Posts Tagged ‘Queen’

Hot 100 Roundup—6/11/11

Tuesday, June 21st, 2011

Scotty McCreery—”I Love You This Big”
#11
Lauren Alaina—”Like My Mother Does”
#20
At first listen it seems as if the latest American Idol survivors have been granted better material than previous winners. But even though these songs are more specific in detail and less generic in overall tone, they’re still terrible, with lyrics that make you gasp in awe at their utter inanity. McCreery and Alaina make the best of it and deliver what they think is expected of them, but McCreery’s voice lacks seasoning—he needs experience: alcohol, sex, even more religion—while Alaina’s attempts to bend her song to her will result in a lot of growling and screaming and only make things worse. They’ll both do better. Whether either of them has the talent or brains to do much better is still an open question.

Glee Cast
“Light Up the World”, #33
“Pretending”, #40
“For Good”, #58
“I Love New York/New York, New York”, #81
“As Long As You’re There”, #93

Lady GaGa
“You and I”, #36
“Marry the Night”, #79
The pleasure I take in Born This Way is largely a matter of sonics and structure. That’s not a putdown. When you create something that for the most part is collage and pastiche, both musically and lyrically, sonics and structure are what make the difference between bland imitation and creating something new, and GaGa gets them right every single time. And then she boosts them. The drums and guitar on “You and I” may owe their inspiration to Queen, but they outstrip and outboom anything that band ever did, and the fact that they’re tied to a song that borrows from highway rock and roll and even country and western puts it in a league of its own. “Marry The Night”, meanwhile, is more Springsteen-inspired disco, with a coda beamed in from a mid-90s rave. I still have my doubts about her lyrics, which are often blander than they need to be, and I don’t think she’s making anything truly new out of her sources, but her merger of hard rock with disco diva anthems (which is what that ridiculous cover photo is all about, in case you were wondering) is wondrous, even if it ultimately doesn’t lead anywhere. Don’t think of it as something new, but as a well-earned celebration of a greatness we may have missed at the time.

Beyonce—”1+1″
#57
I have my doubts about Beyonce’s soul moves, especially her high notes and the dynamics that accompany them, but thematically this is a breakthrough, the first Beyonce song about a relationship I’ve heard in which she isn’t either asserting her iron-willed dominance or making like a supplicant to her godlike man. That see-sawing from one extreme to another was getting tiresome, and this is a welcome relief. I bet it’s a relief to Jay-Z, too.

Lil Wayne—”How To Love”
#69
I don’t think it’s the softness of sound that has caused so many people to write this song off. Sentimentality is as much a part of rap as any other kind of music, and if anyone has earned the right to a little mellow down time it’s Lil Wayne. What probably bothers hardcore rap fans more is the sense of empathy the song is based on. It isn’t really a love song, and it certainly isn’t a sex song. Instead, it’s a real attempt to understand where this woman is coming from and what she’s feeling, something more along the lines of Prince’s “I Could Never Take the Place of Your Man” (even though the situation appears to be completely different) than your standard lover man rap. In other words, thematically it’s as far from the mainstream of rap as Wayne’s phrasing and twisting trains of thought have always been. Like the pre-prison “I’m Single”, it’s a record by someone who’s trying to sort out the world in all it’s aspects, not just as it relates to his place, position, and pleasure. Musically, Wayne still isn’t sure what to make of these ideas, so he falls too readily into cliche, but if he should ever figure it out, or find a collaborator who has, then watch out: he may well remake rap yet again.

Reeve Carney featuring Bono & The Edge—”Rise Above 1″
#74
Not sure exactly what I expected a Broadway soundtrack written by Bono and The Edge to sound like, but I wasn’t expecting standard-issue U2, that’s for sure. Way to stretch your stylistic limits, guys. As for Reeve Carney, his Bono imitation is so exact I can only assume he thinks of Spiderman as a warm-up for that more lucrative U2 biopic that’s bound to appear sooner or later. Either that or he has a great future in tribute bands.

