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Pop Rock Nation

Tag: Gym Class Heroes

  • Chart Chat: 9/21/08: Pink, Metallica, Mitch Hedberg & More!!

    This week’s chart action, courtesy of Billboard Magazine.

      Billboard Hot 100: Top 20 Singles

    1) “So What” Pink

    Pink. Photo courtesy of Joel Telling.
    Pink. Photo courtesy of Joel Telling.

    2) “Whatever You Like” T.I.
    3) “Disturbia” Rihanna
    4) “Paper Planes” M.I.A.
    5) “Swagga Like Us” Jay-Z & T.I. feat. Li’l Wayne & Kanye West
    6) “Forever” Chris Brown
    7) “Closer” Ne-Yo
    8) “Can’t Believe It” T-Pain feat. Li’l Wayne
    9) “American Boy” Estelle feat. Kanye West
    10) “Got Money” Li’l Wayne feat. T-Pain
    11) ‘Dangerous” Kardinal Offishall feat. Akon
    12) “Hot N Cold” Katy Perry
    13) “I’m Yours” Jason Mraz
    14) “Viva La Vida” Coldplay
    15) “In the Ayer” Flo-Rida feat. will.i.am
    16) “Love Story” Taylor Swift
    17) “One Step at a Time” Jordin Sparks
    18) “Better in Time” Leona Lewis
    19) “I Kissed a Girl” Katy Perry
    20) “Miss Independent” Ne-Yo

      Billboard 200: Top 20 Albums

    1) “Death Magnetic” Metallica
    2) “The Recession” Young Jeezy
    3) “Rock & Roll Jesus” Kid Rock
    4) “Do You Know” Jessica Simpson
    5) “All Hope is Gone” Slipknot
    6) “A Little Bit Longer” Jonas Brothers
    7) “LAX” The Game
    8) “Exit 13” LL Cool J
    9) “Tha Carter III” Li’l Wayne
    10) “Mamma Mia Soundtrack” Various Artists
    11) “Love & Life” Eric Benet
    12) “Good Girl Gone Bad” Rihanna
    13) “Love on the Inside” Sugarland
    14) “The Quilt” Gym Class Heroes
    15) “Viva La Vida or Death & All His Friends” Coldplay
    16) “The Block” New Kids on the Block
    17) “Breakout” Miley Cyrus
    18) “Do You Believe in Gosh” Mitch Hedberg
    19) “Still Unforgettable” Natalie Cole
    20) “We Sing, We Dance, We Steal Things” Jason Mraz

    *Pink sets up her upcoming album “Funhouse” quite nicely with the first #1 single of her career (not counting the multi-artist massacre of “Lady Marmalade” from 2001. While I’m sure most will agree that she’s a talented woman, did anyone think that this chick would still have a career after nearly ten years when they first saw the video for “There U Go”?

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  • Gym Class Heroes Earn a Passing Grade with “The Quilt”

    Gym Class Heroes' Travis McCoy. photo by Cha0scontr0ll
    Gym Class Heroes

    Here’s an easy way to get me to notice your band (coincidentally, it’s also a good way to score a hit single): make a catchy single that references yet another catchy single. It’s how I became acquainted with the rock/rap group Gym Class Heroes. Their first hit single, “Cupid’s Chokehold”, not only sampled Supertramp’s “Breakfast in America”, but featured the recognizable voice of Fall Out Boy’s Patrick Stump. They followed it up by repeating the exact same formula: “Clothes Off!!” also boasted a chorus by stump and a large chunk of Jermaine Stewart’s “We Don’t Have To Take Our Clothes Off”. As opposed to outright samples, these new songs were built on the choruses of those moldy oldies, and the gambit worked-at least for me. I found myself in possession of GCH’s breakthrough album As Cruel as School Children, and actually found it enjoyable in a mindless fun sort of way.

    Fast-forward a year and a half later. GCH lead singer Travis McCoy is something of a star, the band boasts a Gold album, and they’re back with their follow up, The Quilt. This album has a much more pronounced hip-hop influence than its’ predecessor, with guest appearances from the likes of Busta Rhymes and production from beatsmiths Cool & Dre. Nevertheless, McCoy has more charm and variation in subject matter than the average commercial emcee, so it’s not what you would consider the typical hip-hop album in 2008. It also boasts more than its’ share of influences from other genres-featuring bits of emo-ish rock, ska, and plain old pop.

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  • New Music In Stores & Online 9/9/08: Gym Class Heroes, LL Cool J, Metallica (Sort of) and More!!!

    If last week was a teaser, we’re full-bore into release mania this week!! Lots and lots of stuff coming out. Here’s the rundown:

    Gym Class Heroes: “The Quilt”:

    Gym Class Heroes' new album, "The Quilt", is in stores today.

    I got laughed at for liking Gym Class Heroes at a function last night, so out of spite I’m listing them first. GCH snared me in a very simple way-by sampling two cheese classics-Supertramp’s “Breakfast in America” and Jermaine Stewart’s “We Don’t Have to Take Our Clothes Off”-for their first two hit singles (“Cupid’s Chokehold” & “Clothes Off!!”. Actually, it’s partially because of GCH that I got into Fall Out Boy, who signed GCH to their label, and whose lead singer, Patrick Stump, sings the chorus on each of the two singles. While I’m not really feeling the first single “Cookie Jar”, and lead singer Travis McCoy lost major cool points by dating Katy Perry, I’m anticipating hearing the rest of this album, which features guest appearances by Brit soul singer Estelle, Busta Rhymes, and my man Daryl Hall.

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