E=MC²

After many listens. I took time to edit and re-track Mariah Carey's new album

It's quite good.

Mariah Carey DEFINITLEY won the battle of the divas this year. E=MC² slaughters Leona Lewis obviously, next it destroys Janet's #3 flopped attempt at a comeback. Lastly, it completely snubs out everything Madonna is trying to do with her album. And to think that people wrote this bitch off. Ha.

You can DL it here:

http://www.zshare.net/download/1081184542de02bc/

01 Migrate (featuring T-Pain) (3:45)
02 That Chick (3:31)
03 Touch My Body (3:28)
04 Cruise Control (3:31)
05 Lovin' U Long Time (3:01)
06 4real4real (3:00)
07 Last Kiss (3:37)
08 Thanx 4 Nothin' (3:05)
09 O.O.C (3:27)
10 Once In A Lifetime (interlude) (0:36)
11 I Stay In Love (3:32)
12 Side Effects (featuring Young Jeezy) (4:22)
13 For the Record (3:26)
14 Love Story (3:56)
15 Bye Bye (4:27)

RIP kevipodmusic

It's really sad and I didn't say anything for a week, but the premier internet Music Blog, KEVIPODMUSIC was deleted recently. Let's just be honest: this sucks! Everyone who's anyone knows that KEVIPOD had the latest music and news in the entire world. The minute the new Britney Spears leaked... KEVIPOD had it... the hour the new Mariah leaked... KEVIPOD had it. He was THE SHIT and now we're all in chaos trying to find where he's at. (His MySpace was deleted too apparently. Either that or he cancelled it and went into exile... lol)

So I'm really sad that he's gone... who else are we going to turn to? Seriously: i'm CHECKED out other blogs, many were his affiliates... and they SUCK!!! I'm so over it. :( And it's not like I can just get on the nonexistent Janet Jackson Forum which used to be a key componenet of Internet Buzz... however it was deleted last year along with the Mariah Carey Forum that was uphauled 3 years ago. Things haven't been the same and it's weird when yer so used to the NECESSARY fast-pacedness of the music world. We're literally set back to the 50's here. HELP!

Experimental Trend Set, Trash and No Star

Former superstar Janet Jackson has been on the outer-rim for more than a decade. Ask different generations of listeners, and you'll come across 3 accounts of Janet Jackson.

Inquire a 35-year-old and they'll recall the groundbreaking and legendary Janet Jackson who gave us Control and Rhythm Nation. Ask a 25-year-old and you'll have someone who remembers the classic hits "That's the Way Love Goes," "Runaway," and "Together Again."

Ask a 15-year-old and you'll get a blank stare.

After her severe depression in the mid-90's, Janet escaped the shadows with the release of The Velvet Rope. An unprecedentedly raw, poetic, and urban odyssey of relatiosnhips, the album Miss Jackson created explored all aspects of sex, loss, emptiness, and moments of bliss.

Fastforward 3 years and you have a Janet that took a page from Mariah Carey and jumped the bubblegum pop bandwagon to keep her career going. Both artists had released their most intimate and critically-acclaimed masterpieces in 1997, but by the end of the millenium, had to compete with a new generation of young singers. Jackson and Carey both racked up 2 more #1 hits with the albums All For You and Rainbow, but as well immidiately entered a career parallel of flops and disasters.

While Carey climbed out of the hole with a reinvention of past success and 10 Grammy nods for The Emancipation of Mimi, Janet has been unable to capture anything other than bad sales and critical pans. To make matters worse, again, both singers are set against each other this Spring. Three Janet songs have leaked, and the lead single, "Feedback," has already flopped, peaking just outside the Top 50. Mariah's material is still unreleased at the moment and proclaimed by Billboard to be the most elusive and anticipated album of 2008.

The thing is that Janet Jackson, once an unpredictable trend-setter, video icon, and fashionista, is now reduced to a clone of the pathetic singers she single-handedly inspired. Jackson has run to Mariah Carey's songwriters and producers for a second time. Who would have thought that Mariah would be the pallet for Janet Jackson? It's pathetic really. Now she's rehashed Ciara's entire last record, The Evolution. (which wasn't a very good album anyway,) and the whole futuristic scene of the past 2 years.

