Coming as no surprise to anyone, Diddy recently appeared on David Letterman’s show expressing an interest in becoming a big time Hollywood actor. Per the report,
Besides action-packed adventure, the rapper-producer’s ideal film roles would also include “making love to beautiful women” and “very emotional, heart-wrenching scenes.”
Yeeeeeah. Or maybe he could just appear in the next sequel to “Friday” or team up with Vin Diesel, a similarly-minded “actor” and create something memorable.
Well, it finally happened. After initially denying she was pregnant earlier on in her prenancy, the shortly-after and incredibly obviously pregnany Jennifer Lopez gave birth to twins earlier today. These are the first kids for J-Lo, yet they are husband Marc Anthony’s third and fourth. Something tells me they’re going to be better parents than the Spears-Federline crew.
Wow. I had no idea that was even an option. You mean I’ve wasted all this time listening to albums before reviewing them, when I could have just made stuff up? Aren’t I a sucker.
We see them outside our office, angry people carrying pitchforks, torches, and signs that say “Limey Go Home.” Someone from Votefortheworst.com is at the front. People are jumping on the “American Idol”-bashing bandwagon left and right. And frankly, we’re tempted to join them.
But not quite yet.
Yes, we’re still mad as hell that “the public” chose Blake Lewis and Jordin Sparks over the clearly superior Melinda Doolittle. I, for one, have stopped watching the show after last season’s finale, and I’m pretty sure that if Mike Farley didn’t have to blog it for us, he would have stopped watching too after Mindy Doo’s ouster. Not good timing, then, for Randy Jackson’s Music Club Vol. I, where the onetime Journey bassist plays Clive Davis for a day and assembles a compilation album filled with the top of the pops. His leadoff single – whether he wanted it to be or not – is fellow “AI” judge Paula Abdul and her song “Dance Like There’s No Tomorrow.” It’s her first single in 12 years. Things have, um, changed a little since then. How will she adapt?
Much to my surprise, rather well.
Adbul only had a couple of really killer singles – “Knocked Out,” “The Way That You Love Me” and “Cold Hearted” were my personal favorites – so to compare this to the rest of her work is pointless; most of that stuff just wasn’t very good. This song isn’t great either, but it’s also not exactly terrible, which Paula should take as a major victory. Even more surprising is the video, which features some of the neatest choreography I’ve ever seen. The whole singer/backing dancer stuff has been done to death, but Paula does something different here. Most of the time, they move like a single organism. It’s pretty damn cool.
The other two set pieces, however, do not fare so well. The shots of her with the band look laughably inauthentic. They’re clearly here so Randy can pluck a little bass, but there is just no way those musicians are making the sound we’re hearing (especially that ridiculous drummer). The other set piece is a close-up of Paula in what appears to be a wind tunnel with red drapes. She’s always looking to the left and right of the camera, as if she’s forgotten the lyrics and she’s trying to find the teleprompter. Not her best money shot.
But still, we had every reason to expect something as god-awful as that Gwen Stefani yodeling song, and Paula delivered something that, if not genre-busting, is better than it has a right to be. So good for her. I’m still not watching “American Idol,” though.
Let It Be
Yes, even the almighty Beatles have their WTF?! moments. Some may cite the “White Album,” Beatles for Sale or the original quickie rip-off Yellow Submarine soundtrack as weak moments, but for my ears nothing says it better than Let It Be. Of course the album came chock full with its own share of chart-topping hits, but coming after the professionalism of Abbey Road, it sounds like one of the biggest letdowns ever, especially for a “final” album.
Of course, it wasn’t recorded as the final one, but it turned out that way. One only needs to listen to the countless bootlegs recorded during the album’s sessions to fully realize that the entire project was one of boredom, disdain, and ultimately a lack of focus and solid ideas. Sure, the Fab Four was pretty sick of each other by this point, and yes, Abbey Road‘s second half would be mostly a string of unfinished songs, but the spirit was there in that album, if only one of relief and knowing that a break was forthcoming. On Let Ie Be the listener truly gets to hear a band completely fractured and listless. The “White Album” has often been criticized for being more of a highlight of solo stuff byeach of the Beatles, but even it had its dynamics and experimentation that continued to evolve the ideas of rock and roll.
One could sit around and blame Phil Spector all day for his original production job on the album, but even a listen to Let It Be…Naked doesn’t help the cause for the album much. Aside from the clean sounding “The Long and Winding Road” (which Paul would glop up himself on the remake for the soundtrack to Give My Regards to Broad Street), the “warts and all” effect that Lennon wanted so much on the album is still painfully there. Sometimes an au naturel production isn’t always the best idea. But again it comes down to the chemistry within the band and the quality of the songs themselves.
Some fans have a real soft spot for this album, but aside from George’s “For You Blue,” there isn’t much that has personally held up for me after all these years of hearing it. The title track and the aforementioned “The Long and Winding Road” are a sort of sentimentality at its most Hallmark cardish; the weirdo lyrics to “I Dig a Pony” feel like even Lennon was being stretched thin for ideas; “I Me Mine” is Harrison at his most cynical with zero humor that would at least be part of simialr sentiments on All Things Must Pass; “Dig It,” “Maggie Mae,” and the old “One After 909” are essentially throwaways; “Across the Universe” had been worked on so much in various versions that it seems like the one song the Beatles were never going to nail. “Two of Us” is about Paul and Linda, but the interplay between Lennon and McCartney on “I’ve Got a Feeling” has always had a sort of “let’s just get this over with” vibe to it. That leaves “Get Back,” and personally I always preferred the single version of this tune with the instrumental coda at the end.
For all my personal complaints, I’m aware that Let It Be will still stand as a classic by the Beatles. It’s just a shame that the guys couldn’t have taken a little break from each other and maybe regrouped a couple years later. Of course, on the other hand, it does seem like the perfect scenario to just call it a day as well. But then again, everyone had to put up with the guys bitching at one another on their own records for a few years, so there’s undoubtedly never going to be a clear-cut answer in a sea of “what ifs” in regards to the Beatles’ split.
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