February 26, 2013

Article

Kelly Rowland has a new album on the way, but first she’s taking it back with an old-school classic.

The sexy siren duets with Michael Bolton on a cover of Marvin Gaye and Tammi Terrell’s 1960s hit. Their soulful remake appears on Bolton’s Motown tribute album Ain’t No Mountain High Enough: Tribute Hitsville, available now.

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Wow, Kelly looks gorgeous!

NaughtyKitty said:

Wow, Kelly looks gorgeous!

as usual

a Motown tribute album?? How original!

Michael Bolton???? Talk about bottom of the barrel.

Actually, you should be elated. He can carry a tune, unlike the current crop of R & B "vocalists" who rely on autotune.

Mike was on TV about a week ago promoting his book

uPtoWnNY said:

Michael Bolton???? Talk about bottom of the barrel.

someone's never seen him and lonely island do "jack sparrow"

bolton's hip again... in a way

Kelly is desperate for attention and exposure. She was on the red carpet at the Oscar's last week (wtf?).

If someone asked me if I wanted to collaborate with Michael Bolton I would run in the other direction. This isn't going to help her career at all.

Empress said:

Kelly is desperate for attention and exposure. She was on the red carpet at the Oscar's last week (wtf?).

If someone asked me if I wanted to collaborate with Michael Bolton I would run in the other direction. This isn't going to help her career at all.

I like Kelly better than her overrated group mate but they are similiar in some ways

I just dont understand why she does not want to grow. Kelly is a very likable person and seems down to earth (although she bullshit sometimes) I think if she really became inspired and pushed to be creative the pressures of the media and spotlight would not be a issue. Shes desperate because she wants to have the same success as her overrated group member but popularity doesnt necessarily mean you are artistic, innovative or creative but this generation doesnt seem to care about that... they care about exposure, awards, fame spotlight

I just think she is so much better than this.

Empress said:

If someone asked me if I wanted to collaborate with Michael Bolton I would run in the other direction. This isn't going to help her career at all.

Why does it have to help her career? Is that a reason to do something? Maybe she just likes Michael Bolton's music and he asked her to sing with him. Some people are so negative about nothing.

MickyDolenz said:

Empress said:

If someone asked me if I wanted to collaborate with Michael Bolton I would run in the other direction. This isn't going to help her career at all.

Why does it have to help her career? Is that a reason to do something? Maybe she just likes Michael Bolton's music and he asked her to sing with him. Some people are so negative about nothing.

It's not nothing.

It's MICHAEL BOLTON.

bobzilla77 said:

It's not nothing.

It's MICHAEL BOLTON.

What's wrong with him? He's a singer. Just because some folks don't think he's "cool" or "hip" doesn't mean that Kelly shouldn't do a duet with him, or that people should only collaborate with someone who will "help" their career.

I don't care about cool & hip or whether he helps Kelly Rowland's career.

Michael Bolton is EVIL.

My feelings toward him have mellowed a little since that SNL video where he plays Jack Sparrow... at least he seems to have a sense of humor about himself.

I still think he is evil but maybe not quite Satan himself. That's as much ground as I can give on this.

MickyDolenz said:

Empress said:

If someone asked me if I wanted to collaborate with Michael Bolton I would run in the other direction. This isn't going to help her career at all.

Why does it have to help her career? Is that a reason to do something? Maybe she just likes Michael Bolton's music and he asked her to sing with him. Some people are so negative about nothing.

I agree with this as well.

Damn is this the heavy metal boards i used to frequent circa 06, 07?

Metal guys have a strong HATE for Michael Bolton... and idk why. I used to not like him either.. yeah he's cheesy but bitch can sing! and as said has a sense of humor about himself.

So idk why people jump on the hate Michael Bolton train even in 2013

Are yall also going to tell me how much Coldplay sucks and Ok Computer is the best album ever?

Internet hipsters never change

mjscarousal said:

I agree with this as well.

It's like back in the day, many people collaborated because they wanted to work together or for fun. Did Joe 'King' Carrasco help Michael Jackson's career? No, but MJ sang background on Joe's song. Nowaday's it just seems like a business transaction so the label will reach quota for the stockholders. "OK, if we put Snoop Dogg on this song, Lil' Wayne on another, and Enrique Iglesias here, it will reach multiple markets". So you have these albums now where it seems like the main artist is the guest on his/her own album.

Metal guys have a strong HATE for Michael Bolton... and idk why. I used to not like him either.. yeah he's cheesy but bitch can sing! and as said has a sense of humor about himself.

