Miley Cyrus' "Party in the USA" - Page 2

For the record. I'm not saying that Radiohead dissed Miley/Kanye for the reasons I stated (cred/hated the person or music). But you stated that you couldn't imagine it being spun as anything but rude, whereas many people found it something to be lauded. Personally, I think its hilarious that she got turned away, and even funnier that she whined about it on a live radio show.

And yes, Miley was a fan of Radiohead. And then called them names on the radio after she got snubbed.

God may deserve to take hits for a few things, but this is definitely not one of them.

If you were 17, really loved a band, thought they'd snubbed you, and had access to the airwaves, wouldn't you?

This kind of public "feuding" happens between grown men (see the Ryan Adams/Paul Westerberg reciprocal slamming or various incidents involving Oasis), and it's just kind of the nature of things. I'd say Miley gets a bit of a pass for being, y'know, a teenager.

Yeah, we've basically been discussing something that neither of us really thought Radiohead had done since post 1 as far as I can tell . As I said, making real life choices based on artistic merit still strikes me as very asinine but this is perhaps coloured by the fact that many of my all-time favourite artists were clearly assholes and many of the most famously bad ones were very nice people, so hey.

Yay!

I just stood in front of a room of History majors for an hour and a half and taught them how to locate primary and secondary sources on Civil Rights history in Milwaukee. The entire time I was lecturing, showing them digitized images of marches and sit-ins, and shootings and on and on, all my brain could do is sing "I put my hands up! They're playin' my song! The butterflies fly away..." I may have actually done a little barely-discernible shimmy on my way back to the lectern at one point.

So...

Kevin, I hate you so much right now that it loops back around to love. Just know that.

Miley's real parents...

I'm flying into Orange County on Thursday. Now I'm kind of pissed I'm not flying into LAX.

Grade on the Pop-tastic Scale: B+

The first Miley single that's actually a crossover hit. Waiting for the inevitable monster indie band to reinvent it in a live setting.

Awww. I was hoping this was the video where she smashes a Guitar Hero guitar. So rock-n-roll!

Goddamn.

God, they love to do that don't they Ray? Those hip motherfuckers love to do that because it's so clever. It's so post modern it's post post modern. So clever.

"I love Kevin Matchstick...but I fear for him."

*Runs to get chalk, board, and 90210 DVDs*

Here's a better version.

That is awesome!

Edit: Here's a Jay-Z/Miley mash up. Not as good as the Biggie one though.

Not in a position to actually hear the song, so...uh...is it good? I like cheesy pop, Black Eyed Peas and so on. So is it that kind of thing? What am I talking about, it's Miley Cyrus, of course it is.

Well there's cheesy Pop and cheesy Pop. Milley Cyrus comes from the same 90's Power Pop cranked up by compression/ProTools sound that mainstream Pop-Rock has been rocking since circa Avril Lavigne; "Party In The USA" is guitar based and very much based around its lyric (which is very Country; talking here not so much about the subject matter as the way the narrative is built up) and the chorus, while BEP are mostly about hooks & beats. I don't think they're comparable, really.

Sounds cool. I liked that Lavigne's "Boyfriend" song (an aside, she was a total dick in that) so I might dig this. I have a soft spot for that kind power guitar, pop, girl diva thing. I actually have a couple of Kelly Clarkson songs tooling around my harddrive.

Kelly Clarkson > Avril Levigne > Miley Cyrus

I apologize to the Miley gods. I swear, I'll be good if you can make the demon child stop singing the chorus over and over in my head. It was a good trick using Biggie to lure me in.

Bwahahahahaha!

Pink rules though, right?

Kelly > Pink > Avril > Miley

Noooooooooooooo waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaay.

Pink is the goddess of that kind of pop-rock. Kelly is fine and definitely ahead of Avril but she does too many ballads and doesn't have enough fire in the belly to tussle with Pink. For me the less princess-like the better, plus Pink has not only the most fire but the best sense of humour. And, as a side issue, the best songs.

Oh fuck that. Pink's brand of faux-badass pop-metal-ish bullshit gets on my nerves. That "I'm gonna start a fight" song? Bah. That song about evil clowns? Fuck off, Pink. Nobody's buying it. There's a TON of sincerity to Clarkson's stuff and even Avril feels more genuine in her pop-punk-princess role than Pink. Or P!nk, or whatever the hell her name is supposed to be.

I'd rather hang out with P!@#$@nk than any of those others, if that counts for anything.

Kelly's the most talented by far in terms of vocals. And none of the others have topped "Since U Been Gone". Put that song on and the most diehard anti-pop people I know will sing along. I'm not sure how Clarkson can be considered a princess. She pretty much eschews the typical poppy conventions in terms of style and dress.

I will agree that Pink has a swagger and humor that makes even her crappier songs sound good. But Pink has written as many ballads as Clarkson, so again I don't see the distinction. I do like that Pink pretty much pours her heart out every time she performs, so I can't knock her that much.

