Another Year In America May 28, 2009

[koganbot]

Relapse jumps to number one in the albums, "Boom Boom Pow" plops onto its sofa and settles in for its eighth week atop the singles, and Linkin Park performs a song that wasn't heard on Fox TV during the last couple of months.

Glee Cast "Don't Stop Believin'": Cast of misfits achieves competence, which in real life wouldn't be anything to sneer at, but it's NO TICK.

Linkin Park "New Divide": Harmonies and melodies all rolled into a big slab of prettiness. But it's too monolithic to deliver a payoff. BORDERLINE TICK.

Kris Allen "No Boundaries": Song goes for uplift but Kris has a voice that would rather lilt, and the big heft of sound just gets in the way. The song's not in the top 75% that Kara's ever done, but if Kris had gone for the clear line of the melody and told the arrangement to shut up he'd have given himself and the song a chance. NO TICK.

Kris Allen "Heartless": Jazzy, smooth, with a little bit of Latin in the guitar. Doesn't come close to the tension in Kanye's strange version, that anger and eeriness, but has the gentle passion that Kris is good at. BORDERLINE TICK.

Adam Lambert "Mad World": This guy is showy even standing still, and that's his presentation here, holding back and letting the melody be beautiful and lonely, his voice adding glitter simply in virtue of being his voice. TICK.

Keith Urban "Kiss A Girl": Effortlessly nice, that's where this song starts and stays, without connecting. NO TICK.

David Cook "Permanent": Heavy, overdramatic. I don't hate the melody, and if Cook had not tried to power this through the ceiling maybe I'd have warmed to it, since it's basically a soft song being sung loud. NO TICK.

Kris Allen "Ain't No Sunshine": This is masterful, the warm plucked guitar at the start helping to bring out the melody's Brazilian tinge. Kris rides along with the song's sorrow, and when it gets loud with pain he holds onto the overall feel and flow. Could take David Cook to school. TICK.

Comments

[(Anonymous)]

aw, you didn't hear the journey song in the context of the show, did you.


j.

[koganbot]

I watched two different previews, to give me an idea. I don't think the original is all that great either, though it was a lot better than this version, but the point is I can see how this might work in the show, but that doesn't make it good music. (Whereas High School Musical's "Breaking Free" is terrific music, and not just owing to the incredible release and excitement it provides as the climax of the movie.)

[(Anonymous)]

what i'm saying is that it DOES make it good music, but possibly only when you're actually watching the show. i don't care whether it's good music when it's not on the show, since i'm not going to listen to it anywhere else. so if you want it to be good, you should watch the show instead!


j.

[koganbot]

I should probably have said "That doesn't make it a good single."

[(Anonymous)]

oho