Music

In a world where a simple individual can get lost in a sea of stereotypes, all marching to the same tune, it's very easy for a person to get swept away in it all, rather than do something of their own accord; something that they want to do, and something that came from their own imagination. There’s no question that it is most definitely easier to do what others do, but what if everyone did that?

What if Christopher Columbus believed the Earth was indeed flat? What if Alexander Graham-Bell thought pen and paper would suffice as the best form of communication? And if Alexander Fleming actually was a clean, tidy scientist? If all these people decided to live normal lives, not follow their own decisions and let all their detractors who thought they were completely mad knock them down, where would we be today?

My point is, in today's music, everything has become very 'by-the-book'. The typical song structure is as old as time itself but as for the whole package, you can almost hear a song, predict the music video, pinpoint exactly when the seemingly obligatory rap should be placed, and guess who would be a good option for the collaboration.

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Guns N' Roses are said to have stormed off the stage at their gig in Dublin last night, after fans repeatedly threw bottles at them.

The rock band kept concert goers waiting for an hour before they started to perform and after being booed, heckled and bottled, Axl Rose stopped the show 20 minutes into the set during 'Welcome To The Jungle'.

He told the crowd:

"Here's the deal - One more bottle and we go home... It's up to you. We would like to stay. We want to stay. We want to have some fun.

"If you don't want to have fun, all you've got to do is let us know. We've got no problem - we'll go on our way."

The band played three more songs then left the stage. A member of staff spoke to the audience, at first claiming that they were having technical difficulties, then later saying: "Sincere apologies about this. We're trying hard to get Axl to come back on stage. I will ask you please to refrain from throwing items at him. I promise you a great show, but you need to be calm please."

Guns N' Roses returned 35 minutes later, however many fans had left the building by this time and were refused re-entry for the rest of the show.

Check out Axl's warning in the video below, be warned there is some very strong language used. Were you in the audience? If so we'd love to hear from you!

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Okay, so imagine you're a bit down in the dumps, not than kind where your all emo-like with a knife to your wrist for no reason at all, but the kind where you accidentally twisted an ankle and fell into the person in front of you, starting a huge domino rally of people in somewhere like Poundland, and then you get kicked out of Tesco for eating something from ASDA, and then, someone complains you're being too noisy in your local library, which is only exaggerated by the fact being in a library on a Saturday night is like winning the lottery, but instead of collect your winnings, you spend the night in playing Boggle with your sister.

Not your day is it?

But then, something comes along three years later and you get a chance to become a better version of what you once were, laughing in the face of supermarket brands because now you can buy designer; you can make as much noise as you want in any library because you rule the pop world, and you get an uber-sexual make-over complete with fake spectacles, blazer, choppy fringe and a chance to rub up against another girl in front of a camera to show off your new-found SEXUALNESS.

And then you dance like this:

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New kid Jared Evan wants to "leave a musical impact; I want to alter the state of music." And with his new single, In Love With You, he almost alters topography. By which I mean, this is a veritable earthquake of a song, you can almost feel it shaking loose plaster from nearby walls.

It's a contradiction of a song - he's definitely singing a tribute to some girl he's in love with, but the music's forceful, distorted and LOUD. This is not your typical ballad, Jared! In fact, it's the sort of stomping anthem that would accompany WWE wrestlers into the ring, a pounding, aggressive rock stomper.

But then, Jared has declared his mission to redefine music. And he's already considered a genre-defying force of nature. That may be a little bit of over-enthusiastic PR for the guy, but In Love With You is possibly one of the strongest fusions of hip-hop and rock that I've heard in a while. That's logical, since he namechecks the creme of classic rock and rap influences - from Led Zeppelin to The Who and from Wu Tang Clan to KRS One.

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A cold war isn't just a name for a long-lasting deadlock between two political parties, it's now a colloquial term for a relationship gone sour; a relationship where the two members no longer feel that rush of emotional excitement when they see each other. But not only that, a cold war relationship has the two members in verbal deadlock; ignoring each other, unless of course they plan to throw a snide comment at their partner, it's all very complex but Janelle Monáe's got it nailed down to a tee.

You see, her song, which just so happens to be entitled 'Cold War' isn't about the continuous state of political conflict and military tension between America and Russia, that was more like a 44-year long competition of who had the biggest penis, it's a poignant-yet-angry, confused-yet-adamant, pleading-yet-accusing love song to Janelle's lover, and in doing so she exploits the idea of a cold war perfectly, for it is a raw, rousing affair that's not afraid to wear it’s emotions on it’s sleeve for the world to see.

