The Lizard's Top 32 Songs of 2025

I am the supreme overlord of what music gets played in this household and when...but my husband DOES have his own playlists and he does on occasion listen to his own music. These playlists NEVER get played aloud in the house, but they exist, and today, we go through them to excavate some truly mystifying hidden treasures.... This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit thelizardreview.substack.com/subscribe

The streaming era of music is still unfolding before our very eyes, but one thing is beyond for certain - streaming services like Spotify and Apple Music have changed the way we engage with, enjoy, and find music. Streaming has opened up the entire world (or at least, those with a spare 11.99 to spend a month) to the whole confection of music, all the way from the 1940's to today. There's plenty good and plenty bad with the way streaming services operate and how they've affected how music operates in our lives, but in today's episode, we focus on one question about streaming in particular - what have been the 100 most important songs to the streaming era so far? This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit thelizardreview.substack.com/subscribe

Once upon a time in a land not so dissimilar to our own, there was a band that made all the wrong choices at all the right times...this is a story about the 2000's, the scene, the girls who loved it, and the men who hated it. Panic! At The Disco was a group of teenaged boys who wound up thrust into the center of a brand new genre and a brand new scene that was only just beginning to take shape, and that would ultimately wind up dissipating into nothing just as quickly as it appeared. Two albums, countless band members, twenty years, and hundreds of thousands of words of fanfiction later, we're finally asking the question : when did Panic! At The Disco really stop being Panic! At The Disco? This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit thelizardreview.substack.com/subscribe

In 2014, Taylor was reinventing herself - new hair, new city, new midriff, new genre. The Rolling Stone interview that came out just a month before her record-breaking release of 1989 was our first real peek as fans into what this era truly held in store for us, and revisiting this article now 12 years later is like a time capsule to what I never ever would have imagined in a million years would be "the simpler days." This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit thelizardreview.substack.com/subscribe

This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit thelizardreview.substack.com/subscribe

Here in the top FIVE of the most important pop culture moments of my lifetime, we get down into the instances that I've carried with me for almost my entire life - including the single greatest televised pop performance ever, Justin Timberlake being an enemy to women, a frantic hoedown in an attempt to save face, and MORE.... This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit thelizardreview.substack.com/subscribe

What do Paris Hilton going to jail, Beyonce surprise releasing her self titled record in 2013, and the Jonas Brothers' purity rings all have in common...? They were all representative of moments in pop culture that helped define both the zeitgeist and the way that I engaged with pop culture and the world at large going forward. As a millennial woman, y2k and early 2000's pop culture and the things that happened during that time period, particularly to female celebrities, were more formative to my worldview and my relationship with pop culture than anything else. Here are numbers 10 through 6 of some of the most important pop culture moments of my entire lifetime - from y2k, to the mid 2000's, all the way up to the 2010's. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit thelizardreview.substack.com/subscribe

The 2026 Grammy's are almost right on top of us, and as such, it's time to do one of my most favorite things in the entire world....BE WRONG FOR AN HOUR!!! 🎉 Although my predictions usually don't come to pass (2025 notwithstanding - I had an oddly good sense of who would win last year but that is NOT the norm) it's still fun to go through all the nominees one more time before the big show and put in my final words on them all. PLUS : we go through some of my LEAST favorite things in the world - blind ballots. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit thelizardreview.substack.com/subscribe

Gracie Abrams is one of the most famous gen z artists in music, and her biggest claim to fame is that she's a songwriter following in the footsteps of Taylor Swift. She's had multiple top ten songs, is dating a very famous actor, and is lucky enough to call her a friend of Taylor Swift. But you don't get to one million friends without making a few enemies, and well....let's just say EYE used to be a Gracie enemy...BUT NOT ANYMORE!!!Let's talk about why people dislike Gracie, why people LOVE Gracie, and dig in deep to THREE of her songs to examine and critique her songwriting style. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit thelizardreview.substack.com/subscribe

Do you like movies? I like movies. Movies are good. Movies are fun to watch. I enjoy the endeavor of picking a movie to watch. I like popping popcorn in the microwave. Movies are powerful. Movies can change how we think and see the world. Movies are art. Movies....are movies.... This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit thelizardreview.substack.com/subscribe