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)
Backstreet Boys - Unbreakable
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
Foo Fighters - Echoes, Silence, Patience and Grace
Buy Foo Fighters - Echoes, Silence, Patience and Grace
Earlier this year, RCA released a 10th anniversary edition of the Foo Fighters' The Colour and the Shape, a reminder of the days when the group wrote big songs that were both catchy and palatable. The nostalgia trip continues on the band's latest album, Echoes, Silence, Patience and Grace, which reunites the Foos with Colour producer Gil Norton (who has since worked with Jimmy Eat World, Maxïmo Park, and Morningwood, among others). The result, however, feels like a retread, a shame for a band that-- as one of the few late 1990s/early 2000s modern rock groups to enjoy a long run of success-- has practically become a walking metonym for alt-rock in the same way Kleenex has for tissues.
Album opener and first single "The Pretender" goes through the same motions as early, successful anthemic rawkers "I'll Stick Around" or "Monkey Wrench", and packing plenty of clever ideas and fist-pumping firepower, it's the most interesting song the band's released in quite a while. But deploying that same vitriol proves clumsy on hard-rocking post-relationship bummers like "Let It Die" (featuring the infinitely repeated plea "Why'd you have to go and let it die?") and "Long Road to Ruin". Even "Erase/Replace", sporting the album's catchiest chorus, can't atone for its hackneyed heartache and Fugazi-lite riffs.
On The Colour and the Shape, Norton brushed up the already passé grunge sound of the Foos' debut, applying a sleeker, arena-sized version of the loud/quiet dynamic he famously produced on the final three Pixies albums. While Norton's touch often sounded hyperbolic (see: Colour's "Enough Space" and "Up in Arms"), he was merely an accessory to a band that was ready for its close-up. Now, with the Foos being full-fledged rock stars, Norton's presence takes a backseat to the band's heightened technical skill, which has grown exponentially since the addition of dexterous guitarist Chris Shiflett in 1999. The band hardly rallies around Grohl's ear-grabbing melodies and complementary guitar lines anymore, opting instead for a vanilla classic rock sound where vocals do their bit and showy solos or overly complicated riffs fill in the empty spaces. Bent on striking the right big rock pose at the right time, these potentially simple and endearing three-minute pop songs sound cold and detached compared to heart-wrenching Foo pop gems like "Big Me" or "Everlong".
For the past decade, the Foo Fighters have used acoustic numbers as placeholders to fill out their albums, a trick gone too far on 2006's unplugged record Skin and Bones. Several campus-lawn ballads on Echoes trigger nightmarish flashbacks from that live album, most notably "Stranger Things Have Happened" and "But, Honestly". Grohl's split-personality of happy-go-lucky punk-prankster and teary-eyed balladeer has never felt more dissonant than on these heart-on-sleeve pieces, and unfortunately, a quarter of the album succumbs to this schmaltz. Echoes does attempt to forge new ground, as Grohl's longtime affinity for Tom Petty sounds very apparent on the Americana-faded "Statues" and "Summer's End", though the novelty quickly wears off, the coyote-howl of the guitars lacking the necessary power to mask the drab melodies.
Echoes' most telling slip-up comes during "Ballad of the Beaconsfield Miners", an instrumental track dedicated to the Tasmania coal mine victims that clashes the band's magnanimous intentions with an awkward musical direction. Sounding like a Led Zeppelin III outtake, the track highlights the Foo Fighters' unsolicited willingness to be everything to everybody all the time. Consequently, they're sounding less and less relatable, leaving us pining not just for the days of a little grunge trio from Seattle, but for the relentlessly catchy and charismatic Dave Grohl of the Foos' still-fantastic self-titled debut and the better half of The Colour and the Shape.
Buy Foo Fighters - Echoes, Silence, Patience and Grace
01 Pretender
02 Let It Die
03 Erase/Replace
04 Long Road to Ruin
05 Come Alive
06 Stranger Things Have Happened
07 Cheer Up, Boys (Your Make Up Is Running)
08 Summer's End
09 Ballad of the Beaconsfield Miners
10 Statues
11 But, Honestly
12 Home
Amy Winehouse - Back to Black
Buy Amy Winehouse - Back to Black
Watching Amy Winehouse live is a confusing experience. There's this skinny, slightly gawky teenager (well, she still looks like a teenager) on stage and yet, via an amazing feat of lip-synching, the voice of a 40-year-old black woman from Brooklyn is coming over the PA.
It is nothing short of mesmerising, as you might expect of an artist whose quirky, eccentric and fearless lyrics explore avenues alien to most songwriters. Witness 2003's debut album Frank, which, thanks to risque tracks like 'Fuck Me Pumps', 'Stronger Than Me' and 'In My Bed', was shortlisted for the Mercury Music Prize and earned Winehouse nominations for two Brit awards.
What was particularly intriguing about the 22-year-old was how she managed to sound like a Fifties jazz club singer while singing outre lyrics about life in contemporary London. This compelling duality is continued with a deft change of backdrop on Back to Black, wherein she assumes the role of an Aretha Franklin-style soul singer complete with doo-wop backing groups while again singing of her contemporary urban experiences. It should keep popular culture students busy for the next 20 years in the way that Mick Jagger in the mid-Sixties prompted countless theses on the subliminal black person within. None the less it works - even though this area of pop culture has been mined remorselessly for the past 50 years - by dint of its clever melody lines and smart lyrics.
As if to emphasise just how wise she is, Winehouse has kept each track to around the length of a 45 (remember those?), enabling her to make her point and move on without running the risk of outstaying her welcome. So whether it's the rousing, churchy 'Rehab', in which Winehouse describes how her father tries to wean her off alcohol ('Try to make me go to rehab/ I say no, no, no'), or the serious soul of 'Love is a Losing Game', Back to Black isn't shy of betraying its debt to pop.
What the American market will make of it, though, is anybody's guess. Indeed during 'Me and Mr Jones (Fuckery)' I had this crazy fantasy in which I pictured the effect of this song being pushed on the American FM pop stations. Given the uproar in middle America a couple of years ago when Justin Timberlake exposed Janet Jackson's left nipple at the SuperBowl, trying to imagine what our Stateside friends would make of Amy Winehouse and the word 'fuckery' was worth the price of the record alone. The medium may be American but the message is very British, which is why if Amy Winehouse continues in this fashion she could end up being a national treasure.
