I usually consider this album to be the official solo album of Miley Cyrus, the daughter of still active has-been country singer Billy Ray Cyrus. I know that she simultaneously released her first album along with Hannah Montana's soundtrack, but that was very tricky.

The reality is that she has more hits than any body can imagine under both Miley Cyrus and alias Hannah Montana, but recently people are talking more about her lifestyle, the half-nude photo, etc. and forget about her music somehow. She has a very promising music career ahead of her considering that she is still a teenager and the fact that she really pull it off.

The new album is highly-anticipated. A lot of singles were released before hands and at some point I kind of can't remember which are the new singles for the new albums since her songs seem to be always on the chart. Obviously Miley Cyrus is better than her contemporaries such as Lindsey Lohan, Hilary Duff, etc simply because Miley Cyrus has a better voice, or should I say a husky voice and that rocks. That makes her music feel more mature and worth the dime. 7 Things is a great song. I do think that Miley Cyrus is a very talented kid. Her father's last album did well maybe even because of her.

Being featured on the cover of NME, Glasvegas doesn't have to worry about their future. Forgive me for being so fatalistic, they are going to be huge. Normally I disagree with NME's prediction about the next best thing, but here Glasvegas seems to be an exception.

Geraldine was released months ago. Though it was that big, that certainly did a lot of publicity for them. The next single is Daddy's Gone, which was released in a limited edition last year. It got rave reviews last year. It was #2 on the NME's Best Tracks of 2007 list.

Daddy's Gone is definitely the single for Glasvegas. They filled the atmosphere with a grandeur which is hard to miss. It's big in the sense that it filled the air with its epic intrumental performance. James Allan's Scottish accent might be problem for me, but it does sound sexier than Jamie T's fake one.

Labels: Glasvegas, SOTD

Finally Coffey got booted this week. Now we have our top three.

I don't have a problem with Coffey. Like the judges, I think he is not country enough. Sorry bro. Next week we will see who is going to win the title and more importantly who is going to sing at the Olympics and I am still not sure about when he/she is going to sing, opening ceremony or closing ceremony? Gabe, Shawn or Melissa?

Since last week, my vote has been on Shawn. I didn't like her at first sight, but week after week she made solid progress and last night's performance was amazing. Gabe's rendition of Alan Jackson's Five O'Clock Somewhere was just OK, but somewhere it sounded just like a karaoke singing competition. Melissa sure has a powerful voice and the judges were impressed by that. But my opinion is that she always uses her high notes to conceal the pitchiness along the song and what you get is the end with an epic ending. That's not what I like.

Anyway, who's gonna win is still not clear. I hope Shawn wins in the end. The finale is just one week away.

Labels: Nashville Star

Lil Wayne might have the best rap album of the year and it sells hell a lot, but it also has the worst rap song on it as well, at least in my opinion.

I didn't critique the album in a very formal. Maybe I should have done it a long time ago. Now I officially declare that if I have to compile a list at the end of the year about my favorite albums of 2008, Lil Wayne will be on it. Frankly the album is a commercial success, but other than that, I was expecting anything more profound than NaS's new album.

So when I am talking about a commercially good album, the most important thing is that the songs should be decently nice and singles should get good position on the chart, so in generally Lil Wayne did a good job.

However I do feel that at this point Lil Wayne has the best rap single of the year and the worst rap single of the year as well. No matter how successful A Milli was, is and will be, I still hate it wholeheartedly. It has everything I hate about present rap music, repetion and pitch-changing. The repeating a milli, a milli, a milli..., just drives me nuts. The song does have some decent chorus, but the fact that it uses a pitch-modified a millie ruins everything. I am not totally against pitch-changing, but when two worst things come together, you should expect hell.

On the other hand, the best single of the year for him should be Got Money. The song also features pitch modification, but mostly due to the fact that T-Pain is on it. You can't imagine a song of T-Pain without that tecnique. Got Money is purely great. It has great chorus and Lil Wayne's rapping is near perfect. This is what hip-hop is all about.

Labels: Lil Wayne, T-Pain

This is the first single of the week of the blog and it's a very pop song, maybe too pop to be able to be considered song of the week. Actually I have another more pop song in mind, but this time I am going to stick to Mariah Carey.

The third single lifted from her album E=MC2 should be a song either totally stunning or completely disastrous, and I'll Be Lovin' U Long Time. Touch My Body wore me off and Bye Bye was good, but rather plain for Mariah Carey. I'll Be Lovin' U Long Time is it for Mariah Carey. I can't remember the last time Mariah Carey sang a song like this. Simply put, this is not the song Mariah Carey would normally like to sing. It sounds more like a track by Ashanti or other female artists, but not Mariah Carey. Maybe that's one of the reason why I like it so much.

According to Wikipedia, the song sampled the chorus of another Motown hit Stay With Me by DeBarge, which contributed as well to Ashanti's first ever solo hit Foolish, and "slightly recalls the melodic riff of the 'Hill Street Blues' theme music. I did feel the song rather retrospective upon hearing it for the first time. It feel like hearing a hit song in the 80's, but remixed again for the 21st century. The vocal is as powerful as ever, but this time a sense of soulfulness has been infused into the song and that's great for a singer, who usually excels at singing skills, but lacks certain feeling.

It also is being given a lot of promotion to the remix version of the song. T.I. is the artist who sang the rap on it. It's more like My Love of Justin Timberlake. He did a good job, but hardly the core point of the song.

Being on the chart for two weeks already, last week it was #79, what would the trajectory be?

Labels: Mariah Carey, SOTW, T.I.

With many albums released last time, the landscape of the album chart didn't shift into a fresher image. The only new entry in the top 20 tally is the British (or Scottish) avant-garde band Primal Scream, which deserved to be the album of the week and a top spot on the chart.

Their last album Riot City Blues saw Primal Scream evolved into a more... bluesy music state. Actually that album was the only one I listened more than once and I don't have much recollection about their other albums, which is a shame to admit, but I was sure that Primal Scream was hailed as an electronic alternative band. So I was surprised when Riot City Blues came out.

Anyway, if you think that their last album didn't do much justice to their music, now it's time to tune in to give it another try (I don't mean that Riot City Blues was a failure. I liked it very much.). The traditional press didn't give the album a lot of positive review, but online critics are hailing the album as another Primal Scream's triumph.

New album's first single Can't Go Back didn't fare well on the chart. Is this a mere strategic overlook? The album does have a lot of potential if more proper singles get promotion like Uptown.

Coming out in a sluggish month, Primal Scream cheered my mind a bit. It quite stood out in the present atmosphere as being upbeat and energetic.

Download

Labels: Album Of The Week, Primal Scream