Obsolete Pop Music General

[dig]

We don't actually have a general thread to talk about pop music, new or old, so I'd start one.

Absolutely any pop discussion, whether that be oldies, top 40, the new single by your favourite singer or anything in between! Hooray.

So, to start us off, favourite radio songs from this year?

[video=youtube;y6Sxv-sUYtM]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y6Sxv-sUYtM[/video]

I thought that this was quite a good song, really nice drum beat and I like the gospel chorus bit, makes it stand out from the rest of the radio.

 

[CrackFox]

I quite like pop music, I doubt I would consider a pop singer to be a great talent because they usually are pretty basic and generic sounding, however some are very catchy and I definitely don't turn my nose up at them.

I never listen to the radio these days. I've heard 'Happy' quite a bit though and it is indeed and nice tune. I like the NOW! albums and buy them sometimes. I guess the best pop artists on there are people like Lady Gaga and Katy Perry. I really like Roar by Katy Perry and a like the majority of Lady Gaga songs. I've been wondering where MIKA has gone in the last few years, his pop songs were always pretty good.

 

[garrison-san]

I've been wondering where MIKA has gone in the last few years, his pop songs were always pretty good.

The Origin of Love wasn't that long ago, surely?

 

[Fairy Ice Ricky]

... *sigh* I could literally go on forever about pop music. I don't care what anyone says, it's my favorite genre and I can never get sick of it. And especially with dance/EDM-influenced sounds being the "in" thing right now, I am literally in music heaven! Buuuuuuut I will contain myself for the time being.

In terms of favorite songs this year, now that Demi Lovato's releasing "Really Don't Care" as her next single, I can't get it out my head. It's extremely catchy, and I just love how this song (and her album Demi in general) has a mature teen-pop sound so that she doesn't completely alienate her initial fan base while also trying to expand her audience (in my opinion, anyway). A good choice she made, I think.

I've been wondering where MIKA has gone in the last few years, his pop songs were always pretty good.

He released a song less than three weeks ago! But it's completely in French.

 

[Alexg47]

↑​

Don't you worry, child... / ... See heaven's got a plan for you...

Just one of my many favorites, thanks for reminding me @Ice Ricky;.

Spoiler

[video=youtube;hT_nvWreIhg]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hT_nvWreIhg[/video]

Here's one more.

 

[CrackFox]

I've been wondering where MIKA has gone in the last few years, his pop songs were always pretty good.

The Origin of Love wasn't that long ago, surely?

Never heard it? Eh ok, maybe i'm just not hip anymore and down with the charts. I think his popularity has rapidly declined from the Grace Kelly days though. The last song I remember being played relatively often was We Are Golden and it wasn't hyped particularly.

Robbie Williams has kinda slipped under the radar as well. My brother took some guy to a concert of his last week. He's a carer and looks after people with special needs, anyway this guy was a massive fan and had his heart set on meeting Robbie. Obviously it didn't happen and I imagine he was quite gutted.

 

[Litten]

Pop music has been mediocre this year imo. Lana's new album disappointed me and I've only been bopping to Iggy's recent album and some of Kylie's albums.

 

[garrison-san]

I've been wondering where MIKA has gone in the last few years, his pop songs were always pretty good.

The Origin of Love wasn't that long ago, surely?

Never heard it? Eh ok, maybe i'm just not hip anymore and down with the charts. I think his popularity has rapidly declined from the Grace Kelly days though. The last song I remember being played relatively often was We Are Golden and it wasn't hyped particularly.

Oh well, here's a taste of what you missed:

[video=youtube;sIBXTHB0QDw]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sIBXTHB0QDw&feature=kp[/video]

The album wasn't a massive hit in the UK (it did a lot better in France, where Mika is still very popular), though I personally like it better than his previous efforts - I went out and bought Life in Cartoon Motion during the "Grace Kelly" craze, but the whole thing lost its appeal for me very quickly. I did like "We Are Golden", until someone pointed out to me just how similar it sounded to Belinda Carlisle's "Heaven is a Place on Earth" and, well, that kind of ruined it for me.

That said, I was a bit disappointed that Mika didn't make good on his early indications that The Origin of Love would contain a number of French language songs - the English version of "Elle Me Dit", "Emily", was the one featured on the album, and you had to get the deluxe edition to get the original French version.

 

[Leggo]

I really like Ed Sheeran's new album, X.

This song is one of my favorites in this album.

Spoiler

[video=youtube;YYc9NPiVw7c]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YYc9NPiVw7c[/video]

 

[Fairy Ice Ricky]

Don't you worry, child... / ... See heaven's got a plan for you...

Just one of my many favorites, thanks for reminding me @Ice Ricky;.

Glad to know someone else enjoys "Don't You Worry Child", it's hands down my favorite song ever.

That said, I was a bit disappointed that Mika didn't make good on his early indications that The Origin of Love would contain a number of French language songs - the English version of "Elle Me Dit", "Emily", was the one featured on the album, and you had to get the deluxe edition to get the original French version.

Hmmm? My version of that album has like three French songs, I think. Which is not a lot, but considering like nobody makes French songs outside of predominantly-French albums at this point, I thought that was a significant amount.

