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Jennifer Hudson
Release Date: 2008-09-30
Sales rank: 7
The 2008 self-titled debut album of Jennifer Kate Hudson reflects her high-powered soulful style voice which is transcendent and timeless. Guests features on the album include Fantasia on "I'm His Only Woman", Ludacris on "Pocketbook", plus the highlights version of "And I am Telling You I'm Not Going" from Dreamgirls. Jennifer first gained notice as one of the finalists on the third season of the FOX television series American Idol. She went on to star as Effie White in the 2006 motion picture adaptation of the musical Dreamgirls for which she won numerous awards including an Academy Award, a Golden Globe Award, a BAFTA and a SAG Award. 13 tracks. |
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Something Else
Release Date: 2008-09-30
Sales rank: 11
Robin Thicke is primed and ready for Something Else. "It was like everyone was saying the same things, worried about the same things and I just felt we needed something different right now. I asked myself do I have a light? What is that light? How can I spread it, share it and turn it into a Puff Daddy white linen Miami Beach party?" After his highly acclaimed 1.5 million selling album "The Evolution of Robin Thicke" garnering the smash hit "Lost Without U", a tireless schedule of touring and appearances Robin needed to sit back, reflect on the last 2 years and start anew. "On the last album I wanted to let people into my walk of life and connect my life to them and this album is more about involving great minds, hearts and spirits around me. When I started writing songs I was already embracing people and now I just wanted to dance and laugh with them". With that spirit driving the creative process Robin has penned some of the best songs of his career from the retro meets modern groove of the first single "Magic", the upbeat celebration of "Sidestep" to the picturesque "Dreamworld" he is taking the listener on a musical journey that is truly unique, sexy and invigorating. Something Else is exactly the kind of record that the world needs right now to feel inspired again. |
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Year of the Gentleman
Release Date: 2008-09-16
Sales rank: 19
"Closer," written by Ne-Yo and produced by Stargate, is the first single from Ne-Yo's upcoming third album, YEAR OF THE GENTLEMAN, set to arrive in stores June 24th. It is the follow-up to Because Of You (released May 2007), which received this year's Grammy Award for Best Contemporary R&B Album, and In My Own Words (February 2006) - both of which debuted at #1 on the Billboard 200 and R&B/Hip-Hop Albums charts. In addition to his Contemporary R&B Album award, Ne-Yo earned four other Grammy nominations this year, including two for his collaboration with Rihanna, "Hate That I Love You" (which he co-wrote), namely Best R&B Song and Best R&B Performance Duo/Group; as well as Best Male R&B Vocal Performance for his #2 hit "Because Of You"; and Record of the Year for Beyoncé's "Irreplaceable" (which he co-produced). Ne-Yo's Grammy recognition followed up the UK's 13th annual MOBO (Music Of Black Origin) Awards in September 2007 - the only televised European Awards Show solely dedicated to urban music and culture - at which he won for Best Song ("Because Of You") and Best R&B Act. Ne-Yo's RIAA platinum debut album In My Own Words was nominated for a Grammy as Best Contemporary R&B Album. It spun off three chart-topping hits, starting late-2005 with his debut Def Jam single, the #1 Grammy-nominated "So Sick," followed by "When You're Mad" and "Sexy Love." Ne-Yo capped 2006 as Male R&B/Hip-Hop Artist of the Year at the Billboard Music Awards. At the The 21st Annual Soul Train Music Awards in February 2007, Ne-Yo won the Coca-Cola Award for Best R&B/Soul or Rap new Artist for "Sexy Love." |
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Rockferry
Release Date: 2008-05-13
Sales rank: 18
The most hotly anticipated album release of this New Year comes not from someone rammed into the collective consciousness by their media ubiquity. Duffy is an unknown quantity at this point, having performed but a small number of gigs, mostly in support of The Magic Numbers, and having only just begun to be seen on TV, most notably with recent appearances on Jools Holland's Later and New Year Hootenanny.
Yet her soulful voice has already beguiled many of the nation's musical tastemakers and news of its beauty and of the strength of her songs is spreading by word of mouth even as you read these words. Radio One's Jo Whiley chose Duffy's title track and album taster `Rockferry' as her Single of the Week in late November, further adding to the momentum. Now, as the comparisons fly (Dusty Springfield has emerged as the favourite), it's time to discover her for yourself.
