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  • Chart Chat 9/16/09: Jigga and the Fabs

    Jay-Z makes history on this week’s Billboard 200 Album Chart. “The Blueprint 3” crashes in at the #1 spot, scanning over 475,000 copies. This is Jay’s 11th chart topping album, giving him more #1 albums than any solo artist in history. More than Elvis. More than Michael Jackson. More than Billy Joel, Barbra Streisand or any artist in history than…

    …The Beatles, who make some chart noise of their own this week. Their recently reissued catalog sells a combined 650,000 copies, with 9 titles landing in the Top Twenty. Granted, none of these titles appear on the actual Billboard 200 because of their age, but they take up 9 of the Top 10 spots on Billboard’s catalog chart. “Abbey Road” is the top seller, followed by “Sgt. Pepper”, “The White Album” and “Rubber Soul”.

    Elsewhere on the chart, Raekwon and Brooks & Dunn also enter in the Top 10. It looks like Jay will hold at the #1 spot on next week’s album chart, with a battle forming for second place between British band Muse and Whitney Houston, who will see an uptick in sales thanks to her interviews on the season premiere of “Oprah”.

    …and here’s another interesting Jay fact…”Blueprint 3″ opens with 50,000 more copies than 2007’s “American Gangster” did. “Gangster” went on to sell over one million copies.

    This week’s Top 20 Albums, courtesy of Billboard & Soundscan

    1) Jay-Z “Blueprint 3”

    2) Miley Cyrus “Time of Our Lives EP”

    3) The Beatles “Abbey Road”

    4) Whitney Houston “I Look to You”

    5) The Beatles “Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band”

    6) Raekwon “Only Built 4 Cuban Linx 2”

    7) The Beatles “The Beatles (White Album)”

    8) The Beatles “Rubber Soul”

    9) Brooks & Dunn “#1s…and Then Some”

    10) The Beatles “Revolver”

    11) Trey Songz “Ready”

    12) Michael Jackson “Number Ones”

    13) Black Eyed Peas “The E.N.D.”

    14) Boys Like Girls “Love Drunk”

    15) Kings of Leon “Only by the Night”

    16) The Beatles “Help!”

    17) Taylor Swift “Fearless”

    18) The Beatles “Let it Be”

    19) The Beatles “Past Masters 1 & 2”

    20) The Beatles “Magical Mystery Tour”

  • The Kanye West Backlash

    It’s been talked about ad nauseum and Money Mike and I wrote our immediate thoughts here and here.

    Let’s quickly restate the facts.

    – Taylor Swift wins her first MTV Video Music Award.

    – Kanye West rudely interrupts her speech as a way to both direct attention to himself, and to Beyonce, who he thinks should’ve won.

    – Beyonce lets Taylor Swift join her onstage so that she can accept her award officially, since West rudely interrupted her before.

    – All pop culture hell breaks loose.

    – West apologizes.

    I’m not sure there’s ever been such a non-serious moment at such a non-serious awards show that has ever caused a stir in the media like this one.

    Kanye West might be the music version of Terrell Owens. I’ve never seen a man cause such hate and fervor just by yearning for attention. This was his “Terrell Owens runs to the star at Cowboys Stadium” moment. And it was dumb. This I agree. But should the feedback be as hateful and racist as it has been?

    Yes, I said racist. Do me a favor. Go to Google and type in the words “kanye west twitter n-word” and see what’s listed on the first page. It’s become ugly.

    I posted the same live blog that I first posted here on another website and one of the first comments talked about wanting to lynch West. How can someone who you don’t know instill such hate that you would want to lynch him? I don’t get it.

    West apologizes on The Jay Leno Show

    I’m still not 100% certain that this wasn’t some stunt concocted by MTV and Kanye West so that West and the show would dominate Twitter’s Trending Topics. I’m now convinced that Taylor Swift wasn’t in on anything, mostly based on how she’s reacted thus far.

    But for those of you who have so much hate for West and feel so badly for Swift, get over it. Swift doesn’t need the help. She’s one of the top female recording artists in the history, and her album outsold Kanye’s latest album by a 2-1 margin. She’s a breakout star who is only going to get more famous. She doesn’t need your pity.

    West clearly has some issues with his security and the fact that he’s so up and down with his persona is a bit frustrating. He’s still a talented artist, but just one who is addicted to the lime light and hopefully figures out how to not succumb to it at all opportunities.

    But let’s stay away from the hate. What he did should’ve made you roll your eyes, not call for his head.

  • Live!…and in Living Colour

    It’s not often that you get to see musical legends playing mere feet from you. However, that turned out to be the case last Thursday when I saw Grammy winners Living Colour play a tiny Boston bar called Johnny D’s. The groundbreaking funk/rock band was touring in support of their fifth studio album, “The Chair in the Doorway”, and their 2-hour plus set proved that after more than twenty years, they’ve still got the goods.

    The band structured their show somewhat strangely, kicking off with an hour of hits before playing their new album in it’s entirety. However, they were good enough that they were able to retain almost the entire audience for that second hour despite the fact that they were playing music no one had heard before.

    One thing that still resonates is the band’s diversity. Far more than your standard rock band, Living Colour’s performance incorporated elements of jazz, soul, electronica. Hell, there was even a 10-minute solo performed by drummer Will Calhoun! It’s a testament to their superior musicianship that they were able to traverse so many different styles and still sound like a cohesive unit.

    Perhaps the most impressive thing of all was the fact that lead singer Corey Glover has retained a quite impressive set of pipes. Straddling the line between rock ‘n roll growler and soul shouter, with one hell of a vocal range, Glover was equal parts attitude (strutting through “Elvis is Dead”) and emotion (a heart-rending version of “Open Letter (to a Landlord)”). He might be one of rock’s most underrated frontmen-he’s certainly a much better vocalist than even Living Colour’s records indicate.

    Although the crowd was there for “Cult of Personality” (which closed the show) and “Glamour Boys”, the new material was well-received, with one audience member shouting out “album of the year” in the midst of the proceedings.

    I grew up admiring this band and I must say, they did not disappoint live. Their show easily placed on my list of favorite concerts, and this was the *start* of their tour. I’d almost hate to see how good they are once they get their legs under them. While history might not be as kind as it should be to Living Colour, believe me when I say that these guys are still worth checking out two decades after their heyday.

    http://www.livingcolourmusic.com/