Amerie was a big hit a few years ago, maybe a few more. And this song is her biggest song in the UK, managing to get to number 4 on the chart. I have to admit, I hadn't heard this song until about a year ago when I went on holiday with Tink09 (who seems to introduce me to a load of songs, according to this blog), and she was singing along to this song, and I had never heard of it, but it's really became catchy and as soon as I heard the video being played on the music channels I couldn't help but watch it. It's one of those songs that will get stuck in your head all day, even if you know none of the lyrics the music behind is catchy enough to play again and again in your head. Amerie has a new album coming out next year, people thought she dwindled down and disappeared, but that's not the case, and I can see her doing really well since R&B is doing amazingly here in the UK, could this be the time for her to become big? Time will tell, but she does deserve it.
This song was written by Amerie, Rich Harrison and Stanley Walden. Rich has written for a lot of stars, but has mostly collaborated his writing with Amerie, but has got writing credits for Christina Aguilera, Beyoncé and Kelly Rowland. Will Amerie and Rich join forces again for her new album? It's possible, and will a hit single like this one come out, I think so. We nearly didn't get this as a single, as the record label felt it was unfinished, but were unable to give details. Amerie and Rich Harrison then leaked the song onto radio stations across America, in an attempt to get it released, and it worked. Amerie became more known because of this hit single.
The song was remixed with a vocal performance by Eve, this is the song that people tend to listen to nowadays, and it is considered to be a collaboration. Amerie picked Eve to do the remix with because she feels that Eve is in a male dominant genre, full of all these male rappers, and that Eve, along with few other female rappers, show that anyone can do anything if they set their mind to it.
I actually like the music video, there is a lot going on, which accompanies to the amount of music behind Amerie's vocals. There's no narrative, but that's okay, and there are some cut-scenes of this hit movie "Hitch", as this song was a last-minute soundtrack from the song.
Amerie co-directed the music video, as she had the perfect idea for the video. She appears as a Go-go dancer and it works perfectly with this up-tempo chaotic song that is just right. I like some of the choreography, even though she isn't dancing all that much.
I love the start, the way she struts down the road, it's a strong and powerful walk, which suggests that the song is strong and powerful. I like the drums and all the other instruments behind her, and that red panelled wall is really interesting too.
There is so much going on in the video, it's hard to comment on it all, but I do like it lots. It seems there's not a lot I can comment on as the dancing and the performance is all we have, but the fast-paced song goes perfect and they've done really good editing. I just have to give it this rating, I just think it's lacking something, although what it is I don't know, maybe it's the narrative?
Sunday Girl is an artist I've never heard of before, she comes from the UK, and has released 4 singles, with not charters, as of yet, why she is still around, I have no idea, generally by this point artists are dropped from their record label, and disappears for eternity. Her real name is Jade Williams, and she gained her alias when she worked for a pet store, she didn't mention to the other members of staff her real name, and since she only worked on Sunday's she was always referred as "Sunday Girl". Will she still be around in a few years time? I don't think so, and to be honest if this is the sort of songs she releases I can understand why she isn't that popular.
Now this song... When I first saw the video, I was really excited as I thought it was Basshunter's new song as he covered this song in his "Now You're Gone (album)", but then I realised the music was different and the lyrics were different. So I decided to find out more about this song, hence coming to do this review. This song, which shocked me, was originally sung by a band called Sunscreem, in 1992 (meaning this song is one year older than me), and has been covered by many artists including Steps and Rollergirl, who made the song famous in Sweden. My favourite cover is Basshunter's (which also features Lauren Dyson's Vocals).
I have to say I hate this music video, it has no link with the song what so ever, and I'd understand it if they were in a club or something, because this is where this song is more than likely going to be played, but no, the people are "Whipping their hair" to the song, which I would totally understand if this was a cover song for Willow Smith's "Whip My Hair", but it isn't.
Sunday Girl, doesn't look like she's enjoying this, usually if you are singing a song and performing it you usually put some umph into it, but there's nothing here whatsoever. It is really boring, and I know I shouldn't have expected much from it since she has failed to make any chart position thus far, but I reckon her other music videos were better than this (I haven't seen them so I wouldn't know).
