desperately wanted to be down.
modest album with a few really strong moments and little filler. Never short on ideas, Scarface had nonetheless gone a little too far with the 70-minute The World Is Yours. There was plenty of brilliance there, including the stunning "Now I Feel Ya," but you had to do some sifting to find it. That's less the case with the 43-minute Diary, which doesn't overextend its ambitions. Scarface here once again offers a laid-back gangsta ballad, "I Seen a Man Die," that's as thoughtful and somber as the style gets and also perhaps the album highlight. Elsewhere, he teams up with fellow gangsta veteran Ice Cube on "Hand of the Dead Body" and reprises his best-known song, "Mind Playin' Tricks 94." Not counting the interludes, there's only ten songs here, and they're nearly all produced by the team of N.O. Joe and Mike Dean. It may make the album a short listen, yet it also makes The Diary one of Scarface's most solid efforts, one where you rarely, if ever, feel inclined to skip a song. And that's something you can't say about the work of most rappers, particularly ones as creative as Scarface.
who have found a home in Brazilian style (Kenny Rankin is a "similar urban AOR rival," to quote a customer review), contemporary jazz artist Michael Franks has aged pretty well--if not all that gracefully. As a guy who resorts to couplets like "The clothes on my back/Are too Pasternak," he probably shouldn't be waxing philosophical about how "feeble" and "pedantic" critics are ("The Critics Are Never Kind," a musical-derived number on which Van Gogh, Gauguin, and Degas commiserate). Franks also makes music his subject too often for his own good, celebrating "The Cool School" in self-congratulatory fashion and the first time he heard "Take Five"--he says Dave Brubeck's beloved version, though his use of bleating smooth jazz saxist Eric Marienthal to evoke the great Paul Desmond makes you wonder. But his vocals are breezy and intimate, and the instrumental settings provided by a cast including guitarist Chuck Loeb and keyboardist David Sancious are attractive without being too slick. Fans whose "inner harmony always turns blue in the end" won't be able to resist the wistful pull of the songs.
the group might've included lines like that somewhere near the beginning of their eighth album. More restless than ever, fleeting flirtations with Jamaican music of most stripes -- dancehall, dub, and ska included -- are handled clumsily. The results are as mixed as the approaches. The most problematic moment of all is the missed opportunity that is "What's Your Number?," where Rancid's Tim Armstrong is drafted in to help replicate the dubby lope of the Clash's "Guns of Brixton"; though it would've been more fitting to hear B Real spit another grimy rhyme in this setting, he chooses instead to spin a tale of picking up a woman. The highlights all take place when the group sticks to what it does best, though the pro-weed moments keep on getting increasingly dire. The Alchemist-produced and Tego Calderón-assisted "Latin Thugs" is one example of the group retaining its strengths, since it's full of fire and swagger. All points aside, the album is strictly for the devout fan base.
The intense keyboards and crunchy rock guitars, the latter done here by Bon Jovi's Ritchie Sambora demonstrate that sound in "I Come Undone" which has the intensity of Cutting Crew's "I Just Died In Your Arms." Ellen Shipley, well known for her association with Belinda Carlisle's solo albums, wrote and did backing vocals for here.
Desmond Child produced and co-wrote "Down To You" call it a power keyboard ballad, highlighted by sheets of synths over which Jen's voice rises in its glory.
production is tinny, the lyrics are hyper-literate, and they just haven't got around to covering that ballad from Top Gun--which just leaves more for rest of us to enjoy. Part new-wave keyboards, part folky acoustic guitars, the music on More Adventurous is unexpectedly beautiful. "Does He Love You" and "I Never" are odd pop songs, filled out with soft verses and sweet choruses. "We could be daytime drunks if we wanted...All of your failures are training grounds." singer Jenny Lewis intones on "The Absence of God." Oh, and it's not all that uppity. But still, it's a major source of refreshment for anyone feeling parched by the mainstream creative drought.
