And now for the second installment in my recap of last year's biggest tunes. I'm continuing with the Billboard Adult Top 40, with all your white-bread rock with little soul and no rap. Oh well, on we go...

81. Staind – Believe

Rating: C+

Keywords: Faith,

Arrangement: Electric

Style: Post-Grunge Rock

Tempo: Slow/Mid

My Take: Staind is trying to be positive, but it’s hard with the plodding backdrop and Aaron Lewis’ groaning voice. He’s vaguely telling someone (a lover? God?) that they should be patient with him while he gets his depressing ass in gear.

82. Flyleaf – All Around Me

Rating: C+

Keywords: Love-Obsession

Arrangement: Electric

Style: Goth-Rock

Tempo: Mid

My Take: Flyleaf is taking the Goth flag from Evanescence, with a dark and vague exercise in desire, with all the usual pierced-lip buzzwords complete with angels, shadows, and the like. For someone in love, she’s sure got issues. Pretty background, though it does sound like something I’ve heard before.

83. Blue October – Calling You ‘07

Rating: C+

Keywords: Love-Obsession, Love-Declaration

Arrangement: Electric

Style: Goth-Pop

Tempo: Fast

My Take: Well I guess here’s the girl from Flyleaf’s boyfriend – equally brooding and self-deprecatory, this rerun of a former minor hit is pleasant enough, though he does sound quite a bit stalker-like.

84. Pat Monahan – Her Eyes

Rating: C-

Keywords: Love-Adoration

Arrangement: Electric

Style: Pop/Rock

Tempo: Mid

My Take: “She says that cowboy hats make her look fat and I’m so glad she’s mine.” WTF?? Train lead singer Monahan has an OK chorus hook that he pairs with idiotic stream of conscious verses to basically say his girl is fucked up but at least she stays with his skeevy mid-life-crisis ass.

85. Estelle f/Kanye West – American Boy

Rating: A

Keywords: Love-Adoration, Foreigners, Americans

Arrangement: Electronic

Style: Dance-Disco

Tempo: Fast

My Take: Now this is how a shineover song should be. Between Estelle’s breathy desire for an man from across the pond, and Kanye’s more-than-the-usual-phone-in rap cameo, the pair sells this neo-disco track that uses West’s fetish for electronic music to good use. “American Boy” was a song I was in love with before it came out here in the US, and was totally surprised that we as a nation “got it”. Pure pop ecstasy.

86. The Bravery – Believe

Rating: B

Keywords: Paranoia, Faith

Arrangement: Electric

Style: Modern Rock

Tempo: Mid

My Take: The Bravery sound more and more British every new album, and with “Believe”, they mine the Britpop canon of catchy melodies and obliquely dark lyrics. I guess one can relate without getting too specific.

87. Newton Faulkner – Dream Catch Me

Rating: B-

Keywords: Dreams, Love-Declaration, Self-Esteem

Arrangement: Acoustic

Style: Singer/Songwriter

Tempo: Mid

My Take: Newton’s in a bliss over finding someone, and slips into a coma. Not, but really, it’s a good ditty about the euphoria of finding love. Nothing really more than that though his unusual acoustic guitar work (involving using his hands on it for percussion) is beautiful.

88. Rihanna – Don’t Stop The Music

Rating: A-

Keywords: Nightlife, Love-Desire

Arrangement: Electronic

Style: Dance-Pop

Tempo: Fast

My Take: Face it, this song is all about the Jackson sample. The cribbed sample from his “Wanna Be Starting Somethin’” (itself stolen from 70s R&B hit “Soul Makossa”) provides an unforgettable hook that was one of the best pop-dance records of the year. No big themes, just dance with me then possibly sex, but what more are you asking for?

89. Linkin Park – Leave Out All The Rest

Rating: B-

Keywords: Love-Breakup, Regret

Arrangement: Electric

Style: Power Ballad Rock

Tempo: Slow/Mid

My Take: Oh jeez, Chester’s a little guilty. The kid’s choice rock band has matured into a more nuanced outfit, and even his monodrone isn’t as grating as it usually is.

90. Saving Abel – Addicted

Rating: B-

Keywords: Sex-Desire, Love-Obsession

Arrrangement: Electric

Style: Post-Grunge Rock

Tempo: Slow/Mid

My Take: A clone of Nickelback’s “Figured You Out”, this song does plod along adequately for the job it’s intended to do. Manly men, and their need for somethin’ somethin’.