10. Justin Bieber - Beauty and a Beat
Maybe I should have waited for this to peak before talking about it, but whatever. This is still an abysmal song that stands for everything wrong with pop music, but it's not like it's unlistenable. The problem is that it's completely forgettable and does everything worse and more apathetically than other songs charting alongside it. It has redeeming qualities, but each of them can be found much better elsewhere. There's no reason to listen to this dreck.
9. PSY - Gangnam Style
This will never get old. It's just too much fun to listen to, and even more fun to dance to. This is a true "party" song, in that it's the perfect song to just play and goof around to with friends. Other party songs are more "club" songs, because they're entertaining but work better in that environment. So what if it doesn't bring anything new? It's fun!
8. P!nk - Try
The thing about P!nk is that her songs take a while to grow on me. I complained about "Blow Me" the last time I reviewed the hot 100, but I actually grew really fond of it. That said, my criticism of "Try" is a lot more concrete than it was with "Blow Me". The thing about empowerment ballads is that they need to empower. "Try" is to vague to empower. Taken on its own, the chorus could be taken any number of ways. The brief verses support it, but even when taken as empowerment it's bland empowerment. Sure, you have to "try". Don't say anything else on it, just try. Try what? If you're going to make a pop song where the lyrics don't matter, don't write an empowerment ballad. There's no reason that P!nk can't make songs about other subject matter, but every song she's made in the past couple years has been about the same thing. Do something else!
7. Home - Phillip Phillips
I've been waiting for something like this. An entry point from which to approach country. What always hits me like a brick wall is the obnoxious country twang. The musicianship is usually tight, but the singers have horrible voices, almost without exception. Those singers with decent voices make really boring music, such as Hunter Hayes for example. However, this song's welcoming tone makes it accessible to even people who dislike country, and that's a feat in itself. Altogether, it's just a very sweet love song, something that is often missing from the pop charts, and something that country desperately needed.
5. Ho Hey - The Lumineers
I've talked about this song already, yet there's even more that I missed about it. There's a welcoming mood like in "Home" coupled with desperate lyrics, and it comes together to create an amazing song that appeals to almost every single demographic. This is a song with the potential to take the number 1 spot, and I truly hope that it does because it's a truly deserving song of that position.
4. Rihanna - Diamonds
I'm pretty sure that songs should have a concrete beat to them. "Diamonds" barely meets that requirement. It almost seems like it could be good, but it's minimal production just leaves a boring waste of potential. That's all there really is to say about this, it's a really boring song with no real entertainment value. That said, check out the Kanye West remix. It's actually pretty good.
3. I Knew You Were Trouble - Taylor Swift
This is a song that does a lot right. In fact, it would be amazing if someone else wrote it. While the musical ideas are all pretty good, the actual subject matter insists on dipping into immaturity. Don't get me wrong, I still enjoy it, I just wish that it was handled more maturely than it is. Taylor Swift simply doesn't have the ability to make this song work as much as it could, although she comes close. The best part is the dubstep breakdown in the chorus, where Taylor's vocals perfectly compliment the loud WUBWUBWUB of the bass sound. The weakest parts are the moments when it becomes painfully obvious that Taylor just isn't mature enough to handle the subject matter and lacks the intensity to make it interesting. Good song, but not great.
2. Locked Out of Heaven - Bruno Mars
Welcome back, Bruno. I missed you. "Locked Out of Heaven" is Bruno's first good song in over a year. When I said that P!nk could make music with less pretentious subject matter, this is the kind of thing I was talking about. The song isn't about anything special, but it doesn't need to be. All Bruno needs to do is bring a good performance, and for once that's what he does. "Locked Out of Heaven" is a song that knows what it needs to do to be successful, but in a good way. It has no unnecessary elements, but isn't lacking either. Then again, this is still a bit of an experimental song, having a new sound not seen in many pop hits. Yet, it's an experiment that succeeds on every single front. Maybe I should have put this on my best of list and waited for "Ho Hey" to peak.
1. Scream & Shout - will.i.am ft. Britney Spears
As good as this list has been, the song on the top is truly awful. Honestly, this might be the worst song of the year. It's hard to imagine it being topped. The beat is made up of ugly grinding synths, the lyrics are stupid as always, and he has a completely soulless singer featured. Sound familiar? This is how I described "T.H.E." on my "Worst of 2012" list. This song is worse. "T.H.E." was at least danceable and amusing in its awfulness, but "Scream & Shout" is boring. There's little to enjoy in this ugly mess, and it upsets me that I have to end on this instead of any of the great songs further down the list.
Well, that's Canada's ten biggest hit songs of the week, and what i think of them. It's actually been a pretty good year so far, even with songs like "Scream & Shout" to deal with. If you compare this article to my last article on the hot 100, I'm actually a lot more positive, because the songs are much better. Here's hoping that some of the actual new music of 2013 is just as good.
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