Review: Blake Shelton's Loaded: The Best of Blake Shelton

Here's some country music as seen on The Ram

Released Nov. 9, 2010 WB Nashville

Blake Shelton is not really that big of a name outside of the country music world. He has had minor success in the pop charts, but he doesn't quite compare to the likes of Lady Antebellum, Taylor Swift or Rascal Flatts. Shelton does not need the pop success, though, as he is one of the biggest superstars in all of country music. This was proven in the awards he took home this year, gaining recognition from the Academy of Country Music, Country Music Television and the Country Music Association for his hit "Hillbilly Bone" (with Trace Adkins). The CMA also named him Male Performer of the Year. He was the big winner who stole headlines that night along with his fiancé Miranda Lambert, who won several awards as well.

While his last studio album was released in 2008, Shelton returns with a treat for country music fans everywhere. Loaded: The Best of Blake Shelton is his compilation release for 2010. The album maps out his top hits from his storied ten-year career. Obviously this would satisfy any Blake Shelton fan and should make any country music fan very happy. However, this album can also serve as a good starter for anyone not familiar with him or even the genre.

The fifteen tracks include his first hit, the moving "Austin," his most recent release, "Who Are You When I'm Not Looking." A great touch by the producers of this album was to arrange the songs in chronological order. This allows the listener to follow his growth as a singer, songwriter and artist. The songs are all radio friendly and give a great country feel. The compilation has a great mix of his upbeat tunes as well as his thoughtful ballads. Each song highlights his smooth vocals with lyrics ranging from moving away from home to experiences chasing girls in Mexico.

Overall, this album is as solid as they can be. Armed with fifteen hits, you cannot really go wrong. While Blake Shelton's name doesn't bring the same recall as Keith Urban, one can appreciate his uncompromising effort to keep a traditional country sound in all of his songs. This is a purchase well worth the price for fans or those who are curious about modern country music.

RATING: 8/10

Here's one of the songs off the great compilation

Hot new track from across the pond!

Rising Brit star, Yasmin.
Photo from Twitter

More new music from the UK invades my blog. Here's one from DJ-turned-solo artist, Yasmin. I first heard her from Devlin's single "Runaway" and I'm stoked that she's coming out with some of her solo material. Her album is set to be released in January of 2011 under Levels Recordings/Ministry of Sound.


The debut track off that album is called "On My Own." Pretty sick, methinks! Hoping for more from her very soon!


Check it out!






Follow her on Twitter! @itsyasmin 


Check out her website for more info.

Apple Crumble attempt 1.

As Top Chef copouts usually say, "I'm not a pastry chef." So I'll use that excuse as well.


I've wanted to make my own apple pie for some time now, so I decided to give it a shot. After consulting with over 10 people and 20 websites, I decided I would take elements from each, and just make my own.

Apple Crumble attempt 1

Measurements have been tossed aside for this.

All I know was I made a Graham Cracker pie crust, stewed the apples in cinnamon and some herbs, added a crumble on top, and baked it for about 45 minutes.

Not too bad of a first attempt, I must say. I have to fine tune a bit on the execution, but the flavors are dynamite.

Veggie Omelette

Here's a simple omelette that is both filling and healthy.

Veggie omelette with Feta cheese

Ingredients:

2 cups fresh spinach
1/2 large tomato or 1 small one
1/4 onion
2 cloves garlic
2 tbs butter
2-3 large eggs
Milk
Your favorite cheese

Prep your veggies. Dice the onions, garlic and tomatoes.

Bring your non-stick skillet to medium-high heat and melt the butter. Throw in your garlic and onions and cook until onions are translucent.

Throw in the spinach and tomatoes and cook until spinach is wilted.

While that is going on, beat the eggs in a bowl. Add a dash of milk for a fluffier result, but it's not necessary.

Once the veggies are done, put them on a plate and set aside.

Now, melt the other tbs of butter. Pour in the eggs and have it sit there until bottom is firm. Push the outside parts of the egg to the middle and have the uncooked liquid flow over to the empty part of the pan. Make sure you push in all sides evenly so that you don't overcook your eggs. Keep doing this until the egg isn't runny anymore, but make sure you don't overcook it either. Don't flip the egg! This is an omelette!

Add your favorite cheese directly onto the egg. Now, get your veggies and add it right onto the middle of the egg. At this point, turn off the burner. The pan should be hot enough to cook everything.

Omelette plating technique:

Fold the right side of the egg over the filling in the middle. Now grab a plate with your left hand. With your right hand, slowly slide the opened up part of the egg onto the plate. Once you have it, quickly flip the pan over your plate, and you should end up with a perfectly wrapped omelette! Sprinkle over some more of your favorite cheese.

Eat it with some toast, add your favorite ketchup, salsa, or hot sauce. 

