Sing To Me Instead

It's a great sign when you buy a CD (yes I still do that) and you don't ever feel the need to skip a track.
I came across one of those recently. It's been quite a while since I bought an album by an artist I wasn't already invested in (largely because most of the music I've come across in recent years is pretty inane lyrically).
But Sing To Me Instead by Ben Platt is a rare exception. And it's bloody good.
I watched the Netflix series The Politician, which Ben Platt stars in, and then realised I had seen him before in Pitch Perfect.
Then a couple of clips of him performing original songs started appearing in my YouTube feed and, while that's normally a cause to be disturbed, it's led me to an album I can't put down.
I actually had to order the physical copy - I know I could have downloaded it but there's something about having an album with the lyrics printed there for you and it feels more like a piece of work than something purely digital.
What strikes me about these songs are they have so much depth, they feel personal and from what I'm led to believe they largely are very personal. That makes them exceptional.
It seems each song tells a different story. They might be special stories to him, as he co-wrote every song, but a lot of them resonate way beyond just being about one person and situation.
The opening song Bad Habit is my favourite track, and it's funny how a song comes along and can fit a situation you're in or you've been in.
Though probably the most powerful lyrics come from the song Older - and I think everyone should be able to relate to them:
"When you are younger, you'll wish you're older.
Then when you're older, you wish for time to turn around.
Don't let your wonder turn into closure
When you get older, when you get older."
Then there's this gem I think we should take note of:
"If I wait until tomorrow comes, is the waiting all I've ever done?"
There's a great mix of almost broadway style exuberance in songs like New and Share Your Address, then there are tender moments like Honest Man, Hurt Me Once and In Case You Don't Live Forever will floor most people with a soul.
Interestingly, before I discovered he'd recorded an album (released nine months ago) I came across a song called Rain which is slightly more pop-style but has that broadway element (and the film clip is ridiculous but amusing).
I wonder what he'll produce next.
If you haven't had a listen to any of his songs before, do yourself a favour. Sensational voice, songs with depth, highly recommended.

Generation i - surprise CD of 2013

I must admit that I had never entertained the thought that there could be a new album by 1927 given it has been 21 years since the last one.

But a few days ago I bought Generation i and I've hardly been able to put it down.

For those overseas who may not know what I'm talking about, 1927 is an Australian band that were massive in the late 1980s largely due to the debut album called ...ish.

They released three albums  - ...ish in 1988, The Other Side a couple of years later and a self-titled album in 1992.

I was 13 when ...ish came out and it was one of those albums you could listen to the whole way through and not skip any songs. 'That's When I Think Of You', 'If I Could', 'Compulsory Hero' and 'You'll Never Know' were the hits and they are still great songs today IMO.

The second album is pretty good as well, the title track 'The Other Side' remains my favourite 1927 song and it also has some special meaning attached to it. I remember a mate of mine in high school telling me a story about how that song reminds him of a girlfriend he had who passed away a few years later.

The third release wasn't as remarkable and only has a couple of memorable songs and that's probably a good part of the reason why the band essentially parted ways.

I recall seeing 1927 in a pub in Sydney in about 1999 or so and they kind of disappeared after that until about 2008 when a 20th anniversary tour of the ...ish album happened. Then they supported Roxette in concert and formed part of what was my ultimate high school concert given they were my two favourite bands during school.

Back to Generation i.

As a fan I was always going to buy it but I didn't really have high expectations given I hadn't really heard anything new for 20 years.

On first listen it was strange but a good experience and I had the feeling it would be a 'grower' It certainly is. I haven't stopped listening to it either in the car on the ipod/ipad.

A sign of a quality album is the number of songs you transfer onto other devices and I moved eight of the 11 songs straight over, with another to come when I get around to removing it from the CD player in the car.

The stand out is definitely 'The Story Never Ends' but I'm very much liking 'City Talks', 'Nobody Knows', 'Fright Of Your Life' and 'Where You Are'.

The shame of this album is that it is likely to be largely ignored because of the amount of crap music out there that seems to be popular and clogging the airways. Hopefully some radio picks it up.

