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.
Rizzle Kicks are a 2-piece hip-hop band that I'm not entirely sure whether I like or not, sometimes I do (such as this song), whereas others I'm not so sure about. They comprise of Jordan "Rizzle" Stephens and Harley "Sylvester" Alexander-Sule. I have no idea where they got their name from, but after a bit of searching, I found out, thanks to pyromag.com. Apparently Rizzle used to be called Green Rizla at school as people thought he was part of the crew. Green Rizla soon became Rizzle and it looks like it stuck. Both of them played football as school so they decided upon kicks, and that's how Rizzle Kicks came about. To see the rest of the interview Click here
This song is their fourth official single, and I think it is my favourite one they've released, and I'm not the only one. Camcam has fallen in love with it, and he even did "The Hump" in the car... It is currently their highest chart position, but will it go even higher? Will it make the top spot? That is something we're going to have to keep an eye on. I hope it does, it's extremely catchy, but with the 2 songs that are above them in the chart, it doesn't look possible.
The music video is very clever. It contains Rizzle's mother and auntie miming the lyrics and not their respective parents as we at first thought. They perform it so well that anyone who hadn't seen it before and had no idea who the Rizzle Kicks were, would think the people miming are Rizzle Kicks. I can't help laughing at the miming, and I think it is just great. There is also an appearance from a certain celebrity, known as James Corden.
Now, what is "The Hump"? It is a dance move made up by the Rizzle Kicks while they were on stage performing. They were just messing about and came to find this dance move. There are online videos that you can find that will show you how to "do The Hump".
Overall, the music video is simple with very little going on; however, it is clever and different and is really funny at times. The people in the music video all do "The Hump" differently, I just think you have to find your own way of doing it. Purely for originality and great humour, I feel this music video deserves this rating. My only problem is that they could have included a bit more and made it more humorous.
Eric Saade first came to my attention in Eurovision 2011. Since then he has managed to get a UK record label, and his music videos have been played quite a lot on the music channels. I have so far reviewed one of his music videos which was "Hearts In The Air", and I have a feeling if this song and music video are played enough, it will grab enough attention to get the song on to the UK chart, but as of yet there is no official release date, so we can't be certain if he'll chart or not. The collaboration with Dev (real name Devin Tailes) is amazing, her vocals add to the track superbly and it makes this song more notable to the UK audience, which I presume he is aiming for.
The song was written by Eric Saade, Jason Gill and Julimar Santos (also known to us as J-Son). As I've said a number of times, I like the fact that it's written by the artist as it shows they have a connection to the song, and they really mean every single word they are saying. This song is one of those songs that I have to listen to over and over again until I finally like it, but thanks to the UK music channels, it looks like I've already listened to it quite a few times, as it has already grown on me.
The music video is interesting, at first sight people may dislike it, I know I did, and I vowed never to watch it again. I happen to have broken that vow a number of times. It's clever because you end up seeing things you never even noticed the first time round. From a media student, such as myself, you learn to respect the many different camera angles used, and this music video reminds me of the many videos I've watched in Media Studies that tells you what the camera angles are and which ones you can use and what they are all called. It wouldn't surprise me if there was someone out there who has broken this music video down and is using it to show media students what camera angles are out there.
Now when I saw this music video on the TV and on the computer, I presumed that some of the footage contained a stunt double or a professional dancer or something similar. Scenes such as when he's dancing on the table, and when the camera isn't focused on his face. In the table scene we only see part of his legs and his feet as he is moving about. Another scene was when he goes into the room with the light bulbs and he's dancing there and the camera is above him, he doesn't look up or anything so all we see is his hat. However I watched the "Behind the Scenes" video, and although they speak Swedish I can still watch the video, and in fact, when he's on the table, they have a wire attached to him, so that he can go higher, it was probably how he got onto the table in the first place. (I have added the "Making of..." video for you, that's if you fancy hearing them speak Swedish).
I like the fact that Dev is in the TV screens, the reason I can think of as to why they've done this is probably because they didn't have a lot of footage from her when she recorded her part (this may not be true, this is just my thoughts). So the fact that she's in the TVs suggest that some of the video footage of Dev was repeated every now and then. This is clever because we don't even realise.
Overall it's a good music video, although why some of the rooms are the way they are I'm not sure... Why is there a room full of light bulbs? It's one of those things I'll never get to understand. I love the sign, right at the end, it says SAADE and then changes into DEV, which is extremely clever, and I only just noticed it. This is definitely the sort of music video that will reveal new things to me every time I watch it. The song is very catchy and I hope Eric Saade manages to get into the UK chart, whenever this song is released.
