Todd In The Shadows Thread

I could totally see why "The Ballad of the Green Berets" became a hit at the time. It appealed to a section of the record buying public who didn't as often get pandered to music aimed at them in that era (aside from reprehensible records with Easy Listening versions of pop hits). So, when word of mouth spread about the song, all the people with dormant pockets flocked to the record store to buy it, and it became a hit.

Hell, my dad grew up in that era and he still loves it, though I feel like he had a relatively conservative upbringing.

I'd just love to see Todd tackling more '60s music. I've been wanting him to do a Top 10 Worst Hits of 196X for years now (though I realize how much work those list videos take for him).

edited 2nd Jul '16 10:53:49 AM by Odd1

Just popping in to say that I've now had "Living in a Box" in my head for two days.

Todd is one of the few reviewers I still bother with, and he's introduced me to a lot of awesome, and awesomely bad, music. (Sorry Todd, I'm pretty sure you didn't want to get anyone else to start listening to "Break Up" or "The Time (Dirty Bit)", but sometimes aural trainwrecks just do it for me.)

o hai Adric

Do I know you?

Sorry, you're in some of the other threads I frequent. It's nice to jump into another thread and see a familiar face (so to speak). I'll be quiet now.

I'd honestly like to see him tackle Suzanne Vega for OHW.

Would she count, technically? Luka hit top-5 in the US on its own, and the DNA remix of Tom's Diner (which I think is listed now as "DNA ft Suzanne Vega) hit #5 in the US after the original barely scraped the Hot 100.

Speaking of aural trainwrecks, have any of you heard the new Fergie single?

I cannot wait for Todd to take a hatchet to that ghastly excuse for a song.

The first band he covered, a-Ha, did have two hits, and I'd say "Luka" is more associated with her.

It's funny how Kim Wilde's "Kids in America" is her most enduring song worldwide but wasn't even her biggest US hit

edited 6th Jul '16 12:17:57 PM by PippingFool

Really? I only know hwe for "Tom's Diner".

I knew her first for Tom's Diner as well, and I think with that FOB song that sampled it last year, it might be more prominent in the mainstream consciousness than Luka.

@Tye Fergie's still making music? I thought she pretty much vanished after Black Eyed Peas flopped hard.

Is the band Toad the Wet Sprocket a one-hit wonder?

The Peas collapsed in part because she was leaving. Apparently her career is doing just fine. Not as big, but just fine.

Not that fine, as it turns out. A few days after I made that post, "MILF $" (yes, that's what it's called) plummeted off the itunes charts, despite going so far as to include Kim Kardashian in its music video. I was hoping to see Todd review it, but it looks like it'll be gone before he has a chance to get around to it.

Speaking of bad pop music, I've been wondering what songs Todd would include if he ever made a Top 10 list for the worst songs he's ever done full reviews of. You know, just a candid, out-of-character list, like Doug Walker does sometimes. I'd imagine it'd go something like this:

• 10. Little Things - One Direction
• 9. Tonight, Tonight - Hot Chelle Rae
• 8. Blah Blah Blah - Ke$ha feat. 3OH!3
• 7. Scream & Shout - will.i.am feat. Britney Spears
• 6. #Selfie - The Chainsmokers
• 5. Drive By - Train
• 4. 7 Years - Lukas Graham
• 3. Wiggle - Jason Derulo feat. Snoop Dogg
• 2. Break Up - Mario feat. Gucci Maine & Sean Garrett
• 1. Deuces - Chris Brown feat. Tyga and Kevin Mccall

Dishonorable Mentions: Bedrock, Tonight (I'm Fucking You), Sexy and I Know It, Demons, Watch Me (Whip/Nae Nae)

edited 10th Jul '16 7:07:39 AM by TyeDyeWildebeest

I still refuse to believe that Todd thinks songs like "Fight Song" to be worse than "Watch Me". The former's sin is mainly (inoffensive, IMO) blandness while the latter's is obnoxiousness mistaking itself for grandeur (god this makes me sound like an elitist hipster douchebag but fucking hell do YOU have a better description?).

Honestly, I kinda like Demons by Imagine Dragons.

What bothered me about it is what a massive step down it was from their previous single. How do you follow up a single as fascinating as Radioactive with... that?

But I think both Fight Song and Demons are related to Todd's whole "bad is the absence of good" philosophy. Though I don't completely agree with this viewpoint (I certainly don't think Tonight, Tonight is anywhere near as bad as Sexy and I Know It), I can kind of see where he's coming from. A song that's horrifically bad at least gives you something to talk about, while a song that's just mediocre and unremarkable doesn't even have that.

On that note, I wonder if he would be harder on "Replay" by Iyaz if he tried to review it today?

edited 10th Jul '16 10:10:43 AM by TyeDyeWildebeest

Honestly, I'd prefer something offensively bad to something so bland that it's not even worth reacting to it.

also
> "a single as fascinating as Radioactive"
I found "Radioactive" to be pretty bland too. The only thing it really had going for it was the big gulp of air near the beginning. Other than that, it was just boring and unremarkable. Even Weird Al's parody of it isn't that great (though I feel like I'm one of the few people who thought Mandatory Fun was a huge step back from Alpocalypse).

