Category: Releases

Another fall week, another six million CDs coming out. Here are some of the highlights.

Carrie Underwood “Play On”: Sure, Carrie’s first two albums sold like hotcakes, and sure, she’s the only “American Idol” winner to win a Best New Artist Grammy. But Taylor Swift has kinda swagger-jacked her, don’t you think? Is there room for two young, blonde beauties with pop appeal in the country music marketplace? Probably-Carrie’s probably the closest thing to a “gimme” in the “Idol” marketplace these days, especially since Daughtry’s last one caught a brick.

Weezer “Raditude”-Rivers Cuomo and company keep plugging away, don’t they? Coming not even 18 months after their “Red Album”, “Raditude” contains collaborations with hip-hop luminaries Lil Wayne and Jermaine Dupri. Weezer & Weezy. A match made in heaven? If only they’d gotten Isabel Sanford (“The Jeffersons”‘ Weezie) to make a cameo.

Various Artists “Glee Vol. 1”-The fall’s most buzzed-about new show now has a soundtrack. Led by Broadway star Matthew Morrison, this album contains all of the songs you’ve sung along with and danced to on the show-“Bust a Move”, “Don’t Stop Believin’”, “Sweet Caroline”, “No Air”. I’m not sure what the biggest selling TV soundtrack of all time is, but something tells me this has a chance to set that record. Look for this to be the sleeper hit of the week.

Foo Fighters “Greatest Hits”-All I can say about this is IT TOOK LONG ENOUGH!!! The Foo Fighters are a singles band if there ever was one. Now, finally, all the hits are on one album. Man, who’d have ever thought that the stringy-haired drummer from Nirvana would become the Tom Petty of his generation? Now, if they can hook us up with a video compilation (“Learn to Fly” and “Big Me” are amazing videos), I’ll be a happy man.

Amerie “In Love & War”- This R&B cutie’s career really has just one highlight (“1 Thing” was the jam). After that song became a hit, label drama derailed a follow-up for a number of years. Does the notoriously fickle contemporary soul audience even remember who this chick is? The folks at her new label, Island Def Jam, are hoping that they do. This is the second of this week’s new releases to boast a Lil Wayne cameo.

Also this week, a holiday album from Andrea Bocelli-it doesn’t feature Lil Wayne, but it does feature Mary J. Blige, who seems to appear on every album that Weezy doesn’t. There’s also a new album from Halford called “Winter Songs”. I’m hoping that the title is coincidental and the lead singer of Judas Priest hasn’t released a Christmas album. That’s not very metal. Say Anything (who won my heart forever when they covered ODB’s “Got Your Money” on a compilation last year) have a new one out, as does Ivy League R&B singer Ryan Leslie (with his second album in a year. Considering no one bought the first one, what’s the point?).

On the compilation side, there’s a new double-CD set from The Bee Gees (man, does these guys’ catalog get recycled a lot), plus repackagings of The Rolling Stones’ “Get Yer Ya-Ya’s Out” and Nirvana’s debut “Bleach”. Of course, it wouldn’t be the holidays without a “Now That’s What I Call Music” album. Vol. 32 features hits from The Black Eyed Peas, Taylor Swift, and newcomer Jay Sean, whose #1 hit “Down” features…you guessed it, Lil Wayne.

A full list of new releases can be found here.

So, yeah. Michael Jackson’s the big news this week. However, there are a few other noteworthy albums making their way to storefronts (both physical and digital) this week. Here are a couple of highlights.

Jack Johnson “En Concert”-
I really dig Jack Johnson’s music. It’s soothing and relaxing. It’s like Bob Marley without the politics, you know? Perfect for imagining yourself chilling in a hammock on a white sandy beach. With that said, I’d imagine Jack Johnson in concert would be a total snooze. The way I see things, concerts should be lively and spirited. Jack is…well, he’s the opposite of lively and spirited-unless you’re really stoned. Which I imagine a lot of his fans are. Anyway, if you’re a hardcore Jack-phile, you can add to your collection with this live album.

Train “Save Me San Francisco”-
Nearly a decade removed from their Grammy winning smash “Drops of Jupiter”, the band Train is back with a new album. In between the release of their last album and this one, the band’s lead singer Pat Monahan released an album that went nowhere fast, so I guess it could be said that the return to the band is a way of going back to a sure thing. Their material’s always been scattershot to me, but Monahan does have a purty voice.

The Swell Season “Strict Joy”-
Glen Hansard and Marketa Irglova are still relatively anonymous here in the States. The Irish singers had a small cult following on these shores until they collaborated on a little movie called “Once”. “Once” became an indie hit, the soundtrack sold 3/4 of a million copies, and their “Falling Slowly” wound up winning an Oscar for Best Original Song. Some time after the Oscar win, Hansard and Irglova, who were a couple in real life, split up. But the band remains, and “Strict Joy” is yet another album of passionately sung ballads in their signature pop/folk-y style.

Brian McKnight “Evolution of a Man”-
A decade or so ago, McKnight was a superstar, with hits like “Anytime” and “Back at One”. His star has cooled considerably since that time, and he’s also been the unfortunate victim of some label bouncing around. His 11th album boasts collaborations with Jill Scott and Stevie Wonder, and apparently also includes a commercial for his upcoming talk show. Hey, you gotta advertise anyway you can, right?

Rod Stewart “Soulbook”-
“Soulbook” is Rod Stewart’s FIFTH consecutive covers album. He made his big comeback with the three “Great American Songbook” albums, then had a hit with the rock classics of the Seventies, and now he’s attacking some of the biggest soul hits of all time. While I admit that it would be hilarious to hear Rod cover some contemporary R&B, he sticks to the classics on this release, covering well-worn hits like “If You Don’t Know Me By Now” and “The Tracks of My Tears”…in other words, songs that have already been beaten down into the ground. I think Rod needs to lay off the schmaltz and make a non-covers album again. While I’m sure most of his fans would welcome a return to “Every Picture Tells a Story” form, I’ll even take “Love Touch” form over this crapola. Stevie Wonder’s on this one, too. What can I say? The man gets around…although it seems that lately he’s been trading his harmonica solos for barbecue.

There’s plenty more where that came from! Get your full list of this week’s releases here.

Grrr…the video for “Love Touch” isn’t available on youTube or Yahoo!…but that doesn’t stop me!! Watch the record spin!!

Sony Music has bumped the date of the “This is It” soundtrack one day. So all of you who were waiting for this project to be unveiled tomorrow? You can get it a day early. As you all know, the “This is It” movie, which contains footage from the rehearsals for what would have been a 50-date run at the O2 arena in London, opens wide on Wednesday.

This appears to be more of a collector’s item than anything else. I mean, let’s face it. Most people own Michael Jackson’s greatest hits already. I found out from GG that the unreleased stuff (a spoken word poem and a few demos) are available separately on iTunes. However, for those of us that are record collectors, I hear the set has a SWEET booklet and the packaging is really stellar. For someone like me (who already owns MJ’s greatest hits in 4 or 5 different configurations), this is a no-brainer. I’ll have my copy by the end of the day.

You can preview the demos on Michael Jackson’s website.