R&B Ballads - #19

#19

Brian McKnight - Back at One

1999

Say farewell to the dark night, I see the coming of the sun

Woo-hoo!: I think Brian (not to be confused with Bryan) took us to school on this one. Starts off with that piano intro which lasts more than 30 seconds (a definite plus). Then he goes to some nice melodic singing which gets us into the mood. Finally, in the last verse he turns it up to max: "You threw out the lifeline, just in the nick of tiiiiiiiiiIIIIIIIme". Then he brings it back down to the chorus before we outro with some strings (violin?). A love rollercoaster for sure.

D'oh!: There are times when I really like this song, and then other times where it just doesn't work. My hypothesis is that when this song hit its peak popularity (around Christmas time of 1999) affects how I view it. Like, it's a better winter song than it is a summer song. It actually makes me cold. Which you would think would make it good in the summer, but it doesn't work outside its natural wintery environment.

The Deal: The piano intro totally reminds me of a commercial for United Airlines. At least I think it was United. I searched Kazaa for it, but couldn't find it. Not that there are too many commercials on Kazaa anyways. I think it was with the "Fly the friendly skies" stuff. I'm too lazy to look up whether that was United right now. Anyone know what I'm talking about? Also, if someone was about to start learning to play the piano, they could probably use this intro to practice cause it is really slow paced. I'd like to hear that.

Fears

CNN article on the top fears of British people.

BRITS'.......................MINE
1 Spiders ....................1 Death
2 Terrorism ...............2 Spiders
3 Snakes .....................3 Terrorism
4 Heights ....................4 Heights
5 Death ........................5 Flying
6 Dentists ....................6 Snakes
7 Needles .....................7 Public Speaking
8 Public Speaking .......8 Dentists
9 Debt ..........................9 Debt
10 Flying .....................10 Needles

The list on the left is the Brits' (that's the British, not Mrs. Freudline) top 10 fears and the list on the right are those fears in my order. (By the way, columns are hard to make). Not to say these are my top 10 fears. They are not. They're just an ordered list of fears, if that makes any sense. Anyway, let's break each fear down one by one.

10 Needles - Are you kidding me? I LOVE needles!!! Love 'em! When I have to get a shot or something, I usually like to watch to see what they're doing. Giving blood? Not a problem for me! Yep, needles are awesome.

9 Debt - Scared of debt? What like debt's gonna come up and bite you in the butt? Come on! Get a job, you hippie!!!

8 Dentists - Not particularly fond of dentists myself, but I wouldn't say I'm scared of them. More of a hassle than anything else.

7 Public Speaking - I'll let you in on a little secret. I kinda get a kick out of public speaking. The bigger the crowd the better. Not like I've done it a lot, but as long as I know exactly what I'm gonna say and I can have notes and what not, I'm good to go.

6 Snakes - Snakes are OK. It's not like I worry about them on a daily basis. Plus, if I see one I can just run away like a scared little girl. No worries here. Actually, I'll probably just walk away. Don't want that snake thinking it intimidated me.

5 Flying - I used to like flying. But that was before the damn terrorists made me think twice. Bumpy flights are the worst. That's also called turbulence.

4 Heights - This one has grown on me, much like the flying fear. What sucks too is that I'm worried someone is gonna push me. You can't trust people. Especially if they have two first names.

3 Terrorism - Kinda goes hand in hand with flying. It would suck if there were terrorists on a plane I was on cause that would combine the 3, 4, and 5 fears. And then, snakes would fall from the ceiling.

2 Spiders - Spiders aren't cool. I worry about them jumping me while I'm sleeping cause I'm all helpless. Why wouldn't a spider go directly for my mouth? It's the smart thing for them to do.

1 Death - D-E-D. Dead.

R&B Ballads - #20

#20

Mariah Carey & Boyz II Men - One Sweet Day

1995

And I know you're shining down on me from Heaven

Woo-hoo!: A good collaboration from these two entities. I don't know why, but it has always stuck in my head that either Boyz II Men or Mariah had the lyrics and the other person(s) had the music. [Sadly, this thought must be in a location of my brain that is heavily used because I think about it quite often]. And then they magically put the two together and it was perfect. Hard to believe, but they do mesh pretty well.

D'oh!: I get that nagging feeling that Mariah is trying to one up everyone in this song. I mean, there's 5 people in this song and she gets about 2/3 of the action. Wow, that sounds like some sort of veiled reference to an orgy, but trust me, it's really not. It's just that when someone else is singing, she still has to be singing in the background. Also, in case you never noticed, this song is about someone dying, which isn't a great topic for this list.

The Deal: On the magical putting together of this song (told you I think about it a lot), it seems weird that they would share. Like if I had some really good lyrics (which I might) I wouldn't tell some other artist about them. Not that I'd be afraid they would steal my stuff, but, I don't know. Just seems like a bad idea. I guess what I'm saying is that people shouldn't share. Unless it's with me.

R&B Ballads - #21

#21

Bryan Adams - (Everything I Do) I Do It For You

1991

And when you find me there, you'll search no more

Woo-hoo!: There's a lot to like about this song. Firstly, the music video was wicked awesome. I was just 9 years old at the time, but I could tell it was cool cause it had all the scenes from Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves since it was from that soundtrack. Also, Bryan Adams sings his little heart out. I love that part when he's all like "I'd die for you!!!" Finally, since I'm special, Bryan Adams sent me a version that is more than six and half minutes long; that's a minute and half longer than the version everyone else gets to hear on the radio and the video. Yeah, I'm special.