Duffy was born and spent her childhood years in the north Wales coastal community of Nefyn, a place too remote to be driven by style wars or opposing music factions (the nearest record counter was a bus ride away and only stocked the Top 40). The upbringing she describes is one in which everyone had to rub along together, making do and mending, accepting each other and their tastes without prejudice.
Having no CD collection of her own, her first real musical memory is of walking into the kitchen unannounced to find her mother and stepfather dancing to Rod Stewart. The first steps she took towards defining her own personal identity came when she borrowed one of her dad's VHS tapes of the `60s TV show `Ready, Steady, Go!'. "It had The Beatles, the Stones, the Walker Brothers, Sandie Shaw and Millie singing `My Boy Lollipop'. So sexy and exciting! I played it again and again until finally it disintegrated." Says former Suede guitarist and record producer Bernard Butler of this artlessness, "Duffy managed to grow up without any concept of what was cool or current, what she should or shouldn't like, how to behave or even how to sing. For her, coming to London at all was the stuff of fairytales."
"And to come here to write songs with some random bloke who'd been recommended to her, me? It meant taking two buses and then two trains and took all day. Then she'd do the same in reverse to get home, playing the music she'd just made to old ladies she encountered on the journey. It's hard for cynical music industry types to get their heads around just how far removed she was from our world, geographically and in every other way. But what you've got as a result is someone who acts and sings completely and unselfconsciously from the heart. That's a rare and magical thing."
Butler was introduced to Duffy by Rough Trade's Jeannette Lee who,in August 2004 and after hearing demos recorded in this or that mate's home, became the singer's mentor and manager. For Duffy, to have not just a friend but also point of both safety and reference in the strange new world she found herself in was crucial to her own musical development and sense of self.
"People keep saying to me, `You've made a great record' but I can't take that in because I didn't do it on my own. Jeannette and I made `Rockferry' together and she's been with me every step of the way, broadening my horizons, introducing me to people I can trust." Butler was just one of them: having written the glorious, chorus-free, utterly hypnotic `Rockferry' together at the beginning of the project, they then worked on a further three of the ten tracks on what is already being talked about as 2008's most important debut release. Jimmy Hogarth & Steve Booker are the other collaborators on this classic-in-waiting.
What can you expect to hear? The title track and album opener, as atmospheric, slow-building and idiosyncratic song as you could hope for, leads into a collection of original material that some might call retro in feel (those Dusty flavours, that girl group vibe) but which Duffy herself prefers to identify as classic. You'll find arrangements as sparsely effective as those against which Dionne Warwick told her Bacharach & David-wrought tales of heartbreak in the early 1960s. You'll find lush choruses and swooning hooks (as perfected by the late Miss Springfield and various distinguished others). But this is far from pastiche.
What you'll find instead is irrefutable evidence of a significant new talent, and one that has developed in splendid isolation, not in reaction to market forces or the input of focus groups and industry experts. Duffy is the real, unspoiled original deal. "People keep asking me where my voice comes from and the fact is I don't know," says the brightest new star of 2008. "Why are your eyes the colour they are? It's no answer at all but it's the only one I have." Duffy Photos Rockferry, the Welsh singer's lovingly constructed debut album, has already succeeded beyond expectations, and although Duffy may not quite be the ingénue portrayed by a clever press campaign (she nearly won a local television talent show a few years back while a single credited to Aimee Duffy is still available on iTunes) she is surely the most appealing of the current flood of young soul sirens. The astonishing title track, co-written by Bernard Butler, sounded like a lost transmission that had taken decades to get through as soon as it hit radio last year. But the gently rolling soul ballad "Stepping Stone", that strapping, inescapable monster hit "Mercy", the ice cool "Serious" (the one time she really does channel the spirit of Dusty Springfield) and the wistful, elegant "Warwick Avenue" are similarly effective. Suggestions by some that Rockferry is little more than sixties pastiche are churlish. Butler's previous work with David McAlmont (featured here as a backing singer) showed his skill at writing and arranging the dramatic, while her other collaborators such as Steve Booker and the team of Jimmy Hogarth and Eg White are hardly lightweights. But despite some wonderful orchestral settings, it's Duffy's terrific voice that makes this so satisfying, even overpowering Butler's exquisitely underplayed guitar work on "Rockferry" itself. Growling the blues on "Syrup & Honey" or belting it out over his lovingly arranged wall of sound on "Distant Dreamer", she sets the tone throughout, several of her songs dealing with escape, both physical and romantic. The sound of someone singing herself to stardom, Rockferry is at times genuinely amazing. --Steve Jelbert People en Español
