|
Post by andrew07 on Nov 2, 2012 16:55:33 GMT 1
Corinne stepped out of the spotlight for a while because her husband, Jason Rae (who was a member of The Haggis Horns) died in 2008. And then she came back 2 years after with 2nd album "The Sea" which hit the top 5, but didn't sell as well as her 1st.
|
|
|
Post by greendemon on Nov 3, 2012 3:57:54 GMT 1
i met corinne bailey rae's gran on a bus in leeds in july
|
|
Gezza
Member
Posts: 7,846
|
Post by Gezza on Nov 10, 2012 13:35:10 GMT 1
11TH MARCH- BEEP- Pussycat Dolls Featuring Will.i.am (1 wk)Ah the Pussycat Dolls! Let me start by saying that I loved "Don't Cha", a sassy piece of mid 00s pop that had just a slice of fun to it and was all rather enjoyable, then the slide happened, or as I like to call it, Scherzinger's quite evident push to be a solo star. Ths songs basically became nothing more than vehicle's to push her "sex appeal" with a string of gimmicky throwaway tunes that became increasingly generic (yes that word again). "Beep" is of course co-written and co-performed by Will.i.am (with a big dollop of a ELO sample courtesy of "Evil Woman"), and is little more than extension of BEP's "My Humps" from 6 months before, a lot of this smackes of laziness though, no attempt to really write a song and by bleeping out the last word of the sentence then of course everything rhymes, the call and response between Will.i.am and Scherzinger is painfully one dimensional and by the end you are throughly convinced that there is absolutely no sexual attraction between the pair, or at least no attraction beyond the boardroom that thought it would be a good idea to pair these two up. Thoroughly unconvincing on every level.
|
|
Gezza
Member
Posts: 7,846
|
Post by Gezza on Nov 10, 2012 13:53:43 GMT 1
1ST APRIL- NATURE'S LAW- Embrace (1 wk)Now this is much more like it, Embrace were a curious band, after some truly great records in the 97-98 period they suddenly seemed to run out of ideas and weren't really rejunvinated until Chris Martin gave them a helping hand with "Gravity" in 2004. Perhaps it was the rather inflated ego of Danny McNamara in the 90s (an equivalent of a 00s Johnny Borrell) that seemed to turn people off the band, or merely that they didn't have the talent of that other powerhouse of ego during the late 90s Oasis. At any rate "Nature's Law" is nothing outstanding and you've heard it all before I'm sure yet it is sung with a tenderness and a sincerity that genuinly does convince. Indeed if you compare it to our previous entry it should be clear why this song is clearly superior, one is going through the motions, whilst with this track there is some genuine feeling and warmth here, and yes a little pathos in the lines. Perhaps some would describe this as "indie landfill" but it would be no bad thing to have more of this kind of stuff in the charts now, and yes I know I'm sounding old now.....
|
|
borneoman
Member
love is tough, when enough is not enough
Posts: 34,344
|
Post by borneoman on Nov 10, 2012 17:39:39 GMT 1
where did Embrace go? Do they still exist? I preferred them in the 00s than in the 90s, especially Gravity and Looking As You Are. I was not super crazy about Natura's Law, didn't it get a lot of criticism for being quite bland? love Don' Cha too, especially the Will Yougn cover
|
|
|
Post by andrew07 on Nov 10, 2012 23:59:09 GMT 1
Embrace are still together and have been recording a new album this year, just a question of when the hell they're putting it out. I love Nature's Law and I actually thought it was going to No.1 as it was outselling Ne-Yo and then I read that a certain amount of sales figures had went missing that week, denying them of the top spot.
|
|
Deleted
Deleted Member
Posts: 0
|
Post by Deleted on Nov 12, 2012 16:26:40 GMT 1
They just disappeared off the radar after that dreadful England World Cup song. It wasn't even written with football in mind anyway, which made it even more bland.
