Album Review: Whitney Houston "I Look To You"

I honestly didn't think this was going to happen, but Whitney Houston is actually all set to release her 6th studio album "I Look to You". This is 7 years since her last effort "Just Whitney", and as we all know A LOT has happened in her professional and personal life since that release. Even years before that, her once massively successful career was tarnishing. The worst of it, her voice was always and still is regarded as one of the best voices in recorded music, and through her personal and professional struggles it seemed her voice was ruined. Her 2002 "Just Whitney" was not a terrible album on the production end, but her voice was obviously struggling (her remake of "You Light Up My Life" is especially horrific to listen to with flawless ballads of her past like "I Will Always Love You" and "Didn't We Almost Have it All" in mind.).
What I can say about this new effort, is that her voice doesn't detract from the polished production on this album. Clive Davis and the label heads made some very calculated and very smart moves with the direction of the album. Whitney started her career just singing whatever was thrown at, her voice was that strong she could tackle the Bubble gum pop songs, the dancer floor House songs, the R&B slow burners and the Pop Torch Ballads. Her voice always sounded best to me when she was doing more mid tempo R&B, which is why her 1999 "My Love Is Your Love" album was my favourite. It stressed more urban numbers as opposed to her previous Ballad filled albums. "I Look to You" is actually more urban, more contemporary, very radio ready with a few very good Ballads mixed in. It's a expertly crafted Pop/R&B album, and I'm actually a little proud of Whitney for being able to keep up with the producers who obviously came to work on this album.
Her voice isn't necessarily outstanding on any of these songs, however she does her best to not get drowned out on most tracks. I think that some of the ballads were maybe aiming a little too high for her vocal strengths at this point, but Whitney was obviously up for the challenge this time. As opposed to the vocals on "Just Whitney" where you could obviously tell she was straining and in some sort of vocal pain while singing, she breezes through alot of the vocals. There aren't any huge belts or long notes, like Whitney in the 80's, but there's enough to tell that she has been working on improving.
There's actually not much to complain about on the album, there are a few songs I can go without (and mind you, I'm writing this as I'm listening to it. First time I've done this). The producers really came with really strong songs. I think alot of these songs were hit-ready even without Whitney. I can't say that she makes something that would have been Good Great, but she does bring an attitude and a life to a handful of the tracks. She worked well with Stargate on their two contributions, "Call You Tonight" and her remake of "A Song For You", which isn't a slow by the numbers R&B ode, but a Houser to remind us of the late 90's Whitney Club Queen era. Akon's two tracks are very breezy and complimentary of her voice. And surprisingly she works well with Danja on "For the Lovers" and my favourite track off the album "Nuthin But Love". The lyrical content is somewhat personal on this album, you hear her fessing up to having problems and trying to make it right ("I Didn't Know My Own Strength", "Nuthin But Love" on which she says 'to anyone who tried to hate on me, the ones who tried to break me, the ones who tried to take me down... Nuthin But Love' later saying 'I ain't blaming nobody if i ain't got my stuff worked out'). However the album isn't brought down by too much testimony, and she sticks to light love songs throughout most of the album.
This is definitley a proper comeback, there's enough potential hits on the album. Still, she hasn't shot a video and isn't promoting the album which is due to be released on Tuesday. We have yet to see if she can back this all up live. If she is up for that challenge, she should sweep the Grammy's and have a really long and succesful run from this album. The thing is, she's coming back into an industry that doesn't expect much from it's artists, and putting together an album that has a majority of great tracks and a female vocalist that actually has some skill and is sounds alive is alwasy impressive. Having said that, in my eyes at least, Whitney has actually risen back to the upper echelon of the Pop/R&B world. Bring on the Live Performance!

Top 25 All-Time Favourite Artists (16-19)

16. Pharrell Williams/ Kelis/ N.E.R.D./ Neptunes (tie)

So around 2001-2004 I was a complete Neptunes freak. My cubicle at work was practically nothing but Pharrell and Chad pictures, I had countless Neptunes mix cd's I made constantly, and I was almost always talking about them in some way. And the technical first introduction I had to this Awesome production team was via Kelis' first album "Kaleidoscope". At the time, the production on that album overpowered anything she was doing, and ever since than I followed the Neptunes careers. What I think I loved the most about their productions was they came really hard with the beats and bass and what not, but everything they did was undeniably dance worthy. Like you'd catch yourself nodding your head or tapping your feet and not even realize it. Now I can't lie or ignore the fact that around 2004/2005 they officially started to fall off, and I'm not even sure they produce as a duo anymore. Pharrell's solo album was a bit of a disappointment, and NeRD are sometimes a little TOO out there. But the Neptunes gave me a Good 5 Mix cd's that I still play to this day, and I actually think that in 2008 they did a good job of saving their name, by bringing some actual New sounding stuff on Madonna's "Hard Candy" and select tracks from NeRD's "Seeing Sounds".