Overall, I don't really like this version of this song, it sounds a lot like the original by Sunscreem, and they haven't changed the song much, for those of you who want to hear a better version I totally suggest Basshunter's version, as I haven't heard a better one just yet. The music video is bland and boring, there is no narrative, and no performance, and I will not be watching this video on the music channels whenever it comes on. As much as I like the song, there are better versions and the video could have been so much better, there isn't any "heart hands" either.
Alexandra Stan is popping up everywhere, after her hit "Mr. Saxobeat" (which has been covered a number of times), she is ready to set the UK chart on fire with this catchy hit.... BUT when is the release date? No one knows, which is the worrying thing, we did have the 3rd of October, but that was the same date as Inna's "Un Momento" (which was released on the same record label), so when will it be released? If ever...... The music channels are in favour of this song, I watched it three times today, and there will probably days in the future where I'll watch it even more. I can see it being a big hit, but with no release date how will people know when to buy it? Could this make it a flop? We'll just have to wait and see.
The song is really catchy, it's simple lyrics is similar to "Mr. Saxobeat", and I like the fact that a saxophone is used once again. It was written by Andrei Nemirschi and Marcel Prodan, who also wrote "Mr. Saxobeat", so I definitely am interested in what her album is going to be like, I can also seeing that become a hit, whenever it gets over here.
Right, before I start commenting on the music video can I just state that the video above is the UK edited version, which, once again, has annoyed a lot of people. 3 Beat Productions and All Around The World Records, tend to cut and edit music videos and songs of the artists that are on their record label, this frequently happens with Inna and now Alexandra Stan. This video then becomes a disappointment compared to the video released in the rest of Europe. Why the UK can't have the same video beats me, but it also annoys me that we don't get the total full story, I know they haven't changed much, but this one misses all the fun, and I don't know, it just gets on my nerves. For those of you who want to know what I'm talking about, you can watch the original music video on the right.
I like the fact that this music video follows on from "Mr. Saxobeat", my question is whether or not it will carry on further, if that happens I'll be totally excited as I love it that Basshunter does it, so having two artists do exactly that, will make me so happy. (NOTE: Basshunter may not carry his story line on as Aylar Lie is quite famous now, so his story so far has ended as a cliff-hanger, I have my fingers crossed that his next video follows on from the story).
I love the twist at the end, which is really good as it could lead on to the next music video, there could be a police investigation, it's possible Alexandra Stan could have a stalker, who's after her for stealing. There's a number of possibilities where the next music video goes...
Now forgetting about the fact that the story line follows on from "Mr. Saxobeat", this music video slightly links in with the song, however personally I have no idea how they came up with this narrative as I'm not entirely sure where it links, which is a little confusing.
Now, I sort of have to mention this... Pitbull look-a-like appears once again in this video, it always makes me laugh when I see him, as I'm aware that it is not him, but he looks similar, and I'm glad someone commented on YouTube about it, otherwise he would have bugged me forever and ever.
Overall I love the song, and the fact that the video follows on from "Mr. Saxobeat", but my worry is, is that the song and the video don't exactly link in with one another, and although it may or may not effect her charting position, it does suggest that a better storyline was out there. This rating is based on the UK music video edit, I would have given a 4 STAR RATING, if it was the original music video I was reviewing.
Cher Lloyd performed on the X Factor yesterday, to try and promote this song, which is released this week. She came fourth on the X factor last year and her first single "Swagger Jagger" managed to get to number one. This time around she has collaborated with Mike Posner, who's a big hit in his own country, America, at the moment. So could this be the song that pushes Cher Lloyd into American stardom before her own X Factor mentor, Cheryl Cole, does it? She performed this song amazingly on the X Factor, and I'm pretty sure it'll be number one this Sunday, but with the competition of Professor Green Featuring Emeli Sandé, Rihanna Featuring Calvin Harris and Labrinth Featuring Tinie Tempah all trying to get number one, this clearly would be quite a battle for the top spot.
