Really..

Nothing to do with music but I honestly wonder why boybands have such an affinity for head-shot album covers.

Exhibit A
Westlife's debut album Westlife

Exhibit B
JLS' debut album JLS

Exhibit C
DBSK's greatest hits album Best Selection 2010

ANYWAY. I just wanna say that my writing/posting around here will be less frequent, for a number of reasons. My life outside the internet is really hectic at the moment and I'm stressed to the max. Then add all the stuff I have going on for me here online - Babelpop, OMGKPOP, The Kpop Nation AND my virgin.com writing position - and we have disaster. Add the fact that the rules and guidelines for the literary award I SO want to win (still) are gonna be out in a few weeks and I have a mental breakdown coming soon - I can feel it.

I won't be taking a hiatus or anything nor will I ever stop posting here, it's just that PRN is the one thing I can do less of and no one will kill me or clobber me - there's no one depending on me besides myself. As if I'd ever let go the one thing that started everything I've ever been able to achieve.

Once again, my posts here will be LESS FREQUENT. They WILL NOT STOP. That also means that once again, the vocal commentary special will be temporarily on hold. TEMPORARILY.

I hope you guys understand that I personally think I've got way too many things going on for me right now and I need to just step back and let everything fall into place.

Oh and PS, the new DBSK track is BRILLIANCE. And we've only got 2 minutes worth. I've spazzed over it on Twitter - that's enough! Listen here.

Best of 2009: November #6 - #3

I have to say it first - MERRY CHRISTMAS EVERYONE!!!!!!!!!! Hope you have a great day with the people you love. (LOL.) I'll be asleep when this is published - the aftermath of Christmas eve with the entire family - cousins included.

Let's get to business.

#6: Taeyang - Wedding Dress

I'll admit it, Taeyang's Wedding Dress is one of my guilty pleasures. As a song it's boring - the instrumental is one-dimensional and the melody is generic 21st century R&B but I still adore it. The piano throughout the song just makes me melt and although I don't find his voice very good (don't kill me, please!), the melody carries it and nothing else but dammit, why do I like it so much? LOL.

#5: CL and Minzy 2NE1 - Please Don't Go

This year I learned one thing - if rap is done the right way, it's bearable, and let me just say that CL's rapping I can bear. The reason why I just cannot get enough of this song is because dammit, CL SINGS. A friend of mine said that if you can rap well, you can most likely sing well. I don't know if that's true since I know nothing about rap but let me just say that CL has a pretty damn good voice. And the loop during the verses gets stuck in my head. Dammit.

#4: Big Bang - 声をきかせて

Doesn't matter if it's the single version or the gorgeous acoustic but not that acoustic version - I love the song either way. The original version is great for about 10+ times but then I get sick of it. The melody is gorgeous, Daesung's vocals are like WHOA and the song is just great as a whole. But then I heard the acoustic version and I just died. I like the acoustic version because it's not just a guitar and a simple percussion part (usually just the downbeat to set the tempo) - IT HAS A STRING SECTION. You guys know how I melt for string sections but this one is different because it's GORGEOUS. You don't feel it's presence during the verses but you know it's there and throughout the chorus it just makes me fall at the arranger's feet. The second verse is even better when more instruments are added but again, the string section. It's always about the violins.

#3: Westlife - Sound of a Broken Heart

I may have already given up on Westlife but I can't give up on the fact that they're part of the British music industry whether I chose to ignore it or not and with that fact comes at least one good song from any release of theirs. The songs I like from Westlife are the songs that sound least like them - my favorite track off Back Home was When I'm With You and it was as far from Westlife as possible but I still loved it. Sound of a Broken Heart has a gorgeous piano loop, a chorus that explodes but doesn't and Shane's smooth vocals. Mind you, I gave it a perfect score.

Westlife - Sound of a Broken Heart

I said recently that I've given up on Westlife and really, I'm not the big fan I used to be - What About Now was the last straw after waiting for years only to get a cover as a comeback single and I don't take back any of the words I said about it. However, there is at least one outstanding, mind-blowing song on Where We Are - a song that reminds me exactly why I was a die-hard Westlife fan for 2 long years of my life. ONE SONG.

This new album was supposed to be a new direction for Westlife - it's not, it's the same Westlife you heard on Back Home. The album as a whole isn't actually that bad, it was actually better than I expected it to be, but as I told Paul on Twitter, I expected crap.

The one song I hail the best out of this pot of new songs from Westlife (What About Now NOT included.) is Sound of a Broken Heart. It's epic in the Westlife way but it's epic in the "current" way as well. As I said a while ago, it's songs like this that made me a fan and it's songs like this that I want from Westlife. I don't expect them to lose who they are as a band, I just want them to have the guts to try and modify what they already have.

The piano part is just gorgeous but you guys know that I absolutely fall at my feet for a stunning string section. I got it on this song. I don't like 'cheap' string parts (believe me, there are a ton of them), I like string sections that make the hairs on the back of your neck stand up and make the song epic. I want them beautiful and haunting with conviction, not any other way.

But the reason why I decided to write about a Westlife song in the first place after I declared that part of my live over was the fact that this song made me sub-consciously smile. No explanations needed - if a song makes me smile it's all over.

