#and the song overall is produced well. good classic broadway number

[guardians-ofthe-lastyoungkilljoy]

musicians that get constant stream on my Spotify

doing this cause I'm actually so bored. this is going to be a long post

5 Seconds of Summer (Australian)

I’ve loved these guys since their first album dropped and seeing them grow into these beautiful young men they are now fills my heart with so much love and pride. 

Year I started listening - 2014

First song I listened to - She Looks So Perfect

First 2 albums have pop-punk vibes. 2nd album gets quite personal and has helped me through some shit. 3rd album is different but cool. Very vibey alt-pop stuff. EPs are very underrated. 

All Time Low (American)

Whipped from the start. Probably the most unproblematic artist out there. Just a couple of boys who want to play their music and see their fans. Pure™️. On the final Warped Tour.

Year I started listening - 2017

First song I listened to - Dear Maria, Count Me In

All albums up to Don’t Panic are very pop-punk. Future Hearts is pop-punk but there was this idk growth thing and it was just somewhat different to its predecessors. Kind of the record where they grew out of the ‘whiny pop-punk sk8er bois’ and into more alt-rock. Last Young Renegade was very different. Some pop-punk tracks some alt-rock some completely different. Loved it nonetheless. New songs scream Dirty Work and I’m living for it. Dirty Work is also extremely underrated and everyone should listen to it. 

Boy Hero (American)

A bit like the love child of Sleeping With Sirens and Panic! At The Disco. Idk how to describe it but it’s hell good. 

Year I started listening - 2017

First song I listened to - How Far I'll Go (Cover). Rebel Flesh (Original song)

These guys have a whole bunch of covers. Self titled is pretty good. Also they like anime and they do twitch streams. Lead singer lowkey sounds like Brendon Urie. Got a powerful voice. 

Bring Me The Horizon (UK)

Big British metal core band

Year I started listening - 2018

First song I listened to - Can You Feel My Heart

First album was deathcore then went to metalcore and got less heavy over time. Lots of people didn’t like the last album but I liked it. It was different but good different. Liked how they decided to play with new sounds. Also makes it easier to cover their songs. 

Counterfeit (UK)

British rock band. Also surprise remember the guy who played Jace in the Mortal Instruments movie yeah well he’s the lead singer. 

Year I started listening - 2018

First song I listened to - Lost Everything

Got a some EPs and the album is great. Should not be slept on. 

Ed Sheeran (UK)

Ok everyone should know him or you’ve been living under a rock. 

Year I started listening - 2011

First song I listened to - Give Me Love

First album was straight up acoustic singer-songwriter stuff. Cute and stuff. Next 2 albums experimented with sound and it was great. There’s at least 1 song on each album that will make you cry. Actually went to his concert for the divide tour and it was great. Very chill. 

The Faim (Australian)

Alt-rock with some pop-punk influences in there. Fairly new band and went under the name of Small Town Heroes before the name change. Sounds a bit like Panic! At The Disco, Fall Out Boy and All Time Low.  

Year I started listening - 2018

First song I listened to - Midland Line

The EP Summer Is A Curse is out now and boy it is good. Just waiting for the album to be released. They wrote some tracks with Ashton Irwin, Mark Hoppus, Pete Wentz, Josh Dun and John Feldmann and Zack Cervini produced it. I have very high hopes for the album. Entire band has this amazing stage energy which is absolutely mesmerising to watch. 

Fall Out Boy (American)

Once again if you have’t heard of them you’ve been living under a rock.

Year I started listening - 2016

First song I listened to - Immortals (bless Big Hero 6)

Extremely pop-punk before the hiatus. Went into some cool different stuff after hiatus. Mania was very different than their previous albums and I actually didn’t like it too much at first but I gave it a few more listens and I loved it. 

Gang of Youths (Australian)

An Australian indie band. Different to what I usually listen to. Very chill.

Year I started listening - 2017

First song I listened to - The Deepest Sighs, The Frankest Shadows

Latest albums is amazing. All the albums have a mix of bops and sad songs so you never know what you’re going to be hit with. Great lyrics throughout. Talks about real life issues in a number of the songs, some personal to the band’s life.

Green Day (American)

You have been living under a rock if you haven’t heard of these guys.

Year I started listening - 2016

First song I listened to - Wake Me Up When September Ends

Before American Idiot was like underground punk rock songs. After American Idiot got some pop influenced melodies which got them into more mainstream rock. Bops, anger, sadness and overall feelings throughout. Broadway Musical version is extremely slept on and I saw the production and it is a masterpiece. Left me kind of breathless at the end.

Harry Styles (UK)

Living under a rock if you don’t know who this wonderful man is

Year I started listening - 2017

First song I listened to - Sign Of The Times

Super different from his 1D career. Has some old classic rock influences. Bops and sad songs throughout. Powerful voice and has an amazing stage presence. Media portrays him so badly when he’s actually such a wonderful human being.

I DONT KNOW HOW BUT THEY FOUND ME (American)

Ex Panic! member and ex Falling In Reverse member come together to make some cool different music. 2 beans chilling in a band together.

Year I started listening - 2018

First song I listened to - Choke

Music is kind of weird but cool. Bops throughout and should really release more music. Label company really needs to hurry up with whatever they’re doing cause the album’s finished but they haven’t released it.

Mayday Parade (American)

This band literally writes the saddest music known to humankind. Also unproblematic and everyone loves them. On the final Warped Tour.

Year I started listening - 2017

First song I listened to - Miserable At Best

First 3 albums are very pop-punk. Next 2 go into more alt-rock and pop-rock. Last album are a mix of both. It sounds pop-punk but still maintains that level of growth the band has gone through since the start of their career. Be prepared with tissues cause this band will make you cry. 

Mike Shinoda (American)

The rapper dude from Linkin Park. Literally the only rap artist I listen to.

Year I started listening - 2018

First song I listened to - Crossing A Line

Latest album is super personal but a masterpiece. Raps are amazing and vocals are on point. 

My Chemical Romance (American)

Should this even be on my list cause they’re not a band, they’re an idea

Year I started listening - 2016

First song I listened to - Welcome To The Black Parade

1st album was post-hardcore and somewhat depressing. Albums got less heavier over the years. Each album also has a different theme so there’s days where I feel like I need to listen to Danger Days and other days where I need to listen to The Black Parade. Also my music teacher likes them which really surprised me since he’s an old guy that likes to listen to jazz.

One Direction (UK)

Was a 1D fangirl and still is a 1D fangirl

Year I started listening - 2011

First song I listened to - What Makes You Beautiful

All of the albums are absolutely amazing. Got less pop over time. Lots of bops with some sadness thrown in which makes my heart hurt. Not afraid to bop to them in public.

Palaye Royale (Canadian)

Actually found them when CrankThatFrank did a video with them. Still waiting for the kazoo kid to perform with Satan’s Favourite Boy Band. Just 3 brothers who want to play some music. On the final Warped Tour.

Year I started listening - 2018

First song I listened to - Mr. Doctor Man

Boom Boom Room Side A is a quality album and I’m so hyped for Boom Boom Room Side B. Rock band that likes fashion and makeup. EPs have solid songs in them. 

Panic! At The Disco (American)

Living under a rock if you haven’t heard of them.

