The Violet Flame is the sixteenth studio album by English synthpop duo Erasure. The album was released through Mute Records on 22nd September 2014 in the UK and 23rd September 2014 in North America. The album contains contains original tracks written by band members Vince Clarke and Andy Bell and is produced by Erasure and Richard X.
The album's first single, Elevation was released prior to the album, with a coinciding world tour.
The Violet Flame track list was released on July 18th 2014.
On September 28th, the album charted at #20 on the official UK Albums Chart, giving the duo their first Top 20 album since Other People's Songs in 2003. In the US, the album entered the Billboard 200 at #48, giving Erasure their first Top 50 album since 1997's Cowboy.
The Violet Flame was released as a standard CD, a deluxe 2CD, a digital download and a limited edition 3-CD box set which includes the original album as well as additional material.
All songs written and composed by Andy Bell, Vince Clarke and Richard X.
Track Listing for The Violet Flame.
- Dead of Night
- Elevation
- Reason
- Promises
- Be the One
- Sacred
- Under the Wave
- Smoke and Mirrors
- Paradise
- Stayed a Little Late Tonight
Below is the music video for the first single that was officially released from this new studio album by Erasure. The track Elevation. This track was officially released on September 15th 2014.
What I love about this music video is the music visuals to this Erasure music video. Erasure have always used the dance/house music genre throughout their career as a group in the music they make, but as far as music video is concerned; this is the first time that I have seen an Erasure music video, totally represent that music culture and one where Erasure as a group are not seen in one of their own music videos in any visual capacity.
This is certainly a very brave decision on Erasure's part, to release the first single's music video of a new studio album and not been shown in the music video. When you are a group such as Erasure who have been making music for a very long period of time, you can certainly make those kinds of decisions with a first single from a new studio album. I t does not effect their career making that decision. The Pet Shop Boys have successfully made those kind of same decisions with first singles from their new studio albums in recent years.
Plectrumelectrum, stylized as PLECTRUMELECTRUM , is a studio album by American recording artist Prince and rock band 3rdeyegirl. It was released simultaneously with Prince's Art Official Age on September 30th 20124. Plectrumelectrum received generally positive reviews from critics.
Upon releasing both Plectrumelectrum and Art Official Age on the same day at the same time and on the same calendar year, respectively that made only Prince the third artist to release two major studio albums on the same day, behind E-40 who released Revenue Retrievin': Day Shift and Night Shift in 2010 and Nelly who also released Sweat and Suit, just ten years ago in 2004.
According to Randall Roberts of the Los Angeles Times, Plectrumelectrum is a rock album with lyrics and sound effects characteristic of Prince's 'nobles weirdness' and 'sense of humor'. Abigail Covington of The A.V. Club said that 'it takes a no-nonsense approach to funk and for the most part plays near the shallow shores of rock 'n' roll's enormous waters.'
Plectrumelectrum received generally positive reviews from music critics. At Metacritic, which assigns a normalized rating out of 100 to reviews from mainstream critics, the album received an average score of 61, based on 18 reviews. Q magazine said that 'the sound of {Prince] working with a lean combo is so refreshing and a welcome first in his mammoth catalogue.' Kyle Anderson of Entertainment Weekly felt its hooks and band dynamic make it a better album than Art Official Age. Neil McCormick of The Daily Telegraph wrote that 'the rock format appears to have concentrated him on songwriting basics.'
In a less enthusiastic review for The New York Times, Jon Pareles wrote that Plectrumelectrum is limited by its 'rigorous, deliberately retro back-to-basics mandate' because Prince is better at Synthesizing styles together rather than reproducing them. Stephen Thomas Erlewine wrote in his review for AllMusic that the album does not try anything new, but called it 'Quiet thrill to hear Prince spar with worthy partners, as he does throughout this record.
The album debuted at number eight on the Billboard 200 and sold 26,000 copies in its first week. In its second week of sales, the album dropped down to number 47 on the chart, selling 7,000 copies, bringing the album total sales to 33,000 copies.
Track Listing for Plectrumlectrum.
