THIS IS US...or is it??

I remember Brian Littrell's words at the end of the Unbreakable tour

"I'd like to tell you all a secret. Though its a secret, I want you to share with ur family, friends, cousins, friends of friends. Tonight is the last show of this particular tour. And tomorrow, we'll be back in the studio, working on a brand new album with a fine young man called T-Pain"

And I was on cloud 9...just like any other BSB fan...and it was pretty obvious that they were gonna try somethin new with T-Pain around...A few months later, I saw Nick Carter's blog updated with a post that congratulated Obana on his victory...He also spoke a lot about 'Change' and he seemed to be quie optimistic about their next project...

Sometime in the month of June, i could find leaked songs on the net...and the album was officially launched in October under the name 'This is us'...



Heres a review of the album...

The first single released from the album was 'Straight through my heart'...But i should say, the boys hav once again missed out on choosing the right single...Straight through my heart is a eurodance style ballad that can only reach out to their fans...maybe they released it as their first single as their tour commences from Europe...or was it just becoz RedOne composed it?Maybe he has had a really good year... But there was surely a better option

The next single to be released was 'Bigger'...Though this was a better choice, its once again a song that only their fans can appreciate...nice rythm guitar and lyrics...but that is not nearly sufficient to rock the radios of today...And to be very frank, neither of these music videos were appealing...

Now to the album...I should say i was very disappointed because the songs 'Fallen Angel' and 'Hologram' didn't make it to the album...the former was my favourite amongst the leaked songs and hologram was a really good one of a different style and it was composed by T-Pain so it wud hav helped them gain a lot of attention...

Anyway, into the album, their new attempt seems to hav come out really good...congrats boys...
A lot of Hip hop and RnB essence dominating the tracks with a drastic change in their style of lyrics could mean a BSB evolution...though i still feel they are better off in their old style...i'll come back to that later...

We've known BSB to hav shown traces of Hihop in their early years ...songs like 'What I know now', 'Helpless', 'Bye Bye love' showcase their talent in that art which has not vanished over the years...truly good ones

'You need love' is another eurodance ballad which once again brings us some nostalgia abt their earlier works....

'THis is US'...nice guitar works...but...the song hasn't clung onto me yet...sounds fairly good at the moment

PDA...well...when did BSB start singin stuff like "My hands all over your booty"!!!

'Masquerade'-My favourite track from the album(becoz Fallen Angel wasn't released)...nice beats, an absorbing bridge, good chorus, traces of techno...wowie...

SHe's a dream....Another awesome number of a different style...lyrics stand out...

Shattered...some signs of the BSB we used to know....

Undone...a really nice and a different style track...actually, largely resembles Michael Jackson's style...is this their way of givin a tribute?



Helpless, as i said earlier, is a really good hihop/rnb number and credits to Pitbull as well


Now overall...
music...they've tried a lot of new things, quite successfully i should say...but I still wish they din do it at the cost of their original style...



lyrics...only their style of lyrics has changed...but i'm pretty convinced thet they've retained their quality...songs like bigger and what i know now clearly indicate it



then to the boys...(i know they're never gonna read this but i'll still address it to them!)

AJ...your base voice remains sexy as ever...and no complains about your voice in the higher octaves either



Nick...what an evolution from never Gone to unbreakable and now to this is us...you're wow man! possibly my fav voice next only to bryan adams...and the control you've got in switchin between your true voice and falsetto is a point wher you even beat Bryan



Howie...i thought u wer the weakling amongst the boys though i've always appreciated your contributions in the add ins...but you baffled me ths time around with your superb falsetto...incomparable!11your voice in the song shattered surely shot me down! and congrats on your new kid:)



Brian...what to say...you've been the most reliable snger right from the start when it came to control ovrer your voice...u've only improved with age



so...you'd surely feel this album could hav been titled this is not us, if you've been following them for many years now...anyway...i'll stand by them on anything new they'd like to experiment...i'm happy that this one has come out good...still wish fallen angel made it to the disc and the radios...

anyway...they were, are and will forever be the kings of teen pop!!!



KEEP THE BACKSTREET PRIDE ALIVE!!!

A legend and his legacy...a tribute to MJ

I was fast asleep on Friday mornin when a friend called me and told me MJ was dead...I asked him if it was a confirmed news but he wasn't sure...so, i went back to bed, optimistic....when i woke up again, i saw about 10 text messages waitin for me in my mobile, all conveyin the same tragic news..."Michael Jackson, the King of Pop, is dead"....Shocked I was...i switched the TV on, hoping against hope that it wasn't true but...what a beautiful letdown!

