Batson's Blog

Pink revealed on Ellen last week that she’s coming out with a new album in April. Well, damn!   The Truth About Love came out in 2012 and Beautiful Trauma was just released in 2016.  Usually there’s a space of a few years between her albums. Since I realized I purchased but never actually listened to all of the songs on Beautiful Trauma , I figured I’d better take a listen before her new material is out. The post-motherhood Pink has been kind of hit-or-miss.  She turned a direction with her Greatest Hits …. So Far! album.  The new tracks on that release ('F**kin’ Perfect,' 'Raise Your Glass') had attitude but didn’t feature the rebellious nature that her previous work had.  They were rebellious, but in a more positive way.  Those songs lead into ‘Just Like Fire’ and ‘What About Us.’   Gone is the poetic angst that put her on the map.  It’s replaced by a fighter for equality and her perc...

It's almost impossible to find Jennifer Nettles without a smile on her face, but on her new album, That Girl , she turns the happiness down a notch. When I first heard that Nettles was coming out with a solo album, I fully expected to hear a bunch of pop-infused country jams. Well that theory was totally off base. There aren’t very many pop songs on this album – not in the way “Like Sugar” was. What That Girl does have is emotion. It’s dripping with emotion. It’s reflective and covers a range of topics, but most songs have roots in love. Songs that may be generic for other singers end up being impressive pieces of work when Nettles gets involved. The writing on That Girl probably isn’t as amazing as some of Sugarland’s best work, but they’re still better than your typical pop song. Falling Jennifer Nettles starts off this album with a light, nice, country sound that features the impressive range of her powerful vocals. Just like some of the greats in the music in...

If you've talked to someone at work this week, watched a news program or spent any amount of time on the Internet, then you know that Beyonce released a surprise album last week -- titled BEYONCÉ . It was called a "visual album" because of the fact that she released 17 videos along with the 14 songs -- all at once on iTunes. Without any buildup or promotion at all, Beyonce's album went to number one. Talk about a marketing plan that worked to perfection! While I've never been the biggest fan of Beyonce (I liked a few of her Destiny's Child songs and enjoyed listening to "Crazy In Love," but I wouldn't call myself a fan), I was impressed with the way she released the album and thought I'd check it out. I've seen a lot of people tweeting about it being flawless and mentioning that Beyonce showed a lot of growth on this album. After listening to it, I can't say I agree. More often than not, the album is boring, plain and has ve...

I got this album several months ago, when it was still on the end cap in the music section at Target. I wasn’t blown away by the songs, but here I am, several months later, and I find myself singing along to a lot of the songs when they come across my iTunes shuffle list. With Thanksgiving right around the corner, I figured I may as well give credit where credit is due and deliver a review of Ke$ha’s sophomore album: Warrior . After the success of Animal , Ke$ha came back with electropop music and more politically incorrect, outlandish lyrics. All in all, it's a lot of fun. Warrior This song was somewhat lackluster. It’s a Ke$ha party track, but it doesn’t have a distinguishable hook or chorus – at least not compared to the other ones on the album. The main chorus of “Warrior-ior-ior-ior. Warrior-ior-ioooor,” doesn’t really stick inside your head. That being said, Ke$ha’s vocals are pretty good on this one. "Warrior" utilizes a lot of forms of music dis...