La música soul ha invadido Inglaterra en los últimos años, el país que nos ha entregado a algunas de las cantantes más interesantes del género como Amy Winehouse o Joss Stone. Hoy llega Duffy con Rockferry, un disco fantástico en el que la inglesa demuestra que una buena voz y personalidad son más que suficientes en el mundo de la música, sin necesidad de causar escándalos o contonear las caderas esta chica ha ido conquistando poco a poco los mercados de todo el mundo. En este álbum encontrará canciones como "Mercy" con un claro sonido sesentero, pero que se coló sin problemas en las listas de hits de la música pop. Además está "Warwick Avenue," una balada sencilla pero que le hará estremecer, también hay que destacar canciones como "Stepping Stone" o "Hanging On Too Long." La voz de Duffy es una de las más interesantes del mundo de la música, y aunque se le clasifica dentro del pop, no por esto su música es superflua o sólo para niñas de 15 años. Si le gusta la buena música déle una oportunidad a este disco. --Ernesto Sánchez (People en Español  ) |
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Spirit
Release Date: 2008-04-08
Sales rank: 26
UK singer and songwriter Leona Lewis will release her debut album, Spirit, in America on April 8, 2008. For the first time, Clive Davis and Simon Cowell teamed up to sign Lewis to J Records/SyCo Music (Cowell's joint venture with Sony BMG), and are both actively involved in the recording process for Spirit. Lewis, a 22-year-old London native and winner of the hit TV show the X Factor, a British talent show, has broken all-time sales records there with Spirit entering the album chart at Number One and becoming Britain's fastest-selling debut ever. Spirit has scanned more than two million copies worldwide since its release in November. In addition, Spirit's lead-off single "Bleeding Love" -- co-written and produced by OneRepublic frontman Ryan "Alias" Tedder -- was the U.K.'s best-selling single of 2007, claiming the Number One spot for seven weeks. Ushering in 2008, Leona received four prestigious Brit Award nominations, the UK equivalent of the Grammy Awards. Leona is currently in the studio recording two brand new tracks for the U.S. release of Spirit - "Forgive Me" by singer/songwriter superstar Akon and "Misses Glass" from the cutting edge producer/writers Madd Scientist and Rock City. Spirit is a mix of fresh pop and R&B, filled with "songs with a contemporary edge," as Lewis puts it, ranging from soulful up-tempo numbers ("I'm You," "The Best You Never Had," and "Whatever It Takes," which Lewis co-wrote) to ballads ("Better in Time," "I Will Be," and "The First Time I Ever Saw Your Face" -- a song that Roberta Flack made famous). Tracks were written and produced by an array of top-notch hit-makers, including Tedder, singer/songwriters Akon and Ne-Yo, songwriters Josh Alexander and Billy Steinberg, and songwriter/producers Dallas Austin, Stargate, J.R. Rotem, and Lukasz "Dr. Luke" Gottwald -- all of whom have worked with some of the biggest names in pop. In addition to gracing the covers of UK fashion publications like Harper's Bazaar, US media are touting Leona as the artist to watch in 2008: People Magazine labels her "the UK's hottest star in an "Introducing" piece," Vogue presents her in their "People Are Talking About - The Vogue 25 Cultural Highlights of 2008" and Entertainment Weekly declares her one of "8 To Watch in 2008."Winner of Britain’s "The X-Factor," Leona Lewis debuts with a mix of pop and R&B. She is blessed with a vocal range that’s so versatile, in songs like "Better In Time," that one may immediately compare her to Mariah Carey or Beyoncé Knowles, especially in "The First Time I Ever Saw You." It’s not Lewis’s fault that her voice doesn’t distinguish her from these stars, but her producer, Simon Cowell (American Idol), plays it safe, and doesn’t add anything new to what Tommy Mottola achieved with Mariah decades ago. That’s not to say that the album is bad, but let’s just hope Leona Lewis’s sophomore effort shakes things up a bit more. --Ernesto Sánchez (People en Español ) Ganadora del concurso de talento británico "The X-Factor," Leona Lewis debuta con una mezcla de pop y R&B aderezada de una tesitura de voz que en sus momentos más agudos ("Better In Time") no deja de recordar a Mariah Carey, o que en sus notas graves ("The First Time I Ever Saw You"), pareciera ser Beyoncé Knowles. No es su culpa que su voz no tenga distinción, pero su productor, Simon Cowell (American Idol), juega a lo seguro y no propone nada que Tommy Mottola no haya logrado décadas atrás con Mariah y que decenas de seguidores han intentado hacer sin cambiar el mundo de la música. Eso no quiere decir que el disco de Leona Lewis sea malo, pero por favor, esperemos que en su próximo disco proponga. --Ernesto Sánchez (People en Español ) |
