About to Pop - Albums

With the holidays right around the corner, it's quite obvious as to why many popular artists are releasing their newest albums this month.  In this addition of "About to Pop," I'll be looking at a few new albums and giving a brief  summary/review of it.  Let's get into it!

Country: Taylor Swift's Red.

A very popular country artist, Taylor Swift is known as America's "Sweetheart."  In her latest album, Swift switches things up a bit, delving into pop music as well, which is evident in her track We Are Never Ever Getting Back Together.  The catchy tune talks about her former flame (which pretty much all of her songs talk about).  In the track above, Swift stays true to her country roots, but adds in some pop/rock for good measure.  Besides her current radio hit, I found State of Grace to be a fun, "poptry" (Pop + Country) tune.  As a side note, many analysts believe this will be the best selling album of 2012, usurping British sensation One Direction.

Hip-Hop/Rap: Nicki Minaj's Pink Friday: Roman Reloaded - The Re-Up

Besides having one of the longest album titles this year, Nicki's newest album is really a deluxe version of her sophomore album, Pink Friday: Roman Reloaded.  The album includes five seven new tracks in addition to all of the tracks from Roman Reloaded (A total of 26).  While I thought Nicki's second album was rather lackluster with some decent rap songs and some decent pop songs (I like about 8 out of 19), the seven new tracks return Nicki to her grimy roots.  Her current "flow" on the song above is very reminiscent of her earlier feature on Kanye West's Monster - a video I shared a few weeks ago.  While Nicki was being criticized for adhering to the pop/commercial norm, with the track above, I can confidently say the queen is back!

Rock (More like Pop): One Direction's Take Me Home

A year after there record-breaking album Up All Night was first released in the U.K. (March in the U.S.), Simon's X Factor U.K. proteges are back, exhibiting a little more mature tone/vibe.  While their first single Live While We're Young is very similar to their very first single What Makes You Beautiful (what's up with these long song titles 1D & TSwizzle?!), I feel like the song above shows a different side of the bubblegum pop boy band.  Written by U.K. sensation Ed Sheeran (the genius behind Lego House), it's a no-brainer that Little Things is a smash.  While I will admit that I DO NOT any One Direction album, I do find a few of their songs really catchy (like the one above ;D)

As a bonus, enjoy listening to Ed Sheeran's Lego House...