notes: Recording information: 1970 - 2006. At a mere 20 songs, a Diana Ross collection claiming to be 'definitive,' is immediately suspect. Is it possible to define one of pop music's most iconic divas in the space of a single CD? Motown's DEFINITIVE COLLECTION tackles the problem first by excluding Ross's work with the Supremes and focusing only on her solo endeavors. The album also opts for singles over choice album cuts, and while the selection might not pass muster with diehard Ross fans, it provides a solid introduction to the singer's peak moments. Naturally, the #1's are here: "Touch Me in the Morning," "Theme from Mahogany (Do You Know Where You're Going To)," and her duet with Lionel Richie on "Endless Love," among others. Ross's pop-funk hits are faithfully represented ("Upside Down;" "Love Hangover"), as is her essential duet with Marvin Gaye on "My Mistake (Was to Love You)." In short, while the album may be too brief, every song here is a glittering gem, underscoring the Motown diva's rightful place in pop music history.
Don't Impress Me Much". There are plenty of tasty ingredients that radio traditionally searches out here-great tempo, attitude, a hook that sells like ice cream in summer (including a guitar riff that conjures the ubiquitous "Spirit In The Sky"), and the instantly recognizable vocals of a woman who is a fond acquaintance of so many millions out there now. This is country crossover at its best and that little something different that radio says it is always after, remixed gently to add a pop touch without stripping it of its vital twang. And wait until you catch this videoclip, which features Twain imitating Robert Palmer in his groundbreaking 1986 clip for "Addicted to Love," complete with buffed and blank-eyed male models in the background. Hilarious. This is all good; go for it.
bio:After Britney Spears, Christina Aguilera was the most popular female singer of the late-'90s teen pop revival. Unlike many of her contemporaries, Aguilera was a technically skilled singer with a genuinely powerful voice, belting out her uptempo dance numbers and ballads with a diva's panache. Born Christina Maria Aguilera on December 18, 1980, on Staten Island, her parents were of Irish and Ecuadorian stock and her father's military career meant the family moved quite a bit during her childhood. They eventually settled in Pittsburgh, PA, where Aguilera began performing in talent shows at age six, with considerable success. She appeared on Star Search in 1988 (though she didn't win) and in 1992 joined the cast of the Disney Channel's The New Mickey Mouse Club, which also included Spears, future *NSYNC members Justin Timberlake and JC Chasez, and Felicity star Keri Russell. ..
and the subsequent album Little Earthquakes, she reawakened an interest in the art of the female singer / songwriter. Indeed it's doubtful the likes of Alanis Morissette would have enjoyed quite so much exposure without the pioneering efforts of the Newtonian ice-maiden. That's not to say that everything touched by Tori has turned to gold - some of her lyrics still raise many a quizzical eyebrow, and the infamous suckling pig shot that adorns Boys For Pele wasn't exactly a great piece of animal rights publicity. The overall impact though is one of the last decade's most important solo artists, which is caught in this handsome collection of 20 songs, four of them new.
seems like everyone is doing Janet Jackson better than Janet these days (here's looking at you Cassie). The title track from Jessica Simpson's new album A Public Affair, may sport a guitar riff lifted straight from Madonna's "Holiday," but the rest of the song—breathy vocals, cheery, almost sickeningly sweet melody, mid-song giggle, Diana Ross reference—is classic Janet. Ironically, though, the tracks on A Public Affair produced by Janet's longtime collaborators, Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis, aren't dance-pop at all; the duo's three contributions are, surprisingly, country-inspired, the ostensible influence of Simpson's acting debut in last year's The Dukes Of Hazzard.
h, this album found Michael trying to create a new image for himself as a serious-minded artist, while still generating sales. The title is a clear indication of his desire to be taken more seriously as a song-writer. The album was released in 1990 but was not nearly as successful as his debut solo album, selling around 7 million copies compared to 14 million for Faith. However, it did outsell Faith in the musician's UK homeland, and produced several notable hits, including "Cowboys and Angels", "Freedom '90", "Praying for Time", "Waiting for That Day", and "Heal the Pain". "Praying for Time" reached number 1 on the U.S. Billboard charts.
