Thursday, December 29, 2011
New Mariah Carey "Jenny Craig" Commercial
Mariah Carey continues to inspire others to "Make It Happen" in her latest Jenny Craig commercial set to a remix of her 1991 hit.
Wednesday, December 28, 2011
Tuesday, December 27, 2011
Monday, December 26, 2011
Album Review: Angels & Airwaves "Love"
Starting with the free release of Love (Part One) in February of last year, then the "Love" movie release, & finally Love (Part Two) in November of this year, it's been a long time coming for Angels & Airwaves' Love project. Now that we have the entire musical work, is it really the most epic creation from AVA yet?Love (Part One)
1. "Et Ducit Mundum Per Luce": A musical intro is always a good thing (at least from Angels & Airwaves).
2. "The Flight Of Apollo": A decent way to start off the album, nothing more, nothing less. 4/5
3. "Young London": The latter portion of this song saves it. I just... "suit up, boys"... I can't... 4/5
4. "Shove": The highlight of the album thus far. Not just lyrically, but the heart that makes AVA special is there. 4.5/5
5. "Epic Holiday": They really start to hit their stride musically here. Not sure I can completely get behind the lyrics though (read: cheesy). 4.5/5
6. "Hallucinations": I think they were right to release this as the first single because it's really some of their strongest work on the album. 5/5
7. "The Moon-Atomic (...Fragments & Fictions)": Structurally, this song gives me the same kinds of feelings that Angels & Airwaves gave me at times in their first two albums that made me fall in love with them. 5/5
8. "Clever Love": This one is similar for me to the previous track, but has a little bit of "Epic Holiday'"s issue. 4.5/5
9. "Soul Survivor (...2012)": The only thing I don't particularly care for here is the chorus. 4.5/5
10. "Letters To God, Part II": I can't really say anything negative about this song musically, but I'm not too sure how I feel about the lyrics. 4/5
11. "Some Origins Of Fire": My favorite song on the first part of the album. This one does things to me, like anytime when AVA is at their best. 5/5
Love (Part Two)
1. "Saturday Love": Fairly strong way to initiate the second part of Love, but the lyrics continue to be a bit... distracting. 4/5
2. "Surrender": There you are, anthemic goodness! 5/5
3. "Anxiety": This was a great first taste of Love (Part Two) (when it was played in theaters with "Love"). Another highlight. 5/5
4. "My Heroine (It's Not Over)": The latter part of this song is also better (like "Young London"), but as a whole, it's pretty good. 4.5/5
5. "Moon As My Witness": Not sure if it's supposed to be, but this makes a nice interlude. 4/5
6. "Dry Your Eyes": This is a direct replica of "Everything's Magic". C'mon, guys, that was a single! 3.5/5
7. "The Revelator": This (almost) has the same appeal of "The Moon-Atomic"... not really anthemic, but effective all the same. 4.5/5
8. "One Last Thing": One last good anthem! 5/5
9. "Inertia": Another faux interlude... not quite as enjoyable. 3.5/5
10. "Behold A Pale Horse": Decent, but there's nothing too special about this one. 4/5
11. "All That We Are": Considering the company it has as an AVA album closer ("Start The Machine", "Heaven", "Some Origins Of Fire"), this one pales in comparison. The instrumental ending is great though. 4/5
If you consider the Love album as one body of work, the beginning (of Part One) & ending (of Part Two) are the weakest in general, with the middle section being where the stronger material resides. I feel like if a few disposable tracks were done away with & Love was just a single decent-sized album, it would've been better. Instead, we have a pair of albums that, at times, are lyrically (see: Part One) & musically (see: Part Two) half-baked, & I find myself struggling to really connect with them the way that I did with We Don't Need To Whisper & I-Empire. All that said, the albums are enjoyable-enough listens for an Angels & Airwaves fan.
Rating: 4/5 Stars
Melanie Fiona Performs On Verses & Flow
Melanie Fiona debuted new song "Running" after performing a medley of "4 AM" & "It Kills Me" on TV One's Verses & Flow. Melanie is gearing up for the better-not-be-pushed-back-because-I-NEED-new-music release of her sophomore album The MF Life on February 7th & if "Running" & "4 AM" are any indication of what we can expect, oo, it's gon' be gooood!
Billboard Update
^#1 Album #1 Single^
As Michael Buble's Christmas continues atop the Billboard 200 album chart, Rihanna earns her longest-leading #1 on the Hot 100 singles chart with "We Found Love", which, in its eighth week, is also the year's longest leader!
See full charts HERE
Beyonce Performs "I Wanna Be Where You Are" At Michael Jackson Tribute Concert
Seeing as how the taping of the Michael Jackson tribute concert is slowly slipping into oblivion, Beyonce has taken to her own devices to share her performance of "I Wanna Be Where You Are", a stylized, lengthier version of the same performance from her recent Live At Roseland: Elements Of 4 DVD release, from the concert by uploading it to her YouTube channel. Very nice job as always!
Rihanna "You Da One" Video Premiere
"You Da One" is the second single lifted from Rihanna's new album Talk That Talk. "We Found Love" may still be #1, but that didn't stop them from raining on its parade the same way it overshadowed "Cheers (Drink To That)". I do like the video & song though.
Leona Lewis Performs "Run" On The X Factor Finale
Leona Lewis wasted an opportunity on the finale of The X Factor to bring her new Hurt EP to the US by performing the cover that started it all "Run". Who cares though because Melanie Amaro won (she's better) & that's all that matters!
New Jennifer Hudson "Weight Watchers" Commercial
Jennifer Hudson duets with her Idol semifinals self in a cute new commercial for Weight Watchers. Her latest album I Remember Me is out now.
VH1 Divas Celebrates Soul Performance Highlights
Jennifer Hudson, Kelly Clarkson, & Mary J. Blige - Medley
Jennifer Hudson & Jessie J "Knock On Wood"
Kelly Clarkson & Ledisi "Chain Of Fools"
Mary J. Blige & Chaka Khan "Ain't Nobody"
Jennifer Hudson "Night Of Your Life"
Estelle & Travie McCoy "Wake Up Everybody"
Kelly Clarkson "What Doesn't Kill You (Stronger)"
Estelle, Erykah Badu, Marsha Ambrosius, & ?uestlove "Back To Life"
Mary J. Blige "Mr. Wrong"
Jennifer Hudson, Kelly Clarkson, Mary J. Blige, & Estelle were on hand at VH1 Divas Celebrates Soul to, well, do just that. The show was pretty good, especially the opening number with Jennifer Hudson performing "Spotlight", Mary J. Blige singing "Real Love", Kelly Clarkson belting "Since U Been Gone", & all three of them kicking things off with The Supremes' "You Keep Me Hangin' On". Other highlights for me included J-Hud performing her David Guetta collaboration for the first time, Jennifer & Jessie J singing together, & the clever pairing of MJB & Chaka Khan. The fact that they brought out guys & VH1's insistence on pimping that Sharon Jones character irked me though.
Janet Jackson "Nutrisystem" Commercial
Check out Janet Jackson as the new spokeswoman for Nutrisystem in this new commercial. I'm happy to see her looking so good!
Mary J. Blige "Mr. Wrong" Video Premiere
"Mr. Wrong" is the second (or third, depending on how you look at it) single off Mary J. Blige's new album My Life II... The Journey Continues (Part 1). I have to bring up the strange lack of featured artist Drake, as there's really no point of getting the rapper of the moment on your song if you don't put him in the video. That said, I don't think the video suffers without him as her Mr. Wrong & the song certainly doesn't for me personally.
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