I first heard of Idina Menzel when I heard her spectacular Defying Gravity duet with Kristen Chenoweth from Wicked. I then caught her in Rent, and Enchanted after that, realizing, each time I saw her, I was witnessing a true artiste. Idina Menzel’s debut album, I Stand, hit stores yesterday, and Brave, the first single off I Stand, is a great way to introduce Menzel to the pop world. Co-written and produced by Glen Ballard, most renowned for his work with Alanis Morissette (also Aerosmith and Wilson Phillips), Brave is a stark ballad on self-empowerment that AC radio would do well to pick up.

Listen to Idina Menzel’s Brave.mp3

The Brave video by Idina Menzel, which also contains Brave lyrics, after the jump.
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I am so pumped that Gavin DeGraw has a new album coming out. It’s been two years since Chariot came out, and I am itching for something new from this talented singer-songwriter. Introducing I’m In Love With A Girl, the killer first single from Gavin DeGraw! Woohoo! This song is awesome!

(Note: For some reason, the song plays slower on my stream. There may be a flaw in the connection, but rest assured I’m working on it. I’m in Love With a Girl sounds much better than how it’s streaming on my website. Darn.)

Listen to Gavin DeGraw’s I’m In Love With A Girl mp3
Read the Gavin DeGraw’s I’m In Love With A Girl lyrics after the jump (more…)

I can honestly say that without exaggeration. His latest album, Something to Say, features a range of songs written during a point in West’s life where a health crisis threatened the possibility of his ever singing again. As a musician myself, I can vouch for how scary that may be. Instead of wallowing in self-pity, the venerable West penned a love song, You Are Everything, which speaks of faith and trust in a supreme God who will come through in ways we can’t even begin to comprehend.

Something to Say drops January 15. Be sure to get your copies; it’s gonna be legendary!

Listen to You Are Everything by Matthew West
Lyrics to Matthew West You Are Everything after the jump (more…)

Annie Lennox’s fourth studio album in fifteen years, Songs of Mass Destruction, is a sparkling gem of an album along the vein of music Annie Lennox has since come to be known for. Packed with songs that weave wistful meanderings on a variety of issues including love’s labors lost and relationships on a global scale, Songs of Mass Destruction is a more-than-fitting addition to Lennox’s portfolio. Coming in from Bare, the previous album, Songs of Mass Destruction reads almost like a continuation, albeit not as stripped down but just as melancholy.Dark Road is the first single off Songs of Mass Destruction. Produced by Glen Ballard (Alanis Morissette, Aerosmith, Wilson Phillips), Dark Road and its video dwell on relationships lost and potentials wasted. The single debuted outside the UK Top 40, but continues to pick up in airplay. Get additional information on Annie Lennox’s Dark Road here.

Listen to Annie Lennox’s Dark Road mp3
Purchase Songs of Mass Destruction.
Annie Lennox’s Dark Road lyrics and Dark Road video after the jump. (more…)

I promise this will be the last Elliott Yamin-themed entry on GannsDeen.com for a long time. As a fitting conclusion to week-long coverage of Yamin’s Philippine tour, we are uploading Yamin’s new American single, One Word, for your consideration.

One Word is a slow-to-midtempo ballad much in the same vein of Yamin’s surprise hit, Wait For You. When Yamin tested One Word during his Philippine tour, it received quite a positive response, which could bode well for Yamin’s nationwide push when the single is officially released for airplay on October 16.

Listen to Elliott Yamin One Word mp3

Elliott Yamin One Word lyrics after the jump.

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Brace yourselves. Britney Spears is ready to hit the airwaves next week.

The title of Britney Spears’ new airplay track is Gimme More, and sources at Jive Records are optimistic fans will embrace and listen to Gimme More, the first track off Spears’ upcoming studio album.

Produced by Timbaland collaborator Nate Hills, who is more familiar to music fans as Danjahandz, Gimme More is an uptempo dance floor track that Jive Records was hesitant to identify as a carrier single or an airplay-only track.

