Quality-wise, 2011 was one of the best years for music this century. I guess what that means is, I was continually satisfied and surprised by the new entries in the musical areas that I listen to (and I listen to a lot of musical areas). Even when you just look at the Top 40, my impression is that the year was better than average. But you wouldn’t know it from this countdown. While I found about 30 songs on the list to be at least bearable (about the same as last year), this year’s bottom feeders are even more plainly awful than last year’s. Nickelback (worse-than-average Nickelback, that is) and Daughtry both had new tunes, so that tells you something right there.
I am not sure how VH1 could reasonably manage to ignore LMFAO this year. “Party Rock Anthem” would easily have been the most ubiquitous song of the year if there hadn’t been a song this year that was unfathomably ubiquitous.
Wasn’t there a law enacted in 2007 saying that Rihanna must appear on year-end countdowns like this one each and every year? VH1, you are in violation of the law.
Remember, my revision is not my interpretation of how big these hits were, it is my judgment of the quality of the songs. But I am alo interested in discussing whether or not VH1 accurately represented the bigness of the hits, and thus I point out in the margins what songs were ranked too high or too low.
Original Version
1. Adele – “Rolling in the Deep” (should be higher)
2. Bruno Mars – “Grenade”
3. Katy Perry ft. Kanye West – “E.T.”
4. P!nk – “F****** Perfect”
5. Foo Fighters – “Rope”
6. Mumford & Sons – “The Cave” (should be lower)
7. The Script – “For the First Time” (should be lower)
8. Cee-Lo Green – “F*** You” (should be higher)
9. Foster the People – “Pumped Up Kicks”
10. OneRepublic – “Good Life”
11. Gym Class Heroes ft. Adam Levine – “Stereo Hearts”
12. Adele – “Someone Like You” (could be higher)
13. Bruno Mars – “The Lazy Song”
14. Katy Perry – “Last Friday Night (T.G.I.F.)”
15. Maroon 5 ft. Christina Aguilera – “Moves Like Jagger”
16. Britney Spears – “Hold It Against Me”
17. Lady GaGa – “Born This Way”
18. Ke$ha – “Blow”
19. Coldplay – “Every Teardrop is a Waterfall”
20. Kelly Clarkson – “Mr. Know It All”
21. Christina Perri – “Arms” (should be lower)
22. Hot Chelle Rae – “Tonight Tonight” (could be higher)
23. Pitbull ft. Ne-Yo, Afrojack, and Nayer – “Give Me Everything” (should be higher)
24. The Band Perry – “If I Die Young”
25. Gavin DeGraw – “Not Over You” (should be lower)
26. Beyoncé ft. J. Cole – “Party” (has no business being anywhere near this list)
27. Train – “Save Me San Francisco”
28. Jason Derülo – “It Girl”
29. Andy Grammer – “Keep Your Head Up”
30. Red Hot Chili Peppers – “The Adventures of Rain Dance Maggie”
31. David Guetta ft. Usher – “Without You”
32. Nicki Minaj – “Super Bass”
33. Colbie Caillat – “Brighter Than the Sun”
34. Nickelback – “When We Stand Together”
35. Britney Spears – “Criminal”
36. Grace Potter & the Nocturnals – “Paris (Ooh La La)”
37. Demi Lovato – “Skyscraper”
38. The Civil Wars – “Barton Hollow”
39. Jessie J – “Domino”
40. Daughtry – “Crawling Back to You”
Jmunney’s Revision
1. Rolling in the Deep
2. Pumped Up Kicks
3. Someone Like You
4. Paris (Ooh La La)
5. Rope
6. E.T.
7. Super Bass
8. Last Friday Night (T.G.I.F.)
9. Blow
10. F*** You
11. Every Teardrop is a Waterfall
12. The Adventures of Rain Dance Maggie
13. Without You
14. The Cave
15. Barton Hollow
16. Mr. Know It All
17. Domino
18. Good Life
19. Give Me Everything
20. Born This Way
21. Moves Like Jagger
22. Brighter Than the Sun
23. Grenade
24. Hold It Against Me
25. Criminal
26. Tonight Tonight
27. Skyscraper
28. Keep Your Head Up
29. F****** Perfect
30. If I Die Young
31. Save Me San Francisco
32. Stereo Hearts
33. For the First Time
34. Arms
35. Party
36. When We Stand Together
37. The Lazy Song
38. Not Over You
39. Crawling Back to You
40. It Girl
