A well-oiled pop machine
Thriller, 66 million copies sold.
Did you know that Jackson and Ola Ray, his heroine in the video, had a fling on set?
In an interview with Vanity Fair, Ray revealed that Jackson came by her trailer everyday to watch her during make-up.
“What we had was like a little kindergarten thing going on. I thought it was important for him to be around someone who would make him feel comfortable, and that was my main objective,” she shared.
In the same interview, a nostalgic Landis recalled how despite his worldwide fame, Jackson striked him as a lonely person.
“I liked Mike. He used to come over to our house all the time and just stay there. I think he was so lonely. He and I got along fine, watching television until three or four in the morning, or looking at books,” he said.
Jackson was 50 when he died in June 2009. – Angelin Yeoh album have similar flair and a big sound, including Don’t Blame Me, Getaway Car, Dancing With Our Hands Tied and King Of My Heart.
Riding those big beats are the lyrics – Swift’s specialty. Some of the words hit hard like gunshots.
“If a man talks sh** then I owe him nothing/I don’t regret it one bit ‘cause he had it coming,” Swift sings on I Did Something Bad.
On the thumping and theatrical This Is Why We Can’t Have Nice Things, her target is crystal clear.
“And therein lies the issue/ Friends don’t try to trick you/Get you on the phone and mind-twist you,” she sings.
“But I’m not the only friend you’ve lost lately/If only you weren’t so shady.”
But the album isn’t all boom boom pow and big beats. Closing track New Year’s Eve issoft, stripped and slowed down, reminisicent of some of Swift’s earlier work.
Gorgeous and Call It What You Want also even out the gigantic sound of the album, produced with Jack Antonoff, Max Martin and Shellback.
Reputation also showcases a more sensual side of Swift. The performer with “that good girl faith and a tight little skirt” sings about scratches on her lover’s back on So It Goes..., and a man’s hand in her hair on Delicate, one of the brightest spots on the album.
On the falsetto-heavy Dress, another winning song and R&Bflavoured gem, Swift is tipsy and spilling wine in the bathtub.
“Only bought this dress so you can take it off,” she coos.
This album’s got an outstanding reputation. – Mesfin Fekadu/AP Rachel Platten Waves
Sony
RACHEL Platten, who burst into the music scene in 2015 with the inspibroadand rational megahit Fight Song, ens her musical stylings in Waves.
Her major label debut album Wildfire was chock-full of songs with positive, uplifting vibes such as Stand By You, Beating Me Up of course, Fight Song ,itwashardto imagine Platten ever breaking out of that mould.
The lead single off her sophomore release, Broken Glass, continues on in this tradition, empowering listeners to smash through the glass ceiling placed above them. It’s hard not to feel inspired as Platten brings so much energy and vigour to the track.
But the rest of the album sees the singer-songwriter discussing about love and relationships, from the heady feeling of falling in love in Shivers to doing away with the need to define a relationship in Labels and the pains of a messy break-up in Loose Ends.
Elsewhere, Platten pens a moving tribute to the people in her life that has contributed to her success in Hands. She writes beautifully about the blood, sweat and tears poured out by her loved ones for her.
Meanwhile, the usually tough, unfaltering Platten admits her vulnerabilities and failings in Grace. It is a cathartic experience listening to it, like letting out the tears we’ve held back for far too long.
There’s certainly nothing wrong with the Platten changing lanes. It’s just that the new material just isn’t as catchy, with the exception of the finger-snapping Perfect For You.
Waves, unfortunately, doesn’t quite meet the sing-along quality listeners have come to expect after Fight Song. – Kenneth Chaw Lee Brice Lee Brice Curb
I’VE always loved how country singer Lee Brice’s sweet, sentimental songs serve as a contrast to his gruff, masculine voice.
Sure, over the years, Brice has had his share of testosterone-filled numbers about drinking beers, driving trucks and admiring scantily-clad women.
But some of his best works like I Don’t Dance and Hard To Love are tender ballads about the important people and the important things in life. Good news! His latest self-titled album has more of that.
Some noteworthy tracks include Eyes Closed, which sees Brice aching for his lover who isn’t in his life anymore, and You Can’t Help Who You Love, about going back again and again to that someone, even if they’re bad for you.
Elsewhere, in Little Things and Songs In The Kitchen, he sings about seeing beauty in the mundane.
Still, the best moment of the album arrives at lead single, Boy ,a tear-jerker from start to finish. Brice performs the stripped-down ballad, about a father talking to his baby boy about the life he imagines for him, the way only a father (of two sons and a daughter) can. – KC