Kelis, that's just a cool bitch. She also has a lot of songs that I can personally relate to (which is oddly difficult to find). And she's just Different, a very unique artist. I've Never been disappointed by any of her albums, even though she's distanced herself completely from the Neptunes her music has actually gotten better which proves that she did bring a lot to the table and didn't just show up to sing over the Neptunes beats all those years. I really wish she was more popular... but what are you gonna do?

myTop 3 Favourite Kelis albums: 1. Kelis was Here (2006), 2. Kaleidoscope (2000), 3. Tasty (2004)

myTop 3 Favourite Pharrell/Neptunes/NeRD albums: 1. In Search Of... (2002), 2. Neptunes Present Clones (2003), 3. Seeing Sounds (2008)

17. Jay-Z

I'm gonna admit something here. I wasn't a big fan of Jigga when he first came out. I did like the "Aint No nigga" with Foxy. I didn't hate dude or anything like that, but I really wasn't paying much attention to him during the "Reasonable Doubt" era. I did notice that dude wasn't going away and that he had a huge hit that even I couldn't deny every Year (hell every six months). Than around the time of "In My Lifetime Part 2" and "Can I Get A..." when you just literally couldn't get away from him... I did start to respect him and see him from a different perspective. He's had a few missteps, but overall he's been a very consistent albums artist. And his singles are crazy. Plus he has some of the best, funniest and thought provoking bars of any rapper Alive. I was a little mad at his "faux" retirement, and "Kingdom Come" was a real let-down. "American Gangster" was a step in the right direction, and I'm actually Really excited for "Blueprint III" coming out in September.

myTop 3 Favourite Jay-z albums: 1. The Blueprint (2001), 2. Reasonable Doubt (1996), 3. The Black Album (2004)

18. Devo

Being a 80's baby, it almost goes without saying that I was familiar and a fan of Devo's biggest hit "Whip It" and it's music video. It wasn't until a few years ago when I heard their wonderfully twisted cover of the Rolling Stones' "Satisfaction" that I wanted to hear more from them. Just within this past year I've started to listen to their catalogue, and for some weird reason I seem to love everything they do. Most of their music is really unconventional (for me), like they lack melody or harmony. Still they are addictive and the band themselves are amazing together. Towards the mid-80's they did start to stagnate with their sound, but they had a really great run of very creative, and ultimatley innovative music.

myTop 3 Favourite Devo albums: 1. Q.Are We Not Men? A. We Are Devo! (1978), 2. Freedom of Choice (1980), 3. New Traditionalists (1981)

19. Usher/Timberlake (tie)

These two are definitely the Kings of the Industry when it comes to artists from my generation. The feeling that we grew up together probably is the reason they are so high on my list. Especially Usher, who has been recording solo since he was 13. They both have had their share of peaks, massive hit singles and awards, and breaking records. Usher with his "Confessions" album which in 2004 became one of the few instant Classic albums of this decade. Timberlake's solo debut (coming from probably the most successful 90's Boy Band 'N Sync) "Justified", with the help of Neptunes and Timbaland, crossed over and was also pretty highly regarded. And ofcourse they both have their signature, un-escapable Monster single, Usher with "Yeah!" and Timberlake with "Sexyback".
However. Usher's last album was a bit of a dud, he's working on a 6th album which will hopefully redeem him from not only a disapointing album, but very underwhelming live performances. Timberlake hasn't even got to his 3rd solo album, and currently he's more of a television star than a recording artist. They are both escaping the "Teen Dream" phase, so their next releases are going to have to take them to a new level. If not they might totally fall off this list. (Like they care!)

myTop 3 Favourite Usher/Timberlake albums: 1. Confessions (2004), 2. Justified (2002), 3. 8701 (2001)

Okay that's it for now. I'm actually going to come back really quick with the Tie for #15. I think they both deserve their own profile, and a longer explanation of why they are tied. And you can see #20-25 here.

Album Reviews: Yeah Yeah Yeah's, Metric, Dirty Projectors, Animal Collective, The Prodigy

So I had become a little bored with the music in my library. Listening to the same old R&B, or Pop, or The Beatles. I just wanted to hear something new and totally different. I checked in Rolling Stone magazine, iTunes, Wikipedia, Metacritic and asked for recommendations from IMDB's Music General page, and here are the four best that I found.