5/5

For a review of the entire album, I hand you over to Paul.

Friday 'night' post: CELEBRATIONS ALL AROUND!!!

OK, it's not nighttime yet but it's Friday and my posts on Friday are always like this - deal with it.

Celebration for various reasons - personal and music-related. My exams are done - all the hard work kinda paid off. SO, I don't have homework, no projects to catch up on and nothing to study this week. Thus, I WILL BLOG A HELL OF A LOT. Yay for everyone!

I've been MIA here pretty much the whole week - Twitter and Tumblr (the sites with less critical thinking) have been my sanctuaries. There's been a ton of stuff out this week, K-pop and Western. And because it's been AGES since my last post - this one will be pretty lengthy.

The first order of business today - Send It On. It's pretty much the modern day version of the Disney Channel Circle of Friends (that were existent back when I was in elementary school more than 3 years ago..) with the 'singers' - Jo Bros, Miley, Demi and Selena and not some random bunch of actors made to sing. OK, maybe the girls started out as actresses but you get my point. Right? Right.The best part of this song? The fact that Demi Lovato sounds the most decent out of the six. The worst? The fact that Miley's in it. I'm sorry but these songs just don't go with the girl - she has a voice, yes but they're giving her the wrong songs. She doesn't sound horrid or scary but when you hear Demi's solo it makes you wonder how you were able to survive Miley. Trust me, it would sound a lot better if it was just Demi and Selena with the Jonas Brothers (even if they suck).

Selena isn't as bad as I thought she'd be either.

4/5

Time for some K-pop. I like the genre - deal with it. hahah.

The first time I heard Super Junior's contribution to SM Town I was neutral about it - not bad but not outstanding. The more I listened to it though, the more the melody stuck in my ears. To those who don't know, SM Town is basically Sooman's way of earning a ton of money without that much effort - all his artists making one gimmick-y album with an accompanying concert. The music videos are usually low-budget like mirages of old performances (like this years') and the concert is padded with current/recent singles. Earns a ton of money, as always.

So all throughout this morning I was listening to the song thinking it was absolute genius (and that it sounded a lot like one of my favorites on their third album) - and it actually is. It's very light and summer-y and the verses are gorgeous. Need I say more?

When I got the chance to log on and read up on K-pop (I still don't know a thing compared to other bloggers, thank you very much.), I found out that the song's a cover. Of a 2005 song from the Netherlands. Not that I find it bad or anything but I just noticed something with SM and their boybands.

The first Western SM cover I heard was SHINee's Juliette - a cover of Corbin Bleu's Deal With It. I brushed it off a bit, thinking it was just a random cover or something. The second cover I heard was DBSK/TVXQ/Tohoshinki's Mirotic - a cover or Sarah Connor's Under My Skin. She's German, btw. The THIRD cover was from SHINee again - there's a song on their first album that's a cover of Mario Vazquez's Everytime I.. - one of the most brilliant American R&B songs ever thought of in the first place.

And now this song. OK - a possible theory is that Sooman is too greedy to pay songwriters who write original songs so he just gets a random Western song that was never a hit and translates it to Korean. Good idea Sooman, good idea.

4.4/5 - the rap and strange sounds throughout did it.

Another boyband - this time from the other side of the world.

*faints*
AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!
AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!
AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!
AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!
*faints*

Do you know how long I've waited for a new Westlife song? DO YOU? HUH? NO!

*faints*
*faints*
*faints*
*faints*

Whatever genre I may get addicted to, whatever boyband or girl group I may think has the most gorgeous songs, I am a Westlife fan and I forever will be. I live with hope that someday Simon Cowell will give the lads a chance to write their own songs or even just give them songs that aren't ballads or covers.Even as a fan, I will be as subjective as I can be - no biases, no prejudice in this review of the new song. I've waited long and hard for this but I will treat it like every other song I review. I PROMISE. If I give it a perfect score, then it's because it deserves it - nothing else.

At the beginning, As Love Is My Witness sounds like your standard Westlife song - ballad. I should've guessed that when they said no more covers they didn't say no more ballads. Mark's part is first - new, welcome change. My theory is correct that if you restrain him, he's a very good singer - he should honestly sing the first verse from now on (if you let him loose at the middle-8 live he might shatter your eardrums - fact). The chorus is sweet with Nicky and Kian backing. The second verse is drop-dead gorgeous - I wonder how I lived without Shane's absolutely brilliantly amazing voice. He's got one of the most refined and smoothest voices in all of pop - really. He got the middle 8, too!

Westlife taught me the importance of a good middle-8 and how much weight it has on a song. Thus, this song has a truly gorgeous middle 8. Honestly.

Over-all the melody is beautiful. It's not one of those ballads that are very resonant to my ears and even if I'm still dreaming of the day Simon comes to his senses and gives them an album full of up-tempos, they still do what they do extremely well.

One constructive comment though - change the hideous arrangement. It sounds cheap, too dated in the bad way and just plain sad - it weighs the whole song down. The melody's gorgeous and the arrangement is OK at the key change with the pretty string section but honestly, the percussion section throughout is HIDEOUS, a disgrace to put it simply. It would sound a lot nicer if they made the piano part a lot more flow-y and get rid of whatever's playing at the beginning - sounds too stereotypical and overused.

