New Lead Singer For Journey? : New Music From Mary J Blige, Usher, Train

"ANYWAY YOU WANT IT"  MARY J. BLIGE

In October, I'll be going to my first big Broadway play when I'm seeing Rock Of Ages at Ruth Eckerd Hall.   Of course, the 80's hair band theme drew me in but the reviews have been amazing.  Stories of the crowd singing along to every song, big name musicians joining the cast, what a party!   Just saw the film on Saturday, it was SO much fun!    Tom Cruise as a washed up Axl Rose styled rocker, Alec Baldwin and Russell Brand, top notch.   But the sexy scene stealing Catherine Zeta-Jones as a Tipper Gore clone was the highlight of the film.

On the movie's soundtrack, Mary J. Blige rips into Journey's epic hit.  Mary's version might be even harder rocking than Steve Perry's version!   Love it!   Journey should consider Mary J. for their next lead vocalist (kidding!)

"SCREAM"   USHER

Usher's newly released CD, "Looking 4 Myself" is radically different from his other CD's.   He wanted to explore new music and take some chances.  You'll hear dubstep bass drops, productions from the Swedish House Mafia & The Neptunes, progressive R&B, techno mixed with old school hip hop, even 80's New Wave Beats on the title song.   The first big club banger is "Scream", reminiscent of OMG and More, one of the least adventurous new tracks but still vintage Usher, if "ain't broke don't fix it".

"THIS WILL BE MY YEAR"   TRAIN

The first thing that comes to mind hearing this song is Billy Joel's "We Didn't Start The Fire" (on a side note, Billy, we didn't accuse you, relax, man!).  Pat Monahan and Train have another poppy summer jam.   They combine a timeline of their band's career with highlights from Pat's life (meeting his wife for the first time, daughter's birth) and major current events like the start of Facebook, The Simpsons, and 9/11.   Great line about the year 2011,  "the artificial heart is born, how ironic when New York's is torn".    ESPN is already using this song in their XGames promotion.