Archive: September 2011 (81-90 of 132)

Sep 14 2011 04:19 PM ET

On the Billboard charts: George Strait, Lil Wayne, The Beatles post big numbers

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Categories: Adele, Charts, Country, Y'all!, George Strait, Hip-Hop/Rap, Lil Wayne, Pop, The Beatles
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Image Credit: Vanessa Gavalya

The fall release schedule has only just begun, with plenty more massive albums coming over the next few months.

And label folks and artists alike must be breathing a sigh of relief, because the chart numbers suggest that people are interested in buying music.

Lil Wayne leads this week’s Billboard sales numbers. After notching the second-biggest opening week of the year (Lady Gaga’s Born This Way still holds tight to the top spot), Weezy moved another 219,000 copies of Tha Carter IV to keep the number one spot. Adele checked in at number two, likely buoyed by the success of the Hot 100-conquering single “Someone Like You.”

The two biggest stories on the chart come in at spots three and four. In the third-place position, George Strait sold 91,000 copies of Here For a Good Time, making it the week’s top debut. Strait’s numbers are sort of absurd: This is his 39th album, his 17th debut in the Billboard top 10, and the 24th time he has topped the Billboard Country Albums list. He’s had a pretty staggering career, though it should be noted that his opening week numbers are down a bit from his previous album Twang, which debuted on top of the albums chart with 155,000 copies sold.

Another release comfortable with the upper echelons of chart success came in at number four: the Beatles 1, the compilation of their 27 chart-topping songs originally released in 2000, moved 60,000 copies of its newly-remastered version. That’s sort of a drop in a bucket, as 1 has sold more than 31 million copies worldwide and was the top-selling album of the first decade of the 21st century. 1 also spent a total of eight weeks at the top of the albums chart at the end of 2000 and the beginning of 2001.

The only other big headline this week belongs to Maroon 5, whose 2010 album Hands All Over got a shot in the arm thanks to the success of “Moves Like Jagger,” which is on the just-released deluxe edition of the album. It came in at number seven this week, a jump from position 23 last week. Rounding out the top 10, Foster the People’s Torches returned to the first tier thanks to the continued love for “Pumped Up Kicks” (look for some more info on that song coming in this week’s episode of Entertainment Weekly).

This week’s new albums includes a number of excellent releases, though only the new album by Staind seems to have a shot at dethroning Lil Wayne. Who do you think will topple tha Carter himself in the coming weeks? Let us know in the comments.

Read more on EW.com: 
Review: Lil Wayne, Tha Carter IV
Fall Albums We Can’t Wait to Hear
Adele’s ‘Someone Like You’ is the first ballad in three years to top the Hot 100 — or is it?

Sep 14 2011 12:15 PM ET

Adele's 'Someone Like You' is the first ballad in three years to top the Hot 100 -- or is it?

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Categories: Adele, Charts, Eminem, Let's Argue!, Pop, Rihanna
Adele

Adele’s success is certainly refreshing, and she continues to rack up accolades and records — in fact, she has a handful of new entries in the latest Guinness Book of World Records).

And some people, apparently, are even making up arbitrary turns of events in order to keep her awards flowing.

This morning, Billboard reported that Adele’s “Someone Like You,” which is currently the number one song on the Hot 100, is the first ballad to sit atop that list in over three years. They cite Rihanna’s “Take a Bow” as the last ballad to inhabit the top position.

The article is a pretty interesting read, because it gets into the psychology of radio programmers and how they approach playing songs based on tempo, as well as the way that trends dictate what the top song in the country is (thanks to the likes of Ke$ha, Britney Spears, and Katy Perry, uptempo pop tends to rule radio). There are more machinations in choosing radio playlists than you probably thought.

While that conversation is well and good, it’s built on a fundamental untruth: “Someone Like You” is not the first ballad to top the Billboard Hot 100 since “Take a Bow.” Since “Take a Bow” abdicated the position to Lil Wayne’s “Lollipop” back in 2008, at least three songs that could be described as ballads have taken the number one position.

The most obvious one is “Love the Way You Lie,” Eminem and Rihanna’s juggernaut from the summer of 2010. Though it prominently features angry rapping and a video about domestic violence, it certainly is as slow-burning as “Someone Like You.” Let’s put it another way: You certainly can’t dance to it.

There are other chart-toppers from the hip-hop world that could probably slide into the “ballad” category, including T.I.’s “Whatever You Like” and Jay-Z’s “Empire State of Mind.” Are these not ballads? Is it possible to craft a hip-hop ballad? And what is a ballad, anyway? Is there a certain set of criteria it must satisfy, or is it like the Supreme Court’s take on pornography and you simply know it when you see it?

Let us know your thoughts on balladry in the comments below. (And seriously, “Love the Way You Lie” is totally a ballad.)

