AMF 2010s Songs + Albums Predictions

Sweepstakes Ron · Post by **Sweepstakes Ron** » Fri Jul 10, 2020 8:19 pm

To be fair, 5 of those songs from 2010 are from a single album.

Jackson · Post by **Jackson** » Fri Jul 10, 2020 8:51 pm

Nick wrote: ↑Fri Jul 10, 2020 7:47 pm I've gone through and totaled the number of songs in our top 100 by year. Here we go:

2010: 21
2011: 11
2012: 10
2013: 13
2014: 8
2015: 15
2016: 8
2017: 5
2018: 3
2019: 6

Some interesting coincidences here (2013 has 13 songs, 2015 has 15 songs). But man, is this just anti-recency bias or did the 2010s really fall off quality-wise in the last 3 years? 2010 alone has almost as many songs in our top 100 (21) as 2016-2019 (22). Was 2010 just that great of a year? (Well I think so at least).

This will be even more pronounced as the list goes on. I'd expect at least 15 of the top 20 to be from the first half of the decade. I looked at my own list and I had a similar pattern, though with a different year on top:
2010: 9
2011: 9
2012: 16
2013: 19
2014: 10
2015: 8
2016: 8
2017: 5
2018: 9
2019: 7

I do think anti-recency bias is a factor, but I also just think the early part of the decade had a lot of special music (for me, 2012-14 specifically were the highlights).

panam · Post by **panam** » Fri Jul 10, 2020 8:54 pm

Nick wrote: ↑Fri Jul 10, 2020 7:47 pm But man, is this just anti-recency bias or did the 2010s really fall off quality-wise in the last 3 years? 2010 alone has almost as many songs in our top 100 (21) as 2016-2019 (22). Was 2010 just that great of a year? (Well I think so at least).

I think 2010 it was the last year of consensus, then it came some divergent times in music with some little wave of some agreements and that's it.

Listyguy · Post by **Listyguy** » Fri Jul 10, 2020 10:01 pm

Nick wrote: ↑Fri Jul 10, 2020 7:47 pm But man, is this just anti-recency bias or did the 2010s really fall off quality-wise in the last 3 years? 2010 alone has almost as many songs in our top 100 (21) as 2016-2019 (22). Was 2010 just that great of a year? (Well I think so at least).

I do think that there is an anti-recency bias in the sense that a song from 2010 has had a lot more time to grow on a listener than a song from 2019. But 2010 was also a pretty great year for, so it's probably a combination of factors.

Jackson · Post by **Jackson** » Fri Jul 10, 2020 10:10 pm

Nick wrote: ↑Fri Jul 10, 2020 6:47 pm 10. Beach House | Zebra
29. Drake | Hotline Bling
41. Grimes | Kill V. Maim
83. Radiohead | Daydreaming
89. Sufjan Stevens | Fourth of July
92. Taylor Swift | Shake It Off
99. Weyes Blood | Everyday

I'd bet there are at least a couple surprises with 1 or 2 of these missing the list entirely in favor of some mystery songs, though I couldn't tell you what those might be.

EDIT: After going through the individual lists again, maybe not. These seemed to have more support than I remembered!

prosecutorgodot · Post by **prosecutorgodot** » Fri Jul 10, 2020 10:44 pm

Between my tentative top 100 and Nick's list (plus Song for Zula and Shake It Off make 99), the differences are:

my list: "the system only dreams in total darkness", "somebody that I used to know", "stylo"

Nick's list: "everyday", "fourth of july"

I cheated and checked the lists thread - i'm not sure that Everyday and Fourth of July have the votes to make it to the top 100.

i'm not sure about "Stylo", so there could definitely still be a mystery song.

Sweepstakes Ron · Post by **Sweepstakes Ron** » Fri Jul 10, 2020 11:40 pm

Stylo was already at #351. But "The System Only Dreams in Total Darkness" is probably more likely than "Fourth of July" or "Everyday".

Nick · Post by **Nick** » Sat Jul 11, 2020 12:10 am

Okay, I decided to cheat and look at the lists thread and I can confirm that both "Everyday" and "Fourth of July" will almost certainly not make the top 100. And that "The System Only Dreams in Total Darkness" will.

So that puts us back at 99 songs confirmed.

Sweepstakes Ron · Post by **Sweepstakes Ron** » Sat Jul 11, 2020 12:14 am

Okay then, I think the last one is "Ready to Start".

Nick · Post by **Nick** » Sat Jul 11, 2020 12:16 am

Sweepstakes Ron wrote: ↑Sat Jul 11, 2020 12:14 am Okay then, I think the last one is "Ready to Start".

