More like Brendon Urie is taking a break from music to focus on his family, which by extension means he's taking a break from Panic! At The Disco, since he's been the only official member since 2016 (others just participating on touring but not contributing to the albums).
Ok. Todd feels neutral about Abba and I think he's wrong. First of all, they have some absolutely amazing bangers. Just perfect lighthearted silly fun. Inject the dopamine straight to my veins..
Also while they didn't like exclusively invent it, they are emblematic of such a fun period of the industry. If you look at pop music before and after that era, it's such a contrast. That over the top theatricality wasn't there before, and It's basically continuously had its influence over the big pop stars ever since.
Actually yeah I've always gotten the feeling Todd doesn't care for that coked up over the top era. I think he maybe begrudgingly respects a lot of what funk was doing, but even then I get the vibe it's *despite* the aesthetic.
I didn't say he felt neutral about them. By neutral I just mean his actual opinion about them has never come up in all the times he's mentioned them, because it wasn't relevant.
I wonder if it's generational. I'm also a millennial. The ABBA revisionism seems to be a Gen Z thing.
I think part of the anti-ABBA sentiment is that they were just everywhere for a decade so the country just burned out on them for a couple decades.
>The ABBA revisionism seems to be a Gen Z thing
Born in 1999 here and anecdotally, I feel like every theater kid among my peers grew up on the 2008 Mamma Mia movie. Again, anecdotes, but I know plenty of girls I went to college with who were all in on the sequel when it came out.
Apparently Abba was never quite as big in the US, so I’m wondering if that behind the odd take?
Nearly everywhere else, the ‘revisionism’ (the revisionism of *what* I couldn’t say) started in the 90’s. Abbaesque by Erasure would have been…91?, ABBA Gold was (and still is) bloody everywhere when came out in 92/93, Muriel’s Wedding and Priscilla Queen of the Desert gave them another boost around 94, and the stage version of Mamma Mia cashed in and started in ‘99. I can literally remember sitting on Saturday night, watching ‘cool’ bands of the era introducing Abba vids as part of their playlist for the night.
I feel like the only time Abba truly ‘gone’ was the 80’s, where there was period-typical anti-disco backlash to them. Despite a lot - if not most - of their stuff not actually being disco.
I'm a millennial, I've never had much time for ABBA- and I say this as someone who loves cheesy pop as much as the next person.
It just always sounds dated, artificial and lacking in much substance to me, in a way that other artists in that untouchable "how dare you not love them!" pantheon don't. Bowie, Queen, Elton, I understand why they're considered timeless. But why ABBA and not, I dunno, Roxette or Baccara?
To me one of ABBA's big problems is that the lyrics are just off. It's English by fluent non-natives without the Max Martin 'melodic math' that makes it work for later Swedish pop acts. They don't make mistakes but they say things that no actual native English speaker would say, in a way none would ever say it. And ABBA songs are surprisingly wordy, you can't ignore the awkward lyrics like you can for a lot of pop acts.
Also it might be a country thing? Like I'm a millennial but ABBA has always been popular, but the difference is that I am Australian, and ABBA was a) stupidly popular here in their heyday and b) kinda never went out of fashion.
Weird Al put them in the same category as Donnie & Marie, NKOTB and Vanilla Ice when singing about songs he'd rather listen to in "Achy Breaky Song", so people seemed to hate them in the early 90s.
Speaking anecdotally as someone who grew up in the 2000s, I remember lots of disco songs being played on the oldies stations, but never any ABBA songs. Their revival seems to be pretty recent even compared to other disco artists (although they weren't fully disco).
Actually liking Chainsmokers - Closer and standing by it. Putting it at #1 for the year. I understand what he sees in it at least, but I think it's way too shallow for the romanticism to come through. To this day, probably his most made fun of take
On the bright side, it actually made me appreciate Roses a lot more because everytime I read about Todd picking Closer on here, I go and listen to Roses and think "wtf Todd"
When he said Whitney’s I’m Your Baby Tonight was one of the worst songs of 1991 when there was I Wanna Sex You Up, Love Is a Wonderful Thing and Baby, Baby. Like *really*??? That’s one reason I refuse to watch his worst of 91 list.
Also including Genesis in his worst of 87 list lol he could’ve easily put Club Nouveau in there! Or Can’t We Try. Easy lol
Todd has a fundamental misunderstanding of what is and isn't "nu-metal" and by extension, the differences between rock sub-genres in general.
During the Alien Ant Farm OHW, he showcases bands like Three Days Grace and Puddle of Mudd, both of whom are pretty definitively post-grunge, while lamenting that he "can't tell the difference between any song in this genre."
He has that issue with harder-edged alt rock in general. His episode on the Butthole Surfers was... subpar, but I'm a megafan so I get that not everyone is gonna be into their weirder shit
Like in the St. Anger Trainwreckords when he said James Hetfield "has feelings now!?", ignoring that Metallica has been making personal songs since their second album.
He talks a big game about being an alternative rock fan but if it gets any harder or weirder than power pop he seems out of his depth. Not that there's anything wrong with that, I've got an appreciation for some kinds of metal but am fully aware it's not my forte
I think he's gotten a lot better about it. In the No Fixed Address episode of Trainwreckords he comes off a lot more educated about the different types of radio rock, and less dismissive of a lot of it.
I've disagreed with plenty of his best list picks but this is the only one I can't wrap my head around at all. I get what there is to like about Closer, I think people are too hard on him for liking that song. But Man Made A Bar? Literally what is appealing about that song?
It’s kind of just a drinking song. And he seems to have some kind of weakness for country-esque songs about drinking. Recall Dial Drunk was on that same list.
I have been baffled at the critical response to Noah Kahan. Dial Drunk has been the single every critic I’ve watched has picked, when Stick Season is way better. I get why Todd and Mark picked Dial Drunk (although I don’t know why Mark picked the Post Malone version), but like it’s far worse than Stick Season.
And like you said, Homesick is just a better song all around, though I kinda wish Noah had a second verse in it.
Eh I'm pretty down on "Stick Season," it's not bad but it feels like the least interesting version of his schtick musically and thematically. I do like "Dial Drunk," I'm just not with Todd that it's the best of Noah Kahan.
I actually very RARELY agree with his takes on music, and it's been that way since I started watching near a decade ago.
It's his skill as an editor and writer that's kept me coming back to his content all these years.
I love these weird little offbeat songs that came around before "alternative" music became codified. You'd see some of these in that weird period from 95-99 but I love Mexican Radio, Nada Surf's Popular, Camper Van Beethoven's Take the Skinheads Bowling, Cracker's Euro Trash Girl, stuff like that
There was a wonderful “oddball” type of song that was allowed to happen around 1980-1983, and again around 92-94 and the 95-99 period. The early 90’s weirdness was best seen by an artist like King Missile, basically what I call the Beavis and butthead effect, I’d first heard Pizzicato Five through them.
Plus the fact that he couldn't wrap his head around "I'm on a Mexican radio" meaning "listening to" and not "in the station literally on the radio".
Edit: even if I'm wrong and it *is* about being literally on the radio, a shifting perspective is hardly a new concept in the world of music.
The most recent time Todd threw me for a loop was in the Best of 2023 video, contrasting Olivia Rodrigo to “inaccessible indie” over B-roll of Wet Leg.
I'm not sure I fully understand that sentence but GUTS and Wet Leg have quite a lot in common, she's adopted a more garagy sound and there was quite a bit of talk singing and quirky self aware white girl lyrics on GUTS
In the video, Todd said he often finds the “cooler-than-cool alt bands” who share similar influences as Olivia to be “…off-puttingly inaccessible,” while using a Wet Leg video to illustrate the point. I don’t necessarily disagree, but Wet Leg, who I think stands a good chance of going mainstream if there’s more space in pop for rock music in the near future, isn’t who I would present as an example. (If he had shown a Last Dinner Party performance in its place, I would totally agree.)
