Okay since I'm not feeling that great (mostly tired from a long work week), I'm going to do this now and crash when I get home.
This going out isn't helping the mood either, because it's another 10 from me. ddd
Watch the top 5 be filled with '97-'99 tracks that aren't even from the golden era of Eurodance, because that's how popjustice rolls with its Millennial patronage.
Alice Deejay, Aqua and Vengaboys, here we come...
Since you've said this we've eliminated a Vengaboys song and Aqua completely.
Are you proud of yourself?
Are you ready for a little revenge?
Unfortunately I have no revenge to give...yet.
#7. Alice Deejay - Better Off Alone - 8.833
After 5: #8
After 10: #11
After 15: #9
After 20: #7
After 25: #9
After 30: #7
Final: #7
Leaderboard Average: #9
We're getting to the point where all the songs left were usually in the Top 5, for the most part. Five of the final six songs are above a 9 average. I know how iconic this song is and as I mentioned at the "Back In My Life" reveal, this album is one of my all-time favorites but I honestly wouldn't have this in my Top 10 for this rate. It's still a 10 and I would've been celebrating if it had won but I really didn't think it would be a Top 5 song from the get go, so this placement is a success.
Highest: 11 x 4 (@berserkboi, @soratami, @Eric, @A$AP Robbie) 10 x 13 (
@WowWowWowWow,
@GhettoPrincess,
@Ana Raquel,
@2014,
@sfmartin,
@idratherjack,
@Sprockrooster,
@phily693,
@Aester,
@Untouchable Ace,
@Remorque,
@Conan,
@DJHazey) 9.5 x 3 (
@Seventeen Days,
@ohnoitisnathan,
@ThisIsRogue)
You wouldn't think this chill track would be polarizing but think again...
Lowest: 1 (
@Ray) 3 (
@LPMA) 4.5 (
@CasuallyCrazed) 6.5 (
@Hudweiser)
Everything else is 7+. So if we bumped these four scores to a 7 this song would've won. Yes folks, the leaderboard is that close.
Album: Who Needs Guitars Anyway? (2000)
Charts: #1 (Scotland) #2 (Canada, UK) #3 (Ireland, Norway) #4 (Australia) #5 (Sweden) #6 (France) #8 (Netherlands) #10 (Hungary) #11 (New Zealand) #16 (Finland) #17 (Italy) #25 (Iceland) #27 (U.S.) #28 (Switzerland) #32 (Germany) #57 (Brazil) #11 (UK Year-End Chart) #88 (Billboard Year-End Chart)
Platinum (UK)
Producers: DJ Jurgen, Sebastiaan Moljin and Eelke Kahlberg (Vengaboys)
"Better Off Alone" is widely known as the song that made 'commercial trance music' popular and would lead to the explosion of acts like Lasgo, Milk Inc., and many others in the early 2000s. The sound of Eurodance was about to change, a lot, and whether you like this shift in sound or not you can thank Alice Deejay's popularity for it.
The song was first composed by DJ Jurgen and others at Violent Records in 1998 as an instrumental. But that changed one day according to Sebastiaan who says he invented the lyrics after a lover left him:
"I started humming the vocal melody while the track was playing and we decided to add vocals. It made the emotion of the song as real as it gets." Judith Pronk was brought on to provide the vocals and become the face of a new group: Alice Deejay because DJ Jurgen wanted to remain behind the scenes.
There are two videos for "Better Off Alone". The first version has a man wandering the desert with shots of his girlfriend in a living room singing the lyrics. The second one involves the shots of Judith with backup dancers in a room with oriental décor and is the one I'm more familiar with. At the time of its release it receive passive reviews for its "barely there" lyrics but over time it has gotten rave reviews as the classic EuroTrance song it is.
Over the year the song has been sampled numerous times, for example by Wiz Khalifa in 2008:
More notable by David Guetta in 2013:
I've gone over this many times but my progression into becoming a pop music fan has a 'bigger picture' over the years where I started out with a couple of mix-CDs that had pretty much all of
Who Needs Guitars Anyway?, "9 PM (Till I Come)", ATC, and some other random trancey songs, then when I discovered Cascada I got into the more upbeat style of 00s eurodance and then bubblegum dance, then dance-pop, then all pop slowly but surely. So to say this song is nostalgic to me would be one of the biggest understatements one could make.
Talk to me, oooh, talk to me:
@WowWowWowWow (10) - My only good Alice Deejay notes are that (1) Judith the "lead singer" is now apparently working in cosmetology in the Netherlands and has no interest in returning to the spotlight. So like... werk, but also, come back please. (2) Sam Goody only had the Canadian CD single and I still howl to this day thinking about what was written on the case -- OMG it is on Discogs, let me transcribe. "Riding high on the 'pop-trance' phenomenon that is currently breaking out of Europe (ie Eiffel 65, Sonique), Netherlands-based Alice Deejay is now poised to take on the US with their worldwide smash Better Off Alone. The track has become an international anthem about the joys of being single" (italics mine). Um.... WHAT?!?!!!?! The song literally has 10 words in it. Please calm down, Isba Music Entertainment. And I still haven't forgiven Ne-Yo and David Guetta for "Play Hard" which sampled and therefore was a grave violation of this INTERNATIONAL ANTHEM ABOUT THE JOYS OF BEING SINGLE.
