The Chainsmokers (2) - Week Of December 22, 2018

Hey everyone! I hope that you all had a good week. I did release the first year-end post the other day, and if you have not seen it yet, please check it out! I'm sorry that the rankdown results are on a bit of a delay. Blogger doesn't like me...and whenever I type after a picture...it changes the structure of the whole post. They're coming. Don't worry. Anyways, before we get to this week's fresh 45, here are the songs that we are saying goodbye to.

• Imagine Dragons - Whatever It Takes (#31) [1 Week At #1]
• Shawn Mendes & Zedd - Lost In Japan (#33)
• Lady Gaga & Bradley Cooper - Shallow (#37)
• Taylor Swift - Delicate (#43) [3 Weeks At #1]
• Calvin Harris & Sam Smith - Promises (#45)

#1 Song This Week 1 Year Ago: Ed Sheeran - Perfect
Last Week's #1 Song: The Chainsmokers/Kelsea Ballerini - This Feeling

The Countdown
45. Shawn Mendes - In My Blood (#44) [2 Weeks At #1]
44. NOTD/Bea Miller - I Wanna Know (#38)
43. George Ezra - Shotgun (#41)
42. Bazzi/Camila Cabello - Beautiful (#42)
41. Twenty One Pilots - My Blood (#21)
40. Zedd, Maren Morris, & Grey - The Middle (#40) [9 Weeks At #1]
39. Steve Aoki/BTS - Waste It On Me (DEBUT)
38. Charlie Puth - The Way I Am (#39)
37. Mark Ronson/Miley Cyrus - Nothing Breaks Like A Heart (DEBUT)
36. Panic! At The Disco - Say Amen (Saturday Night) (#34) [4 Weeks At #1]
35. Silk City & Dua Lipa - Electricity (#36)
34. James Arthur - Empty Space (DEBUT)
33. The Chainsmokers/Emily Warren - Side Effects (#26)
32. Lauv/Julia Michaels - There's No Way (#25)
31. David Guetta & Anne-Marie - Don't Leave Me Alone (#24)
30. Backstreet Boys - Don't Go Breaking My Heart (#27)
29. Selena Gomez - Back To You (#28)
28. Twenty One Pilots - Chlorine (DEBUT)
27. Ellie Goulding & Diplo - Close To Me (DEBUT)
26. Shawn Mendes - Nervous (#19)
25. Little Mix/Nicki Minaj - Woman Like Me (#22)
24. Maroon 5/Cardi B - Girls Like You (#29)
23. Lauren Jauregui - Expectations (#32)
22. Olly Murs - Moves (#35)
21. Bebe Rexha - I'm A Mess (#12)
20. Imagine Dragons - Natural (#6) [1 Week At #1]
19. Ariana Grande - Breathin (#7)
18. lovelytheband - Broken (#15)
17. Camila Cabello - Consequences (#20)
16. The Struts/Kesha - Body Talks (#17)
15. Ava Max - Sweet But Psycho (#30)
14. Alec Benjamin - Let Me Down Slowly (#23)
13. Benny Blanco, Halsey, & Khalid - Eastside (#18)
12. Dan + Shay - Tequila (#13)
11. Post Malone & Swae Lee - Sunflower (#14)
10. Ariana Grande - Thank U, Next (#16)
9. Panic! At The Disco - Hey Look Ma, I Made It (#11)
8. Anne-Marie - 2002 (#9)
7. Fall Out Boy - The Last Of The Real Ones (#8) [2 Weeks At #1]
6. Khalid & Normani - Love Lies (#10)
5. 5 Seconds Of Summer - Youngblood (#3) [5 Weeks At #1]
4. Halsey - Without Me (#5)
3. Marshmello & Bastille - Happier (#4) [2 Weeks At #1]
2. Panic! At The Disco - High Hopes (#2) [8 Weeks At #1]
1. The Chainsmokers/Kelsea Ballerini - This Feeling (#1) [2nd Week At #1]

Biggest DROP!!!... Of The Week: Twenty One Pilots - My Blood (-20)

Biggest Jump Of The Week: Ava Max - Sweet But Psycho (+15)

#1 Recommendation Of The Week: Hailee Steinfeld - Back To Life


New Entrants 

~ First up this week in our class of five entrants is Waste It On Me from Steve Aoki and BTS. I don't have much to say about this one. It's pretty much like any other electronic/dance based song nowadays. There are good vocals on this one from BTS, better than any other song that they have released...mostly because I can understand it now. The production is good in this one too...it is nothing special, but it is good. So, with that being said, I hope this one has decent level of success here.