EDIT: It's because they're all only on the French deluxe edition which is the version I have, never mind. @__@;;

 

[Cap'n Jack]

I find it funny how I seem to be more and more tolerant of pop music as I get older. I mean, I'm not old, but when I was first getting into music, I was all about alternative rock and stuff like that and pop music bored me, for the most part. Then once a couple years passed, I still couldn't stand pop music, but it was for a different reason at this point, since this was the time I started getting into more violent kinds of music like punk and metal and I went out of my way to reject pop music on the basis that it was "unemotional" and/or "shallow" and its production values were too lofty for my liking. That attitude of mine still holds true, for the most part, but now I'm a little more open-minded to the genre in general, especially early 2000s pop songs that remind me of childhood. The first thing that comes to mind when I try to think of pop albums that I genuinely like is Nelly Furtado's Loose, due in no small part to the fact that the melodies of "Maneater" and "Promiscuous Girl" are permanently ingrained into my head, and on a more objective level, these songs have actual thought put into them. While I'm on the subject, I also remembered David Bowie and Hall & Oates, I enjoy them, too.

 

[Fairy Ice Ricky]

So Billboard recently released a Mid-Year Report of sorts highlighting 2014's best-selling albums and songs so far in the U.S. (If there are similar reports for other countries, please share them!) Relatively speaking, the stats are... pretty abysmal, to be honest. o_o I guess streaming (on top of illegal downloading) is really messing with numbers.

The best-selling song so far is Pharrell's "Happy", which isn't too surprising. Actually, nothing is really too surprising on the best-selling songs chart, except for maybe songs like Eminem's "The Monster" still having legs somehow. The best-selling albums chart is always a treat, though, 'cause it's rarely (if ever) proportional to what's on the songs chart. (Pharrell's album GIRL has sold less than 500K copies so far!) It's amazing how well the Frozen soundtrack has been doing this year, it's really strutting its stuff! Also there are like our or five country albums on this list even though Florida Georgia Line is arguably the only country act right now with pop crossover appeal, how did this happen?!

Oh, and speaking of streaming--"Gangnam Style" is currently the 18th most streamed song in the U.S. Massive lol.


Anyway, do you think the numbers match what you feel has been popular in the U.S. so far? Or, do these charts seem to match what's popular in your country right now?

 

[Alexg47]

So Billboard recently released a Mid-Year Report of sorts highlighting 2014's best-selling albums and songs so far in the U.S.

There are only 3 songs in the top 20 that I've never heard of, what does that tell you?

 

[dig]

I'll probably get the new Coldplay album soon-ish, I do quite like them. Even the odd collab with Avicii.

 

[ocelotlrama jaguar]

A lot of current pop songs can be quite catchy, and the older bubblegum/pop-music is a real guilty pleasure of mine. They may not be edgy, deep, or even original, but heck, I like 'em. Rihanna tends to have a lot of catchy tunes, and same with J-Lo and Lady Gaga. I never buy albums because I'd rather listen to just my favorites. Thank goodness for Amazon!

 

[Cap'n Jack]

I'll probably get the new Coldplay album soon-ish, I do quite like them. Even the odd collab with Avicii.

I forgot Coldplay! They used to be a sort of alternative rock band, and their first two albums are early-2000s masterpieces in my opinion, then they got weird in the mid-to-late 2000s, but nowadays they've taken on a poppier sound and I enjoy it for what it is. I have a soft spot for them, so I'll see if their new album is as jangly and fun as Mylo Xyloto was.

 

[dig]

I'll probably get the new Coldplay album soon-ish, I do quite like them. Even the odd collab with Avicii.

I forgot Coldplay! They used to be a sort of alternative rock band, and their first two albums are early-2000s masterpieces in my opinion, then they got weird in the mid-to-late 2000s, but nowadays they've taken on a poppier sound and I enjoy it for what it is. I have a soft spot for them, so I'll see if their new album is as jangly and fun as Mylo Xyloto was.

I honestly think that Coldplay have many similar qualities to The Beatles. They can so effortlessly write simple pop songs oozing with excitement and creativity but can also do something unexpected and make a really good song out of it. They're not perfect, but they are really solid. A lot of people didn't like Mylo Xyloto but I think that's a really lovely pop album, and I think it'll be more appreciated as time goes on. They haven't has an Abbey Road yet, but they have it in them.

 

[Cap'n Jack]

Abbey Road was much more radical in 1969 than Parachutes was in 2000, but at the end of the day what's important is the music, regardless of the historical context, and in my opinion Parachutes is up there.

 

[dig]

@Jack Pschitt; I just ruined your post by mistake, sorry!

Anyway, I think Viva La Vida is their masterpiece, but to each his own.

 

[Alexg47]

@Jack Pschitt; I just ruined your post by mistake, sorry!

Anyway, I think Viva La Vida is their masterpiece, but to each his own.

Viva La Vida? You mean this?

[video=youtube;dvgZkm1xWPE]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dvgZkm1xWPE[/video]

Yep, it's definitely a masterpiece!