best of Achilles: Best of 2017 | Albums 21-30 (1/1)

[Achilles.]

 

 

Oh, 2017. How I long to see you go. How I fear that 2018 will be worse still.

 

In the dark, dire days that concluded 2016, a fairly frequent line of thinking was that 2017 would produce an outpouring of protest music as our liberal celebrities retaliated against an increasingly-authoritarian conservative government. It was a grotesque, cynical, and trivializing line of thinking, and yet we music fans wondered...

 

Now, a year later, it seems that this hot-take was nothing but hot-air. Instead of becoming overnight activists (and we should mostly be thankful for that, honestly), many artists instead did what artists tend to do best: they offered us a safe harbor. Art's function of providing audiences with an escape from the horrors, annoyances, and/or banality of their daily lives long predates the recording industry itself, but in recent times it seems that artists have become ever-more aware of their role as pleasurable distraction, as welcome escape. A number of acts have even deliberately channeled this escapism throughout their latest releases.

 

Not all artists leaned into escapist themes in their work, though. Some sought to inspire, uplift, motivate, and empower us, offering the emotional reassurance we sometimes desperately need. Some produced music that is revolutionary for no reason other than the fact that it exists. Some tried to lead by subtle example, turning inwards on paths of self-discovery and helping their fans to do the same. Some grew into their own before our very eyes, reminding us that we will not always be what we were (and that this is often a very good thing). Some turned their most private, most traumatizing experiences into accidental anthems for a world that can only wish it had no need for such songs. Some just made us dance.

 

We can never escape from our lives, no matter how much we may wish to be able to. Some would even argue that the more we try to escape, the more likely we are to end up trapped. But if a song is a sanctuary, then it is a place. And if a song is a place, maybe I wouldn't mind being trapped at all.

 

These are my perfect places of 2017.

Top 30-40 Albums
Top 50 Singles (1 per lead artist)
Top 10 Country Singles
Top 40 Non-Singles
Top 50 Throwback Songs
Awards

 

Most Played Artists

Most Played Albums

Most Played Songs

Edited January 1, 2018 by Achilles.

[Achilles.]

Years gone by...

 

2016

 

Top 10 Singles
1. David Bowie - Lazarus
2. Solange - Cranes in the Sky
3. Taylor Swift - Out of the Woods
4. Andra Day - Rise Up
5. Kelly Clarkson - Piece By Piece
6. Alicia Keys - In Common
7. Josef Salvat - Paradise
8. Taylor Swift - New Romantics
9. Leonard Cohen - You Want It Darker
10. Shawn Mendes - Mercy

 

Top 5 Country Singles
1. Miranda Lambert - Vice
2. Margo Price - Hands of Time
3. Tim McGraw - Humble & Kind
4. Little Big Town - Better Man
5. Lori McKenna - Wreck You

 

Top 5 Tracks
1. Brandy Clark - Since You've Gone to Heaven
2. Miranda Lambert - Runnin' Just In Case
3. Carly Rae Jepsen - Cry
4. Tegan & Sara - BWU
5. Emma Stone & Ryan Gosling - City of Stars

 

 

2015

 

 Top 10 Singles
 1. Taylor Swift - Wildest Dreams
 2. Madonna - Ghosttown
 3. Taylor Swift - Style
 4. Borns - Electric Love
 5. Years & Years - King
 6. Brandon Flowers - Can't Deny My Love
 7. Troye Sivan - Wild
 8. Adam Lambert - Ghost Town
 9. Hailee Steinfeld - Love Myself
 10. Adele - Hello

 

 Top 5 Country Singles
 1. Cam - Burning House
 2. Miranda Lambert - Little Red Wagon
 3. Kacey Musgraves - Dimestore Cowgirl
 4. Mickey Guyton - Better Than You Left Me
 5. Kacey Musgraves - Biscuits

 

 Top 5 Tracks
 1. Troye Sivan - Heaven
 2. Florence + The Machine - St. Jude
 3. Troye Sivan - Fools
 4. Brandon Flowers - Still Want You
 5. Carly Rae Jepsen - All That

 

2014

 

