10 Songs That Should Be On Everybody's I-Pod

It's Sunday and I have time so here we go.

10. Back In Blood by 69 Eyes
09. Geek Stink Breath by Green Day
08. The Zoo by The Scorpions
07. Believe It Or Not (Greatest American Hero) by Joey Scarbury
06. There's Only One Way To Rock by Sammy Hagar
05. Underground by Men At Work
04. Bus Rider by The Guess Who
03. I Want Your Love by Transvision Vamp
02. On The Dark Side by John Cafferty & The Beaver Brown Band
01. I Got A Girl by Tripping Daisy

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Ke$ha Is A Cannibal

To quote the title track [I eat boys up, breakfast & lunch Then when I'm thirsty, I drink their blood Carnivore, animal, I am a Cannibal I eat boys up, you better run] I'm pretty sure she's being completely honest here. This song is fun and enticing which is exactly what anyone who enjoys Ke$ha wants when they put on her music. The E.P. continues to deliver with some strong material albeit very much the same as her full length debut album. She hits a homerun with "Grow A Pair" that totally rips on the touchy feely metro-sexual dudes we actual males can't stand. Her single "We R Who We R" is a good tune as well but pales when compared to "Sleazy", "C U Next Tuesday" and the previous two I wrote about. Overall totally worth buying and I highly recommend just getting the whole damn show being the delux version with the music videos included as well. A great X-mas gift for those who love the dance pop.

Song Highlights: Sleazy, Grow A Pear, C U Next Tuesday, Cannibal, We R Who We R & Blow

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Hinder - All American Nightmare

Well this now, the fourth album for Hinder and since they broke big with Lips Of An Angel in 2005 have been struggling to find that type of commercial success. The band hasn't gotten worse they've actually gotten better but are no longer the flavor of the month. The follow-up album in 2008 didn't do much for the band and they lost all momentum from their break through Extreme Behavior an album that only had a handful of good songs.

This time around the band repeat their better moments from the past with some up tempo rockers and slickly produced power ballads. I'm not sure that anyone is going to care about the band enough to push them onto radio where some of this material would do well. The songs "What Ya Gonna Do" and "The Life" are hits in the rock climate today but they might get overlooked by the moron's at their label like what happened with the last album. There are some pretty strong rockers in "Striptease", "2 Sides Of Me" and "Hey Ho" all worth the price of admission along with the first single "All American Nightmare". The albums worst track is "Everybody's Wrong" an overblown shit ballad that is probably the song that will blow up and be a hit because I have taste in music and the masses usually do not (Stephen Included) hehe kidding.

On an ending note "Put That Record On" closes what is the bands most consistent record so far and easily their best overall release even though "Use Me" and "The Best Is Yet To Come" are still the best single songs they've written yet this album has stronger songs than the rest of Take It To The Limit. Oh and this albums cover art is WAAAAY better too!

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Vaga - Kiss Of Life

Out of the gate this is pure MOR with a seriously good helping of the 1980's pushing it along. The band actually remind me in parts of The Outfield and oft of Jefferson Starship (not the We Built This Shity Version). The 80's were ripe with bands who sounded like this, take GTR for example who are another comparison you can add to a long list. On a few tracks I can almost here Joey Tempest wailing away and the band uses a lot of keyboards to bring their sound full circle.

If your a fan of MOR (Melodic Rock) then jump aboard and give these guys a spin I'm sure they will scratch that itch specially if your missing Mickey Thomas or Marty Balin's smooth vocals.

Song Highlights: Another, Headlights, Into The Wild, One Of A Kind & What It Takes

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Roger Hodgson - Classics Live

If the track listing isn't enough reason to be excited then you just don't understand the sheer greatness of Roger's song writing abilities. He's written some of the greatest songs that were produced in the 70's and was apart of one of the greatest rock albums ever in Breakfast In America along with Crisis What Crisis and Crime Of The Century his musical brilliance became the soundtrack to a generation. On this album he does a run through of the best music his former band released over the chorus of a near flawless span between 1970 and 1982. This was obviously the more important span of Supertramp's output.

Roger's voice is in fine form and his backing band is so good you wouldn't realize this wasn't from the recorded in Paris live album. With that said the tracks are all hits and classics from the time none of them are dogs and if your even a casual fan this one is worth owning.

Song Highlights: Pick any of the ten tracks they are all great!

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HelloGoodbye - Would It Kill You

The band that gave us the super catchy "Here (In Your Arms)" is back with a new sound, different members and lots of positive grooves to enjoy. The bands sound is more akin to soft acoustic pop than the auto-tuned vocal pop of their biggest single. The 2010 incarnation of the band have some of the best production you can hear on an album this year. The brightness and clarity of the instruments give the album a massive airy sound that instantly pleases my ears. Even though some of the material is lame the band still have a good portion in the positive column and a few homeruns as well. This album should not be ignored or missed the beautiful arrangements and spacial sounds are alone worth listening to the album.

Song Highlights: Getting Old, I Never Can Reflex, When We First Met & The Thoughts That Give Me The Creeps

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American Music Awards 2010

So the year of which the awards are being given out hasn't been the best but its been a good one for pop music. Lots of well written catchy pop tunes albeit too much auto-tune and digital vocal effects and much to much of the same five artists on nearly every track. But with that said here is my breakdown of the show and performances.