~ Our second new song to the countdown this week comes from Mark Ronson and Miley Cyrus in the form of Nothing Breaks Like A Heart. This song has gotten better after recent listens. Miley sounds pretty good here, but it is nothing compared to what we have heard from her before. The production is fitting to this song, too...but there is just something about this one that prevents me from truly getting into it. I don't know.

~ Next up we have James Arthur with Empty Space. The thing that I like the most about this song is the songwriting. James Arthur always has incredible songwriting on his tracks. That being said, the vocals were merely predictable. So, that's why it is just "good". I wouldn't mind seeing it have success...but if it does a mediocre job here it would not be the end of the world.

~ Up next, we have our worst debut of the week with Twenty One Pilots and Chlorine. Tyler Joseph explored something different vocally here, and I am not a huge fan. The falsetto does not have a nice effect here...and the underlying alternative tones don't balance the scales. I respect how the duo was trying to take a new lane. But, respectfully--I would prefer if they stuck to their older styles, because this just isn't it. I hope this one doesn't take off too far here.

~ Our final new entrant to the countdown, and the best one of the week, comes from Ellie Goulding & Diplo in the form of Close To Me. This song is honestly nothing special, except for the fact that it is not something that we usually hear from Ellie Goulding in the slightest. They cut Swae Lee out of this one, too...which I am not extremely happy about--but I can live with it. But it does work. The vocals are nice. This is the best of the week because we had a pretty subpar class of debuts this week. I don't really care how well this one does here. I would like to see a decent level of success out of it, though.

Best New Entrant Of The Week: Ellie Goulding & Diplo - Close To Me


Hit-Bound

• Lauren Daigle - You Say
• Charli XCX/Troye Sivan - 1999
• Dan + Shay - Speechless
• 5 Seconds Of Summer - Killer Queen
• Alessia Cara - Trust My Lonely
• Seeb & Bastille - Grip
• Imagine Dragons - Machine
• Pitbull & Rhea - Ocean To Ocean (DEBUT)
• Avril Lavigne - Tell Me It's Over (DEBUT)
• Benny Blanco & Calvin Harris - I Found You (DEBUT)
• Dean Lewis - Be Alright
• Khalid - Better
• Stephen Puth - Sexual Vibe (DEBUT)
• Zara Larsson - Ruin My Life
• lovelytheband - Maybe, I'm Afraid (DEBUT)

~ Similar to our class of debuts on the countdown this week, Hit-Bound was no different. The debuts that appeared here this week were all less than satisfying. Our first debut onto Hit-Bound comes from Pitbull & Rhea with Ocean To Ocean. This song is just weird. It samples Africa by Toto...and has these weird verses from Pitbull in between. The vocals are not great either--which doesn't help. So, yeah. Hopefully we can get this one out of here and hopefully not onto the countdown.

~ Second up this week, we have Avril Lavigne with Tell Me It's Over. This one is good. Avril's vocals aren't that bad. It just doesn't really develop. I like the production and the beat fits the song well. Out of the debuts this week, this one may be the most promising.

~ Next up we have Benny Blanco and Calvin Harris both teaming up to bring I Found You. Calvin Harris provides the vocals to this one and Benny Blanco provides the production. I do like the production on this one a lot. I can get into it. The only thing that I am not digging is Harris's vocals. They are bland and boring. And it is the same words over and over, just no development. It could get better with more listens, but I don't know...I feel like I would just get more sick of it.