Other producers working with Spears on her new album featuring Gimme More, include J.R. Rotem and Sean Garrett, who gushed over a track in a June interview with Billboard Magazine as one that would “shake up the world. It’s uptempo, out of control … it’s wowzers.”

Gimme More, the first track of Spears’ follow-up to 2003’s multiplatinum In the Zone, is rumored to debut at the 2007 MTV Video Music Awards, an event favored by Spears in recent years to grab headlines.

Original article at Billboard.com.

Go on over to Berg’s to listen to Gimme More by Britney Spears.

Britney Spears Gimme More lyrics after the jump. (more…)

American idol Season Six winner Jordin Sparks has released her debut single. A midtempo track called Tattoo, this is a radio-friendly ditty that can only serve to raise Jordan Sparks’ star higher and higher. While comparisons to Beyonce’s Irreplaceable have been raised, Sparks has deflected criticism with much aplomb, choosing instead to focus on promoting the album and living up to the pressure that comes with being American Idol.

Listen to Jordan Sparks Tattoo mp3
Lyrics to Jordin Sparks Tattoo after the jump. (more…)

ALBUM TITLE: True Beauty
ARTIST: Mandisa
RECORD LABEL: Sparrow/EMI-CMG
OVERALL RATING: Four stars (out of five)
MUST-HAVE DOWNLOADS: God Speaking, Unrestrained, Only The World, Shackles (Praise You), True Beauty, (Never Gonna) Steal My Joy
YOU CAN AFFORD TO MISS: Only You

American Idol finalist and now Sparrow recording artist Mandisa Hundley has much to be thankful for, as do her fans. With the record-breaking release of True Beauty, Mandisa becomes the first female artist in Billboard history to debut at #1 on the Billboard Christian and Gospel Albums charts with her debut album. With a #1 single (Only the World, Billboard Hot Singles Sales charts, 5 weeks) and more than 31,000 albums sold in three weeks, Mandisa proves herself one of American Idol Season Five’s more chartworthy contestants.

Sparrow Records certainly pulls out all the stops for True Beauty. With a list of who’s who producers, including Doubledutch, Christopher Stevens, Shaun Shankel, Drew & Shannon, and multiple Dove Award winner Brown Bannister, Mandisa finds herself in very capable hands, allowing her natural charisma and style to flow effortlessly through this 11-track stunner of an album. Mandisa’s vocal skills are highlighted flawlessly throughout the album, with her stellar pipes ranging from a soft and gentle whisper (channel: Most Holy Lord, You have my attention, from Unrestrained) to a blasting furnace (several sections of her kick-butt retouch of Mary Mary’s Shackles); the various song styles show Mandisa’s ability to adapt to a variety of musical genres, further cementing her skill as a singer and performer.

There is an adequate mix of fast and slow songs on True Beauty, and the fast ones do not disappoint. Album opener Only The World is an obvious first-single choice, and for good reason. The Matthew West-penned toe-tapper has “hit” written all over it, with its catchy guitars and feel-good rhythm. (West also contributes Voice of a Savior, a power ballad that speaks of unity and how people search for something to give meaning to their lives.) The track that follows it, True Beauty, is an ode to self-esteem and girl power, packaged in a head-bopping hiphop beat; Mandisa wrote the lyrics to the album’s title track. After featuring her on Lose My Soul, Christian rap-rock artist TobyMac returns the favor with his group DiverseCity in the dancefloor nugget Love Somebody, a catchy, disco-esque stomper of an album track if ever I’ve heard one.

Mary Mary’s Shackles (Praise You) gets a synth horns-drenched uptempo remix, courtesy of Christopher Stevens, who deserves all the props for the rearrangement of this definitive Christian hit; Mandisa lets herself go all out on this stunning revival that can definitely have you headed straight for the dance floor. The Every Heartbeat-esque (Never Gonna) Steal My Joy is a poppy joyful track, while Oh My Lord, which features the Fisk Jubilee Singers, of which Mandisa was once a member, channels old-school Afro-American church gospel rhythms.

