Recently I have been incredibly impressed with Kylie Minogue, her songs "All the Lovers" and "Get Outta My Way" were amazing and she did a great job with Taio Cruz on "Higher," yet "Better Than Today" is a disappointment. The song is generally just boring, nothing but a typical dance track. Familiar electronic sounds and uninteresting lyrics come together in this song to make a real bore.
By this time Kylie has already shown that she can be creative when making a dance song and she should keep going, yet this song just offers the usual, get on the floor and dance, message. The song itself is catchy, but nothing more than that, which again is a disappointment for Kylie. This song would be acceptable for someone a little smaller than Kylie Minogue, but she is a hugh superstar and really can't be releasing so-so singles.
Musically the song has bit more jazzy feel than other previous songs. It features a recurring electronic beat that can easily get stuck in your head and make you want to boogie throughout the song. Overall the song is okay and could easily fit into a dance playlist, yet if you're hoping for another great Kylie song, you're out of luck.
Monday, February 28, 2011
Friday, February 25, 2011
Alicia Keys - Wait Till You See My Smile
Alicia Keys hasn't had too much success with her latest album, and I doubt this song will change that, but I still think it deserves a chance to be recognized. Alicia puts away all of her rough sound that she often uses and goes for a totally tender side in "Wait Till You See My Smile," overall coming out more like one of her earlier hits "No One." The song carries a loving tone that is clear and I can certainly feel a warm connection to the speaker. The message is similar to Katy Perry's "Firework" or P!nk's "Perfect" in that it's trying to uplift a loved one, yet it is unique from those two in its own way.
The song follows a repitive slow sound that helps to create a very lulling style. The repeating lyrics in the chorus gives the feeling of a friendly hand being placed to boost your spirits, which I think is exactly what is wanted from the song. Once again we see that a true feeling from the singer is much more effective than a manufactured dance track.
The one downside to the song that I can find is also found in the repition. The song can be a bit boring if you don't like this slow type of song and the repitive lyrics don't add much more interest to the song. Personally I don't think this weakens the song in anyway since the emotion is very powerful and the repeating words really enforce this, but I can see how others might not respect this.
Alicia's last couple of songs have been mostly emotional breakup related songs, and since that doesn't seem to be selling maybe she'll have more luck with this more uplifting song. Again I find it doubtful that she'll actually have much success with this, but she's touched me at least.
The song follows a repitive slow sound that helps to create a very lulling style. The repeating lyrics in the chorus gives the feeling of a friendly hand being placed to boost your spirits, which I think is exactly what is wanted from the song. Once again we see that a true feeling from the singer is much more effective than a manufactured dance track.
The one downside to the song that I can find is also found in the repition. The song can be a bit boring if you don't like this slow type of song and the repitive lyrics don't add much more interest to the song. Personally I don't think this weakens the song in anyway since the emotion is very powerful and the repeating words really enforce this, but I can see how others might not respect this.
Alicia's last couple of songs have been mostly emotional breakup related songs, and since that doesn't seem to be selling maybe she'll have more luck with this more uplifting song. Again I find it doubtful that she'll actually have much success with this, but she's touched me at least.
Friday, February 18, 2011
Miranda Cosgrove - Dancing Crazy
Super cutie, Miranda Cosgrove, may be famous from the Nickolodeon show iCarly, but she's more than just a cute face, she's got great potenial as a singer. "Dancing Crazy" doesn't offer anything too new, a typical dance song, but Miranda has surprising strength and power in her voice for someone so young. "Dancing Crazy" quickly becomes a very explosive song that is very catchy. I'm pretty sure that Miranda's voice is much stronger than all the other teen sensations, ie Justin Bieber and Selena Gomez.
The song isn't very original, the syle is similar to Ke$ha's "Tik Tok", but most notably Miranda sounds very close to Avril Lavigne. For now, this isn't a bad thing since the style does work very well for her. Avril has a unique powerful voice and Miranda could defintely follow in her footsteps. She just needs to make sure that she does find her own style too so that she doesn't just steal everything from Avril.
Miranda displays very strong potenial to be a major powerhouse in the not too distant future. Once she is able to evolve into her own sound and improve her song's to be a bit more original she may really have something. For now let's wait and see how "Dancing Crazy" fares.
The song isn't very original, the syle is similar to Ke$ha's "Tik Tok", but most notably Miranda sounds very close to Avril Lavigne. For now, this isn't a bad thing since the style does work very well for her. Avril has a unique powerful voice and Miranda could defintely follow in her footsteps. She just needs to make sure that she does find her own style too so that she doesn't just steal everything from Avril.
