Almost to 3,000 - Hits 1 Weekend Countdown 7/13/24

Hi! I'm very close to 3,000 views, and I plan on doing a series of five album reviews once I get there. I won't tell you what the albums are, but I've already decided on the five albums that I think will be interesting to review, and they're definitely not what you'd expect, because unlike last time, almost all of them are either less popular, slightly older, or by artists I'm not necessarily a huge fan of right now. As for the actual countdown, this was kinda a weird week. No exits, some unexpected movement, and yet another fake countdown this week. It was also kinda a bad week, with two of my favorite songs making big falls, and a lot of songs still taking up space. So let's get into it I guess.

Countdown:

#30: Crash Adams - Hotel Party (=)

#29: Charli XCX - 360 (-5)

#28: Knox - Treadmill (-1)

#27: Camila Cabello & Drake - Hot Uptown (+2)

#26: Meghan Trainor - Whoops (+2)

#25: Mark Ambor - Belong Together (-2)

#24: Gracie Abrams - Close to You (+2)

#23: Tommy Richman - Million Dollar Baby (+2)

#22: Taylor Swift & Post Malone - Fortnight (-14)

#21: Marshmello & Kane Brown - Miles on It (=)

#20: Ariana Grande - The Boy is Mine (-2)

#19: Gracie Abrams - Risk (=)

#18: Madison Beer - Make You Mine (+4)

#17: Billie Eilish - Birds of a Feather (-5)

#16: Eminem - Houdini (-11)

Extra: The Kid Laroi - Girls

#15: Sabrina Carpenter - Please Please Please (+1)

#14: Benson Boone - Slow it Down (+1)

#13: David Guetta & OneRepublic - I Don't Wanna Wait (+7)

#12: Shaboozey - A Bar Song (-3)

#11: Taylor Swift - I Can Do It With a Broken Heart (+3)

#10: Teddy Swims - The Door (+3)

#9: Olivia Rodrigo - So American (+8)

#8: Dasha - Austin (+3)

#7: Billie Eilish - Lunch (-1)

#6: Djo - End of Beginning (+1)

#5: Chappell Roan - Good Luck Babe! (+5)

#4: Post Malone & Morgan Wallen - I Had Some Help (=)

#3: Dua Lipa - Illusion (=)

#2: Hozier - Too Sweet (=)

Last year's #1: Jonas Brothers - Waffle House

#1: Sabrina Carpenter - Espresso (=)

Biggest Jump: Olivia Rodrigo - So American (+8)

Biggest Drop: Taylor Swift & Post Malone - Fortnight (-14)

Missed song: Taylor Swift - Anti-Hero

Recommendations for Hits 1: Taylor Swift - The Smallest Man Who Ever Lived (look at that, three Taylor Swift songs in a row...), Gracie Abrams - Normal Thing, Meghan Trainor - I Get It, Billie Eilish - The Greatest

Hitbound:

Lisa - Rockstar

Dasha - Didn't I (Debut)

The Kid Laroi - Girls

Katy Perry - Woman's World (Debut)

Gracie Abrams & Taylor Swift - Us

Katseye - Debut

Eminem & Jelly Roll - Somebody Save Me (Debut)

Flowerovlove - Boys (Debut)

Isabel Larosa - Favorite

Alex Warren - Carry You Home

Henry Moodie - Bad Emotions

Imagine Dragons - Nice to Meet You

Cyril - Stumbling In (Debut)

Kesha - Joyride

Lawrence - Whatcha Want

Bibi & Jackson Wang - Feeling Lucky

Dasha returns with her new song Didn't I. This isn't nearly as good as Austin, but it's still pretty good. I like the country production here, the lyrics are well-written and she sounds good, but it just feels like it's missing something.

Katy Perry has a new album coming soon, and I'm not sure how I feel about that? Her new song Woman's World is just not that great. It's super forgettable, she doesn't really sound like herself, and the production is slightly messy, but I don't mind the lyrics. I guess it's alright.

The Death of Slim Shady is officially released, and Eminem is here with another song from The Death of Slim Shady, called Somebody Save Me, which samples Save Me by Jelly Roll. W o w. This was unexpected. Obviously, the lyrics are the highlight here. It's about similar themes to Save Me, about how drug addiction affected him. Musically, normally slower rap songs don't work very well, but I actually think it sounds quite good here. I think this is even better than Houdini... but both are great songs.

*sighs* Okay, it's one thing if you spell a bunch of words as one word, but it's even worse if you don't even spell one of the most basic words correctly. In all seriousness though, Boys, by this random artist named "Flowerovlove", is alright. Mikey compared this to Charli XCX, but I'm not hearing that. I think the production actually sounds pretty good here, and the lyrics are repetitive but decent.

Cyril makes their Hits 1 debut with Stumbling In. This was shockingly pretty good, and I especially like the production, but it is a bit boring at times.

Dropouts:

Ashe - Running Out of Time

Upsahl - Summer So Hot

Moneybagg Yo & Morgan Wallen - Whiskey Whiskey

Bia & Jid - Lights Out

Raye - Genesis

The first two were just okay, the latter two should have debuted the countdown, and I'm so glad Whiskey Whiskey didn't actually debut this week, but unfortunately it is in the abyss so it still has a chance at making the countdown.