Now I'm usually really late when it comes to discovering the new Rock talents, but even I knew about the Yeah Yeah Yeah's. I still discovered them pretty late in their careers (their 2006 smash "Gold Lion" caught my attention, and at that point they were already on their 3rd album), but I was aware of the release of their 4th album "It's Blitz!". On top of seeing them perform this year on "Saturday Night Live", I remember seeing raves of the album on the aforementioned Music General page. After finally checking the album out, and allowing it to grow on me, I have to say this probably is one of the better albums released this year. Having not heard any of their previous albums, just a few select cuts, I can't really comment on if this album differs from the sounds of the other work in their catalogue. What I can say is this album is full of energy, with excellent vocals from front woman Karen O, and the band (drummer Brian Chase, and guitarist Nick Zinner) jamming with full energy. Matched with the production from Nick Launay makes this album a seamless mix of 80's era New Wave, Punk, Rock, Electronica and even Dance. The albums first two tracks "Zero" and "Heads will Roll" are more than appropriate album openers that grab you with their intensity, and the album never really disapoints afterwards. "It's Blitz!" has a great balance with some great slower tracks like "Soft Shock", "Runaway" and "Skeletons" thrown in the mix to show the bands full versatility, and they get plenty of opportunity to display some great lyricism as well. There's not a wrong step on this album, though it does taper off towards the end, it is a better than average effort with everybody and everything working to their full potential.

Another similarly praised album with a similar sound that also has a lead front woman was "Fantasies" by Canadian rock group Metric. Though this album hasn't had the time to grow on me, I will say that it was a great listen. I can't pick any stand outs, other than the albums opener and first single "Help I'm Alive" which has amazing production value and an addictive hook "Help I'm Alive, My heart keeps beating like a hammer. Hard to soft, tough to be tender". Their sound is a little more authentic Rock as opposed to the more electronic assisted "It's Blitz", and though there are occasional variations of sounds for the most part this album suffers from being a little one note. Which is fine because that one note is a great one, everything I heard I liked. The band is definitley skilled and brought alot to the album, and the lyrics actually kept my attention while listening thanks to the clarity of voice provided by lead singer Emily Haines. I may have to get more into the album, which shouldn't be a problem. I do have to say that in comparison to Karen O, I did have a slight issue with Haines' voice which sounded a little Pop-ish which sometimes didn't match the major Rock sound backing it. Still overall, great listen.

Venturing totally out of the Rock genre and into a true Electronic sound, I listened to Dirty Projectors "Bitte Orca". This is the first album I've heard in a long while that takes so many risks. In fact I shouldn't even say this is an Electronica album, It's probably more in the realm of "expiremental rock" or "jazz fusion" or a fusion of the both of those with Electronica. Whatever it is, it's truly a sound that I've never heard before. A sound that is so unconventional that I'm actually surprised I like it. There is alot of tweaking of traditional melodies and rhythm tracks. There are elements from all different types of music including Folk, R&B, Country. With so many different techniques they use with the instrumentation you'd think the album really shouldn't work, but somehow it does. The end result is actually a really chilled out sound despite all the electro blips and heavy percussion sound. I think "Stillness Is The Move" or "Temecula Sunrise" might be the best ways to describe this indescribably amazing album. It's almost like listening to an album twenty years before it's released. Simply put it's a mindbending listening experience.

An album that's a little more familiar comes from Animal Collective, whose "Merriweather Post Pavilion" is one of the best reviewed album of the year. The album is clearly Electronica meets Psychadellica and in that way it definitley works. The group works almost exclusively with electronic equipment, so the sound is very current with very minimalist tracks that build up into pretty amazing sonic experiences. The obvious nods to The Beatles (in "Also Frightened" and "Summertime Clothes") and The Beach Boys ("Bluish" and specifically "Guys Eyes" has a real "Good Vibrations" feel to it) soften the sounds out. The album on the whole is another perfect Chill Out album, and by far the best track on the album is the first single "My Girls". Easily one of my Top 10 Favorite songs released this year.

Lastly, I took a listen to The Prodigy's recently released 5th album "Invaders Must Die". I'm actually a fan of The Prodigy, so I would have listened to this album anyway. I was a little surprised by the album because while sticking to their normally agressive and intense style they've added a bit of musicality and melody to alot of their tracks. I like the group, but I've never really been all that fanatical about any of their albums outside of their US Breakthrough album "Fat of the Land". 2004's "Always Outnumbered, Never Outgunned" was a solid album in their collection, but just a little too loud and abrasive for repeated listens. This effort definitley softens it up, with tracks "Thunder" and "Omen". However, I've only listened to the album in full one time, and I'm sure that I'll be re-visiting the album in the coming months because there were a bunch of standouts, including the aforementioned tracks and "Warriors Dance" and "Colours" among them. Not my favorite album I've heard this year, but definitley a keeper.

