This was a great year in music, but would you know it by looking at Rolling Stone Magazine's Top 25 Songs of 2011? Here's my take on Rob Sheffield's countdown.
25. Lady Gaga, "Edge of Glory"
I do love me some Lady Gaga, and this is a catchy single, but it's almost too formulaic. Out of the singles from "Born This Way," I found this one, "You & I," and "Marry The Night" to be too bland and obviously trying to cater to the largest audience. Personally, I preferred "Judas."
24. Nicki Minaj, "Girlfriend"
I don't know this song and I don't care for Nicky Minaj (or Manage, as I pronounce it). We already had Lil Kim.
23. Yuck, "Get Away"
I've never heard of this band or the song, but I bet if I heard it, I would say "Yuck"! ha ha.
22. Avril Lavigne, "What the Hell"
I'm not a huge fan of Ms. Lavigne (aka April Levine) but I have a little respect for her. She tries to be a little different, and I liked her song "I'm With You" from her first album. I also liked her in the movie "Fast Food Nation."
21. Paul Simon, "Rewrite"
I think someone told me Paul Simon had a new album out...
20. Xeno and Oaklander, "Sets and Lights"
I've never heard of them, but Rob Sheffield's description makes them sound intriguing. Opening Spotify now...
19. The Horrors, "Still Life"
I heard about the Horrors because I saw a poster advertising their new album. I listened to them on Spotify a little and liked what I heard but I need to check them out more.
18. Thurston Moore, "Mina Loy"
I don't know anything about this one, but I know he was in Sonic Youth. I never got into them.
17. Neon Indian, "Fallout"
Ok, so Mr. Sheffielf describes this as "Synth-pop romance, with a little O.M.D. and a whole lot of Comsat Angels," so I REALLY need to check this out. I like OMD alright and saw them live earlier this year, but I am OBSESSED with the Comsat Angel's album "Land," and it's pretty rare that you hear them referenced anywhere these days.
16. Radiohead, "Separator"
Ech... enough with Radiohead. I loved the imitation Jimmy Fallon did of Thom Yorke on Saturday Night Live recently.
15. Adele, "Rolling in the Deep"
Wait, who's Adele? Ha! Just kidding, there was absolutely no way to avoid this chick in the past year. You would have thought she invented a new way of singing and songwriting. But no, it's just the same old thing people have been doing for years. Really not sure what all the hype is about. It's a decent song though, and I'd be lying if I said I didn't get it in my head and sing it out loud quite a few times in 2011.
14. Kurt Vile, "Runner Ups"
Never heard of him.
13. Azealia Banks, "212"
Never heard of this either.
12. Destroyer, "Kaputt"
OK, never heard of this one either but Mr. Sheffield makes another 80's reference here, this time to Howard Jones. Howard Jones is OK but doesn't do enough for me in a reference to want to check this out.
11. Rihanna, "We Found Love"
Wow, this has to be a song that I've heard and just never realized who the artist or title was. It's hard for me to believe there's a Rihanna song that I don't recognize. Wait, let me check this out on Spotify. OK, yeah I do know this one. A decent track, and I love Calvin Harris so, I need to pay more attention to this.
10. Stevie Nicks, "Annabel Lee"
Crap, I'd been so looking forward to hearing the new Stevie Nicks, and a close friend of mine got it right away when it came out, but I still haven't listened to it, so I don't know this song. Shame on me!
9. Nicki Minaj, "Super Bass"
Really, we need another Nicki Manage song on here? Give me a Super Break.
8. Rebecca Black, "Friday"
Wait, really? This is a joke, right? I mean, the song and video are a joke, so its inclusion on here must be one too. I actually kinda feel bad for Rebecca Black. Every day, thousands of kids of dubious talent and stage-parent-wannabes with more money than sense commit adolescent warbling to disc in the hopes of producing the next big hit. Luckily for most of these people, these childhood embarrassments are left languishing in obscurity. This chick is never gonna live down this song, but she's never going to have a serious music career either. She's going to be performing this song at retro festivals, shopping malls, county fairs and fast food restaurant openings for the rest of her days.
7. Pistol Annies, "Hell on Heels"
I've never heard of this, but it's apparently some type of country-rock, which would explain why.
6. Jay-Z and Kanye West featuring Frank Ocean, "No Church In The Wild"
I try not to pay attention to anything Kanye is involved with. Gay fish.
5. Bon Iver, "Beth/Rest"
Yuck. My little sister informed me I was pronouncing his name wrong, and that it should be pronounced like "Bone Eevay." Double yuck.
4. EMA, "California"
I don't know this one at all, but it's time we call a moratorium on song titles with "California" or "Hollywood" in the title, especially if the artist is a transplant to the Golden State from somewhere else. We get it, you moved to LA to be a star and things didn't (or did) work out for you. Who cares?
3. Beyoncé, "Countdown"
Another song that I didn't know from the title and had to listen on Spotify to have my "oh duh" moment. I like a lot of stuff Beyonce does, although I've never bought any of her music. This one has been played in clubs a lot but it's so derivative I never gave it much of a thought. It sounds like a couple of older songs mashed together. Not my cup of tea.
2. Big Sean featuring Nicki Minaj, "Dance (A$$) (Remix)"
Seriously? We had to cram Manage's big booty on this countdown THREE times? I've never heard of Big Sean but I bet I would recognize this song if I went and listened to it. Which I'm most certainly not going to do.
1. Britney Spears, "How I Roll"
Wow. Just wow. Back when BS first came out, I found her annoying and inappropriately sexualized for her age. If I had known that she would be sticking around this long I would have probably cried. Since about 2000, I've purposely tried my hardest to avoid EVER having to hear Britney's music, which always proves far more difficult than I thought. I truly didn't think I'd heard any of the songs off her latest album, but then once I say that, people will inevitably point them out to me and say, "See, this is Britney's new song, you know this one," and yes, I usually have heard it but somehow blocked it out of my mind. Probably same goes for this one. I can't believe Rolling Stone magazine would name this the number one song of the year. Disgraceful.
