Rihanna-"Unapologetic" Review

Ever since her unfortunate altercation with Chris Brown in 2009, Rihanna has taken that experience to heart. It was very apparent in the heartfelt and dark “Rated R” released that same year. She was able to mask the pain with her 2010 blockbuster “Loud”, and then she slowly started to slip into a slump with 2011’s “Talk That Talk”. Perhaps it was time to change the game, even though releasing yet another album would prove only Rihanna’s overly consistent nature. She bares it all on the cover of “Unapologetic”, which suggests that RiRi would be the bold and innovative just as she was in 2007 with “Good Girl Gone Bad”. But her mission for improvement seems to be more of a dream with every passing album. As the years go by, Rihanna gets colder, harder, darker, and more distant. The lead single “Diamonds” is a refreshing exception, for as simple as it is, it’s still very addictive. But unlike other pop albums in 2012, the lead single is not the best track on the album. Even though much of “Unapologetic” does not push the envelope or head in any certain direction, there are still tiny moments where Rihanna shines bright. “Lost in Paradise” is a perfect example, along with “Nobody’s Business” with Chris Brown, which is no doubt another attempt to justify Rihanna’s love for her abuser. All of these tracks are found within the second half of the album, because aside from “Diamonds”, the first half is about as generic as rap-pop gets in 2012. And while “Diamonds” has simple lyrical content, the rest of the first half has barely any lyrics, just fuzzy beats and simpering voice overlays. Even the appearances of Eminem and Future cannot breathe life into these dreary tunes. But “Jump” is another exception and the David Guetta produced “Right Now” shakes things up slightly, only to keep the interest. But while the first half is definitely flawed, the second half is only slightly better. It focuses more on rock/pop and saccharine ballads. Somehow, one always manages to eclipse the other, resulting in a mess of roaring guitars, strained vocals and clumsy beats. Even though the seven minute long “Love Without Tragedy/Mother Mary” lightens the murk, it cannot illuminate it. Perhaps Rihanna would be better off if she just faced her emotions about her and Chris’ fight instead of covering them up with this mess of an album. There’s no doubt that Rihanna’s effort to make music and make it sellable is there, but if she continues to let her own mind get in the way of her music she won’t have many hits left.

A person can change a lot in seven years. We all know RiRi is not the same 17-year old who fired up the charts with “Pon De Replay”, but her identity crisis has never been so apparent the way it is here. She can’t decide whether or not she’s fine with her assault, or if she secretly resents it, even when she proclaims her feelings for Chris. Whatever the case, the fact that her music has now started to slip into darkness is even more unfortunate. There’s nothing bold or unapologetic about this album.

 

Recommended Tracks in Bold:

1. Phresh Off the Runway        2. Diamonds          3. Numb

4. Pour It Up                            5. Loveeee Song    6. Jump

7. Right Now                             8. What Now?        9. Stay

10. Nobody's Business    11. Love Without Tragedy/Mother Mary

12. Get It Over With         13. No Love Allowed   14. Lost in Paradise

 

Ke$ha-"Cannibal" Review

The timing couldn't have been better. After Lady Gaga's blockbuster hit "The Fame", she decided to give it an extension called "The Fame Monster" to hold over her eager fans until she came up with an full length album of new material. So it only seemed right to do the same with "Animal", since Ke$ha wanted to explore a new sound but needed time to do so, so she released her own EP "Cannibal" which was designed to keep her little animals satisfied, yet hungry for more as she began to work on her second full length album. Now seeing the album cover for "Cannibal" one thing was very apparent upon first glance, this album was going to have a darker sound than its predecessor, and it does. Ke$ha was simply having fun in her debut album, but she tries (keyword, tries) to get serious with a collection of songs that have more of a grit to them, and less fluff. However her intentions don't guarantee success, because there are still quite a lot of light-hearted moments that Ke$ha is known for, and it would be unwise of her to abandon her trademark this early in her solo career. So with this in mind she kept the familiarity of "Animal" with her sound, as she continues to dive into the club-cultures of America and delivers hit after hit of non-stop motion. Her only downfall this time around is the unneeded remix of "Animal" tacked on at the end, it doesn't bring anything new to the table and it actually is a shadow of the original song. But she had to end the EP with this track because its preceder "C U Next Tuesday" doesn't wrap up the album well. So "Cannibal" will definitely leave you wanting more, but that's what she ultimately wanted, to have you on close alert for the next time she explodes onto the music scene.