But it took a couple of hours, i should say, for the fact to sink in....then this nostalgia begins....Michael Joseph Jacskson...a journey that began as a 5 year old, the youngest and the most adorable brother of the Jackson 5... a band that could topple the likes of Beatles...u cud say amongst arguments between the best music analysts that it was the first known boyband type of band...anyway, this is possibly not the best time to argue if Jackson5 was a boyband or not....his road continued with concerts all over the world...dunno what convinced him to try his hand on acting in the late 70s..his film was a box office disaster but that was what revolutionalised his career...he met Quincy Jones who was instumental in bringing his solo career to the stage...an electric entry into the charts with 'Off the wall' followed by the record-breaking 'Thriller' with singles like Billie Jean, Beat it, Thriller virtually ruling the charts ....It was now MTV's turn to give up its policy of telcastin white singers only...another barrier broken by Michael...Then it was time to become a superstar and the Motown 25th Anniversary was the perfect stage for it as he unveiled the legendary moonwalk...then came 1984 where he moved from just another achiever to an unmatched champion when he grabbed 8 grammy awards on a single night, a record that will never be broken....and then his final tour with the jacson5 'Victory'...1987 saw the release of Bad which was, as expected, another huge hit both in terms of sales and the charts...honours started pouring in as he became 'The artist of the decade' and his first autobiography 'Moonwalk' hit the stores a year later..

Then the 90's which saw a record-breaking recording deal with sony for his 4th album Dangerous...ant this period, according to me, was what turned Michael into a legend...forget his association with the white house prior to this, but this time President George Bush personally honoured him with the "Enternainer of the decade" award...And charity, somethin which he has been doing for years went to an all new level when he formed the Heal the World Foundation...If u thought his relief measures for Africa in the mid 80s("We are the world") was an appreciable effort, this one wud be divine as he catered to the needs of children around the world...Then came the superbowl performance, which according to me is his best performance ever...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ClB6hJvgvAs
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jCma5VvMCXg
(Those links will show you the best of his magic)

He then went on to marry Lisa Marie Presley, the daughter of the legendary rockstar Elvis Presley...it lasted for just over one and a half years before they divorced on friendly terms...In the meantime Michael's career was brought out from a bit of a swing with the release of History which broke the first week sales record...Preceeded by the release of the most expensive music video ever created, scream, which featured Janet Jackson and of course a record breaking "You are not alone", the album proved to be worthy of every penny sony spent on campaigning for the album...he followed it up with the a world tour which, once again smashed several records...This was followed by the birth of his son Prince Michael Jackson and a year later his daughter Paris Katherine Michael Jackson...he released the longest music video ever made 'Ghosts' and then the album 'Blood on the Dancefloor'(This was the first MJ song that i liked)...

The new millenium didn't dawn bright for him as he got involved in a duel with Sony Music, when he accused the chairman to be a racist...this led to a serious rift between the two parties and his album was not promoted upto the mark...but then, he was Invincible...the album ruled the charts against all odds...but it was a clear sign of a downfall in his career...He was father once again with the birth of Prince Michael II...Then came the worst part of his life- arrested on child molestation charges and later gettin acquitted...a dishonest doccumentary of his life...the Julien's auction where he had to part with his lovely Neverland Ranch...repeated disputes with sponsors, gettin ripped of every penny by the court....everything that a legend did not deserve....but it was time to bounce back as he announced his comeback tour "This is it" where 50 concerts sold out in a few minutes...but that show wud not go on....'Cardiac arrest', as doctors call it, took Michael away from us, once and for all...affirmed to be result of overdose of painkillers...but i don't think it was the painkiller that killed our MJ, it was the pain...the least that the world cud give to a man who taught them what love is...

If I wer to give u a list of all records he has broken and all awards he has recieved, I'd be lying to u...coz i dont think its humanly possible to get a comprehensive list of his achievements as a musician, though a it was a human who achieved them...but there is one laurel which stands out to me...Michael Jackson holds the record for maximum charity among celebrities...now doesn't that show his love for the world?...well it doesn't...u gotta know the man to know his love...i dont care what the court thinks but I'm sure MJ was surely innocent in every case he appeared...and he'd probably be the last man on earth to abuse a child...we did see some of his sponsors, who had earlier registered cases against him, admit shamelessly that they were lying, soon after his death...Michael's soul wud forgive them as it was the embodiment of all goodness the world ever knew...

"I've been in the entertainment industry since I was six-years-old... As Charles Dickens says, "It's been the best of times, the worst of times." But I would not change my career... While some have made deliberate attempts to hurt me, I take it in stride because I have a loving family, a strong faith and wonderful friends and fans who have, and continue, to support me."
-MJ

"There wasn't nothing strange about your dad, it was strange what your dad had to deal with"
-Al Sharpton to Michael's kids on his funeral

RIP Jacko.