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Pop Rock Nation

Author: Money Mike

  • Honors Weekend: The R&R Hall of Fame & The ACM Awards

    carrieEver tried to talk about an award show when you didn’t actually see it? Pretty difficult. eh? Well, I’m not even gonna try, instead leaving most of the discussion about this week’s ceremonies to people who either watched on TV or were actually there.

    The Rock ‘n Roll Hall of Fame induction ceremony was this past Saturday night, and among the highlights were a moving speech by Eminem as he inducted Run-DMC, and a blistering performance by honorees Metallica, who were joined by former bassist Jason Newsted for the first time in almost a decade. You can read more about the Hall of Fame ceremony here.

    Last night was the Academy of Country Music awards ceremony, and Carrie Underwood officially cemented her status as the most successful American Idol ever by winning the Entertainer of the Year award, making her only the seventh female artist to win the award since 1970 (damn!). Other big winners included Taylor Swift (for best album), Brad Paisley (for best male artist) and Rascal Flatts (for best group). Word among the blogosphere is that the ceremony was quite entertaining and arguably better than this year’s Grammys.

    The ACM awards should have a pretty big influence on the next two weeks of charts, so we’ll see how Underwood and Swift, who have already sold millions of copies of their latest efforts, fare. With that, we can officially close the book on award show season, at least until the BET Awards pop up this summer.

    You can read more about the ACM Awards here.

  • Chart Chat 4/4/09: Now That’s What I Call a #1 Album

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    A lot of folks have been complaining about the dearth of music releases so far in 2009, and I’d be inclined to agree. I can’t remember a year in recent memory when we’ve gotten to April and I’ve only bought maybe 5 new albums (Franz Ferdinand, The Fray, Lily Allen, Kelly Clarkson, Taylor Hicks). However, this week’s Billboard album charts features a cornucopia of new albums-12 new ones in the Top 20, actually. It’s the highest number of new releases to land in Billboard’s Top 20 since…well, since ever.

    Leading the pack is the 30th (!) installment of the “Now That’s What I Call Music series”, which debuts just short of 150K. It’s amazing that this series continues to sell when iTunes playlists exist. Right behind is Miley Cyrus with the soundtrack to the “Hannah Montana” movie, and R&B vixen Keri Hilson debuts at #4 with “In a Perfect World…”. Look for this one to stick around for a little while. Allegedly, it’s knee-deep in hit singles. This may end up being my 6th new release purchase of 2009.

    Other debuts in the Top 20 include Papa Roach (yes, they’re still around), at #8, untalented Dipset-affiliated rapper Jim Jones at #9, coountry singer Martina McBride at #10, bone-crunching metal outfit Mastodon at #11, future one-hit wonders Blue October at #13, faded Houston MC Slim Thug at #15, songwriter/half of Big & Rich John Rich at #16, Eric Church (I don’t know who he is either) at #17, and Yanni at #20. Yes, Yanni is still making music.

    The glut of debuts means that there are some pretty prestigious drops on the chart. Taylor Swift’s “Fearless” falls out of the Top 10 for the first time since its’ release last fall. Static-X, however, gets the award for biggest drop on the chart, sliding 16-69 with their latest album.

    In a chart like this, it’s weird for an older album to actually move up considerably, but Adele’s “19” does. The Grammy winner for Best New Artist and her Gold album shoots from 41-23 on this week’s chart.

    The holdovers in the Top Ten include the “Twilight” soundtrack, which holds at #3 thanks to the recent DVD release of the film, Kelly Clarkson, who slides to #5 after two weeks at #1, U2 slides 2-6, while Lady GaGa drops two spots to #7.

    Speaking of Lady GaGa, she becomes the first artist in 10 years (since Christina Aguilera) to hit #1 with her first two single releases. again showing that the American music buying public has no taste whatsoever. “Poker Face” climbs to #1, unseating Flo Rida’s “Right Round” after 6 weeks on top. There are two new songs in the Top 10. Miley Cyrus climbs 11-8 with the appropriately titled “The Climb”, while Ciara shoots up 17 spots to #10 with “Love Sex Magic”, a collaboration with Justin Timberlake. With T.I.’s “Dead & Gone” at #4 this week, JT joins GaGa as artists with two songs each in the Top 10. Collaborating with Timberlake seems to be kind of a golden ticket these days, as Timbaland, Madonna, 50 Cent, T.I. and now Ciara have all scored Top 10 hits featuring the former ‘NSync-er.