I can't remember if "Play Hard" is the song I heard on the radio that pissed me off because of the sample. If it was, I was that 'snobby looking' guy telling people who were getting their life to a "new melody" that I've been stanning that song for more than a decade and it's a ripoff.
@roborovsky (9) - I am a sucker for euphoric/melancholic dance pop, and this song is pretty much a defining example of the sub-genre.
@GhettoPrincess (10) - This is so simple yet works so damn well. The production really excels it I guess.
@sfmartin (10) - What a tune. Paved the way for ATB and that awesome remix of Mel C - I Turn To You. Tipped the balance to full on trance.
@31entrance (8) - major kiii at me knowing the song for ages but not knowing its name or who sang it until now.
Wow.
@Empty Shoebox (9) - Yes, I do. I'm sure many will criticise the lack of vocal depth and lack of vocals full stop here, but I don't care. I really like this track. If you're looking for in depth storytelling, go to a bookshop.
Yas, get 'em!
@Seventeen Days (9.5) - CLASSIC. This song was such a big part of my teen years, and I still carry a soft spot in my heart for it. I prefer the Club Mix specifically, because it’s 2-3 extra minutes of goodness. Plus, how can you go wrong with the “Talk to me” interpolation from “Here Comes the Rain Again”?
@Sprockrooster (10) - Such an easy but also very recognizable catchphrase combined with that unique beat, people had to know at the time this was going to be a modern classic right of the bat. And yes it is. Time has not hurt this track one bit.
Yes, I don't think it is humanly possible for this to sound aged. I'll have that 1999 Dutch wine thank you very much.
@One Stop Candy Shop (8.5) - The melancholy is real with this one.
@ohnoitisnathan (9.5) - The synth sounds irritatingly cheap to me, but the song is catchy as hell. It's kind of slightly melancholy Vengaboys-sounding (well, as melancholy as they could possibly get).
Yes it's the independence anthem if you want it to be that.
@phily693 (10) - Can you listen to this song and not do the point in the air and “dah dah dah dah“ to the chorus? That would suggest this song is basic, but it is far from it. It’s an iconic dance bop!
@rav4boy (8.5) - The instrumental sometimes reminds me of ‘Children’ by Robert Miles. A nice track.
Another one of the first dance songs I loved. I preferred the 4 Clubbers version though.
@Remorque (10) - Girls, this is where young Remorque started going out to clubs and such and started getting lit. They would play the fuck outta this where we used to go for pre-drinks and then we would hear it again in a huge club setting. Oh, the days...
You're better off alone:
@Ray (1) - I can’t stand this. I never could. But this is a riff (which isn’t even good) played in a loop, super generic vocals, super generic beat… It sounds like ‘press here to generate a Eurodisco song’.
@CasuallyCrazed (4.5) - Extremely overrated. It's not particularly catchy or memorable and doesn't build into anything bigger.
Our 11s:
@A$AP Robbie (11) - This is one of the most brilliant pop songs ever written.
@Eric (11) - This was the song that introduced me to Eurodance, and was also the soundtrack to some of my first nights out to grotty regional bars and clubs - amazing memories! The first minute is simply divine.
@berserkboi (11) - Probably my favourite dance track of all time. The lyrics resonate so much despite being sparse – what a mood this creates!
Alice Deejay Recap
24. Back In My Life - 7.522
7. Better Off Alone - 8.833
Highest: @berserkboi (10.5) -
@Eric (10.5) -
@A$AP Robbie (10) -
@WowWowWowWow (10) -
@phily693 (10) -
@Remorque (10) -
@Aester (9.75) -
@DJHazey (9.75)
Lowest: @Ray (1) -
@LPMA (2.5) -
@CasuallyCrazed (2.5) -
@Hudweiser (5)
Artist Ranking
Livin' Joy - 8.231
Aqua - 8.230
Alice Deejay - 8.178
La Bouche - 8.146
Amber 7.921
2 Unlimited - 7.763
Gala - 7.597
Berri - 7.500
Dr. Alban - 7.479
Black Box - 7.447
Daze - 7.428
Whigfield - 7.420
Mr. President - 7.272
Cappella - 7.180
Alex Party - 7.161
Ann Lee - 7.121
Paradisio - 7.108
Me & My - 7.053
Eiffel 65 - 6.983
Captain Hollywood Project - 6.929
Reset - 6.854
Koko - 6.808
E-Type - 6.774
Fun Factory - 6.628
Le Click - 6.617
Hit 'n' Hide - 6.497
Toy-Box - 6.467
DJ Bobo - 6.458
Emjay - 6.442
T-Spoon - 6.346
Bambee - 6.303
Twenty 4 Seven - 6.292
Maxx - 6.236
Technotronic - 6.228
Smile.dk - 6.139
Crispy - 6.108
Solid Base - 6.010
Capital Sound - 5.889
Miss Papaya - 5.478
Tiggy - 5.289
