Buy Kylie Minogue - X
The best summary of Kylie Minogue comes from Grant Morrison's 1992 Zenith comic: "Kylie is Vera Lynn for Third World War," yelled an eight-foot raver robot, and though nobody knew it then he was right. Like 1940s siren Dame Vera, she's one of Britain's most beloved entertainers, a comforting fixity in the pop firmament. But since 2001's career-defining "Can't Get You Out Of My Head", there's also an expectation that she'll play the futurist, define pop's leading edge. X, her comeback album after a fight against cancer, doesn't always succeed in balancing these two Minogues.
When Minogue's irrepressible teen chirp dominated Britain's charts in the late-80s, critics deplored her even while conceding that she herself was a likable personality. Minogue's career has often seemed a series of attempts to expand on this basic likability to add sex, or credibility, or modernism to the mix. The main barrier is generally her voice: Thin, slightly nasal, and prone to strain, it's a 128 kbps instrument in a 320 kpbs world. Minogue has usually been skillful enough to pick material that suits it, however. "2 Hearts", X's first single, is a fine example: An electro-rock vamp gesturing toward Goldfrapp, it's built around heavy piano rolls that give the track some bottom and Minogue freedom to hiss and slink.
"2 Hearts" ticks all the Minogue comeback boxes it's an unexpected stylistic move, it plays to her strengths, it's not copying herself or her close peers. It also, unfortunately, sounds like nothing else on X, which hops around searching for a sound it's comfortable with. X can seem like a revision primer for Minogue fans who've ignored the past few years of chart pop here's a bit of Gwen Stefani-style clockwork playground pop; here's some nu-Britney Spears cut-ups; here's some Sugababes sultriness. Here's electro-disco, cosmic disco, and just plain disco disco, plus nods to 1980s street dance and 00s r&b. If she'd thrown in a ska sample and cockney accent we'd have the whole contemporary UK pop scene on a single CD.
As you'd expect, not all of these styles suit her. "Heart Beat Rock", for instance, has fizzy Neptunes keyboards and a hot, stuttering beat. But the half-spoken lyrics need more sass than Minogue can give. Stefani giggling "I can make your heartbeat rock" might have been convincing Minogue just sounds twee. When that track ends and "The One"' shimmers gloriously in with New Order guitars and morse-code synths, the return to 4/4 dance-pop brings an almost tangible inrush of confidence. "I'm the One love me love me love me," she sings, and for these four minutes she is and we do. This kind of unfussy, hook-first music is what Minogue has always been best at, and back in her comfort zone she thrives.
In fact "2 Hearts" aside X's best tracks recall earlier victories. The heart of "No More Rain" is a hushed and lovely meditation on life's prettiness, like Minogue's haunting 2005 track "Made of Glass". Calvin Harris' production on "In My Arms" is like a cassette player version of Justice all hiss and stickytape but Minogue's roots were in cheap Xerox pop and she bounces around the tune with gusto.
Other songs see good ideas more clumsily executed. A Serge Gainsbourg sample makes "Sensitized" swing harder than anything else on X, but Minogue doesn't have the vocal power to match it. "Speakerphone" starts off with a tantalizing harp figure, then bundles it to the back of the mix assuming we'd prefer a Daft Punk retread instead. "Nu-Di-Ty" boasts the same writers, and the same sliced-up vocal treatments, as some of Britney's standard-setting Blackout, but here the relentless identity shifts result in a grating, baffling mess. On Minogue's comeback album, we want to hear Minogue.
Ultimately, we do. "Wow"'s funked-up electro sexiness may feel contrived, but its excitement is infectious anyway: It's great to hear Minogue having as much fun as she did on "The Loco-Motion" 20 years ago. Likability has got Kylie Minogue this far, and it pulls her through again even the weak tracks on X have a sparky enthusiasm that makes their magpie modernism sound less cynical. Vera Lynn wins this one: The third world war may have to wait.
Buy Kylie Minogue - X
01 2 Hearts
02 Like A Drug
03 In My Arms
04 Speakerphone
05 Sensitized
06 Heart Beat Rock
07 One
08 No More Rain
09 All I See
10 Stars
11 Wow
12 Nu Di Ty
13 Cosmic
14 Rippin' Up The Disco
15 Magnetic Electric
16 White Diamond
Kylie Minogue - X
Shayne Ward - Breathless
Buy Shayne Ward - Breathless
The Leona Lewis story has eclipsed just about every pop release of the autumn, but it casts a particularly dark shadow on Breathless, the second album from Shayne Ward. While the Manchester lad has toiled tirelessly to shake off his X Factor shackles, undertaking lengthy promo campaigns to place recent singles 'No U Hang Up'/'If That's OK With You' and 'Breathless' in the top ten, Lewis appeared to shed hers without breaking sweat. The number one spot? Hogged. Sales records? Smashed. Next year's Brit Awards? Bagged. To put it in context, Lewis' debut album Spirit has sold more in a fortnight than Ward's eponymous first platter managed in 18 months.
Nevertheless, the success of those singles suggests pop fans are warming to Ward, a process his 'people' have sought to speed up by grooming him as a fun-loving, bed-hopping ladies' man. To that end, he's got himself a buzz-cut (phwoar – manly!), gone shirtless in a promo video (ooh – steamy!) and, as his sophomore album attests, taken his musical cues from Mr. J.R. Timberlake (ah - sneaky!). 'Some Tears Never Dry' and 'Tell Him' are reasonable facsimiles of Timbo's Justified sound, while 'U Got Me So' approximates the tremulous electro of his recent Timbaland hook-ups. Sadly, like large portions of Breathless, they're crippled by the dry, stale whiff of anonymity.
As a young, handsome pop boyo with one eye on the Bliss market, the other on Saturday night at G-A-Y, it makes sense for Ward to ape Timberlake, currently the nearest thing the pop world has to a regnant King. However, his decision to channel George Michael, a contender to that throne back in the late eighties, is woefully misguided. Michael hasn't convinced as a ladies' man since he sauntered into an LA latrine on April 7, 1998, and Ward lacks the vocal charisma to attempt a 'Father Figure'-style soul workout, as he attempts on the vapid 'Stand By Your Side'. Worse still is 'Tangled Up', which photocopies every element of Wham!'s 'Everything She Wants' except the one that really matters: the gutsy, impassioned vocal performance.
Tantalisingly, when Ward concentrates on holding a tune rather than trying to copy the bigger boys in the pop playground, he emerges as a likeable, talented performer. 'Breathless' shows he's capable of selling a slick pop ballad, while the sleek reggae-pop of 'Damaged' makes good use of his impressive falsetto. The Timberlake-on-amyl club rush of 'U Make Me Wish', meanwhile, points to a possible new direction for the talent show survivor. Less cred-obsessed than Timbo, he can release the fun, frivolous pop songs that the increasingly po-faced Mouseketeer is too cool to croon.
As for that lothario act, it's comprehensively quashed by the gooey sentiments of 'If That's OK With You'. "I wanna keep your toothbrush at my apartment," Ward simpers winsomely. "I'll make a second set of keys and ask you to move in." Hard-partying bed-hopper? Nah. This one's more the stay at home type. Once he and his 'people' accept this, Shayne Ward might have a shot at a long-term career.
Buy Shayne Ward - Breathless
01 No U Hang Up
02 Breathless
03 If That's OK With You
04 Damaged
05 Some Tears Never Dry
06 Until You
07 Stand By Your Side
08 Melt The Snow
09 Tangled Up
10 Just Be Good To Me
11 U Got Me So
12 You Make Me Wish
13 Tell Him
Justin Timberlake - FutureSex / LoveSounds
Buy Justin Timberlake - FutureSex / LoveSounds
As a member of N'Sync, Justin Timberlake fronted innocuous love songs like "Girlfriend" and "God Must Have Spent A Little More Time On You." Then The Neptunes provided a musical landscape for his debut solo album, "Justified," that features horns, obvious verse/chorus structures and danceable beats.
Now, the flaxen-haired singer is straight up telling women what he wants in a more beat-driven style on his sophomore effort, "FutureSex/LoveSounds." The Neptunes are long gone, replaced mostly by Timbaland.
The 12 songs on "FutureSex/LoveSounds" roll together on the CD like a special club mix. That makes for a perfect soundtrack for a nightclub, but each song taken individually sounds out of context. Perhaps that's why "SexyBack," featuring Timbaland, doesn't necessarily work as a single.
The album kicks off with the title track, which possesses a bass line similar to Queen's "Another One Bites the Dust." With its distorted pre-chorus vocals, the track sounds like a dizzying fairground.
Special guests abound on "FutureSex/LoveSounds." Timbaland--who produced and sang bass on "Cry Me a River" from "Justified"--returns as a singer on "SexyBack." Rapper T.I. appears on the stomping "My Love." Black Eyed Peas' Will.I.Am sings on "Damn Girl." Finally, unlikely Oscar winners Three 6 Mafia let loose on "Chop Me Up."
But the special guests do not help heal the monotonous nature of the album, which relies on musical textures rather than strong tunes to hook the listeners in. For example, "LoveStoned" builds up with a pre-chorus that never goes anywhere.
A Timberlake release would not be complete without his deft beatboxing skills, found on songs like "My Love" and "LoveStoned." It's impressive but doesn't hold the album together.