Oh, and please re-mix and re-master the vocals on this - they sound like the producers don't know what the heck they were doing with the mastering. Or maybe this hasn't been mastered yet. OOOHH - UNMASTERED! hahah.

4.2/5 - I know they can do better than this - they better.

AAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHH!

So a few hours ago, it was Irish music's biggest night and yes, Westlife were nominated for their NINTH Best Pop Act award. The run-up to last night was kinda nerve-racking because all the news articles were saying that they might win because Boyzone and the Script are up against them and all.

WELL THEY WOOOOOOOOOOONNNNNNNN!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

YAY! Congrats to them(as if they'll ever read this.) and they better win another one next year!

(btw, WHERE WAS KIAN? what 'special commitment'? he's not doing anything besides planning his wedding(which is apparently almost done and managing a band with Louis Walsh who was there! ugh.) haha.

Westlife - Back Home

You may not like Westlife but at least try giving this review a chance, please?
So while I was at the mall a while ago, this album came up on shuffle mode. I love Westlife and all but surprisingly I haven't listened to the whole album as a whole in a few months so I kept it on. In the middle of listening to the album(and shopping, duh.), I realized something.

It's album's like this that actually make me proud to be a Westlife fan.

Everyone disses them and I get where they're coming from, with all the sappy ballads and all but you listen to this album and you DON'T get all these ballads. Yes, the two UK singles were ballads and more or less 50% of the album is on the slower side but what about the other half? It's those songs that make me want to tell everyone to give this album a chance. SO, I'll only be reviewing the non-sappy ballad, non-Westlife formula songs.

I'm thankful for the fact that Something Right was at least an Australia/New Zealand single because it gets the song out there and face it, after the Amazing disaster, Sony BMG DID NOT want to sell that little on a Westlife single. This is the pop that should be making the rounds, this is the pop that should get noticed more because there are people like me who missed the early 2000's pop boom. Aside from that it's an outright amazing song, even Poster Girl seems to think so!

When I'm With You is slow, but it's got a different sound so it qualifies. Out of the whole album, this was the song that stuck me right from the start. Not Home, not Something Right, not any other song, this was this one that made me go 'wow'. It seems like a lot of recent pop group albums(how many pop groups are there at the moment?) have this one R&B track, regardless of their musical direction. If I was naive enough I'd say it was to try and break the US but we all know what happened to Westlife(two years worth of promotion around the country and what did they get? One US top 30 I think, a TRL top ten video and a bubbling under chart album..) so I wouldn't keep my hopes up. Still, it's got an amazing beat and the stunning verses make up for the not so hot chorus.

Catch My Breath has been a fan favorite from the very start and to me it's like an updated and more mature version of TGF(While still in high school, Shane and Mark wrote Together Girl Forever for Shane's childhood sweetheart and now wife, Gillian, Kian Egan's cousin! haha. They recorded the song as IOU and sold like 2,000 copies..). Seriously! It sounds like Shane + Gill's love story, at least that's what I get from the interviews and the books. It's modern chart music, pop but not pop and that's what I love about it.

The Easy Way is very Motown-esque, heck they even mixed it with ABC(the Jackson 5 song?) during last year's tour(I didn't like the choreography though..)! So anyway, this is probably the fastest song on the album to they deserve some praise for not only giving us an uptempo but an amazing melody as well! It's catchy and everyone gets to sing! yay! haha.

The last song that really made me want to listen to this album and shove it in the haters' faces was Pictures In My Head. If you remember their third album World Of Our Own, there was a track on it called Why Do I Love You. If you've heard it, good, if you haven't, listen to it here. Now think of that song plus Catch My Breath and you get Pictures In My Head. It's got the most stunning melody and most of all, it's not a sappy ballad! This was the song that appeared on my iPod and this was the song that got me to write this whole thing, it's brilliant.

So there, is that enough proof that there's more to Westlife than sitting on stools and singing all these cheesy ballads? haha it better be.

The Rating: 5/5. duh!

Westlife Vs. Human Nature - She's Back(Again)

Yes! Another Westlife vs. other random boyband post, this time with a song that was first released by that other random boyband, Human Nature.

The original:
Human Nature are an Australian vocal group and until 2004 they were releasing original material. This song was off their last original album before they started releasing back to back Motown cover albums(*yawn*) so this was released in 2004, a year before Westlife did it. The original is a bit less over-produced than the Westlife one, but the vocals were obviously double-tracked. The song itself is growing on me, and these vocals are very standard boyband, nothing special.

Listen to it here.

The cover:
The instrumental of this is much more processed but I obviously like the vocals better on this so I call this battle a tie. haha.

The A Capella showdown

I somehow gauge how good a boyband is by looking at their a capella performances because it's very common in boybands that they're able to sing a capella in three to five parts.

So which country produces better boybands in terms of a capella work? This is UK boybands VS. US boybands!

Note: These are boybands that if inactive have produced more than two singles and at least one album. If they're active, then there's no requirement. haha.

