uk-charts.com - Yungblud & Halsey feat. Travis Barker

*
This song here has many flaws which fundamentally ruin the song as a whole. I cannot for the life of me why it's had such an instantaneous positive reception from mainstream radio and the general public alike. Here are my main issues with it: * The song as a whole is delivered in such a cringe-worthy way (as Irelander has highlighted) that it's impossible to take any of the artists involved seriously. * YUNGBLUD seriously CAN'T sing - his punk-rock-rap-alt-pop style does not result in any good vocal moments on his behalf. * And, as an extension to that, the two lovebirds' voices just do not go together - Halsey's nasally whine doesn't work and YUNGBLUD sounds like he's singing while nursing a bullet wound. * Neither YUNGBLUD's or Halsey's clear songwriting talent (as much as it pains me to admit it, they both have it) shine through here. * It was released on Valentine's Day, yet YUNGBLUD and Halsey have about the same amount of chemistry as Rachel and Joey on "Friends" did :P. * Travis Barker's drumming is too good for this song. Full stop. * The overall sound is in-cohesive; you have Halsey trying to sound like a punky Hayley Williams, you have YUNGBLUD, who sounds like utter shiite when he tries to sing, and you have Travis Barker of Blink-182, who provides an amazing drum solo (or whatever the words for it are). * The unnecessary inclusion of about 7 f-words throughout the song don't add to the song whatsoever, in fact, it makes the song so much worse. It reeks of a desperate attempt by both artists to sound "naughty" and stay relevant to their target audience. It literally just sounds like they've gone "Let's say f**k just so people listen to us and think we're cool!" and decided that it would help make the song less shit then it actually is. (As a result of this, the radio version is a slight improvement on the uncensored version). The only highlights to be found is the chorus, which, whilst a vocally poor performance, actually sounds half-decent, and Travis Barker's Blink-182-style drumming. Usually when a song or an artist which I am not a fan of in general manages to chart, I can understand the appeal of them. Problematic hip-hop artist XXXTENTACION, sure, he wrote some vaguely depressing lyrics, made some almost-interesting sonic choices, and was a generally controversial figure, which seemingly added to the overall appeal of his music for most of his fans. There's also indie/alternative band Sticky Fingers, who are more famous for their personal lives than they are for their music. Their music is un-engaging and nothing that couldn't easily be replaced by a decent band like Ocean Alley for example. And then there's folk artists like Xavier Rudd (a polar opposite to both previous artists mentioned previously both in genre and in his personal life - as in, he doesn't abuse women or shout racist slurs), who seems to have a decent fanbase amongst Triple J audiences. Xavier's music is eternally strange to me - his vocals are odd, his lyrics aren't very interesting, and his music isn't exactly anything very much original. Just to clarify: Other than musically, I'm not in any way comparing Xavier Rudd or YUNGBLUD to the likes of XXXTENTACION or Sticky Fingers in any way, who are more well known for the immoral things they have done in their personal lives. These artists are (or were, in XXXTENTACION's case) people who musical output doesn't excite me greatly. But whilst I dislike their music, I can understand that there's a place for their music in the world, and I don't necessarily need to agree with its' existence for people to like it. (Despite my strong dislike for XXXTENTACION and his music, I am now indifferent to the idea of him charting). However, I can not for the life of me begin to understand anything about this song or this artist that appeals to the general public (except for the addition of Halsey, who everyone seems to like for some reason but I personally believe her to be VERY over-rated (save for a couple of early singles) - but I'll leave that story for another time). YUNGBLUD is the male Halsey - he has this alt-pop, anti-popstar thing going on, he has little vocal talent, and he has a largely adolescent fanbase - so I suppose this collaboration almost makes sense. The overall end result is very unpleasant to listen to (minus the chorus, which is probably why people are listening to it). You can tell I've gone on a serious tangent at some points, but truthfully a single star is generous. I truly wish I hadn't directed any brain energy towards this utter shiite, but it feels good to get it out of my system.