Word: albums
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...fact, the most plausible explanation for this excrescence of an album is that Underwood and her handlers have decided that the best way to crossover from country to pop is to make an album in the tradition of the television show that launched her career. As any follower of “Idol” will know, its judges and producers have always maintained a healthy distaste for melody or, indeed, music in general, preferring to applaud and highlight performances of vocal excess, culminating most often in “glory notes.” It is an aesthetic comprehensively...
...which has a richer tradition of great female vocalists than any other. As her eponymous 2005 debut and 2007’s “Carnival Ride” showed, she can sing country—and ballads in particular—with verve and gusto. But on those albums she sang the songs; here, she overpowers them, such as they are, with pyrotechnics. The result is impressive, perhaps, but certainly not enjoyable. Nor can Underwood be excused for the poor quality of the songs, as she is credited as a co-writer on seven of them. The album...
...from requiring an extra dose of Ritalin to enjoy, Wale’s “Attention Deficit” is a refreshingly eclectic album that will immediately grab your attention and hold it as Wale (pronounced Wal-ay) takes you into his personal world of DMV hip-hop. After self-releasing a series of mix-tapes that were popular in the D.C. area over the past couple years, “Attention Deficit” is Wale’s first album with a major label. Nine of the 14 tracks feature at least one guest artist and this...
...many tracks Wale portrays himself as an industry outsider who has had to fight the establishment to earn his due respect. Nowhere is this clearer than on “Triumph,” the strongest of Wale’s non-collaborative efforts on the album and also the first track. He unabashedly claims that he “asked Mr. West for a little bit of help” but was rejected, proof of the fact that new artists “gotta get it ourself.” On “Mirror,” Wale...
...center of the go-go movement in hip-hop and funk, a heritage that Wale readily appropriates for “Attention Deficit.” The go-go of the ’70s can be heard in the jaunty beats, percussion, and horns that populate the entire album. But it is even more explicit in the bits that Wale samples for “Chillin” and “Mamma Told Me.” This truly unique musical inspiration sets Wale apart and gives credibility to his claims that he is something new and different...