Saturday, February 28, 2009

Revelry - Kings of Leon


Apparently, they're more settle this time around with this one. But there's one thing about the slow tempo rock music like this; it easily gets 'lost in translation' and gives the listeners nothing but bore if the music arrangement doesn't works out well. This single however manages to keep itself away from that. Revelry might not be as strong as 'Sex on Fire' , but still it manages to portray Kings of Leon's identity as a rock band. The originality is there, just that still 'Closer' should have been considered as one of their single, personally. 

Tuesday, February 24, 2009

If This Isn't Love - Jennifer Hudson



This is definitely the much-waited piece that just easily showed us how good she could be. Jennifer’s vocal just shine throughout the whole song without being too much. (just like some others did, usually) It started smooth, hits high powerfully and the way she mastered her vocal is just simply perfect, not to mention the emotion as well. Definitely another heart-moving R&B piece, without including that screeching male of course.

Rate: 8.5 / 10

Monday, February 23, 2009

Get on Your Boots - U2


They’re big, and their music had been mind-blowing, well most of them. Something is not sitting right with this latest single. Something is lacking and it can’t take us back to the ‘Vertigo’ great. It’s clear that they’re doing what they did best, perhaps the volume need to be pump up a little, giving that a little more push. They can do better that this, obviously.

rate: 7.5 / 10

Friday, February 20, 2009

Only By the Night : Kings of Leon (part l)


by Kyan.

To be frank, this is one of the few albums that I really spent my time and listen to all the tracks in it, even though alternative rock has just been my preferred genre lately. It won’t be too much to say that the album changed my mind about alternative rock music, and it is in fact one of the strongest rock album currently, in terms of the music quality, personally and originality. It is interesting to realize that how easy I fall for Caleb’s unique voice. Yes, lead singer’s voice usually became one of the criteria that I look for when it comes to music. It would definitely be a plus if the rock band has lead singer with strong and unique vocal.

‘Closer’, the first track of the album, and it sets the right mood for some alternative rock music. In fact it is one of the outstanding tracks in the album. It does tell us, what kind of direction that their music is heading. ‘Crawl’ on the other hand, changes the whole mood and it shows a different side of their music. ‘Sex on Fire’, not much explanation needs to be done; as it is grabbing all the attention, and it certainly deserves that. Can be crowned as one of the must-listen rock track for the year 2008 and 2009. ‘Use Somebody’ has the potential to be as great as the lead single ‘Sex on Fire’, just that it somehow lacks a little bit of that adrenaline pump that I was looking for, thought it wasn’t disappointing overall. Perhaps it is chose to cater a different listener crowd. ‘Manhattan’ is yet another experimenting track as the whole arrangement of the track is somehow fresh, another must-listen track from the album. In general the first half of the album already blew-my-mind away and can’t wait to see what’s in store for the second half of the album…

Wednesday, February 18, 2009

Only By the Night - Kings of Leon (sneak peak)

Kings of Leon, with their latest album, Only By the Night, made it as the first ever featured artist on OnPlay!. Wait for the full album review soon! :)

Sunday, February 15, 2009

If You Seek Amy - Britney Spears

She can have the big smile on her face…finally.

Much discussed comeback of this ‘once upon a time’ pop diva still keeps us discussing with the release of this ‘title confusing’ single. Let’s just put that aside, as this time around she’s finally back on track and yeah we can cheer out loud as we’re listening to britney that we’re used to familiar with. Still wonder why they came up with that track title though…hmm

rate: 8.0 / 10

Friday, February 13, 2009

Halo - Beyonce

It won’t be too much I guess to name this as one of the much waited piece from her. No doubt the composing team came out with something very strong, and pairing it up with beyonce’s strong performance, every part of the track just sounds effortless. This is yet another good proof that her slow-tempo music always more mind-blowing even though you can’t really dance yourself to the beat. Definitely another track that can be listed as one of the Top 10 beyonce’s must listen. 

rate: 9.0 / 10.0

Thursday, February 12, 2009

Right Round - Flo-rida featuring Kesha

It was just around a year after Flo-Rida came up with this new one, with a big potential to capture for another time the great success he did with his debut single ‘Low’. More electro element is included in this one, with the less emphasis on the rapping in the single. It might not be a mind-blownin’ single if something new and quirky is what you’re looking for in music. The single just contains good enough of elements to enable it to be labeled as one of the great mainstream hip-hop single, it could be another big hit for him, it seems.

rate: 8.0 / 10

Sunday, February 8, 2009

Everybody Knows - John Legend

The third single from his latest album seems brought back the John Legend that we use to know. It’s really great to listen to him doing something soulful this time around, which the beats are now lighter compared to ‘Ordinary People’, and still manage to enable the listeners to relate and connect to it. Another great piece for the Grammy winner!

rate: 8.5 / 10

Everybody Knows - John Legend

Saturday, February 7, 2009

My Life Would Suck Without You - Kelly Clarkson

Stunning comeback for our American Idol herself! It’s thrill to have her back and her yet another fast-beat lead single. Of course it’s been a while to have music like this and you might be blown away the very first time you heard this single, but the more you listen to it, the more you found its similarity to her previous lead single back in 2004, although this is a more elevated and developed version of that it seems. It’s just an info sharing anyway as it is still another great piece from this young lady. Get ready cause we might have more music like this from her again!

rate: 8.5 / 10


My Life Would Suck Without You - Kelly Clarkson

Sunday, February 1, 2009

Beat Goes On - Madonna featuring Kanye West

the collaboration that’s…hmm unexpected and fresh, perhaps? Well we might not get the reason why Madonna redoes the track, with Kanye this time around, but at least it brings some fresh elements to the track. It’s nice to see her out of her zone once in a while, with the condition she doesn’t mess it up and let the ‘Madonna’ fades away just like that. Thumbs up for Madonna and Kanye for the nice work!

rate: 8.0 / 10