Buy Amy Winehouse - Back to Black
01 Rehab
02 You Know I'm No Good
03 Me and Mr Jones
04 Just Friends
05 Back To Black
06 Love Is A Losing Game
07 Tears Dry On Their Own
08 Wake Up Alone
09 Some Unholy War
10 He Can Only Hold Her
11 Addicted
Josh Groban - Noel
Buy Josh Groban - Noel
Perhaps it’s because I’m a faithful follower of Josh Groban, otherwise known as a “Grobanite.” Perhaps it’s because we in Northern Michigan embrace Josh Groban as one of our own given that he attended the Interlochen Academy of the Arts during the summers of 1997 and 1998 as a musical theater major, and it was at that time that Josh was revealed to master producer David Foster. Perhaps it’s the way that Josh Groban is as deeply devoted to his fans as his fans are to him.
I’m confident it’s because of all of the reasons stated above, and more, that I am loyal to this very talented, charming artist who possesses a work ethic that is focused and passionate. The warm resonance of his voice and how he arranges his songs in a way that draws the listener in makes them feel like they’re in an intimate setting, and Josh is singing just for them. Combining a classical/pop sound, he has a way of moving his listener to a place that is very special, and, at least for me, there has never been an occasion where I wasn’t moved to tears many times listening to his messages of love, loss, celebration and hope through his gift of music. His song “To Where You Are” holds a very unique and sacred place in the hearts of my family and me when we lost a beloved member of our family. Even now, when I hear that song, I feel as if our dear one is standing right here beside us.
Josh came back to Interlochen in the summer of 2004 to grace us with a concert that stands out in my mind as one of the most splendid and marvelous concerts I have ever seen. It was as if our prodigal son had returned and we welcomed him home with wide open arms with hearts full of pride and smiles. It was our sincere hope that summer evening that Josh felt the warmth of those who have adopted him as one of our own and, yes, we’d love for him to come back to us very, very soon.
Three years have passed and with each tour he has accomplished, it is apparent how much he’s grown and how he has taken what he’s learned and, with that work ethic, he’s succeeded in becoming one of the most beloved entertainers in the world. He has participated in many projects, including lending his singing talent to movie soundtracks such as “The Polar Express”, “AI: Artificial Intelligence”, “Troy”, and who can forget his role in television’s “Ally Mcbeal” when he sang “You’re Still You.” He’s performed with artists such as Celine Dion, Charlotte Church, Lara Fabian, Sara Brightman and many, many others.
It was in November of 2001 that Josh’s first self-titled album, “Josh Groban” was released and, from that moment on, his career has flown on the very wings of the heavenly angel who touches his remarkable voice. His other works include “Closer” (2003), “Awake” (2006), and live concerts, “Josh Groban In Concert” (2002), and “Josh Groban: Live at the Greek” (2004) that are a joy to listen to. And, yes you guessed it; I’ve played and replayed the DVD’s of those concerts countless times. Once the DVD of the live concert from his “Awake” tour comes out in early 2008, I’ll be right back in line, buying up another Josh Groban masterpiece.
Buy Josh Groban - Noel
01 Silent Night
02 Little Drummer Boy
03 I'll be home for Christmas
04 Ava Maria
05 Angels We Have Heard On High
06 Thankful
07 The Christmas Song
08 What Child is this
09 First Noel
10 Petit papa Noel
11 It came upon a Midnight Clear
12 Panis Angelicus
13 O Come all Ye Faithful
Santana - Ultimate Santana
Buy Santana - Ultimate Santana
There have been 'Best of' Santana discs before, mostly collected from the early instrumental discs. Here, however, 'ultimate' may just literally mean 'the latest' disc, as there are mandatory new songs (only one of which really works). It features a great deal more of what Santana has been known for recently - collaborations with guest vocalists.
The 'essential' old stuff is there - Oye Como Va, Samba Pa Ti and Black Magic Woman - but they're alongside Number 1s like Smooth and Maria, Maria. Nickelback's Chad Kroeger adds vocals to Into The Night, and it's a bit of a frog chorus. Neither Tina Turner nor Michelle Branch can save The Game of Love (in two separate versions) from mediocrity. However, Carlos Santana's guitar is a thing of real beauty - fluid lines and remarkable funk allow screaming emotion and gorgeous Latin melody. That ability to wrest something unique from a song is shown on his 1977 cover of She's Not There, which becomes wild panther-like in his hands. There isn't another guitarist who sounds like Santana, and the number of guest stars (including J Lo in a new song here) is testament to his enduring appeal.
Buy Santana - Ultimate Santana
01 Into The Night (featuring Chad Kroeger) - previously unreleased
02 This Boy's Fire(feat. Jennifer Lopez and Baby Bash) - previously unreleased
03 Smooth(w/Rob Thomas) - from Supernatural (released June 1999)
04 Maria Maria(w/Product G&B) - from Supernatural (released June 1999)
05 Oye Como Va- from Abraxas (released Sept. 1970)
06 Black Magic Woman- from Abraxas (released Sept. 1970)
07 Evil Ways- from Santana (released Aug. 1969)
08 Corazon Espinado(w/Man- from Supernatural (released June 1999)
09 Europa - from album Amigos (released March 1976)
10 The Game of Love (w/Tina Turner) - previously unreleased
11 Put Your Lights On(w/Everlast) - from Supernatural (released June 1999)
12 Why Don't You & I(w/Alex Band of The Calling) - (single released internationally July 2003)
13 Everybody's Everything- from Santana III (released Sept. 1971)
14 Just Feel Better(w/Steven Tyler) - from All That I Am (released Nov. 2005)
15 Samba Pa Ti- from Abraxas (released Sept. 1970)
16 No One To Depend On - from Santana III (released Sept. 1971)
17 The Game of Love(w/Michelle Branch) -from Shaman (released Oct. 2002)
18 Interplanetary Party- previously unreleased
Eric Clapton - Complete Clapton
Buy Eric Clapton - Complete Clapton
Although that disc is called the ‘Complete Clapton,’ I’d think that moniker would be best used on a giant box set. This collection is quite the grand one, but it seems a bit wrong to call a two disc set “complete” when the man has undoubtedly done much more work.
