Live 3: All - Help For Heroes [X - Factor 2008]

Mariah Carey － "Hero" Live at X Factor

　　Mariah Carey performs "Hero" live at X Factor.

Mariah Carey － I Stay In Love LIVE

　　Mariah Carey performs live of "I Stay In Love" at X Factor.

Mariah Carey － "Baby Please Comes Home"

　　Mariah Carey performs live "Baby Please Comes Home" at Grammy Concert December 2008.

　　Brilliant!!!

Shayne Ward: Shayne Ward

　　The nation voted for him in their millions to crown him winner of The X Factor 2005 and his record-breaking debut single 'That's My Goal' stormed to the top of the charts giving him the Christmas No.1. This 13-track album, which includes his second single 'No Promises' sees Shayne working with some of the biggest producers in the music industry, including Steve Mac, Jorgen Elofsson, Quiz/Larossi, Per & David and Cutfather & Joe. Syco. 2006.

Duffy: Rockferry

　　The most hotly anticipated album release of this New Year comes not from someone rammed into the collective consciousness by their media ubiquity. Duffy is an unknown quantity at this point, having performed but a small number of gigs, mostly in support of The Magic Numbers, and having only just begun to be seen on TV, most notably with recent appearances on Jools Holland's Later and New Year Hootenanny.

　　Yet her soulful voice has already beguiled many of the nation's musical tastemakers and news of its beauty and of the strength of her songs is spreading by word of mouth even as you read these words. Radio One's Jo Whiley chose Duffy's title track and album taster `Rockferry' as her Single of the Week in late November, further adding to the momentum. Now, as the comparisons fly (Dusty Springfield has emerged as the favourite), it's time to discover her for yourself.

　　Duffy was born and spent her childhood years in the north Wales coastal community of Nefyn, a place too remote to be driven by style wars or opposing music factions (the nearest record counter was a bus ride away and only stocked the Top 40). The upbringing she describes is one in which everyone had to rub along together, making do and mending, accepting each other and their tastes without prejudice.

　　Having no CD collection of her own, her first real musical memory is of walking into the kitchen unannounced to find her mother and stepfather dancing to Rod Stewart. The first steps she took towards defining her own personal identity came when she borrowed one of her dad's VHS tapes of the `60s TV show `Ready, Steady, Go!'. "It had The Beatles, the Stones, the Walker Brothers, Sandie Shaw and Millie singing `My Boy Lollipop'. So sexy and exciting! I played it again and again until finally it disintegrated." Says former Suede guitarist and record producer Bernard Butler of this artlessness, "Duffy managed to grow up without any concept of what was cool or current, what she should or shouldn't like, how to behave or even how to sing. For her, coming to London at all was the stuff of fairytales."

　　"And to come here to write songs with some random bloke who'd been recommended to her, me? It meant taking two buses and then two trains and took all day. Then she'd do the same in reverse to get home, playing the music she'd just made to old ladies she encountered on the journey. It's hard for cynical music industry types to get their heads around just how far removed she was from our world, geographically and in every other way. But what you've got as a result is someone who acts and sings completely and unselfconsciously from the heart. That's a rare and magical thing."

　　Butler was introduced to Duffy by Rough Trade's Jeannette Lee who,in August 2004 and after hearing demos recorded in this or that mate's home, became the singer's mentor and manager. For Duffy, to have not just a friend but also point of both safety and reference in the strange new world she found herself in was crucial to her own musical development and sense of self.

　　"People keep saying to me, `You've made a great record' but I can't take that in because I didn't do it on my own. Jeannette and I made `Rockferry' together and she's been with me every step of the way, broadening my horizons, introducing me to people I can trust." Butler was just one of them: having written the glorious, chorus-free, utterly hypnotic `Rockferry' together at the beginning of the project, they then worked on a further three of the ten tracks on what is already being talked about as 2008's most important debut release. Jimmy Hogarth & Steve Booker are the other collaborators on this classic-in-waiting.