Recommended Tracks in Bold:
1. Cannibal               2. We R Who We R        3. Sleazy
4. Blow                     5. The Harold Song          6. Crazy, Beautiful, Life
7. Grow A Pear       8. C U Next Tuesday        9. Animal (Remix)

Ke$ha-"Animal" Review

Most scoffed when Ke$ha released her debut single “Tik Tok”. The nay sayers claimed that its silly and repetitive nature would turn Ke$ha into a one-hit wonder and nothing more. She was quick to prove them wrong, however, by releasing her first full-length debut “Animal”. Its title is not a coincidence; this is a ravenous, dirty, and unkempt set of songs for the classless masses of 2010, an era dominated by teen moms and the Kardashians.  “Tik Tok” was a very fitting choice for a lead single, as its super-sized hook and electronic production set the album up perfectly. Lyrically and musically, “Animal” doesn’t stray too far away from “Tik Tok” territory, each song pulsates on the insistent beats and mechanical flourishes. However, this isn’t electro-pop in the vein of Lady Gaga, actually, it’s quite the opposite. Gaga has built her career on the thumping euro-disco and euro-trash of the late 2000s, while Ke$ha’s sound is strictly American. It’s not meant to be on the cutting edge, nor was it designed to dig deeper than surface pleasure (the deepest “Animal” gets is how Ke$ha compares a lost love to feeling hungover). Although, that doesn’t mean it’s not good. If this album only had “Tik Tok” going for it, then all of Ke$ha’s haters would be right in saying that her career would end when that one song lost airplay. But “Animal” is more than that, meaning there’s not just one track that hits the blinding peak of “Tik Tok”, there are several. The heavy-footed “Take it Off” is about as good as dark-club music gets, and the harsh kiss-off “Blah Blah Blah” is instantaneously catchy, even if it does appeal to your worst senses. Albums like “Animal”, built upon raw sex appeal and dizzying heights to give it a bright commercial sheen, bring back Katy Perry’s 2008 smash “One of the Boys”. Although, the difference between “Animal” and “Boys” is that while Katy used her sexuality only to put her atop the mainstream, Ke$ha’s heart is fully invested in this debut, even when it stumbles. With so many great pop songs here, consistency wasn’t going to happen, as Ke$ha could only re-work “Tik Tok” so many times before the well ran dry. As many sassy electro-pop hits there are, an equal amount of empty filler (the buzzkill “Blind” and the half-hearted “Backstabber” being the main culprits) is found. Still, “Animal” is a considerable debut coming from an artist who’s been behind the scenes for years. She knows how to make great hits, and while her vocal talent is highly questionable, ultimately it doesn’t matter. “Animal” wasn’t designed to be deep; it was designed to be a fun, sunny record for the party-goers and club crawlers across America. Ke$ha knows what material suits her voice, and all in all, “Animal” is a rare debut that has several giddy moments, and it actually delivers on its promise. If you don’t like it, then that’s purely your fault, not hers.

Recommended Tracks in Bold:

1. Your Love is My Drug2. Tik Tok                3. Take It Off

4. Kiss and Tell                 5. Stephen                 6. Blah Blah Blah

7. Hungover                           8. Party at a Rich Dude’s House

9. Backstabber                      10. Blind                     11. Dinosaur

12. Dancing with Tears in My Eyes                       13. Boots and Boys

14. Animal

Carly Rae Jepsen-"Kiss" Review

One thing that Carly Rae Jepsen consistently has going for her is cuteness. Whether she's adoring a crush from afar, or frolicking in the backwoods with Owl City, her girlish voice and chipper demeanor make it awfully hard to hate Carly Rae Jepsen, even if her breakout single "Call Me Maybe" relied a bit too much on her cloyingly "cute" persona. Of course, looks and attitude aren't everything; especially when trying to distinguish oneself from the rest of the pop crowd, the ability to sell more than one type of image is crucial. When constructing an entire album, having more than just one type of song is essential, and while the similar aesthetic of sugar and spice runs its course throughout "Kiss", Carly Rae ends up being savvy enough to throw in subtle changes to the "Call Me Maybe" formula. Though that huge lead single favored disco strings, drums, and guitars, lead-off track "Tiny Little Bows" is pure 80s fizz, while cuts like "Tonight I'm Getting Over You", featuring dubstep rhythms and heavy synths, and closing track "Your Heart is a Muscle", recalling early-2000s balladry, are modern enough to keep "Kiss" in the new millennium. So it certainly is fresh: despite the many throwback moments to Madonna and Cyndi Lauper's early careers, "Kiss" never sounds out-dated or old-fashioned. Rather, it feels like Carly Rae Jepsen is just hauling classic techniques into the present, pulling it off with surprising amounts of efficiency, considering how little time she had to rush it into stores before "Call Me Maybe" wore out at mainstream radio. However, this same rush to create a fun, effortless pop album does hurt "Kiss" as well, mostly because the songs that don't qualify as single-material drag the album down considerably. Every pop album is bound to have some filler, but on a record as hastily thrown together as this, it's not surprising to see the songs that are aimed succinctly at the middle of the road almost veer the entire enterprise off course. The Justin Bieber-assisted "Beautiful" somehow benefits from being so lightweight, in contrast to "Guitar String/Wedding Ring", which might be the aural equivalent to cotton candy: fluffy, sweet, but disappears immediately after consumption. As a whole, it can be tiring to ingest all of "Kiss" at once, but in smaller bites, the hooks become stronger and the songs start to separate themselves from each other. Whether or not that's an indication of quality is completely up to the listener; some may appreciate how CRJ has created a record that's pure pop and frivolity, while others will be repelled because of that same reason. All said and done, though, what "Kiss" does undoubtedly succeed in is delivering a stronger sense of who Carly Rae Jepsen is as an artist. She really is here to just have some fun, no matter what the cost.


