Adult top 40’s most reliable brand, the Goo Goo Dolls, takes a side step from current CD “Let Love In” with a track from “Transformers,” the live action Steven Spielberg film due July 4, based on the long-lived toy franchise. “Before It’s Too Late” is the love theme for primary human characters Sam (Shia LaBeouf) […]
Production by Matt Serletic, A-level songwriters, live jam band and a melody line from Marvin Gaye’s 1965 “Ain’t That Peculiar.” On paper, 2006 “American Idol” winner Taylor Hicks’ follow-up to adult top 40 top 20 “Just to Feel That Way” sounds triumphant. But a Southern rock delivery could be a deterrent to contemporary radio. If […]
As poster boy for superstar producer JR Rotem’s new label, Beluga Heights, rookie R&B sensation Sean Kingston does not fail lofty expectations. As follow-up to the Ice-T remake of “Colors,” “Beautiful Girls” adds Jamaican flavor to Ben E. King standard “Stand by Me” and cooks up a hot summertime smash. Barely 18 years old, Kingston […]
Savage Garden main man Darren Hayes’ new solo album, “This Delicate Thing We’ve Made,” was previewed in the United States at a series of sold-out live showcases where response was nothing less than manic. While the double album is as diverse as the seasons, first single “Step Into the Light” is a joyous dance-floor steamer, […]
Endearing singer/songwriter Kim Richey has been AWOL for the greater part of a decade, and while she remains best known as a songwriter of hits by Radney Foster, Dixie Chicks, Trisha Yearwood and Patty Loveless, her vocal stamp remains appreciable to anyone who recalls her breathtaking 1999 album “Glimmer” and accompanying single “If You Don’t […]
Having disbanded for several years, the Smashing Pumpkins know their return single needs to make a grand entrance. The band’s new incarnation comes out firing on “Tarantula,” amping an overdubbed, jabbing guitar attack that’s on a definite mission to rock. But for all the six-string squealing, this is a lightly produced affair. It’s raw enough […]
Evolution, indeed. Lay this lead single from Korn’s upcoming, as-yet-untitled album next to any track on the band’s groundbreaking debut, and you’ll hear the many years stretch out between them. Aside from guitars at the song’s bridge tuned like snoozing lawn mowers, casual listeners wouldn’t suspect this is a group that turned depression into an […]
The retail universe has dramatically changed from one year ago, where “American Idol” victory songs were carefully controlled by physical release — all but ensuring their debut at the top of The Billboard Hot 100. Because of hastily recorded studio versions of weekly performances this year, all tracks are available for download, including “This Is […]
New duo Halfway to Hazard features singer/songwriter David Tolliver and Chad Warrix, formerly of the band Sodium. Both hail from Eastern Kentucky near Hazard, and have known each other since grade school. Their major-label debut is a poignant story about young love and its potential tragic twists. The lead vocal lends a vibrant feel to […]
Anyone over age 5 is bound to blush for finding appeal in this nonsensical novelty track, courtesy of Finland. But after three spins (and a couple martinis), resistance to “Dolly Song” from, uh, animated hippo Holly Dolly is futile. Its videoclip (holly-dolly.eu) makes mission clear, as the happy hippo gets her funk on, all the […]
Christian staple Chris Rice catapulted into the AC top 10 last year with the inventive, endearing top 10 hit “When Did You Fall (In Love With Me).” He returns with another positive splash of pop perfection in “Lemonade,” complete with summertime lyric replete with sunny skies and the fruits of seeing the glass “tipping in […]
Launch single “Lost” from Faith Hill’s upcoming “The Hits” is as vintage a ballad as the long-lived songstress has ever served. As melodically entrancing as “Breathe,” as mesmerizing a vocal as “Let Me Let Go” and as tailor-made for Hill as “It Matters to Me,” she delivers a clever, consummate message of steadfast devotion: “You […]
Talk about a summertime sure thing. Nineteen-year-old Dominican Kat Deluna is prepped to combust with a platinum-plated debut so certain you can practically smell the smoke emanating from its juicy one-spin hook and manic tempo. Accompanied by reggaeton queen Ivy Queen and dancehall staple Elephant Man, aka the Energy God, the bilingual crossover beauty — […]
The follow-up to Ne-Yo’s top 10 Billboard Hot 100 and Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs single “Because of You” is being branded as part two of 2006 No. 1 single “So Sick.” The Stargate production in “Do You” creates a powerful tag team duet, where Ne-Yo asks a past love interest if she’s still in the game. […]
