Superwoman

There is no doubt about Alicia Keys, and the strength of her music. Not only are her songs strong and straight from the soul and heart, but she has much better songs than those wannabe divas like Beyonce' and The Pussycat Dolls.

Her latest single, Superwoman, the fourth single from As I Am is absolutely no acceptations. The song is very heartfelt and delivers a very strong message to woman everywhere, about defying the odds, and proving that you can be anything that you want to be from the heart, unlike the images we've been seeing from Paris Hilton and Ashley Dupree, the foolish and selfish call girl who slept with former New York Governor Elliot Spitzer, that has said the only way you can be a role is by being a bit sexier on the outside.

Thankfully, Alicia really proves that theory absolutely wrong, and just being yourself in the heart and soul is really all that should matter, whether it is being a lawyer or doctor or just about being anything. I like the message Alicia delivers, and it should be delivered to woman everywhere as a strong sign that you really can be a superwoman.
Alicia Keys crooned her way through this song... It's very relate-able, uplifting and positive... "Even when someone a mess I put an "S" on my chest cause I'm a Superwoman."

Then later on, it started to play at my job, which was sweet within itself. When you hear songs like this that I can relate to or are upbeat and/or positive, I perform better.

Anyway, the job is now gone but this song will live on "forever" as a modern classic.

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Raising Sand

Perhaps only the fantasy duo of King Kong and Bambi could be a more bizarre pairing than Robert Plant and Alison Krauss. Yet on Raising Sand, their haunting and brilliant collaboration, the Led Zeppelin screamer and Nashville's most hypnotic song whisperer seem made for each other. At times, Burnette's spare and deliberate soundscape--incisively crafted by guitarists Marc Ribot and Norman Blake, bassist Dennis Crouch, drummer Jay Bellerose, and multi-instrumentalist Mike Seeger, among others--is nearly as dreamy and subterranean as Daniel Lanois's work with Emmylou Harris (Wrecking Ball).

Occasionally, Burnette opts for a fairly straightforward production while still reworking the original song (Plant's own "Please Read the Letter," Mel Tillis's "Stick with Me, Baby"). On the opening track of "Rich Woman," the soft-as-clouds vocals strike an optimistic mood, while the instrumental backing--loose snare, ominous bass line, and insinuating electric guitar lines--create a spooky, sinister undertow. Plant and Krauss trade out the solo and harmony vocals, and while they both venture into new waters here (Krauss as a mainstream blues mama, Plant as a gospel singer and honkytonker), she steals the show in Sam Phillips' new "Sister Rosetta Goes Before Us," where a dramatic violin and tremulous banjo strike a foreboding gypsy tone. When Krauss begins this strange, seductive song in a voice so ethereal that angels will take note, you may stop breathing. That, among other reasons, makes Raising Sand an album to die for.

Despite hailing from distinctly different backgrounds, Alison Krauss and Robert Plant share a maverick spirit and willingness to extend the boundaries of their respective genres. This spirit, expertly honed by producer T Bone Burnett, has resulted in an album pitched three steps beyond some cosmic collision of early urban blues, spacious West Texas country, and the untapped potential of the folk-rock revolution.

Supported by the unparalleled musicianship of Marc Ribot, Dennis Crouch, Mike Seeger, Jay Bellerose, Norman Blake, Greg Leisz, Patrick Warren, and Riley Baugus, Plant and Krauss -- as both solo and harmony vocalists -- tackle an intriguing selection of songs from such tunesmiths as Tom Waits, Gene Clark, Sam Phillips, Townes Van Zandt, The Everly Broth! ers, and Mel Tillis. Raising Sand finds Robert Plant and Alison Krauss exploring popular music's elemental roots while still sounding effortlessly, breath-takingly contemporary.

The song "Killing the Blues" is featured in the new JC Penney American Living Campaign.
This is wonderful listening. _ Rock, pop, folk, international. That's what music should be but too often isn't because the folks who run record companies and radio stations want to put music in the narrowest possible category.

It's also a breakthrough for all three artists, including Burnett, but especially Krauss, who in her last few albums has boxed herself in with very nice listenable material that's too often predictable. Beyond that, I've never heard an album where the voices blend so well that it's hard to tell where one stops and the other picks up _ Tom Waits' "Trampled Rose'' is the exemplar of that and the most fascinating and haunting song on the album.

The last number begins with Mike Seeger on autoharp leading into a Doc Watson gospel tune. Seeger discovered Elizabeth Cotten, who was his family's housekepper, and he was one of the pioneers who convinced record labels to record roots artists, Watson among them. It's one of the few albums _ Luncinda Williams' "Essence'' is another _ that can get away with slow tempos and minor keys on two-thirds of the songs and not sound repetitious or boring.

Other artists are trying _ Ben Harper and Norah Jones, with whom Krauss guested on a Bonnie Raitt show/CD/DVD are mingling pop, rock, country, gospel and reggae (in Harper's case.)

This landmark album makes that point even more strongly.

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Detours

Thematically, Detours may not seem like much of a detour to Sheryl Crow fans. From the quiet, faraway-sounding opener "God Bless This Mess"--a novel in a song--to the catchy but thought-provoking "Gasoline," it's clear that Crow has more on her mind these days than soaking up the sun or having a little fun, à la the Tuesday Night Music Club era. Yet there's not a groan-worthy song on this standout rock/pop/folk/blues album. If the themes are heavy (in addition to the political songs, there's an almost painfully tender lullaby for her son Wyatt and one, "Make It Go Away [Radiation Song]," that touches on her breast-cancer experience), the mood is cathartic, determined, hopeful at times and sad at others. Sheryl Crow is set to release her sixth studio album, DETOURS. The album marks the return of producer Bill Bottrell, who previously worked with Crow on her breakthrough debut album Tuesday Night Music Club, which earned the singer three Grammy Awards, and sold more than ten million copies worldwide. It's about being forced to wake up," says Crow.

If 2002's sun-drenched "Come On, Come On" found a nail-biting Sheryl Crow unsure of her position as pop tunesmith or serious singer/songwriter, 2005's "Wildflower" - her "art" record as she dubbed it - certified she could straddle the line without compromise.

Crow reunites with Bill Bottrell, producer of her 1993 debut "Tuesday Night Music Club," and the results are compelling and thoroughly listenable. Lo-fi opener "God Bless This Mess" is wall-to-wall Crow, reiterating the song's title line despite hazy post 9/11 life, while the jaunty radio-ready rock of the futuristic blue-collar anthem "Gasoline" and bouncy single "Love Is Free" keep the pace.

She bares her soul on "Make It Go Away (Radiation Song)" and delivers a high-octane rocker in the politically conscious "Shine Over Babylon," but the revelatory title track and cheery, swashbuckling "Out of Our Heads" keep the colors from running too dark.

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