Blurbs:

Ok, I guess 360 may not be as bad as some other Charli songs, but it really should not still be on the countdown taking up space.

Speaking of taking up space, Million Dollar Baby is now my orange song. That song really needs to go Galaxy Note 7 itself.

Hot Uptown is fading on me a lot. It's still at least better than He Knows or I Luv It.

Noooooo Fortnight dropped 14 spots! Since I Can Do It With a Broken Heart has finally been confirmed as the next single, let's hope that reaches #1 at some point. But I guess I'd be fine if it didn't. They're both great, but definitely not my favorites.

Houdini also made a huge drop! Luckily, Somebody Save Me will probably replace it.

Okay, IDWW and The Door do not deserve to be anywhere near the top 15.

Wow, So American is having the weirdest countdown run since Nicki Minaj's Last Time I Saw You last year. So American is fading on me a bit. I guess I don't particularly love any of the Guts (spilled) bonus tracks. But it's still a good song so I definitely don't mind it in the top 10.

A Bar Song is out of the top 10. This downward movement should continue.

I just decided End of Beginning is getting quite annoying. It's been spinning around in the top 10 for ages.

On a more positive note, it's great to see Chappell Roan was quick getting her first top 5 hit on the countdown. Good Luck Babe is growing on me a lot.

Geez, the whole top four has been stationary for three weeks in a row now! Espresso is alright, but could we please please please have Please Please Please get to #1 quicker?

That's all for now! Byeeeeeeeeee!

Sorry I'm very late... Hits 1 Weekend Countdown 7/6/24

Hi! This post is very late, because of a combination of traveling and just overall burnout after that whole album review series. It's kinda crazy that I was just celebrating 2,000 pageviews last week, and now I'm already almost to 3,000. (At the rate I'm going, I might have 5,000 views before Short N Sweet!) Once I get to 3,000, I have yet more album reviews planned, but this time I won't tell you what they are beforehand... and the ones I've decided on are probably not the ones you're expecting. Since I'm getting so many views so quickly, I'm not going to do an album review series for every thousand... I'll probably do 3,000, 5,000, 10,000, 13,000 (because why not), 20,000, and then just go by ten thousands. But that could change. Anyway, as for this week's countdown... well, last week's, because the "new countdown" apparently was "leaked 2 days early" and it's highly unlikely that it's a real countdown but anyway... last week was pretty normal in terms of movement, but the music on the countdown right now is pretty mid, and some of it is really getting annoying. Well... let's get into it!

Exits:

Coldplay - Feelslikeimfallinginlove

Camila Cabello & Lil Nas X - He Knows

Benson Boone - Beautiful Things

Countdown:

#30: Crash Adams - Hotel Party (Debut)

#29: Camila Cabello & Drake - Hot Uptown (Debut)

#28: Meghan Trainor - Whoops (+1)

#27: Knox - Treadmill (Debut)

#26: Gracie Abrams - Close to You (+2)

#25: Tommy Richman - Million Dollar Baby (+2)

#24: Charli XCX - 360 (+2)

#23: Mark Ambor - Belong Together (-6)

#22: Madison Beer - Make You Mine (-8)

#21: Marshmello & Kane Brown - Miles on It (+4)

#20: David Guetta & OneRepublic - I Don't Wanna Wait (-1)

#19: Gracie Abrams - Risk (+1)

#18: Ariana Grande - The Boy is Mine (-2)

#17: Olivia Rodrigo - So American (-10)

#16: Sabrina Carpenter - Please Please Please (+5)

Extra: Lisa - Rockstar

#15: Benson Boone - Slow it Down (-2)

#14: Taylor Swift - I Can Do It With A Broken Heart (-4)

#13: Teddy Swims - The Door (+2)

#12: Billie Eilish - Birds of a Feather (+11)

#11: Dasha - Austin (-2)

#10: Chappell Roan - Good Luck Babe! (+2)

#9: Shaboozey - A Bar Song (+2)

#8: Taylor Swift & Post Malone - Fortnight (-2)

#7: Djo - End of Beginning (+1)

#6: Billie Eilish - Lunch (+12)

#5: Eminem - Houdini (=)

#4: Post Malone & Morgan Wallen - I Had Some Help (=)

#3: Dua Lipa - Illusion (=)

#2: Hozier - Too Sweet (=)

Last year's #1: Jonas Brothers - Waffle House

#1: Sabrina Carpenter - Espresso (=)

Debuts:

*sighs* Great, more Crash Adams. I didn't mind Give Me a Kiss, and I guess Sugar Mommy was alright, but this... this is not it. I swear, there will be a rant if this actually jumps 24 spots tomorrow.

Camila Cabello's Hot Uptown is definitely an improvement over her last two songs, but not by that much. I haven't listened to C, XOXO, but based on what I've heard, I'm not so sure about this new era.

Knox is on the countdown again with Treadmill, and I think this is my favorite song I've heard from him. The lyrics are pretty good and the production's okay but it isn't too interesting.

