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Showing posts with label John Mayer. Show all posts
Showing posts with label John Mayer. Show all posts
Thursday, September 30, 2010
Breaking Down the 100 Greatest Albums of the 00’s
Some say we will look back at the 00’s as the decade when the full length album died, and for the most part they will be right. Sure albums will never go away as long as there are people stupid enough to plop down ten dollars for an album with only a good song or two. But the album as an event has long passed. In this instant gratification day and age, we just want to get to the three minutes of musical joy instead of having to spend a whole album digesting an album. I cannot remember one album I sat around with a bunch of friends last decade dissecting it with friends like I did back in the ninties (granted this may be an age thing).
So my list of the 100 Greatest Albums of the 00’s is less about a cohesive album (which there were very few of in the 00’s) than just a collection of twelve good to great songs. I’m sure there can be griping of albums I left out, but when compiling a list of albums for consideration, I only included albums I actual spent money on (or had someone else buy for me, with the obvious exception of two albums on the list), and when it comes down to it, if I didn’t even bother to drop ten dollars (or even less at discount prices), it is not something worthy of my list anyway. Here is how my list broke down by the numbers.
Artists with Multiple Albums
Dave Matthews (Band) – 5
Jack Johnson – 4
John Mayer (Trio) – 4
Ryan Adams (and the Cardinals) - 4
Alicia Keys – 3
Coldplay – 3
Danger Mouse (Gnarls Barkley) – 3
Kanye West – 3
Michelle Branch (The Wreckers) – 3
The Roots – 3
U2 - 3
Albums by Year
2000 – 6
2001 – 12
2002 – 11
2003 – 8
2004 – 9
2005 – 12
2006 – 8
2007 – 10
2008 – 14
2009 – 10
Albums by Genre
Rock - 19
Rap - 15
Alternative – 14
Pop - 13
Adult Contemporary – 11
RnB - 9
Folk - 8
Country - 5
Blues - 3
Hard Rock - 3
Wednesday, September 29, 2010
The 100 Greatest Albums of the 00's
1. The College Dropout - Kanye West
2. A Rush of Blood to the Head - Coldplay
3. Continuum - John Mayer
4. The Rising - Bruce Springsteen
5. The Spirit Room - Michelle Branch
6. The Grey Album - Danger Mouse
7. The Lillywhite Sessions - Dave Matthews Band
8. Gold - Ryan Adams
9. Big Whiskey and the GrooGrux King - Dave Matthews Band
10. Wreck of the Day - Anna Nalick
11. Final Straw - Snow Patrol
12. Only By the Night - Kings of Leon
13. Bible Belt - Diane Birch
14. American IV: Man Comes Around - Johnny Cash
15. I and Love and You - The Avett Brothers
16. Back to Black - Amy Winehouse
17. Heavier Things - John Mayer
18. White Ladder - David Gray
19. Hot Fuss - The Killers
20. Room for Squares - John Mayer
21. Viva la Vida or Death and All His Friends - Coldplay
22. Plans - Death Cab for Cutie
23. Magic - Bruce Springsteen
24. All That You Can't Leave Behind - U2
25. Eye to the Telescope - KT Tunstall
26. On and On - Jack Johnson
27. Cardinology - Ryan Adams & The Cardinals
28. White Blood Cells - The White Stripes
29. Attack & Release - The Black Keys
30. The Renaissance - Q-Tip
31. Parachutes - Coldplay
32. How to Dismantle an Atomic Bomb - U2
33. Late Registration - Kanye West
34. Bleed American - Jimmy Eat World
35. Alright, Still - Lily Allen
36. Musicforthemorningafter - Pete Yorn
37. As I Am - Alicia Keys
38. Songs About Jane - Maroon 5
39. Hotel Paper - Michelle Branch
40. Whoa, Nelly! - Nelly Furtado
41. Tell 'Em What Your Name Is! - Black Joe Lewis & The Honeybears
42. Heartbreaker - Ryan Adams
43. Get Rich or Die Tryin' - 50 Cent
44. Stand Still, Look Pretty - The Wreckers
45. The Odd Couple - Gnarls Barkley
46. Narrow Stairs - Death Cab for Cutie
47. Extraordinary Machine - Fiona Apple
48. Get Lifted - John Legend
49. A New Day at Midnight - David Gray
50. Brushfire Fairytales - Jack Johnson
51. The Diary of Alicia Keys - Alicia Keys
52. Audioslave - Audioslave
53. Graduation - Kanye West
54. In Between Dreams - Jack Johnson
55. Phrenology - The Roots
56. Fearless - Taylor Swift
57. O - Damien Rice
58. Love, Save the Empty - Erin McCarley
59. Stand Up - Dave Matthews Band
60. Songs In A Minor - Alicia Keys
61. Easy Tiger - Ryan Adams
62. The Way I See It - Raphael Saadiq
63. Room Noises - Eisley
64. Twenty Three - Tristan Prettyman
65. Songs for Silverman - Ben Folds
66. Taking the Long Way - Dixie Chicks
67. Closer - Better Than Ezra
