So here’s another semi-regular post on what’s playing on my iPhone this week – as a regular consumer of digital music on Mobile devices, I thought I’d share some thoughts on the tracks I have been downloading.
(note: all my music is paid-for and comes through iTunes – but you can find these tracks on other paid-for services I’m sure – there seem to be a plethora of them now!)
Album 1: The Script – The Script
This Irish band have had quite a bit of chart success, since their acoustic-ballad driven tracks are tuneful, and well-sung. The album is also going very cheaply (on the iTunes service) at the moment, which is a double-bonus. I have to say the tracks they have released to-date as singles are very good, and certainly worth at least one listen. However, as is the problem with many albums by one group (with one style), some of the less memorable tracks begin to sound a bit similar. There are definitely enough good tracks to justify the buy though!
Album 2: Akon – Freedom
Akon started off as a little-known force in RnB, but has had quite a meteoric rise – and interestingly, seems to have taken on production duties for an increasing number of stars such as Gwen Stefani, Leona Lewis, and Lady GaGa (come to her in a minute…). I’m not a fan of the tracks where he introduces the vocoder and starts that electronic warble – it’s being overused at the moment and at this rate there is going to be a whole samey genre of RnB with warbling vocals!
On the upside though, there are some great tracks here – certainly enough to justify getting the album. There’s also some superstar cameos from the likes of Lil Wayne, so if you are worried about variety it’s accounted for – just about. Definitely worth a download, if for nothing else than the great production on each track.
Album 3 – Lady GaGa – The Fame
Never has the phrase ‘mixed bag’ been more appropriate – half the tracks on here are great, half are a bit lame! Which makes me think that there’s 50% great talent, and then 50% posturing, with a lot of music style copied from other producers/artists. And guess what? The vocoder is back on some tracks! Let’s get something straight – imitation is the lowest form of flattery! Or as a vocoder would say FFFFfffflLLLLLAaaaaTTTTtttteeeEEErRRRyyy!
Having said all of that, there are some nicely-produced tracks, sharp lyrics, and I’d imagine, a stack more single releases left on the album. Overall worth a listen, even if you have to take the best tracks and stick them in another playlist.
So there you have it – three albums, three sets of thoughts on them – I lean toward RnB as a music preference, but if there’s something that deserves a discussion, then leave a comment – if it’s available on iTunes, it could well end up getting a future mention!
You can get all o’ these from the magical digital music service that is, of course, iTunes.