Album Review.
Likes: Inside Out, Seal it With a Kiss, Gasoline
Overall: It’s the Britney album I liked the least. Didn’t enjoy it. The material is extremely redundant.

Anyone could’ve guessed that Britney’s new album, “Femme Fatale”, would incorporate the ever-popular techno-electro-dance sound of today, but geez, I didn’t expect the record to be doused in it. Most of the album sounds like you’re going through Super Mario World. Occasionally, the musical production is appealing and multidimensional, but sonically, it’s largely redundant. The problem with techno-dance music is that the beat pattern is predictable and almost always the same. Untuss, Untuss, Untuss Untuss, Boom, Boom, Boom, Boom. When you have a whole album of such, it might be hard to keep the listeners attention, and that’s EXACTLY what happened. “Fatale” functioned as unnoticeable background music as I prepared my dinner and checked my email. A few songs slightly caught my ear along the way (ex. the “Likes” above, “Drop Dead Beautiful,” “Big Fat Bass,” “Trip to Your Heart,” “Don’t Keep Me Waiting”), but I had to make myself sit down and stop what I was doing to really tune in. Once I did, I realized that the lyrical content was just as redundant as the production, despite there being at least 16 different writers. “Fatale” is a long one-night-stand; most of the songs are about finding someone in the club to screw for the evening, as Britney proclaims on “How I Roll”: “you can be my f*** tonight.” The lyrics are so cyclic, “Inside Out” seemed innovative for discussing sex with an ex. On another note, I could appreciate the use of live instruments on “Don’t Keep Me Waiting” and Will.I.Am’s fairly eclectic production on “Big Fat Bass.” 

As surprising as this may sound, “Femme Fatale” is the only Britney album I don’t like. Guess there’s a first time for everything. I felt like I was listening to the same song for an hour. No go. If you’re curious to hear some snippets of the record, an album sampler is below.

To digress, if the foundation of your album’s sound is going to be techno-dance, spice it up a little bit by adding elements from other genres and modulating the tempo. Just a thought.

My latest videoblog.

I came across this small symphony group, Aston, while looking for a strings instrumental of Rihanna's "Umbrella". This young people are sooo talented. Check them out!

Chris Brown: F.A.M.E.
Album Review.

Likes: “Say it With Me,” “Next To You,”
Dislikes: “Look At Me Now,” She Ain’t You”
Overall: This album is good for the demographic it targets. Not my preferred brand of male R&B. If you like today’s R&B/pop, you’ll find some tracks to enjoy.

For Chris Brown’s fourth album, “F.A.M.E. (Forgive All My Enemies),” he delivered what was expected. If you’re 14-20, that’s a good thing. If you’re a little older, that might not be so great. Brown serves up, as anticipated, techno-dance tracks laced with noticeable auto-tune (the sound that has infiltrated mainstream music; “Oh My Love”, “Say it With Me”, “Yeah 3x”, “Beautiful People”), faux baby-makers on “Wet the Bed” and “ No B.S.” (I say “faux baby-makers” because their supposed to be romantic, but they’re not due to the cheap, locker-room bantered lyrics) and lazy production (“She Ain’t You”- Brown sings different lyrics on top of the SWV’s “Right Here” track), with a few relationship-related songs in between. For people like myself, that prefer more mature male R&B that isn’t designed to attract adolescents and the early 20’s crowd (ex. Anthony Hamilton, Robin Thicke), it may be hard to appreciate “F.A.M.E.” I honestly had a hard time listening to most of the tracks in their entirety. The only reason I did was because I don’t think it’s fair to write a review without listening to the whole piece. In addition, Brown still sounds like a teenager vocally, which could also be a deterrent for a slightly older audience.

“Next to You” was pleasant and lyrically acceptable, but it was awkward hearing teen sensation Justin Bieber on the song because of the maturity level of the lyrics. Also, it was annoying to catch the blatant gimmick that was adding Bieber to the song, but Chris has nothing to do with that idea, record label execs do, so I won’t fault him for that. “Should’ve Kissed You” would be a more lyrically appropriate song for Beiber; the content was achingly immature for Brown. On “Look at Me Now,” Brown is laughable as a rapper (Busta Rhymes saves that track, in my opinion) and after hearing the finisher, “Beautiful People,” I was intrigued to find out more about featured artist Benny Benassi (I liked his voice). On another tip, the material on “F.A.M.E” has nothing to do with fame or its acronym, which is…confusing and annoying.