68. Busted Stuff - Dave Matthews Band
69. Eyes Open - Snow Patrol
70. Be Not Nobody - Vanessa Carlton
71. Hello - Tristan Prettyman
72. Emotionalism - The Avett Brothers
73. Some Devil - Dave Matthews
74. Riding With the King - B.B. King & Eric Clapton
75. Game Theory - The Roots
76. Kamaal the Abstract - Q-Tip
77. St. Elsewhere - Gnarls Barkley
78. Musicology - Prince
79. To the 5 Boroughs - Beastie Boys
80. Ga Ga Ga Ga Ga - Spoon
81. The Blueprint - Jay-Z
82. Afterglow - Sarah McLachlan
83. Stillmatic - Nas
84. Me and Mr. Johnson - Eric Clapton
85. Sleep Through the Static - Jack Johnson
86. Try! - Live In Concert - John Mayer Trio
87. Be - Common
88. This Is the Life - Amy Macdonald
89. Vampire Weekend - Vampire Weekend
90. Before the Robots - Better Than Ezra
91. No Line On the Horizon - U2
92. The Fall - Norah Jones
93. Whatever People Say I Am, That's What I'm Not - Arctic Monkeys
94. Shaman - Santana
95. Rising Down - The Roots
96. Taylor Swift - Taylor Swift
97. Amanda Leigh - Mandy Moore
98. Troubadour - K'naan
99. Back to Then - Darius Rucker
100. Little Voice - Sara Bareilles
Thursday, June 03, 2010
I Want My Music Television vol. LXXXIII
There have been a couple of videos that have caught my eye lately so I thought I’d give them some love since the death of Musical Television left a void for a forum on the art form. If you are interested in buying the video through iTunes, click the title link (where available). If you are interested in buying the song, look for a link in the analysis.
The latest Broken Bells video just may be the greatest Outer Limits episode never to air and even stars Firefly vet Christina Hendricks who is no stranger to outerspace.
I am really disappointed that with the absent of Taylor Swift we were deprived of some cheesetastic scenes that harken back to when Tom Petty and Stevie Nicks would share microphones during their duets. Instead we just get John Mayer sulking around as if he just got accused of being a racist.
Oh those wacky Ivy Leaguers of Vampire Weekend going all Victorian on us. Well done boys.
If Rihanna is teaching Rock Star 101, who is the professor for 102, Pat Boone?
Wednesday, April 14, 2010
I Want My Music Television vol. LXXIX
There have been a couple of videos that have caught my eye lately so I thought I’d give them some love since the death of Musical Television left a void for a forum on the art form. If you are interested in buying the video through iTunes, click the title link (where available). If you are interested in buying the song, look for a link in the analysis.
Wasn’t there a conceptual video for this song that dropped around the time the album was release that was erased from the internets shortly there afterward? Instead John Mayer gives us a straight forward performance version instead. Yawn. If you are going to do a performance based video, at least give us the live music to go along with it instead of the studio version.
Ah, yo, The Wu is back and will make you go Boom, Boom like you are Supercat.
A couple of songs from Gin Wigmore have found their way on to my iPod and she is in the musical spectrum somewhere in-between Duffy and Amy Winhouse. She may be better at the slower songs, but this one is decent enough.
Whenever I hear the name Grace Potter I always think of Mrs. Potter’s Lullaby (which is actually about Monica Potter of Parenthood). But anyways. But if I didn’t know better, watching the band in their video you almost expect to find out the they were actually a long lost group from the seventies that used to open up for Fleetwood Mac or The Eagles. And I mean that as a compliment.
Tuesday, January 26, 2010
Breaking Down the Best Songs of the Year
At the end of every year since 1996, I have gathered up my favorite songs from that year for a countdown of my favorite. I was interested in seeing who were the artist that appeared most on those list over the past decade and here are the top 25 (well since there was a tie there are actually 31). I counted any song of which they were listed as a featured artist, not just when they were the lead artist. Also keep in mind this list has nothing to do with my upcoming Greatest Songs of the 00’s which I promise to release before the next decade ends. I also included a list of the number 1’s of the past twelve years as well as Mr. Irrelevant (the song that was last that year). For the full list for the past five years, click the Best Songs label at the bottom of the post.