I think you're right, nice job.

Nick · Post by **Nick** » Sat Jul 11, 2020 12:18 am

Nick · Post by **Nick** » Sat Jul 11, 2020 12:19 am

...and this is the new, probably correct, yearly breakdown.

2010: 22
2011: 11
2012: 10
2013: 13
2014: 8
2015: 14
2016: 8
2017: 6
2018: 3
2019: 5

Nick · Post by **Nick** » Sat Jul 11, 2020 12:47 am

The top albums in terms of songs in our top 100 are...

My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy (5)
To Pimp a Butterfly (3)
The Suburbs (3)

...which, not coincidentally, is a pretty good bet for our top 3 albums in the albums poll (though Blackstar could certainly sneak in there somewhere).

Toni · Post by **Toni** » Sat Jul 11, 2020 1:00 am

I thought “Wesley’s Theory” had a chance to appear (no, I didn’t look at the list with the probably remaining 100)

About the years, I remember 2010 was already an incredible year in its time, and so did 2015. On the other side, I always considered 2014 a very weak year, but nothing that compares to 2017 and, specially, 2019.

Toni · Post by **Toni** » Sat Jul 11, 2020 1:06 am

Toni wrote: ↑Thu Jul 09, 2020 5:55 pm My prediction for the top 15:

1) Get Lucky
2) Runaway
3) Midnight City
4) Pyramids
5) Lazarus
6) Let It Happen
7) Bloodbuzz Ohio
8) Video Games
9) The Blacker the Berry
10) Blackstar
11) Reflektor
12) Seasons
13) Dancing On My Own
14) Pedestrian At Best
15) Oblivion

It seems like I’m wrong about Video Games being out of the top 5. Maybe there will be split votes between Lazarus and Blackstar, putting them lower than I expect. I could see Reflektor getting to the top 10 instead of Blackstar, then.

Jackson · Post by **Jackson** » Sat Jul 11, 2020 1:37 am

Nick wrote: ↑Sat Jul 11, 2020 12:16 am
Sweepstakes Ron wrote: ↑Sat Jul 11, 2020 12:14 am Okay then, I think the last one is "Ready to Start".
I think you're right, nice job.

Just what we needed, another 2010 song!

Nick · Post by **Nick** » Sat Jul 11, 2020 1:45 am

Okay, top 10 prediction:

1. Dancing On My Own
2. Runaway
3. Get Lucky
4. Midnight City
5. Video Games
6. Lazarus
7. Let It Happen
8. Pyramids
9. Blackstar
10. Oblivion

Jackson · Post by **Jackson** » Sat Jul 11, 2020 1:49 am

Nick · Post by **Nick** » Sat Jul 11, 2020 1:58 pm

Nick · Post by **Nick** » Sat Jul 11, 2020 2:04 pm

Yearly breakdown:

2010: 13
2011: 6
2012: 6
2013: 5
2014: 4
2015: 9
2016: 5
2017: 1
2018: 0
2019: 1

Rob · Post by **Rob** » Sat Jul 11, 2020 7:54 pm

The top 50 is a real Kanye Fest, isn't it? As someone unconvinced by his brilliance that's a bit hard to take, but here we are.

Listyguy wrote: ↑Fri Jul 10, 2020 6:05 pm I wasn't expecting "DNA" to place higher than "Humble," but I'm completely in favor of that outcome.

Agreed!

Nassim · Post by **Nassim** » Sat Jul 11, 2020 8:11 pm

Only 2 songs I kinda dislike and a bunch of personal favs so I'm fine with that top 50

Rocky Raccoon · Post by **Rocky Raccoon** » Sat Jul 11, 2020 9:01 pm

Well, 29 of my top 200 songs in the top 50. The results have been somewhat unpredictable so far, so trying to guess the top 10 without scanning the personal lists is kind of impossible. I'll just predict "Runaway" as No. 1.

Toni · Post by **Toni** » Sat Jul 11, 2020 11:37 pm

I’m loving this list, specially cause lots of songs too much overrated by the critics are where they really should be. Among those, I think just “Your Best American Girl”, “Cranes In the Sky” and “Formation” have remained (2016 looks to have been kind of a weird year for musical critic). On the otherside, “Fuck You” is a forum darling which I don’t get.