Also, both Clarkson and Pink sing live every time I've seen them on TV - Pink recently did so hanging upside down on a trapeze from the MTV awards - another plus for both.

Kelly's the Queen of Pop-Rock. And she's my kinda the-girl-next-door. Love her.

On the other hand, when I'm feelin' naughty, Shakira is my kinda spice...

Ted Leo's cover of Since U Been Gone is pretty awesome.

Haha, quit holding back and tell us what you really think Jeremy. I get just as much sincerity from Pink as I do from Clarkson, but that's not the most important point anyway, this is pop music, it's not really about sincerity. They're all personas and Pink's is the funnest one to me.


That's the thing for me, it's that swagger and humour and mischieviousness. To be honest I don't own any of this music, I'm just going by what's on tv and radio so ultimately I'll just take your word for it, it's just that generally I hear Pink rocking out more and Kelly ballading more.

What? I just Googled it and he can't hit any of the notes. It's pretty awful.

I'd categorize the majority of Clarkson's songs as being mid-tempo fare. Her latest album rarely ever devolves into schmaltziness. She knows how to incorporate cascading guitars and vibrant instrumentation in a cool way.

That's why it's awesome. It just doesn't fit his vocal style, but he goes balls-out with it anyway.

And he drops "Maps" into the middle of it, which is pretty neat.

I give him A for effort. But I can't get past the execution, even if its intentionally/ironically bad.

Possible controversial statement!

Miss Independent > Since U Been Gone

Doesn't matter to me either way. I'm usually piss drunk when I'm dancing to such stuff.

pistols at dawn.

Blasphemy!

Since U Been Gone>>>>>>life

What the what?!

Wake up and smell the cat food in your CHUD account!

Touche, perhaps. But the thing is, if they ARE all about personas and sincerity doesn't factor into it (a sentiment that I don't NECESSARILY buy, but for the sake of discussion...) then Pink STILL gets on my nerves because she tries SO DAMN HARD to make you think she's sincere. The problem is, she's got a powerful voice and when she wants to use it for something that's not ridiculous (That Sober song is a BIT too on the nose but I can dig it for the most part and I always kinda liked that "Don't Let Me Get Me" song) then it DOES feel sincere. There's a bit of...I dunno...heart to those songs that rings true. So when she follows that up with her ridiculous "Fuck you I'm a Rockstar and I don't care" act, it just feels hollow. It reminds me of Nickelback, honestly.

And to backtrack just a little bit and get back on topic - I'm unfortunately VERY well versed in all the Hannah/Miley songs and she's right - this song is, if you can believe it, a pretty big departure from her normal stuff. Not to say that it's any better or worse, but the first time I heard it I was like "That's Miley Cyrus? Really?" Not sure if I really have a point there, but there ya have it.

Jeremy you're ruining the boards with your Pink hate.

So's yer face. Now what?

I Do Not Hook Up is the only song that comes close to matching the greatness of Since U Been Gone in Clarkson's repitore, and even that's a stretch.

Also, Kelly Clarkson, so far as I know, never recorded an acoustic anti-establishment ballad. Advantage Clarkson. But it was with the Indigo Girls! Okay. Advantage Pink.

You put Pink in the same paragraph as Nickelback?!?!?! I don't know if we can be friends anymore.

Honestly though, I get where you're coming from. I didn't mean that sincerity plays zero part, I think both of those girls put their real lives into the music and they mostly believe what they're singing. I just mean on the level at which I experience/shake my ass to them they're more or less characters and entertainers rather than artists, so I'm buying an act, not looking for integrity.

Saying that though, that tough girl part of Pink (or any of these female singers who sell girlpower), I think she does believe it, I think she is mostly sincere about it and she really is more hardcore than her pop contemporaries, but she's obviously a million miles from being some kind of female GG Allin, or even Courtney Love (thank the gods). Besides, I'd much rather hear her or Kelly Clarkson belt out some grunty pop with a pantomime sneer than the po-faced angst of Evanescence or Paramore (much more fitting comparisons Nickelback I reckon).

The real question that's going to stop me from sleeping tonight is exactly where do Katy Perry and Lily Allen fit into this equation?

That goes great with your avatar.

I threw out the Nickelback comparison simply because they're the very definition of music without any soul whatsoever. Technically yeah, they're hitting the right notes and following the structures of a time signature, but it's so empty it barely feels like music. That's how a lot of Pink's more "edgy" stuff feels to me. I agree that her edge is real and she definitely feels a lot more...dangerous, I guess...than all of her contemporaries. But listening to the majority of her songs I'm completely detached (and not even ironically!).

Katy Perry can fuck off into obscurity, the sooner the better. Lily Allen I can take or leave. Though I do like her "Fuck You" song, kinda. It's cute. Honestly? And I know I'm gonna catch so much hell for this - my favorite female pop starlet at the moment is Colbie Caillat. I dig her whole cuddly vibe. It tends to make me kinda bouncy and always perks me up.