Buy Justin Timberlake - FutureSex / LoveSounds
01 Future Sex/Love Sound
02 SexyBack
03 Sexy Ladies
04 My Love
05 Love Stoned
06 What Goes Around
07 Chop Me Up
08 Damn Girl
09 Summer Love
10 Until The End Of Time
11 Losing My Way
12 All Over Again (Another Song)
Whitney Houston - The Ultimate Collection
Buy Whitney Houston - The Ultimate Collection
Five years before Britney veered towards meltdown, another pop superstar began to teeter at the edges of the emotional abyss. Whitney Houston, a performer who'd stayed serene while selling 170 million albums, scoring seven consecutive US number one hits and belting out the lion's share of history's biggest-selling soundtrack CD, suddenly appeared to lose the plot. She got sacked from the Oscars, lost weight like a warthog who'd just been fitted with a particularly restrictive gastric band, and then told US talk show host Diane Sawyer that she made "too much money to ever smoke crack. Crack is whack," the once impenetrable diva surmised, in a move that makes the present day Britney seem remarkably lucid and media-savvy.
In the light of her ongoing personal and professional tumult - Houston's been absent from the charts for four years, now - her label can't be faulted for cutting their losses with a new hits collection. Sadly, in slimming down Houston's oeuvre to a single disc of chart-botherers, The Ultimate Collection omits several of her best songs. The anthemic 'Step By Step', the elegant, jazz-tinged 'I Learned From The Best' and the searing 'Queen Of The Night' are all missing, their places taken by the grandstanding ballads that made Houston a superstar.
Over the years, these have tended to fall into two categories: the schlocky love songs that are as sweet and gooey as a Nigella Lawson pudding ('Saving All My Love For You', 'I Have Nothing', 'Run To You'), and the inane self-empowerment anthems that have recently become AmIdol audition staples ('One Moment In Time', 'Greatest Love Of All'). Too often, these saccharine songs are a waste of Houston's rich, powerful, opulent voice: asking her to bellow lines like "Let the children's laughter remind us how we used to be" is like employing Stephen Fry to write a 10,000-word guide to capped rate mortgages. Worse still, ballad-mode Houston has a tendency to scorch when she should be simmering: the way she smothers 'I Will Always Love You' with melismatic vocal showboating is cold, crass and, ultimately, the very antithesis of soul.
Houston's floor-fillers have aged a little more gracefully, although their clunky, thudding drum sounds tend to be as irreversibly eighties as Joan Collins' Dynasty wardrobe. Nevertheless, 'I Wanna Dance With Somebody (Who Loves Me)' remains buoyant and unshakable; 'So Emotional' houses one of Houston’s most persuasive vocal performances, and 'How Will I Know' is so steeped in melody that its verse – yes, its verse - became the basis for LMC vs. U2's 2004 chart-topper 'Take Me To The Clouds Above'.
However, Houston only truly justifies her superstar status on two tunes from 1998's My Love Is Your Love collection, a largely successful attempt at reinventing the increasingly fusty belter for a contemporary audience. Playing the wronged woman over Rodney Jerkins' percolating R&B rhythms on 'It's Not Right But It's Okay', she sounds spectacular, while Wyclef Jean's tender, romantic 'My Love Is Your Love' manages to humanise an artist who's often seemed like a robotic octave-conquering machine. If today's hitmakers can pull off the same trick – rumour has it Houston's currently sharing studio space with Ne-Yo, will.i.am and Akon - that dazzling voice could still realise its true potential.
Buy Whitney Houston - The Ultimate Collection
01 I Will Always Love You
02 Saving All My Love For You
03 Greatest Love Of All
04 One Moment In Time
05 I Wanna Dance With Somebody
06 How Will I Know
07 So Emotional
08 When You Believe - Houston, Whitney & Mariah Carey
09 Where Do Broken Hearts Go
10 I'm Your Baby Tonight
11 Didn't We Almost Have It All
12 Run To You
13 Exhale (Shoop Shoop)
14 If I Told You that - Houston, Whitney & George Michael
15 I Have Nothing
16 I'm Every Woman
17 It's Not Right But It's OK
18 My Love Is Your Love
Keith Urban - Greatest Hits
Buy Keith Urban - Greatest Hits
This greatest hits album may leave you wondering if Keith Urban should give his guitar to someone who's actually going to use it to make music worth listening to?
As a general rule, artists release greatest hits collections when they are a) out of ideas or b) in the process of reinventing themselves. Keith Urban's latest offering has left this reviewer desperately hoping that it is b) in this situation. The opening track, Romeo's Tune (which boasts an infectious piano riff and sing-along chorus), would have been an excellent choice to begin this album under ordinary circumstances. However, even if listeners had no idea who originally wrote and recorded this song (Steve Forbert in 1979, incidentally), it is blatantly obvious this is not a Keith Urban song. The fact that Urban uses another artist's song to open his greatest hits collection should immediately concern to anyone thinking of purchasing this album.
Listening to this CD is more or less the equivalent of tuning into your local easy-listening radio station. The songs, with their corny, cliched lyrics - like "It'll run us till we're ragged/It'll harden our hearts" and "I want to love somebody/Love somebody like you" - are incredibly easy to tune out to. Even when a banjo is permitted to feature, supposedly to add interest to an otherwise bland song, it is only to repeat the same riff, ad nauseam.
What this record highlights is the fact that Urban is a safe performer and songwriter. With tracks spanning a 10-year recording career it is interesting, not to mention disappointing, to discover that this artist has not evolved much (if at all!) since his humble beginnings. This reviewer cannot help but feel that Urban, who seems to be producing music for no other purpose than to enhance his media status, would be much better off flicking his sculpted hair around as a male model.
Buy Keith Urban - Greatest Hits
01 Romeo's Tune
02 Got It Right This Time (The Celebration)
03 I Told You So
04 Stupid Boy
05 Better Life
06 Making Memories of Us
07 Once In A Lifetime
08 Tonight I Wanna Cry
09 You're My Better Half
10 Days Go By
11 But For The Grace Of God
12 You'll Think Of Me
13 Who Wouldn't Wanna Be Me
14 Raining on Sunday
15 Where The Blacktop Ends
16 .Your Everything
17 Somebody Like You
18 Everybody
Alicia Keys - As I Am
Buy Alicia Keys - As I Am
Alicia Keys is a force to be reckoned with. She is undeniably one of the best performers of our generation. The power of her voice alone has the ability to bring a person to their knees. Her piano skills are beyond comprehension, yet at only 26 years old she has already proven herself.
At the age of 7, Keys began receiving formal piano training in her home state of New York. At 14, she was discovered by a manager. According to her Web site, she was playing everywhere from small clubs to street corners. This is true passion.
In 2001, she released "Songs in A Minor." The 16-track collection won acclaim from all angles. The album debuted at No. 1, sold more than 250,000 in its first week and picked up five Grammys.
Two years later, in 2003, Keys released "The Diary of Alicia Keys." This brought the hits "You Don't Know My Name" and "Karma." The follow-up was even more successful and earned Keys her sixth Grammy. She was well on her way to a bright future.
On Tuesday, Keys released "As I Am." This powerful album portrays a more mature, unapologetic side of Keys. As each track advances, it keeps you wanting more. You don't want to flip to the next song, you just want to live in that moment knowing that the next track will be just as glorious.
As soon as you put the album on you are sent back in time. If you close your eyes, you can almost see the smoke rings dancing around you as you sit in an old-time Harlem jazz club.
The first single, "No One," is the perfect marriage of Keys' wholehearted lyrics and flowing piano melodies. Her passion is felt strongly in this track as she sings, "I just want you close, where you can stay forever." When you are blessed enough to find this true love, you should not let anything get in the way. This is exactly what Keys is singing about.
Love, relationships and strength are all transparent themes in "As I Am." Keys' capability to pin down an array of emotions is played out brilliantly in all 14 tracks. By listening, not just hearing, you can tell she is in a great place in her life right now.
Keys also tackles the topic of having no regrets in the track "Like You'll Never See Me Again." The title is enough of a clue into what she is crooning about. Live your life - especially with love - like it is the last time you'll see that person. Simple piano chords and Keys' smoky voice drive the point home.
The album is fueled by creativity, sensuality, intuition and, most importantly, heart.
Keys doesn't measure her success by financial means. The collection of lessons learned and experiences gained speak much louder than money ever could.
"As I Am" offers something for both the young and the young at heart. Keys is wise and talented well beyond her years. This is one of the albums that you wait for. Its release has set a high precedent to which many other releases of this year will probably not be able to measure up.
Buy Alicia Keys - As I Am
01 As I Am (Intro)
02 Go Ahead
03 Superwoman
04 No One
05 Like You'll Never See Me Again
06 Lesson Learned (featuring John Mayer)
07 Wreckless Love
08 The Thing About Love
09 Teenage Love Affair
10 I Need You
11 Where Do We Go From Here
12 Prelude To A Kiss
13 Tell You Something (Nana's Reprise)
14 Sure Looks Good To Me
Celine Dion - Taking Chances
Buy Celine Dion - Taking Chances
On her new album, "Taking Chances," Celine Dion fills each track with cloying sweetness.
The result is 15 songs which all sound more or less the same. While Dion explores different beats and instruments, all of the tracks rely on simple progressions building to a swelling, feel-good chorus at the close.
While Dion's experiments with synths, sitar and strings initially sounds promising, each track quickly proves to be essentially the same light fluff without any of the lyrical or sonorous tension which makes music interesting.
Expect to hear these songs on adult contemporary radio and in waiting rooms across the continent. Their smooth melodies go down easily but without much taste. Bland lyrical platitudes imploring a lover to return affection and asserting one's own power complement the actual sounds of the album.