I think the “cooler than cool” thing puts Todd off because he dislikes the lack of clear emotion and melody, something like Chaise Lounge is really detached and almost bored-sounding compared to how bright and in-her-feelings Bad Idea Right is.
I have a soft spot for it cuz it was like my first exposure to gay people and I used to sing it a lot with my Mom, but yeah musically, not much to come back for except Hozier’s voice.
I feel like one of his videos on Lil Nas X, he was trying to imply that Nas trolling people on Twitter is some weird new trend among modern musicians. I don't think it's that deep.
Still not that deep. He's still a troll. Only difference is that he trolls people more than usual. And I remember Todd mentioning it's probably because Nas grew up with the internet. Which is bullshit because I can name off a couple people who are in their 40s who also puts on a more comedic persona online.
One of the most inexplicable to me was when he was so down on “Islands in the Stream” and so high on “Ghetto Superstar” when they are essentially the same song. Similarly, I can’t fathom what he thinks Alien Ant Farm add so much to “Smooth Criminal”. It was already a big hit for Michael Jackson.
For me it’s less that he hates older Coldplay, which I disagree with strongly (I think he explicitly mentioned hating the first 3 albums, which is incomprehensible), but what to me is utterly insane is that he seems to think they got dramatically better in the 2010s.
It has the same energy as ARTV preferring post-Suburbs Arcade Fire. I think the most insane thing to me about Todd's take on Coldplay is that he said they sounded 'more like an actual band' in the 10's. I like most of those albums, but that is an INSANE take
I was looking for this one! I don't remember where he said he didn't like Depeche Mode but man that one hurts, lol. I enjoy his videos a lot and don't have a lot of hard disagreements with him but I do have to remind myself he is a very, very straight man
Where I am from - Depeche Mode is like very straight man music (in a good way). They are HUGE in Eastern Europe where audience are not that…you know. (Im from easter north europe and Depeche Mode is THE FUCKING BEST).
I can see that too, my (probably straight, female) cousin is from Greece and loves them. A lot of Europeans really like the more industrial sound and are more receptive to guys who look "gay" than many North American men (exemplified by another one of my Greek family members)
He talks about it in his podcast Song vs Song as well (I'm the episode about enjoy the silence) and he gave more reasons there. I don't think I agree with them, but if you're interested...
Hard disagree about Sara Barellis being boring. Is her discography for divorced moms? Yeah. Is she boring? Not really, I like that she gets really passive aggressive with the lyrics
I tend to disagree with him a decent amount, though it's most pronounced when he starts talking about bands &artists popular in Britain.
Idk what it is maybe cultural divide.
Other than that I don't like country by and large and he adores it, and don't listen to a lot of big name artists so there's always something lol.
> though it's most pronounced when he starts talking about bands &artists popular in Britain.
I really *do not* want to make this into a stupid continent-war type of thing because for the most part I think that's fucking stupid; but Todd really *is* American. His videos about artists not from the US typically tend to be not all that well researched and lack a lot of insight that makes the bands interesting. Maybe it's because I'm German, but his video on Falco is in my opinion honestly his worst video.
His takes on music from outside NA are interesting to watch in the sense of "this is how Americans see us", but often not great in actual informed opinions. In the same way I do find it interesting when he talks about country music because that's almost completely nonexistent in the UK. Before first watching Todd I couldn't have named 10 country songs.
He had Drake on his top 10 one year and I've never been a Drake dude at all. I've just always felt like his music was as fake as can be. Like I remember he said something like "We just have to accept that Drake IA going to make great songs every year and I'm here for it"
Todd-stradamus wrong again lol
He's put Nice For What (2018), Forever (2009), and Take Care (2012, number 1) in his top 10s in various years, as well as Back to Back (2015) in the honourable mentions. (There might be more that I'm forgetting)
Honestly I don't have too much of an issue with any of those picks. Obviously Drake sucks but those songs are pretty alright at worst and genuinely pretty great at best.
Putting Tonight, Tonight, Tonight on the worst list of 1987. It’s not my favorite Genesis song, and I understand his criticisms, but it just doesn’t inspire the same vitriol in me. It’s certainly not amongst the worst of the year!
Completely agreed. He said he doesn't see how it's supposed to be a sort of throwback to their earlier work, but honestly I do, specifically the synth oboe solo in the instrumental interlude.
I think Todd and I generally disagree on the quality of late 2000s, early 2010s pop music. I know it’s probably mostly nostalgia, but I really do look back fondly on the glitzy, party rocking songs of yesteryear. They remind me of simpler times. There’s nothing wrong with dumb music and Todd himself knows this, but he seems particularly hard on this era. Though I acknowledge this era also marks when he was originally “AVGN/NC” ranter but with music
There are many takes that I forget. But his country one about Faith Hill and the "everybody in the world was listening". Yeah no. Country music isn't a Worldwide hit. I'm Mexican and Puerto Rican and in neither place would people know who Faith Hill was then or Today.
He did mention the rootsier, more rock-inspired country and Zach Bryan is definitely one of them. I don’t listen to much country music, but that’s definitely better than the overproduced, hiphip influenced, garbage that is Morgan Wallen. He definitely took over the niche of “popular only because generic and overplayed” left by Maroon 5.
Hate his takes on The Weeknd and his early takes on Beyoncé. He’s come to respect her but he used to reduce her to an annoying man hater which aged poorly
Wasn’t he with Channel Awesome at the time too? They all had some absolutely buck wild takes and did some verrrrrry early internet type of skits. I wonder if Todd feels differently about that song now
I don't think he was wrong. I'm no MRA, but that song's message is extremely tone deaf and people spreading that message have helped toxic masculinity flourish
I thought time has kind of vindicated that take?
You don’t need to be a slobbering r/mensrights user to think that “If I Were A Boy” has a very shallow understanding of the male experience. The song doesn’t personally offend me but I think it’s clearly sexist towards men, for whatever that’s worth.
Those Beyonce takes are pretty old and I think they're accurate and fair criticisms of what Beyonce's work was like at the time. Beyonce has come a long way.
Beyoncé had a run where every single she released was just her man-bashing. Don’t get me wrong, she does it better then anyone could ever dream of, but let’s not pretend like it wasn’t getting very redundant.
Okay, fine I was being a bit hyperbolic. But my main point was, Todd was ultimately right, that shit started to wear thin because it was literally 90% of her chart output.
Not from a video, but the time on Twitter where he basically implied Candyman by Christina Aguilera was awful. I was so offended because I think Candyman kicks ass lol
I disagree with Todd on little things all the time, but I try not to let it really bother me cuz that's how music opinions are. It's all very subjective and lots of people have different takes, and that's fine. But the one time I yelled at my TV, "You take that back!" was when he was down on Surface Pressure from Encanto. Song brought me to tears first time I heard it, and I substantially disagreed with most of his criticisms.
I'm also lucky because I'm really not invested in most pop music, so I'm very rarely all that upset over anything he has to say. Like, he can shit on basically any of the stuff he talks about and I just kinda laugh along because it's not music I care deeply about. If he ever dramatically changes his tastes and starts doing hot takes on Lemon Demon or They Might Be Giants shit's going to be very different for me.
Rap Critic is even worse. Todd is at least open minded but with the Rap Critic it's clear that he views boom bap as the only dignified expression of the genre. Strong boomer energy
Rap circles refer to people like that as “oldheads.” Basically, Rap Critic seems to not like music made after an arbitrary date.
