I know it seems like it has taken forever, but the R. Kelly trial is finally now ongoing. I have had a love/hate feeling about R. Kelly in the past, loving him when he came out with his double album R, and then not so much after his alleged tryst with an underage female, his supposed unfaithfulness to his wife, and after reading stories of his overall weirdness, including the time when Jay-Z kicked him off their tour for his odd insecurities.
I don’t wish ill will towards the man at all. If he’s guilty, throw the book at him. If he’s not, he can do whatever he wants, as long as he and Jay-Z don’t make another Best Of Both Worlds. He’s not the only crazy celebrity out there and my favorite crazed celebrity doesn’t have much on R when it comes to decision making (ahem Michael Jackson). I just hope for a fair trial and that whatever happens is truly what each party deserves.
MTV.com has a great article laying out the trial and documenting all the key players involved. They also have a one stop shop for all trial news that comes in handy if you are following the case.
This week’s list of major new releases is like a musical smorgasbord. A little brooding pop, a little retro-disco, a little beer ‘n chips rock, a little Texas hip-hop. Here’s your rundown.
Scarlett Johansson “Anywhere I Lay My Head”
Well, I guess there’s a reason that Scarlett doesn’t have an official website. SHE’S A FRICKIN’ ACTRESS!! The fact that she has found success in one entertainment medium shouldn’t be enough to dissuade you from buying the album, but in light of the pieces of musical finery made by the likes of Eddie Murphy, Russell Crowe (in 30 Odd Foot of Grunts), Kevin Bacon (as one of the Bacon Brothers), Keanu Reeves (as a member of Dogstar), John Travolta…need I go on?
Anyway, this album is intriguing because it’s a set of Tom Waits covers-definitely not the unchallenging easy road to success here. It’s produced by TV on the Radio’s Dave Sitek and David Bowie is among the record’s guest performers. Indie-tastic!
3 Doors Down are essentially America’s Nickelback (I say this under the assumption that you all know Nickelback comes from Canada). It’s meat-and-potatoes hard rock with not even a whiff of anything “alternative” or vaguely “urban”. Anthems like “Kryptonite” and the power ballad “Here Without You” could have been hits in the hard-rockin’ heyday of Bob Seger just as easily as they’ve become hits in this day and age. This self-titled affair is the band’s fourth album and it’s preceded by the single “It’s Not My Time”, which is steadily moving up the charts. One day, 3 Doors Down will put out a killer Greatest Hits album. Till then…
Bun B. “II Trill”
Again, no current website. The only official one I see of his hasn’t been updated in 3 years. ‘Sup with that? Anyway, Bun B is best known as 1/2 of Southern rap trailblazers UGK. After suffering the tragic loss of his rhyme partner Pimp C last year (just as UGK scored their first #1 album), Bun is now officially, totally and completely a solo artist. His sophomore solo effort, “II Trill” (the first was released when Pimp C was incarcerated) features guest verses from his departed partner, as well as all the usual suspects: of course there’s a Lil’ Wayne cameo!!
The Queen of Disco returns with her first studio non-holiday album since 1991’s “Mistaken Identity”. An entire generation has come of age since Donna last released a record, but Ms. Summer remains true to her signature pop/dance sound, and those pipes can still give you chills. The housewives and aging queens will eat this one up. Check out this clip of the recording session for 1982’s “State of Independence”, which featured Donna and just about every singer in the world at the time…and Christopher Cross.
Jesse McCartney “Departure”
He’s been a teen idol twice: first as a member of pre-teen boy band Dream Street, and then as a Ryan Cabrera-ish singer/songwriter with the hit “Beautiful Soul”. Now, Jesse McCartney is looking to capitalize on his sudden notoriety as a songwriter (he co-penned Leona Lewis’s “Bleeding Love”) by releasing his third solo album, “Departure”. First single “Leavin’” has already hit the Top 10 on the pop charts, and McCartney is turning out to be one of the ore surprising post-teen idol successes.
Also in stores this week: the latest indie rock darlings Flobots, a solo album by Tears for Fears’ Curt Smith, the Kidz Bop Kids tackle the Eighties, and this week’s head-scratcher, a hits compilation from 2001’s 1-hit wonder, Alien Ant Farm.
Get your full list of this week’s releases here: http://www.pauseandplay.com/cdfront.htm
It’s that time again! Courtesy of the folks at Billboard, I bring you this week’s Top Singles and Albums charts. Dig the foxy-ass pic of Neil Diamond. He’s pimp!!vKick it, Fred!