Year I started listening - 2016

First song I listened to - I Write Sins Not Tragedies

Each album has a different vibe to it so it depends on what you feel like that day on what you listen to. Didn't really like Pray For The Wicked but gave it a few more listens and I love it. 

Pierce The Veil (Mexican-American)

Post-hardcore band of Sexicans based in America. 

Year I started listening - 2017

First song I listened to - King For A Day ft. Kellin Quinn

Got less heavy over each album. Collide With The Sky is probably my favourite album. Currently writing album 5 which I am extremely excited for. Vic Fuentes’ voice is quite high and but you get used to it. Screams are excellent. 

PVMNTS (American)

Pronounced as pavements but they decided to not have vowels. Also remember Tyler Posey from Teen Wolf well yeah he’s the lead singer in the band. On the final Warped Tour.

Year I started listening - 2018

First song I listened to - Jumping Stairsets

Has a lot of early 2000s pop-punk influences. Sounds like Blink-182. Very excited for some more music from them. These guys did a UK tour with The Faim. Released an EP recently.

Shawn Mendes (Canadian)

Living under a rock if you haven’t heard of this sweet boy. 

Year I started listening - 2015

First song I listened to - Stitches

Newest album is very real and super chill. Got some new different sounds in it. First 2 albums are heavy on the singer songwriter genre. Amazing writing and his voice has a somewhat raspy tinge and extremely powerful at the same time.

Sleeping With Sirens (American)

Yes this is the band where the lead singer sounds like a girl.

Year I started listening - 2017

First song I listened to - If You Can’t Hang

Newest album is quite different to their past stuff but I really like it. Explored some issues in the songs which they haven’t previously done. Overall either angry or soft. 

Story Untold (Canadian) 

Pop-punk band. Lead singer (Janick Thibault) used to post a lot of covers on YouTube. Went under the name of Amasic before. Lead singer low-key sounds like Billie Joe Armstrong from Green Day. Also kind of looks like Alex Gaskarth and Awsten Knight. On the final Warped Tour.

Year I started listening - 2017

First song I listened to - History

2 albums out currently. 1st album was extremely pop-punk. 2nd album explored some different sounds but still pop-punk. Also signed to Hopeless Records. 

A Summer High (American)

Found them through CrankThatFrank when he did a reaction vid to songs I’ve never heard before. On the last Warped Tour.

Year I started listening - 2018

First song I listened to - Pretty Little Liar

Think fetus 5SOS and that’s basically their sound. Basically the kids who never left their pop-punk sk8er boi phase. Has quite a few covers and needs to tour with 5SOS. All 3 of them can sing and they sing like angels. 

SWMRS (American)

Yes this is the band that has Billie Joe Armstrong’s kid in it. Also it’s pronounced Swimmers. Just they didn’t like vowels. Originally named Emily’s Army but they changed the name. Found these guys through a reaction to songs I’ve never heard before from CrankThatFrank 

Year I started listening - 2017

First song I listened to - Lose It

Kind of like indie-surf-punk idk but it’s good. Drive North has some anger and some bops just an overall good album. Can’t wait for some new music from them. 

Twenty Øne Piløts (American)

Living under a rock if you haven’t heard of them. Can’t even begin to describe the genre cause they’re just that different.

Year I started listening - 2016

First song I listened to - Ride

Bops mixed with deep lyrics and sadness. Raps are amazing. Poetic writing. 2 talented beans who deserve so much. New music is heavier and it will go so hard live I cannot wait. 

The Vamps (UK)

I had a phase with this band and their first 2 albums get heavy repeat. 

Year I started listening - 2014

First song I listened to - Somebody To You

First 2 albums are absolute bops. Mixed feelings from their 3rd album. Vocals are great.

Waterparks (American)

Metaphors. Metaphors everywhere. God’s Favourite Boy Band. On the final Warped Tour. 

Year I started listening - 2017

First song I listened to - I’m A Natural Blue

The EPs are great also angry and a lil bit of screaming. This band are a blessing sent from heaven and are pure boys. Follow Awsten on Twitter for the best quality content. Don't expect anything from Otto on social media he never uses it. Double Dare is cute but also slightly angry. Entertainment is full of anger and angst and sadness and it’s beautiful. Excellent songwriting. 

With Confidence (Australian)

Pop-punk. Very pop-punk. Jayden Seeley has a beautiful voice. On the last Warped Tour.

Year I started listening - 2017

First song I listened to - Voldemort

First album is a poetic masterpiece. Some bops and some sadness (looking at you Long Night). Excellent songwriting throughout. Love and Loathing is probably one of the best albums of 2018.

Lol that’s it. Will probably update everytime I get into another band.

[thesweatycollectiontyrant]

1776

Funny how we have yet another patriotic musical. This one actually does start with a snare drum. Today’s Bop for America is 1776.

Background Info

1776 is a fantastic show that premiered on Broadway in 1969. It has a fun score, and something cool about it is that it doesn’t have too much music. Every song in the show feels and sounds very essential to the story and score. The plot involves the founding fathers signing the Declaration of Independence. Interesting story: 1776 holds the record for the longest time in a musical without music. Over thirty minutes pass between “The Lees of Old Virginia” and “But, Mr. Adams”. Orchestra members were even allowed to leave the pit.

Writers

1776 has music and lyrics by Sherman Edwards, who didn’t write much for the stage, but wrote hits for Elvis Presley and Sarah Vaughan. The book was written by Peter Stone, who has written plenty for the stage.

Who’s Singing?

I chose to listen to the 1997 Broadway Revival Cast Recording. The revival starred Brent Spiner as John Adams, Linda Edmond as Abigail Adams, and Gregg Edelman as Edward Rutledge.

 Let’s Do This

The overture begins with the sound of America. It segues into one of my favorite opening numbers, “Sit Down, John!” by a monologue delivered by John Adams. Then all the men bombard him.

“Sit Down, John!” is something of absolute genius. The constant shouting of “open up a window,” the orchestrations in it, all of it gives the ambience of a super hot room you have to get out of. The harmonies for the Congressmen are stacked really well, with some nice cross-voicing between the First and Second Basses, and boy, these notes get pretty high. The tenors get up to a Bb. Not to ignore that the chorus splits into six different parts. I love this opening number because it’s very memorable and exciting. It really does a good job of setting the mood of the show.

“Piddle, Twiddle, and Resolve” is a song for John Adams in which he complains about Congress’ lack of working. There are some great moments in the orchestrations, where the harpsichord and strings double each other in a nice way. Near the end, John’s wife, Abigail begins to sing and talk with John.

“The Lees of Old Virginia” is a sensational song. It is so boisterous! The word play is also incredib-Lee (why did I let myself do that) impressive. I love the guy playing Lee, Merwin Foard. He has a really big voice and it shows in this fun song.

I really enjoy the overall classical theme in this show. Something else that I think is very true to the time period, but also funny is that they constantly refer to states as Pennsylva-nee-uh and Virgi-nee-uh. Anyway, “But, Mr.  Adams” is a song where John Adams is trying to convince different representatives (and Ben Franklin) to write the Declaration of Independence. At the end, the men sing “we may see murder yet” and the tenors are on a high Bb. Already impressive. Then, the chord goes from a C7 to a Db chord and resolves to a nice big ol’ F major.