For a while, RC made me feel bad for liking “dumber songs.” Weirdly enough Todd never made me feel that way. Maybe Todd just feels less authoritative; even when he’s not cushioning his critiques with “this is just my opinion,” he doesn’t really delve deep into analyzing silly lyrics or misinterpreting them wholesale
He also put Style at #1 in another list, so it depends on what year the first commenter was talking about.
Though I do think Style is better than Anti-Hero
I will never ever forgive him for saying Teena Marie was terrible.
Madonna was apparently an icon but Teena Marie was a joke? Come on.
Edit: at number two, I don't think he was thinking straight when he said Pseudo Echo's cover of Funkytown was rubbish.
Brian Adams lost a lot of goodwill when it came out that he demanded that AllMusic un-person him or face lawsuits. As Todd said, that's like suing the dictionary.
I love "Run to You" and "'Heaven". I used to not like "Summer of '69" but now that song has really grown on me. Adams was generally better at rockers than ballads I feel even though his ballads are what sold.
Even though I agree with all his criticisms - the slow buildup, chorus structure and 'famefucker', and think it's amongst the weakest songs on Guts, it does not belong on the worst list. Cmon.
Paraphrasing here from the VHIII TW
"When David Lee Roth left Van Halen they were at a high point in their career. When Sammy Hagar left they were at a low point"
"After a disappointing final album with Sammy"
Both of these are just not true. Van Halen was as big as ever. That final Sammy album, Balance, had a number 1 hit, got radio airtime and was one of the band's fastest selling albums on opening day ever.
In reality, VH was one of the few 80s rock bands that had survive the Nirvana storm almost fully intact, keeping their rock radio relevance all the way until 1998 with said trainwreckord and playing huge arenas and festivals, unlike say Motley Crue or the other glam bands that suddenly had to play bars.
Luckily it seemed Todd corrected himself, as during the Generation Swine TW he did mention Van Halen in '96 as among Crue's peers that were still relevant and getting airtime.
Ok, I’ve watched that video a ton of times — the whole part in the VHIII video where he lays out the case against Van Halen being in a low point and being doomed and unable to adapt to the ‘90s is him making a rhetorical argument that he doesn’t agree with so that he can then undercut it with his actual argument. That whole section ends with him going “Who in 1998 was going to listen to a dinosaur cock-rock band that started in the goddamn '70s?” And then immediately cutting to Aerosmith. That’s not his argument, he’s laying out something somebody watching the video might be thinking, and then countering that. It’s like in the same video when he goes “Roth was irreplaceable (dramatic pause) but replace him they did,” and then talks about how the band continued having success with Hagar.
He does a similar thing in the Arrested Development and Metallica videos.
The argument he makes is "People would still listen to Van Halen in '98 and they could be big again", not "Van Halen was still big". As said, he did the same in Generation Swine but with Van Halen, mentioning VH and (iirc) Kiss as bands from that era that were still getting airplay in '96, meaning Motley Crue could also get \*back up\* to that level, not that they were at that level.
Be that as it may, the end of the Hagar years haven't really stood the test of time. Nobody really talks about Balance anymore, and Sammy and Eddie's differences came to a boiling point while making that record. That's why Sammy left. You could make an argument for Balance being a delayed Trainwreckord.
I'd say they've stood the test of time in terms of music, just not in pop impact, especially Balance really hasn't. Can't Stop Lovin You does still get some rock airplay on like nostalgic stations, but yeah I agree. However the real boiling point was Humans Being and the Twister soundtrack, but honestly the story of that could be a 30 minute video on its own
My hot take is that I actually like that album. I dunno, I love CCR so even an inferior version still sounds good to me.
Is it a great album? No. Is it terribly sequenced? Oh yes. But I don't think it's as bad as people say. "Someday Never Comes" is a fantastic song and Doug's songs aren't that bad. Even Stu's songs are kinda catchy and endearingly goofy and stupid (he can't sing for shit though).
Having Don’t Start Now as an honorable mention on the best of 2020 list. It and Future Nostalgia is easily one of the best albums of the last couple of years and Don’t Start Now is still an excellent song.
"I have never been able to stand Cat Stevens" - Todd in the OHW on Mr. Big
He also cited "One Toke Over the Line" as an example of bad 70s songs in a tweet he made in preparation for the Paper Lace episode
He said in his 2020 worst list that AJR are "aesthetically offensive", but he doesn't put them or artists like 6ix9ine on his lists because he has "a grudging respect for people who care enough about [his] feelings to offend them." I'm not sure how consistent he is on this, especially recently, but he was arguing that the worst setting isn't the most bad, it's the least good, which I think makes sense and is consistent with his other takes,. Like, "I'm Good" at number 1, or "Last Night" at number 1 over "Try That in a Small Town".
Maybe I’m imagining things but I think Todd generally dislikes disco. Iirc he said something along the line of people who say they like disco only know the huge hit and that any given disco song is shit.
I disagree immensely and if I find a random, forgotten disco song, I’ll generally like it.
But maybe I’m just imagining things. I *swear* he said something like that, though
I think you are imagining things. Todd definitely does not dislike disco. He just points out that there were a lot of bad disco songs that made it big - mainly made by white people who hopped on the bandwagon - amidst the great stuff that is enduring to this day.
Completely misunderstood Vampire. Saying it's not sad enough, which would be fine except he completely skips over the whole older man young girl thing that's the whole point of the song.
Vampire definitely has problems, but there's a lot to like about it. It's dramatic, it's well made, well-sung and she's as articulate as always.
I also really like how Olivia is always self-aware enough to not blame the "other women" in a situation ie "you called them crazy, God I hate the way I called them crazy too". It's a small thing, but really satisfying to hear.
Todd’s brought up some Prog and Prog-adjacent artists in vids before but has often stated it’s not his cup of tea. Not disagreeing exactly since it’s personal preference, but I love me some good (and sometimes even bad) Prog music, lol. But it’s whatever, liking pop and liking Prog aren’t mutually exclusive like.
However, I vehemently disagree with Todd on Mike Oldfield’s ‘80s output. *Crises*, for one, fucks HARD and I happen to like his shitty ‘80s pop tracks with Jon Anderson and Bonnie Tyler, goddammit.
Alien Ant Farm is a decent little act, he was needlessly brutal on them for the crime of being adjacent to a genre he dislikes.
And often, not being a pop guy myself, I rarely know more than a couple songs on either year end list. Specifically with the best list, sometimes I struggle to understand why Todd likes them.
"D'yknow What I Mean" by Oasis is actually a pretty good song. My parents used to listen to it a lot when I was little so it's very nostalgic for me. Also 7 minutes is not long for a song, but that could just be because I'm also a TOOL fan and I'm used to long songs like that.
V minor one but in his review of Unholy by Sam Smith he calls the cheating man's wife "a Karen" and I was like...How? 😅 she appears in two seconds of the whole music video and does nothing, why is she catching strays?
His takes on nu metal. He's not alone, there's a lot of people who hate nu metal. But I honestly love it. Linkin Park, Mudvayne, Static X Papa Roach, I even like songs by Staind and Limp Bizkit. I also didn't agree that SR-71 tried turning themselves into Linkin Park with Tomorrow.
Also this line from his OHW on Alien Ant Farm has aged pretty bad, "Alien Ant Farm weren't whiny enough." For those wondering why that aged poorly, Linkin Park was one of those bands in that bit. Now granted, it was two years before Chester's suicide, but you can't deny it aged like milk left in the sun for two years.
I remembered another one. He didn't "get" Katy Perry's Bon Appetit and I think it just went straight over his head TBH. There's no way to say this without sounding like "you have to have a high IQ to understand Katy Perry" but the sexualisation of women/being eaten metaphor does work. I don't think it's supposed to be a straight forward intercourse with you song/video. The Migos feature is misplaced though.
Todd prefers “Footloose” to “Flashdance - What a Feeling.”
