I've been looking forward to this new release as it was frequently announced that No Doubt's song "Settle Down" was going to be released this week, however it has now been pushed back to the 24th and so now I had a difficult decision on who's music video to review, but as this song is climbing up the charts I might as well review the most popular release this week.
Example, real name Elliot Gleave, has appeared on my blog a number of times, he is one musician who is going to be around for a very long time. He has had a number one with "Changed The Way You Kiss Me" and "Stay Awake". He has also achieved a 5* rating from me for his song "Natural Disaster" that featured Laidback Luke, will he get more 5*'s in the future... Well we'll have to wait and see!
"Say Nothing" was written by Elliot Gleave, John McDaid and Dragan Roganović. It is another club song that will definitely get remixed a lot, I also think I heard it last night while I was out clubbing. I think it works well and after just one play of it, it has embedded itself right into my head, I cannot stop singing to myself. Will it reach the number one spot, currently held by The Script Featuring Will.I.Am "Hall Of Fame"? It's definitely going to be a hard one.
This music video looks low budget, and it has definitely been done a few times, there is no narrative, only that something has happened and that they "don't have to say nothing". But I just feel like I'm watching so many other music videos as this has been done way too many times, and it kind of makes you question the director's thinking and his imagination.
There are some aspects that are always good in this type of video, and that's that the actors are so strongly emotional you really understand what the song is for and so it is relatable, but the music channels would definitely get boring if they only played videos like this.
Overall a great song, that becomes catchy immediately, but as for the music video it's more or less a copy of other music videos that have been around for the last 10 years. There's nothing new to this either, and so it does make this quite boring. But I'm giving it the benefit of the doubt, and it is obtaining this rating.
This is the second music video on my Collaboration Special. Example, real name Elliot Gleave, provides the vocals for this song. It also appears on his album "Playing In The Shadows" therefore making this song his, but why is a Vs. used instead of a Featured? This is one question I am unsure of, but the only thing I can come up with is that Laidback Luke provides the music, therefore he has mixed the track himself. Laidback Luke, real name Lucas Cornelis van Scheppingen, has released a lot of singles most of which are collaborations with various artists. He has released one album thus far, but I bet a second is on it's way soon. This is definitely one artist we are going to hear more and more from.
"Natural Disaster" was written by Example, Laidback Luke and Dipesh Parmar. Again it was expected that the song was written by these two as they are great at what they do. The song charted here, there and everywhere, and it's completely understandable as it is extremely catchy. But it didn't chart that high, which could have been down to the lack of promotion.
It's music video, on the other hand, is amazing. I could watch it again and again. Previously when I was watching the music channels I would skip over this music video purely because I didn't think I'd enjoy it, but how wrong was I? It's both a narrative and a performance piece and takes place in a club, therefore showing what type of music it is.
I like the narrative, the teenager/young adult is played by Josh Dickinson, and he plays the character perfectly. I like how they show that music is like a drug, and that especially Laidback Luke's music is extremely addicting. I do feel sorry for him having parents like that, I don't think it's fair, but then again they know he has a "drug" problem but are unsure of how to handle it, especially since at the end all he needs to do is walk into a club and find the "drug" there. I also like how Example is in the audience, it's common in a lot of music videos but it is usually only a scene, whereas this is a main part of the music video and makes this video stand out from the crowd.
Overall, the song is very catchy, but it's accompanying music video is definitely one of the best, I don't think I have seen anything like it, and unusual videos tends to get the highest ratings. I haven't got a bad thing to say about this music video, I could definitely watch it again and again, so it's definitely worthy of this rating.
Calvin Harris is a rare sight on my blog, but so is Example to be honest. However this song has gripped me, and after hearing it a couple of times, I just had to use it for New Release, which has sparked off an idea for a whole new special. Calvin Harris, real name Adam Wiles, has been creating demos since 1999, but came into fame in 2007 with his first album. He came to my attention when "Acceptable In The 80s" started climbing the charts. I have only mentioned him once on this blog, where he collaborated with Rihanna for "We Found Love", I hope there will be more music videos from Calvin Harris hitting my blog soon. Example features on this song, his real name is Elliot Gleave, this is his second time on my blog, but has also been mentioned as co-writer of The Wanted's "Chasing The Sun". I like how most artists are connected one way or another and they tend to go around in circles.
"We'll Be Coming Back" was written by Calvin Harris and Example, which is to be expected since they know what they're doing, and you can kind of tell that they've wrote it themselves. It is currently number 2 on the iTunes chart, and it will definitely chart high this Sunday, but could it inched in front of Wiley featuring Ms D's "Heatwave"? We'll have to wait and see.
This music video is interesting, I don't quite know how else to describe it, I had to watch it twice and then read about the video to finally understand what is going on. This is clearly narrative based which is surprisingly unexpected from these two artists. They are both robbers and they hide their treasure, but a cop has been on their trail since and have found what they've buried, leaving her badge behind.
I feel that there is more emphasis on what cars their driving and their speed racing rather than the story overall, therefore people don't quite see that there is a narrative. This would be usually not so good, but they have used great footage such as showing another car coming up to them in their sunglasses (right at the start), and seeing the cop behind perfectly. A lot of different camera shots are used to display the races and the chasing, which makes this video a little more interesting.
Overall the song is definitely one that grows on people, and before you know it, it's stuck in your head, but the accompanying music video is lacking to some respect. However the main focus of the video is to make Calvin Harris and Example look "cool" (their words not mine), and that is exactly what they manage to do, but there is various ways they could have made this better, especially by showing the story a little bit more.
The Wanted once again gets my New Release, they have only previously been reviewed on this blog twice, and that was for "Glad You Came" and "Lightning". They have released quite a few singles since then, but none got to number one. From the iTunes chart, this song has only been out for a day and it's right at the top spot. Looks like these boys will gain another UK number one hit this Sunday. The Wanted consists to 5 guys, who are Nathan Sykes, Max George, Tom Parker, Jay McGuinness and Siva Kaneswaren.
"Chasing The Sun" was written by Alex Smith and Elliot Gleave. This surprised me as Elliot Gleave is in fact Example! I just couldn't believe it. No wonder this song is so great, although I am not too fond of Example, I do appreciate his music, and to be totally fair this is probably my favourite song by him, and although he hasn't personally sung it himself, it still counts in my eyes. It has already charted in Canada at number 50, which isn't too bad to be honest, but is that its peak? Or will it climb higher? This song is also set to be the theme song to "Ice Age: Continental Drift (AKA Ice Age 4)". And apparently, while filming the music video, they caused a blackout in LA, because an electrical transformer blew out. Read more here.
The music video once again gives us a total different meaning to what we were expecting. I just thought maybe they'd follow the sun partying here and there, but they have some great creativists behind them, as I would have never had come up with an idea like this, and it is a distinguishable music video.
I like the idea that they are chasing the sun tattoos, that are on the girls, and once again, thankfully, there is a girl for each of them, unlike previous boy bands... I also like how the girls are all vampires. According to really old vampiric lore, if a vampire bites you, you too become a vampire. However, authors have recently changed people's thoughts on these supernatural creatures, and clearly The Wanted aren't vampires, since they can walk in the sun, with no rings on, and they don't go shiny either... So... Taking a leap out of some of the other, more erotica books are they?
Overall I really like this music video, it links in with the song perfectly, although not totally expected, which always makes a nice change. I haven't got anything bad to say about this music video, and the song is extremely catchy. Although I didn't like it first time around.
