Lisa Marie Presley will always be known more for being the ex-wife of Michael Jackson and Nicholas Cage and the only daughter of rock icon Elvis Presley than for her singing career. After releasing two solid albums in the pop-rock vein Presley has returned with her third album, Storm & Grace. The album is full of roots rock slow jams that are sure to be the soundtrack to any rainy day. While Presley's new album is very good, it won't do anything to get her famous for her music.
Her last album Now What, which came out seven years ago was a pop-rock masterpiece. The album featured sass and good lyrics and a few faster paced songs. This album doesn't have any rock influence at all. Highlights include the title track, a gorgeous love song to her husband, guitarist Michael Lockwood and "Un-Break." This song is a retrospective song about her past. "I got run over by my own parade," Presley sings in the chorus.
The album doesn't have a bad song but it also doesn't have too many songs that stand out from the rest and when the album is 11 to 15 songs long depend on whether you have the deluxe or regular edition, it gets to be a little bit too much. This album should wet the appetites of fans and hopefully lead to a more stellar fourth record. Below is a video of the song, "You Ain't Seen Nothin Yet," which serves as the first single.
Hard-rock female quartet Cherri Bomb have released their debut full-length album,This is the End of Control . The album doesn't have a bad song on it but only a few of the songs are unforgettable. The opening track "Take This Now" is only 48 seconds long but it gets the listener excited before moving into "Better This Way" one of the album's best songs. "I'll admit I miss your face, but it's better this way. Better this way." The song is a hard rocker about a breakup. This subject matter may be a little too heavy for a group of 13-16-year-olds to know about but they sing about it with ease. The album continues into the best song and first single "Raw. Real." The song mixes punk attitude with alternative rock emotion and hard rock punch. The song is everything that Cherri Bomb stand for. The first three songs are fantastic. While the rest of the songs like the rockers "Shake The Ground," "Let It Go," and "Paper Doll" are all addictive, they don't have the same punch that the first songs have. Even the ballad "Heart is a Hole" is catchy. The album is solid but it isn't as great as it could have been. The songs sometimes tend to sound the same and have the same attitude and style of music. The album is good but hopefully their next album will be great. Below is a video of the song "Raw. Real."
Rapper Rye Rye has finally released her debut album, Go! Pop! Bang! The album proves that Rye Rye can roll with other female rappers. The songs are something between Nicki Minaj's crazy pop-rap and M.I.A.'s hipster, quirky style. From dance music tracks like "Hotter," "Dance" and "DNA" which features weird dance-rocker Porcelain Black. These songs and more are highlights.
The three best songs are the two singles "Boom Boom" and "Never Will Be Mine" featuring Robyn and the M.I.A. assisted "Better Than You."
"Boom Boom" is the album's third official single and features a sample of the 1999 hit "Boom, Boom, Boom, Boom" by Vengaboys. the song is a love song with very sexual lyrics. "You be Donald, I'll be Daisy. Gotta put in work, can't be lazy." Rye Rye raps over the club inspired beat. Even when her music is cheesy it's fun and irresistible.
"Never Will Be Mine" samples Robyn's hit "Be Mine!," taking the chorus and adding it to make a touching breakup song that doesn't seem to go with the rest of the album. It shows another side of Rye Rye, that she has feelings besides happy and horny. On the physical copy of the album the original version is missing in favor of a more dubstep inspired remix. Yet on the iTunes edition of the record, the original version is a bonus track. While the remix isn't as beautiful or as well put together as the original, it's still a decent song.
"Better Than You" features the song "Anything You Can Do" from the musical Annie Get Your Gun. The hip-hop song features M.I.A. and features the two MCs bragging about how great they are.
The only bad song on the record is "Crazy Bitch" which features Akon. The song features an acoustic hip-hop beat with lyrics about how crazy they are together. Who knows why people enlist Akon to do anything but this song is the only song that isn't great.
All in all Rye Rye will eventually become huge. There is no doubt in this blogger's mind about that. Get her new album and check it out for yourself. Below is her video for "Boom Boom."
Karmin have released their debut "studio album" which is actually only a seven song EP called Hello. The duo became big with their Youtube covers and their single "Crash Your Party" which for no reason at all is left off of their first proper release. That single is better than anything off of their first album and that is sad. The songs on this record aren't really bad songs, they're just not memorable. The first single "Brokenhearted" sounds like a Jessie J ripoff and the best song of the album, the title track is just repetitive enough to get stuck in your head.
The duo, which is made up of Amy Heidemann and Nick Noonan who also happen to be engaged have a good sound, the only issue is Heidemann and her rapping...it needs to stop or at least take a backseat to her and Noonan's harmonies. She tries to pull a Nicki Minaj by kind of rapping and then screaming, but you are not Nicki Minaj.
The subject matter is also silly sounding. Songs like "Too Many Fish" and "I'm Just Sayin" are just stupid. The only redeeming quality of this group is that they sound good singing together and they make catchy music. And the fact that Nick Noonan is kind of cute, too cute. He seems kind of gay to be honest. Somebody should tell Heidemann or else she'll be "Brokenhearted." So Karmin, please stop making boring, recycled music and please put a little more effort into your record next time. Oh and seven songs is not an album.
Below is the video for "Brokenhearted."
Metalcore kings and queen In This Moment have announced their fourth studio record entitled Blood. The album will be released on August 14. The first video has been shot and the band put on facebook that it is "Insane!" No word yet on when the single will be released.
Progressive Metal band Periphery announed today that their second studio album will be released July 3. No title, single or any details have been announced but this is still exciting news.
Metal fans just got two releases that will make the summer hotter than ever.
Below are videos for "The Gun Show" by In This Moment and "Jetpacks Was Yes!" by Periphery.
Hard rock band Otherwise have released their official first record called True Love Never Dies. Everything from the title to the lyrics sound cheesy but the band make a record that works. Lead singer Adrian Patrick sings with such passion that it's hard to not love the album. The band first found fame when Patrick was featured on In This Moment's stellar single, "The Promise." Some of the best songs on the record are "Die For You" and a cover of Adele's "Rolling in the Deep." The later which works in the chorus of Moby's hit "Natural Blues" during the second half of the song.This album are sure to have metal purists disgusted but if you love cheesy hard rock then certainly check out this band and their album. Below is a video for the band's first single "Soldiers."
Final exam week is not a fun time. But in that time No Doubt and Cassadee Pope from Hey Monday announced their new releases. No Doubt's six studio record will be in Stores September 25th and Cassadee Pope's first solo EP which is self titled will be out on May 22nd. Below is a video of No Doubt from the studio recording an amazing sounding dancehall inspired track "Push & Shove."
