 11, 2021, 12:31:42 PM
perfect place (heh) to plug my youtube channel where i talk a lot about the billboard charts
monthly series covering top 20-ish hits: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLgIFUiNX2y2HulIKnNAeWAnBm9xJaTB4j
top 10 rankings of individual years: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLgIFUiNX2y2Es9cwz1qniL-2JGWwrM5GA

as for the new lorde song - s'alright! but i mean, her last lead-off single was green light, and solar power is no green light
Title: Re: General Top 40/Pop Music Thread
Post by: Zook on June 11, 2021, 01:26:31 PM
Anyone else turned off by female singers swearing in music? It always sounds forced to me. I don't really care for swearing in music anymore anyway, but when pop stars do it, it's pretty cringy, like say, Taylor Swift or the already cringy Halsey.

Disturbed and Godsmack were two of my favorite bands that used to swear A LOT in their earlier stuff. Maybe Godsmack still does, but outside of say Liberate by Disturbed, which has some blatant shoehorned in mother fuckers, their use of swearing always felt more real. It had a genuine anger behind it. Stuff I hear now, especially pop music sounds like they're only using swear words to fill that gap in lyrics and it just sounds bad.

Is it just me?

Title: Re: General Top 40/Pop Music Thread
Post by: Crow on June 11, 2021, 01:29:06 PM
yeah that sounds like a you problem especially if you don't hold men to the same standards
Title: Re: General Top 40/Pop Music Thread
Post by: Zook on June 11, 2021, 01:42:03 PM
yeah that sounds like a you problem especially if you don't hold men to the same standards

Maybe I just don't like hearing women swearing in general. I think it has a lot to do with delivery though.

Kinda like how most female comedians aren't funny to me. Not so much if they swear, but they can't seem to nail the delivery, but that's subjective. And probably their material is bad.

Title: Re: General Top 40/Pop Music Thread
Post by: KevShmev on June 11, 2021, 03:11:48 PM
Anyone else turned off by female singers swearing in music? 

No more so than men.  I prefer to not hear swearing in music, but sometimes the right word can work at just the right time.  Like anything else, it's all about context. :)
Title: Re: General Top 40/Pop Music Thread
Post by: Skeever on June 11, 2021, 03:24:45 PM
perfect place (heh) to plug my youtube channel where i talk a lot about the billboard charts
monthly series covering top 20-ish hits: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLgIFUiNX2y2HulIKnNAeWAnBm9xJaTB4j
top 10 rankings of individual years: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLgIFUiNX2y2Es9cwz1qniL-2JGWwrM5GA

as for the new lorde song - s'alright! but i mean, her last lead-off single was green light, and solar power is no green light

I spit out my water during at some point watching the May video. Good stuff I gave you a sub  :tup
Title: Re: General Top 40/Pop Music Thread
Post by: darkshade on June 11, 2021, 05:03:42 PM
Swearing in music, like with speech, is useful and powerful when done sparingly. Overuse only makes you seem like a low IQ individual, or a child.
Title: Re: General Top 40/Pop Music Thread
Post by: Stadler on June 12, 2021, 12:42:31 PM
Anyone else turned off by female singers swearing in music? 

No more so than men.  I prefer to not hear swearing in music, but sometimes the right word can work at just the right time.  Like anything else, it's all about context. :)

I think this is right.   I love (strong word) when Ian Gillan drops the F-bomb in "Not Responsible", because it works.  Dee Snider in "Shoot 'Em Down".   Others not so much.   I don't tend to like affectations, generally, male or female, and often a ton of gratuitous swearing is one of those affectations.
Title: Re: General Top 40/Pop Music Thread
Post by: Skeever on June 13, 2021, 08:57:21 AM
Getting back on topic, I gave the Dua lipa album a listen today while mowing my lawn. I have to say I really enjoyed most of it just as much as I had enjoyed those initial singles. Is just enough call back to cheesy 90 stuff that I get nostalgic for, and the general soulful/dancy vibe that most of the album has from back to front is generally what I'm looking for when it comes to this kind of music anyway. I do agree that "good in bed" was not a favorite. But being tucked away toward the back of the album seems intentional. It was still kind of a fun little song though. I laughed at the last song, I don't know if the humor was intentional or not. I'm a little jaded I guess but that last verse almost came across like a Mark Kozelek rant lol
Title: Re: General Top 40/Pop Music Thread
Post by: SoundscapeMN on June 13, 2021, 06:59:25 PM
he won a Brit Award last month, the same award Jessie Ware was up for and many people kind of feel Jessie Ware deserved more. But it's just an award. Her album What's Your Pleasure? will likely stand the test of time a lot more than what won the Grammy and the Brit Awards.
Title: Re: General Top 40/Pop Music Thread
Post by: KevShmev on June 30, 2021, 08:57:54 PM
Heard a few songs off that debut by Olivia Rodrigo.  Not bad at all.  In fact, some of them were quite good.  She can sing really well, that is for sure.  Enough for You is a gorgeous tune.