Since Shüttelbirne will post until #12 tomorrow, it’s likely that #11 and #10 will be almost tied.
After some changes, my final prediction for the top 15:

1) Get Lucky
2) Runaway
3) Midnight City
4) Video Games
5) Let It Happen
6) Pyramids
7) Bloodbuzz Ohio
8) Lazarus
9) Reflektor
10) Dancing On My Own
11) The Blacker the Berry
12) Blackstar
13) Seasons
14) Pedestrian At Best
15) Oblivion

The remaining MBDTF and TPAB tracks might all show up between #16 and #25, along with Sprawl, Rolling in the Deep and Dance Yrself Clean.

PS: just 17 of my top 150 are in this final 50, but 6 of them are in my top 10

prosecutorgodot · Post by **prosecutorgodot** » Sun Jul 12, 2020 12:20 am

not really a prediction, but:
my average score for #51-100 is 7.2
my average score for #1-50 is 7.8
so I am certainly not unhappy with our top 100.

if i had to guess the #1, it would be Midnight City or Runaway, same as our all-time poll.

Toni · Post by **Toni** » Sun Jul 12, 2020 12:23 am

I also think (and wish) Tightrope can do well. Top 20, maybe!

Holden · Post by **Holden** » Sun Jul 12, 2020 12:46 am

I don’t hate Runaway, and it certainly wouldn’t be a terrible winner, but I would prefer basically any of Toni’s top fifteen prediction over it.

Arsalan · Post by **Arsalan** » Sun Jul 12, 2020 12:23 pm

Romain wrote: ↑Wed Jul 08, 2020 12:21 pm
Nick wrote: ↑Wed Jul 08, 2020 12:14 pm Anyway, here are some other songs you missed that could be in the top 100:

The Black Keys- Lonely Boy

If Lonely Boy is not in the top 10, I'll dye my hair pink and my beard blue and go for a naked walk down the street.

Now it's time for changing...

Romain · Post by **Romain** » Sun Jul 12, 2020 12:36 pm

Arsalan wrote: ↑Sun Jul 12, 2020 12:23 pm
Romain wrote: ↑Wed Jul 08, 2020 12:21 pm
Nick wrote: ↑Wed Jul 08, 2020 12:14 pm Anyway, here are some other songs you missed that could be in the top 100:

The Black Keys- Lonely Boy

If Lonely Boy is not in the top 10, I'll dye my hair pink and my beard blue and go for a naked walk down the street.
Now it's time for changing...

Hmmm, how can I say, it's my finger that didn't hit the right key, it's absolutely totally and obviously obvious that I wanted to write "Top 30" of course! Voilà voili voilou !

Holden · Post by **Holden** » Sun Jul 12, 2020 1:08 pm

Holden · Post by **Holden** » Sun Jul 12, 2020 1:10 pm

Only one song from after 2013 in the Top 11 is a pretty interesting trend.

Nick · Post by **Nick** » Sun Jul 12, 2020 2:08 pm

Holden wrote: ↑Sun Jul 12, 2020 1:10 pm Only one song from after 2013 in the Top 11 is a pretty interesting trend.

I honestly expect the latest album in our top 20 to be Blackstar (2016) at this rate.

Listyguy · Post by **Listyguy** » Sun Jul 12, 2020 2:09 pm

Only one song from the second half of the decade left, and it's from 2015. The 12-20 range has two more from 2015 and one from 2017.

panam · Post by **panam** » Sun Jul 12, 2020 4:00 pm

It's relieve to see there's no more than one song per artist in the top 10.

panam · Post by **panam** » Sun Jul 12, 2020 4:02 pm

I'm still thinking that the number one will be a European song.

Nick · Post by **Nick** » Sun Jul 12, 2020 4:15 pm

My best stab at the top 11:

1. Dancing On My Own
2. Runaway
3. Get Lucky
4. Midnight City
5. Video Games
6. Lazarus
7. Pyramids
8. Oblivion
9. Rolling in the Deep
10. Sprawl II (Mountains Beyond Mountains)
11. Bloodbuzz Ohio

Romain · Post by **Romain** » Sun Jul 12, 2020 6:57 pm

My personal ranking:

Lazarus (10/10)
Video Games (9.5/10)
Midnight City (8.5/10)
Sprawl II (Mountains Beyond Mountains) (8/10)
Runaway (7/10)
Get Lucky (7/10)
Bloodbuzz Ohio (6.5/10)
Oblivion (6/10)
Pyramids (5/10)
Rolling in the Deep (5/10)

Dancing On My Own (4/10)

Even though I'm not on the same wavelength for some of these songs, I can understand that they're here, but Robyn's song, from the beginning, I don't understand, but then not at all what she's doing here. What makes it stand out from the other songs for those who love it? I'm really curious.