I guess Janet's career really is over because she's come full circle, now mimicing the girls who's entire career is a play off of what Janet created 20 years ago. RIP babygirl.

FINALLY, The Reviews Are In!!!

Alicia Keys

AS I AM

A solid effort from somewhat veteran Alicia Keys. She shows off her experience with 3 albums notched on her belt. There's little progression from her last record as many songs could unmistakeably be interchangeable between the two. Oh you R&B singers! Alicia still suffers from R&B filler syndrome with too many songs and most of them that drone on and are easily forgotten. However, the ones that do stand out are there for a reason, anchoring Key's collection of consistent R&B songs.

There's a notable and strange correlation between Alicia Keys and Mariah Carey here: both singers released critically acclaimed debuts winning multiple Grammys. Following with less successful, more emotional sophomore albums, they both made their third records live MTV Unplugged EP's. Lastly, both singers made little progression to their 4th release however successful they are. Key's "No One" isn't unlike Carey's "Dreamlover," overdone midtempo coos about love; Carey's search and Key's content. Both albums forgettable except for anchoring singles cherry-picked to perfection. Let's hope for Alicia's next album that she has a Daydream up her sleeve.

Key Tracks

"Like You'll Never See Me Again"

"Prelude to a Kiss"

"No One"

Mary J. Blige

Growing Pains

Growing pains indeed. The longer I listened to this bad record the more I wanted to shoot myself. Mary J. Blige surely must have been out of her mind when she decided to release this album of fillers and b-sides at best. It's a bad collection of worse songs catering to a predictable Adult R&B audience of insecure 30-year-old single black woman. Blige offers nothing but jaded advice of loving oneself that she's been shopping since her first record only with a twist of degraded quality. Throwing a bunch of producers on an album no longer constitutes innovation, it's more like suicide. If her last record was the The Breakthrough, surely this is the rush-through.

Key Tracks

"Feel Like a Woman"

"Come to Me"

Post-Daydream Nation

After hearing RAVE and ridiculously positive reviews glorifying Radiohead's IN RAINBOWS, I took a listen. Unimpressed as I was I kept my mouth shut. A few weeks later I see Radiohead's pretentious psycho fans walking around YouTube and attempting to blast my comments about Radiohead offering nothing new or innovative to music. I stand by my opinion.

Has anyone ever heard of a crazy Iclandic singer by the name of... oh... Björk!? OR how about a band called fucking Sonic Youth? Yeah. It's funny because I just came off a Björk-resurgence and I've been on a Sonic Youth kick for the past few months. So when I heard IN RAINBOWS by Radiohead I was actually baffled by the acclaim its received.

Praised for its swirling guitars, droning vocals, and deconstructed sound... that's an entire checklist of the signature Sonic Youth sound. Does anyone listen to good music anymore? Combine with a futuristic synthesized electronic orgy of noise over pop beats... what else could come to mind but Björk?

So to these ignorant shit Radiohead superfans, do your research before you proclaim a 15-year-old sound "revolutionary" and "innovative." Put your Radiohead record on ice and play a fucking Sonic Youth LP. It's already been done so don't TRY to school ME on artistic merit. Besides, listen to the radio and everything's electronic and space anyway, how is this Radiohead record any different from a cut found amongst Timbaland's production credits? Radiohead just lacks the ability to write a constructed song so they take their session hissing and throw it on a record praying it will appear "brilliant" as Rolling Stone claims.

Rolling Stone also issues the statement that "All of it rocks; none of it sounds like any other band on earth; it delivers an emotional punch that proves all other rock stars owe us an apology." Fuck off, Rolling Stone and proceed to swing from Kurt Cobain and Madonna's ballsac.

The only thing else I'll say is how inquisitive I am to see pictures from the recording sessions of IN RAINBOWS. I'm sure you'd find cassette, CD, and vinyl copies of Björk's breathtaking Post (1995) along with Sonic Youth's immaculate 1988 release, Daydream Nation. I want those negatives. Until then, I await the battle of the Diva's: Janet Jackson, Mariah Carey, and Madonna are all set to release albums Spring of this year. meow.

