pop – Page 3 – MikeyMix

Lady Gaga: “John Wayne” – Music Video Review

Good evening everyone, welcome back to MikeyMix! On February 8th (the same day the first pre-sale tickets for the ‘Joanne World Tour’ were released) my all-time favourite artist Lady Gaga released the video for her track ‘John Wayne’.

The video was released without any prior advertisement and before being released on VEVO it was an Apple Music exclusive, thankfully I have a subscription.

When I saw that ‘John Wayne’ was the next song to be given a video I couldn’t contain the excitement, this is because the track is one of my favourites on the ‘Joanne’ album, the element of surprise aided the excitement because I was almost certain that the next instalment in the ‘Joanne’ story would be ‘A-Yo’.

The video takes begins directly where the video for ‘Million Reasons’ ended: a close-up of Gaga in a pink suit and matching cowboy hat playing guitar. However, unlike the ‘Million Reasons’ video as soon as Gaga says the iconic lyrics:

“It’s like, I just love a cowboy you know? I’m just like, I just, I know it’s bad. But I’m just like: can I just like, hang off the back of your horse and can you go a little faster!?”

-Lady Gaga (John Wayne monologue)

The video went completely “Gaga”, although the track is one of the shortest on the album the video definitely makes up for it: in an array of colour, leather and cowboys, Gaga and her lover take us on a journey to a place we haven’t been to since the ‘Born This Way’ era.

If I had to describe this video in five words I would have to say “Judas meets Yoü and I”.

As a veteran little monster this video brought back all kinds of memories are there are clear references to Gaga‘s past era’s within the video: the video even loosely references the track ‘Aura’ when Gaga kills her former self by shooting her with her heel.

If you haven’t seen the video yet I’ll link it below, personally I loved it and cannot wait to see the next instalment in the ‘Joanne’ story (I am hoping that ‘Dancin’ in Circles’ gets a video one day as it is my favourite from the album).

Until next time: stay safe, be happy and keep on jamming!!

-Mikey

HEADER IMAGE PROVIDED BY ‘CHUFF MEDIA’ (REGIONAL TOURING PR COMPANY), IMAGE HAS BEEN PRE-APPROVED FOR USE BY THE PRESS.

Katy Perry: “Chained To The Rhythm” – REVIEW

Good morning readers, welcome back to MikeyMix! This morning pop princess Katy Perry released the first single from her upcoming yet to be named fifth studio album.

‘Chained To The Rhythm’ is the first release from Perry since July 2016 when she released the popular promotional single ‘Rise’.

Perry‘s latest track was co-written by fellow pop icon Sia Fuller and you can certainly hear the elements of Fuller within the track (especially in the chorus as it sounds like a demo version of Fuller‘s hit song ‘Cheap Thrills’).

The instrumental of the track is definitely nothing special and what’s disappointing is that Perry didn’t try with the vocals, the track as a whole sounds very safe.

The rap (if you could even call it that) provided by Skip Marley lasted about 40 seconds and didn’t add anything relevant to the track: I see Perry is still following the trend of collaborating with rappers in an attempt to boost sales, could we not have left that trend in 2016?

This track is definitely not my favourite of Perry‘s and I doubt she’ll be earning her first grammy award for it, the track is not Perry‘s best. She promised a “maturer” era for this album but if all the tracks are like this one I don’t have high hopes for this.

To summarise: I don’t like this track, it sounds like another generic “Katy Perry bubblegum pop song” and I wouldn’t be surprised if when the album is released we are given a fresh version of ‘PRISM’ as opposed to something completely new.

That being said I can tell this song will get a lot of radio airtime due to it’s simplicity and mediocrity.

I will be giving this track a disappointing 2 out of 5 stars as this is not Perry‘s best work and she can do much better.

The track is available on iTunes and streaming sites: Apple Music, Spotify and Tidal.

If you’d like to listen to the track I will include it below:

Until next time: stay safe, be happy and keep on jamming!!

-Mikey

HEADER PHOTO PROVIDED BY ‘CHUFF MEDIA’ (REGIONAL TOURING PR TEAM) – PHOTO WAS PRE-APPROVED FOR PRESS USE

Lady Gaga: Super Bowl Halftime Show – REVIEW

Good evening readers! Welcome back to MikeyMix, if you’ve been on my blog for more than five minutes then it’s no surprise that I am a massive Lady Gaga fan.

When it was revealed late last year that she would be performing at the prestigious Super Bowl Halftime Show I was filled with excitement: after waiting nearly 10 years it was finally her time to take the world’s biggest stage.

