#5
2009 - Michael Bublé - Haven't Met You Yet
Album: Crazy Love
This song, for me, is just a love song for a girl who never loved me. Infatuation can do silly things with the mind, and in my case is had me driving all the way to Indianapolis to meet up with an internet crush who I had known since I was a sophomore in high school. In my mind, there was a true opportunity for love there, and within a year of meeting each other we didn't even really talk any more. I'm not sure what she was in it for, but I wanted her and at the time she wanted me as well. It just didn't mesh, but I do have this catchy as hell song to fall back on. It's a great karaoke number, but it does come with a slight blemish. Before this record, Michael Buble was almost exclusively doing lounge covers pop classics and old traditional pop numbers. "Haven't Met You Yet" catapulted him to super-stardom, and now you can't escape hearing him 147 times a day during the Christmas season. I still enjoy him as a singer and he's a really great dude, and it's not even that his Christmas stuff is bad. It's just so damned overplayed. Anyways, that's love. Thanks, Bethany Lucas.
2010 - Matt & Kim - Cameras
Album: Sidewalks
Here's the truth. This album came out in NOVEMBER of 2010 and this song skyrocketed all the way to #5. It's not a misprint either - they absolutely belonged there. The opening clink-clank and keys are forever etched in my head. The video is great, the song is incredible and the memory is set in stone. There was a brief time in 2011 when I thought Cameras might make it on that countdown as well, but instead a different song made its ascent after this one had burnt me out. After that sort of ascension, I thought for sure that the band was going to be a mainstay in future countdowns, but they haven't made it back since. The closest they came was in 2015 with "Get It". That's not to say that I didn't like their 2012 disc Lightning, but they've since abandoned their DIY approach and settled for a poppier, more polished sound. I suppose that's just how things go.
2011 - Cold - The Break
Album: Superfiction
Cold is, and always will be, my all-time favorite band. The bond is impossible to break and the story behind their songs is tied to me in ways that I cannot even begin to explain. They initially broke up while I was in high school, only to reform and drop the heartstring-tugging A Different Kind Of Pain in 2005. Things were looking good for the band until they imploded a year later and laid dormant for 3 plus years. They reformed, toured, and took forever to finally drop Superfiction, a solid but strange disc for a band dripping with bizarre. It took me a few years to truly embrace the disc, but "The Break" was a song that immediately sunk its teeth into me. It's still as sad for me today as it was the first time I heard it, and for me I think that's the mark of a phenomenal song. 7 years later and we're all still waiting for the follow up to Superfiction. Will it ever happen? The band has been cryptic and elusive, but in my heart I have hopes for at least one more record.
2012 - The Shins - Simple Song
Album: Port of Morrow
The Shins. Their first record had exactly 1 song I liked on it, and I loved "New Slang". "Phantom Limb" is one of my all-time favorites, but it's the only song I can even tolerate on Wincing The Night Away. Did I think Port of Morrow would be different? Not really, but I didn't think they would strike gold a third time. You really only need to hear "Simple Song" once to realize that you've stumbled upon, essentially, a perfect song. It's brilliant - chords that ascend and drive forward, a beautiful love story, and James Mercer's uncanny delivery style that sneaks into your ear and lies dormant until you least expect it to knock you over. As far as I'm concerned, this is the best guitar riff the band will ever write, and deserves to be highlighted as such. This was one of those songs that I would listen to 3 or 4 times in a row, living through the sheer bliss and enjoyment of its auditory excellence. And it was NUMBER 5 in 2012. Woo buddy!
Now, The Shins did put out a record last year, and it had a song or two that I somewhat enjoyed, but nothing really knocked me off my feet. Maybe next time?
2013 - Born of Osiris - M∆chine
Album: Tomorrow We Die ∆live
Best metal album, without question in 2013. Although "M∆chine" didn't end up being the highest ranked metal track, it served notice upon release that it was the summer smash track that was here to lay waste to your eardrums. "Divergency" and "Illusionist" also got massive play then and in years since, but it was "M∆chine" that I was blaring in my headphones, in my car and anywhere else I could produce sound. From the dramatic opening, to the slamming drums, to the splintering keys layered throughout, this song was about as good as it was gonna get for this year. It's a phenomenal workout song that keeps you pounding the pavement as you go. BOO was just barely on the outside looking in in 2015 with "The Other Half Of Me" and have been teasing a 2018 release. If they can drop it soon enough, they might just challenge the 2018 edition.
2014 - Chvrches - The Mother We Share
Album: The Bones of What You Believe
It wasn't my plan to fall for Lauren Mayberry. She didn't have to have such a captivating voice, be so jilted, and be a beautiful Scottish singer. But, there's no going back from here. Chvrches have 2 big time records and both have landed in the land of J1. For what it's worth, I think I could still listen to this song any time, any day. It's good for happy moods, sad moods, angry times, and really anywhere in between. "The way is long but you can make it easy on me" is such a strong line that it almost shocks you to hear it aloud. This record features "Gun", "We Sink", "Recover" and a whole bunch of other good stuff. Thank you, Lauren.