Album Reviews: Maxwell, Ginuwine, Jordin Sparks

Probably the most anticipated album in years was finally released about two weeks ago. I'm talking of course about Maxwell's "BLACKsummers'night", his first album in over 8 years. In today's industry, going 8 years between albums is unheard of. Especially without releasing ANY material within that time frame, like a Greatest Hits or Live album or even a Remix or Duets album. And to be honest, at about year 4 I wasn't sure if we'd ever hear another Maxwell CD again. It actually surprises me that his label allowed such a long break, but I guess it takes a truly dynamic and unique artist to get away with that. And Maxwell definitely fits the bill, and this album shows why.
Now, was the album worth the wait? Of course. The thing is, Maxwell is very much driving in his own lane. He's true R&B, he's never given in to gimmicks physically or musically to help sell records. And that definitely makes him stand out amongst all the rest of the R&B crooners out there. In fact he's so beyond most of them, that he practically has no peers anymore. So if he was gone for 10 or 15 years, any album of his would be worth the wait because you aren't going to get truly genuine R&B out of anybody else but him. At certain points, like the opening track "Bad Habits", you can hear definite inspiration vocally from Marvin Gaye and Prince yet it never sounds like he is mocking their style, just adding hints into to his own very unique vocal delivery. And the writing on this album is pretty amazing. The album might seem on the surface like a Love Story, the musical accompaniment is very smooth and sweet R&B but the lyrical content illustrates a relationship gone terribly wrong thanks to a woman who turned so "Cold" (one of the stand out tracks on the album... "Global warming ain't got nothing on this chic she's not to play wit"). The albums first single "Pretty Wings" is a perfect example, one of the sweetest R&B songs you can imagine, except you get lyrics like "You toyed with my affliction, Had to fill out my prescription, Found the remedy, I had to set you free".
I think the most exciting thing about Maxwell coming back is that we finally have an ARTIST in the record stores again. True artists are few and far between these days, you even have great artists that buckle under label pressure to conform to what is popular for radio play. Maxwell definitely delivered something that is thought provoking, and is simply great music. There are a few songs that maybe could use some work, but with only 9 songs at least everything works well together. And an additional note, whatever session band he used for this album (I did read that it was the band he normally tours with), they did an EXCELLENT job. In fact, I'd put the instrumentation on this album above the vocal and lyrical work he excelled at.

So, part of me thinks that last review was a little harsh on the other R&B dudes out there. Sure Anthony Hamilton still puts out quality R&B, Musiq Soulchild is up there just not necessarily on the same level. Stepping outside of the Neo-Soul realm, there aren't many really great Male R&B Arists, and I say that simply because they all generally sound the same. And about 4 years ago I would have said the same thing about Ginuwine, who released his sixth album "A Man's Thoughts" at the end of June. His previous album "Back II Basics" might have been good, but it seemed that since him and Timbaland parted ways earlier this decade, that he didn't have much to offer the music world. He's had the occasional hit since, but hasn't put together a truly solid album since his sophomore 1999 album "100% Ginuwine". "A Man's Thoughts" finds Ginuwine in a much more mature place, don't get me wrong there is definite filler, but for the most part it's a pretty satisfying R&B record. Mainly because he's not going through the cliched Male R&B concepts... "Your man ain't nothing... get with me" or "I'm gonna sex you down like a (insert non-clever euphemism)" or "I cheated on you, so why won't you forgive me". This album he's really talking about being with ONE woman, appreciating her, and owning up to responsibilities as a man. The true stand out, and probably one of the best songs he's recorded in about 7 years, is the albums first single "Last Chance" a song about realizing what you have in a woman and doing whatever you can to make it work "I'm gonna do it, from a boy to a man, like Barrack and his plan -- if this is my last chance to love you, I'm gonna play it like a grown man ought to". Such a refreshing song to hear on the radio, although it's unfortunate "Birthday Sex" is heating up the charts instead (I actually do like that song by the way). Good Job Ginuwine, not the greatest release of this year by any means but definitely a job well done on his part and something people should definitely check out.

Enough about guys, let's talk about chicks man (LOL, "Soup" reference. GET IT?) Jordin Sparks has just released (today July 21st) her sophomore effort "Battlefield". And yes, she did release a debut... it's just without the huge hit of "No Air" with Chris Brown a lot of people probably didn't even notice. Her debut was literally a paint by numbers pop album, and I'm not going to pretend her follow up isn't. However, on this album you do get more of a sense of who exactly she is. She has definitely grown vocally, and mainly because she seems to bring a lot more attitude to her performances on this album. "Emergency (911)" might be the best example, it's also a great example of how age-appropriate this album is. The song talks about a boyfriend who isn't showing enough attention and the girlfriend who is practically begging for it and at the same time is giving him a final warning. Sparks definitely is treading the line of a teen Icon and a burgeoning adult Diva, and she does a fine job of not over stepping either line with the material on this album. Of course it is a pretty Safe pop album, covering all the basics. There's a little Pop-lite Rock, there's Pop-lite Dance and Pop-lite R&B. There's even a few Whitney/Mariah type power ballads (specifically "Was I The Only One"). This isn't a great album, but it doesn't have anything on it that is terror to the ears. Sometimes you don't need amazing material for people to notice you, just some sort of a personality on said material and she actually does a really fine job of bringing that out on this album finally. I've always been a Jordin fan from her days on Idol, I was pleased with her win (even though I was a bigger fan of Blake and Melinda) because she was the contestant with the highest chances for Pop Domination and she's getting that much closer. I'd expect to hear her second single "SOS (Let the Music Play)" all over Pop radio in the coming weeks (though I could be wrong, because I predicted the albums title track would be huge and it's slowly creeping up the charts)

And I'm DONE!!!
I might post a few more album reviews this week... i DO have a bunch to review that I've been really lazy about.