That minor quibble out of the way, the set is one of those that I dearly love – the instant collection (complete or not). This set gathers many songs, totaling 36 tracks, that will be very familiar to our ears, from his Cream Days (“I Feel Free,” “White Room,” etc.), one from Blind Faith (“Presence of the Lord”), and two from Derek and the Dominoes (“Bell Bottom Blues” and “Layla”). Not to mention many of his solo hits, including “After Midnight,” “I Shot the Sheriff (but I didn’t shoot the deputy, the mind fills in),” “Tears in Heaven,” and many more.
He even teams with B.B. King (“Riding with the King”) and J.J. Cale (“Ride the River”). This wonderful set collects quite a number of great songs from Clapton from 1968 up to 2006.
If you’re a fan you may have all the albums that those came off of, but if you’re a casual listener this set offers you an easy say to instantly purchase some great guitar work…. But I did not shoot the deputy.
Buy Eric Clapton - Complete Clapton
01 I Feel Free
02 I've Got A Rock 'N' Roll Heart
03 Sunshine Of Your Love
04 She's Waiting
05 White Room
06 Forever Man
07 Crossroads (Live At Winterland)
08 It's In The Way That You Use It
09 Badge
10 Miss You
11 Presence Of The Lord
12 Pretending
13 After Midnight
14 Bad Love
15 Let It Rain
16 Tears In Heaven
17 Bell Bottom Blues
18 Layla (Unplugged)
19 Layla
20 Running On Faith (Unplugged)
21 Let It Grow
22 Motherless Child
23 I Shot The Sheriff
24 Change The World
25 Knockin' On Heaven's Door
26 My Father's Eyes
27 Hello Old Friend
28 Riding With The King (With B.B. King)
29 Cocaine
30 Sweet Home Chicago
31 Lay Down Sally
32 If I Had Possession Of Judgement Day
33 Wonderful Tonight
34 Ride The River (With J.J. Cale)
35 Promises
36 I Can't Stand It
Katie Melua - Pictures
Buy Katie Melua - Pictures
Katie Melua will forever be indebted to her musical mentor. The doe-eyed chanteuse was signed by Mike Batt, the Ivor Novello-winning songwriter whose credits include 'Bright Eyes', 'A Winter's Tale' and, perhaps most tellingly, 'Remember You're A Womble', while she was learning her trade at the London School for Performing Arts & Technology. As her manager, producer and primary songwriter, Batt proceeded to steer his protege towards the sort of record sales that most fledgling guitar-strummers can only dream of: Melua's first two albums, 2003's Call Off The Search and 2005's Piece By Piece, have shifted an astonishing seven million copies.
But this third album, Melua has recently announced, is the last that she and Batt will make as a "creative team". Like the teenage son who suddenly twigs that he's become bigger, faster and stronger than his dear old dad, Melua seems to have realised that she's outgrown her mentor. And rightly so: the six songs she's penned for Pictures are altogether more vital, more interesting and more affecting than Batt's seven offerings. (Producer and protege share the songwriting spoils on two songs, it should be noted.) Her 'Perfect Circle' is a sprightly slice of jazz-pop with a wonderfully dexterous melody, while the dream-like jangle of 'Spellbound' has a lovely hint of the carnival to it. Best of all is the coruscating 'What I Miss About You', which starts life as a straightforward, treacly ode towards a former lover, before taking a jaw-dropping turn towards the bilious. “Your skill of putting me down in front of everyone we knew," Melua seethes. "That’s what I don’t miss about you." The fresh-faced folky insists the song isn't based on personal experience, but the hint of fury in her voice makes you wonder - just for a second - if she's quite as honest as her wholesome reputation attests.
Batt's songs, though deftly arranged, tend to be hampered by a crippling sense of whimsy. 'Mary Pickford', on which Melua name-checks a succession of thirties film stars over acoustic guitar arpeggios, tasteful string washes and softly-shaken maracas, is desperately twee, while the hackneyed couplets of 'What It Says On The Tin' don’t deserve the languidly sexy vocal with which Melua imbues them. But the album's only real stinker is 'Ghost Town' - one of two songs bearing a Melua/Batt credit – a ghastly cod-ska tribute to the Specials classic of the same name.
However, Batt's sense of the absurd does pay the occasional dividend. His 'Scary Films' welds an entertaining tribute to the slasher flicks of Hollywood's past - "The vampire's a joke because I know he's just a bloke," indeed! - to a 'Black Velvet'-style bluesy strut. As cheekily enjoyable as a midnight Haribo binge, it feels like the last hurrah for the Melua/Batt "creative team".
Buy Katie Melua - Pictures
01 mary pickford
02 it's all in my head
03 if the light go out
04 what i miss about you
05 spellbound
06 what it says on the tin
07 scary films
08 perfect circle
09 ghost town
10 if you were a sail boat
11 dirty dice
12 in my secret life
Coheed and Cambria - No World For Tomorrow
Buy Coheed and Cambria - No World For Tomorrow
Those who have been hip to Coheed and Cambria over the course of what no comprises four albums know full well that this installment represents the conclusion of the ongoing saga of the characters for which the band is named. A four-part ongoing conceptual piece is largely unheard of in the world of music (it's something that lends itself to literature or film much easier), but C&C have persevered and put tremendous faith in their ardent fans, giving them the benefit of the doubt when it comes to their attention spans.
For the most part not much has changed in the world of the band, with the major exception of gaining a new drummer (and using Taylor Hawkins for the bulk of the studio sessions). Claudio Sanchez is still letting loose with his Geddy Lee inspired high pitched timbre and there's still the detailed layering of his and Travis Stever's guitars, creating a sheer metallic interface that wavers steadfastly between Prog and Pop.
In fact, it's these very same skirling guitars--with a slight '80s bent, mind you--that lead into the album's title track, which continues to ride with emphatic propulsion thanks to "dueling" guitars that flutter between left and right channels. "The Hound (Of Blood and Rank)" is an intriguing number that borrows from The Who, Judas Priest, and Loverboy. At least those are the influences that bleed to the top, whether it's via the opening synths, the rolling vocal chorus or the slick guitar solo tossed in at the 2:47 marker.
