November 7: Thumbs up/thumbs down

THUMBS UP:
Kenny Chesney. The best country songs are not the ones about how your wife cheated on you and your dog left you and you're at the tavern crying about it, but those that deal with real-life emotions that everyone can relate to, like "I Hope You Dance" and "Two Teardrops." Chesney's latest single, "Don't Blink," is one of those songs, dealing with how your life flies by and you need to appreciate the moment. An unexpected highlight from a guy who hadn't recorded a good song since "How Forever Feels" in 1999.

Billy Ocean. Yeah. Just because. He's the new Lionel Richie. The '80s R&B dude who was laughed at back then, but now you look back at the discography and realize, wow, there's tons of good shit there! I've always been partial to Caribbean Queen and When the Going Gets Tough, the Tough Get Going, but lately I've been on more of a Suddenly kick. It's a cheesy ballad... which means I love it. And, yes, that's what he looks like now. You have to give it up for the old man dreads.

THUMBS DOWN:
Sarah McLachlan. I was just listening to Mirrorball the other day and realizing how great those songs were. And that was 10 years go! Where the hell have you been, lady? One new (subpar) album from you in the past ten years just ain't cutting it! Stop resting on your Lilith Fair laurels and give us some new music, pronto.

Timbaland.There's a song called Apologize that is credited to Timbaland featuring OneRepublic. Except that OneRepublic, an R&B vocal group, are the only ones on the track. Timbaland produced it. So what? That doesn't give him the right to claim artist credit on it. And certainly not as the featured artist! If anything, it should be OneRepublic featuring Timbaland. I cannot support this ego stroke. As far as I'm concerned, the song is by OneRepublic, period.