　　What can you expect to hear? The title track and album opener, as atmospheric, slow-building and idiosyncratic song as you could hope for, leads into a collection of original material that some might call retro in feel (those Dusty flavours, that girl group vibe) but which Duffy herself prefers to identify as classic. You'll find arrangements as sparsely effective as those against which Dionne Warwick told her Bacharach & David-wrought tales of heartbreak in the early 1960s. You'll find lush choruses and swooning hooks (as perfected by the late Miss Springfield and various distinguished others). But this is far from pastiche.

　　What you'll find instead is irrefutable evidence of a significant new talent, and one that has developed in splendid isolation, not in reaction to market forces or the input of focus groups and industry experts. Duffy is the real, unspoiled original deal. "People keep asking me where my voice comes from and the fact is I don't know," says the brightest new star of 2008. "Why are your eyes the colour they are? It's no answer at all but it's the only one I have." (Extract)

E=MC2

　　Performer and songwriter Mariah Carey has set April 15th as the in-store date for the most eagerly anticipated album of the year, E=MC². The 11th studio album of her career, E=MC² is the follow-up to The Emancipation Of Mimi, Mariah's worldwide 10 million selling #1 album, which generated three Grammy awards (including Best Contemporary R&B Album), 2 #1 singles and countless more industry honors during its 18-month stay on the charts. The first single from E=MC² is "Touch My Body," written and produced by Mariah Carey, C. "Tricky" Stewart, and The-Dream, and blasting out worldwide on February 12th. The video for "Touch My Body" was directed by feature filmmaker Brett Ratner - Internet, cable and network premieres for the video will be announced in the weeks ahead. In addition to C. "Tricky" Stewart and The-Dream, other guest producers joining Mariah on E=MC² will include Jermaine Dupri, DJ Toomp, Stargate, Will I Am, Bryan Michael Cox, Nate "Danjahandz" Hills and James Poyser.. E=MC² is executive produced by Mariah Carey and Antonio "LA" Reid, Chairman, Island Def Jam Music Group.

　　The Emancipation Of Mimi, released April 12, 2005, was an industry phenomenon for the mega-platinum award-winning superstar - Soundscan's biggest-selling album of the year, bringing total sales of Mariah's albums, singles and videos to more than 160 million worldwide, making her the most successful female recording artist in history. Mimi featured "We Belong Together" (winner of the Best Female R&B Vocal and Best R&B Song Grammys) and "Don't Forget About Us," Mariah's 16th and 17th #1 career singles respectively. They tied one of the most enduring chart records in Billboard Hot 100 history, Elvis Presley's 17 #1's. Mariah is now positioned as the only active recording artist in the 48 years of the Hot 100 (which began in 1958) with the potential to surpass the Beatles' all-time high of 20 #1 hits. (Extract)

Jamie Scott & the Town/Park Bench Theories

　　2007 Debut Full Length Release of the 12-track Collection of Songs that Scott and his Group Laboured on for Over Two Years after a Change of Labels. Scott Has Refined his Vocal Technique and Honed it to Sounding Much Like a Youthful, More Confident Rod Stewart, Mick Hucknall and Jay Kay all Rolled Together. He Explains that "'park Bench Theories' on a Very Basic Level is About Misinterpretation and Misunderstanding". Scott’s Beautiful, Dexterous Voice is at the Heart of the Album, Whose Songs Are Classic Pop Masterpieces, Filled with Emotion and Passion. The First Single "When Will I See Your Face Again" Became One of the Most Played Videos on Youtube and News of it Spread Quickly Among Netizens.(Extract)