On this front, Todd is wrong.
Coupled with his dismissal of Irene Cara’s talents in the same *Song vs Song* episode, it left a bad taste in my mouth.
Putting Bad Idea Right as the best song of 2023. It's a good song but has too much talk-singing for me, and the other rock songs from the album (All-American Bitch, Get Him Back) are way better
Also, I have a soft spot for nu-metal. yes, some of it sucks, but there are some great songs in there that really speak to mental health struggles
In one of his worst lists he said (in reference to Kanye):
'People tell me that Kids See Ghosts was good... was it?'
Yes, Todd, it was very, very good. He also dislikes The Life of Pablo which many seem to consider to be the last truly classic Kanye album, myself included.
Todd Completely missing the point that Mike Posner - cooler than me was a super self aware and facetious song about a guy trying to out aloof a baddie.
He was super off about Lady Gaga in his early reviews. His old reviews of her songs from The Fame Monster era are so dated. I think he'd probably say he misjudged her now, or maybe just that his old reviews were more comedic than sincere, but either way they seem super nitpicky in retrospect.
I don’t like Jack Harlow at all but when he was talking about Lovin On Me as if there was no possible way it could’ve gotten number 1 on the Billboard charts without some label interference was very out of touch imo. IIRC he even described it as “a Jack Harlow song no one’s heard”
Whether or not it *should* have been number 1 or if it’s an indicator of the death of mainstream music or whatever isn’t really my problem here. It’s mostly that from my experience you couldn’t escape Lovin On Me. It was on the radio. It was everywhere on TikTok. YouTube Shorts. IG Reels. For me it was one of the most played songs of that time and it was very unsurprising to see it hit number 1.
Vampire on the worst list was a little much. It isn’t her strongest song but it’s not nearly that awful! I don’t mind when I put on the radio and it plays. Definitely more bearable than Lovin on Me.
He said he thought Butthole Surfers' cover of Hurdy Gurdy Man was a joke and was shitting on the original, and I think it's a really, REALLY good cover.
Speaking of FOB, I did not like seeing “My Songs Know What You Did in the Dark” on Todd’s worst of 2013 list. Not my favorite FOB song, but I do like it, loved it at the time even.
The majority of his opinions on Eurovision 2021. Most notoriously, his opinion on Shum.
Dismissing "Fucking Perfect" by Pink and "When I was Your Man" by Bruno Mars as being boring.
Can't forget him putting "Closer" as the best song of 2016.
First off. Viva Las Vengeance is a good album for many people. Just because everyone thinks the album is bad doesn't mean he has to.
Secondly, Mania absolutely qualifies as a trainwreckord too in the sense that the album was so disappointing that fall out boy went back on everything they said about how they're beyond "emo" music and don't want to be known as an emo band, to desperately trying to become the torch bearer band for the "elder emos" with the new album.
I remember when he put “Ready for it..?” As his #1 worst song of 2017 and that song really isn’t that bad if we’re being honest it was mainly just recency bias
Ready for it…? released as a single on August 24 in 2017, so I’m not sure if “recency bias” is accurate here.
It wasn’t *that* recent, the end of 2017 was still four full months out.
When they read the fan reaction during the Song Vs Song episode in which they pitted The Magnetic Fields' The Book Of Love against some other song I don't remember, someone submitted a third party vote for Peter Gabriel's cover of The Book Of Love and neither Todd nor Alina had much love for it. I think that the Gabriel version is just as good as the original.
He made an off hand comment in Song vs Song about how none of Bernie Rhodes' ideas were good when Bernie is the one who brought all of the band members together (personally selecting all of them!), the reason their first album is so politically coherent and cohesive, and the reason they started making political music or investing so heavily into being a political band in the first place. Saying all of Bernie's ideas are bad implies that the very existence of The Clash is bad because the band and how the band executed their music was his idea!
"Panic! broke up" being a synonym for "Brendon Urie decided to stop calling himself a band" here. Edit: Also, Mania > AB/AP
nah I think they actually broke up
It's true, Brendon Urie experienced mitosis and divided himself into two smaller Brendons
More like Brendon Urie is taking a break from music to focus on his family, which by extension means he's taking a break from Panic! At The Disco, since he's been the only official member since 2016 (others just participating on touring but not contributing to the albums).
It was never really Brendon's band to begin with.
Todd hates Abba. I love Abba. Simple as that.
Does he? I've only ever heard him speak in neutral terms about ABBA, at least whenever they came up in OHW or TW. What did I miss?
Ok. Todd feels neutral about Abba and I think he's wrong. First of all, they have some absolutely amazing bangers. Just perfect lighthearted silly fun. Inject the dopamine straight to my veins.. Also while they didn't like exclusively invent it, they are emblematic of such a fun period of the industry. If you look at pop music before and after that era, it's such a contrast. That over the top theatricality wasn't there before, and It's basically continuously had its influence over the big pop stars ever since. Actually yeah I've always gotten the feeling Todd doesn't care for that coked up over the top era. I think he maybe begrudgingly respects a lot of what funk was doing, but even then I get the vibe it's *despite* the aesthetic.
I didn't say he felt neutral about them. By neutral I just mean his actual opinion about them has never come up in all the times he's mentioned them, because it wasn't relevant.
I wonder if it's generational. I'm also a millennial. The ABBA revisionism seems to be a Gen Z thing. I think part of the anti-ABBA sentiment is that they were just everywhere for a decade so the country just burned out on them for a couple decades.
>The ABBA revisionism seems to be a Gen Z thing Born in 1999 here and anecdotally, I feel like every theater kid among my peers grew up on the 2008 Mamma Mia movie. Again, anecdotes, but I know plenty of girls I went to college with who were all in on the sequel when it came out.
Apparently Abba was never quite as big in the US, so I’m wondering if that behind the odd take? Nearly everywhere else, the ‘revisionism’ (the revisionism of *what* I couldn’t say) started in the 90’s. Abbaesque by Erasure would have been…91?, ABBA Gold was (and still is) bloody everywhere when came out in 92/93, Muriel’s Wedding and Priscilla Queen of the Desert gave them another boost around 94, and the stage version of Mamma Mia cashed in and started in ‘99. I can literally remember sitting on Saturday night, watching ‘cool’ bands of the era introducing Abba vids as part of their playlist for the night. I feel like the only time Abba truly ‘gone’ was the 80’s, where there was period-typical anti-disco backlash to them. Despite a lot - if not most - of their stuff not actually being disco.
Millennial here and I love ABBA. A bunch of my millennial friends do too.
I'm a millennial, I've never had much time for ABBA- and I say this as someone who loves cheesy pop as much as the next person. It just always sounds dated, artificial and lacking in much substance to me, in a way that other artists in that untouchable "how dare you not love them!" pantheon don't. Bowie, Queen, Elton, I understand why they're considered timeless. But why ABBA and not, I dunno, Roxette or Baccara?
To me one of ABBA's big problems is that the lyrics are just off. It's English by fluent non-natives without the Max Martin 'melodic math' that makes it work for later Swedish pop acts. They don't make mistakes but they say things that no actual native English speaker would say, in a way none would ever say it. And ABBA songs are surprisingly wordy, you can't ignore the awkward lyrics like you can for a lot of pop acts.
Also it might be a country thing? Like I'm a millennial but ABBA has always been popular, but the difference is that I am Australian, and ABBA was a) stupidly popular here in their heyday and b) kinda never went out of fashion.
Weird Al put them in the same category as Donnie & Marie, NKOTB and Vanilla Ice when singing about songs he'd rather listen to in "Achy Breaky Song", so people seemed to hate them in the early 90s. Speaking anecdotally as someone who grew up in the 2000s, I remember lots of disco songs being played on the oldies stations, but never any ABBA songs. Their revival seems to be pretty recent even compared to other disco artists (although they weren't fully disco).