In Ribbons

I love this old record so I figured I'd finally let you guys get my definitive version of it to DL for free. It's amazing start to finish.

i removed all the weaker tracks and condensed it to incorporate the songs left off the record that should have ANCHORED it.

it's a gorgeous etherial album WELL WORTH a listen. please listen to this record.

enjoy.

http://rapidshare.com/files/86367695/In_Ribbons.rar.html

Pale Saints

IN RIBBONS

01 Fine Friend (prelude)

02 Throwing Back the Apple

03 Thread of Light

04 Shell

05 Kinky Love

06 Blue Flower

07 Liquid

08 NeverEnding Night

09 Featherframe

10 Fine Friend

11 A Thousand Stars Burst Open

MIA: Mariah Carey

Where is she already? Who would have thought that Mariah Carey of all people would be missing in action for almost 2 years since the winding down of her last album. It seems like forever! She's wise though because this new record is being watched like a HAWK with anticipation from radio programmers, Grammy execs, and the fans alike.

It's all playing out and setting up JUST like The Emancipation of Mimi, which so far, is a good thing. Around Christmas, you don't even need a new Mariah Carey album because you have PLENTY of her songs on the radio, particularly "All I Want For Christmas is You" which blares in my ear morning, noon, and night. All of this is actually more for Mariah's benefit that she DIDN'T bum-rush the record like Mary J. Blige did. And may I just say, Mary is getting her ass SPANKED by Alicia Keys.

So, as of today, there is no album title, no leaked song, no single selected, and no video shot. Harkening back to 2001, we all know why Mariah has to keep a lid on this shit. Do we really need another Glitter fiasco: stolen songs, Tommy Motolla, angry diva's, and flopped albums. *cringe* no thank you!

Letters From Bohemia

"Seriously what the HAL!?!?!?!?!!!!!!!!!! I'm so OVER the media launching these epic campaigns of doom and despair trying to scare people into buying away their fears. Everytime I breathe there's a new flash warning about some ice tornado flying around shooting snow lasers down 67. Seriously wtf. But don't forget that global warming is going to jump up and bite my cankles when I least expect it.... I suppose all that carbon dioxide is encirlcing the eye of the ice tornado causing this Jewish pastry oven of flames shooting out the center of the ice tornado. WTF?!?!?! seriously.oh...and buy things!!!!!!!!!!!!!! do it today. go out and buy your happiness. do. it. today."

"I'm stuck on the Cincinnati-Kentucky border without a drop of alcohol or a magazine! I'm about to climb out the window and deice a bitch myself...or just hitchhike with a gaptoothed snagglepuss over the mountains!"

"SO me and Antoine decided that we've had enough of the government's taxes... state taxes, federal, the death tax, the head tax, the soul tax.... we were fine with that... we dealt with it accordingly....BUT when they put a SUGAR tax OH GOOD HEAVENS!!!! We're pissed!So since we're out of our stock of 1850's dynamite, we decided to drive to Selma and dump a bunch of tea in the Alabama River and start our March on Washington!!!It's a long road so we're readying a supply of babies to snack on. We're leaving the aborted fetuses in the traditional Cheeto's bag along the trail and remixing the trip for 2007! Sounds like a party!!!"

jer.'s Year-End Singles Charts

THE TOP 20 SONGS OF THE YEAR

(the biggest, the hottest, and the best)

01 Rihanna-- UMBRELLA

02 Fergie-- BIG GIRLS DON'T CRY
03 Nelly Furtado-- ALL GOOD THINGS (COME TO AN END)
04 Colbie Caillat-- BUBBLY
05 P!nk-- WHO KNEW?
06 Plain White T's-- HEY THERE, DELILAH
07 Kelly Clarkson-- SOBER
08 Paramore-- MISERY BUSINESS
09 Alicia Keys-- LIKE YOU'LL NEVER SEE ME AGAIN
10 Kanye West-- STRONGER (featuring Daft Punk)
11 Gwen Stefani-- THE SWEET ESCAPE
12 Britney Spears-- PIECE OF ME
13 Björk-- INNOCENCE
14 Avril Lavigne-- WHEN YOU'RE GONE
15 Linkin Park-- SHADOW OF THE DAY
16 My Chemical Romance-- TEENAGERS
17 Fall Out Boy-- ME + YOU
18 Taylor Swift-- OUR SONG
19 Keyshia Cole-- LET IT GO (featuring Missy Elliott & Lil' Kim)
20 T-Pain-- BUY U A DRANK (featuring Yung Joc)