All Songs Written and Composed by Prince
- Wow
- Pretzelbodylogic
- Aintturninround
- Plectrumlectrum
- Whitecaps
- Fixurlifeup
- Boytrouble (featuring Lizzo and Sophia Eris)
- Stopthistrain
- Anotherlove
- Tictactoe
- Marz
- Funknroll
Below is the music video for a track taken from this magnificent new album by 3rdEyegirl and Prince.
The track is the 6th track on the album Fixurlifeup. The track was officially released on 22nd May last year, 2013.
This song reminds me of Prince's early 1980's work on Paisley Park, when he was releasing more pop/funk that became hits all over the world.
As fans, we have been waiting for this kind of music side of Prince for many years.
We have witnessed this on albums from even a decade ago, but with 3rd Eye Girl, there is a sound here that is very similar to the kind of backing vocals Wendy and Lisa gave to Prince's songs in the 1980's. As fans, you recognise this fact straight away. It is an instant listening reaction.
This is really the genre of music where the artist in the beginning of his career became the legend.
I love the fact that on this song, Prince is drawing-out more of his rock persona, a vital music component that was very evident in the 1980's and very much made his music able to cross the genres of Pop, Rock, Funk and R+B.
Art Official Age is the thirty-third studio album by Prince. The album was released on September 30th 2014 by NPG Records under a renewed license to Warner Bros Records, marking the second collaboration of both parties since 1995's The Gold Experience. The title is a homophonic pun of 'artificial age'.
Art Official Age debuted at number five on the Billboard 200 and sold 51,000 copies in its first week.
In its second week of sales, the album dropped to number 22 on the chart, selling 15,000 copies, bringing the total to 66,000 copies.
Art Official Age received generally positive reviews from music critics. A Metacritic, which assigns a normalized rating out of 100 to reviews from mainstream critics, the album received an average score of 71, based on 21 reviews. In his review for the Chicago Tribune, Greg Kot said that is 'a more substantial and stranger album than Plectrumelctrum.' Randall Roberts of the Los Angeles Times called it 'an exquisite Prince R&B album', while The Daily Telegraph's Neil McCormick said it is 'slick, seductive electro funk sci-fi concept album'. Kitty Empire was favourable toward Prince's use of digital production in her review for The Observer and called it 'a far better album than you'd dare hope from the latter-day Prince.'
In a less enthusiastic review for AllMusic, Stephen Thomas Erlewine wrote that Art Official Age is a 'full-fledged R&B album in the vein of Prince's work with the New Power Generation, but some of his modernization feels a bit ham-fisted'. Q magazine was more critical and dismissed it as 'an overlong, pan-generic concept album', while Jon Pareles of The New York Times said 'its songs lack memorable melodies despite the 'musicianly ingenuity' of their production.
If there is a link of studio albums Prince has made in the past with this new studio album, that link is in albums like 1988's Around the World In a Day' that took in more psychedelic-pop to what Prince does musically, but this time on this new studio album, is taking more of Parliament/Funkadelic's more sci-fi/psychedelic music concepts. There is also a fusion here on this album to an album like 'Diamonds and Pearls' (1991) more soul/r+b vocal music expressions.
Again, I love the fact that Prince is looking back on his music discography and forging a new kind of music expression that really connects not just with Prince but also his fans around the world. A music expression that is working more on the popular expressions of pop and rock music. The music (if truth be told) is much more accessible to a world-wide fan base and one where his fans can really make an honest judgement of Prince's music creativity.
Prince will always amaze as an artist (that is what he basically is creatively (like Stevie Wonder) An Amazement. There is on this album links to the kind of music Prince made at the beginning of his music career, but what makes this album really special, is in Prince's use of digital production on the recording of this new studio album.
It is really Prince's use of digital production on this album that is the biggest surprise, because this is the kind of production that truly takes Prince into the future as a recording artist. His use of digital production on this album takes Prince into brand new music-sonic expressions, that Prince has not explored before (so-far) in his music career, certainly not through the concept of a whole album like this.
Track Listing for Art Official Age
All Songs written and composed by Prince.
