American Idol

Season One: Kelly Clarkson. Clarkson has done extremely well ever since American Idol. She released her fifth studio album Stronger just last year. It debuted at the number 2 spot in the U.S.

Season Two: Ruben Studdard. Studdard beat out Clay Aiken by what was said to be a very small margin. Both artists achieved moderate success after the finale. Studdard has worked with four labels. He is still attached to 19 (the contract from American Idol), but recently left the label Hickory and signed with Shanachie. He is expecting to release an album later this year, but anticipation isn’t exactly running high.

Season Three: Fantasia Barrino. Season 3 is known as the one that brought us Jennifer Hudson and William Hung, though neither even saw the top 5 spots. (And here I thought Hung had a chance.) Barrino, now simply known as Fantasia, was the eventual winner. She’s done pretty well recently, earning her first Grammy last year for Best Female R&B Vocal Performance for “Bittersweet”. It’s possible Fantasia will be making some film appearances in upcoming years.

Season Four: Carrie Underwood. Where do we start? Even those who didn’t bother watching Season 4 of American Idol know Underwood’s name. Her first album became the best-selling album in the United States in 2006 and the best-selling country album in the United States in 2006 and 2007. Her most recent album Play On was released in 2009. Since then, Underwood has taken part in duets and has made several television appearances, but there is currently no indication of another album coming out any time soon.

Season Five: Taylor Hicks. Oh yeah, remember this guy? Most recently, Hicks released his second album, the first under his own label, in 2009. It sold a meager 9,000 copies in its first week of release. Some refer to Hicks are the exception that proves the rule that Idol winners generally do go on to “greatness.” If only Chris Daughtry had won; then, we would have had a real rule.  Oh well.

(U.S. Air Force photo)

Three versions of Up! were released, all with the same track listing: a country version (the green disc), a pop version (green disc), and an international version (blue disc), which was in the style of Bollywood music. I listened to the country version, but based on other reviews that I have read, the differences among the three are quite minimal. Twain’s voice is essentially the same in all three styles. The album you prefer depends solely on what you would like to hear more in the background, some fiddle and a banjo or some funk guitars, keyboards, and a string section.

If you liked Twain’s first few albums, then you’ll like Up!, unless you were hoping that Twain would expand her musical horizons. Despite the three different versions of the album, Twain ultimately does not seem to stray from her simple and oh-so-catchy tunes. Her voice sounds exactly the same as on Come on Over, and many of the songs reminded me of her older hits. It’s almost like she looked at her old songs as models for her new ones, instead of coming up with original material. You can decide for yourself whether that’s a good or a bad thing.

Up! garnered Twain the distinction of being the only female artist to have three consecutive albums released in the United States become Diamond. However, since Up! Twain has only released a handful of songs; on her website, she cited personal struggles as the reason for the delay in new music. Unless you count her Greatest Hits album, Twain’s fans have been without a new album for just about a decade! Twain released one single last year (after six long, empty years) entitled “Today is Your Day,” but there is still no word on a new album. Twain reported recently that she will by headlining Caesars Palace for two years starting later this year, with a show called Still the One. At least she gave us plenty to listen to; the 19 songs on Up! would probably be on a minimum of two albums for any other artist.

I’ve been reviewing last year’s posts and noticed a theme throughout several of them: I mention the musician Beck quite a lot. To be honest, I referenced him five times.  Then I started thinking to myself, as I often do, Avid Reader; why did I mention him so often?  The answer is pretty simple: he’s my favorite artist of all time and has held on longer than others who have had this prized position.  He’s the reason I dig for export albums and why I’ve built such a collection.  Everybody has “the one” — an artist they seem to always turn to for inspiration or to gauge other artists by –  and I’m going to share my story with you all.  If you happened to think this post was going to be about James Brown’s funk groove, I hate to disappoint you.

Growing up, we identify with the music we hear most often and, as far as my own research dictates, this is the noise playing in your parents’ car.  For me it was the Beatles and other icons of 50’s and 60’s pop.  I heard Billy Joel early on and thought I would identify with him for the rest of my life.  I liked his songs, they were always on the radio and plenty of other people liked him too.  I was set.

