Yet Another Year In America May 13, 2010
May. 13th, 2010 01:54 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
koganbotEminem enters at the top, accusing his recent album of being "Ehhhhh."
Eminem "Not Afraid": Relapse was meh not for the reason he claims here, that he ran his accents into the ground, but because he sounded muffled and tired throughout, while whole hunks of lyrical invention were absent. Well, he sounds almost as muffled and tired on this track, the angry voice distant and disconnected from any actual cause or issue. And his ideas aren't just old news, they're inferior to what they once were. In verse two he claims he's not going to let his fans down. In verse three he says he's focusing solely on handling his responsibilities as a dad. But he's been saying for years that he can't make both work at once. If his mind were engaged he'd tell us how he's going to do it, dig into the problems, as his words once did. I don't want him to turn into Axl, but he still needs more time to recharge. NO TICK.
3OH!3 ft. Ke$ha "My First Kiss": 3OH!3 are unable to replicate the earworming tunefulness of "Don't Trust Me"; the kettle drum's clompity clomp bounces well enough to support Ke$ha's giggling, of which there needs to be more; when the boys are chanting on their own the whole thing sounds barren. NO TICK.
Glee Cast ft. Jonathan Groff "Total Eclipse Of The Heart": Despite Billboard's giving Groff top billing, this is basically Lea Michele and three guys. Her voice gets its personality from her high showbiz squeak, which obviously can't support this whole song, so she goes for richness and round tones too, but doesn't have the heft to lift the song with them. So the question is whether the song can lift her. It kinda can, at least better than I expected, even if there's really nothing you can't get better from Bonnie. BORDERLINE TICK.
Drake "Find Your Love": A decent melody, which drops dramatically to "Hey hey hey"; that drop contributes menace that Drake's singing generally can't manage; three notes almost deliver this. BORDERLINE NONTICK.
Young Jeezy ft. Plies "Lose My Mind": Jeezy locks into the rhythm, never really unlocks, which may be the point, this song being the rhythm of compulsion. But it only really shines when Plies starts screaming. BORDERLINE NONTICK.
I can't believe that my one and only tick is Glee.
EDIT: The Black Eyed Peas "Rock Your Body": Oops, forgot that this also entered the chart. Tense start, feeding off the aggression of Rob Base's "It Takes Two," and two-thirds in there's a beautifully echoed and sad yet catchy repetition of the "rock your body" refrain, the track then lifting towards a finish that pushes harder than its apparent silliness would make you expect. Along the way the track burdens itself with too many tricks and vocals rather than building on these strengths, but it's a definite TICK.
Eminem "Not Afraid": Relapse was meh not for the reason he claims here, that he ran his accents into the ground, but because he sounded muffled and tired throughout, while whole hunks of lyrical invention were absent. Well, he sounds almost as muffled and tired on this track, the angry voice distant and disconnected from any actual cause or issue. And his ideas aren't just old news, they're inferior to what they once were. In verse two he claims he's not going to let his fans down. In verse three he says he's focusing solely on handling his responsibilities as a dad. But he's been saying for years that he can't make both work at once. If his mind were engaged he'd tell us how he's going to do it, dig into the problems, as his words once did. I don't want him to turn into Axl, but he still needs more time to recharge. NO TICK.
3OH!3 ft. Ke$ha "My First Kiss": 3OH!3 are unable to replicate the earworming tunefulness of "Don't Trust Me"; the kettle drum's clompity clomp bounces well enough to support Ke$ha's giggling, of which there needs to be more; when the boys are chanting on their own the whole thing sounds barren. NO TICK.
Glee Cast ft. Jonathan Groff "Total Eclipse Of The Heart": Despite Billboard's giving Groff top billing, this is basically Lea Michele and three guys. Her voice gets its personality from her high showbiz squeak, which obviously can't support this whole song, so she goes for richness and round tones too, but doesn't have the heft to lift the song with them. So the question is whether the song can lift her. It kinda can, at least better than I expected, even if there's really nothing you can't get better from Bonnie. BORDERLINE TICK.
Drake "Find Your Love": A decent melody, which drops dramatically to "Hey hey hey"; that drop contributes menace that Drake's singing generally can't manage; three notes almost deliver this. BORDERLINE NONTICK.
Young Jeezy ft. Plies "Lose My Mind": Jeezy locks into the rhythm, never really unlocks, which may be the point, this song being the rhythm of compulsion. But it only really shines when Plies starts screaming. BORDERLINE NONTICK.
I can't believe that my one and only tick is Glee.
EDIT: The Black Eyed Peas "Rock Your Body": Oops, forgot that this also entered the chart. Tense start, feeding off the aggression of Rob Base's "It Takes Two," and two-thirds in there's a beautifully echoed and sad yet catchy repetition of the "rock your body" refrain, the track then lifting towards a finish that pushes harder than its apparent silliness would make you expect. Along the way the track burdens itself with too many tricks and vocals rather than building on these strengths, but it's a definite TICK.