The US Boybands..

So BSB are kind of the ultimate US boyband, along with NSYNC. As far as I know, they never recorded anything a capella apart from the tracks that they stripped the instrumental of so I got digging for some live stuff and I came across this:

They're good, but the vocals are a bit weak for me, when someone takes lead that someone has these strong vocals but the people backing him are either not blended well or have really weak voices.

Now since I got a live BSB track, that automatically bans me from judging NSYNC by their recording of O Holy Night in A Capella. Luckily, I found a live performance of it! YAY!

I think NSYNC are definitely better than BSB judging by this, there's more power to their vocals and it's more convincing for me. It sounds amazing as well, they're voices work better together than BSB, if I may say so.

Let's move over to the new boybands of the US, shall we? Mainly because I can't find any live KNOTB or 98 Degrees a capella stuff. If you guys find any though, let me know!

Now Day26 are a fairly new boyband but when I heard this performance, let's just say I'll be listening to their album a heck of a lot more than I already do.

They're gooooooood. Out of all the new boybands right now, I have to say, they're the best a capella-wise.

NLT may have the amazing, mind-blowing melodies but they're not up to par with Day26. I don't know if it's just because they're missing a fifth harmony or if their voices aren't really that strong together. Think BSB of now, that's the best description.

Now V Factory are in between Day26 and NLT in terms of vocals, they're better than NLT but they're just a wee bit not as good as Day26, I think. Amazing song though, I've never heard it before!

Varsity Fanclub however, are just that bit better than V Factory, I think. Better, more distinct and powerful voices and they most definitely blend much better than V Factory. I still love them all though!

So let's go over to my specialty, the UK boybands!

We HAVE to kick it off with Westlife, we just HAVE TO! I've said time and time again that Westlife cannot be beaten in terms of a capella o below is a very popular fan vid of a capella clips of the lads.

Now do you see why Westlife rock so much? The power and the way their voices blend is sheer brilliance people! BRILLIANCE.

A1 were around when Westlife started, and they were nominated for the same award once(The Smash Hits Best New Tour Act.., Westlife won, duh.) and I think A1 are pretty close to Westlife in terms of vocals.

It's a little too fast if you know the original recorded version but vocally they're goooooood.

Lemme just say it, Blue suck when it comes to a capella.

No soul, no power, nothing. They may have some amazing songs recorded but this was just horrible.

So at the moment, JLS are being tipped as the new Westlife, being mentored by Louis Walsh on the X Factor, plus the fact that they sang like two songs that Westlife covered. JLS are lightyears better than Blue though, if I may say so.

Amazing stuff. Still not as good as Westlife, but good enough! They're sort of between Blue and A1.

You guys DO NOT know how much I want to hear D-Side doing some serious five(or three..) part a capella! But I can't find any, so if you guys have seen ANYTHING whatsoever that resembles an a capella performance of them, TELL ME!!! haha.

So, based on the stuff I've collected(which took me about four hours..) and now shown you guys, which country produces the better boybands, the US or the UK? I know my answer..... haha.

BSB vs. Westlife - Color My World

So some background on the song itself first. It was written by Andreas Carlsson, Savan Kotecha, Harry Sommerdahl, the first two have written a lot for pop acts like Westlife and BSB(so they're kinda like gods in my book.).

According to my research(haha, it sounds funny..), Westlife were the first to release it in 2005, it was on their seventh album(the first Westlife album I ever bought!). Around the same time, I heard of a version by BSB, and I remember having it in my library but it might've disappeared somehow. ANYWAY, it was supposedly released in 2006 as a b-side or it just remained an unreleased track.

I don't know if both bands got it because they're on the same record company and Westlife are in the UK while BSB are in the US and all, but the fact that both of them have versions makes it all the more better! Let's see how each one squared off for me.

This'll be great, two of the biggest boybands, ever! haha.

The Westlife version:

I've professed my undying love for Westlife from the very start, but this just solidifies the fact that they're amazing vocalists. They don't have wimpy voices like other boybands of their time, Shane has a smooth yet somehow rough voice on this song and Mark is just well, Mark. Soulful yet smooth. Amazing!

I think this song needs some kind of maturity, some kind of rigidness in it, but it also needs what Shane and Mark have when they take lead.

The BSB version:

So the BSB version is a little too rough and/or wimpy for me. Was Nick the one doing the middle-8? It seems a little tooooo rough for me, and there's no smoothness in any of the parts. Plus the fact that some of their voices are just plain wimpy.

The conclusion:

WESTLIFE WIN!(again, haha.)

Oh no they didn't!

I cannot believe that quite a lot of PJ readers said that WESTLIFE are the fifth act most likely to split this year.

THEY ARE SO NOT SPLITTING! Wasn't the X Factor performance testament enough to the fact that they're SO NOT SPLITTING UP?

Now tell me, is this just because I'm a huge Westlife fan(huge is an understatement..) or is this really injustice?

THEY'RE NOT SPLITTING UP! They will NOT turn into another Boyzone! NOOOOO!

Hello 2009!

HAPPY NEW YEAR! Hope yours was filled with noise and food and alcohol and more food and whatever else!

