LILY ALLEN – Fuck You VIDEO

In their desire to do something crazy and extreme, The Black Eyed Peas got caught in that trap visited by many artists who were looking for a big change, even though this change was not a natural one. You can force change, but if it doesn’t come as a revelation, it might sound just like that: forced. And many of the tracks from The E.N.D. have this feature.

Does overproduced mean anything to you? That would be the main problem with this album, visible even from the first single, Boom Boom Pow, which still managed to grab top spots on several charts and to help the album get there, too. The excess of Mr.Roboto voices and intentionally unprofessional chops does become tiresome in tracks like Rock That Body, Ring a Ling or Imma Be, the most disappointing thing on the whole album (it sounds like Beyonce’s Upgrade U, which can’t be good). The virus synthy take on 80′s soul funk does give a special flavour to some of the songs (Rockin to the Beat or Alive) and provides plenty of originality.

Still, the real savior of The E.N.D. is the third track, Meet Me Halfway, which, if released properly as a single, with a video and all (not just through iTunes), could become a real classic of the band, right there alongside Shut Up and Where Is The love?. It’s the place where genuine good songwriting meets the electro-dance production which trademarks The E.N.D., another good example being the second single, I Gotta Feeling, already a hit.

You shouldn’t let this review worry you, though, The Black Eyed Peas latest album does come together as a whole and will provide plenty of soundtrack to crazy happy dance nights and in this respect, they succeeded. It’s just that it will be difficult to always be drunk and dancing when we will listen to this album. There are so many who require the same.

Pink will be releasing her fourth single from her successful album Funhouse. It will be the title track and will be available in the US in July. The video has already premiered and Tony Kanal (No Doubt), who co-wrote the song, makes a special appearance. As most of the songs on her originally named Heartbreak Is a Motherfucker album, Funhouse in a break-up song, but with a playful clowny beat, that contains some 80′s pop influence, with synth brass adding to that feeling. The lyrics are just as playful, as she complains about the state of her house, that is “full of evil clowns”, now that is no longer shared with her motor-husband. Pink has made very good choices when it comes to singles off of Funhouse. So What, the first sigle, was her most successful yet, Sober showed a bit of her more serious side, while the real stand-out track from the album, Please Don’t Leave Me, offered some mid-tempo romance and vulnerability.

WATCH THE VIDEO HERE

In case you are not that familiar with the tracklisting of said album, don’t worry, you will hear a whole bunch of your favourites, even though Where Is My Mind? might miss, since it was recorded on their first full-length venture. Still, you’ll get to hear Frank Black scream both Tame and Hey, while your more melodic needs will be met by crowd-pleaser Here Comes Your Man or love-song parody La La Love You. For those craving for some raw Kim Deal bass, Debaser and Gouge Away will have your stomach vibrate, be at peace.

One thing is sure: this is a great chance to see a band that becomes more and more comfortable with their legend status and those of you who do attend, be sure to make a lot of noise, cheer like crazy, maybe one of these day they might just decide to drop some new material on us.

THE PIXIES PERFORM Here Comes Your Man LIVE

If you are a fan of Beyonce or Bow Wow, you probably shouldn’t read this… If you are that kind of fan that has a problem with seeing the truth about their idols. But, you have to be really psycho-stalker material to claim that Beyonce’s Diva is a good song, or, even more, a… song. It seems more like private bet she or her producers made with someone in the lines of “I’ll make some stupid noises and win the charts with them, just you wait and see…One condition, I need to release it as single”. And the rest is history… a lame repetitive sample, vocals that don’t fit the rest of the song and the hope that the “diva is the female version of a hustler” line will be catchy enough. It’s really a shame that Beyonce tainted the album which contains Halo and If I Were a Boy with such experimental… bets. A lot of a singer’s success is based on inertia. Once they are up there, they don’t have to do much to remain there: the flow goes with itself.

Which brings us to our contestant, number two, Bow Wow, formerly known as… something else. I admit I am not too familiar with the music career of this young hope, I have seen some of his movies and Like Mike is quite the guilty pleasure for my inner child. However, a song by the name Marco Polo, signed by our young thespian was once bestowed upon me and I just needed to say it out loud: WTF ? It’s sort of rappy, but not quite. The verses could pass as low-volume musical background for some MTV dating show, but that chorus… man, that’s classic. A legend in the making. Because of those Marco Polo shouts this track could gather a cult-following, like some Ed Wood movie. At least, this one is less annoying than Diva, because these boys, Bow Wow and Soulja Boy Tell’Em (now, that I spelled it, I get it – soldier boy tell them, right), these boys really seem to think they’ve got something here and their naivete is really heartwarming.

BEYONCE Diva vs. BOW WOW Marco Polo

We had an article a few days ago about the battle (no pun intended) between Placebo’s latest indie efforts with their new album, Battle for the Sun and their ex-label’s (Virgin/EMI) attempt at banking on previous albums signed by the trio. Recent numbers, posted by Billboard, show that Molko and his Ste’s are winning this one. They’ve reached number one in the European Top 100 Albums, despite entering their native UK chart at 8. They’ve reached top spots in four other countries, including, of course, France, where they landed number one with each album since Black Market Music (2001). Top five spots have been assured in Holland, Finland, Switzerland, so the heavy touring really works. They are number one in Germany and Battle for the Sun was released there the day they headlined Rock am Ring. With this direction going so well and their agenda being full of summer festivals, followed by their own tour in the fall-winter season, we can’t help wondering what new heights are they going to reach.