Hits 1 Weekend Countdown 3/23/24

Hi! So, we had an interesting countdown this week? Kind of. Uh, I don't know what to say here. Let's get into it!

Exits:

Jung Kook - Standing Next to You (9 weeks: Peak #14)

Olivia Rodrigo - Get Him Back (22 weeks: Peak #1 for 4 wk)

The Countdown:

#30: Luke Hemmings - Shakes (Debut) (1 week: Peak #30)

#29: Meghan Trainor & T-Pain - Been Like This (Debut) (1 week: Peak #29)

#28: Usher - Kissing Strangers (-2) (3 weeks: Peak #26)

#27: Madison Beer - Make You Mine (=) (3 weeks: Peak #27)

#26: Twenty One Pilots - Overcompensated (+4) (2 weeks: Peak #26)

#25: Selena Gomez - Love On (-2) (4 weeks: Peak #22)

#24: Girl in Red - Too Much (+1) (3 weeks: Peak #24)

#23: Sza - Saturn (+1) (3 weeks: Peak #23)

#22: Djo - End of Beginning (+6) (2 weeks: Peak #22)

#21: Ariana Grande - We Can't Be Friends (+8) (2 weeks: Peak #21)

#20: Teddy Swims - Lose Control (-1) (28 weeks: Peak #2)

#19: Tate McRae - Greedy (+2) (25 weeks: Peak #1 for 11 wk)

#18: Jack Harlow - Lovin on Me (+2) (19 weeks: Peak #10)

#17: Knox - Me Myself & Your Eyes (=) (4 weeks: Peak #17)

#16: Tyla - Water (+2) (21 weeks: Peak #15)

Countdown Extra: Zayn - What I Am

#15: Justin Timberlake - Selfish (-2) (8 weeks: Peak #11)

#14: Beyonce - Texas Hold Em (+8) (3 weeks: Peak #14)

#13: Henry Moodie - Pick Up the Phone (+2) (11 weeks: Peak #11)

#12: Dua Lipa - Training Season (+2) (5 weeks: Peak #12)

#11: Noah Kahan - Stick Season (+1) (15 weeks: Peak #10)

#10: Kenya Grace - Strangers (-4) (22 weeks: Peak #6)

#9: Ajr - Yes I'm a Mess (+1) (22 weeks: Peak #7)

#8: Ariana Grande & Mariah Carey - Yes, And (+1) (10 weeks: Peak #8)

#7: Taylor Swift - Is It Over Now (-3) (21 weeks: Peak #3)

#6: Renee Rapp & Meghan Thee Stallion - Not My Fault (+5) (13 weeks: Peak #6)

#5: Knox - Not the 1975 (=) (18 weeks: Peak #2)

#4: Tate McRae - Exes (-1) (18 weeks: Peak #3)

#3: Benson Boone - Beautiful Things (+4) (8 weeks: Peak #3)

#2: Sabrina Carpenter - Feather (=) (15 weeks: Peak #2)

Last year's #1: Tiesto & Tate McRae - 10:35

#1: Dua Lipa - Houdini (=) (19 weeks: Peak #1 for 8 wk)

Debuts:

Luke Hemmings debuts this week with Shakes. I really like this. The production is really cool and Luke sounds great. I hope this does well.

Now for my favorite debut of the week, Been Like This by Meghan Trainor & T-Pain makes the countdown. I love the jazzy production here, the lyrics are well-written and super fun and everyone sounds fantastic. Hopefully this hits #1 for longer than Made You Puke did a year ago.

Biggest Jump: Ariana Grande - We Can't Be Friends, Beyonce - Texas Hold Em (+8)

Biggest Drop: Kenya Grace - Strangers (-4)

My recommendations for Hits 1: Laufey - Goddess, d4vd - My House is Not a Home, Amelia Moore - Name Everywhere, and Inji - Hate Your Guts

Hitbound:

Zayn - What I Am (2 weeks)

Olivia Rodrigo - Obsessed (Debut)

Jagwar Twin - Bad Feeling (Oompa Loompa) (14 weeks)

Benson Boone - Slow It Down (Debut)

Wallows - Calling After Me (Debut)

24kgoldn - Clarity (5 weeks)

Alec Benjamin - King Size Bed (Debut)

Alex Warren - Before You Leave Me (5 weeks)

Fall Out Boy - So Much (For) Stardust (9 weeks)

Liam Payne - Teardrops (4 weeks)

Porter Robinson - Cheerleader (Debut)

Nicky Youre - Part Time Lover (2 weeks)

Kenya Grace - It's Not Fair (2 weeks)

Haiden Henderson - Hell of a Good Time (2 weeks)

Teddy Swims - The Door (9 weeks)

The Beaches - Blame Brett (6 weeks)

Olivia Rodrigo just dropped the deluxe version of Guts on streaming platforms, titled "Guts (spilled)", featuring five new tracks. So far I've only heard one of those secret songs, and coincidentally that happened to be the one Mikey picked up on this week. But it's a great song. It has a unique type of evolution - most Olivia Rodrigo songs have quiet and minimalistic verses with a loud and banging chorus, but this song is the opposite which is cool to hear. And I also love the lyrics. They're about being obsessed with someone's ex, which is an interesting concept. So, fantastic secret track.

