Retro Album Review: Nimrod by Green Day

Goddamn I am really bad at keeping promises. I should've been finished with going through Green Day's discography at this point but here I am. Still have yet to do the fifth album out of twelve. Bleh. Anyway, can Nimrod live up to the highs set by Dookie and Insomniac? Let's find out.

Billboard Hot 100 Highlights January 7th, 2017

Well, it finally happened. The Weeknd got his third number 1. Not quite as good as Can't Feel My Face in my book but...I'll just let you finish that sentence. Also we got a lot of Christmas music, a lot of which had somehow never hit the Hot 100 before. Weird, but it'll all be gone next week. HIGHLIGHTS TIME!

My Favorite Albums and Underperforming Songs of 2016

Because there was so much good this year that didn't get very popular. The reason I'm doing this sort of thing as a blog post rather than a video is because I'd want to talk at length about every song, but that would be exhausting to edit and watch. This post will be an easy to digest, straightforward list. No particular order.

There's three sections to this list. First there's the songs that hit the Hot 100 in 2016 but did not make the year end list. This will not include songs I think can make the year end for 2017, like Water Under The Bridge or HandClap. Anything else is fair game though, regardless of peak. Second will be everything that didn't chart, including singles and album cuts. As long as it or the album it was a part of released in 2016 and I first heard it then, it counts. Finally, I'll be listing some of my favorite albums from the year. I didn't listen to a /ton/ of albums, so I might've left out some favorites of the year, and I apologize in advance for that. None of these will be in any particular order, just an fyi. Here goes.

Billboard Hot 100 Highlights December 31st, 2016/4 Your Eyez Only Album Review

You know, for a song that mostly got big off a meme, you would think Black Beatles would've been unseated by now. But unfortunately due to the latest drama going down in the music industry, the thing that might be unseating it could be...Camila Cabello. Don't let the numbers fool you, that song is making a comeback next week. In the meantime, we've got a J. Cole album bomb. Happy new year. HIGHLIGHTS TIME!

Billboard Hot 100 Highlights December 24th, 2016

Twas the night before Christmas and all through the...wait. I wish. I've still got some school left. But, Christmas music is happening more on the Hot 100, that's for sure. Along with other things. Yeah. HIGHLIGHTS TIME!

Album Review: 24K Magic by Bruno Mars

So, I haven't done a proper album review in quite some time. In fact the last modern album review I did was...Sremmlife 2, oh God. Well, now I guess it's time to play catch-up, starting with Bruno Mars' complete acceptance of luxury porn funk. I have high hopes. And I think you can deliver, Bruno.

Every Song on Billboard's 2016 Year End List Scored

List season isn't truly over for me until I do one of these things.

I was originally gonna do this as a video as well as a blog post, but honestly, I think I've done enough intense video editing this month. At least until I make CHART TOPPER SIMULATOR 2016. Anyway, I scored every song on the year end list out of 5. Here's the scale:

0 - Shit
1 - Bad
2 - Meh
3 - Decent
4 - Good
5 - Great

My friend Halston also did a post like this so you can click that link to check out his to compare and contrast.

I'll also be including a simple text version of my worst and best lists at the bottom for quick reference. If you want them in video form, click the links. Anyway, here we go.

Billboard Hot 100 Highlights December 17th, 2016

As expected, we got another Weeknd album bomb. Turns out I didn't really need to review the album anyway, since I'll get to talk about every song here. If you're wondering, I give it a 6/10. Unfortunately it wasn't enough to get Starboy to number 1. Sigh. Oh, and there's also some Moana songs too. I'll be seeing that movie on Saturday. Hope it's good! HIGHLIGHTS TIME!

Billboard Hot 100 Highlights December 10th, 2016

It figures that a busy day for me is the day we get over a dozen new entries on the Hot 100. Bleh. Stagnant Top 10, the rest, anyone's game. HIGHLIGHTS TIME!

Billboard Hot 100 Highlights December 3, 2016

And thus 2017's Billboard year has started. What awaits us? Hopefully something good. HIGHLIGHTS TIME!

Billboard Hot 100 Highlights November 26th, 2016

And now, we finally have a new number 1. All thanks to a meme. Eh, I'll take it. And Billboard's year has finished, meaning year-end lists, here we come. But until then, HIGHLIGHTS TIME!

