'Rock of Ages' Sountrack: 4 of 5 Stars 2:25 AM

Never had I imagined that I'll be saying this - Tom Cruise in a movie sountrack, along with Mary J. Blige and Diego Boneta, sounded GLEEfully incredible.

Okay, with an ensemble that included Tom Cruise and Julianne Hough, I admit, the soundtrack is nowhere near the R.E.N.T. soundtrack vocally, but still the Rock of Ages soundtrack is something worth listening to - except if you don't fancy remakes.

[I don't understand people who don't fancy remake anyways. I mean, I love Queen but I always like to hear people remaking their songs, I download them, too. That was wholly unnecessary but, whatever.]

A lot of the songs - especially the mash-offs - sounded a lot like a rip-off from Glee [believe me, I watch the show all the time]. The fact that it sounded a lot like Glee is a positive this time. [I mean, ignore Glee's awful cover of the Bee Gees' How Deep is Your Love or its insufferable remake of James Brown's It's A Man's Man's World... Sorry, Dianna Agron.]

As you listen to the sountrack, note that the Executive Music Producer of this movie is the almost legendary Adam Anders - the man behind the glory days of Glee when they had one of their biggest sales weeks to date with 986,000 downloads of tracks (tracks produced by Anders himself). He's also among the people behind the success of various Disney flicks; see: High School Musical 3, Camp Rock, and Hannah Montana: The Movie (things we don't all need to understand why it succeeded in the first place but that's beside the point; I was just trying to give you a picture).

Adam Anders

Moving on, Rock of Ages is a movie adaptation of a classic Broadway musical - of the same name - whose story revolves around Sherrie Christian (played by Julianne Hough, good pick BTW) and Drew Boley (played by Diego Boneta; it's actually Drew Dilinbeck in the original play). Two characters fall in love during the rock and glam metal era of the 80s. That's why you have Tom Cruise's character Stacey Jaxx who is Drew's music idol.

That's basically it but man, a musical set in the 1980s is a rare occurence now.

The sountrack features 20 songs, all of which are songs that were big in the 1980s [and all of which are songs I surprisingly know; I was born on the first year of the 90s, mind you].

”Paradise City”, Tom Cruise

“Sister Christian” / “Just Like Paradise” / “Nothin’ But A Good Time” - Julianne Hough, Diego Boneta, Russell Brand, Alec Baldwin

“Juke Box Hero” / “I Love Rock ‘n’ Roll” - Diego Boneta, Alec Baldwin, Russell Brand, Julianne Hough

“Hit Me With Your Best Shot” - Catherine Zeta-Jones

“Waiting For A Girl Like You” - Diego Boneta, Julianne Hough

“More Than Words” / “Heaven" - Julianne Hough, Diego Boneta

“Wanted Dead Or Alive" - Tom Cruise, Julianne Hough

“I Want To Know What Love Is” - Tom Cruise, Malin Akerman

“I Wanna Rock” - Diego Boneta

“Pour Some Sugar On Me” - Tom Cruise

“Harden My Heart” - Julianne Hough, Mary J. Blige

“Shadows of the Night” / “Harden My Heart” - Mary J. Blige, Julianne Hough

“Here I Go Again” - Diego Boneta, Paul Giamatti, Julianne Hough, Mary J. Blige, Tom Cruise

“Can’t Fight This Feeling” - Russell Brand, Alec Baldwin

“Any Way You Want It” – Mary J. Blige, Constantine Maroulis, Julianne Hough

“Undercover Love” – Diego Boneta

“Every Rose Has Its Thorn” – Julianne Hough, Diego Boneta, Tom Cruise, Mary J. Blige

“Rock You Like A Hurricane” – Julianne Hough, Tom Cruise

“We Built This City” / “We’re Not Gonna Take It” – Russell Brand / Catherine Zeta-Jones

“Don’t Stop Believin’” - Julianne Hough, Diego Boneta, Tom Cruise, Alec Baldwin, Russell Brand, Mary J. Blige

Catherine Zeta-Jones' Hit Me With Your Best Shot is actually nice, no major changes in the arrangement but it's pretty decent. Pat Benatar would be proud. Zeta-Jones and Russell Brand's mash-off of We Build This City and We're Not Gonna Take It is also nice, I mean, it practically sounded like a New Directions mash-off (see: Glee) but it's nice nonetheless. It easily found its may to my iPod [yes, I have musical in my iPod].

Cruise's Paradise City is... well, fun - for lack of better word. It's nothing compared to the Guns N' Roses original but I'd listen to it. It's mostly because of the Tom-Cruise-singing-a-Guns-N'-Roses-song factor.

Mary J. Blige, Constantine Maroulis, and Julianne Hough's version of Any Way You Want It is one of my favorites. I mean, Mary J. Blige singing a Journey classic isn't something I'd pass up on.

But Cruise's Pour Some Sugar On Me is just... God, help me but Tom Cruise pulling off a Def Leppard is definitely NOT mission impossible. [I can't stop listening to it, I raped the replay button.]

The other songs are also nice, it's a good album overall but the my personal favorites would be the remake of Whitesnake's Here I Go Again. I mean, I never liked the song before but I appreaciate it now (the power of musicals). And definitely, a new Adam Anders arrangement of Journey's Don't Stop Believing? Definitely a must-hear. I don't know how he managed to not make it sound so much like Glee but it turned out to be okay.