As such, the soccer mom niche will probably be most interested in this CD, as the songs are not so much music as distilled pop. The strong woman theme of most of the songs seems particularly directed to them.
Moreover, the songs are annoyingly catchy, but only because there is so little to them. Dion refrains from vocal acrobatics to give listeners an easy time of singing along. You know those songs you hate when they get stuck in your head? This album offers 15.
To her credit, Dion actually has a good voice, but she performs just the bare minimum to avoid complicating the tunes. If you're looking for a stand-out vocal performance, skip this album; she sounds fine for what the songs demand of her, but Dion doesn't take any risks on "Taking Chances." Even the gospel-inspired "New Dawn," Dion's most impressive vocal performance on the album, is boiled down to its simplest pop form.
At times, in fact, Dion begins to sound like other pop singers. The synth and drum-machine almost-dance groove and the electrically affected vocals at the beginning of "Can't Fight the Feelin'" sound like a nod to pre-rehab Britney Spears, and the mind-numbingly simple music and vocals throughout wouldn't be out of place on a Shania Twain album.
There are no real stand-out tracks. All are passable but ultimately bland. Despite being penned by several songwriters (Dion didn't actually write any of the songs on this album), they merely mold to a pop standard. As proof, only one song is outside the three- to five-minute mark, supporting the idea that the album is not a cohesive work, but a collection of singles in no way related to one another.
The bottom line is that, for a typical college student, this CD just isn't worth the investment. These songs are all rehashed versions of songs you already know.
Buy Celine Dion - Taking Chances
01 Taking Chances
02 Alone
03 Eyes On Me
04 My Love
05 Shadow Of Love
06 Surprise Surprise
07 This Time
08 New Dawn
09 A Song For You
10 A World To Believe In
11 Can't Fight The Feelin'
12 I Got Nothin' Left
13 Right Next To The Right One
14 Fade Away
15 That's Just A Woman In Me
16 Skies Of L.A.
17 Map To My Heart
18 The Reason I Go On
Leona Lewis - Spirit
Buy Leona Lewis - Spirit
When Leona Lewis slipped from the spotlight after last year's Christmas Number One, there were whispers that maybe she didn't have the x-factor after all. But in reality, Leona was one of the few people to come out of a TV talent show worth investing some time and money in. Not for her a rush-released covers album; instead it was off to the States to work with a host of big name producers like Dallas Austin and Jam and Lewis.
It's almost a shame all that effort went into crafting a bland pop album strong on mid-tempo balladry and spiralling vocal gyrations, but short on hooks, innovation and personality.
With sights firmly set on the lucrative American market, single ‘Bleeding Love’ is an 80s throwback that even Mariah wouldn't record these days. And the attempts at skittering r'n'b beats on tracks like "The Best You Never Had" and the Ne-Yo- produced "I'm You" are also fairly middle-of-the-road.
Elsewhere, "Take a Bow" is a slice of synthy melodrama, "Whatever it Takes" has singalong potential and big ballad "Footprints in the Sand" is a piano warbler that brings Leona's voice to the forefront. It's an amazing voice, no doubt, but if it wasn't for those elastic vocal cords, this could be anyone.
Only on the Leona co-written "Here I Am" do we get a glimpse of the Hackney girl herself, thrown into the pop machine: "This is a crazy world/These can be lonely days.../Who can you really trust" she asks. Otherwise, Spirit is just the sound of a generic diva.
Buy Leona Lewis - Spirit
01 Bleeding Love
02 Whatever It Takes
03 Homeless
04 Better In Time
05 Yesterday
06 Take A Bow
07 I Will Be
08 Angel
09 Here I Am
10 Im You
11 The Best You Never Had
12 The First Time Ever I Saw Your Face
13 Footprints In The Sand
14 A Moment Like This UK Bonus Track
Jay-Z - American Gangster
Buy Jay-Z - American Gangster
There is no doubt in anyone’s mind that Sean Corey Carter’s storied Rap career should be immortalized in Hip-Hop’s hall of fame. The man effortlessly killed the game for eight straight years and “bowed out” as one of the greatest to touch the mic. Jay-Z would eventually return from his much hyped hiatus—no one believed him—only to have his skills and motivation questioned with the lukewarm reception of Kingdom Come. Now refocused, he returns with American Gangster (Roc-A-Fella/Def Jam). A conceptual piece based on specific scenes from the movie of the same name, the album is deceptively one of his best and most personal.
“Pray” sets the tone as Hov ties fragments from the film together with some of his buried early memories. Sweeping violin arrangements and church choir like vocal injections back this unapologetic look into the inner struggles of a minor looking on from the outside of the street game. This is the dramatic flash of his life, in rhyme. Additionally “No Hook” serves as the next chapter of the Carter chronicles as he lightly touches on the death of his pops and his view on hustling as his only choice to get his mother out of the hood.
Not forgetting to underscore the proper swag that accompanies a hustler’s bankroll, Young H.O. breaks out the mink and the good jewelry on “Party Life.” Diddy’s lead Hitmen, LV and Sean C., cook up a smoothed out soulful masterpiece as Hov spits some good game to his female companion during an implied lounge setting: “Art with no easel/Please there’s is no equal/Your boy is off the wall, these other ni**as is Tito.”
On a straight up Rap tip the first single “Blue Magic” is an ode to the old school with its simplistic flair. The Neptunes track features knocking minimal synths and a basic drum pattern to compliment S. Dot’s sly 80’s flow. The disc only packs a lean fourteen joints so features are rightfully trimmed down, some key appearances that clearly add to the album’s prowess. Jay and Nas connect in classic fashion with “Success” over booming, rock flavored organs from No I.D and Jermaine Dupri. Additionally, Beanie Siegel adds his Philly touch to the reworked, Isley Brothers tipping lost gem “Ignorant Sh*t.”
Another true highlight of the album lies within its stunning production. Sonically American Gangster is infused with a heavy soul feel provided by the aforementioned Hitmen and even DJ Toomp (“Say Hello”), which corresponds with the time period of the flick, but its sound never gets monotonous. Vibrant horns drive the celebratory “Roc Boys (And The Winner Is)” and chopped up Marvin Gaye harmonies are implemented throughout the buttery “American Dreamin’.”
With the unbearable, Lil’ Wayne assisted “Hello Brooklyn 2.0,” which ruins the album’s pacing, as the only flagrant misstep, American Gangster remains triumphant. There is no definitive radio smash hit present but that’s what keeps the project fresh. Jay goes from running the block to cornering the market without forcing the issue, leaving no need to question his G file.
Buy Jay-Z - American Gangster
01 Intro
02 Pray
03 American Dreamin'
04 Hello Brooklyn 2.0
05 No Hook
06 Roc Boys (And The Winner Is)...
07 Sweet
08 I Know
09 Party Life
10 Ignorant Sh*t
11 Say Hello
12 Success
13 Fallin'
14 Blue Magic
15 American Gangster
Killers - Sawdust
Buy Killers - Sawdust
The Killers' newest offering, "Sawdust," features a collection of remixes, covers and B-sides. The album is for devout fans only, as any listener can tell why many of these tracks should have remained shelved where they belong.
The massive stadium sound which defined the band on their first two albums and won them so many fans is clearly absent on "Sawdust." For the most part, Brandon Flowers & Co. have traded their fun, upbeat dance rock for midtempo mediocrity. Flowers still writes songs about pretty girls throwing their lives away as well as anyone, but his delivery just sounds bored this time around. His band mirrors this sentiment. There is barely any guitar and virtually no fills. The bass typically sticks to playing the root over the simplest changes, and the drums do little more than keep time. One common thread in most of the Killers' hits, the keyboard, is also underused in the few tracks on which it is used at all.
In such a musical vacuum, Flowers would have free run to let his voice take charge, but he squanders his opportunity. The remix of "Mr. Brightside" is a perfect example. The song is essentially the same, but slowed down with clunkier instrumentals and lazy vocals. Flowers sings as if he knows that he's on a sinking ship. While not a bad vocalist, on "Sawdust" Flowers limits himself to a small range and smaller scope. He never quite attains the hurried, passionate delivery he employed so well on "Hot Fuss." Rather, he lags behind the music on nearly every track and indolently slides into the correct tones.
The ballads are similar let-downs. Even if the Killers are going for a "stripped down" sound, something still has to stand out. The album has the feel of a work in progress throughout, as if each song is still waiting for a riff, a surprise, maybe lyrics about anything beside lost twentysomethings. As they are, these songs are remarkably bare. Each one is little more than a repetitive beat, a boring bass and Flowers' apathy. Sometimes there is guitar.
Essentially, the band fakes its way through 17 tracks, introducing boring new material and wrecking both their own hits and the songs of other bands. In fact, the best track on "Sawdust" might be "Romeo and Juliet," a cover of the Dire Straights song, familiar to all "Empire Records" fans.
Shame on The Killers for releasing such trash to make money. The material on "Sawdust" is not merely disappointing; it's downright bad. "Daddy's Eyes" is the only Killers track worth your money or time. The title of the album only highlights the fact that these songs are useless remnants from actual work.
