Mariah Carey: Charmbracelet

Charmbracelet has got to be one of the worst albums I have ever heard.  It lacks so much character that it isn’t even funny, but that’s what happens when you are knocked down.  Sometimes people forget who they are and realize that they might have to answer to somebody, but in reality all they have to answer to is themselves.  MariahCarey did an ok job on this album, but I don’t recommend it.  In fact I recommend the follow-up to this album which is The Emancipation of Mimi.

Mariah Carey: Glitter

Glitter was probably the biggest flop of Mariah Carey's career, either that or her follow-up to Glitter, Charmbracelet.  I mean how indifferent are those titles?  Not only that but individually they are both so needy.  I felt like buying Glitter because Loverboy was on it, but only for that reason.  As far as Charmbracelet is concerned, I feel like I should have never have been gifted it but what can you do?  Glitter was by far the worst album MariahCarey ever put out.  The songs are so unmemorable, except for Loverboy, but even that is a stretch if you consider the whole album.

Mariah Carey featuring Westlife: Against All Odds (Take a Look at Me Now)

I had to download this song even though I own the original on Compact Disc.  The thing is; is that Mariah Carey featured Westlife on this rendition and it is absolutely amazing, the song itself, a remake, was absolutely amazing to begin with, so you can just imagine how I feel about it with Westlife in the remake of the cover.  The original was made famous way back in the 80s by Phil Collins and then Mariah Carey decided to remake it, but that wasn’t good enough so she decided to add Westlife to the mix, and what you come out with is a super-ballad that would have done amazing but for the fact that Mariah Carey fatigue syndrome had kicked in by then, and after this album she would experience a slump.

Mariah Carey: Anytime You Need a Friend

That was a great remixed session of Mariah Carey's AnytimeYou Need a Friend.  This remix was made popular by the C+C Music Factory's Robert Clivilles and David Cole.  Unfortunately David Cole is no longer with us and ultimately led to the demise of C+C Music Factory, but back in the hay day of the 90s C+C Music Factory was a formidable force and came out with some great records in their own right.  Of course this particular remix from Mariah Carey is some of their most exceptional work and can be found on the maxi-single of Anytime You Need a Friend.

Mariah Carey: Music Box

Music Box is one of the best albums by Mariah Carey, not one of the best albums ever in history, but still one of the best from this modern era.  So Mariah Carey really went all out on this album considering it was her third studio album and one of the best in her collection like I said.  Mariah Carey was just getting warmed up on this album considering the success she had from here on in or then on.  Mariah Carey is not considered one of the greatest singers ever for no reason; given that, this album, in particular, showcases the use of her upper and whistle register, of which I cannot think of anyone else on the face of this earth that inhibits these kinds of qualities, with the kind of commercial success that she has had.

Mariah Carey: MTV Unplugged

MTV Unplugged by Mariah Carey is probably the most recognizable MTV Unplugged EP or Live Album that is out there.  Everyone after her, who did it, was just trying to copy her in my opinion and failed to garner the success she gained from doing it.  It’s a great album and features the remake of The Jackson 5's song I’ll Be There.  If for no other reason than to buy it for that song, it would still be a worthwhile investment.  That song is a great song and can only be found done by her in a few places and this would be the most notable one.

Mariah Carey: Emotions

Emotions was a great album for Mariah Carey, just as her career was starting out. I am actually looking forward to taking a break from her since Christmas is coming up and not only does she have one amazing Christmas album, but now she has two. That’s amazing and so I need a rest in anticipation of that happening. It’s only about four months away now and just over a season. It’s crazy in the summer to think of Christmas, but I can’t help it as the summer is so cruel. Anyhow I have one more entry of Mariah Carey's to write and then that’s it.

Jersey Shore

Ok so that episode of Jersey Shore was ok. It wasn’t the best episode but I am not holding my breath that there won’t be another good episode of Jersey Shore as this show always delivers, or at least most of the time. Anyhow I am looking forward to the Third Season as I haven’t seen much of it and the Fourth as I have seen much of the Second, which is what I am on, due to the fact that it was on the air last summer and it still reminds me of that tremendously. Anyhow great show but could use some more creativity.