Mariah Carey - Touch My Body Lyrics

Noel

　　The Grammy-nominated, twenty-something, pop-classical phenomenon's fourth studio album is an expertly accomplished entry to the holiday marketplace. Noël tackles the familiar sounds of holiday music with a charmingly eclectic array of guest vocalists and a wide range of material. The songs range from the sacred to the secular, while Groban--buoyed in spots by none other than the London Symphony Orchestra--soars in his duets with Brian McKnight, Faith Hill, and the Mormon Tabernacle Choir. There's even a song with a gospel choir directed by Kirk Franklin. Produced yet again by crossover maestro David Foster, the arrangements never overwhelm the songs. Groban's smooth and supple vocals can be hard to categorize--seeing how his range is somewhere in-between a high baritone and a low tenor--but he always finds and emphasizes the emotional core of these songs. And whether they have origins in pop or classical music seems not to matter. The addition of messages from troops stationed in Iraq on top of "I'll Be Home for Christmas" is undeniably heart-wrenching, while the album's highlight is its most spare song, "It Came Upon a Midnight Clear," which finds Groban alone at his piano, sounding very much like some kind of angel. --Mike McGonigal

Spirit

　　Leona Lewis was the winner of the 2006 season of the UK's talent show X-Factor and Spirit is the first release under a partnership between the show's creator Simon Cowell and music mogul Clive Davis. Working alongside the world's biggest producers and songwriters, Leona has put together an unrivaled collection of songs. The album plays host to a veritable 'who's who' of writers and producers, with the likes of Dallas Austin, Soulshock and Carlin, Jam and Lewis, Walter Afanasieff And Salaam Remi all having lined up to work with Leona. Each of the tracks on Spirit has the potential to be a single. RCA.

Taking Chances

　　Taking Chances is not without its daring moments--we'll get to those--but the first order of business in any review of this much-hyped record, on which Celine Dion is said to have slunk away from her songbird instincts in favor of embracing her inner rock & roll wild child, should be fan reassurance. Therefore: fear not. Taking Chances has its share of poignant, pretty ballads (both "A Song for You" and "Right Next to the Right One" are goosebump-raisers) and love songs (the hopeful, heartfelt title track, which unfolds into an anthemic power ballad midway through, may be the best one). As far as standard Celine fare goes, in fact, Chances is likely her strongest non-French outing since 2002's A New Day Has Come; nobody unfolds a lyric with more care or nuance. And, as the subtle "My Love" deftly proves, any early-career instincts to over-sing have gone poof along with her '90s-era, sweet-natured-kook persona. Because it's a generous 16 songs long, it may even be possible to ignore the non-Celine-like moments on Taking Chances and just enjoy the more fan-faithful tracks. But that wouldn't be any fun, would it? There are songs here--"Can't Fight the Feelin'," "Fade Away," "That's Just the Woman In Me"--that will astound diehards and make fans of those who've dissed her for more than a decade. If you didn't think the diva behind Disney's "Beauty and the Beast" had it in her to screech from the bottom of her soul, a la Janis Joplin, flip to track 15 and guess again. --Tammy La Gorce

La Vida... Es un Ratico

　　La Vida...Es un Ratico (Life is a moment) is the follow up to Juanes' globally multi-platinum release Mi Sangre. In La Vida...Es un Ratico, Juanes once again teams up with co-producer Gustavo Santaolalla, Double-Oscar/Grammy winner. In his first single "Me Enamora," Juanes shows us his intimate personal thoughts on love and relationships. In songs like "Minas Piedras" and Bandera de Manos" he tackles themes of both the hope for peace and social change. With this release, Juanes works to continue to perfect his distinctive fusion of rock with traditional Colombian rhythms and other international styles.

　　Despues del exito de "Mi Sangre", Juanes nos presenta "Me Enamora" el primer sencillo de su tan esperado nuevo lanzamiento "La Vida...Es un Ratico. "La Vida...Es un Ratico" fue producido nuevamente por Juanes y Gustavo Santaolalla, ganador de dos premios Oscar y multiples Grammy's. Juanes escribió letra y musica de todos los temas durante los dos ultimos años, entre la etapa final de la gira de "Mi Sangre" y un periodo sabatico en el que se concentro en la composición de "La Vida...Es un Ratico". En "La Vida...Es un Ratico" hay canciones que hablan de temas sociales como "Minas Piedras" y "Bandera de Manos" y otras como el primer sencillo "Me Enamora" relacionadas a temas personales y del amor. En este lanzamiento Juanes consolida sin duda alguna su idea musical de fusionar rock con ritmos Colombianos, y ritmos internacionales.

