Day 93 equals Now! #93, which came out on 18th March 2016.
On with the hits!
Track 1: Lukas Graham – 7 Years
It’s a nice tune, but I find the theme a bit irritating.
Track 2: Justin Bieber – Love Yourself
Another nice tune with an awkward theme. It’s also too slow for me.
Track 3: Zayn – Pillowtalk
Zayn Malik’s first solo release since becoming the Robbie Williams/Geri Halliwell of One Direction and leaving the group about a year before they split ‘went on hiatus’. It’s too slow for me, and the tune is pretty forgettable.
Track 4: Coldplay and Beyoncé – Hymn For The Weekend
Gorgeous tune – really like this one.
Track 5: Mike Posner – I Took A Pill In Ibiza [SeeB Remix]
Mike Posner returning to the charts with this surprise number one hit. It’s a lovely chillout tune with a wistful theme.
Track 6: Zara Larsson – Lush Life
Solid danceable pop tune – big fan of this.
Track 7: Jonas Blue and Dakota – Fast Car
Dodgy house cover of the Tracy Chapman classic. Should have left well alone.
Track 8: Shawn Mendes – Stitches
Pretty tune – quite like this one.
Track 9: Major Lazer, Nyla and Fuse ODG – Light It Up [Remix]
Boring tune, and it’s too slow for my liking.
Track 10: Snakehips, Tinashe and Chance The Rapper – All My Friends
Good singalong chorus, but it’s too slow for me.
Track 11: Little Mix and Jason Derulo – Secret Love Song
Horrendously saccharine and slow! Not my kind of thing at all.
Track 12: Jess Glynne – Take Me Home
Irritating tune, and again it’s too slow.
Track 13: Ellie Goulding – Army
The tune’s quite interesting, but it’s a little too cheesy for me.
Track 14: One Direction – History
Too acoustic-y for me, but the tune’s okay.
Track 15: Selena Gomez – Hands To Myself
This tune doesn’t really do it for me, although there’s some interesting stuff going on with the backing track, and it’s got a good atmosphere. The theme’s awful, though.
Track 16: Jason Derulo – Get Ugly
Repeated artist alert! We’ve already had Jason Derulo on track 11.
This one’s got a good rhythm and a slight retro tinge – I quite like it.
Track 17: Sigma and Rita Ora – Coming Home
I find this tune pretty uninspired.
Track 18: Elle King – Exes and Ohs
Great classic-sounding blues-tinged rock. Really like this.
Track 19: Olly Murs – Stevie Knows
Love that retro-sounding funk. Good stuff.
Track 20: Jack Garratt – Worry
Slow and boring, with some odd instrumentals that are very distracting.
Track 21: James Bay – If You Ever Want To Be In Love
Pretty tune, and it’s got quite a good rhythm. I like the rock-edged guitar too.
Track 22: Lewisham & Greenwich NHS Choir – A Bridge Over You
This was the 2015 Christmas number one – a charity choral offering. It was the first time, due to streaming becoming more popular than downloading, that the X Factor winner’s single didn’t really get a look in for the Christmas number one – in fact, Louisa Johnson’s Forever Young is not even included on this Now! compilation, which marks the first time since Steve Brookstein’s Against All Odds from 2005 that the X Factor song has been left out by the Now! compilers.
Anyway, this song is a dodgy mash-up of Simon & Garfunkel’s Bridge Over Troubled Water and Coldplay’s Fix You, but I’m sure it raised a lot of money for charity.
Track 23: Justin Bieber – Sorry
Repeated artist alert! We’ve already had Justin Bieber on track 2.
I love this song, though. It’s the only Justin Bieber song I actually like, and it’s a cracker.
Track 24: The Weeknd – The Hills
Great atmosphere, but I’m not keen on the theme.
Track 25: Coldplay – Adventure Of A Lifetime
Repeated artist alert! We’ve already had Coldplay on track 4.
I find the warbly instrumentals on this one a bit irritating, but I do like the retro-tinged beat.
Track 26: 99 Souls, Destiny’s Child and Brandy – The Girl Is Mine
Mash-up of Destiny’s Child’s Girl and Brandy and Monica’s The Boy Is Mine (which was itself based on Michael Jackson and Paul McCartney’s The Girl Is Mine). Brandy re-recorded her vocals, Monica didn’t, which I guess explains the credit. I do quite like the electro lines on this track, and it’s not as messy as you would expect from a mash-up.
Track 27: Tinie Tempah and Zara Larsson – Girls Like
Repeated artist alert! We’ve already had Zara Larsson on track 6.
I quite like this one – it’s very danceable.
Track 28: Fleur East – Sax
I’m a big fan of this one, but you expected that, didn’t you? Saxophone a-go-go. I highly approve.
Track 29: Craig David and Big Narstie – When The Bassline Drops
The start of Craig David’s inexplicable but strangely welcome comeback! This one’s got a good beat, and, as should probably be expected, a bit of an early ’00s tinge.
Track 30: David Guetta, Sia and Fetty Wap – Bang My Head
I find the beat on this one a bit jarring, and the tune’s pretty bland.
Track 31: Sigala and Bryn Christopher – Sweet Lovin’
Another forgettable tune, and I’m actually starting to get a bit fed up of the ’90s-inspired dance tracks now.
Track 32: Kygo and Maty Noyes – Stay
Again, this tune doesn’t do anything for me.
Track 33: Mount and Nicholas Haelg – Something Good
Not a cover of the Utah Saints track, which is probably for the best, given how many versions of that one have shown up on Now! compilations. This one’s a dance track with some interesting instrumentals, but yet another generic, unmemorable tune.
Track 34: The Chainsmokers and Rozes – Roses
There’s a good atmosphere buried in there somewhere, but the track’s too messy to feel it, really.
Track 35: Alessia Cara – Here
Really don’t like this tune at all – I find it very grating.
Track 36: Alan Walker – Faded
Another slow, boring track. The beat does pick up, but it doesn’t get any more interesting.
Track 37: G-Eazy and Bebe Rexha – Me, Myself And I
I quite like the rhythm on the vocals, but I’m not keen on the tune.
Track 38: Robin Schulz and Francesco Yates – Sugar
I like the guitar at the start, and it’s got a good beat.
Track 39: Dawin and Silentó – Dessert [Remix]
The lines on this are pretty jarring, and the tune’s nothing special.
Track 40: AlunaGeorge and Popcaan – I’m In Control
Irritating vocals, dull song.
Track 41: Twenty One Pilots – Stressed Out
I like the reggae-tinged beat, and the chorus is great – it gives the song an awesome eerie atmosphere. Brilliant lyrics too.
Track 42: The 1975 – The Sound
Love that classic pop feel – big fan of this track.
Track 43: Charlie Puth – One Call Away
Pretty tune, but it’s too slow and saccharine for me.
Track 44: David Bowie – Heroes
1977 classic back in the charts after David Bowie’s passing. I’m still sad about Bowie being gone even two and a half years later, and I wish I didn’t now associate this one with it being everywhere in early 2016. The song is as beautiful as everything else he did.