- Art Official Cage
- Clouds
- Breakdown
- The Gold Standard
- U Know
- Breakfast Can Wait
- This Could Be Us
- What It Feels Like
- affirmation I & II
- Way Back Home
- Funknroll
- Time
- affirmation III
Below you can see the music video for the track that was released from this album last year (2013), Breakfast Can Wait. This is one hell of a sexy music video and one where Prince is not in it (well kind of) because there is a girl in this music video who is made-up to look like Prince, so you are always aware of Prince's presence in this music video by this girl, Prince look-a-like.
Prince has always used dancers in his music videos throughout his career in releasing his music videos, but this is the first time (I certainly have seen) where the dance troupe is taking the lead throughout the whole music video. This instantly connects Prince's music with the dance-expression community, and one as a viewer that is truly amazing to behold in a Prince music video.
Also included is a video audio of the 11th track on this album Funknroll. A track that really shows-off Prince's artistic music powers and is able to merge his past and future music concepts with a new reality of present day-future studio production.
Truly Amazing!
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Labrinth is currently in a recording studio working on his second studio album.
The new studio album is named Take Me to the Truth. Labrinth's new studio album is going to be released in the Spring of Next Year, 2015. He has been writing the album with Ed Sheeran.
When I receive more details about this album (including the album's cover) I will include these details in future posts of this blog.
The first single from this new studio album by Labrinth is called 'Let It Be'. The song premiered in August 2014 and was released on September 28th 2014.
Let me tell you all, of all the Music Recording Artists who are currently out there making music in the United Kingdom at this present time, Labrinth is the Artist I am most excited about.
I wrote an album review of Labrinth's debut album 'Electronic Earth' in 2012, for musicvita.com, where I praised just about every kind of music facet of this album's creative process, including the creativity of his music videos. I had never (in my life-time) come across a Black-British Male Recording Artist of Labrinth's age demographic, who has displayed so much music creativity from their debut album, as Labrinth displayed on his debut album Electronic Earth. All this from (like myself) a boy from Hackney. It is truly an incredible legacy that Labrinth has left and a real inspiration to other Hackney musicians who come from the same kind of music genre.
Signed to Simon Cowell's Syco Label, Labrinth was allowed the creativity to just create as far as his music imagination could take him. Yes, there was a lot of Cowell's financial clout on his debut album and music videos, and Oh My Gosh! did you see and hear this on this particular debut album.
Forget Labrinth is a Black-British Male Artist, I not sure that ANY artist (of any race, colour or creed) in British Recording History has been given so much incredible free reign with special effects in music videos on their debut album, than Labrinth displayed from the music videos that came out with single releases from his debut album.
That is why I just cannot wait to review this new studio album by Labrinth, when it finally arrives for the world to listen to and view the kind of music chapters of expression Labrinth continues with.
For his new single Let It Be, Labrinth instead of taking the music directions that were there on his debut album; this single really seems to capture the spirit of Ray Charles for Music Inspiration.
I saw a performance of this track recently on BBC2's Later With Jools Holland and could not believe what I was seeing or hearing. I was so excited viewing this track on TV, it felt like I was having some kind of out of body experience. The thing that is different about Labrinth than with any other artist of colour in the United Kingdom, is that you can tell and see that Labrinth is purely doing this for the love of music. I think with Labrinth we have only got to the tip of the iceberg, there is (I believe) some kind of future music expression that one day could possibly be the equal of Prince and Stevie Wonder.
With the Music Video for Let It Be, Labrinth could have again used Simon Cowell's financial clout and bombarded his music video with enormous special effects (why would you not, when the special effects music videos that embraced his debut album, had so much artistic merit in them? but NO! Labrinth has gone in the complete opposite direction (still with special effects) but not that much as to bombard the screen.
I have to congratulate Labrinth in making this bold decision. It shows an artist with his own (not others) music and visual creativity. This is the kind of artist (I believe) we will still be talking about in 20 years time.
I love every single facet (music and visuals) of the Let It Be Single.