All the Lost Souls

　　In 2005, James Blunt was everybody's favorite overnight success story. In 2007, he's the guy who's making rock meaningful again. All the Lost Souls,, the sophomore effort from the Brit responsible for restoring the seriousness of "beautiful" as a compliment, brims with big build-ups, epic-sounding ballads, and lyrics to lose yourself in. The vibe, laid out neatly on first single and opening track "1973," is clear-eyed and heavy-hearted; in anybody over 35, it'll produce nostalgia tempered by hopefulness--here's a set that suggests rock has got its head screwed on straight again, that the path to real feelings need not necessarily be led by Norah Jones. In anybody younger, it'll cause the unsinkable suspicion that a lot of modern balladeers should be digging deeper. But in both cases it will satisfy. Compared with David Gray and Damien Rice last time out, this time Blunt seems to owe a debt to Barry Gibb--his voice quavers as sweetly and with the same delicate reach. Stand-outs on a brief but dud-less set include "I Really Want You," in which the sound of Blunt's breaking heart is set sparely and elegantly to something approximating the chirp of a cricket, the poignant and desperate "Give Me Some Love", and the VH-1 ready "Same Mistakes." -Tammy La Gorce

Lost Highway

　　"Artistic freedom made this record possible," says Jon Bon Jovi. "Musical freedom to explore--and emotional freedom to express what was in our hearts."

　　The result of that freedom is Lost Highway, an album Jon describes as "a Bon Jovi record influenced by Nashville."

　　Bon Jovi explains. "Nashville is all about songs and songwriters. If you're someone like me who loves songs and hanging out with songwriters, Nashville is the place. I thrive on that feeling and I'm inspired by that creative ambience."

　　The result, a haunting set of 12 new and original sounding songs, is a stunning, multi-layered look into the nature of love and life in all its glory. Love, like life, is lost, found, forgotten and reclaimed in this collection.

　　The moods are many, but the core feeling is pure Bon Jovi.

　　"Writing this record with Jon was deeply cathartic," says Richie Sambora, who collaborated on ten of the songs. "I was going through emotional changes that were new for me. An ailing father. A painful divorce. The start of a new chapter in my life. I poured everything I had into this project, every last bit of soul at my command."

　　"For over twenty years now," Jon explains, "Richie and I have been close collaborators. Even when our songs create fictional stories, they reveal our states of mind. To a large degree, Lost Highway focuses on the light that love brings. When you shine the light on love, you see the chinks in the armor. You see every crevice, every crack. And that's all right".

　　Lost Highway is Bon Jovi's tenth studio album since the band formed in the early eighties. One hundred and twenty million albums and 2500 concerts in over 50 countries later, Bon Jovi is enjoying the greatest popularity in their history.