Billboard Hot 100 Highlights November 19th, 2016

More Drake. More stagnation. A Meek Mill album bomb? Okay, did not expect that. Bleh. The year's almost over. Bleh. HIGHLIGHTS TIME!

Retro Album Review: Insomniac by Green Day

Told you it wouldn't take long for me to get to this! We're back in unfamiliar territory for me, since I've only heard three songs on this album previously. But, it's still acclaimed by fans, so I'm excited to get into it nonetheless. At this point Green Day are superstars, and have a lot to prove. Do they succeed in my eye? Let's find out.

Retro Album Review: Dookie by Green Day

Well it took way too long to get to this. And I don't really have an excuse beyond just putting it off. Anyway, this is gonna be the first time I review an album I've heard before. In fact, I kinda know this album inside and out. Heard every song multiple times, love 'em all, you get the idea. I know that'll spoil the end rating a bit, but I don't care. Here we go.

Billboard Hot 100 Highlights November 12, 2016

Two weeks left. Still nothing to replace Closer at the top. This is getting ridiculous. Also more Drake. Fun. HIGHLIGHTS TIME!

Billboard Hot 100 Highlights November 5th, 2016

Three weeks left. That's still hard to believe. That Billboard's year is almost over. But I guess the actual year is approaching fast. Hopefully we get a new number 1 before the end of the year, but at this point that's looking unlikely. Sigh. HIGHLIGHTS TIME!

Billboard Hot 100 Highlights October 29th, 2016

One month left in Billboard's year. Even though right now it's still set to October. Weird. Oh, also Bruno Mars finally returns. Which is awesome. And that dance rap song got an enormous boost up the charts. Because we can't have nice things without also having bad things. Sigh. HIGHLIGHTS TIME!

Billboard Hot 100 Highlights October 22nd, 2016

Another Chainsmokers song debuts in the Top 20 as we approach the last few weeks of the Billboard year. Meanwhile, we get...Beyoncé's sister? Okay. Apparently Solange was a member of Destiny's Child and she's finally getting attention on the Hot 100 again. Even other than that, there's a lot to talk about this week. HIGHLIGHTS TIME!

Retro Album Review: Kerplunk by Green Day

Radio Revolution came out yesterday. But of course I'm going through Green Day's discography before I get to that album. I can't wait. Green Day fans seem to hold this album in high regard, even though it came out before they made it big with Dookie. Time to see for myself what it's all about. I'm not going to be talking about the last four tracks since they're just bonus tracks from the Sweet Children EP. I might give it a listen on my own time later though.

Billboard Hot 100 Highlights October 15th, 2016

The Weeknd makes it back in the Top 10 and it's with a song that's actually pretty great. So I'm on board. Awesome. We've also got kind of a slow week as the second One Direction solo career finally starts and some other smaller things happen. HIGHLIGHTS TIME!

Retro Album Review: 39/Smooth by Green Day

So I've been listening to a lot of Green Day lately. Mostly because I've gotten back in to playing Green Day: Rock Band. But it got me curious to looking into the band's back catalogue. So, over the next few weeks I'm going to be going through all of Green Day's studio albums, whether I've heard them before or not. So that's 39/Smooth, Kerplunk, Dookie, Insomniac, Nimrod, Warning, American Idiot, 21st Century Breakdown, ¡Uno!, ¡Dos!, ¡Tré!, and Revolution Radio. This should be fun. By the way, Spotify technically doesn't have this album. It has the compilation album 1039/Smoothed Out Slappy Hours, which is basically just this album and a couple EPs. Not touching EPs, just the songs that were on the original track listing of 39/Smooth. If you want me to look at the EPs, okay. But for now, just the album.

Billboard Hot 100 Highlights October 8th, 2016

Every Song on Billboard's 2010 Year End List Scored

Finally another year end ranking. This was a difficult year to rate because my scores for various songs kept changing. Plus with how infamous this year is, I wasn't expecting to cross the 250 mark. But I did it. average year, pretty uneven. You can check out my worst and best list videos for this year by clicking the links. I encourage you to watch those videos before reading this so this post won't spoil my choices. So, here goes.

Billboard Hot 100 Highlights October 1st 2016

October October October. Just a few more weeks left in Billboard's year. Lady Gaga's comeback single is here but it might not last long. And even if it does, who knows if it has enough time to make year end? Ah well. HIGHLIGHTS TIME!