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Looks like this dubstep thing is something we're going to have to get used to, hmm?

Dubstep is undoubtedly one of those genres that's going to take a while for everyone to digest, and it's still very much in the 'Acquired Taste' stage of it's ploy to infiltrate into the nation's minds. And whilst I'm in the ever-decreasing sector of people who aren't particularly sold on the mainstream form of the genre (to me it's a pretty dire form of Drum 'n' Bass), you can assure I'm going to be unbiased on this review, but it doesn't stop me from being opinionated.

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For all the metal fans on Shout, I chanced across this awesome video and just had to share it here. It's Metallica, Megadeth, Slayer and Anthrax all onstage at the same time performing the Diamond Head classic, Am I Evil?

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The bands are performing at Bulgaria's Sonisphere Festival, and it's fair to say that anyone who grew up with these bands is going to feel a tremor of excitement as James Hetfield welcomes the veteran thrash acts to the stage. The members of Anthrax are instantly recognisable - Scott Ian's beard and I see Joey Belladonna has stuck around since the last time her rejoined the group. Spotted Charlie Benante and Frank Bello in the mix as well.

Somehow, Slayer weren't part of my metal experience for some reason. But first I caught a glimpse of Dave Ellefson, then that snarling, curly-haired monster, Dave Mustaine. How satisfying to see these guys all on stage at the same time. As Hetfield said, it was a moment in metal history.

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Ahhh, the musical form of a contagious illness… Like a bad cold.

Crazy comparison I know, but if you're a regular reader you can probably expect it to make a lot more sense once this review is over. So read on, baffled people.

Alexandra Burke has a quality to her voice that, whilst not being as powerful as someone like Leona's, manages to convey more emotion in one note than Leona or any other X Factor alumni can in a whole song. Sure they can all sing, but there voices are hollow vacuum's of emotion when it comes to injecting the lyrics with some life, particularly in ballads. It's a strange thing, because many may be able to sing, but if it comes off as contrived or obviously forced, then all that effort is going to absolutely nothing.

Whilst on the X Factor, Alexandra used to sing some pretty hefty songs - brimming with emotion, not necessarily sad. But imagine singing something like Whitney's 'I Wanna Dance With Somebody' bobbing side to side, arms fixed to your sides - it just wouldn't work would it? Each of her performances was head and shoulders above the rest, it's just a shame her voice sounds as hollow as dead tree bark on her singles so far.

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Here's Charlotte Church, trussed up in some very uncomfortable looking corsage, all elbows and armpits exposed as the salt water spoils her lovely dress.

Yes folks, avoiding the cliches like, 'the Welsh warbler', 'the Crazy Chick singer' and 'former voice of an angel', the return of Charlotte Church continues at a brisk pace. Today, she's released the track list to her new album, Back To Scratch. The title almost implies a return to her roots, overlooking the teenage rebellion-type pop album from a while back.

The album cover itself is more Leona Lewis than Lady Gaga, which is a blessing.

Her second pop album - following 2005’s Platinum selling ‘Tissues and Issues’ - ‘Back To Scratch’, shows off a mature, refined side to Charlotte, with a sophisticated pop sound that will doubtless win her legions of new converts as well as satisfying her loyal fan-base. Partly written in Nashville with Luke Laird and Patrick Davis, she also worked with local Welsh artists The Druids and Jonathan Powell on the album.

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Is it wrong to be disappointed that Katy Perry isn't wearing a blue wig in the video for Teenage Dream? And we're supposed to get excited about the fact that she's romping in a motel room in mismatched underwear? Ugh. Come on Katy, I'd figured you for a bit more exciting than cotton briefs. Damn your skin-tight jeans, get yourself down to La Senza or something.

Right, music review time. Let's kick off with the intro - I hate those plunky, muted guitar intros. Though in this case, it's setting us up for a low-key verse and the brash choruses Katy excels at. The verses in places are a bit tepid, like the ballad she released once that nobody remembers, but the lyrics fondly reminisce a hot romance and they're not that bad. The problem is, everybody's waiting for the chorus, so we have to tolerate the verse to get to the good stuff.

Speaking from the over-30 gallery, I loved the epic assertion that "we'll be young forever", even as I chuckled at the notion. You won't be thinking that when your chesticles are sagging, love. But I digress...

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