Hear Music albums

Question

This piglix contains articles or sub-piglix about Hear Music albums

Answer 1

Shine (Joni Mitchell album)

Shine (Joni Mitchell album)

Shine is the nineteenth and final studio album by Canadian singer-songwriter Joni Mitchell and was released on September 25, 2007 by Starbucks' Hear Music. It is Mitchell's first album of new songs in nine years, since 1998's Taming the Tiger.

Joni Mitchell, who had said that she was retiring from music several years previously, signed a two-album contract with Starbucks' Hear Music that began with the release of Shine. The 10-track CD "feels like the return of Joni the storyteller," said Ken Lombard, the president of Starbucks Entertainment who also oversees Hear Music.

In the United States, the album sold about 40,000 copies in its first week, debuting at number 14 on the Billboard 200 chart; this was Mitchell's best peak position in America since 1976's Hejira. Shine also peaked at #36 in the UK charts, making it Mitchell's first Top 40 album in the UK since 1991. In its first week on sale, Shine sold around 60,000 copies worldwide and as of December 2007^[update], it has sold over 170,000 copies in the U.S.A.

In 2002, Joni Mitchell famously left the music business. The public first learned that she had returned to writing and recording in October 2006, when she spoke to The Ottawa Citizen. In an interview with the newspaper, Mitchell "revealed she's recording her first collection of new songs in nearly a decade" but gave few other details.

Four months later, in an interview with The New York Times, Mitchell said that the album was inspired by the war in Iraq and "something her grandson had said while listening to family fighting: 'Bad dreams are good—in the great plan.'"

The Sunday Times wrote in February 2007 that the album has "a minimal feel, a sparseness that harks back to her early work," adding that "rest and some good healers" had restored much of the singer's vocal power. Mitchell herself described Shine as "as serious a work as I've ever done."

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Answer 2

So Beautiful or So What

So Beautiful or So What

So Beautiful or So What is the twelfth solo studio album by American folk rock singer-songwriter Paul Simon. For the album, he reunited with former collaborator and record producer Phil Ramone. Having experimented with rhythm-based textures for much of the previous two decades, Simon returned to composing songs rather traditionally using only his acoustic guitar. These songs were further augmented by experimental recording practices in the studio. The album was largely recorded in a small cottage at Simon's home in New Canaan, Connecticut.

The music of So Beautiful or So What features West African blues-inspired guitar playing, Indian-style percussion, and experimentation with samples, which ranged from an excerpt from a 1941 sermon to nighttime ambience in Kenya. The songs were recorded with little bass but with a very large presence of bells. Much of Simon's lyrics touch on themes of spirituality and mortality, which Simon said was unintentional and resulted naturally in his songwriting process for the album.

When So Beautiful or So What was released by Hear Music on April 8, 2011, it received widespread acclaim from critics, many of whom considered it Simon's best work in two decades. It appeared on many year-end critics' lists as one of the year's best records. The album also became his highest US chart debut, reaching number four on the Billbooard 200, and charted within the top ten in nine other countries.

For So Beautiful or So What, Simon reunited with record producer and former collaborator Phil Ramone, who previously worked with him on Simon & Garfunkel's 1982 live album The Concert in Central Park. According to Simon, the reunion came casually; he told Ramone when they met each other that he was beginning to work on a new album and, as Ramone lived in the next town, they decided it would be easy to work together again. Simon recorded the album at his small cottage in New Canaan, Connecticut. The recording sessions often consisted solely of Simon, Ramone, and engineer Andy Smith. Throughout the production of the record, the album’s engineers would gradually make upgrades to the space during months off. As it was not acoustically designed or soundproofed, Smith often employed iZotope RX software to rid the recordings of extra noise, such as an oak tree above the home from which acorns fell, interrupting recordings. Keeping in line with his experimental attitude, Simon decided to record the acorns, remarking, "All sounds are musical once you start to listen." Occasionally, Simon would record in the control room instead. Like all of Simon’s output from his 1997 effort Songs from The Capeman onward, the album was recorded digitally using Pro Tools.

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Answer 3

Some People Have Real Problems

Some People Have Real Problems

Some People Have Real Problems is the fourth studio album by Australian singer Sia. Released in 2008, the album featured singles including "Day Too Soon", "The Girl You Lost to Cocaine" and "Soon We'll Be Found". In live performances of the latter song, Sia used sign language to accompany her singing. The album displays a more upbeat pop-style than Sia's previous downbeat albums, whilst show-casing Sia's vocals on a number of big ballads. Non-single track, "Buttons", received attention due to its video in which Sia's face is distorted by pegs, string, net, balloons, and many other things. The album debuted at number 26 on the US Billboard 200 chart which became Sia's first album to chart on the Billboard 200 in her career.

Sia talks about the inspiration for the album's name: "During recording people would come in and complain about traffic, and I'd say, 'Some people have real problems.' Like, they're waiting for a lung or they don't have a mum," she says. "I thought it would be a funny name for an album. And then I thought if I were to get rich and successful I would remember to not turn into an asshole. But I am one, so it didn't work."

Some People Have Real Problems received generally favorable reviews from music critics. At Metacritic, which assigns a normalised rating out of 100 to reviews from mainstream critics, the album received an average score of 64, based on 20 reviews. Reviewers such as Rolling Stone and The Guardian were highly critical of the album, each awarding the album only 2 out of 5 stars. Other reviewers, however, such as Allmusic and Slant (both of who awarded the album 4.5 out of 5 stars) and Entertainment Weekly (who gave the album an "A-") were highly positive towards the album.

Near the time of release, those who purchased the CD could download 4 bonus tracks: "Buttons", "Blame It on the Radio", "Cares at the Door" (B-side for UK release of "Day Too Soon"), and "Bring It to Me".

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Answer 4

This Kind of Love

This Kind of Love

This Kind of Love is an album by American singer-songwriter Carly Simon, released in April 2008 by Hear Music. It is Simon's 31st album, her 24th studio album, and her first album of original material since The Bedroom Tapes in 2000.

This Kind of Love was released via the Starbucks-owned label Hear Music, and was to be sold in Starbucks outlets as well as by general music retailers. To Simon's disappointment, Starbucks announced that it had ceased day-to-day operations of Hear Music five days before the release date of This Kind of Love. Starbucks reneged on its agreement to stock the album in stores and reduced her advance after Simon had spent $100,000 on recording sessions in Martha's Vineyard. In 2009, Simon sued Starbucks for "concealment of material facts", "tortious interference" with Simon's contract, and "unlawful, unfair and fraudulent business practices".

Simon cited Brazilian music as an influence for the thirteen-song album. She worked on the album for two years.

This Kind of Love debuted at number 15 on the U.S. Billboard 200 chart, selling about 23,000 copies in its first week. By late 2009, the album had sold 124,000 copies.

Album - Billboard (North America)

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