Kellie Cicchino
Pioneer
Release Date: April 2, 2013
The Band Perry is back with their second studio album Pioneer. After their 2010 breakthrough single “If I Die Young” being such a huge success, the band of siblings were definitely on everyone’s radar. (more…)
I despise Fall Out Boy. Really, I do. There’s just something about Patrick Stump’s voice that strikes me as the perfect blend of Maroon 5’s Adam Levine and Panic! At the Dicso’s Brendon Urie- the perfect blend of sappy, whiny, modern boy band garbage designed to pull on the heartstrings of naïve teenage girls. (more…)
It’s no secret that Paramore has had their fair share of troubles. Paramore hasn’t released an album since 2009, however with those four years they took an interesting creative route that is reflected throughout the album. (more…)
Chris Brown
Fine China
Carly Rae Jepsen
Tonight I’m Getting Over You
Jason Derulo
The Other Side
Frank Turner
Recovery
Will.i.am feat. Miley Cyrus
Fall Down
Artist of the Week
Carly Rae Jepsen
The Cold War Kids are among the rising stars of the indie-rock scene in the last ten years. (more…)
Comedown Machine
The Strokes
Release Date: March 26, 2013
The Strokes are back with their new album Comedown Machine. (more…)
NORMAL– One lucky grade school is getting a special visit from a music superstar. Justin Bieber will be coming to the twin cities to meet students from Epiphany Catholic Grade School.
Five girls from the grade school led the efforts to raise money for a charity called Pencils of Promise. The charity raises money to help build schools in third world countries. For every $25 raised by the school, their name was put into a raffle. The raffle was conducted earlier this week and the founder of Pencils of Promise, Adam Braun, announced today that Epiphany School has won.
It is still undecided as to when Bieber will make his appearance in Normal.
¡Dos!
Green Day
Released November 13th
With the recent release of ¡Dos!, Green Day fans were treated to the second installment in the three album set that will be completed in early 2013. I must admit, I was a bit nervous about this one, since their last album, ¡Uno!, pretty much bombed. As I said before, the one thing that ¡Uno! was severely lacking was the essential, in-your-face, punk rock sound that Green Day is famous for. ¡Dos! however, did an excellent job of getting the energy back up and pulling me in as I was listening. I think that most listeners would agree with me when I say that ¡Uno! made me wonder, “What the heck are they doing?” I did not think that a majority of the songs on that album sounded like Green Day at all. However, ¡Dos! brings back the familiar Green Day sound that fans have come to know and love. I also believe that this album has a greater potential for producing a successful single. One of the best songs on the album is “Stray Heart” and I can definitely see it going way farther as a single than “Oh! Love.” For Green Day fans who are nostalgic for some of their previous stuff (like Nimrod and American Idiot) I would highly recommend this album over ¡Uno!.
¡Dos! maintains a pretty solid pace and energy level throughout the album. There were no points in this album that dropped off or completely killed the energy. However, I must warn you that the first track, “See You Tonight” starts off slow, which is the complete opposite of the introductory song on ¡Uno!, “Nuclear Family”. Unlike ¡Uno!, ¡Dos! starts slow but builds and ends with a pretty solid song. This album gets better and better as it progresses which is why I enjoyed this one so much. When I hear Green Day I expect the loud, obnoxious punk-rock that I’ve become so familiar with. This album definitely has a lot more of that feeling than their previous one.
If I had to sum up this whole record in two words, all I would have to say is, “That’s Better”. ¡Uno! left me severely disappointed and wanting more, so I was pleasantly surprised when ¡Dos! delivered just that. These are the kind of songs that I would fully expect to hear if I went to a Green Day concert or turned them on while driving in my car. Hats off to Green Day on this one, because as much as ¡Uno! sucked, ¡Dos! is so much better. I will say this: because ¡Dos! was so much better than ¡Uno!, I fully expect ¡Tré! to be just as good, if not better. Here’s to hoping Green Day doesn’t disappoint! Look out fans; the third installment drops in January of 2013 and although that is still a couple of months away, I have a feeling that Green Day will make it worth the wait.
Recommended Tracks: Stray Heart, Wild One, Baby Eyes, Amy
Overall Rating: 8/10
- Emily Reardon