So far I've liked most of Benson Boone's music, but Slow It Down just isn't doing the same thing for me. I mean, it's still a nice little song with some good lyrics and powerful vocals, but it could have evolved more, and it somehow feels too short. Still a decent song though.

Wallows have a new song Calling After Me, and it's... not bad? It's kinda boring, and could have benefited from some interesting evolution rather than the same guitar progression over and over and over again. Otherwise, the lyrics are decent but could have been better, and everyone here sounds good. So, it's a mid song, but not the worst.

Alec Benjamin is another artist I generally like but his new song is slightly disappointing. King Size Bed is okay, with good production, well written lyrics, and Alec sounds good. It's just very forgettable and not nearly as great as his previous songs Pick Me & ISMTTT.

Finally, we have Cheerleader by Porter Robinson. And... ummm I was kinda surprised at how amazing it was. The mix of genres work really well here, the lyrics are fantastic, and the vocals are on point. Not much to say here except I really hope this debuts the countdown soon.

It's Not Fair grew on me a whole lot, and it's now up to the blue tier.

Is that Oompa Loompa song ever gonna leave Hitbound? It's been on here for 14 weeks and has yet to get played once on Hits 1 outside of Hitbound.

Also, at one point in Hitbound when they were playing the moment's "most wanted song", they accidentally(?) played the original Yes, And rather than the remix with Mariah Carey. I'm not complaining, the original Yes, And is better even though neither version is that great. It's just strange to hear the original Yes, And on Hits 1 now that they've basically switched to the version that a five-year-old could have mixed better.

Dropouts:

Charli XCX - Von Dutch (2 weeks)

Lay & Lauv - Run Back to You (3 weeks)

Pharrell & Miley Cyrus - Doctor (Work it Out) (3 weeks)

Good riddance to Von Dutch, that was hardly even a song. Run Back to You was super forgettable. And Doctor grew on me, and I think it's in the abyss which would be great.

Abyss:

Panic! At the Disco - New Perspective (#32)

Sophie Ellis Bextor - Murder on the Dance Floor (#33)

Shinedown - A Symptom of Being Human (#34)

Victoria Monet - On My Mama (#39)

Nicki Minaj & Lil Uzi Vert - Everybody (#40)

The Weeknd, Jennie & Lily Rose Depp - One of the Girls (#41)

Jennifer Lopez & Latto - Can't Get Enough (#42)

Hayes Warner, Billy B & Kevin Rudolf - Just a Girl (#43)

Umi & V - Wherever U R (#45)

Jelly Roll & Lainey Wilson - Save Me (#46)

Dasha - Austin (#50)

Natasha Bedingfield - Unwritten (#52)

Noooo Lead Me On never re-entered the countdown?

I'm so obsessed with your blurbs:

We lost Get Him Back and Standing Next to You. Good riddance to Annoying Next to You, it should have left months ago. Get Him Back just started growing on me a few weeks ago, but it had a good run so I'm not surprised it's gone. This is now the first time since July when we've had a countdown without an Olivia Rodrigo song on it, but it probably won't be long before Obsessed debuts.

It would be nice to see Make You Mine actually doing something, but I don't necessarily expect it to be huge.

Yesssss We Can't Be Friends jumped eight spots off its debut! Now let's see this jump 20 spots to #1.

If Lose Control doesn't leave soon I will lose control.

If Lovin on Me doesn't leave soon I will start hatin on it.

If Greedy doesn't leave soon I will get greedy for manipulation over the countdown to make it leave.

How is Training Season still jumping? It's absolutely bombing in airplay, with only 19 spins this past week. Not complaining though, it's a fantastic song and deserves to be #1 soon.

I keep forgetting that Yes I'm a Mess & Strangers are still on the countdown, let alone the top 10. They've had very uninteresting runs and I don't hear them get played a lot anymore.

Well, it looks like Is It Over Now is on its way out. I really wish it could've gotten to #1 and not pulled a Lavender Haze.

Good to see Not My Fault nearing the top 5 and Beautiful Things entering the top 5.

Feather has now had the longest time blocked from #1 in Hits 1 history, holding at #2 for 8 weeks straight and still not reaching #1.

That's all for now! Byeeeeeeeeee!

