Our most 10s so far, twelve of them..
In the blink of an eye, we're down to three..
Potential Breakup Song will be #3.
I really wished this had happened, teebs.
#8. Aly & AJ - Potential Breakup Song - 8.825
Highest: 10 x 12 (
@31entrance,
@Mina,
@aniraz,
@soratami,
@livefrommelbs,
@WhenTheSunGoesDown,
@iheartpoptarts,
@Sprockrooster,
@unnameable,
@Blond,
@Charley,
DJHazey)
Lowest: 5 (
@Alouder98) 6 x 3 (
@Sally_Harper,
Sprocky's BF,
@Pecans)
Voter Bloc 1: #18
Voter Bloc 2: #9
Voter Bloc 3: #15
Voter Bloc 4: #8
Voter Bloc 5: #13
Final Voters: #8
Charts: #17 (U.S.) #22 (UK) #72 (Canada) #65 (Europe) #83 (Netherlands) #16 (Ireland) #18 (Norway) #3 (Venezuela)
Certifications: Platinum (U.S.)
Gold (Denmark) -- At the time it was highest selling single by a Hollywood Records artist.
Release: Lead single from Aly & AJ's second album
Insomniatic, in June 2007.
Songwriters: Alyson Michalka, Amanda Joy Michalka, Antonina Armato (also producer), Tim James (also producer)
Fun Facts: Time magazine ranked "Potential Breakup Song" as the 9th best song of 2007. Radio Disney had some edits for this one: instead of
"gettin' me" it's
"Gettin' to me" and in the middle eight instead of
"without me you're gonna die" it's
"without me you're gonna cry".
Hazey's Focus: This marked the official shift in sound for them from the coffee house acoustic coos of
Into the Rush and gave us a real big electronic-pop moment. It's easily their biggest commercial smash and the song 90% of people know best -- if you love everything about Aly & AJ you'll love this but if you just know their name in passing you also likely stan for this. Personally this is such an easy 10/10 for me but I love Aly & AJ so much that I would probably still rank at least five songs ahead of it (including "On the Ride" you heathens!) but it stands out in a great way on the album that is extremely diverse-sounding, especially for a Disney-pop album. Both girls have equal vocals throughout the song but I can tell you that it's AJ that doing a lot of the work on this chorus which is great because Aly usually gets a lot of the pub. I also will never get over how much I love the line
"this is the potential makeup song" near the end; I just love this kind of simple switchup ala what happens in "7 Things" and why I love it there so much too!
Welp, at least I thought everyone adored this one but
@Pecans (10) has been underwhelmed from the beginning:
"I’ve never really understood the hype for this track. It falls flat to me."
I'm sorry but
@Sally_Harper (6) is just cut-throat sometimes:
"I like bits of this, but I’m not sure it works for me as a complete package. The adlibs on the last chorus are a bit painful."
@Sprockrooster (6) did amazing work having the Slaay Sisters backs like this, because he wasn't going to allow his boyf (6) do them like this:
"This was actually a 3,0. But @Sprockrooster threatened to not send my scores if I at least doubled it. So here it is."
After sending his bf to the couch for the night,
@Sprockrooster (10) cranked this to highest volume and didn't allow him to sleep:
"Iconic life snatching anthem. Every time again."
@Martyn (9) makes it clear that he wasn't here for their magical indie phase that started in 2017:
"I wish their new stuff was more like this." Well actually I would say Hothouse probably falls into that indie pop/rock era as well but most of it wasn't officially released.
Even though the girls themselves look back at the video today and cringe,
@Remorque (9) remembers it all quite fondly:
"Definitely one of their best songs for me. It's extremely enjoyable and the girls give quite a fun performance."
I'm glad
@Blond (10) had some songs he already knew weren't 'trash' such as this anthem:
"This is genuinely such a great pop song. It’s one of the only songs that I was really familiar before the rate and I love it. The synth is awesome and the chorus is catchy as hell."
This also marked an overall slow shift from pop-rock to electropop, so you know how
@iheartpoptarts (10) was going to receive it:
"Definitely one of the early examples of “Oh, hey, this random Disney song is actually amazing.” They’re such popstars, too."
@livefrommelbs (10) cannot get enough the girls' non-stop attitude on display:
"Flawless pop song remains flawless. This should have been absolutely massive, everywhere. It just sets the pace straight out the gate and never lets up. The 'let me repeat that, I want my stuff back' line is iconic."
@WhenTheSunGoesDown (10) tells us all a shocking story with a happy ending:
"I recently met a 28 year old gay man who had never heard this song. I don’t think I’ve ever been more scandalized. (He loved the song when I made him listen to it, obviously.)"
One of the bigger Aly & AJ stans on the forum,
@unnameable (10) dives deeper into the album to explain how they have plenty of songs that are relatable:
"when I had a breakup in 2007, this wasn’t actually my potential breakup song, that was “like it or leave it”, but this song is awesome too." Also "Division" comes to mind.
I mean, you didn't even have to be in an actual relationship, right @31entrance?: "this song was there for me when my fictional significant other took too long to call back, forgot my birthday and broke my heart to tell me he ain't shit!"
Aly & AJ looking back on this era in 2017:
(good times)