10/10 - Music First Anniversary Celebration: Ranking My Top 20 Blog Posts

Today, on August 29, last year, I released my first two blog posts. I remember it took me an hour to figure out how to work the entire blog, after which I churned out my review of Blackpink's Ice Cream. I remember giving the song a 4, and then asking my mother what she thought. She said I might lose any potential readers if I was too harsh. Thus, I reviewed Miyavi's Bang, a song any longtime reader knows I love. From then on, my reader base continued to grow. I hit 120,000 views this month, and now I finally have been blogging for a year.

This honestly feels surreal at times. If you had told me in August last year that my blog would become so well-read, and that I'd last a year and more, I'd shake my head, wondering what made you lose sanity. But here I am. Thank you to all my readers and commenters, you make this blog!

Now, for my first anniversary, I initially wanted to rank all my posts, until I went and checked how many I have made... 345! That is 345 posts not counting this one. I know others have done much more within a year, but for me, this is crazy. 

Thus, I decided to rank my top 20 blog posts of any type. I have excluded my end-of-year or end-of-month posts, as they are built with a central structure in mind. I also have excluded any anniversary celebrations and pages. Other than that, all posts are included.

With the boring introduction paragraphs which 90% will skip out of the way, let us get into the actual ranking.

Honorable Mentions:

Review: Shinsei Kamattechan - My War

2020 Highlight Review: Dimash Kudaibergen - Your Love

20. Review: Monsta X - Gambler

Post Type: Song Review

Post Date: June 6, 2021

Score: 8.75/10

Of all my mid-sized vanilla song reviews, Gambler's one has arguably my favorite writing. While it does not do too much different than any other review in the site, the song is just so fun to write about, especially with the craptastic lyrics on full display.

19. Review: Itzy - M.A.F.I.A In The Morning

Post Type: Song Review

Post Date: May 6, 2021

Score: 4.75/10

My review of MAFIA in the Morning is perhaps most notable for my 'JYP Ent's Group Plan', a chart that remains one of the most accurate pieces of writing ever from this site. The rest of the post is no slouch either, with a more personal style, reminiscent of my earlier blogging days.

18. Review: Kingdom - Excalibur

Post Type: Song Review

Post Date: February 24, 2021

Score: 8.5/10

For Kingdom's much-hyped debut, I wrote a lengthy review to thoroughly analyze the song. It is a strong review for a strong song, even if it lacks many peaks and valleys.

17. Review: ONF - Ugly Dance

Post Type: Song Review

Post Date: May 4, 2021

Score: 8.5/10

This was one of the harder reviews to rank, for while it certainly is well-written, I don't fully agree with my score and some of my points anymore! Nonetheless, good writing prevailed, and I can understand why Una and StillBangtan called this my best post, even if I believe I have now far surpassed it.

16. Remix Review: Oneus - Valkyrie (Rock Version) Ft. Kanghyun

Post Type: Song Remix Review

Post Date: June 3, 2021

Score: 9.75/10

I love a good remix, and a good remix can make me write a good post. On the day of this post, I remember that my back-catalog was finished, and I needed a new post ASAP. Given the rush with which I finished this piece, it is surprisingly in-depth. I guess that is what a good song does to you.

15. Ranking all BTS Singles

Post Type: Singles Ranking

Post Date: July 10, 2021

Score: N/A

My second post after returning from a brief hiatus, this ranking is far and away my most viewed post, inching close to 2,000 views and still counting. Ranking all 36 BTS singles was no easy task, but I somehow did it without crashing.

14. K-Pop Songs of the Summer: Concluding Thoughts

Post Type: K-Pop Songs of the Summer Collaboration Conclusion

Post Date: August 19, 2021

Score: N/A

As I was the organizer of the K-Pop Songs of the Summer series, I wrote a conclusion post (so did Hallyu Reviews). And it provides a nice little background piece to the actual reviews. While some might find this post a little wishy-washy compared to some of my quippier posts, it is just as essential, concluding with a ranking of all the songs reviewed in the series.

13. Review: Dimash Kudaibergen - Stranger

Post Type: Song Review

Post Date: August 23, 2021

Score: 9.5/10

Doesn't it feel good when you are reviewing a recent marvel? Dimash came back only days ago with a performance of this near-instant classic, and I could not stop writing about it. This is one of my lengthier vanilla song reviews, but each and every line explains something new on why I love this song so much.

12. Ranking all EXO Singles

Post Type: Singles Ranking

Post Date: August 14, 2021

Score: N/A

My second, and slightly shorter ranking of all singles is also my best. As EXO have released over 10 singles less than BTS, I was able to focus a whole lot more on each and every song. This post is one of my quickest growing posts as per views and also helped me re-appreciate EXO's solid discography.

11. Horrid Song Review: Luhan - Lu

Post Type: Horrid Song Review

Post Date: September 13, 2020

Score: 0.5/10

Something about a bad song just pulls out the best writer in me. While I was still slightly raw as a blogger, I wrote this little piece on why Luhan's 2015 disaster called Lu is worse than its alredy negative reception. The end result is this witty little review.

10. Flashback Review: EXO - Wolf

Post Type: Flashback Song Review

Post Date: June 17, 2021

Score: 9.25

Chanyeol's opening shout of 'Chogiwa' is arguably one of the most iconic EXO moments. Thus, I dedicated 90% of this review to me getting distracted by it. Overall, this review was my first attempt to blend normal reviewing with humor, and it was a great success.

