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The Truth About Love - P!nk
by Twizzley94
It was about time we had a new album from this girl and I am so happy she is back. "The Truth About Love" is P!nks 6th studio album and after 4 years since her previous sensation "Funhouse" I couldn't wait to get my hands on it. The album showcases P!nks variety of styles and her amazing vocals. There are songs which ... show emotion and others that dancey and light hearted.
I will now do a track by track review.
1."Are we all we are" - I don't think there is anything special about this song. It gets the rhythm going but it is a pleasing start.
2. "Blow me (One Last Kiss)" - P!nk's first single release from this album. The comeback everyone was waiting for and it packed one heck of a punch. It really shows off her vocal range and the power she has. It is a typical standard p!nk song with foul-mouthed lyrics and it is a light hearted break up song. It had huge success and it is easy to see why.
3. "Try" - Not one of my favourites on the album for me personally but this was the second single to be released off the album. With heartfelt lyrics it is very touching and motivating for the listener. This reminds me greatly of Adam Lamberts - Whatdya want from me which I know the billboard review echos. Probably a song I tend to skip but a good song all the same.
4. "Just Give Me A Reason" feat. Nate Ruess - I absolutely love this song and I am very glad that this was the 3rd single to be released. The duet is beautiful and it is really emotional and touching. The two voices work perfectly with each other and it is a wonderful collaboration.
5. "True Love" feat. Lily Rose Cooper - I do believe this is the 4th single which is yet to be released. It is happy and upbeat and very lighthearted/lovey dovey. This is illustrated from the lyrics such as 'You're an asshole but I love you' which is typically P!nks style. Lily's vocals are a cute little addition mid way through the song but I can't say this is one of my favourites. However it is a lighthearted addition to the album.
6. "How Come You're Not Here" - A temper tantrum in a song is the only way to describe this song. I can imagine her stamping her foot screaming 'How come you're not here'. The lyrics are quite childlike and immature in terms of her attitude which gives the song again a light hearted feel.
7."Slut like you" - okay, i'm not gonna deny, this is probably one of my favourites on the album. It is so fun and cheeky. 'I got a little piece of yooohhooo' is so playful and catchy and I find myself accidently singing it to myself in the most inappropriate of situations. It challenges the stereotype, if a guy can sleep around, why can't a girl?
8. "The Truth About Love" - This is very much like "True Love" in terms of its theme (obviously from the title). Again melodically this isn't the catchiest song ever and there is not much of a backing track which is what i'd prefer. However it is happy, upbeat and pop-py
9. "Beam Me Up" is a tug-on-the-heartstrings acoustic ballad where p!nks vocals are really shown off in the album. This is a unique addition to the album and is a quiet and chilled out moment to behold. Gorgeous song.
10. "Walk of Shame" - This is almost like the part II of "Slut Like You". It is fantastically fun and full of life. A great contrast from the slow acoustic song heard previously. Another song I constantly have on repeat because it's so catchy. The quirky lyrics will make you smile and will brighten your day. Another one of those you catch yourself singing along to.
11. "Here Comes The Weekend" feat. Eminem - When I heard these two were collaborating I was super super excited as I adore both artists. This is a very alternative punk-pop sound which is quite different to the rest of the album. The bridge is quite catchy but the tune is definitely not a rememberable as some of the other classic anthems from P!nk so I was quite disappointed really. Eminem just does a little rap in the middle as you probably expected but that's it really. Not a favourite
12. "Where Did The Beat Go?" - funnily named that for a slightly slower song and after a song with a punchy beat in the background. P!nk asks where did her love go and therefore 'where did the beat go'. I find this song drags and I do tend to skip it. The chorus is good but the main verse really does go on a bit and isn't catchy.
13. "The Great Escape" - This is the end of the main album tracks and it a way rounds it off nicely with a slow anthem that is hopeful yet sad at the same time.
Moving into the bonus tracks! I honestly would have replaced all of these bonus tracks in place of some of the slow monotonous tracks.
14. My Signature Move - The chorus in itself is a winner. It has a great lively tempo and it completely forgets the slowness of the previous track. This is p!nk at her finest. I really wish it made the main album.
15. "Is this thing on?" - With a intro that begins to sound rather like "Who Knew" it definitely has that sort of feel to the track. Not that this is just a copy. It builds up to a dancey belter. Probably the most club-worthy tracks on the album. If it was remixed it would be such a favourite in the clubs I believe.