If you aren't familiar with 1927 then YouTube is your friend. If you look up any of the songs I mentioned earlier then you won't be disappointed.

Given the surprise nature of Generation i I wouldn't mind if they don't record another album, it is almost as good as ...ish I reckon.

Mariah Carey concert

It's been a long wait, almost 15 years, but Mariah Carey finally performed shows in Australia this week and I was fortunate enough to get in early to get a ticket.
I was never going to miss the opportunity to see my favourite singer in concert again.
I can't fault the performance, she absolutely nailed every one of the songs in the show, but it has to be said that a lot has changed in 15 years.
It seems that the shows are more about her than about those who paid to see her. There's a fair bit of fussing and vanity going on on-stage - there was quite a long segment with her meeting a six year old girl called Mariah plus three dress changes and an embarrassing bit where she was going to eat Vegemite on stage as well - and all that vanity certainly wasn't apparent last time she played in Australia.
I don't care what her demands or requirements are backstage, but when she's on the stage it's all about the people who have shelled out (and tickets weren't cheap) to see her and, if I wasn't such a huge fan, I'd almost say it wasn't value for money.
Having said that her performance of Hero was absolutely stunning and almost worth the price for that alone. (I'm aware of the contradiction there by the way).
When I went to the Roxette show last year they played for two solid hours with one small break before the encore where they belted out another three or four songs.
Mariah's show went for about 90 minutes and she would have been off stage for at least 15 of those, her encore consisted of one song. (In 1998 her encore was three songs).
The set list, from memory, went something like this - Can't Take That Away, Touch My Body, Shake It Off, My All, Emotions, Always Be My Baby, Can't Let Go/Love Takes Time (medley), I'll Be There, Obsessed, Don't Forget About Us, It's Like That, Close My Eyes, Hero, We Belong Together.
I would have thought she could have included songs like Anytime You Need A Friend, Vision Of Love, Through The Rain and even her version of I Want To Know What Love Is. But that's me being picky.
So what I'd say to Mariah Carey would be - have a little more humility.
Other than that, it was great to see her live again. There are few around with a voice like hers (she even hit the high notes in Emotions) and she should use it more instead of wasting time judging singers whose careers, if they have any, will peter out after a year when they aren't flavour of the month any more.

Secret Codes and Battleships

Let me start by saying that this is, without any doubt at all, THE album of 2011.
Being a long time Darren Hayes/Savage Garden fan I was always going to get his new album Secret Codes and Battleships but, to my surprise, it blew me away. Easily the best thing he's done since Savage Garden (though he has made some very good music) and every bit as good as SG's debut album (but just below Affirmation).
Somehow Hayes has managed to find the balance between the slightly electric pop he has been dabbling in and classic SG-style pop - and it works to an extent that all 12 songs on the album proper are brilliant.
It's a rare thing that you can get a CD and not need to skip tracks, happily listening to it from track one to the end. I've done that a lot in the couple of weeks since I bought it.
Standouts? Well, I keep coming back to the opening track Taken By The Sea, closely followed by Hurt, Roses (where he seems to make reference to his 'previous' life and divorce) and Stupid Mistake.
The two songs most talked about are Black Out The Sun, which he originally wrote for Leona Lewis but thankfully kept for himself, and Bloodstained Heart. The latter is quite a stunning song.
I'd say the lead single Talk Talk Talk is probably the weakest of the 12 but I still listen to it without any problem.
Unfortunately, this album is likely to be largely ignored by the music buying public who are more interested in inane, trashy pop by the likes of Lady Gaga and her contemporaries but, take it from me, this is a cut or two or three above that. This is first class, intelligent, modern pop with a hint of a throwback to the Savage Garden days.
As I noted as the start - best album of the year, easily. Well done Darren.

Ultimate Roxette set list

Been listening to a lot of Roxette lately, since I bought tickets to their Sydney concert coming up in February.
It got me thinking about what songs I'd like to see them play, bearing in mind they will play a number of tracks from their latest album.
I know there are a few that they are very unlikely to play but this is my ultimate set list....

