Showing posts with label itunes. Show all posts
Showing posts with label itunes. Show all posts

Tuesday, February 2, 2010

Carrie Underwood's "Temporary Home" music video premieres

Carrie Underwood's much anticipated music video for her latest single "Temporary Home" premiered today on iTunes. The music video features clear cut story lines that are featured in the song's lyrics. Watch the video below:



The video is an absolute tearjerker, complete with a 30-second scene where Carrie plays a girl comforting her dying grandfather in the hospital. Her journey around the city in a taxi is complemented by segments where she sings in a winter theme. Pretty powerful stuff.

The video can be purchased at iTunes for $1.99.

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Friday, December 11, 2009

David Archuleta Christmas update

David Archuleta has been making the most of his hit Christmas album Christmas From the Heart, as he's been touring across the country in support of it. But Arch has also been able to contribute to a lot of other projects in his spare time.

David was recently interviewed by Tony Rossi of The Christophers on the podcast "Christopher Closeup," in which he spoke about his experiences caroling around Christmas time as a kid, some of the tracks he recorded for his album and the importance of giving, especially at this time of year. The interview can be streamed in its entirety here.

And Arch currently has not one but two free downloads from Christmas From the Heart on iTunes this week, as his rendition of "The First Noel" is included in a 20-song "Holiday Sampler" in addition to Christmas classic from other artists like Amy Grant, Toby Keith and Lady Antebellum. This comes just as Arch's song "Joy to the World" is the featured free iTunes "Holiday Single of the Week." Listen to "The First Noel" below:



And it was recently announced that David will serve as part of the "Helen of Troy Halftime Show" at the Sun Bowl on Thurs., Dec. 31. From the press release:
David Archuleta will perform at the Helen of Troy Halftime Show at the 76th Annual Brut Sun Bowl on Dec. 31 at the Sun Bowl Stadium. The Brut Sun Bowl is scheduled for Thursday, Dec. 31 at noon at Sun Bowl Stadium in EL PASO, Texas. The game will be broadcast live nationally in high definition on CBS for the 42nd consecutive year. Tickets for the Brut Sun Bowl range in price from $15 to $60 and can be purchased by calling (915) 533-4416 or (800) 915-BOWL or go on-line at www.ticketmaster.com.
It looks like David has plenty of activities that are keeping his plate full during this holiday season.

Don't forget to purchase Christmas From the Heart, now available in stores nationwide and at Amazon.com.

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Wednesday, November 18, 2009

Pre-order Adam Lambert's album on iTunes! Oh and by the way...

Well, it looks like the pimping continues long after Idol's eighth season ended. I received a mass e-mail this afternoon from iTunes because I have purchased Idol-related material from the digital store in the past, and what did I find but a nice, big, blinding ad letting me know that I can pre-order Adam Lambert's forthcoming album For Your Entertainment (as if I didn't already know this from previous e-mails via iTunes).

What I thought was interesting is the fact that Kris Allen's album, which was released yesterday, was also included in the e-mail, all the way below Adam's giant glittered banner. There were also plenty of other Idol-related albums and singles flanking the right side of the e-mail, but that's beside the point. Since the season ended, the 19 Entertainment machine has been bending over backwards trying to market the two finalists (and fourth-place Allison Iraheta, who coincidentally has her album pre-order notification located directly beneath Kris's) as a threesome to the fans. What's the true reason for this?

In the past, 19E has been more than happy to let its signed runners-up fall by the wayside while their winners basked in all their glory (and ate up their promo dollars), but this time around things seem to be reversed. Granted, the fact that they are on separate record labels (they being Adam and Kris) plays a part in this, but it's not like iTunes randomly decided to send this e-mail out, 19E is the wizard behind the curtain here. But why is there so much effort on their part (almost to the point of desperation) that they are shoving Adam in our faces prior to his album release?

I think they're afraid first week sales might be a bit below where projections have Entertainment at. This is of no fault of Adam's, of course, just the fact that he's the most talked about finalist in the show's history puts him on such a high pedestal that it will be almost impossible for him or his album's performance to match the hype. Yes it's true various sources say Adam's album has been doing extremely well in pre-sales, including a comment that pre-orders are "through the roof" made by a representative from Newbury Comics in a recent article in Rolling Stone, but that is a very small chain in comparison to some of the bigger chains out there.