______________________________


THE WORST SONGS OF THE YEAR

(the most annoying, irrelevant, predictable, and pretentious)

01 Soulja Boy Tell'em-- CRANK THAT

02 Reba McEntire-- BECAUSE OF YOU (featuring Kelly Clarkson)
03 will.i.am-- I GOT IT FROM MY MAMA
04 Maroon 5-- MAKES ME WONDER
05 Smashing Pumpkins-- TARANTULA
06 Carrie Underwood-- BEFORE HE CHEATS
07 Beyonce-- BEAUTIFUL LIAR (featuring Shakira)
08 Sean Kingston-- ME LOVE
09 Korn-- FREAK ON A LEASH (featuring Amy Lee)
10 Fall Out Boy-- THNKS FR TH MMRS
11 Jennifer Lopez-- DO IT WELL
12 Kelly Clarkson-- NEVER AGAIN
13 Chris Brown-- KISS KISS (featuring T-Pain)
14 Hilary Duff-- PLAY WITH FIRE
15 Akon-- SORRY, BLAME IT ON ME
16 Red Hot Chili Peppers-- SNOW
17 James Blunt-- 1973
18 The Cheetah Girls-- SO BRING IT ON
19 Jimmy Eat World-- BIG CASINO
20 R. Kelly-- SAME GIRL (featuring Usher)

Real Motherfuckin Talk

Ok. What the fuck? Seriously who the fuck goes crazy and starts shootin people? I'm over it. Get a fucking life!!!

I seriously believe this rising amount of insane idiots that flip out and gun down people is a DIRECT correlation of how the media GLORIFIES them. The media is a media whore in and of itself. Every time one of these OUTRAGEOUS events happens, its blown so far out of decent proportion and continues to pander to the fears and insecurities of the general public. The murderer is portrayed in the media as some faux martyr who was "disturbed" and had a rough life *vomit* so there's this hint of justification in his massacre. There's no excuse.

SOME people need to get the FUCK over the fact that they momma's only hugged them 8 times a day instead of the recommended 12. WAHH!!! Get the fuck over it. You're 18, 21 and 24. GET ON UP!!! You're not the only person in the world that had a bad day! You don't see MY broke ass flippin out and shootin people. It's called reality! Deal with it.

But I am the most frustrated with and UTTERLY disgusted that the media releases pictures of these assholes and investigates their family and back story; they go beyond measure to find some epic history on these murderers. It's appalling, really. It really is. Then you have Americans who are SO shocked that some Rtard went ballistic... uh... HELLO? It's his last pathetic chance to have some "claim-to-fame," some crown of media coverage upon his otherwise pitiful existence. It's celebration is what it is. The media celebrates these events.

Follow the money: breaking stories of mass killings draw viewers. Viewers are consumers who will buy what you tell them to: Advertising is the Mark of the Beast. "While you're grieving... BUY THIS PRODUCT, you'll feel better... just in time to buy THAT product." Soon we'll all have chips in us to make our buying more efficient. I don't call a second death and eternal damnation "efficient." The media is a gaggle of panderers, worse than murderers. They sell and benefit from death, famine, and destitution while never having to answer for it. I tell you THEY WILL answer for it, oh my Jesus they WILL answer for it! omg... Sweet Jesus he's comin!!!

"Have you no sense of decency!?"

Chart Whore

For those lurkers interested in SoundScan data. Here's my updated database of DIGITAL Female Album Sales. That's Female Artists, Female Groups and Bands, and Female-Fronted Groups and Bands. DIGITAL means the digital age of 2005- PRESENT. All titles eligible that were released prior to 2005 must have logged at least one week on the Billboard 200 for the calender year of 2005. enjoy.