Miranda displays very strong potenial to be a major powerhouse in the not too distant future. Once she is able to evolve into her own sound and improve her song's to be a bit more original she may really have something. For now let's wait and see how "Dancing Crazy" fares.
Monday, February 14, 2011
Lady Gaga - Born This Way
So here it it, the so called best song of the decade. Lady Gaga's extreme success and the song's powerful sound mean that it is certainly going to be a hugh smash hit. Is it actually going to be the best song of the decade, it's possible but we'll have to wait and see.
The song immediately starts off with a powerful blast of music that builds with a combination of aspects that make a great song. Lady Gaga branches off from her usual pop dance sound for somthing more rockish sound, similar to that of "Speechless." The song itself has a disco feel with interesting sound effects through the song that make it especially danceable, without turning into a pure dance track. Overall the song is another evolution for Gaga, it's more than a dance song, but still incredibly catchy.
The lyrics of the song speak about being proud of who you are which Lady Gaga delivers with strength and conviction. The lyrics are straight to the point which further strengthens the message. However, this also means that they are slightly uninteresting and obvious. I'm not saying that there has to be some hugh metaphor and symbolism in the song, but it could be a bit more abstract. For example, previous Gaga hits "Poker Face" and "Telephone" both had meanings behind them that could be easily interpretted, but it also offered room for anyone to find their own meanings within the song. "Born This Way" can only be interpretted one way.
The song is something new from Gaga, yet it's not quite revolutionary. The sound is still similar to some of Gaga's other songs and the lyrics are a little transparent; it's good but maybe I was hoping for something just a little better. There's no doubt that this song is going to be one of the biggest of the year; and maybe it will make it to biggest of the decade too.
So there you have it, all of the major female pop singers currently have entered their shot to win this war. Gaga and Britney seem to be major favorites, but let's not forget P!nk whose song "Perfect" has been doing quite well. Beyonce and Kelly Clarkson have also stated plans to release new music this year as well, but nothing has been specified so I don't know if they'll make it.
The song immediately starts off with a powerful blast of music that builds with a combination of aspects that make a great song. Lady Gaga branches off from her usual pop dance sound for somthing more rockish sound, similar to that of "Speechless." The song itself has a disco feel with interesting sound effects through the song that make it especially danceable, without turning into a pure dance track. Overall the song is another evolution for Gaga, it's more than a dance song, but still incredibly catchy.
The lyrics of the song speak about being proud of who you are which Lady Gaga delivers with strength and conviction. The lyrics are straight to the point which further strengthens the message. However, this also means that they are slightly uninteresting and obvious. I'm not saying that there has to be some hugh metaphor and symbolism in the song, but it could be a bit more abstract. For example, previous Gaga hits "Poker Face" and "Telephone" both had meanings behind them that could be easily interpretted, but it also offered room for anyone to find their own meanings within the song. "Born This Way" can only be interpretted one way.
The song is something new from Gaga, yet it's not quite revolutionary. The sound is still similar to some of Gaga's other songs and the lyrics are a little transparent; it's good but maybe I was hoping for something just a little better. There's no doubt that this song is going to be one of the biggest of the year; and maybe it will make it to biggest of the decade too.
So there you have it, all of the major female pop singers currently have entered their shot to win this war. Gaga and Britney seem to be major favorites, but let's not forget P!nk whose song "Perfect" has been doing quite well. Beyonce and Kelly Clarkson have also stated plans to release new music this year as well, but nothing has been specified so I don't know if they'll make it.
Thursday, February 10, 2011
Jessie J - Price Tag
Before I start this post I would like to apologize for making a mistake earlier this year; I claimed that Katy Perry's next single would be "Peacock" (which was the rumor) when in actuallity it will be "E.T." Sorry about that.
Anyways, this song is something a little different from mainstream pop, but definetly has a chance to become something. "Price Tag" fuses together a few differnet styles such as pop, R&B, and several other sounds. Jessie J has a distinct R&B sound through the song, yet is also has bouncy pop beats which work very well together. The entire song is underlined with a lax island like tune which again adds a great effect to the song. Plus the song features a surprise appearance from B.o.B. which really seals the songs perfection at mixing many different styles.
Lyrically the song takes the path of commenting on how our world and music industry is too material and money-based. You may have heard this message before, yet it is presented in an original sounding fashion. Unlike many similar songs, "Price Tag" isn't lamenting or angry, it's simply a statement of facts and what this singer believes. Jessie states that she's paying with love tonight, which might sound cheesy and fake, actually sounds like a true sentimental feeling. The song is still bouncy and fun and makes a nice dance out of what could be a serious topic.