This next song, “Yours, Yours, Yours” started and I already knew I wasn’t going to like it. To confirm that feeling, they rhymed “vanilla” with “pillow”. There’s just a large sense of not knowing where the beat is in this recording. Come on, y’all.

“He Plays the Violin” is one of the more famous songs from the show because of Betty Buckley’s sheer greatness. Lauren Ward plays Martha Jefferson in this recording, and they took the song down a half-step for her. The song is normally in Eb and they took it down to D. Of course, there is a key change that goes up a half-step during the dance break. The song ends in Eb, rightfully so. Something Seth Rudetsky pointed out in his Deconstruction of this song that I really like is that the notes Martha sings are like how a violin is tuned: by fifths. The melody written out in solfege is “sol-do-so-re-la-la”. “Sol” to “re” to “la” are all fifths. If the composer wanted it to sound like a violin, that was a really awesome way to do it. Lauren Ward’s placement on “and then it will be” is absolutely remarkable. A pure “e” vowel. Like COME ON. I love it.

Dickinson and the men rejoice that John Adams isn’t around in “Cool, Cool, Considerate Men”. It features yet another genius rhyme of “Hosanna” with “banner”.

 It’s basically the Conservative men reminding everyone that they’re Conservative. That’s all I’m going to say on the subject. Decent harmonies. I actually do like the stacked harmonies on the word “cool” towards the end.

“Mama, Look Sharp” closes Act One. This song is so depressing. It’s about this guy who said both of his best friends died on the same day, and he describes the thoughts his friends might’ve had while they were dying. It’s very simple. I love it.

This show has the shortest Act Two I’ve ever seen with only four songs. “The Egg” opens Act Two with a trio between Thomas Jefferson, Ben Franklin, and John Adams, and also has the chorus. I love Pat Hingle as Benjamin Franklin because he is undeniably playing the character first and foremost even if that makes him sound bad sometimes.

There’s a lot of dialogue in this cast recording, which I like. Another more famous number in the show is “Molasses to Rum”. Sung by Edward Rutledge, who was once played by John Cullum on Broadway and in the film.This song plays a lot with compound rhythms, which is always challenging. This song is very interesting in terms of subject matter. South Carolina’s representative, Edward Rutledge is for slavery and accuses the northern colonies of being hypocrites because the prosperity of the North thrives on molasses, rum, and slaves. Obviously, the Congress doesn’t want this, so they do not remove the clause that condemns slavery, and the Carolinas and Georgia walk out. This song is probably one of the best written in the show because of its dramatic weight, but also the music in it is absolutely phenomenal. ALSO THE ENDING ON THIS RECORDING. Wow. Screaming trumpets.

Abigail has a little moment called “Compliments” that honestly should be longer. The women in this show are very short-changed.

John has the last song in the show, called “Is Anybody There?” He is discouraged, but determined. He decides to have a brighter look for the future of America. The ending is a little anticlimactic. The Liberty Bell rings while the men’s names are announced.

Audition Songs

“Piddle, Twiddle, and Resolve” - John Adams, Db3-Eb4

This is a very good song for a Baritone to sing. It’s not well-known, and there’s several places you could cut from.

“He Plays the Violin” - Martha Jefferson, Bb3-D5

This is a great song for Mezzo-Sopranos. It’s not incredibly high, and it has a nice classical flair to it. Just cut the men’s parts at the end.

“Molasses to Rum” - Edward Rutledge, Eb3-Ab4

This is a fantastic song. It is very well-written. It’s good for both performance and auditions. It has a really dark subject matter. This would be a really good song for an audition for a character like Dom Claude Frollo. Someone who has morally wrong beliefs, but they’re so sure that what they’re doing is right that it doesn’t matter that it’s actually wrong. Good for both Baritones and Tenors.

To Wrap It Up

This show would’ve worked a lot better as a play than a musical. I do suppose that I need to read the script to get the whole thing. Something that kind of annoyed me with this particular recording is that a lot of the written melody was either changed or spoken over. That’s annoying to me. Just sing it. I know that there have been productions where the cast has been changed to all women. That sounds so perfect. The theatrical world we live in today with people of color playing people who were probably white, like Hamilton, and Glenda Jackson playing King Lear should allow a Broadway production of 1776 with a completely female cast INCLUDING women of color. Or just a regular production with both men and women of color. Like, imagine Audra McDonald as John Adams. YES PLEASE. There was an Encores! Production of 1776 recently starring Santino Fontana as John Adams, and there were several men and women of color in the production, and it looked and sounded like 1776. Still the same show; just a different take on it. All in all, this is a good show. I think it should be produced more often, especially in today’s political state and climate. This show is also very accessible for high schools and colleges that could cast it gender-blind. Why not?

Get it.

[truemedian]

Even a lesser John Mulaney-hosted Saturday Night Live is pretty funny

John MulaneyScreenshot: Saturday Night Live TV ReviewsAll of our TV reviews in one convenient place. “I mean a lot to a small group of people.” If your third SNL hosting gig is your weakest yet and is still consistently funny, well, you’re probably John Mulaney. The former SNL writer turned award-winning stand-up and almost apologetic actor is just funny. That’s perhaps not an enlightening way to describe the guy, but there’s a certain kind of comedian who just is. That’s Mulaney, taking the mic for his third opening monologue since he left the writers room and slaying with habitual, deceptively effortless ease. Joking about his eccentric career path to date, Mulaney explained that he is the host who’d done the least between his second and third hosting stints, his self-effacing shtick both cheeky and spot-on. (A set-ender about a Make-A-Wish girl confessing that her second choice Mulaney introducing her to that week’s guest Lin Manuel Miranda actually made her wish come true struck exactly the Mulaney sweet spot of potentially edgy and hilariously apt.) Mulaney’s always going to be Mulaney (even as a cartoon pig) his specific, knowingly oversized delivery marking him out as the funniest voice in any room. That doesn’t necessarily make for the most versatile Saturday Night Live host, but, with Mulaney’s intimacy with the show to guide things, tonight’s episode made typically fine use of one of its funniest, if most unlikely, superstar alums. But back to funny. With a sketch veteran like Mulaney in house, jokes just work better. He knows the rhythm of a sketch inside out, and slots himself into a role with the confidence of a guy who simply knows how the machine operates. (A little cue card hesitancy notwithstanding.) Which is a good thing, as the sketches tonight weren’t themselves stellar. The big news any time John Mulaney hosts these days is just whichever aspect of New York culinary-mercantile sketchiness will be the subject of a lavishly produced musical number, and, while tonight’s Broadway ode to LaGuardia Airport sushi is third in line behind (in order of undeniable delightfulness) “Diner Lobster” and “Bodega Bathroom,” it follows the overall theme of the night that third-best Mulaney on SNL is still thoroughly enjoyable SNL. Look, nothing’s ever going to capture the surprise victory of that first sketch—just like any recurring bit, there’s an element of giving the audience what they’re there to expect that saps some of the initial live-wire weirdness from the enterprise. But, apart from the central players in the set-up (Chris Redd and Mulaney as the New Yorkers horrified at Pete Davidson’s unwise choice of NYC convenience amenity), there’s a no-doubt inexhaustible well of petty New York gripes and vomit-worthy eccentricities for Mulaney and his fellow Big Apple veterans to plumb for extravagantly silly numbers whose disproportionate response is part of the gag. Here, we get Kenan as a plane-downing goose Phantom, Cecily Strong as an operatically remorseful, long-ago sushi chef (that spicy tuna is from 2018), Kate McKinnon as pretzel-hawking Auntie Orphan Annie blaming everything on de Blasio, Beck Bennett as the somehow unaccompanied baby on your flight, and—capping things off with a double dose of Mulaney’s Sack Lunch Bunch shenanigans—musical guest David Byrne as a “Road To Nowhere”-singing “baggage handler who throws your luggage into Long Island Sound,” and Jake Gyllenhaal, rigged up to fly as the traveler in pajamas who’s creepily enthusiastic about the TSA pat-down. (“You don’t have to use the backs of your hands!”) Taking the whole show into the audience to end the sketch amidst a shower of loose-wire sparks with Byrne singing the way, the whole thing was delightfully, goofily unnecessary.