(NOTE: if entry is listed twice, obviously the greater entry is the more accurate one. i'm only human. titles are listed as last entry or MOST RECENTLY available data)

(NOTE: for those ANAL and irrelevant SoundScan/RIAA assholes desperately trying to shutdown ANYONE who shares SS data, eat my ass. SoundScan data is a product that someone purchased and then gave to me as a gift. A gift is a gift is a gift. Business Law 101: Someone intended a gift, they delivered the gift, and I received the gift. You have NO claim to this data. It's mine now. deal with that.)
_________________________________________________

Carrie Underwood- Some Hearts- 6,064,112
Mariah Carey- The Emancipation of Mimi- 5,809,638
Kelly Clarkson- Breakaway- 5,792,708

Gretchen Wilson- Here For The Party- 4,268,497
Gwen Stefani- Love.Angel.Music.Baby- 3,758,950
Sheryl Crow- The Very Best Of- 3,598,400
Shania Twain- Greatest Hits- 3,466,154
Hannah Montana- Hannah Montana- 3,088,845
Fergie- The Dutchess- 3,024,443
Beyonce- B'Day- 3,006,743

Mary J. Blige- The Breakthrough- 2,983,365
Destiny's Child- Destiny Fullfilled- 2,930,200
Avril Lavigne- Under My Skin- 2,802,096
The Pussycat Dolls- PCD- 2,773,238

Ciara- Goodies- 2,533,203
Dixie Chicks- Taking the Long Way- 2,301,654
Faith Hill- Fireflies- 2,132,286

Nelly Furtado- Loose- 1,987,251
Hannah Montana- Hannah Montana 2/Meet Miley Cyrus- 1,844,361
Evanescence- Open Door- 1,796,137
Taylor Swift- Taylor Swift- 1,742,183
Corinne Bailey Rae- Corinne Bailey Rae- 1,720,301
Fantasia- Free Yourself- 1,633,200
Madonna- Confessions on a Dance Floor- 1,618,488
Gwen Stefani- The Sweet Escape- 1,596,524
Shakira- Oral Fixation Volume 2- 1,596,287
Christina Aguilera- Back to Basics- 1,572,653

Norah Jones- Not Too Late- 1,446,127
Keyshia Cole- The Way It Is- 1,441,694
The Cheetah Girls- Cheetah Girls 2- 1,362,892
Alicia Keys- As I Am- 1,349,602
Amy Winehouse- Back to Black- 1,323,699
Avril Lavigne- The Best Damn Thing- 1,289,695
Hilary Duff- Most Wanted- 1,270,601
Martina McBride- Timeless- 1,248,456
Ciara- Ciara: the Evolution- 1,228,495

Enya- Amarantine- 1,195,177
Carrie Underwood- Carnival Ride- 1,162,350
KT Tunstal- Eye of the Telescope- 1,156,457
Rihanna- A Girl Like Me- 1,155,255
Joss Stone- Mind, Body & Soul- 1,148,974
Destiny's Child- 1's- 1,101,985
P!nk- I'm Not Dead- 1,085,969
Gretchen Wilson- All Jacked Up- 1,084,912
Britney Spears- Greatest Hits: My Prerogative- 1,054,400

Celtic Woman- Celtic Woman- 984,499
Lindsay Lohan- Speak- 983,100
Reba McEntire- Reba Duets- 931,863
Sheryl Crow- Wildflower- 884,706
Ashlee Simpson- I Am Me- 877,501
Danity Kane- Danity Kane- 876,612
Reba McEntire- Reba #1's- 876,141
Rihanna- Good Girl Gone Bad- 855,515
Jill Scott- Beautifully Human: Words and Sounds Vol. 2- 828,704
Shakira- Oral Fixation Volume 1- 818,600
Flyleaf- Flyleaf- 814,216
The Wreckers- Stand Still, Look Pretty- 806,670

Ashanti- Concrete Rose- 794,700
Sara Evans- Real Fine Place- 793,833
Miranda Lambert- Kerosene- 785,441
Alicia Keys- Unplugged- 761,215
Sarah McLachlan- Wintersong- 759,162
Aly & AJ- Into the Rush- 757,960
Leanne Rimes- This Woman- 741,879
Colbie Caillat- Coco- 736,034
Alison Krauss & Union Station- Lonely Runs Both Ways- 735,206
Natasha Bedingfield- Unwritten- 721,504
Keyshia Cole- Just Like You- 714,628
Jennifer Lopez- Rebirth- 702,121