With the use of R&B, pop, rap, and an island beat this song successfully makes a compilations of several great forms of music. Overall the song resembles Natasha Bedingfield's "Strip Me" and VV Brown's "Shark in the Water" two of my favorites. How it will fare in the future is uncertain for me; it is defintely a great song, but these styles don't always do so great. Still it's already charted on the Billboard so I'll take that as a sign of a good future for Jessie J.
Anyways, this song is something a little different from mainstream pop, but definetly has a chance to become something. "Price Tag" fuses together a few differnet styles such as pop, R&B, and several other sounds. Jessie J has a distinct R&B sound through the song, yet is also has bouncy pop beats which work very well together. The entire song is underlined with a lax island like tune which again adds a great effect to the song. Plus the song features a surprise appearance from B.o.B. which really seals the songs perfection at mixing many different styles.
Lyrically the song takes the path of commenting on how our world and music industry is too material and money-based. You may have heard this message before, yet it is presented in an original sounding fashion. Unlike many similar songs, "Price Tag" isn't lamenting or angry, it's simply a statement of facts and what this singer believes. Jessie states that she's paying with love tonight, which might sound cheesy and fake, actually sounds like a true sentimental feeling. The song is still bouncy and fun and makes a nice dance out of what could be a serious topic.
With the use of R&B, pop, rap, and an island beat this song successfully makes a compilations of several great forms of music. Overall the song resembles Natasha Bedingfield's "Strip Me" and VV Brown's "Shark in the Water" two of my favorites. How it will fare in the future is uncertain for me; it is defintely a great song, but these styles don't always do so great. Still it's already charted on the Billboard so I'll take that as a sign of a good future for Jessie J.
Monday, February 7, 2011
Ke$ha - Blow
Returning to the ongoing swarm of pop diva music coming out, we turn to partygirl, Ke$ha now. Let me just say that the song's name is quite an inaccurate title for something that massively sucks. I really did respect Ke$ha as a girl who could produce great dance music last year, but lately she just seems to be all out of anythng good. "Blow" offers absolutely nothing new from Ke$ha, in fact it's pretty much just a continuation of her last song "We R who We R," which in turn was really just based on a bunch of pieces from her previous hits.
"Blow" uses electronic effects, a pounding rapping/singing beat, and lyrics about dancing; sounds familiar, right? All of these features have been done by Ke$ha before and there's just no interest in them anymore. Instead of improving, Ke$ha seems to only be using her fame from "TiK ToK" to boost some substandard dance tracks. Really there's nothing wrong with "Blow" except that we've heard it all before, so there's no point to listening to the same sound for another while.
The song may achieve some success due to Ke$ha's fame and the success of her previous songs, but I doubt it will do nearly as well as her previous hits. With absolutely nothing new, exciting, or improved there is no reason why this song should get any more success that "We R who We R" didn't wrap up. There is no purpose to listening to this song, and I say that Ke$ha had better start making something new or else she's going to disappear fast. Overall "Blow" may be one of the worst songs of the year so far and is truly an epic Ke$ha FAIL!
"Blow" uses electronic effects, a pounding rapping/singing beat, and lyrics about dancing; sounds familiar, right? All of these features have been done by Ke$ha before and there's just no interest in them anymore. Instead of improving, Ke$ha seems to only be using her fame from "TiK ToK" to boost some substandard dance tracks. Really there's nothing wrong with "Blow" except that we've heard it all before, so there's no point to listening to the same sound for another while.
The song may achieve some success due to Ke$ha's fame and the success of her previous songs, but I doubt it will do nearly as well as her previous hits. With absolutely nothing new, exciting, or improved there is no reason why this song should get any more success that "We R who We R" didn't wrap up. There is no purpose to listening to this song, and I say that Ke$ha had better start making something new or else she's going to disappear fast. Overall "Blow" may be one of the worst songs of the year so far and is truly an epic Ke$ha FAIL!
Thursday, February 3, 2011
Rihanna - S&M
So far we've seen that Rihanna has had hugh success with her darker songs like "Disturbia" and "Rude Boy" and that the first two songs off of loud did pretty good; so chances are that "S&M" is going to be a big smash this year, and possibly one of Rihanna's bigger songs. In this song Rihanna really explores a new style for her, unlike her most recent songs, "S&M" is not smooth and bouncy but rough and edgy. With a throaty lusting sound, Rihanna does a great job at pulling off the sex-central theme of the song. Still there are some things that we're familiar with, like Rihanna's blaring vocals which she's famous for. Put this all together and you get something that is sure to be a hit.
