The Star Online: Entertainment: Music
The Star Online: Entertainment: Music |
| Lady Antebellum owns 'Night' and Billboard chart Posted: 22 Sep 2011 01:11 AM PDT LOS ANGELES: Lady Antebellum is definitely experiencing pride of ownership, as the country-pop trio's third album, ''Own the Night,'' sold 347,000 copies to debut atop the Billboard/SoundScan album rankings. That's the best bow for a country release since Taylor Swift's ''Speak Now'' moved a little over a million units last November. It's a comedown for Lady A, though, compared to the blockbuster bow for their previous release, ''Need You Now,'' which debuted with 481,000 copies a year and a half ago, when that album's once-in-a-lifetime title-track smash was peaking across multiple formats. Country-inclined shoppers weren't checking out with just Lady Antebellum in their baskets. The week's second-best entry belonged to newcomer Brantley Gilbert, in at No. 4 on sales of 51,000 for his ''Halfway to Heaven'' album (boosted by a hit single, ''Country Must Be Country Wide''). Technically, it's a re-entry: Gilbert's album was previously issued on an indie label before being taken out of print in anticipation of this successful relaunch by Swift's label home. Staind made a stand at No. 5, though the 47,000-copy bow for the fading hard rock band's eponymous effort only represented half the 92,000 units their previous album debuted with three years ago. Other top-ranked rock entries included bows from Dream Theater at No. 8 (36,000 copies) and the Devil Wears Prada at No. 10 (32,000). Two reunited rock outfits associated with the '90s made comebacks after long layoffs, to very modest returns. Primus' first album in eight years entered the chart at No. 15 (selling 24,000 units), while a seemingly whacked Bush only made it only to No. 18 with their first album in a decade (20,000). Among hit holdovers on the album chart, Lil Wayne slipped to third place, falling behind the goddess to whom even Weezy must eventually bow, Adele. Her long-running ''21'' sold another 119,000, while ''Tha Carter IV'' was close behind with 117,000 in its third week. On the digital songs chart, the first three spots remained frozen, with Maroon 5's ''Moves Like Jagger,'' Adele's ''Someone Like You'' and Foster the People's ''Pumped Up Kicks'' all maintaining position. The sole new top-10 song entry, at No. 6, was Coldplay's ''Paradise,'' which the band apparently wanted fans to get used to before the rockers' ''Saturday Night Live'' season-premiere gig this weekend. Next week, Tony Bennett's ''Duets II'' is expected to debut as the No. 1 album - or was, anyway. Whether Bennett's controversial statements about the 9/11 attacks on Howard Stern's show blow up enough to put a dent in the size of his debut remains to be seen. |
| Posted: 22 Sep 2011 12:40 AM PDT Blake Shelton credits The Voice for reigniting his fire. ACTING as a celebrity coach on NBC's hit talent show The Voice reminds Blake Shelton of his own rise from star-struck Oklahoma teenager to country music star. Shelton came to Nashville at age 17, idolising Travis Tritt and Paul Overstreet and imagining Nashville's famed Music Row as an impregnable fortress of towering skyscrapers. "I figured out what makes this industry work, what makes the world turn here in Nashville, and it's record sales. It's one thing to hear yourself on radio, it's another for people to go buy your music," said 35-year-old Shelton. New York Times' music critic Jon Caramanica recently wrote of Shelton, "Apart from perhaps Taylor Swift, he's becoming the most important and visible ambassador from Nashville to the American mainstream." Told this, Shelton offered a quick "aw-shucks" reply. But he then gave a considered view of his career path since his 2001 single Austin hit No.1 through this year's platinum-selling Honey Bee and five recent award nominations from the Country Music Association – including his first nod for the top prize, entertainer of the year. "You don't see a lot of country artistes end up in pop culture, but somehow Miranda and I are there for a minute," said Shelton, referring to the tide of publicity surrounding his May wedding to fellow country star Miranda Lambert. "When The Voice comes and goes, and Miranda and I being married are not interesting to talk about anymore, country music will still be important to me. It's the reason I moved to Nashville," he said. TV singing contest The Voice debuted earlier this year on NBC, and became a hit show. Shelton, a judge, was perhaps less well-known by mainstream audiences than some of his pop star counterparts such as Christina Aguilera, but over the season he endeared himself to viewers and became the programme's breakout star. "The Voice" returns to TV in the United States on Feb 5 (Season One is currently being aired here in Malaysia on AXN). Shelton and Lambert will briefly escape fame's trappings with a week-long hunting trip to Colorado before he begins taping the new season of The Voice and lays plans for his first headline tour next year. "I don't think it will even soak in on me until next week," Shelton said of the five CMA award nominations, which were announced last week. The awards show airs on Nov 9. "I'll be sitting there one morning and go 'holy crap, that's a big deal.' There's so much going on right now (it's) hard to take it all in." Shelton may have another hit soon with the release of Footloose, the theme song originally recorded by Kenny Loggins for the 1984 movie of the same name which has been remade and debuts next month. "When they approached me about it, they asked me about doing another song, but I told them I wanted to do Footloose or I wasn't going to be part of the soundtrack," he said. Shelton said people either love or hate the idea of him re-recording the former hit, but he was thrilled to learn Loggins liked his version. "It is in THE scene of the movie, and I didn't want to monkey around with it. I wanted to pay homage to Kenny's version, and just make it sound new again. With me singing, it is definitely more country sounding," Shelton said. In musing about the contestants he has coached on The Voice, Shelton said the eagerness and fire displayed by Dia Frampton and Xenia reinvigorated him. "When you're tired, and people are pulling you, you forget how fortunate you are to do what I do," he said. – Reuters |
| Posted: 22 Sep 2011 12:31 AM PDT R.E.M, once dubbed "America's Best Rock & Roll Band," said on Wednesday they decided to "call it a day" after more than 30 years of generating hits and selling millions of records. Key members of the band, whose hits include The One I Love and Losing My Religion, addressed fans in a posting on their website, thanking them for their loyalty and saying they have astonished even themselves with their accomplishments. "To our Fans and Friends: As R.E.M., and as lifelong friends and co-conspirators, we have decided to call it a day as a band. "We walk away with a great sense of gratitude, of finality, and of astonishment at all we have accomplished. To anyone who ever felt touched by our music, our deepest thanks for listening," the band said in its posting. R.E.M , made up of singer Michael Stipe, guitarist Peter Buck, bass player Mike Mills and drummer Bill Berry, have released 15 albums since forming in 1980. Their most recent Collapse Into Now was released earlier this year. The band broke through the ranks of other rock acts in the early 1980s when they became a sensation on the U.S. college circuit singing their hit Radio Free Europe. Their debut album, 1983's Murmur, helped them build a cult following among America's youth, and they crossed over to mainstream success with 1987 hit single, The One I Love off the album Document. In December of 1987, Rolling Stone magazine put the band on its cover and dubbed it "America's Best Rock & Roll Band," and after that came years of successive hits. "A wise man once said -- 'the skill in attending a party is knowing when it's time to leave.' We built something extraordinary together. We did this thing. And now we're going to walk away from it," Stipe said in the statement. Bassist Mills said that while making Collapse Into Now and on their recent tour to support the album, the band mates began asking themselves what would come next. They felt that the songs from that record drew "a natural line" between their work as a group and their future as individual artists. "We have always been a band in the truest sense of the word. Brothers who truly love, and respect, each other. We feel kind of like pioneers in this -- there's no disharmony here, no falling-outs, no lawyers squaring-off. We've made this decision together, amicably and with each other's best interests at heart. The time just feels right," Mills said. |
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