The '80s sensibility continues on "Feathers," but when we say '80s we're not talking Hair inspired, but more just ballsy rock (think Jefferson Starship, Triumph or Saga to a degree). In many respects Sanchez is exploring more of his melodic side, incorporating chunks of mainstream rock vocal theatrics into their chugging mix. It makes for an interesting blend of retro shock and present day blitz. With "The Running Free," synth burbles re-enter the mix, creating ethereal ambiance that offsets the grinding guitar crunch. Sanchez lets loose with piercing glory, riding the sonic crest with assured measure. The chorus again calls upon the visions of the '80s, crooning with a pop inflected precision (just wait till you hear the "oh-oh-oh's").
Acoustic guitar leads you into "Mother Superior," which has Sanchez delivering a melodramatic swoon that's drenched in breathy inflections. The track pretty much retains its down-tempo stance, using military cadence rhythms (lots of snare), atmospheric synth, and hypnotic guitars. It's a restrained slice of progressiveness. "Gravemakers and Gunslingers" has a smidgen of Sabbath buried in the rhythm guitar and a whole lotta attitude built into the rest of the song. The track gets into truly bugged terrain toward the midway part where deep, Stygian vocals play off cherubic fantasies. Like many of the tracks on the album there are several overlapping layers to this one and listening to it on headphones may be the only way to go. The guitars continue to skirl and grind on "Justice in Murder," while Sanchez lets his voice run amok.
The final five tracks on the album are lumped into their own section subtitled The End Complete. Part 1 is titled "The Fall of House Atlantic" and on paper it could easily be mistook for a musical interlude about Dune or an allusion to Poe. Delving into mock opera it is filled with swelling vocals and urgent acoustic guitar and serves as the intro to Part II, "Radio Bye Bye." This track is more guttural and to the point, thanks to cranking guitars and steady rhythms, not to mention Sanchez in restrained vocal mode. Part III, "The End Complete," goes for dissonance at the outset, then dips into chugging guitars that echo and drift between the channels. Sanchez delivers a piercing veil that rides the turgid guitar riffs and then soars into chaotic joy on the chorus. There's more intense vocalistics in store, however, as Sanchez lumbers into scream therapy, demon-from-hell growling, and careening frenzy. At 7-minutes and 44-seconds it's the most epic number on the entire album, at least time wise.
Things get toned down a hair on Part IV, "The Road and the Damned," which employs a much more symphonic approach, coupled with soaring neo-balladeering. As for the final, closing track, Part V, "On the Brink," it begins calmly enough with drifting ambiance that leads into pseudo Country guitar and a vibe not quite unlike mid-period Pink Floyd. It may be the most progressive--but in an uncharacteristic way--track on the entire album. Sanchez's vocals are at their peak here, eschewing his often ear-splitting wail for a more earthy approach; call it Coheed Jazz, if you will. An intriguing ending to an interesting album.
On the whole No World For Tomorrow is an interesting endeavor, treading a lot of musical terrain and making some inventive choices in terms of genre manipulation. Astute music lovers will hear bits and pieces of numerous musical acts floating through every song like deceptive specters, which makes for compelling listening, albeit on a strangely d¿j¿ vu level. The group's willingness to experiment and tweak the conventions of well-known genres (Pop, Alt-Rock, Prog, Metal, and even Burt Bacharach-styled lushness) is their strongest suit. Yet given this hodge-podge musical assault it's very safe to say that Coheed and Cambria is not for everyone.
Buy Coheed and Cambria - No World For Tomorrow
01 The Reaping
02 No World For Tomorrow
03 The Hound (of Blood and Rank)
04 Feathers
05 The Running Free
06 Mother Superior
07 Gravemakers & Gunslingers
08 Justice In Murder
09 I - The Fall of House Atlantic
10 II - Radio Bye Bye
11 III - The End Complete
12 IV - The Road and the Damned
13 V - On The Brink
Timbaland - Shock Value
Buy Timbaland - Shock Value
When it comes down to the big three producer-MCs who have defined club-friendly rap over the past decade-- Diddy, Pharrell and Timbaland-- Tim's the one who's been best able to rein in his self-indulgent tendencies. He hasn't spent more time being a pop icon than a musician, hasn't suffered from any major dry spells of creative entropy and, most importantly, has known enough to let his beats do most of the heavy lifting. This might be one of the reasons he's considered by most trainspotter pop fiends to be more of a genius than those other two; even when Tim runs his mouth, it's typically been innocuously catchy-- even complementary-- enough to keep the production's strengths at the forefront. The other main factor in his genius, as anyone who's had a radio on at any point in the last decade knows, is his ability to integrate unexpected niche-genre sonics most hip hop and R&B producers wouldn't steer towards-- bhangra, jungle, trance-- and use them for a kind of universal club futurism that, since it fits well in damn near every place people dance, makes for an easy route to chart and cultural dominance.
When Tim's shit goes wrong, though, it's harder to get to the root of the problem. His recent bodybuilding obsession, his divisive, grandstanding mini-sets during the Justin Timberlake tour, and his forehead-smack of a beef with Scott Storch (?)(!) have made for great blog-snark gossip fodder, but they don't necessarily signal any kind of creative decline, especially after the juggernaut year he had in '06. But while solo Timbaland's always been a mixed bag, Timbaland Presents Shock Value is more mediocre than it has any right to be, filled with overreaching pretense and phoned-in vacancy-- either trying too hard, or not hard enough.
Almost everything potentially great and really wrong about Shock Value is exhibited in leadoff track "Oh Timbaland". The beat's built on the same piano hook (from Nina Simone's "Sinnerman") that Kanye West pillaged for Talib Kweli's "Get By"-- he's just made it more manic, releasing some Dirty South tension with Shaq-hand-sized claps and Catfish Collins chicken-scratch guitar. It's a hell of a way to start things off, even assuming you don't care that a song about a man futilely trying to escape his transgressions is being appropriated so Tim can issue death threats and brag about his private planes. Simone's reconstructed voice is a sinister hook ("Oh Timbaland, where you gonna run to?"), and Tim's answer to this haunting, retribution-of-God threat (a quickly tossed-off "nowhere"), is a sign of the hubris to follow.
