Music Now!

Archive for July, 2010

The Billboard Hot 100 is considered to be United State’s top chart ranking in music industry.Started from August 4,1958 this chart has issued weekly ranks to latest music being produced.The first song to be considered number one on Billboard Hot 100 was “Poor Little Fool” by Ricky Nelson and the present number one on Billboard Hot 100 is “I Gotta Feeling” by Black Eyed Peas.The ranking is based on radio playing and most sales of the soundtrack currently.They are divided into three types of weekly charts: Best Sellers in Stores, Most Played By Jockeys and Most Played In Jukeboxes.

The methods and procedures of recording the tracks and compiling them as top 100 has changed over the years.In early days the artists gave importance to each music track produced and the compilation was done on the basis of a single sound track.But over the years the focus has shifted from single soundtrack to the album as a whole.By the 1990s the music companies stopped producing single tracks.Billboard has always updated its policies to match the current criteria of the music industry.This is a reason enough to consider it as number one music chart of United States alone.

The Billboard has more than 100 top charts to offer presently.It has offered weekly radio countdown show chart American Top 40.Over the past Billboard has also offered pop chart buy the name of Pop 100.Other than the United States billboard has expanded over the years and has gone global.In Canada Billboard launched its chart as Canadian Hot 100 on June16,2007 and the procedure of ranking is same as Hot 100 charts.The projects spread more and Japan Hot 10 was launched on May 31,2008.Presently Billboard has reached every corner of the world and is providing tracks in many countries across the globe.

Presently their online website http://www.billboardvideos.net offers lot of stuff related to Music. Starting from the Top charts to the latest music, music reviews, music articles, videos and loads of other music information. It is the right place for music lovers as they will have great time exploring the vast Music Archive Billboard has to offer.Top 100 Music Hits, Top 100 Music Charts, Top 100 Songs & The Hot and many other charts can give updates to the latest music being played currently.Billboard’s very own Music Magazine has also been published to provide more to the music lovers.Billboards has been the number one and presently as well remains the number choice for all music lovers.

Not sure what’s happening with me on this one, but it seems like the more I listen to it, the better Faceless gets. Faceless simply stated is one of their best CDs to date.

It’s a rare day indeed that I get a CD from an artist that I can truthfully say does not have a bad track in the bunch. I’m more than happy to announce that’s exactly what I must say about this one. There simply isn’t a bad one in the bunch. No fillers here at all, with each song standing tall on it’s own.

Faceless has a nicely varied, mix of 12 tracks that are very well written and brilliantly performed songs by these clearly outstanding musicians. With many of the songs displaying a lot of the kind emotion that makes for a really great listen. Clearly drawing from what I can only imagine are their own real life experiences. At different points touching on the most real emotions of love, and the pain of failed relationships can certainly be heard.

Overall Faceless is an outstanding release. Quite possibly Godsmack’s best to date. Really spectacular from beginning to end. If you’re even mildly into Rock music you’ll enjoy this album.

While the entire album is really very good the truly standout tunes are track 4 – Make Me Believe, track 8 – Releasing The Demons, and track 12 – Serenity.

My Bonus Pick, and the one that got Sore [...as in "Stuck On REpeat"] is track 1 – Straight Out Of Line. This is a great track!

Faceless Release Notes:

Godsmack originally released Faceless on April 8, 2003 on the Universal Records label.

CD Track List Follows:

1. Straight Out Of Line 2. Faceless 3. Changes 4. Make Me Believe 5. I Stand Alone 6. Re-Align 7. I F****** Hate You 8. Releasing The Demons 9. Dead And Broken 10. I Am 11. Awakening, The 12. Serenity

Godsmack: Tony Rombola (vocals, guitar); Robbie Merrill (vocals, bass); Sully Erna (vocals); Shannon Larkin (drums, percussion).

Apple iPod touch 32GB User Reviews…

I got Apple iPod touch 32GB for a Christmas gift for my boyfriend. He just adores it and almost never puts it down, haha. I really recommend getting the 32 gb size, that way you don’t have to limit yourself too much on how much you put on the ipod touch. I really don’t have anything negative to say about this item. It’s like having a mini computer in your pocket. The resolution is great. I even play Apple iPod touch 32GB from time to time. Everyone would love to have one of these!