In 2006 they denied they were splitting and then performed "Heart and Soul" on tour, which was later a live track on "I Can't Come Down", which both had new songs on it being live recordings. Since then we've heard nothing and will be interesting if any of those songs will be on the album, assuming they have not died a natural death by now.
|
|
Gezza
Member
Posts: 7,846
|
Post by Gezza on Nov 14, 2012 21:21:44 GMT 1
15TH APRIL-ONE- Mary J Blige & U2 (1 wk)Written by U2 some 15 years before this, "One" was of course soon picked out by the press and fans as one of the standout tracks on "Achtung Baby" and dutifully became the group's third single in early 1992 making the top 10 with donations going to AIDS research. Taking inspiration from internal factors (the disagreements in the band over where the group was heading as Bono/ Edge wanted a more dance orientated direction) and external factors (the reunification of Germany post the Berlin wall) "One" is a genuine example of very clever songwriting, one of the factors which made U2 a massive band in the first place. THIS however is utterly pointless. Invited to sing on stage in 2005 Mary J Blige doesn't disgrace herself vocally on the song but neither does she contribute much either and at the end it seems rather like the emotion has been stripped out of it- a quick comparison to the original should highlight this point only too clearly. The fragility of Bono's voice seems to be lacking, he appears to be singing to the stadium rather than to an individual, and Blige is little more than a foil in this relationship. They were still more than capable of getting sizeable hits on their own at this point which only makes this all the more baffling.
|
|
Gezza
Member
Posts: 7,846
|
Post by Gezza on Nov 14, 2012 21:34:09 GMT 1
22ND APRIL- NO PROMISES- Shayne Ward (1 wk)OK, there's no way to say this nicely so I'm just gonna come out with this- I rather like this song if not entirely for musical reasons . The original is by Bryan Rice, a danish popstar who released it in 2005 to quite reasonable success in his homeland, however it failed to make the transition outside of Denmark, Louis Walsh must have liked it and handed it to Ward to record for his second single. Of Course with Ward it's little more than showboating for his vocal range to evidence that we were all right to vote for him on "X Factor". Ward turns in a competent performance and in a normal week in 2006 would have made No 1 but it ran into the juggernaut that was Gnarls Barkley so stood little chance. It won't change anyone's mind about whether or not you think reality shows ever find "real" stars but it's a pleasent enough song and not everything has to be thought provoking surely?
|
|
Gezza
Member
Posts: 7,846
|
Post by Gezza on Nov 15, 2012 22:42:11 GMT 1
29TH APRIL- S.O.S- Rihanna (2 wks)Proving that 2005's "Pon De Replay" was no fluke, Rihanna's career got going in the UK with this track, owing more than a small debt to "Tainted Love" in the process. Originally offered to Christina Milian for her third album she passed on it (as was soon to be dumped by Def Jam) and it was handed to Rihanna who turned it into a US No 1 single almost going all the way here. The problem with "S.O.S" is that any review becomes in essence a review of "Tainted Love" such is the track's dependency on the song, of course Rihanna smoulders her way through the track singing as suggestively as she can but can she really claim that she's doing something original here? Well not really, but to charge her with that crime is to really miss the point of her ascendency, vocally she can sometimes sound nasal and quite weak, and OK she's passable here but she has a talent (or should that be her team has?) of picking the right song and choosing her singles, on the whole, quite wisely to fit what's going on musically at the time. She is, ultimately, a reminder of what makes a good "popstar" rather than a good "singer" and that's not always a bad thing....
