Everybody's got a dark side...

Kelly Clarkson is to release "Dark Side" as a single on June 5th from her latest album, "Stronger." This serves as a bit of a departure from her typical pop rock fare.

Even the first American Idol has a dark side.

The lyrics speak of loving someone despite their flaws. I commend this in a song. It's something that doesn't always get spoken about and everyone can relate to. I think it's a great message. :)

It starts off with a twinkling music box type of melody and soft vocals from Ms. Clarkson. The song's sound then grows as Clarkson's vocals steadily crescendo. By the end of the song, the music box has returned and the vocals have been reduced to a mere whisper.

Basically, this song is like pop meets Evanescence. This makes sense, as KC has stated in the past that she'd love to sing with Amy Lee, who is Evanescence's frontwoman. Now there's a collaboration that I'd love to see.

Anyway, here's the music video. It shows several people struggling with issues and coming to terms with them interspersed with clips of Kelly performing the song.

Do you like Kelly's change of pace, or do you think she should have just stuck to the basics?

-JaKelly

Evanescence Gets "Lost in Paradise"

This just in! Evanescence announces new single. (Drum roll, please...)

"Lost in Paradise"

I'm pretty pleased by this, especially since the third single from their self-titled third album was originally set to be "Made of Stone," which I think is not really as memorable of a song. In fact, I'd venture to say that "Lost in Paradise" is quite possibly the best song on "Evanescence."

Amy Lee, lead vocalist of Evanescence, has stated that the song's lyrical content speaks apologetically to the band's fans for being gone for such a long time. She got "lost in paradise," so to speak, doing normal everyday things with her husband. The whole time, however, her love of Evanescence made her miss the creative writing and recording process.

The sound of this song, to be released as a single on May 25th, is largely that of a power ballad. This provides a nice break from the hard rocking songs on "Evanescence," which, while great, get a  wee bit monotonous. Starting out with just a piano, Amy emotes breathy vocals for the first verse. The rest of the band then joins in at the chorus for a stronger sound. In this regard, it is much like "My Immortal," though I think that it's even better. With the lyrics being more poetic than straightforward, such as was found on Ev's sophomore album, "The Open Door," a nice companion is provided for the dark sound that fans fell on love with on their debut album, "Fallen." By the end of the song, it's just Amy and the piano again, representing the same vulnerability from the beginning of the song that is stunningly gorgeous.

A music video is to be released soon, according to the band. Expect to see it here very soon after it comes out. For now, here's the lyric video:

It's, admittedly, not the most exciting video in the world. But I still think it's worth a watch. While the visuals may be a bit repetitive, they are interesting, original, and capture the feeling of the song pretty well.

What do you think of this music news, my dearies?

-Jake

Nicki Minaj Teams Up With Chris Brown and Nas for New Music Video

Just last night, Nicki Minaj released the music video for "Right by My Side" featuring Chris Brown.

Before I say anything about it, give it a watch below.

My verdict is that it's...ok. I mean, the love scenes are cute and the chemistry seems pretty genuine, but I have a few criticisms as well. First of all, why was Breezy not the main love interest of the video? After all, he and Minaj are singing to each other, so it would've made a little more sense. Nas did a decent job with the acting, but perhaps an appearance by him in a Nicki video could have been saved for "Champion," which he is featured in along with Drake and Young Jeezy.

I think more of a story could have been developed as well. For example: the lovers experience a quarrel at the beginning of the clip and make up by the end of it, in addition to their scenes of being blissfully happy with one another. And as far as the song itself, click here if you don't already know what I think about it. Just for the record, I still love darling Nicki. This video isn't terrible, but I just think that it could have been even better if a few adjustments would've been made. That's all.

Thoughts?

-Jakey

Alphabeat

First things first, title inspiration:

A-Z, Bay-bee

This was inspired by fellow blogger, Misfit Librarian. I tweaked it a little, but it has the same basic idea. I'm going to name a song that I like for each letter of the alphabet. Fun, right?? Here we go!

A- "All I Ever Wanted," by Kelly Clarkson. Quite possibly my favorite track from the album of the same name. Here, Kelly rocks out while singing of love complications. While it was a single, it never received a music video. Such a shame.

