I’ve been working on this for a few days and I’ve got it just right. I’ve still got to rerecord vocals and polish the instruments but Nuts And Berries will definitely be available in later fall for y’all to listen to. Until then, here’s the album artwork.
Thanks for visiting my blog and site!
@joeybroyles
The show opened with Rihanna. Good vocals for Love The Way You Lie Pt. II, but after that the world came crashing down with CD vocals, back up singers, and Rihanna singing a note here and there. Showcasing again that she doesn’t perform well live. The back up vocalist sang her part to enhance Rihanna. Always love her studio work but the performance was poor quality. She has no substance and they have to add layer after layer of vocals to enhance what we know is the voice of Rihanna. But seriously a light show will not hide bad vocals!
RECAP OF THE FIRST HALF HOUR
Text message Log from a friend about the first half hour:
K: Did I miss anything on the AMAs I didn’t even know they were on
J: Horrible performance by Rihanna. Bad performance by Enrique and Pitbull enter fast forward thru Miley Cyrus… Crappy Diddy and new group. Fast forward. Taylor Swift wins and crappy Kid Rock fast forward.
K: Rihanna can’t ever perform live
J: She did well with the slow song and then ruined all her awesome singles.
Katy Perry‘s Firework. I was very excited to hear this, as it is one of my favorite songs off her new album. I was excited to see that she was going to use a children’s choir! And then she opened her mouth and it progressively got worse. I’ve seen her perform well live before, so maybe it was just a bad performance. Seriously do people just not rehearse before the show or what? How much studio magic is performed on her? As I said usually she does so well live, confused!
Justin Bieber was trying to be Greyson Chance. I seems Bieber “found” this talent of being able to play the piano. He sang live and that was far better than his lip synced performance at MTV Video Music Awards. Poor kid is going through the change though, balls have dropped, and we’ll see if he can hit those high notes next year. Still he’s sweet, just don’t rip off Greyson Chance from Ellen.
Bon Jovi sang live and played live. There’s a good idea! Oh and did you notice they didn’t have a CD playing their back up vocals? Yes I know they are a band, but still. Sure they may be past their prime but I’m not embarrassed to call myself a fan.
P!nk had a good performance but not spectacular. No singing during the chorus, belting random parts of the chorus does not count. This is one performer who I thought would actually steal the show. She didn’t have to fly in the air but she could have gotten me a little more excited.
Neyo was amusing and he can sing. I found it unique that he was giving us a review of all his new singles to come. Still it was a bit confusing at times, but he sang with soul and knew how to sell the song, thus selling himself and not the other way around. I really think singers should take some notes from him as a performer and a producer.
Taylor Swift was beyond pitchy! She had her moment and for some reason people still find her, desirable? She really should thank Kanye West for making her unforgettable. And who gave her permission to go and ruin OneRepublic’s hit Apologize, if you are going to mix it up, sing it well, don’t suck at it. Also finding new talents like playing the piano, sorry sister not everyone is going Gaga over you. p.s. Did you notice they didn’t do many close ups of her actually playing the piano? Faker!
Now on to the main event of the evening: Christina Aguilera‘s Burlesque. She worked the stage. Sang full out and didn’t hold anything back. Is it her best performance ever? No, but that performance finally made me realize that she has a real voice. She doesn’t need a computer to sing, she is just Christina Aguilera and don’t fight me on this because she is a goddess, end of discussion!
Usher use to be able to sing live with meaning and soul. He may be able to dance like there’s no tomorrow but as far as his singing was concerned it’s all over. I couldn’t hear his vocals over the synthesizers and CD vocals. But the few times I did hear him he was not at the top of his game. This breaks my heart because he use to make me wanna so bad!
Train. Also sang live and played live and there was none of that back up noise or auto-tune to help them find the right note. Sure their songs are over played, but they pretty much sound like their recording live and that’s impressive. Whatever happened to talent? Look no further than Train, there’s the talent.
The next performance that made me want to spew green vomit was Ke$ha. She did her numbers Take It Off and We R Who We R, but she is all auto-tune and that’s it. Neat that she tried to show us she could play guitar by smashing it on the floor. Here are some of my live tweets from twitter last night:
“Confused. Am I watching the animated movie 9 or the #amas? Nothing more entertaining than a drunk horse singing on stage!”
“I dare Ke$ha to do more than pluck a few strings on a guitar. Smashing a guitar on stage is what you’ve done to music!”