16. "Run" - I absolutely adore this track! A truely heart warming track which brings hope in times of dispair. The key change just builds on the general feeling and it is a very moving track. Again, should have made the main album
17. "Good Old Days" - Bouncy. Lively. Love it. Very catchy and you are guaranteed to have the classic in your head all day. I can't help but sing along to this one. Again, another one that should be on the album!!
Basically these bonus tracks are altogether heart filled and warm.
But there's more!
18. "Chaos & Piss" - this is quite a slow one and not one of my favourites and again the chorus is probably the only highlight of the song which is a shame.
19. "Timebomb" - There is a techno/disco feel to this song which I absolutely love. Perfect end to the bonus album. Probably saved the best until last. Catchy lyrics and a funky beat concludes this epically long album.
Overall, it is worth a listen and there are some classics that you will have on repeat. It is not my favourite album from her, but I have thoroughly enjoyed it and I will continue to do so for some time. I would recommend buying it even though there are some tracks that aren't that great, that comes with most albums. The messages she gets across and her vocals I will forever be in awe of. It is very inspirational and I continue to be a big fan. I think this deserves more stars than it currently has at the moment on dooyoo!!
Well done P!nk!!
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The Collection - Traffic
by JOHNDMR
TRAFFIC
Traffic were formed in 1967 by Steve Winwood, a successful multi-instrumentalist and solo artist over the last three decades or so, but at that time known as the former vocalist with the chart-topping Spencer Davis Group, guitarist Dave Mason, drummer and vocalist Jim Capaldi, and sax/flute player Chris Wood. Over a ... seven-year career and several line-up changes they went from psychedelic progressive pop to a hybrid of blues, folk and jazz, completely turning their backs on chart-oriented music.
THE MUSIC
This compilation takes material from their first five albums, recorded between 1967 and 1970. The 17 tracks are in totally random order, so to try and maintain some kind of logical thread I'll look at the singles first.
The first two are by far their best known, and still regularly crop up as oldies on the radio. 'Paper Sun' (highest position No 5), their debut, followed the Beatles and the Rolling Stones in its use of sitar as a lead instrument, and the combination of this and Winwood's soulful voice made for one of the summer of 1967's most recognisable hits.
Its success was eclipsed by 'Hole In My Shoe' (No 2), written and sung by Mason. Sent up mercilessly by Neil (Nigel Planer in 'The Young Ones') in 1984, it always was something of a hippie joke. I mean, can anybody take someone seriously who sings of dreaming about an elephant looking at him from a bubblegum tree while his feet are getting wet as he has put the wrong pair of shoes on, and this little girl suddenly interrupts about climbing on the back of a giant albatross? Far out, man, and pass the joss sticks. But for all that I rather enjoy its period charm. The other members of the band never liked it as they felt it was unrepresentative of their usual style, but they doubtless welcomed the royalties.
One more hit single followed at Christmas 1967, the theme song to the movie 'Here We Go Round The Mulberry Bush' (No 8). This was even more odd. It had a singalong chorus tacked on to an ethereal verse or two, with one verse sounding like the volume has been turned down by accident, interspersed by some Beach Boys-like organ, followed by a largely single note coda that, as with that weird ending to the Beatles' 'Strawberry Fields Forever', seems to have nothing to do with the song. All of this happens within only three minutes or so.
That was their hit parade career over, unless you count an album track which was extracted as a single and made No 40 a few months later. The gentle 'No Face, No Name, No Number' doesn't really have 'hit single' stamped on it, though it made a good album track. A subsequent flop single on here, the funky 'Medicated Goo', has some OK staccato piano chords and guitar on the intro, but the song is rather dull.
That leaves an additional eight tracks from the early 1967-68 period, after which they temporarily disbanded when Winwood formed the shortlived Blind Faith with Eric Clapton and Ginger Baker. When Blind Faith fell apart Winwood began what was intended to be a first solo album, but it turned into a set from what gradually became a reformed Traffic. That therefore leaves us four numbers from the less interesting 1970-71 era.
