A 2018 Year-End Special - A Year In Review (Part 1)

Hey guys! I hope you are all having an awesome Christmas--I know I am. Anyways, I made a decision to split up the year in review post--as there is a lot of content that is usually covered in that post. I am going to start off with the review of the worst songs of 2018. I am hoping that I can get all of these year-end posts out before we get too far into January. 

So, I think the circumstance for this post stands pretty clear in the title. 2018 has been one of the worst years for music that we have had in a long time. I even had trouble putting together a list of my top 45 songs of the year. That's how rough this year was. That being said, it should be obvious that this year was filled with more bad and mediocre music than good and sonically pleasing music. 

To start of this post, I will list off some of my bottom songs of the year that fortunately never made it onto Hits 1 airwaves. Then, I will list off my dishonorable mentions of tracks that made it onto Hits 1...and go straight into my bottom 10 songs of 2018 that appeared on the Hits 1 Weekend Countdown. 

So now, we will begin with a list of some of my least favorite songs of the year that fortunately never made it onto Hits 1. This list includes any songs released in 2018, or released in previous years and having charted in 2018. With that being said, let's get right into it.

• Bhad Bhabie/Lil Baby - Geek'd
• Bhad Bhabie/Lil Yachty - Gucci Flip Flops
• Calvin Harris/Kehlani/Lil Yachty - Faking It
• Cardi B - Be Careful
• Doja Cat - Mooo!
• Iggy Azalea/Tyga - Kream
• Jason Aldean - You Make It Easy
• Justin Timberlake - Supplies
• Kodak Black/XXXTENTACION - Roll In Peace
• Lil Baby/Drake - Yes Indeed
• Lil Baby/Gunna - Drip Too Hard
• Lil Dicky/Chris Brown - Freaky Friday
• Lil Pump - Gucci Gang
• LSD - Audio
• LSD - Mountains
• Migos/Drake - Walk It Talk It
• Old Dominion - Hotel Key
• Rich The Kid - Plug Walk
• Sheck Wes - Mo Bamba
• Tyga/Offset - Taste
• 6ix9ine - Gummo
• 6ix9ine/Nicki Minaj/Murda Beatz - FEFE

That being said, these were only a few of the songs that I had no interest in this year. There were many more--but I was not going to make an excessive list for you all. I kept it as slim as possible. Now that we have that out of the way, it is time to count down my bottom 10 songs of the year. These are the worst songs that ever paid their dues on the Hits 1 Weekend Countdown this year. But, before we get to that, I have a list of dishonorable mentions that I am going to review.

 

 

• Liam Payne - Strip That Down  

This is one that I actually liked at first, but that opinion quickly shifted. At least Hits 1 cut out Quavo, because he made the song ten times worse. I get that Liam Payne was trying to go for a big debut single as a solo artist, and a club banger is a nice try. But, I would hardly consider this anything close to something one would get "down" to. It is kind of boning. So are all of his songs, as a matter of fact. They all sound the same. There is no new concept that is introduced with the release of his singles. That is why I am not a fan of this one.

• Fall Out Boy - Hold Me Tight Or Don't

The music that we have been hearing from Fall Out Boy recently has been less than appealing, except for the infectiously catchy The Last Of The Real Ones. Their recent album was very disappointing. The tracks on that project, including this one were less than pleasing. They went for a new sound here, which I respect. I like when artists branch out from their traditional sounds. But, this just wasn't it. The production was sloppy and the vocals were lazy. Although they didn't detach from their emoesque sound, the new eclectic approach that they were going for with Hold Me Tight Or Don't should have never made its way onto Hits 1 airwaves. 