Opening the spectacle was Rihanna and typical of most award shows she is mixed badly and coming in cold she is most of the time out of tune missing notes here and there. She did improve as the performance unfolded but, If she was on Idol she'd be ripped to shreds by the judges and Simon would have told her she wasn't good enough to be there. Now on the other side the visual was astoundingly good. The ladies legs are some of the best pins a female could have and her costume was also very tasteful in the sense there wasn't much of one thankfully. When your as gorgeous as she is displaying yourself for us male viewers to enjoy is perfectly fine.

One thing I hate about award shows is the inherent need to thank god all the time. Who the fuck cares about that aspect of your life, keep it to yourself please! Thank the people who made you wealthy and come to your shows and buy your t-shirts, perfume and other shite then go the fuck away already. Better even stop allowing speeches completely cuz they are usually all the same no matter who's up there.

Usher takes the R&B award great goodbye now, BEP gets AMA number eight deservedly considering how they've owned the charts. Enrique Featuring Pitbull were fantastic and actually can sing in tune. I'd like to see Enrique live he's one of the better pop stars out there. Those two were one of the best of the night and sang one of the years best tunes as well in "I Like It". When Miley Cyrus came out singing her new single I was bored and then embarresed for her as she tried to emote the lyrics with awful facial expressions and hand gestures with overwrought arm swings. She has terrible stage presence and that hair tossing is just dumb and unnecessary. Her vocal was ok with some pretty flat spots tossed around she also got a weak reaction from the crowd as well.

Kid Rock sang powerfully with so much soul it was epic in itself. He didn't stand or use any flash he just bled from his soul with purity and honesty most couldn't imagine yet deliver in a performance. Ditty Dirty Money rapped poorly but rapped none the less, he's one of the worst rappers in history and I don't get why people like him. Another over blown ballad by Taylor Swift this time she wasn't terrible but she also can't really sing live. Then again even though I love her and all her charm and character she's not a great vocalist even in the studio. Ne-Yo another of the stronger performers used some nice video and sound effects to his dance steps. His stage presence is great and he can dance like Fred Astaire and Michael Jackson mixed together.

Katy Perry again strong performance and well anytime you get to watch her perform its hard not to drool. Her voice is great and it's not one of those perfect voices it has some quirks and charm which adds to her being defining instead sounding like all the other ones. Her pretty red outfit was sparkly and once the skirt was ripped away what can I say but wow. Oh and if you didn't hear "It's Pink Friday Bitch!" Nicki Minaj made the announcement. Justin Beiber proved yet again he can't sing very well and I've yet to hear him actually sing a line in tune. The kid is a studio magic creation and a media darling. He did clean up tonight and that's great to see a Canuck taking AMA's from the American artists. Oh did I mention how bloody awesome Kid Rock was tonight singing one of the many great tunes on his excellent new album Born Free.

Another great performance tonight was Ke$ha who pulled of a nice little medley ending with her latest single "We R Who We R". She is one of those few artists who is immediately identifiable when she sings. I really like her stuff even if its fluffy pop dance music she does it well and she can pull it off in a live setting. Bon Jovi came out and did a three pack of songs Jon sounded weak and can't sing "You Give Love A Bad Name" very well anymore but Richie's backing vocals were killer as usual. Best drummer on the stage all night was of course Tico Torres of Bon Jovi he just gets better with age and will be one of my favorite parts of the show on March 26th, 2011.

BEP came out with the coolest visuals of the show and performed "The Time (Dirty Bit)" albeit didn't sound as good as I expected after seeing them open for U2 and steal the show. Fergie was actually the weak link tonight but hey it's an award show and that's pretty common unless they lip-sync. Will.I.Am is the man and I just love his wicked auto tuned vocals, his voice is even cool when he just talks. I admit I was actually dancing while they were performing the song is just so damn catchy. When the uber talented Pink performed I was hella impressed and would go to Vancouver to see her live. She had a great choriographed dance team working her song with excellent visuals. She can nearly do no wrong with me but tonight she was cool as usual.

Christina Aguilera came out and did "Express" from Burlesque and she stole the show as she was top notch. She was absolutely the "BEST" singer of the night vocally crushing all the other females who performed. Good thing she didn't open the show cuz all the other woman would have went home not wanting to follow a nearly flawless performance. As soon as she starts singing you know right away to put on your seatbelt or your going to be blown over with the power that comes from that hot little package. Kid Rock was pretty good though if I forgot to mention him. Oh yeah and another fellow Canadian Michael Buble won an award Go Canucks Go!

Train did an acceptable version of their big single "Hey Soul Sister" but it was flawed all over the place. Then Godzilla crushing Tokyo didn't do as much damage as Santana and Gavin Rossdale did tonight when they ruined the greatest rock n' roll song ever written. I'm surprised that Marc Bolan didn't rise from the dead and beat Carlos to death with his guitar for that atrocity. It was so bad that it made me throw up in my mouth. If anyone liked that performance they are fucking retarded and have zero taste in music and I will be glad to punch you repeatedly in the nuts if your male and in the face if your female until your dead that is how fucking awful the performance was. I would rather listen to Lady Antebellum over that horrendous crap Santana spewed all over those poor people. I would have been booing if in attendance and yelling Santana sucks as loud as my voice would let me. Bloody awful and shameful and those two should be ashamed of what they did on stage tonight.

The show closed with two boy bands doing a mash-up medley which outside of not being able to sing the lead parts was kinda cool. They did a nice job of putting together their hits and the egos seemed to be in check for both Backstreet Boys and NKOTB. When they were all singing together it sounded fine but that could have been a backing track making the harmonies sound right. This awards show was good and unlike the MTV awards show a few months back had some talent and no Kanye (Shit Human) West.

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