Lyrically the song isn't all fun, like previous songs from Rihanna, this one is hard and ferocious. The lyrics are clear and to the point, but not too much that the song becomes bland and pointless. However, Rihanna seems to run out of ideas for what else she can say as the song gets really repitive once you get into it. There's only so many times you can hear, "Na na na na c'mon!" before you just get sick of it. This really is a tradegy as the song had so much potenial, yet will get boring extremely quickly.
My advice to Rihanna is that she needs to slow down and take time to make her songs. She's been pumping out music constantly, no doubt trying to make as many hits as she can. But I think that all of these quickly manifactured songs lack anything to make them special and interesting; if Rihanna actually took time to create the song personally for her then maybe she could really improve herself into something bigger. Still, "S&M" is great improvemet for Rihanna and something new from her; it has a lot of potential to be something big. The question now is will she be able to surpass Britney and Gaga for biggest song of the year?
Lyrically the song isn't all fun, like previous songs from Rihanna, this one is hard and ferocious. The lyrics are clear and to the point, but not too much that the song becomes bland and pointless. However, Rihanna seems to run out of ideas for what else she can say as the song gets really repitive once you get into it. There's only so many times you can hear, "Na na na na c'mon!" before you just get sick of it. This really is a tradegy as the song had so much potenial, yet will get boring extremely quickly.
My advice to Rihanna is that she needs to slow down and take time to make her songs. She's been pumping out music constantly, no doubt trying to make as many hits as she can. But I think that all of these quickly manifactured songs lack anything to make them special and interesting; if Rihanna actually took time to create the song personally for her then maybe she could really improve herself into something bigger. Still, "S&M" is great improvemet for Rihanna and something new from her; it has a lot of potential to be something big. The question now is will she be able to surpass Britney and Gaga for biggest song of the year?
Tuesday, February 1, 2011
B.o.B - Don't let me Fall
B.o.B. had a ton of success last year with his first three songs, let's see if his fourth can do as good. B.o.B has collaborated with bunch of powerhouses like Bruno Mars and Hayley Williams, but with "Don't let me Fall" he's going solo. In my opinion this is a really good move since it's time for him to prove that he can stand alone and not depend on other giants. This song does a great job of displaying B.o.B's range of talent with a pretty sung chorus and the classic rapping style during the verses. His voice as a singer may not be as poweful as Williams or Mars, but he does prove that he can sing tenderly and he has more than just rap.
Stylistically the song is very well-done, making an emotional lament. The chorus is filled with great moving sorrow that it's easy to actually feel the emotions when listening to this song. During the verses B.o.B returns to his usual rap style, which is what got him so much success, so it's a nice way to connect the song. Both singing and rapping create a blue song with true feeling poured into it.
Lyrically the song his similar to the theme of his previous smash, "Airplanes." I can see the logic behind this as that was B.o.B's biggest hit and it's seems to be something he feels strongly about. On the downside, we've already heard the same sentiments in "Airplanes" so "Don't let me Fall" might be a step down. With an already exhausted idea, and no Hayley Williams to back him up it might not have been the best timing. Hopefully that small detail won't discourage people from liking the song.
This song could very well spell out B.o.B's future for 2011. After "Magic" wasn't as successful as his last two songs, he may be losing some momentum. B.o.B needs to prove that he's still as powerful as ever and it's time for him to create an independent hit. If he can pull this off I see more success for him; if not then 2010 might have been his only year of stardom.
Stylistically the song is very well-done, making an emotional lament. The chorus is filled with great moving sorrow that it's easy to actually feel the emotions when listening to this song. During the verses B.o.B returns to his usual rap style, which is what got him so much success, so it's a nice way to connect the song. Both singing and rapping create a blue song with true feeling poured into it.
Lyrically the song his similar to the theme of his previous smash, "Airplanes." I can see the logic behind this as that was B.o.B's biggest hit and it's seems to be something he feels strongly about. On the downside, we've already heard the same sentiments in "Airplanes" so "Don't let me Fall" might be a step down. With an already exhausted idea, and no Hayley Williams to back him up it might not have been the best timing. Hopefully that small detail won't discourage people from liking the song.
This song could very well spell out B.o.B's future for 2011. After "Magic" wasn't as successful as his last two songs, he may be losing some momentum. B.o.B needs to prove that he's still as powerful as ever and it's time for him to create an independent hit. If he can pull this off I see more success for him; if not then 2010 might have been his only year of stardom.
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