Also, they've had the more modern station on at work lately, and it keeps playing Colors by Halsey, which is insanely catchy.  It took me a few listens to get past how similar the first line in the chorus is to Taylor Swift's song Red, but that is one helluva pop song.
Title: Re: General Top 40/Pop Music Thread
Post by: Skeever on July 03, 2021, 05:57:08 PM
Yes I like the album quite a bit. I would say the back half is a little bit weaker than the front half but it's a nice listenable pop album. I like quite a few of the songs in the middle that dare to be a little bit more sparse and almost atmospheric.
Title: Re: General Top 40/Pop Music Thread
Post by: Kotowboy on July 05, 2021, 04:45:30 PM
 :angry: :angry: :angry: POP IS SHIT!!!!



Nah for anyone interested - here is a Spotify Playlist of all the pop songs I actually really like - compiled over a 3 year period and still adding to it :) Obviously it's not exhaustive.

Just a few highlights.

https://open.spotify.com/playlist/5FECXRH1czIgrXekVGf9Jg

Enjoy !
Title: Re: General Top 40/Pop Music Thread
Post by: RoeDent on July 06, 2021, 05:23:21 AM
Sing When You're Winning is a great pop album.
Title: Re: General Top 40/Pop Music Thread
Post by: Kotowboy on July 06, 2021, 08:01:02 AM
I don't know any of Robbie's albums - just the big hits - but getting rid of his songwriting partner was the worst thing he did.

His songs just werent as good after that.
Title: Re: General Top 40/Pop Music Thread
Post by: RoeDent on July 06, 2021, 10:58:45 AM
In that case I thoroughly recommend Singing for the Lonely and especially By All Means Necessary, deep cuts from Sing When You're Winning. To be honest, most of the songs could've worked as singles.
Title: Re: General Top 40/Pop Music Thread
Post by: ReaperKK on July 06, 2021, 06:22:56 PM
:angry: :angry: :angry: POP IS SHIT!!!!



Nah for anyone interested - here is a Spotify Playlist of all the pop songs I actually really like - compiled over a 3 year period and still adding to it :) Obviously it's not exhaustive.

Just a few highlights.

https://open.spotify.com/playlist/5FECXRH1czIgrXekVGf9Jg

Enjoy !

I see a few tracks on here I recognize but a lot of it is new to me, I'll put it on tomorrow and give it a listen through.
Title: Re: General Top 40/Pop Music Thread
Post by: KevShmev on October 15, 2021, 06:58:07 PM
Looks like Adele is dropping a new album next month.  I heard the new song and it was okay, but struck me one of those songs that exists merely for her to show off her vocal chops.  It ended and I couldn't remember any melody from it.
Title: Re: General Top 40/Pop Music Thread
Post by: Crow on October 15, 2021, 08:35:09 PM
me and my twitter timeline all collectively agreed: it's an adele song
Title: Re: General Top 40/Pop Music Thread
Post by: KevShmev on October 15, 2021, 09:01:42 PM
She has a couple of songs I like, but most of what I've heard by her sounds like "hey, listen to me show off how awesome my range is!!" songs.   Her vocal style seems to lack...character. 
Title: Re: General Top 40/Pop Music Thread
Post by: Crow on December 05, 2021, 01:23:08 AM
year-end list of my favorite hits from this year! bit long this time but i had a lot to say
https://youtu.be/5Cd-lqiP3G0
Title: Re: General Top 40/Pop Music Thread
Post by: KevShmev on December 05, 2021, 06:59:35 AM
Too long to watch the whole thing :P, but Happier Than Ever at number 1 given your parameters made sense.  I only like a couple songs by Billie Eilish, but that song is pretty awesome.  Not surprised to see no Taylor, as Willow was her one big consistently charting single in 2021, and that is literally one of the two or three least best songs from Evermore. 

