Okay, I've been abandoning so many things these few days. Not updating my blog, not replying necessary mails including Hotmail and Friendster, not revising my Espanol and Nihongo, not practising my harmonica, violin and guitar, not learning new Hua Yu, etc.
So, yesterday I went to watch King Kong. Frankly, it wasn't that great as I might have thought, at times boring, it still pulled off as one of the most entertaining movies of 2005. Will talk more of it when I have my whole list of the top 10 movies that I've watched this year.
As promised, I was going to post of which are the 10 albums that i really liked this year. There are a lot of albums that were released this year for goodness sake, but not all of them were great. Some didn't make my list, due to the lack of element of "drugs" in the albums that failed to cause any addictions. Now, with all the crap cut, I'd finally came out with my own list. And here I present it in no particular order:
Oral Fixation Vol. 2
Artist: Shakira
Ratings: A-
Noteworthy tracks:
I liked all the songs, but if I were to choose some to recommend to y’all, they would be:
[How Do You Do], [Don’t Bother], [Animal City], [Your Embrace], [Illegal], [Hey You], [Timor]
Generally, on a whole this album is much better than her first English effort “Laundry Service” which sold 13 million copies back in year 2003. The album opened up with the rather weird “How Do You Do” followed by the current radio hit single “Don’t Bother”. P.S. the video for it is hotter than Red Hot Peri-Peri Flavor! Then, “Illegal” featuring legendary guitarist Santana quickly slowed down the pace. In this album, listeners would be following a journey of different types of music assisted by Shakira’s unique voice. Nobody could ever doubt her talent, as it is clearly shown in this album. However, a warning – this album wouldn’t appeal to everyone out there who is following blindly what’s hot in the music industry. Having said that, let’s just appreciate this finely written, brilliantly produced album by Shakira.
Fijacion Oral Vol. 1
Artist: Shakira
Ratings: A
Noteworthy tracks:
[En Tus Pupilas], [La Pared], [La Tortura], [Escondite Ingles], [No], [Las de la Intuicion]
This is definitely a sizzling hot Latin album of the year. Daddy Yankee’s been given a kick at his ass for that. Anyway, a person that doesn’t know the song “La Tortura” is definitely an idiot of the year. Really, who wouldn’t know that song that spent 25 weeks on top of the Latin Hot 100 and was played regularly on English oriented radio channels? Nevertheless, don’t be trailed away just by that song in the album because other tracks included in the album have their deviated styles and approaches. “No”, already climbing its way up in Latin charts is a “dark” song that’s conveying a deep message to its audience while “Escondite Ingles” and “Las de la Intuicion” will easily keep the dance floor busy. Once again, this is another great contribution from Shakira to the music industry. I wonder what else could be coming from her the next time she’s releasing another record.
Some Hearts
Artist: Carrie Underwood
Ratings: B
Noteworthy tracks:
[Wasted], [Some Hearts], [Jesus Takes the Wheel], [Lessons Learned], [I Ain’t In Checotah Anymore]
The fourth American Idol winner surprised me with this album that offers country-pop songs. The journey of this album is pretty enjoyable, and easy to be kept up with. Although her vocals easily shined in many of the tracks, it also became her weakness that she might sound the same in some of the songs. I would blame it on the selection of the tracks, and the manager, and the producer as well. Nevertheless, Carrie has lots of potential and talent that are yet to be fully shown. At the meantime, quickly get this album that’s a bit of a crossover between Shania Twain and Diana DeGarmo to me. Oh, I think this type of songs would appeal to the elderly too. In my opinion, this album could be the perfect Christmas gift to the parents, grandparents, or those who are so sick of the rap/r&b music that’s in reign of the music industry right now.
#1
Artist: Destiny’s Child
Ratings: A++
Noteworthy tracks:
[Stand Up For Love], [Independent Woman Part.1], [Survivor], [Soldier], [Jumpin’ Jumpin’], [Lose My Breath], [Say My Name], [Emotion], [Bug-a-Boo], [Bootylicious], [Bills, Bills, Bills], [Girl], [No, No, No Part 2], [Cater 2 U]
For goodness sake, this last album offered by the already split up Destiny’s Child is just a must have cd this year. All the hits that brought DC’s to their position today is compiled into this hell of an offer disc that will remind you how have they grown and turned into 3 beautiful ladies today. The classic track, “Stand Up For Love” will send you chill, while all the other songs will keep you either singing or dancing along to the music or the beats. The fascinating part of this album, you wouldn’t possibly get bored with it although it has been repeating in your player for a long, long time. In ten years time, you will still love this album that will appeal to anyone at anytime.
