I’m a sucker for melody and emotion, and for some reason, the singles from The Fray’s debut album How To Save a Life hit home for me in a whole lot of different ways. While they definitely have a bit of Coldplay in them, there’s also less of a grandiose, more grounded feel to The Fray’s music (maybe it’s just because they’re an American band?).
At any rate, I believe their new single, You Found Me, […]
This was not set up to be a good move. Kanye West had made three of the finest hip-hop records of the past half-decade. Despite limited lyrical skills, he used relatability, a way with a punchline, and strong production values to make three classic or near-classic albums.
I think it was Neil Young who coined (or at least inspired) the term “going straight from the middle of the road into the ditch” to be used whenever an artist with commercial success makes a serious left turn away from the sound that brought them accolades-think Young going from folk-rock to experimental electro and rockabilly, or Prince going from Purple Rain to Around the World in a Day.
For his fourth album, Kanye promised to shake things up. Kanye singing? Using Auto-Tune throughout the entire album? Either West was seriously on some other shit or he was hell-bent on completely obliterating his audience.
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