Nicki Minaj - Pound The Alarm

Before you read this post, perhaps you'd like to save time and just read my post on Starships.  Because they are essentially the exact same song with the exact same faults and qualities.

Structurally, they're identical.  Nicki starts out with a light bouncy melody, before breaking into her signature rap style.  Then once we hit the center of the song, she goes overboard with the autotune effects and starts chanting in a distorted voice.  So, all the same stuff we heard from "Starships."

Like, Starships as well, the lyrics don't really make any sense at all.  What does "pound the alarm" even mean?  What does that have to do with the rest of the song?  What does, "we're getting hotter and hotter, sexy and hotter," mean?  Is there any message at all trying to be conveyed here?  It really doesn't seem like it.  It's just another song that was tossed to Nicki Minaj for sales purposes.

And you know what?  Despite everything I just said, I cannot stop hitting repeat.  I know that I should hate this song, that there are so many things wrong with it, but I just can't.  It's far too catchy and I can never get it out of my head.  "Pound The Alarm" may not get any points for composition or lyrics, but it's got the perfect formula and with the casual listener today, that's what matters.  If you hear this song on the radio, you'll turn it  up and want to hear it again.

I guess that's really the most important thing, that people are going to want to listen to it.  So, Nicki's team may have to work on getting a little more unique and writing better lyrics.  Nicki is an incredibly original sounding artist, if someone needs to stick with generic dance pop, I don't think it should be her.

Nelly Furtado - Spirit Indestructible

Nelly Furtado has two major styles: rough and sexy, and deep and soulful.  While her last single, "Big Hoops," she went rough and sexy, this time though she's all emotional.  Once again she's taken her familiar style but still kept it fresh.

"Spirit Indestructible" is a deep song about inner strength, yet it's the way that it's delivered that makes it so powerful.  It starts with smooth vocals and easily slides into a powerful song.  The chorus begins with the line, "I have the spirit indestructible," which just sounds so majestic it's easy to imagine something soaring through the sky.

The song continues to build, while still maintaining it's tender feel.  It never turns into a dance song, yet it adds  in drum beats and chanting to build up the power.  It reaches its climax as Nelly sings, "Look at me, look at me, take me away."  It's a dignified sound that feels quite real.

Uplifting songs like this have been overdone lately, but it's nice to have one that seriously feels like it means exactly what it says.  This isn't a song telling you to cheer up because you were born this way, it's saying
"I am strong."  There is a clear connection between the speaker and the lyrics which is what gives it such a powerful effect.

Despite "Big Hoops" being a great song, it failed to achieve success.  I feel like "Spirit Indestructible" should succeed, but I said the same thing about "Big Hoops."  I'm really hoping it becomes a hit though, because it would be a shame for such an amazing song to go by unnoticed.

Justin Bieber - As Long As You Love Me

It was just a little while ago when I was saying how I didn't care much for "All Around The World," Bieber's promotional single, but the official second single is much better.

Stylistically the song is something pretty interesting.  It's still got that dancy edge to it, yet it's a bit more slow and tender than your party anthems.  It's a good combo because people seem to appreciate the tender side of Bieber, yet they also like something they can dance to.  The song takes a gentle flow through the lyrics, but things pick up around the chorus.  While it's not the most in depth set of words, there's just something catchy about the dubstep style, "La la la la love me."

Lyrically the song has a lot more structure.  It's the same old love song that we've heard before, however it does deliver a meaning at least.  It's a loving song, and that's Bieber's specialty,  it's probably best that he sticks to it.  In the song he sings about being able to survive hardships as long as he has the love of someone.  Yes, it's corny, but that's Bieber for you.

The song also features a verse from Big Sean.  It doesn't really add anything, but it does help break things up.  Big Sean fits in nicely, so I'm not going to complain.  Rap verses are common now, but finding one that actually connects to the song's meaning is always nice.

Clearly this is a good choice for a second single.  It's still showing off a new style of Bieber, but it stays true to the things that make him popular and loved.  Maybe he'll get his biggest hit yet out of this.  Or maybe not. But it does seem likely that it will be big.

P!nk - Blow Me One Last Kiss

This is one of those songs that came out and surprised me.   I really thought that we wouldn't be hearing from   P!nk is a while, now that she's a mother.  However she's back and she's ready to smash right back into the world.

P!nk is a impressive artist, as she manages to stick to a winning formula, while still making it sound fresh every time.  She's got her unique style, yet each of her songs always offer something different.  Her last two big hits were "Raise Your Glass," a party song, and "Perfect" a relationship song.  "Blow Me One Last Kiss" is different from both of them, it's a rocking break up song.

Unlike most break up songs, though, it's not angry and it's not sad.  It's more like, "Whatever, I'm done with this."  It's very in character for the P!nk's persona and it's a lot of fun too.  It's an upbeat song, and could easily be a party anthem if you ignored the lyrics.

The song has a nice pounding rhythm and it's easy to bob along with it.  P!nk rolls off the chorus in a fun style that really just flows together great.  The song is pretty much just a nonstop train that keeps on going.  It's a dancy song, while still maintaining the rock edge.