Well it's official, 2009 has begun! If this year is anything like 2008, then it'll be full of amazing releases form amazing established artists and hopefully some amazing debuts this year as well. So what am I expecting this year? Here's the lowdown on what I'm expecting this year:

• First and foremost, THE NEW WESTLIFE ALBUM! I cannot believe I survived 2008 without a Westlife release(well we got a DVD, but still, NO ALBUM!) but if I waited a whole year to get an album that should've come in 2008, then I expect only greatness from the lads and that greatness means NO COVERS! As much as they've given them big hits and all, they've shown us with Back Home that they do have the ability to release amazing originals so we better get some more. Apparently, there are rumors that their version of this song will be on the album, but as of now they're all rumors. Bring on the new album, lads!
• She's given us two amazing pop songs so I'm sure Natalie Bassingthwaighte's new album will not fail to impress. If the songs are anything like Alive or Someday Soon then we're in for an amazing, possibly mind-blowing album. I've heard some Rogue Traders songs as well, it was a relatively big jump for her genre-wise, if I may say so. I wonder what the cover'll look like...
• After three long years if waiting, JoJo's new album is slated for release this year! YES! YES! AAAHHHHHHHHH! We got one song from her this year, a cover of T-Pain's(was it T-Pain? I'm not sure..) Can't Believe It. I like the song for her, and she's sounding good vocally as well. I absolutely adore the girl, her first album was amazing, her second album cemented her in the industry and I think this album will blow us all away. I'll be waiting!!!
• Just a few days ago, Corbin Bleu's first single off Speed Of Light leaked and I was in awe, Celebrate You is an outright amazing song! Although I'm a little disappointed with the title track, I think if there are at least four or five good tracks and two or three amazing ones then I'm OK. Can't wait!!
• So I heard that Aly&AJ are planning their third release(typo! sorry!). We haven't heard any new material from them since Insomniatic and there are no rumors about this and that or no snippets of songs so I'm still very clueless about the release. Still, I loved their previous two albums so as long as they don't do a 360 change then I'm OK.
• I'm waiting for albums from Samantha Jade and Bayje as well, those two girls are amaaaaaaaaazing! The leaked Samantha Jade songs are amazing and Bayje's carrier single's brilliant. Love it! haha.

New Music!

I hope you guys had a great Christmas Day, so let's get back to the regular stuff! New stuff has come out over the holidays, mostly from my blogger friends, and I have to catch up!

• First off, can I just say, one album I'll be eagerly awaiting next year is Corbin Bleu's. The lead single was announced, it's called Celebrate You and I got a hold of it already. IT'S AMAZING. The start reminds me of Forever, like an ad for something. The song as a whole(more so the lyrics..) reminds me a lot of something that if sung by a girl, could be in a chick-flick like Princess Diaries or The Prince & Me, but it just works for him. If it was sung by a girl, I don't think it would be this marketable but I would've loved it just as much. This guy either has a great production team and lots of money put into him or he really has a better sense of who he is as a singer. ANYWAY, if his album is filled with stuff like this, I can't wait!
• During another one of our long chats, my friend BeE from Pop Nation(check her blog out, it's amazing! haha..) introduced me to this girl, Claudia Cream. Strange name, but the song I heard, Candy(not to be confused with the Many Moore song..), is pure, utter genius. It reminds me a lot of an Ashley Tisdale song I can't quite put my finger on. I know it sounds like an Ashley song, but I can't remember which. It's got a similar hook and the instrumental's very similar. Still, I love the melody and can you believe she's had five albums? I couldn't either when I first found out.. haha.
• I finally got a chance to hear Natalie's debut album thanks to another one of my friends, Gui from Pop Music Zone(another amazing blog, visit it!) over the Holidays and I just have one thing to say. I love the album, but she reminds me A LOT of Cassie, as in everything from the songs to the voice to the somehow drastic image change for the second album. I loved the single, Goin' Crazy when I knew nothing about music(I used to hear it a lot on the local music channel..) but now that and the rest of the album remind me a lot of Cassie. I know she came first, but I heard Cassie's album first. Still, it's kinda strange but I love the album anyway! haha. Me being strange, forgive me.
• Finally, after a lul in releases, Samantha Jade has a new song called All In Your Head. It's sounds very different from what she's done, but I think this matches her voice a lot more than the other songs(though Step Up will forever remain one of my favorite songs..) and since she hasn't released an album yet, I think the experimentation's working! I love the melody for a start, I think it's drop-dead gorgeous.
• Thanks to Mel, I'm now, truly a Soluna fan. I LOVE the album, I adore it and it's never leaving my iTunes library for as long as I live!
• The single mix of Issues, the Saturdays' new single, is definitely more bass-heavy, I don't know if it's more suitable for radio or what but I kinda like this mix, it's got more of a contrast now, but I love it either way, the song itself is just amazing!(oh and my ring tone at the moment is the chorus of Work! haha, love that song!)
• I was a bit too busy with Holidays and the countdown to mention this but I got a hold of an S Club 8 track I'd never heard before, called Here We Go(not to be confused with the GA track..) and I LOVE IT! Just a little lyrics tweak and it could easily be a Christmas song but it's not! At least I don't think it is.. Amazing song though, why hadn't I heard it earlier?
• I'm still kind of baflled at how good NLT are at a capella work, they could easily rival Westlife! But of course, Westlife will win! How can they not with Shane's amazingly smooth, strong voice on lead? haha.
• I thought the TOTP Christmas special wasn't gonna happen? Apparently, it did! Will have to watch it sometime before New Year.

