The best and worst songs of 2016

M83's new album "Junk" released earlier in 2016, and though it didn't make a huge splash in terms of sales, the lead single "Go!" is an incredibly solid, fun track. Judging by how many commercials have been using it lately, it seems like the world agrees.

This song was doomed to fail no matter how good it was. The original Ghostbusters theme by Ray Parker Jr. is perfect in pretty much every way, so trying to improve upon it is a fool's errand. Unfortunately, Fall Out Boy and Missy Elliott's "Ghostbusters (I'm Not Afraid)" is not a good song and only makes Ray Parker Jr.'s original theme look better in comparison.

The lead single from The Weeknd's new album "Starboy" was an instant hit. It's catchy, and The Weeknd's unique singing style matches perfectly with Daft Punk's house-music-tinged beats.

OK, listen, I know we're going to catch some heat for this, but "Juju Oon that Beat (TZ Anthem)" is not a good song, despite its chart dominance. Dance anthems can be fun — everyone loves to whip and nae nae — but the juju craze seems to be on its way out already. It's appropriate given that the song isn't nearly as fun as similar songs in the genre.

We had been waiting for a true third studio album from Chance the Rapper for a long time, and he didn't disappoint with "Coloring Book." "Angels" is one of the album's strongest tracks, an ode to Chicago featuring Saba, another amazing rapper from the City of Broad Shoulders.

"Sweatshirt" is one of the most generic songs you'll ever hear. It's a paint-by-the-numbers pop song about falling in love in middle school, and everything about it is laughable. The story of the song (if you can call it that) is about a guy who has a crush on a girl, giving her his sweatshirt to remember him by... before they kiss for the first time. Jacob, you're not getting that shirt back, and you deserve it. Listen, I get that you're young. I hope you'll learn from this and that your next song isn't as terrible.

Bruno Mars has been called the hardest-working man in music, and it's a nickname he deserves. And how appropriate that his biggest song right now is called "24K Magic" — Mars seems to have the Midas touch. Anything he makes seems to turn into silky, danceable pop music, and "24K Magic" is no exception.

Listen, I get it. Be body positive. Love yourself. Everybody is beautiful, especially mothers. That's not the problem with Fergie's new solo song. The problem is lyrics like this: 

"Heard you in the mood for a little MILFshake/Welcome to the Dairy Dutchess Love Factory/I could whip it up, fix you up straight away/Come on in the front door, leaving at the back door."

If I never hear the word "MILFshake" again, it'll be too early.

"The Life of Pablo" had a whole bunch of songs that deserve to make this list, though "Ultralight Beam" rises above the others — and in the interest of fairness, we're only including one song per album. It's an incredibly hopeful song (not surprising, when you consider that Chance the Rapper has a verse on it), full of spirit and heart. It's the best song on a wonderful album.

I thought we, as a country, were done with Iggy Azalea. Unfortunately, I was wrong. It's funny, "Team" talks about how the only person Iggy needs on her team is herself. If she keeps making terrible rap records like this one, she might be the only one willing to play for her team before long.

Finally. Finally, in 2016, Frank Ocean dropped his long-awaited follow-up to "Channel Orange." And though the wait was long, "Blonde" was worth it. The lead single from the album, "Nikes," is classic Frank Ocean and just what his fans were waiting for.

Speaking of people who are desperately trying to claw back their relevance from more talented artists, hello there, Meghan Trainor! "No" is a far cry from the body-positive, fun, danceable hit that was "All About that Bass." It's an annoying song that doesn't allow Trainor to show off her voice (which is, admittedly, really good). The best thing you can say about the song is that it's so bad it's unlikely to ever get stuck in your head.

You might not have heard of Noname, her brilliant 2016 record "Telefone" or the amazing "Diddy Bop" off of it, but you've heard her voice before. She's a frequent collaborator to Chance the Rapper and has come into her own in 2016 as a rapper to pay attention to. She's on the rise, and now is the time to start paying attention.

OK, I get that Macklemore & Ryan Lewis have made careers out of being goobers. I don't hold that against them. But an awkward, grating ode to spooning? Really? Come on. You're better than this. Go back to writing songs about mopeds.

On its face, "One Dance" really does seem just like many other Drake songs. Silky-sexy-smooth autotune, lyrics about drinking and dancing, a well-crafted beat, the whole shebang. But looking at the charts, it's clear that "One Dance" was something more. It was pretty much the official song of the summer, dominating the charts at the No. 1 spot on Billboard for 10(!) weeks. It more than deserves a spot in the top 15.

At first, I thought this was a joke, but after listening to the song multiple times, I'm not sure. Corey Feldman (yes, that one) made a song with Snoop Dogg. It's like if you put dubstep, rap music and nu-metal in a blender, fed it to Corey Feldman, and then wrote a song based on what you found in the porcelain eight hours later.