Concert Review: Beyoncé "I Am... Tour" Oakland, July 10th

A Few things before I start.
I Love Beyoncé, I'm not a total Stan but I'm a pretty fanatical admirer. I definitely look out for flaws in her performances and music, but even being as critical as I can be it seems I love everything she does. So I knew I'd have the time of my life at her "I Am... Tour" which touched down in Oakland, CA this past Friday July 10th.
Another thing I wanted to mention before I post my review, somehow I was blessed with an amazing ticket upgrade that literally had me interacting and Touching Mrs. Jay-Z!!! It was a concert experience I never had before and one I'm sure I'll never forget.

Now, on to the show. When I say Beyoncé is THE best entertainer in the industry we have right now, Believe it. I don't think I've ever seen any pop performer rip through so many songs within a 2 hour set, singing live, doing high energy dance routines and genuinely engaging the crowd at the same time. Which is par for the course for Beyoncé, being that this is her third solo headlining tour since 2003. The "I Am... Tour" shows that she has been learning with all those previous tours how to give the perfect show. One that shows off her vocal talents, showcases her now pretty extensive catalogue, and entertains everybody in the arena. She did it, and did it well in Oakland. What amazed me is she was able to do a big spectacle of a pop show, with explosives, video montages, and stunts like her flying through the air to "Baby Boy". However, somehow she was able to have this huge show but still make the show totally personal to her fans. There were several instances where she talked to the crowd and had them participate in the songs that they made successful. And the video imagining during her stellar performance of "At Last" showed the African American struggle in the US and culminated with images of our first black president Barack Obama, (where she emphasized the "At Last". I have to admit, I found it a little self-centered and egotistical for her to repeatedly show pics of herself in "Cadillac Records" and her singing to the Obama's at their Inauguration, but I'll give her a pass). Since that was an experience all of us lived through, we all could relate in a very personal way.
Same goes for when she had the crowd sing a verse and hook of her #1 hit "Irreplaceable" or when she actually went into the audience to touch her fans during the show closer "Halo". Beyoncé did an excellent job of making you feel that she's both a Superstar Celebrity Entertainer as well as just a regular 27 old woman sharing the same experiences as everybody in the arena.

I honestly don't know what more to say about the show. Like I said before she basically went through all of her big solo hits but mainly focused on a lot of the material from her latest album "I Am... Sasha Fierce". Her "Ave Maria" mixed with Sarah McLachlan's "Angel" was as breathtaking live as it was on the BET Awards last month. "Smash Into You" and "Broken Hearted Girl" sandwiched that performance, and she put a lot of dramatics into the performances of her ballads and it worked to keep the crowd interested. Of course she had loads of uptempos, including her Electro'd out "Radio", 2007's dance ready "Get me Bodied", her first huge solo hit "Crazy in Love" and her mega-Iconic recent #1 "Single Ladies". One thing I did notice, it seemed like every song she performed was a performance that was prepared for an award show. Her performance of "If I were a boy" was probably my highlight of the night.It's a great song to sing along with, and it was the only song at the show where she got to Rock Out. With some of the interesting poses and moves she was doing with the mic stand she really reminded me of the great Tina Turner in her "What's Love Got to Do With It" heyday. During that performance she mixed in Alanis Morrissette's hit single "You Oughta Know" and did a number of head bangs. Again, her performances of each song were all like Award show performances in that she devoted 110% to make each song pitch perfect, perfect choreography and entertaining. Yet it's still amazing that she was able to do that with each song... back to back... for as long as she did.

The sad thing is, she performed on stage for a good 2 hours and the show was so much fun and so lively and entertaining that it only felt like half of that. I would definitely go again if that was an option. And if anybody is ever contemplating seeing her live, GO! You won't see a live Pop show better, no matter where you look.

Classic Album Review: Michael Jackson "Off the Wall"

Another Great One has left us. Yes, Michael Jackson shocked the world when he died this past Thursday. The great thing is that radio and video stations have been playing his classic music non stop since the news spread. And if you look on iTunes, his videos singles and albums are dominating the chart. Which is definitley a great thing because after about 2 decades of him being the "Weird" pop star with more legal battles than charting singles, the younger generation didn't really know how talented he was and how deserving of the "King of Pop" title he actually was.

Now the younger generation will get a chance to appreciate his music without being inundated with stories of the negative aspects of Jackson's life, and I just wanted to recommend to any kids reading this my personal favourite MJ album. That would be without a doubt "Off The Wall" his 1979 Disco/R&B opus that really re-introduced him to the world as a full grown Star, this was his first success as an adult without Jackson 5.

