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Willie, Lenny, Dolly releasing albums in '08
2007-12-31
What's the biz to do when the top-selling album of 2007 was a Christmas project released in November, Josh Groban's "Noel," and the second-best was a soundtrack to Disney's "High School Musical" movie sequel? Muzi.com News 10056774-0 (muzi.com)Superstars underperformed, and not enough up-and-comers took their commercial fortunes to the proverbial next level. Still, there's a wealth of highly anticipated albums heading into stores later in 2008, including new sets from the likes of Madonna, U2, Metallica, Mariah Carey and Shania Twain. Muzi.com News 10056774-1 (muzi.com) In the meantime, Billboard presents a peek at the music you'll be hearing about in the first quarter. Muzi.com News 10056774-2 (muzi.com) JANUARY Muzi.com News 10056774-3 (muzi.com) Willie Nelson, "Moment of Forever" (Lost Highway, January 29) Muzi.com News 10056774-4 (muzi.com) The latest salvo from the legendary Nelson was produced by country superstar Kenny Chesney and Buddy Cannon. While Nelson contributed three songs, the 74-year-old also tapped the songwriting talents of Randy Newman (on the poignant "Louisiana 1927"), Kris Kristofferson, Big Kenny of Big & Rich and Dave Loggins, among others. Nelson also covers Bob Dylan's "Gotta Serve Somebody" and Dave Matthews' "Gravedigger," while the bluesy "Worry B Gone" is a duet between Nelson and Chesney. Muzi.com News 10056774-5 (muzi.com) Sarah Brightman, "Symphony" (Angel/EMI Manhattan, January 29) Muzi.com News 10056774-6 (muzi.com) Mega-selling soprano Brightman furthers her crossover ambitions here with songs featuring Kiss' Paul Stanley ("I Will Be With You"), Andrea Bocelli ("Canto Della Terra") and Fernando Lima ("Pasion"), in addition to a cover of Faith Hill's "There You'll Be" sung in Italian. "Symphony" will be supported with a PBS special during spring pledge-drive season and also sets up "Repo! The Genetic Opera," Brightman's film debut, due later in '08. Muzi.com News 10056774-7 (muzi.com) Motel, "17" (Warner Music Latina, January 29) Muzi.com News 10056774-8 (muzi.com) Motel rode a pop/punk wave in Mexico with the success of its 2006 self-titled album, but its U.S. exposure was mainly limited to Texas and Puerto Rico. Warner Music Latina has bigger plans for "17," which debuted at No. 23 on the Mexican sales charts in November, according to trade group Amprofon. Out digitally since November 20, to coincide with an early pitch for the single "Y Te Vas," the album will arrive January 29 stateside on CD. The label is courting pop network Super Estrella with a more commercial single. Muzi.com News 10056774-9 (muzi.com) FEBRUARY Muzi.com News 10056774-10 (muzi.com) Lil Wayne, "Tha Carter III" (Cash Money) Muzi.com News 10056774-11 (muzi.com) Widespread leaks forced the rapper to move this project from last fall to February. Wayne has collaborated with everyone from Justin Timberlake and Nelly Furtado to Kanye West and the Game, but it's unclear what exactly will wind up on the finished project. "I did ask for a list of the songs that were leaked, so I can throw some new joints on there," he says. "I switched the beat up to a lot of them, because the rap is already out there and everybody loves the song, whatever the song shall be." Muzi.com News 10056774-12 (muzi.com) Nas, "Nigger" (The Jones Experience/Def Jam) Muzi.com News 10056774-13 (muzi.com) Never one to back down from a challenge, Nas is moving forward with the controversial title of this album, originally expected in December. With production from DJ Toomp, Jermaine Dupri and Sean "Diddy" Combs' Hitmen crew, the rapper pulls no punches on tracks like "You're a Nigger Too" and "The Fear." "There's a fun level to the album," he told MTV. "There's an attractive, sexy, aspect to it; a stylish aspect, a flashy aspect. It takes negatives and makes them good." Muzi.com News 10056774-14 (muzi.com) Ja Rule, "The Mirror" (The Inc.) Muzi.com News 10056774-15 (muzi.com) On