At the moment, Kris's album is sitting at #9 and #12 on iTunes Top 200 Overall Albums chart, while Adam's album is behind at #25. Is there really any need to feature Adam prominently in an e-mail when Kris just saw his album debut yesterday to worse than expected sales? I didn't receive a comparable e-mail notifying me about Kris's album last week. Plus, single sales for Adam's and Kris's comparable lead singles are just that - comparable - as Kris had 39.3k for "Live Like We're Dying" after a week-and-a-half's worth of sales while Adam now has 44.5k for "For Your Entertainment" after the same time period. But judging by the amount of media attention the two alums are getting, one would think Adam would be crushing Kris in the single sales department. Does this mean maybe Adam's album sales are going to be underwhelming?

There are plenty of other instances of questionable promotional tactics that have been used since the finale in respect to Adam and Kris that have been well documented, including the "Ryan, Rock My Town!" concert contest that in past years might have been just reserved for the season's champ. But once again, this e-mail is just a representation of how things have been conducted since Adam lost the competition. At this point it's just rubbing salt in the wound.

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Wednesday, November 11, 2009

Track review: Katharine McPhee's "Lifetime"

In her third single release ahead of her sophomore album ‘Unbroken’ (Jan. 5), Katharine McPhee touches a tender chord on the bubbly “Lifetime.”

On “Lifetime,” McPhee’s vocals sway with the breezy mood and light instrumentation, resulting in an extra sweet product. The sing-songy feeling found here could seem corny if it were to be applied to a song of another theme but it does not feel out of place in the slightest. One of six tracks co-written by McPhee on ‘Unbroken,’ “Lifetime” features lyrics that fit the song’s good-natured style to a T (“Highs and lows will come your way / there’s no need to be afraid”) and is an easy candidate for wedding playlists for years to come.

If “Lifetime” is any indication of Katharine McPhee’s songwriting ability, things are looking bright and sunny for the rest of her forthcoming project.
"Lifetime" is now available to download at iTunes ($0.99). Unbroken is now available to pre-order on Amazon.com and will be released on Tues., Jan. 5.

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Wednesday, November 4, 2009

Adam Lambert's "For Your Entertainment" now on iTunes

After being released for sale on his official Web site last week, Adam Lambert's single "For Your Entertainment" is now available to download on iTunes for $1.29.

Similarly, Allison Iraheta's single "Friday I'll Be Over U" is back up on iTunes as of Monday after being prematurely added. Not sure what's up with all these crazy release strategies with Season 8 finalists' singles, but their labels must know what they're doing, right?

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Tuesday, October 27, 2009

Out today: Carrie Underwood's "Undo It"

"Temporary Home," the third of three consecutive singles from Carrie Underwood in the weeks leading up to her third studio album Play On (Nov. 3) was today released to iTunes.

Links to purchase the aforementioned can be found below:

Singles,
Carrie Underwood
, "Undo It"

iTunes - ($1.29) - Buy

"Undo It" is a feisty uptempo track co-written by Carrie, Kara DioGuardi, Martin Frederiksen and Luke Laird. It is the fifth track to appear on Play On.

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Sunday, October 18, 2009

Track review: Carrie Underwood's "Mama's Song"

The story of a daughter calming her mother’s nerves about her new love takes center stage on “Mama’s Song,” Carrie Underwood’s latest track to be released ahead of the country superstar’s third album, ‘Play On’ (Nov. 3).

Co-written by Underwood and Kara DioGuardi among others, “Mama’s Song” is a nice little country tune that allows for simple, pure vocals and limited production to result in the most pleasurable listening experience possible. The song itself, however, comes off sounding a little too similar to Underwood’s 2006 Top 2 single “Don’t Forget to Remember Me,” which is a superior song.

Despite lazy feeling, lyrics are strong on the whole, as Underwood is able to offer sincerity on the topic (And I know you watched me grow up and only want what’s best for me / And I think I found the answer to your prayers). Putting aside the artistic sentimentality found here, the song is boring compared to her recent efforts and is not as strong as her previous ballads.