“As per usual the AMAs blow hardcore. I will be replacing the phrase “this sucks” with “Ke$ha”
Of course it doesn’t help that Ke$ha can’t sing and yet everyone is into listening to a computer sing. It’s a different music world where they provide quantity but it is rare to find quality. When people like Lady Gaga come along you do your best to cherish those raw and well performed live moments. Take notes Ke$ha because you Ke$ha!
NKOTBSB (minus Kevin). New Kids On The Block and Backstreet Boys performing together! OMFG I was so excited until they performed together. First of all BSB minus Kevin is not cool, but still how cool, they are making a comeback tour! Except it wasn’t cool at all because their vocals were rancid. Then again they couldn’t perform well live even during their prime.
It was all down hill until I heard Step By Step by NKOTB. Oh Jordan Knight! He can still sing with sexy falsetto, now there’s a boy band! They sound smooth and good live and they know how to blend their vocals. AJ, Brian, Howie D, and Nick take some notes! But then when all the boys started singing each other’s songs it was just awful. There were no new songs from the boys just reruns. NKOTB doesn’t need BSB and BSB doesn’t need Nick Carter, I do!
My final word doesn’t come from me but from @ericloehr on Twitter:
“The AMAs are proving that though some of the top pop songs of today are quality tunes, they are so manufactured they sound awful live.”
I think that sums it up!
Have you been reading Entertainment Weekly’s articles lately? They have become more about gossip than about actual reviews on music, movies, etc. I have posted my own comments on individual articles but it has come to my attention that this magazine has turned into garbage. But I suppose Hollywood will do that to you. Now of course this is not just about Entertainment Weekly, this is about these little stories about Gaga isn’t original or Christina is copying Lady Gaga and so on.
M.I.A. vs. Gaga.
This is a bunch of bull because the two artists have nothing in common musically and yet M.I.A. is calling Lady Gaga a mimic of Madonna, Grace Jones, Bowie, and of herself. Now if you were as old as the Earth, for argument’s sake, you would clearly recognize that there have been dozens of mimics throughout history. Madonna is not the first to do anything, Grace Jones isn’t the first weird performance artist, and so on. The expression is, “it’s all been done.” All songs sound the same, all notes have been played, all stories have been told. What is different and fascinating as we evolve as artists and human beings is the retelling of that same old story and the reinvention of the same song and dance. If you seek originality you are going to have to leave because we are all pretty monotonous on planet Earth. In short M.I.A. there is nothing new about you and your little bubble you live in.
Grace Jones Vs. Lady Gaga
This story annoys me to no end. In essence Grace Jones claims that it “pisses” her off that Lady Gaga is copying her style or whatever. Let me tell you something Grace Jones being weird and artistic has been done over a thousand and one ways. You are no doubt an amazing performance artist, but you and Lady Gaga are two different breeds. Gaga may be inspired by your looks but I know that all of those outfits you’ve worn throughout the years were inspired by someone or something as well. You, Grace Jones, are not original but I appreciate your weirdness because quite frankly you are super creepy and it’s growing on me. See her video:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FgMn2OJmx3w
Christina Aguilera Copies Gaga and Madonna
Who's copying who? I can't tell! SARCASM!
Apparently you all have forgotten that Christina Aguilera does not need computers to enhance her voice. She does not need little monsters. And she does not need to be accused of being irrelevant. Her voice will stand the test of time and her vocal ability is much more vast than Lady Gaga’s and Madonna’s combined. The thing that really ticks me off is that if any woman or man wants to be provocative you are instantly compared to Lady Gaga. What the hell? If you read this blog, you know I would die for Gaga, but seriously? The world did exist before Stefani Germanotta found her Gaga. And now that Christina is back she’s accused of being like Lady Gaga. I don’t know if you know this but Gaga and Madonna were not the first women to don a dominatrix’s outfit or the first to experiment with one’s sexuality, again it’s all been done before. Appreciate the voice that is Christina, apparently you forgot that once upon a time she ruled the land. I will not deny that Xtina is paying homage to Madonna’s Express Yourself music video, but again that hair do was worn before Madonna and that style is circa Great Depression, not circa Madonna. Oh and did you know that dominatrix’s have been around for years? Check out a picture from the 1920s, now who is copying who?
She must have saw Lady Gaga when Gaga was time traveling...
Christina Aguilera’s I’m Not Myself Tonight Music Video
The Stupid Articles That Drove ME to this post are below:
Lady Gaga vs. M.I.A.
Lady Gaga vs. Grace Jones
Christina Aguilera Is Trying To Be Gaga.