the heels of a public feud with 50 Cent and a 2005 FBI case against Inc. principals Irv and Chris Gotti, Ja Rule calls "The Mirror" a growth process that covers a lot of substantive ground. "This is a very grown-up album, expressing a lot of true feelings," says the artist, who worked with such producers as Channel 7 and Erick Sermon. "But it's a fun album as well--a dramedy." Tracks include the "Eleanor Rigby"-sampling "Judas" and "Damn," a song Ja Rule says he wrote with Mary J. Blige, Jennifer Lopez and Christina Milian in mind. Muzi.com News 10056774-16 (muzi.com) Nicole Scherzinger, "Her Name Is Nicole" (Interscope) Muzi.com News 10056774-17 (muzi.com) She's dominated the charts and the airwaves with the Pussycat Dolls, but vocalist Nicole Scherzinger is finding solo success a bit harder to come by. Her debut album was bumped last fall from October 16 to November 20 and then to February, after initial singles "Whatever U Like" featuring T.I. and "Baby Love" failed to dent the Billboard Hot 100. Collaborations have been put to tape with Sting, Snow Patrol's Gary Lightbody, Akon and Kanye West, but word is Scherzinger may cut some new tracks as well. Muzi.com News 10056774-18 (muzi.com) Sheryl Crow, "Detours" (A&M/Interscope, February 5) Muzi.com News 10056774-19 (muzi.com) "The songs are very inspired by the last three years of events in my life," Crow says of a time that found her battling breast cancer and splitting with partner Lance Armstrong. First single "Shine Over Babylon" is "is very environmentally conscious, in the tradition of Bob Dylan," while Crow's infant son can be heard on the tune "Lullaby for Wyatt." Muzi.com News 10056774-20 (muzi.com) Lenny Kravitz, "It Is Time for a Love Revolution" (Virgin, February 5) Muzi.com News 10056774-21 (muzi.com) Kravitz played nearly all the instruments on his first effort in three years, which was recorded at his studio in the Bahamas as well as Miami, Paris and New York. "The last record was still very natural, but it had a cleaner sound," he says. "On this one, I was really into using more of the room mics and getting a lot of spill. I wanted to hear the walls and the room." The result is a more-stripped down feel on rockers like "Bring It On," "Love Love Love" and the fast boogie "Will You Marry Me." Muzi.com News 10056774-22 (muzi.com) Anthony Hamilton, "Me" (So So Def/Zomba Label Group, February 5) Muzi.com News 10056774-23 (muzi.com) On his third album, R&B crooner Hamilton says fans will find songs that are "full of life and situations we all go through, the changes of men and women and relationships with God and family and children -- and the political side of Anthony Hamilton." Look for the album to include Diane Warren's soul-oozing ballad "Do You Feel Me," which also appeared on the "American Gangster" soundtrack. Collaborators include Mark Batson, Kelvin Wooten, James Poyser and the Avila Brothers. Muzi.com News 10056774-24 (muzi.com) Jack Johnson, "Sleep Through the Static" (Brushfire/Universal, February 5) Muzi.com News 10056774-25 (muzi.com) Johnson's latest album was recorded on tape machines that ran on 100% solar-powered energy. First single "If I Had" is a lighthearted love song with swirling electric guitar arrangements. Much like prior efforts, Johnson rarely meanders into the minor keys, though songs like "They Do, They Don't" tread into deeper and sometimes darker subject matter. Johnson says, "Some of the songs are about raising (kids). Some of the songs are about the world that these children will grow up in; a world of war and love, and hate, and time and space." Muzi.com News 10056774-26 (muzi.com) Dolly Parton, "Backwoods Barbie" (Dolly, February 5) Muzi.com News 10056774-27 (muzi.com) The country legend veers between new material and interpretations of Smokey Robinson's "The Tracks of My Tears" and the Fine Young Cannibals' "She Drives Me Crazy" on her new effort, which is being released on her own Dolly Records imprint. Look for the title cut to appear in the