13. Justin Timberlake: Justified (2002)

Justified, on the other hand, has been winning over new fans for a year now. Taking a step away from his successful 5-member boy band, JT hired Timbaland and The Neptunes to help him become the new Michael Jackson. And damn if it doesn't almost work! Songs like Last Night and Rock Your Body effectively capture that King Of Pop spirit and Like Nothing Else even sounds like a MJ ballad.

Before I go on, I must admit that the version I have of Justified is different. I ripped the songs before giving the CD away, and arranged and edited them when I burned it. Here's my tracklisting:
1. Seniorita
2. Like I Love You
3. Let's Take A Ride
4. Cry Me A River
5. Still On My Brain
6. Last Night
7. Like Nothing Else
8. (Oh No) What You Got
9. Never Again
10. Rock Your Body
11. Take It From Here

Anyway, on the getting personal tip, there are a few songs here that seem aimed at Britney...Never Again and Still On My Brain are both addressed toward a lover who has betrayed our poor hero. But the showstopper is Cry Me A River, an amazing song which gets better with every listen. Supposedly, it encapsulates what happened between Justin and Britney...she cheated and he couldn't forgive her. Listening to it with that in mind makes it even more enjoyable!

So the question remains, which is preferable: the pop artist who keeps it superficial, or the one who bares her soul? Is pop music more about impulse or thought? If it's the former, than Britney is the ultimate pop star, but if it's the latter, Justin shines brighter.

Justified Rating : B+
Justified Fave Song: Take It From Here

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Honoring the Legacy of REO Speedwagon

I suppose I should have known the saga of REO Speedwagon couldn't end with a whimper. Before I get into the latest developments, here's a brief review of what's happened so far: In September 2024 came the announcement that the band was effectively breaking up at the end of the year. Apparently, frontman Kevin Cronin ruled that bassist Bruce Hall was no longer fit to continue touring following back surgery in summer 2024. Hall felt otherwise. Here we learned that REO had essentially become a three-way partnership between Cronin, Hall, and Doughty (who retired from touring in January 2023) following the departure of original members Alan Gratzer and Gary Richrath in 1988. Doughty sided with Hall, so Cronin was outvoted 2-1. No Bruce Hall, no REO Speedwagon. In December 2024 Cronin revealed he would continue performing REO Speedwagon songs with the two musicians who replaced Doughty and Hall, as well as Brian Hitt and Dave Amato (who replaced Gratzer and Richrath), with the on...

Billy Joel: 1980 - 1977

When I decided to write about every single Billy Joel studio album I knew had a bit of a leg up in that I'd written reviews of a handful of his records already. What I didn't realize until just now was that those reviews were of albums that had been released consecutively between 1977 and 1980. As I reread those reviews - the most recent of which is 14 years old! - I found that I still stand by them. My writing style has mellowed a bit, and I no longer give grades to albums, but otherwise my opinions then are my opinions now. So here you go... Billy Joel: Glass Houses (1980) Billy Joel: 52nd Street (1978) Billy Joel: The Stranger (1977)

Billy Joel: Turnstiles (1976)

Turnstiles is, along with An Innocent Man and The Stranger , in my top three Billy Joel albums. It has pretty much everything you might want from the Piano Man. It has two beloved classics: "Say Goodbye to Hollywood" and "New York State of Mind." And while I like that they respectively open and close side one, I think these two are the key moments to the album's story, and thus wish they'd been sequenced a bit differently (more on that in a bit). It has virtuosity. The opening to "Angry Young Man," called "Prelude," with its lightning fast hammered piano, is the most obvious display of Billy's growing talents. But it wasn't just him. Turnstiles is the first recorded appearance of the Billy Joel band - Richie Cannata, Liberty DeVitto, Russell Javors, Howie Emerson, and Doug Stegmeyer - and their performances show they were able to handle pretty much anything with aplomb. It has introspection and wisdom. Billy was only 27 years old ...

3 Minutes, 49 Seconds

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