Wednesday, February 3, 2010
If i were a boy song review
Beyonce sits at the very top among today's pop divas, so when it is time for a new project, the stakes are high. For "If I Were a Boy," the lead pop release from her upcoming third solo album I Am..., she turned to songwriter/producer Toby Gad, co-writer of Fergie's stellar "Big Girls Don't Cry." The result is Beyonce's best effort yet. The song is one which fits perfectly into her growing repertoire and features a stellar vocal performance.
The lyrics are both a lament for misunderstanding between the genders and an indictment of the male side of relationships. It's a perfect follow up to the independent attitude of B'Day and lays the groundwork for another exploration of what it means to be a woman in the world today on I Am... The pain of experience is palpable counter-balanced somewhat by a sense of hope that progress can still be made.
Beyonce's controlled but emotional vocal performance is the stuff of which award-winning records are made. "Irreplaceable" was defeated when nominated for the Record of the Year Grammy. It's quite possible that "If I Were a Boy" could bring the trophy home. This is a song and recording for the ages.
Wednesday, January 27, 2010
Song Review
Finger snaps and a simple piano riff usher in This Is It, the new Michael Jackson love song and the title track from this month's release of his first posthumous film. The song, which finds Jackson crooning clear-voiced and skittering about in his legendary high octaves, was released October 12th at midnight as a web exclusive and features Jackson backed-up by his brothers on the spare, and if not quite beautiful, than at least optimistic new track. It would be hard to imagine a video for this record that didn't include butterflies.
The single has almost a throwback feel, and Jackson's early Motown years are more prevalent on the record than the grandiose arrangements of post-Off the Wall Quincy Jones which came to dominate his later, more daring years. Of course, the controvery today is about the discovery that the record was actually first recorded eighteen years ago by a singer in Puerto Rico. It's now come out that the song was written by the Canadian Paul Anka, famous for writing the track My Way; Anka will receive 50% of the song's royalties. Lyrically, it's still hard to decipher exactly what any of these musicians are talking about, although it appears they're all mooning over some girl: "And it feels as though I’ve seen your face a thousand times/And you said you really know me too yourself/And I know that you have got addicted with your eyes/But you say you gonna live it for yourself."
Clearly, Jackson is playing his familiar role of spurned lover. But this song's musical sweetness, which begins with Jackson counting in his band, recalls the bass-line from Human Nature and has a smooth jazz arrangement guaranteed to neither stimulate or offend. This is a song studio sculpted to remind future film-goers about the Michael Jackson far removed from the controversies which marred his last years.
Playing only for a duration of three minutes and thirty-six seconds, the song twice repeats its simple chorus: "This is it, I can say/ I’m the light of the world, run away/We can feel, this is real/Every time I’m in love." Musically, the record's light rock backdrop frames Jackson's silky smooth vocals as elegantly as his hand once fit into a silvery glove.
The two disc album that bares this record's title will be released in North America on October 27th and the film of the same name opens in theatres on the very next day. Obviously, at this stage in his career, decisions are no longer being made to showcase Michael Jackson as the innovative performer he once was. This Is It is a sweet sounding single, a song with a tender vocal and a message that's as light as air. -->
The single has almost a throwback feel, and Jackson's early Motown years are more prevalent on the record than the grandiose arrangements of post-Off the Wall Quincy Jones which came to dominate his later, more daring years. Of course, the controvery today is about the discovery that the record was actually first recorded eighteen years ago by a singer in Puerto Rico. It's now come out that the song was written by the Canadian Paul Anka, famous for writing the track My Way; Anka will receive 50% of the song's royalties. Lyrically, it's still hard to decipher exactly what any of these musicians are talking about, although it appears they're all mooning over some girl: "And it feels as though I’ve seen your face a thousand times/And you said you really know me too yourself/And I know that you have got addicted with your eyes/But you say you gonna live it for yourself."
Clearly, Jackson is playing his familiar role of spurned lover. But this song's musical sweetness, which begins with Jackson counting in his band, recalls the bass-line from Human Nature and has a smooth jazz arrangement guaranteed to neither stimulate or offend. This is a song studio sculpted to remind future film-goers about the Michael Jackson far removed from the controversies which marred his last years.
Playing only for a duration of three minutes and thirty-six seconds, the song twice repeats its simple chorus: "This is it, I can say/ I’m the light of the world, run away/We can feel, this is real/Every time I’m in love." Musically, the record's light rock backdrop frames Jackson's silky smooth vocals as elegantly as his hand once fit into a silvery glove.
The two disc album that bares this record's title will be released in North America on October 27th and the film of the same name opens in theatres on the very next day. Obviously, at this stage in his career, decisions are no longer being made to showcase Michael Jackson as the innovative performer he once was. This Is It is a sweet sounding single, a song with a tender vocal and a message that's as light as air. -->
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