2015 - August Burns Red - Identity
Album: Found in Far Away Places
Despite only being in two countdowns, I can safely say that August Burns Red is one of the most consistent bands in the history of J1. I'm still curious how "Poor Millionaire" and "Salt & Light" ended up being on the outside looking in on 2011, and I'm still kicking myself for almost letting a song off of Sleddin' Hill make it in for 2012, but the band just keeps making great records with knockout hits. The only true lapse for me would've been 2013's Rescue and Restore, but even then "Fault Line" and "Count It All as Lost" are classic ABR hits. "Identity", goodness, it really bashes with a screaming solo and a breakdown that with literally shake your knees. "Now I realize, this who I and I've made my decision. You're either with or against me". Damn. Will their newest record surface this year? You'll have to wait a few more months to see... stay tuned!
2016 - blink-182 - Built This Pool
Album: California
When blink-182 got back together and dropped their first new single in years, I don't think it was a matter of whether they'd make the 2016 Countdown, it became a matter of what song and how high would they come. California is a humongous record, unquestionably my #1 record of 2016. "Bored to Death", "Rabbit Hole", "She's Out Of Her Mind", "Los Angeles"... the hits just don't stop coming. How then, you ask, did "Built This Pool" end up at #5?
The day the album dropped, my co-worker picked it up and played a few tracks for me at work. "You have to hear this little 20 second interlude they threw in though". It was "Built This Pool". At 16 seconds, it barely even qualifies as a song. And so I had to wrestle with myself, because "Los Angeles" would've been the actual song choice had I decided not to go with "Built This Pool". But the song itself literally transcended the year of 2016. It became a hashtag (#WhyIBuiltThisPool) and a part of our daily vernacular at work. It's hilarious and excellent and, well, it's blink-182. Unfortunately, it's so short that Last.FM doesn't even recognize that I've ever listened to it. But it's still as good as it gets for this record, and it's an amusing story near the top of the chart. Classic Blink.
When blink-182 got back together and dropped their first new single in years, I don't think it was a matter of whether they'd make the 2016 Countdown, it became a matter of what song and how high would they come. California is a humongous record, unquestionably my #1 record of 2016. "Bored to Death", "Rabbit Hole", "She's Out Of Her Mind", "Los Angeles"... the hits just don't stop coming. How then, you ask, did "Built This Pool" end up at #5?
The day the album dropped, my co-worker picked it up and played a few tracks for me at work. "You have to hear this little 20 second interlude they threw in though". It was "Built This Pool". At 16 seconds, it barely even qualifies as a song. And so I had to wrestle with myself, because "Los Angeles" would've been the actual song choice had I decided not to go with "Built This Pool". But the song itself literally transcended the year of 2016. It became a hashtag (#WhyIBuiltThisPool) and a part of our daily vernacular at work. It's hilarious and excellent and, well, it's blink-182. Unfortunately, it's so short that Last.FM doesn't even recognize that I've ever listened to it. But it's still as good as it gets for this record, and it's an amusing story near the top of the chart. Classic Blink.
2017 - Chris Cornell - The Promise
Album: The Promise
And, speaking of events that shook the foundation of an entire year, here's the last song ever released by Chris Cornell before his death. Where Cold is my all-time favorite band, Chris Cornell is far and away my all-time favorite singer. Be it with Soundgarden, Temple of the Dog or Audioslave, he knew how to make great music, and his solo stuff wasn't slouching either. I remember on the day he died, I had a massive anxiety attack and ended up calling off work. After an hour or so of trying to cope, I pulled up Spotify and started listening to any and all things Cornell. Fortunately, Spotify had put together a "This Is: Chris Cornell" playlist for me. I started it, and immediately was blessed with "The Promise". I was so overwhelmed by emotion that I had to stop after it finished. I started playing the playlist again, and "The Promise" once again came on. I skipped it and listened to the next song, and then suddenly it played again. It was as if the world was trying to tell me something. The rest, as they say is history. Thank you for everything, Chris.
And, speaking of events that shook the foundation of an entire year, here's the last song ever released by Chris Cornell before his death. Where Cold is my all-time favorite band, Chris Cornell is far and away my all-time favorite singer. Be it with Soundgarden, Temple of the Dog or Audioslave, he knew how to make great music, and his solo stuff wasn't slouching either. I remember on the day he died, I had a massive anxiety attack and ended up calling off work. After an hour or so of trying to cope, I pulled up Spotify and started listening to any and all things Cornell. Fortunately, Spotify had put together a "This Is: Chris Cornell" playlist for me. I started it, and immediately was blessed with "The Promise". I was so overwhelmed by emotion that I had to stop after it finished. I started playing the playlist again, and "The Promise" once again came on. I skipped it and listened to the next song, and then suddenly it played again. It was as if the world was trying to tell me something. The rest, as they say is history. Thank you for everything, Chris.
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