Simple Stir-fry

Here's a quick and easy dish you can cook up on the fly, but still get some hearty results.

Chicken stir-fry with rice and egg

Ingredients:

Boneless chicken breasts (1 large one would do, but for less prep work, go for the pre-cut thin sliced ones)
Soy Sauce (I prefer Kikoman Japanese style for a lighter taste)
4 cloves garlic
1 qtr red onion (white is fine too)
2 carrots (or about a half-cup baby carrots)
1 cup broccoli
2 cups fresh spinach
1 lemon
1 tbs. butter(salter or unsalted is fine)
Pepper
Garlic powder

Optional:

Sesame seeds
Sesame oil
Chili flakes

Prep work:

Put some soy sauce into a bowl along with 1/2 juice of the lemon, about a tsp. of garlic powder and a tbs. of sesame seeds. Mix it up and set aside.

Cut up the chicken into bite-sized pieces and throw it into the soy mixture for a little bit. Make sure each piece is coated nicely. Set aside.

Wash your hands.

Time to chop up the veggies. Start with the carrots. Then broccoli, then put them in a bowl, and sprinkle a little bit of salt and the rest of your lemon onto them.

Now, preheat a skillet to medium heat. Add about a tsp. of sesame oil to heat up on the skillet for a nice nutty flavor.

Continue chopping. Garlic and onions this time in to a nice fine dice.

Throw in the butter and melt it. You can use Sesame Oil instead or mix in some sesame oil for a more authentic Asian flavor.

Once the butter is melted, throw in your onions and garlic. Let it cook until the onions become a bit translucent.

Now, time to throw in the chicken. Pour chicken, marinade and all, into the skillet, and stir it a bit until... probably give it a couple of minutes.

Pour about 1/2 cup of water and bring to a simmer.

Once simmering, throw in the broccoli and carrots. Add a little bit of salt and some pepper and some chili flakes if you want. Cover it up and let it sit there for about 5 minutes.

After that, throw in the spinach, cover it up, and let it sit there until the spinach leaves are wilted. Probably another 3-5 minutes.

Once the spinach is wilted, mix it up again, and put it on a plate! Have some rice or noodles with it. For this one, I used rice, and I fried up an egg to go along with it.

Pretty sick track!

Sick new track by Nicki Minaj, will.i.am featuring Cheryl Cole

I'm not a particularly big fan of Nicki Minaj, but I must say her song with will.i.am and Cherly Cole is mighty catchy! Samples "Video Killed the Radio Star"


As it is appropriately titled, "Check it Out"

Gwyneth Paltrow the singer?

Gwyneth Paltrow attempting to sing
Photo by Rick Diamond/Getty Images North America

As much as I love Gwyneth Paltrow and think she's one of the most amazing women in the world, I have a little problem with her as a singer...






Sure, her duet with Huey Lewis for the movie Duets was cute, but I thought that was that. To my horror, her new movie is called Country Strong and someone had the bright idea to promote it by letting her sing during the Country Music Awards. Let's watch...



If you're not busy wiping the blood from your ears, then read on. Not so cute anymore, right? I was particularly... I think offended is the correct word... about the whole thing especially because the awards are supposed to be a salute to the best country music artists, not a shameless self-promotion from a would-be singer. Considering other performers included the likes of Lady Antebellum, Carrie Underwood, Sugarland, Reba, and Keith Urban, Gwyneth Paltrow's performance was just so far below the calibre of the other (real) musicians. Hell, even the hit-or-miss-when-singing-live Taylor Swift sounded good that night.

Okay, so let's get over that... Unfortunately, it gets worse. Two reasons:

1. She will be appearing (which is no harm) and singing (holy shit) on Glee
2. She will be singing Cee-Lo Green's incredible song "Forget You"

So shock and horror right there; and don't worry, I have proof!


There you go. First the positives. She looks amazing as usual. She actually sounds better here, particularly because of the autotune.

Speaking of which, let's dive head first into the negatives! The autotune done to this song is ridiculous. She sounds like a robot. Glee has been suspect to massive autotuning recently and is losing their initial raw appeal they had when they started.

You can see the difference in tonal quality when Kevin McHale (Artie) and Amber Riley (Mercedes) sang a couple of lines. Lea Michele (Rachel)'s reaction to it all was appropriate.

Her performance itself seemed a little awkward to me, with the whole dancing and big smiles aspect of it. I'm sure her acting and speaking parts are a lot better.

Finally, talk about raping a song. I don't know how Cee-Lo feels about this. It sounded like a bad Kidz Bop cover featuring... Gwyneth Paltrow. Hell on earth right there. I'll still watch the episode, and I'm hoping the other numbers turn out to be much better than this.

So there's my two cents worth on Gwyneth Paltrow's singing experiment... she should stop. I'm sure a lot of people will gobble it up and give her false affirmation, though. Oh well.