 

• Meghan Trainor - No Excuses

Meghan Trainor has truly succeeded in annoying me with her music. There has been no evolution of her as an artist. When I first heard of her back in 2014, I thought it was cool that someone was speaking out on issues regarding sexual harassment and bullying--because that is a huge problem in our society, and I respect her for doing that. However, every single that we have seen from her after All About That Bass has been a front for Trainor to shove her feminist agenda through everyone's ears. I would gladly indulge in Trainor's music if she were to attempt to develop as an artist...because every song that we have heard from her since 2014 has practically sounded the same. From Dear Future Husband, to No, to Me Too, and now to No Excuses. In the end, this one is forgettable and is not remarkably different from anything that she has ever given us. It is time for something new.

• Calvin Harris & Sam Smith - Promises

This song had me hooked in for a while--until I realized that there was nothing much going on here. The one thing that I like about this song is the groove, but that is pretty much it. I don't like that annoying voice in the background, and Sam Smith has had better vocals in the past. Calvin Harris has also produced much better than this. In the end, Promises is just not ideal. 

• Anne-Marie - 2002

Anne-Marie is kind of overrated in my opinion. She really isn't all that special. Her voice is kind of grating and annoying. Her lyrics on this one, I do give a nod to because it is wholly aesthetic. However, the production is all over the place and the vocals--as I said were lame. I am kind of disappointed that a song named after my birth year was this messy.

• Post Malone/21 Savage - Rockstar

At first, I was really not understanding all of the hype about Post Malone, but he has had a couple of songs that I was partied to liking this year. However, Rockstar really doesn't show the talent that I have began to see that he indeed has. This one just really wasn't that significant. I like when Post Malone uses his voice for the song, rather than relying on his shitty rapping. His voice is much more appealing than his rapping. And in this song, he relied on his verses to draw people. It is pretty derivative of typical rap music nowadays, and 21 Savage, being a face of that undying garbage doesn't do much to help this.

• Drake - God's Plan

This song is so boring. I mean, when is Drake going to switch things up? It sounds the same as what we have been hearing from him for the past three or so years. It just feels like he is rushing his music all of the time. I mean, it feels like its every week that he has a new #1 song atop the charts. This one had potential, but it just fell short. The production was shitty and the accompanying vocals were subpar.

• Justin Timberlake - Filthy

This song was a winner for me at first, but mostly because I was just hyped up about the return of Justin Timberlake. After a few short listens, I realized that there was nothing special here. The vocals were grating on this one. The production was below average. The lyrics--I mean where were they? It was just all over the place. It was kind of a disappointment if you ask me.

• Zedd & Elley Duhé - Happy Now

This song was pretty underwhelming, considering what we have heard from Zedd in the past. This may have been Zedd's worst song if it weren't for The Middle. This is one of the most generic and poorly produced songs that I have ever heard. Not to mention, the heavily autotuned Elley Duhé makes this no better. Zedd didn't even try with Happy Now, and that is what makes this one pathetic.

• Maroon 5 - Wait

Maroon 5 really have not been all that impressing with their singles over the past couple of years, besides What Lovers Do and Girls Like You. For one thing, I don't even understand how this band has seven members--yet all we hear is Adam Levine. The rest of them must not be doing much. Wait is just a track that has the vocals of Adam Levine and a shitty production to back them up.

• Marshmello & Anne-Marie - FRIENDS

FRIENDS is not that great of a song at all. This is Marshmello's worst single yet. Anne-Marie, like I said earlier, is nothing special. I really am not a fan of her voice. Its annoying as hell--and it shows on this song especially. Not to mention that the message of this song is hardly good. I mean--it just glorifies the embarrassment of another at the expense of an individual on a power trip.

• Ed Sheeran - Castle On The Hill 

Castle On The Hill, Castle On The Hill...I don't know about this one. It's just not my thing. I grew sick of it after a while because Hits 1 really overplayed and overrated this one. I have never seen anything truly bad with it. I just don't like it for some reason.

• Sam Smith - Too Good At Goodbyes

This one was done to death. The vocals were good, as I would expect from Sam Smith, but he never really departs from this whole sad feeling with his tracks. I just want to see something new from him. I just get tired of these depressing songs real quickly.