It Won't Be Soon Before Long

　　Maroon 5's 2002 debut album, Songs About Jane, was the kind of hit that doesn't happen often in the new millennium -- a genuine word-of-mouth hit whose popularity grew steadily after its release, largely due to the sweet, sunny hit "This Love," a song sly and catchy enough to stay on the adult pop charts for years without wearing out its welcome. It also was catchy enough to engender years of goodwill. Five years of goodwill, in fact, as the band toured heavily while slowly tinkering away on their second album, finally delivering It Won't Be Soon Before Long (its title perhaps a pun on the gap between records, perhaps not) half a decade after Songs About Jane. If that delay sounds like a symptom of sophomore jitters, that's not exactly true, since during that long stretch between albums Maroon 5 worked Songs About Jane and, in a sense, that album wasn't strictly their first album, either. Maroon 5 evolved out of Kara's Flowers, a post-grunge pop band whose 1997 debut never took off, not even when their debut was reissued in the wake of Maroon's success, but it did provide the group with the foundation for their success; it's where they paid their dues and learned how to be a pop band. Traces of Kara's Flowers could be heard in Maroon's rockier moments on their debut, but under their new name, the group began to develop an infatuation with blue-eyed soul-pop, which they wisely develop on It Won't Be Soon Before Long. More than develop, they modernize it, borrowing elements of Justin Timberlake's stylized synthesized soul, but Adam Levine is wise enough to know that he's no young colt, like JT. He knows that he's a pop guy, somewhat in the tradition of Hall & Oates, but he isn't trying to be retro, he's trying to fill that void, making records that are melodic, stylish, and soulful, which It Won't Be Soon Before Long certainly is. In every respect, It Won't Be Soon is a bigger album than its predecessor: hooks pile up one after another, there's not an ounce of fat on the songs, the production is so immaculate that it glistens. If there were lingering elements of Maroon 5's alt-rock past on Songs About Jane -- primarily in its lazy, hazy vibe -- they're gone now, replaced by the sleek, assured sound of a band that's eager to embrace its status as the big American mainstream pop band of the decade. But Maroon 5 isn't desperately grasping at the brass ring, they're playing it smart, building upon the core strengths of their debut and crafting a record that's designed to appeal to many different listeners, from teens crushing on Nelly Furtado's R&B makeover to adults looking for something smooth and melodic. It Won't Be Soon Before Long appeals to both audiences with an ease that seems effortless, but like any modern blockbuster, this album was shepherded by several different teams of producers, all brought in to emphasize a different personality within the group. The bulk of the record was cut with Spike Stent and Mike Elizondo -- Stent worked with U2, Oasis, Björk, and Gwen Stefani, while Elizondo had produced Fiona Apple and Pink -- but Queens of the Stone Age producer Eric Valentine was brought in for a couple of cuts, as was Mark Endert, who mixed "This Love." There may have been three different sets of producers, but the album is streamlined and seamless, never seeming calculated even if it was clearly made with an eye on mass appeal, and there are two reasons for that. First, Maroon 5 has gelled as a band, developing a clean, crisp attack that may bear traces of its influences -- there are knowing references to Prince, the Police, even OutKast sprinkled throughout (the keyboard on "Little of Your Time" is a direct nod to "Hey Ya") -- but it's a sound that's instantly identifiable as the band's own signature. Nowhere is that more evident than in how they can give soulful grooves like "If I Never See Your Face Again" a rock edge -- or how they can suddenly explode into shards of noise as they do on the coda of "Kiwi" -- or how when the electronic instruments dominate the production, the music still breathes like the work of an actual band, not like something that was constructed on a computer. But like with any good blue-eyed soul, the reason that this album works is the songs themselves. Even the flashiest production-driven tracks here -- the opening one-two punch of "If I Never See Your Face Again" and "Makes Me Wonder" -- aren't about feel; they're about the songs, which are uniformly tight and tuneful, sounding better with repeated plays, the way any radio-oriented pop should. If some of the ballads aren't as distinguished as the livelier tracks, they nevertheless are as sharply crafted as the rest, and the end result is that It Won't Be Soon Before Long is that rare self-stylized blockbuster album that sounds as big and satisfying as was intended. ~ Stephen Thomas Erlewine, All Music Guide

That's Life

　　Known affectionately as "Salford's answer to Pavarotti," UK classical music singer Russell Watson has proved adept at mixing up his classical repertoire with popular 20th century compositions. On previous albums, Watson has tackled songs by pop artists as diverse as Ultravox ("Vienna") Simon and Garfunkel ("Bridge Over Troubled Waters") and Freddie Mercury ("Barcelona"); but on That’s Life he turns his attention fully to the world of popular romance for the first time. Following in the sprightly footsteps of Frank Sinatra and Nat King Cole, Watson approaches classics like "Strangers In The Night", "When I Fall In Love" and "Born Free" with typical verve. The selection serves to showcase Watson's natural versatility to wonderful effect, and also gives him the opportunity to perform duets with acclaimed contemporary pop stars such as Alexander O'Neal and Jocelyn Brown. While the choice of songs on That’s Life is nothing extraordinary, listening to one of Britain's finest tenors delivering some of the world's most eternal love songs is an opportunity not to be missed. --Danny McKenna

