My completely subjective, utterly mainstream and shamefully limited take on the best songs of last year. All apologies to any great songs that were ignored or forgotten.
1. "All of the Lights" Kanye West ft. Rihanna
"Jesus Walks," "Flashing Lights," "Power"—Kanye West has always been at his most intriguing exploring the heady, operatic impulses of his beautiful, dark, twisted mind. On "All of the Lights," 'Ye and an all-star cast of supporting voices (including Kid Cudi, Elton John, Alicia Keys, Fergie and hip-hop's ultimate hook girl, Rihanna) weave a desperate tale of broken families and shattered dreams that's as deeply alluring as any of his best work—and still more oddly inspirational (oh, those glorious horns!) than anything else released this year.
2. "Super Bass" Nicki Minaj
In this sunny throwback ode to fly guys with hot rides and blaring audio systems, Nicki Minaj trades her hardcore emcee bona fides for a softer, bouncier hip-pop flow. The move may have drawn ire from purists who saw Minaj as the savior of female rap, but the haters really need to give this one another listen. Irresistibly charming and enormously infectious, the boom-ba-boom-ing chorus was a rallying cry for summer lovers and little British YouTube sensations everywhere.
3. "Call Your Girlfriend" Robyn
Robyn's deliciously sweet brand of Swedish dance-pop has always been a soundtrack for the misfits, with hurts-so-good tales of unrequited love and stalking that dude at the club while he makes out with some new girl (see: 2010's best song, "Dancing On My Own"). Now, she's out of the shadows and feeling so fine that she might just steal your boyfriend too if you're not careful. For someone who's been burned so many times, Robyn sure knows how to make being the other woman sound awfully right.
4. "Till the World Ends" Britney Spears
It was a year of professional seesawing for the legendary Ms. Spears: Her most recent effort, Femme Fatale, spawned three top ten singles—a career first—yet still has not reached platinum sales. Meanwhile, her nationwide tour this summer played to near-sellout stadium crowds and harsh reviews. Perhaps unsurprisingly, Spears' celebrity once again overshadowed the music, which is too bad, because Fatale is full of top-notch tunes. On "Till the World Ends," Spears got Ke$ha-fied and gave us the kind of grimy, sultry performance that defined her mid-2000s peak—and was sorely missing from her 2008 comeback, Circus. That chorus of "oh oh ohs" was the most satisfying expression of pop euphoria all year.
5. "Someone Like You" Adele
There's no denying that 2011 was the year of Adele: her sophomore effort, 21, spoke—and belted and wailed—universal truths of heartbreak and longing, and audiences across all demographics gobbled them up in record numbers. The album's emotional climax was the lovely piano ballad "Someone Like You," which impressively captures such a raw outpouring of emotion that it became the year's cathartic musical experience of choice (as SNL so lovingly spoofed this fall).
6. "Ni**as in Paris" Jay-Z and Kanye West
A synth beat so relentless it's intimidating, Kanye's most playfully demented verse in ages, the year's best dubstep breakdown, and an unexpectedly brilliant interlude of dialogue from the Will Ferrell comedy Blades of Glory? That shit cray—and crazy good.
7. "Every Teardrop is a Waterfall" Coldplay
Over its decade in the spotlight, Coldplay has morphed into an arena rock outfit of the U2 variety, with each new album bringing a new lead single of epic, stadium-ready proportions. Yet for all its formula-fulfilling essentials (sweeping wall of sound? Check. Soaring vocals? Check.), "Every Teardrop is a Waterfall" was something satisfyingly fresh for Chris Martin & Co. Credit a complete disregard for all conventions of songwriting structure. When the electric fiddle finally breaks into a recognizable refrain at the 3:23 mark, it's a joyfully light burst of pop nirvana, wholly detached from the orchestral grandeur of Viva La Vida and X&Y.