forthcoming Parton-spearheaded musical "9 to 5," based on her classic '80s film. A world tour kicks off in Februray, preceded by club shows in Los Angeles, Chicago and New York. Muzi.com News 10056774-28 (muzi.com) Simple Plan, "Simple Plan" (Atlantic, February 12) Muzi.com News 10056774-29 (muzi.com) After two sets of energetic pop/punk, Simple Plan collaborated with Timbaland associate Nate "Danjahandz" Hills, '90s pop svengali Max Martin and rock producer Dave Fortman for an album that brings the noise but also incorporates dance grooves, hip-hop beats, power balladry and, on first single "When I'm Gone," synthesizer loops. "There was sort of a realization that we needed to really take chances and just go for it and . . . challenge ourselves," drummer/co-writer Chuck Comeau says. He and frontman Pierre Bouvier actually wrote an initial set of songs they abandoned because they weren't quite moving Simple Plan forward. "We don't want to become the band that just stays where they are," Comeau says. Muzi.com News 10056774-30 (muzi.com) Rick Ross, "Trilla" (Slip-N-Slide/Def Jam, February 19) Muzi.com News 10056774-31 (muzi.com) The Miami rapper's sophomore album was supposed to be out in time for Christmas, but a few clearance snafus forced the project into early '08. One of the affected tracks was the DJ Toomp-produced "This Me," which Ross calls "a real personal record I wanted to make sure got on the album." R. Kelly guests on current single "Speedin'," while Jay-Z, Pharrell, T-Pain, Nelly and Freeway make their presence felt on other tunes. "It's going to be the biggest street album of the year," Ross promises. Muzi.com News 10056774-32 (muzi.com) Janet Jackson, "Discipline" (Island, February 26) Muzi.com News 10056774-33 (muzi.com) After a nearly 10-year stint at Virgin, Janet Jackson is starting fresh with boyfriend/Island Urban Music president Jermaine Dupri by her side. Island Def Jam chairman Antonio "L.A." Reid is personally steering her project, with assistance from Rodney Jerkins (on the single "Feedback"), Ne-Yo, Stargate, Tricky Stewart and the-Dream. "Janet's (new) music is exciting," Reid says. "My guess is that Janet, Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis will do something together because they have such magic. But we've experimented with things for no other reason than to find some freshness and give her some different challenges musically." Muzi.com News 10056774-34 (muzi.com) Erykah Badu, "Nu Amerykah" (Universal Motown, February 26) Muzi.com News 10056774-35 (muzi.com) Breaking a five-year hiatus, Badu is set to return with "Nu AmErykah," which she says was inspired by her two children and the direction of contemporary American culture. "The first half of the album speaks to my creative interpretation of Francis Ford Coppola's 'Koyaanisqatsi,' and the second half is more traditional," she says. Working with producers Sa-Ra, Kareem Riggins, Mike Chavarria, Madlib, Bilal and the late J Dilla, Badu crafted 18 tracks of funky, 808 bassline-driven R&B music, which will be spread across two separately sold discs. The 9th Wonder-produced "Honey" is the first single and is climbing Billboard's Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart, and "Soldier 7" may be the second. Muzi.com News 10056774-36 (muzi.com) Goldfrapp, "Seventh Tree" (Mute, February 26) Muzi.com News 10056774-37 (muzi.com) Goldfrapp fans are in for a noticeably different sound from the British duo on their fourth album. Although it doesn't completely eschew the synth-fueled dance grooves of prior efforts, there's a greater emphasis on ethereal, psychedelic pop in the vein of early Air. "We did talk quite a lot about what kind of instruments would get that kind of warmth and that kind of sound we wanted," Alison Goldfrapp says. "We'd never used acoustic guitars before. We wanted the sound to be delicate, but not weak." Muzi.com News 10056774-38 (muzi.com) MARCH Muzi.com News 10056774-39 (muzi.com)
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