A SWEET review for a SOUR album

Hey again! So, I just recently started becoming a big fan of Olivia Rodrigo's music. I just saw her in concert a few days ago. So I decided to listen to more of her music in the past few weeks. I actually just listened to Sour well after my first listen to Guts, and let me tell you, I was shocked. With songs on Guts like "Bad Idea Right" and "Get Him Back" that, if you've seen my old blog, I used to think were terrible, I expected Sour to be a lot better. But after not only listening to Sour but also significantly growing into many of the Guts tracks, I found out I was wrong. You can tell that Olivia made a massive improvement in Guts, with its more versatile style and stronger songwriting. But that's not saying Sour is bad per se; in fact I still really like Sour. "But how do you, Hallett, of all people, enjoy an album of 11 slightly differently worded songs about the same breakup?" you may ask. So let's get into this album:

1. Brutal

My rating: 4/5 Good

Ok, this is gonna be a hard one to review, as it's a bit of a polarizing song. I couldn't tell if this was terrible, amazing, or just decent at first listen, but now I've decided it deserves the "good" rating. So, if you haven't heard the song, it's basically a self-deprecating temper tantrum set to a punk-rock beat and repetitive guitar riffs. The message is extremely straightforward: "All I did was try my best, this the kind of thanks I get?" So, this song is essentially just saying a bunch of bad things about herself with no apparent reason or justification for why she felt that way. Well, maybe that's the point. Maybe there's not supposed to be a reason, and it's just an honest song about the random scary thoughts that come with being a teenager. And in the chorus, there's actually a noticeable grammatical error - "unrelentlessly upset". I'm pretty sure she means either "unrelentingly" or "relentlessly", and call this a stretch, but maybe she intentionally put that in there to emphasize that she's feeling confused about life, or that she thinks she's "not smart" as she calls herself in the next verse. I also have always loved the outro, because it's very different from the rest of the song, and reminds me of Billie Eilish. One funny thing I noticed about this is that it's the first track, and it completely contradicts the message of the first track on Guts, "All American B***h". Was this intentional? Additionally, I'd like to point out that this is considered the fifth single from Sour, which I legitimately didn't know before a couple weeks ago, maybe because Hits 1 never picked it up. But then again I did think "All American B***h" would also be a single so whatever.

2. Traitor

My rating: 5/5 Great

So it seems like all the singles are in the first half of the album. And this is a great one. One thing I used to think was weird about Sour is that 8 out of the 11 songs on the album are about her breakup with Joshua Bassett. But that doesn't mean they're all just a repetitive and boring cycle of the same sadness with subtly different wording and unique production. They all explore very different aspects of the relationship, and this one is about the betrayal when Joshua started dating Sabrina two weeks after breaking up with Olivia. As it musically builds up, the intensity of the lyrics and vocals also evolve, stating that Joshua's bringing Sabrina around just to "show her off like she's a new trophy", and that there's no way he could have possibly been true if he moved on that quickly. So of course this is a fantastic song, and I'm glad it was a single.

3. Drivers License

My rating: 5/5 Great

Now, I won't say it's anything less than great because of this, but I will say I like this song a lot less after I found out Olivia didn't actually get her drivers license when she released this song. So basically all the driving-related metaphors are just some random gimmick and not based on true events. But it's still a great introduction to Olivia's solo music career. This is another breakup song, but this one explores themes of loneliness and depression after the breakup. I know everyone says this, but the bridge is my favorite part of the song. The production reaches a climax, and the lyrics there mention that she still misses him after all of that, and sees him everywhere. Not the best on the album, but still great.

4. 1 Step Forward, 3 Steps Back

My rating: 5/5 Great

I've always considered this to be a really bizarre song. But I love bizarre songs, if it's in the right way. First of all, it interpolates "New Year's Day" by Taylor Swift, which I'm not sure how she was allowed to do after all the times she's been accused of plagiarizing Taylor's music. The title might even be a reference to the number "13", Taylor's favorite number. It's a slow ballad, and it has a bunch of strange-sounding transitions, but in an interesting and unique way. I like the lyrics a lot, as they slightly change the metaphor of "1 Step Forward, 2 Steps Back", and while obviously the change could be a reference to the number 13, it could also mean that the relationship always gets pushed back further than it could ever move forward, if that makes any sense at all.

5. Deja Vu

My rating: 5/5 Great

This is another breakup song, and this time it's about how Joshua's doing all the same things with Sabrina that he did with Olivia, and that Sabrina has the idea that their relationship is special & unique. The lyrics are well-written as they explore all aspects of this "deja vu" concept, including not only doing the same things together, but the girl he's doing it with being similar to Olivia. The production is on point. It starts off with a dreamy sound to it, but halfway through it changes to a more punk-rock vibe, and obviously evolution is what Olivia does best. And it's in the key of A Major as an extra bonus.

