Demi Lovato’s new single, “SkyScraper,” is a moving, poignant ballad about continuing to survive and grow beautifully, despite having someone or external forces trying to break your spirit. Describing herself as a skyscraper, Lovato affirms that she will always stand tall. Produced by Toby Gad with lyrics by Gad, Lindy Robbins and recording artist Kerli, “SkyScraper” is wonderfully composed and written. The only thing this song needs is a dramatic climax; the music is melodically the same before and after the bridge, and considering the emotion of the song, a climax is expected. Check out the song and its equally emotional music video below. Note: In a radio interview with Ryan Seacrest, Lovato made it clear that she had NOTHING to do with the composition of the song and it was not written in correlation to her struggles with self-mutilation, bulimia or recent diagnosis with bi-polar disorder. Here at J.Says, I try to stay away from the sensational details and focus on the music alone, but I found that note important to mention. Also, as fan of Lovato’s music, it’s good to see her back on the scene and I wish her the best of health and luck in the future. What do you guys think of "SkyScraper"? If you have your own "skyscraper" story of inspiration to share, click the "Specials & Links" tab and find "We Are Skyscrapers."
Single Review. Demi Lovato’s new single, “SkyScraper,” is a moving, poignant ballad about continuing to survive and grow beautifully, despite having someone or external forces trying to break your spirit. Describing herself as a skyscraper, Lovato affirms that she will always stand tall. Produced by Toby Gad with lyrics by Gad, Lindy Robbins and recording artist Kerli, “SkyScraper” is wonderfully composed and written. The only thing this song needs is a dramatic climax; the music is melodically the same before and after the bridge, and considering the emotion of the song, a climax is expected. Check out the song and its equally emotional music video below. Note: In a radio interview with Ryan Seacrest, Lovato made it clear that she had NOTHING to do with the composition of the song and it was not written in correlation to her struggles with self-mutilation, bulimia or recent diagnosis with bi-polar disorder. Here at J.Says, I try to stay away from the sensational details and focus on the music alone, but I found that note important to mention. Also, as fan of Lovato’s music, it’s good to see her back on the scene and I wish her the best of health and luck in the future. What do you guys think of "SkyScraper"? If you have your own "skyscraper" story of inspiration to share, click the "Specials & Links" tab and find "We Are Skyscrapers."
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Beyonce`: 1+1 Review & Idol Performance “1+1”, the 2nd single from Beyonce’s forthcoming album, “4”, is a definite rebound from the hard-to-sing-along with “Run the World” (review link below). Less is more with the single as it has simple, yet metaphoric lyrics and basic, but beautiful piano/string orchestration. “1+1” is so smooth and romantic; you might end up with your clothes off if you’re near the right person. Beyonce` debuted the song live on American Idol’s finale last night after the finalists performed a medley of her songs. You can watch both performances below. (see review for "Run The World": http://jsays.weebly.com/2/post/2011/04/beyonce-run-the-world-girls.html). Like some other Beyonce fans, I didn’t care for “Run The World (Girls)” when I heard it (see song review link below), so I was hoping that the video would be more functional, stunning and entertaining. Initially, it seemed that the video was going to be lots of random shots in which Beyonce` just looks cute and poses, but eventually the video appeased me; it related to song’s concept, the aesthetics were vivid, the fashion was fierce and the choreography was great (Beyonce` shied away from her usual “light and prissy” and went for more active and aggressive, which made the “Single Ladies” choreo delightful). It could've been a little more dramatic, but good go, B. The video is below. (song review link: http://jsays.weebly.com/2/post/2011/04/beyonce-run-the-world-girls.html ) So, I was watching “Dancing with the Stars” (yes, I’m guilty) and this young lady, Delta Goodrem performs with Michael Bolton. Noticing her powerful voice, I immediately took to a computer and checked out her website. Goodrem is an Australian 26-year-old singer/songwriter and pianist who is a vocal blend of Celine Dion and Faith Hill. Her official website is http://deltagoodrem.com/. Below are “Mistaken Identity,” “Almost Here” and a remix of “You Will Only Break My Heart.” Hope you enjoy it. A collection of song samples are available at http://www.bandit.fm/page#breathe/deltagoodrem. Brief Single Review. Beyonce’s 1st single from her currently untitled fourth solo album is finally here (see video below to hear the song). It was produced by Switch and co-written by Terius Nash, AKA “The Dream.” The concept is fantastic, but the lyrics are overall very weak. I was surprised by how ill-written the song was; Beyonce` usually nails girl-power anthems. The production, although semi-infectious and aggressive, is just a recycling of Major Lazer’s “Pon De Floor” (also produced by Switch; see my blog post about lazy production:http://jsays.weebly.com/2/post/2011/03/divas-copying-divas.html). Although I was relieved that Beyonce` didn’t conveniently follow the techno-dance pop mold