Billy lasted for a few years until a friend created that fabled mix tape and sent my world on its ear.  Kurt Cobain had been dead for two years before I discovered him and sent Billy packing.  Here was a guy that spoke about alienation, anger and a whole bunch of other mumbled stuff I couldn’t decipher.  He guided me through high school and early college, and I pulled everything I could from his songs.

A light turned on one day: Kurt was dead.  This meant his music had an ending point and there would be nothing new.  I’ve heard bootlegs, the Outcesticides, early demos, and plenty of other things, but I needed someone who would put out albums once in a while.  Then I realized there was someone else that I had been following for years who always managed to boost my own creativity with each release.

Beck was the soundtrack for my school projects and papers, and why I started watching Futurama again.  His albums challenged my way of thinking and how I listened to albums.  He was multi-dimensional, whereas Billy and Kurt seemed one-sided. Beck was also putting out new material every few years.  I’ve developed a wider taste in music and I have him to blame.  For me, Beck is the one whether he produces albums or puts out his own material.  I bet your story is similar to mine; you just need to find someone you can grow with or who will make you grow too.  Who is your one and what’s your story?

I first heard about them about a year ago. They were mentioned in passing by a friend of mine and after a few weeks of procrastinating, I finally got around to checking them out. If you can imagine what it would be like if Seth McFarlane decided to make an animated series about an 80′s glam metal band, you can imagine Steel Panther.

With a tongue-in-cheek approach to raunchy and hilarious lyrics, and a great musical ability, Steel Panther has been able to turn a niche comedy act into serious business, producing two major-label records and recording with Nickelback frontman Chad Kroeger (who I detest, but oh well). The band has gone through three other names before settling on Steel Panther – Danger Kitty, Metal Shop, and Metal Skool.

The quartet began their career doing covers of 80′s metal songs while parodying the artists. As Metal Shop (and later as Metal Skool) they released an album in 2003 titled Hole Patrol. The 10-track album featured one of their most popular singles, “Fat Girl (Thar She Blows)”, which was later re-recorded (along with a few other songs) for their second album Feel the Steel.

Feel the Steel was released under the Steel Panther name in 2009 and featured the singles “Death to All But Metal” and “Community Property”. Easily my favorite album from the group, Feel the Steel brings authentic glam metal sounds and melds it expertly with their own special blend of funny for an excellent listen.

This past year, in October, Steel Panther released their third album, Balls Out, to much fanfare. This album features more of the same, with a more aggressive and vulgar attitude.

While I’m not in the mood for them all the time (such as when they suddenly burst into a bar I was at in Philly and made a crap ton of noise while I was trying to enjoy some German beer with my girlfriend), they have a unique style that’s good for a few play throughs. I’ve yet to see a live show of theirs, but I’m looking forward to the opportunity the next time it presents itself.

Diana Krall

Krall began playing piano at the age of 4. By the age of 15, she was playing jazz piano in a local restaurant. She attributes most of her music education to her father, who was both a piano player and record collector. She attended the Berklee College of Music in Boston on a scholarship, before heading out to Los Angeles, Toronto, and finally New York, in 1990, to play jazz

Her first album was  Stepping Out in 1993. She took part in a trio, which included John Clayton on bass and Jeff Hamilton on drums, but it was Krall who received most of the attention and praise from fans and critics alike. It was an impressive debut and caught the attention of Tommy LiPuma, who produced her second album, Only Trust Your Heart (1995).

Her third album, a tribute to Nat King Cole, earned her a Grammy nomination and lasted 70 weeks in the Billboard jazz charts. Impressive as that was, Krall had much room for improvement. Krall truly rose to fame with the release of her 1999 album When I Look Into Your Eyes, which won two Grammys: Best Jazz Vocal Performance and Best Engineered Album (Non-Classical). It also earned a nomination for Best Album of the Year, the first jazz album nominated in two and a half decades. In 2001, she began a world tour, becoming an international best-seller.

Krall continues to delight fans year after year with new album releases. She never disappoints. I saw a Chris Botti/Krall concert in 2007; the two of them were flawless, what a great match! Her most recent work is the 2010 Quiet Nights, a collection of ballads and bossa novas; it uses Brazil as a “musical point of reference.” It reached No. 1 on the Billboard jazz chart, her 9th album to do so. Overall, it generated positive reviews and won the arranger, Claus Ogerman, a Grammy.