6. Good 4 U

My rating: 5/5 Great

Alright, now this one, tied with one other song a little bit later, is my favorite on the album. This song has it all. Evolution with quiet verses and a banging chorus, powerful vocals, wonderful lyrics, key of F# minor... everything. I don't even need to explain further, which is a sign that this song is just perfect.

7. Enough for You

My rating: 5/5 Great

This is another great one. Although it's not quite my favorite, it takes on unique themes of wanting to be everything her boyfriend likes but never being enough. It's lyrically somewhat similar to "Pretty isn't Pretty", but less about how it affects herself, and more about how it affected her relationship with Joshua Bassett. It evolves nicely, and Olivia sounds fantastic here. Pretty short review for yet another amazing song from Olivia Rodrigo.

8. Happier

My rating: 5/5 Great

So apparently, Olivia got the idea for this song when she was filming High School Musical: The Musical: The Series, and she lied that she had to go off the set, just so that she could record her idea for this song. And I'm glad she did, because a fantastic song came out of it. This is another song that perfectly utilizes musical evolution. And I love the line "I bet she gives you butterflies", because butterflies seem like a common theme for Olivia in general, and I like how it's incorporated throughout the album.

9. Jealousy Jealousy

My rating: 5/5 Great

Wow, I strongly relate to almost all of Olivia's songs, and this one is no exception. This is one of the three songs on the album that's not inherently about Joshua Bassett and/or Sabrina Carpenter, and I really connect with the lyrical themes here. It's about how she can't help but compare herself to the people who live so-called "perfect" lives even if she doesn't even know them, and her irrational longing to be someone she's not. I very much relate to that, and the production perfectly matches up to these fantastic lyrics. It has a 90s vibe to it, and it sounds really cool overall. Really my only complaint for this one is the post-chorus, which sounds almost exactly like the chorus of "ME!" by Taylor Swift. After so many times of being accused of copying Taylor, I'm shocked this one hasn't been talked about more. But that doesn't affect my enjoyment of this song too much, it's still great.

10. Favorite Crime

My rating: 5/5 Great

Remember earlier in my review when I said Good 4 U was tied with one other song on the album for my favorite song on here? Well, this is that song. The lyrics take the most unique approach to the breakup with Joshua Bassett, stating that she loved him so much that she started going along with him on all his "crimes", being his "willing accomplice". The chorus is very simple, but perfectly represents the message of the song: "The things I did just so I could call you mine, the things you did, I hope I was your favorite crime." It might sound like basic lyricism to some people, but it really works in a song like this. It also has evolution - that last chorus is just fantastic. Top it off with being in A Major, and it's a fantastic almost-finale to the album, tied with Good 4 U for my favorite on Sour.

11. Hope Ur Ok

My rating: 5/5 Great

While I still find Teenage Dream to be a better album closer than this one simply because I relate to it on such a personal level and it makes me feel emotions I hardly ever experience when listening to a song, this one is also a wonderful little song. It's possibly one of Olivia's most thematically unique songs, reminiscing about two childhood friends who struggled with hatred, mistreatment, and abusive family, and hoping they're okay if they're still out there. My favorite line is "address the letters to the holes in my butterfly wings", because it not only incorporates the themes of butterflies, but it's done so in a beautiful way. In fact, that might be my favorite line on the whole album, even though it's not my favorite song as a whole. Overall, fantastic song.

Conclusion

Overall album rating: 98% (Great Album)

While it's not quite as insanely unbelievably great as Guts, this album was a really good introduction to Olivia Rodrigo as a solo artist. I plan on reviewing Eternal Sunshine next, and maybe TTPD when it comes out. 

Favorite songs: Good 4 U, Favorite Crime

"Least" favorite song: Brutal

That's all for now! Byeeeeeeeeee!

I'm doing it again! - Hits 1 Weekend Countdown 3/16/24

Hi! I guess I'm back to countdown reviews now. I will say that this blog will probably end up being mostly album reviews rather than just countdown reviews, so I changed my blog name to "Hallett's Music Reviews". My SOUR album review is coming soon, and after that I want to review Eternal Sunshine because although Yes, And was a huge disappointment, her follow-up singles have been surprisingly good and I want to listen to the whole album. When they come out, I might do a review for Radical Optimism or even TTPD. Anyway, onto this week's countdown, it was a decent week I guess. We lost some great songs and some of the debuts were not quite as great, but one of my favorite songs of the year debuted this week, so let's get into it.