Keeping Up with the Kardashians

That was a great episode of Keeping Up with the Kardashians. It’s amazing really, considering I am only now halfway through the Second Season and have over four seasons to go and that would only get my caught up, considering that there will most likely be a season after that. This show amazes me and so therefore I wanted to savor the moment considering they live a posh lifestyle in the hills of the San Fernando Valley, in California.

The Simple Life

Finally I get to watch an episode of the Simple Life, one of my all-time favorite shows. It’s unreal considering how many times I have seen it, but it has the type of comedy that is long lasting in my opinion. Anyhow, I am looking forward to the next episode.

Brothers and Sisters

That was actually a really crazy and fun episode of Brothers and Sisters. I know I haven’t always been kind to this show, but it has always been a little bit dry, up until this point. Tonight’s episode was exceptionally exciting. I am looking forward to the rest. I have three episodes left until I am completely finished with the First Season and I don’t even have the Second one yet. I better hurry up and purchase some material.

Private Practice

This show is really weak, both in plot and character. I have seen too many things now to consider this show good. I used to think it was ok at best, but now I am seriously considering abandoning the series and not even watch the rest of the season I just started. It seems like it’s all about the lead actress and she isn’t even a good actress, at least not on this show. She belongs on Grey’s Anatomy with Dr. Shepherd and that is the only reason why I wanted to purchase this show, because I liked her so much on that show. The only reason why I liked her so much on that show though is because she was playing the antagonist to Meredith Grey and since I despise her, I thought it would be best to clam onto her arch nemesis.

Lost

That episode of Lost was ok. I have gotten really far away from this series. It has grown on me a little during this most recent episode but I have pretty much left it behind considering that I started it about a year ago and watch the better part of it then. It has gotten more great and exciting in parts but I am entering the part where it fell off of the face of the planet considering that there was a writer’s strike during the season that I am watching and it really never regained its rightful status after that. It was a great run up until around this episode but I feel it fading quickly. I will however still buy the Sixth Season as that should be somewhat better than the season I am on and the Fifth.

Grey's Anatomy

That episode of Grey’s Anatomy was ok. The first part was way better than the second but then again this show has changed so much since the glory days. I am actually watching this series again already since I have someone who wants to watch it with me, otherwise I would be doing it for research only. Anyhow the First Season was great and so was the Second, Third, and even some of the Fourth, but this Season is dragging on a bit. I don’t think I will be rushing out to get the Sixth, unless it is for a great price.

Disney Soundtracks: Beauty and the Beast, Aladdin, The Lion King, and Pocahontas

My four favorite Disney soundtracks are as follows: Beauty and the Beast, Aladdin, The Lion King, and Pocahontas. I just find those four soundtracks to be out of this world and really encompass some awe inspiring theatrical work; after all they are from a movie. The thing is, these four soundtracks stand alone as some great music and even if there were no movies to go along with the soundtracks, they would still be completely formidable as some great art work.

Whitney Houston

Ok so Whitney Houston is a huge diva and I love her. It’s too bad she didn’t still have a voice, but that’s the price you pay for being such a power house. Only a few power houses have graced our presence and she is most likely the most well-known. I am in love with her even to this day and I just finished listening to three inspirational tracks as that is what she is most well-known for. She is so amazing that I am going to go on Amazon.com right now and look up some new material that I might want to purchase.

Roxette

Listening to Ace of Base again inspired me to listen to Roxette, another Swedish band that’s amazing. I am just reading on the internet about Marie Fredriksson and how old she is now. It’s really amazing because I thought that she might have passed away since her bout with cancer. They have come out with some amazing songs over the years and I am surprised to learn that they are still going, albeit at a much slower pace since their worldwide success in the 80s and 90s. I am looking forward to getting some more Roxette albums as I really didn’t purchase enough of them growing up, but now that I am older and enjoying the finer things in life I can splurge and get some classic Roxette albums.