9. 10/10 Song Review: M.M. Keeravani - Dhivara (Sung by Ramya Behara, Deepu)

Post Type: 10/10 Song Review

Post Date: September 12, 2020

Score: 10/10

Back when this blog was not even a month old, I typed up my first truly incredible piece. I have long been a fan of the incredible Dhivara from the first Bahubali movie, and I typed a full review of the song to show my appreciation.

A good chunk of the review is dedicated to the song's instrumental capacity, and I find that deserved, for this song is essential for any fan of great music.

8. Review: 777 (Triple Seven) - Presente

Post Type: Song Review

Post Date: August 16, 2021

Score: 8.25/10

Sometimes, I am amazed at how long my reviews can be for a song that is neither terrible nor amazing. My recent review of the project co-ed group 777's debut is arguably one of the top examples of this, along with my number four pick.

I spend the first half of the review talking about the history of co-ed groups in Korea, with an analysis of why they have largely failed, potential solutions, and how agencies have used them. Honestly, this segment could be a post in its own right, but it works well in the review. I also spend a really long time talking about the song itself.

7. Review: Cravity - My Turn

Post Type: Song Review

Post Date: January 30, 2021

Score: 4.5/10

In many ways, January was truly the founding of 10/10 - Music as we all know it, with me constantly trying something different and new every once and a while. My review of My Turn was the first time I attempted to use humor in a review and it really worked well.

The largest part of the review is similar to Screenrant's Pitch Meeting series, framed as a dialogue between a songwriter and a Starship executive. Compared to my normal reviews, this one certainly is unconventional, but it works nonetheless. I would not be surprised if this was the post that made many of you started regularly reading this blog after this review, for it led way to a surge of views for this blog.

6. 10/10 - Music's Interview with Ludwig van Beethoven

Post Type: April Fools Prank

Post Date: April 1, 2021

Score: N/A

While I had made several strong attempts at humor before, I think it was this post which truly garnered the most laughs. Filled to the brim with jokes about K-Pop, this fictional 'interview' always had a surprise around the corner.

While some jokes may only be understood by K-Pop fans, it all concludes in a laugh understandable by any music fan.

5. 10/10 Song Review: TVXQ! - Rising Sun

Post Type: 10/10 Song Review

Post Date: October 18, 2020

Score: 10/10

For those unfamiliar with my blog, I am a really big TVXQ fan, and my favorite song by them is Rising Sun. Thus, I dedicated this incredibly long review to the song. It is quite similar to TheBiasList's breakdown of the song released earlier that year, but it still is a strong read.

It was my last weekly 10/10 song review, and a strong conclusion to the series, and one of my earliest blog highlights.

4. Review: EXO - Don't Fight the Feeling

Post Type: Song Review

Post Date: June 10, 2021

Score: 7.25/10

It shows how crazy I can be at times that I wrote over a thousand words exclusively on a song that I thought was 'meh', without talking about anything else. So, if anyone wanted to read a thesis on why Don't Fight the Feeling can be considered middling, I am your guy.

This review was written in heavy depth, and thoroughly analyzes the song's successes and failures in equal measure, making it easily one of my greatest posts yet.

3. K-Pop Songs of the Summer Review: TVXQ - Hi Ya Ya

Post Date: August 10, 2021

Post Type: K-Pop Songs of the Summer Cross-Blog Collaboration

Score: 10/10

The K-Pop Songs of the Summer collaboration between me and several other major K-Pop reviewers featured some of the best reviews for nearly all the participating blogs, with mine being no exception.

Being the absolute K-Pop old-timer that I am, I chose to review a song released in 2005, by none other than my favorite boy band of all time, TVXQ. I often like to think of this review as the light-hearted companion to my second place review (released about a month before this post). It fully analyzes the classic summer track, while remaining quite fun.

2. Flashback Review: Winner's 'SOSO' is an underappreciated gem

Post Date: July 4, 2021

Post Type: Flashback Song Review

Score: 9.25/10

If there was one post of mine I wished garnered more attention, it would be this flashback review, one of my last before my July slowdown. At the time I wrote the review, I was managing personal stress, pressure to maintain my blog's quality. Thus, I often went back to SOSO, and I wrote on it each time I listened. 

Like many of my best reviews, this flashback review was written over a course of weeks. Also, as a general rule of thumb, my reviews with subtitles tend to be the best. For this review, I analyzed each and every line of the song, leading to what I consider one of my few definitive reviews.

1. Album Review: EPEX's Debut Album is Conceptually Wrong

Post Date: June 12, 2021

Post Type: Conceptual Album Review

Score: 4.75/10 (Rounded Album Score)

If there is one review that was difficult for me to write, it would be the one and only conceptual album review I have written as of yet on this blog. I was greatly disturbed by C9 Entertainment practically commercializing mental wellness topics, such as those suffered by many due to the quarantine, and their lack of understanding of even the basics of the situation.

Thus, I typed up this massive review, one of my largest yet, on why EPEX's debut album was conceptually wrong. For this review, I spent hours researching the various topics discussed (or rather, misused) across the album. It all culminated in one review I disliked writing, but I am proud I wrote.

If I had to show one writing piece at an interview for a job, this would certainly be the only blog piece I have written to make the shortlist. It is an essential read for any reader of 10/10 - Music, and still my best post by miles.

I hope you all have enjoyed reading this ranking. Thank you for your continued support for this year and the next!