- The Incredible Ray Charles Impersonation with a timbre of sound to Ray Charles that is instantly recognisable when you hear it.
- The use of Incredible music instrumentation on this track that has been beautifully recorded in its most majestic music sonic expression.
- The incredible uses of electronica that are displayed on this track, that in no-way overtakes the real music instrumentation of the track.
- The music video's colour palate. Colours that compliment each other in hues of browns, greens and beiges.
- The Incredible photography of this music video.
- The use of multiple images of Labrinth and movement of the moving camera that uses the space of the environment to very good use. This music video reminds me of Jonathan Glazer's music video direction for Jamiroquai's Virtual Insanity (1996) music video.
So here is the incredible music video for the first single released from this new studio album. The Incredible music track, Let It Be.
I'm Not Bossy, I'm the Boss is the tenth full-length studio album by Irish singer-songwriter Sinead O'Connor, released on August 11th 2014 on Nettwerk Music Group. The album was originally to be called The Vishnu Room after the song of the same name, but was changed, along with its original cover design, shortly before release in support of the Ban Bossy campaign.
The Album's release was met with positive critics reviews from such publications as American Songwriter, The Guardian, Now and Slant Magazine. The Metacritic aggregate score on August 12th 2014 was 66 out of a 100. Fred Thomas, writing for AllMusic gave the album 3.5 stars out of 5, with a favourable review, opening with this comprehensive summary: 'A decade of inconsistent, spotty or simply confusing output from iconic Irish singer-songwriter Sinead O'Connor was redeemed with 2012's refreshingly focused and honest effort How About I Be Me ( And You Be You)? That album saw O' Connor effortlessly creating the same type of emotionally charged yet easily melodic fare that constituted her earliest, most popular work, and positioned her graceful return to form. Two years later, I'm Not Bossy, I'm the Boss follows the impassioned pop framework of its immediate predecessor, branching out into even more vivid stylistic dimensions and retaining all the energy, controversy and fire that have come to define O'Connor as both a musician and a political figure. Taken at face value, the songs here are vibrant and multifaceted.'
Tracklisting for I'm Not Bossy, I'm the Boss
- How About I Be Me
- Dense Water Deeper Down
- Kisses Like Mine
- Your Green Jacket
- The Vishnu Room
- The Voice of My Doctor
- Harbour
- James Brown (with Sean Kuti)
- 8 Good Reasons
- Take Me To Church
- Where Have You Been?
- Streetcars
Deluxe Edition
13. How Nice a Woman Can Be
14. Make A Fool Of Me All Night
15. Little Story
Below is the music video for first single released from this new studio album by Sinead O' Connor, the track, Take Me To Church. This track was officially released on August 11th 2014.
747 is the sixth studio album by American country music group Lady Antebellum. It was released on September 30th 2014 by Capitol Records Nashville. The album's lead single Bartender reached number 1 on the US Country Airplay chart in early September 2014.
Group member Hillary Scott told Billboard that they chose to name the album after the track 747 because ' The track itself has this pushing, driving spirit about it that sums up our attitude right now. We are pushing ourselves as a band and as songwriters... taking ourselves out of our comfort zone and not taking ourselves too seriously. There's an urgency and an energy to it that we've never released before.' The group produced the album with Nathan Chapman making it their first album not to be co-produced with long time collaborator Paul Worley.
The album received mostly mixed-to-positive reviews from contemporary music critics. Stephen Thomas Erlewine of AllMusic rated the album three-and-a-half stars out of five, writing that the album's pop-leaning sound 'showcases the trio at its best' and that '747 gives the impression that the band has embraced its crossover status'. Jill Menze of Billboard also noted the band's confidence on the record and attributed it to the more upbeat feel of the material. 'The group's move away from its comfort zone is a worthy venture,' writes Menze. She continued...'Lady A has always demonstrated the potential to deliver a little something more and on 747, we finally get a glimpse of it.' Billy Dukes of Taste of Country praised the band for mixing things up on 747 and deviating from the middle of the road vibe of prior releases: He says...'Over their last few albums, Charles Kelley and company had fallen back to the middle... 747 provides depth, variety and most importantly, a vibe Lady Antebellum can call their own'. Dukes also compared the sound on 747 favourably to the repertoire of Fleetwood Mac, noting Golden collaborator Stevie Nick's influence.