Biggest Jump: Billie Eilish - Lunch (+12)

Biggest Drop: Olivia Rodrigo - So American (-10)

Missed song: Camila Cabello - Shameless

Recommendations for Hits 1: Taylor Swift - The Smallest Man Who Ever Lived, Billie Eilish - Blue, Gracie Abrams - I Love You, I'm Sorry, and Meghan Trainor - Timeless

Hitbound:

Katseye - Debut

Alex Warren - Carry You Home (Debut)

Moneybagg Yo & Morgan Wallen - Whiskey Whiskey (Debut)

Kesha - Joyride (Debut)

Imagine Dragons - Nice to Meet You

Bibi & Jackson Wang - Feeling Lucky

Gracie Abrams & Taylor Swift - Us

Lisa - Rockstar

Lawrence - Whatcha Want

The Kid Laroi - Girls

Ashe - Running Out of Time

Upsahl - Summer So Hot

Isabel Larosa - Favorite

Raye - Genesis

Henry Moodie - Bad Emotions

Bia & Jid - Lights Out

Alright, only three debuts. Alex Warren is back with Carry You Home. This is decent but not amazing. I actually like this better than Before You Leave Me. The lyrics are pretty good and the production's alright.

Kesha is next, and so far almost every Kesha song I've ever heard has been either great or terrible. Joyride is... closer to the latter category. It's a bit weird, but it's not absolutely terrible.

*sighs* I was worried something like this would happen. Ever since Beyonce's Cowboy Carter, it seems like everybody else has been trying to make a country-rap song, but it just always fails. So far I haven't heard a single good country-rap song that isn't by Beyonce, and this is a perfect example. Moneybagg Yo & Morgan Wallen collaborate on Whiskey Whiskey. And... no. Just no. The lyrics are literally Rain Rain Go Away but about whiskey, and it's all really dumb. "Me and all my whiskey friends"? Yeah, this is worse than A Bar Song (Tipsy).

No exits this week.

Blurb Uptown:

We lost Feelslikeimfallinginlove, He Knows, and Beautiful Things. Beautiful Things was great but lasted a long time on here so I'm fine with it leaving. He Knows got replaced by a better Camila song. And Feelslikeimfallinginlove was pretty mid for Coldplay standards.

At this point, 360, Million Dollar Baby, IDWW, Belong Together, and The Door are just doing nothing but taking up space.

Well, this is the first time I've had to use the light orange tier in a while, but The Door and Million Dollar Baby are now in that status, and IHSH and A Bar Song are starting to come close.

Looks like So American wasn't as big of a hit as Obsessed. It's probably on its way out now.

Can Please Please Please please please please get to the top 10 soon? (Also, I feel like Hits 1 intentionally plays Olivia and Sabrina back to back a lot)

Both HMHAS songs finally jumped huge this week. Alright, I'll take it.

Nice to see Chappell Roan getting her first top 10 hit on the countdown with Good Luck Babe. I do hope Hot to Go eventually makes it on the actual countdown at some point.

Not so nice to see Shaboozey getting his first top 10 hit on the countdown with A Bar Song. I'd much rather have his song with Beyonce, Spaghetti, to make the countdown at all.

The top 5 remained stationary. Espresso is regrowing on me, so I wouldn't mind if this blocks Illusion from #1. (That is, unless the "leaked countdown" is somehow actually real, which it probably isn't) However, I really do hope Please Please Please gets to #1 at some point.

That's all for now! Byeeeeeeeeee!

{2,000 Views Special Pt.3} One of very few kinds of music that's not "deeply emotional" or anything, yet I still find it unironically good

Hello, and thanks one more time for all the views. At the rate I'm going, I'll have 3,000 pageviews just in time for Short N Sweet, if not sooner. This might be my last post in a while, because I've got some stuff I'll need to do this week so I won't be able to post this week's countdown perfectly on time... and I'm kinda burnt out anyways. It's actually harder than it seems to make three album reviews in one week. That's partially why I chose these three albums, because they're shorter and don't require as much in-depth analysis or have as many subtle secrets and complicated layered meanings as, say, TTPD. But those last two albums were kinda harder to review than I expected, so I decided to finish with one album that's more just simple fun and catchy stuff. Meghan Trainor's Timeless is 16 songs, but they're all very short, and I was already familiar with four of them from Hits 1. So this shouldn't be too hard to review. Alright, let's get to it!

1. To the Moon

My rating: 2/5 Mediocre

*sighs* I actually had high hopes that we could get three "first track is one of my favorites" in a row. But we're back to less good songs being the first track. This isn't bad or anything, but it's just definitely not my favorite. I normally like the more jazzy production on Meghan songs, but this one just kinda sounds like... circus music? And I'm not a fan of the key it's in. I don't really understand the intention of putting a random song like this in a minor key? And the lyrics are okay I guess, but they're just classic Meghan lyrics about how she's the girl of your dreams and she'll take you to the moon and such. Alright, moving on.

2. Been Like This (featuring T-Pain)

My rating: 5/5 Great

Yeah, I've reviewed this on my blog before, because it was on Hits 1 (and should have been a much bigger hit), but I'll say it again: we need more songs that sound like THIS. Sure, the lyrics are kinda ridiculous, but that's the whole point of this song. But obviously the part I love about it is that really cool jazzy production stuff going on here, and I love how well the key fits with it. Overall, great music from Meghan.