This is without a doubt one of his best (and possibly the best of all time) party albums ever recorded. Produced by Michael and his mentor Quincy Jones, this album is a great time capsule, mixing the popular sounds of the time with major Disco influence coupled with Funk and classic R&B. This album includes some of his most familiar hits including the laid back dance groove of "Rock With You" and the more uptempo funked up Disco of "Dont Stop Til You Get Enough". And those start the album off, it continues with more Disco/Funk songs that rival those hits. "Workin Day and Night", the title track (which Mariah Carey sampled a bit from on her recent album), "Burn this Disco Out" (although this sounds like a bit of filler on this album, it would probably surpass plenty of the more popular Disco hits). Possibly my favourite song from the album is "Get on the Floor".

Not only did Jones do a knockout job on the production end, mixing all these styles masterfully into a perfect Pop and R&B hybrid, but it shouldn't go without saying that Vocally Michael was in a very confident zone during the recording. He sounds amazing on the aforementioned songs, and when the album is slowed down temporarily his emotions are felt through his voice on somber tracks like "She's Out of my Life" and "I Can't Help It". "Girlfriend" (written by Beatle Paul McCartney) is a midtempo track that's a perfect example of his skills, matching the smooth nature of the production with a very confident smooth vocal styling.

His follow up 3 years later would make him the Star he was in the 80's, and justify his King of Pop title. And while "Thriller" is another excellent album in his catalogue, "Off the Wall" I think is a perfect Starter album for anyone wanting to know more about Michael's history. And this album is probably the Most R&B he had ever been in his career. Excellent album. Just a Perfect start to what would be a rollercoaster of a career.

Music Video Review: UPDATE! Kanye West "Paranoid"

Last week I was on Youtube and came across, what I'm assuming, the final cut of Kanye West's "Paranoid" video. It was from the official label Youtube page, so I'm guessing what I reviewed a few weeks ago was a rough version. Kanye typically does release videos with multiple versions ("Jesus Walks", "Heard Em Say", "Flashing Lights"), and this version is superior to the other versions I've seen so far if that is the case. This one really makes sense. Matching the song with images similar to an old fashioned horror flick. Smart. It has a weird Michel Gondry, Tim Burton vibe as well (The video is directed by Nabil Elderkin). Appropriately creepy for a song that's about being creeped out. Plus Kanye's presence is in this far more than the previous version which was basically all Rihanna (I'm not mad at that by the way). I give it high marks, and it another great video in both their already pretty awesome Video-graphies.



I also want to add something I didn't mention before. If you don't have "808's and Heartbreak" (you suck first of all. I Keed! I Keed!)you probably wouldn't notice that the sung vocals on the song are credited to a new Kanye protege Mr Hudson. And He actually has one of my favourite songs right now in "Supernova". His album "Straight No Chaser" (there are actually two other singles from his upcoming album on his imeem page) won't be released until October, and there's still no official video for this single. I'm thinking it's a teaser and something will come along late summer. Anyway point is, I'm checking this guy out and hoping he doesn't suck. I like his style and his whole Dave Gahan phrasing mixed with the Chris Martin whiney vocal thing he has going on. We'll see.

Award Show Review: BET Awards 09

I'm like, really behind as you can tell. The BET Awards were on Sunday and it's now Tuesday morning. Not only haven't I blogged about the awards yet, but I have some work to do because I need to post a Classic Album Review for Michael Jackson, there are a few new albums I need to review and I have to give you the new set of 6 Artists on my Top 25 All Time Artists list. And I want to have it all done by Thursday night (when I leave for Atlanta for the weekend).

So here we go.

The BET Awards 09 was the first televised award ceremony since the unexpected death of Michael Jackson. And although I feel like it's more than appropriate for BET to celebrate him, being that a good 90% of the artists in the building owe so much to Jackson and the fact that BET have been long time supporters of all the Jacksons even when the other video networks betrayed him. And I'll give them the benefit of the doubt, they had less than three days to re-arrange the format of the show to make it a fitting and respectful tribute to the Legend.

For the most part, they did a great job. Jamie Foxx was the host and he did a pretty excellent job, his opening monologue included a hilariously funny attempt at Moonwalking and throughout the show he celebrated his love for Jackson and reminded the audience why he was so important.

There were a few performances of Jackson's hits by current artists. Ciara performed "Heal the World", Jamie Foxx and Ne-Yo dueted at the end on "I'll Be There", but Ne-Yo provided the best performance (imo) with "Lady in my Life". Ne-Yo connected with the song on an emotional level, and his vocals were the best I ever heard them. Aside from those handful of performances, and testimonies from stars in the audience on how Michael influenced them, there wasn't much else as far as a tribute to MJ. Michael's sister Janet Jackson came out to a standing ovation toward the end to speak for the family and thank the fans for their support.