Like I mentioned above, this album is good for the demographic it targets. It’s very contemporary and current. Brown’s fanbase should be pleased with it, which, I suppose is all that matters.

Album Review.

Likes: No One’s Gonna’ Love You, “Don’t Look Down,” “Feeling Good”
Overall: Much better than her last record. I didn’t despise any of the songs. The production is a little dry, but the lyrics are strong. Acceptable album.

Jennifer Hudson turns the “sophomore jinx” on its head and rebounds from her disappointing self-titled debut album with “I Remember Me.” Hudson’s debut was infused with middling, commercial tunes that were ill-fitting and didn’t do her voice justice. “Remember” is a better fit; it’s more mature, consistent and comprehensive. Like most R&B albums, it covers the ups and downs of romantic relationships with a few inspirational-motivational songs. The opener, “No One’s Gonna’ Love You” has an interesting concept, as she admits to having baggage and personal issues that impact her relationship, but still asserts that she’s a suitable partner; an admission that isn’t frequently found on R&B albums by women. “Why is it So Hard” well captures the confusion and indecision someone might feel in a complex or difficult relationship they desperately want to invest in. The lyrics of “Where You At” are great, but musically, it kind of drags on, with few chord changes and no layered production. Plus, the climax takes too long to get to, and when it’s finally reached, the song quickly tapers off and ends. “Where” is also kind of misplaced within the track order of the album, being a breakup song among happier, relationship joints and two inspirational-motivationals. Here is where we find the weakness of “I Remember Me.”  

Too many of the songs follow “Where You At’s” pattern of strong lyrics, but not enough musical pizzaz. Musically, “Remember” is too monotone. The entire album could use a pump-up in energy and dynamic. Even the heartfelt “Still Here” and “Believe” (a decent rendition of the Brooks & Dunn country hit) could’ve packed some more punch. Vocally, “J-Hud” is still solid, but was so restrained and controlled, that a little powerhouse singing was in order. Who would’ve thought you would have to ASK Jennifer Hudson to over-sing a little? She went from too much over-singing to almost none at all. Balance is the key. The lack of a sonic boom makes the catchy, mid-tempo “Don’t Look Down” and “Everybody Needs Love” refreshing and appealing. “Love” and another track, “Gone,” I assume exist to feed the needs of those who enjoy the currently popular dance and electro sound. “Love” is a little easier to digest than “Gone,” as its R&B-dance versus pop-dance, and doesn’t sound as forced or intentionally mainstream. Alicia Keys and Swizz Beatz wrote and produced “Love,” which explains its resemblance to Whitney Houston’s “Million-Dollar Bill,” but the two songs aren’t so incredibly similar that I would accuse Keys and Beatz of lazy production (http://jsays.weebly.com/2/post/2011/03/divas-copying-divas.html). Keys also contributed to “Angel” and “Don’t Look Down.” Hudson’s cover of the jazz-standard “Feelin’ Good” was full of attitude and shook things up a little, but still felt restrained.

This album was a WHOLE lot better than the last one, but it could use a little fine tuning. I suspect that her 3rd album will be the complete package and a happy medium between her first two efforts. Despite the lack of musical “sis-boom-pow,” the writing on this album was great and the substantial amount of artistic growth is visible and respectable. Good job.

Here's a Youtube video I made to illustrate the point that Britney Spears' "downward spiral" wasn't sudden. With her music, she tried to let SOMEONE, anyone, know that she was in peril. The sad and scary part is that Britney still needs someone to save her.

My latest Videoblog.

I said I would have an example of lazy music production, so here it is. The production team, StarGate, produced "With You" (Chris Brown) and "Irreplaceable" (Beyonce`). As you should be able to see in the following video, the tracks are VERY similar. Producers tweak a track JUST ENOUGH (i.e. speeding or slowing tempo, changing a chord, or adding an effect) to avoid complete duplication, but it's still obvious it's the same track. Also below is a comparison of the StarGate produced "Firework" (Katy Perry) and "Good Girl" (Alexis Jordan). SHAME.