Exits:

Jessie Murph & Jelly Roll - Wild Ones (11 weeks: Peak #26)

Victoria Monet - On My Mama (4 weeks: Peak #23)

Doja Cat - Agora Hills (20 weeks: Peak #10)

Countdown:

#30: Twenty One Pilots - Overcompensate (Debut) (1 week: Peak #30)

#29: Ariana Grande - We Can't Be Friends (Debut) (1 week: Peak #29)

#28: Djo - End of Beginning (Debut) (1 week: Peak #28)

#27: Madison Beer - Make You Mine (+2) (2 weeks: Peak #27)

#26: Usher - Kissing Strangers (+4) (2 weeks: Peak #26)

#25: Girl in Red - Too Much (+3) (2 weeks: Peak #25)

#24: Sza - Saturn (+3) (2 weeks: Peak #24)

#23: Selena Gomez - Love On (-1) (3 weeks: Peak #22)

#22: Beyonce - Texas Hold Em (-2) (2 weeks: Peak #20)

#21: Tate McRae - Greedy (-3) (23 weeks: Peak #1 for 11 wk)

#20: Jack Harlow - Lovin on Me (-4) (18 weeks: Peak #10)

#19: Teddy Swims - Lose Control (+2) (27 weeks: Peak #2)

#18: Tyla - Water (-3) (20 weeks: Peak #15)

#17: Knox - Me Myself & Your Eyes (=) (3 weeks: Peak #17)

#16: Jung Kook - Standing Next to You (+8) (9 weeks: Peak #16)

Countdown extra: Luke Hemmings - Shakes

#15: Henry Moodie - Pick Up the Phone (+4) (10 weeks: Peak #11)

#14: Dua Lipa - Training Season (+12) (4 weeks: Peak #14)

#13: Justin Timberlake - Selfish (+1) (7 weeks: Peak #11)

#12: Noah Kahan - Stick Season (-2) (14 weeks: Peak #10)

#11: Renee Rapp & Meghan Thee Stallion - Not My Fault (+2) (12 weeks: Peak #10)

#10: Ajr - Yes I'm a Mess (-2) (21 weeks: Peak #7)

#9: Ariana Grande & Mariah Carey - Yes, And (+1) (9 weeks: Peak #9)

#8: Olivia Rodrigo - Get Him Back (-1) (22 weeks: Peak #1 for 4 wk)

#7: Benson Boone - Beautiful Things (+5) (7 weeks: Peak #7)

#6: Kenya Grace - Strangers (=) (20 weeks: Peak #6)

#5: Knox - Not the 1975 (=) (17 weeks: Peak #4)

#4: Taylor Swift - Is It Over Now (-1) (20 weeks: Peak #3)

#3: Tate McRae - Exes (+1) (17 weeks: Peak #3)

#2: Sabrina Carpenter - Feather (=) (14 weeks: Peak #2)

Last year's #1: Miley Cyrus - Flowers

#1: Dua Lipa - Houdini (=) (18 weeks: Peak #1 for 7 wk)

Debuts:

Twenty One Pilots new song Overcompensate is not what I expected. It's alright, but a bit overproduced, and the vocals weren't as impressive as some of their other songs.

Djo, aka Joe Keery, makes his countdown debut with End of Beginning. This is also okay, but kind of boring and forgettable. Still not a bad song and could grow on me.

Now the best debut for last. Ariana Grande's previous single Yes, And was a disappointing comeback, and the remix with Mariah Carey was... somehow worse. But she's finally got a new single two months later with We Can't Be Friends. W O W. This is so much better than I expected. Unlike Yes, And, which is messily produced and a bit too repetitive, this song has evolution, a good key, and it just sounds like sunshine, if that makes sense. The drum parts are especially well done as they contribute a lot to the evolution, and that outro is just dazzling. Add on some eternally beautiful vocals and lyrics, and you got yourself the best countdown song this week.

Biggest jump: Dua Lipa - Training Season (+12)

Biggest drop: Jack Harlow - Lovin on Me (-4)

My recommendations for Hits 1: Laufey - Goddess, Amelia Moore - Name Everywhere, Amelia Moore - That Girl, and Jvke & Pink Sweat$ - Lavender

Hitbound:

Alex Warren - Before You Leave Me (Re-entry) (4 weeks)

Meghan Trainor & T-Pain - Been Like This (Debut)

24kgoldn - Clarity (4 weeks)

Nicky Youre - Part Time Lover (Debut)

Zayn - What I Am (Debut)

Charli XCX - Von Dutch (2 weeks)

Luke Hemmings - Shakes (2 weeks)

The Beaches - Blame Brett (5 weeks)

Teddy Swims - The Door (8 weeks)

Liam Payne - Teardrops (3 weeks)

Lay & Lauv - Run Back to You (3 weeks)

Jagwar Twin - Bad Feeling (Oompa Loompa) (13 weeks)

Kenya Grace - It's Not Fair (Debut)

Fall Out Boy - So Much (For) Stardust (8 weeks)

Pharrell & Miley Cyrus - Doctor (Work It Out) (3 weeks)

Haiden Henderson - Hell of a Good Time (Debut)

Before You Leave Me is back for another week. This song is good and Alex sounds alright but it's kind of forgettable.

