music — Page 2

Last week I purchased a copy of Britney Spears’ new album Blackout. I really wasn’t thrilled to get it, but I’ve been a fan for so long I felt rather obligated. Don’t get me wrong, I’m not a super-fan of hers like I am of Christian Slater, nor am I crazy for her like Chris Crocker a.k.a. Britney Boy is.

My initial impression of the album was that it was alright. All the songs are upbeat dance tracks, no ballads. It seemed as though there was something missing though. For a lack of a better way to explain it, the album felt empty. Cookie cutter if you will. Not what you’d expect from the icon who is Britney Spears. But considering all the publicity surrounding her lately it wasn’t very surprising. I’m not calling the album bad. In fact it is growing on me quite rapidly. The music itself is pretty catchy. The melodies of a lot of the songs are rather monotone and more talk-singing than actual singing. That’s not to say that she doesn’t sing in a lot of the songs. In fact, it seems that the singing is either very monotone or very harmonized either with backup singers or by multiple tracks of Britney singing*. The themes of the songs seem to revolve around sex, which is only mildly irritating and, again, isn’t surprising.

Perhaps the reason I felt the album was lacking something was because at first I had a difficult time visualizing the put together, sexy Britney of the past. Instead I had the mental image in my head of her dispassionate VMA performance, along with the knowledge of all the bad publicity she has received lately. And not just run of the mill bad, but the “you aren’t fit to be alone with your children” bad. And if the lyrics of your song are going to be “guess I canâ€™t see the harm in working and being a mama and with a kid on my arm” … I don’t know, it just rubs the wrong way.

After listening to the album a few times, the songs started growing on me and the image of Bad Britney slowly started to fade. I’ve taken quite a liking to “Break the Ice” (track #4) and “Freak Show” (track #7), which both have super harmonized choruses. Something about “Freak Show” reminds me of “She Bangs” (the Ricky Martin version, not the William Hung version). And the chorus of “Break the Ice” has a beautiful sound, which pairs uniquely with the sex-themed upbeat tempo. Tracks 3, 6, 10 & 11 are starting to grow on me also. Although I don’t care for a couple of the tracks, they are still listenable, which says a lot considering music these days (does that make me sound old?).

I think Blackout is a good album. I’m glad that I purchased it and will probably listen to it a lot. If Britney had kept a clean image in these past few months I think the album would have sold much more copies. After all, pop music is image based. The image doesn’t have to be clean, just appealing in some way.

*I’m torn on the whole multiple track thing. For starters, she is a solo artist. Backup singers to help carry a melody are one thing, but if you’re going to sound like a group, go be in a group. It also makes performing live a bit awkward sounding. Don’t get me wrong, it sounds pretty cool on the CD, but at the same time it makes it really hard to sing along to. Which part am I supposed to sing along to while in the car? I can’t sing them all. Maybe I could rig up my computer to make my own multitrack recording of song #4. That would be lots o fun.

And as a side note to my side note, my dad recently gave me a little history lesson on music where I learned about the history of 8-tracks. Apparently the multitrack recording phenomenon started back in the day because it was too expensive to pay multiple singers. Somewhere down the line of our overpriced music industry, it must have been decided that eight of a good thing are better than one.

Is it just me, or has anyone else been irritated by music lately?

First of all, I’m annoyed by all the spelling that goes on. Apparently Fergie did too many drugs and now thinks singing is synomymous with spelling. On her album The Dutchess she (or a background singer) ~~sings~~ spells F-E-R-G-I-E (2 songs), T-A-S-T-E-Y, D-E-L-I-C-I-O-U-S, and G-L-A-M-O-R-O-U-S. Add a melody to it and it takes so long to spell these ridiculously large words that by the time she’s done I have no idea what she just said. That’s probably why everything is spelled 20 times in a row. It’s the only way to figure out what the hell they’re saying. I’d like to include V.I.P. in the above referenced lyrics, but since it’s technically an acronym I don’t think I can, although I really want to.

I know she’s not the first to do it. Famous artists like Elvis, Travis Tritt, Aretha Franklin, and Tammy Wynette are all guilty, but Fergie is on the radio all the time, so that makes her the most annoying to me. And speaking of annoying Gwen Stefani comes to mind. I love No Doubt. They had such creative lyrics. Now Gwen Stefani ~~sings~~ spells B-A-N-A-N-A-S for a living. It’s a crying shame, a C-R-Y-I-N-G shame.

Now don’t get me wrong, I love a good cover (Rascal Flat’s Life is a Highway, Lenny Kravitz’ American Woman, Black Crows’ Hard to Handle, Metallica’s Turn the Page, RHCP’s Love Rollercoaster and Train’s Ramble On all come to mind, I could go on and on), but in order to make a good remake shouldn’t the song have been good to begin with? Shouldn’t it be a song people want to hear again? Case in point: She’s Like the Wind by Lumindee (who?). Perhaps the goal is to make the cover better than the original, in which choosing a song by Patrick Swayze is probably a fairly safe bet. But come on. She’s like the wind through my trees [insert rap here]? No good. No G-O-O-D. And Quietdrive just had to remake Time After Time. The song wouldn’t be so bad but it makes me think of Romy and Michelle’s High School Reunion and that’s bad. B-A-D. These people are making ~~Puff Daddy~~ ~~Puffy~~ ~~P. Diddy~~ Diddy look good.

Also, there should be a limit on the number of times a song can be remade. I understand how it worked back in the ’40s & ’50s. Someone would write a song, it would be done by a billion artists, and whoever did it the best was the most successful. That’s how it was, that’s just the way it worked. Now new artists use old songs to get their foot in the door with fans. But there is absolutely no reason for Joni Mitchell’s Big Yellow Taxi to have been remade 11+ times.

It seems every time I’ve turned on the radio in the last couple of weeks, one of two songs has been playing. The Way I Live by Baby Boy Da Prince (who?), or Rihanna’s Umbrella. Umbrella, ella, ella, ey, ey, ey, ey, ey. It’s irritating. I think of Michelle’s Ella, then I immediately hope she never has to suffer through the song.

To end on a happy note, I can’t wait for the new Maroon5 CD to come out (It Won’t Be Soon Before Long). Songs About Jane is one of my top five favorite albums so hopefully the next one will top it.

…and now I feel better.