The rest of the show was pretty typical Award show stuff.

I'm pretty sure Beyoncé won the most with two awards, Ne-Yo won, Weezy won, T.I. and Rihanna won, Lebron James won, Taraji P. Henson won. But this was not an awards show where awards were actually important. In fact, because of the last minute changes the awards alot of the categories were combined and the nominations weren't announced. Just the winners.

Performance wise, it was pretty boring to tell you the truth.

Jamie Foxx did a terribly auto-tuned live rendition of his monster hit "Blame It". It's sad when T-Pain outsings you live, and you have no sense of stage presence or choreography. His performance was a bit of a mess, but still fun enough to appropriatley get the crowd on their feet.

Keri Hilson performed an uptempo medley of her two hits "Turnin Me On" and "Knock You Down" (without Ne-Yo or Kanye). She tried. She really tried. However seems like she missed a few rehearsals, or she was just super nervous. She looked awkward trying to sing live and do the little bit of choreography she was expected to do, though she still wasn't terrible. She pulled it together enough for me not to laugh at her.

Soulja Boy Tell Em (like is that his full name? I thought it was just Soulja Boy) got the crowd all singing along to his hit(?) "Turn my Swag On", which I hadn't heard before and is actually a pretty catchy tune. He, like most rappers, didn't do much performance wise. Just kind of walked back and forth on the stage. It was the crowd that made his performance a winner with Taraji, Keri and Lebron dancing and singing along.

Jay-Z introduced his new single "D.O.A. Death of Auto-Tune" to a live audience and pretty much slayed it. You could tell our boy Jigga was more than happy to be back on stage. Meanwhile his wife slowed it down (and put a bunch to sleep, I have to be honest) with her beautiful rendition of "Ave Maria" where she incorporated Sarah McLachlan's "Angel" and went opera on us with the original Spanish version of "Maria". She sounded amazing, but I think everybody was expecting Sasha Fierce to come out.

Speaking of sounding Excellent, Keyshia Cole sang her duet with Monica "Trust". They both looked great, and Keyshia made a vast improvement over her mess of a performance last year. However Monica stole ALL Ms. Cole's shine. She sounded excellent, and like Jigga, was so excited to be back on stage. She'd be smart to release an album real soon.

Maxwell came out and performed his new single "Pretty Wings", a beautiful song sung beautifully but just like Beyoncé Keyshia and Monica, great vocals don't always make for the most memorable performances.

Drake and Lil Wayne's performance was memorable for the wrong reasons. First of all Drake was sitting down the whole time. It wasn't until the after show that I realized he was injured and couldn't move around. So he gets a pass, although I didn't understand why he didn't Sing the sung parts of his hit "Best I Ever Had", but whatever. The most bothersome thing about the perfomance is when Lil Wayne came out with his crew to perform "We Like Her". With all the terribly disgusting and vile comments they made within the song about Women and Sex I was really bothered with the fact they brought out about 5 or 6 under age girls (like 10-12) to stand around and dance to the song. What was he thinking?

Ofcourse there was the annual tribute, this time to The O'Jays. I can't for the life of me figure out why they'd pull Tevin Campbell out to perform for them, but they did. Than Trey Songz, Tyrese and Johnny Gill came and sang a trio of the O'Jays hits as "The Young O'Jays". They sounded good, but I have to say Trey Songz impressed me the most. He has great vocal talent. With the right material he'd be bigger than Chris Brown without a doubt.

I can't think of anything else to say about the show. Masterfully MC'd by Jamie Foxx, and pretty solid performances. I think overall I may just be getting bored of Award shows. However this was a good effort overall for the network. And I think they succeeded in giving Michael a great tribute.

Album Reviews: Black Eyed Peas, Depeche Mode, Electrik Red

I'm back. I had all my finals a couple of weeks ago, and after all of that I've just been very lazy to get on the blog. I'm here now though and I have just a few reviews. I've actually been Re-discovering some cd's from earlier this year (Chris Cornell, I may have to do a retraction review on his album "Scream"), but one of these releases I was really excited for, one was something that intrigued me, and the other was something I have had for a while and haven't listened to up until this past week.

