The Official Charts Company compiles the UK charts every week based on sales. And, according to NME, it recently released details of the Top 10 biggest selling albums of the noughties, which are as follows:-

The Top 10 Albums Of The Noughties

1. James Blunt – ‘Back To Bedlam’
2. Dido – ‘No Angel’
3. Amy Winehouse – ‘Back To Black’
4. Leona Lewis – ‘Spirit’
5. David Gray – ‘White Ladder’
6. The Beatles – ‘1′
7. Dido – ‘Life For Rent’
8. Coldplay – ‘A Rush Of Blood To The Head’
9. Scissor Sisters – ‘Scissor Sisters’
10. Take That – ‘Beautiful World’

James Blunt at number one? Ugh. Dido at number two? Ugh. Neither are surprising as they’re both mainstream and bland. It’s good to see Amy Winehouse at number three and The Beatles and Coldplay also making the top ten. Scissor Sisters deserve a mention for being the only non-British artist to make the list.

[Photo Source: Amazon.co.uk]

Post from: Brit Music Scene

Now I know most of you reading this are probably now screaming at the monitor that I know nothing, and that Dido is back with a new single. But I already know all this, so my question was more about what has happened to her since she’s been away because her new song is rubbish.

I’ve had the video for Don’t Believe In Love saved in my favorites for about a month now, and have been meaning to review it. But I couldn’t bring myself to do it because it’s just not very good. So instead I find myself going on a bit of a rant about how a once great artist who released catchy song after catchy song chose this as her comeback single.

I can’t say I was ever Dido’s biggest fan on the face of the planet but I do own copies of No Angel and Life For Rent. And when they first came out, I used to listen to them quite often. They were chilled out albums to relax to but the songs had enough about them to stop them from being instantly forgettable.

And then Dido seemed to disappear for a few years. Life For Rent was released in September, 2003, five long years ago. Dido set out on a world tour and then played the London and Paris legs of the Live 8 concerts in 2005. And then that was it, nothing for years.

Dido has apparently been away working on the new album, Safe Trip Home, ever since then. The release date was put back several times before Safe Trip Home was finally released on Monday Nov. 17, 2008. And it was preceded by the first single, Don’t Believe In Love, which is embedded after the cut.

Don’t Believe In Love makes me not believe in Dido anymore. That sounds harsh but it’s bland. And to those who thought Dido was always bland, this ups the bland scale to the nth degree. It starts out really slow and boring and continues along that path for the duration.

Her voice is as soulful and haunting as ever, but instead of being coupled with uplifting lyrics and set to a memorable melody, this just meanders its way from beginning to end. Even the chorus doesn’t lift the song beyond sheer and utter boringness.

I haven’t heard the album as yet, being loath to buy it on the strength (or rather, weakness) of this track. But from everything I’ve read, the whole of Safe Trip Home carries on in this vein, and that just doesn’t appeal. I want anthems, not dirges.

There are a few possible reasons for this change of style. In the three years since she’s been away, Dido lost her father, which I’m guessing massively added to the darker, more depressive mood of the new material. It also probably explains the title.

I’m not heartless, and personal life is bound to impact on a musician’s professional life, but I like the Dido of old, and I want her back. I don’t want to listen to an album on an evening and by the end of it be considering ending it all. I personally don’t want to go out with a rope around my neck and Dido playing on the stereo.

I’m sure some people will love the new direction Dido seems to have gone in, but it’s not my cup of tea. So I ask again, whatever happened to Dido? She’s gone from being a guaranteed sell-out to a guaranteed suicide-instigator. That’s not good.

[Photo Source: From Newscom with permission]

Post from: Brit Music Scene

Whatever happened to Dido? She was massive for a time after her first two albums, No Angel and Life For Rent were released, achieving worldwide success, even breaking America. But we haven’t seen anything of her since Life For Rent dropped in 2003.

Well now she’s back, with the announcement that her new album, her third studio release called Safe Trip Home, will be released on November 3rd.

The first single off the album, Don’t Believe In Love, will precede the album release and a track called Look No Further is available as a free download from the singer’s official website from today until September 7th.

The album was recorded in London and Los Angeles, and co-produced by Jon Brion, Dido, and her brother Rollo. One of the songs was co-written by famous record producer Brian Eno.

This album should by rights be a huge success, with Life For Rent and No Angel selling 22 million records around the world so far between them. The problem I foresee is that music has moved on a little from then, and unless Dido has moved with it, the album could sound very dated.

There is also the fact that she has been away for so long, with most people last seeing her on the Band Aid 20 release of Do They Know It’s Christmas in 2004. That’s a long time to go without a record in the charts and in people’s subconscious.

I really hope Safe Trip Home lives up to the impossibly high expectations, as some of Dido’s songs are absolutely brilliant. But for me there will be a question mark hanging over the album until it’s released and we find out if she still has the gift for writing a classic pop song.

[Photo Source: From Newscom with permission]

Post from: Brit Music Scene