Emancipation of Mimi
Artist: Mariah Carey
Ratings: A
Noteworthy tracks:
[It’s Like That], [We Belong Together], [Shake It Off], [Mine Again], [Get Your Number], [Don’t Forget About Us], [Fly Like A Bird]
Welcome back Mariah. This veteran singer has a powerful, that-glass-is-gonna-break voice that interpenetrated with the songs that were carefully chosen. Although I can sense a difference in her spirit and enthusiasm now compared to 10 years ago, this album is still as entertaining and above my expectation. Don’t be fooled by first single “It’s Like That” because the follow up tracks were total slow moving, a bit of the sensual, sentimental flavored RnB tracks that will keep one grooving to the tracks. Play the cd anywhere; in the room, the car, the hall, the living room, etc. I’m so god damn addicted to Mariah these days – her mighty voice that’s infused within the catchy songs proved to be bets combination we could possibly get. Hm, she could easily break all the glasses with her five octave voice I tell ya.
PCD
Artist: The Pussycat Dolls
Ratings: B
Noteworthy tracks:
[Don’t Cha], [Beep], [Wait a Minute], [Stickwitu], [Buttons], [Hot Stuff]
This is definitely a S.E.X.Y. dance album if you’re looking for one. Well, when I meant dance here, it means fast tunes, groovy ones with pop elements, and definitely not trance. The album opens with the over commercialized “Don’t Cha” and followed up by multiple roughly B-graded dance tracks. Oh, definitely an album to be played during a party where people starts flooding the dance floor. One thing that I have to mention is that the lead singer should let the other members to take some of the vocal parts too. Although dubbed as a group, I think the side members contributed only 10 to 20 percent in this album or less. Maybe the truth is, they can’t sing as well as the lead? Anyway, I think the lead is the hottest of them all. :)
Monkey Business
Ratings: A-
Noteworthy tracks:
[Don’t Phunk with My Heart], [Don’t Lie], [My Humps], [Feel It], [Gone Going], [Bebot]
This has gotta be the ultimate party album of 2005. Just jam it in the jukebox and people will be shaking their booty and sweating all the way throughout the whole album. After all the preview we had last year with Shut Up, Let’s Get Retarded, etc. from the sort of long awaited album Elephunk, Monkey Business has brought the BEPs to a level they have never reached before. I really love this album – full of funky, fast tracks. Fergie is such a hottie, although a bit muscular; her voice is sexy and unique, even thought she ain’t that great as a vocalist in terms of range and octaves – and perhaps unsurprisingly, she dominated a few songs again. As a group, they really shine brightly, but rumors had it that she’s gonna go solo. Even so, I think she will still do great, as long as she is gonna make more lumps from those humps.
Here I Am
Artist: Marion Raven
Ratings: B-
Noteworthy tracks:
[Break You], [Crawl], [Here I Am], [Little by Little], [End of Me], [At the End of the Day], [Surfing the Sun]
Marion and Marit made up M2M, but it was more of a one man show from Marion who wrote or co-wrote most of the pop songs and sang most parts during the M2M era, which is already history. Her maturity is clearly shown in her songs, and her voice as well, which improved significantly. Her types of songs are infectious and influential as well, although love’s the issue most of the time – teens would crave over that.
MTV Unplugged
Artist: Alicia Keys
Ratings: A
Noteworthy tracks:
[Karma], [Heartburn], [Unbreakable], [A Woman’s Worth], [How Come You Don’t Call Me], [If I Ain’t Got You], [Every Little Bit Hurts]
Alicia Key’s is a true diva of all time. However, generally this album brought a mere disappointment but it still is a great R&B album that I will listen to in 5 or 10 years. The new song Unbreakable isn’t great, compared to tracks like How Come You Don’t Call Me and If I Ain’t Got You. Overall, I think this album serves as an appetizer to her next studio effort that she’s gonna offer to all the die-hard fans out there.
From Under the Crock Tree
Artist: Fall Out Boy
Ratings: B+
Noteworthy tracks:
[Our Lawyer Made Us Change The Name Of This Song So We Wouldn't Get Sued], [Dance, Dance], [Sugar, We’re Goin’ Down], [7 Minutes In Heaven (Atavan Halen)], [Champagne For My Real Friends, Real Pain For My Sham Friends], [A Little Less Sixteen Candles, A Little More "Touch Me"], [XO]
F.O.B. should be spelt F.U.N. Their music genre is somewhat common yet pretty enjoyable. It’s something that I would listen to when I’m down as it will possibly lift up my mood. The way they worked with their instruments – guitar, bass, drums, etc. was nearly perfect. Not to forget, their lyrics too are arguably good. It’s just a great effort from the not so ordinary guys.