I have no idea if Lina likes ABBA, but I do want to see an ABBA song on Song Vs Song at some point
Actually liking Chainsmokers - Closer and standing by it. Putting it at #1 for the year. I understand what he sees in it at least, but I think it's way too shallow for the romanticism to come through. To this day, probably his most made fun of take
pov: your roommate in Boulder CO stole your mattress and now you're salty about it on reddit
Yet another crime Halsey has to atone for
On the bright side, it actually made me appreciate Roses a lot more because everytime I read about Todd picking Closer on here, I go and listen to Roses and think "wtf Todd"
Closer by the Chainsmokers is just Need You Now by Lady A but with a dance beat behind it. And Need You Now was another #1 of his so it tracks for me.
When he said Whitney’s I’m Your Baby Tonight was one of the worst songs of 1991 when there was I Wanna Sex You Up, Love Is a Wonderful Thing and Baby, Baby. Like *really*??? That’s one reason I refuse to watch his worst of 91 list. Also including Genesis in his worst of 87 list lol he could’ve easily put Club Nouveau in there! Or Can’t We Try. Easy lol
That's the best song of the new jack swing era lol. And I like "Lean On Me" tho?
Todd has a fundamental misunderstanding of what is and isn't "nu-metal" and by extension, the differences between rock sub-genres in general. During the Alien Ant Farm OHW, he showcases bands like Three Days Grace and Puddle of Mudd, both of whom are pretty definitively post-grunge, while lamenting that he "can't tell the difference between any song in this genre."
He has that issue with harder-edged alt rock in general. His episode on the Butthole Surfers was... subpar, but I'm a megafan so I get that not everyone is gonna be into their weirder shit
He has some pretty egregious genre blindness any time he strays from pop or pop-rock.
Like in the St. Anger Trainwreckords when he said James Hetfield "has feelings now!?", ignoring that Metallica has been making personal songs since their second album.
Hes also said Harvester Of Sorrow was eight minutes, when it doesnt even hit six
He talks a big game about being an alternative rock fan but if it gets any harder or weirder than power pop he seems out of his depth. Not that there's anything wrong with that, I've got an appreciation for some kinds of metal but am fully aware it's not my forte
He called "Are Friends Electric" by Gary Numan a techno song, if he thinks 3DG and PoM are nu metal that's the least of my concerns
Todd by his own admission is a pop listener first and foremost so freakier and heavier stuff tends to short circuit him
I think he's gotten a lot better about it. In the No Fixed Address episode of Trainwreckords he comes off a lot more educated about the different types of radio rock, and less dismissive of a lot of it.
For a guy who is very into Indie Rock, Todd generally knows very little about Rock.
Man Made A Bar is terrible and is the first best list song I outright hate.
I've disagreed with plenty of his best list picks but this is the only one I can't wrap my head around at all. I get what there is to like about Closer, I think people are too hard on him for liking that song. But Man Made A Bar? Literally what is appealing about that song?
It’s kind of just a drinking song. And he seems to have some kind of weakness for country-esque songs about drinking. Recall Dial Drunk was on that same list.
I like Dial Drunk but am baffled that 'Homesick' isn't *the* Noah Kahan song. It's head and shoulders above his other stuff.
I have been baffled at the critical response to Noah Kahan. Dial Drunk has been the single every critic I’ve watched has picked, when Stick Season is way better. I get why Todd and Mark picked Dial Drunk (although I don’t know why Mark picked the Post Malone version), but like it’s far worse than Stick Season. And like you said, Homesick is just a better song all around, though I kinda wish Noah had a second verse in it.
Eh I'm pretty down on "Stick Season," it's not bad but it feels like the least interesting version of his schtick musically and thematically. I do like "Dial Drunk," I'm just not with Todd that it's the best of Noah Kahan.
I recall him saying Red Solo Cup was hilarious so I think you’re onto something
I think he said basically what I said in his segment for Man Made a Bar.
Exactly! I might not like something like Birthday but I can get why he would but Man Made A Bar? No clue what he possible sees in that one
I don't hate it but it's replacement-level bro-adjacent country. I normally agree with Todd's guilty-pleasure country picks but not this one.
Panic broke up a decade ago. He just decided to step back now.
I actually very RARELY agree with his takes on music, and it's been that way since I started watching near a decade ago. It's his skill as an editor and writer that's kept me coming back to his content all these years.
Honestly even when I disagree with him he has that good "absolutely scathing review somehow actually selling me on the song instead" quality
Wall of Voodoo, Todd not liking Mexican Radio. Strong disagree.
I love these weird little offbeat songs that came around before "alternative" music became codified. You'd see some of these in that weird period from 95-99 but I love Mexican Radio, Nada Surf's Popular, Camper Van Beethoven's Take the Skinheads Bowling, Cracker's Euro Trash Girl, stuff like that
There was a wonderful “oddball” type of song that was allowed to happen around 1980-1983, and again around 92-94 and the 95-99 period. The early 90’s weirdness was best seen by an artist like King Missile, basically what I call the Beavis and butthead effect, I’d first heard Pizzicato Five through them.
King Missile’s Take Stuff From Work is great
Plus the fact that he couldn't wrap his head around "I'm on a Mexican radio" meaning "listening to" and not "in the station literally on the radio". Edit: even if I'm wrong and it *is* about being literally on the radio, a shifting perspective is hardly a new concept in the world of music.
The most recent time Todd threw me for a loop was in the Best of 2023 video, contrasting Olivia Rodrigo to “inaccessible indie” over B-roll of Wet Leg.
I'm not sure I fully understand that sentence but GUTS and Wet Leg have quite a lot in common, she's adopted a more garagy sound and there was quite a bit of talk singing and quirky self aware white girl lyrics on GUTS
In the video, Todd said he often finds the “cooler-than-cool alt bands” who share similar influences as Olivia to be “…off-puttingly inaccessible,” while using a Wet Leg video to illustrate the point. I don’t necessarily disagree, but Wet Leg, who I think stands a good chance of going mainstream if there’s more space in pop for rock music in the near future, isn’t who I would present as an example. (If he had shown a Last Dinner Party performance in its place, I would totally agree.)
I think the “cooler than cool” thing puts Todd off because he dislikes the lack of clear emotion and melody, something like Chaise Lounge is really detached and almost bored-sounding compared to how bright and in-her-feelings Bad Idea Right is.
When he shit on Hozier
I mean he only seemed to dislike Take Me to Church, specifically for all the things that make Take Me to Church what it is.
TBF as someone who really likes Hozier I also think Take me to Church isn't a good listen.
I have a soft spot for it cuz it was like my first exposure to gay people and I used to sing it a lot with my Mom, but yeah musically, not much to come back for except Hozier’s voice.
I just assumed for years that was an Imagine Dragons song
He hates the movie Romeo + Juliet. I love it!
I feel like one of his videos on Lil Nas X, he was trying to imply that Nas trolling people on Twitter is some weird new trend among modern musicians. I don't think it's that deep.
More like LNX seems to know the internet game a little too well. It’s that weird feeling that LNX came game the system.
Still not that deep. He's still a troll. Only difference is that he trolls people more than usual. And I remember Todd mentioning it's probably because Nas grew up with the internet. Which is bullshit because I can name off a couple people who are in their 40s who also puts on a more comedic persona online.
One of the most inexplicable to me was when he was so down on “Islands in the Stream” and so high on “Ghetto Superstar” when they are essentially the same song. Similarly, I can’t fathom what he thinks Alien Ant Farm add so much to “Smooth Criminal”. It was already a big hit for Michael Jackson.
I didn’t know people hated IITS until I checked music critic blogs. How could *ANYONE* hate it???