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Apple iPod touch 32GB – Great for music and apps

I’ve had the Apple iPod touch 32GB for a few weeks now and simply love it. I am using it as my calendar, contact manager, email, games and most importantly MUSIC. Great music quality through my auxiliary output on the car. Need to get a cover as back has great potential for scratching.

On two occasions the flip album viewer has frozen up and exited without warning. This is the only glitch I have found on this Apple iPod touch 32GB.

Unless you want it engraved, get it from Amazon and save a few bucks.

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Apple iPod touch 32GB – Still “new” but so far, I like it!

Okay…first off I have been against Apple MP3 players for a long time just because all of my music has been in wma format since I bought my first PC in 2004. I dreaded the conversion of files and was dead set against buying an Apple product because of the conversion requirement. I finally got over that, did it, and ordered the Apple iPod touch 32GB 3G. It seemed like too cool of a device to pass up…and it is!

First off, I like the size of Apple iPod touch 32GB. It fits in your hand perfectly, the images are crisp and vivid and the thing is just plain cool!! The music sounds great as well. There is an EQ function but it is not a true equalizer rather several presets. My only dislike in that department is that there is no “custom” option where you can set your own ranges but this is a small hang up.

The Wi-Fi is great but I REALLY like the Bluetooth. I use my Apple iPod touch 32GB with a Jabra BT3030 unit. It technically does not totally get rid of the wires because you plug headphones into the receiver which is worn around your neck, but using the two together gives you options on where to put the player without the usual headphone cord restriction. I used it while road cycling and MTBing and it works GREAT…just remember to turn the “shake to shuffle” function off or you will find yourself skipping songs at every bump.

Podcasts are AWESOME. I have not been able to get my component cables from Apple to work on my HD TV though. I’m guessing it’s operator error but sucks anyway. The Touch video quality though is AWESOME!!!

Lastly, I LOVE the Genius playlist feature…it is awesome. You pick one song, hit Genius and it builds a playlist of 25, 75 or 100 songs of a similar genre or mood. I don’t know how it does it…and don’t really care but I know I love it!

Now..the bad…

The only thing I don’t like about this is not the product itself, but iTunes and the installation process…

When converting your files I did not like the fact that iTunes does not ASK you where you want to save your converted files and/or what source you want to use for your iTunes library. After the conversion is complete you can go in and change the default location, but if your library is large then that’s a pain due to the amount of time it takes. Why not give me the option INITIALLY when I start the conversion. I paid good money for a 1TB external drive so that I would NOT have to store my media files on the C:drive of my computer. I tried to move the library but then iTunes wouldn’t keep the playlists that were created before the move.

Overall GREAT product…well worth the money!

More Detail…

Not sure what’s happening with me on this one, but it seems like the more I listen to it, the better So Much For The Afterglow gets. So Much For The Afterglow stated simply is one of their best CDs to date.

So Much For The Afterglow grabs your attention right from the beginning with So Much For The Afterglow and doesn’t let go until the very last note of the very last song Like A California King, which is another great track by the way.

So Much For The Afterglow has a nicely varied, mix of 13 tracks that are very well written and brilliantly performed songs by these clearly talented musicians. With many of the songs displaying a lot of the kind emotion that makes for a really great listen. Seemingly drawing from what I can only imagine are their own personal experiences. At different points touching on the most real emotions of love, and the pain of failed relationships can certainly be heard.

If you’re even mildly into Rock music you’ll enjoy this album. Overall So Much For The Afterglow is an outstanding release. I give it my double thumbs up. You will not be disappointed with one single track.

While the entire album is really very good some of my favorites are track 5 – I Will Buy You A New Life, track 12 – Why I Don’t Believe In God, and track 13 – Like A California King

My Bonus Pick, and the one that got Sore [...as in "Stuck On REpeat"] is track 1 – So Much For The Afterglow. Good stuff!

So Much For The Afterglow Release Notes:

Everclear originally released So Much For The Afterglow on October 7, 1997 on the Capitol / EMI Records label.

CD Track List Follows:

1. So Much For The Afterglow 2. Everything To Everyone 3. Ataraxia (Media Intro) 4. Normal Like You 5. I Will Buy You A New Life 6. Father Of Mine 7. One Hit Wonder 8. El Distorto De Melodica – (TRUE instrumental) 9. Amphetamine 10. White Men In Black Suits 11. Sunflowers 12. Why I Don’t Believe In God 13. Like A California King

Everclear: Art Alexakis (vocals, guitar, steel guitar, keyboards, banjo, mandolin, toy piano); Craig Montoya (vocals, mandolin, keyboards, bass); Greg Eklund (vocals, slide whistle, keyboards, drums, percussion).