So idk why people jump on the hate Michael Bolton train even in 2013

I've been on that train for 25 years dude, I'm unlikely to hop off. But OK, if you don't understand I'll try to explain.

WHY MICHAEL BOLTON SUCKS

By Bobzilla77

Michael Bolton is the pioneer of a form of pop music in which vocal nuance and emotional triggers in the singer's technique are completely divorced from the emotional intent of the song.

For one example, listen to 30 seconds of Otis Redding's Dock Of The Bay. Then 30 seconds, especially the last 30 seconds, of Bolton's cover version.

Otis Redding was one of the most intense. emotive singers of his day. He had incredible power. But you don't hear that on this track. You hear him at his most relaxed, restrained, maybe even a little weary. And that performance fits the lyrics so beautifully. He sounds like he's actually sitting on the dock of the bay, wasting time. The track behind him is just as restrained, but beautifully detailed, with those great flourishes from Steve Cropper's guitar adding just a tinge of color in the right spots. Even when the horns come in, they don't step on the mellow vibe. Everything is in service to the emotion in the lyric. When Otis starts whistling a little tune at the end of it, it's just perfect. It really sounds like a pleasant, wistful, lazy afternoon.

Now listen to Bolton's version. He can sing, yes, you can't say the guy lacks technique.

But he sounds NOTHING like a guy sitting on the dock of the bay. He's down on his knees, jamming wood chips under his fingernails, sweating blood, with his brow all contorted and his fists clenched. AAAARGH IIIIIIIII'M SITTIN ON THE DOCKADA BAAAAAAAAAAAYYYYYYYYY! Why would you scream about how mellow and relaxed you are? Even Mariah Carey has more tasteful restraint.

And every song he did was like that. Endless AAAARGH.

The In Living Color parody of him where he hits a big AAAARGH! moment and his head explodes into a million little pieces is spot-on - as well as one of the most satifying visual gaags ever broadcast. Me and my friends all high-fived each other when we saw that. I literally fell off the couch laughing.

But he of course became hugely popular and more over-singers came out of the woodwork. He was a big figure at the time, a major cultural force. And I hate hate hated it. It SUCKED. It still does. It's almost like those hotshot guitar players that go widdly widdly woo all day without bothering to write songs. It is music that forgets what music is FOR. He's not just a singer I don't like very much; he is the made-flesh representation of everything wrong with the entertainment industry at that time.

And that my friends is why Michael Bolton sucks.

bobzilla77 said:

Metal guys have a strong HATE for Michael Bolton... and idk why. I used to not like him either.. yeah he's cheesy but bitch can sing! and as said has a sense of humor about himself.

So idk why people jump on the hate Michael Bolton train even in 2013

I've been on that train for 25 years dude, I'm unlikely to hop off. But OK, if you don't understand I'll try to explain.

WHY MICHAEL BOLTON SUCKS

By Bobzilla77

Michael Bolton is the pioneer of a form of pop music in which vocal nuance and emotional triggers in the singer's technique are completely divorced from the emotional intent of the song.

For one example, listen to 30 seconds of Otis Redding's Dock Of The Bay. Then 30 seconds, especially the last 30 seconds, of Bolton's cover version.

Otis Redding was one of the most intense. emotive singers of his day. He had incredible power. But you don't hear that on this track. You hear him at his most relaxed, restrained, maybe even a little weary. And that performance fits the lyrics so beautifully. He sounds like he's actually sitting on the dock of the bay, wasting time. The track behind him is just as restrained, but beautifully detailed, with those great flourishes from Steve Cropper's guitar adding just a tinge of color in the right spots. Even when the horns come in, they don't step on the mellow vibe. Everything is in service to the emotion in the lyric. When Otis starts whistling a little tune at the end of it, it's just perfect. It really sounds like a pleasant, wistful, lazy afternoon.

Now listen to Bolton's version. He can sing, yes, you can't say the guy lacks technique.

But he sounds NOTHING like a guy sitting on the dock of the bay. He's down on his knees, jamming wood chips under his fingernails, sweating blood, with his brow all contorted and his fists clenched. AAAARGH IIIIIIIII'M SITTIN ON THE DOCKADA BAAAAAAAAAAAYYYYYYYYY! Why would you scream about how mellow and relaxed you are? Even Mariah Carey has more tasteful restraint.

And every song he did was like that. Endless AAAARGH.