Joyride
Dressed For Success
Way Out
She's Got Nothing On (But The Radio)
It Must Have Been Love
Dangerous
Speak To Me
Fading Like A Flower
Listen To Your Heart
Almost Unreal
Sleeping In My Car
(Do You Get) Excited?
Dream On
Spending My Time
Crash! Boom! Bang!
How Do You Do
Only When I Dream
Milk And Toast And Honey
Come Back (Before You Leave)
After All
Love Is All (Shine Your Light On Me)

Encore
The Look
Salvation
The Sweet Hello, The Sad Goodbye
Sitting On Top Of The World

Charm School

Reviewing a new Roxette CD isn't something I expected to be doing again but here we go.
Charm School is Roxette's first new album since Room Service in 2001 (an album that had some awesome songs but was overall disappointing) and as a long time fan approached it more hopeful than anything else.
It does take a few listens, and is very much stuck in the early 90s, but I have to say I like it - so much so that I can happily listen to the entire CD straight through (though there is one track I don't particularly care for and occasionally skip it).
The catch with Charm School is I think you need to be a fan. I don't see any 18 year olds picking this up and loving it.
Unlike most Roxette albums this one seems to be fairly evenly split between Per and Marie for lead vocals.
The opening song Way Out got stuck in my head there for a while and that's a great sign. The album is also a fairly even mix of up tempo and slow songs with Per specialising on the up tempo and Marie the ballads. And that's the way it has always been, pretty much.
Top five songs on the album are as follows: Only When I Dream (a sort of Coldplay-esqe feel), Speak To Me (a rare slowish song led by Per), Way Out, Dream On (whimsical sound) and Sitting On Top Of The World (a bittersweet closer sung by Marie).
It's great to have a new bunch of Roxette songs, particularly since it looked like there would only ever be repackaged hits albums for a while. They aren't as great as the classics but, in a way, Charm School is a throw back to the late 80s-early 90s when you could have a bit of fun.

If you liked them don't be afraid to try this one out.

Signals

I've had Signals, the debut solo album by Travis Caudle for a while and it continues to grow on me.
On first listen a few tracks stood out but having now had it on good rotation in my car this weekend I've started to get right into it.
Travis is the lead singer of WA band The Woodenelves, a band I discovered by chance a few years ago and that produced a stunning album called Trips Between Worlds.
Signals isn't quite as instantly listenable but it's a bit like hearing familiar songs and having pleasant memories of them. One thing that stands out is his voice. It stood out on the Woodenelves' album as well but Travis has stripped things back a little on most of the songs on Signals and his voice resonates.

Unlike a lot of throwaway pop that is around these days, Signals is a positive yet reflective journey about life.

Take the title track for example. The following is a quote from his website regarding the song and some lyrics.

''The title track, Signals, is all about getting to a point where you get rid of all the things which don’t work in your life, understanding that by giving away some of your security you actually gain freedom.''

''It’s just something you feel, A point you reach somehow
You’ve gotta take the life you have now and throw it all away
To reinvent the wheel, send a signal somehow.
You gotta take the life you have now and throw it all away.''

The first time I listened to Signals, the overall album, I put eight of the 12 songs straight onto my ipod. That's a pretty good indication of that familiarity the album has. And they have continued to grow on me. Away from the title track I very much like Out Of Your Depth and the last song, Rise.
Travis Caudle is an artist that there's a fair chance you haven't heard of before. It's a shame if that's the case. From the Woodenelves songs, which still get a lot of airplay at my place, to this lyrically fantastic and musically subtle solo effort, Travis has given me plenty of hours of entertainment. Well worth it, too.

MJ, a year on...

It's been 12 months since Michael Jackson died - can you believe it?
I still remember arriving at work and seeing the news that he'd collapsed and the disbelief. People like him, well, that doesn't happen.
It's quite ironic that his last album was called Invincible, isn't it.
Just caught a bit of a concert from the 1997 HIStory tour featuring Stranger In Moscow and Smooth Criminal. He was unique. There'll never be a musical artist with as much raw talent as him ever again, I'd say.
A year ago I listed My top 5 Michael Jackson songs on this blog. I think the list still stands but there are a heap of great songs that didn't make the top five.

