Fall music forecast: a flurry of CDs
By Jim Farber
New York Daily News
Source:The Seattle Times
Sustaining a pop career is like storming Normandy Beach on D-Day all by yourself. Every time artists release some music, they're besieged by the industry's equivalent to heavily armed soldiers (i.e. unsympathetic radio programmers, fickle consumers and cutthroat competing artists), all firing bullets that could end their career at any moment.
Never is this peril greater than in the fall. That's when the heaviest guns come out (i.e., the most starry competition), making the potential for failure that much more common and public.
Autumn '07 has its own bloody battles in store. 50 Cent and Kanye West will go mano-a-mano on an already loaded day (Sept. 11), releasing their respective third CDs to create a punishing game of compare-and-contrast. Alicia Keys will face the daunting task of topping her excellent first two CDs with a third (out Oct. 23), while Nicole Scherzinger kicks off a potentially ruinous trend for the culture at large by becoming the first Pussycat Doll to purr out a solo CD.
Another nail-biting scenario involves James Blunt, who'll issue his make-or-break follow-up to his zillion-selling wimp-a-thon, "Back to Bedlam" (which spawned the worldwide terror "You're Beautiful"). At the same time, stars who've been delinquent on the scene for a dangerous spell (from Seal to Annie Lennox to Joni Mitchell) will test the waters with their first works in eons.
Who will survive this fray no one can say. But we can offer a guide to who's engaged in the fight, divided by plot.
Members of bands trying to show they can make it on their own
will. i. am: "Songs About Girls," Sept. 25. The Black Eyed Pea and a prolific producer in his own right, puts out his first album as a solo artist.
Pat Monahan: "Last of Seven," Sept. 18. The debut from the ruggedly handsome singer of Train.
Nicole Scherzinger: "Her Name Is Nicole," Oct. 16. The solo debut from the only Pussycat Doll who can kinda sing.
Serj Tankian: "Elect the Dead," Oct. 23. The singer for System of a Down with his first lone flight.
Jordin Sparks: November. Now standing apart from her "American Idol" competition, this year's winner will issue her risky debut. She better hope it does better than Taylor Hicks' first, or Katharine McPhee's for that matter.
Comebacks
Ja Rule: "The Mirror," Sept. 25. The most vilified man in rap tries to regain his good name with his first CD in three years.
Joni Mitchell: "Shine," Sept. 25. The legend's first album of new material in nine years appears on the Starbucks label, a la Paul McCartney's latest.
Seal: "System," Sept 25. The husky-voiced singer took time away from model-wife Heidi Klum just long enough to put out his first work in four years.
Chaka Khan: "Funk This," Sept. 25. The deep-soul diva's first album in 10 years features production from Jam and Lewis, and guest spots for Mary J. Blige and Michael McDonald.
John Fogerty: "Revival," Oct. 2. The ex-leader of Creedence Clearwater Revival puts out his first solo album in four years, released on the label he famously battled for decades, Fantasy.
Annie Lennox: "Songs of Mass Destruction," Oct. 2. The great chanteuse's first solo album in half a decade and only her fourth overall. Features guest shots from a full kick-line of pop women, including Madonna, Dido, Bonnie Raitt, Pink, Fergie and KT Tunstall.
Kid Rock: "Rock and Roll Jesus," Oct. 9. The rap-rocker's first CD of new material in four years.
Backstreet Boys: "Unbreakable," Oct. 30. The former boy band's first release in three years and their only one without Kevin Richardson.
Q-Tip: "The Renaissance," Dec. 18. The endlessly delayed second solo album from the New York rapper finally arrives. It's Q's first work in eight years.
Copyright © 2007 The Seattle Times Company
No comments:
Post a Comment