Naturally, I'll start with The Black Eyed Peas who are still #1 on the charts with "Boom Boom Pow" and have a hefty amount of worthy singles to select from on their 5th album "The E.N.D." (releasing today). The Black Eyed Peas have always tried to be all things to everybody, and over the years as their sound has changed dramatically, they still manage to appease most of their fan base. They are still Hip Hop, but manage to incorporate alot of Pop and Dance elements into the mix. And this album follows in that pattern of achieving a very eclectic sounding album. This time they go heavy on the Dance and Electronica genre, at points blatantly ripping off Daft Punk and Stuart Price. Luckily the Black Eyed Peas are blessed with a great producer in Will.I.Am, who actually does a good job imitating the styles of other acts but adding more to it. "Alive" is easily the best song on the album, and although it does sound almost exactly like a Daft Punk (circa "Discovery") track, he does some very interesting and creative things with it. Plus the lyrical content and the vocals add something that wasn't there with the songs that obviously inspired some tracks (other Daft Punk, Les Rhythmes Digitales clones being "Rock Your Body and "Rockin to the Beat").
There are however a bunch of tracks that have a real Will.I.Am stamp on them, songs that are really creative and different like "Simple Little Melody" and the aforementioned "Boom Boom Pow" or the lovely "Imma Be" which are all really roller coaster rides of tracks with something new happening with every verse. "The E.N.D." isn't entirely filled with Dance cuts however. The albums second official single "I Gotta Feeling" is a very lively Pop/Rock type anthem for the summer, "Electric City" is sort of this years "Hey Mama", just with a more laid back Dancehall feel. They even try to go World on "One Tribe" (not a fan of this song by the way) with a positive message about unity. Overall this is a really great, fun, energetic, sing songy, extremely addictive dance album. The only complaint I have is that it goes a little overlong and sometimes it slows down the tempo of the album on the whole. Still those are just maybe 4 or 5 songs out of an album that last well over an hour.

Next Up, Depeche Mode. So to give you an idea on my background with Depeche Mode... i just heard "Enjoy the Silence" 3 years ago. So I'm pretty much a New fan of this legendary Electronic group. Their 1990 Album "Violator" is generally thought of as a classic and pre-cursor to the Electronic music of today, and put against a lot of those current albums "Violator" still stands out. Their new and now 12th studio album "Sounds of the Universe" was released almost two months ago, and it's a pretty solid album. Okay I listened to it once at work, and didn't really pay all that much attention to it... but I know that I enjoyed the production value on most of the songs. It's definitely within the style they seem to have created, just great to listen to. And everything just seems to work so nicely together, the production is really moody and enjoyable without being too much or even overproduced. And the vocals and lyrical content also works well with these songs. In particular, "Jezzebel" has Dave Gahan sounding the best I've ever heard him. Like I said before though, I've only listened once. With that one listen, I know that I'll give it repeated listens and the album will probably become a favourite by the end of the year.

Lastly, and definitely LEAST is the album I was a bit intrigued by. I don't know what the course of events was but somehow I read about a new girl group Electrik Red. Four black girl singer/dancers produced by Tricky Stewart and The-Dream. And since I love The-Dream, and I generally love Girl Groups I wanted to check out their debut "How To Be A Lady Volume 1". Unfortunately, it plays just like a Dream album. It seems that Electrik Red are to The-Dream what Vanity 6 and Appolonia 6 were to Prince. Just an excuse to write songs in their own style for women. This album is definitely at it's best when they are blatantly ripping off songs in Prince's 80's style ("Friend Lover"). The album average at best when The-Dream gives them songs exactly like his own ("So Good" "Devotion"). And the album definitely is at it's worst when the girls try to force a personality on us("W.F.Y." "Kill Bill").
These girls are really pretty, and definitely have the image needed for a successful Girl Group, unfortunately they lack every thing else. They seem to lack the personality of Spice Girls or TLC, and the vocal prowess of Destiny's Child or Danity Kane. They really are just The-Dreams female puppets. So the search for the next great Girl Group will have to continue because these girls aren't it.

Music Video Review: Kanye West "Paranoid" (Starring Rihanna)

SMART MOVE!!!!
This is a really good look for all parties involved honestly. Let me not get ahead of myself though... okay, so last week L.A. Reid premiered the new Kanye West video at some sort of Def Jam/Island conference. He also played Mariah Carey's possible new single "Hate U", and Youtubers caught a bit of it... but the Kanye video is what had the internet buzzing the following day. And somehow, Rihanna became the star. His video for "Paranoid" is similar to his previous videos for "Stronger", "Flashing Lights" and "Goldigger" where the attention is placed on the female eye candy. And the newly hailed Pop Princess Rihanna is definitley where all the attention is placed in this really awesome video. And to be honest, if it wasn't Rihanna this video would be really boring because literally nothing happens. It's just 3 minutes and 48 seconds of Rihanna doing what she does best, oozing loads of sex appeal and... well... just being Sexy as hell. I mean it's shot very well, I love the camera work and the bit at the beginning with her on the bed was a cool technique. But it's really all about Rihanna and this is, like I said before, a really good look for her. She gets her name out there and her face back on MTV without having to do anything (Although I do hear rumors that she added her vocals to a remix of this song, but I haven't heard anything official). And for Kanye, it's a good look because this will get the buzz behind his Excellent "808's & Heartbreak" album starting back up.

And than maybe they'll go on tour together again.

Well that's probably my wishful thinking... anyway, check out the Mad Sexy Rihanna with her Mad Crazy Sex Appeal on this Sexy video. (say "sexy" again...)