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Pop Rock Nation

Author: Money Mike

  • The New Music Files 10/28/08: John Legend, Pink, Snow Patrol and More!!!

    Today marks the first “Super Tuesday” of the 4th quarter, where the labels start bringing out their super big guns. Lots going on this week, so let’s get right into it!

    John Legend–Evolver

    …In which the stately piano man gets frisky. Legend has called this album a slight departure for him, and indeed, first single Green Light sounds like nothing he’s released before. However, diehard fans who loved the smooth sounds of his first two albums needn’t fear, there’s tons of smoove balladry amid the club bangers on this album.

    Pink–Funhouse

    I love Pink. I think she’s got one of the best voices of any current pop singer, and I love the fact that she’s not afraid to have a little fun on her albums and in her videos. I must say, I’m a little underwhelmed by the single So What (which puts me in the minority, since the song hit #1), but then again I didn’t like Stupid Girls, and the rest of the album it came from, I’m Not Dead, was great.

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  • Scott Weiland’s Paralysis: Sex on Fire

    After a particularly nasty bust up with Velvet Revolver and a successful summer jaunt with the reunited Stone Temple Pilots, Scott Weiland is back with a new single and album. Paralysis is the name of the song, while the album, Happy in Galoshes, arrives on 11/25, right in time for the Christmas shopping season.

    This video is…well, it’s pretty damn sexy, no doubt about it. Having seen in person the reactions of women when Weiland walks into a room, it’s safe to say that his female contingent will dig this video while being jealous of the lovely lady who plays Weiland’s love interest. The song itself is pretty good. It rocks while also boasting a chorus sunny enough for pop radio. One thing that continues to floor me is how much Weiland sounds like David Bowie. It’s almost uncanny and it’s something I originally noticed a couple of years ago when they did that all-star version of Across the Universe on the Grammys. Even the video is a little reminiscent of Bowie-I’m thinking China Girl. Hey, there are plenty worse people to be influenced by, right?

    Check the video out for yourself and let us know what you think.

  • Infatueighties #74: Madonna’s “Crazy for You”

    You’re at the first school dance of your life. Mingling with your friends, acting like an idiot and busting out your silliest dance moves, the mood instantly changes when it’s time for the slow dance. Although you’re shy, your buddies goad you into dancing with this fat girl named Heather. As you move back and forth, she redirects your hands so they’re not around her upper back region, but almost on her butt. Somewhat horrified and an equal measure proud of yourself, you manage to complete the dance. Heather looks at you longingly, while you wish that her hot friend April had asked you to dance with her.

    I’d imagine a lot of these types of scenarios occurred throughout the country in the spring of ’85 when Crazy for You was a hit. It’s almost tailor made for those romantic clinches and slow dances. Madonna’s voice is tentative, unsure as the song pulses gently. “Two by two, their bodies become one/I see you in the smoky air/Can’t you feel the weight of my stare”. It’s practically cinematic, which I guess makes sense considering it came from a movie-the largely forgotten Vision Quest.

    This song marched up the charts in competition with one of Madge’s best known (and ultimately forgettable) hits, Material Girl. Crazy for You won the battle, peaking at #1 to Material Girl‘s#3. It remains one of Madonna’s best vocal performances to this day-the song got her nominated for her first-ever Grammy (she lost to Whitney Houston). More importantly, it was one of the first songs that got the general public thinking that maybe this chick might not be just another run of the mill flash in the pan disco singer.