Rocky Raccoon · Post by **Rocky Raccoon** » Sun Jul 12, 2020 7:05 pm

I'm on the same wavelength as Romain with the Robyn song. Curious also. I don't really get the strong attraction for "Oblivion," either, and I've tried.

Toni · Post by **Toni** » Sun Jul 12, 2020 8:47 pm

I don’t get Oblivion’s appeal too.
About Dancing On My Own, maybe it is seen as kind of a precursor to the whole poptimism wave. As a pure pop track, it is grand, with some heavy synths, poignant vocals and melodies, and, most of all, a story that blends pain, self-empowerment and a bit of a weird behavioral. The fact that this story is told over hard, strong, danceable beats is what turned the track an instant classic. Surely not the first song to combine all these elements, but one of the most well succeeded in doing so. Deserves the #20 range, though. I personally prefer Hang With Me and some others from the smoother Honey.
For me, the best songs of the decade actually begin to appear at the second half of critics top 10 and so on. The first 5 look more like songs they consider “important” rather than really the best.

Elder · Post by **Elder** » Sun Jul 12, 2020 9:11 pm

Dancing On My Own is a great song, I like both the album version and the pop version
The melody of the song combined with Robyn's unique performance makes me think of myself and not someone else, this is fantastic. which does not happen with the British cover that sounds more submissive and silly.
Oblivion is also great (they are the first two in the Top 11) the real history of the song (which is not explicit in the lyrics), the way the video is conducted, the music seems to be flirting with danger permanently. It is a unique composition.

Spraw II completes my Top 3

In addition, each with their own opinions.

Elder · Post by **Elder** » Sun Jul 12, 2020 9:21 pm

I also have some songs on that list that didn't captivate me.

Video Games I didn't follow the drama and Midnight City seems a little too adolescent to me. Although I recognize that they are good songs, they never arouse my feelings.

Bloodbuzz Ohio forces a sentimentality that didn't captivate me, it seems a little common and Get Lucky didn't age very well with me, I think I heard it too much.
Lazarus has a more obvious lyrics and a less interesting melody than Blackstar, maybe if Blackstar didn't exist, I would like it a lot more.

Anyway, none of these songs are bad and as I have a habit of changing my mind about things that I am critical of, I will stop here

Rob · Post by **Rob** » Sun Jul 12, 2020 10:50 pm

I voted for five of these: Video Games (top 10 even), Bloodbuzz Ohio, Rolling in the Deep, Oblivion and Lazarus.

I also like Sprawl II and Get Lucky, but obviously not enough to vote for them.

I'm fine with Dancing on My Own, Pyramids and Midnight City. Pyramids is a good example of a song I see the greatness of, but I just don't feel anything for myself. Midnight City is the opposite, a song I see no brilliance in and whose status is a mystery to me and it passes as background music for me.

Finally, Runaway is easily my least favorite of the group, thanks to the weak vocals by both Kanye and Pusha that ruin the song for me. As an instrumental I would have liked it more.

I don't have a clue which one will win this game, to be honest. I'm sure it won't be Rolling in the Deep, Lazarus, Sprawl II or Bloodbuzz Ohio, but otherwise nothing would surprise me.

Jackson · Post by **Jackson** » Mon Jul 13, 2020 12:46 am

Here is my best guess:

1. Runaway
2. Midnight City
3. Video Games
4. Dancing On My Own
5. Oblivion
6. Lazarus
7. Get Lucky
8. Pyramids
9. Rolling in the Deep
10. Bloodbuzz Ohio
11. Sprawl II (Mountains Beyond Mountains)

I would rank the songs like this:

[Songs that made my list]
1. Midnight City
2. Oblivion
3. Get Lucky
4. Lazarus
5. Dancing On My Own
6. Pyramids
7. Rolling in the Deep

[Songs that did not make my list]
8. Video Games
9. Runaway
10. Sprawl II (Mountains Beyond Mountains)
11. Bloodbuzz Ohio

Nick · Post by **Nick** » Mon Jul 13, 2020 2:02 am

“Bloodbuzz Ohio” is the only song in the top 11 that I would be totally unsurprised if it didn’t place in the top 100. It’s a great song, but I had no idea it had this much love on the forum.

andyd1010 · Post by **andyd1010** » Mon Jul 13, 2020 2:39 am

Nick wrote: ↑Mon Jul 13, 2020 2:02 am “Bloodbuzz Ohio” is the only song in the top 11 that I would be totally unsurprised if it didn’t place in the top 100. It’s a great song, but I had no idea it had this much love on the forum.