D'oh!: Well, that extra minute and half isn't that great, just some more instrumentals and Bryan mumbling in the background. I guess too much of a good thing does exist. Bryan's pretty lucky I allowed him into this prestigious group of artists, since neither I nor anyone else on Earth considers him R&B. The last thing that bothers me is that there are a couple of times when I'm expecting him to say one thing in the lyrics, and he says something else. For example, he should have put "Take my hand" instead of "Take my life" after "Take me as I am". Sounds better. And I still expect him to make these changes after 13 years of listening to the song. He just never does though.

The Deal: I never had a huge urge to see Prince of Thieves, but it was a film that looked pretty interesting. If someone wanted to rent it and watch it with me, I would definitely not be opposed. I never saw Men in Tights either, which is fine with me. Watching a spoof of a movie you've never seen isn't as great as it sounds.

R&B Ballads - #22

#22

Jodeci - Lately

1993

Cause this time could mean 'goodbye'

Woo-hoo!: This is another song that I have a different than normal version of, but considering the numbers of each version on Kazaa, I think it is more popular than the regular album version. And I can understand why. It sounds like it's from something like MTV Unplugged. What's kind of odd is that it's only K-Ci and JoJo singing though. Anyways, it's good cause it's got more piano in it and it's a little bit slower than the album version.

D'oh!: Where's Devante and Mr. Dalvin? Devante was my favorite for no particular reason. Some of the lyrics could be better. Like I'm a man of many wishes / Hope my premonition misses isn't that great. I know what he's trying to get at, but that doesn't help you crack the top 20 on my list.

The Deal: I was trying to see what album Lately was off of, but I don't see it on any of Jodeci's three. I thought it was from Forever My Lady, but I guess not. Just some random single maybe? Wow, the Forever My Lady album cover brings back the memories. Actually, all three album covers do. I really thought they'd get back together. But I guess K-Ci and JoJo were happy to do their own thing. Oh well.

R&B Ballads - #23

#23

Carl Thomas - I Wish

2000

But she still belongs to someone else

Woo-hoo!: This song has a nice little beat. Even someone like Barry circa 2000 could find the beat to this song with his eyes closed. Also, I have to mention the piano playing which is really good. I'm a total sucker for the piano (comes second only to the violin in my book) and I Wish plays the piano just like a musical instrument. Especially in the intro; real good set up for the entire song.

D'oh!: Way too much whining from Carl Thomas on this track. Check this out: She chose to stay at home / So they could be a family / For the children / But what about me?. What about you? Go tell your story to someone who cares! Geez. And his delivery in this song isn't that great either. I mean, he sings with some feeling because if there was none, it wouldn't be making this list, but it's mediocre at best.

The Deal: And what's up with his vocal exercises at the end of the song? Way too many people do this. I call it Whitney Houston-itis. Or maybe I should call it Mariah Carey-itis. Whatever it is, it makes me want to give him some Shut The Hell Up-itis. We don't care what kind of notes you can hit, buddy.

R&B Ballads - #24

#24

Boyz II Men - On Bended Knee

1995

Can you tell me how a perfect love goes wrong?

Woo-hoo!: This song is solid from top to bottom. Although the second half of the song far outshines the first half in my opinion. The turning point is when that deep-voiced guy (I think his name is Mike) does his thing. Anytime you get some deep voiced guy to say words (make sure he's just saying the words and not singing them) in a song, then you're gonna have a hit on your hands. Cap it off with that other guy from Boyz II Men (damn, I have to learn these guys' names) belting out how he's gonna swallow his pride and how I've got to believe in the spirit of love and you've got yourself a doozy of a song.

D'oh!: With all that juicy goodness going on in the Woo-hoo! section, why is this song rated so low? Glad you asked. It seems that Boyz II Men submitted an "irregular version" of their top hit to me in the rush to get consideration. (OK, it was really just that when I downloaded it back in the day, I got some funky version no one has ever heard of). So when I was ranking, I had it at #24 when I decided to download the normal version everyone knows and loves. I did, and it was really good, just as I remembered. Unfortunately, I didn't feel like moving anyone and upsetting the chemistry I had going on. Perhaps there's even another reason for it's apparent low ranking, but you'll have to wait and see.

The Deal: It was pretty difficult to pick out some signature lyrics to this song. Like I said, I liked Mike's talking part, but one of the other three's soul singing immediately following is really good too. I ended up picking that line from the chorus cause it's a good representation of the whole song. Well, other than "I'm down on bended knee", but I'd be pretty unoriginal to pick that.

R&B Ballads - #25

#25

Silk - Freak Me

1993

Let me lick you up and down, til you say stop

Woo-hoo!: Unlike a lot of songs that are about doing the nasty, this one actually has some feeling to it. I mean, this guy really wants to do his woman, but he's so passionate that I also get a sense that he loves her too. Love and sex together. Who woulda thunk it?

D'oh!: The thing that I just lauded up above is also what is keeping Freak Me as low as #25. It's very sexual, which means it's really not made for what I was going for. Nevertheless, it still does well to even make this list.

The Deal: The more I look at the group's name (that's Silk for those of you not following along) the weirder it looks. Just look at it. Go ahead, look long and hard at it. Isn't it odd? Just doesn't look right to me. Like those words that when you keep repeating them, they just start sounding unnatural and weird and what not. That's the feeling I get from Silk. I think it may be the capital S that is throwing me off. Ha, I said the feeling I get from Silk. Get it?