Star struck

Derby Day at Randwick is usually a pretty big day and today was no exception.
Then midway through the afternoon I was standing in the enclosure and Shannon Noll walked up near me as he waited to sing the national anthem.
Being one of my favourite singers I took the opportunity to go over and shake his hand (good handshake too, which I like).
In the end I had about a five minute chat with him while suppressing the excited fan inside me. I'd have just been happy with the quick hello! I also had a photo taken with him but I'll keep that to myself.
I have to say he impressed me. I told him about how much I loved a few of his songs in particular - notably his cover of What About Me and also the song Lift - and how the latter came around a time when I needed to hear it.
It's a shame my nephew wasn't there today because he could sing What About Me before he could talk coherently, or close to it.
Hopefully I didn't babble too much. He said there is new music coming soon from him, which is great. I'm not usually so star struck but it was great that he came across as 'normal' in person as he does in interviews.
While the work side of my day was a blur I have to say meeting Shannon was a massive highlight.
Randwick got an awesome day for once for their big race meeting and it was really a pleasant day out there. Aside from meeting and 'idol' I caught up with a couple of friends I haven't seen for a bit. So a memorable day all around.

It Is What It Is

I made reference to the fact in my previous post that I felt the new Lifehouse CD was a grower.
Well, I totally missed what is now clearly the best song on Smoke & Mirrors.
It Is What It Is contains all the emotional aspects, regarding sound and voice and lyrics, that set Lifehouse apart from most bands I've been a fan of.
Worth checking out, if you like your songs with lyrics you can understand and relate to and music that is played on real instruments.
Clearly this is a song about relationships hitting a hurdle and not knowing where to go.

I was only looking for a shortcut home
But it's complicated, so complicated
Somewhere in this city is a road I know
Where we could make it
But maybe there's no making it now

Too long we've been denying
Now we're both tired of trying
We've hit a wall and we can't get over it
Nothing to relive
It's water under the bridge
You said it. I get it.
I guess it is what it is

I was only trying to bury the pain
But I made you cry and now I can't stop the crying
Was only trying to save me but I lost you again
Now there's only lying
Wish I could say it's only me

Chorus

Here it comes ready or not
We both found out it's not how we thought
That it would be, how it would be
If the time could turn us around
What once was lost may be found
For you and me, for you and me

Chorus

I was only looking for a shortcut home
But it's complicated, so complicated

As I said I reckon Jason Wade is an awesome songwriter and he always seems to strike a chord with me, whether he is writing about love, loss or life.
I just keep coming back to it when I listen to Smoke & Mirrors, despite how much I love the album as a whole. From past experience this means it has really resonated.
Thanks for another classic, Jason!

Smoke & Mirrors

It's been a long time coming but the new Lifehouse CD Smoke & Mirrors was worth the wait.

The fifth album by the under-rated Americans, best known for their debut hit Hanging By A Moment, is another testament to Jason Wade's ability as a songwriter.

(As most people will be aware, I recently wrote about how crap music is these days so this is a welcome change from the trend).

Just like the previous album Who We Are this one takes a couple of songs to really hit its straps with Had Enough, the Chris Daughtry collaboration the first highlight.

The single release Halfway Gone isn't the greatest Lifehouse song out there but it has had this knack of sticking in my head lately.

The supreme moment on the album comes in the special song From Where You Are, released in the US as part of a safe driving campaign. It's a touching song about the time 'erased' when you lose someone through a road accident.

It deserved to be a massive hit.

The title track Smoke & Mirrors is a real grower. I like the analogy about a relationship once all the illusions are gone (the 'smoke and mirrors').

There's one song that is on the deluxe version of the album but because that wasn't available I downloaded it. The song is called Crash And Burn and it shouldn't be confused with the Savage Garden classic.

The Savage Garden song was an ode to friendship, Wade's song covers the topic from a different perspective. He sings about the comfort of knowing he has support.

Lifehouse don't disappoint despite the fact they rarely trouble the charts. And this is the fifth time they have released a listenable album and importantly one that grows with you.

It's at least as good as their fourth and better than their second album and the fact I added 10 songs from this one onto my ipod shows how much it appealed on first listen.

