Music Blogs

All sorts of A-listers released albums this week in time for Black Friday--Kanye West, Guns N' Roses, the Killers, Ludacris, Paul "The Fireman" McCartney, even Barry Manilow--but the biggest record-release news still centered around comeback queen Britney Spears, whose sixth album Circus and accompanying tell-all documentary For The Record come out next week (the same week she celebrates her 27th birthday). Circus started streaming in its entirety on Imeem.com this week, an extended-length For The Record trailer aired exclusively on Yahoo!, and Britney announced plans to perform live in Britain. However, despite this seeming career rebirth and the fact that she's still only in her twenties, Britney told Rolling Stone magazine this week that she actually feels "old and boring."

"I feel like an old person now," she said in the rather tame article (her interviewer was forbidden to grill her about less boring stuff, like head-shaving and panty-eschewing). "I do! I go to bed at, like, 9:30 every night, and I don't go out or anything, you know what I mean?"

Well, we say in Britney's case, it is better to be old and boring than...well, young and insane. We hope she spends her 27th birthday enjoying an early-bird-special dinner at the Olive Garden, heading home immediately afterwards, drinking a glass of warm milk, maybe doing some knitting, and hitting the sack by sundown. Because the "old and boring" lifestyle seems to be working for Britney so far.

Speaking of old and boring...and Barry Manilow, again...the adult-contemporary crooner's mellow music is now the unexpected cornerstone of a bizarre but apparently effective new plan of justice masterminded by Colorado judge Paul Sacco. Judge Sacco is punishing people who land in court for noise violations (blasting their stereos, rehearsing with bands, hosting raging parties) by sentencing then to an hour-long, high-volume Barry Manilow listening session. Of course, for some Barry fans the prospect of 60 minutes of "Mandy" or "Weekend In New England" might sound absolutely delightful, but for most violators who wind up in Sacco's courtroom, it's a cruel and unusual punishment indeed. And just in case any of the offenders emerge from this experience with a new appreciation for Manilow, it seems law officials take surveys after each punishing session. That way, if any of the lawbreakers actually dig a particular Barry song (like, say, "Copacabana"), that ditty is removed from the court-ordered playlist.

On the subject of oldness, boring-ness, and easy-listening music, The London Telegraph is reporting this week that Rolling Stones axe-slinger and longtime rock 'n' roll rebel Keith Richards, who is now officially a senior citizen at age 65, is recording a album of mellow cover tunes--including such sentimental favorites as Perry Como's "I Wonder Who's Kissing Her Now," Andy Williams' "Let It Be Me," Hoagy Carmichael's "The Nearness Of You," Fats Domino's "Blue Monday," and even a jazz version of the Wizard Of Oz ballad "Somewhere Over The Rainbow." This does not sound like a good idea to us...not unless Keef's goal is to provide some more fodder for Judge Paul Sacco's punitive playlist, that is. What's next? A Stones remake titled "It's Only Adult-Contemporary, But I Like It"? Or how about "Not-So-Wild Horses"? "Slumping Jack Flash"? Sheesh. Maybe Richards came up with this bright idea after plummeting head-first out of that coconut tree a while back; that's the only possible explanation for such a misguided career move.

In more encouraging, and less boring, re-recording news, it was announced this week that No Doubt are getting back together for a new album and tour in 2009. Gwen Stefani and her bandmates haven't released an album since 2001, and haven't performed live together since 2004; during their break, Gwen's done quite all right on her own. But despite her stellar solo career (and L.A.M.B. fashion line), Gwen declared in a statement on No Doubt's website this week: "I think we should go out [on tour] now. I don't think we should wait. Pack up the babies and get a bunch of nannies. So fun! Would be so inspiring to get out there and play all those songs again."

Wow, that could turn out to be an even more exciting comeback than the one by Gwen's fellow blonde bombshell, Britney Spears. But perhaps even more exciting is the news that U2's first full studio album since 2004, tentatively titled No Line On The Horizon, is now slated for a February 2009 release. Although Bono and company admittedly scrapped some tracks recorded with superstar producer Rick Rubin, U2 have since teamed up with longtime collaborators Brian Eno and Daniel Lanois, and all has gone well. Considering that Eno and Lanois produced the classic U2 albums The Unforgettable Fire and The Joshua Tree, expect No Line On The Horizon to be a very non-boring album indeed.

And finally, while artists like Britney, Keith, No Doubt, and U2 are experiencing new beginnings of sorts, this week brought a little bit of closure for two more veteran acts. In happy news, the Vatican finally officially forgave John Lennon for his remarks 42 years ago about the Beatles being "bigger than Jesus." And in sad news, Richey Edwards--the troubled original guitarist of cult Britpop band the Manic Street Preachers, who disappeared 14 years ago under suspicious (seemingly suicidal) circumstances and was never heard from again--was officially declared "presumed dead" by British authorities. We hope the late Lennon and Edwards, and their families, respectively derive some sort of peace from these two declarations.

And on that note, we here at That's Really Week wish you and your loved ones a peaceful, and non-boring, Thanksgiving holiday. See you next week...and until then, goodnight, and good music.

THIS WEEK'S TOP 10 STORIES:

1) Bore Me Baby, One More Time - Britney Spears claims she is now "old and boring."

2) Awards Season Kicks Off - Kanye West, Rihanna, Alicia Keys, and Chris Brown are the big winners at the 36th annual American Music Awards.

3) The Vatican Gives Peace A Chance - John Lennon is forgiven by the Catholic Church after 42 years.

4) No More Panic Over Lost Manic - Missing Manic Street Preachers guitarist Richey Edwards is declared dead, 14 years after his mysterious disappearance.

5) No Doubt About It, They're Back - Gwen Stefani and her old bandmates are reuniting.

6) Rolling Drone - Keith Richards is recording an easy-listening album.

7) He Writes The Songs That Make The Whole World Repent - Barry Manilow's music is being used to punish noisy criminals.

8) Amy Winehouse Re-Enters The Hospital - We're not even sure if this qualifies as news anymore, actually.

9) New U2 Album On The Horizon - No Line On The Horizon gets a February 2009 release date.

10) A Very, Very Bad Boy - Boy George's false imprisonment trial begins.