Even though those songs were pretty bad, they were not bad enough to make my list for the bottom 10 songs of the year. This list is composed of my 10 least favorite songs this year that were on the Hits 1 Weekend Countdown. Now, let's get started.

 
10. PNAU - Go Bang
This may be one of the most forgettable songs of the year, because I completely forgot how much I hated this one until I was parceling through this year's countdowns to find songs for this list. The vocals on this track show no potential and they are godawful. The production is awkward and unfitting to the track. Don't get me wrong, I like when Hits 1 picks up on songs that you wouldn't expect them to, but this just wasn't it. After Go Bang, I would not want to hear anything from PNAU again.

 

9. Meghan Trainor - Let You Be Right
This song may not be long, but it is still long enough to make me despise it. This song has no high points at all. Meghan Trainor is essentially sticking with this whole "females in total power" story line, by implying that she's always right within the lyrics--and there is no room for anyone else to have an opinion. This just shows how egocentric Meghan can be with all of her songs and how stereotypical she can be of the male species. This is part of the reason I don't like her or this song. Aside from the lyrical content, though; the production on Let You Be Right is a snooze and the vocals are inferior.

 
8. Dustin Atlas & Erin Bowman - Fake Ass Friends 
This may or may not be an unpopular opinion--but I really do not like this song. It is all over the place. The lyrics sound less then pleasing--especially when sung by both Dustin Atlas and Erin Bowman--who's voices do not sound anywhere near good on this track. The production on this one is awful. It is stale as hell. I am just glad that this didn't do well anywhere else--besides Radio Disney, of course, because that is the only goddamn picture I could find of the two of them together. Yeah, all in all, this one just missed the mark.

7. DJ Khaled/Justin Bieber/Chance The Rapper/Quavo - No Brainer
If my memory serves me well, I am pretty sure that No Brainer was kind of a flop everywhere, which is good. This one should have never taken off. I find it really annoying how DJ Khaled produces a shitty track and adds three or four terrible artists to make the song three or four times shittier. We saw it with I'm The One a couple of years ago, and if that was any indication of how DJ Khaled puts together his tracks, this one shouldn't have been highly anticipated. Everything about this one was just below average and sonically displeasing.

6. Echosmith - Over My Head
Personally, Echosmith kind of annoys me with their music, with the exception of 2014's Cool Kids. That one was good. The rest of them, including Over My Head, have just been boring, and repetitive, and sad. The vocals are nothing special at all. In fact, they are kind of jarring in my opinion. The production is lazy and boring, and does not compliment the vocals in the slightest. As far as the lyrics go, they show promise, but it just doesn't work with the other components of this track. When it comes down to this, there is no vibe or energy to Echosmith's songs--they are just stale and boring. I personally believe that they have potential to be relevant--if they were to release more songs like Cool Kids.

5. Maren Morris - Rich
At this point Maren Morris is trying to hard, and it definitely shows in this sad excuse for a country song. Rich is just bad all around. She had some good songs that included both of her 2016 country hits 80s Mercedes and My Church. The lyrics in this song are just stupid, and have no underlying meaning to them. I get that we can have that once in a while, but it is not a good shade on Maren Morris. The vocals are far from saintly, like they were on the superb My Church. Especially that annoying as all hell "la-a-a-a-a-di-da". It hurts my hears. It makes me sad that Hits 1 decided to pick up on this one, apart from her better tracks. This probably just happened because they were so hyped up on The Middle, which was even worse than this one--but we'll talk about that one in a second.