Like I said, the song is a lot of fun and I'm certain it's going to be bringing even more success for P!nk.  With big names like Katy Perry, Rihanna, and Madonna not doing as well, I think it's time we got to see a superstar return with power.

Justin Bieber - All Around The World

I missed my usual end of the week post last week, but I'll try to make up for it with a double post this week. Right now, I've got another song from Justin Bieber's new album.  It's got some good and some bad.

Let's start with the good, because there's a lot of bad to get to.  The good part is that Bieber seems to be getting more comfortable in this new style.  He made quite the jump from his squeaky puppy dog love, to deep, sexy "Boyfriend" style.  It was a bit of a surprise to see the difference, which is part of the reason why "Boyfriend" had such an impact.  However, the song sounded robotic at parts, "All Around the World" flows a lot smoother.  It's combined with the typical dance sounds to make a much more listenable and enjoyable type of song.

Now for the bad.  The song is repetitive, meaningless, and boring.  First off he just repeats the same old things we've been hearing forever:  "You're beautiful, beautiful, beautiful."  Then we get to the chorus which is  where the song nosedives.  The lyrics are absolutely meaningless.  "All around the world people want to be loved."  What is that supposed to be telling us?  How does that related to the girl who's "beautiful, beautiful, beautiful"?  And the song pretty much just continues to loop like that.

We get an appearance from Ludacris, probably in an attempt to throw back to "Baby."  But his verse doesn't do much to freshen up the song.  It's the same kind of Ludacris rap we've heard before, which doesn't make the song anymore exciting.

It's been really confusing trying to figure what exactly Bieber's new single will be.  I think he settled on "As Long As You Love Me," but that hasn't stop radio stations from playing "All Around The World."  If it keeps up it might end up like Gaga's "Edge of Glory" and become the next single anyways.  Let's hope it doesn't though, because it's boring and I got tired of it after only one listen.

Owl City - Good Time

Summer has officially started and the song that'll be the anthem of the next few months is probably already on its way to the top.  This is an example of a song that seems to be trying really hard to fill that spot.  While there are songs like "Payphone" carry a meaning and just happen to be released strategically at the right time, "Good Time" feels like it was simply released to be a summer fun song.

Owl City teams up with big breakout girl, Carly Rae Jepsen, for this song.  I saw this coming a while ago really.  Aside from "Call Me Maybe" it's unlikely that Carly Rae's other Canadian hits are going to reach international success, so they're going to have to stick her on already international stars.  

Both of them shine equally, though, so it truly is a duet.  They trade verses while they blend together for the chorus.  They do sound good together, they are both fun voices and this song is all about fun.  Adam Young takes a deeper, smooth tone for his verses, while Carly Rae still sounds chipper and girly.

The problem is, this is a really big setback for both of these artists.  People like Owl City for something incredibly different from what they're used; Carly Rae shines in simplicity.  This song is a generic dance song.  The lyrics sing about having a good time, surprisingly enough, and feature the same old "oh whoa" on repeat. The whole song gets rather repetitive fast, though.  It's something that  you've heard before, and it doesn't even try to bring anything special.

I can understand the logic behind it.  Owl City really only had "Fireflies" and Carly Rae no doubt wants to bring out into the more mainstream style.  But if they're going to do what everyone else is doing, then they have to make it interesting.  I would have liked to see a little more of their individuality in this song.  They both put strong personalities into their previous songs and that's what made them great.

I can't say for sure how this song will do once or if it hits the charts.  Carly Rae Jepsen is big right now, so I'd imagine that a poppy song like this would gather good attention.  But can it keep that attention?  It's a pretty boring song, and yet that hasn't stopped songs from going to number one before.  I'm willing to just wait and see how it plays out.

B.o.B - Both Of Us

B.o.B. seems to have an unpredictable history when it comes to hit singles.  He's had ones that top charts like "Airplanes" and he's had songs that felt like they might be hits, but never really made it, like "So Good."  It's very clear that he's trying to get another "Airplanes" with this new song.

We've got the tender voice of Taylor Swift doing the chorus this time.  Sound familiar?  That's right, it's basically the role that Hayley Williams did on "Airplanes."  Taylor may be a bigger name than Hayley, but really she doesn't bring anything different.  And it's just her singing the same lines over and over again.  It's pretty the first time, it gets a little redundant after a while though.

Then we've got the rap verses from B.o.B.  They're good, they're catchy, they've got meaning; yet it's nothing new.  A common thing you'll notice with pop rap songs is that you really have to depend on the pop part to make things interesting; since most rappers sounds same once you've heard their sound once.  Taylor isn't sounding too exciting in this song, and the rap is all stuff we've heard before.

Lyrically, it seems to have a good meaning; it's just a little tricky to figure out what it is.  From Taylor's lines I would guess it's about not being strong enough to maintain a relationship.  Yet B.o.B. raps about unfortunate people in general.  Taylor sounds like she's longing to hold onto someone, B.o.B. sounds annoyed at the world.  There's a bit of a dissonance there, which doesn't help the song.

With all that said, though, it's not really a bad song.  B.o.B. still sounds good rapping, and it's clear that he does have his message in mind that he's trying to get across.  Taylor still sounds pretty, I just don't think she was the right choice for this particular song.  Still, I suspect that it'll be enough to make another big hit for B.o.B.