News
Carrie Underwood Performs "Cowboy Casanova" on the CMA Awards 2009
Adam Lambert Calls Gene Simmons Obnoxious, a Hypocrite, and a Dick
Already getting too big for his britches (literally and figuratively), Adam Lambert thinks he can just spout off his opinions to sound edgy. For instance, in an upcoming Rolling Stone article that was leaked online, Adam is quoted as saying "Gene Simmons spouted something, that he thought I'd ruined my career by coming out. He's obnoxious, and what a hypocrite - all he talks about is his sex life. He was being a dick - and he's not the greatest singer." Adam could have easily said, "That's his opinion" and left it at that, but the guy has no common sense. This should be evident from his terrible album cover. And so the career fail continues.
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Vote for the Worst Album Review - Kris Allen
As I listened to Kris Allen's debut CD, a nagging thought wouldn't get out of my head: I've heard this before. You'll think the same thing as you listen to Kris's CD. But just because the songs aren't that innovative, it doesn't mean that some of them aren't good. The album is definitely a respectable effort from Kris, especially regarding the rush job recording sessions necessary to get the album done. Read on for the specifics.
On American Idol, Kris suffered from being slightly forgettable, and some of the tracks on his debut album don't really help that mentality. The fact that almost every song has a cliche title doesn't help. Like Daughtry's debut album, you can easily compare just about every song to a band that's already out there. "Bring It Back" sounds like The Fray. "Can't Stay Away" sounds like Maroon 5. "Alright With Me" sounds like an iTunes commercial. I’m sure if you played “Bring It Back” for a fan of the The Fray, they’d like it. So it’s not necessarily a bad tactic to push the record. Throwing a bunch of songs at the wall to see what sticks is standard Idol protocol, so you can't fault Kris too much for the experimentation, especially since his vocals blend in nicely with most of the variety.
The best track on the album is "Before We Come Undone", a catchy slice of pop that is radio ready. His voice sounds great and the song can appeal to the Adult Contemporary crowd that buys Idol albums. "Is It Over" is another standout, where Kris hits his stride with a bluesy ballad, showing the type of slow songs he should be singing. The album needs more moments like these though.
On the other side of the coin, Kris's vocals can become grating on songs like "The Truth", where he verges on whiny during the chorus. The inclusion of the few songs that have some light wordplay like "Live Like We're Dying" and "Written All Over My Face" were clearly to appeal to the younger crowd, but they seem slightly forced. Kris isn't uncool, but some of his co-songwriters make him sound that way. "Heartless" isn't nearly as fun as it was on Idol's stage, for instance. But even when the album fails in certain spots, it won’t irritate you. In fact, the songs grew on me with repeated listens.
Overall, most of the songs are decent, with a few real standouts that deserve your attention. And knowing how the Idol machine cranks these albums out so quickly, a decent album with a few standout tracks is something you should look into. The appeal of the album is that Kris isn’t trying too hard. He’s merely putting his spin on some pleasant music without any pretense about trying to reinvent the wheel. Because reinventing the wheel he’s not. But try to enjoy the music for what it is: a decent copy of other music that's already out there. If Kris makes it to album number two, maybe we'll see more of who he is.
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Katharine McPhee's Album Cover for Lifetime
Adam Lambert is Tanking, So Kris and Allison Are Brought in to Rescue Him
Due to the fact that Adam Lambert's songs are pure shit and no one will play them on the radio, there is now a new contest to win a concert with Adam, Allison, and Kris altogether. Adam is not anywhere near the draw that 19E was expecting, so they have to package him with Kris and Allison to get anyone besides the Sparkle Cows interested. Meanwhile, Kris Allen's single is slowly climbing the charts and doing well for itself. We love irony. (News via MJ's Big Blog)
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Adam Lambert Fans Are Already Ruining His Career by Overrequesting His Bad Music That No One Wants to Hear
Let's take a look back, shall we, at a prescient post made by VFTW on September 29th:
Adam Lambert will face a similar fate to Clay Aiken when his fans kill off his career by being overzealous and pissing off everyone by over-requesting his songs, yelling at his management, starting letter writing campaigns to anyone who would mock him, etc. It'll be a funny ride, so grab some popcorn.
And now let's look at the Twitter account of a DJ named Billy the Kidd who works at a KISS-FM station in Dallas.
Heads up Adam Lambert fans- it doesn't help when u SPAM my e mail with requests! Ps I can't believe you call urselves the "Glamberts" ha! (link)
Im not rude, just honest. I like Adam, he is talented, but fan clubs sometimes HURT the artist RT @ImSarahK @billyontheradio youre very rude (link)
@HurChaRealGood I was SIMPLY makin a point that when fan clubs spam our WORK e mail, it DOESNT HELP. Thats all. (link)
We prefer our popcorn with butter and salt. How about you?
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Ayla Brown Live! to be Released Tuesday, November 10
Ayla Brown is getting set to release her new live album, Ayla Brown Live!, this Tuesday, November 10. Ayla's been a guest on our radio show and is a good friend of the site, so we want to make sure everyone knows about the upcoming album and its release on iTunes and other digital retailers. Ayla's voice sounds great on the live tracks, and the brand new track "Come Together" is extremely catchy, so you should definitely pick up the album. You can also stream the album live on Ayla's Facebook and iLike pages starting on Monday. Help support an artist who's selling albums on her own and who actually sounds great singing live. It's a no-lose situation.
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Alex Wagner-Trugman to be Our Guest on VFTW Radio This Wednesday, 11/11/09
The always hilarious Alex Wagner-Trugman will be our guest on VFTW Radio for the first half of the show this coming Wednesday, November 11, 2009. Listen in to hear about Alex's time on Idol and find out what he's up to now. Alex is an incredibly entertaining guy, so we're sure this is going to be an oustanding show you don't want to miss.
On 11/11, there are 3 ways to listen live:
- Head to Alldigitalradio.com to listen or check for a "listen live" link in this post during the show to take you there.
- Listen live on iTunes at Radio-> Talk-> All Digital Radio.
- Download Internet Radio Box on your iPhone and search for the All Digital Radio Network.
So tune in and enjoy, and make sure to follow Alex on Twitter.
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She's become slightly less wooden since her days on Idol, but her looks are carrying this otherwise bland performance. And even still, she's worlds better than rat-faced Taylor Swift.
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