4. If I never see your face again: Maroon 5 featuring Rihanna
After topping last year’s summer music list with Umbrella, Rihanna had to be represented in 2008.
Maroon 5 is a band known for its unmistakably catchy riffs. Rihanna, is also widely known as a producer of a catchy hit or two. The pair come together and create the perfect storm of rock and pop music.
Adam Levine and Rihanna’s voice together is a match made in heaven. Watching Maroon 5 perform this song without the Caribbean singer is not the same. Honestly, without her pipes, this song does not pack the same punch.
Together, they are music manna.
Although he never fully has the opportunity, Levine is a soul singer at heart. Alongside Rihanna, he lets his inner Al Green shine on If I Never See Your Face Again.
3. Bleeding Love: Leona Lewis
Organ-tinged gospel beginnings to a track do not usually result in the year’s biggest ballad. But, in the hands of British songbird Leona Lewis, Bleeding Love landed on America’s shores courtesy of American Idolin May and instantly became everyone’s favorite.
The song is a celebration of love that is more complicated than it appears on the surface.
Lewis’ voice is unmatched currently on the charts. She presents a pure vocal range unseen since Mariah Carey or when Kelly Clarkson first arrived. Her use of falsetto to enhance the painful emotional track is a priceless piece of musical meaning that it has given a legion of fans a song that is unforgettable.
2. When I Grow Up: The Pussycat Dolls
The Pussycat Dolls returned with a vengeance for this anthem about dreams achieved.
From When I Grow Up’s commencing sirens, the Pussycat Dolls immediately grabbed the attention of the nation with one of the more hot songs to arrive in months. What sends this normally popcorn-fluff song over the top, to even be considered for the “best of” anything, is how its catchy riffs come in threes.
First, there’s its unmistakable chorus, then verses anchored with the ‘used tos’ while the Dolls back ups are singing ‘la, la, la, la’ until the track builds into the “Be careful what you wish for ’cause you just might get it” climax, we’re hooked. For days on end this song was cemented in the brain throughout the summer. In any other summer, it would be number one, but not with the sensation that lies ahead.
And now…number one!
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