Next is my favorite Hitbound debut right now, Been Like This by Meghan Trainor & T-Pain. Of course I wasn't a fan of Hands On Me or Made You Puke, but Mother was my favorite of her songs last year. This actually kind of reminds me of Mother production-wise. It's super fun and jazzy, and she sounds great. Also, I'd like to point out that for once she doesn't use the I - vi - VI - V progression (aka the 60s progression) which I swear she's used in like half her songs. If you don't know what I'm talking about, listen to the chords in Hands On Me, Made You Look, and Dear Future Husband, and tell me it's not pretty much the same.

Next is another one of my favorites right now, Part Time Lover by Nicky Youre. While this isn't as good as S.A.D. this is a pretty fun song with amazing production, and Nicky sounds great. On a side note, I know I used to think Sunroof was decent, but now that I've heard it so many times and listened to all the lyrics, I've decided I don't like it. I don't wanna rant about it right now, but if I ever do a "worst songs of the 2020s" and it makes the list, you'll see why.

Now we have Zayn, who seems to be going for a more country sound on his new album. What I Am debuts Hitbound this week, and I love it, maybe more than Love Like This which I didn't remember at all. This has some nice country production and it's very different from his other songs. He also sounds fantastic, and the lyrics are perfectly written. Amazing song.

Unfortunately, not all this week's debuts were great. Kenya Grace is here with It's Not Fair. I still like Strangers but it's fading on me, and this is definitely not near as good as Strangers. The production is okay but a bit forgettable, and the lyrics aren't very interesting. I'd be perfectly fine with this leaving Hitbound next week.

Finally, Hell of a Good Time by some random newcomer named Haiden Henderson debuts this week. This isn't the worst debut this week, but it's not that great. It's really weird and forgettable, but Haiden sounds alright.

Also, I'd like to point out that Bad Feeling has been on here for a whopping 13 weeks now, which is the longest Hitbound tenure since Hate You by Jordi. Don't get me wrong, I like both of those songs, but Bad Feeling is starting to feel like more of a filler song Hits 1 won't let go of rather than an important song right now. Can this please either debut the countdown or leave soon?

Dropouts:

Hayes Warner, Billy B & Kevin Rudolf - Just a Girl (1 week)

Dasha - Austin (1 week)

5 Seconds of Summer, David Guetta & Galantis - Lighter (1 week)

All of these were great songs. Luckily, Just a Girl and Austin find themselves in the abyss this week. However, of course Lighter could always pull a Make You Mine/Say Cheese/Strangers/Yes I'm a Mess/Can't Catch Me Now and randomly start getting played in a few weeks, then debut the countdown, even if it's not in the abyss right now.

Abyss (what happened here?):

Panic! At the Disco - New Perspective (#31)

Natasha Bedingfield - Unwritten (#32)

Sophie Ellis Bextor - Murder on the Dance Floor (#34)

Shinedown - A Symptom of Being Human (#36)

Nicki Minaj & Lil Uzi Vert - Everybody (#40)

Jennifer Lopez & Latto - Can't Get Enough (#43)

Max & Huh Yunjin of Le Sserafim - Stupid in Love (#44)

Dasha - Austin (#45)

The Weeknd, Jennie & Lily Rose Depp - One of the Girls (#48)

Hayes Warner, Billy B & Kevin Rudolf - Just a Girl (#49)

Jelly Roll & Lainey Wilson - Save Me (#56)

Fletcher - Lead Me On (#57)

Umi & V - Wherever U R (#58)

Ok why are so many songs debuting in the abyss lately? Unwritten, Murder on the Dancefloor, A Symptom of Being Human, Can't Get Enough, One of the Girls, and Save Me are all currently in the abyss but they haven't made the countdown or Hitbound at any point in time as far as I know. This is getting ridiculous, is Hitbound just useless at this point? I'm not even sure if shortening the countdown is what made a difference, because I don't think we've ever had this many songs skip Hitbound before.

Also, I'm tracking the positions of all the abyss songs if the countdown was extended, based on airplay.

We can't be blurbs:

Our exits were Agora Hills, Wild Ones, and On My Mama. The first two were good but getting old. Wild Ones really should have peaked higher in the 11 weeks it was on here, all it really did was spin around at the bottom of the countdown. And On My Mama didn't become as huge as I expected, but it might re-enter.

Too Much is getting more success than I predicted, which is nice to see, although it's not as good as Serotonin.

Saturn only jumped three spots off of its debut, and Texas Hold Em fell two spots? I was expecting those to be the two biggest jumps of the week, they both got so much airplay and they're becoming huge right now.