3. Crowded Room

My rating: 3/5 Decent

Alright, I have very conflicting feelings about this one. I like the lyrical concept of talking to Cupid and then finding someone you fall in love with, but like... the lyrics aren't exactly the most especially interesting thing here. And musically, it sounds somewhat like Made You Puke, but I always get confused halfway through this one for some reason. So yeah, this song is okay I guess, but... not the best thing ever.

4. Whoops

My rating: 5/5 Great

Ok, here's another one I've reviewed before on my blog. It's still currently on the Hits 1 countdown, but not performing super well yet, but I hope it does because I really like this song. This is one of the more genre-blending songs on the album, because it obviously has a more modern-style pop-type beat throughout, but the melody and some production elements are still reminiscent of the older styles of music that Meghan commonly writes in. I really like songs like that, and this one does it quite well.

5. Crushin' (featuring Lawrence)

My rating: 5/5 Great

The first odd-number track that I actually really like. I think the production here is a lot cooler-sounding than some of the other previous songs, and I like the key it's in. The Lawrence people actually sound pretty good here. Lyrically, it's literally every theme that Meghan is always singing about in her songs, but in a creative way that I kinda like. Instead of just simply saying that she's the best and she's pretty and sexy and hot and etc, she admits to having a "crush" on herself... interesting?

6. I Wanna Thank Me (featuring Niecy Nash)

My rating: 4/5 Good

Well, this album sure does have a lot of featured artists on it, but this time, the featured artist doesn't really do anything. The only lines that Niecy contributes to the song are a speech at the beginning, and a few bits of that speech that randomly play in the background during the song sometimes. Now as for the song itself, it's good, but the lyrics are kinda... again, just basically a bunch of lyrics that are commonly associated with what Meghan is always singing about in her songs, about how she is everything she needs and she's the greatest person alive or whatever. Okay...?

7. Love on Hold (featuring T-Pain)

My rating: 5/5 Great

Well, that's one way to avoid using that same chord progression (I-vi-IV-V, if you know music stuff) yet again... just make everything one chord. In all seriousness though, this is pretty good. It's actually got some interesting form of evolution to keep things interesting even though it otherwise doesn't do much. The lyrics are pretty good too, and I think Meghan and T-Pain actually sound better together here than on their last collab on Been Like This. Pretty cool stuff.

8. Forget How to Love

My rating: 5/5 Great

Alright, this one's also pretty good. I love the production and the evolution here. It starts slower but picks up later on as the song progresses, and it all sounds pretty cool. The lyrical concept is actually kinda more interesting here also. It's one of the more "serious" songs on here, about a breakup. I really like the line "Just because you're drowning in your pain, it doesn't mean I gotta feel the same". I think this song is actually pretty relatable. Might actually be my favorite on the album.

9. Rollin'

My rating: 3/5 Decent

This one's alright. I guess it's another breakup song? But the lyrics aren't as good as Forget How to Love, it's a bit too repetitive for my liking and seems a bit blander. Production-wise, it's also less interesting. Once again, it's repetitive and somewhat empty here. I don't have much to say about this one, it's just kind of a mid song with not much to it, but it's not necessarily bad at all.

10. I Don't Do Maybe

My rating: 4/5 Good

Alright, more breakup songs on here than I expected. I guess it's intentional that most of the more classic Meghan Trainor "I'm the best" songs were put at the beginning of the album. This is another one that I don't really love, but it's not bad. The lyrics are better than Rollin', but the main thing keeping it from being green is the production. It doesn't really do anything, and I'm not a fan of that key it's in. Okay, hopefully there's some more interesting songs coming up...

11. I Get It

My rating: 5/5 Great

Yeah, I knew at some point we'd get to a song that's an instant favorite. I changed my mind about FHTL. This is definitely my favorite on the album. The lyrics are obviously very simple and repetitive, but I think here it actually works well and is effective for this song. It's actually a love song, and I like the straightforwardness of the lyrics. I think it works better here than in most other songs. And musically, it's obviously a favorite. It's another song that kind of blends genres. It's got the jazz elements Meghan is known for, the modern pop elements that are frequently noticeable in her music also, and even a bit of a more disco kind of style. I love the way it sounds, and yes, I think the key change in the post-chorus fits in with the song very well. Shockingly amazing song here.

12. Sleeping On Me

My rating: 5/5 Great

So this is the last song that I knew before. It was never on the countdown or Hitbound, but when Timeless released, Hits 1 would sometimes play random songs from the album, and other than the three songs from this album that were on the countdown or HB. this is the only one that I heard when they were doing that. And it's a great song. Obviously it's in my favorite key of A Major, and while the production isn't all that different from other Meghan stuff, the key fits better with it here. And I like the lyrics. From the title, I thought it would be a sexual song of some sort, but it's actually about people who have doubted her and telling them to "wake up". Interesting song.

