Now before I start, I have to announce that there are two versions. There is the clean version and the explicit version. Based on the fact that anyone can access this blog, I have decided to use the clean version, however I shall be using references to the explicit one.
Swedish House Mafia is a house/dance genre band, they comprise of 3 DJs who are Axwell, Steve Angello and Sebastian Ingrosso. I have already reviewed one of their music videos which was "Save The World" and I loved the music video to that one... This one... Not so much. The other band is Knife Party, they consist of Rob Swire and Gareth McGrillen, you may recognise those names because they are both in the band "Pendulum". This is a side project and according to Rob Swire has NOTHING to do with Pendulum. I'm interested in where this side-project will go, but to be honest if it turns out anything like this one I'm not going to be all that excited.
The song has already been released across Europe and in the US. It hasn't done that well, just making number 13 in Finland and number 23 in Sweden (their home country), and number 51 in the Netherlands. Personally, I don't think think it will do too well here in the UK. So far Swedish House Mafia has gained three top ten hits in a row, this would make it a fourth, but I very much doubt it'll get there.
So is it the song I don't like or the music video? To be honest, I think it's both, the clean music video doesn't make any sense so I watched the explicit version, and I swear I'm going to have nightmares tonight, there's just something about people wearing masks, that just gives me the creeps. The song is okay, I can see it hitting off in certain clubs, but I don't see it being that big compared to their other ones, and I think the music video has a lot to do with that.
The music video is set in a Japanese Strip Club, to be honest this isn't much of a big deal both in the clean version and the explicit version. And to be honest I like how the clean version has been edited. It kind of reminds me of the usual sort of dance/house music videos, with hardly anything new that stands out, except the robbing of the case and the horrible scary masks.
The storyline makes sense in the explicit version, but I still don't understand why they took it and why they did what they did. Maybe they were trying to uncover what was going on in there and then bring it to the police, maybe they were the bad guys and they thought that they needed to do this, maybe they thought this will help save the girls, or they may have been just greedy and wanted the case. I will never know and I don't like the narrative storyline behind it. You got any more ideas? Post them below in the comments.
Overall the song is okay and I can see why others will like it. The accompanying music video is average but also hints that it's different. Although I don't like it, I can appreciate where they're coming from and why they've done it. If it was just my opinions I took into account I'd give it a 1 star. However as a whole I can see why others will like it and understand it better, so I'm going to give it an average rating.
The All-American Rejects are up for today's Sunday revisit. This song made an impression on me, the first time I heard it I loved it. Now I'm kind of a fan of the band, and I hope I still will be with their new release coming out very soon. I have never seen the music video before now and I'm quite surprised I that I haven't.
The song is written by Nick Wheeler and Tyson Ritter, two of the four members of the band, the other members being Mike Kennerty and Chris Gaylor. I like the fact that they write their own songs as it gives across a lot of emotion, which is exactly what this song does.
The music video is very clever, everybody I know who has watched this video on YouTube has always paused it so that they can read every single postcard that appears on screen. I do believe that we aren't given enough time to read them all, which is really annoying when you're half-way through a postcard and it switches to the next one, so pausing is needed, but when you do click pause the music stops which is also not good.
The band are performing as well in the video, this is good as you see they are full of energy. I like the fact that they've enlarged the postcards and put it up almost like a collage, and I think it's pretty clever what the cameramen/women do (or whether it's the editors I don't know), but you could be watching a postcard and as it zooms out you see the band playing rather than the person behind the postcard from the previous scene.
There are some frightening, shocking, and clearly disturbing postcards that are shown, I haven't read them all, but the ones that I have, has surprised and startled me. Some of them are on the ridiculous side, that makes you think "as if somebody would do that", but I presume it's always possible, which is clearly a frightening thought.
There isn't a lot else to talk about this video, it has the right amount of narrative (which are the people holding up the postcard/their dirty little secret), and the performance is what we all expect from rock bands. The video reminds me a bit or My Chemical Romance's "Sing It (For Japan)", although there are obvious differences.
This is the sort of Avril song we all miss. Avril Lavigne has been having trouble lately with her most recent album. It's extremely emotional and really good if people would give it a chance, but people aren't and so the album and it's singles didn't chart very high here in the UK. She is currently working on a fifth studio album, which I'm really looking forward for, and apparently she is exploring and combining her old sound with her new sound.
This song was released in 2002, making it 10 years old. It was written by Avril Lavigne, Scott Spock, Lauren Christy and Graham Edwards, the latter three making up the production team "The Matrix". Again this is another track penned by Avril, and suggests that she means every word she sings. It's definitely emotional as you can hear it in her voice. The song only got to number 7 in the UK charts (Avril has yet to gain a number one single here in the UK), and it re-entered at number 51 last year thanks to Amelia Lily singing the song on The X Factor.
The music video is similar to Losing Grip's music video, however Losing Grip was filmed after I'm With You, so they may have thought the songs were similar. Again the backing band appears, but this time they only get one scene each as Avril is walking down the road. At the time the backing band was (in order of appearance): Matt Brann (he's playing the drums on his legs...), Evan Taubenfeld, Jesse Colburn and Charlie Moniz. Recently they have all moved on and are currently doing their own separate projects.