During the run-up to the performance I gave each of Gaga‘s albums a fresh listen and provided fresh reviews, links to these posts can be found here: ‘The Fame’, ‘The Fame Monster’, ‘Born This Way’, ‘ARTPOP’ and ‘Joanne’.

The halftime show has been played by a number of musical legends over the years: Michael Jackson, Madonna, Beyoncé, Katy Perry and Coldplay however, I would be lying if I said that I wasn’t expecting Gaga to join the ranks because (all bias aside) she is a worthy performer.

Gaga took to the stage to perform a medley of her many hits from over the years, however she chose to open the performance with a cover of ‘God Bless America’ by Irving Berlin on the rooftop of the stadium.

Shortly after the cover Gaga subtly addressed the importance of unity before jumping off the roof via harness and landing on the stage to truly begin the show.

During the opening segment of the performance Gaga collaborated with Intel and showcased their light-up drones which created an arrangement of the American flag in the sky.

Gaga’s setlist for the show consisted of the following:

God Bless America
Dance in The Dark/Paparazzi/LoveGame (Instrumental Mashup)
The Edge of Glory
Poker Face
Born This Way
Telephone
Just Dance
Million Reasons
Bad Romance

Contrary to popular rumour Gaga had no special guest performers during the performance as she said she wanted this performance to be a moment between her and the fans.

Throughout the performance Gaga wore a futuristic, metallic custom Versace playsuit with matching boots and “disco stick”. Gaga also opted to wear her famous blonde hair and her make-up (especially the eyes) complimented her outfit greatly.

However, before performing ‘Bad Romance’ Gaga had a quick costume change and returned to the stage rocking a Gaga-esque American football kit.

Overall I thought Gaga‘s performance was flawless: however, I do think it would’ve been nice to see a song from ‘ARTPOP’ performed.

That being said this was still one of the best performances Gaga has ever done and the reaction from critics, fans and spectators has been positive throughout.

For me personally the best part of the performance was seeing 10 years of Gaga put into a 13 minute show, it is safe to say I had goosebumps throughout and the memories came flooding back.

I also loved how this performance brought fans together in a way we haven’t seen in a long time and for that I am truly thankful to Gaga.

Shortly after the performance the celebrations didn’t stop as Gaga went on to announce the dates for her upcoming world tour ‘The Joanne World Tour’. The tour will be paying a visit to the UK this October.

One thing remains clear: whoever is given the honour of performing at the Super Bowl next year certainly has some big shoes to fill as Gaga has well and truly raised the bar with this performance.

Until next time: stay safe, be happy and keep on jamming!!

-Mikey

(#MonsterForLife)

HEADER IMAGE PROVIDED BY ‘CHUFF MEDIA’ (REGIONAL TOURING PR COMPANY) IMAGE HAS BEEN PRE-APPROVED FOR PRESS USE.

The Chainsmokers – “Paris” – REVIEW

Good morning everyone! I’m back with yet another music review!

For today’s post I will be discussing “Paris”, the latest single by electro-pop duo The Chainsmokers.

The track is the duos first offering in which they provide all of the lead vocals.

The smooth electronic beat of the track gives the listener an element of familiarity that they have grown to except from The Chainsmokers.

However, the use of lyrics this time around are quite lazy and it seems like the pair are attempting to create another generic pop song in order to make a quick million.

That being said I do enjoy the track, it might not be my favourite of their tracks but it won’t be removed from my library anytime soon.

I’ll be giving this track a 2 out of 5 star rating as I know the pair can do better than this.

Until next time: stay safe, be happy and keep jamming!!

-Mikey

HEADER IMAGE PROVIDED BY ‘CHUFF MEDIA’

Snakehips & MØ – Don’t Leave – REVIEW

Hi everyone welcome to my second post on MikeyMix! For tonight’s post I will be reviewing the track “Don’t Leave” by Snakehips and MØ.

Unknown to many people (except to my closest friends) I am a massive fan of Danish pop artist MØ: I have had the privilege of seeing her perform live and whenever she releases a new track I quickly become hooked, this track was no exception.

In true MØ fashion the track is insanely catchy and the listener can’t help but sing along to the chorus. The smooth, laid back instrumental produced by Snakehips combined with the equally smooth vocals of MØ mean that the song isn’t too harsh on the ears and can be enjoyed over and over.

I personally love this track and although its not my favourite of MØ‘s (my all time favourite is still “Final Song”) it won’t be getting deleted from my Apple Music library anytime soon!

2016 was a great year music wise for both of these artists and I am so excited to see what they bring to the table for 2017.

I will be giving this track a respectable 4 out of 5 star rating.

Until next time: stay safe, be happy and keep on jamming!!

-Mikey