13. Hate It Here

My rating: 3/5 Decent

For some reason, I feel like it might have been intentional that track 13 on this album shares a title with a Taylor Swift song. And ironically, this is the sexual song, and it comes directly after a completely unrelated song called "Sleeping on Me". I'm not a huge fan of these lyrics, and musically, it's still a bit boring, but it's alright I guess. Once again, I don't really have anything else interesting to say about this one, it's just another mid song that I'm fairly indifferent about.

14. Bestie

My rating: 4/5 Good

So, this one... I'm conflicted again. I like the production here a lot. I think it sounds really cool and has quite a bit of evolution, and like I Get It, it blends multiple genres together. But lyrically, I don't love it. It's yet another "I'm the only person who's important to me" song from Meghan, it's very repetitive and it doesn't work super well here which makes it seem like a throwaway for one of the longest songs on the album, and it does have a predictable "head/bed" rhyme in the first verse. So, it's got some less good qualities, but a lot of redeeming qualities to it as well. So, another song that's kinda mid but alright.

15. Doin' It All for You

My rating: 4/5 Good

Alright, we're almost to the end of the album, and this is... yet another song that has strong musical qualities, but is lyrically really weak. I like the genre-blending production here, and the key change is done well here, but I guess it's not as good as some of the other more interesting songs on here. Lyrically, it's very repetitive and generic. Once again, not much to say here. This is just another song that exists.

16. Timeless

My rating: 5/5 Great

And we've reached the album closer, and it actually finishes on one of my personal favorites. I think this is actually my favorite song on the album, basically tied with I Get It. But they're great in different ways. This one is musically really cool, starting slow and minimalistic, but evolving as it goes along. I also love both of the keys it's in (I feel like the key change at the end works well for an album closer). And lyrically, it's a great concept. It's basically another love song, this one is about how the love should last as long as they can make it, and also about a fear of losing time or love. The lyrics here are actually pretty simple but strongly written. Amazing way to finish the album.

Conclusion

Overall album rating: 83% (Good Album)

Okay, this album now has the lowest rating of any of the albums I've reviewed on this blog, but since it's still an okay rating I would classify it as "good". I don't know if I've ever specified this before, but my system for classifying whether an album counts as "good" or "great" is based mostly around intervals of 15, so if this album got two more points it would be considered "great". Well, since this album got a slightly lower score, I guess that means now you know that the reason all my albums get high scores is because I'm choosing to review mostly great albums, not just throwing out good scores to every single thing I hear... or maybe you didn't think that? I don't know, reviewing an album that's not an "absolutely incredible masterpiece" every once in a while can be kinda good ig.

Favorite songs: I Get It, Timeless

Least favorite songs: To the Moon

(I actually forgot that bit on my TSOU review, but I just updated it)

That's all for now! Byeeeeeeeeee!

{2,000 Views Special Pt.2} It's no secret that this album will be a huge hit

Hi! Wow, it's hard to believe that I just reached 2,000 views a few days ago, and now I've already got almost 300 more views since then. This more frequent posting seems to be helping me, but then again, after this special album review trilogy is over (Timeless will be the last one), I probably won't do anything else big like this until Sabrina Carpenter's Short N Sweet releases, and even that'll probably be a short one, unless the title is a trick or something. Anyway, I decided that my next album review should be Gracie Abrams' The Secret of Us. And yes, I know Bubby was also going to do a TSOU review this month, but of course they're also doing TTPD like I did. I don't think there's anything wrong with multiple people reviewing the same album, and in fact I think it'll be kind of interesting to see how the opinions are different. This was a pleasant surprise from Gracie. Now, last year when I was first introduced to her, I thought, "Cool, a great new artist on the rise, but I'm not sure her music will be very successful or anything." And now, she has a song with TAYLOR SWIFT. Sure, Taylor only sings like two lines on it, but still crazy. So, let's get into this new album.

1. Felt Good About You

My rating: 5/5 Great

Wow, another one of few albums I've listened to where the first song is actually one of the best ones! It actually kind of reminded me of some of the songs from HMHAS, the last album I reviewed, both musically and lyrically. The musical similarities are pretty clear and sound really cool, with a somewhat unusual synth production, but it evolves a lot and in a great way. Lyrically, it's very strong, and like many songs from HMHAS, this tells a story taking place over a long period of time, exploring many aspects of a single concept. It's actually somewhat of a "continuation" of The Blue from Gracie's previous album Good Riddance, beginning with hope and turning into regret and disappointment overtime. Amazing album opener.

2. Risk

My rating: 4/5 Good

Well, this is another one of those situations where the lead single is the most underwhelming song from the album. This is the lead single from the album, and it's still performing decently on Hits 1 right now. It's okay, but not super interesting. Most of the weakness here is the lyrics, which seem somewhat bland in comparison to the other songs on the album. Musically, it's still wonderful, with a perfect evolution. Anyway, pretty good song. Moving on.

3. Blowing Smoke

My rating: 5/5 Great

Alright, here's another amazing song from the album. From the first listen I didn't love it that much, but I've just decided it's one of my favorites. It's got everything I would expect from a good Gracie song and more. It evolves a lot, and in a great way, finishing in a shockingly climactic ending. Is it just me, or does the production sound almost country here? And one thing this album does great is, just like with HMHAS, telling a story of just about every aspect of love. This one is super relatable, touching on themes of jealousy in an ex's new love interests, which of course is a common theme in songs, but it's done very strongly here, like usual. Fantastic song.

