Music Reviews by Gracie

Mary J Blige

gracie13 — Sat, 03 May 2008 19:43:19 +0000

Mary Jane Blige sings R&B, soul, and hip hop, occasional rap. She also has many more accoplishments and tasks that she persues such as being a record producer, actress, and hip hop icon who has sold more than 40 million records and over 10 million singles worldwide. recieving 26 grammy award nominations, Mary J Blige is know as the “Queen of Hip Hop Soul.”

Albums

1992: What’s the 411?
1994: My Life
1997: Share My World
1999: Mary
2001: No More Drama
2003: Love & Life
2005: The Breakthrough
2006: Reflections – A Retrospective
2007: Growing Pains

Staind

gracie13 — Mon, 28 Apr 2008 21:19:28 +0000

Albums: 14 Shades of Grey, Break the Cycle, Chapter V, Dysfunction.

Staind has been around since 1995. They formed in SpringField, Massachustts. Fred Durst from LImp Bizkit was one of the executive producers for the albums, Dysfunction and Break the Cycle. He also directed a few videos for the band later on. Here is one of the earlier songs from Staind “It’s Been Awhile.”

Beyonce

gracie13 — Mon, 21 Apr 2008 06:49:53 +0000

Beyonce started off in a band that contained 4 girls Beyoncé Knowles, Kelly Rowland, Letoya Luckett, & LaTavia Roberson. Their band was called Destiny’s Child. In 2002 the band went from 4 members to 3. The three that stayed were Beyoncé Knowles, Kelly Rowland, and Michelle Williams., known as Beyoncé, is a singer, and actree. She is originally from Houston, Texas. Her education consist of going to a number of performing art schools, where she learned dance and music. Beyonce’s first real break through was when she became a part of a band in the late 1990s as the lead singer of Destiny’s Child. The band changed member narrowing it down to three performers instead of five. Through out the struggles faced by the group, they eventually were recognized as the world’s best-selling female group of all time. In June 2003, after a series of commercial successes with the group, Knowles released her debut solo album; Dangerously in Love became one of the most successful albums of the year. These singles “Crazy in love” and “Baby Boy” earned Knowles five Grammy Awards in 2004. The wins established her standing among the most successful female artists in the United States.

Beyoncé Giselle Knowles

Singles:

“Deja Vue”

“Beautiful Liar”,

” Irreplaceable”.

She became one of the most marketable artists. Beyonce decided to expand her horizons and wnder into acting. She played in The Pink Panther and the 2006 musical film Dream girls.

Skillet

gracie13 — Sun, 30 Mar 2008 22:26:11 +0000

Skillet is a well known christian band that is squeezing into mainstream music. If you are little confused about who this band is, they have a few singles on FM90. Hear is one of their music videos that you may recognize.

This is one of their more recent songs. “Savior” is another very popular song that was made into a single about five years ago. That song is off of the album Collide. Skillet had been around since the early 90′s. They have become very popular through out the years, not just with the christian croud, but with many people no matter who they are or what they believe.

They perform all over the nation, but we are luckey to have them perform frquently in Minnesota. They play at Club 3 Degrees in minneapolis various times through out the year, along with the Sonshine Music Festival, and many other venues around this area.

They have toured with well known rock bands such as Saliva, Shinedown, Finger Eleven, and Three Days Grace. If you get a chance go see these guys in concert they put on an amazing show. I have been lucky enough to see them at least 5 times in concert.

There are four band members in Skillet.

Lead Vocals and Bassist: John Cooper

Drums: Jen Ledger as of 2008 after Lori Peters had retired at the end of 2007

Guitar: Ben Kasica

Key boards and Guitarist: Korey Cooper

Three Days Grace

gracie13 — Mon, 24 Mar 2008 15:49:35 +0000

The band formaly known as Groundswell, became Three Days Grace in 1997. Their first album was Three Days Grace” with singles from that album called, “I Hate Everything About you” and “Just Like you.” This album was released in 2003.

They have come a very long way since 2003. They hav eproduced another album called One X in 2006 six featuring their single “Animal I Have Become.”

Their sound hasn’t changed dirastically since their first major album. through out the years that have becaome very popular among the teem population. The week the album came out they sold over 78,000 copies. They also made it in the top 5 on the billboard charts.

Band Members:

Adam Gontier – Lead Vocals/Rhythm Guitar
Barry Stock – Lead Guitar
Brad Walst – Bass/Backing vocals
Neil Sanderson – Drums/Backing Vocals

Yung Joc

gracie13 — Mon, 24 Mar 2008 15:13:21 +0000

Young Joc is one of the many Rap artists featured on FM90. He name is Jasiel A. Robinson and was born on April 2, 1983. His home toen is Atlanta Georgia. Most people know him as Yung Joc. His most popular single that he is featuredi n is “Buy U A Drank” and is also featured in “Show Stoppin,” a single released in 2007.

Some of his own singles are “It’s Goin down,” “I Know you See It,” and “1st Time.”

Carrie Underwood

gracie13 — Sat, 22 Mar 2008 04:28:55 +0000

Carrie underwood is a name we all know from the famous American Idol. She has come a long way with her music. Her singles have both hit top 40 station and country. Some of the better known songs are “When he Cheats,” “All American Girl,” “Jesus Take the Wheel,”and “So Small.”

Started with country but her songs became so popular that a select few were chosen to be played on the top 40 stations. “When he Cheats” is one the singles chosen along with “So Small.”

She has recieved many awards. For two consecutive years she has revieved the female vocalist of the year.

Taylor Swift

gracie13 — Sat, 15 Mar 2008 03:05:45 +0000

Genras sometime intertwine. Taylor Swift, for instance, is mainly known for her country music talent. She now is changing her songs to more of a pop sound. her songs are not only played on country stations, but also on top forty stations. FM 90 is currently playing 2 of her songs. One is “Tear Drops on my Guitar” and the other is “Our Song.” Here are the videos.

I really enjoy her music because it’s not overly country. There’s another genre that it fits into, which is pop. This is why many top forty stations are playing music of this variety. Taylor Swift isn’t the only artist being played. Carrie Underwood has also come out with singles that are being recognized on stations other than country stations. Carrie Underwood and Taylor Swift didn’t start this trend by any means. Back in the 90′s, Shania Twain had her share of singles that were made into more of pop songs. As a matter of fact, she released an album including two CD’s. One consisted of the country version of her songs and the other had the pop version.

Linkin Park

gracie13 — Sat, 15 Mar 2008 02:39:42 +0000

Member:

Chester Bennington ~ Lead Vocals
Rob Bourdon ~ Drums
Brad Delson ~ Lead Guitar
Dave Farrel ~ Bass Guitar
Joe Hahn ~ Turntables, programming, samples, beats
Mike Shinoda ~ emcee, vocals, rhythm guitar, keyboard, piano

In 1996-1998 the band was named Xero. During this time vocals was done by Mark wakefield. Here’s a sample of Xero’s music. Linkin Park has come along way. It is hard to put them in to their own category. They combine both Rock and rap into their songs. An example would be the song “Somewhere I Belong” Likin Park’s music has gone through many changes. They used to do many songs with rap and rock combined. They have done many songs with Jay-Z a well known rapper. After not making an album for quite a period of time they created a new sound. That many people loved yet other’s weren’t as pleased. Here are couple of their new releases, “Shadow of the Day” and “What I’ve Done” Albums Produced

Hybrid theory
Meteora
Minutes to Midnight
Collision Course (with Jay-Z)
Live in Texas
Reanimation