Speaking of Todd's least favourite songs, what are your most or least favourite tracks that he has covered? Mine are:

Top 5

1. fun.: "We Are Young"/ Gotye: "Somebody I Used to Know"
2. Onerepublic: "Counting Stars"
3. Mike Posner: "I Took A Bill in Ibiza"
4. Lady Gaga: "Alejandro"
5. Bastille: "Pompeii"

Bottom 5

1. Silento: "Watch Me"
2. Jason Derulo: "Wiggle"
3. Chainsmokers: "#selfie"
4. Far East Movement: "Like A G6"
5. Willow Smith: "Whip My Hair"

There were a lot more options for the latter list than the former.

Well, Todd has stated that his #1 picks for his worst year-end lists are usually songs that he deems fitting for the top, while his #2 picks piss him off the most.

At the same time, I think his list for last year saw kind of a reversal in that it was the bland, inoffensive song that was the runner-up while the one with the more animated level of suck was the champion. #2 had Todd discuss his pick for the worst artist of the year, and I can understand that. I mean, "Fight Song" is just your typical "girl power" anthem that thinks it's deeper than it really is, and going off of what Todd said about it, Rachel Platten herself has a personality on par with that of a piece of cardboard. I think her voice just doesn't have enough power to back this kind of song, and so he didn't say very much about her compared to other artists on the list like Taylor Swift or Meghan Trainor, both of whom he has had a lot to say about. #1, meanwhile had that "Let's Marvin Gaye and get it on" lyric that people would usually think is so out there and bizarre that it's hard to believe that such a song even exists.

I get that most people wouldn't consider, say, "Roar" worse than "Bitches Love Me," though, which is why I think Todd's "bad is the absence of good" rationale behind the positions of a few of the songs on his lists doesn't usually work for me. I think "Same Old Love" was on last year's list for the same line of reasoning—Todd simply has a distaste for Selena Gomez, although I think the song is just mediocre. As he said, it probably hasn't made other people's top tens.

Well, considering that he has mostly reviewed bad songs, that's hardly surprising.

edited 10th Jul '16 1:53:45 PM by BurntMario

Really? I mean, you're entitled to your opinion, but... really? The thundering, dubstep infused percussion? The nuclear holocaust-themed lyrics? None of that was exciting to you?

Hmm...

...you know, I set out to make a Top 5 list, but I decided that I'd have to make too many painful cuts if I did. I'm doing a top 10 for each.

Top 10 Best:

• 10. Suit & Tie - Justin Timberlake feat. Jay-Z
• 9. I Took a Pill in Ibiza - Mike Posner
• 8. Turn Down for What - DJ Snake feat. Lil Jon
• 7. Pompeii - Bastille
• 6. Hello - Adele
• 5. Gangnam Style - PSY
• 4. Bad Romance - Lady Gaga
• 3. Thrift Shop - Macklemore & Ryan Lewis feat. Wanz
• 2. N***as in Paris - Jay-Z & Kanye West
• 1. Somebody That I Used to Know - Gotye feat. Kimbra

Top 10 Worst:

• 10. #Selfie - The Chainsmokers
• 9. We Can't Stop - Miley Cyrus
• 8. Hey, Soul Sister - Train
• 7. Scream and Shout - will.i.am feat. Britney Spears
• 6. Wiggle - Jason Derulo feat. Snoop Dogg
• 5. Break Up - Mario feat. Gucci Maine & Sean Garrett
• 4. Deuces - Chris Brown feat. Tyga & Kevin Mccall
• 3. Watch Me (Whip/Nae Nae) - Silento
• 2. Sexy and I Know It - LMFAO
• 1. Blah Blah Blah - Ke$ha feat. 3OH!3

edited 10th Jul '16 2:08:30 PM by TyeDyeWildebeest

I find "Radioactive" kind of a drudge myself. I mean, that's fitting as far as the postapocalyptic theme goes, but it's not something I want to listen to often. (I find dubstep mind-bogglingly overrated to begin with, so that doesn't help.)

"Radioactive" is just too slow for its own good. Now, "It's Time," on the other hand, is fucking amazing hands down.

I agree with the entirety of this post. "Radioactive" has interesting elements in it, but it just doesn't know what to do with them. The nuclear war-tinged lyrics, those have been done way better in other songs (my personal favorite being "99 Red Balloons" by Nena, which has the added bonus of Lyrical Dissonance with how upbeat and poppy the song is); they don't really say anything interesting about the situation in the song. The dubstep beat was a nice idea for how to propel the song forward and it certainly fits with those lyrics, but it gets repetitive and boring really quickly. It certainly doesn't help that it clips the mix—I feel like if you looked at the audio graph for this song it'd be a solid brick...listener fatigue is a thing. Even Kanye West songs aren't mixed this badly in terms of loudness, and those are pretty notoriously bad in that department.

I just listened to it again to gather my thoughts. I do like the introduction and the way it drops into the beat, and I'll reiterate that that gasp for air was a nice touch, but aside from that? Meh. They tried. Clearly it worked for them, with how huge it was. "It's Time" is still a FAR superior song.