4. I Love You, I'm Sorry

My rating: 5/5 Great

Wow, this album as a whole was a lot better than I expected, and there's a lot of great songs on it. This of course has the musical evolution I always love to hear in a song, but in my opinion, I think this is lyrically the strongest song on this entire album. It's actually a pretty complex story about a relationship, like many of the songs on here, and the lyrics in this song are particularly nicely written. I don't think I need to say more.

5. Us (featuring Taylor Swift)

My rating: 5/5 Great

Since Hits 1 picked this one up as well, I've reviewed this before, but I'll say it again: Taylor Swift is featured on an album by a new artist I thought nobody knew about a year ago? First it's Ice Spice, and now Gracie Abrams. And this is a fantastic collaboration, even though Taylor doesn't contribute all that much. However, they sound great together when she does. This is the song with the album title: "Wonder if you regret the secret of us?" The lyrics are pretty straightforward; it's essentially just about regret after a relationship. But it's definitely got some strong lyrics, the bridge in particular. I honestly don't mind that Taylor doesn't sing very much on here. (Maybe Gracie was just trying to get Taylor back for how Lana or Post Malone were treated when she collaborated with them.)

6. Let It Happen

My rating: 4/5 Good

This one is okay, but another slightly less great one. The production here actually sounds quite good, but maybe would have benefited from a bit more evolution. And the lyrics are again pretty well-written, but definitely could have been better. It's still another relatable song about the complexities of a relationship, but I guess it just wasn't quite as interesting compared to some of the others. Still quite good tho.

7. Tough Love

My rating: 3/5 Decent

So far, much like HMHAS, we haven't had a song that wasn't at least decent, which is pretty good. This one is also alright, but admittedly kind of boring. I like the lyrics here about moving on from a relationship. Most of my issue is with the production. It feels empty somehow, and the melodies here are much less interesting. It's also pretty short, and I feel like it kind of ends before it really has a chance to develop enough. It could have been a great song, but it's not like it's bad or anything. It's just a bit boring.

8. I Knew It, I Know You

My rating: 5/5 Great

This one reminds me of I Know It Won't Work, for a few reasons: the title, the key, the production, and I guess the lyrics have some similar themes of conflicting thoughts about getting together with an ex. Also, the video that I watched for this song shows Gracie riding on a horse, which is an obvious reference to the IKIWW music video. Even though they're similar, since I loved IKIWW, obviously this song has to be at least kinda good, right? Well, I actually think it's an improvement over IKIWW. I feel like the lyrics are stronger, and even the production sounds slightly more interesting than that of IKIWW. Great song.

9. Gave You I Gave You I

My rating: 5/5 Great

Ok, nevermind what I said about the video for that last song. I was going to say the video for this one also had a reference to the IKIWW video because it's a video of Gracie walking on a beach while holding a stick, but I instantly knew that these videos I was watching had to just be fanmade lyrics videos based on old videos of Gracie, as soon as I noticed the lyrics spelled "erasing" as "earasing". (At least it's the right music... hopefully.) As for this song, it's another great one. This one is a breakup song about being used in a relationship, and the lyrics are on-point. The production seems to perfectly reflect on the lyrics as well, and everything sounds great at that. Yet another amazing song from Gracie.

10. Normal Thing

My rating: 5/5 Great

This is another amazingly relatable song. Honestly, it might just be my favorite song on the album (but ILYIS is really close). It's basically another complex relationship song about when not everything meets expectations, which can lead to heartbreak. Unlike ILYIS where the complexity is what makes the lyrics shine, the lyrics for this one are effective because they're simple. And the production... wow. It perfectly fits the song, and it doesn't overpower the lyrics but still evolves nicely. That's all I have to say about that one.

11. Good Luck Charlie

My rating: 5/5 Great

Wow, I was not expecting a song like this. Most of this album is about Gracie's personal experiences in relationships, but this right here is a very interesting concept. It's about witnessing the breakup of a relationship between two of her friends Audrey & Charlie, and she's confirmed that this song is completely unrelated to the Disney show of the same title. It's essentially about feeling sorry for them, but also wishing them well at the same time. Obviously the lyrics are what really shine here, but the production also sounds great. More great music from Gracie Abrams.

12. Free Now

My rating: 5/5 Great

This is the last song on the album that I have never reviewed before. And... wow, it might be another one of my favorites. It's another one of those songs that's kind of split into two different sections, beginning with a reflection on a difficult relationship, but ending hopeful now that she's free because it wasn't healthy for either of them. And it evolves beautifully. I love the production throughout, especially in the second half. Really cool stuff.