Not that Tim half-asses anything on the production end. The first two-thirds of the album are front-loaded with the kind of futuristic club beats his rep rests on, and some of them-- the berserk Bootsy-meets-Thomas Dolby-by-way-of-Basement Jaxx house-funk of "Release" and the "The Way I Are", which sounds like "Push It" gone trance-- are straight-up jaw-droppers. But the record's also plagued with some of the most empty, dead-eyed, joyless lyrics to hit the clubs in a while. Tim's on-record persona has soured drastically in the last few years, trading in the relaxed party-rocker's swagger of Tim's Bio and Indecent Proposal for a tensed-up, violent defensiveness. Where he used to be all about shaking off haters and basking contentedly in his wealth, he seems a lot more obsessed now with maintaining a shaky thug cred and using his status as a bludgeon.
"I know shit ain't sweet, so the shit get deep/ I'm rich, I can pay to have you six feet deep," he mutters lifelessly on "Come and Get Me", while the petulant hostility of "Kill Yourself" culminates in a chorus ("Go on, kill yourself, kill yourself, kill yourself/ If I was you I wouldn't feel myself") that feels like the Dew-fueled frothing of a 14-year-old caught up in an anime message board flamewar. Even his turn on the hilarious failure of a strip-club jam "Bounce" (as in "...like your ass has the hiccups") is riddled with death threats and gun talk; at least guest rapper Dr. Dre-- who, admittedly, resorts to terrible Chinese-name double-entendres ("Sum Yung Ho") and rhyming "ain't this money handsome" with "ain't this a panty anthem"-- remembers it's a track about fucking.
In this context, rife with fuck-you-haters self-consciousness and obnoxious posturing, even the guest roster on this album feels like it's caught up in a lazy arrogance. Justin Timberlake shows up on three tracks, first offering more of the usual Prince-baiting on lead single "Give It to Me", and then some ecstatic harmonies on "Release", which are great when you can hear them under Tim's atonal half-sung bellowing. (This same atonal half-sung bellowing overextends its welcome on almost every non-rap track, by the way.) Unfortunately, his dopey "you on me and me on you and you on her" traffic control on "Bounce" marks one of the album's most slack-jaw stupid moments. Aside from a freaky-as-hell Missy, pretty much every guest rapper-- from 50 and Tony Yayo to Attitude and D.O.E.-- rhyme like they didn't have to pay half a mil to get their spot on the track. (Jay-Z and Kanye were supposed to be on the album, but missed the deadline-- aw, don't be sad, there's a Magoo appearance!)
Then there's the much-touted rock collaborations, which either fail to play to the bands' strengths (the Hives' Howlin' Pelle Almqvist-- backup singer?) or prove why Timbaland is still a hell of a lot more interesting than most modern rock in the first place. The only thing more cringeworthy than the first time Fall Out Boy's Patrick Stump screams a simpering "wipe that smi-hul off your fucking fayyyyce" in "One & Only" is the eighth time-- though the line "Be my unholy, my one and my lonely" is a pretty strong contender. And the last track, "2 Man Show", features Tim admonishing Elton John for coming in too early with the piano, then spends the rest of the track talking about how great the song actually is rather than just proving it. Like almost every other lyric on the album, it's all a conceited bluff.
So Timbaland spends an hour on the wrong side of the "ft.", fans wind up cringing for a while, and then we suddenly remember he's doing the Björk album and we get geeked again. As bad as this album is, it's not offensive enough to worry about for too long; if its contents were split up into 17 singles and B-sides and one-shots and scattered across the charts for 15 months, it'd hardly be worth worrying about. It's just that it's disconcerting sometimes to be confronted with an entire album's worth of evidence that geniuses can fuck up, just like everyone else.
Buy Timbaland - Shock Value
01 Oh Timbaland - Timbaland
02 Give It to Me - Nelly Furtado, Timbaland, Justin Timberlake
03 Release - Timbaland, Justin Timberlake
04 Way I Are - Keri Hilson, Timbaland
05 Bounce - Missy Elliott, Timbaland, Justin Timberlake
06 Come and Get Me - 50 Cent, Timbaland, Tony Yayo
07 Kill Yourself - Timbaland
08 Boardmeeting - Timbaland
09 Fantasy - Timbaland
10 Scream - Keri Hilson, Nicole Scherzinger, Timbaland
11 Miscommunication - Keri Hilson, Timbaland
12 Bombay - Jim Beanz, Timbaland
13 Throw It on Me - Timbaland
14 Time - She Wants Revenge, Timbaland
15 One and Only - Timbaland
16 Apologize - Timbaland
17 2 Man Show - Elton John, Timbaland
Gary Allan - Living Hard
Buy Gary Allan - Living Hard
Gary Allan's latest album "Living Hard", is certainly appropriately titled. Country music fans know what a difficult, transitional time Gary has been going through, but this new CD clearly proves that he is coming out on the other side, still rockin, still full of passion, still "Living Hard". From the opening track, which is also the CD's first single release, "Watching Airplanes", written by Jim Beavers and Jonathan Singleton, the album takes on a personal theme of strength and moving forward.
Gary shows some real hard rockin' in tracks like "She's So California", written by Gary Allan, Jon Randall and James Hanna, about a beautiful, sweet "love em and leave em" type girl, "Wreckin Ball" penned by Keith Gattis and Audrey Freed, about a beautiful, but "spare no hearts, love em and leave em type girl", and "Like It's A Bad Thing", written by Neil Thrasher, Tony Martin and Wendell Mobely, about living life on your own terms and not worrying about other's opinions, "I don't know about you, but I was put here to live and love, so what if I don't do it like everybody else does", a real anthem to where Gary is at now in his life.
"Learning How to Bend" by Gary Allan, Matt Warren and James Le Blanc and "Trying To Matter", written by Gary Allan, Odie Blackman and Casey Beathard, are lyrically powerful tracks filled with raw emotion in Gary's gravelly voice as he delivers such personal lyrics of a man beginning to dip his toes into the waters of a new relationship, "still learning how to pray, how to trust, how to let you in, how to fly, how to bend". But, then in "Trying To Matter", realizing it's never too late to start over, we are all just trying to matter to someone.