One Hit Wonders

Craig's list got me thinking about my favourite one hit wonders - we all have them.
They are the songs that, for the most part, are a shade on the embarrassing side and normally hail from the late 70s to the 80s.
So, while I'll probably look back in a month and wonder how I forgot certain songs, here goes:

10. Sunglasses At Night (Corey Hart)
9. Come On Eileen (Dexys Midnight Runners)
8. Tainted Love (Soft Cell)
7. I Can Dream About You (Dan Hartman)
6. No Myth (Michael Penn)
5. Walking On Sunshine (Katrina & The Waves)
4. Video Killed The Radio Star (The Buggles)
3. Believe It Or Not (Joey Scarbury)
2. Take On Me (a-ha)
1. Break My Stride (Matthew Wilder)

The decade the music died

I've been trying to come up with the number of CDs I bought last year and I can think of a total of seven.
They are Mariah Carey's Memoirs Of An Imperfect Angel, John Mayer's Battle Studies, Rascal Flatts' Unstoppable, The Script's self-titled album and U2's No Line On The Horizon. Plus two CDs by Ryan Adams that were released in 2001 and 2004.
Probably as recently as five years ago I'd buy maybe 20 CD's a year but I think it's a reflection of the lack of really great music around these days that I haven't bought much at all.
I have got the odd free one from work here and there and there has been the occasional surprise but on the whole, unless it is a new CD from an artist I already like and have a collection of, music has entered a new decade for the worst.
I'm convinced that the 2000s, the Noughties as some call them, was the decade the music died.
We've been over run by dance and hip-hop crap which all sounds the same, nonsensical lyrics and forgettable songs.
When I look at the top 50 singles, which I used to do on a regular basis, I see few songs that I like and quite a lot that I've never heard of (and when the artist has dollar signs or exclamation marks in their name that doesn't attract me to listen).
The sad thing is that some of the better music I have heard lately has been country music and that's scary because I've spent more than half my life declaring I hate it so either I'm getting old and soft or country is getting better (therefore pop/rock is getting worse).
So far in 2010 I'm looking forward to getting the new Lifehouse album Smoke & Mirrors which comes out in March. And Mariah is releasing a remix album of her last CD and given its pedestrian nature (aside from a few crackers) I don't hold out much hope for it.
By the way, I'm not saying there hasn't been great music in the 2000s because there has been a heap of it. I'm arguing that in the last few years the quality has dropped off alarmingly and if it wasn't for Pink, who continues to surprise me, pop/rock music would hardly get a look in.

Battle Studies

Pretty much since he got his highly commercial Room For Squares album out of the way, John Mayer's work can take a bit of time to grow on you.
And so it is with Battle Studies, his fourth major release (though sixth if you count the debut EP Inside Wants Out and the Try! jazz release) and one that drips with the angst of relationships.
It's not really surprising since Mayer has been known more for his extra curricular activities lately than his music.
Battle Studies is rife with songs about regret, lost love and independence, either by force or by choice.
Unlike Continuum, which was groovy even when the song was a shade depressing, Battle Studies sounds like a war. It's hard work at times but, in true Mayer style, the brilliance of his songwriting shines through (except for one track which I find very pedestrian especially for him).
The opener Heartbreak Warfare gets us off to a very good start then he drops his bundle completely on the annoying All We Ever Do Is Say Goodbye.
If one song stands out, aside from the fact it has been playing in my head all day, it is Half Of My Heart. It has life to it and is incredibly catchy, in the vein of Bigger Than My Body (sort of). Apparently it is a duet with Taylor Swift but unless he drowns her out completely she only sings two lines in the whole song. Go figure.
The slightly controversial Who Says is a solid song and Perfectly Lonely is passable.
One of the highlights for me is War Of My Life, which when I heard it the first time I immediately wanted to hear it again.
Of the final three I think Edge Of Desire stands out. If you're a Mayer fan (he's my favourite male singer) than this won't let you down, though it is not as consistent as Continuum or even Heavier Things.
Having said that he's done better than (my favourite female singer) Mariah Carey, who continues to pump out mediocre (on the whole) albums with only three or four standout tracks.