13. Close to You

My rating: 5/5 Great

Alright, we've arrived at the end of the album! This song was apparently not intended to be on the album, since it was written so long ago, but I'm glad it was included because it's fantastic. Production-wise, it kind of reminds me of Ariana's WCBF, starting softer but then picking up and adding a synth beat, and it might be even better here. It definitely has better lyrics than WCBF, about wanting to do anything to be with someone, and the lyrics in the chorus are just amazing: "I'd give up everything to be close to you / Pull the trigger on the gun I gave you when we met / Just let me be close to you / Break my heart and start a fire you got me overnight". I'm so glad she included this song on the album, and also released it as a single, because it's another favorite of mine. (Wow, for the first time in a while, one of my favorite songs on an album is actually a single.)

Conclusion

Overall album rating: 92% (Great Album)

Wow, it's great to see that every album I've ever reviewed on my blog has been rated as "great"! We still have yet to see an album get below an 88% average score on this blog. Although this album certainly had its less fantastic moments, overall it was pretty amazing. The final addition to my 2,000 views album review trilogy, Timeless, will be out tomorrow, and then after that I'm going to be a bit more busy for the rest of this week so I actually might have to delay my next countdown post (sorry).

Favorite songs: I Love You I'm Sorry, Normal Thing, Free Now

"Least" favorite song: Tough Love

That's all for now! Byeeeeeeeeee!

{2,000 Views Special Pt.1} I didn't give this album enough of a chance before... it actually hits hard (and soft)

Hi! Thanks again for 2,000 views. I genuinely didn't expect to get that many views this quickly, especially after the many times my blog got deactivated in the past. To celebrate, I'm gonna post three consecutive album reviews. The first one in the series is Billie Eilish's Hit Me Hard and Soft, which I planned on reviewing a few months ago right after my TTPD review, but didn't bring myself to do it, then got really busy so I just decided I didn't feel like posting anything, and then my brief period of heightened disinterest in pop music led me to totally disappear for a while, and then when I came back I kinda forgot about reviewing this album in the first place... but either way, I don't think I even gave this album as a whole a good enough chance on my first few listens, so I listened to it again and decided to include in my album review series. 

Now, it's only 10 tracks, but almost all the songs have a lot packed into them, many of which are uniquely split into multiple distinct sections. However, it's still just considered 10 songs, so I'm treating them as they are, because... well, they are. I will say though, it's hard to make a short album effective. TTPD had 31 tracks so there was room for error, and a lot of 4/5s didn't really affect the score much, but a 10-track album is far more likely to have its score brought down if there's too many songs that aren't 5/5s. While it's definitely not the greatest masterpiece I've heard in my life or anything, it's actually a really cool album. So let's get into it!

1. Skinny

My rating: 5/5 Great

Unlike almost all of the other albums I've reviewed on here, the opening track is immediately a favorite. I saw somebody call it a continuation of What Was I Made For, and I actually think it's somewhat of an improvement over WWIMF. It actually reminds me of Olivia Rodrigo's Teenage Dream (one of my favorite songs, like, ever) in that a lot of the lyrics are questions, like "Am I acting my age?". Obviously the lyrics are the highlight here, but it's also musically a step up from WWIMF, with more evolution, and it's in A Major which almost always means it's amazing. The string-based instrumental outro actually kind of surprised me; one of the main things I love about Billie's music is how she experiments with many sounds and blends genres, so this is definitely a fantastic example of that.

2. Lunch

My rating: 4/5 Good

So... I have somewhat conflicting opinions here. This is the lead single, and like with TTPD and Eternal Sunshine, the lead single isn't bad, but kinda underwhelming for a radio hit. It's okay. I mostly like it musically, although it is a bit repetitive at times. The lyrical concept is good but it does have a lot of lyrics that I think are somewhat cliches in love songs, like "she might be the one", "I can never get enough", "you were made for me", "I'm interested in more than just being your friend", etc. I feel like there are much better and more creative ways to say these things, so the chorus is just a bit bland, but the verses are actually pretty good. So, this is a good song, but I wouldn't have made it the lead single.

3. Chihiro

My rating: 5/5 Great

Now this is the kind of music I like to hear from Billie. It's got a really unique synth instrumentation that I can't even really describe, and part of what I really love about this song is that I don't know what genre to call it. It's just this super cool blend of sounds that works in the best way possible. Now as for the lyrics, I honestly didn't know what Chihiro meant, but it reminded me of Ilomilo for some reason. So I looked it up, and as it turns out, the origin of the title is similar to the origin of the Ilomilo title also. It's once again the name of a character, this time from a movie that I was not familiar with, called "Spirited Away", and apparently it's comparing the lyrical themes of love and loss to Chihiro's experience in the movie. Even though I didn't get the reference at first, it's still a really amazing song as per usual for Billie Eilish. I mean, just listen to The Bolter by Taylor Swift; even to fully appreciate a song, you don't have to be entirely sure what the song's supposed to mean from the first few listens.

4. Birds of a Feather

My rating: 4/5 Good

Kind of like what happened with ICDWABH, this is that one random non-single that Hits 1 decided to pick up on for no reason, so I think I've heard this as much (or possibly even more) than the actual single, Lunch. Although I'm much more familiar with this one and Lunch than all the other ones, this one, much like Lunch, kinda falls short for me. It's a decent song, it's got some nice lyrics and the production sounds alright, I guess it just doesn't do anything super interesting compared to some of the more unbelievably incredible songs on here. Alright, moving on.

