411 Music Buy or Sell 02.02.11: Kiss the Champ

Posted by Jeremy Thomas on 02.02.2012

Does Bruce Springsteen's "We Take Care Of Our Own" take care of us? Does Drake help make Mary J. Blige's "Mr. Wrong" just right? Do we like Pink's "Bridge of Light?" 411's Tony Acero and Nick Krenn listen to these tracks and more!


Greetings and salutations, Music Zone readers! Welcome to your top choice in music single opinion columns, 411 Music Buy or Sell! I'm your host Jeremy Thomas, and each week we'll look at some of the hottest new and hit singles and a couple of our esteemed writers will decide if they want to keep the song (Buy) or drop it like it's hot (Sell). This week's listeners are the Low End Theory's Tony Acero, taking on the our Music 3R's man, Nick Krenn!

All right, enough of the introductions and rules…let's hop to it!

1) Pink - "Bridge of Light" From Happy Feet Two - Soundtrack (Sony) Released December 2, 2011
Tony Acero: SELL I see what you did there, Jeremy. Putting cute penguins on my laptop screen so that I get that warm fuzzy feeling and like the song. I catch your game. The song is powerful, it's sweet, it's cute and has a Kelly Clarkson feel to it. While that may be all well and good, it's not to my liking. It feels a bit too uplifting for me to get behind. Don't get me wrong, I like it...and damn those penguins are cute, but it's not something I'm likely going to hear again unless I watch the film.
Nick Krenn: SELL What is this sappy horseshit? I thought Pink was this badass chick. I don't get that at all from this song.
ANALYSIS: SELL

2) Gotye (ft. Kimbra) - "Somebody That I Used To Know" From Making Mirrors (Eleven) Released December 30, 2011
Tony Acero: BUY Weird ass music video aside, the song has an infectiuous tempo and a soothing melody. A nice song to chill to if you're not listening to the lyrics. Once you go down that road, you realize it's a pretty cool song in it's own right. A simple, yet convincing argument in song. Kimbra adds a lot to it, also. I'll admit, I have no idea who either of these two are, but it's a song that is Collin-esque, and really is there anything wrong with that?
Nick Krenn: BUY Not bad alternative rock. This song is starting to get some radio play, so I expect that we'll be hearing more about these guys.
ANALYSIS: BUY

3) Mary J. Blige (ft. Drake) - "Mr. Wrong" From My Life II... The Journey Continues (Act 1) (Matriarch/Geffen) Released November 8, 2011
Tony Acero: BUY Hey look, it's Drake the rapper...and he's actually rapping. High five, Drake. MJB needs to get outta Nicki Minaj's closet. I've always had a soft spot for Blige's voice. It's powerful and evokes emotion. As far as Drake goes, let me be clear; It's not that I dislike the guy, nor is it my not liking him as a rapper. I simply did not like his album Take Care. Let me rephrase, I despised the album. I felt like I was being lied to. But that's something you can read elsewhere. Blige's content is simple enough, and-her funky wardrobe notwithstanding-he song is good enough for me.
Nick Krenn: SELL Mary J. Blige has never...NEVER done anything for me as a music fan. The Drake part is okay, but it's not my cup of tea.
ANALYSIS: SPLIT

4) Pixie Lott - "Kiss the Stars" From Young Foolish Happy (Mercury) Released January 29, 2012
Tony Acero: SELL Who is this woman, and why must you continue to give me songs of hers to review?!!? One step above garbage, I feel. "Put your plug in the socket?" That's a line in the song. Really? Cheesy and Beiberific. This is the song that 15 year olds dance to, not knowing what they hell they're saying. I guess it's necessary to have fluff music like this out there, but man...it's so cheesy.
Nick Krenn: SELL More like Pixie NOT. I tapped out of this tame Ke$ha retread about 30 seconds into the song.
ANALYSIS: SELL

5) Bruce Springsteen - "We Take Care Of Our Own" From Wrecking Ball (Columbia) Released January 19, 2012
Tony Acero: SELL A little too repetitive for my liking. I'm no Springsteen fan, so maybe I'm the wrong ear for him to fall on, because the song is something I'd change immediately upon hearing the first verse. It seems...boring. Sure, that'll raise the ire of Springsteen lovers, and maybe it's well deserved, but I'll let this one go.
Nick Krenn: SELL Remember when Bruce Springsteen put out good music. It ain't happening anymore. I'm sure Rolling Stone will give the new album Five Stars, but it's not The Boss that I like.
ANALYSIS: SELL

6) Nelly - "The Champ" From TBD (Universal Motown) Released December 20, 2011
Tony Acero: BUY It's always nice to hear a rap song that has no allusions to booty clappin or "throwin hunnets," but even so, I can't help but think this is more of a song for endorsements. I was really close to saying SELL but because it's a feel good song that is meant to motivate, I'm feelin it. Sure, it seems a bit fabricated at times, with the blatant ESPN sign on the wall, but I guess if you're just listening to the song, then there's a good message here.
Nick Krenn: SELL Seriously...seriously? Nelly hasn't been relevant for quite some time, but this is just embarrassing.
ANALYSIS: SPLIT

So it's a Buy for Gotye, a Sell For the Boss and Pink, and Splitsville for everything else! Thanks to Tony and Nick for their participation this week; that will do it us! What do you think of the singles we covered? Agree? Disagree? Let us know in the comments!