Buy Killers - Sawdust
01 Tranquilize
02 Shadowplay
03 All The Pretty Face
04 Leave The Bourbon on The Shelf
05 Sweet Talk
06 Under The Gun
07 Where The White Boys Dance
08 Show You How
09 Move Away (Spiderman 3 Soundtrack)
10 Glamorous Indie Rock & Roll
11 Who Let You Go
12 The Ballad Of Michael Valentine
13 Ruby, Don't Take Your Love to Town
14 Daddy's Eyes
15 Sams Town live from Abbey Road
16 Romeo and Juliet (live from abbey road)
17 Change Your Mind
18 Somebody Told Me
19 Why Don't You Find Out for Yourself
20 Get Trashed
Britney Spears - Blackout
Buy Britney Spears - Blackout
Well, this is unfortunate. While judges debate her child-visitation rights, Britney Spears has released an album whose title seems to have been inspired by a major flirtini binge. On Blackout, she's singing that she's "so damn high I can't come down," anticipating a night of "dancing tabletop," and issuing a proclamation that's enough to make Sean Preston use Jayden as a protective shield from Mommy: "Maybe I'm a freak, but I don't really give a damn/I'm as crazy as a motherfucker!"
Those words may or may not reflect Britney's true feelings — she didn't write them — but what's notable is that Blackout is the first time in her career that she's voiced any real thoughts about her life. The old provocation game is still afoot, but Britney's stubbornly holding on to her freakness — it's the only form of rebellion she's got left. With a VIP list of puppet masters including Timbaland, Pharrell Williams and Bloodshy, she's all vox-tweaked and ready to bring back the stellar heavy-breathers of her youth, from the Berlin-style New Wave disco of "Heaven on Earth" to the stadium-stomping "Ooh Ooh Baby." It's telling that Blackout's two best tracks — the tabloid-bashing banger "Piece of Me" and the papa¬≠razzi-tease "Freakshow" — suggest that she believes playing the part of the cage-dancing bear is the best way to mess with the media. "Wanna see crazy?" she sings on "Freakshow." "We can show 'em!"
When she's not gearing up for a meltdown, Britney's wielding more melting-ice imagery than An Inconvenient Truth: She's gonna "break the ice," "hit defrost on ya," 'cause she's "cold as fire, baby, hot as ice." Fire and ice — Robert Frost said the world will end in one of those two ways, consumed by passion or frozen by rationalism, and it's clear which option Brit will take. But meanwhile, she's gonna crank the best pop booty jams until a social worker cuts off her supply of hits.
Buy Britney Spears - Blackout
01 Gimme more
02 Piece of me
03 Radar
04 Break the ice
05 Heaven on earth
06 Get naked (I got a plan)
07 Freakshow
08 Toy soldier
09 Hot as ice
10 Ooh ooh Baby
11 Perfect lover
12 Why should I be sad
Andrea Bocelli - Vivere: The Best Of Andrea Bocelli
Buy Andrea Bocelli - Vivere: The Best Of Andrea Bocelli
Classical crossover star Andrea Bocelli has a huge following, and if you're a fan of the operatic tenor, you probably have most of the cuts on this compilation disc already.
There are four new ones, including a song with classical pianist Lang Lang accompanying. You'll find the Time To Say Goodbye duet with pop-classical queen Sarah Brightman, the Celine Dion collaboration The Prayer and a piece with Kenny G on sax.
But Bocelli sounds the same, whether singing upbeat or ballad, and the songs have little substance. Included is a DVD of American Dream, Bocelli's pre-9/11 Statue of Liberty concert of opera arias and Italian songs. The host links him to the Three Tenors. As if.
Buy Andrea Bocelli - Vivere: The Best Of Andrea Bocelli
01 La voce del silenzio
02 Sogno
03 Il mare calmo della sera
04 Dare to live (vivere) (feat.Laura Pausini )
05 Canto della terra
06 A te (feat.Kenny G)
07 Besame mucho
08 Mile lune mille onde
09 Con te partirB
10 Io ci sarB (feat.Lang Lang)
11 Romanza
12 Vivo per lei (feat.Giorgia)
13 Melodramma
14 Bellissime stelle
15 The prayer (feat.Celine Dion)
16 Because we believe
Spice Girls - Greatest Hits
Buy Spice Girls - Greatest Hits
The long announced and discussed reunion took place and the next obvious marketing move would be to release their greatest hits. That was easy. What they did was that they played it safe. They are not going to make any new fans and some old fans are going to dislike it, but they managed to bring themselves in the center of attention.
Seven years after their last album release, Forever they supported this release with a world tour. They managed to do a big part of what they hoped for. Their fans are ecstatic while a big part of the music scene is just frowning and ignoring them. Sure the pop scene is a jungle but in ‘96 they where so fresh and in your face. You could see girls dressing up as their favorite spice girl and they were everywhere. The new sound is a bit old and it does not bring anything better.
From the ballads “2 Become 1″ and “Viva Forever” to the pure pop of “Stop” and “Who Do You Think You Are” you could expect more. But they fail to deliver and again they please just their fans. Probably the track which stands out a bit as it is somewhat filled with feeling is “Mama”. Their voices sound a bit softer and they blend surprisingly good together.
It probably is just a marketing ploy but it sounds very good and the girls should be thanked for making it possible for numerous girl bands that followed in their tracks to make it big. But no band has made it big as the spice girls did it.
Buy Spice Girls - Greatest Hits
01 Spice Up Your Life (Morales Carnival Club Mix)
02 Wannabe
03 Say You Will Be There
04 Viva Forever (Tony Rich Remix)
05 2 Become 1
06 Wannabe (Junior Vasquez Remix)
07 Mama
08 Say You'll Be There (Linslee's Extended Mix)
09 Too Much (SoulShock & Karlin Remix)
10 Who Do You Think You Are
11 2 Become 1 (Dave Way Remix)
12 Spice Up Your Life
13 Stop (Morales Remix)
14 Too Much
15 Holler (MAW Tribal Vocal)
16 Stop
17 Viva Forever
18 Goodbye
19 Holler
20 Let Love Lead The Way
21 Tell Me Why
22 If You Wanna Have Some Fun
23 Weekend Love
24 Move Over (Bonus Track)
25 Outer Space Girls (Bonus Track)
George Strait - 22 More Hits
Buy George Strait - 22 More Hits
You can't help but be impressed by a musician who has had over fifty number one songs and then has enough left over to release 22 More Hits. There aren't too many people who have had a career like George Strait has and when you really think about it - he really is today's "King" of Country Music. Even as you listen to the songs from the earlier part of his career, you can tell he had what it takes to be a long-lasting force in the genre.
When it comes to faster songs, George Strait can really get with it! Plenty are included in this album. Even way back in 1985 with "The Fireman" (which made it to No. 5 on the Billboard chart) you can tell George was going to be a big star. Another song that made it to No. 5 was 1992's "Gone As A Girl Can Get." "Lovebug" peaked at No. 8 but it's definitely a fan favorite. You can try to run away from love, but it's bound to hit you sometime. "It all started with a little bitty kiss and a hug," George sings. I like the song "Don't Make Me Come Over There And Love You," so I was surprised it only went as high as No. 17 on the Billboard Charts. One of my favorite George Strait songs ("Adalida") is also on this album. Going back to 1981 is the popular classic "Unwound," which was the second single George ever released. It went to No. 6 on the charts. Even early in his career George was focused on playing real country music and it's nice that he's continued to be that way as his career progressed.
George Strait's most recent song on this album is "How 'Bout Them Cowgirls," and currently sits at No. 6 on the charts as of this writing. "Amarillo By Morning" is great because it tells a story that's set to music. A rodeo cowboy sings about his life on the road and how he "lost a wife and a girlfriend somewhere along the way." As soon as the piano is heard in the opening of "Marina Del Rey," any George Strait fan would know what song is about to play. It's another one of those story songs I like so much. The Bruce Robison-penned "Desperately" was released in 2004 and went to No. 6. The pairing of George Strait singing a Bruce Robison was a perfect match. "She Let Herself Go" is also a recent single (from 2005) and went all the way to No. 1. No. 4 was the final chart position for "What Do You Say To That" as was the case for 1990's "Drinking Champagne," 1986's "You're Something Special To Me," and "Meanwhile" (from 1999). "Overnight Success" is the final song on the album and completes this special collection of George Strait hits that didn't necessarily make it to the No. 1 position but are No. 1 in people's hearts.
Buy George Strait - 22 More Hits
01 How 'Bout Them Cowgirls'
02 Amarillo By Morning
03 The Fireman
04 Gone As A Girl Can Get
05 When Did You Stop Loving Me
06 Marina Del Rey
07 Desperately
08 The Cowboy Rides Away
09 Lovebug
10 Cowboys Like Us
11 She Let Herself Go
12 You'll Be There
13 Don't Make Me Come Over There And Love You
14 What Do You Say To That
15 Drinking Champagne
16 You're Something Special To Me
17 Meanwhile
18 Adalida
19 If You Can Do Anything Else
20 Unwound
21 If You're Thinking You Want A Stranger (There's One Coming Home)
22 Overnight Success
Westlife - Back Home
Buy Westlife - Back Home
After half a decade of essentially singing The X Factor songbook, Westlife have resolved to give us a "really strong original pop album". Those expecting a crack at Timbaland-style dancefloor innovation will be sorely disappointed - the Irish lads were always more Gary Barlow than Jason Orange in the hipshakin' stakes; their musical output was generally as cutting edge as a Teasmaid; and uptempo moments like 'Bop Bop Baby' and 'Hey Whatever' tended to be their least successful singles. But given that the British pop scene is currently a hotbed of inspiration - even X Factor champion Leona Lewis has pulled a fantastic single out of the bag – the question has to be asked: is there a place for safe, reliable Westlife in the post CD:UK musical landscape?