Fairly predictable huh. D'oh - I'm a biased person >< !
So, yesterday I went to watch King Kong. Frankly, it wasn't that great as I might have thought, at times boring, it still pulled off as one of the most entertaining movies of 2005. Will talk more of it when I have my whole list of the top 10 movies that I've watched this year.
As promised, I was going to post of which are the 10 albums that i really liked this year. There are a lot of albums that were released this year for goodness sake, but not all of them were great. Some didn't make my list, due to the lack of element of "drugs" in the albums that failed to cause any addictions. Now, with all the crap cut, I'd finally came out with my own list. And here I present it in no particular order:
Oral Fixation Vol. 2
Artist: Shakira
Ratings: A-
Noteworthy tracks:
I liked all the songs, but if I were to choose some to recommend to y’all, they would be:
[How Do You Do], [Don’t Bother], [Animal City], [Your Embrace], [Illegal], [Hey You], [Timor]
Generally, on a whole this album is much better than her first English effort “Laundry Service” which sold 13 million copies back in year 2003. The album opened up with the rather weird “How Do You Do” followed by the current radio hit single “Don’t Bother”. P.S. the video for it is hotter than Red Hot Peri-Peri Flavor! Then, “Illegal” featuring legendary guitarist Santana quickly slowed down the pace. In this album, listeners would be following a journey of different types of music assisted by Shakira’s unique voice. Nobody could ever doubt her talent, as it is clearly shown in this album. However, a warning – this album wouldn’t appeal to everyone out there who is following blindly what’s hot in the music industry. Having said that, let’s just appreciate this finely written, brilliantly produced album by Shakira.
Fijacion Oral Vol. 1
Artist: Shakira
Ratings: A
Noteworthy tracks:
[En Tus Pupilas], [La Pared], [La Tortura], [Escondite Ingles], [No], [Las de la Intuicion]
This is definitely a sizzling hot Latin album of the year. Daddy Yankee’s been given a kick at his ass for that. Anyway, a person that doesn’t know the song “La Tortura” is definitely an idiot of the year. Really, who wouldn’t know that song that spent 25 weeks on top of the Latin Hot 100 and was played regularly on English oriented radio channels? Nevertheless, don’t be trailed away just by that song in the album because other tracks included in the album have their deviated styles and approaches. “No”, already climbing its way up in Latin charts is a “dark” song that’s conveying a deep message to its audience while “Escondite Ingles” and “Las de la Intuicion” will easily keep the dance floor busy. Once again, this is another great contribution from Shakira to the music industry. I wonder what else could be coming from her the next time she’s releasing another record.
Some Hearts
Artist: Carrie Underwood
Ratings: B
Noteworthy tracks:
[Wasted], [Some Hearts], [Jesus Takes the Wheel], [Lessons Learned], [I Ain’t In Checotah Anymore]
The fourth American Idol winner surprised me with this album that offers country-pop songs. The journey of this album is pretty enjoyable, and easy to be kept up with. Although her vocals easily shined in many of the tracks, it also became her weakness that she might sound the same in some of the songs. I would blame it on the selection of the tracks, and the manager, and the producer as well. Nevertheless, Carrie has lots of potential and talent that are yet to be fully shown. At the meantime, quickly get this album that’s a bit of a crossover between Shania Twain and Diana DeGarmo to me. Oh, I think this type of songs would appeal to the elderly too. In my opinion, this album could be the perfect Christmas gift to the parents, grandparents, or those who are so sick of the rap/r&b music that’s in reign of the music industry right now.
#1
Artist: Destiny’s Child
Ratings: A++
Noteworthy tracks:
[Stand Up For Love], [Independent Woman Part.1], [Survivor], [Soldier], [Jumpin’ Jumpin’], [Lose My Breath], [Say My Name], [Emotion], [Bug-a-Boo], [Bootylicious], [Bills, Bills, Bills], [Girl], [No, No, No Part 2], [Cater 2 U]
For goodness sake, this last album offered by the already split up Destiny’s Child is just a must have cd this year. All the hits that brought DC’s to their position today is compiled into this hell of an offer disc that will remind you how have they grown and turned into 3 beautiful ladies today. The classic track, “Stand Up For Love” will send you chill, while all the other songs will keep you either singing or dancing along to the music or the beats. The fascinating part of this album, you wouldn’t possibly get bored with it although it has been repeating in your player for a long, long time. In ten years time, you will still love this album that will appeal to anyone at anytime.