B- "Beat Goes On," by Madonna featuring Kanye West. Great dance song from Madge's "Hard Candy" album. It was supposed to be a single, but didn't end up being one for some reason. Oh well.

C- "California King Bed," by Rihanna. This song is Rihanna's best vocal performance to date. An R&B girl's take on a country-tinged rock & roll slow jam works pretty well here, wailin' guitars and all. I love to sing along to this one. :)

D- "Domino," by Jessie J. Fun, catchy music with great vocals to boot. What more could you ask for?

E- "Everytime We Touch," by Cascada. Me and my friends loved this techno song in high school. And it's a really cute song to use in AMVs (anime music videos).

F- "Forget You," by Cee Loo Green. Otherwise known as...Motown sendoff! This is my go-to karaoke song. XD

G- "Grow a Pear," by Ke$ha. I just love her attitude. And this song contains lyrics that are pretty appropriate for this post's subject matter: "If I'm bein' honest, I'm just not hooked on your phonics." She's the dance commander, and I'm more than happy to follow her orders. ;)

H- "Hallelujah," by Paramore. Paramore is my favorite band, and this might very well be my favorite song of all time. It's just so...exciting!

I- "If We Ever Meet Again," by Timbaland featuring Katy Perry. Pretty great team up here. Both artists have big personality and the chemistry worked well in this resulting song.

J- "Just Dance," by Lady Gaga. The one that started it all! Love me some Gaga. <3

K- "Killing Me Softly," by the Fugees. Lauryn Hill is amazing. 'Nuff said.

L- "Love On Top," by Beyonce. This song has cute lyrics and a nice 90's groove to it. And hello, 4 key changes! One of the best songs from her.

M- "Mama Says," from "Footloose." I played the character who sings this song, Willard, and it was a nice moment for me. :)

N- "No Scrubs," by TLC. Shout out to my sister in law, Sarah- this is our jam.

O- "Open Arms," by Journey/Mariah Carey. Both versions of this song are amazing. I'm taken back to a younger version of myself in the 90's whenever I hear the gorgeous vocals and epic orchestration of this song.

P- "Party in the U.S.A." I don't care too much for Miley, but MAN is this a fun song. Also, did you know that Jessie J wrote it?

Q- "Que Sera, Sera (Whatever Will Be, Will Be)," by Doris Day. This song has such a sweet and simple message: Don't worry too much about the future; just live your life and things will work out for the best. Doris Day is quite classy and the production reminiscent of little Italy here only adds to this song's charm. And I'm not ashamed to say that the first time I heard this song was on "The Simpsons." lol

R- "River of Dreams," by Billy Joel. My family and I used to always have dance parties to this song. ...My family is awesome.

S- "Suddenly Monday," by Melanie Chisholm. This song oozes cuteness. It's what I refer to as a "Muppet" song, because it totally makes me picture Muppets dancing in the background. Look it up and you'll see what I mean.

T- "Till The World Ends," by Britney Spears. This is one of my favorite Britney songs. The beat is incredible! And believe it or not, Ke$ha assisted in the song's writing.

U- "Unbroken," by Demi Lovato. This serves as a very cool title track to Lovato's most recent album. The lyrics are similar to another Demi song, "Skyscraper" in its themes of self-empowerment and features a slick electro sound that just screams to be danced to. Future single, please!

V- "Viva La Vida," by Coldplay. This was the song that made me start to like Coldplay. In my eyes, I see it as their turning point from somewhat dreary and boring to interesting and enjoyable.

W- "Weight of the World," by Evanescence. This has got to be one of my favorite songs from this band. It contains heavy metal combined with Amy Lee's enchanting vocals: "If you love me, then let go of me...I won't be held down by who I used to be."

X- "XOXOXO," by The Black Eyed Peas. Clever, catchy little tune. :P

Y- "You Make Me Feel..." by Cobra Starship featuring Sabi. Still a hot jam, 1+ year later.

Z- "Zombie," by the Cranberries. What a great song with meaningful lyrics assisted by quality production. Do yourself a favor and look it up if you haven't heard it.

Next time, won't you sing with me? ;)

-J

Sing for the World

I demonstrate my love of music whenever possible. <3

Here's a video of me singing and playing Katy Perry's "Teenage Dream" on the piano:

Enjoy. :)

-Jake