10. Jessi J, Ariana Grande, Nicki Minaj – “Bang Bang” I would call this my “guilty pleasure” selection, but, as Colton and I have repeatedly noted, there should be no guilt in the pleasure of a finely-crafted pop number. The Max Martin-produced “Bang Bang” is probably my favorite pop radio staple this decade, with a sizzling beat,…
I wish that everyone can be blessed with a band like Relient K in their lives: A band that so closely matches your personality and growth that listening to them sometimes feels like looking into a mirror; a band that feels like it was designed specifically for “you”; a band that you love as much…
Sometimes, even our biggest heroes falter. Below is a list of bad songs by our favorite artists. Whether they’re disappointing, dull, or downright disastrous, these twenty tracks remind us of that lesson Billy Wilder taught us so many years ago. As always, we’ve included a Spotify playlist so you can listen as you read. Enjoy! (Or,…
I’ve been listening to Relient K since the end of 2002, and since then they’ve evolved into one of the most interesting and thoughtful pop-rock bands in the business. They’re one of my all-time favorites: From the catchy throwaways to the moving reflections to the sweeping epics, Relient K has covered a lot of ground…
This is the first in a hopefully-recurring feature where the writers of Earn This will choose some genre or theme, collectively pick twenty or so of their favorite songs under that umbrella, and write a few words about each song. If we’re motivated, we’ll even embed a Spotify playlist. For our first entry, Dan and…
Rating: 2.5 stars (out of 5) I’ve listened to this album about a dozen times through (my favorite tracks more than double that), and I still can’t quite parse Relient K’s vision for their seventh album. And I think that’s the problem with Collapsible Lung: when you scratch away the surface, there is no vibrant, amber…
I have often thought about — and even attempted to draft — some sort of lengthy countdown of my favorite albums, but I keep talking myself out of it. For one, that would imply that my opinion is something worth examining closely by someone who may stumble on this site. This ain’t the Sight and…
This is part 8 of the Relient K retrospective (I wrote a review of Forget and Not Slow Down about a week ago. Since then, I’ve been doing some research on the album’s origins, and I believe the results make it much more interesting.) I generally like to keep my nose out of other people’s business,…
This is a a reflection on Relient K’s career so far. It’s broken down in to eight parts. The Top 50 Relient K Songs Relient K (2000) – 2 stars The Anatomy of the Tongue in Cheek (2001) – 3 stars Two Lefts Don’t Make a Right (2003) – 5 stars Mmhmm (2004) – 4.5…
This is part 7 of the Relient K retrospective Rating: 4 stars (out of 5) A lot happened to Relient K between Five Score and its follow-up LP, Forget and Not Slow Down. Along with some personnel changes, their contract with both Gotee Records and Columbia expired. But Gotee offered the band creative control of one of…