IDINA MENZEL
Hope (3:26)
Producer: Steve Lipson
Writer: P. Hampton
Publisher: Paul Hampton/WhoDENE, ASCAP
Reprise
The 2008 Stand Up to Cancer initiative has raised more than $100 million to fight breast cancer. Joining the cause is Tony Award-winning actress Idina Menzel, who launched her pop career with top 20 AC song “Brave” and top five club hit “Gorgeous.” “Hope,” recently recorded at Abbey Road Studios, is a devastatingly beautiful story song about “a bird with no wings, certain that it can fly” and beating the odds: “Only hope can light the way, can heal the heart, can keep the clouds from hiding the moon and the stars.” Quiet piano-driven production allows Menzel’s stunningly emotional performance to drive the message home—just try and listen without blurring with a tear or two. iTunes sales go directly to Stand Up.—CT
EDDIE MONEY
Build Me Up Buttercup (3:27)
Producers: Eddie Money, Randy Forrester
Writers: T. Macauley, M. D’abo
Publishers: Unichapel/EMI Unart
Warrior Records
sEddie Money hasn’t always been taken seriously as a rocker, but 11 top 40 hits can’t be dismissed—from “Baby Hold On,” “Two Tickets to Paradise” and “I Wanna Go Back” to his biggest, 1986 No. 4 Billboard Hot 100 smash “Take Me Home Tonight.” Eleventh album “Wanna Go Back” includes Money’s take on “Ain’t No Mountain High Enough,” “Higher and Higher” and “Build Me Up Buttercup,” which pays homage to the Foundations’ 1968 No. 3 hit. Production is joyous and crests neatly between retro and contempo, while the singer’s scratchy vocal is on the money. A fun romp for fans and worthy contender for classic rock stations indulging fresh product from name brands, as well as triple A, the destination for open-minded grown-ups.—C
No comments:
Post a Comment
Please note that because of Spam, comments are now approved by The Smoking Nun, within a day of posting. Please feel free to smoke here all you want!