Read more on EW.com: 
Song of Summer ’11? YOU Say…
VMAs 2011: The Winners, the Losers, and Lady Gaga
Adele pays tribute to Amy Winehouse: ‘I don’t think she ever realised just how brilliant she was’

Sep 14 2011 11:54 AM ET

Tony Bennett and Amy Winehouse's 'Body and Soul' video: Watch it here

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Categories: Amy Winehouse, Music Videos, Pop, Tony Bennett

It’s easy to get swallowed up in the mystery of Amy Winehouse’s untimely July 23 death. But first things first, let’s remember that she was an amazing singer. Thankfully, Tony Bennett won’t let us forget.

This morning on what would have been Winehouse’s 28th birthday, the legendary singer released the full clip of his time at Abbey Road Studios in London with the late English siren while recording their duet “Body and  Soul.” The video shows a strong Winehouse coolly cooing alongside Bennett.

Even more precious than seeing her perform so well are the intimate moments revealed here. Seeing her alert, laughing, and hanging out behind the soundboard is how she should be remembered. Check out the clip after the jump.

READ FULL STORY »

Sep 13 2011 04:37 PM ET

Evanescence returns with new music video 'What You Want': Watch it here!

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Categories: Evanescence, Rock

It’s been a tumultuous few years for Evanescence.

Ever since the band broke out with 2003′s Bring Me To Life, they’ve gone through more line-up switches than Destiny’s Child (and Gemini’s Twin) did during the “Jumpin Jumpin” era.

So it’s understandable that lead singer Amy Lee has some things she wants to get off her chest in Evanescence’s new video for “What You Want,” the first single off the band’s oft-delayed third album, Evanescence, which is set for release on October 11.

Check out the heavy goth-rock head-banger below: READ FULL STORY »

Sep 13 2011 03:49 PM ET

Anthrax's Scott Ian on playing Yankee Stadium, getting inspiration from 'Lost,' and facial hair

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Categories: Anthrax, Megadeth, Metal, Metallica, Q&A, Slayer, Things That Are Loud
Scott-Ian

Image Credit: Cory Schwartz/FilmMagic.com

As any devil-horn devotee will tell you, metal is forever.

There will always be a cadre of kids looking to bang their heads, which is why hard and loud music has endured the ups and downs of the musical marketplace in the 21st century.

Case in point: The biggest concert event of the fall concerns a quartet of bands who were all founded in or before 1983. After a well-received weekend in Indio, California, earlier this year, Metallica, Slayer, Megadeth, and Anthrax have come east and will take the stage at Yankee Stadium on Wednesday night, September 14. It will be a huge, loud spectacle, the kind that only metal veterans can deliver.

It’s an extra-busy week for Anthrax, who not only have the hometown show to look forward to (the founding members of the band are all from New York) but also their tenth album to promote (it’s called Worship Music, hits stores today and features the first recordings with singer Joey Belladonna in two decades).

EW caught up with guitarist Scott Ian to talk about the new album, the Big Four, and why he no longer buys Rolling Stone.

ENTERTAINMENT WEEKLY: With the Yankee Stadium show and the new album out, is this the busiest week in Anthrax history?
SCOTT IAN: It very well could be. It started last Tuesday, and now it’s really ramping up.

How did Worship Music come together?
We spent most of the time working on this record last fall. Joey rejoined the band in the beginning of 2010 and we spent most of the year on the road doing Big Four shows and then another tour with Slayer and Megadeth, which we called the Almost Big Four. We spent pretty much every day in the dressing room working on that record. We had something like 14 tracks, and it was just a case of listening to them and nitpicking the hell out of them. Once we finished that tour, we were ready to go back in and re-record stuff and let Joey go in and sing everything.

The song that really stands out to me is “The Constant.” Can you tell me where that came from?
That was one of the first songs that came together, at least musically. It went through a couple of different rewrites. The idea initially came from an episode of Lost called “The Constant.” READ FULL STORY »

Sep 13 2011 01:32 PM ET

Rockers We Were Promised Jetpacks get lovely and violent for 'Medicine' video: Watch the EXCLUSIVE premiere here!

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Categories: An EW Exclusive!, Indie Rock, Music Videos, Things That Are European, Video Exclusive, We Were Promised Jetpacks

Edinburgh indie-rock outfit We Were Promised Jetpacks released one of the most critically-acclaimed albums of 2009 in These Four Walls, and after spending the better part of the last two years on the road with the likes of Passion Pit, Tokyo Police Club, and Jimmy Eat World, they’re back with a new album called In the Pit of the Stomach.

It hits stores on October 4, and like its predecessor, it’s full of spectacularly jittery guitar workouts that are heavy on melody and even heavier on Scottish charm.

The album’s first single “Medicine” is a prime example — sending great bushels of guitar fuzz and breathless hi-hats tumbling down a mountain of melody.

The song’s accompanying video is a thrillingly gritty affair that carries on the grand tradition of vigilante justice by way of elaborate super-hero costumes and in-your-face violence. Watch the exclusive premiere of “Medicine” below: READ FULL STORY »

Sep 13 2011 12:03 PM ET

'Gaga by Gaultier': Top Five Moments from the pop star's interview with the fashion designer

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Categories: Lady Gaga, Music, Things We Maybe Knew Already
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Image Credit: Slam Photography

Last night was the premiere of Gaga by Gaultier, in which kooky French fashion designer Jean-Paul Gaultier interviewed kooky worldwide pop star Lady Gaga.