Sadly, Back Home answers this question with a shoulder-shrug and a mumbled "Well, not really". Alongside another three cover versions, it's filled with the same sturdy, straightforward love songs that Westlife have been peddling for years. The likes of 'Pictures In My Head', 'Us Against The World' and 'When I'm With You' are robust and reasonably melodic, but they could have been recorded at any point since the group’s 1998 inception. Though Back Home's lacquered-on production gloss is never less than expertly applied, and it's fun to play spot the key change while listening along, there's no getting over the fact that this kind of sappy balladry sounds hopelessly dated in 2007.
Worse still, the album's trite sentiments have a tendency to verge on the cringe-inducing. 'It's You' reels out a parade of cliches that even James Blunt would balk at - "A beautiful angel came down to light up my life" might just be the most uninspired, derivative lyric of the year - while a cover of Lonestar's 'I'm Already There' is almost unbearably maudlin. Its tale of a father missing his family while away on a business trip needles the intestines like a sentimental moment from Friends, especially when Junior gives daddy a bell to find out when he's coming home. His reply? "I'm already there - I'm the sunshine in your hair, the shadow on the ground, the whisper in the wind…" It's tempting to shriek at the speakers, 'That's all very well, but who's going to read Junior the final chapter of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows before he hits the sack tonight?'
Still, Back Home isn't entirely without merit. A cover of Brandy's 'Have You Ever' gives the boys a chance to show off their underrated harmonies - even if its slightly gratuitous a cappella intro brings to mind a thousand "Look! We really can sing!" boyband moments from Top Of The Pops past - while the the Motown exuberance of 'The Easy Way' is the most fun that Westlife have been in years. Not coincidentally, it's the one time that Back Home's pace rises beyond a controlled canter.
Utimately, listening to Back Home is an exercise in pleasant but crushingly inessential boyband nostalgia. Pop music has moved on from this kind of glossy, gloopy balladry and, if Westlife ever want to win over any new fans, they'll have to follow suit. That said, it feels a little harsh to dismiss this quartet of affable, unassuming Irishmen entirely - after a decade of perching on their stools with diligence, dedication and virtually no tabloid misdemeanours, they deserve a little respect.
Buy Westlife - Back Home
01 Home
02 Us Against The World
03 Something Right
04 I'm Already There
05 When I'm With You
06 Have You Ever
07 It's You
08 Catch My Breath
09 The Easy Way
10 I Do
11 Pictures In My Head
12 You Must Have Had A Broken Heart
Boyz II Men - Motown Hitsville USA
Buy Boyz II Men - Motown Hitsville USA
I'm usually cynical about established artists who haven't had original hits for years and then release a covers album. You're already mentally going through your CD collection, right? But I have to say the latest album from Boyz II Men (their first in five years) shame faces lukewarm attempts at re-creating the Motown sound (think: Human Nature) and the best forgotten Barnesy stab.
Randy Jackson, aka an American Idol judge when not producing Beyonce, Madonna, Elton et al, collaborates with Boyz II Men to serve up a slick production of 12 classics fashioned with an extra soulful R&B kick, capturing the essence of Motown. Boyz II Men's flawless harmonies lap at your ears with their velvety quartet-style vocals. Albeit the lads are one quarter short these days with Michael McCary's exit in 2003 (due to health problems), leaving Shawn Stockman, and Wanya and Nathan Morris to trill as a trio in their clean-cut style.
Songs include an emotion-tugging version of Tracks of My Tears, punctuated by a slower rhythm of the Smokey Robinson original. This one had me hitting the repeat button. The A cappella treatment of Stevie Wonder's, Ribbon in the Sky, shows the boys have stayed true to form as a vocal powerhouse. And Mercy Mercy Me (The Ecology) beckons you to dance to this brighter version of the Marvin Gaye hit.
The album reflects a mature-sounding Boyz II Men. Motown: Hitsville USA is for those who like their Motown well-done, not half-baked.
Buy Boyz II Men - Motown Hitsville USA
01 Just My Imagination (Running Away With Me)
02 It's Same Old Song/Reach Out I'll Be There
03 Mercy Mercy Me (The Ecology)
04 Tracks Of My Tears
05 Money (That's What I Want)
06 Easy
07 I Was Made To Love Her
08 All This Love
09 Ribbon In The Sky (A Cappella)
10 Ain't Nothing Like The Real Thing (Feat. Patti LaBelle)
11 There'll Never Be
12 Got To Be There
13 War
14 End Of The Road (Feat. Brian McKnight)
James Taylor - One Man Band
Buy James Taylor - One Man Band
James Taylor is now into his fourth decade of being a top notch entertainer. His songs are alluring and intriguing compositions. His style over the years has changed little, and maybe that is part of his appeal.
With One Man Band you get a double helping of this great musician, a 19 track CD, and a two hour DVD from a live concert from the newly restored Colonial Theatre in Pittsfield, Massachusetts. As he puts it so well in the introduction “sometimes it is good to go to the well, back to basics, and play the songs in their original form”, and that is what we get with One Man Band. Although older and follicley challenged (bald) his voice has not changed one iota over the years. It is great to see James return to his roots, him, his guitar, and a stage. He does actually have one other performer, I guess that is his One Man Band! Larry Goldings does a very fine job on Keyboards.
It is hard to pick favorite tracks from this guy, they are all favorites, but the one that absolutely stands out is Slap Leather! You have to see this one to believe it, James Taylor abandons his guitar and microphone in favor of a Megaphone and introduces the audience to the finest automatic drum kit ever designed. This would make Rube Goldberg green with envy! While entirely ‘programmable’, the 6 foot long and 3 feet diameter drum containing the rhythm does seem a tad awkward to change between songs!
If you are a James Taylor fan, you will want to put this one on your wish list to Santa. Not only is the music wonderful but the commentaries between songs are priceless. I did not know that James Taylors signature tune You Got A Friend was penned by Carol King or that Joni Mitchell sang harmony on the original version. Being ‘almost’ old I found this a great trip down memory lane. Also featured are favorites ‘Fire and Rain‘ and ‘Carolina in my Mind‘.
Buy James Taylor - One Man Band
01 Something In the Way She Moves
02 Never Die Young
03 The Frozen Man
04 Mean Old Man
05 School Song
06 Country Road
07 Slap Leather
08 My Traveling Star
09 You've Got a Friend
10 Steamroller Blues
11 Secret O' Life
12 Line 'Em Up
13 Chili Dog
14 Shower the People
15 Sweet Baby James
16 Carolina In My Mind
17 Fire And Rain
18 Copperline
19 You Can Close Your Eyes
Taylor Swift - Taylor Swift
Buy Taylor Swift - Taylor Swift
Taylor Swift is one of the most talented, young performers on the country charts today. At sixteen years old,she wrote or co-wrote all of the 11 tracks on her self titled debut CD released on Big Machine Records. At present, the first single entitled "Tim McGraw" is a Top 20 hit. And with her 12 string guitar, she does a fabulous job of blending modern country with the traditional.
Taylor Swift is only sixteen years old. But don't let her age fool you! She writes and sings with the passion and conviction of a veteran of country music. She loves what she does, and she gives it her all. And that shines through on her self titled debut CD. She wrote or co-wrote all 11 songs on this CD with her writing partner Liz Rose. The first single entitled "Tim McGraw" is a Top 20 hit. Taylor said that the idea for this song came to her while she was sitting in math class. She had spent a wonderful summer with a great guy whom she really loved. But now that summer was coming to an end, they would be going their separate ways. She wrote the song as a reminder that when he heard Tim McGraw to think of her and their summer together. "Picture To Burn" is one of those fun, up tempo 'you were a jerk and you done me wrong' kind of songs. And now "you're just another picture to burn." The ladies will love this one! One thing that makes this CD a joy to listen to is that all of the songs are written about her own personal life experiences. They weren't just picked out and handed to her to sing and put on an album.
The song "Teardrops On My Guitar" can best be described this way. OK, there's this guy that you have this huge crush on. Problem is, he's all wrapped up in this other girl. He's going on and on about how smart she is, how pretty, how perfect. And you have to sit there with your happy face on telling him how glad you are for him. But never meaning a word of it, and it kills you inside to see them together. "Cold As You" is coming to terms with the fact that there are just some people who will never love you. It's coming to the realization that someone isn't the person you thought they were, and to stop making excuses for their bad behavior. With lyrics like "and now that I’m sitting here thinking it through, I’ve never been anywhere cold as you."
One of the more emotional songs on the CD is the song "Tied Together With A Smile." What you might see is a beautiful young girl. All the guys want to be with her. And all the girls want to be like her. But beneath the beauty lies a troubled person dealing with an eating disorder. Taylor said that this song was tough for her to write because it wasn't just another sad song. This was about the lives of her friends and their personal, private struggles.
"Mary's Song (Oh My My My)" was actually inspired by her next-door neighbors. Taylor said that they had been married forever. They talked about meeting as kids, falling in love and getting married. She said that it was so refreshing to see this happy couple because all you read about in the tabloids is who's breaking up, who's cheating on who and who's getting divorced. Taylor said That it was really comforting to know that all she had to do was look next door to find a perfect example of forever."
The CD closes with a fun song called "Our Song." It's actually about a young couple who don't have a song of their own, so the events in their lives become "their song." She also likes this song because it has a banjo, and you can't go wrong when you have a banjo. Taylor said that she wanted this song to be the closing track on the CD because the very last line of the song says "play it again." So, take that as the not so subtle hint to, well, play it again.