5. Wildflower

My rating: 5/5 Great

Two insanely predictable rhymes at the beginning (heart/apart and girl/world) didn't really bring the song down at all for me. The lyrics are simple but relatable, telling a story of a breakup resulting in strong love for someone prevailing. And the evolution here is basically Vampire-level perfection, starting as a soft guitar ballad, picking up ever so slightly in the first chorus, then adding a subtle and simple drum beat but with the same underlying feeling, and then blowing up in the second chorus, and then returning to the softer guitar at the end.

6. The Greatest

My rating: 6/5 Amazingly Unbelievable Beyond Just About Anything I've Heard from Billie Thus Far And Since I Love Making The 6th Category Different Everytime I Could Keep Going As Long As I Want But Whatever, Okay Let's Get To the Review Now

Yeah, this is definitely a favorite from the album. Take all the evolution from Wildflower, but turn it up to 100. Remove any predictable rhymes, and top it off with these super relatable lyrics. It's another song about the complexities of love, ironically saying that Billie is "the greatest" at being overly nice and patient with her girlfriend without any rewards, and then at the end she closes off by admitting she hated it, and thinks her girlfriend should have been "the greatest" to her. I love how this album really covers just about every aspect of love, and this is certainly a standout song.

7. L'amour De Ma Vie

My rating: 5/5 Great 

Okay, this is a bit of a weird one. It's the first of three songs on here that's split into multiple short sections. This is really cool, because it takes a single concept of a breakup and reflects on a change in emotion overtime. The first section is slower and softer, showing regret and challenges, but the second half is intentionally more upbeat and poppy, and the lyrics are more confident and angry in tone. Interesting song. It's definitely not my favorite, but it's up there.

8. The Diner

My rating: 4/5 Good

Yeah, this is another one that isn't amazing. It's mostly just an issue with the production. It doesn't really do anything cool for the first half or so, it kinda sounds like that "Kahoot" music. But it does have some cool elements to it later on, but it is somewhat generic-sounding even then. The lyrics are alright but I guess nothing too special. So yeah, another underwhelming song but not bad in the slightest.

9. Bittersuite

My rating: 5/5 Great

Well, we've arrived at another song that uses a few different sections. Unlike L'amour De Ma Vie's two sections, this has three parts, and is considered to be reminiscent of a musical suite, hence the name Bittersuite. However, Bittersuite doesn't mean the same thing as Bittersweet, as the lyrics to this song are very bitter, and not sweet at all, which is actually quite interesting. The first section is a bit of a slower synth thing, and then the second section sounds like The Diner but better, and then the ending is essentially a transition into Blue. Which leads me straight onto the final track of the album...

10. Blue

My rating: 6/5 Stunningly Beautiful And Probably As Good as The Greatest, No Pun Intended Because That's the Actual Song Name, And It's Way Too Amazing of a Song to be Just Blue Tier, Hahaha Funny Funny Get It Because I Make Puns on Song Titles And I Said Blue and The Song is Blue And I Make Really Dumb Jokes And No One Knows Why, Okay Let's Get To the Review Now

Sorry for trying way too hard to make every name for the 6/5 category "different" every time lol. But seriously tho, two 6/5 songs on one album? I thought for sure nothing could top The Greatest in terms of sheer amazingness... but this is the one. Six minutes of pure musical and lyrical genius. It's got two slightly longer sections that could even be seen as two different songs, and they kind of are, but they have connected themes. The beginning section is very simple (and sounds like the ending of Bittersuite), and was based on a song she wrote when she was 14 called True Blue, with fairly straightforward lyrics, but also calling back previous tracks on the album. The second part is my favorite part of the whole album I think. Apparently it's based on another unreleased song called Born Blue that was cut from Happier than Ever, and I'm honestly kinda glad it wasn't on Happier than Ever, because it just fits so well with the first part, yet it's so different. I love it. It's got an amazing melody, and the lyrics are beautiful. These songs are somewhat unrelated lyrically, with True Blue being about previous themes from the album of a complex love situation and trying to move on, but Born Blue acknowledges someone facing hardships growing up. But as Billie Eilish herself as said, combining these two blue-related but lyrically contrasting songs written earlier on is like combining two older eras of herself with her new self. And that ending is just great - "But when can I hear the next one?" Now, on the surface this just seems like a joke since the album is over, but it may also reference pressure artists are put under to constantly release new music. Some people have also theorized that it could hint at a second album, and there's the Ilomilo theory that the next album will be red and whatnot, but I don't want to get into all that right now. Anyway, fantastic album closer.

Conclusion

Overall album rating: 98% (Great Album)

Wow, this album got a higher score than the main 16-track TTPD album, and is my second highest-scoring album I've reviewed so far, tied with Sour, just behind Guts. Now, even though it didn't have the highest average score, it might just be one of the most consistently good albums I've ever heard. Obviously it's got some absolute masterpieces, and some slightly more generic, less interesting tracks, but none of them really stuck out to me as being bad, or even just mediocre.

Favorite songs: The Greatest, Blue

"Least" favorite song: The Diner

That's all for now! Byeeeeeeeeee!