The In Living Color parody of him where he hits a big AAAARGH! moment and his head explodes into a million little pieces is spot-on - as well as one of the most satifying visual gaags ever broadcast. Me and my friends all high-fived each other when we saw that. I literally fell off the couch laughing.

But he of course became hugely popular and more over-singers came out of the woodwork. He was a big figure at the time, a major cultural force. And I hate hate hated it. It SUCKED. It still does. It's almost like those hotshot guitar players that go widdly widdly woo all day without bothering to write songs. It is music that forgets what music is FOR. He's not just a singer I don't like very much; he is the made-flesh representation of everything wrong with the entertainment industry at that time.

And that my friends is why Michael Bolton sucks.

Ok... but he is a cheesy ballad singer like Lionel Richie? in fact i would Lionel perfected this formula before Mike did eh?

He was popular for a few years i mean dude hasn't had a hit in a few decades he wasn't the first singer to do what you accused him of, he isn't the one to popularize it and he won't be the last to sing cheesy love songs.

Do you feel this way about Lionel Richie, Celine Dion and others? cause they did the same exact thing and were even bigger for a longer period of time.

The thing about it that I tried to get at in that explanation is, Michael Bolton has this great technique but he constantly makes the worst decisions possible abut what to do with it. He is showing off at a point where the song does not call for it. By raising everything to a scream there is no opportunity for dynamics. Yes he's working in an area I don't happen to like that much in general. But he gets under my skin more than just about any of those people.

Lionel Ritchie's not a terminal oversinger. He doesn't bug me. Plus he was in the Commodores.

Celine Dion is an oversinger, I'm not partial to her either. But even she doesn't bother me as much as Bolton does. Maybe it's because she found material that requires that grandiosity at all times so it doesn't feel so inappropriate.

MickyDolenz said:

this guy stays singing other people songs regardless of if its a tribute, remake or he's putting his own album out.

bobzilla77 said:

The thing about it that I tried to get at in that explanation is, Michael Bolton has this great technique but he constantly makes the worst decisions possible abut what to do with it. He is showing off at a point where the song does not call for it. By raising everything to a scream there is no opportunity for dynamics. Yes he's working in an area I don't happen to like that much in general. But he gets under my skin more than just about any of those people.

Lionel Ritchie's not a terminal oversinger. He doesn't bug me. Plus he was in the Commodores.

Celine Dion is an oversinger, I'm not partial to her either. But even she doesn't bother me as much as Bolton does. Maybe it's because she found material that requires that grandiosity at all times so it doesn't feel so inappropriate.

I understand your pain. Iam a huge fan of the guy, going waaay back to his self titled debut for CBS in 1983 when he was alot more rock then pop, then as the albums progressed, he turned himself into an MOR/pop wet dream. Unfortunately, a few of his biggest hits are his God awful covers. I hate his version of "when a man loves a woman" for example. Infact, I hate his no.1 covers album aswell. All of it! The "Timeless" album he did was him at his very worst.

He can reign his voice in, but it tended to be down to him and whatever producer he is working with. When with Walter Affanasief or David Foster for example , he tended to over-emote and oversing. But as I said, he always helps produce and write his own stuff (when not doing hideous covers of other songs), so I can't fully blame Wally or David, both whom I respect very much.

Its funny as I have made threads about him before and he did good melodic rock music before "Soul Provider", but no one will give his earlier work a try because of the name! Much like his partner in commercial shite crime Kenny G, he was not always MOR. His bomb album from the mid 80's "Everybody's crazy" was a cult rock hit at the time and has since been re-established as a lost classic of that era (seriously LOL, 80's hair metal fans would and indeed do love that album).

Anyway I do like some of his poppy/MOR stuff. He always seemed to work with great pop producers and songwriters. Michael Omartian, Wally Affanaseif, Desmond Child, Diane Warren, Robert "Mutt" Lange, Babyface, Tony Rich, Keith Thomas....Like Mariah Carey, he needs a great producer and songwriter to help him, but I do respect him alot, but just hate his covers, with the exception of "lean on me". That, like pretty much all his music, is a guilty pleasure....

....and yes, Bolton did do an album of original material about 4 years ago, but it bombed, so unfortunately, he still does his covers albums. Infact, dude hasn't had a hit anything since the mid 90's, and Sony dropped his ass since the late 90's, as did Jive after his "Only a woman like you" tanked aswell (which was a shame as that had a few surprisenly good cuts), so Iam surprised he is still in the game so to speak.

Be funny if he suddenly put this back in his setlist LOL. Heck maybe he does?