Search:  

All American Hit Radio Shows     All How Music Changed Shows     Reviews     AHN Podcasts     Sign UP, Find Out

Reviews - CD

New Cool Sh*t

History of Rock & Roll

1950's music

1960's music

1970's music

1980's music

1990's music

2000's music

Where Are They Now?

Do you ever wonder what happened to your favorite musicians of the past?

Reviews

The Legends of Laurel Canyon

1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die

It’s So Hard To Tell Who’s Going To Love You The Best

 Karen Dalton

Transfiguration of Vincent

 M. Ward

Muswell Hillbillies

 Kinks

Christmas in the Heart

 Bob Dylan

Glitter and Doom Live

 Tom Waits

Let It Roll: The Best of George Harrison

 George Harrison

Secret, Profane & Sugarcane

 Elvis Costello

Playing for Change

 Songs Around the World

More Music Reviews

More Movie Reviews

More Book Reviews

More Concert Reviews

I'm Like A Bird

Nelly Furtado

From my perspective as a longtime fan of pop music, the new millennium at first looked more like a new Dark Age than a brave new world. As a critic who specializes in this stuff (and as a person who is probably going through his third mid-life crisis) I just didn’t know what to make of this new breed of over-produced overnight sensations. I just felt that too many hit songs were an embarrassment to anyone who had already gone through puberty. It was hard enough to come up with a compelling method for differentiating ‘N Sync from the Backstreet Boys, but now I had to factor in O-Town, A-Teens, B Witched, BB Mak, S Club 7, Take 5ive, Eden’s Crush, Dream, Dreamstreet, and LFO. Teen groups were cloning themselves at a rate that made it almost impossible to discern one from another. Just as perplexingly, a new bunch of solo artists were barely tall enough to punch me in the solar plexus. Billy Gilman became a baby-faced crooner on the Country circuit with “One Voice” while Li’l Bow Wow did the kiddie-bling thing for junior rap fans on “Bounce With Me.” Perhaps most ominously, Backstreet Boy Nick Carter saw his little brother Aaron enter the charts with “Aaron’s Party”; just what the world needed was a Little Jimmy Osmond update for the new millennium. As if that weren’t enough, sister Leslie is now ambushing us with her own brand of mindless pop concoctions (“Like, Wow”). I don’t know about you, but listening to these records makes me feel as if I’m babysitting for Mrs. Carter – is there any chance of me getting paid for my troubles? Most ironically, Hanson is one of the best ‘kid’ bands to come along in ages (sorry about the pun), but had the great misfortune of growing up while a performer’s median age dipped toward single digits. As a result, their rather good second record was neglected by the Nick Junior crowd and died an ignominious death. Meanwhile, pop tarts like Christina Aguilera and Britney Spears continue to update their blatantly sexual image and tantalize their audience with the promise of……..something, but I’m not convinced it has anything to do with music.

How remarkable, then, for a band that had ceased to exist over thirty years ago to provide perspective and temporarily overwhelm this new breed of teeny-superstars. In the midst of mundane–mania, the Beatles released a collection of their #1 hits entitled ‘1’. Although everyone who was interested already owned most or all of the songs on ‘1’, they ran out and bought a copy anyway, if for no other reason than to celebrate the fact that there was finally a pop album that didn’t pander to the Clearasil crowd. And wouldn’t you know it? Thirty years after their demise, the Beatles eclipsed Britney, Beyonce, and the Backstreet Boys, making ‘1’ the best-selling album on record. This is almost inconceivable, especially when you take into consideration the buying power of the ‘tween’ market (ages 9-14). According to a Cincinnati-based marketing group whose job is to discern this type of information, the ‘tweeners’ spend $260 billion dollars each year. That would be an awful lot of Twinkees, except the #1 purchase for this age group has been determined to be…music.

Not since the onset of rock and roll has there been such an influx of performers who rely on outside writers for their material. Unless you were considered an interpreter of other people’s songs a la Johnny Rivers or Linda Ronstadt, most pop artists from the past three or four decades were expected to write and play their own material. Today, songwriting and instrumental ability are considered all but irrelevant. Instead, contemporary performers are expected to dance, and maybe to sing. Most important is that they look good on camera, while the production team handles the minor details of material, instrumentation, musical direction and image. Bands like Hanson are the exception, and look what good it did them for their troubles. Please understand that I have no problem with pop music appealing to kids – that has always been the case – but I wish that these artists provided some type of artistic stimulus or provocation beyond good teeth and a cool haircut.

Thankfully, all is not lost. When I first heard Nelly Furtado, I could barely believe my ears. Despite the fact that she was not yet out of her teens, she burst onto the scene with more originality than any of her demographically related peers. Dispensing with mediocrity, she flaunts a thoroughly unique style that places emphasis on her songwriting skills instead of her attractive smile. More impressively, she doesn’t pander to her audience. By writing and performing ambitious songs that betray other juvenile pop stars as superficial jingle-masters, she forces her audience to actually listen. “I’m Like a Bird” is a teen-aged manifesto of single-minded determination and self-expression that is an absolute wonder in this age of prefabricated product. Instead of following some corporate vision of what she ought to be, Nelly Furtado has found her own voice. Most listeners need a guidebook to tell one pop artist from another, but she sounds like nobody else. If this catches on, the future of pop music just might be a brave new world after all.