Amazon MP3 Black Friday Deals

Amazon MP3 is known for giving great deals on MP3 albums, which has helped them slowly carve out a following from the mighty iTunes. They've released their Black Friday week deals early, with 29 pages worth of albums starting at $3.99, which you can see by clicking here.

I'll list some of the better deals for you here, though there are plenty more. You might want to stock up on some new music like a squirrel stocking up on nuts for the winter. Or maybe you just need some new tunes to block out the Thanksgiving family arguments and/or critical in-laws. You're welcome!

$3.99:
"Battle Born" - The Killers. "4th Street Feeling" - Melissa Etheridge. "My Head is an Animal" - Of Monsters and Men. "Channel Orange" - Frank Ocean. "Ceremonials" & "Lungs" - Florence + The Machine. "R.E.D." - Ne-Yo. "The Spirit Indestructible" - Nelly Furtado. "Greatest Hits" & "Appetite for Destruction" - Guns N' Roses. "Speak Now" - Taylor Swift. "Push and Shove" - No Doubt. "Evanescence" & "Fallen" - Evanescence. "Greatest Hits" - Queen. "Rocket Man: Number Ones" - Elton John. "MDNA" & "Confessions on a Dance floor" - Madonna. "My Life II" - Mary J Blige. "Merry Christmas II You" - Mariah Carey. "Life is Good" - Nas. "Hands All Over" & "Overexposed" - Maroon 5. "Kisses on the Bottom" - Paul McCartney. "1984" - Van Halen. "Tuskegee" - Lionel Richie.

$4.99/$5.99:
"Wasting Light" - Foo Fighters. "Funhouse" - Pink. "Icky Thump" - The White Stripes. "Whitney Houston" - Whitney Houston. "Purple Rain" - Prince. "50 Big Ones" - The Beach Boys. "The Lumineers" - The Lumineers. "¡UNO!" - Green Day. "El Camino" - The Black Keys. "Doo Wops & Hooligans" - Bruno Mars. "The Doors" - The Doors. "Aim and Ignite" - Fun. "Rumours" - Fleetwood Mac. "R&B Diva" - Faith Evans. "The Band Perry" - The Band Perry. "Jagged Little Pill" & "Havoc and Bright Lights" - Alanis Morissette. "Kaleidoscope Dream" - Miguel. "The Suburbs" - Arcade Fire. "Clockwork Angels" - Rush.

2012 Grammy Awards Thoughts

The 2012 Grammy Awards are in the books, and here are the Best Performances (By the way, the awards now take a backseat to the performances, it's basically a long concert now):

Adele - Recovering from throat surgery, she gave an amazing performance of "Rolling in the Deep." She swept the night, and deserved it for saving the music industry. 2011 was the first time since 2004 that sales increased, and she was the reason. Without her album, they would have decreased again. And she may have spurred people into actually buying other albums as well. 21 has currently sold 6.5 Million Copies (the biggest sales total since 2004), and is on its way to 7 million, and possibly even 8 million before 2013.

Bruno Mars - It was like a mix between Elvis with his moves and Prince with his sound, and I was surprised how good it was. I didn't know much about him before the show, besides "Grenade", but I may have to download "Runaway Baby."

Paul McCartney - He ended the night with an outstanding performance of the "Golden Slumbers Medley" (joined by Bruce Springsteen & Dave Grohl) from the epic 16 minute Abbey Road Medley, which is the ending to The Beatles' 1969 album Abbey Road. Music lovers should own Abbey Road already, if you don't, well what are you waiting for?

Jennifer Hudson - Performed Whitney Houston's classic "I Will Always Love You." She really did the song justice, one of the few who can, and it was a fitting tribute to Whitney and all the musicians lost in the past year. Alicia Keys and Bonnie Raitt also did a wonderful job performing a tribute to Etta James. And none of them needed auto-tune or lip syncing, which brings me to the worst...

Worst performance of the night: Chris Brown. I just don't get him. After beating Rihanna he did another thing that irked me, allegedly, when he performed a tribute to Michael Jackson in 2009 and its rumored someone saw him use eye drops to make tears. Trying to use a death to your advantage? Not the way to go. Jennifer Hudson showed how it is done.

WTF? - Nicki Minaj. She performed that seemed based on 1975 horror classic The Exorcist. It was strange even for Lady GaGa. And the song was weak. She would have been better off performing "Super Bass" and bringing Sophia Grace and Rosie on stage. It would have been a feel good moment that still had people talking.

The Foo Fighters also gave two killer performances, and The Beach Boys reunited. The Beach Boys don't sound quite as good, but it was still nice to hear some classic songs. They forgot to call Uncle Jesse aka John Stamos.

Whitney Houston Dead at 48

RIP to another music legend, Whitney Houston has died at the age of 48. She was found dead in her hotel room around 3:30pm in Los Angeles. Currently no cause is known, but in recent years she struggled with drug addiction along with ex-husband Bobby Brown, who many blame for introducing her to drugs. I'm assuming she never kicked the habit. Whether it's street drugs or prescription drugs, its just not worth it. Its a shame when talented people can't kick their bad habits, such as Janis Joplin, Jimi Hendrix, Jim Morrison, Michael Jackson, Amy Winehouse & Kurt Cobain. They all succumbed to their addictions. She had such a powerful voice, and was a natural talent who didn't need any auto-tune. One of her better songs was 1985's "How Will I Know."

You could really get a feel for her powerful voice when she performed The Star Spangled Banner at Super Bowl XXV on January 27, 1991 in the midst of the Gulf War. The rendition reached #20 on the Billboard Hot 100 and ten years later reached #6 after September 11th: 

Her last album, I Look To You, was released in 2009 and was certified Platinum. While not a massive success like her previous albums, it still did well in a climate where albums don't sell as well as they used to. She recently completed filming of a movie titled Sparkle, which is supposed to come out in August 2012 and it is rumored she was contacted to become a judge on The X Factor alongside Simon Cowell and LA Reid. I'm sure it would have led to a career comeback, so you must wonder if and why she went back to drugs when her future seemed so bright. Anyone out there battling drug and/or alcohol addiction needs to seek help.

This news comes just one day before the 2012 Grammy Awards. I am sure they will be scrambling to conduct a fitting tribute in some way.

Lindsay Lohan better take note and get herself healthy or she will end up going down the same path.