I love the fact that it's very emotional and she's singing her heart out, it's subtle and interesting. But there are similarities between this one and Losing Grip's music video, which suggests the same footage? Or the same director, or Losing Grip was done quicker and from ideas of this music video.
The song has been used by Rihanna for her track "Cheers (Drink To That)", and Avril thought she did a good job with it and also featured in Rihanna's music video.
There isn't a lot more to talk about, I think it's heart-felt and interesting and something that Avril should consider when recording her new album, as this is definitely raw emotion. I like the music video, it's subtle but interesting at the same time, and I hope you all agree with my rating.
Tynchy Stryder (real name Kwasi Danquah III) has been hitting out some big hits recently, and his career seems pretty stable, but that's all there is to it, he's not a worldwide known star and it's going to be difficult if that's who he wants to be. He almost appeared in Celebrity Big Brother 2012, but he apparently pulled out as he didn't think it was the right thing for him to do. But with this year's celebrities gaining more TV ratings than last year... Was it right for his career, that he pulled out? I guess we'll never know. But since then this song has emerged, heightening my interest as it's a collaboration with Pixie Lott. Pixie Lott (real name Victoria Lott) has become one of the biggest UK female artists as of 2011, and I can see her getting better and better. She has also recorded another version to this song: "Bright Lights (Good Life) Part II" and it appears on her second studio album "Young. Foolish. Happy".
I first heard this song on Pixie's album and thought I recognised it from somewhere, although until now I hadn't got a clue what other song it sounded like; but thanks to a YouTube comment I realised why this song is so familiar. B.o.B and Hayley Williams song "Airplanes" is pretty much the same as this song, and that is why I like it. It's catchy and full of passion and feeling, and it could be considered as the UK's answer to Airplanes, well it took us long enough didn't it?
I like the music video, again it's similar to Airplanes, however maybe I'm just looking into it too much, what makes it different is the fact that Pixie Lott is with Tinchy Stryder and I also like the fact that she shows off her vocals, even though she only sings the chorus, she does hop in and out of the rapping with Tinchy.
I like the use of images that are all from Tinchy Stryder. He is rapping about his life, so it's obvious he is going to use pictures from his past. This makes it more real and it gets the message across.
Overall it's a great song and I'm expecting it to chart quite high when it's released on the 27th February. The music video is average, it's one of those videos that you'd watch if there isn't anything better on the music channels, however the song is really catchy and clearly makes up for the video. There isn't a lot going on, so there isn't a lot I can comment on, so I'm giving an average rating for an average video.
Alyssa Reid is from Canada, but it looks like she's going to be known worldwide; when I first saw her I thought it was Ashley Tisdale, I was definitely wrong, but they do look similar. Alyssa Reid is hoping to break into the UK charts soon and with the extensive radio and music channel play she keeps getting, it looks like she's going to be another singer we are going to look out for. She is only 18, and I'm 2 months older than her, yet she seems really mature at times, and I never would have guessed she was my age. She releases this track on my birthday (29th January), but she'll have stiff competition from Kelly Clarkson (whose song "Stronger" has already charted from Album downloads only). So this looks like it's set to be a big chart battle, but who will come on top?
The song takes a large sample from Heart's "Alone" (made notably famous by Celine Dion). Alyssa Reid wrote the addition lyrics to the song, which makes it feel original, and I have to admit I had to think long and hard what the original song was, as this single has totally messed around with it to make it modern. And it looks like it's going to be one big hit.
The music video is interesting. It's on a small scale and the narrative could be bigger, but if it were it would make this video not so good. Alyssa Reid is singing her heart out, and the song is musically great, but it's subtle, and luckily for us the video is just as subtle.
I like the narrative, it tells a story in a short space of time and we really connect to it, the reason for this is because most people can relate to it as they have probably been through it. Others can clearly only imagine. My friend Dolly even quoted the lyrics on Facebook, she knows what it feels like and loves the song because of it.
I like how all the characters are together and then something happens, whether that's an argument or just not being there when they want you to, and they become "alone". But then when you think all hope is gone, they all get back together and enjoy one another's company.
The performance side of it is interesting, the fact that you see Alyssa Reid playing the piano shows she is also musically talented and you can tell every single word she sings she really means it, and I think that is what draws me to the video more than anything else.
A little info on P. Reign. He is a rapper from Canada, and has released a few records already, however none amassing to anything this big. Some people think rappers are all the same, some may even go out of their way to tell rappers that they've ruined this or that song. I feel hurt that somebody would do such a thing, rapping is a style of music, if it wasn't it wouldn't get into the charts, if you don't like that genre of music then there is no need to judge it.
Overall this is one catchy song and one engaging music video that is the perfect subtlety. I can see this song climbing high up in the UK charts and I have my fingers crossed it does just that. The music video links perfectly, it has enough narrative with enough performance to make it a great music video.
