Go Radio's first album came out only a year ago and while there were moments of greatness, it fell flat. Last month the band released their sophomore album, Close the Distance. The album drops most of the band's earlier pop-punk influences and a new softer sound. The album sounds like if Augustana were good.
This album doesn't have a bad song on it and while towards the second half of the disc tends to blend together, the first six songs are fantastic.
From the first piano-tinged second single "Go to Hell" to the title track and best song on the record.
One thing that have always made Go Radio such a promising young band is frontman Jason Lancaster's beautiful, emotive vocals. They truly shine on songs like "Collide," "Over Me" and "I Won't Lie." Lancaster really knows how to tug on the heartstrings.
If Go Radio continue making music like this then maybe they'll have some bigger success.
Pop-rocker P!nk has always made phenomenal albums. While her last album Funhouse wasn't as good as her best album I'm Not Dead it was still amazing. However when she had a few shitty songs on her first greatest hits album I got worried. However P!nk returns to form on her sixth studio album The Truth About Love. This album is P!nk's best album. From the fast-paced rockers like "Slut Like You" and "Walk of Shame" to gorgeous ballads like "Beam Me Up," P!nk knows how to please.
P!nk albums are always known for their emotions. The second single "Try" is a hauntingly beautiful ballad about the falling out of love. P!nk clearly wants to try to make the relationship work but her lover isn't as dedicated as she is. Another emotional song is also the best song on the album, "How Come You're Not Here." The song is an angsty dance-rocker and P!nk shows her sassy lyricism. "I heard a rumour, about another girl/Sure she's cute, but she hides nuts like a squirrel/That's all cool/I'll wait right here/Til you bet bored and she gets carded for beer," P!nk sings sarcastically. This song is sure to be a live favorite and future single.
P!nk also collaborates on this album, something she hasn't done since her punky third album Try This. "True Love" which features Lily Rose Cooper aka Lily Allen. The song sounds like something off of Cooper's first album. The two ladies together form a sassy pair and this song is amazing. Another great duet on the album is "Give Me Just a Reason" which features fun. frontman Nate Ruess. The song sounds like a fun. song and that's a great song. The ballad about a breakup from both sides of the relationship is sure to be a future hit for P!nk. Lastly is Eminem on the hip-hop rocker "Here Comes the Weekend." The song is one of the best while I've always found Em's raps to be overrated he truly adds to the amazingness of this song.
The only song on the album that is a little lackluster is the repetitive title track. It's not bad, but it's not as good as the other songs.
P!nk has released the best pop album of the year and her greatest album ever. This only goes to show that P!nk is a living legend and isn't going anywhere for a long time.
Nightwish's catchy brand of symphonic power metal has had listeners headbanging for fifteen years. The band started with Tarja Turunen performing her operatic vocals as co-vocalist with Tuomas Holopainen who also plays keyboards and writes most of the lyrics. In 2005 however Turunen was essentially kicked out of the band. Turunen claimed that she was not informed of her dismissal before learning about it with the rest of the world. Then in 2007 the band released their first album with their new vocalist Anette Olzon. The album was called Dark Passion Play. Some fans were not happy since Olzon had a very different vocal style than Turunen. This blogger firmly believes that Olzon was an improvement and that her material with Nightwish was the best they've had. This year Nightwish released their seventh album Imaginaerum, the album was set to go along with a film based on the songs on the record. The band kicked off their tour and everything was fine and then last week Olzon was not able to perform due to her being ill. The band played their scheduled show with opening act, Kamelot's backing vocalist Elize Ryd and Alissa White-Gluz from The Agonist filling in on vocals. Then the band announced that Olzon and the band had parted ways in a press release on their website. "Another chapter of the Nightwish story has ended today. Nightwish and Anette Olzon have decided to part company, in mutual understanding, for the good of all parties involved.
In recent times it has become increasingly obvious that the direction and the needs of the band were in conflict, and this has led to a division from which we cannot recover.
Nightwish has no intention of cancelling any upcoming shows, and as a result we have decided to bring in a substitute vocalist starting in Seattle 1.10.2012. Her name is Floor Jansen from The Netherlands (ex-After Forever, ReVamp), and she has graciously stepped in to help us complete the Imaginaerum world tour.
We are all strongly committed to this journey, this vehicle of spirit, and we are sure that this will lead to a brighter future for everyone. We forever remain excited about the adventures to come, and we are extremely proud of the two beautiful albums and the wonderful shows we shared together.
- NIGHTWISH & Anette Olzon" The band will complete the tour with singer Floor Jansen filling in on vocals. It's hard to respect Nightwish as it seems that they just toss their lead vocalists aside and replace them like it's nothing. One can't help but feel bad for Olzon. She gets stick and then her band just replace her, she can't be happy right now. Olzon has been working on a solo album since before she left Nightwish so it's clear that she can still achieve solo success like Turunen did.
Nelly Furtado's hip hop/dance/R&B masterpiece Loose was released six years ago and in that time she recorded a Spanish album and released a greatest hits album with two lame new songs. Furtado is back with her new album The Spirit Indestructible. While Loose was produced almost entirely by Timbaland, Timbo doesn't make a single appearance on this record. Spirit was produced by Darkchild and Salaam Remi.
While the album does have some weak points, altogether it's still an amazing record. Songs like "Circles" and "The Most Beautiful Thing" which features Sara Tavares, a Portuguese singer, are simply weird and "Miracles" is pretty boring but the other songs on the album more than make up for these shortcomings. Songs like "Big Hoops (Bigger the Better)," "Waiting For The Night" and the title track are all great. "Bucket List" is an adorable song about wanting to fall in love. Another amazing song is the third single "Parking Lot." The song is a banger and recalls Furtado's teenage years hanging out in parkings lots. "High Life" which features Ace Primo is a hip hop song about living the high life. Another great song is "Something" which features Nas. The best song on this album would have to be "Believers (Arab Spring)." The pop-rock anthem about trying to spread love to the world sounds like Alanis Morrisette covering Lacuna Coil. The song is different from anything Furtado has done and should definitely be a single. It would expose Furtado to a whole new audience. All in all this album is a huge step forward for Furtado, hopefully it doesn't take her a few more missteps before her next amazing album.
Pop star Ke$ha has always been known for her party jams. Her debut album, Animal and her EP Cannibal featured dance-pop party anthems about living it up and having a good time. She peppered in a few gorgeous ballads and made some of the best pop albums of 2010. So when Ke$ha released her first single off of her upcoming second album, Warrior, expectations were high.
"Die Young" is an electropop song about partying, because life is short. While it's not as attention grabbing as other Ke$ha songs, it does have a nice message. The only issue with the song is that it's not as catchy as her other songs. Songs like "Cannibal" and "Party at a Rich Dude's House" have the power of being addicting. Most of her older songs get stuck in your head and play over and over, "Die Young" doesn't do that.
The song isn't a good choice for a first single. While it does move outside of the box for a Ke$ha single, it isn't really going to gain her new album any buzz.
Ke$ha said that her new album would have a more rock influence and yet this single has no rock sound at all. It's more or less the same Ke$ha.
While "Die Young" may have been a poor first single choice, it is still a decent pop tune. The song, co written with Fun. front man Nate Ruess, is one of the first Ke$ha songs to use very little Auto-Tune. While not the most gifted vocalist, Ke$ha sounds the best on this song that she's sounded in a while. The song mixes in acoustic guitar with the electropop sound to make an original sound. While not the most amazing song of the year "Die Young" does show that Ke$ha has grown a little and maybe Warrior will be a great album.