1. Kanye West - 25
2. Alicia Keys – 15
John Mayer – 15 (Solo, 14 and John Mayer Trio, 1)
4. U2 - 14
5. Jay-Z - 13
6. Carrie Underwood – 11
Coldplay – 11
8. Nelly Furtado – 10
9. BeyoncĂ© – 9 (Solo, 6 and Destiny’s Child, 3)
Dave Matthews – 9 (solo, 1 and Dave Matthews Band, 8)
Eminem – 9
The Killers – 9
Michelle Branch – 9 (solo, 6 and The Wreckers, 3)
Nas – 9
Ryan Adams – 9
Snoop Dogg – 9
Snow Patrol – 9
3 Doors Down - 9
19. Christina Aguilera – 8
Jack Johnson – 8
Jack White - 8 (The Raconteurs, 2 and The White Stripes, 6)
Lily Allen – 8
Maroon 5 – 8
Santana - 8
25. Common – 7
Death Cab for Cutie – 7
Jimmy Eat World – 7
Rihanna – 7
The Roots – 7
Taylor Swift – 7
Weezer - 7
Most Top Ten Songs
7 - John Mayer
Kanye West
4 - Michelle Branch (solo, 2 and The Wreckers, 2)
Santana
3 - Coldplay
David Gray
Death Cab for Cutie
Jay-Z
The Killers
Ryan Adams
U2
Shortest Song: Fell in Love with a Girl – The White Stripes (1:50)
Longest Song: I Will Possess Your Heart – Death Cab for Cutie (8:36)
Longest Break Between Charting: 10 Years (Ben Harper, Steal My Kisses in 2000; Fly One Time in 2009)
Number One Songs by Year
2000: Maria, Maria – Santana featuring the Product G&B
2001: Everywhere – Michelle Branch
2002: Fell in Love with a Girl – The White Stripes
2003: The Seed (2.0) – The Roots featuring Cody ChestnuTT
2004: All Falls Down – Kanye West
2005: Landed – Ben Folds
2006: Crazy – Gnarls Barkley
2007: Drivin’ Me Wild – Common featuring Lily Allen
2008: I’m Yours – Jason Mraz
2009: Use Somebody – Kings of Leon
Mr. Irrelevant
2000: The Bad Touch – The Bloodhound Gang
2001: Standing Still – Jewel
2002: Friends and Family – Trik Turner
2003: Make Me a Song – Kiley Dean
2004: Some Girls – Rachel Stevens
2005: Give a Little Bit – Goo Goo Dolls
2006: Lithium – Evanescence
2007: This Ain’t a Scene, it’s an Arms Race – Fall Out Boy
2008: Stuck to You – Nikka Costa
2009: Let’s Take a Walk – Raphael Saadiq
Monday, January 25, 2010
Recasting We Are the World
When Michael Jackson passed away, like most people I went back and listened to the music of his on my iPod which included We Are the World. That got me to thinking it that there was still plenty of poverty in Africa and it may be time to remake the song for a newer generation (especially considering Do They Know it's Christmas? is already on it'd third version). While doing research, I realized the twenty-fifth anniversary was this year so I sat on the suggestions I made at the time so I could release it to coincide with the anniversary. Then new came out last week that the co-writers of the song Lionel Richie and Quincy Jones (along with Jackson) were planning on doing so after the Grammy’s next week to benefit Haitian relief (so I guess they will be renaming the group USA for Haiti). So here are my suggestions next to those that did the original part. And as a point of reference, here is the original song:
Lionel Richie – Ne-Yo
Stevie Wonder – Maxwell
Paul Simon – John Mayer
Kenny Rogers – Taylor Swift
James Ingram – John Legend
Tina Turner - Beyoncé
Billy Joel – Norah Jones
Michael Jackson – Michael Jackson
Diana Ross – Christina Aguilera
Dionne Warwick – Alicia Keys
Willie Nelson – Keith Urban
Al Jarreau – Justin Timberlake
Bruce Springsteen – dude from Green Day
Kenny Loggins – dude from Fall Out Boy
Steve Perry – dude from Maroon 5
Daryl Hall – Robin Thicke
Michael Jackson – Michael Jackson
Huey Lewis – dude from The Fray
Cyndi Lauper – Lady Gaga
Kim Carnes – Kelly Clarkson
Bob Dylan – Dave Matthews
Ray Charles – Jamie Foxx
Stevie Wonder – Stevie Wonder
Bruce Springsteen – Bruce Springsteen
Dan Akroyd – Adam Sandler
Jackson Family Chorus – Jonas Brothers and other Disney stars Chorus
Naturally the hardest singer to recast was Michael Jackson himself and came I up with three alternatives; Bono, who technically is not American; Prince, who was actually supposed to duet with Jackson in the original but didn’t show up the first time; or have a chorus do all his part. But maybe it would be best to just pipe in his original vocals. And even though I recast their earlier parts, I still have to bring back Bruce Springsteen and Stevie Wonder to recreate their duet which was the highlight the orginal. Not bringing them back would have been like not asking Bono to sing "Tonight thank God it's them instead of you" for the new Do They Know it's Christmas? versions.