Still, it’s hard for Carrie Underwood to sound bad, and “Mama’s Song” carries a positive feeling with it that makes up for other areas that aren’t as noteworthy.
"Mama's Song" is now available to purchase on iTunes for $1.29.

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Sunday, October 4, 2009

Track review: Kris Allen's "Live Like We're Dying"

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).

“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 clichĂ© (“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.
"Live Like We're Dying" is now available to download on iTunes and Amazon MP3 for $1.29.

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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.

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.

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Thursday, September 17, 2009

Track review: Katharine McPhee's "Say Goodbye"

Coming on the heels of news that her sophomore album, ‘Unbroken,’ is postponed until Jan. 5, 2010, Katharine McPhee leaves fans hanging on an extremely high note with “Say Goodbye.”

From the somber tone of her vocals to the vulnerable sense driven by the stringed accompaniment, “Goodbye” shows just how effortlessly McPhee pours her emotions into her work. The lyrics fit the song excellently, and are believable coming from McPhee (“I feel just like an actress / up on the stage”) and help convey the overall message she wants to get across to her audience. Following a rousing bridge that allows McPhee to display her vocal acrobatics, she brings “Goodbye” to a close on a solemn note, just the way she began (“So I walk this high wire / alone tonight / that way it won’t hurt so much / when we say goodbye”).

Katharine McPhee has always been an exceptional vocalist and she has delivered some solid recordings in her budding career, but “Say Goodbye” is without question the most beautiful piece of art she has ever recorded in a studio. Assuming ‘Unbroken’ includes more “Say Goodbye”s than it does “Open Toes,” fans could be in for a true gem come January.
"Say Goodbye" is now available to download on iTunes.

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Monday, September 14, 2009

Out today: Katharine McPhee's "Say Goodbye"

Katharine McPhee lets fans hear one last taste of her new material following the disheartening news that her forthcoming sophomore album, Unbroken, has been delayed until a Tues., Jan. 5 release. To help lessen the blow, her record label, Verve Forecast, releases the ballad "Say Goodbye" as a digital single at iTunes.

Links to purchase the aforementioned can be found below:

Singles
Katharine McPhee
, "Say Goodbye"

iTunes - ($0.99) - Buy

Despite the fact that it will not hit store shelves until next year, Kat's album Unbroken can still be pre-ordered at Amazon.com as both a CD and CD/DVD combo.

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Tuesday, September 1, 2009

Out today: Jason Castro's "Let's Just Fall In Love Again"

The lone Idol-related release today comes from Season 7 fourth-place finalist Jason Castro, as his debut single "Let's Just Fall In Love Again" is released to iTunes. The song is Jason's lead single off his forthcoming debut album with Atlantic Records.

Links to purchase the aforementioned can be found below:

Singles
Jason Castro
, "Let's Just Fall In Love Again"

iTunes - ($1.29) - Buy

Jason's single has been available as a free download to fans that have pre-ordered the album on his official Web site.

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Tuesday, August 25, 2009

Out today: Katharine McPhee's "Had It All," Phil Stacey's 'Into the Light'

For the first time in a while, a new Idol-related single sees its release as an exclusive download at iTunes in the form of Katharine McPhee's "Had It All." The song, which was penned by Mitch Allan, David Hodges & Kara DioGuardi, is the first single off Katharine's upcoming release Unbroken, which is due out Tues., Oct. 6.

Also out today is Phil Stacey's sophomore album Into the Light, which is courtesy of Reunion Records. The album, which features the lead single "You're Not Shaken," is in the Contemporary Christian genre, a departure from his previous experiments in country music.

Links to purchase the aforementioned can be found below:

Singles
Katharine McPhee
, "Had It All"

iTunes - ($0.99) - Buy

Albums
Phil Stacey
, Into the Light

Amazon - ($13.98) - Buy
Amazon MP3 - ($9.99) - Buy
Barnes & Noble - ($11.09) - Buy
Best Buy - ($12.99) - Buy
CDUniverse - ($11.18) - Buy
iTunes - ($9.99) - Buy
Sears - ($8.99) - Buy

Katharine has been excitedly tweeting about the single's release over the past week, and informed fans that two webisodes would be released on her official music MySpace page on the same day. Unbroken can now be pre-ordered on Amazon as a CD/DVD deluxe package as well as a traditional CD.