Tori Amos: American Doll Posse

　　In an era of digital downloads and singles, Tori Amos embraces the concept album in a sprawling 23-song oratorio. Firing across the American psychological, social, and political landscape, she takes on the state of the world, war, and feminism. To help her, she adopts five personas--her American Doll Posse--who take their characteristics from Greek gods, but not their names: Clyde, Pip, Isabel, Santa, and Tori. You need a scorecard to keep track, but don't worry. It's still Tori Amos, bending syllables in improbable pretzels with rippling piano themes and choruses that threaten to go Broadway at any moment. Amos vents her political spleen through "Isabel," leaving no doubt as to her targets on tracks like "Yo George," and comments on our impersonal age and computer addiction with "Digital Ghost." That's sung by the character "Tori," who is reputedly based on Demeter and Dionysus, representing the split between Amos's earth-mother side and her wilder, more libertine tendencies. Anti-war and pro-feminist themes are plastered across American Doll Posse like sloganeering posters. "Dark Side of the Sun" laments both sides of the war, including the Islamists who lay down their lives "for some sick promise of heaven." Amos adopts a big '80s rock sound on many tracks, with guitarist Mac Aladdin pealing off Brian May-style guitar licks over an arena-rock beat. It's where Amos details a more personal sound that American Doll Posse leaves a lasting impression. "Girl Disappearing," sung by "Clyde," holds echoes of the Beatles' "Eleanor Rigby," not only because of the string quartet and nostalgic tone, but the updated tale of a woman losing herself. "Smokey Joe" brims with dark atmospheres, Robert Fripp-like guitar sustains, and Amos's most elaborate vocal arrangements, interweaving two sets of lyrics for "Pip." More than a concept album, American Doll Posse is a convergence experience, mixing online blogs from each character, videos, MySpace sites, and more. --John Diliberto

Have a Nice Day

　　What does a wildly successful purveyor of ‘80s big hair power ballads do in an ensuing decade dominated by fervent shoe-gazing and other attendant alt.cliches? If you’re Jon Bon Jovi, you scale back your band’s ambitions, retool yourself as surprisingly accomplished indie film and TV actor, and (mostly) wait for the pop music tides to turn in your favor again. But JBJ and guitarist/collaborator Richie Sambora didn’t let their band’s lukewarm ‘90s fortunes dampen their knack for hook-savvy songcraft, as this muscular anthem-fest argues at virtually every turn. BJ’s songs here may be as infectious as ever, yet they’re seldom mere confections, often infused with alternating doses of bracing cynicism (the title track’s sarcastic riposte to the ’04 election) and reflective, often bittersweet takes on histories both personal and otherwise. If it sometimes stoops to formula--the droning, metallic ethos of the obligatory big ballad "I Am" can’t overcome some equally perfunctory lyrics–it’s also an album with its share of warm surprises, be they unexpected nods to Dylan ("Last Man Standing," the acoustic idealism of "Bells of Freedom"), the hard-edged "I Want to Live" or a winning duet with Sugarland’s Jennifer Nettles, "Who Says You Can’t Go Home." Bon Jovi may deliver a sonically burnished triumph here by largely going back to the future--yet does it with one ear crucially cocked towards the anxious energy of the recent past. -- Jerry McCulley

Under the Iron Sea

　　If U2 hadn't already released a pair of career retrospective discs, this British trio's second album would neatly do the trick in one. Not much of a surprise since Keane spent a good deal of time supporting Bono and company following the release their breakthrough debut, Hopes and Fears. From the melancholic "Crystal Ball" to the sinisterly beautiful "Is It Any Wonder?" (a blatant homage to "Zoo Station"), Keane have perfected their forebear's dark stadium-rock formula on their second album, all the more miraculous considering it was once again done without guitars. If Under the Iron Sea sounds considerably edgier than its predecessor, that's because it was recorded while the band was on the verge of splitting. But the friction has also given Keane a renewed sense of purpose, breaking the mid-tempo monotony with vibrant material such as "Nothing in My Way" and "Try Again": soaring songs that make the band sound unsinkable. -- Aidin Vaziri