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Still Unforgettable (Amazon Exclusive Bonus Track)
Release Date: 2008-09-09
Sales rank: 77
17 Years After The Multi-Platinum Album "Unforgettable...With Love", The Eight-time Grammyr Winning Singer prepares to release her follow-Up album 'Still Unforgettable' on 29th September with substantial UK promotion to coincide with the release. This much anticipated release is a timeless collection of popular tracks from the great American songbook, transformed to life with Natalie's beautiful vocal and iridescent flair. Natalie has had an amazing string of hits throughout the years including 'This Will Be (An Everlasting Love)', 'Miss You Like Crazy' and 'Pink Cadillac', achieving Grammy success eight times over. 1991 saw the release of 'Unforgettable' featuring her own poignant arrangements of her Father the legendary Nat King Cole's greatest hits. The album went on to sell over 14 million copies worldwide. Recorded at the historical Capital Studios in LA and produced by Natalie herself, the album features classics 'Walkin' My Baby Back Home' a duet with Nat King Cole, 'Come Rain or Come Shine', 'Here's That Rainy Day' and 'But Beautiful'. Pre-ceding the album release, is the lead track from the album 'Walkin' My Baby Back Home' - a wonderful duet with her late father Nat King Cole, which was first released by him in the 1950's - available digitally from 29th July. A brand new video for this song and an EPK is being created for TV promotion. |
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Fearless
Release Date: 2008-09-23
Sales rank: 41
An album by a great vocalist championed by the likes of Stevie Wonder, Missy Elliott, Faith Evans & Kindred among others. |
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Love & Life
Release Date: 2008-09-09
Sales rank: 78
Eric Benet has recaptured the essence of his roots as he journeyed back to Milwaukee on his fourth solo effort, Love & Life, a strong, good-feeling record reminiscent of yesteryears when R&B was rooted in gospel, a dash of jazz and the feeling of social awareness. This album reflects a journey that magnifies the abundance of familiar experiences both personal and social that transpires, represents sheer honesty, allowing you to discover truth, and be moved and connected by music. |
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The Block [Deluxe Edition]
Release Date: 2008-09-02
Sales rank: 70
You know 'em, You love 'em, you can't live without them. New Kids on The Block are back with their first new music in 14 years. This is the deluxe version of the Block CD. It comes with 4 extra songs, a fold out poster booklet. Their recent appearance on the Today Show's summer concert series drew one of the biggest crowds the network has seen for such a show. New Kids on the Block Photos |
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The Way I See It
Release Date: 2008-09-16
Sales rank: 91
Raphael Saadiq's The Way I See It album is satisfying for both old school heads and today's hip music buyers: his background as a musician, singer and songwriter is steeped in a love for R&B married with a commitment to making his own brand of expressive soul music. The Way I See It has the kind of smooth musical flow associated with great records made by pioneering producers at famous R&B companies like Motown, Invictus and Brunswick. From the foot-tapping opening track, "Sure Hope You Mean It" to the head-shaking reflective closer "Sometimes," Raphael delivers a present day potent ode to a bygone era. Loyal Tony! Toni! Toné! fans will particularly appreciate "100 Yard Dash," which Raphael describes as "a juke joint, Booker T.-type groove. I reflected back to my first T!T!T! albums when I was singing in a high tenor voice." Raphael grins when talking about the hypnotic "Love That Girl": "Man, that's all about the swing...the way girls swing their hips! It's the type of song that will make people move and that shuffle beat reminds me of those ladies I used to see playing drums in church!" With its Motown-flavored tambourine-featured beat, "Never Give You Up" is what Raphael calls "my three generations song. It includes C.J., this youngster from Baltimore that I'm working with and Stevie Wonder. Now comes The Way I See It, a masterful collection of new material that speaks to Raphael Saadiq's deep love for rhythm and blues. |
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