From those early days, probably the best-known is 'Dear Mr Fantasy'. Almost six minutes long, it's a slow, anguished, almost bluesy number with vivid organ, strong drums and wailing harmonica, culminating in a rich guitar solo. For all that, I think the version which Winwood played in his recent concerts with Clapton (immortalised on a 'Live at Madison Square Gardens' CD and DVD, and shown on TV) is stronger and more spirited than this.
'(Roamin' Through The Gloamin' With) 40,000 Headmen' is pleasant in a dreamy way, with nice touches of flute. 'Coloured Rain' and 'Pearly Queen' both sound a little like Cream, as if Winwood had a presentiment that he was shortly to find himself working with two of their members. Less inspired are 'Who Knows What Tomorrow May Bring' and 'Am I What I Was Or Am I What I Am' rather lack interest - well-played and pleasantly funky, but with not much else to draw attention to them. The cheery 'You Can All Join In' is cute and almost childlike - their version of 'Yellow Submarine', perhaps?
Finally, there's the quite out of character 'Berkshire Poppies'. A cheesily semi-drunken singalong around the pub piano is the best way of describing this, as if the Small Faces had joined Chas and Dave. I read somewhere that an uncredited Steve Marriott of the Small Faces can be heard bawling along on this - if so, it wouldn't surprise me.
Of the four late-period Traffic songs, they have their good and not-so-good moments. 'The Low Spark of High-Heeled Boys' opens promisingly with some jazzy sax and organ, with a fairly catchy hook on the chorus before drifting off pleasantly into a soft jazz piano section until the chorus comes in again. But at over ten mintes long, it would have been improved by gentle editing.
The traditional 'John Barleycorn Must Die' is closer to Fairport Convention than Traffic, with its flute, acoustic guitar and folksy vocal harmonies. 'Freedom Rider' is driven nicely by piano, sax and flute, though the song is nothing special. Finally there's 'Rock And Roll Stew', written by bassist Ric Grech and drummer Jim Gordon, who as a member of Derek and the Dominos had previously been responsible for co-writing the classic 'Layla'. There are no Winwood vocals to be heard here, and the result sounds rather like a third-rate Slade track. It's not Noddy Holder singing, although it sounds not unlike him.
OVERALL
Traffic had their good moments, but they were few and far between. This was the age when bands were breaking down the barriers of the four-minute single and doing their own thing, the results of which were often rather undisciplined, not to say almost boring for the listener. I've loved a good deal of Winwood's solo work - from the mid-1970s he certainly discovered his songwriting muse, albeit often with collaborators - but on the whole Traffic were better musicians than songwriters, and they would have benefited from a strong producer to keep the more indulgent tendencies in check. Improvised open-ended psychedelia seemed right at the time, but hasn't always aged that well. If you can pick this one up cheaply as I did - it is a budget price compilation, around £4-£5 new - it's OK, but some tracks you might not play that often.
THE PACKAGING
A two-page foldout with one small rather fuzzy picture of the band on the front, and a concise comprehensive biographical note inside next to the track listing. Amazon and dooyoo seem to have inadvertently used the picture from their second album for the image above - my copy, and I think it only has been issued with one design, shows a different group picture with white lettering against a light green background superimposed over part of the photo.
[Revised version of a review I originally posted on ciao]
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Help! - The Beatles
by GentleGenius
Released in 1965 and spending nine weeks at the top of the UK charts in the late summer/early autumn of that year, The Beatles' HELP! album was the soundtrack to their second feature film.
Despite only being at the tender age of 11 when HELP! was riding high in the charts, I hooked into it immediately, as was the case for me ... with all of their albums.
Still very much holding onto their mop-top image just prior to the first rumblings of big change on their follow-up album, Rubber Soul, HELP! contains some very strong songs. Some people I know declare this 1965-ish era to be when The Beatles were producing their best material, but for me it is all but impossible to pin the band down in that way, due to their sheer diversity throughout the short evolution of their musical career during most of the 1960s.
Most of the material contained within the HELP! album is credited to Lennon/McCartney, with two tracks penned by George Harrison....he didn't get a proper songwriting look-in until a few years later, yet for me on this album he sparkles with his offerings of the gentle, tuneful but simple lost-love song I Need You and the thoughtfully-written You Like Me Too Much, which starts off with quite a dirty almost bluesy intro, turning into a pleasant-sounding straightforward pop song. There are two cover versions on the album, one of which is Act Naturally (sung by Ringo Starr), and the other, the final track, being Larry Williams's Dizzy Miss Lizzy.
