I had actually decided not to write on this topic – but since a bad exam has sealed the fate of my being allowed to buy a fresh album in the near future, and music is the only thing I can write a review on right now(don’t ask why), I finally began to give this one a thought.
Ok guys to tell the truth, it’s time for the compilation of my yearly Greatest Hits CD. Wondering what that one is? Quite simple – for one who has to thrive on a monthly budget of Rs. 150, it’s not possible to buy each and every great album around the year and I don’t try either. I have a better alternative – go to the friendly local music store(friendly local music store because I buy all my friends’ cassettes and CDs from there) with a list in your hand in the last week of the year, and get the best hits of the year CDfied in a special compilation only for you.
So here’s the list of the songs that are going to my CD this year:
BRING ME TO LIFE(Evanescence)
This one I think isn’t only the greatest song of 2003, but is gonna go down history as one of the best creations of Gothic Rock ever seen. Most of us probably have already heard this song, so I’m avoiding explanation ….
AICHA(Outlandish)
A Pakistani, A Moroccan and A South African put together in a band from Denmark, a redone version of an Arabic classic(the original was done by Cheb Khaled) – and you get an winner! After a long time a really fantastic song that doesn’t talk of sex, violence or fast-paced life, or of the most boring topic that spells l-o-v-e.
WHITE FLAG(Dido)
I loved this song more after I took notice of its lyrics(which I never do on first hearing). Perhaps because it celebrates my kind of love, one thing I used to think was extinct from this planet. It proudly declares ‘I’m in love, and always will be…’ even after the break-up and with no hopes of reconciliation either – makes inability to move on look cool, and makes me think there are other people on earth who share my feeling. Wonderfully sung with a voice richly filled with emotions.
IN DA CLUB(50 CENT)
50 Cent might still not be a rapper of the Eminem rank, but there’s only one No. 1 baby! That doesn’t make this song any less dance-worthy. A number-one club track with awesome rhythm and beats.
WHERE IS THE LOVE(The Black-Eyed Peas feat. Justin Timberlake)
Some prefer the other hit of the BEP Shut Up over this one, but here’s an honest confession – I absolutely hate that track, almost as much as I love this one. BEP has been long ignored in the music scene for not belonging to the gangsterish genre of hip hop stars, but this song invariably proves that good hip hop cans still be enjoyed without hustlin’ aroun’ da hood, gangsta style!
POWERLESS(Nelly Furtado)
The like a bird girl is back from a self-imposed slumber after her last album Whoa Nelly! and this one is just as enjoyable as her earlier hits, with her distinctive free-spirit style that I always admired.
CRAZY IN LOVE(Beyonce feat. Jay Z)
This is definitely one of the biggest commercial hits of the year and it’s quite beautifully composed and sung, although the video is more interesting as usual.
ADDICTED(Enrique Iglesias)
The first hit of the latest album of the hot Latino star(I’m soon gonna write a review on that one) – you might not like this one on the first hearing but it grows on you. The lyrics of Enrique grow from rubbish to rubbisher with each song, so considering his last hit Don’t Turn Off The Lights which was just a load of crap – this is no better. But the music is quite good and the passionate voice of the singer makes up for most of the drawbacks. The video is a feast for the eyes, as most Enrique videos are.
ME AGAINST THE MUSIC(Britney Spears feat. Madonna)
I know a lot of people say Britney Spears couldn’t get worse and hardcore Britney-haters have probably already started to sharpen their ‘spears’ for me – but seriously, I don’t think the girl is that much bad. After all, the larger part of the music industry is selling sex to fill their back accounts! However you have to see my upcoming review on In The Zone for continuing with this argument – for now let’s just say that computer-generated voice and those computer-generated lyrics get me quite addicted, although just like the last song, I find the lyrics rubbish(but then when was Britney Spears anything but rubbish?).
SLOW(Kylie Minogue)
To tell the truth, I don’t find anything intriguing in this 90%-filled-with-orgasmic-breathings track and the video with all those self-gratifying semi-nude men on poolside don’t appeal to my tastes either(I know I’m a minority here) – but this track has been quite a big hit and bagged the No. 1 place in UK and many other countries I don’t remember, so perhaps it has really got something that’ll catch on after a few listenings. Wondering what that would be!
The ten ends here, but just to mention, these tracks are also going to my CD – Jaleo(Ricky Martin), * Stan(Eminem feat. Dido), *Lost For Words(Ronan Keating), Stuck(Stacie Orrico), * If You Come To Me(Atomic Kitten), *St. Anger *(Metallica), *Bigger Than My Body(John Mayer) and Not Gonna Get Us(TATU).