True Beauty isn’t short of ballads, however. The jewels of True Beauty are two worshipful ballads: God Speaking and Unrestrained. God Speaking, written by Ronnie Freeman, is a contemplative ballad that speaks of how God can reach out to us in infinite ways; Unrestrained, on the other hand, is a truly worshipful song that takes its inspiration from the grace and forgiveness extended Mary Magdalene when she washed Jesus’ feet with her hair, tears, and perfume. (Luke 7:36-50) Written by Tony Sutherland and Calvin Nowell, both of whom have their own versions of Unrestrained on their respective websites, Unrestrained is taken to soaring new heights by Mandisa. Both must-have ballads are delivered, naturally, by the Clive Davis of the Christian music industry, Brown Bannister. Other ballads worth noticing include the aforementioned Voice of a Savior and album closer He Will Come. As a matter of fact, the only real hiccup on the album is the rather forced upbeat track Only You, a misstep for Shaun Shankel, who hit a home run with Only The World.

Note: if you purchase True Beauty off Amazon.com, you will receive a special enhanced CD that allows you to enter a special section of Mandisa’s website that gives you free downloads and behind the scenes videos. I got a remix of Only The World that was marginally good.

Click here to listen to Mandisa’s version of God Speaking or here to listen to Mandisa’s Only the World.

Listen to Mandisa Unrestrained mp3, with Unrestrained lyrics after the jump.

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Actual tallies will be released on Billboard.com tomorrow, but unless BarlowGirl registers an increase in sales, which seems highly unlikely given the Christian group’s lack of a hit single on the Contemporary Christian singles charts, it seems apparent that Mandisa has debuted as well at #1 on the Billboard Top Christian Albums and the Billboard Top Christian and Gospel Albums charts. If this is, in fact, true, that means that Mandisa would have earned the 131st and 132nd and 133rd #1s for the American Idol franchise. (When Only the World topped the Billboard Hot Singles Sales chart, she added to the initial 130.) It would also mean that the debut of Mandisa’s True Beauty at #43 on the Billboard 200 means American Idol’s Season Five has surpassed Season Three for having the highest number of chart-worthy singers with albums to their credit.

Update: It is true! Mandisa debuts at #1 on the Billboard Top Christian Albums and Billboard Top Christian and Gospel albums charts. She is the first female solo artist in the history of the chart to debut at #1 with her debut album! Congratulations, ‘Disa!

Am I a Mandisa fan? Heck, yes. I can’t wait for my True Beauty album to get here, because it takes 4-6 weeks to ship to Manila from the USA. I wanted to add her up on MySpace, but apparently, I can’t get that add. *sigh* You know what I want? A Mandisa interview for LIVEtheLIFE. That’d rock my socks. Come on, Lord, make it happen in Jesus’ name.

American Idol Season 4 and Grammy Award winner Carrie Underwood’s sophomore album, Carnival Ride, is undoubtedly one of the most anticipated releases of 2007. The carrier single off Carnival Ride is titled So Small, and was serviced to country radio less than 24 hours ago. So Small, a country power ballad co-written by Carrie Underwood, will no doubt help Carrie Underwood set country airwaves on fire once again.

So Small is the first Carrie Underwood single in which she shares a writing credit. In an interview with Beville Darden of AOL Music, she says So Small is about how “people invest so much of their time and energy into things that aren’t really important, and you don’t really realize that until it’s too late.”

So Small currently stands at #11 on Billboard’s Hot Country Songs, #98 on the Billboard Hot 100, and #67 on the Billboard Hot 100 Airplay. It debuted at #14 on the Canadian Hot 100, her best debut ever on that chart. You can now download So Small on I-Tunes; purchasing the So Small single today will help raise its Hot 100 rank as early as two weeks from now. (Once again, thanks, Berg.)

Listen to Carrie Underwood So Small mp3
Carrie Underwood So Small lyrics after the jump (more…)