What's new on the charts

Just when I thought the sounds have gotten so predictable and Barry Manilow would be a relief, I came across these CDs. The songs and the artists who created them are as different as night and day but it is their unique qualities that say pop music can still venture into the unknown and find beauty and also commercial success. We cannot dispense with the latter because we live on earth where we need to make a living. Here are three new releases I believe you should check out.

Science & Faith by The Script. I like listening to British bands. You know how ingenious they could be in the way they use language and melody. The Script from Ireland is a good example. I liked the debut album, which had We Cry, Breakeven and the original version of Live Like We’re Dying. Science & Faith is the second and it is even better. This is a case of one good song after another in the entire disc. It feels fantastic listening to the album and finding that the focus here is on the basic ingredients of songwriting, words and music, and not on the latest, whatever, gadget in the studio.

Here are dreamy, catchy, heartbreaking tunes. Dead Man Walking is the best of the lot. Also very good are If You Ever Come Back, Long Gone And Moved On, Nothing and You Won’t Feel A Thing. And to show that they are not all about lost loves but also serious stuff, there is For The First Time about poverty in Ireland and Science & Faith about science versus faith in life. The soulful lead vocals belong to keyboardist Danny O’Donoghue while Mark Sheehan plays the guitar and Glen Power pounds the drums.

Pink Friday by Nicki Minaj. You can always tell how much potential a newcomer has by the number of stars, who think so much of her work that they do not mind showing their support. Take a look at the big names who turned up for Nicki’s first album, Pink Friday. Roman’s Revenge featuring Eminem; Fly feat. Rihanna; Moment 4 Life feat. Drake; Check It Out feat. will.i.am; Blazin’ feat. Kanye West; and Last Chance feat. Natasha Bedingfield. You can say that with all of them eager to help her out, there is no way that Nicki will not make it to the top.

Nicki goes both ways. That means she sings well and also raps well. She does a great job of both in the album where every cut seems geared for the hit charts. Save Me shows off her excellent pipes. Check It Out is for dancing. And watch out Katy Perry, Right Thru Me is infectious pop that kids will love. Everything in the CD is really sleekly produced pop that assures Minaj of airplay, chart presence and most of all sales. It is one of the most commercial debuts ever.

Some Kind of Trouble by James Blunt. Never thought this could happen because he was in a dark and brooding mood in his early albums Back To Bedlam and All The Lost Souls. But Blunt is now in a happy mood and he has a groovy beat going in the new CD, Some Kind Of Trouble. First single release is the perky Stay The Night which reminds me of Lionel Richie’s All Night Long. He rocks harder in Dangerous and Superstar and even brings on the toe taps and the handclaps in the rousing I’ll Be Your Man.

Fans from the early days should not despair though that Blunt has stopped being emotional. There are romantic ballads in the album and these are sung with so much feeling. Hark back to his You’re Beautiful days with No Tears, Best Laid Plans, Heart Of Gold and the sweet If Time Is All I Have. Just beautiful. I am sure that Blunt’s latest will add a lot to his staggering record of 18 million albums worldwide.

Proof that the CDs are hits and deserve a listen and more if we like good music is here in the Top 20 titles in Billboard’s Top 200 Albums list: The King is Dead by The Decemberists; Kidz Bop 19 by the Kidz Bop Kids; Science & Faith by The Script; Hard Times And Nursery Rhymes by Social Distortion; Low Country Blues by Gregg Allman; Doo-Wops & Hooligans by Bruno Mars; Teenage Dream by Katy Perry; Speak Now by Taylor Swift; Pink Friday by Nicki Minaj; Sign No More by Mumford & Sons.

Some Kind Of Trouble by James Blunt; Loud by Rihanna; My Kinda Party by Jason Aldean; Country Strong, original soundtrack by Various Artists; Greatest Hits… So Far!!! by Pink; My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy by Kanye West; Recovery by Eminem; Love Letter by R. Kelly; Born Free by Kid Rock; and Brothers by The Black Keys.