Mac Miller—”Donald Trump”
#80
The white version of Wiz Khalifa, or Waka Flocka Flame, or maybe even Big Sean. How did we stand the wait?

Kenny Chesney featuring Grace Potter—”You and Tequila”
#92
Strong, steady, and never overdone, this is as good as Chesney is ever going to get. With Grace Potter playing Emmylou Harris, he almost sounds human. There’s still something that doesn’t come across, though, and the stiff perfectionism of this record keeps it from classic territory. Damn close, though.

Rihanna—”Man Down”
#94
Reviewed in Bubbling Under, 6/4/11

Lupe Fiasco featuring Trey Songz—”Out Of My Head”
#98
Reviewed in Bubbling Under, 5/21/11

Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,
Posted in Hot 100, Hot 100 Roundup, new this week, singles | Comments Off

Hot 100 Roundup—10/24/10

Friday, October 29th, 2010

Taylor Swift—”Back To December”
#6
The problem with most pop and country ballads isn’t that they’re slow and lugubrious (though they often are), but that they’re so damned predictable. You can see every turn in the melody and lyric (if there are any turns, which is another problem) coming before you’ve even gotten through the solemn piano intro. Not this one. Almost effortlessly, Swift generates the drama a good ballad is supposed to contain. She can pack more words into a line without sounding like she’s overdoing it than anyone in the business, and the melody, which bounces up and down like a heartbeat on the chorus, goes places no other country balladeer would ever consider. She constantly comes up with lyrical details that sound lived in rather than looked up, and unlike most of Swift’s previous records, the ending is ambiguous and avoids another fairy tale conclusion. Though how any man with sense could say no to her is beyond me.

Glee Cast
“Lucky”, #27
“River Deep, Mountain High”, #41
“Happy Days Are Here Again/Get Happy”, #48
“Don’t Go Breaking My Heart”, #50
“Sing!”, #87
“Le Jazz Hot”, #94

Nelly featuring T-Pain and Akon—”Move That Body”
#54
Since Nelly has already made his comeback I can’t call this “three attempted comebacks on a single record”, but that sure is what it sounds like. Nelly is all right, and Akon is Akon, but T-Pain has never sounded duller, auto-tuning the only thing that makes him identifiable. Live by the plug-in, die by the plug-in.

Sugarland—”Little Miss”
#80
Sugarland suffers from what I’ve always thought of as Jackson Browne Syndrome. Crafty, catchy, and intelligent as they obviously are, too often their music seems totally detached from their lyrics, and on a song like this, when the lyrics aren’t clear, it’s virtually impossible to discover what the damn thing is about. Feelings, I guess, nothing more than feelings.

Darius Rucker—”This”
#83
Another ordinary celebration of the ordinary from the king of same. Though it’s possible to admire his consistency, if it isn’t a rut it sure ain’t a groove.

Trace Adkins—This Ain’t No Love Song”
#100
Reviewed in Bubbling Under, 10/17/10

Bubbling Under:

T-Pain featuring Rick Ross—”Rap Song”
#103
It’s probably unfair to compare T-Pain to The-Dream—The-Dream is a kind of genius, whereas T-Pain is a guy who had one brilliantly inspired idea and whose inspiration is fading fast—but if I’m going to listen to a song about making love to other people’s music, I’ll stick to “Kelly’s 12 Play”. Aside from a clever, if somewhat aged, Kanye joke, and the tasteless suggestion of having sex to Straight Outta Compton, this contains nothing to distinguish it from a lot of other auto-tuned slow jams. And has Rick Ross ever sounded more out of place than he does here? Did they just lift his rap from another record and stick it in?