|
|
borneoman
Member
love is tough, when enough is not enough
Posts: 34,344
|
Post by borneoman on Nov 15, 2012 22:45:11 GMT 1
agree on Rihanna, she's the perfect popstar despite her vocal limitations, they can fix any voice on studio
|
|
Gezza
Member
Posts: 7,846
|
Post by Gezza on Nov 15, 2012 22:49:28 GMT 1
13TH MAY- DANI CALIFORNIA- Red Hot Chili Peppers (1 wk)Well if you had my review of "By The Way" then you'll know my thoughts on RHCP, and I have to say that I like that song much better than I like this one. I shan't labour on my opinion of their merits but suffice it to say that feels like the treading of old water for the group. The narrative is at least moderately interesting following the tale of "Dani" who first appeared on 1999's "Californication" and again on "By The Way" with her death being the theme for this song. It's not a BAD song per se, it just leaves me cold, and yes I'm aware of the irony of that given my praise of Shayne Ward some reviews ago...
|
|
borneoman
Member
love is tough, when enough is not enough
Posts: 34,344
|
Post by borneoman on Nov 15, 2012 23:07:04 GMT 1
for me this way the beginning of the end of the Red Hot Chilli Peppers, when they started repeating themselves instead of moving forward, very disappointing
|
|
|
Post by andrew07 on Nov 16, 2012 11:50:52 GMT 1
By The Way was their last great album. I don't know why they decided to make Stadium Arcadium a double album, the whole thing just dragged on and I started to lose interest at that point.
|
|
Roo.
Member
Posts: 17,866
|
Post by Roo. on Nov 18, 2012 10:12:38 GMT 1
Ooh, I didn’t realise there was another of these! Thoughts on everything so far:
Manic Street Preachers – Empty Souls Probably the best song from a very poor album, I really wanted it to be the 1000th #1 though. This whole period was completely impossible to predict with songs lurching up and down the charts like crazy.
Ashanti – Only U I didn’t remember this until I listened to it – then I still struggled until the chorus. Foolish was a classic, but she didn’t manage anything else worthwhile. Another song that just randomly plummeted too, starting off well going 2-4-8-14 but then dropping to 30 and leaving the top 40 the following week.
Mario – Let Me Love You While everyone knows this, it just annoys me and I never understood how it was so big.
Razorlight – Somewhere Else If I remember correctly, the highest new entry in the first week of downloads being added to the chart. I really liked this even though some of their songs left me cold.
Snoop Dogg – Signs It’s just great. Mainly for the Timberlake chorus but Snoop even manages to be good on this. Should have been #1.
Gorillaz – Feel Good Inc. I just don’t like Gorillaz. Never have, never will. DARE was excellent but that wasn’t their standard song, more of a one off. Everything else was rather blah and all the praise heaped upon them confused me no end.
Coldplay – Speed Of Sound I didn’t like this, and was glad when Fix You appeared and proved they still had some great songs in them – although honestly I think they’ve done their best album with Mylo Xyloto. Speed Of Sound is just Coldplay-by-numbers.
U2 – City Of Blinding Lights The song they released before this is one of my absolute favourites, but this really isn’t.
Charlotte Church – Crazy Chick Something about the title of the song really puts me off the whole thing. It felt like it should be called Crazy b**** but they were scared of saying it. The song wasn’t that great either. Call My Name, on the other hand… what an awesome song.
Mariah Carey – We Belong Together The last great Mariah track. I could listen to this every day and never get bored.
Daniel Powter – Bad Day This got overplayed to the point I can’t even listen to it anymore, which is a shame because I was a real fan of it back in the day.
Rihanna – Pon De Replay I loved this. It’s not so great now I know what else she’s had to offer (Disturbia, most of Rated R, We Found Love, Only Girl etc.) but at the time it was certainly different.
Sean Paul – We Be Burnin’ Can’t even begin to fathom its success.
Kanye West – Gold Digger Another one overplayed to the point I can’t listen to it anymore. It also doesn’t stand up well against the likes of Heard ‘Em Say and All Of The Lights.
Robbie Williams – Tripping Followed up by the much better Advertising Space which didn’t do nearly as well. This song was just annoying (and it shows that Candy isn’t as new sounding as it appears)
Oasis – Let There Be Love Can’t even be arsed listening to it to try and remember it. Yawn.
