NewYearsDayProject | a song a day blog

If you believe in the Illuminati, Max Martin would certainly be a candidate of prestigious behind the scenes powers or principalities degenerating the minds of youth through pop music. I've talked about Martin's consistency on the pop charts when I talked about Coldplay's " Higher Power " last year. Since then I've learned a lot more about the Swedish force in the American pop charts. Martin, along with his "disciples" Shellback, Dr. Luke, and Savan Kotecha have been the go-to producers to get a pop act on the radio and charting highly. But if you want a track to go to number one, get it produced by Max Martin. Today, we're looking at one of Martin's first success stories. TELL ME WHY. Listening to "I Want It That Way" always triggers a particular funk. It's 1999 in the back of an old church van. It's middle school, and we're listening to pop radio because the conservative wave of "no music with a beat" leaders

What do you do after you record one of the best-selling albums of all time? Following the massive success of their 1973 album, Dark Side of the Moon, Pink Floyd struggled in the studio with their follow up. Music executives pressured them to have another hit album. The band couldn't get along during these sessions. This theme of the music industry's pressure can be heard on the tracks "Welcome to the Machine" and "Have a Cigar." However, it was as the band was enjoying the peak of their success, their lyrical themes turned to their friend and former band leader, Syd Barrett, whose mental health had led to his departure in 1968. Pink Floyd had gone from a top-5 charting psychedelic pop group to an experimental rock group whose music became too obscure for radio. But following Dark Side , the band an era of critical acclaim and millions of albums sales. And Wish You Were Here lamented the loss of a friend who couldn't share in the band's success.  YOU

In 2014, I wasn't listening for what was next in Alternative music. Rock music in the early '10s was disappointing me with all of the Imagine Dragons and Coldplay knock offs. When my friend, fellow music blogger Stephen Barry told me I should check out Bastille , I reluctantly did, but I didn't really listen to them. I just listened to them in passing. My music tastes at that time were: rock should be rock (i.e. Linkin Park and Anberlin ), not trying to disguise itself behind big, bright production. I don't think that way anymore. Bastille became a hit in America because of today's song. After reaching #2 on the UK pop charts, the song became a #5 hit on the Billboard Hot 100, and it topped the Alternative Songs chart. While I would love to bring you another Christmas song, today we take a break from Christmas. BUT IF YOU CLOSE YOUR EYES..."Pompeii" is a strange pop song. It literally describes the conversation between two people about to be killed in the

Before their massively successful 1995 studio debut, Jars of Clay released a self-produced demo titled Frail , which included several songs that made it to their eponymous release . Two songs, though, were reworked and found their way onto their less commercially successful sophomore release, Much Afraid . Departing from their acoustic folk-rock sound, Much Afraid  sounds like a 1997 album. It spawned two singles, " Crazy Times ," peaking at #38 on the Modern Rock singles, and " Five Candles " (You Were There), originally written for Jim Carrey 's Liar Liar , but eventually used in Michael Keaton 's Jack Frost.    Much Afraid is a fine Jars of Clay album. It's more fun to listen to than their debut, varying between folk-rock and modern rock. However, it failed to propel Jars of Clay into the 1997 rock scene. Listeners may not remember them amongst their contemporaries, like The Goo Goo Dolls , Third Eye Blind , and Matchbox Twenty . Instead, they are a

Formed in 1992 as the house band for a series UK youth outreach events called The Cutting Edge , delirious? became a full time band i after singer Martin Smith was hospitalized for several weeks after a car accident in 1995. Smith read Bill Flanagan's book U2: At the End of the World , inspiring him to make the band a full-time career. The band released their second full-length studio album,  King of Fools ,  and their first under the moniker Delirious. The song " Deeper " hit the UK pop charts , unexpectedly, peaking at number 20. The band would sign to Sparrow Records for their U.S. distribution, spanning several CCM and Christian Rock hits and helping to create the next generation of worship music. Delirious's music is usually worship, but at their core, they are a jam band, particularly evidenced on their follow up two follow up records to  King of Fools, Mezzamorphis and Glo . The band writes anthems that sound like U2 , but include electronic experimentation