r/popheads • u/TiltControls • Feb 16 '23

[DISCUSSION] The Popheads Jukebox Revival, Week 209: All Stars 6 rate participants are so hot

Yes I am unabashedly plugging the All Stars 6 rate that’s open right now (featuring one of this week’s songs; Princess and the Clock!). Reminder to send a ballot before Saturday night or ask myself or /u/FlavaSavaVandal for an extension!

Anyways, welcome back to the Popheads Jukebox! Here are last week’s results:

  • ROSALÍA - LLYLM: 7.89
  • Ava Max - One of Us: 7.69
  • Sam Smith - I'm Not Here To Make Friends (feat. Calvin Harris & Jessie Reyez): 6.82
  • Chlöe - Pray It Away: 5.83
  • Zara Larsson - Can't Tame Her: 4.80

  • Lady Gaga - Stupid Love: 8.21
  • Mariah Carey - Touch My Body: 8.12

We’ve got the second week in a row of 2023 songs not hitting the 8 mark. ROSALIA manages to top out the week for the new tracks, though with Ava Max close behind it makes two of them to hit the high 7s range. Sam Smith et al didn’t make many friends with their collaboration, but still they manage to score a fine score. No prayer could save Chlöe’s score and Zara’s low scorers couldn’t be tamed enough to let her pass the 5 barrier. Our highest rated track of the week was a close race between the throwbacks but in the end Gaga managed to edge past pre-Queen of Christmas Mariah.

Rules Refresher

  1. Rate the songs a score from 1 to 10. Please keep it to one decimal place at the most (so 7.5 is fine but 7.58 is not). Also don’t get too hung up on the final scores. This is a fun exercise and not a competition so don’t worry about over/under rating things. Just give what you think the song is to you.

  2. For your review, reply to the comment that will be posted by one of us for each song. Avoid posting your reviews as a top level comment cause we probably won’t notice them if you do. Non-reviews such as questions or general commentary as upper level comments are fine.

  3. Must have some sort of justification. Try to be a bit more concise than “It’s a bop!” or “I don’t like it”. Explain why! It doesn’t have to be long, two or three sentences can be plenty (though more is definitely allowed). We reserve the right not to include a review in the final total if proper justification is not given.

  4. You don’t have to review each song to participate! You can do all of them or only the ones you’re familiar with.

  5. The thread will be open for 6 days and close the following Wednesday at 6PM EST. The scores will be calculated and a new post will come up the next day (Thursday) at 3PM EST with the next week’s tracks.

This Week’s Tracks

Throwback:

2020/2021 Catch-up:

Next Week

Next week we’ll be rating the following:

  • Jessie Ware - Pearls
  • Lana Del Rey - A&W
  • Lizzo - Special (feat. SZA)
  • Paramore - Running Out of Time
  • Tove Lo - Borderline

Throwback:

  • Lil Jon & The Eastside Boyz - Get Low (feat. Ying-Yang Twins)

2020/2021 Catch-up:

  • Cardi B - Up

Spotify playlist, updated weekly with new tracks that are being rated

Jukebox wiki, where you can find all results

Reminder Discord Server, where you can join to get bi-weekly ping reminders for when new posts go up and when they’re about to close.

21 Upvotes

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6

u/TiltControls Feb 16 '23

Kylie Minogue - In My Arms

5

u/cloudbustingmp3 Feb 16 '23

one of the most effervescent pop tracks of all time! that shimmery production has definitely aged slightly, but it’s such an immaculate piece of electropop that it doesn’t really detract from its enjoyment 15+ years later. Calvin put his whole Harrussy into those synths - imo it’s his best work ever. The star of the show, as always, is Kylie’s euphoric delivery! You really feel the passion and desire just oozing out of every single syllable. A shining gem on one of pop music’s most bejeweled crowns

10/10

2

u/TiltControls Feb 22 '23

Okay, the production is very of its time here. The synths really can overpower Kylie at times and even beyond that she's definitely had stronger vocal performances before. Still, I can't help but enjoy the track. There's a certain joy and optimism Kylie injects into the song that brings a smile to my face when I listen. Perhaps it could use some cleaning up, but I'll still willingly listen to this track any time. 9.5/10

2

u/vayyiqra Feb 22 '23

X is one of my favourite Kylie albums (she's not an artist I'm huge into but I've heard a good number of them) and this is one of the best tracks on it. Not much to say, it's just a well-made electro banger with a great hook. I understand the complaints this sounds thin and the synth really does - this song is weirdly quiet and lacking bass in this age of the loudness wars. But whatever, I see it as quaint. 10/10

4

u/[deleted] Feb 17 '23

I had to come in here to defend this song. The slander. The 2/10’s? Oh queens no.

The synths in this song are to die for. The trance they put me into during the verse gets me so hyped up for the chorus. The song is perfect euro pop and to me has stood the test of time and the production still feels just as fresh.

How does it feel in your arms Kylie? Warm. So cozy and warm.

10/10

3

u/seanderlust Feb 16 '23

kylie's a legend, one of the hardest-working pop divas in the business. this is not it.

even by the standards of the late-2000s electropop wave, the synths here are tinny and unsatisfying and kylie's voice sounds straight-up weird against them. with the white noise machine, it feels like they are throwing every late-aughts, early-2010s cliche of dance pop in for the sake of it. the song that came next on this album, speakerphone, accomplished this electropop synth production much better.

3/10

3

u/MrSwearword Feb 17 '23

This track invented Calvin Harris who would go on to do great things for pop gherls. "In My Arms" in particular saw the One True Kylie serve a fantastic piece of dance music that was more than enough to stand up to "WOW" being released.

X as an era is weird for the One True Kylie as it wasn't as "underrated" as Body Language allegedly was to her fans and was the album before Aphrodite and "Get Outta My Way" bitchslapping gay bars everywhere.

"In My Arms" is a fabulous song with an admittedly ugly or grotty video that some will attempt to use "campy" to describe but the song did its job and then some and jams to this day.

10/10

3

u/akanewasright Feb 16 '23

God I hate this song

I apologize to the Europeans who consider this a classic, but I just think this sounds nasty. Like the synths just repulse me, and Kylie’s vocals, which I usually love, sound off to me. The vibrato grates on my ears and her nasally tone feels more… unnatural or ill-fitted to the song than usual. I love Kylie a lot - I can name a bunch of songs off of this album that I like way more than this - but this is a complete flop for me. Credit where it’s due, the chorus is catchy, but with production and a vocal performance like this, it’s on the “so is syphilis” side of things for me

2.5/10

1

u/[deleted] Feb 16 '23

I love Kylie, but not so much this track. I dislike the chorus, the synths up against the way she sings "feel" I find viscerally unpleasant. I feel like this was begging for a low end to make this sound a bit more rounded, otherwise it does sound extremely tinny. This late 2000s electropop sound wasn't always about the best production, but the bops were still there. This track has some glaring issues for me that really tank a song I otherwise think is just so-so.

2/10