Wednesday, December 09, 2009
Feed Your iPod the CD vol. II
Feed Your iPod was created to highlight songs that may not have been hits, or even released as singles, but deserve a much bigger audience. And now I have posted enough for a second CD. Of course Feed Your iPod is just a catchy title and any of these can be for any mp3 devise, just your computer and now you can make a CD out of them as the first set comes in at 78:57. You can even help create volume three by emailing me (or use the comment section) song suggestions and a short description on way everyone should have it on their iPod for me to post. Click the links below to be taken to iTunes or the Amazon MP3 widet at the bottom where you can sample the songs or use the label function to scroll through what I had to say about these songs when I originally posted about them and full song previews.
1. Slow Dancing in a Burning Room – John Mayer
2. Two Wrongs – Wyclef Jean featuring Claudette Ortiz
3. Breakdown – Handsome Boy Modeling School
4. Like a Feather – Nikka Costa
5. Fireflies – Rhett Miller Featuring Rachael Yamagata
6. I Got Mine – The Black Keys
7. Bold as Love – Jimi Hendrix Experience
8. ‘Til I Get Over You – Michelle Branch
9. If God Would Send His Angels – U2
10. Hitchhiker Joe – Rugburns
11. Summertime – D.J. Jazzy Jeff and the Fresh Prince
12. On the Radio – Regina Spektor
13. Summer in the City – The Lovin’ Spoonful
14. Broken Hearted – Eric Clapton
15. Mass Appeal – Gang Starr
16. We’re Going to Be Friends – The White Stripes
17. Follow the Leader – Eric B. and Rakim
18. Regulate – Warren G featuring Nate Dogg
19. Spin the Bottle – The Juliana Hatfield 3
Tuesday, November 24, 2009
Breaking Down the Hottest Hot Chicks of the 00's
Before you read this by the number account of the list, be sure to check out The 100 Hottest Hot Chicks of the 00’s first.
It is safe to say I spent more time doing research for this list than I have, or will have, for any of my Greatest of the 00’s list (check the categories link for previous ones). In fact I may have spent more time on this than the others combined and even toyed around with the idea of doing a top 250. But this was also the trickiest of all lists because unlike something like the best song, this is a list where the subject is ever changing which is why I had to set the rules that the chicks would only be judged at the height of their hotness even if they have let themselves go (which I like to call the Lindsay Lohan tenet) otherwise it is just a list of the hottest chicks of 2009. Now it is time to look deeper inside the list like Hot Chicks by birth place (apparently The Beach Boys were right) and which dude surprisingly hooked up with more of the top 100 than anyone else (hint: not John Mayer).
Hot Chick by Profession
Movie Actress– 40
Television Actress - 30
Singer - 11
Athlete – 8
Model – 4
Television Host - 3
Reality Star – 2
Royalty – 1
Video Vixen – 1
Hot Chick by Home Country or State
California – 17
Texas - 9
Canada – 8
New York - 8
England – 6
Florida – 5
Ohio - 4
Australia – 3
Massachusetts – 3
New Jersey - 3
Brazil – 2
Maine – 2
North Carolina – 2
Oklahoma - 1
Soviet Union - 2
Spain – 2
Arizona - 1
Argentina – 1
Columbia – 1
Connecticut - 1
Germany – 1
Georgia – 1
India – 1
Iowa - 1
Israel – 1
Italy – 1
Louisiana – 1
Maryland – 1
Michigan – 1
Mississippi – 1
New Hampshire – 1
Pennsylvania – 1
South Dakota - 1
Sweden – 1
Tennessee – 1
Utah – 1
Virginia - 1
Yugoslavia – 1
Hottest Ensembles
Mean Girls: 4
Smallville: 3
Gossip Girl: 2
Friday Night Lights: 2
John Tucker Must Die: 2
Lost: 2
The O.C.: 2
The Phantom of the Opera: 2
Sin City: 2
Veronica Mars: 2
Wrong Turn: 2
Hottest Network
NBC - 14
FOX - 10
ABC – 9
The CW – 6
The WB - 6
ABC Family – 3
CBS – 2
UPN - 2
MTV - 1
AMC – 1
ESPN – 1
G4 – 1
HBO – 1
Sci-Fi Channel – 1
Showtime – 1
Hottest Names: An(n)a, Jennifer, Rachel (4)
Hot Chicks with Three Names: 4
Hot Chicks John Mayer (Allegedly) Hooked Up With: 4
Hot Chicks Jude Law (Allegedly) Hooked Up With: 4
Hot Chicks Orlando Bloom (Allegedly) Hooked Up With: 4
Hot Chicks Hayden Christiansen (Allegedly) Hooked Up With: 4
Hot Chicks Topher Grace (Allegedly) Hooked Up With: 5
Wednesday, November 18, 2009
It’s Been a Long Time Since Twenty-Two
Remember the Funny or Die video John Mayer did about a year ago (featuring celebrity music tester Kristen Bell) that took a day in the life of Mayer as he tries to write a song (if not click here to view it, or not if you want to avoid hearing Mayer and/or Bell curse like sailors at each other). The video got a “funny” because, despite his tabloid fodder for celebrity bed hopping, attempts at standup comedy, and incisive twittering, the music stands up with his three successive albums getting better than the one before.