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Monday, August 24, 2009

Track review: Katharine McPhee's "Had It All"

In anticipation of her forthcoming album ‘Unbroken’ (Oct. 6) courtesy of Verve Forecast, Katharine McPhee opts for a new look, and more importantly, a new sound as demonstrated by the album’s lead single “Had It All.”

Leaving behind the R&B-fused pop and open-toed shoes found on her debut LP, McPhee settles for a more earthy sound while marinating her vocal prowess. Although it is inaccurate to classify the song as being “indie,” it definitely gives off indie vibes as her vocals glide seamlessly over the barely polished production of the track.

“Had It All” was co-penned by an all-star trio of Mitch Allan, Kara DioGuardi and David Hodges, and the lyrics work for the most part despite having a bland chorus (“I had it all I threw it all aside / thinking there was more there I needed to find / I had it all baby till you went away”).

At the song’s bridge, McPhee harkens back to her days on ‘Idol’ with a building, billowing high note that carries through the song’s remainder, and finally settles on a crisp, calm finale.

Katharine McPhee surely is back in the game, only this time her true persona will shine through thanks to songs like “Had It All” that will allow her to demonstrate the most suitable styles of music for the budding artist.


"Had It All" is now available to purchase on iTunes.

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Tuesday, August 4, 2009

Out today: Leslie Hunt's 'Your Hair Is On Fire'

Today marks the release of Idol Season 6 Top 20 contestant Leslie Hunt's latest album, Your Hair Is On Fire, courtesy of Ellenel Records. Although it was supposed to be available on the independent digital retailer CDBaby, there seem to be some issues with getting the album up on the site. Per a tweet from Leslie earlier today:

My CD is being held hostage by the horrible customer service over at CDBaby. This is such a disaster! It's supposed to be available 2day!! about 2 hours ago from web
Despite the glitch, Your Hair Is On Fire is available to purchase beginning today at Reckless Records in Chicago and the Borders location in St. Charles, Ill., and will be available to download on iTunes beginning next week. In the meantime, don't forget to download Leslie's single, "American Dream Man," for free via her official Web site.

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Tuesday, July 21, 2009

HITS estimates: 'Leave This Town' 270.1k

For the first time since Kelly Clarkson's album All I Ever Wanted opened atop the chart back in March, an Idol alum has seen their album debut at #1, at least according to HITS Daily Double's Top 50 building album sales chart.

Daughtry's sophomore album, Leave This Town, is expected to pull in 270.1k copies according to the estimates and land in the no. 1 position in its first week, the latter of which the band's previous album failed to do back in 2006. Although these numbers are significantly lower than my original predictions, they are slightly higher than the 240-60k HDD was calling for the album last week.

Surprisingly, this was the only Idol-related album to chart in the Top 50, as Brooke White's release High Hopes & Heartbreak looked to be doing strong, as it pulled in 8.3k from iTunes sales alone with 69.4% of retailers reporting, but it was not enough to hang onto its spot at #45 when all was said and done.

Finalized figures courtesy of Billboard should be out this week, but if not, chart positions will definitely be posted later on in the week.

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Out today: Jordin Sparks' 'Battlefield'; Brooke White's 'High Hopes & Heartbreak'

For the second week in a row, an Idol alum has a shot at seeing their sophomore release debut atop the Billboard 200, as Jordin Sparks releases her much-anticipated Battlefield. The album features tracks like "Walking On Snow," "Faith" (written by Jordin and Toby Gad) and second single "S.O.S. (Let the Music Play)."

Also out today is Brooke White's first post-Idol album, High Hopes & Heartbreak, courtesy of June Baby Records. It includes songs like first single "Hold Up My Heart," the follow up "Radio Radio" and a cover of Kings of Leon's "Use Somebody."

On the singles front, Blake Lewis drops "Sad Song," the lead off single for his forthcoming album Heartbreak on Vinyl.

