audio review : Heartbreak Hotel ( song ) … Michael Jackson

Fans expecting a cover of the Elvis Presley song; the only other popular song with the title; are in for a pleasant surprise. Before you can grab the doorknob; it’s actually one of those fancy handles; you’re greeted by a bellboy who offers to carry your luggage.

Michael Jackson’s Heartbreak Hotel is indeed more extravagant and much better than Presley’s, though it’s more like a prison. “Every smile’s trial thought in beguile to hurt me,” the singer laments, “The man next door… he’s been here in tears for fifteen years.”

my rating : 5 of 5

1980

audio review : Gratitude ( album ) … Mary J Blige

audio review : Gratitude ( album ) ... Mary J Blige

It’s awkward to begin your album with a guest verse. It’s also off-putting to start it with trite samples and interpolations. Luckily for Mary J Blige, rather the longtime fans she apparently dedicated this album to in a show of Gratitude, things get more original and less irksome (better) from there. Groovy highlights include Beautiful People, Can’t Wait For You and Don’t Fuck Up.

my rating : 3 of 5

2024