Miley Cyrus, real name Destiny Cyrus, has been having a break from music lately, but she is currently back in the studio and ready to release more material. This song has been stuck in my head all day thanks to a Facebook application called SongPop. She is the daughter of Billy Ray Cyrus. She has released a number of songs and have featured in a number of films. She is well-known for playing Hannah Montana. She has charted a few times on the UK chart, her highest chart number is 11 in which 3 of her singles have managed to peak at but she has never beaten it just yet. The singles are: "See You Again", "The Climb" and "Party In The U.S.A."
"The Climb" was written by Jessi Alexander and Jon Mabe. It was originally called "It's The Climb" and was given to a number of country artists who turned it down, it was finally given to the Hannah Montana director who asked them to change some of the lyrics so it fits in with the film, and that is exactly what it does.
This music video works great, it is a soundtrack music video, but they've included the movie scenes cleverly. This song is a ballad, and as all great ballads, music videos aren't that great. However this one is different to what we expect.
I like how she walks down the road, but I think there should be a mountain as it would link in more with the song. Overall it's a great song with a great music video, however I don't think there is enough going on for me to comment on, I also feel that there is quite a lot missing, that could have made this music video so much better.
As you already know, I've been playing SongPop a lot lately, and I just bought the Modern Country pack from coins I've earned by winning games, and this song keeps standing out at me, so I thought I'd review it.
Rascal Flatts are a 3 piece Country band consisting of Gary LeVox, Jay DeMarcus and Joe Don Rooney, they released their first album in 2000, and have been extremely popular in the US. However they've only released 3 albums in the UK, and have charted twice on the UK Singles chart, with "Bless The Broken Road" and "What Hurts The Most". Country music is getting slowly more popular in the UK, with the likes of Taylor Swift, Miley Cyrus, Lady Antebellum and The Band Perry all doing well over here, could it be possible Rascal Flatts will give it a go? I sure hope so as this song is so catchy I can't stop clicking the repeat button, I hope this song gets released soon, I can see this being a chart hit.
"Banjo" was written by Tony Martin, Wendell Mobley and Neil Thrasher. The latter two have written many songs for Rascal Flatts. The idea of this song came to Wendell and Neil as they followed directions to Gary LeVox's farm. As it's in the middle of nowhere and you go across creeks and past shacks. It's got one catchy chorus that I can't help but sing-a-long to, and I don't think I'm the only one. If it were to be released in the UK, then I think Radio 1 would definitely pick it up, some radio play will get this song high on the chart, it's amazingly catchy, just wish it were released in the UK, I want it!
This music video is uniquely different. I have to admit it's hard to stand out as there are a lot of music videos out, and no matter what you do it's probable that you'll do the exact same thing as someone else without even realising. This steps out from Rascal Flatts predictable music videos, they all play different characters Gary's a bus driver, Jay is a lecturer and Joe Don is a lawyer. I laugh at the fact that they don't even meet up, it's quite different you have Gary singing with no instruments, and the others are playing instruments with no lyrics.
The girl who is playing the banjo is Ashley Campbell, most known for being the daughter of Glen Campbell. And it fits in perfectly as she looks great and it's exactly what we need to see in a country music video. It fits with the video as you have "to go-go-go-go-go till you hear a banjo."
Overall a great catchy song that needs to be released in the UK, it's accompanying music video is great, perfect and fits with the song amazingly. I have no problems with this video at all... Well maybe one... Please give it to UK music channels! I've been unsure of what rating to give to this, but since I can't think of anything bad to say of this video, it deserves this rating!
I got an unofficial request for me to review this music video by Incubus27, it's definitely not the sort of song I listen to, although I have heard of it before, on the other hand I have never seen the video. This is the first time R. Kelly, real name Robert Kelly, has appeared on my blog... Will it be the last time? It's doubtful. He released his first album in 1992 (I wasn't even born then), and has managed to stay on top of things especially with people still talking about his music now, including his new songs. His most known song is "I Believe I Can Fly". His new songs have stopped being released in the UK, but I believe he will return at one point and when that happens the song is bound to be a chart hit.
This music video is in reverse, but it's the sort of video that you watch and totally forget that it's going backwards, the reason for that is because you connect with the story easily and you just accept it for what it is. Which is extremely clever, also some of the footage is going forwards as well so it's difficult to concentrate properly.
The narrative is gripping, you want to know why he wants to turn back the hands of time, not only that but you want to know what makes her argue with him. We see him not showing up at a dinner, and not answering his phone. But what really got me is when she "blows the candle on" (as it's in reverse) , she walks backwards to the bathroom, with footage of someone having a shower which I presumed was our main character, however as we see the bathroom there is another person entirely in the shower, as Nikki Grahame would say "Who Is She?"