 Top 10 Singles
 1. Taylor Swift - Shake It Off
 2. Taylor Swift - Blank Space
 3. Disclosure & Sam Smith - Latch
 4. Bleachers - I Wanna Get Better
 5. Paramore - Ain't It Fun
 6. Ingrid Michaelson - Afterlife
 7. Sam Smith - Stay With Me
 8. Lorde - Yellow Flicker Beat
 9. Coldplay - Magic
 10. Beyonce - Partition

 

 Top 5 Country Singles
 1. Dolly Parton - Try
 2. Kacey Musgraves - The Trailer Song
 3. Tim McGraw - Meanwhile Back At Mama's
 4. Lee Ann Womack - The Way I'm Livin'
 5. Kacey Musgraves - Keep It To Yourself

 

 Top 5 Tracks
 1. Taylor Swift - New Romantics
 2. Taylor Swift - Out of the Woods
 3. Dolly Parton - Lover du Jour
 4. Sam Smith - Leave Your Lover
 5. Miranda Lambert - Platinum

 2013

 

 Top 10 Singles
 1. David Bowie - The Stars (Are Out Tonight)
 2. Union J - Carry You
 3. Natalia Kills - Saturday Night
 4. Rihanna - Stay
 5. Lady Gaga - Applause
 6. Muse - Madness
 7. Fenech Soler - All I Know
 8. Tegan & Sara - Closer
 9. Of Monsters and Men - King & Lionheart
 10. Selena Gomez - Slow Down

 

 Top 5 Country Singles
 1. Kacey Musgraves - Follow Your Arrow
 2. Ashley Monroe - Like a Rose
 3. Tim McGraw - Highway Don't Care
 4. Kacey Musgraves - Blowin' Smoke
 5. Taylor Swift - Red

 

 Top 5 Tracks
 1. Beyonce - Partition
 2. Lady Gaga - ARTPOP
 3. Beyonce - Haunted
 4. Kacey Musgraves - Silver Lining
 5. Florence + The Machine - Over The Love

 

2012

 

 Top 10 Singles
 1. Florence + The Machine - Never Let Me Go
 2. Adam Lambert - Better Than I Know Myself
 3. Of Monsters and Men - Little Talks
 4. Ellie Goulding - Figure 8
 5. Taylor Swift - I Knew You Were Trouble.
 6. Alex Clare - Too Close
 7. Lana Del Rey - Born To Die
 8. Bruce Springsteen - We Take Care Of Our Own
 9. Imagine Dragons - It's Time
 10. Evanescence - Lost In Paradise

 

 Top 5 Country Singles
 1. The Band Perry - Better Dig Two
 2. Carrie Underwood - Blown Away
 3. Taylor Swift - Begin Again
 4. Kelly Clarkson - Don't Rush
 5. Miranda Lambert - Fastest Girl in Town

 

 Top 5 Tracks
 1. Taylor Swift - State of Grace
 2. Leona Lewis - Glass Heart
 3. Adam Lambert - Underneath
 4. Ellie Goulding - I Know You Care
 5. Birdie - Just A Game

 2011

 

 Top 10 Singles
 1. Lady Gaga - Edge of Glory
 2. Adele - Set Fire To The Rain
 3. Lady Gaga - Marry The Night
 4. Britney Spears - Till the World Ends
 5. Nicki Minaj - Super Bass
 6. Lady Gaga - Born This Way
 7. Evanescence - What You Want
 8. Natalia Kills - Wonderland
 9. Joe Jonas - See No More
 10. Selena Gomez - Who Says

 

 Top 5 Country Singles
 1. Taylor Swift - Mean
 2. Shania Twain - Today is Your Day
 3. Lady Antebellum - We Owned The Night
 4. Faith Hill - Come Home
 5. Hunter Hayes - Storm Warning

 

 Top 5 Tracks
 1. Evanescence - Lost in Paradise
 2. Lady Gaga - Fashion of His Love
 3. Beyonce - I Was Here
 4. Lady Gaga - Heavy Metal Lover
 5. Adele - Turning Tables

Edited December 11, 2017 by Achilles.

[gagacasanova]

I am very much ...ready for it 

[thecptz]

 i'm ready

[madonnas]

Glad you're a Rebel Heart fan. 

[Dom]

Love Myself was that BOp and Hailee snapped glad it made your list back then.