~ Next, we have the younger brother of Charlie Puth, Stephen Puth--with what I think may be his debut single. He brings Sexual Vibe to the table. This one really is nothing that special. Similar to what we just talked about, the vocals are boring and there is no development in them as the song progresses. So, I don't really see this song taking off in regards to my opinion.

~ Finally, we have lovelytheband--adding Maybe, I'm Afraid to the Hits 1 rotation. I am not a fan of this one at all. There is nothing that I like. The vocals here are less than appealing and everything else is just flat out atrocious. I seriously hope that this one does not debut on the countdown. 

My Bottom 5 Hit-Bound Songs
1. Dan + Shay - Speechless
2. Pitbull & Rhea - Ocean To Ocean
3. lovelytheband - Maybe, I'm Afraid
4. Imagine Dragons - Machine
5. 5 Seconds Of Summer - Killer Queen

My Top 5 Countdown Songs
1. Zara Larsson - Ruin My Life
2. Charli XCX/Troye Sivan - 1999
3. Lauren Daigle - You Say
4. Dean Lewis - Be Alright
5. Avril Lavigne - Tell Me It's Over


Nothing Blurbs Like A Heart 

~ We have a continuation of the throne this week. This Feeling remains at #1 for a second week in a row. I am okay with this, because it could be High Hopes--and that song's overwhelming success here is frankly getting a little annoying. 

~ Ariana Grande - Thank U, Next has annoyingly swapped top 10 placements with Breathin. I do like this song, but I would have truly preferred if Breathin had its moment to shine for a little longer than one week at #7.

~ We receive entry into the top 20 from two good songs in Let Me Down Slowly and Sweet But Psycho. I am glad, as the exchange was with two songs that are worse than these two. 

~ Olly Murs - Moves made a significant advance this week. I would like to see this one in the top 20 in the coming weeks. 

~ I find it kind of interesting that Girls Like You and Woman Like Me were back-to-back this week.

~ As far as the exits go this week, it was time for both Promises and Whatever It Takes to hit the road. I am sad to see Delicate go, but it was sadly time. I wished Shallow lasted a little longer, because it did pretty poorly in the short time that it was here. However, it was nice while it lasted. The same goes for Lost In Japan as does for Shallow.


Let's Do A Top 20 Review!

0-Garbage
20. Dan + Shay - Tequila

1-Bad
19. Imagine Dragons - Natural
18. Anne-Marie - 2002
17. Benny Blanco, Halsey, & Khalid - Eastside 

2-Mediocre
16. lovelytheband - Broken

3-Decent
15. Panic! At The Disco - High Hopes

4-Good
14. Khalid & Normani - Love Lies

5-Great
13. Panic! At The Disco - Hey Look Ma, I Made It
12. 5 Seconds Of Summer - Youngblood
11. The Chainsmokers/Kelsea Ballerini - This Feeling
10. The Struts/Kesha - Body Talks
9. Fall Out Boy - The Last Of The Real Ones
8. Post Malone & Swae Lee - Sunflower
7. Alec Benjamin - Let Me Down Slowly
6. Marshmello & Bastille - Happier
5. Halsey - Without Me
4. Ariana Grande - Thank U, Next
3. Ava Max - Sweet But Psycho
2. Ariana Grande - Breathin
1. Camila Cabello - Consequences

Score: 77% (C+)


Favorite Countdown Song This Week 1 Year Ago: Camila Cabello - Havana


My Bottom 5 Countdown Songs
1. Dan + Shay - Tequila
2. Zedd, Maren Morris, & Grey - The Middle
3. Charlie Puth - The Way I Am
4. Panic! At The Disco - Say Amen (Saturday Night)
5. Imagine Dragons - Natural

My Top 5 Countdown Songs
1. Camila Cabello - Consequences
2. Ariana Grande - Breathin
3. Ava Max - Sweet But A Psycho
4. Ariana Grande - Thank U, Next
5. Halsey - Without Me
 
See you again soon! Thanks for reading!

~ Jack :)