Pop Blitz 3/8/11 - Diva Edition

Avril Lavigne - What The Hell
What an odd career path this girl's had. And who, honestly, thought she'd be around this long? This dials down the snottiness of Girlfriend and seems to be a natural transition. Catchy chorus, but the whole thing's definitely lightweight. B

Nicole Scherzinger - Don't Hold Your Breath
Her best single to date, by a mile. Though it remains to be seen whether or not this will get a big push in the US, it's a strong pop song with a great beat. Nicole should stick to this poppier sound. It suits her voice better than the slinky r&b they're trying to market her with. A

Keri Hilson - Pretty Girl Rock
Not bad. It's silly and a little stupid, but good fun at the same time. And that slow-burning hook really gets under your skin. B+

Britney Spears - 'Till The World Ends
It's not a good sign when the best part is the Britney-less chant that makes up the chorus. It reminds me of Deep Forest (anyone?). The rest is just not that good. The song could have been special with warmer, less synthetic vocals. C+

Rihanna - S&M
I used to like Rihanna, but this is just stupid. She should take cues from Janet's The Velvet Rope on how to tackle this subject in a more subtle, artistic way. The vocals grate and the lyrics are pretty cringe-worthy. C-

Jennifer Lopez - On The Floor
I didn't expect to like this, but I see now why it's become the worldwide hit it is. She's cleverly mixed about every trend in dance/pop that she could find, and it actually works. There's something very European about the sound. A-

Ke$ha - Blow
I've made my distaste for Ke$ha known on this blog several times, but I'm always willing to give new singles a chance because I've been surprised before. This sounds like a worse version of the Britney song. I just can't wait until we don't have to hear this voice anymore. D

Pop Blitz 10/22/10

Black Eyed Peas - The Time (The Dirty Bit) Okay, so it's basically just a cover track of the Dirty Dancing song with some obnoxious sound effects (and even worse rapping) in between. Lazy, which wouldn't be so bad if this was listenable. D

Take That - The Flood
A strong comeback, with a lot of Robbie time. It's as majestic as modern radio pop gets, with a huge chorus and "sing it from the mountain tops" verses. Not quite as good as Patience was, though. A-

The Wanted - Heart Vacancy
Another boyband... from an old to new. The Wanted had a surprisingly excellent debut single. This is less excellent and far more in keeping with the genre, but it's pleasant enough. Still, they should be doing better.C+

Duck Sauce - Barbara Streisand
My god, the things they make songs out of these days. Take a riff from an old Boney M song and repeat a name over the top and that's it. Literally, that's it. It's a testament to how strong the riff is. Without that, this would be nothing but a name. B

Pet Shop Boys - Together
It's always nice to hear something new from PSB. On first listen, I wasn't sure if this was more of a hit or a b-side, but it's grown on me. The layered chorus is gorgeous. It's a very dense dance track with a lot to listen to. B+

Ke$ha - We R Who We R
Well, she's got a formula and she's sticking to it. If you've heard any of her songs, you'll know what this sounds like (maybe with a little of Taio Cruz's Dynamite thrown in). It's a dreadful concoction she's got going on. Lowest common denominator. (but still not as bad as that BEP song) D

Willow Smith - Whip My Hair
The whole Smith family nepotism thing drives me insane, so I came into this already annoyed. I just find it all a little creepy and... lifeless, somehow. This song was long-rumored to be a Rihanna track and thank god it wasn't because it's irritating as hell. Whatever happened to melody with some staying power? D+

Pop Blitz 7/2/10

Travie McCoy (ft. Bruno Mars) - Billionaire Irritating. From the "cute/funny" Jason Mraz-ish chorus to the ho-hum rapping, this is exactly the kind of novelty summer tune that gets me switching the radio. C-

Selena Gomez - Round & Round
A natural progression from her last single, they've finally discovered how to match her airy vocals to an equally light-weight pop song. Surprisingly, this is a good thing. A-

Enrique Iglesias (ft. Pitbull) - I Like It
I'm actually surprised at how much I like this, since I'm not a fan. It's very "male Lady Gaga," but the melody's strong and fits his voice well. I could've done without the Pitbull parts, though. Shame about the album, which borders on unlistenable. B+