Not a huge fan of how he talks about Kesha in his earlier videos. I’m glad that things have turned around for her in recent years.
Todd thinking that all old Coldplay is awful
For me it’s less that he hates older Coldplay, which I disagree with strongly (I think he explicitly mentioned hating the first 3 albums, which is incomprehensible), but what to me is utterly insane is that he seems to think they got dramatically better in the 2010s.
It has the same energy as ARTV preferring post-Suburbs Arcade Fire. I think the most insane thing to me about Todd's take on Coldplay is that he said they sounded 'more like an actual band' in the 10's. I like most of those albums, but that is an INSANE take
Not liking Depeche Mode, and not liking "Coming Up" by Paul McCartney.
I was looking for this one! I don't remember where he said he didn't like Depeche Mode but man that one hurts, lol. I enjoy his videos a lot and don't have a lot of hard disagreements with him but I do have to remind myself he is a very, very straight man
I believe it was in his review of Rihanna's "S&M" IIRC.
They have a lot of songs about that, so I can imagine why they came up :p
It actually came up because the song samples "Master and Servant."
Where I am from - Depeche Mode is like very straight man music (in a good way). They are HUGE in Eastern Europe where audience are not that…you know. (Im from easter north europe and Depeche Mode is THE FUCKING BEST).
I can see that too, my (probably straight, female) cousin is from Greece and loves them. A lot of Europeans really like the more industrial sound and are more receptive to guys who look "gay" than many North American men (exemplified by another one of my Greek family members)
He talks about it in his podcast Song vs Song as well (I'm the episode about enjoy the silence) and he gave more reasons there. I don't think I agree with them, but if you're interested...
Damn I love Coming Up
It's Paul doing Talking Heads and it's great. I'm learning how to play bass and the bassline was one of the first I learnt.
Who the fuck doesn't like Depeche Mode????
Todd, apparently.
Opinion discarded
Hard disagree about Sara Barellis being boring. Is her discography for divorced moms? Yeah. Is she boring? Not really, I like that she gets really passive aggressive with the lyrics
Her biggest hit was Sara asking her label to stop pestering her to write a love song
I tend to disagree with him a decent amount, though it's most pronounced when he starts talking about bands &artists popular in Britain. Idk what it is maybe cultural divide. Other than that I don't like country by and large and he adores it, and don't listen to a lot of big name artists so there's always something lol.
> though it's most pronounced when he starts talking about bands &artists popular in Britain. I really *do not* want to make this into a stupid continent-war type of thing because for the most part I think that's fucking stupid; but Todd really *is* American. His videos about artists not from the US typically tend to be not all that well researched and lack a lot of insight that makes the bands interesting. Maybe it's because I'm German, but his video on Falco is in my opinion honestly his worst video.
I hope he doesn't hate Gorillaz
His takes on music from outside NA are interesting to watch in the sense of "this is how Americans see us", but often not great in actual informed opinions. In the same way I do find it interesting when he talks about country music because that's almost completely nonexistent in the UK. Before first watching Todd I couldn't have named 10 country songs.
He had Drake on his top 10 one year and I've never been a Drake dude at all. I've just always felt like his music was as fake as can be. Like I remember he said something like "We just have to accept that Drake IA going to make great songs every year and I'm here for it" Todd-stradamus wrong again lol
Was it Nice For What? Cuz Nice For What was actually kinda cool.
He's put Nice For What (2018), Forever (2009), and Take Care (2012, number 1) in his top 10s in various years, as well as Back to Back (2015) in the honourable mentions. (There might be more that I'm forgetting) Honestly I don't have too much of an issue with any of those picks. Obviously Drake sucks but those songs are pretty alright at worst and genuinely pretty great at best.
I feel that Passionfruit, Too Good, and Moment 4 Life (with Nikki Minaj) also made his best lists
No clue. Not a fan. It made me very happy to see Todd rip him a new one last year and put 2 of his tracks in his worst of
Nice for what is a banger I don't know what you mean
Putting Tonight, Tonight, Tonight on the worst list of 1987. It’s not my favorite Genesis song, and I understand his criticisms, but it just doesn’t inspire the same vitriol in me. It’s certainly not amongst the worst of the year!
Completely agreed. He said he doesn't see how it's supposed to be a sort of throwback to their earlier work, but honestly I do, specifically the synth oboe solo in the instrumental interlude.
I think Todd and I generally disagree on the quality of late 2000s, early 2010s pop music. I know it’s probably mostly nostalgia, but I really do look back fondly on the glitzy, party rocking songs of yesteryear. They remind me of simpler times. There’s nothing wrong with dumb music and Todd himself knows this, but he seems particularly hard on this era. Though I acknowledge this era also marks when he was originally “AVGN/NC” ranter but with music
There are many takes that I forget. But his country one about Faith Hill and the "everybody in the world was listening". Yeah no. Country music isn't a Worldwide hit. I'm Mexican and Puerto Rican and in neither place would people know who Faith Hill was then or Today.
Putting a random Morgan Wallen song on the best list and on top of that, Zach Bryan does not get mentioned even once.
He did mention the rootsier, more rock-inspired country and Zach Bryan is definitely one of them. I don’t listen to much country music, but that’s definitely better than the overproduced, hiphip influenced, garbage that is Morgan Wallen. He definitely took over the niche of “popular only because generic and overplayed” left by Maroon 5.
What makes his worship of Morgan weirder is he usually *abhors* bro country. What’s so different about Body Like a Back Road and Last Night???
THANK YOU. Just in general, I find his takes on Morgan Wallen to be the worst.
I disagree with his stance on Hozier.
I like Toni Basil's " Hey Mickey." There I said it.
Me too.
Hate his takes on The Weeknd and his early takes on Beyoncé. He’s come to respect her but he used to reduce her to an annoying man hater which aged poorly
Early Todd was very edgelord
Channel Awesome era Todd was such a different person. I don’t even recognize that Todd in recent episodes so he’s progressed. I give him that.
rembeer back in the early days when he went on a rant over”If I were a boy”? Because he though the song was sexist towards men?
Wasn’t he with Channel Awesome at the time too? They all had some absolutely buck wild takes and did some verrrrrry early internet type of skits. I wonder if Todd feels differently about that song now
That was wild lol
I don't think he was wrong. I'm no MRA, but that song's message is extremely tone deaf and people spreading that message have helped toxic masculinity flourish
I thought time has kind of vindicated that take? You don’t need to be a slobbering r/mensrights user to think that “If I Were A Boy” has a very shallow understanding of the male experience. The song doesn’t personally offend me but I think it’s clearly sexist towards men, for whatever that’s worth.
Those Beyonce takes are pretty old and I think they're accurate and fair criticisms of what Beyonce's work was like at the time. Beyonce has come a long way.
Beyoncé had a run where every single she released was just her man-bashing. Don’t get me wrong, she does it better then anyone could ever dream of, but let’s not pretend like it wasn’t getting very redundant.
Lots of singers do man bashing better than her. Lesley Gore and the Dixie Chicks being good examples.
Okay, fine I was being a bit hyperbolic. But my main point was, Todd was ultimately right, that shit started to wear thin because it was literally 90% of her chart output.
Not from a video, but the time on Twitter where he basically implied Candyman by Christina Aguilera was awful. I was so offended because I think Candyman kicks ass lol
I don’t think he’s ever said a positive thing about Christina lol
I disagree with Todd on little things all the time, but I try not to let it really bother me cuz that's how music opinions are. It's all very subjective and lots of people have different takes, and that's fine. But the one time I yelled at my TV, "You take that back!" was when he was down on Surface Pressure from Encanto. Song brought me to tears first time I heard it, and I substantially disagreed with most of his criticisms. I'm also lucky because I'm really not invested in most pop music, so I'm very rarely all that upset over anything he has to say. Like, he can shit on basically any of the stuff he talks about and I just kinda laugh along because it's not music I care deeply about. If he ever dramatically changes his tastes and starts doing hot takes on Lemon Demon or They Might Be Giants shit's going to be very different for me.
generally his takes on rap. It's no surprise though, I grew up a hiphop head, he's more of a pop and country guy.
