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Pop Rock Nation

Category: People

all-about-musicians-and-the-people-who-help-them-make-music

  • First Listen: The Foo Fighters’ “Wheels”

    Hard to believe it’s been almost fifteen years since that guy who played drums in Nirvana became a rock star himself, isn’t it? The Foo Fighters have built up a pretty decent following (not to mention a slew of hit albums and a few Grammy awards to boot) over that time, and in November, they’ll be releasing their first Greatest Hits album.

    I’m of the mind that a Foos compilation is long overdue. They’re definitely more of a singles band than anything else-if you have their first two albums, anything beyond that is pretty much a redundancy (and I say this as someone who has owned each of their studio albums). One album, with the evergreens on it (“My Hero”, “Everlong”, “Best of You”, “I’ll Stick Around”) is really all you need.

    The first of the new tracks from this compilation is “Wheels”, and it finds Dave Grohl and company mellowing out a little. One YouTube commenter compared it to Nickelback, which is probably a little harsh, but this is by far the band’s most radio-friendly single in quite some time. Check it out and let us know what you think.

  • Alicia Keys: Homewrecker??

    I generally don’t like writing about extremely gossipy stuff on this site, but this is too juicy to pass up. If you’ll remember, a couple months back, I posted a rumor that Alicia Keys was responsible for breaking up the marriage of hip-hop producer Swizz Beatz and his R&B singer wife Mashonda. In the time since then, Alicia and Swizz have come out as a couple both personally and professionally (witness their production credit on Whitney Houston’s “Million Dollar Bill” single).

    Anyway, it seems like a relatively innocuous comment Alicia made on her Twitter page set Mashonda off, leading to an open letter to Keys that’s made the rounds of the blogosphere.

    Now, ordinarily this would be no big deal. Marriages break up all the time. However, Alicia Keys has built up a reputation as one of the music industry’s “good girls”, supporting female empowerment and presenting herself in a way that would certainly not lend itself to this kind of situation.

    I gotta say, it’s hard not to feel for Mashonda here. After all, she was (and still is) married to Swizz and they have a kid. That said, it takes two to tango and Swizz is the one who had the commitment. He certainly shouldn’t be held beyond reproach here. Either way, this situation looks like it might become a pretty major blemish on the career of someone who’s enjoyed a pretty scandal-free ride for the better part of the past decade.

    Here’s a link to rapup.com’s coverage of the mess.

  • First Listen: “Doesn’t Mean Anything” by Alicia Keys

    Alicia Keys flies pretty under the radar for a superstar of her caliber. I mean, she’s sold arguably more records than any female artist this decade (with the exception of Britney Spears, but then again, putting “Britney Spears” and “artist” in the same sentence is considered sacrilege in some parts), but she manages to keep her name out of the tabloids. She doesn’t have the “wow” factor of a Beyonce, for instance, but she’s certainly more talented. She’s also cultivated quite a successful side career as a writer/producer, composing for Mario, Christina Aguilera, Nas and Whitney Houston, among others. And she’s won TWELVE Grammy Awards. Jeezus!!

    Anyway, Alicia’s fourth studio album is due in December, and the first single from it is a ditty called “Doesn’t Mean Anything”. It has surface similarities to “No One”, which was the first single from her last album, “As I Am”. Similar piano riff, similar anthemic chorus. With that said, though, it’s a pretty strong song. Each of her albums has been better than the one that preceded it, and this song is a good sign that her forthcoming work will be her strongest yet.

    Let us know what you think.