Best/Worst Sketch Of The Night

So, apart from that one, I thought Mulaney’s stand-up persona found its truest home in the Sound Of Music sketch, a musical dissection of just how creepy that whole “I am 16, going on 17" romance subplot is. With Cecily’s Liesl (in ridiculously fine voice as ever) beginning to question her beloved sort-of Nazi suitor Kurt’s blond, Aryan suitability, Mulaney keeps slipping in the sort of wise-ass asides his comedy is built around, as Kurt keeps confessing to being more like “17, going on 47" as the song goes on. (Oh, and he’s planning to move them into an apartment with a lot of suspiciously Aryan roommates, including one named Goebbels.) With Mulaney’s Kurt alternating between snarking about his beloved’s growing number of reservations (“Wow, she’s got a list.”), and smoothly crooning away her reservations about the whole Nazi thing (“Focus on the age stuff.”), the piece was a perfect use of Mulaney. Him assuring Liesl, “This is Austria, nineteen-thirty-bad: In a few weeks this will be the least of your worries,” was the ideal synthesis of host, delivery, and premise. Any sketch matching Kate and Aidy at its center is an automatic contender, and the return of their melodramatically feuding 1950s sisters in the classic Say, These Two Don’t Seem To Like Each Other gave the ever-delightful duo a chance to outdo each other with bitchy period skullduggery in advance of their shared suitor’s arrival. The joke is, once again, that their Davis-Crawford (pretty much literal) back-stabbing proves helpless against the unwitting charms of a much more conventionally attractive family member (here, Mulaney’s returning sailor and “pass-around party bottom”). Having the joke that Beck Bennett’s Admiral (somehow being promoted from Corporal last time) is in a closeted frenzy at Mulaney’s oblivious nautical sexiness (shades of Kimmy Schmidt’s “Daddy’s Boy” and Hail, Caesar!’s “No Dames”) is hacky but funny, with Beck, Kate, and Aidy all doing absurdly over-the-top mugging (including a straight-up “Ha-ga-goo-ga-goo-ga-gaaa!”) while maintaining their 1950s film noir demeanor, and I laughed at pretty much all of it. Mulaney’s gift for straight-manning (as opposed to party-bottoming) was used to fine effect again in the meme sketch, where his suburban uncle angrily whips up a slide show of college-age nephew Pete Davidson’s reddit jokes at his expense. Mulaney makes the uncle’s outrage at being the internet’s #whitecollarvirgin simultaneously righteous and comically out-of-touch, as the memes keep coming. (His awkwardly grinning Facebook profile picture overlaid with “When ya’ll kissing and she say, ‘That’ll be $200'” is introduced with Mulaney’s hilariously perplexed, “This next one was tweeted by rapper Ice-T!”) There’s not much more to the sketch but watching Mulaney flesh out a portrait of out-of-touch suburban dudgeon, but’s just so great at it. Like more than a few sketches tonight, there were some pacing/timing issues, here mainly at the expense of an ending. Beck Bennett and Kyle Mooney got to do their behind-the-scenes thing with a filmed sketch about Mooney—tired of all the “geek” roles coming his way—deciding to turn their shared office into a gym in order to get cast in Mulaney’s proposed male stripper sketch. The pair’s signature self-parody here clanks alongside the admirable monstrousness of Mooney’s post-transformation prosthetics, as he immediately becomes a smugly buff, absurdly pumped-up dudebro (thanks to, among other things, the absurdist delight that is guest trainer Justin Theroux as himself), scooping a muscles-smitten Chloe Fineman into an offhand sex-date and allowing a bashful Lorne Michaels to pet his newfound bulges. Good Neighbor pals Mooney and Bennett’s humor traffics in such light cringe comedy, as clueless strivers inevitably find their lowest level, as, here, the horrifying, gravel-voiced, ’roid-gremlin version of Kyle, having made himself “less interesting” for glory, is summarily fired from the show by an unimpressed Mulaney. Lurking at the heart of most of these sketches is a mingled affection/contempt for the bottom-dwellers of the entertainment industry, pitiable losers whose lifelong consumption of TV and movies has left them convinced that they are just one big break (or Tupperware full of lean, broiled chicken breasts and a 5 p.m. bedtime) away from the stardom they just know is their birthright, and Mooney, especially, is most comfortable playing around there. (Also, filming schedules being what they are, it’s unlikely this sketch is in response to Pete Davidson’s off-weeks’ interview about being typecast on the show, but there’s a harsh but essential truth about living or dying on SNL that’s resonant throughout the bit.)

Weekend Update update

Che continues to successfully play around with his role on Update, here breaking from a joke about the growing coronavirus threat to muse about his fears that they’ll play an Update clip of him mocking the typically lame and self-serving Trump administration response to the crisis at his funeral. In what former SNL-er Al Franken would call “kidding on the square,” Che confessed to “sitting here pretending to care about politics,” before whipping off his clip-on tie, whipping out a tumbler of something brown (“Why am I hiding my drinking problem?”), and, finally, donning a crooked baseball cap as he essayed the role of a Michael Che who’s finally been broken by all the world’s unrelenting horseshit. It’s a blessedly funny move, carried out through the rest of Update (“You know, I just found out I might have a kid?,” he’s heard mumbling after the camera cuts back to the straight-faced Colin Jost), and it adds a frisson of reckless abandon to his side of the proceedings that’s sloppily energizing. “I feel free,” he exclaims at one point, and his story about his beloved grandma telling him, “We are living in our last days,” lands satisfyingly, before Che rambles on to rebut granny’s “no white girls” rule. (“I work in show business, that’s unrealistic.”) Joining in on the cold open’s queasy mockery of the prospect of noted fundamentalist and science skeptic Mike Pence leading the uninspiring cadre of sycophants, yes-men, and non-doctors Trump put in charge of fighting a potentially deadly outbreak of disease, Che did resort to yet another SNL “Mike Pence is secretly gay” joke. And I could have done without the “Chinese people eating dogs” joke when supposedly defending the virus hotspot, too, although, for Che, loosening up seems to come yoked to being sort of an asshole. Otherwise, Update’s cracks at the news of the day went as usual. Jost let Trump hang himself with his own slurred nonsense (Thank god we have “different elements of medical” on the coronavirus front), and—echoing Trump’s rhetorical gambit of using supposedly overheard chatter to disseminate patently absurd nonsense to the world—deftly managed to get the hashtag #TrumpSlump trending during the show when talking about what he’s definitely heard people calling the precipitous stock market losses since Trump started babbling incoherently about the “hoax” outbreak of a rapidly accelerating infectious disease outbreak. Hey, if that’s the world of public discourse we live in at this point, then fighting hashtag with hashtag is fair game, so good on you, Jost. Chris Redd, taking the well-known SNL path of making yourself a showcase on Update when you’re being underused elsewhere, put together a solid few minutes as himself, commenting on the just-concluding Black History Month. As with most such pieces, the jokes sprayed all over the place, although nominally anchored to the central premise that, as Redd put it, black people “took too many Ls” for Black History Month this year. Straying into politics while keeping his eyes on the joke, he ably described SC primary winner Joe Biden as Joe “I have a black friend” Biden, and noted how watching the garrulously long-winded Biden give a speech is like “watching an old man parallel park his thoughts for 20 minutes.” On Trump’s hastily disseminated photo of himself surrounded by the handful of black Trump supporters he could get to pray over him, Redd, in his best turn of phrase, described the gathered worshipful as “White House negroes,” and ran down some of the more egregiously misguided corporate appropriations of Black History Month, including that credit card that makes it look like Harriet Tubman is either saluting Wakanda or “she got recaptured.” Weekend Update has long been a place for cast members to present their own, individualized versions of the newsreader gig, and, should Jost follow through on his suggested post-election departure, this is about as good a tryout as Redd could give.