 

perched.

[Achilles.]

Top 10 Albums: Most Appearances, Highest Placement

Taylor Swift: 2 (#1 Red, 1989)

Kacey Musgraves: 2 (#1 Same Trailer...)

Natalia Kills: 2 (#1 Perfectionist)

Beyoncé: 2 (#2 Beyoncé)

David Bowie: 2 (#2 Blackstar)

Miranda Lambert: 2 (#2 Platinum)

Lady Gaga: 2 (#3 Born This Way)

Ashley Monroe: 2 (#6, Like A Rose)

Leona Lewis: 2 (#7 I Am)

 

Top 10 Singles: Most Appearances, Highest Placement

Taylor Swift: 7 (#1 Shake It Off, Wildest Dreams)

Lady Gaga: 4 (#1 Edge of Glory)

David Bowie: 2 (#1 The Stars (Are Out Tonight), Lazarus)

Adam Lambert: 2 (#2 Better Than I Know Myself)

Adele: 2 (#2 Set Fire To The Rain)

Natalia Kills: 2 (#3 Saturday Night)

Of Monsters and Men: 2 (#3 Little Talks)

Sam Smith: 2 (#3 Latch)

Evanescence: 2 (#7 What You Want)

Selena Gomez: 2 (#10 Who Says, Slow Down)

 

 

Several acts are likely to join either or both of these lists this year!  

[KillingYourCareer]

A fellow Taylor Swift stan with taste? Am here.

[TheWayWeWere]

your taste for last years

David, Solo, Miranda

Florence, Madge, Brandon

1989

The Next Day

 

really pereched for this countdown

[Temporal]

I’m pearched 

[Red]

I missed the end of your singles list last year, and, though I haven't posted mine, I can tell you that we had one song at the exact same spot. I wonder which one... 

[Mezik]

Looking forward to yours as always.  

[JGibson]

2011: 5/10

Edge of Glory + Set Fire To The Rain + Marry The Night + Born This Way + What You Want 

Country: 4/5 [Mean ]

 

2012: 9/10

Better Than I Know Myself +  Little Talks + Figure 8 +  Knew You Were Trouble. + Too Close +  It's Time 

Country: 5/5 [Blown Away ]

 

2013: 5/10

Madness + Stay + Closer + Applause 

Country: 3/5 [Follow Your Arrow ]

 

2014: 8/10

Shake It Off + Yellow Flicker Beat +  Blank Space + I Wanna Get Better + Ain't It Fun + Partition + Magic 

Country: 1/5

Tracks: New Romantics + Out Of The Woods 

 

2015: 8/10

Wildest Dreams + Style + Electric Love + Hello 

Country: 5/5 [Burning House + Little Red Wagon + Biscuits ]

 

2016: 5/10

Out of the Woods + Piece By Piece + New Romantics 

Country: 3/5 [Better Man + Vice ]

[TRF.]

Hope to see some good stuff here!

[That Bad Eartha]

Even though I don't really check for Taylor in any capacity, I am def here for this because you have flawless taste otherwise

[Achilles.]

According to Spotify's year-end feature, I listen to so many "adult standards" that I might as well be 41!

Let's find out why...

 

 

 

[MusicLoverDude]

Taylor, Selena and Physical

 

[potent]

Crazy Little Thing Called Love

Your #1s from 2012 and 2016 were epic!

[JGibson]

4/10

 

Finally + I Walk The Line + Physical 

[Admiral Bobbery]

I Walk The Line and Finally are really great songs!

[ManDown]

I Walk The Line, Finally, I Put A Spell On You

 

Your previous year-end lists were amazing, btw. Love the diversity.

[Lazuli]

I Walk the Line, I Put a Spell On You  

[Mezik]

Doing my charity services and bumping this from oblivion.

 

Your throwbacks though, are fantastic.

 

Everlasting Love, Put a Spell in You, Crazy Little Thing Called Love & Walk the Line are AMAZING.

Your taste is amazing.  

[Red]

You put Queen and Cash on a list, I will be there. It's just the law of averages.

[TheWayWeWere]

Outside still can't believe about George' loss

relistened Nataile's GH after her death and wow, she was so so talanted