Before this year, I never really knew a lot about NKOTB(other than the fact that Westlife did one of their songs for the medley on their Love Tour..) but I must admit, the songs they came up with this year were strong.
I loved Summertime, I thought it was really fresh and cool and when the album came out, quite a few tracks stood out for me, Stare At You was the one in particular that made me want to listen to what they used to do(I quite like Step By Step, a guilty pleasure!).
The melody just blew me away, and their vocals were quite good actually. It's pretty much another one of your standard R&B mid-tempos, but the execution just makes me adore the song.
I'm kind of liking Single now, especially the parts where they put emphasis on their harmonies(amazing stuff!). Are they making another album?
AAAH! A LOT has happened since I last posted, but the concert last night was amazing, and all the hard work paid off. I'm back to posting now, but I'm a bit disconnected and what I write may be a bit stiff for my liking. I'm annoyed and pissed off so bear with me, alright?
A lot of new videos, so a lot of stuff to catch up on.
I'm loving one of Natasha Hamilton's solo songs, Find Your Way. It's brilliant!
The new Alesha Dixon album is out, and I was curious. I don't like the lead single, but there were a few tracks that were just gorgeous. Is it just me who thinks that the start of Hand It Over sounds a lot like the Namie Amuro track Baby Don't Cry?
I've finally heard the new Jessica Mauboy album, and I'm in love with it. If this is how Australian music is rubbing off on me(Delta Goodrem, Ricki-Lee!!), then I seriously want to hear more!
The video for Jesse McCartney's new single is out! The song is just amazing.
The NKTOB single now has a video, with all the German and royalty going on. That plus the talking knights and the processed vocals just freaks me out.
There's a new Chris Brown song out, Believer. I don't know what it's for, but I'm loving it. Although Forever is still my favorite from him.
Oh, the video for the second single from Catfights and Spotlights is out. Not liking the video, but I love the song! haha..
The deluxe edition of Duffy's debut album is out, I'm gonna give the new tracks a listen sometime this week.
I guess that's it. I'm going to try and write more this week!
I haven't really had the time and will to write single, long reviews these past few weeks so I'll be writing a few short reviews for now..
1. New Kids on the Block with Lady GaGa - Big Girl Now
OK, I've been listening over to the NKOTB album these past few weeks but I've only pin-pointed a single favorite track, my favorite of the favorites and it's their duet with Lady GaGa.
I absolutely adore her(although I have gotten a bit sick of her album, I still think it's genius) and this song is probably a more modern NKOTB. I mean, I love the R&B stuff, but they're a bit too generic to compete with the heavyweights and this is probably the song that's most like an updated NKOTB pre-split sound.
Rating: 4.7/5
2. Taylor Swift - Love Story
I. Absolutely. Adore. This. Girl.
I loved her first album, loved 'Beautiful Eyes' just a bit more but I simply ADORE this new song.
Once again, the music industry has gotten someone right, in the form of Taylor Swift. She'll be making the shift from first album to second very gracefully by the looks of it. I mean, this song is amazing. Her first album showed us that she could sing and write good, solid songs well for her age but I think this second album will just blow us away, show us exactly what she's made of and get us hooked on her music even more.
Rating: 5/5
3. Karina - 16 @ War
Has anyone besides me noticed that she sounds like Beyonce + Rihanna + Keri Hilson?
Anyway. This girl HAS TALENT. Not the 'Charice Pempengco(or however you spell it), too big for her age' voice but the 'OMG, SHE'S AMAZING not too old for her age' voice. You can sense that she's maybe two or three years older than she actually is if you listen to the album but no more than that(although the song is a dead giveaway to her age...).
The song is amazing, the melody is priceless and it's just an amazing song. I cannot believe it only peaked at number 51 on the R&B charts...