Anything else I missed? I hope not..

My Christmas Playlist!

I can't believe Christmas is in TWELVE days! To help you get into the festive season even more, here are some of my favorite pop-ified Christmas songs!

• Carrie Underwood's Hark! The Herald Angels Sing is an amazing song, and it reminds me of Christmas Eve, when we go to church with the whole family and eat and eat and eat! I don't know why, though.
• Blue's Gift is exactly how I imaged a Blue Christmas song to be, R&B. I don't know if it's really a Christmas song, but it sure seems like it! Melodically it's amazing, though it doesn't really feel as Christmassy as the others.
• I've always found Last Christmas to be really cheesy and all, but Britt Nicole's version completely changes that. It's rock-y in her usual style but for some strange reason, it still feels even a bit like Christmas to me. That plus the fact that her vocals are on top condition here!
• Boybands are known for their acapella work(Westlife and Boyz II Men especially..), so it's no surprise that *NSYNC would have an acapella Christmas song. Their version of O Holy Night really, REALLY feels Christmassy, I LOVE it!
• The first time I heard Merry Christmas Everybody sang was during the Popworld Christmas special with Westlife. A few weeks later, I heard the Girls Aloud version, and it caught my ear. It sounds like something that would be playing in a mall, and it gets me nostalgic, since malls are packed during December and I'm frantically looking for gifts.
• I keep on hearing 98°'s This Gift in malls and stores this year for some strange reason. The song's beautiful though, the melody and what seems to be a harmony during the chorus just feels like Christmas to me.
• Yes, Westlife did a version of White Christmas. Don't blame them, they'd just finished their rat-pack album and it seems like it rubbed off on them. Correct me if I'm wrong but this was the b-side to When You Tell Me That You Love Me. Actually, I don't think Westlife's the correct artist for this, it's got to be Shane Filan. Seriously, he's the only one singing! Still, this has got to be the song that feels like Christmas the most, if I was to choose(biases aside.)
• Last year, Josh Groban's Christmas album Noel was a gigantic hit and with that, I found probably the best original(within the 2000's) pop Christmas song, Thankful. The melody's gorgeous, and his voice is in top shape.
• Keke Palmer has a gorgeous voice for what she usually sings, but I never knew she'd have a gorgeous voice for Christmas songs as well! Home For The Holidays was on Disney Channel Holiday, and the way the R&B-ness of Keke was mixed with the holiday elements was pure genius. It's catchy yet it showcases her voice. Brilliant!
• Lastly, a song from Jordan Pruitt. Also from Disney Channel Holiday, Santa Don't Stop is a very fun song that's consistent with Jordan's musical direction yet it's clearly a Christmas song.

As a sort of 'gift' to you guys(corny, much?), I've put up a download link to the playlist! It'll be up for 2 DAYS only. Enjoy!

My Christmas Playlist!

# 55: Westlife - Get Away

(Apologies for the crappy picture. While I was looking for a sensible picture I realized that I don't actually have any nice promo shots of the lads, I just have all these paparazzi/fan pictures, professional tour photos and scans from magazine interviews.. strange, huh?)

So this year, even though it's their tenth year, the only official Westlife release eligible to enter the UK charts was Us Against the World, which stopped their tally of consecutive UK top five hits at 23, coming in at number eight.

So I think it's safe to say that it wasn't a very good year for Westlife in terms of chart positions(The Croke Park DVD is number one of the UK charts though, so YAY FOR THEM!), but in terms of new material, there was one amazing new song this year.

Get Away was the b-side of Us Against the World and I absolutely love it. I've said that experimentation should never be done on an album, never mind a single but where I think an artist can just let loose and do whatever he/she wants to do is on a b-side.

Get Away is probably in my top five favorite Westlife b-sides, mainly because it's different but it's not. You know it's Westlife, you can hear it in certain parts but in some parts you just wonder who the hell's singing.

Melody-wise, the song is just gorgeous. It's sort of 40's/50's/60's-ish(I don't know which era it's like in particular, but it's one of the three..) and I love how they're Westlife-fied it, pure genius.

New Music!

Taking a break from the countdown, let's look back on all the great music that's come out in the past few days(before I fall asleep! I'm on anti-histamine and painkillers.. so I'll make it short)

• I've FINALLY heard the Same Difference b-side Like A Miracle, and I'm loving what I'm hearing. Why the crap wasn't this on the album? It's genius!
• I've heard a part of the new Mya album. I LOVE IT! I love how the songs flow from one to the other and the theme of them so far. I'll finish listening to it sometime this weekend!
• Also, I've finally watched the new Westlife documentary. I got goosebumps during 'the walk'. Seriously!
• I still can't believe that Agnes' second single from Dance Love Pop is Release Me. Seriously, I'm still in shock!
• Been listening over to the Same Difference album a lot these past few days. It's slowly going to amazing to brilliant to mind-blowing. Amazing stuff! Is it number one yet? haha..
• And, the news that made my day, the new GA video premiered!!!! I was literally screaming my head off when I saw it on YouTube this morning.. If you haven't watched it yet, YOU'RE MISSING OUT ON SHEER BRILLIANCE! Seriously, it's probably the best GA video, ever. EVER. The best video plus one of the most mind-blowing songs on the earth, what can go wrong? NOTHING!