Emancipation of Mimi
Artist: Mariah Carey
Ratings: A
Noteworthy tracks:
[It’s Like That], [We Belong Together], [Shake It Off], [Mine Again], [Get Your Number], [Don’t Forget About Us], [Fly Like A Bird]
Welcome back Mariah. This veteran singer has a powerful, that-glass-is-gonna-break voice that interpenetrated with the songs that were carefully chosen. Although I can sense a difference in her spirit and enthusiasm now compared to 10 years ago, this album is still as entertaining and above my expectation. Don’t be fooled by first single “It’s Like That” because the follow up tracks were total slow moving, a bit of the sensual, sentimental flavored RnB tracks that will keep one grooving to the tracks. Play the cd anywhere; in the room, the car, the hall, the living room, etc. I’m so god damn addicted to Mariah these days – her mighty voice that’s infused within the catchy songs proved to be bets combination we could possibly get. Hm, she could easily break all the glasses with her five octave voice I tell ya.
PCD
Artist: The Pussycat Dolls
Ratings: B
Noteworthy tracks:
[Don’t Cha], [Beep], [Wait a Minute], [Stickwitu], [Buttons], [Hot Stuff]
This is definitely a S.E.X.Y. dance album if you’re looking for one. Well, when I meant dance here, it means fast tunes, groovy ones with pop elements, and definitely not trance. The album opens with the over commercialized “Don’t Cha” and followed up by multiple roughly B-graded dance tracks. Oh, definitely an album to be played during a party where people starts flooding the dance floor. One thing that I have to mention is that the lead singer should let the other members to take some of the vocal parts too. Although dubbed as a group, I think the side members contributed only 10 to 20 percent in this album or less. Maybe the truth is, they can’t sing as well as the lead? Anyway, I think the lead is the hottest of them all. :)
Monkey Business
Ratings: A-
Noteworthy tracks:
[Don’t Phunk with My Heart], [Don’t Lie], [My Humps], [Feel It], [Gone Going], [Bebot]
This has gotta be the ultimate party album of 2005. Just jam it in the jukebox and people will be shaking their booty and sweating all the way throughout the whole album. After all the preview we had last year with Shut Up, Let’s Get Retarded, etc. from the sort of long awaited album Elephunk, Monkey Business has brought the BEPs to a level they have never reached before. I really love this album – full of funky, fast tracks. Fergie is such a hottie, although a bit muscular; her voice is sexy and unique, even thought she ain’t that great as a vocalist in terms of range and octaves – and perhaps unsurprisingly, she dominated a few songs again. As a group, they really shine brightly, but rumors had it that she’s gonna go solo. Even so, I think she will still do great, as long as she is gonna make more lumps from those humps.
Here I Am
Artist: Marion Raven
Ratings: B-
Noteworthy tracks:
[Break You], [Crawl], [Here I Am], [Little by Little], [End of Me], [At the End of the Day], [Surfing the Sun]
Marion and Marit made up M2M, but it was more of a one man show from Marion who wrote or co-wrote most of the pop songs and sang most parts during the M2M era, which is already history. Her maturity is clearly shown in her songs, and her voice as well, which improved significantly. Her types of songs are infectious and influential as well, although love’s the issue most of the time – teens would crave over that.
MTV Unplugged
Artist: Alicia Keys
Ratings: A
Noteworthy tracks:
[Karma], [Heartburn], [Unbreakable], [A Woman’s Worth], [How Come You Don’t Call Me], [If I Ain’t Got You], [Every Little Bit Hurts]
Alicia Key’s is a true diva of all time. However, generally this album brought a mere disappointment but it still is a great R&B album that I will listen to in 5 or 10 years. The new song Unbreakable isn’t great, compared to tracks like How Come You Don’t Call Me and If I Ain’t Got You. Overall, I think this album serves as an appetizer to her next studio effort that she’s gonna offer to all the die-hard fans out there.
From Under the Crock Tree
Artist: Fall Out Boy
Ratings: B+
Noteworthy tracks:
[Our Lawyer Made Us Change The Name Of This Song So We Wouldn't Get Sued], [Dance, Dance], [Sugar, We’re Goin’ Down], [7 Minutes In Heaven (Atavan Halen)], [Champagne For My Real Friends, Real Pain For My Sham Friends], [A Little Less Sixteen Candles, A Little More "Touch Me"], [XO]
F.O.B. should be spelt F.U.N. Their music genre is somewhat common yet pretty enjoyable. It’s something that I would listen to when I’m down as it will possibly lift up my mood. The way they worked with their instruments – guitar, bass, drums, etc. was nearly perfect. Not to forget, their lyrics too are arguably good. It’s just a great effort from the not so ordinary guys.
Fairly predictable huh. D'oh - I'm a biased person >< !
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