Lloyd—”Lay It Down”
#105
Lloyd’s made some strong records over the last couple of years, but unlike Trey Songz, who was in a similar position until he finally broke a few months ago, Lloyd hasn’t been as lucky on the charts. And now it sounds as if he’s getting desperate, because this song is seriously insane. Vocally it’s all over the place, crooning here, yelping there, auto-tuned and stretched like a rubber band in the chorus, and ending, God help us all, with yodeling. He sounds like he’s having a great time, but the rest of us are left scratching our heads. It gets your attention, but where exactly is this all supposed to end? And will anybody else be around when it does?

My Chemical Romance—”Only Hope For Me Is You”
#106
This is strong and catchy, but it goes on too long and gets dangerously close to Linkin Park territory. There’s such a thing as coming on too strong. Trust your sense of humor, guys, it hasn’t failed you yet.

The Black Keys—”Tighten Up”
#110
Danger Mouse’s production makes this more than just a late-’60s funk/rock homage, but not much more, and the vocals and lyrics take you right back to Grand Funk Railroad territory. And if there’s any band who’s reputation doesn’t need a positive reassessment, it’s Grand Funk Railroad. Queen was bad enough.

Big Time Rush—”Til I Forget About You”
#111
Catchier and more mature than their first single, but still nothing to get excited about, even if you’re thirteen. In fact, they may have matured just enough to put themselves into demographic limbo.

Hannah Montana featuring Iyaz—”Gonna Get This”
#112
Despite the credit to Hannah Montana rather than Miley Cyrus, this is not Disney pop. Disney pop doesn’t exist anymore. Partly this is because Disney pop has become more mature and up-to-date, but largely it’s because pop music itself has taken a giant step in the direction of Disney. There’s now no noticeable difference between the two. No doubt this was Disney’s plan all along, though it does make you wonder how they’ll distinguish any stars they try to create in the future from the mass. As for this record, it’s pretty good, nearly as good as anything Miley Cyrus has put out under her own name, though not as good as the best stuff she did as Hannah Montana. Since there’s no real difference between the two anymore, I suppose it’s as good a time as any to end it.

Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,
Posted in Hot 100, Hot 100 Roundup, new this week, singles | Comments Off

New this week

Saturday, October 3rd, 2009

Alicia Keys—”Doesn’t Mean Anything”
#60
I love the jittery piano rumbling that goes on underneath the arrangement, the sort of subtle touch that suggests Keys may have some musical smarts after all. But this sounds a hell of a lot like “No One”, only less intense, and with no real hook. Which means, unfortunately for Keys, that it may well live up to it’s title. Not to worry, though: a career in soft jazz awaits.

Glee Cast:
“Taking Chances”, #71
“Somebody To Love”, #85

In a way it’s unfair to review these records: they were obviously put together very quickly (the arrangements are the barest accompaniment and nothing more), the singers aren’t professionals (or at least not professional singers), and the audience buys them more as a souvenir keepsake than for the music. But here they are, creating a small extra revenue stream for the show, and as long as they turn up on the Hot 100 I feel duty bound to tell you what they’re like. They’re awful. I never thought it would be possible to miss Celine Dion, but I do, and as for their version of Queen’s (as opposed to Jefferson Airplane’s) “Somebody to Love”, I found it impossible to listen a second time. Aping Grace Slick, as horrifying as that sounds, might actually have been a better choice.

David Nail—”Red Light”
#95
There’s a decent breakup song buried in here somewhere, but I dare you to find it under all the country bombast. Nail isn’t a bad singer, either, but he’s trying so hard to be heard above the noise that you’d never know it.

Maxwell—”Bad Habits”
#96
This is the opening cut of Maxwell’s BlackSummersNight trilogy, and it sounds like it. It’s a microcosm of the album as a whole, more an overture designed to introduce the various themes than a complete unit in itself,and it doesn’t quite work as a single. That build through the first couple of minutes sure is something, though; I could listen to that forever.

Pink—”Funhouse”
#97
Pink has been milking Funhouse the album for so long I’m beginning to wonder if she’s going through some sort of extended mourning period for her marriage, one that feels like it’s never going to end. I suppose the title of this song is intended ironically, which might explain why it isn’t much fun at all, but doesn’t explain why it’s a banal pastiche. It’s got energy, for sure, just no brains.