"Living Hard", penned by Gary Allan, Odie Blackman and Bob DiPiero, is a down and out, hard rockin, guitar pulsating, drum pounding, hip shaking, stadium pleasing blow out track. Absolutely brilliant lyrics about that "glamorous life on the road" of a musician, just love the line, "run like a Stone, startin to look like Dylan". Gary sure bursts the bubble of any fantasies we might have of a music man's touring life, the "living hard is hardly living". Pay attention all you country music wannabe's!!
By far my favorite track is "Yesterday's Rain", penned by Gary Allan, Matt Warren and James LeBlanc, with it's soft fiddle background and gentle swaying rhythm is an absolute standout song. Gary's voice loses it's "rock" edge in this deeply personal, romantic song where he remembers a loved one lost. He opens his heart up and let's us briefly inside, as we listen to the aching lyrics, "I've been told I shouldn't stand in your rain, but that's the only place I can see your face". "Let your memory soak me to the bone, reminds me that I'm not alone in yesterday's rain." Truly a beautiful tribute to Angela and the love he still holds for her.
"Living Hard" is pure Gary Allan, personal, raw, honest, emotional. It's hard rockin' and sweetly country, sung with that distinctive voice only Gary has. I completely enjoyed this album and am looking forward to more single releases from it. It is great to see and hear Gary Allan back at his best, successfully pushing that "envelope" of Nashville. Great job, Gary!
Buy Gary Allan - Living Hard
01 Watching Airplanes
02 We Touched the Sun
03 She's So California
04 Like It's A Bad Thing
05 Learning How To Bend
06 As Long As You're Looking Back
07 Wrecking Ball
08 Yesterday's Rain
09 Trying To Matter
10 Half Of My Mistakes
11 Living Hard
Rihanna - Good Girl Gone Bad
Buy Rihanna - Good Girl Gone Bad
As if the title doesn't inform the listener of what to expect, Jay-Z kicks things off by reminding us "Uh-uh, uh-uh, Rihanna, good girl gone bad…" before launching into a swagger and shuffle that actually shows him still in top form. The beat is all boom and Rihanna drops her still somewhat shrill vocals over the groove, which eventually morphs into a strange electro grumble surge sounding a lot more alternative (think '80s) than post-millennial R&B. Of course we're talking about her hit "Umbrella," which has the Barbados sweetie sounding a lot more like some forgotten New Wave princess than a soulful femme fatale. It's an intriguing shift in sonic dynamics, that's for sure, and should be applauded for flipping the script on a stylistic convergence.
While the opening track is sizzling, it certainly doesn't set Rihanna up as the heir apparent to the modern R&B chanteuse title. The retro blip and bleep mock techno shuffle continues on "Push Up On Me," which is all escalating echo electro claps and surging synth that again takes a steady lurch back to almost two decades ago when Planet Rock was the de facto sound in the East Coast clubs and Euro discos. A bona fide house schism is injected in to "Don't Stop the Music," which sounds ripped from the Studio 54 and New York gay disco scene, dripping back to sweltering grind and pump.
With "Breakin' Dishes" Rihanna goes for the call-n-response chant stylings (think "Oh Mickey You're So Fine" but given an electro-shock treatment) at the outset and then swerves and perves over the slinky synth squiggles like a worm on ecstasy. If the flashback grind and swelter hasn't been enough for you so far brace yourself for the New Order overload on "Shut Up And Drive." Whoa! At first the driving guitar grind is disconcerting, but it eventually kicks into overdrive and should win you over, especially when Rihanna swoons about laying in the cut and referring to herself as "a fine-tuned supersonic speed machine…"
Just as you're warming up to Rihanna channeling Gary Numan she flips the script yet again and delivers the acoustic guitar tinged "Hate That I Love You" which is geared much more to the suburban thirtysomething crowd than the inner city hipsters. Yet for all its contemporary pop stylings, it also showcases the beautiful timbre of her voice juxtaposed to Ne-Yo's sweet falsetto. It's probably one of the better modern duets from two superstars in waiting. This track more or less kicks off a series of more traditional R&B numbers, ones focused more on Rihanna than the electro theatrics. "Say It" is dressed in a warm, silky groove with slight hints at island rhythmatics (it's one of the only tracks to break the '80s cycle and sample Mad Cobra's '90s jammy "Flex"). It's one of those between-the-sheets jams that will resonate with the ladies and the men out to woo them.
"Sell Me Candy" is one of the less inspired numbers on the album, resorting to the now tired candy/ice-cream metaphors which have been played to death in rap for more'n a decade now. Toss in that the production is jumbled and noisy, beats rolling and colliding in chaotic fashion. It's sort of cutting edge, but Rihanna's vocals just never seem to mesh with the sturm and twang. Boom bap beats return on "Lemme Get That," one of the smoking Timbaland tracks on the album. It's traditional Timba, bursting at the seams with electro surge and grind. And Rihanna commands the track, no question about it.
Buy Rihanna - Good Girl Gone Bad
01 Umbrella - Rihanna & Jay-Z
02 Push Up On Me
03 Don't Stop The Music
04 Breakin' Dishes
05 Shut Up And Drive
06 Hate that I Love You (Feat. Ne-Yo)
07 Say It
08 Sell Me Candy
09 Lemme Get That
10 Rehab
11 Question Existing
12 Good Girl Gone Bad
Kanye West - Graduation
Buy Kanye West - Graduation
When Kanye West comes up in conversation, the word “restraint” doesn’t usually get thrown around much. West has always come off as exuberant and overexcitable, a twitchy little guy perpetually uncertain of his status. Even when he steps outside of himself and catches a fleeting bout of righteousness, there’s something embarrassing about it: witness his “George Bush doesn’t care about black people!” outburst, next to a horrified Mike Meyers, on national television. His music overflows with a similar spirit of torrential eagerness, sprouting codas and instrumental breakdowns and full choirs on its way up, up, up. There’s probably no more irrepressible persona in hip-hop than Kanye West, which is why one of the most shocking things about Graduation, his third album, is that in some ways he displays something nearing restraint.