Ace of Base

Ace of Base had some great stuff back in the day and I was going to do seven entries for my Blog but I could never think of enough things to say about them. Apparently they are still together or somewhat of the same, but I wouldn’t go so far as to say that they sound the same. Sweden has produced some unforgettable acts over the years and it’s very incomprehensible to ever forget the second most well known act they have ever produced, the first being ABBA, and of course the second being Ace of Base. I just heard a news report about them the other day, ironically enough, and they have inspired me over the summer to purchase some of their older and more well-known things, like singles, or EPs, or maxi-singles as they are correctly called. Anyhow I highly recommend this Swedish group and mostly anything Swedish, i.e. Nokia phones.

Michael Jackson

Listening to Michael Jackson again was ok. I only listened to a few songs and that is because I was brought to him from SWV given that they remade one of their songs, featuring him. It is actually, in fact, the best song from their repertoire and quite possibly his too although I have yet to hear it these days as I do not own it either digitally or analogy. I know what that looks like, but it isn’t what I mean. I mean the signal that is not digital, the one that came before digital, which is analog. So since I do not own the song I am referring to either on CD or cassette, I am forced to think of what it would sound like in this era as opposed to back then, referring to the song Human Nature.

SWV

Listening to SWV again was amazing. I love the Sisters With Voices, as that is what it stands for. The thing is they remind me of the early 90s and that is nuts because we are two decades beyond that now. In fact we are approaching the Decennial Anniversary of September the 11th and that will be quite a milestone. Anyhow the Sisters With Voices are an amazing group and I recommend them to any early 90s R&B fan as they encompass that movement even more so than TLC as they were more of a Pop group. I even went so far as to name my cat after the lead singer of SWV and her name is Coko.

TLC

TLC was a great group while they lasted. It’s so funny for me to listen to them again since I grew up with them in my life and now they have completely disappeared. It’s not fun when someone close to you passes on and I know exactly how they feel, having lost someone very special to me during the same time period. I hope to meet the former members of TLC someday as they completely inspired me to do things on my own and forget about the rest of the world. After all, they did sing that song called Waterfalls.

The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian

Prince Caspian was a great film. Of course I am referring to the second installment from the Chronicles of Narnia. I was so impressed with this series that I decided to purchase the first three installments of the films on Blu-ray Disc. I saw the first two installments on DVD and then when I decided that I would join the Disney Movie Rewards program after buying so many other Disney movies, I wanted to get the first installment of this series on Blu-ray Disc since I no longer purchase movies on DVD. That brought me to buying the second and third installment on Blu-ray Disc as well, and I plan on buying the fourth when it is released on Blu-ray Disc. I am very much infatuated with the idea of owning more movies on Blu-ray Disc than on DVD because it seems like such a superior technology. In fact I believe the case to be true as we speak, but that won’t stop me from getting even more.

     

The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe

That was quite simply the most amazing movie I have ever seen. I have seen it before but to see it on Blu-ray Disc this time around made it so much better, plus I haven’t seen the Digital version since the middle of the last decade. The Chronicles of Narnia are some of the best movies out there. I haven’t seen all of them, but I now own all of them on Blu-ray Disc, look forward to the next two in soon to be Blog entries. I have seen the second one, but not the third. The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe is the first installment and quite simply the best so far.

Unstoppable

I really should not watch movies over and over again, but I can’t help it because I have invested so much money in them, especially Blu-ray Discs. Those are some of my favorite to watch because they are in so much higher definition than regular Discs or Digital Video Dics (DVDs), as they are called, and that is the exact reason why they are referred to as High Definition. It’s really weird because High Definition Discs are referred to as Blu-rays, and Standard Definition Discs are referred to as DVDs. It’s great but I would have to say that I don’t recommend this movie to just anyone, it’s much more subtle in its appeal as the plot is weak, and the acting isn’t much better. I am looking forward to taking a long break from this movie, having watched it three times since the beginning of this year.