Queen Latifah- The Dana Owens Album- 698,743
Kelly Clarkson- My December- 682,975
Mary J. Blige- Reflections: A Restrospective- 679,469
Kellie Pickler- Small Town Girl- 664,633
Janet Jackson- Twenty Years Old- 644,126
Anna Nalick- Wreck of the Day- 623,668
India Arie- Testimony Volume 1: Life & Revelation- 612,187
Missy Elliot- The Cookbook- 552,600
Tina Turner- All The Best- 537,000
Jojo- The High Road- 530,894
Joss Stone- Introducing Joss Stone- 523,027
Vanessa Hudgens- V- 512,849
Celctic Woman- New Journey- 506,580
Paula Deanda- Paula Deanda- 503,484
Cherish- Unappreciated- 500,537

Heather Headley- In My Mind- 495,862
Britney Spears- Blackout- 495,538
Martina McBride- Waking Up Laughing- 483,805
Fantasia- Fantasia- 473,471
Mary Mary- Mary Mary- 472,064
Trisha Yearwood- Jasper County- 470,265
Letoya- Letoya- 461,400
Alison Krauss- A Hundred Miles or More- 458,947
Rihanna- Music of the Sun- 455,493
Paramore- Riot!- 446,883
Regina Spektor- Begin To Hope- 440,685
Fiona Apple- Extraordinary Machine- 436,820
Celine Dion- Taking Chances- 435,263
Toni Braxton- 431,422
Barbara Streissand- Guilty Pleasures- 419,700
Lily Allen- Alright Still- 419,173
Faith Evans- The First Lady- 413,300

Jill Scott- Real Things: Words and Sounds- 397,642
Garbage- Bleed Like Me- 397,000
Feist- The Reminder- 378,893
Melissa Etheridge- Greatest Hits- 372,831
LeAnne Womack- There's More Where That Came From- 370,100
Diana Krall- From This Moment- 357,778
Trina- Glamorest- 353,553
Hilary Duff- Dignity- 340,892
Brooke Valentine- Chain Letter- 339,711
Ashley Tidsdale- Headstrong- 338,032
Amerie- Touch- 332,800
Katharine McPhee- Katharine McPhee- 330,316
Carole King- Living Room Tour- 315,524
Celtic Woman- Celtic Woman Christmas Celebration- 308,199

Floetry- Flo'ology- 273,032
Juanita Bynum- Piece of My Passion- 272,491
Yolanda Adams- Day By Day- 270,941
Imogen Heap- Speak For Yourself- 269,341
Miranda Lambert- Crazy Ex-Girlfriend- 267,944
Bette Midler- Cool Yule- 265,844
Lil' Kim- The Naked Truth- 259,500
Cassie- Cassie- 258,928
Trina- Glamorest Life- 257,200
Bonnie Raite- Souls Alike- 255,600
Madeleine Peyroux- Carless Love- 254,800
Jewel- Goodbye Alice in Wonderland- 252,555
Jessica Simpson- A Public Affair- 240,091
Chrissette Michele- I Am- 236,073
Lindsay Lohan- A Little More Personal- 229,600
Carly Simon- Moonlight Serenade- 223,300
Aly & AJ- Insomniac- 214,738
Monica- Makings of Me- 204,064
Annie Lennox- Songs of Mass Destruction- 200,699

LeAnne Rimes- Family- 195,378
Kelly Rowland- Ms. Kelly- 189,962
Teairra Mari- Rocafella Presents:... - 182,600
Bette Midler- Bette Midler Sings The Peggy Lee Songbook- 182,500
Gretchen Wilson- One of the Boys- 178,220
Lucinda Williams- West- 177,169
Carly Simon- Into White- 175,796
Sara Evans- Greatest Hits- 174,864
Natalie- Natalie- 172,900
Jordin Sparks- Jordin Sparks- 170,336
Camila- Todo Cambio- 169,793
Queen Latifah- Trav'lin' Light- 167,175
Paris Hilton- Paris- 165,366
Ana Gabriel- Historia De Una Reina- 163,537
Yeah Yeah Yeah's- Show Your Bones- 162,242
Loreena McKennitt- Ancient Muse- 161,683
Faith Hill- Hits- 158,659
Brandi Carlile- The Story- 155,490