Lose Control is now on its 27th countdown week, one week behind Snooze's run. Well, at least Lose Control actually reached the top 5 and had an interesting run, and didn't just spin around in the "teens" for more than two thirds of its countdown run like Snooze did. Still, can this please leave next week so I don't lose control?

Water has been on the countdown for 20 weeks and is getting decent airplay, but only hit the top 15 for one week. Okay then.

Why are Standing Next to You and Pick Up the Phone having such confusing runs. I'd be okay with Standing Next to You leaving next week, and Pick Up the Phone should get to the top 10 like it did on the fake countdown from a couple weeks ago.

After three weeks of massively underperforming on the charts and shockingly struggling in airplay, Training Season finally got a big jump into the top 15. I hope this replaces Houdini at #1 soon.

I don't see the appeal in Selfish. If you want a really good song from Justin Timberlake's new album, listen to Paradise with NSYNC.

With We Can't Be Friends debuting, Ariana Grande holds both ends of the spectrum this week - the orange song and the purple song.

Can Is It Over Now PLEASE just get to #1 already and not pull a Lavender Haze?

The top 5 has been mostly stationary for way too long now. We need either Is It Over Now, Exes or Feather to hit #1, and maybe some new entrants in the next few weeks like Beautiful Things, Not My Fault and Training Season.

That's all for now! Byeeeeeeeeee!

A re-review of Olivia Rodrigo's "Guts"

Hi again! Wow, I really haven't been good at blogging for a long time. Let's hope this time I stay around. I promise I'll review the countdowns I missed. Anyway, today I wanted to "re-review" Guts, because my opinions changed a lot since I last reviewed Guts. Last time I gave it a just decent 72%, with four songs getting below decent ratings, but my opinions have changed A LOT since then. Most of the songs grew on me significantly, and very few were faders. So, here's my brand new opinion:

1. All American B***h

My new rating: 4/5 Good

Yeah, my opinion on this one hasn't changed too much. The lyrics are pretty good, and I like how the verses have just an acoustic guitar and it absolutely explodes in the chorus. My main problem with this song is still the same: the screaming in the bridge was completely unnecessary and starts to sound awkward after a while. I'd also like to point out that this is, at least to my knowledge, Olivia's most lyrically explicit song, containing a swear word in the title itself, and six in the lyrics themselves (seven if you count that one original line that got removed). I have no problem with that, just pointing it out.

2. Bad Idea Right

My new rating: 3/5 Decent

This re-grew on me. Sure, the vocal effects were a bit much, it could go without the screaming, and the production could evolve more. But this song has a lot of redeeming qualities: I like the punk-rock sound she's going for even though it doesn't really change much throughout the song, the lyrics are funny, and when she's actually singing and not just scream-talking she sounds really good as always. Still my "least" favorite Olivia song tho.

3. Vampire

My new rating: 6/5 Fantastically Amazing

Yeah I guess this faded a bit, as last time it got a 10/5, which I didn't even know was legal at that time. I mean, part of it was heavy airplay on hits 1. But in a second you'll see the real reason why this is "just" a 6 now and not the elusive 10 rating. My opinion on this stays mostly the same: it perfectly executes evolution, starting as a piano ballad and slowly transforming into an angry punk-rock song. This really should have hit #1 on hits 1 at some point, if not for 15 weeks.

4. Lacy

My new rating: 5/5 Great

What was once nothing more than a 4/5 eventually became one of my favorites. Last time I said my main problem with this song was that it didn't evolve too much. Well, actually, it has just enough evolution. There's not as much here as in Vampire, but the lyrics make up for that. The lyrics have a mysterious quality that has the whole world trying to come up with what it's about. I personally think it's about Sabrina Carptenter, and if you look at the lyric video, there is some evidence to support that - in most of the lyric videos you can see four rings with letters on them that spell out "Guts", but in the Lacy video the "S" is missing, and additionally some of the S's in the lyrics look more bolded than the other letters. So yeah, super interesting one.

5. Ballad of a Homeschooled Girl

My new rating: 5/5 Great

Wow, this song went from mediocre to great in just the seven months since this album was released. Funnily enough, this was only my third-biggest grower on the album. When I reviewed this one, I didn't go very far into it, and had only listened to it a few times. But everytime I listened to it, I started to appreciate it more. Even as a non-homeschooled person, I still relate to the lyrics about social issues. I particularly love the second verse, the lyrics there are incredibly well-done: "I laughed at the wrong time, sat with the wrong guy / Searching "How to start a conversation" on a website / I talked to this hot guy, swore I was his type / Guess he was making out with the boys the whole night". A song about being homeschooled that can connect with basically anyone else deserves a 5/5.