Michael refused to appear in many of the music videos that accompanied the singles released from this album. As a result, the little-seen video for "Praying for Time" simply consists of the song lyrics against a dark, ambient background, while the video for "Freedom '90" featured several famous "supermodels" lip-synching to the track instead of the absent Michael. It featured the literal destruction (by fire and explosions) of several icons from the artist's Faith period and was directed by David Fincher, an acclaimed promo director. Fincher would later go on to become a high-profile and critically acclaimed mainstream "Hollywood" film director.
The expected following album, Listen Without Prejudice Vol. 2, was scrapped for reasons unknown, although it could quite possibly be due to Michael's subsequent legal battles with Sony Music. Three of the tracks intended for the album appear on the charity album Red Hot + Dance, while a fourth (Crazyman Dance) turned up on the B-side of the single Too Funky.
music). The album's US and Canada release was particularly notable as it was the first album released by the now-defunct DreamWorks Records (the first DreamWorks album released internationally, however, was Beautiful Freak by Eels).
Following the release of Listen Without Prejudice Vol. 1, Michael accused his record company, Epic Records, of failing to promote the album as well as lacklustre support for his charity recordings
Whilst essentially holding true to his word, Michael wasn't completely absent from the recording world during the six years between Listen Without Prejudice and Older, contributing several tracks to the charity album Red Hot + Dance in 1992 (see 1992 in music), as well as performing at the Freddie Mercury Tribute Concert at Wembley Stadium.
, Mondays are the day that new CDs arrive in stores. And on Monday, Sept. 4 (Sept. 5 in America) Beyonce will have two reasons to celebrate; not only is Sept. 4 her 25th birthday, but her sophomore album, appropriately titled B'Day, will hit store shelves. B'Day is Beyonce's first solo album since her multi-platinum 2003 solo debut, Dangerously In Love. The new album's first single, "Deja Vu," features Jay-Z and production by Rodney Jerkins. Other producers on B'Day include The Neptunes and Swizz Beatz.
| LABEL: | Kinetic |
| RELEASE DATE: | 19 March 2002 |
| DISCS: | 1 disc |
| GENRE(S): | Electronic |
"I'm Your Baby Tonight" (Babyface, L.A. Reid) - 5:00And nobody can stop Madonna performing this fundamental duty -
especially not German prosecutors. Before Madonna took her tour to Germany there were claims that she might be banged up for insulting all the German Christians with her crucifixion act, but the prosecutors have now decided that they won't investigate Madonna's stunt. And who can blame them - it's a foolish organisation that messes with the gnarled hands and deplorably unsuitable leotards of Madonna.
It's strange what going on tour can do to a person - just look at Madonna. Before she set off on her Confessions tour, Madonna was the hernia-ridden old lady who lied to her children about being gay and pretended to be a member of the English gentry in between being all barmy and religious. But since Madonna set off her new world tour, she's been dipping her claws in bronze, making all kinds of weird toilet demands and possibly stealing another woman's hands. Oh yeah, and pretending to be Jesus.
Even though the part of her concert that should be attracting all the outrage is the bit where Madonna dresses up in all that purple spandex - or the bit where people realise they've paid £150 to see a 48-year-old woman sing songs from her rubbish new album - the segment of Madonna's Confessions world tour that has stoked up the most anger so far has come when Madonna goes and puts on a thorny crown and sings Live To Tell on a giant crucifix backed by AIDS statistics. The Church of England hated the stunt, even though Madonna thought that Jesus would be cool with it, and even Italy's Catholics, Jews and Muslims joined forces to condemn Madonna.
Germany went the whole hog, though, and threatened to prosecute Madonna if she did the big crucifixion thing in the country. Only threatened to, mind you - on Sunday Madonna played her first show in Dusseldorf, complete with scary crucifixion bit, and there wasn't even the slightest whiff of prosecution from the Germans. The big wusses.
German spokesman Johannes Mocken said that Madonna couldn't be prosecuted because a) Madonna was covered by German artistic freedom legislation and b) dressing up as Jesus, climbing aboard an enormous silver cross and singing a lyrically vague song while pictures of sad Africans flash up behind you isn't actually against the law. Even though it probably should be.