Billboard Hot 100 Highlights September 24th, 2016

Just a few weeks left in Billboard's chart year, and things could be getting interesting. At this point I'm not sure if any songs that debut have much of a chance at the year end list but we'll see. HIGHLIGHTS TIME!

Billboard Hot 100 Highlights September 17th, 2016

This week the VMAs get their say on what gets popular. At least for the time being. Should be interesting considering the movement in the Top 10 really isn't. HIGHLIGHTS TIME!

Billboard Hot 100 Highlights September 10th, 2016

The Chainsmokers rule for a second week as Shawn Mendes makes it into the Top 10. Hooray. Bleh. Also there's Frank Ocean. Also bleh. Even though I heard the new albums are good. HIGHLIGHTS TIME!

Billboard Hot 100 Highlights September 3rd, 2016

So, wasn't expecting this. I did expect we'd get a new number 1 pretty soon. Just not that it would be Closer of all things. But I guess sometimes it can be hard to guess what the public is listening to repeatedly. HIGHLIGHTS TIME!

Billboard Hot 100 Highlights August 27th, 2016

So, Suicide Squad continues to impact the charts in a week that's otherwise kinda slow. Fine by me considering I have to work this morning. HIGHLIGHTS TIME!

Album Review: SremmLife 2 by Rae Sremmurd

Well, you guys asked for it. And I deliver for some reason. These two were responsible for some of my most hated hip hop in 2015 and I don't expect they've gotten any better since last year. Now in preparation for this listen, I listened to the first SremmLife in full earlier today. And it sucked. 2/10. Will this be an improvement or even worse than before? Well, let's see.

Billboard Hot 100 Highlights August 20th, 2016

So this week, The Chainsmokers snag a third Top 10 hit, and Suicide Squad continues to impact the charts. I'd say I'm fine with both but...we'll see. Also Sia continues to dominate the top. Hopefully it doesn't become another huge chart blocker. HIGHLIGHTS TIME!

Billboard Hot 100 Highlights August 13th, 2016

Sia's still at the top, but we have a debut at Number 2. It's been a while since we had one of those. Plus there's a ton of new and returning entries toward the end of the list. This should be interesting. HIGHLIGHTS TIME!

Billboard Hot 100 Highlights August 6th, 2016

And now, we have a new number 1. Aaaaand it's one hardly anyone in my circle likes. Ah well. It's grown on me and it's something different. Personally I'm okay with it at the top as long as it doesn't become a chart blocker like One Dance was. Also got a ton of debuts to get through this week. HIGHLIGHTS TIME!

Billboard Hot 100 Highlights July 30th, 2016

Still stagnant. Bleh. But I think I can forgive that this week thanks to a certain song making a long overdue debut in the Hot 100. But we'll get to that later. HIGHLIGHTS TIME!

Billboard Hot 100 Highlights July 23rd, 2016

So, how about them charts, amirite? Well, we still have some good stuff. But anyway, important stuff. Starting now, I'm expanding the Top 10 section to including the Top 20. Since Numbers 11-20 are still important and all. Good? Good. HIGHLIGHTS TIME.

Billboard Hot 100 Highlights July 16th, 2016

Another pretty uneventful week for the Top 10. Is the Summer getting complacent? We'll see. All I know is that One Dance has been at the top for a bit too long at this point. Bleh. HIGHLIGHTS TIME.

Album Review: Still Brazy by YG

This isn't an album I expected to want to check out. My first impression of YG was My Hitta, and I didn't really care for that song. But, I'm willing to give him a second chance. I've heard great buzz for this album, and a friend of mine even requested that I take a look at this. The guy's name is RobLikesMusic on Twitter, so there ya go. Time to sink my teeth into one of the most memetic album covers of the year.

Billboard Hot 100 Highlights July 9th, 2016

Looks like we're not getting much of a change in the Top 10 just yet. But, we're still getting some changeups in the Top 20 with the new twenty one pilots song proving to be a huge smash already. And I'm perfectly fine with that. Still, someone just boot Drake out of the top spot already. The freaking thing doesn't even have a video. Blah. HIGHLIGHTS TIME!