Westlife - Live At Croke Park

I don't usually make DVD reviews, but this is to formally end the ten-year special so I'll make an exception.

You all know that I'm a huge Westlife fan, I know a lot about them, all their sales figures, chart positions, world records and achievements but those are all numbers and figures. It's like just because they've sold 40 million records and have had 14 UK number ones that I tell myself that they're good. What people like me fail to realize is the main reason why we like Westlife so much, why it's become a big part of our lives.

The music, duh.

For a while I forgot exactly why I adore Westlife so much, what made them so brilliant for me. Westlife is about gorgeous, show-stopping ballads and the occasional catchy uptempo, and I mean it this time.

A DVD showing 85,000 screaming fans singing along to every single word and four seasoned performers and who know exactly what they're doing is bound to be something amazing.

Every Westlife fan has a story, and while I was watching the concert, I remembered mine.

I got goosebumps when they came out and sang Hit You With The Real Thing, which was tied with Amazing for my favorite song on Face To Face. I was screaming when they were singing World Of Our Own, one of my favorite songs to torture my anti-Westlife best friend with. I was horrified during the medley, but I love the vocals on Get Down On It..! I was almost crying when they sang Unbreakable, the first Westlife song I ever put into my iTunes library. I kind of cringed for Mark when he hit the bum note on Flying Without Wings but was in awe when he hit the long, relatively high note towards the end. I was bawling by the time they sang You Raise Me Up, the song that started it all for me, I remember watching it every day on the local music channel two years ago.

This concert is truly a celebration of ten years at the very top, but more so a celebration of timeless, brilliant Westlife ballads, and every fan will start crying at some point of the concert, it's like looking back at the phenomenal band you helped make famous, whose songs you sang along to and whose records you killed to buy.

New Music..

Let's take a break from the countdown, shall we? Just a quick one though, there are still heaps and heaps of songs to write about and my brain, eyes and fingers are getting tired(I wrote like six reviews last night and another seven a while ago after I came from doing some experimental make-up on my classmates..)!

• Darin's new album is out, and I'm loving some of the tracks. I'll get to writing that review sometime in the next few days, I've got too much to do at the moment!
• Believe it or not, Orlando Brown(That's So Raven?) has an album. Gui over at Pop Music Zone posted it, and I'm surprised. He can sing! But the songs all sound the same and I haven't listened to the whole thing yet.
• The new Same Difference album is out tomorrow so if you liked my review, go out and BUY IT! You know you want to...
• I just posted it a while ago, but let me say it again, I CAN'T BELIEVE AGNES CARLSSON'S SECOND SINGLE IS RELEASE ME!! Haha.. freak out mode, sorry.
• Speaking of singles, The Saturdays' third single is Issues, a gorgeous song. The Sugababes are releasing No Can Do and Girls Aloud are releasing none other than The Loving Kind. Amazing stuff, can't wait for the second part of the battle of the girl groups!
• Leona Lewis' new video for Run is out. Nothing special, I don't really like the song to start with and she's getting too popular and compared to Mariah and Whitney too much for me.
• The Westlife DVD is number one in Ireland, HURRAH! And Sony BMG Pilipinas better bring it here now, or else face the wrath of a whole mob of angry Westlife fans who demand for their beloved DVD, me included!
• I've already written about my favorite song of 2008, and I can assure you, it's gonna be amazing. Haha..

Flashback: Westlife

In celebration of ten amazing years at the top of the boyband hierarchy, let's take a look back at Westlife's very first album, and see why it catapulted them into superstardom(which included 40 million albums sales, 14 number one singles and massive sold-out arena tours..).

Westlife was the first of maybe three or four experimental albums, all the songs had a certain sound to it that differed slightly from their albums. You can clearly hear them going down the ballad mid-tempo route, something they've come to master and repeat over and over again.

Westlife aren't your typical sing wimpy songs and jump around the stage boyband, they can actually sing pretty well. Have you ever heard of another big boyband who can master five-part harmonies like Westlife can? NOPE! Which is why the Westlife formula is heart-wrenching ballads and mushy love songs that show off just how un-wimpy their voices are.

That formula is clearest in two songs, Swear It Again and Flying Without Wings which are two of the biggest Westlife songs. See? That is exactly what I'm talking about, the formula in work. Swear It Again was used as their debut, and the song just exploded. People clearly reacted well to the formula, Simon and Louis saw it.

And the album tracks kept to that formula, I Need You, Can't Loose What You Never Had, Try Again and We Are One all used and supported the Westlife formula that people liked so much. They kept to that formula, while churning out some typical boyband songs like No No and Open Your Heart, that are still to this day, amazing.