This Is It

If one thing is clear from watching This Is It it is that Michael Jackson was planning quite an extravagant show for his comeback/farewell tour.

On one hand while watching the documentary-style film of his rehearsals reminds you once again of what a great artist he was.

But on the other you can't help but look for signs that his health was failing. I couldn't find any obvious ones other than the fact that he looks thin. Then again, he has always been thin. A sick person could not perform the moves he does on stage with such fluency and precision, I can say that for sure.

But he also comes across as though he was trying to retain his youth by having this tiny body and his ageing face didn't fit it. Quite sad, really.

We meet the young dancers who have been chosen to perform with him and they are an eclectic bunch but clearly they see the opportunity as once in a lifetime. One of them says he's been searching for meaning or something to make life worthwhile and he believed that 'this is it'. How poetic.

As I said it's clear Michael had big plans for the show. And that is something that should surprise no-one - this is the guy who had 15 metre statues of himself pop up all over the world to promote his History CD.

From the cinematic Smooth Criminal, the CGI-enhanced crowd of thousands for They Don't Care About Us, the re-imagining of Thriller to the grandstanding of Earth Song, this was going to be massive.

You are able to get a glimpse of the perfectionist Michael was when it came to his music, a rare chance to see what drove him. He does a lot of saying 'God bless you' and 'I love you' to the people he is working with, describing them as his family.

There's one odd scene I will mention. The dancers appear to be taking classes in crotch-grabbing. There's something quite disturbing yet amusing about a bunch of 20-something dancers repeatedly grabbing themselves.

Overall, it's obvious this was thrown and mashed together from various rehearsals but it makes for interesting viewing. It's like having your own backstage pass to the creation of the tour. It's also hard not to want to sing along.

Another point worth making is how passionate he is about the environment and it made me wonder why he wasn't more outspoken in the last 5-10 years.

I'm not going to give the film a rating but I will say I'm glad I've seen it on the big screen.

Memoirs Of An Imperfect Angel

It's taken me a while to buy the latest Mariah Carey album, largely because I really dislike the packaging.
Sure, it's a trivial reason not to buy something but I am a stickler for continuity when it comes to additions to a series.
That out of the way, Memoirs Of An Imperfect Angel is far from a classic Mariah Carey album - but having said that it isn't bad either.
While with previous releases there are a bunch of tracks I quickly ignore this one is nice enough to listen to most of the way through. However, there aren't many highlights.
I read somewhere that when they were making this album the idea was to make a greatest hits album without having any greatest hits, if that makes sense. Unfortunately Mariah has fired her two best shots with the first two singles, Obsessed and I Want To Know What Loves Is (the only song on here that qualifies as a greatest hit being a cover of an 80s classic and one of my top 10 of all time).
In my opinion there are four songs on here that are memorable. They are HATEU, The Impossible, Angels Cry and I Want To Know What Love Is. (Just on that song, I wonder why she ditched a verse and changed the first one to be a conglomeration of the first two - the first verse ends with 'in case I need it when I'm older' then goes into a second, not 'in case I need it when I'm colder').
The rest vary from nice to bearable.
Come on, Mariah. I know you're trying really hard not to be the wholesome girl from the 90s but that's who you profess to be much of the time.
I don't think we're going to get another Mariah album where you can sit back and listen to 90 per cent of the songs and want to listen over again (like Music Box, Daydream and even Charmbracelet). It's a shame, because she's an absolute master at the power ballad and the light pop tune but still rank amateur at the R&B crap she's dishing out.

CD's revisited: 1927's ...ish

I can't believe it has been 20 years since the release of ...ish, the debut album by Aussie band 1927.
It ranks very highly among the best debut albums in modern times and I remember when I bought it (on cassette!). I was in year eight in high school and I thought it was just about the best tape I owned.
1927, sadly, didn't have as long a run as they should have. Lineup changes after this album came out pretty much killed off any chance they had, despite the fact the next two albums were fairly good (particularly The Other Side).
That's When I Think Of You is the song that thrust 1927 into the limelight but it was the delicate ballad If I Could that everyone will still remember. The video clip with the small white chapel in lush surrounds, a young couple looking on as the band plays and an old woman dancing.
There are only 10 songs on ...ish but at least eight are first class and it was one of the rare albums that warranted five singles.
The opening track To Love Me is still a good song as is the third single You'll Never Know. Then there is the haunting Compulsory Hero, which is about conscription and is still my favourite song on the album.
When I was younger I loved the song Nothing In The Universe, I'm not sure that it has the same effect now.
I do this edition of Revisited (haven't done one in a while) as ...ish has just been re-released in a 20th anniversary edition and 1927 is playing a show in Sydney in November.
It would be cool to go along and see them again.