David Bowie's last studio album before his death was an incredibly strong one, and picking just one song off of it was incredibly difficult. That said, "Lazarus" is not only the best song on "Blackstar," but it is also the lead song from a musical that Bowie completed prior to his early death. "Lazarus" itself is darkly hopeful and cryptic in the way that only David Bowie could be. It's a very fitting parting gift from a legend.

I get that there's no such thing as a truly original song anymore, that it's not fair to blame an artist for writing a love song with the reasoning that everyone else writes love songs. But "i hate u, i love u," in addition to sporting infuriating capitalization styling, is so insipid in its treatment of the I-can't-live-with-you-I-can't-live-without-you trope that it deserves a spot on this list.

You may not have heard of Sturgill Simpson, but we pegged him to earn himself a Grammy nomination this year for his ambitious, psychedelic country music. "Brace for Impact (Live a Little)" is a must listen for fans of country music who are a bit tired of arena-style country.

Speaking of terrible capitalization, let's turn our attention to ZAYN and his terrible song "PILLOWTALK." Yes, ZAYN. You have had sex. We get it. If you want to distance yourself from One Direction and truly establish yourself as an adult solo artist, you'll have to do better than a song that sounds like a bad impression of 2006-era Justin Timberlake.

OK, so if you don't know this song, go ahead and click here. Yup. It's weird. It's nonsensical. It's a Japanese comedian making a song about putting pens in fruit and then smashing them together. I can't explain why it's so popular, why it's so catchy or why the Internet was obsessed with it for most of 2016, but it definitely deserves a spot on the list.

It pains me to put Sia on this list, because she is a truly unique talent. But "Cheap Thrills" betrays her usual genius and really just seems like a throwaway pop song. For an artist whose other songs ("The Fight," "Chandelier," dozens of others) soar, "Cheap Thrills" can only be described as a disappointment, despite its place on the charts. If it's tongue-in-cheek, well, I guess the joke's on all of us.

The Chainsmokers, though they sound nothing like them, are following a recipe for success developed by the Arctic Monkeys: Write one good song, and then write that song again and again and again with very minor changes. And there's nothing wrong with that! "Closer" is a great song, a nice mix of electronica and Drake-style autotuned pop, perfectly suited to both house parties and a night out at a fancy club.

Britney Spears probably doesn't care what I have to say about her new songs, nor should she. She is undoubtedly one of the biggest pop stars of her era, and nothing I say will change that. But come on, "Slumber Party"? Really? Aren't you a bit too old for that? At least Fergie's terrible song embraced her age as something to celebrate.

It doesn't make his loss any less crushing, but it is at least a bit nice that Leonard Cohen left us with "You Want It Darker." The entire album is a must-listen, but the title song is chilling, emotional and, well, dark. Sure, it's an uncomfortable song to listen to, but it's still one of the best songs of the year.

Full disclosure: I really, really hate this song. Every time I hear it, I get angry that the NFL thinks that we need a special song to introduce the Sunday night game every year. Even if that didn't make me mad, the song itself is terrible. Underwood aped the tune from "Something Bad," a track she did with Miranda Lambert back in 2014 and then changed the lyrics to be:

1. About football
2. Terrible

This is the worst part of Sunday Night Football, and that's saying something since it also featured a 6-6 tie.

2016 was a great year for rap music. Along with new records from Kanye West, Beyonce, Chance the Rapper and many others, we also saw a whole bunch of rappers like Rae Sremmurd and Desiigner break even further into the mainstream. D.R.A.M. and Lil Yachty are part of that group, thanks to "Broccoli," a clever, fun, unapologetically vulgar and incredibly danceable track.

This song probably doesn't deserve to be on this list, in all honesty. It's a perfectly catchy, good pop song. The only problem with it is the fact that since Ariana Grande is so popular with preteens, they're singing along with lyrics like, "Boy got me walkin' side to side," and that makes me very uncomfortable.

"Formation" was the song of the year in 2016, no question. It was striking, powerful and uplifting in a year when many of us needed just that. There was so much strength in that song (and in the video as well) that it's no surprise it became a hit. Beyonce has always been a special breed of artist, and "Formation" is one of her greatest songs ever.

You're better than this, Justin. Listen, we know that you did "Trolls" for the paycheck and that they probably wanted you to write a song for it. And we all know how tempting it is to phone something in. But you got called on this one. So far, it's been all but unanimous — even TIME Magazine agrees — "Can't Stop the Feeling!" is a treacly mess of odd bubblegum pop that is, without a doubt, the worst song of 2016.