It may not have been a number one album, but it dictated where the band would go music-wise, and proved the point that pop is a formula. Formula or not, Westlife is an amazing debut album and it was a huge success something that's extremely hard to do for a boyband or any artist.

The Best Westlife Live Performances

So let's define the word live first. We know that some supposed live TV performances are actually really mimed, but during rare occasions, artists sing live on TV in the UK. So, a live performance is a performance sung 100% by the act, no miming whatsoever. How do you tell? When an artist sings live, most of the time their voice is more raw, less processed and all those computer-generated voices have to be done by actual people. Then of course, you can look at their ears an see if they have earpieces. If they do, it's live.

These performances are from their tours, OK? OK.

So, what are the best of the best for me? Here goes!

1. Somebody Needs You from the Where Dreams Come True Tour DVD shot at the Point in Dublin, Ireland(2001)

The ultimate boyband song, very pop-y and catchy, and I can't believe they sang it on tour! The dance routine is strange at some parts, but the part when they jump on the chairs during the required dance break is cool. Plus the fact that they actually DANCE with real dancers.

2. Why Do I Love You from the In The Round Tour shot in Copenhagen, Denmark(2002)

There was no DVD for the In The Round Tour, but there is still fan footage floating around the internet, luckily for us. The song itself is amazing, it marks a more mature sound for Westlife while still keeping their teen pop roots in tact. This tour was done in the round, so the lads are walking all around the stage, which is cool. No dance routine, but I don't think it needs one. Nicky has a solo? Whoa.

3. When You're Looking Like That from the Greatest Hits Tour DVD shot at the MEN Arena in Manchester, England(2003)

I love the pauses in between each line at the start, and the intro's cool as well. Plus the fact that this was later in their career and the dancing sort of stopped during this era, but they're still dancing(I remember trying to figure out the steps to this back in elementary school..)! This was the last tour that Brian sang his parts on this song in, he left the band before the Turnaround tour and Kian took his part.

4. Written In The Stars from the Greatest Hits Tour DVD shot at the MEN Arena in Manchester, England(2003)

Another one of those amazing albums tracks that are performed on tour. The vocals on this are really outstanding, and the fact that they're suspended in mid-air on top of all the fans is really, really cool. Slow song, but it's an amazing performance.

5. Turnaround from the Turnaround Tour DVD shot at the Globe in Stockholm, Sweden(2004)

Solos everywhere! Haha, I love the arrangement on this, a lot of guitar work! The dance routine is cool as well, it just shows how much control Westlife have developed over the stage, how they hold the audience in their palms. Brilliant middle 8 as well! Cool costumes, cool dance routine, amazing arrangement and brilliant song, what more?

6. Amazing from the Face to Face Tour DVD shot at Wembley Arena in London, England

I adore this song, and hearing it live is just brilliant. Amazing performance, white costumes(similar to the WDCT tour outfits?) and a bit of movement here and there. Love it!

7. The 2008 Tour Medley from the 10 Years Of Westlife - Live at Croke Park Stadium DVD shot at Croke Park in Dublin, Ireland

I haven't included a tour medley yet, but this is a huge exception. It's probably the only time they go near the audience, and you can see the reaction. They dance, sing and run around the audience, what else can you ask for? Plus the fact that they were performing some amazing songs in front of over 80,000 of their biggest fans was just amazing to watch, even if I wasn't really there during the actual concert.

That's it, seven of the best Westlife live performances, I hope you enjoyed watching them! I did! haha..

A short, random update..

School has been a huge pain, and I've got a big debate tomorrow. Gar! Anyway, I've got time for a short updates. The reviews for the Britannia High Soundtrack and Take That's Circus will come sometime this weekend.

• I'm loving Lemar at the moment. The Reason is BRILLIANT.
• I'm almost done with listening to the Britannia High Soundtrack, and I'm loving what I'm hearing, some song are just pure genius.
• I've heard the new Take That album briefly, and there are a few songs that've caught my ear. One more listen and I'll have a solid opinion on the album.
• Speaking of Take That, I'm loving the b-sides to Greatest Day. Amazing stuff.
• I've heard Britney's new album as well, but I'm keeping my mouth shut. I don't want to get into any more trouble.
• I got this really rare CD by a Brit girl group called Tymes 4. If anyone's interested in reading what I think about it, just leave a comment and I'll gladly whip up a review for you when I have the time.
• Can I freak out? I'VE HEARD THE AUDIO OF THE NEW WESTLIFE DVD!!! I'm going to buy my copy of the DVD this weekend(Sony BMG Philippines said that it was released earlier this week, so I'll check out the local record store), and THE CONCERT WAS BRILLIANT. Everybody's voice was in top condition, and the vocals were just amazing. I was getting goosebumps all throughout the songs, and that was just the audio, what if I start watching the video? I might faint. I mean, the fact that there were 80,000+ fans there screaming their throats out, and being able to hear it on the DVD is just amazing.

Relatively short update, I've got a debate speech to write, that's enough heavy writing to do! haha.. Reviews are coming within the next days, so watch out, OK?