Moving on from the worst ‘Idol’ coronation song ever conceived, Kris Allen takes on a more contemporary sound on “Live Like We’re Dying,” the first single off his upcoming debut album (Nov. 17).
"Live Like We're Dying" is now available to download on iTunes and Amazon MP3 for $1.29.
“Dying,” which was originally written and recorded by the Irish band The Script, is reworked to fit Allen’s unique acoustic-friendly vocals and is extremely believable coming from him. The lyrics are positive and forward-looking but some come off a little cheesy and cliché (“You never know a good thing till it’s gone / you never see a crash till it’s head on”). The chorus, however, is fairly catchy and is hard to get out of your head.
As for Allen’s vocal job on the track, it is above average. The fact that he does not try to reach for any notes that are outside his natural range only helps keep “Dying” real. In the chorus, he takes on an indie alternative sound and despite its catchiness, Allen comes off sounding more monotonous than Mraz. This is obviously how the track was written to sound, but it is nothing special.
Regardless of how it ends up doing on the charts, “Live Like We’re Dying” is an adequate effort to help set a foundation for the genre of music Kris Allen will be pursuing, and it appears there really are no boundaries to where his music will go.
Showing posts with label amazon mp3. Show all posts
Showing posts with label amazon mp3. Show all posts
Sunday, October 4, 2009
Track review: Kris Allen's "Live Like We're Dying"
Sunday, September 27, 2009
Jive is mishandling Kris Allen's single release
I was hoping this would not happen, but it seems my fears are coming true regarding the manner in which Jive Records is handling the release of Kris Allen's debut single, "Live Like We're Dying," which does not bode well for his upcoming album release. In a puzzling move, Kris' single was made available for purchase to the digital music retailers iTunes and Amazon MP3 on Friday, which is a few days off the traditional Tuesday release day.
Although it's nice that the single is already available to fans eager to support Kris by purchasing his music, considering the single premiered only last Monday, there is absolutely no strategy here (at least not at first glance). First, with the lack of a visible ad for the single of some sort, both on the main Pop page and the coveted home page of iTunes' music store, the chances of the song making a splash in its opening week on both Billboard's Hot Digital Songs and Hot 100 charts decrease dramatically. If it does debut at all, it will be on the lower rungs of the chart, but considering it will have less than half a sales week to work with and it seems to have already peaked, it probably will not place on the Hot 100 this coming week. Evidence that this will be the case can be seen by looking at its performance over the past three days on iTunes' Top 200 overall songs chart..jpg)
After peaking at #28 on the overall chart yesterday (#15 on the Pop chart), "Live Like We're Dying" has dropped back to #47 on the overall chart (#22 on the Pop chart). Now, this can most likely be attributed to the lack of awareness on Jive's part. Yes, Kris tweeted about the single release and the hardcore fans (especially all of Arkansas) know about it, but the lack of airplay at this point doesn't help matters. So the question is, does Jive care about how it is handling Kris' single release? My guess is it does, but is just being really lazy, which is not a good sign.
This doesn't mean there won't be a huge (or multiple huge) ads alerting everyone about the release come Tuesday, but until then it is a little worrying that one of Idol's biggest winners in terms of votes garnered was only able to manage a preliminary peak at #28 on iTunes' chart. And this doesn't signal that "Live Like We're Dying" will fail as a single, because it is still very early in the game.
The point is, Jive is not handling this situation as well as it has handled the debut releases of Idol alums of yesterday (Jordin Sparks, David Archuleta). Hopefully they wake up at the wheel before Nov. 17 rolls around.
*Note: by saying the single has "peaked," I mean in the sense that it has peaked on its initial journey up the iTunes chart. I am in no way insinuating that "Live Like We're Dying" has peaked for good. That would be ridiculous.
Saturday, August 1, 2009
Free downloads: Brooke White's "Follow Me," Michael Johns' "Heart On My Sleeve"
Following in the footsteps of Phil Stacey, two other Idol alums are featuring singles of theirs as free downloads available on Amazon MP3. Brooke White's song "Follow Me" from her debut album Songs From the Attic and Michael Johns' current single "Heart On My Sleeve" off his new album Hold Back My Heart are now available to download on the digital music retailer.
There is little doubt that the fact that the songs are free is for the purpose of generating interest in the two seventh season finalists' albums, as Brooke just released her sophomore effort High Hopes & Heartbreak a few weeks ago. So far, things seem to be working, as "Follow Me" is currently #3 on Amazon's Top Free Songs chart and "Heart On My Sleeve" is listening to the former's title, as it is right behind at #4. Back when Phil's single "You're Not Shaken" was available to download free of charge, it managed to get to #2 on Amazon's Top Overall Songs chart.
Regardless of whether or not these freebies result in higher album sales, they should bot be passed up by Idol fans at any cost (unless, of course, you already own the albums these songs appear on).
Wednesday, July 8, 2009
Free downloads: Phil Stacey's "You're Not Shaken," Leslie Hunt's "American Dream Man"
It's always nice to add new music by Idol alums to your collection. It's even nicer when the music is free (legally free, that is). This week, two former contestants from the show's sixth season are allowing fans to download a song of theirs free of charge.
Phil Stacey, who is currently embarking on a career in Contemporary Christian Music after a failed attempt at country music, has his new single, "You're Not Shaken," available to download on Amazon MP3. The song will appear on Phil's upcoming album Into the Light, due out Tues., Aug. 25.
Similarly, Top 20 semifinalist Leslie Hunt has her new single, "American Dream Man," available to download on her official site. Her upcoming album, Your Hair Is On Fire, is set for a Tues., Aug. 4 release.
Whether or not you're fans of Phil and Leslie, both songs are definitely worth looking into.
Saturday, January 31, 2009
Track review: Mandisa's "My Deliverer"
Christian songstress Mandisa already has a hit album and a few successful singles under her belt, but that does not mean she can't keep them coming. The fifth season of 'Idol''s ninth-place finalist gives audiences "My Deliverer," an upbeat song of praise that will be the lead-off single from her upcoming album ‘Freedom’ (March 24).
In “My Deliverer,” Mandisa tells the story of how she was saved when she needed help. The instrumentation is definitely more rock-oriented, which is a bit of a change for Mandisa, but her vocals go astoundingly well. The song could easily succeed on the charts as it sounds current. Regarding her vocals, she does not overreach anywhere and sounds very comfortable.
Although it will be tough to match the success of her previous single "Only the World" and album 'True Beauty,' Mandisa seems poised to make things work with the material she is pursuing. "My Deliverer" will be more than just a blip on the chart.
Purchase on iTunes & Amazon MP3
Tuesday, January 13, 2009
"My Life Would Suck Without You" premieres on Z100
New York's Elvis Duran and the Z100 Morning Show premiered Kelly Clarkson's new single "My Life Would Suck Without You" this morning. Listen to the song in full below:
Today is the day the single was officially sent to radio, although it was expected to be released later this evening. "My Life Would Suck Without You" will be available to dowbnload on Amazon MP3 on Fri., Jan. 16.
Thursday, December 18, 2008
Jason Castro's "White Christmas" free on Amazon MP3
If you haven't done so already, head on over to Amazon MP3 and download your free copy of Jason Castro's version of "White Christmas." If you're not in the U.S. at the moment, you're still in luck. Just visit Jason's ReverbNation page and download it there for free as well.
Jason's take on the Christmas classic is something that would be heard in a Hawaiian beach side resort, as the ukulele really adds an interesting touch that is one hundred percent the same Jason that we all saw on Idol.
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