One, the album tops out at a spare thirteen tracks, compared to The College Dropout’s 20 and Late Registration’s 21. Two, apart from a ragged-sounding Lil’ Wayne on “Barry Bonds,” Graduation has no guest MCs. Sure, the music still overflows with West’s trademark generosity, but there are fewer moments of bloat than on the caloric Late Registration, which as a listening experience was akin to eating an entire cheesecake at one sitting. In some ways, Graduation serves as a document of West’s maturation.
Musically, at least, it’s the most accomplished thing he’s ever done. Never content to sit still, West has moved from the Dropout’s soul samples to Registration’s orchestral grandiosity to, on Graduation, a fascination with Euro-disco and expensive-sounding synths. The good news is in such unfamiliar surroundings, West retains both his confidence and his attention to detail. Kanye has always made headphone records, and this one is no exception: he’s as obsessed with sonic detail as any producer this side of Timbaland or Trent Reznor. Check out the forlorn guitars chiming in unison at the close of “Stronger”; the random trumpet blurts in the left channel on “Drunk and Hot Girls”; the multitracked, interlocking vocals on “The Good Life”: Kanye tucks enough flourishes in to the corners of the record to reward repeated and close listening.
He also continues to push at mainstream hip-hop’s sonic contours, sampling a number of unlikely sources that only start with the Daft Punk bite for “Stronger.” Can’s “Sing Swan Song” provides the basis for a song called “Drunk and Hot Girls,” which will probably cause the heads of record nerds to explode nationwide. Elsewhere, he samples Steely Dan’s “Kid Charlemagne” and Laura Nyro’s “Save the Country.” The gorgeously airy track for “Flashing Lights” builds from mournful strings (courtesy of Gamble and Huff arranger and soul-music veteran Larry Gold), a slithering house backbeat, and Day-Glo synths, and is one of the most unabashedly graceful things I’ve heard on a commercial hip-hop record in years.
But he still can’t totally suppress those outbursts, which means that Graduation, like its predecessors, is disarming, exasperating, and entertaining in about equal measure. There are the fits of pique: “You should be honored by my lateness / The fact that I would even show up to this fake shit!” he explodes impatiently on “Stronger.” There’s the obsessive, defensive self-assessment; on “The Glory,” he devotes about eight lines of a verse analyzing his decision to wear a lavender tuxedo to the Grammys last year. Several million albums into a multi-platinum career, and he’s still justifying his decision to drop out of school: “Scared of the future, complacent career student / Some people graduate but be still stupid,” he rhymes on “Good Morning.”
And yet, just when his massive inferiority complex threatens to suffocate the atmosphere, he drops “Everything I Am.” On it, Kanye ruefully surveys the consequences of his inability to keep his mouth shut: “So say goodbye to the NAACP Awards / Goodbye to the India.Arie award / They’d rather give me the ‘N***a, Please’ award.” There’s something endearing about him admitting “I’ll never be as laid back as this beat is,” especially when the beat in question is such a beautiful piece of soul-rap, with a scratched hook from DJ Premier. He also shows that he hasn’t completely forgotten about the outside world: “Just last year Chicago had over six hundred caskets / Man, killing’s some wack shit,” he rhymes, before adding sarcastically, “Oh I forgot, except for when n***as is rappin.” It’s as dogmatic as he cares to get, but it also works.
The only disappointment about Graduation is the continued narrow lyrical focus. When West showed up in 2003, he seemed wry, observant, and empathetic enough to tell any story: three albums into his career, it has become clear he can only obsessively reiterate his own, which has not changed much over the course of three albums. The point is driven home by “Homecoming”—a song also found on the advance copy of The College Dropout, known at that time as "Home"—which features a big, stadium-ready beat and a hook from Coldplay’s Chris Martin. Over this backdrop, Kanye rhymes about his guilt over leaving Chicago to pursue stardom. That the song fits in so well lyrically with the rest of Graduation demonstrates starkly that West hasn’t traveled very far from his defining moment. In some ways, he is still reliving it. Only the production values have changed.
Buy Kanye West - Graduation
01 Good Morning
02 Champion
03 Stronger (Feat. Daft Punk)
04 I Wonder
05 Good Life (Feat. T-Pain)
06 Cant't Tell Me Nothing
07 Barry Bonds (Feat. Lil Wayne)
08 Drunk And Hot Girls [Feat. Mos
09 Flashing Lights (Feat. Dwele)
10 Everything I Am (Feat. Scratch
11 The Glory
12 Homecoming (Feat. Chris Martin
13 Big Brother
14 Good Night (Bonus Track)
15 Bittersweet Poetry (Feat. John)
Seether - Finding Beauty In Negative Spaces
Buy Seether - Finding Beauty In Negative Spaces
Rock band Seether has recorded a new album called "Finding Beauty in Negative Spaces," set for release October 23rd. The 12-set album is said by the band to be their most diverse yet, but by listening to the record, the song are quite redundant.
Seether had to cancel several shows due to a death, in which four of the tracks are derived from that tragedy. The opener "Like Suicide" is one of them. With lyrics like "she belongs to heaven" and "another complicated suicide," the song touches on some heavy screaming and hard guitars that sometimes are almost too much to take. So the next track "Fake It" uses the same vocal effect as "Like Suicide." "Fake It" is musically too similar to the latter and is their current single. The song reeks hypocracy and lies. The video was recently shot and shows a less serious side.
Seether is tough, but gentle. Previous acoustically written songs including "Broken" make Seether able to crossover to mainstream pop radio. "Walk Away From The Sun" is guitar and piano built. However, lyrically this wouldn't pass on mainstream pop as they have lyrics about depression that result in loss of life. "Could die for a gun/ Walk away from the sun/ And kill everyone," doesn't exactly give the image of picture perfect world. Coincidentally, "No Jesus Christ" sings of putting a gun in his mouth. Parents: don't let your kids get ahold of this dark album.
"Waste" is hard, but transcends a common theme in songs. When things in life just go wrong, an escape is usually desired. Here, the feeling is a sense of being misplaced and wanting to get away because everything in that current time is just a waste. Redundantly, "Eyes of the Devil" almost melodically imitates "Waste," with different lyrics.
Maybe the only friendly song lyrically and musically is "Rise Above This." It is a typical rock song acceptable by radio standards due to its easy guitars and soaring vocals. It is perhaps the most tame of the record in terms of production. "Breakdown" is a close second as there are no extreme guitar riffs or high powered shouting. "So break me down if it makes you feel right/ And hate me now if it keeps you alright/ So you can break me down if it takes all your might," plays out over simple guitar solos and power chords.