VA - Top 40 Singles USA August 2006 (192 KBPS VBR MP3)Millions of chubby gals, you see, have been hankering after Beyonce's
secret, so they can all lose weight 'the easy way' rather than anything involving any of that pesky exercise nonsense. But - after criticism from numerous health experts - Beyonce came over all shame-faced and regretful, announcing that:
"I would never recommend it (the diet) to anyone unless you are doing a movie and it's necessary, and you have proper help. There are ways to lose weight healthily if you want to lose weight, but this was for a film."
The film in question was the rubbish-sounding Dreamgirls, in which Beyonce stretches her limited acting chops to portray the role of a 'sixties soul diva'.
Still - does the filmic side of things make any difference? If Beyonce wants to exist on a diet of 'maple syrup mixed with water, lemon juice and cayenne pepper, which is drunk instead of meals', then why the bloody hell can't the rest of us?
WHY?
Ah. Let Beyonce explain all:
"It was no-one's suggestion I lost weight for the film, it was me who wanted to make a physical transformation. In Dreamgirls, [my character] Dina starts at 16 and then 20 years pass. Normally they'd change your make-up or your clothes but I wanted to go the extra mile. Back in the Sixties, models like Twiggy were popular and I knew Dina would have been thin then. So even though I really love eating, it was necessary to lose weight really fast because we shot Dina at 16 and Dina at 36 two weeks apart. My nutritionist suggested the only way to do that was the fast. As soon as it was over I gained the weight back."
Beyonce says that she is back to normal now, and really happy with her curves (odd part of the female vernacular, that - men usually tend to refer to their own 'curves' as 'flab'). Oddly she goes on to claim that it feels fantastic being 'voluptuous' again… strange, because even after the weight gain, Beyonce still looks so thin she could hula-hoop with a polo mint.
Still, why should people want to lose weight anyway? Wouldn't it be a boring world if we all looked the same? Besides, if there were no more large ladies left, there'd be no more opportunities for brilliant Channel 4 documentaries like last week's Fat Beauty Contest - montage after montage of catwalk-strutting Calorie-wolfers that made hecklerspray laugh like a monkey in a Tickling Booth.
And that just simply wouldn't do.
songs will be great.My recommendations are Soft Cell,Devo and Dexy's midnight Runners.Anyway. What hecklerspray is trying to say - in a ludicrously
roundabout way, such is our teasin' style - is that such a term can inspire shudders akin to hearing phrases such as "Darling I'm pregnant". Think about it: James Blunt. K T Tunstall. Jamie Cullum. Or actually don't think about them. We wouldn't want you to hurt yourself.
Anyway. What we're STILL trying to say - in even more of a ludicrously roundabout way, such is our even more teasin' style - is that it would be a real shame if new Poptones signing Tobias Froberg found himself lumped in with that generically unsavoury crowd.
Froberg is a mite different from the usual legions of folk-based strummers that populate the Radio 2 schedules. This is for two main reasons - a) he's actually rather good, and b) he hails from Sweden; a place which - having given birth to the sadly-departed Concretes - has proven itself capable of exporting some of the best pop music around.
Froberg's music isn't going to change the world. It will, however - if you let it - lilt the world gently by in a summer-bliss Joy-Zippery kinda way, which to be quite frank is absolutely fine with us.
You'll probably have already heard When The Night Turns Cold on the new Panasonic advert, but there's also a certain emotional rawness that is present in a lot of Froberg's less 'immediate' stuff. God's Highway - introduced this evening as "the greatest song ever written" (surely Snooker Loopy wins that accolade) - is a good example.
In short - if Ryan Adams (pre-Cardinals), Damien Rice, certain Neil Young moments and early Paul Simon float your boat, you're going to have a good time getting acquainted with young Toby. Hecklerspray caught sight of him in an intimate cramped venue. Chances are the gigs are going to be getting bigger by the day…
review: There is within music an ability to tap into the raw, revelatory power of beauty; music can give itself to the unknown whisper of the eternal in ways that other forms of art only hint at. The collage of sounds communicates something deep to the heart and, when combined with the presence of the voice, can be downright liberating. Few individuals, let alone bands, ever really reach a point where they are that open to the Unknown that it can give itself so freely through their music. U2 has done so time and again, but never with the level of directness and sincerity as they accomplished on the Joshua Tree.A joshua tree is a real tree that thrives despite the dry environment it lives in. The image - the icon - of life amidst its seeming absence, embodied in the joshua tree, is one that is fully appropriate to U2 - particularly at the end of their first decade. U2, like the joshua tree, stood in stark contrast to its environment: ascetic, prophetic and disarmingly (some would say "naively", but let the tension stand) sincere. (Their foray into the realm of post-modern sampling, irony and sarcasm was an identity crisis fully in line with where they stood in the 80s: cynicism is frustrated optimism.)