4. Brown & Gray - Top Down
Speaking of terrible country music that Hits 1 picked up this year, I absolutely despise this song. It is annoying as all hell and eternally childish in terms of each and every component. Top Down is supposed to be a country song but in all actuality it is just a lazy pop track. The writing on this song is some of the worst I have ever heard. It sounds like a poem a six year old could have written. Both singers sound awful and their voices do not blend well together in my opinion. The undying repetitiveness drives me crazy and the stupid ass chorus makes me want to detach my ears from my head. It is honestly one of the most stupid and pointless songs that I have ever heard. Not to mention, the production here is all over the place. A child could have done this. It is not good. One of the worst songs this year, and of course Hits 1 had to pick up on the worst country songs this year.

3. Zedd, Maren Morris, & Grey - The Middle
Would you look at that? It's our old friends Zedd and Maren Morris. They're back! Zedd has had deteriorating quality in his music ever since we got Stay and Get Low last year, which were below average for him. The production was nowhere near as good as it was in songs like Clarity and Break Free. Now, we have this one--The Middle. I remember my first listen on this song and thinking that it was not good, and that was weird because I usually find that Zedd's songs are some of my favorites. So, that being said, I tried to get into this one, but it just failed. This is easily the worst single from Zedd that we have heard and of course it is the one that spends 9 weeks atop the Hits 1 Weekend Countdown. Even Maren Morris couldn't save this one and its lazy production. She is heavily autotuned and I cannot stand it. She has talent, but like I said earlier; she is wasting it by trying too hard to fit into the pop scene of things. I just want the old Zedd and the old Maren Morris back. Maybe Grey had something to do with this song's lazy production, but I don't think they could have had an extremely immense impact on that.

2. Dan + Shay - Tequila
In my opinion, this year was just not the year for country. This song is another example. Tequila is a boring, strung-out and sorry excuse for a song. I just don't like this one. In fact, I have never really liked Dan + Shay's songs. Their voices are not pleasing to me. They are two of the most grating and annoying voices in the country scene, if you ask me--besides Jason Aldean, whose music I hate with an absolute passion. For some reason, though, Hits 1 seems to have an affinity with them now, what with Speechless being on Hit-Bound now. I know this song is supposed to convey a "sweet" and "loving" message, but I just don't see the appeal to that message. I mean all they do is blabber about how they only feel in love after they have had too much of a certain drink. I don't see that as a quality message--but maybe I'm wrong. The instrumentals do not complement the vocals nicely at all in my opinion. I don't know--when it comes down to it, I am certainly not a fan of this country-pop mess.

1. Train/Cam/Travie McCoy - Call Me Sir
Train has managed to top this list twice in a row. They were atop this list last year with the godawful Play That Song. And while this one may not be as awful, it is still very, very bad. I have never really been a fan of this band, aside from a couple of songs. I just don't see the massive hype over them. They are a gaggle of middle-aged men who don't have a whole lot of talent. I have never really liked Pat Monahan's voice--I just thought that it was average. This song truly shows that. Call Me Sir is just weird. Who would have thought that a rock band, a country starlet, and a rapper would make a good song? Yeah, no one. This wasn't it. I have liked Cam's songs in the past, and I thought that she would have been the saving grace going into this--but she couldn't even save this. As for Travie McCoy, I have heard better out of him. His verse sucked. So bad. The production is lazy and that undying string of "ohs" is annoying as all hell. The guitar riffs are pointless and don't fit in at all. In terms of lyrical content, this doesn't send the right message. It says that a man can only be recognized and appreciated when he associates himself with an attractive woman. That is just not an acceptable thing to convey. I am disappointed in that aspect as well. All in all, this one has had the most worst qualities out of each and every song on this list--which makes it my #1 least favorite of the year. Train needs to step it up. It is getting kind of sad at this point.



Alright, that signifies an end to this post. I hope you guys enjoyed reading this. It took me a number of days to put together, which should indicate that putting together my top 45 songs of the year should take a little longer--but I will try to get that out as soon as possible. I will have the second part of this year's review coming out very soon. So, be on the lookout for that. Again, I hope that you all had a Merry Christmas...and you will all be seeing me again soon.

~ Jack :)