“What do you call that act?” “The Californians!”—Recurring sketch report

The John Mulaney “I hate New York” Musical Showcase; the Kate-and-Aidy 1940s Femmes Fatale Extravaganza.

“It was my understanding there would be no math”—Political comedy report

Hey, everyone’s going to get super-sick! So that’s funny. Or it could be, I suppose, if the cold open didn’t shy away from the aforementioned flop-sweat generator that is Mike (“condoms don’t work, pray away AIDS, smoking doesn’t kill, climate change is a myth, intelligent design”) Pence is in charge of mustering the nation’s medical defenses to wheeze into another underwhelming Democratic slate sketch. Again, the joke that noted frothing gay-basher Pence is in the closet is (whatever the truth may be) beyond played out at this point, although at least Beck Bennett’s strident Pence nodding toward his willful disregard of scientific truth by calling the coronavirus a test of his faith “like dinosaur bones, or Timothée Chalamet” was half-smart. And Kenan Thompson coming out as Ben Carson (“the brain surgeon that they put in charge of house development”) was the usual hoot, with Kenan’s approximation of Carson’s singsong cadence making his dire predictions about the toll of the virus extra alarming, especially to Pence, who hurriedly shoves Carson aside for straying from the administration’s sweaty “All is well!” public stance on the topic. That things veered suddenly into a another stealth Dem candidate sketch could have served to hammer on the theme, I suppose (although simply following through on the premise might have been an idea, too.) But things quickly turned into the same unsatisfying quick-hit impressions and internecine sniping among the candidates, an exercise that’s seeming more and more like a slightly unimpressive audition process for who’s going to be the eventual nominee. (Sort of like the much of the actual remaining Democratic field, but I digress.) Honestly, only the (increasingly unlikely looking) prospect of a four-year Elizabeth Warren-Kate McKinnon reign holds any interest for me at this point, McKinnon’s spot-on impression the only one to go much beyond the surface into something more substantive. (You know, like the actual Warren, but I digress.) As for the rest, we have ringers like Larry David’s Bernie Sanders and Fred Armisen’s Mike Bloomberg. And while who doesn’t like David’s gabbling, kvetchy Sanders, there are some issues. Namely that SNL can’t think of much to do besides grumpy old candidate jokes with the surging potential nominee (although a passing reference to Bernie’s “Castro wasn’t all bad” remarks this week at least nodded toward actual engagement). Also, as much fun as Larry seems to be having coming back to 30 Rock every other week, it’s unclear if he’s on board for a theoretical Alec Baldwin-style regular gig should Sanders win. As for Bloomberg—meh. He’s not going anywhere politically, and, as primly humorous as is Armisen’s shrugging rich guy approach to this whole “let the poor people decide” thing is, it’s yet another role whose farming out to a higher profile outsider continues to signal the show’s lack of confidence in its in-house talent. Same goes for Rachel Dratch’s Amy Klobuchar, whose best hope at this point is a Vice Presidential gig (on both fronts). There’s nothing wrong with any of these funny people or what they’re doing per se. It’s more that there’s no reason for them to be there, and that these sketches remain irritatingly shallow. On the in-house side, that seeming lack of confidence appears not so much borne out in these openers as untested. Sure, Colin Jost barely tries to conceal how unsuited he is to play college chum Pete Buttigieg, and the absence of other ringer (and other Dem impersonation I could stand to see more of) Jason Sudeikis saw the Joe Biden spot going to Mulaney (who would likely be the first to admit that celebrity impressions aren’t in his wheelhouse). But, what with SNL’s proven disregard for gender-appropriate political casting of late, the fact that able mimics Melissa Villaseñor and Chloe Fineman and nimble actresses Heidi Gardner and Ego Nwodim remain on the bench is increasingly vexing. As for the actual sketch, it was the same too-glib drive-by, with only Warren’s gloating over her debate trouncing of Bloomberg registering, in McKinnon’s lived-in performance, with any juice. Meh.

I am hip to the musics of today

Goddamn, that was great, as David Byrne (late of the aforementioned Sack Lunch Bunch), joined Mulaney and delivered a pair of electric live performances. He did “One In A Lifetime” first, and it’s striking just how Byrne keeps that well-trod Talking Heads song from receding into classic hits predictability in performance. That song is as weird and satirically biting as ever, as much as its ubiquity threatens to turn it into just another toothless oldie, and, with his identically grey-suited backup musicians all channeling that old Stop Making Sense spirit with their non-stop individualized choreography and musicianship, the song—with the 67-year-old Byrne holding center stage, as deceptively limber as ever—was a showstopper. So, too, the rousing second number, the Byrne-penned “Toe Jam,” where Byrne ceded even more time for each member of his expansive musical team to shake their stuff in the individual spotlight. Easily one of the most enjoyable musical guests in years, Byrne remains a one-man show unafraid to let others steal the show. Just bottomless fun.

Most/Least Valuable Not Ready For Prime Time Player

Not building sketches around the proven talents of performers like Nwodim, Fineman, Villaseñor, and Gardner just seems perverse at this point. SNL’s second line looks thin in the talent department because nobody’s making use of them. The LaGuardia extravaganza gave Cecily, Kenan, Kate, and Beck plenty to sink their teeth into, but Cecily’s second singing showcase of the night puts her on top.