Craig Morgan—”Bonfire”
#98
The mix of Hank and AC/DC Morgan brags about here might have been surprising four or five year ago, when Big and Rich did it, but now it’s just another modern country cliche, to go along with the beer and the pickup trucks. And the loud. Don’t forget the loud.

Tags: , , , , , , , , , ,
Posted in Hot 100, new this week, singles | Comments Off

New this week

Saturday, August 15th, 2009

Selena Gomez—”Magic”
#61
As seventies power pop staples go, I’ve never thought much of Pilot’s “Magic”. Pristinely produced by Alan Parsons, it’s a stiff Badfinger rip-off, second-rate Beatles twice removed. Compared to this version, however—part of the Wizards of Waverly Place soundtrack, which also includes covers of “Magic Carpet Ride”, “Every Little Thing She Does is Magic”, and “Do You Believe in Magic?”—Pilot are The Beatles. Even though the remake is shorter than the original, it sounds slower, metalish guitars and plodding drums turning it into a boring slog. It would help if Gomez sang as if she weren’t being forced at gunpoint, but it isn’t all her fault—obviously Disney’s producers are only interested in putting out if they’ve got a share of the publishing.

Madonna–”Celebration”
#71
What year is this? Except for the techno touches, this could have been Madonna’s followup to “Holiday” or “Into the Groove”. Aside from the naughty spoken bit (not dirty, mind you, just naughty) she sounds as if she were 22 again. It’s one of the odd realities of pop music careers: if you stick around long enough, even through the lean times, the culture will always come back to where you started.

Whitney Houston—”I Look To You”
#74
With R Kelly channelling Diane Warren as a songwriter, and the arrangement staying safely in tasteful power ballad territory (will someone please put that drummer out of his misery?), this would be a terrible record if it wasn’t for Houston’s voice. To say it sounds lived in would be an understatement—it sounds as if its been plowed under and dredged back up. For a few moments, especially in the second verse, Houston seems ready to take the song over and drag it to church where it belongs, but the banality of the chorus distracts her, and once she’s lost her focus there’s nothing left but cliche. It could be a lot worse, but it could be a lot better.

Muse—”Uprising”
#81
Though Queen and Blondie have been cited as influences, I hear more Gary Glitter (or Battles) and U2. Whatever the case, add it all up and you get INXS in revolutionary mode. Which isn’t a bad thing at all, especially since you can galumph to it.

Jaime Foxx featuring The-Dream, Drake, & Kanye West—”Digital Girl”
#92
Once again, I have a hard time telling Foxx from his counterparts, especially The-Dream (though I have found at least one clue: whichever voice is thinnest, that’s Foxx). This is a pleasant trifle, and Drake is so hot right now it may even be a hit, but “Blame It” it ain’t. (Oh, and another way to tell the players wihtout a program: whoever makes the most references to having sex in the kitchen, that’s Foxx, too.)

Brad Paisley—”Welcome To the Future”
#98
This may be stating the obvious, but in country terms Paisley is a weirdo, and this may be his weirdest yet. Paisley is a weirdo because, for all his traditional trappings, he’s a modernist, as comfortable with technology and urbanity as he is with rusticity. He may be a good old boy, but he isn’t narrow, he isn’t blindly redneck in his vision, and he isn’t stupid. What makes this song so weird is the way it shifts from a shallow good old boy perspective (“Man, isn’t all this modern technology nuts?”) to something more universal and open (“Wow, isn’t it cool we’ve got a black president?”). He proves how smart he is by turning country sentimentality back on itself (how many country songs praising the civil rights movement have you heard?). Plus, he stages a guitar duel with a synthesizer and let’s the synthesizer win. After his last single, “Then”, I was afraid that Paisley was retiring back into comfortable cliche. Turns out he was just softening up the audience before stretching things even further.

Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,
Posted in Hot 100, new this week, singles | Comments Off