Transformers

Transformers was a great movie, but watching it over and over is not a good idea. The plot doesn’t hold up that many times through, but it was a great movie upon inception. The thing is I wanted to watch it in honor of the third installment of the series that was just released in theatres. I plan on buying that when it comes out on disc, but rather than buy it on DVD as I did for the first two, I will be buying it on Blu-ray Disc. I just like saying that as it seems so 21st Century. I won’t be saying it for long, no doubt, but right now I can help but rub it in.

Zodiac

Jeez the Zodiac movie was a great movie. I started watching it this past long holiday weekend in North America and it was absolutely amazing. The first scene of the movie takes place on July 4th in the United States and I just so happened to have started watching it on that very same weekend. It was amazing and truly exciting as it has some brilliant actors and the plot is superbly written. I am not sure if it won any awards that year or not but it should be recognized as an amazing film and one that will go down in history as one of the best from that time period, at least in my mind. I am moving on to other films now, so I am looking forward to that and I will let you know how they turn out.

300

300 was a great film. I say that because I watched it again for the umpteenth time considering what is going on in Greece. How soon we forget our heritage and what we came from. Ancient Greece was once a thriving civilization and I can see why the Greek people of today want to preserve it. Ancient Greece was the cornerstone of democracy and so many other things that we take for granted here in the West. It amazes me that people in the West do not want to preserve the Greek culture, considering so many of us owe Greece our life, both figuratively and literally. So many people died for our beliefs in the battle that this movie is based on. Perhaps we should all look back for a second and realize that we owe Greece our life.

Apocalypto

Apocalypto was a great movie. It was released all the way back in 2006 and I still enjoy it to this day. I watched it in the theatre for the first time and then when it came out on DVD the following year, I purchased it and have been watching it ever since. I have seen it a number of times but at this point it is too difficult to count, so it must be around 10-12. I watched it this time around in honor of the doomsday that is fast approaching. The Maya civilization calculated that the world would end on December 21st, 2012. Or that’s at least when their calendar ended. I believe that something is going to happen on that date because it is the first day of winter or Winter Solstice. This film is based on the Mayans.

Snoop Dogg, David Guetta & Afrojack

The Dubstep Remix of Sweat is an amazing track. I recommend it to any David Guetta fan and certainly and Dubstep fan. Dubstep is a new genre of music that is taking off quite literally as the Electronic scene is on the move again. It happens around every ten years, and this decade is no different. I was just talking to some people today about some raves they have been to and that is a tell tale sign of an Electronic movement on the rise. I myself, have been downloading House music left and right, although it is often accompanied with some lyrics, so not true House, but House none the less.

Enrique Iglesias

Dirty Dancer (with Usher) [feat. Lil Wayne] is an amazing track. But only the remake, not the original. I downloaded the original last summer when I Like It was in but that song is nothing in comparison to the remake. It’s not even really a remake, rather a redo, but who says that. It’s more of a remake, therefore, because it has additional Electronic sounds, that make it more Electronic, and right now I am all over that. It also has Lil Wayne as an addition, but I am so over him it’s not funny. He is so overexposed that you can’t go anywhere without hearing about him, but really, it’s all about Enrique right now.

Swedish House Mafia

Swedish House Mafia is a great group. It’s a group of DJs and Producers from Sweden, and Sweden sure knows how to produce good music, need I say more? The likes of ABBA and Ace of Base come to mind most prominently. I can think of many others, but for the purpose of this Blog I will focus on those. This song is a great song, but it could do without the singing. I hate the singing in it, but the bass line is drop dead gorgeous. I mean that in the most affluent way, in other words, if I were to hear that at a Club I would go nuts. It’s just amazing, and if for no other reason than to download it for that alone, I still highly recommend it.

Karl Wolf

Ok so Ghetto Love is an ok song. I only downloaded it because I work with some Arabic people and I like Arabic culture but this song is kind of ghetto, and what I mean by that is that it wouldn’t do very good in the mainstream culture of the world that is dominated by the United States of America. It’s not because Karl Wolf is Arabic, but because the song lacks a certain je ne sais quoi. I still recommend it to any Canadian and certainly an Arabic person, because he is most likely the most popular Arabic singer in North America, which is the key Entertainment district of the world.