Maroon 5 - Misery
What a limp comeback single. They've done so much better in the past, which makes this forgettable track a big surprise. I trust there's better on the album. I have a feeling they'll need a strong single next because this sounds like a bomb. C

Taio Cruz - Dynamite
Yes, it's pretty much a carbon copy of his other songs, but his sound remains a welcome addition to the radio. This isn't quite as good as his last one, but it's very addictive (especially, the ravey bridge). A-

3OH!3 (ft. Ke$ha) - First KissJeez, is there enough misplaced punctuation in this title? I think both of these artists are about as abominable as you can get and I wish they'd scurry back under the rocks they came from. That being said, this isn't as terrible as I expected it to be. It's still nothing that we'll remember in a couple of years. C

Neon Trees - Animal
One of the only rock hits on the radio right now, it benefits from sounding different. Good thing it's a deserving entry in the indie-rock summer hit playlist. That chorus is just great. A

Track-by-Track: Ke$ha - Animal

Oh, Ke$ha. I am not a fan, and I should probably preface this review with that. I find her obnoxious. Every interview I've seen, she's come across as clueless and/or intoxicated and the fact that a song as average as Tik Tok has become a number one hit for so many weeks speaks volumes about the sorry state of hit music. All that being said, in the interest of objectivity I'm going to stuff my annoyance away and try to focus on the music, because there are a few high points here.

1. Your Love Is My Drug - A nice, summery Katy Perry type song. This has a great chorus that is brought down by whiny sing-speak verses. Still, it's one of the few tracks that isn't ridiculously immature. 8/10

2. Tik Tok - I really do think you have to be under the influence of something to enjoy this fully. The lyrics are just so annoying. They're not cute, they're not funny, they just make her look/sound ridiculous. That being said, the song is a hit for a reason. It's devilishly catchy. 6/10

3. Take It Off - I despise the sampling in this chorus. It's so lazy and obvious. In fact, this is less a song than it is a look-at-me attention grabber. 3/10

4. Kiss N Tell - Finally, something resembling a melody. I would like this so much more if somebody else sang it, but even with Ke$ha's snotty vocals it's one of the early standouts. 7/10

5. Stephen - The chorus is alright, but those verses! Her delivery just ruins it. She doesn't sound good. At all. 6/10

6. Blah Blah Blah- Unlistenable. This is beyond bad, and the fact that it's the second highest selling track on the album is baffling. By far the worst song on the album. 1/10

7. Hungover - Here we get the big electro ballad. Maybe it's supposed to be taken seriously, but coming after the first six songs, it's just a little silly. 5/10

8. Party At A Rich Dude's House - Before I even heard this, I hated the title, so I came in programmed to hate the song as well. It's actually better than anticipated, a bit more new wave than the previous stuff with a great guitar riff ruined by the stupid lyrics. 7/10

9. Backstabber - I could see this becoming annoying, but it fits the whole Ke$ha sound a lot better than most of the tracks. I don't hate it. Maybe it's the subdued vocals in the verses. 7/10

10. Blind - A more straightforward pop song, minus the irritating antics that drag down most of the album. This is far more stately (or at least, goes for stately). The vocals ruin it, though. They don't mesh with the music at all. 6/10

11. Dinosaur - Strangely, one of my favorites. Unlike most everything else, the snottiness and immaturity actually works here. There's a wicked 80's synth line after the chorus and, as annoying as the chant-singing could be, it somehow isn't here. 8/10

12. Dancing With Tears In My Eyes - Back to straight-up electro, and this is pure filler. I was hoping this would be a cover of the Ultravox song (which the much-superior Velvet did in early 2009), but instead, it's utterly forgettable. 6/10

13. Boots & Boys - Irritating, spoken verses give way to a chorus that isn't half-bad. But it's another example of the shallow, materialistic subject matter of the album, which would be okay if she found a way to write about these things interestingly. "Give me boots and boys" = not interesting. 6/10

14. Animal - Shows a little bit of promise, as the subject matter here is a little more interesting, as is the melody and song construction. It's not highly memorable, but I'll give her a few points for doing something different. 7/10

*On a final note, I've heard another Ke$ha song (Mr. Watson) that is actually better than most of this album. It's an example of how to do the sleazy/immature thing with an actual melody. Though the lyrics are... well, illegal?

Album Grade: 5.9/10