Joni Mitchell- Shine- 150,936
Jennifer Lopez- Como Ama Una Mujer- 149,821
Diana Krall- The Very Best Of...- 149,309
KT Tunstall- Drastic Fantastic- 146,853
Pat Benetar- Greatest Hits- 143,200
Cascada- Everytime We Touch- 134,276
Lisa Marie Presley- Now What- 132,800
Stevie Nicks- Crystal Visions- 131,010
Cheetah Girls- Cheetah-licious Christmas- 130,300
Shawnna- Block Music- 128,260
Tamia- Between Friends- 127,766
Brooke Hogan- Undiscovered- 124,061
Christina Millian- So Amazin'- 122,154
Jill Scott- Collaborations- 121,461
Tweet- It's Me Again- 119,500
Teena Marie- Sapphire- 119,160
Alanis Morissette- The Collection- 114,500
Aly & AJ- Acoustic Hearts of Winter- 114,204
Patti LaBelle- Classic Moments- 112,800
Kelis- Kelis Was Here- 112,285
Vivian Green- Vivian- 110,100
Jennifer Lopez- Brave- 108,659
Chaka Khan- Funk This!- 107,530
M.I.A. Kala- 107,430
Barbra Streissand- Live Concert- 105,534
Tori Amos- American Doll Posse- 100,780
Melissa Etheridge- Awakening- 100,327


(there's more. If anyone is interested in titles less than 100k, email me)

Dear to the Heart

I just want to say that Final Fantasy VII is my favourite video of game...ever. It really has a special place in my heart, among many others', and I absolutely adore it.

Oddly enough, VII is actually the FIRST game I EVER played on PS1. The whole story and the protagonist's journey through self-discovery is so fascinating to me. I really love that character because I see so much of myself in it like hardcore: He's completely fucked up and emotionally unavailable... perhaps a bit sexually confused? lol. He's emo. Cloud is the original emo. He's a puppet. He's fake. He's a creation, an artificial person. Half of what he says is the perpetuation of lies and the other half is so heart-felt and sincere that you become woven into this gorgeous pattern of crazybeautiful: endless possibilities of an infinite reality. That's me. A fake and tough-yet-vulnerable, confused 21-year-old emo boi. That was me at 12 and it still is.

Don't get me started on the soundtrack; it's easily Nobuo's finest work. It amazes me that I've literally re-played VII a dozen times and it intrigues me THOROUGHLY each time. It really is the story that captures my interest because it's such a unique departure from the predictable shallow storyline of many games. It doesn't venture too far off either though because the themes are still universal; the depth of the plot just supersedes anything before it. It's so much more than 'just' a video game--again-- the story here is so fantastic. Love! Carry on!

Life On Standby: Hawthorne Heights

It was confirmed today that guitarist Casey Calvert passed away from a pulmonary embolism while in his sleep. A potential clot of the pulmonary artery is virtually unnoticeable, and when gone undetected, can result in sudden death. This was the unfortunate case for the musician found incapacitated Saturday.

Calvert was a member of rock group, Hawthorne Heights, on tour at the time of his death. The tragic news came during a barrage of legal issues with the band. During October 2006, Hawthorne Heights filed suit against Victory Records citing abuse, breach of contract, copyright infringement, and fraud. The label filed a countersuit, but was dumbfounded when a judge later ruled in May 2007 that Victory Records has no exclusive rights to the group (Doh!); however, the band must deliver two more albums as part of their 4-album contract.

It doesn't stop there.

On October 16, Wild Justice Records sued Hawthorne Heights asking for $138,000 in damages from breach of contract. In addition, the management team demanded 1/6 of all profit from the band's previous tour and sponsorship. Greedy fuckers!

I recently ventured to the band's fan forum and, to my surprise, all the threads had been locked. Apparently, in the wake of Casey Calvert's death, fans from other bands began spamming the message board so bad that the moderators of the site closed the forum. How pathetic. Show some respect people!

Hawthorne Heights has been working on their third album, the follow-up to 2006's If Only You Were Lonely. Because of the confrontation with Victory Records, don't expect the disc to drop anytime soon. As well, the band has cancelled their current tour; the same tour which they were trying to raise money in order to pay their legal fees. I hope the band comes out of all this victorious and with their heads up.

***Tidbit***Me and my friends Ky and Anthony saw Hawthorne Heights at Warped Tour '07. Right in the front of course. I said it then and I'll say it again, they were amazing.