Links to purchase the aforementioned can be found below:

Albums
Jordin Sparks
, Battlefield

Amazon.com - ($9.99 standard, $15.99 deluxe) - Buy: standard, deluxe
Amazon MP3 - ($ 8.99 standard, $13.99 deluxe) - Buy: standard, deluxe
Best Buy - ($9.99 standard, $14.99 deluxe) - Buy: standard, deluxe
Buy.com - ($13.88) - Buy
CD Universe - ($15.18 standard, $18.50 deluxe) - Buy: standard, deluxe
iTunes - ($9.99 standard, $13.99 deluxe) - Buy: standard, deluxe
Sears - ($12.59) - Buy
Target - ($9.99 standard, $17.99 deluxe) - Buy: standard, deluxe
Walmart - ($13.88) - Buy

Brooke White, High Hopes & Heartbreak

Amazon.com - ($9.99) - Buy
Amazon MP3 - ($8.99) - Buy
Best Buy - ($12.99) - Buy
Buy.com - ($12.89) - Buy
CD Universe - ($11.18) - Buy
iTunes - ($7.99) - Buy
Sears - ($10.79) - Buy
Walmart - ($12.88) - Buy

Singles
Blake Lewis
, "Sad Song"

iTunes - ($0.99) - Buy

The deluxe edition of Battlefield includes two bonus tracks: "Papercut" and "Postcard," in addition to a separate DVD that has four videos: "Hangin' with Jordin Sparks," "Battlefield Behind the Scenes," "Battlefield Photo Shoot" and the music video for "Battlefield." Fans that pre-ordered the album on iTunes also receive another bonus track in "Vertigo."

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Saturday, July 18, 2009

Album review: Jordin Sparks' 'Battlefield'

Coming off her certified platinum debut, 19-year-old Jordin Sparks shows evidence of a transformation from a girl into a young woman on her latest disc ‘Battlefield.’ With help from veteran songwriters/producers like Ryan Tedder, Claude Kelly and Benny Blanco, Sparks proves that when you surround yourself with experienced, top-notch people, the product is very rich in quality.

Sparks chooses the bouncy, feel-good “Walking on Snow” to begin her album, which reminds listeners of what they loved about the self-titled predecessor. This makes it a little easier to swallow the more grown-up tracks that follow. But before arriving at the “BeyoncĂ© meets Rihanna” style that Sparks described ‘Battlefield’ as consisting of, listeners are met with the album’s first single and title track.

“Battlefield” is a stylized, inspirational call to armor in the game of love complete with a ringing chorus that includes classic Tedder repetition (“Why does love always feel like a battlefield / a battlefield / a battlefield”). This track, which is different than anything that was found on ‘Jordin Sparks,’ opens the door to “Don’t Let It Go to Your Head,” a cover of the 2005 Fefe Dobson song that marks a clear departure from Sparks’ earlier material. Synths are in heavy use here, as they are throughout the album.

This new dancy, upbeat sound is a common theme on ‘Battlefield,’ as it is thread through songs such as the second single, “S.O.S. (Let the Music Play)” and the fun “Emergency (911).” On “S.O.S.” Sparks sounds mature yet immature at the same time, as lyrics like “That crazy chick don’t know who she’s messin’ with / look in her eyes she’s mentally undressing him” mark a new turn for the artist, but the Rihanna-esque sampling of Shannon’s 80’s anthem “Let the Music Play” helps keep the song youthful. “Emergency,” which was co-written by Sparks, is enjoyable (“Why don’t you call me? / aren’t you my boyfriend? / you were supposed to be here like an hour ago”) but does nothing in terms of building her musical repertoire.

In the face of this new sound, it is on the mid-tempos where Sparks’ vocals shine. “It Takes More” is a high point, as the pre-chorus transitions beautifully into a simple yet meaningful chorus. It is the seventh track, however, where Sparks delivers her best performance on ‘Battlefield.’ “No Parade” includes everything a hit song should possess, and her pristine vocals that reach amazing heights in the final chorus are the icing on the cake. The lyrics are also powerful (“There was no parade / no lights flashing / no song to sing along the way / there was no parade / no waves crashing / there was no one else around for days”).

On the ballad front, Sparks really tones it down on “Was I the Only One” and “Faith,” both of which she had a hand in writing. “Only One” remains fairly mellow throughout the song’s 3:21 length and finishes on a soft note, whereas “Faith” builds throughout the song’s duration and proves that Sparks is not only a talented singer, but she shines as a songwriter as well, as lyrics like “When the sky is darkest you can see the stars / when you fall the hardest you find how strong you are” erase the doubts raised in lyrics found in “Emergency.”

