Album Review: 100% Hits: Best of 2013 – Various Artists
2 min read
Brought to you by Warner Music Australia, 100% Hits Best of 2013 offers a track list from the best of pop this year. Featuring a range of artists in many spectrums of the pop field, the album is engaging and expansive, but also typical and safe.
This pop album gives what you want – a track list of great music made over the year. It’s got some fresh hits, as well as the ones we were playing earlier in the year but all were standards on the radio.
The album features five number one singles and a 15 top 20 hits – which some would argue make them the best. For this reviewer, in order to find a way to speak about the various artists and tracks in the multiple pop genres on this album is split them up into moods.
Starting with the tracks that get you in the mood to party, 100% Hits Best of 2013 includes the recent smash from Jason Derulo and 2 Chainz Talk Dirty, which debuted at number one on the Australian Singles Chart. Then we’ve got that fast-rappin’ catchy follow up track from Macklemore & Ryan Lewis featuring Ray Dalton, Can’t Hold Us.
Lesser known by name maybe, Baauer gets a look in with Harlem Shake, which became a viral meme when some Aussie skater boys posted dancing to it on YouTube in February this year. Big name UK electro artists Rudimental’s track , Waiting all Night featuring Ella Eyre gets a spin and, so does the Bingo Players, Icona Pop, Flo Rida and David Guetta. A big range of party anthems is plus for the album.
Now if you’re in the mood to cry, there are tracks that go into the territory of heartfelt anguish and emotional roller coasters. These include James Blunt’s newie Bonfire Heart, Treasure from Bruno Mars, which charted in the top 10 in over 12 countries, and Birdy’s Wings, the follow up from her multi-platinum version of Bon Iver’s Skinny Love. Artists featured on this album in this area also include Paramore, Passenger and Ed Sheeran.
To round out the album, if you’re in the mood to relax there are some easy listening tracks to get that going for you. The Lumineers debut single Ho Hey, Michael Buble It’s A Beautiful Day and a fairly new single from Canadian rapper and Olly Murs Inner Ninja will lead you down this path. Newer and less known artist like NONONO and Illy also offer songs in this category.
And then this gets a run – The Fox, an electronic dance song and viral video by Norwegian comedy duo Ylvis. It’s an intriguing question, one that has sent the flagrantly comedic song to the top of the charts – peaking at number 6 on the Billboard Hot 100. I’m not sure what mood you need to be into for this track, but it’s in there, just the same.
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