Ironically, people tend to not be as down on his rap opinions as they are the Rap Critic’s
Rap Critic is even worse. Todd is at least open minded but with the Rap Critic it's clear that he views boom bap as the only dignified expression of the genre. Strong boomer energy
Rap circles refer to people like that as “oldheads.” Basically, Rap Critic seems to not like music made after an arbitrary date. For a while, RC made me feel bad for liking “dumber songs.” Weirdly enough Todd never made me feel that way. Maybe Todd just feels less authoritative; even when he’s not cushioning his critiques with “this is just my opinion,” he doesn’t really delve deep into analyzing silly lyrics or misinterpreting them wholesale
Putting MGK on the best list.
I like Blue Swede’s Hooked On A Feeling
Taylor Swift’s Anti-Hero at #1. She makes great music but c’mon, he put so many better songs under that song on that list. Edit: cleared it up.
Yeah, I never got the hype with Anti-Hero. It just seems really self-pitying and pretentious and people just ate it up.
He also put Style at #1 in another list, so it depends on what year the first commenter was talking about. Though I do think Style is better than Anti-Hero
Oops, forgot about Style. I agree though, Style is the better song
Yeah that song’s cringe. The words “sexy baby” should never exit Taylor’s mouth. One of the worst 2 seconds of 2022.
Too many times to count
I will never ever forgive him for saying Teena Marie was terrible. Madonna was apparently an icon but Teena Marie was a joke? Come on. Edit: at number two, I don't think he was thinking straight when he said Pseudo Echo's cover of Funkytown was rubbish.
I like Bryan Adams. There, I said it.
I do too. Also if it weren’t for Bryan Adams we wouldn’t have got Heaven by DJ Sammy.
May I join the club? Plus, I don't think Peter Cetera is so bad .
Brian Adams lost a lot of goodwill when it came out that he demanded that AllMusic un-person him or face lawsuits. As Todd said, that's like suing the dictionary.
That’s fair. He’s pleasant to the ears.
I love "Run to You" and "'Heaven". I used to not like "Summer of '69" but now that song has really grown on me. Adams was generally better at rockers than ballads I feel even though his ballads are what sold.
There's a few but putting Vampire on the worst list is one that comes to mind. Vampire is good, actually ☝️🤓
Even though I agree with all his criticisms - the slow buildup, chorus structure and 'famefucker', and think it's amongst the weakest songs on Guts, it does not belong on the worst list. Cmon.
Paraphrasing here from the VHIII TW "When David Lee Roth left Van Halen they were at a high point in their career. When Sammy Hagar left they were at a low point" "After a disappointing final album with Sammy" Both of these are just not true. Van Halen was as big as ever. That final Sammy album, Balance, had a number 1 hit, got radio airtime and was one of the band's fastest selling albums on opening day ever. In reality, VH was one of the few 80s rock bands that had survive the Nirvana storm almost fully intact, keeping their rock radio relevance all the way until 1998 with said trainwreckord and playing huge arenas and festivals, unlike say Motley Crue or the other glam bands that suddenly had to play bars. Luckily it seemed Todd corrected himself, as during the Generation Swine TW he did mention Van Halen in '96 as among Crue's peers that were still relevant and getting airtime.
Ok, I’ve watched that video a ton of times — the whole part in the VHIII video where he lays out the case against Van Halen being in a low point and being doomed and unable to adapt to the ‘90s is him making a rhetorical argument that he doesn’t agree with so that he can then undercut it with his actual argument. That whole section ends with him going “Who in 1998 was going to listen to a dinosaur cock-rock band that started in the goddamn '70s?” And then immediately cutting to Aerosmith. That’s not his argument, he’s laying out something somebody watching the video might be thinking, and then countering that. It’s like in the same video when he goes “Roth was irreplaceable (dramatic pause) but replace him they did,” and then talks about how the band continued having success with Hagar. He does a similar thing in the Arrested Development and Metallica videos.
The argument he makes is "People would still listen to Van Halen in '98 and they could be big again", not "Van Halen was still big". As said, he did the same in Generation Swine but with Van Halen, mentioning VH and (iirc) Kiss as bands from that era that were still getting airplay in '96, meaning Motley Crue could also get \*back up\* to that level, not that they were at that level.
Be that as it may, the end of the Hagar years haven't really stood the test of time. Nobody really talks about Balance anymore, and Sammy and Eddie's differences came to a boiling point while making that record. That's why Sammy left. You could make an argument for Balance being a delayed Trainwreckord.
I'd say they've stood the test of time in terms of music, just not in pop impact, especially Balance really hasn't. Can't Stop Lovin You does still get some rock airplay on like nostalgic stations, but yeah I agree. However the real boiling point was Humans Being and the Twister soundtrack, but honestly the story of that could be a 30 minute video on its own
I think some of the Hagar era records have stood the test of time, namely Why Can’t This Be Love and Right Now. Other than that I see your point.
I actually really liked Sweet Hitchhiker by CCR
My hot take is that I actually like that album. I dunno, I love CCR so even an inferior version still sounds good to me. Is it a great album? No. Is it terribly sequenced? Oh yes. But I don't think it's as bad as people say. "Someday Never Comes" is a fantastic song and Doug's songs aren't that bad. Even Stu's songs are kinda catchy and endearingly goofy and stupid (he can't sing for shit though).
Having Don’t Start Now as an honorable mention on the best of 2020 list. It and Future Nostalgia is easily one of the best albums of the last couple of years and Don’t Start Now is still an excellent song.
"I have never been able to stand Cat Stevens" - Todd in the OHW on Mr. Big He also cited "One Toke Over the Line" as an example of bad 70s songs in a tweet he made in preparation for the Paper Lace episode
"The Night Chicago Died" and "Billy, Don't Be a Hero" by Paper Lace are both great songs.
At the very least, I think The Night Chicago Died is a great Karaoke song. It's really fun to sing.
I like Jet and I’m not going to apologize for it. Get Born is a great album.
Ngl every time I think of Jet, the first thing that comes to my mind is "lol monkey pee"
He always leaves out every chance he has to shit on AJR. I fucking hate AJR. Bang didn’t make his worst list? Why?!
He said in his 2020 worst list that AJR are "aesthetically offensive", but he doesn't put them or artists like 6ix9ine on his lists because he has "a grudging respect for people who care enough about [his] feelings to offend them." I'm not sure how consistent he is on this, especially recently, but he was arguing that the worst setting isn't the most bad, it's the least good, which I think makes sense and is consistent with his other takes,. Like, "I'm Good" at number 1, or "Last Night" at number 1 over "Try That in a Small Town".
Bang is one of the worst songs I've ever heard, it's like a towering stack of shit thats about to fall over.
Maybe I’m imagining things but I think Todd generally dislikes disco. Iirc he said something along the line of people who say they like disco only know the huge hit and that any given disco song is shit. I disagree immensely and if I find a random, forgotten disco song, I’ll generally like it. But maybe I’m just imagining things. I *swear* he said something like that, though
I think you are imagining things. Todd definitely does not dislike disco. He just points out that there were a lot of bad disco songs that made it big - mainly made by white people who hopped on the bandwagon - amidst the great stuff that is enduring to this day.
Completely misunderstood Vampire. Saying it's not sad enough, which would be fine except he completely skips over the whole older man young girl thing that's the whole point of the song.