Janet Damita Jo Jackson (born May 16, 1966) is an American singer-songwriter, producer, dancer and actress. She is the youngest child of the Jackson music family; the sister of legendary pop icon Michael Jackson. Jackson is well known for her detailed dance choreography and music videos. Jackson initially stepped into the limelight as a young actress, appearing in television shows. Upon her father's insistance, she released two studio albums; neither garnered much attention nor success.
After a brief marriage to James DeBarge, Jackson set out to find her own identity. She collaborated with producers Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis, and the trio created Jackson's breakout album, Control (1986) and the socially-focused follow-up, Rhythm Nation 1814_Part2 (1989). In the early 1990s, Jackson signed a record-breaking recording deal with Virgin Records for the sexually-charged album janet_part2. (1993) which proved to be a larger success than its two predecessors. Jackson also returned to acting, starring in Poetic Justice (1993). By the end of the 1990s, Jackson's relationship with Rene Elizondo Jr. had begun to come to an end and by early 2000, the couple announced their divorce; Jackson and Elizondo had kept their marriage a secret for nearly a decade. While filming Nutty Professor II: The Klumps (2000), she continued to work on All for You _part2(2001), which became successful on the Billboard charts.
Remember ages ago, when Madonna decided that hopping up on
an enormous mirrored cross to crucify herself while singing a song on her latest tour? Remember that all kinds of religious leaders went bananas at Madonna for doing it, and then everyone sort of forgot about it? Well, now Madonna is plying her wares around Europe and the Pope has got wind of this mirrory crucifixion malarkey. And he's reportedly not very happy about it, which he finds somewhat disappointing since was a big fan of Hanky Panky era Madonna.
We're assuming that The Pope doesn't read hecklerspray all that much. That's a shame, because we're certain he'd have come up with a brilliant Mel Gibson Haiku, and because he wouldn't be getting his knickers in a twist so much about Madonna larking about on a cross.
Back in May, Madonna kicked off her new world tour in America. Knowing full well that she'd already done the graphic gynotard thing and the kissing girls thing to death, she needed to to think up a new way to drum up publicity. And what better than her old friend religious outrage. In the past, Madonna has annoyed religious types by getting off with Black Jesus in the Like A Prayer video and writing a song which will officially stop her getting into heaven so - to continue the theme - Madonna hopped onto a giant crucifix and sang a song in the face of exactly the type of moral outrage she was expecting, even though Jesus himself didn't really mind.
Now, though, Madonna is touring Europe in a whirlwind of claw-dipping and Swedish clothes-wearing. And the Vatican is responding to the crucifixion stunt as if it's only just heard about it. Cardinal Ersilio Tonini told an Italian newspaper on Wednesday:
“To crucify yourself in the city of the pope and the martyrs is an act of open hostility. It’s a scandal created on purpose by astute merchants to attract publicity.”
Whew, good job Christians are legally obliged to be forgiving isn't it? At least Madonna hasn't upset the Jews and the Muslims? What's that? She has? Jewish spokesman Riccardo Pacifici says:
“We express solidarity with the Catholic world. It’s a disrespectful act, and to do it in Rome is even worse.”
While Muslim bigwig Mario Scialoja says:
“It’s not the first time Madonna stages such an act. We deplore it, we feel it is an act of bad taste.”
But, hey, let's look on the bright side. Madonna's dead-eyed cynicism and opportunistic publicity-seeking seems to have forced the Jews and the Muslims into common agreement, and could possibly be the catalyst for world peace for ever and ever. Maybe Madonna actually is Jesus after all…
No, that's a stupid thing to think. Jesus could stay on a horse, for one.
