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Pop Rock Nation

Author: Pop Rock Nation

  • Usher Takes A Stand

    On May 27, 2008, Usher released his follow up to the very successful Confessions. Though I’ve only listened to the album a few times, I don’t think Here I Stand will have the type of success as his past work. But then again, not too many albums are certified diamond these days. But what Here I Stand does, is give you an idea at how much Usher, who we first saw when he was a very young teenager, has grown up.

    Money Mike, the man who runs this fine website, thinks that Usher comes off as uppity and jerk-like in his interviews. I see it a bit differently. I won’t deny that he comes off a little high and mighty, but the thing that stands out to me most is his immaturity. He’s a momma’s boy and because of how he came into this business, didn’t seem to understand how to handle his fame and what came with his fame, especially when it came to the ladies. He was linked with several women, most famously Chili from TLC, and every relationship seemingly ended negatively.

    In a recent interview with Entertainment Weekly, some things came to light, at least to me. This guy has been in the game so long, and has a few mentors who he was with when he was very impressionable. One of them is Mr. Sean John himself, more famously known as Diddy.

    “It was terror,” recalls Usher. Indeed, even keeping up with the omnipresent party that Diddy is today would send the sturdiest of us to an early grave – but back in the ’90s? It was an entirely different story. “I was exposed to the lifestyle of a young, fly A&R who was the man in New York. He took me to clubs. I was around women. It was like swagger camp. I said, So this is what I do when I finally make it…. But you have to be very careful about what you allow your kids to be around or see. I’m a product of the environment.”

    Usher doesn’t necessarily blame the situation for his relationship issues, but he doesn’t hesitate to insinuate that his environment definitely added to possible problems. I don’t know about you, but if I was running the city with Diddy as a teenager, my view on real life would be skewed too. Hell, if I was running with Diddy now, I might implode.

    Now 29, Usher has grown up a bit. Married and with baby Ush by his side, the new album grows up with him. It’s not going to be the type of album that has hit after hit after hit. Confessions had great buzz with first single Yeah! automatically becoming everyone’s favorite party hit, even before the album came out. Love In The Club is a really good single, but it doesn’t set you up for what the rest of the album is about. You’ll hear a matured Usher, talking about love, relationships, and giving his child what his father didn’t give him. And while I haven’t given it enough of a listen to really give an informed opinion about the entire body of work, I respect that as a singer, his material is growing with him.

    Will this album be the hit the last one was? Not likely. But he gets that his music should grow with his life. It looks like the momma’s boy has become a man.

  • Jessica Simpson Called: She Wants You To "Come On Over"


    I’m not the world’s biggest country music fan, but I certainly don’t hate the genre. A quick poke through my CD collection will reveal not only the requisite Johnny Cash, but also Garth Brooks, Kenny Chesney, Brad Paisley, Tim McGraw and a handful of others. I’m no *expert*, but there’s stuff I like.

    I’m definitely not the world’s biggest Jessica Simpson fan, but I don’t altogether dislike the woman. Despite the fact that she absolutely ruined two great pop songs (Berlin’s “Take My Breath Away” and Robbie Williams’ “Angels”), I think she’s a talented singer who oversings to the point of wretched excess. I also don’t think she has much to say musically or lyrically, so I’ve been fairly comfortable ignoring her (well, not totally ignoring her…there were a handful of songs on her last album that I really liked).

    Anyhoo, speaking *of* that last album, “A Public Affair”. Just after it seemed Jess had finally established herself as a star, the album bricked. HARD. It was certified Gold, but to date has only sold about 299,000 copies. So…her handlers (including her super-skeeve of a dad) have brought out the Texas in her and her next album is going to be a country record. Does Jessica have what it takes to sit amongst the likes of Carrie Underwood on country radio? Listen for yourself.

    Aside from the fact that she borrowed the song’s title from the biggest-selling country album of all time (hi, Shania!), there’s nothing remarkable about this song to my ears. Her vocal is super dialed-down, which is a good thing, but the song itself is repetitive to the point of annoyance, the lyrics are cloying (which would be one thing coming from an actual country artist as opposed to a pop artist whose gone country because she’ll sell more records that way), and the song just has no personality. Any thoughts from the audience?

  • Introducing the Falsettometer: Part 1: Philip Bailey


    Welcome to The Falsettometer, where we will look at Great Moments in Falsetto History. Please keep all glass objects out of reach when reading this column or playing one of the videos embedded in a falsettometer column.

    Of course, we have to begin with one of the All Time Falsetto Greats. Someone whose voice can hit notes so high, 5 year old boys look at one another in awe and ask “How did he do that?”

    At any rate, here are the three things that come to mind whenever I think of Earth, Wind & Fire:

    1) No one must have been getting paid in that band, because there were about 64 members. Anyone remember seeing them on Merv Griffin or Mike Douglas back in the day? There were literal *tiers* of members.

    2) Maurice White has one of pop music’s all-time biggest foreheads. Put him and Peabo Bryson together and you basically get a 10-foot tall skull.

    3) Philip Bailey’s voice was so high, he didn’t even sound like a girl. He sounded *unnatural*. Whether the song was “Can’t Hide Love” (“bet-TAH!!”), “September” (“bow-de-ow-de-ow-de-ah!!” or his own “Easy Lover” (if you don’t love “Easy Lover”, something is wrong with you), there was no doubt who was singing. I would say the man’s testicles up and ran away at some point during the Seventies, but Mr. Bailey has *several* kids. God bless him.

    Anyway, EW&F were one of the best at synthesizing pop and funk back in the day (although I’ll admit that they were a bit sanitized for my tastes-even Lionel Richie and The Commodores were grimier than EW&F), but their calling card was ballads. The combo of Maurice White’s ethereal growl and Philip’s falsetto was a hell of a two-pronged attack. And when it comes to slow jams, there are very few better than “Reasons”, which is all Philip. Enjoy, and stay tuned for future editions of The Falsettometer!!