HELP!, as an album, shows us what probably was the beginning of John Lennon starting to look inward for his songs, particularly the lyrics, and this is shown in the title song itself, Help. Lennon himself admitted (with hindsight) that he was feeling rather vulnerable at the time he wrote this and other similar songs, gradually turning from a lippy and attitude-ish young man into somebody a little more thoughtful and reflective as his outer protective layers began to melt away, revealing the frightened child inside. There is also a kind of desperation in You've Got To Hide Your Love Away, where Lennon pulls back the covers again, showing his usually well-hidden vulnerability.
(NB: Although the songs are credited to Lennon/McCartney, as with all of their work, it is a rule of thumb that whoever sings the lead on each of their songs is the one who essentially wrote it, perhaps with the other just adding one word or a couple of notes of music here and there.)
During The Beatles' growth and mutation as a band, you can increasingly hear Lennon and McCartney's different styles (of course with Harrison having his own style too) of songwriting, such perhaps aligning with their gradual - albeit temporary - alienation from one another as people. This difference between the two main Beatles' songwriters/lyricists is very noticeable on the HELP! album, more so than any of its predecessors. John's style of writing became a combination of increasingly personal and tongue-in-cheek material laced with an edge of the surreal, whereas Paul quite strongly maintained his classic love song style, occasionally entering into the vaguely whimsical with his HELP! offering of I've Just Seen A Face.
One song, Ticket To Ride, was released as a single from the album, and as was without fail during the 1960s once The Beatles had quickly become established as a major force in British pop music, shot straight to no.1 both in the UK and America, in April of 1965....released in advance of the album itself.
On a personal level, HELP! is an extremely important album for me, as it came along during a crucial time in my formative years....things were happening like leaving primary school and trotting off to secondary school, that in itself causing a major shift in my sense of being (a positive one), my confidence levels and my place in the world. The HELP! album, each time I listen to it in its entirety, transports me right back to that time so sharply, that I almost re-live it.
I do love all the songs contained therein, with my favourites being The Night Before, You've Got To Hide Your Love Away and the most covered song of any of all time, the McCartney-penned Yesterday. I wasn't keen on Yesterday at the time and for some years afterwards, but life itself gradually taught me that it, correctly appropriated, is a very tender, sad and meaningful song.
Overall, HELP! is a high quality collection of genuinely good pop songs, some of which are complex in their sheer simplicity. I probably would be happier if Act Naturally had been omitted with something more 'Beatle-ish' replacing it, preferably something written by Lennon/McCartney or Harrison, as it simply is a song that I'm not too fond of. However, I don't hate it and can take it along with the remainder of the album, the strong songs around it managing to raise my opinion of it, so long as I hear it in conjunction with the others. I'm also not 100% enamoured with The Beatles' rendition of Larry Williams's Dizzy Miss Lizzy, far preferring the original....but those two very minor blots on the landscape of this superb album aren't serious enough to prejudice me against it in any way at all, or to prevent me from awarding it with the full whack of stars.
Do you have or do you not have HELP! in your album collection? If not, and if you are a lover of good, easy-going, quality pop music by the Fab Four, then I suggest you dash to your closest music store or hurtle over to Amazon and correct the situation.
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At the time of writing, HELP! can be purchased from Amazon as follows:-
On digitally re-mastered CD:-
New: from £12.72 to £63.36
Used: from £2.57 to £57.66
Original vinyl album:-
New: only one copy currently available @ £99.99 (on green vinyl)
Used: from £16.50 to £150.00
Collectible: only one copy currently available @ £80.00
NB: Those vinyl album prices are probably so high due to them being the original recording, hence extremely collectible. However, I'm not sure I lie comfortably with the idea of a Beatles' album advertised described as an authentic original, being on green vinyl.
Thanks for reading!
TRACKLIST:-
Help
You've Got To Hide Your Love Away
I Need You
Another Girl
You're Going To Lose That Girl
Ticket To Ride
Act Naturally
It's Only Love
You Like Me Too Much
Tell Me What You See
I've Just Seen A Face
Yesterday
Dizzy Miss Lizzy
~~ Also published on Ciao under my CelticSoulSister user name ~~
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