Serious question: can The Weeknd actually sing?  Both big hits, Save Your Tears and Blinding Lights, are insanely catchy and enjoyable, but it feels like his vocals are constantly drowned in effects to where I can't tell if he can actually sing without a lot of studio trickery.  I know he did the Super Bowl, but I have zero memory of it.
Title: Re: General Top 40/Pop Music Thread
Post by: Ben_Jamin on December 05, 2021, 08:38:26 AM
I actually really enjoy Ellie Goulding's song Burn. My nieces like the song and I would only pay attention to the chorus as that's the part they sing along to and is the part I hear from tv, radio, or the stores.

It came up on my Spotify after my playlist ended and after hearing it, it's a good song. The music and the atmosphere it gives is nice.
Title: Re: General Top 40/Pop Music Thread
Post by: Skeever on June 13, 2022, 10:38:39 AM
I've been really listening to Ariana Grande's last 3 albums a lot recently ("Sweetener", "thank u, next", and "Positions") and I've got to say I just absolutely love the vibe of all three of these records. They're just like R&B soundscapes that are extremely relaxing to listen to.
Title: Re: General Top 40/Pop Music Thread
Post by: HOF on June 13, 2022, 12:12:21 PM
I've been really listening to Ariana Grande's last 3 albums a lot recently ("Sweetener", "thank u, next", and "Positions") and I've got to say I just absolutely love the vibe of all three of these records. They're just like R&B soundscapes that are extremely relaxing to listen to.

My kid loves Ariana Grande. I'd actually say it's some of the more listenable modern pop stuff that she likes.
Title: Re: General Top 40/Pop Music Thread
Post by: Zook on June 14, 2022, 11:54:49 AM
I can't stand Ariana Grande. One Last Time is nice, but everything else is abysmal. Ellie Goulding is good though.
Title: Re: General Top 40/Pop Music Thread
Post by: Skeever on June 14, 2022, 05:33:13 PM
I've been really listening to Ariana Grande's last 3 albums a lot recently ("Sweetener", "thank u, next", and "Positions") and I've got to say I just absolutely love the vibe of all three of these records. They're just like R&B soundscapes that are extremely relaxing to listen to.

My kid loves Ariana Grande. I'd actually say it's some of the more listenable modern pop stuff that she likes.

There's nothing I've found quite like her. Her lyrics/songwriting can be pretty hit or miss, but the combination of the voice with that really slick, urban production, is just so unique. I've found artists who are better than her pound for pound in many categories, but no one who quite pulls everything together the way that she does in a way that just totally hits the spot for me from time to time.
Title: Re: General Top 40/Pop Music Thread
Post by: Stadler on June 15, 2022, 06:39:05 AM
I get it, it's like any genre, so sometimes people like it sometimes they don't, but IMO there's a lot of decent stuff in the Top 40/Pop Music genre.  I think I gravitate to that which boils down to a solid performance or a well-written song (even if it appeals to the masses; I think it's hard to connect to people to begin with, so anything that DOES connect to me is something to be applauded not derided).  I think I lose interest when it's just weird for the sake of being weird. 

Thankfully, I've found that there are more of the former than the latter, even today in the age of "likes" and "viral". 
Title: Re: General Top 40/Pop Music Thread
Post by: Ben_Jamin on June 15, 2022, 12:47:53 PM
I really got into Ghost by Justin Bieber.  It's even better live because the live band adds more guitar to it.

Title: Re: General Top 40/Pop Music Thread
Post by: HOF on June 18, 2022, 11:35:39 PM
I've never heard of this artist before (she may be someone well known even), but this performance blew me away and it seems like it might fit in this thread.

Elise Trouw - See Through (Live Loop Video) at Sweetwater

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tnqgYm0CXys