Westlife and Diana Ross – When You Tell Me That You Love Me Aaaargh!
Chris Brown – Run It! I’m one of those people who thinks Chris Brown’s music should not be judged by the artist behind it. Run It! was a great early single in all honesty although I didn’t realise it at the time, and he’s been veering between great singles and terrible ones ever since.
Corinne Bailey Rae – Put Your Records On Hmmm. At the time I liked it but god if it’s not as unexciting as they come now.
Pussycat Dolls – Beep Not one of their better singles, it sits alongside When I Grow Up and I Don’t Need A Man. Not nearly as good as Don’t Cha, or my personal favourite I Hate This Part.
Embrace – Nature’s Law Blah. I much preferred Ashes.
Mary J Blige and U2 – One Confession – I LOVE this version. Something about her voice makes me want to listen over and over again. I know I’m in a minority with that, but I do love it.
Shayne Ward – No Promises Oh balls, confession time again so soon? I love this too, and That’s My Goal. Everything after it was slightly cringey but those first couple of singles were gold to me.
Rihanna – S.O.S. This and Unfaithful were when I realised she could be really really great. An inspired sample and it tore up every other song about at the time in my opinion.
Red Hot Chili Peppers – Dani California Like We Belong Together for Mariah, their last great single.
|
|
Gezza
Member
Posts: 7,846
|
Post by Gezza on Nov 22, 2012 17:24:58 GMT 1
Well welcome along Roo!
|
|
Gezza
Member
Posts: 7,846
|
Post by Gezza on Nov 22, 2012 17:38:11 GMT 1
20TH MAY- CONTROL MYSELF- LL Cool J Featuring Jennifer Lopez (1 wk)hands up ho can recall this before you click the vid below? I confess I have no recollection of this at all! Appearently it has a helping hand from Afrika Bambaataa and Granmaster Flash though you'd be pushed to recall the samples, in short it seems a rather odd inclusion in this list purely because the last song on this series of threads that I had no memory of at all was probably back in 1981 or something. Perhaps I'd grown out of the charts for a bit but this seems completely forgettable like much of Lopez's output in the mid 00s, with low sales enabling "niche" records to gain artificially high positions in the chart. It is, at heart, probably more of a thank you record, Lopez returning the favour to LL Cool J for guesting on her "All I Have" back in 2003 (which co-incidentally also reached No 2 here), but a more "generic" piece of mid 00s R N B you're unlikely to come across again.
|
|
Gezza
Member
Posts: 7,846
|
Post by Gezza on Nov 22, 2012 17:49:35 GMT 1
27TH MAY- FROM PARIS TO BERLIN- Infernal (1 wk)I apologise for this- wholeheartedly, but I LOVE THIS song! Tacky eurodisco had been missing from the charts for a while and this was a reminder of all things that school disco's etc should be about. Lyrically very.........simple, it was 100% earworm and was one of the songs that dominated the airwaves that summer thanks to its appropriation for the England football world cup "attempt" that year coupled with the viral campaign by Colin Murray and his dancing, which helped to spur the track into public conciousness. It spent 11 weeks inside the top 10 (no small thing in 2006) as the song refused to die, the folow up (and only other hit from them) was a cover of Laura Branigan's 1984 hit "Self Control" which is perhaps better forgotten. Of course it's all disposable disco music but there is an art to making earworm tracks and whatever that is you can count this as an example. Apols again!
|
|
|
Post by Razzle Dazzle on Nov 22, 2012 17:58:04 GMT 1
from paris to berlin was played in every club i went to every week for 3 year, therefore i cant stand it now but it was very good europop
|
|
borneoman
Member
love is tough, when enough is not enough
Posts: 34,344
|
Post by borneoman on Nov 22, 2012 18:20:51 GMT 1
from Paris to Berlin was silly but fun I admit I cannot recall the LLCool J/J Lo song at all!!!!
|
|