If you’re looking for some soothing, jazzy Christmas tunes, the 2005 Christmas Songs is a short album (12 tracks in under 40 minutes) that fits the bill. It is Krall’s 9th album, but her first studio album with a big band, which was ranked number 14 on Billboard’s Top Jazz Albums of the Decade. Any day is a great day to break out some Krall, but come Christmastime, I can’t get enough.

So it’s with great elation that I came upon a group that I’d forgotten about for some time – Boyce Avenue. Having been mentioned before on Tunes News, I felt it might be appropriate to give them a bit more thorough of a look.

A four piece acoustic band from Sarasota, Florida, Boyce Avenue is comprised of brothers Alejandro, Fabian, and Daniel Manzano, as well as Jason Burrows, who provides percussion while on tour. The band’s schtick is doing acoustic covers of popular songs, which got them notable fame on YouTube for their efforts. Their blend of acoustic guitar and soft vocals results in some very interesting, and often times very fantastic tracks.

When we first mentioned them back in 2008, the band was as independent as it gets, under a label that they themselves formed, 3 Peace Records. It wasn’t until 2010 that the band signed with a major label, Universal Republic, and released their first major label record, All We Have Left, deviating from their usual formula with all original tracks.

All We Have Left is a great first effort, with a good sound and strong track arrangement. Their two most popular songs from the album, “Dare to Believe” and “Every Breath” are your typical radio-friendly hits, and most of the album has a slight southern lean to it. I’d almost call this pop-country, but it might just be because of Alejandro Manzano’s vocals.

Their best stuff, however, remains their laundry-list of covers. Notable covers include “Disturbia” and “Umbrella” by Rihanna, “Rolling in the Deep” by Adele, and “Best of You” by Foo Fighters, among many, many others.

Their albums usually come pretty cheap, so why not get to downloading? You’ll be pleasantly surprised.

Flecktones,

I am utterly excited to see a live performance tonight made by this group of talented musicians. The current lineup, which is the original lineup, consists of Béla Fleck, Victor Wooten, Future Man, and Howard Levy. Saxophonist Jeff Coffin played with the group from 1998 to 2010, but will no longer tour with the Flecktones due to touring requirements for Dave Matthews Band, which he has officially been a member of since 2008. I’d like you to meet the band:

• Béla Fleck. Béla Fleck is known as one of the world’s most innovative and technically proficient banjo players; he is the frontman of the band. We’re not talking about just any regular banjo-playing here. Fleck has reinvented the image and sound of the banjo; it’s apparent the second you hear him start to play. He loves to play the banjo in unique contexts. Fleck won his first Grammy Awards in 1998 and continues to win them today. His current Grammy count is 14 Grammys won out of 30 nominations (which started in 1986). He has been nominated in more different categories than anyone in Grammy history; that’s a testimony of his eagerness to constantly expand his musical horizons.
• Victor Wooten. Victor Wooten is a bass virtuoso. He’s the reason I started listening to the Flecktones in the first place. Wooten has won the “Bass Player of the Year” award from Bass Player magazine three times in a row, which had never been done before. To Wooten, music is a language, and it’s a language he speaks fluently.
• Future Man. Future Man (Roy Wooten) is one of bassist Wooten’s older brothers. There are five Wooten Brothers, who are all musicians. Future Man is not just a percussion player, but also an inventor. For the Flecktones, he plays the electric Drumitar (his own creation). He has also been working on an instrument that he calls the RoyEI. It looks like a piano but does not play notes that you would hear in traditional Western music.
• Howard Levy. Levy was one of the co-founders of the band. One of his claims to fame in music is his development of the “overbending” technique, used on a harmonica to obtain all of the chromatic notes that would otherwise be “missing” on a harmonica. He has appeared on over 250 albums!

Stay tuned for a review of the concert next week.

Rammstein began their storied career back in 1994, and with the release of their debut album Herzeleid (German for “Heartbreak”), they crafted a unique industrial sound fused with strong metal riffs. Herzeleid explores many of the band members’ troubled relationships and sets the tone for the group’s hard-hitting anthems.

In 1997 the band released the followup Sehnsucht (German for “Hunger”) which saw unprecedented success as a foreign album in the United States thanks to the airplay and MTV promotion of the single “Du Hast.” The album features sexual themes and pushes the envelope both lyrically and musically. To this day, Sehnsucht stands out as Rammstein’s masterpiece.