Joe Jonas

I didn’t cave to the Jonas Brothers fever that engulfed the world, but I couldn’t deny the talent that they had, so I decided to support a solo career for one of the brothers. I decided to support the eldest brother with the most talent, as Kevin is hardly a singer, and Nick is still a teenybopper. I am not a huge fan of teenyboppers as I am of age now, but still support them none the less, so I decided to promote Joe’s solo career since he is hardly a teenybopper anymore, but still somewhat close to one. Joe Jonas has a great vocal range and tone, but lacking some dynamics which will come with age. I am not sure if he will end up with a career or not at this point, because he seems to be suffering right now with media fatigue.

NKOTBSB

The NKOTBSB Mash Up is pretty good. Not quite what I was expecting, but good none the less. I really wish they would have written some better songs and did some real good with their super group. I for one thought it was amazing that they teamed up to begin with and it totally caught me off guard but their short lived super group was not as awe inspiring as I thought. I am sure they will do good on the road, but a real hit single would have knocked it out of the park.

Rihanna

California King Bed is most likely the worst song I have ever heard from Rihanna. I don’t know what she was thinking considering that Ballads are completely over and the only one who really pulled it off was Mariah Carey. Come on Rihanna, it’s 2011, not 1990. I could see if it was twenty years ago, but she just dropped a huge dance hit as the lead-off single from her most current album. I feel like she has tried to do this before and has failed as well. I am just reading on the internet that she is releasing yet another single from this album. Come on Rihanna, just be done with it and move on. I am waiting for a remix album, a follow-up to your critically acclaimed remix album for Good Girl Gone Bad, appropriately entitled Good Girl Gone Bad: The Remixes, and your flop compilation album for Rated R, appropriately entitled Rated R: Remixed.

Ke$ha

Listening to Ke$ha again is absolutely amazing. I am not sure if my neighbors appreciate it but it feels like a rave to me. Every time I listen to it, I am transported back to this amazing place where I am dancing like a nut and going off on a tangent. That’s just what Progressive House music does to me and although Ke$ha's remix album is not the most progressive I have ever heard, it is progressive none the less as it gives you the feeling that something amazing is coming and it does. I listened to it all day yesterday and it was amazing to see the effects it had on the rest of the world that were jumping and screaming. Today it’s a bit more subdued but that’s because the sun isn’t shining.

The Pussycat Dolls

The Pussycat Dolls were an amazing group while they lasted. It’s too bad that they could not have come out with another album, but I guess Nicole Scherzinger's ego got too big. That’s fine with me but heaven forbid that someone be offended by that. Now she is struggling to produce a solo career, when she should be concentrating on putting them back together. It was really amazing while it lasted, like I said, and I have just been walking down memory lane with them in honor of Nicole Scherzinger’s new song which is struggling to find a home. Jai Ho! (You Are My Destiny) is one of my all-time favorite songs.

Enrique Iglesias

Listening to Enrique Iglesias again is amazing. I just downloaded his latest single and it is out of this world. Not only that but he had a few chart topping hits in the last year that I have been listening to as well, most notably I Like It. That was an amazing song and still is. I am actually going to download the maxi-single for that song very soon, and I also remember it fondly from one of my favorite Reality Shows, entitled Jersey Shore. I can’t wait to start watching that again, but in the meantime I will enjoy my Enrique Iglesias as he is one amazing singer.

Rihanna

Good Girl Gone Bad: The Remixes has some of the most serious remixes I have ever heard, including but not limited to Madonna and Ke$ha. It’s amazing really, but still not my favorite remix album, although at one time was, but since Ke$ha came along it’s hard to top that. Anyhow I still love Rihanna and listening to this album again was amazing.

Madonna

Here I am writing about Confessions on a Dance Floor again because it is such a great and inspirational album. I know Madonna might not want to be considered in the category of Inspirational but she can’t help who she is and what she does for a living. It’s pretty exciting actually as there was a huge party at my house when I was listening to this. It was Canada Day and the entire neighborhood was humming or should I say the entire hood was humming?