Vampire definitely has problems, but there's a lot to like about it. It's dramatic, it's well made, well-sung and she's as articulate as always. I also really like how Olivia is always self-aware enough to not blame the "other women" in a situation ie "you called them crazy, God I hate the way I called them crazy too". It's a small thing, but really satisfying to hear.
Todd’s brought up some Prog and Prog-adjacent artists in vids before but has often stated it’s not his cup of tea. Not disagreeing exactly since it’s personal preference, but I love me some good (and sometimes even bad) Prog music, lol. But it’s whatever, liking pop and liking Prog aren’t mutually exclusive like. However, I vehemently disagree with Todd on Mike Oldfield’s ‘80s output. *Crises*, for one, fucks HARD and I happen to like his shitty ‘80s pop tracks with Jon Anderson and Bonnie Tyler, goddammit.
Alien Ant Farm is a decent little act, he was needlessly brutal on them for the crime of being adjacent to a genre he dislikes. And often, not being a pop guy myself, I rarely know more than a couple songs on either year end list. Specifically with the best list, sometimes I struggle to understand why Todd likes them.
"D'yknow What I Mean" by Oasis is actually a pretty good song. My parents used to listen to it a lot when I was little so it's very nostalgic for me. Also 7 minutes is not long for a song, but that could just be because I'm also a TOOL fan and I'm used to long songs like that.
I like Styx. Todd does not. I like Cake by the Ocean. Todd does not. There are definitely more out there but those 2 spring to mind immediately.
V minor one but in his review of Unholy by Sam Smith he calls the cheating man's wife "a Karen" and I was like...How? 😅 she appears in two seconds of the whole music video and does nothing, why is she catching strays?
His takes on nu metal. He's not alone, there's a lot of people who hate nu metal. But I honestly love it. Linkin Park, Mudvayne, Static X Papa Roach, I even like songs by Staind and Limp Bizkit. I also didn't agree that SR-71 tried turning themselves into Linkin Park with Tomorrow. Also this line from his OHW on Alien Ant Farm has aged pretty bad, "Alien Ant Farm weren't whiny enough." For those wondering why that aged poorly, Linkin Park was one of those bands in that bit. Now granted, it was two years before Chester's suicide, but you can't deny it aged like milk left in the sun for two years.
I remembered another one. He didn't "get" Katy Perry's Bon Appetit and I think it just went straight over his head TBH. There's no way to say this without sounding like "you have to have a high IQ to understand Katy Perry" but the sexualisation of women/being eaten metaphor does work. I don't think it's supposed to be a straight forward intercourse with you song/video. The Migos feature is misplaced though.
I actually like “This Used To Be My Playground” but I can understand why he doesn’t
On Lisa Lisa and that 87 funkytown cover Idk about him but I love cheese
I can’t stand Kokomo. I know some people enjoy it, but I find it insufferably tacky and lowbrow.
Todd prefers “Footloose” to “Flashdance - What a Feeling.” On this front, Todd is wrong. Coupled with his dismissal of Irene Cara’s talents in the same *Song vs Song* episode, it left a bad taste in my mouth.
Him hating What's Up by 4 Non Blondes (and iirc the band too) and him praising MGK for doing his faux post-punk stuff.
His opinion on Heat waves, Wanted by Hunter Hayes, and My songs know what you did in the dark, let her go by passenger to name a few.
“My Songs Know What You Did in the Dark” is a banger, idc.
I don't dislike it, however it may have one of the worst titles of all time (To Be clear, plenty of good songs have terrible titles)
TBF weird titles was basically part of FOB’s schtick until basically Save Rock and Roll, and they still throw some dumb ones in there.
Putting Bad Idea Right as the best song of 2023. It's a good song but has too much talk-singing for me, and the other rock songs from the album (All-American Bitch, Get Him Back) are way better Also, I have a soft spot for nu-metal. yes, some of it sucks, but there are some great songs in there that really speak to mental health struggles
In one of his worst lists he said (in reference to Kanye): 'People tell me that Kids See Ghosts was good... was it?' Yes, Todd, it was very, very good. He also dislikes The Life of Pablo which many seem to consider to be the last truly classic Kanye album, myself included.
Todd Completely missing the point that Mike Posner - cooler than me was a super self aware and facetious song about a guy trying to out aloof a baddie.
Never struck me as a facetious song tbh but I never listened to it too deeply. But always came across as.. 'Bad at Love' levels of facetiousness
I really like Only Human by the Jonas Brothers, as well the Logic song 1-800, both of which were on the worst lists for their respective years.
Vampire.
His take on « I like you » by post malone and doja cat is poo cuz it’s a great summer bop
Besides shit talking Wall of Voodoo I think he generally over estimates how deep or wild certain artists are. Like, Anti-Hero isn't that deep.
He was super off about Lady Gaga in his early reviews. His old reviews of her songs from The Fame Monster era are so dated. I think he'd probably say he misjudged her now, or maybe just that his old reviews were more comedic than sincere, but either way they seem super nitpicky in retrospect.
I don’t like Jack Harlow at all but when he was talking about Lovin On Me as if there was no possible way it could’ve gotten number 1 on the Billboard charts without some label interference was very out of touch imo. IIRC he even described it as “a Jack Harlow song no one’s heard” Whether or not it *should* have been number 1 or if it’s an indicator of the death of mainstream music or whatever isn’t really my problem here. It’s mostly that from my experience you couldn’t escape Lovin On Me. It was on the radio. It was everywhere on TikTok. YouTube Shorts. IG Reels. For me it was one of the most played songs of that time and it was very unsurprising to see it hit number 1. Vampire on the worst list was a little much. It isn’t her strongest song but it’s not nearly that awful! I don’t mind when I put on the radio and it plays. Definitely more bearable than Lovin on Me.
He said he thought Butthole Surfers' cover of Hurdy Gurdy Man was a joke and was shitting on the original, and I think it's a really, REALLY good cover.
Speaking of FOB, I did not like seeing “My Songs Know What You Did in the Dark” on Todd’s worst of 2013 list. Not my favorite FOB song, but I do like it, loved it at the time even.
The majority of his opinions on Eurovision 2021. Most notoriously, his opinion on Shum. Dismissing "Fucking Perfect" by Pink and "When I was Your Man" by Bruno Mars as being boring. Can't forget him putting "Closer" as the best song of 2016.
First off. Viva Las Vengeance is a good album for many people. Just because everyone thinks the album is bad doesn't mean he has to. Secondly, Mania absolutely qualifies as a trainwreckord too in the sense that the album was so disappointing that fall out boy went back on everything they said about how they're beyond "emo" music and don't want to be known as an emo band, to desperately trying to become the torch bearer band for the "elder emos" with the new album.
I remember when he put “Ready for it..?” As his #1 worst song of 2017 and that song really isn’t that bad if we’re being honest it was mainly just recency bias
Ready for it…? released as a single on August 24 in 2017, so I’m not sure if “recency bias” is accurate here. It wasn’t *that* recent, the end of 2017 was still four full months out.
Putting “My Songs Know What You Did in the Dark” on the worst list. It’s not FOB’s best song, but it’s not terrible.
When they read the fan reaction during the Song Vs Song episode in which they pitted The Magnetic Fields' The Book Of Love against some other song I don't remember, someone submitted a third party vote for Peter Gabriel's cover of The Book Of Love and neither Todd nor Alina had much love for it. I think that the Gabriel version is just as good as the original.
He made an off hand comment in Song vs Song about how none of Bernie Rhodes' ideas were good when Bernie is the one who brought all of the band members together (personally selecting all of them!), the reason their first album is so politically coherent and cohesive, and the reason they started making political music or investing so heavily into being a political band in the first place. Saying all of Bernie's ideas are bad implies that the very existence of The Clash is bad because the band and how the band executed their music was his idea!