Well it is about to win the 2010 tournament, where it already beat Dancing on My Own and Runaway. I didn't expect it to do this well either, but I'll take it!

acroamor · Post by **acroamor** » Mon Jul 13, 2020 3:18 am

My personal ranking of the top 11 would go something like:

Major favorites that get me excited every time I hear them:
Midnight City
Runaway
Oblivion
Pyramids
Sprawl II (Mountains Beyond Mountains)

Wonderful songs that I have strong affection for:
Bloodbuzz Ohio
Video Games
Lazarus
Rolling in the Deep

Not for me:
Dancing On My Own
Get Lucky

Live in Phoenix · Post by **Live in Phoenix** » Mon Jul 13, 2020 3:43 pm

Oblivion - 10
Pyramids - 10
Rolling in the Deep - 10
Video Games - 10

Get Lucky -- 8

Runaway -- 7
Sprawl II (Mountains Beyond Mountains) -- 7

Lazarus -- 6

Bloodbuzz Ohio -- 5
Midnight City -- 5

Dancing On My Own -- 4

Myself · Post by **Myself** » Mon Jul 13, 2020 3:59 pm

Lazarus 10
Pyramids 10

Oblivion 9
Rolling in the Deep 9
Video Games 9

Dancing On My Own 8
Sprawl II (Mountains Beyond Mountains) 8
Midnight City 8
Runaway 8

Bloodbuzz Ohio 7

Get Lucky 5 (Giorgio by Moroder 10)

Future Critic · Post by **Future Critic** » Mon Jul 13, 2020 4:23 pm

If there's one thing this poll has proven to me, it's that the taste of AMers is truly great. I really believe that our picks have been, in many cases, better than the critics' consensus for the decade. Listening to the full playlist has been such a treat, so thank you all!

With that said, I find the top 11 to be pretty disappointing. For the most part, I understand the picks - but I don't really feel they represent the best of the decade.

Runaway - somehow this is great song, but it's really quite simple and lacks all of the creativity and wit of Ye's best songs (like Jesus Walks and Gold Digger).
Midnight City - perhaps the best hook of the decade, but then it becomes every bit as repetitive as Call Me Maybe.
Video Games - I love Lana Del Rey and this song made her famous, but I personally feel she has many songs better than this.
Dancing On My Own - the one song in this group that is nearly flawless.
Oblivion - I actually have a hard time listening to this one, even though I like many of Grimes' other songs. For some reason, this one sounds like scratching a chalkboard to me.
Lazarus - Certainly not easy listening, and I sometimes wonder if Blackstar would have received as much praise if Bowie hadn't passed away around the time of its release. It's probably just too dark for my taste, but I don't think this would exactly get any club going.
Get Lucky - probably the biggest song of the decade, and a great one, but it was so overplayed that it's tough not to be a bit sick of it. Still, probably deserves to he #1.
8. Pyramids - Feels worthy to be in the top 10 - it's the standout song from one of the best albums of the decade. Only problem is that I don't think it's anywhere near one of the ten best songs.
9. Rolling in the Deep - the song that made Adele a phenomenon, yet I feel that she has better, less-known songs.
10. Bloodbuzz Ohio - One of the best songs by one of the best bands of the decade, yet this still doesn't feel anywhere close to a top ten song to me.
11. Sprawl II (Mountains Beyond Mountains) - a beautiful song from one of the very best albums of the decade, but I don't feel like it deserves to be in the top 11 for the entire decade.

The only song that feels completely worthy to be the song of the decade, didn't even crack the top ten. That song is LCD Soundsystem's Dance Yrself Clean.

Perhaps all of this shows that it hasn't been a great decade for music, or perhaps I've just gotten more out of touch with music, but when I look at the best songs of the '90s or '00s, they standout so much more than these 11 songs to me. Am I the only one that feels this way?

Sweepstakes Ron · Post by **Sweepstakes Ron** » Mon Jul 13, 2020 4:49 pm

Future Critic wrote: ↑Mon Jul 13, 2020 4:23 pmand I sometimes wonder if Blackstar would have received as much praise if Bowie hadn't passed away around the time of its release

I've heard numerous people ponder this same idea, and I say that it's completely futile to consider seeing as Bowie made the album specifically because he knew he was dying.

Had I voted, all of these would make my list except for "Lazarus" and "Bloodbuzz Ohio". I'm not too huge on The National but they do have some songs I've enjoyed, but this one in particular hasn't captured me. I feel kinda shitty for not loving "Lazarus" very much, there's just little about it that sticks with me. I always found "I Can't Give Everything Away" to be the most affecting song on the album.