8. "The Edge of Glory" Lady Gaga
Born This Way may have been a giant retro misstep, but "The Edge of Glory" proved that '80s nostalgia is still good for one thing: really awesome saxophone solos. The anthemic chorus was an instant classic, providing the year's ultimate sing-along-to-your-car-radio moment and hopefully tiding us over while Gaga gets this phase out of her system.
9. "End of Time" Beyoncé
Beyoncé's 4 was a woefully mismanaged album that has yet to produce any hit singles—which is too bad, because it's the most consistent and impressively mature work of her career, chockfull of potential smashes. Chief among them is this rollicking marching band salute to true love, which climaxes in such a fit of magnificent passion that it nearly veers off the rails into madness. (Equally great is the retro soul jam "Schoolin' Life," criminally banished to bonus track status on the deluxe version of the record.)
10. "Rolling in the Deep" Adele
It was the year's biggest, most ubiquitous hit, with inescapable airplay and endless YouTube covers that probably had even your grandma asking you, "Have you heard of this Adele girl?" Fortunately, this rousing, moody barnstomper—perhaps the greatest woman-scorned demand for attention since Alanis Morrisette's "You Oughta Know"—was worth all the hype.
11. "S&M" Rihanna
An irresistibly danceable tribute to whip and chains and all that kinky stuff. Feels so good being bad, indeed.
12. "Pumped Up Kicks" Foster the People
The lazy beach vibe and charming whistles made for the cheeriest school shooting tale ever—and the unlikeliest smash of the summer.
13. "How I Roll" Britney Spears
Its playful post-industrial production was the most striking avant-garde appropriation in mainstream music this year. (Sorry, dubstep!) Too bad this could never fly on Top 40 radio.
14. "Highway Unicorn (Road to Love)" Lady Gaga
Inexplicably detested by a nation of Little Monsters, this roaring hair metal homage is the most underrated gem of Gaga's short career.
15. "Sail" AWOLNATION
This dark and desperate electro rock dirge—a sleeper hit on the alternative charts—sounds like it's been beamed from an alien spacecraft with soul-crushing vigor (and I mean that in the best possible way).
16. "If I Die Young" The Band Perry
A beautifully melancholy (and remarkably obtuse) paean to love and death and—oh, who cares, it's just so pretty.
17. "1+1" Beyoncé
An almost courageously quiet storm of a ballad. Beyonce's bravura vocal performance is mesmerizing, and those electric guitars are a thing of majestic beauty.
18. "We Found Love" Rihanna ft. Calvin Harris
A slightly soulless Rihanna vocal is offset by Calvin Harris' truly transcendent house instrumental, which rises so high on the back of an air horn effect that is becomes almost heavenly.
19. "Cockiness (Love It)"/"Birthday Cake" Rihanna
Juvenile sex metaphors + easily chantable hooks = dirty, dirty fun.
20. "What Doesn't Kill You (Stronger)" Kelly Clarkson
Backed by a turbo guitar and a throbbing synth line, Clarkson lets loose on her biggest chorus since "Since U Been Gone."
21. "Dance (A$$)" Big Sean ft. Nicki Minaj
Offensively stupid on paper, but the unironically awesome MC Hammer interpolation and spitfire Nicki Minaj guest verse (her best since "Monster"?) defy logic. Waikikiiiiiiiiiiiiiiii.
22. "Take Care" Drake ft. Rihanna
Further proof that the world can never have enough Rihanna features.
23. "Levels" Avicii
Thanks to an atmospheric Etta James sample, this brilliant techno instrumental is worth more than just a great time on the dance floor.
24. "Shake It Out" Florence + the Machine
An inspirational, gospel-tinged cry of freedom, courtesy of a dazzling choir of Florence Welches.
25. "The Motto" Drake ft. Lil Wayne
Drake and Weezy play lyrical jumprope over a clapping bass beat with impressive braggadocio.
Honorable mentions: "Roll Up" Wiz Khalifa; "Lift Off" Jay-Z and Kanye West ft. Beyoncé; "I Wanna Go" Britney Spears; "Sure Thing" Miguel; "Last Friday Night (T.G.I.F.)" Katy Perry
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