June 29, 2004 (see 2004 in music) on Atlantic Records. The album was primarily produced by Timbaland, with additional production from Warryn Campbell and Kanye West. It reached #3 on the U.S. Billboard 200 charts and included three singles: "Talk About Our Love", "Afrodisiac" and "Who Is She 2 U".
"Talk About Our Love" and "Where You Wanna Be", both produced by Kanye West, were eleventh-hour additions to the album, commissioned after West's success in 2004 with tracks by artists such as Twista and himself. When "Talk About Our Love" became Afrodisiac's lead single instead of its title track, Timbaland and Brandy herself protested the decision in several magazine interviews. "Talk About Our Love" barely made it to the U.S. Top 40, peaking at #36. Unfortunately, the album fell off the charts quickly and was a commercial failure. The album was eventually certified Gold.
However, it looks as if Heather Mills McCartney has a slightly different idea. Paul McCartney has finally decided to file for divorce against Heather, but she's responded with counterclaims in both England and America. This means that the Paul McCartney divorce is anticipated to become kinda nasty in the near future, though hopefully not as nasty as Heather Mills McCartney's hair in those pictures where she's laying on the floor kissing a German man's bondage whip.
Paul McCartney used to live in a happy little world where he was content to waggle his thumbs about in any situation, including the time he was beamed into space, the time he got ticked off at everyone in China or any of the thousands of times he's closed a concert by making the crowd sing the end of Hey Jude for upwards of six hours. But when Paul McCartney decided to split up with Heather Mills McCartney, his monoped wife of four years, Paul McCartney realised that not everything in life could be solved with a cheeky bob of the head and an anecdote about how brilliant John Lennon said he was once.
Now Paul McCartney has filed for divorce from Heather Mills McCartney citing 'unreasonable behaviour,' but Heather is said to want to fight Paul until she has so much money that she can build a giant golden statue of herself, a defiant look in her gleaming eye as another statue of a German man licks golden cream and cherries off of her knockers. Heather Mills McCartney is planning on filing counterclaims to the divorce in both England and America.
What this means is that, because Paul McCartney and Heather Mills McCartney didn't sign a pre-nuptial agreement, Heather is setting out to get a giant slice of Paul's £800 million fortune. A long-term friend of Paul McCartney is quoted as saying:
"It's a battlefield and it has become mind-boggling, not just because of Paul's fame but because of the constant stream of stories. But now with Heather announcing she is prepared to fight, things are just going to get uglier."
But we're not sure how ugly the Paul McCartney/ Heather Mills McCartney divorce is going to get. An ugly divorce is the David Hasselhoff divorce, where things start with claims of a husband calling a wife a "whore cunt bitch slut drug addict" and ends with the husband apparently wetting himself while staggering around an airport at 7am. Or the Charlie Sheen/ Denise Richards divorce, which features implied paedophila and a cast that includes dead porn stars and the bloke from Bon Jovi. A one-legged woman chasing a Beatle's cash, now how ugly could that possibly get?
It's hard to imagine George Michael angry, since most of his
songs show roughly the same amount of emotion as a shop dummy with intimacy issues, but all this talk of his gay cruising seems to have sent him over the edge. George Michael has sensed that phoning up Richard And Judy for a bit of a whinge hasn't really done the job, so he's launched an angry attack on the media during an interview with ITV news where he threatens to sue "pretty much everybody," which probably includes you for reading this with your eyes right now.
George Michael has had his fair share of problems in the past few months. Falling asleep in his car with a bunch of drugs on him was one of them, and crashing into a load of cars before driving off was another, but they've been completely overshadowed by the news that George Michael saunters down to Hampstead Heath now and then to feel up men in some shrubbery. That's not really news - George Michael has been open about doing that in the past - but the reports that George's boyfriend Kenny Goss had called off their forthcoming wedding because of his public indiscretion have made George Michael get his knickers in a twist.
