The Truth About Music

"What's hot, what's not, and whats next in pop music"

Songs In My Head: “Slice” by Five For Fighting

By Harris posted August 26, 2010 at 08:00

It seems like every single time Five For Fighting release a song and label it a “single,” I fall in love with it. Despite my hatred for their albums, the singles seem to always rock. This song takes a modern look back at the Don Mclean classic “American Pie” with cheese ball lines like: “There was a time a long, long time ago, Chevy’s and levees played on the radio” and “We were more than just a slice of American pie.” Despite cliches of string cheese proportions, John Ondrasik’s gorgeous tones with piano to match make this the songs in my head. Continue...
Review: Does Katy Perry’s Album Satisfy Our Teenage Dreams?

By Harris posted August 25, 2010 at 08:00

As far as pop stars go, I’m usually pretty open to new music and hearing sounds evolve over time. In the summer of 2008, the music world was shocked by the straight forward nature of Katy Perry’s first single. “I Kissed A Girl” was a fun party song that didn’t really tell the entire story. What started as a quirky first single, evolved into one of the better albums of that year, producing five solid singles. They ranged from deep ballads like “Thinking Of You” to pop hits such as “Waking Up In Vegas” and “Hot n Cold.” It is now 2010. Perry has spent most of the summer wetting our appetites for a new album with two mega singles. The second single, “Teenage Dream” shares its name with the album while the first single reached #1 on the Billboard Hot 100 weeks before the album release. Now the challenge begins for [...] Continue...
iTunes Free Single of the Week: “I Don’t Wanna Dance” by Hey Monday

By Harris posted August 24, 2010 at 10:30

Download the Free Single of the Week “I Don’t Wanna Dance” by Hey Monday on iTunes now Another solid single of the week for iTunes, this track helps to support Hey Monday’s recently released EP, “Beneath It All.” With a lot of previous success in the pop genre with songs like “Homecoming” and “How You Love Me Now,” the band is currently working on finishing an album to be released in 2011. In a recent interview with TAM, guitarist’s Alex Lipshaw and Mike Genitle said that the new EP would be “More organic, more diverse, every song is a little bit different. The music is more mature this time…” Although the single itself doesn’t quite fit this description, there is more diversity as you delve into the album. One thing that I love about this band is their ability to stick together and be a real band. Although lead singer [...] Continue...
Harris’ Song of the Week: “Club Can’t Handle Me” by Flo Rida

By Harris posted August 19, 2010 at 08:00

Although this song has been out for a few weeks, I only recently discovered it. Above all else, this is an amazing song. There is an incredible amount of energy provided by the three performers that took part in this collaboration. Aside from the song’s track artist, Flo Rida, David Guetta leaves the largest mark on this song. After producing the mega single “I Gotta Feeling” by Will i am and the Black Eyed Peas, he brings a similar style and sound to this song. Second is Nicole Scherzinger, who is most known for her work with The Pussy Cat Dolls. Her Fergie-like tone goes a long way to giving “Club Can’t Handle Me” a similar feel to the aforementioned ”I Gotta Feeling.” Still, this song has the ability to stand on its own. It is an incredible club anthem and should go a long way on that curcuit. The song is also [...] Continue...
iTunes Free Single of the Week: “White Lies” by Stacy Clark

By Harris posted August 17, 2010 at 10:53

Download this weeks iTunes Free Single of the Week, “White Lies” by Stacy Clark here. The last few weeks have featured absolute garbage when it comes to the iTunes free single. Finally as we hit the mid point of August there is another solid song back in the mix. I was pleasantly suprised to download this song by Stacy Clark, a native of Buffalo, New York. Her sound is similar to the hottest female artist of the summer, Katy Perry. For me, Perry’s sound has changed drastically from her upbeat, fun melodies in her debut album “One Of the Boys.” With far too much thought put into her new singles, I’m very down on her right now. Continue...
Opinion: Iconic Band Minus Iconic Singer Equals Iconic Side Project

By Harris posted August 16, 2010 at 08:00

What do you get when you take an iconic lead singer and place him into his own side project? Well you’re left with the same band minus all the members you didn’t care about. There are only a handful of artists out there that can make this statement stand up. Brandon Flowers of The Killers is most definitely one of them. With The Killers in a hiatus, Flowers hasn’t wasted any time putting together a self titled side project. When the first single was released in June most would be hard pressed to decipher the song from one of the many Killers songs Flowers had written during his tenure with the band. Listening to it time and time again I am still hard pressed to find one key element that makes the sound different from his previous band’s work. Continue...
Opinion: Is John Mayer Any Good Live?

By Harris posted August 13, 2010 at 12:45

First, I would like to point out that I have never seen John Mayer live. My brother has. My friends mother apparently has. I was sent an email this morning from @barryjhansen containing a short review that his mother wrote in regards to a recent Mayer concert at the Comcast Theater in Hartford, CT. Despite previous reports that he is great live, this opinion wasn’t quite so positive. I was looking so forward to his concert because I love his voice! He is a great musician/guitar player too. What was lacking was his willingness to play for his fans! John Mayer only played 3 to 4 recognizable songs from his CD”s. The rest of the time he jammed with the band and highlighted his guitar playing-We know he is a great guitarist, but what made him famous is his songs. I was disappointed that he did not play more favorites [...] Continue...
Harris’ Song of the Week: My Best Theory by Jimmy Eat World

By Harris posted August 12, 2010 at 08:00

Exited? I guess you could use that word to describe the upcoming album from pop/rock group Jimmy Eat World. After two amazing albums, the band degressed with their 2007 release “Chase This Light.” With the first decade of the century behind us, it looks like Jimmy Eat World is back and their first single from the upcoming album “Invented” gives me a lot of hope. Although they did not completely abondon the sound that made them so great in the early ’00s, they have turned the sound on its ear giving it a slight ’90s grunge retrospective. You have to assume that the band would get sick of a certain sound after a while. Instead of hitting the drawing board again, they gave the sound a little more dirty guitar and just a tad more echo in the microphones. This combination has made for a great first single in “My Best [...] Continue...
Songs In My Head: St. Elmos Fire by John Parr

By Harris posted August 10, 2010 at 00:17

I know that this song has already been featured on TAM as a song of the week. Regardless of that status, I thought I would share the song once more. It is one of my favorite songs of all time, opitimizing what ’80s rock was like. On a personal note, the song was featured on a video promoting the sleep away camp I went to when I was a little kid. On every level this song is great. Thanks to @CaseyContrarian for making me think of the song tonight!! Continue...
The Summer Of Music That Wasn’t

By Harris posted August 06, 2010 at 08:00

How the mighty have fallen. Last summer, music was dominated by some of the biggest names in pop music. It was a fantastic summer to be a music fan as bands like The Black Eyed Peas, Taylor Swift, Beyonce, Green Day and Eminem, all released and promoted albums over the summer. Usually seen as a huge time of year for the music world, I can’t help but feel that 2010 came up far short of my expectations. These expectations don’t just end with the largest names in pop music. All across the board, from indie to country to electronic, the albums out this summer have left music fans feeling less than satisfied. Starting on the large scale, this summers big releases included Eminem, Christina Aguilera, Jack Johnson, Gorillaz and Drake. For some reason, that lineup doesn’t seem to stand up against the artist I mentioned earlier who released albums in the [...] Continue...