Taped in May at Gaultier’s studio in Paris, the hour-long interview doesn’t cover a whole lot of new ground for die-hard fans, but does give a quick, True Hollywood Story-esque recap of her career for the rest of us.

And no Gaga interview would be complete without a generous helping of music-video clips to bookend her more out-there statements. Find our top five moments after the jump. READ FULL STORY »

Sep 13 2011 11:54 AM ET

Tupac's death, 15 years later: His five greatest performances still hold up

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Categories: Hip-Hop/Rap, In Memoriam, Tupac Shakur
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Image Credit: Steve Granitz Archive/WireImage.com

One of Chris Rock’s best bits comes from his 2004 album Never Scared, where he talks about a government conspiracy against rap music.

He hits upon a truth about murders in the rap world and the strange air of mystery that always surrounds them. “Tupac was gunned down on the Las Vegas Strip after a Mike Tyson fight,” Rock says incredulously. “How many witnesses do you need to see some s— before you arrest somebody? More people saw Tupac get shot than the last episode of Seinfeld!”

Seven years later — and 15 years after the rapper’s passing — there still don’t appear to be any more clues about his death. Rock’s version of the story is accurate: After attending the fight between Tyson and Bruce Seldon at the MGM Grand (Tyson won a first round TKO to win the WBA Heavyweight title), Pac rolled down the strip and was hit by a hail of gunfire that struck his chest, pelvis, hand, and thigh.

Unlike Biggie Smalls, who would die in similar fashion a few months later, Shakur actually fought through his initial injuries and was placed on life support after a series of surgeries. In fact, he was so adamant about getting up and leaving the hospital that he was put into an induced coma so that he could recover from the shots.

But Shakur ultimately passed away thanks to complications stemming from internal bleeding on Sept. 13, 1996. There was a certain amount of disbelief surrounding Tupac’s death; most people in the hip-hop community believed that he was going to pull through (after all, this was not the first time he had been shot). The day before, reports had even come through that his condition had been improving. But ultimately his wounds got the best of him.

When Biggie Smalls died, it was tragic because he was a clear talent taken too soon. Though Shakur also died well before his time, his passing came just as he was about to make a big crossover.

His 1996 album All Eyez on Me, the first double album in the history of hip-hop, was a gigantic commercial juggernaut that spawned a handful of hits (including “California Love”) and ultimately went platinum nine times. His acting career was also taking off, as he had received excellent marks for his performances in Juice and Poetic Justice and had three films in the can when he died; one of those movies, Gridlock’d, is actually an exceptional film.

Tupac truly seemed to be on the verge of building the sort of cross-platform entertainment empire later perfected by the likes of Snoop Dogg, Jay-Z, 50 Cent, and Ice Cube. He was alsoactively paranoid of dying young (a worry that was apparently justified), which is why he stockpiled verses and was able to release original albums well after his death.

Those albums don’t have the same impact as Me Against the World or All Eyez on Me, though they’re far better than they have any right to be (especially 2002′s Better Dayz, which contains some surprisingly elegant verses). With all that in mind, here are the top five Shakur performances in any medium. READ FULL STORY »

Sep 13 2011 09:13 AM ET

'Grey's Anatomy Vol. 4' soundtrack feat. Cee-Lo, Lykke Li, the National and more -- stream it here EXCLUSIVE

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Categories: Cee-Lo, Downloads and Streams, EW Exclusives, Indie Rock, Lykke Li, Soundtracks, The National

Oh, those crazy doctors and their anatomies!

While Grey‘s returns for its eighth season on Sept. 22, the show’s famously synced-up soundtrack is now on its fourth volume, out today.

Grey’s Anatomy Vol. 4, the series’ first outing in four years, contains a calvacade of alt and indie names — Lykke Li, Cee Lo Green, Peter Bjorn & John, the National, Scars on 45, and more.

You can order it on iTunes by clicking here, and get a full, free streaming sneak preview only on EW.com, below, along with the complete tracklisting: READ FULL STORY »

Sep 13 2011 08:15 AM ET

'Pop Up Video' reboot: Watch them skewer Britney Spears' 'Till the World Ends'

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Categories: An EW Exclusive!, Attack of the '90s, Britney Spears, Buzzworthy, Divas!, Guilty Pleasures, Ladies, Music, Music Videos, Pop, Television, Things That Are Awesome, VH1, Video Exclusive

VH1 announced back in May that it was resurrecting its beloved late ’90s/early ’00s series Pop Up Video, which successfully ran on the cable network (and was its highest-rated series for a time) from 1996 through 2002.

Well, that announcement is about to bear fruit: The show — which famously began the trend of playing back music videos and overlaying them with nuggets of behind-the-scenes info and other funny and/or snarky quips — is set to return Oct. 3.

Below you can check out the updated opening graphics, as well as the Pop Up version of Britney Spears’ apocalyptic dance party video for “Till the World Ends,” which will air in the two episodes that debut on premiere night. READ FULL STORY »

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