“What the hell is that thing?”—The Ten-To-Oneland Report

Well, at least we got Chris Redd’s welcome and funny comic tribute to Black History Month on Update, so the muddled mush of the Jackie Robinson sketch can stay the ten-to-one oddity it is. Kenan is delightful, don’t get me wrong. As the lone black man to boo color-line-busting legend Robinson, his Dodgers fan Terrence “The Enlarged Heart” Washington was a funny construction, his petty jealousies trumping any sense of racial pride or loyalty. As the 1940s white fans around him look on puzzled at Washington’s animosity toward the first black MLB player, Kenan makes his frustrated non-ballplayer’s grudge almost but never quite hilarious, although the way his bewildering heckling keeps igniting pockets of revealing racism beneath the white fans’ sporting loyalties is fairly pointed. Beck Bennett’s loudmouth fan immediately starts an “Oh, so it’s all right to boo white guys?!” side-argument that ultimately and inevitably sees him getting carried away by telling Robinson to go back to the Negro Leagues where he belongs. Still, the funniest joke is when Kenan, berated by bleacher-mate Mulaney for talking that way in front of his kid, notices the young black child sitting next to him and exclaims, “I don’t know this kid!” Stray observations Kate, as The Sound Of Music’s Maria, sings her own reassurance concerning her relationship with the Captain, “I’m old enough, but it’s still kind of dicey.” Jost, on Joe Biden’s resurgent Democratic primary win in South Carolina: “But, in keeping with South Carolina tradition, the losers will get the statues.” (In front of photo of a Confederate monument.) Mulaney’s monologue has me scanning the internet to see if he’s scored another Netflix special yet. (Not yet, apparently.) From going as close to the edge as he gets with jokes about Jesus forgetting to do magic on the one occasion he could really have used it, to that Make-A-Wish anecdote, to a great run about how crappy the Founding Fathers really were, to a straight-up joke about Trump being stabbed to death Caesar-style by some senators, it was tight and focused and very, very funny. On that assassination joke, Mulaney reassured everyone, “I asked my lawyer if I could make that joke, and he said, ‘Let me call another lawyer,’ and that lawyer said yes.” Mulaney’s Kurt, to Liesl: “Oh, age is just a number that the government keeps track of.” Redd kids on the square that the withdrawal of all black candidates for president has meant less airtime for him. After Che—still in booze-swilling carefree mode—jokes that Ash Wednesday is the one day a year when Catholics can indulge in “a little bit of blackface,” Jost signs off, laughing, “For Weekend Update, I’m Catholic . . .” All welcome Che’s proposed new Houston Astros mascot, Cheatie the Camera. Before Davidson’s customer makes his ill-gated sushi purchase, he and Redd buy “a Chobani yogurt with no spoon to eat it with” and “a $15 dollar Dasani, extra plastic.” Once more the show ended awfully abruptly, so here are the full goodnights again. Good night! Daniel Craig and The Weeknd next week! Read More Read the full article

[gibelwho]

Two Tales of the Bronx

How does one determine the material that would be a good fit for a musical adaptation? If a range of topics, such as America’s founding fathers to re-creating animated movies to adapting comic book characters can be done - why not take a mobster flick set in the 1960s and pull that onstage with some big Broadway numbers? As it turns out, some material translates better onscreen than onstage and A Bronx Tale (1993) is an example of an excellent film that becomes confounding on the Broadway musical stage (although the story did begin as a one man play, written and performed by Chazz Palminteri in an off-Broadway theater). Despite that fact, Robert De Niro’s directorial debut stands on its own merit as a compelling portrait of a young man growing up in New York City amongst mobsters, racial tensions between neighborhoods, and bursts of reckless violence. 

While sitting on the stoop of his Bronx apartment building as a nine year old, young Calogero (Francis Capra) witnesses the local mobster Sonny (Chazz Palminteri) commit murder during a street altercation in broad daylight. Having been enamored with the man’s charm and rule of the neighborhood, the young boy does not identify the man to the police. Sonny takes a liking to the kid, nicknaming him “C” and giving him small jobs to earn money, much to the chagrin of his working-class and honest-to-a-fault father (Robert Di Nero). Flashforward to C’s late teenage years (Lillo Brancato, Jr.), and he is ensconced in the fringes of Sonny’s world of the Italian New York Mafia. C meets a young Black girl named Jane (Taral Hicks) and is instantly smitten, despite the cultural and racial tensions between Italian-Americans and the Black neighborhoods. He arranges a date and borrows Sonny's fancy car to make a good impression, but their budding attraction breaks down after members of C’s gang beat up a group of Black cyclists, including Jane’s brother. After tense arguments with Jane, his father (who doesn’t approve of his dating an African-American), and with Sonny, C joins his friends who are seeking to cause more destruction in the Black neighborhood, planning on destroying Black businesses with homemade Molotov cocktails. Sonny intervenes and demands C leaves their company, effectively saving his life as the attack is turned against them and the gang is killed. C makes up with Jane and returns to the local bar to thank Sonny in person, when the relative of the man Sonny murdered many years ago returns to seek vengeance, killing the local Mafia king on his own turf. Distraught over Sonny’s death, C is shocked to find his father attending Sonny’s casket to pay his respects, and he reflects upon the lessons he learned from his two fathers.

Robert De Niro has had a towering career as an actor, solidified by a partnership with the great Martin Scorsese, one that had often tackled the topic of Mafia life. Therefore, it was no surprise that his first undertaking as a director would also examine the subject of a young man growing up on the streets of New York City amongst the influence of the mob. His directing choices are economical, forgoing flashy sequences for clarity, and giving the space to his actors to deliver upon their scenes. Doubling his duties on the shoot, De Niro also takes on the role of C’s father Lorenzo, who struggles to carve out a relationship with his son in competition with the more suave and rich figure of Sonny. De Niro’s highlight of the film is the scene where he returns the money that C has earned by doing odd jobs for Sonny, standing up to the local mob leader and attempting to draw a line for his son that he is never able to truly enforce as C grows up enamored with Sonny and mob life. De Niro is able to deliver on both the vision of the movie as the director, and infuse C’s father with faults, humanity, and the best intentions of a protective father.

The theme of masculinity is the driving force behind the film’s narrative, and the competing examples of the two figures in C’s life that attempt to guide his transition from a youth to a man. His father’s stern disavowal of the mob life, preaching to his son about the virtues of hard work, honest wages, and keeping out of trouble are the righteous path of a father, but difficult for C as a youth to understand the larger forces that his father is fighting. His stature is also diminished when he displays disapproval of his son dating a Black woman, infusing his character with faults that were prevalent at the time. Sonny, on the other hand, is a local mobster, a murderer, and would choose fear over love to keep his subordinates in line - but he also has a genuine care and love for C, supporting his desire to date Jane and telling him not to let his father, his friends, or society tell him otherwise. Sonny constantly tells the teenage C to not follow in his footsteps, adamantly conveying that his choices should not be C’s future; “Don't do what I do. This is my life. This is not for you.” He is constantly pulling him out of dangerous situations with his degenerate friends - youths that one imagines could someday be in Sonny’s employ, but with whom he doesn’t want C associating. Despite his surroundings and friend group, the actor who portrays the teenage C retains the youthful and innocent aura captured in the younger actor’s portrayal as well. The two father figures in C’s life are both flawed men, but who have the best of intentions for the young man, a realization he comes to after seeing his father pay respects to Sonny after his death. 

The opening sequences of the film sets up the coming of age story of a boy surrounded by the influence of his honest father and his mobster father figure, therefore the insertion in the second half that focuses on racial relations and the inevitable tensions was quite the turn of expectations. The first scene where C and Jane meet and walk together is a delicate dance of embarrassed crush energy, tentatively trying to understand each other’s intentions, direct flirting, and making plans for spending more time together; however, once they get into Jane’s neighborhood, they suddenly realize that they can’t complete their walk together. C is chased out of the neighborhood by the stares and postering of the young Black men on the street, and direct violence happens in the Italian neighborhood when Black kids on their bicycles are attacked. The forces up against the potential couple are starkly defined, as both struggle with the disapproval of their families, friends, and the violence that has broken out within their neighborhoods. They fight against those prejudices and can’t help but be drawn to each other; one wonders how they fare after the credits roll and the tensions rage on through the 1960s.