of today, “World” has the same problem musically as many techno tracks: it was repetitive and redundant. Furthermore, it feels like the song never begins; coming off like a long, 3 minute, 54 second intro. The vocal arrangement is unorganized, randomly shifts and doesn’t consistently blend well with the music. Beyonce` can do and has done better. In my opinion “World” is not a suitable lead single. Hopefully, the music video and the album’s subsequent singles will be better. Check out the new single “Automatic” from former Danity Kane member Aubrey O’Day and let me know what you think. It’s available now on ITunes. Last night, on the season finale of her Oxygen-channel reality show, “All About Aubrey,” O’Day prepared to showcase “Automatic” and another track “Hitchhiker” at a live radio show event in hopes of catching the eyes of record-label execs to score a deal as a solo artist. O’Day’s efforts paid off; she reportedly signed a contract with Universal/SRC on March 29th (No official statement has been given by the label, but the single is listed as a Universal release on ITunes). The track is a catchy blend of pop, techno and R&B. A dance song, the lyrics are typically shallow and about the club scene. To hear “Automatic,” look below. Please comment :) Danity Kane fans that didn’t see the “All About” finale might be interested in this tidbit: O’day and fellow DK’er Aundrea Fimbres reunited to record a song called “Ego Trippin’” and planned to perform it together for Aubrey’s showcase. During rehearsals, Fimbres decided to not go forth with the performance. Onscreen, we saw Aubrey go into the ladies bathroom to speak with Fimbres and only heard Aubrey speaking. O’day’s subsequent comments give the impression that Fimbres lost confidence and was unsure about being a performer again. O’day was crushed and disappointed. She was also concerned about upsetting DK fans who were eagerly traveling to see the reunion. O’day proceeded to give some commentary on the break-up of Danity Kane. She also discusses having uncomfortable run-ins with P. Diddy (who formed Danity Kane), in which she felt unsupported in pursuing a solo career. Before her performance, she called Diddy to leave a message and ended well-wishes with “…my album will outsell yours...bye bitch!” Being a DK fan myself, I was disappointed to see Aundrea back-out and I’m still hoping for a drama-free DK reunion. We’ll see; support the solo stuff for now: Dawn Richard is with Diddy Dirty Money and is on tour (http://www.diddydirtymoney.com), D. Woods has a mixtape “Lady in the Street” (http://www.missdwoods.com) and Shannon Bex has formed a country band with all men called “Bex” and is planning to release a single by May (http://www.shannonbex.com/). All of the ladies, with the exception of Aundrea, are on Twitter. Shannon just tweeted “Hanging with Aundrea right now...she says hello :D xo bex” and has been communicating with O’day in recent days. They’re sharing oxygen and online space…this is a good thing :) I'm glad it wasn't the "Slave 4 U" raunch-fest the set photos indicated. I was pretty relieved that Kelly pushed the envelope only a teasing bit; I'm over pop divas using skankdom for publicity. I don't have much to say about this video other than that. I would've like to see a storyline and more choreography. What do you guys think? SMH. Not satisfied. The video for “Born This Way” did mostly nothing to covey the incredibly powerful message of the song. In the spoken intro, Lady Gaga tells the story of a pure and magnificent race being born that has to combat the force of evil (“evil” in this case is prejudice and hate). The intro is illustrated well visually, as we see “mother monster” (i.e. Gaga) and evil giving birth. From that point on, the visual doesn’t connect well to the intro, nor the song. We see Gaga prance and dance around with others, prance and dance in a tux and skull makeup, then prance down a street and get on a glittery horse. We never see a fight between good and evil, and/ or a scene representing self-acceptance or the joining of humanity (any of that could’ve been portrayed via choreography, but what do I know?). Once again, Gaga gives us random imagery to her music that will be applauded and described as “edgy, ground-breaking and symbolically abstract (aka “deep”). Drink that Kool-Aid if you like, but I’m calling it what it is: pointless and inefficient. Gaga had the opportunity to create a forever impactful, culturally-defining video to spread the message of love and equality and she wasted it. The video is below. My videoblog review of Brit's new video, "Hold it Against Me." Brief song review. Brava to Lady Gaga for making sure the 1st single from her forthcoming album had more substance than “Just Dance,” the 1st single from her debut, “The Fame.” “Born This Way” is the ultimate anthem of healthy self-love amidst discrimination or undue criticism. Musically, Gaga didn’t veer from her techno-dance formula, but considering the song’s theme, a celebratory, up-tempo feel was needed. Hopefully, the rest of the tracks from Gaga’s new album are equally rich lyrically with more versatility in sound . It’s time for Gaga’s music to reflect the depth of her talent. |
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Rants and raves about all things entertainment industry. Includes my own movie, music and concert reviews. You can find topics under "Tags and Categories" below. Archives
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