I think that's all I can comment on, I like the ending, however it is expected. I believe there might be a few other issues hidden here and there if I look for them, but I like the use of the reverse footage, and I can't think of any other music videos that uses it to this extent. I like how the scenes they used make you think wow, like the candle and the basketball, as you forget it's going backwards. Overall great music video with a few faults here and there although they do their best to hide them.
Rita Ora has captured the UK in one sweep gaining 2 number ones in a few months, she is definitely the girl who's hitting the UK hard, she is being compared to Rihanna all the time, but could she shake that comparison in the future? This is her second single to be released in the UK and everyone is talking about it, could it be her third number one in a row? It's quite possible, although it is difficult to do nowadays, especially with the number one changing every few weeks, it's just rare to always expect an artist to top the UK chart, but if anyone can do it it's got to be Rita Ora. But she has competition on her hands as the week she releases this song, a number of popular artists also releases the same week and they could potentially grab that top spot, it sure will be an interesting week.
"How We Do (Party)" was written by a huge range of songwriters because it samples "Party and Bullshit" which was a single released in 1993 by Notorious B.I.G. So here goes nothing. The people involved in writing the song were Alex Delicata, Andrew Davidson, Jermaine Jackson, Andrew Harr, Berry Gordy Jr., Bob West, Bonnie McKee, Christopher Wallace (Notorious B.I.G.), Hal Davis, Kelly Sheehan, Osten Harvey Jr., Sean Davidson and Willie Hutch. It seems the more songwriters that collaborate the bigger the hit, I can so see this going straight to the top just like "R.I.P." and "Hot Right Now".
This music video isn't the best, it's basically a huge party that Rita Ora is a part of, and it's showing exactly how they do. There's so much going on, but then also there isn't and this is exactly why I've been finding it difficult to review as there's so much I could comment on but there's little going on.
So let's keep it short and sweet, I like the cut off bit in the middle where you here her say "On that note party and bullshit". I also like the bit when she hits the balloon, that looks like a total unexpected, unrehearsed clip but done so well they kept it in. Other bits such as when the guy throws paint over "God save the queen" seems a bit stupid and doesn't relate, it felt like they were showing off. The UV lighting was unexpected, again doesn't relate exactly but makes this video more interesting.
Overall an extremely catchy song, and it's accompanying music video fits nicely, I could talk about all the little things for ages, but we'll all just get bored as there is little going on, maybe they thought that they didn't need to do a great video because the song's amazing no matter what. But at least it isn't totally different from the song.
Rizzle Kicks has been popular on my blog for quite sometime now, especially after I wrote the review of "Mama Do The Hump", which is still getting views to this day. Rizzle Kicks are a duo made up of Rizzle and Sylvester, but their real names are Jordan Stephens and Harley Alexander-Sule respectively. They have had a number of hit songs, that keep appearing on the charts, this is one duo we are going to see a lot more of. However they have never had a number one, will that change in the future? Or will they be stuck, just like The Saturdays, keeping an eye on the chart and always hoping for that hit song that makes it to the top.
"Dreamers" was written by Harley Alexander-Sule, Emily Phillips, Jordan Stephens, Ant Whiting, Patrick Lyons and Alex Spyropoulos. There are two versions of this song that has been released, the one that you can hear in the music video and the Epic Remix (which is currently charting a lot higher than this one). The reason why the second one is charting better is because it is a collaboration with Pharoahe Monch, Hines, Professor Green, Ed Sheeran, Dappy, Foreign Beggars and Chali 2na. A big collaboration and I can see this charting high by Sunday! I'm not sure what to think of this song, it's good it's catchy but a bit on the repetitive side, so much so that I got bored at the end.
This music video isn't as good as I expected it to be, Rizzle Kicks are the duo that are leading the way on how to make good music videos, but this one is just not up to scratch. It's more of a performance piece than anything else, with various hip hop dancing included. There is also a cameo appearance from Dappy which shows him playing tennis on his own, that's one way to win I suppose. Personally I would've made the video as the Epic Remix featuring everyone in the song, although there are a few stars that are quite a bit busy, but they still should've done it.
My favourite bit of this video is the various messages that pop up. The one at the start and at the end says "You can check-in. But you can never check-out", which I think goes for dreaming, as once you come up with something you're guaranteed to come back to it. The next one is "Keep calm and carry on" which has been hitting the UK hard recently. Near the end "No accredited sheep beyond this point" and "It's not over until the fat lady sings", which could relate to the song since dreams do send you weird messages sometimes.
The whole video has an Alice in Wonderland feel, it reminds me of Avril Lavigne's "Alice" and Daisy Dares You Featuring Chipmunk's "Number One Enemy". What Rizzle Kicks are showing us is that Alice in Wonderland could have been a dream that Alice stepped into, or fell into, and they aren't the only ones who think that. However that is the only link I can think up of.
Overall a catchy song that is a bit on the repetitive side, it's accompanying music video isn't up to standards we expect from these guys, although it is technically great and has everything you expect, along with hidden references that become more clear when you watch it.