The film opens on a night view of New York City, with a lush and tight vocal harmony crooning in the background, a slow-burning doo wop about the streets of the Bronx, which sets both the scene and context for the movie - declaring the “streets of the Bronx is where I want to be” and firmly entrenching the film with the sounds of the Black cultural music of the era. Although focusing on the growth of an Italian-American boy, there are no Godfather-esque themes gracing this soundtrack; rather, the mix of Motwon, doo wop, and Jimi Hendrix (with the occasional Dean Martin classic thrown in for good measure) paint the film’s soundscape. Perhaps it was the integral nature of the film’s music that inspired the Broadway musical, or perhaps writer Chazz Palminteri’s desire to bring his story back to the stage in a new format, but the musical opened in 2016 at the Longacre Theatre. With a book by Palminteri, co-directing credit with De Niro, and a score written by Alan Menken and lyrics by Glenn Slater, the show began a national tour in 2018 and soon came to Los Angeles, where we saw it at the Pantages Theatre.

At the outset, I must crow my musical theater bonafides. I performed regularly in musicals during my youth, we have yearly subscriptions to theater and attend even more ad hoc performances, and I’m systematically working alphabetically through all musicals from A to Z. In short, I really love musicals. This musical, however, never fully mastered the tone of shifting from serious dramatic moments to belting a big Broadway tune. While the musical score attempted to pull in elements of the doo wop from the film, Menken couldn’t resist shifting to more traditional Broadway numbers and therefore lost the feeling captured in the original film. Unfortunately, the lyrics were also pretty basic at best and eye rolling at worst. For example “hey Lorenzo, we should talk / I’m his father, so take a walk.” or “She likes the pepperoni, she isn’t fit for matrimony.” There were some highlights, specifically the movement of the sets as they  flowed around the stage to create compelling visual shapes. The sequence where Sonny’s crew is introduced is incredibly creative staging - each member would stand up straight, lit by a bright white light and camera clicking sound, and turn to the right with the sound repeated, all to mimic the effect of a mug shot. Additionally, the choreography and dancing were excellent (lots of cool flipping!), but none of these elements saved the musical from the disastrous tone management where a dramatic scene almost...took a break for a bright musical interlude and a less than inspiring song. Finally, the closing act took a lot of plot shortcuts and produced chaos onstage; if I hadn’t just seen the movie, I would have had an extremely difficult time following the narrative of what was going on. 

Overall, Chazz Palminteri has found many formats and expressions in order to tell his semi-autobiographical tale of him growing up in the Bronx. From my viewings, the film version was the most successful of those interpretations, featuring wonderful performances by Palminteri, De Niro, and a young Francis Capra. The music element, while so successful at setting the tone of the film, was the weakest element of the stage production. The direct confrontation of racial issues in the early 1960s was a narrative surprise, but gave the story much more depth than just exploring the dueling father figures in C’s life. Ultimately, the film reminds us to take the best lessons from our parental figures and that the saddest thing in life is wasted talent.

[biodiscography]

Billy Joel

1. Cold Spring Harbor (1971)- In a sense, Billy Joel didn’t quite sound like Billy Joel yet here. He definitely hadn’t established any sort of unique style on this album, and it 100% sounds like it fits right in with the entire 70s soft singer-songwriter thing. That being said, he actually does it pretty well, and I think this album is probably better than it gets credit for. At times, he does the James Taylor thing better than James Taylor. Songs like “Why Judy Why” on one hand sound like they could be by any 70s singer-songwriter, but showcase a little extra young angst and edge that I found pleasantly surprising. Still, I’m glad that I know he’ll promptly move on from this sound. “She’s Got a Way” is definitely the song that best embodies the style he’ll begin to formulate after this album, and it slots in well with many of his classics. 

Favorite song: “Why Judy Why” 

2. Piano Man (1973)- Okay, we’re starting to establish Billy Joel’s defining characteristics now. Some of the cinematic and theatrical elements that he goes on to draw on heavily at times in his career start to build a foundation here, and his style of storytelling both gets its launch and potentially reaches its peak with the title track. “The Ballad of Billy the Kid” really jumps out to me as a defining moment. Kid from the Bronx sings about the wild west really reaches an impressive level of inauthenticity, and yet it totally works for me— I think this sort of sums up his whole career. This song is so silly, but the melodies rip and the way he draws on cinematic music writing in combination with song and storytelling sheds light on both what Joel’s gift is and why some are so put off by it.  

Favorite song: “Piano Man” 

3. Streetlife Serenade (1974)- Now this really sounds like an artist finding their footing, and it doesn’t come together here. He seems to take his penchant for cinematic scoring and go the whole nine yards with it. It sounds like a movie soundtrack (there are two instrumentals), but most of them don’t really stand out as songs. He seems to try to go a little early Springsteen with these urban flavored stories, but I can’t imagine many of these songs sticking with me. 

Favorite song: “The Entertainer” 

4. Turnstiles (1976)- This is a huge step forward and an underrated album. This one is fantastic, top to bottom. From the start, he starts to bring in a more of the 60s pop/Phil Spector sound with the “Be My Baby” beat of “Say Goodbye to Hollywood” to open the album. Right after that, “Summer, Highland Falls” goes back to the softer 70s songwriter sound but does it better than Joel ever had. This album covers a lot of territory in short amount of time but manages to mostly remain cohesive with so many standout tracks like “Prelude/Angry Young Man,” “Miami 2017 (Seen the Lights Go Out on Broadway),” and one of his signature songs, “New York State of Mind.” I imagine this is in the conversation for his best. 

Favorite song: “Summer, Highland Falls” 

5. The Stranger (1977)- Well, this is his best. Whether it’s the big stand out singles like “Only the Good Die Young” and “Just the Way You Are” or some of his best album tracks like “Vienna,” these songs all show him at his best. The more story oriented, rich in the flavor of the city style songs stand out to me: his best rock song to this point- “Movin’ Out (Anthony’s Song)” and his best multi-tiered epic “Scenes from an Italian Restaurant” are astounding fears of songwriting. He’s just at his best in all the different types of songs he writes here. 

Favorite song: “Vienna” 

6. 52nd Street (1978)- With the songs have bigger arrangements and more instrumentation, he gets a little more rock and roll and a little more showtune-y on this one. “My Life” and “Big Shot” feel like they could contend for the big opening number of a musical. This is a good batch of songs, well arranged and well executed, but I don’t think it quite hits the highs of the previous two. 

Favorite song: “Honesty” 

7. Glass Houses (1980)- I think this is his punk album?? There are definitely elements of punk and new wave, and they don’t sound out of place. This is the least piano man-y album so far, but songs like “It’s Still Rock and Roll to Me” and “Sleeping with the Television On” hold up as straight pop rock jams. “You May Be Right” is definitely in his top tier of songs. The album could do without the pretty silly “C’etait Toi (You Were the One).”