This song was written by Savan Kotecha, Max Martin and Shellback, an unstoppable force in my opinion. Once again all three have come together and created yet another song, I bet we'll be seeing more writing credits by these three in the future. Now the fact that Cher Lloyd and Mike Posner never even wrote any of the lyrics is a little disappointing, but sometimes this is where the big hits come from, if Britney manage to do it every single time, then surely everyone else can. I like the fact that Cher Lloyd doesn't rap at all, she is good at rapping, but sometimes you need a song like this to make the "haters" realise she can actually sing. She will be a megastar if she hits America just right.
The music video has a lot of links, and it's nice to see that. But what has she done to her hair? Seriously she changes every few days, In this music video she pulls off the half-shaved look, and it does suit her, however yesterday on the X Factor she had her hair looking a little like Cheryl Cole's, so it makes you question whether she has found her niche in the world. Does she change her hair often as she is still unsure of herself, and doesn't quite know where she belongs? This could be both a good thing and a bad thing; good thing: she may grab the attention of various people from young to old with her various looks; bad thing: she could be influencing little kids to beg their parents into having a hair cut like Cher Lloyd's, and once they go for the half-shaved look, she has her hair normal again, this could possibly upset that kid.
There is a major thing missing in this music video..... The song's about love, so where's the "heart hands"? As I've mentioned in previous posts, "heart hands" are very in at the moment, but can look cheesy if not done correctly. Whether she did do a clip of "heart hands" and it looked wrong so they cut it out, I don't know, but it is definitely something that should have been put in.
I like the balloons, there's quite a few of them, and there is a little bit of repetition of footage, but you hardly notice it. Mike Posner looks like he's trying to look like MC Hammer, which is a definite no-no this day and age. But it is a great collaboration and I wish Cher Lloyd can crack America.
Overall the song is really catchy, as to be expected from these writers, and the music video coincides nicely with the song, it's definitely a step up from "Swagger Jagger" although I do like both songs. It's just missing "Heart Hands"!
Love Bites, as I mentioned a few days ago, are a band I was really fond of. They only managed to release 2 singles and split up just before their album was released. The four-piece pop/rock band consisted of Danielle Graham, Aimee Haddon, Hannah Haddon and Nicki Wood. Their debut single "You Broke My Heart" did pretty well managing to get to number 13 in the UK chart, however this is their second single, and it only managed to get to number 48. Rumours have been started that they have reformed, is it true? I can't possibly say since I have no clue, if they have I'll be really happy, and I hope they release "Love Sucks", which is the album that got cancelled. But they split in 2006, and to be honest I'm not entirely sure if the rumours are true... We'll just have to wait and see.
I have to admit, I think this is my favourite of the two singles, it has a perfect storyline, and it's the one that I sing (when no one's around) to myself, it's just really catchy and I think it should have been a hit, and that if anyone decided to cover it nowadays (they may make it longer) but it would totally be a hit. I know the lyrics are cheesy, but cheesy lyrics can be great at times, and to be honest these lyrics are better that "You Broke My Heart". I also think that the girls have really good voices, I'm not entirely sure if they were edited in the studio, but they sound like the perfect recording voices. I would also like to know where the girls are now, I know they are reforming (if that's even true), but it'll be interesting what happened after the band, and also why they split.
The music video is okay, but it's not as good as their first one. However this one does contain a live performance, which is always nice to see in a pop/rock video, as you can imagine the energy vibes of the group and the crowd. And some of the aspects that happen is pretty cool too.
I like the start, how you see the girls in the bar, working, or being bored, and the band then goes off stage, and they take over. I like how the music doesn't start until a few seconds after, this is used a lot in music videos and you hardly ever notice it, when watching the music channels. I like how the guy they are singing about is the guy who was in the previous band, and I like how he tries to make the Love Bites rubbish by throwing water and turning off the lights, but to be honest I'm pretty sure he could have done a lot more.
I like the fact that you clearly see that all three girls have their own vocal (I presume Hannah doesn't sing). And I have to congratulate one of them catching that water bottle. I also like the crowd and the bouncer, although you kind of expect that.
Overall the song is pretty catchy, and I guarantee after a few plays it'll be stuck in your mind. The music video is okay, but I think the storyline could have been a bit better, but maybe they could only do so much. As much as I want to give this a high rating, I have to be fair, so I hope you all agree with my rating.