Buy Taylor Swift - Taylor Swift
01 Tim McGraw
02 Picture to Burn
03 Teardrops on My Guitar
04 A Place in This World
05 Cold As You
06 The Outside
07 Tied Together With a Smile
08 Stay Beautiful
09 Should've Said No
10 Mary's Song (Oh My My My)
11 Our Song
Paul Potts - One Chance
Buy Paul Potts - One Chance
Has there even been a star as unlikely as Paul Potts? With his burly frame, Hollywood-defying smile and proudly everyday name, he makes John Prescott seem like a matinee idol. If you spotted him outside your front window, you wouldn’t think, ‘Ah, there goes a man who’s just signed a six-figure record deal!’ You’d just be relieved that the gas man had finally turned up to read the meter. But, thanks to the wonders of reality TV, the former mobile phone salesman from Port Talbot has been handed a chance - One Chance, as his debut LP knowingly puts it - at stardom.
It’s been less than a month since Potts won Britain’s Got Talent in front of 13 million viewers, but, thanks to the boundless, awe-inspiring commercial savvy of Simon Cowell, his album is already on the shelves. Unsurprisingly, it’s probably the least creatively inspired release of the year. Its tracklisting is designed to appeal to mums pushing their trolleys around Tesco's – there’s an Italian-language opera version of ‘Everybody Hurts’, a cover of Il Divo’s cover of ‘You Raise Me Up’, and a Granny-pleasing trundle through Andrew Lloyd Webber’s ‘Music Of The Night’. Naturally, ‘Nessun Dorma’, the Puccini tearjearker that gave Potts the vehicle to beat a gap-toothed six-year-old warbler and a stage school brat who dressed up Mary Poppins to win the ITV talent hunt, opens the album. In fact, the only surprise is that ‘Unchained Melody’ – a favourite of Cowell-endorsed reality TV stars since the days of Gareth Gates - has been omitted.
One Chance’s arrangements, of course, are uniformly tasteful and unambitious. The London Symphony Orchestra brings a bit of sweeping melodrama – and a much-needed injection of classical gravitas – to six songs, but there’s nothing here to break the sense of tasteful calm. It’s a minor miracle that the album’s clutch of producers, whose most notable member is Westlife and Britney Spears hitmaker Per Magnusson, managed to knock out something so scrubbed and manicured in such a small space of time. Poor old Per. The temptation to knock out a few rabble-rousing bars of 'If I Let You Go' or '(You Drive Me) Crazy' between takes must have been incredible, but every time he'd have to steel himself. No! There's work to be done! Simon could drop in any second!
The album’s saving grace is Potts himself. He doesn’t quite manage to revitalise these classical crossover warhorses – his version of ‘Time To Say Goodbye’ is far less affecting than Sarah Brightman’s, and his rendition of ‘Music of the Night’ lacks the West End pizzazz that Michael Ball brought to it – but his relatively untrained tenor is earthy and unostentatious. His success might not prove conclusively that Britain’s Got Talent, but it does suggest that Britain – or, more accurately, the British TV-viewing public – has got plenty of heart.
Buy Paul Potts - One Chance
01 Nessun Dorma
02 Time To Say Goodbye (Con Te Partiro)
03 Amapola
04 Everybody Hurts (Ognuno Soffre)
05 Caruso
06 Nella Fantasia
07 Por Ti Sere (You Raise Me Up)
08 A Mi Manera (My Way)
09 Cavatina
10 Music Of The Night
Mannheim Steamroller - Christmas Song
Buy Mannheim Steamroller - Christmas Song
The CD, which features guest vocalists Olivia Newton-John and Johnny Mathis, Mannheim Steamroller: Christmas Song includes 12 holiday classics and new original compositions. The album, already at platinum status, is the first new Mannheim Steamroller Christmas studio release since the multi-platinum Christmas Extraordinaire in 2001.
Mannheim Steamroller kicks-off its annual Christmas tour in Boise, Idaho, on Nov. 20 and will perform in 13 cities. Tour information is available at www.mannheimsteamroller.com.
Mannheim Steamroller is the #1-selling Christmas artist of all time and one of the top 50 best-selling artists of the last two decades, outselling such top artists as Bruce Springsteen, Billy Joel, Sting, REM, Michael Jackson and Bon Jovi. Composer and creator Chip Davis started Mannheim Steamroller more than 30 years ago with his Grammy Award-winning Fresh Aire series. With more than 32 million albums sold, an annual Christmas tour that is consistently ranked as the best selling of any artist, a successful Mannheim Steamroller gourmet food line, and a new medical endeavor helping hospital patients recover quicker through audio technology (Ambience Medical), Chip Davis is one of the most successful entrepreneurs in the music industry.
Buy Mannheim Steamroller - Christmas Song
01 Let It Snow, Let It Snow, Let It Snow
02 The Christmas Song (With Johnny Mathis)
03 Santa Claus Is Comin' To Town
04 It Came Upon The Midnight Clear
05 Feliz Navidad
06 Catching Snowflakes On Your Tongue
07 Masters In This Hall
08 Above the Northern Lights
09 Frosty the Snowman
10 Traditions Of Christmas (Music Box)
11 Christmas Lullaby (With Olivia Newton-John)
12 Have Yourself A Merry Little Christmas
David Gray - Life In Slow Motion
Buy David Gray - Life In Slow Motion
Unbeknownst to many here in the States, Englishman David Gray has been making music since 1993. It took him six years to gain mainstream recognition, as Dave Matthews courted him to the then-new ATO Records just in time for his breakthrough White Ladder in 1999. Although it wasn’t an immediate hit in the U.S., White Ladder eventually spun off a string of radio and video hits, including “Babylon” and the movie soundtrack staple “This Year’s Love.” While he doesn’t have near the catalog, it’s impossible not to draw comparisons between Gray and the likes of Ryan Adams, Billy Bragg, or even Van Morrison. His unquestionable ability within this singer-songwriter crowd is an enduring hint that a career-defining masterpiece might be on the horizon. In the meantime, Life in Slow Motion stands on its own as a very solid effort.
Only occasionally resorting to electronica, Gray keeps it simple this time out and primarily acoustic. A hushed synthesizer ushers in the central piano of “Alibi,” a vocal treasure that picks up, for all intent and purposes, right where 2002’s A New Day at Midnight left off. For whatever reason, however, the singing herein seems more vital and burning. “Tell the Repo Man and the stars above that you’re the one I love,” Gray establishes on the first single “The One I Love”, while abundant strings unfold in a very Tunnel of Love kind of way. “Slow Motion” takes a while to build, but once there, the chorus is a thing of beauty- an ultra-dramatic crescendo of strings and horns, with a sparse slide guitar and Gray’s blistering high-end above it all. “Bada dat, dada dat, dada dat, da da da,” never sounded so good!
A tip of the genre hat goes to Bob Dylan on the strikingly restrained “From Here You Can Almost See the Sea” complete with Gray’s best falsetto endeavor. The jumpiest entry within Life in Slow Motion appears way late on “Hospital Food”, an ill-advised title but a great cut that brims with Elvis Costello and The Attractions flavor. “Tell me something I don’t know,” Gray jests, while full-band accompaniment spills in behind him. The closer “Disappearing World” is an uncommon rocking moment along an otherwise serene course.
One could very much say that Gray has borrowed the song-crafting strengths from Ryan Adams’ Heartbreaker or last year’s Ray Lamontagne record (Trouble) in building his finest mission to date. Whether the aforementioned masterpiece is still somewhere in Gray’s future is anyone’s guess. The good news is that there aren’t many artists writing this high a caliber of songs these days that would even call for that wait.
Buy David Gray - Life In Slow Motion
01 Alibi
02 The One I Love
03 Lately
04 Nos De Caraid
05 Slow Motion
06 From Here I Can Almost See The Sea
07 Ain't No Love
08 Hospital Food
09 Now and Always
10 Disappearing World
Carrie Underwood - Carnival Ride
Buy Carrie Underwood - Carnival Ride
Once again she has done it. She does it so well that Faith and Leann may be having another fit as Carrie Underwood takes home Female Artist of the Year again for her stimulating new album "Carnival Ride."
With her intense voice and damn good looks, this girl has got the ability to make people stop, look and listen.
She starts off inspirational with her first single "So Small." It makes hearts flutter, and puts life into a simple perspective.
Underwood's voice is among the best. She hits every note and pours passion into every word. Talent like this is hard to come by and the stigma of her American Idol status is lost as she opens her vocal cords to her listeners. Underwood is a true star and a star that will keep rising as she has conquered not only country and pop music charts, but the infatuation of millions of other listeners.
Taking this ride with Underwood will make anyone a believer that this world may actually have something good to offer. And Underwood is absolutely one of those things.
Buy Carrie Underwood - Carnival Ride
01 Flat on the Floor
02 All-American Girl
03 So Small
04 Just a Dream
05 Get Out of This Town
06 Crazy Dreams
07 I Know You Won't
08 Last Name
09 You Won't Find This
10 I Told You So
11 More Boys I Meet
12 Twisted
13 Wheel of the World
Bruce Springsteen - Magic
Buy Bruce Springsteen - Magic
It's been a long time. How many years? Oh, 23 or so. 1984. That was the year that Born In The U.S.A. came out. That was the year that I got out of school, felt lonely, spent too much money on records and beer, got a job, got married.
It was also the last time that a new Springsteen album came out exclusively on vinyl. Records. You know, those big black circles?
Tonight I got home to relive a big part of my past. Those who are purely from the digital age might not get this, but the unwrapping of the album and the first examination of the package is important. The cellophane comes off and the album unfolds. The artwork, the lyrics, the liner notes, heck, even the smell — all part of the experience. I'm instantly transported back through all of those years of listening to records, growing into adulthood, and trying to figure it all out.