Mariah covers a classic

Cover versions tends to be a pet hate of mine so when my favourite artist covers one of my very favourite song what am I to think?
It can only be a good thing but you always hate a classic being butchered.
Happily, Mariah Carey's version of the legendary Foreigner song I Want To Know What Love Is is a worthy cover, though I have to have the original on top as the superior version (which is almost always the case).
The song has been stripped back a bit to a piano based track and that really works for a Mariah ballad. The emotion is there, it still sends chills up my spine, and it has been very much done in her classic ballad style, building to the high pitched whistle-style at the end.
Being a Mariah Carey song it is going to go on high rotation not to mention it being one of my top 10 all time songs.
I'm looking forward to the new Mariah album, Memoirs Of An Imperfect Angel, and hoping there are more songs on there that I like than can easily skip like a couple of her recent releases.

Raising the bar

While flicking channels during dinner I couldn't help but keep an eye on the Oz top 50 countdown that was happening on one of the music channels.
The impact of Michael Jackson is still being felt. At one stage there, in the low 20s, he had four out of five songs that were played while I was watching. The likes of Bad, You Are Not Alone, Heal The World and Beat It - all these songs ranging in age from 27 years to 14 years.
I wonder, actually I hope moreso, whether these songs regaining popularity will lead to the bar being raised for music these days.
We have far too many artists taking the easy way with cheekily vulgar songs or so called R&B, too many of the likes of Lily Allen, Lady Gaga, heck they all seem the same to me.
There used to be a time that I'd almost religiously watch the music video shows on the weekend and I'd like the large majority of songs. Now I look at the charts and can count the number of songs I like with my two hands - with the exception of the last couple of weeks with the Jackson influence.
I used to buy a CD a week almost. Now I might buy one a month, or maybe average 1.5 a month.
I hate it how some artists feel they need to copy the trashy, unappealing young girls, I fear that the new Mariah Carey CD will continue the trend of her having a few good songs and a heap of throwaway songs. I read that they were trying to create a greatest hits CD with new songs and while that is a high bar to set maybe they should first look at her hit list - great songs that didn't need sex to sell them. She should be paying more attention to singers like Pink and realising you don't need to undress to have attitude. Great songs speak for themselves.

Cradlesong

A few years ago Rob Thomas released a cracking solo album called Something To Be that was so good many thought it spelled the end for Matchbox 20.
Great pop/rock songs like Lonely No More, This Is How A Heart Breaks, Ever The Same and the title track suggested Rob Thomas was about to become the next George Michael or Jimmy Barnes and break away from the group that made them famous.

With the release of Cradlesong it seems the future of Matchbox 20 is secure because Rob Thomas has produced a handy, passable follow up that will knock nobody off their feet. I'm a fairly decent fan of Matchbox 20 and Rob Thomas and I liked Cradlesong but I could quite easily put it away and go back to Something To Be.

One problem for me is that the lead single and first song Her Diamonds is pretty annoying. It is a bit catchy but I simply don't like it. Fortunately the third track Give Me The Meltdown is much more like it and leads to a few decent songs. Still Ain't Over You is in contention for best song on the album and the title track and finale Getting Late are excellent and wind up the record well.

If you're a fan you will like it but wonder why he didn't do better. It's almost like he tried to be too laid back and introspective (on some songs) whereas Something To Be had a bit more guts.

I hope it is an album that grows on me, as some do, but even if it does it is still a poor cousin to his debut solo record.

So Rob it's either back to Matchbox 20 or to the drawing board for the solo stuff mate. Cradlesong is nice and has its highlights but you can to a whole lot better than this.