Favorite song: “It’s Still Rock and Roll to Me”

8. The Nylon Curtain (1982)- Billy Joel had a hell of a first decade with those first 7 albums, but man, it comes to a hard end here. This is album is bad. His voice sounds really strangely different on this. It’s hard to imagine revisiting this one as a whole. 

Favorite song: “Allentown” 

9. An Innocent Man (1983)- What a return to form! He goes all in on that 60s pop/Spector sound that he’s touched on at times and produces great results. This might be his catchiest album with hooks all over the place. He takes influence from various individual sub-genres of the era like the doo wop vocal groups (”The Longest Time”) or the more early days of R & B sounds (”Easy Money”) and nails most of them.

Favorite song: “Uptown Girl”

10. The Bridge (1986)- This gets off to a decently promising start. He gets with the 80s with the decade appropriate groove of the opener “Running on Ice.” Joel starts to get really into the electric guitar and it pays off decently on “A Matter of Trust.” Then this album falls off of a cliff. The duet with Ray Charles, “Baby Grand,” is truly atrocious, and nothing in the second half of this album comes close to working. 

Favorite song: “A Matter of Trust” 

11. Storm Front (1989)- The late 80s production makes this one feel especially dated— the drum sounds, the synths, etc. Still, “We Didn’t State the Fire” gets a bad rap; it’s actually pretty cool. It’s the right kind of silly for Billy Joel. The album sounds a little too of the era at times, but the songwriting is better overall than the previous album, albeit with some duds like the title track. I don’t think we’d realize how great a song “Shameless” is if he hadn’t passed it on to Garth Brooks— Joel’s version is just okay. Lyrically, I can’t think of an album that deals so directly with The Cold War? This is an album to pick and choose a few songs from and leave the rest behind. 

Favorite song: “We Didn’t Start the Fire” 

12. River of Dreams (1993)- This is not good. From the cringe worthy guitar theatrics on “Great Wall of China” to what in the world is happening on “Blonde Over Blue.” And yet, the title track completely rules— beyond infectious. 

Favorite song: “The River of Dreams” 

Ranking:

12. River of Dreams

11. The Nylon Curtain

10. The Bridge

9. Storm Front

8. Streetlife Serenade

7. Cold Spring Harbor

6. Piano Man

5. 52nd Street

4. Glass Houses

3. An Innocent Man

2. Turnstiles

1. The Stranger

[biggbbrotherott-blog]

Motivational Songs For Little ones of All Ages

rozprávky pre deti Motivational Songs are good for the mind, entire body and spirit in little ones of all ages. If you are like me, a child staring at 40, listening to motivational music provides me that substantially required pick-me-up in the center of the day transforming my overall mood, bringing me to my feet, and inviting me to dance. And additional importantly, for my individual little ones, motivational music train beneficial daily life lessons that will conjure up powerful memories for a lot of several years to arrive. A song is motivational if it has a constructive and encouraging information. For example, lyrics like "You can get it if you really want, but you must try out," propose concepts of willpower and tough function. Nevertheless, some tunes may well have an upbeat rhythm that frees the mind and moves the physique...like in the concept track from the Rocky sequence "Gonna Fly Now". That invigorating horn arrangement, alongside with that rock guitar solo, oh and that string motion are so highly effective it presents you that minor force, the extra vitality to get up and go. Even university instructors locate that the suitable songs helps aid studying by producing a appealing atmosphere and energizes routines for little ones. It can also support them to raise their attention, enhance their memory, release stress, and so much more. How amazing is that? As a mom of two modest children, I also find that motivational songs give them optimistic sayings that you will not be embarrassed to listen to them repeat or sing along to. Subsequently, for mothers and fathers, motivational lyrics become text of knowledge to use when instructing young children about the "trials and tribulations" of life that Princess Tiana sings about in "Just about There" (SEE Beneath). Generally, they get the job done just like inspirational estimates do. But, considering that they have the capability to get trapped in the listener's head and repeat into oblivion, motivational tracks are that considerably additional effective! Thankfully, motivational tunes can be observed in all genres and from an array of artists aged and new, well known and not so well-known. Although there are so a lot of to choose from, below are just a number of I have introduced my young children to. These are in no distinct get. one. "Intensify the Constructive" sung by Dr. John, is a very stylized model of the outdated common that was featured in the motion picture The Mighty Ducks. This one leaves them singing along to some very good words and phrases of knowledge that were being at first published by Harold Arlen who was claimed to have been influenced by a church sermon he experienced heard with the very same title. 2. "You Can Fly! You Can Fly! You Can Fly!" is a beloved Disney classic tune from Peter Pan. Its charismatic "previous college" appeal is however refreshing right after all of these many years. three. "We Did It!" from Dora the Explorer collection is only a celebration of accomplishment. It has an undeniably infectious defeat and always provides you to your toes to dance. four. "Strolling Tall" by Ziggy Marley and showcasing Paul Simon, is a new catchy tune written in the custom of his father's positive lyricism. There is an important lesson becoming taught in this article, and is completed in these kinds of a sweet way that it is destined to develop into a strike! five. "Tomorrow" sung by Alicia Morton from the Authentic Broadway Forged Recording of Annie. I can recall all those lyrics becoming there for me increasing up, and hope other young children come across them as equally encouraging. six. While "Zip-a-Dee-Do-Dah" sung by James Baskett is not a beloved nevertheless amongst my kiddies, Grandma enjoys it and just about every time we are in the car or truck, that is her initially request. It's possible I should have picked the Miley Cyrus variation...which leads me to... seven. "The Climb" by Miley Cyrus is the one particular the three-yr-aged enjoys finest. There is a good message in this 1, too. But, I do not even assume she cares! It can be Hannah Montana! eight. "All Star" by Smash Mouth is a late nineties classic with a good information so healthful it has previously been featured in a great number of flicks, commercials, and "best of" compilations and by no means will get old. Not only does it convey you to your toes, but it fills your kids' mouths with some good words and phrases that can boost self-esteem and interior self-confidence. nine. "3 Little Birds" by Bob Marley is a reggae vintage that also hits house for so many persons..."Never fear 'bout a factor...every single minor thing's gonna be alright." Who isn't going to need to have to listed here that from time to time? It can be a excellent music for kids and surely has lyrics to dwell by. 10. "My Beloved Issues" by Julie Andrews is very first and foremost usually a excellent vocal exercise! She hits these notes and retains them as prolonged as only she can. But in her rendition of this well-liked typical, she clearly delivers a excellent option to anybody feeling down in the dumps...Make a checklist of your favorite issues. Pull them out when you want them, and allow it work miracles on your mood. Wonderful thought! eleven. "Nearly There" by Anika Noni Rose from Disney's new The Princess and the Frog film is so excellent it was nominated for an Academy Award this 12 months. It can be so simple to sing along to, all the when relaying an significant message about determination. How a lot of times have you necessary a tune like this to aid you keep inspired when nearing the end line? The essential matter to recall is that by having the time to do a very little buying and deciding on of what they listen to, just like they keep track of what they look at, dad and mom can get back some power to manage the tips and illustrations or photos that penetrate their kid's minds. Additionally, by feeding them with good ideas and photos by songs, mother and father can system their kids to turn into more robust, much more impartial, and effective individuals. Fairly cool, huh?