Recommended Tracks in Bold:
1. Tiny Little Bows      2. This Kiss            3. Call Me Maybe
4. Curiosity                       5. Good Time         6. More Than A Memory
7. Turn Me Up               8. Hurt So Good   9. Beautiful
10. Tonight I'm Getting Over You                   11. Guitar String/Wedding Ring
12. Your Heart is a Muscle

In Defense of Lady Gaga

So I know this is WAY late, but since I just published my review of her album "Born This Way", I think it's about time to de-bunk the accusation that "Born This Way" is a rip-off of "Express Yourself" by Madonna. First of all, I will let you know that I have listened to both songs. When I first heard "Express Yourself" I thought "Really?! This is the song that everyone keeps comparing 'Born This Way' to?!" I'm sorry, but they do NOT sound alike. I will agree they compliment each other and go off the same chord progression, but they are in different keys, different rhythms, and have different messages. True, Madonna and Gaga both share the same vocal range, which is a very good possibility for why everybody freaked out, but the fact is, they are different songs. End of story. Still don't believe me? Here's a video of the two songs played side by side:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u48oWMGZR3E

But as long as we're on the subject of plagiarism and ripping songs off, why don't we discuss artists who have ACTUALLY ripped off other singers. Let's start with Madonna. Yep, that's right, even the queen of pop ripped off a song. And guess what, she did it with "Express Yourself" (GASP!!). "Express Yourself" is a rip-off of the 1971 song "Respect Yourself", so if you're still following this: people get mad at Gaga for supposedly ripping off one of Madonna's songs which actually ripped off an earlier song. True story. But the harsh reality of pop today: EVERY artist does it. Pop is getting so generic to the point where beats, chords, and everything in between is just getting recycled over and over again. But no one gets mad at those artists, just Gaga. Here's what I mean, here are some songs that sound a lot more alike than "Born This Way" and "Express Yourself:

Song 1                                     Song 2
"Halo" by Beyonce                 "Already Gone" by Kelly Clarkson
"Right Round" by Flo Rida    "You Spin Me Round (Like a Record)" by Dead or Alive
"Good Feeling" by Flo Rida   "Levels" by Aviici
"Tik Tok" by Kesha                "California Gurls" by Katy Perry and Snoop Dogg
"Check it Out" by Will I Am  "Video Killed the Radio Star" by the Bugles

Especially "California Gurls" and "Tik Tok", they only difference between them is the lyrics. They have the exact same chord progression, beat, vocal range, and key. But did anyone get mad at Kesha or Katy Perry? Does anyone get pissed off at Flo Rida for not being original at all for ANY of his songs? Seriously, all he does is take a super popular song from the olden days, puts it in his song and then adds a rap to it. And I'm pretty sure no one was mad at Kelly Clarkson for releasing "Already Gone" which is a carbon copy of "Halo". So why did the public get so infuriated with "Born This Way" when it only sounds vaguely similar to "Express Yourself"? Get over it people, because recylcing old songs is the norm for pop music, don't get mad at Gaga just because she's already become one of the most famous people in the entire world. And she is definitely more original than Flo Rida and Katy Perry, who just use generic pop and hip-hop beats to their material over and over again until they become almost indistinguisable from one another.