Although ‘Battlefield’ maintains a generally similar sound, Sparks experiments with a few styles that are not necessarily her forte. On the T-Pain-produced “Watch You Go,” Sparks experiments with a more urban sound that complements her vocals surprisingly well. Although it is a little different than the rest of the album’s offerings, it holds its ground against the rest of the tracks’ poppier sound. On “Let It Rain,” however, the guitar riffs just do not work out very well, and the song comes off as being more of a lamb than a lion in terms of rock edge.

In a culmination of all the sounds and styles found on ‘Battlefield,’ Sparks brings it home on “The Cure,” which is the most beautiful offering on the album. Her vocals are pure and angelic, and the simple song structure maximizes the effect felt on listeners.

The deluxe edition includes the bonus tracks “Papercut” and “Postcard,” the former of which Sparks also co-wrote. Neither song is amazing, but they are definitely an extra incentive to spend the extra few bucks.

Looking back at what Jordin Sparks has to offer on ‘Battlefield,’ it is amazing to think of how far she has come since winning ‘Idol’ back in 2007. The fact that she has been able to harness her vocal talents and mature in such a short span of time is remarkable, and her ability to conform to the style of music that’s in at the moment while maintaining her originality and individuality. Although it is not perfect, ‘Battlefield’ should be looked to as a model album for up and coming artists to draw influence from.

Battlefield drops on Tues., July 21, and is now available to pre-order on iTunes and Amazon.com.

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Tuesday, July 14, 2009

Out today: Daughtry's 'Leave This Town'

Nearly three years after the band's debut, Daughtry returns today with its sophomore effort Leave This Town. The album, which was produced by Howard Benson, features songs including "September," "You Don't Belong" and its first single, "No Surprise."

Also releasing today on iTunes only is Brooke White's High Hopes & Heartbreak, which will be available everywhere on Tues., July 21. As part of the special one-week offer, fans can also download the music video for Brooke's new single "Radio Radio."

Links to purchase the aforementioned can be found below:

Albums
Daughtry
, Leave This Town

Amazon.com - ($9.99) - Buy
Amazon MP3 - ($9.99 deluxe) - Buy
Best Buy - ($9.99) - Buy
Buy - ($10.98) - Buy
CD Universe - ($14.80) - Buy
DaughtryOfficial.com - ($19.99 deluxe fan pack edition) - Buy
iTunes - ($9.99 standard, $12.99 deluxe) - Buy: standard, deluxe
Sears - ($12.59) - Buy
Target - ($9.99 standard, $13.98 deluxe) - Buy: standard, deluxe
Walmart - ($11.86 standard, $13.88 deluxe) - Buy: standard, deluxe

Brooke White, High Hopes & Heartbreak

iTunes - ($7.99) - Buy

Music Videos
Brooke White
, "Radio Radio"

iTunes - (Free) - Buy

The abundance of exclusive material available on the different retail editions of Leave This Town is astounding, as there is no shortage of bonus tracks or music videos to go around. The full list is as follows:

DaughtryOfficial.com: Two bonus tracks ("Long Way" and "One Last Chance"), 11"x17" exclusive double-sided poster
iTunes: Three bonus tracks ("What Have We Become," "Still You On the Inside," "Traffic Light" [pre-order only]), "No Surprise" music video
Target: DVD with six music videos ("It's Not Over," "Home," "Over You," "Feels Like Tonight," "What About Now," "No Surprise")
Walmart: Bonus download of "Get Me Through"

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Tuesday, June 23, 2009

Pre-order Daughtry's 'Leave This Town' on iTunes, hear "Back Again"

The deluxe edition of Daughtry's forthcoming release, Leave This Town, can now be pre-ordered on iTunes. The $12.99 collection includes 15 songs, counting the bonus tracks "What Have We Become" and "Still You On the Inside," as well as the pre-order bonus track "Traffic Light." The music video for "No Surprise" will also be bundled with the offer.

Also, the B-side of the UK version of the band's single "No Surprise" was revealed to be "Back Again," which can be listened to below:



This sounds much more like the Daughtry fans have come to know and love, and is a good indication of what we can expect for the finished product. Leave This Town is set to drop nationwide on Tues., July 14.

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