Additional personnel: Paul Cantelon (violin); Gerri Stutyak (cello); Derron Nuhfer (saxophone); Neal Avron (trumpet); Buddy Schnaub (trombone); Rami Jaffee (organ).

Recorded at A&M Studios, Rondor Studios, Los Angeles, California; Ocean Studios, Burbank, California; Whitehorse Studios, Portland, Oregon, in November 1996, January and March 1997.

With The Beatles may be the least known and least talked about of all Beatles albums (if it’s not Beatles For Sale.) It was their second album released, after Please Please Me, so it doesn’t have the distinction of being their first album. It also doesn’t have the distinction of being their first truly formed great album (which was their 3rd album A Hard Day’s Night.) But that’s not to say it’s not a good album, it does contain some great Beatles classic.

It was ranked #420 on Rolling Stone magazine’s list of the greatest 500 albums of all time released in 2003. The album was released in the UK in 1963 but was not officially released in the United States until 1987 as the early Beatles albums in the US were cut & paste jobs. It wasn’t until Revolver that same album was released in the States as was released in the UK.

The album starts off “It Won’t Be Long” which while it doesn’t rank among The Beatles greatest songs is an enjoyable early pop song.

The second song is “All I’ve Got To Do” which has a nice bluesy sound to it, particularly on the title refrain. Among The Beatles more forgotten early songs, it’s a keeper.

The third song is easily the most well known song on the album, “All My Loving.” It was the opening song for The Beatles first performance on the Ed Sullivan performance.

The fourth song is “Don’t Bother Me” which was George Harrison’s songwriting debut.

The fifth song is “Little Child.” The first five tracks were all Beatles originals.

The sixth song is “Till There Was You” which is a cover. It’s a very soft song which features Paul McCartney in “music hall” mode.

Next is “Please Mr. Postman” which is another cover. It was the first Motown song to reach #1 when it hit the top spot for The Marvelettes in late 1961.

The eighth song (and the first of the second side of the album) is the Chuck Berry classic “Roll Over Beethoven.” It was a hit for Berry in 1956 and was ranked as one of the top 100 songs of all time by Rolling Stone. The song features George Harrison as both the lead singer and of course as the lead guitarist doing his best Chuck Berry impersonation.

The ninth song is “Hold Me Tight” which is a Beatles original breaking the streak of 3 straight covers. The song was originally recorded for Please Please Me but was left off. It was re-recorded for With The Beatles.

The 10th song is “You Really Got a Hold on Me” which was a cover by Smokey Robinson. It was a 1962 hit single by The Miracles (featuring Robinson) and it’s another Motown song.

The 11th song is “I Wanna Be Your Man” which written by Lennon & McCartney for their friends The Rolling Stones. The Stones version was released first. The Beatles version features Ringo Starr on lead vocals.

The 12th song is “Devil in Her Heart” which is a cover sung by George Harrison.

The 13th song is “Not a Second Time” which is the final Beatles original on the album. It was written and sung by John Lennon (of course it was credited to Lennon/McCartney as all songs by Lennon and/or McCartney were.)

The 14th and final song is “Money,” another cover of a song by a black artist (the 5th on the album.) It was a 1959 hit single for Barrett Strong.

While With The Beatles is certainly not one of The Beatles greatest albums, it is a rewarding listen if you are interested in their earlier material.

It’s a hilarious situation for a parent who holds a children’s birthday party to try desperately not to laugh as fifteen or so nine year olds try their hand at karaoke. If you’ve bought your budding Leona Lewis wannabe a quality kids karaoke machine for their birthday it’s bound to become the centre of attention at their party. The sight of a bunch of over-excited, sugared up, pre-teens taking turns in the spotlight to sing their favourite Leona Lewis track will test the acting ability of every mum and dad.

You really don’t want to miss such an occasion – get a childrens karaoke machine that downloads all your kids favourite X Factor winner songs on MP3 from Easy Karaoke!

Try keeping a straight face so you don’t embarrass your youngster in front of all their peers will probably win you several brownie points once the party is over. The X Factor has a lot to answer for when it comes to children’s singing ambitions. Every child wants to be a famous pop star it seems, and the X Factor is actually making the dream appear in reach of ordinary children all over the country.