Lady Gaga-"Born This Way" Review

Given the fact that "The Fame", and its accompanying "The Fame Monster", was such a blockbuster with over 15 million copies sold worldwide, it's a blockbuster that's almost impossible to follow. So impossible, that not even the very competent Lady Gaga could top it. Especially with "Bad Romance" on the setlist, Gaga was going to have to dig deep in order to equal the success of "The Fame". She goes as far back as Bruce Springsteen, Whitney Houston, Queen, and yes, even Madonna, whose influence on Gaga is so great every song on this record could be compared to the queen of pop (but "Born This Way" does NOT sound like "Express Yourself", which is a rip-off of the 1971 song "Respect Yourself" by the Staple Singers, thank you very much). As far as a musical identity goes, Gaga spends more time channeling other great pop and rock artists instead of finding her own sound. Her fame will still rely on her image, regardless of the strong content of "Born This Way".
You see, what Gaga lacks in an over-unique musical sound, she more than makes up for it in her message, or rather, messages, political views, religious beliefs etc. We all know she wasn't born with blonde hair, and we definitely know she wasn't born infused with a motorcycle, but her uncanny sense of who her audience is was definitely born a certain way in which Gaga not only condones but emphasizes. Both Pink and Christina Aguilera have done their magnificent takes, and Gaga's approach isn't all that different, but it's also unapologetic. She does not shy away from any challenge, even if she ends up failing, the unwavering effort is still there.

"Born This Way" is a perfect representation of her platform, but not its album. The first track "Marry the Night" would have been a more apt title. She emplores you to enjoy yourself, no matter your race, gender, or sexual orientation. On the sole purpose of build-your-self-esteem music, she offers more than enough to keep her little monsters satisfied. Especially on her rock-n-roll rebellion "Bad Kids", which captures the more gnarly side of Mother Monster. But it's also unfortunate that these self-help tunes are the album's backbone, the rest of the content is catchy, but simply not as good. There are only three exceptions: "Heavy Metal Lover" with the best "ooh ooh" hook on the entire album, her ode to Lüc Carl, "You and I", and the album's best track, "The Edge of Glory", which features saxophonist Clarence Clemons and is indeed her most personal song to date. So Lady Gaga could not avoid the sophomore slump, but "Born This Way" is the best of that lot. It leaves Gaga with room for improvement, so she can once again dominate the world with the fresh pop and even more in your face statements captured in the bold "Government Hooker" and firey "Americano". "Born This Way" is a slight step back, but only to prepare for a much superior offering.

Recommended Tracks in Bold:
1. Marry the Night        2. Born This Way        3. Government Hooker
4. Judas                         5. Americano                6. Hair
7. Scheiße                     8. Bloody Mary            9. Bad Kids
10. Highway Unicorn (Road to Love)               11. Heavy Metal Lover
12. Electric Chapel      13. You and I               14. The Edge of Glory

Lady Gaga-"The Fame Monster" Review

 

 

 

"The Fame" introduced Lady Gaga to the music scene in 2008, but in 2009, "The Fame Monster" is what solidifies Gaga's position as a pop icon. What makes this EP far more superior than its already outstanding musical parent is its key differences from "The Fame". The first: personality. Of course "The Fame" already had loads of it to go around, but it wasn't Gaga's personality, it was that of the mainstream. "The Fame Monster" now explores Gaga herself, her experiences, and her sentiments. But even though, she reminds us of her humanity by weaving her knowledge of life into tracks based on dance-beats rather than guitars and drums, the only exception being the moving power ballad "Speechless". The second key difference: she lets in a darkness and a vulnerability not at all present on "The Fame", and it makes this counterpart all the more compelling because of it. Whether its the gritty, club-ready "Monster" or the hypnotic "So Happy I Could Die", there's not a single track that is shuffled aside as filler. Gaga makes sure every single note goes noticed and every single beat makes its way into your mind until you are out of your seat, especially in her best-ever single "Bad Romance". If the Beyonce assisted "Telephone" won't get you moving, then the tribute to the great women of our time ("Dance in the Dark") surely will. In only 8 tracks and 34 minutes, "The Fame Monster" not only overshadows its predecessor, but defines the gargantuan size of pop in the late 2000s, as well as the entity that is Lady Gaga, far better than "The Fame" ever could have. Lady Gaga is here to stay, and she is determined to be like the monster she sings of and completely dominate the mainstream. If "The Fame Monster" proves anything, she will.

Recommended Tracks in Bold:

1. Bad Romance              2. Alejandro                        3. Monster
4. Speechless                    5. Dance in the Dark           6. Telephone
7. So Happy I Could Die8. Teeth