Michael McCall of MSN Entertainment described the album as having 'a cohesive, celebratory feel that brings out the best in the group members' and praised the band for pursuing a sound that sets them apart from other country acts. Gregory Hicks of The Michigan Daily wrote a positive review applauding the band for consistently delivering enjoyable country pop, but suggested that their sonic transformation on 747 was not as ambitious or pronounced as it has been made out to be. He states...'As a typical Lady A-formulaic manufactured record,' Hick Explains, 'it's an attractive, emotionally grasping LP...but don't expect the album to cop an attitude in its sound.'
In a more critical review, reporter Mikael Wood of The Los Angeles Times felt the album was too heavy on 'zippy pop-country arrangements' and that the trio's trademark harmonies suffered at the expense of tempo. Mac Hirsh of The Boston Globe found the album's sequencing to be ineffective, drawing particular attention to the way the album 'seems to simply stop' due to a lack of finality in the closing track, Just a Girl, and criticized the band for being formulaic in their approach.
747 debuted at No.2 on the Billboard 200, with first-week sales of 74,000 units. The previous week, Billboard had predicted the album to debut in the top ten with sales around 70,000.
In Canada, the album debuted at No.3 on the Canadian Albums Chart, selling 8,000 copies in its first week.
Track Listing for 747
- Long Stretch of Love
- Bartender
- Lie With Me
- Freestyle
- Down South
- One Great Mystery
- Sounded Good at the Time
- She Is
- Damn You Seventeen
- 747
- Just a Girl
Deluxe Edition bonus tracks
12. Slow Roll
13. All Nighter
14. Fall For You
All songs produced by Nathan Chapman and Lady Antebellum, except:
- Lie With Me, produced by Chapman, Eric Kinny and Lady Antebellum
- Just a Girl, produced by Chapman, Dave Thomson and Lady Antebellum
- Fall For You, Produced by Busbee
Bartender is a song written and recorded by American country music trio Lady Antebellum. Written by group members Dave Haywood, Charles Kelley and Hillary Scott along with Rodney Clawson and co-produced with Nathan Chapman, the song was released to country radio by Capitol Records Nashville on May 12th 2014 as the lead single from the group's sixth studio album 747. It was released to country radio by Capitol Records Nashville on May 12th 2014, as the lead single from the group's sixth studio album, 747. It was released to iTunes the following week, on May 19th 2014. In its first week at radio, Bartender was the second most-added song of the week (with 72), behind Small Town Thowdown by Brantley Gilbert featuring Justin Moore and Thomas Rhett.
The music video was directed by Shane Drake and premiered on the (American TV Programme:)Today Show on June 19th 2014. It co-stars model Kate Upton and Veep/Arrested Development actor, Tony Hale.
Matt Bjorke of Roughstock rated the song four stars out of five and spoke positively of the 'fresh, new sound' the group is exploring. He Says... 'The sing-song-y nature of (' Bartender's bridge and chorus) give the song some bite and make it the kind of song that should've always followed up Need You Now,' says Bjorke. Bartender starts a new and exciting chapter in Lady Antebellum's career and gives us something to really look forward to with their follow-up to last year's Golden. Melinda Newman of Hitfix placed Bartender at #4 ( of 21) on the website's Top Summer Songs of 2014, writing that 'the upbeat melody and the time-honoured tradition of drinking to forget, not to mention the banjo at the end, make this tune too much fun to be a downer.'
Bartender debuted at No.43 on the Billboard Country Airplay Chart for the week ending May 31st 2014. The song was certified Gold by the RIAA on September 11th 2014. It has sold 941,000 downloads as of October 2014.
So here is the music video for the first single released from 747, Lady Antebellum new studio album. This is for the second track on the album: Bartender.
Happy Music Buying and Listening Folks!
Roger Howard 22/10/2014.