Rating:

　

Okay, so Tom Cruise is no Chris Hardwick of the original Broadway cast (because I've watched clips) or Julianne Hough is especially nowhere near Laura Bell Bundy but the Rock of Ages soundtrack is definitely a go. I approve.

Watch the Rock of Ages Trailer Here:

ZZ Ward's "Eleven Roses": Why You Must Have It 11:25 PM

Whoever said that contemporary hip-hop can never work with alternative blues, they probably haven't heard ZZ Ward.

I was watching the official trailer of Pretty Little Liars two days ago and then, it featured this song that immediately caught my attention. It's probably the authentic beats of contemporary hip-hop or it could be the voice but I found myself searching the artist behind it.

View the Pretty Little Liars trailer here.

Thank God for YouTube [and Pretty Little Liars] because they introduced me to the music of ZZ Ward.

So, I've learned that the track I've heard on the trailer is called "'Till The Casket Drops" and I swear if you listen to it, you'll get captivated as well. (The comments on trailer itself were talking about the song and not the show itself, as awkward as that is.)

Listen to 'Til The Casket Drops

And upon research, I figured that the Roseburg, Oregon native blues singer just made her Eleven Roses mixtape available for free download.

ZZ Ward's debut mixtape features eight tracks of genius music - the raw yet elegant combination of blues and hip-hop plus the undeniably flawless voice of ZZ Ward plus the brutal and beautiful lyrics of every song; it is an overall win. 

The third track "Overdue" made me think that she's actually the love child of Adele and BoB or the second coming of Fiona Apple. This track is brutally honest and it's arrangement made you feel every single bit of it's honesty.

Watch the official music video of Overdue

"Better Off Dead" and "Got It Bad", the first and second single off the mixtape, just showed why ZZ Ward's music deserves an applause. It's the type you'd listen to after a long day because aside from laughter, good music just makes everything okay.

My personal favorite would be "Morphine". It has that music video vibe that when you listen to it while walking down the street, you'd feel as badass as the song itself.

The entire mixtape is a consistent mix of honest words and raw beats from track one to track eight.

The two acoustic tracks just showed off ZZ Ward's amazing vocals that will make you think she was standing in front of the line when God showered singing talents to humanity.

Raw, elegant, beautiful - three words to describe this record.

Rating:

Learn more about ZZ Ward through the following links:

ZZ Ward | Official Website

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Carrie Underwood's 'Blown Away' Will Blow You Away 6:04 AM

Despite its many loopholes, American Idol sure did make something of a country girl from Checotah, Oklahoma.

American Idol Season 4 winner Carrie Underwood  recently unveiled her fourth studio album called 'Blown Away'. Unlike her previous albums, Underwood took a different route in this one by putting on some serious angst while trying not to break away from the same old country girl that America voted for in 2005.

Click here to stream on Last FM

The album kicks of with carrier single, Good Girl, which features a somewhat rock-country vibe induced by Underwood's ever-enchanting vocals. The second track, Blown Away, hits off on heavy bass drum intro and Underwood goes on the entire song with the somewhat angsty vibe singing: There's not enough rain in Oklahoma to wash the sins out of that house.

Watch the official music video of Good Girl

Underwood takes the angst down to the third track, Two Black Cadillacs, which overall sounded like a Miranda Lambert song, only with better musical arrangement.

Then just like that, Underwood gives you something that hit close to home. The fourth track See You Again would probably be one of the songs that a lot of people could relate to, not to mention it is also probably one of the most mainstream radio-friendly tracks off the album. (Did I just ramble about the fourth song? Just like what I said, it hit close to home.) The fifth track Do You Think About Me is also one of the songs that would certainly make you smile especially on the part that Underwood sings: Oh I, Oh I’m not trying, Oh I, Oh I, but I can’t stop smiling with her sweet, soothing voice.

And what is a country album without childhood-inspired, dream-filled songs? Her sixth, seventh, and ninth tracks Forever Changed, Nobody Ever Told You and Thank God For Hometowns, despite sounding like a rip-off from her Carnival Ride album, showcased pure-country musical arrangements backed by Underwood's vocals.

The eight track, One Way Ticket, is probably the best song off the album. Lyrically and arrangement-wise, it definitely defines why Underwood is one of the bests in the genre. It's like hearing Carrie Underwood like you've never heard her before. If you're having a bad day, listening to this song would certainly change your mood.

Well if life don’t go your way
Maybe it’s time to take a break,
Yeah, yeah
Raise your hands in the air tonight
Put a little love back in your life
Get your feet up, just kick it
We got a one way ticket

And of course, who is Carrie Underwood without a powerful ballad? The 10th track Good in Goodbye is a bittersweet song and again, for some people, this might hit close to home. *coughs*

While the last four songs in the album sounded too country, Leave Love Alone, Cupid's Got a Shotgun (which reminds me a lot of Miranda Lambert's Gunpowder and Lead), Wine after Whiskey (lyrically good), and Who Are You, definitely showcased the best thing about a Carrie Underwood album - her voice.

Rating:

This is by far Underwood's best album simply because of the growth and maturity that the entire album contained.

Blown Away featured just how Underwood can swerve to the edgy side without trailing away from the pop-ish vibe that she became known for in the first place. There shouldn't be a debate whether Underwood is a Taylor Swift or a Miranda Lambert because in this album, Carrie Underwood sure did create a place for herself in the country arena.

Watch as Carrie Underwood comes back on Idol stage to perform Blown Away from her latest album

Carrie Underwood | The Official Website

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