6. Making the Bed

My new rating: 5/5 Great

This one actually faded on me a slight bit, but not enough to get moved down a tier. The production is on point, being a slow ballad but not to the point where it's boring. The lyrics are wonderfully written, and once again Olivia claims this song was the hardest one to write. Even the predictable cliche "head"/"bed" rhyme kinda works here. Anyway, pretty short review. That's really all I have to say about this one.

7. Logical

My new rating: 5/5 Great

My opinion on this one is mostly the same as last time. The star of this song is the lyrics, which are conceptually very interesting, with a sad message but ironic lyrics. It's basically saying that love made her question simple things in life, with lines like "2 + 2 = 5" and "the sky is green, the grass is red". I also quite enjoyed the bridge, where the production gets quiet and ominous, and Olivia sings loudly over it. Sometimes, screaming in a song can sound good, and in this case it's done in a similar way to Amelia Moore's "I Feel Everything" and it works perfectly.

8. Get Him Back

My new rating: 5/5 Great

("WHAT?!" they all said) Yep, this song was a massive grower, originally being rated a 0/5 and almost being called "even worse than Bad Idea Right", but now that I've heard it many times, I've decided it's actually kinda... great. First of all, there's the production. It has more evolution than BIR, the lyrics are hilarious (my personal favorite is "when he said something wrong, he'd just fly me to France") and the vocal effects don't get in the way as much as I thought.

9. Love Is Embarrasing

My new rating: 4/5 Good

This one was very close to being "great" again, but I decided to rate it as "good" for a few reasons: the production sounds pretty good, but it is very similar to Good 4 U, and I think Good 4 U does it slightly better. The lyrics are alright, as they are about feeling embarrassed about a confusing relationship, but they have some cliche themes and the writing could have been improved, even though it's already clever and funny. There's one thing in particular that made me move it up a tier since my last review of it: I know last time I complained about the squeaky talk-singing in the bridge, but actually, this odd style of singing is a perfect representation of the silliness of her own actions in this relationship. So yeah, this grew on me but not quite as much as I had hoped.

10. The Grudge

My new rating: 5/5 Great

This song was the second-biggest grower on the album. Last time I said it was mediocre because it sounded just like Drivers License but more boring. Well, it seems like the extreme musical similarities to Drivers License were intentional. Some people think this is another song about Joshua Bassett, and the Drivers License similarities would make sense if that was the case because they are reflecting on the same events. Others think this is about Taylor Swift, and I guess it would make sense to make a song about the challenges of fame & a feud with another celebrity sound like her first hit song. Honestly, after listening to all the lyrics, I think the songwriting here might be even better than Drivers License. Great song.

11. Pretty isn't Pretty

My new rating: 4/5 Good

This one also grew on me, but it's pretty forgettable and not something I'll be listening to a lot. The main thing I like about this are the lyrics about being seen as "pretty" but still wanting to change something about her appearance, and taking so-called perfection to the extreme. I think this is an interesting lyrical theme. The production's alright but nothing too special, and Olivia sounds good as usual. That's about it.

12. Teenage Dream

My new rating: 10/5 Easily the Best Song of the 2020s, Second Best Song of the 2000s

Yeah I just decided I like this better than Vampire. This is my second favorite song of the entire 2000s so far, after Brandi Carlile's "The Joke". So what makes this better than Vampire? Well, the lyrics are simple but sweet, and I highly relate to them. Not only that, but they also speak to me. In fact, they made me legitimately feel bad about some of the things I've said about Olivia's music. "I fear that they already got all the best parts of me" - wow. "It gets better but what if I don't?" - goosebumps. This song just connects with me on an insane level. And the production perfectly matches up to it, with a piano line reminiscent of Vampire but with a unique progression, and plenty of evolution. And that outro is the most perfect album ending I've ever heard. It ends with a baby laughing, and like I said last time, I couldn't think of a better way to end a song and an album about growing up than with the innocent sounds of a baby. You can also hear Olivia and the producers talking at the end, and even though it's hardly noticeable, I did hear the "fart" comment at the end. I will be so excited if Olivia's third album is actually called "Fart", not because it's a good album title or anything, but it's evidence that this song didn't get completely abandoned after being the worst performing song from Guts on the Billboard Hot 100. I hope this song blows up at some point, even if it's in thirty years or something.

Conclusion

Overall album rating: 100% (Perfect Album)

Wow, I know in my last post I expected this album to get an 87% with my new opinion, but it looks like that changed even more since then. Even though this album does have some weaker songs, the fantastic Vampire & Teenage Dream made up for that literally perfectly, earning Guts a 100% despite some songs being just "good" or "decent". I now think this album is better than Sour, and I'll probably share my review of Sour soon enough.

Favorite song: Teenage Dream

"Least" favorite song: Bad Idea Right

That's all for now! Byeeeeeeeeee!