Things are a little different now. Of course, I'm a different person. So is Bruce. And then there's the technology. Not that leaks were impossible in the past, but today, the Internet and the digital transmission of music have made early bootlegging quite common. This goes both ways. Many of us were quite sure that the "leak" of the single "Radio Nowhere" was intentional, an example of the new "viral marketing." The reasons for releasing Magic on vinyl are in question as well: is it an early boost for next week's CD release, or a cynical move that qualifies the record for the 2007 Grammy cycle.
Everything is in question, amplified by the ever-present Internet chatter. Why did Bruce do this? Why did he do that? Why did he not do that? He can't be sincere, he's worth too much money! Patti is the E-Street Yoko. Clarence is too old. Oh, and let's not get started on the political statements. Obviously, Springsteen has forgotten his roots and has become mired in a greasy pool of self-indulgence.
Don't you believe it.
I've listened to Magic twice this evening. There are echoes of Bruce's recent past, his middle years, and most definitely his roots. Put plainly, the record flat-out rocks. Walls of sound. There are grinding guitars, pounding drums, ghostly keyboards, piano, glockenspiel, snarling guitar solos, harmonica, melodies galore, cool vocal harmonies ... and Clarence. The BigMan. The longtime friend. The anchor. Bruce's singing on Magic takes some interesting turns as well, with swooping melodies pitted against a few very different song structures. While listening to "Girls In Their Summer Clothes," I scribbled down "...I've never heard Bruce sing like this before."
Magic ends with the hidden track "Terry's Song," a heartfelt tribute to his longtime friend Terry Magovern, who passed away at the end of July. One line brings into focus the many reasons why I love this music, and why music in general is so important to me: "Love is a power greater than death."
Buy Bruce Springsteen - Magic
01 Radio Nowhere
02 You'll Be Comin' Down
03 Livin' in the Future
04 Your Own Worst Enemy
05 Gypsy Biker
06 Girls in Their Summer Clothes
07 I'll Work for Your Love
08 Magic
09 Last to Die
10 Long Walk Home
11 Devil's Arcade
12 Hidden Track
Robert Plant and Alison Krauss - Raising Sand
Buy Robert Plant and Alison Krauss - Raising Sand
What on paper looks mis-matched can often be utterly right. Raising Sand has to be one of the best ever examples of this. Most people would have bet on Plant’s ex-band mate, John Paul Jones, as being the one to have forged this big league bluegrasss pairing. After all he's worked with Chris Thile and Nickel Creek as well as Uncle Earl, and plays a mean mandolin himself. But no, it's the grizzled, leonine king of c*ck rock who gets to get up-close and personal with the Union Station legend. And thank goodness it was, because Raising Sand has to be one of the releases of the year.
The first thing you notice about Raising Sand is how the pair's vocals compliment each other. Krauss’ honey-sweet chords can be saccharine on her own work at times, but here she's balanced by the mature grain of Plant's almost whispered delivery. On Killing The Blues or Gene Clark’s "Polly Come Home" they nudge up against each other, buoyed up by Greg Leisz’s floating pedal steel. And this from a man reknowned for going ‘baybeeee, baybeee’. Phew...
The selection of songs proves to be just as inspired as the pairing. With material by the Everlys ("Gone, Gone Gone"), Townes van Zant ("Nothin’") and even one from Plant’s last collaboration with Jimmy Page ("Please Read The Letter" – completely improved from its original incarnation) it would be hard to go that wrong, but the best of an embarrassment of riches has to be Krauss’ rendition of Tom Waits "Trampled Rose". Spellbinding doesn’t even come close to describing this.
The album’s other main star has to be T Bone Burnett. His production adds a veneer of authenticity and his choice of musicians is spot on at every turn. Marc Ribot (guitar) along with Dennis Crouch, Mike Seeger, Jay Bellerose, Norman Blake, Greg Leisz, Patrick Warren, and Riley Baugus make this a stunning, dark, brooding collection, comparable in tone to Daniel Lanois' masterful job on Dylan's Time Out Of Mind. It captures a gothic southern vibe effortlessly.
Hearing Krauss emote so bluesily on tracks like "Rich Woman" is a revelation, while her coruscating fiddle on "Nothin'" is rawer than you’d ever expect to hear from such a pillar of the new bluegrasss community. Raising Sand is proof that even with such dynamite raw material sometimes things really do add up to far more than the sum of their parts. Superb, in every way…
Buy Robert Plant and Alison Krauss - Raising Sand
01 Rich Woman
02 Killing the Blues
03 Sister Rosetta Goes Before Us
04 Polly Come Home
05 Gone Gone Gone (Done Moved On)
06 Through the Morning, Through the Night
07 Please Read the Letter
08 Trampled Rose
09 Fortune Teller
10 Stick with Me Baby
11 Nothin'
12 Let Your Loss Be Your Lesson
13 Your Long Journey
James Blunt - All the Lost Souls
Buy James Blunt - All the Lost Souls
Vast success traditionally has an alienating effect on rock stars. Fame and wealth removes them from the real world, insulating them from public opinion. You would be forgiven for assuming such a fate had befallen James Blunt. Two years into his recording career, he lives in an Ibizan mansion with a nightclub in its basement, paid for with the proceeds of the biggest-selling album of the 21st century thus far: his debut, Back to Bedlam, has shifted 14m copies. If you believe the gossip columns, his life seems to primarily consist of getting his aristocratic leg over with celebrity hotties: Lindsay Lohan, Paris Hilton, Mischa Barton, Tara Palmer-Tomkinson and a Pussycat Doll, names that rather suggest intellectual profundity may not be uppermost in the former Household Cavlary officer's check-list of feminine prerequisites. But despite the rarefied lifestyle, news has clearly reached Blunt that a lot of people seem to hate both him and his music. "Me and my guitar play my way," he wails, midway through Back to Bedlam's follow-up, on a song called Give Me Some Love. "It makes them frown."
It's difficult to know how upset Blunt is by the adverse reaction to his success. He certainly sounds upset: he sings Give Me Some Love in a tremulous warble, replete with pregnant pauses, suggestive of brimming eyes and quivering lips. But then James Blunt sings everything like that. The tremulous warble replete with pregnant pauses is his default vocal setting. Live, he has tremulously warbled the Pixies' visceral Where Is My Mind? and tremulously warbled Supertramp's jaunty Breakfast in America. In the admittedly unlikely event that Back to Bedlam's follow-up contained a cover of Boney M's Hooray! Hooray! It's A Holi-Holiday!, he'd tremulously warble that as well.
Nevertheless, Give Me Some Love offers further evidence of the effect the opprobrium has had on the singer. It seems to have brought on a debilitating attack of dyslexia. "Won't you give me some love?" he sings, adding bafflingly: "I've taken shipload of drugs." Perhaps a shipload is like a shitload, only bigger, evocative of the vast container vessels that sail the world's seas. Perhaps he's substituted the letter t with p for reasons of probity: this is, after all, an artist beloved of censorious Middle England. Or perhaps his detractors are right and it doesn't mean anything. Perhaps it's just a crock of ship.
Still, not even his loudest detractors could call him sloppy. As befits a former military man, All the Lost Souls is a model of ruthless efficiency. A crack team of co-writers has been assembled: his collaborators have variously worked with Britney Spears, Dr Dre, Robbie Williams, and - rather more pertinently, cynics might suggest - Daniel O'Donnell and James Last. The results are slick. It would be churlish to deny that One of the Brightest Stars has a nice tune, or that there's something compulsive about the piano riff of I'll Take Everything. Occasionally, however, Blunt appears to be following a successful formula a little too mechanically for his own good, as if he's ticking boxes. A song about the end of a relationship that implies the other participant may be dying: check. Song pondering the ramifications of Blunt's role in the Kosovo conflict: check. Song that attempts to assert Blunt's love of music by making slightly clanging references to classic rock: check.
Elsewhere, songs ruminate about celebrity, among them the deeply peculiar Annie, on which the titular heroine's failure to achieve fame is bemoaned -"Did it all come tumbling down?" - and Blunt, gallant to the last, offers her the opportunity to fellate him as a kind of consolation prize: "Will you go down on me?" More bizarre still, he offers her the opportunity to fellate him in the kind of voice normally associated with the terminally ill asking a doctor how long they've got left: tremulous, replete with pregnant pauses, suggestive of brimming eyes, etc. The overall effect is so bizarre that it overshadows anything Blunt may have to say about the fickle nature of fame. You come away convinced that the song's underlying message is: give me a blow job or I'll cry.
But then, as has been established, Blunt always sounds like that, which may be All the Lost Souls' big problem. If you sing about killing a man, as Blunt does on I Really Want You, in precisely the same voice you use to sing about fellatio, it's bound to have an emotionally levelling effect: you're going to come across as if you don't mean any of it. And perhaps that, rather than his class or his looks or his success, is the reason so many people dislike James Blunt. There's something weirdly insincere about what he does. He sounds, as he himself would put it, like a bit of a bullshipper.
Buy James Blunt - All the Lost Souls
01 Empty Walls
02 Unthinking Majority
03 Money
04 Feed Us
05 Saving Us
06 Sky Is Over
07 Baby
08 Honking Antelope
09 Lie Lie Lie
10 Praise the Lord and Pass
11 Beethoven's C
12 Elect the Dead
Serj Tankian - Elect the Dead
Buy Serj Tankian - Elect the Dead
As the lead singer for the massively popular nu-metal outfit System of a Down, Serj Tankian roared and howled his way to fame and fortune. But in 2006 System of a Down went on hiatus indefinitely and Tankian has since been hard at work on his solo debut, "Elect the Dead."