1. Just in this morning from Ashley Tisdale, 'I'm Back' is not something I'm raving about. Stylistically, the song is good, the melody's strong and the vocals are well, expected. What blows it for me is that she made absolutely no transition from her first album, it doesn't sound fresh. I'm always complaining that artists change too much in the wrong way or experiment too much once they release their sophomore albums(Vanessa Hudgens, Miley Cyrus...) and now I complain that they don't change, what am I really looking for? I need something that's fresh, new but not completely different. The best example of my point is Jordan Pruitt. Her first album was good, it showed off her vocals and it defined her as an artist. Her sophomore release was amazing, the songs were gorgeous but if you listened to her first and didn't know that you were listening to her second, you'd know it's her. So I hope Ashley's new album is light years better than Vanessa's.
2. I've heard the new NKOTB album and there are a few solid tracks but I just re-discovered(if I even did..) their current single, 'Single'(redundant much..). I don't know if it's the video or the song or what but I clearly remember that when I first heard the song, I wasn't a big fan of it. Oh well, things change.
3. The 'Extended' iTunes version of 'Now or Never' from HSM3 is the same old 'Now or Never' we've all heard with maybe some dialogue and a longer start, nothing special.
4. Just got my hands on Annie's new album, 'Don't Stop'. I haven't listened to the whole thing though, but it's looking up to be a great album.
5. I caught on to the Chris Brown 'Forever' frenzy a bit late but hey, I can't believe I absolutely adore the song. It's a bit more pop than his other songs(which explains why I like it..) but(here we go again with the identity thing..) it's very him. The chorus is as catchy as you can get and it fits perfectly into the club scene without a remix! I just can't get enough of this song! I still kinda cringe a bit when I hear the doublemint catch phrase, but I must admit, the advert and the way it's tied up with the song is hands-down brilliant, see?
Here are some of the amazing new stuff I've found during my scoring through various sites.. want to hear any of them? BUY THEM!
Some of the most popular female artists have released 'Just Stand Up', an amazing, DROP-DEAD GORGEOUS song for the Stand Up to Cancer campaign. Seriously! It's very, very catchy yet it does what it's supposed to do, raise a lot of money for a worthy cause(insert 'awwwwwww' here). Despite a lot of flops in the charity single arena, this, I'm very pleased to say, has been done right and has earned countless plays on my iPod! BUY it now!
One of my favorite blogs just featured E.M.D., perhaps the hottest new Swedish boyband to come out this year. Their first two singles went to number one on the Swedish charts, and so did their album so I got curious. Turns out, some of guys who've been behind the likes of Britney Spears, Shayne Ward and Westlife also wrote a couple of songs for them. The album is pretty darn good. Seriously, get your copy NOW!
I just recently re-discovered 3LW(I know, I know.. late, much?) and I'm loving 'Neva Get Enuf'. On the subject of 3LW, The Cheetah Girls 3 was shown already(I think..), and soundtrack is amazing! Among my favorites are 'No Place Like Us' and 'What If'..
Although Michelle Williams' 'Unexpected' wasn't the gold mine of amazing songs I was expecting, 'Thank U' is a very, very pretty song among a few others. 'We Break the Dawn part 2' is another great track. Now if only I could get it without the rap...
I absolutely adore 'Summertime' but I just heard the NKOTB album sampler and there are quite a few tracks I'm eagerly awaiting, including their duet with Lady GaGa(my new guilty pleasure..) and some really great R&B staples from the guys.
There's this new Hannah Montana remix EP floating around so I decided to give it a listen. I never expected and R&B-fied 'Nobody's Perfect', did I? No way. The 'Rock Star' remix is also a must-listen, a nice way to get a rest from all the uber-cheesy dance trash you get from the 'Non-Stop Dance Party'..
Whoot! enjoyed it? Want more? Discuss in the comments section!
Before this year, I never really knew a lot about NKOTB(other than the fact that Westlife did one of their songs for the medley on their Love Tour..) but I must admit, the songs they came up with this year were strong.
