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 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.
It’s a rite of passage in the fall. That year’s American Idol winners (and runners-up) unleash their official debut singles on a salivating public. Even as a pop music fan, I can say that most of those debut singles have either been either enjoyable in that generic pop song kind of way (Kelly Clarkson’s “Miss Independent”, David Archuleta’s “Crush”, Clay Aiken’s “Invincible”, Katherine McPhee’s “Over It”) or completely awful (Ruben Studdard’s “Sorry 2004”). And does anyone even remember the debut singles by Taylor Hicks or Diana DeGarmo?
All this to say, the 2009 American Idol winner’s debut single has hit the streets. In anticipation of the November release of his album, Kris Allen has released the single “Live Like We’re Dying” to radio. It’s a peppy, hooky pop/rock song originally recorded by the Irish band The Script. It’s a pleasant enough song and will probably be a hit, but I have two beefs with this song:
1) Lyrically, the song (almost) shares a title and the main sentiment of Tim McGraw’s “Live Like You Were Dying”. Granted, living like there’s no tomorrow is a pretty standard subject in pop music, but this might be just a *little* too close to comfort.
2) Allen’s version is a CARBON COPY of The Script’s version. While Allen has a more soulful voice than The Script’s lead singer, the instrumental tracks are virtually identical. That just seems kind of lazy to me.
Kris Allen is talented in a totally generic way, but then again, the majority of “Idol” winners have been pretty generic, so I guess he fits right in. I don’t necessarily hold out hope for a #1 single or superstardom here (actually, NO ‘Idol” finalist has hit #1 with their debut single-excepting the “acceptance” songs written and recorded specifically for the winners’ respective coronations, i.e. “A Moment Like This”), but I’m sure this will be a hit on what they now call “Adult top 40” radio, where it’ll fit right in beside equally generic acts like The Fray. Now, the real question is…what will Adam Lambert come up with??
For your comparing and contrasting sakes, I have included both the original version of this song and Allen’s cover.