Top 20 Albums:
1)”Home Before Dark” Neil Diamond
2)”35 Biggest Hits” Toby Keith
3)”Hard Candy” Madonna
4)”On My Way Here” Clay Aiken
5)”E=MC2″ Mariah Carey
6)”Spirit” Leona Lewis
7)”Gavin DeGraw” Gavin DeGraw
8)”Awake Live” Josh Groban
9)”Greatest Hits: Every Mile a Memory 2003-2008″ Dierks Bentley
10)”Complices” Luis Miguel
11)”Taylor Swift” Taylor Swift
12)”Lyfe Change” Lyfe Jennings
13)”Now That’s What I Call Music! Vol. 27″ Various Artists
14)”Troubadour” George Strait
15)”Sleep Through the Static” Jack Johnson
16)”Stand Out” Tye Tribbett & G.A.
17)”Juno Soundtrack” Various Artists
18)”Jordin Sparks” Jordin Sparks
19)”Coco” Colbie Caillat
20)”Greatest Hits Vol. 1 & 2″ Tim McGraw
Top 20 Singles:
1)”Take a Bow” Rihanna
2)”Bleeding Love” Leona Lewis
3)”Lollipop” Lil’ Wayne feat. Static Major
4)”No Air” Jordin Sparks & Chris Brown
5)”Love in This Club” Usher feat. Young Jeezy
6)”Sexy Can I” Ray J. & Yung Berg
7)”4 Minutes” Madonna feat. Justin Timberlake
8)”Touch My Body” Mariah Carey
9)”Pocketful of Sunshine” Natasha Bedingfield
10)”Damaged” Danity Kane
11)”Love Song” Sara Bareilles
12)”Leavin’” Jesse McCartney
13)”Low” Flo-Rida feat. T-Pain
14)”Say” John Mayer
15)”Viva La Vida” Coldplay
16)”Bust it Baby Pt. 2″ Plies feat. Ne-Yo
17)”What You Got” Colby O’Donis feat. Akon
18)”With You” Chris Brown
19)”See You Again” Miley Cyrus
20)”Stop & Stare” OneRepublic
*So, when the news started to hit about Mariah Carey and Nick Cannon getting married, I actually thought to myself, “Self, whatever happened to Luis Miguel?”. Luis was the Latin superstar Mariah dated between Derek Jeter and (allegedly) Eminem. The Top 10 debut for his latest album answers that question for me. I’m pretty sure Mariah and Luis are the only former couple to share space in the Top 10 this week, unless there was some Toby Keith/Clay Aiken hookup that I didn’t know anything about. Ugh. I think I just threw up in my mouth a little bit.
*Rihanna’s “Take a Bow” makes the second biggest leap to #1 in chart history, climbing 51 spots to the top. The holder for the largest jump is Maroon 5’s “Makes Me Wonder”, from last year. So of course, another debut this week is “If I Never See Your Face Again”, by Maroon 5 featuring Rihanna (see how nicely that came together?). I’ll admit, I liked this song a lot without Rihanna, but she does add a bit of sexual tension to the proceedings (and it’s a much better song than the plodding “Take a Bow”). It’s still a little disturbing though, because I’m pretty sure that Adam Levine has at least a decade on Rih-Rih.
*Neil Diamond, somewhat improbably, scores the first #1 album of his CAREER with “Home After Dark”. This news definitely threw me for a loop, because I remember watching “America’s Top 10” as a kid and I swore that the “Jazz Singer” soundtrack was omnipresent. I’m surprised it wasn’t a #1 album. According to Wikipedia, it peaked at #3. Wow. Well, congrats to Neil and to producer Rick Rubin for bringing forth Neil’s late-career renaissance. Oh, and “American Idol”, which featured Neil as their guest judge a couple weeks back.
*After a five year wait, apparently people still care about Gavin DeGraw. I am decidedly *not* one of them.
*How about this one, folks? Danity Kane (at #10 on the singles chart) is the only group to be found in the entire Top 10 of both the singles AND albums charts! Every one else in the top tier of both lists is either a solo artist, performing a duet (or has a “featured” performance), or is a movie soundtrack. Billboard’s Chart Beat Chat acknowledges that it might be the first time in history that’s occurred.
*Next week, Death Cab for Cutie will almost certainly debut at #1 on the albums chart (managing to break the solo artist trend), while major moves on the singles chart should come from Usher (whose “Love in This Club Part II, featuring Beyonce, was made available for digital download this week) and NKOTB’s “Summertime”, which is on pace to debut in the Top 40, if not the Top 20.
*Ahh, screw it, let’s just make it a Rihanna Sunday. Here’s the video for “Take a Bow”. For the record, (and to clarify for the Boston Metro writer who called her a 2-hit wonder), this is her 8th Top 10 single. Umm…and what’s up with that neck tattoo? And isn’t this song just “Irreplaceable” with pianos instead of guitars?