But I bring up Mayer’s contribution to Funny or Die because it is hard not to think of the skit when listening to his latest album, Battle Studies. With lines like “I don’t remember you look any better but then again I don’t remember you” (Who Says) just sounds like something else that someone who would ask his writing partners to come up with a song about sleeping with a supermodel to make another supermodel jealous would say. And with all the song out relationship, it is hard not to wonder which songs are about Jennifer, Jessica, Minka, Jennifer #2, or any of the other random hot chicks Mayer has been linked to.
Your mind drifts to pondering which starlet is linked to which song because of how mediocre they are. Where Room for Squares was one of the greatest pop albums of the decade, Heavier Things was his blues album, and Continuum was his foray into blues, Battle Studies just sound what you think a clichĂ©d John Mayer album would sound like. Heartbreak Warfare sounds like Mayer just thought of the title sounded cool and forced to write a song about it if it turned out to be good or not. Things just don’t fare much better with titles like All We Ever Do Is Say Goodbye, Perfectly Lonely, War of My Life, and Do You Know Me are depressingly sad as their title suggests.
The few times Mayer tries to break out of the mold of the album, he just falls flat. Who Says just sounds like a retreat of Stop This Train, but with a clumsily pot metaphor. Half of My Heart, featuring Taylor Swift, is his attempt at an eighties style duet, but it comes close to parody and barely constitutes a duet as Swift is just resigned to backing vocals to the point you wonder why even bother. Then Friends, Lovers or Nothing just sounds like an extension of In Repair.
His Robert Johnson cover of Crossroads is the lone non-relationship to the point it just sticks out like a sore thumb. And top of it, it just isn’t a very good version with it heavy organ thump and it would have been a better choice to have included his take on Bruce Springsteen’s I’m on Fire (which is an iTunes bonus track with Battle Studies) which is the better cover and would have fit in better with the album thematically.
Thanks not to say all of Battle Studies is a disappointment. Assassin sounds different than anything else on the album and is the one love is war metaphor that works on the album with a not so shocking lyrically twist at the end. And even though Edge of Love starts out slow, it kicks into gear when Mayer lets loose on his guitar. But the two songs just can’t keep Battle Studies from being the weakest of Mayer’s career. So John, the next time Kristen Bell tells you that your song sucks, please take her advice and go back to the drawing board and avoid songs about making supermodels jealous.
Song to Download – Assassin
Battle Studies gets a on my Terror Alert Scale.
Monday, October 19, 2009
I Want My Music Television vol. LXVI
There have been a couple of videos that have caught my eye lately so I thought I’d give them some love since the death of Musical Television left a void for a forum on the art form. If you are interested in buying the video through iTunes, click the title link (where available). If you are interested in buying the song, look for a link in the analysis.
I wasn’t too fond when I first heard the new John Mayer song. It just sounded like a mash up of Stop This Train and In Your Atmosphere. And I still pretty much still feel that way but then I discovered the lyric “It’s been a long time since twenty-two” which has hit a little close to home lately. And if I do my math correctly, twenty-two is around the time he sang about wanting to ruin through the halls of his high school.
Speaking of songs that take you back to a certain age, so does the new Taylor Swift. But for me it isn’t back to time the title refers to but back to eighteen when I was a senior trying to pick up those freshmen girls. Fun times.
I am thinking it may not be a coincidence that this is one of the worst songs Death Cab for Cutie considering what it was written for.
With songs like this it makes you wish Method Man and Redman would hook up more than once a decade for a joint album.
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