First George Michael called Richard And Judy to tell them the wedding was still on, and reaffirm that he wasn't ashamed about gay cruising, but now he's decided to put his case to people who aren't students or unemployed, and has given an interview with Nina Hossain from ITV News to tell the world exactly how he feels:
"I have been doing this on and off since I was a teenager and never once seen violence. If I want to see violence or what I call shameful behaviour, the idea that women that in clubs these days have to hold their hand over their drink for fear of being drugged… Please don't tell me as a member of the straight community that I am taking risks. I know what I do and I am sorry but we should not be taking questions like this, from straight women in particular."
And, speaking about his future, George Michael told Hossain that:
"When media starts to put slurs on my relationship and indicate that my partner - who is perfectly happy with the way I live my life and the way we live our life together - that my partner is calling off our registered partnership and that I am having to buy him back with money: these kind of things are just unacceptable to me. I am really just here to say I have had enough really and I am going to have to take legal action against pretty much everybody involved."
Yeek! At this point, we were planning on saying something snippy about leaving George Michael alone so much that you all stopped buying his singles, but it looks like you've been doing that for eight years anyway. Still, there's always the haikus.
behind 50 Cent, whose album, Get Rich Or Die Tryin', has sold 11 million records to date.) At such a young age, Norah Jones has such a beautiful, intelligent voice, which could be described as both soft, and scratchy at the same time - the combination is simply breath taking. Norah Jones backing band, The Handsome Band, is nothing short of spectacular on this offering. All songs are in perfect harmony, and the instruments are played beyond well - good musicianship is so hard to find these days. Norah Jones' paino skills are unbelieveably good - some have suggested that Norah's style could be compared to that of fellow platinum female artist, Alicia Keys. Although I've said it 100 times before, this is without a dobut the best CD that I own - everytime I listen to it, I fall in love with it all over again. A music lovers must have!
Like most projects having to do with Grey Album producer Danger Mouse, this new Gnarls Barkley album is highly anticipated...on the Internet. Also, it may or may not be really popular in the UK. From what I understand, the first single "Crazy" was the first song ever to hit #1 in that country having only been released in online music stores. But then I remember reading similar shit about Las Ketchup and whatever that Axel F ringtone bullshit was, so I'm not sure what to think.
GO GO GADGET GOSPEL
Reminds me of whatever the single was from the Cee-Lo's first solo album, with the horns and what have you.
CRAZY
The 2006 version of [insert the name of something that became inexplicably popular on the Internet and also in foreign countries]. Or am I missing something?
ST. ELSEWHERE
Cee-Lo seems to indulge in all of his worst impulses on this title track. Like that thing he does where he sort of sing-rambles about god-knows-what. For his part, Danger Mouse's beat could've provided the song with more structure. As it is, it's just sort of a mess.
GONE DADDY GONE
A sort of New Wave thing. Like "Turning Japanese" or something. Cee-Lo might not be as cut out for this sort of thing.
SMILEY FACES
And it may take being Asian or something to appreciate Cee-Lo as a vocalist. He's not completely untalented, but bottom line is the guy's just not that good of a singer. Whatever attendant irony there is in that fact is mostly lost on me.
THE BOOGIE MONSTER
You know what would be really ironic? An R&B singer that could actually sing. I'd bust my gut laughing at that shit. Bwahahaha.
FENG SHUI
Cee-Lo actually does a little rapping here. The beat might be going for a sort of Asian thing, but it mainly comes off as a jumbled mess.
JUST A THOUGHT
An ill-advised attempt at something a bit heavier in subject matter. I don't believe for a minute that Cee-Lo has considered suicide a day in his life. Fuck him.
TRANSFORMER
Danger Mouse gets a bit too wacky for his own good with this track.
WHO CARES
To its credit, the chorus to this isn't quite as lazy as the last several tracks here. Cee-Lo still mostly rambles through his verses though. Usually, you wish he'd either rap or sing - preferably rap.
ON-LINE
Was this meant to be a skit? I couldn't make out most of what Cee-Lo was saying here.
NECROMANCING
Why is Cee-Lo rapping about fucking corpses? Fag!
STORM COMING
DM cranks the BPM's, on some JJ Fad shit. But not so high that you don't notice how retarded this is.
THE LAST TIME
I've told you once and I've told you twice. But you never listen to my advice. Well this will be the last time.
