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Pop Rock Nation

Category: Reviews

music-and-concert-reviews-you-wont-see-anywhere-else

  • 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!!

  • It Wouldn’t Be The Start of Summer Without It

    The all time greatest summer song ever. 17 years later, this song puts a smile on my face every time I hear it (and I’m not terribly fond of Will Smith, so that says a lot). Hope everyone had a restful weekend.

    P.S.: Check out the new main page of musichelpweb, which will now be updated, well…a lot more often that it was updated before. You’ll find some new music by a singer/songwriter by the name of Mitch Hood. Don’t forget to e-mail with feedback!