Album Review: East River by Detours Through Manhattan

So, I was planning on listening through the new Nick Jonas album today, but I've got a lot to catch up with that's not music related. But, Detours Through Manhattan is an album by my friend Ethan, aka TheLPClub, so I wanna give it a listen and support him. This album also has some help from Keenan Edwards, another friend of mine and whose mixtape I reviewed earlier this year. If you wanna give this album a listen, here's a link. So, here we go.

Billboard Hot 100 Highlights July 2nd, 2016

So, the bottom third of the Hot 100 had a lot of new and old coming in. It was inevitable after a sparse week. Plus, JT gets a bit of a second chance at the Top spot, while Sia and Kent Jones enter the Top 10 with some summer jam songs. For better or for worse. And I see Meghan Meghans on the horizon. That's never good. HIGHLIGHTS TIME!

Every Song on Billboard's 2011 Year End List Scored

Recently I went through Billboard's Year End List for 2011 to make video worst and best videos for that year. If you haven't seen those videos, I highly suggest you watch them so this post doesn't spoil any of my choices. Click here for the worst video and here for the best video. And now for those who are curious, here's how I'd score every single song on a scale from 0 to 5. Quick reminder:

0 - Awful
1 - Bad
2 - Meh
3 - Decent
4 - Good
5 - Great

Here goes.

Billboard Hot 100 Highlights June 25th, 2016

Still pretty slow up in the Top 10, but we've got some up and comers muscling their way toward the Top 20, so that's pretty exciting. I'm ready for something new for the summer. Even if it is that new Kent Jones single. HIGHLIGHTS TIME!

Billboard Hot 100 Highlights June 18th, 2016

So, other than a certain other soundtrack song cracking the Top 10, the part of the Hot 100 that really matters was pretty quiet this week. Bleh. There might be more coming up to shake up the summer, but as it stands, there's not much to talk about. All of our new and returning entries came in low, so we'll see if they're gonna shake things up. HIGHLIGHTS TIME!

Album Review: Future Present Past (EP) by The Strokes

Been a little while since I did an album review. So, The Strokes. I like Reptilia and Last Nite. That's about all I know from them so I don't really have much of a stake in this. Four songs, negative buzz mostly from Fanthony Antano. But I'll keep an open mind. I think I heard one of the songs on the radio a little while ago but I forgot how it goes. Ah well.

Billboard Hot 100 Highlights June 11th, 2016

More Monday holidays delaying the new charts until Wednesday. Bleh. This is not the future I was promised! Well anyway, Zayn finally exits the Top 10 and Ariana steps back in. Which makes me happy. Other than that, Adele returns and some other stuff happened. Cool stuff, hopefully. HIGHLIGHTS TIME!

Album Review: 7/27 by Fifth Harmony

Okay, so I was originally going to do this as a video review, but it's starting to look like I might not get the privacy to do that. I still wanna do one, but we'll see when I have the time to do it. In the meantime, here are the notes I took track-by-track when I listened through this album last night. Spoilers: I didn't really care for it much.

Billboard Hot 100 Highlights June 4th, 2016

Yup. Turns out JT at the top couldn't last. Drake hype never dies, I suppose, as much as I would like it to. I'll still vouch for this, but I still don't think this is a worthy number 1. Plus I'm not really happy Views is getting a second wind; it really doesn't deserve one. The Top 10 was quiet though. HIGHLIGHTS TIME!

Album Review: Dangerous Woman by Ariana Grande

You know, in between Meghan Meghans and Fifth Harmony, Ariana Grande's new album is the only ray of sunlight I see in May's major album releases. There have been some good songs, but there have also been some red flags. So it is kinda hard to gauge what I'm getting myself into here. If I can, I would like to do a video review on this album as well, but we'll see how that goes. So, Grande, show me what you got.

Billboard Hot 100 Highlights May 28th, 2016

So it's been a little while since we had a song debut at Number 1. Can't say I'm surprised, even if this song is for a kids movie I don't see a lot of interest in. I'll give my thoughts about the song later, obviously, but I will say it kinda deserves the top spot more than One Dance. So there. HIGHLIGHTS TIME!

Album Review: Thank You by Meghan Trainor

This is gonna hurt. This is gonna hurt bad. I don't wanna do this. Actually no one's forcing me to do this, I don't have to do this. ... I'm gonna do this. Yeah. Gonna do this. Do your worst, Meghan Meghans. ... Wait, I didn't mean it. Crap!