After getting into some trouble on the Family Values Tour in 1998 and releasing the live album Live aus Berlin in 2000, Rammstein went back into the studio to record their 2001 album Mutter. In general, this album is much more subdued than the previous offerings, featuring plodding melodies and even some orchestral accompaniment.

In 2004, Rammstein released their fourth studio album. Titled Reise, Reise, the album explored themes of world travel and dosed out the metal as if it were industrial Thanksgiving. A well-rounded and definitive album for the group, indeed.

One short year later, the band released Rosenrot to amazing success considering the lack of promotion. Probably the most unique out of all of Rammstein’s offerings, Rosenrot contained a ballad featuring vocals courtesy of Scottish artist Sharleen Spiteri and German singer Bobo, as well as a Spanish metal love song featuring American actress Carmen Zapata.

After a four-year break, Rammstein released Liebe ist für alle da to much fanfare. It was the band’s highest-charting album in the U.S. and France, and was generally well-recieved. Controversy surrounded this one with the release of the music video for the album’s first single, “P***y”, which depicted the band engaging in sex acts (albeit with body doubles). In my opinion, Liebe ist für alle da is the most rough and heavy release since Sehnsucht.

Through all the heavy riffs, the pyrotechnics in their live shows, their controversy, and their penchant for the unusual, Rammstein has kept true to their origins throughout their 17-year career. Unlike many bands, who simply fade out into irrelevance, Rammstein has found the proper formula to remain relevant and interesting.

One of the greatest decisions that the producers of Glee made was to introduce the Warblers, an all-male rival glee club. A fun trivia fact is that the background singers for the fictional Warblers are the real-life Beelzebubs, an all-male a cappella choir from Tufts University. Their debut song, “Teenage Dream” was the only single from Season 2 to be certified Gold in the US. I once set this song on repeat for several hours. (I swear, I’m really not a gleek!) The vocals are impressively clean. Glee: The Music, Presents the Warblers, the seventh soundtrack album by the Glee cast, will certainly please all of the existing Warbler-fanatics. The album also fared reasonably well when put to the test by professional critics. Some feel that the album is too over-the-top without the context of the TV series, but others agree that it is one of the best Glee collections, with more creative a cappella arrangements than previously released material.

Though some might disagree, I believe that the Glee cast has earned its place among other top music artists. Glee: The Music, Volume 1 has been certified platinum in six countries. Subsequent albums have not achieved the same level of success, but Glee cast singles continue to make their way up to top chart positions in Australia, Ireland, Canada, the U.K., and the U.S., naturally.

Many of the Glee covers are “current” pop hits. The positive effect of covering pop hits is that it draws attention to the songs. (Just take a look at the hits on any non-label YouTube singer’s covers versus any original songs that he or she has posted.) However, if definitely withdraws from the Glee cast’s overall credibility among so-called “real” musicians. Many people don’t give the Glee cast a chance simply because it seems like all the songs that they cover are Billboard Top 100 charts; they are certainly the songs that receive the most attention.

Glee covers might all be a bit over-produced, but they aren’t all over-played songs. The recent cover of Christina Perri’s “Jar of Hearts” actually helped put Perri on the map for many listeners. If you haven’t done so yet, give Glee a chance.

Hailing from the rocktacular suburbs of Boston, these boys know how to do two things: rock and roll.  I should preface that with: this band has no affiliation with the Constitution of the United States or Schoolhouse Rock.  Comprised of singer/guitarist Josh Cassie, bassist and vocalist Jay Provost and drummer extraordinaire Pete Fernandez, I don’t think the founding fathers would approve of their lyrical content.

Opening their shows with a loud version of the actual Preamble, it is not uncommon to hear songs about getting drunk and cruising through a girl’s lingerie drawer.  Is that creepy?  I didn’t think so either.  Taking their musical cues from Toadies, the tongue- in-cheek humor of Blink-182, with the wit and word play of Piebald, Preamble crafts songs with catchy riffs and singalong choruses to produce a recipe for an entertaining evening.

They also have a bizarre need to cover television theme songs in concert, for example: Full House, Reading Rainbow, Denver the Last Dinosaur and Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles to name a few.  If you need more convincing, I suggest patronizing their website to hear some tunes and check them out at an upcoming gig.  As their motto states: “We (rock) the people” and they aim to please.