The album features grinding guitar riffs, erratic tempos and politically charged vocals. If that sounds familiar it's because all of those terms just so happen to fit System of a Down to a T. Indeed, with "Elect the Dead," Serj Tankian never strays too far from his origins.
But that isn't a bad thing. The fact that Serj managed to make a record that shares a sonic resemblance with his former work separates him from countless solo efforts that strive self-consciously to be different simply for the sake of being different.
Nevertheless, "Elect the Dead" can sometimes be a challenging listen. The album's sound is dissonant and baroque, with a tendency towards bizarre vocal touches.
The uninspired lyrics don't help make the album any more accessible. Despite shimmers of greatness, they fall mostly into two categories: broad, heavy-handed rants about relationships ("why do we sit around and break each others' hearts tonight?") and broad, heavy-handed rants about politics ("we are the cause of a world that's gone wrong.")
Meanwhile, some of the songs are just plain mediocre. The repetitive chorus of "Baby" might get stuck in your head, but you'll probably want it out again as soon as possible. Worse still, the slow-as-molasses title track is oversaturated with anguished vocals and unmemorable piano.
Thankfully, the bad tracks are heavily outnumbered by the good. At his best, Tankian demonstrates his knack for taking songs in unexpected but glorious directions.
When "Praise the Lord and Pass the Ammunition" switches gears suddenly from a lurching, overbearing verse into a staccato vocal pre-chorus and then transforms into a lethargic piano interlude, the effect is downright jarring. But repeated listens reveal the track to be markedly charming in its eclectic eccentricity.
Similarly, "Sky is Over" combines jittery piano with fierce guitar and then includes a delightfully surprising breakdown in which Serj warbles "La-la-la" repeatedly. Also, the irresistibly sinister "Lie Lie Lie" uses the sound of a woman's shriek to great effect.
But for every one of these interesting, unique musical decisions, there's a chorus that consists of nothing but power-chords or a song that sticks with a standard, dull structure. Strangely enough, this dichotomy works: by juxtaposing the complex and the simple, the stimulating and the bland "Elect the Dead" manages to challenge the listener while retaining a distinctly catchy pop aesthetic.
Few artists succeed in walking this line as well as Serj Tankian. With "Elect the Dead," he lays the ground for what could be a very rewarding solo career.
Buy Serj Tankian - Elect the Dead
01 Empty Walls
02 Unthinking Majority
03 Money
04 Feed Us
05 Saving Us
06 Sky Is Over
07 Baby
08 Honking Antelope
09 Lie Lie Lie
10 Praise the Lord and Pass
11 Beethoven's C
12 Elect the Dead
Backstreet Boys - Unbreakable
Buy Backstreet Boys - Unbreakable
So the Backstreet Boys - unlike most of their late '90s bubblegum pop contemporaries, including Britney Spears - have gamely decided to face the reality of their peculiar situation.
They know boy bands always trump "man bands." Nonetheless, the Backstreet Boys have opted to trot out age-appropriate songs on the new "Unbreakable" (Jive) album, trying to make it work on the strength of their strong (and still-improving) voices instead of up-to-the-moment production.
It's a noble enough ambition, but the execution is a bit lacking. The Backstreet Boys, who have found a home on adult contemporary radio in recent years with big power ballads like 2000's "The Shape of My Heart" and 2005's "Incomplete," offer up lots more to choose from on "Unbreakable." The problem is there's very little separating the new single "Inconsolable," a piano-driven, sorta-rock, sorta-R&B ballad, from "Incomplete," or from the new songs "Unmistakable" and "Unsuspecting Sunday Afternoon," for that matter.
Buy Backstreet Boys - Unbreakable
01 Intro
02 Everything But Mine
03 Inconsolable
04 Something That I Already Know
05 Helpless When She Smiles
06 Any Other Way
07 One In A Million
08 Panic
09 You Can Let Go
10 Trouble Is
11 Treat Me Right
12 Love Will Keep You Up All Night
13 Unmistakable
14 Unsuspecting Sunday Afternoon
15 Downpour (bonus tracks)
16 In Pieces(bonus tracks)
17 Nowhere To Go (Bonus Track)
Neil Young - Chrome Dreams II
Buy Neil Young - Chrome Dreams II
Although I consider myself a pretty major Neil Young fan, I will be the first to admit that there are large chunks of his catalog that are — shall we say — "spotty."
There are of course those Neil Young records which are unqualified masterpieces — a category where I would squarely place Harvest, Harvest Moon, Rust Never Sleeps, and Freedom. And for every one of those, at the other end of the spectrum you've got those records like Everybody's Rockin and Life that just kind of make you scratch your head and go "what was he thinking?"
But there are also those albums that I like to think of as Neil's "in-between" records. A few of these have been real surprises that have grown to be among my favorites over the years, such as the droning, depressing On The Beach and the grungey, Kurt Cobain-influenced Sleeps With Angels (whose Cobain tribute "Change Your Mind" is a song I'd rank among his best).
Neil also has made a handful of albums that have one or two standout tracks, with the rest consisting — on the surface at least — mainly of filler. American Stars And Bars struck me that way the first time that I heard it, with the brilliant "Like A Hurricane" standing way out from the rest of the pack on that record. Even so, over the years the rest of the album eventually really came to grow on me - especially the fireside crackle of "Will To Love." The more recent Are You Passionate is another one of those, although nothing else on that album has stayed with me quite the same way the blazing guitar of "Comin' Home" did.
On an initial listen, Chrome Dreams II really feels like another one of those type of albums. Like those other "in-between" albums, lying at the center of Chrome Dreams II are two standout tracks.
The sprawling, eighteen minute "Ordinary People" is one of those marathon Neil Young songs, like "Hurricane" and "Cortez The Killer," that basically serves as a vehicle for him to go off on a trance-like guitar excursion for which he is so well known.
Unlike those songs, however, the guitar work is less grungy sounding than recent electric Neil Young - and definitely less so than on Living With War, last year's cranked to eleven anti-Bush rant. In places the guitar here actually hearkens more back to the psychedelic sound of something like Everybody Knows This Is Nowhere and that album's own twin blasts of extended, electric Neil, "Cowgirl In The Sand" and "Down By The River." There are also some nice keyboards, and a horn section backing the track that takes you back to the bluesy sound of This Note's For You.
"Ordinary People," like many of the tracks here is also apparently one that has been around for awhile, which explains some of the dated sounding references to people like Lee Iacocca in the lyrics. Available in bootleg versions for years, the track is said to be part of an original Chrome Dreams CD that Neil nearly released in 1976.
As the story goes, he shelved the project after Joni Mitchell criticized it as being a little too "all over the place." Whether he chose to revisit this project now as a result of his ongoing trip through the vaults for the impending definitive series of Archives said to be finally about to see the light of day or not, the description fits here as well.
The other "big" track here is "No Hidden Path," which like "Ordinary People" is another lengthy electric guitar workout, which at eleven minutes is only slightly shorter. Here again, the big dark sounding guitar work is front and center, but Neil again seems more interested in revisiting the more psychedelic edges of his early work than the grunge of nineties-era Crazy Horse. For fans of the lengthy Neil Young guitar opus in the tradition of "Hurricane" and "Cortez," these two tracks alone make Chrome Dreams II a must-have.
Outside of those, Chrome Dreams II is an album that is as all over the place as its apparently thirty-year-old source material would seem to indicate. The rest of the album is a mixed bag to be sure. "Dirty Old Man" is a goofy-ass songs in the tradition of Ragged Glory's "Fuckin' Up" that Neil comes up with from time to time. This one is about a "Dirty Old Man" who likes to get hammered and fool around with the boss' wife. The track is actually a lot of fun, and hearkens back to the lovingly, but sloppily executed rock sound that fans of Crazy Horse will love.
"Boxcar" starts out with the sort of banjo sound that would have been right at home on Prairie Wind, and maintains a lovely sort of country vibe, as it weaves a plaintive tale of a vagabond on a freight train in the lyrics.
Meanwhile, other tracks here seem to take on a more spiritual tone. The borderline gospel of "Shining Light" never makes it quite clear whether the "shining light" that Neil has found here comes in the form of carnal love or the divine. Either way, the song is one of the prettiest he has included on an album in awhile. "The Believer" is another song that seems to hint at spirituality, but is never overtly clear about it. The arrangement here is a quiet, simple, and understated one of piano, guitar, and drums.
For "Spirit Road" he once again straps on the electric guitar and mines more familiar terrain in the lyrics as well. "Spirit Road" finds him "headed out on the long highway in your mind" in search of the "spirit road you had to find" where "getting home to peace again" await the traveler at the road's end.
So on its surface, Chrome Dreams II is a mixed bag that feels like one of those notoriously "in-between" Neil Young albums I alluded to earlier. Some are calling it his best in years, although I'm not really sure I'm quite ready to go there yet. What I will say is that there is at least a little bit of every element here that has made Neil Young such an enduring artist over the years.
There's some nice quiet acoustic stuff, some of the grungier sound you'd more often associate with Crazy Horse, and even a few surprises in the form of a few gospel flavored tracks. And there are at least two lengthy electric guitar classics in the mode of "Like A Hurricane."
For right now, that's good enough for me.
Buy Neil Young - Chrome Dreams II
01 Beautiful Bluebird
02 Boxcar
03 Ordinary People
04 Shining Light
05 The Believer
06 Spirit Road
07 Dirty Old Man
08 Ever After
09 No Hidden Path
10 The Way