Rest in Peace

Michael Jackson Reworks Masterpiece

The King of Pop celebrates 25 years of the biggest album in history. The masterpiece, Thriller, is set for re-reissue this coming February with a host of special features and surprises.

The 8-time Grammy Award winning album includes a bonus disc of the Thriller videos and Jackson's legendary unveiling of the moonwalk on "Motown 25: Yesterday, Today, Forever."

Highlights of the record are the inclusion of songs "Carousel," "Someone in the Dark," and "For All Time" which are not found on the original pressing.

Bigger yet is the enlistment of superstars Jackson hand-picked to remix four of the album's iconic singles. Kanye West, will.i.am, and Akon contribute production on reworkings of the classics "Billie Jean," "Wanna Be Startin' Somethin'," "The Girl is Mine," and "P.Y.T." There is no info on whether Michael Jackson re-recorded vocals for any of the songs, but I wouldn't discount it. I expect the guest artists to have vocals as well.

There is a lot of potential here and I'm actually interested to see how the remixes will sound. MJ is known for either going all out, or doing nothing in terms of promotion. With the recent press release, it seems that Michael's camp really wants the world to remember why they fell in love with the King of Pop. After the child-molestation charges of 2003 (he was found innocent of), Jackson disappeared into obscurity, selling his famous Neverland Ranch and moving residence to Dubai. This was the best thing he could have done; out of the public eye for a few years, he's ready to drop this re-issue and his new album later next year, perhaps. I'll definitely be picking both up.

***Grammy's for Thriller***

• Record of the Year: "Beat It"
• Album of the Year: Thriller
• Producer of the Year: Michael Jackson & Quincy Jones
• Best R&B Song: "Billie Jean"
• Best Pop Vocal Performance, Male: Michael Jackson for Thriller
• Best R&B Vocal Performance, Male: Michael Jackson for "Billie Jean"
• Best Rock Vocal Performance, Male: Michael Jackson for "Beat It"
• Best Engineered Recording: Bruce Swedien for Thriller

The Album is Dead

So in case you haven't noticed, the concept of an artist having an album is pretty laughable. Gone are the days where unknown bands could hope for a "big break" by getting a video played on MTV, or having a song chart on radio. Having a #1 single in 2008 will not even guarentee that an artist will go GOLD. Look at Rihanna: her smash, "Umbrella," couldn't even sell her album; it took three additional singles and a holiday season. It's really sad actually. It comes from two things:

1. the decline in overall quality of records
2. consumer doubt that artists can deliver a solid album

In the late 90's, the music industry pushed SO much disposable music in order to increase sales, and it worked. The year 2000 saw the highest number of albums sold in history, a whopping 785.1 million records scanned. The problem with that is how SO many of those CD's were anchored by a select few cherry-picked singles. This caused a general disgust from consumers that paid $14.99 for an album that sucked while the record labels laughed all the way to the bank.

In addition, the turn-over rate for those albums exceeds anything close to today. That's why anyone can go into a used record store, a flea market, or a bargain bin and find copies of the biggest titles before 2002. I'm talking Backstreet Boys, Britney Spears, and Celine Dion. Albums that have sold an excess of 10 million copies, yet for some reason are sitting in $0.99 bins across the country.

The total albums sold for 2007 is expected to be just shy of 500 million, down 34% from 2000. (a percent that has been somewhat consistant for the past 5 years.) This percentage is the reflection of illegal downloads. Saying that for every 3 albums sold, someone else got the album for free. It also shows the publics unwillingness to buy records they feel are not worth even $12. That's why I'd actually be more proud of a GOLD record in 2008 than a PLATINUM record 10 years ago. To sell albums these days, people have to REALLY like what they're buying; anyone can DL a song, an album, or a band's entire catalogue for free! In the 90's you'd literally have to wait until the album was released to hear it. No "leaks" or mp3 sites having entire albums a month in advance.

Downloads have completely changed the music industry. People are disecting albums, taking the songs they want, and adding them to their iTunes. An album? Oh, child, the album is dead! Welcome to 1955!

***Interesting Tidbit***
Usher's 2004 record, Confessions, is likely to be the last album in history certified DIAMOND for selling 10 million copies.