    Next week’s #1 single may be lurking just inside the Top 40. Black Eyed Peas’ “Boom Boom Pow” inches in at #39, but it’s digital release will catapult it into, at the very least, next week’s Top 10 and it just may unseat GaGa at the top of the chart, although the fact that Lady G performed on “American Idol” last week could keep her at the top. Anyway, here’s this week’s Top 20 album charts. Watch out next week, when Keith Urban, Prince, Flo Rida, Bow Wow and a passel of others debut in the Top 20 of the charts, leading to another round of mega-drops.

    Top 20 Albums

    01-“Now That’s What I Call Music 30”-Various Artists

    02-“Hannah Montana Movie Soundtrack”-Miley Cyrus/Various Artists

    03-“Twilight Soundtrack”-Various Artists

    04-“In a Perfect World…”-Keri Hilson

    05-“All I Ever Wanted” Kelly Clarkson

    06-“No Line on the Horizon”-U2

    07-“The Fame”-Lady GaGa

    08-“Metamorphosis”-Papa Roach

    09-“Pray IV Reign”-Jim Jones

    10-“Shine”-Martina McBride

    11-“Crack the Skye”-Mastodon

    12-“Fearless”-Taylor Swift

    13-“Approaching Normal”-Blue October

    14-“Love vs. Money” The-Dream

    15-“Boss of All Bosses”-Slim Thug

    16-“Son of a Preacher Man”-John Rich

    17-“Carolina”-Eric Church

    18-“Dark Horse”-Nickelback

    19-“Hazards of Love”-The Decemberists

    20-“Voices”-Yanni

  • In Defense of…Boston??

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    Hey folks. If you remember a couple of weeks back, my buddy Pat posted a piece about why he kinda sorta digs Nickelback (and I second that emotion). Now, he’s back, defending the indefensible once again. While everyone can get behind Boston’s smash debut and its’ hit single “More Than a Feeling”, it’s a bit more difficult to come out in support of the band’s third album, “Third Stage”. For those of you having trouble remembering the album, it’s the one with “Amanda” on it. Unfortunately (for Pat, I guess), I can’t get behind this one, since I remember “Amanda” as being perhaps one of the worst power ballads of the decade. Ah well, we’ll always have “More Than a Feeling”. And hey, different strokes for different folks, right?

    Take it away Pat…

    One of the joys of the music website Pandora is not only the ability to listen to your favorite types of music, but the chance to discover, or in my case rediscover, songs that you’re not as familiar with.

    In case you’re not a Pandora fan, the process is simple: type in the name of a band or singer, and the site will pull music from that genre into your own little commercial-free radio station. While you’ll usually hear music you’re familiar with, there’s a good chance you’re going to discover something new and exciting for your listening pleasure.

    Such was the case when I decided to build a station around the band Boston. Any classic rock aficionado most likely has Boston’s hugely recognizable debut album, appropriately titled “Boston”, in their music collection. If you’re a big fan of the band, you most likely have their extremely successful follow-up, “Don’t Look Back”, in there as well, but that could be where your Boston tunes end. It would be a shame, because as I’ve discovered, Boston’s third album, titled “Third Stage”, belongs in there as well.

    It’s easy to think why “Third Stage” wouldn’t sound recognizable. “Third Stage” was released in 1986, a whopping 8 years after “Don’t Look Back” and 10 after “Boston”. Many reasons plagued the long delayed album: band member changes, lawsuits, and record label shifts. But at the time when other 70s rock bands such as Heart and Fleetwood Mac were finding new success in the pop-power ballad movement of the time, Boston sounds as if it never missed a beat from its mid-70s success. It’s no surprise to learn that Boston founder Tom Scholz worked for years through all the difficulty the band was experiencing to produce this album.

    And what an album it is. Starting off with the immediate Boston classic “Amanda” and following with another Boston staple, “Get Ready,” the album shows a continual growth and confidence from its earlier work. “The Launch” and “Cool the Engines” fire off a journey of looking ahead, not worrying about the difficulties that have plagued your past. They show their tender side with “To Be a Man” and “Can’tcha Say (You Believe in Me)” before closing out with “Hollyann,” a song that bookends the album with the opener “Amanda.” As “Amanda” seems to be all about looking forward, “Hollyann” is a quiet reflection of one’s past with that special someone.

    It wasn’t until listening to “Third Stage” that I really felt sadness about lead singer Brad Delp’s suicide. While a success, this album didn’t achieve near the popularity of the band’s previous two. Regardless, even though it’s 23 years later, it is worth a listen.