In music, it's popular for musicians to record responses to each other when a relationship is broken. However, there is no retaliation to Amy Lee's "Call Me When You're Sober." The lyrics on this record are dark and depressing and almost violent at times. Maybe when the band said it was diverse they really meant the message of the songs are different than before. It is enough to please the fans but should be listened to with caution by the casual fan as the lyrics get offensive and inappropriate for younger generations purchasing the music.
Seether's Finding Beauty in Negative Places will be released on Wind-Up Records October 23rd.
Buy Seether - Finding Beauty In Negative Spaces
01 Like Suicide
02 Fake It
03 Breakdown
04 FMLYHM
05 Fallen
06 Rise Above This
07 No Jesus Christ
08 6 Gun Quota
09 Walk Away From the Sun
10 Eyes of the Devil
11 Don't Believe
12 Waste
50 Cent - Curtis
Buy 50 Cent - Curtis
Even though he might not admit it publicly, 50 Cent is looking at some serious pressure coming into Curtis (Shady/Aftermath/Interscope). His debut, Get Rich Or Die Trying, killed everything moving in 2003. As a follow up his soldiers would put up respectable numbers individually going into the G-Unit general’s follow up, The Massacre. Fast forwarding to only a year ago, the immense leverage has been severely handicapped. Along with Mobb Deep, Banks and Young Buck would all sell below gold and a couple of the members of the crew got sent packing. Now with his momentum slowing down Fif attempts to extend the championship run.
In traditional fashion 50 starts off ready to hurt something. “My Gun” is a dark look into his innate “have gat will travel” mentality. Resembling what Em’ did on “Gatman And Robin,” the speedy synth grooves compliment the tough talk nicely. “Man Down” slows down the pace a bit as Ferrari flows over some chunky pianos. His stick up kid wit is still very much apparent with lines like “Southside, I make the best of the worst/We got to share the same b*tch, okay I go first.” As far as stand out joints go, “I Get Money” is Curtis at his best. A monster record for the clubs, newcomer Apex borrows some classic lines from Audio Two’s “Top Billin’” and blaring boom baps familiar to Cassidy’s “I’m A Hustla.”
The mood is switched up on “Follow My Lead.” Produced by The Bizness, 50 does his thing with Robin Thicke on the back up vocal help out. The track has a jazzy feel with its accompanying dusty keys. Jackson raps to ladies with suave lines that will make them forget about that suspect GQ cover. As far as key collaborations 50 and Mary J. make a stellar team on “All Of Me.” Blige sets the tone off properly with her golden vocals over crisp drums and chopped up horns. In vintage Fif fashion, he mixes in his Queens bravado with some Hollywood charm and wins: “When I smile your smile should be as big as mine/To know me is to love me I’m one of a kind/Even when you hate me you love me, forever you’re mine.”
Unfortunately the album doesn’t progress further than that. Curtis goes hard on the hoes on “Come And Go” but doesn’t connect in part to a lackadaisical beat. Also, 50 sounds flat when he steps out his comfort zone. “Ayo Technology” features a Timbaland masterpiece but even with Justin Timberlake helping out, it still sounds incredibly forced. Same deal when he aims for a more pop crowd on the Dr. Dre helmed “Fire” with Nicole of the Pussycat Dolls.
At the end of the day, Curtis is a step backwards for 50. While the album is not a total brick, it lacks a true consistency where his previous work flowed seamlessly and almost every record worked. Even his harder records “Straight To The Bank” and “Touch The Sky” fail to make a considerable impact. Clearly 50 still has the talent to recreate the magic, but he won’t wow many but the most diehard of fans here. But then again, there is always Vitamin Water.
Buy 50 Cent - Curtis
01 Intro
02 My Gun Go Off
03 Man Down
04 I'll Still Kill
05 I Get Money
06 Come & Go
07 Ayo Technology
08 Follow My Lead
09 Movin' On Up
10 Straight To The Bank
11 Amusement Park
12 Fully Loaded Clip
13 Peep Show
14 Fire
15 All Of Me
16 Curtis 187
17 Touch The Sky
Rascal Flatts - Still Feels Good
Buy Rascal Flatts - Still Feels Good
Rascal Flatts fifth album "Still Feels Good" is a perfect follow up to "Me And My Gang", with a perfect title, an affirmation that "The Gang" is still quite happy making their kind of country music and that it "Still Feels Good". Rooney, DeMarcus and LeVox are like everybody's "boy's next door neighbors ... just average Joes", charming and seemingly unaffected by all their success and mounting number of awards. This low key, humble approach to their career is one big reason Rascal Flatts is the reigning 2006 CMA, ACM and CMT Vocal Group of the Year.
"Take Me There" the album's first single release was written by Kenny Chesney, Neil Thrasher and Wendel Mobly. It has a great instrumental section, filled with awesome guitars riffs. It is the story of the deep love a man has for the woman in his life, so deep that he wants" everything about you and I want to go down every road you've been, where your hopes and dreams and wishes live ... I want to know the girl behind that pretty stare". It showcases the harmonies that we have become so accustomed to brilliantly.
"Here", written by Jeffrey Steele and Steve Robson is a wonderful love song about when a guy finally opens his eyes to what is standing right in front of him ... "so caught up in holding what I never thought I'd find", but he thanks God for all the hardships, tears, heartaches and stumbles that it took to get him right "Here" in her arms ... "I wouldn't change a thing ...”
"Bob That Head", by Michael Dulaney and Neil Thrasher and "Secret Smile", written by Don Mescal and Steve Robson, are both rockin, honky tonk songs, with some awesome strong pounding drums, smashing guitar playing ... and some fun lyrics on top of all that! These are going to be dance floor favorites.
"Help Me Remember", penned by Hillary Lindsey and Wendel Mobley and "Still Feels Good", written by Gary LeVox, Neil Thrasher and Wendel Mobley approach the subject of love from opposite sides of the fence. "Help Me Remember" is an aching power ballad about a couple facing their broken relationship ... and wanting to gather only the "good times", remember the way it used to be. "Still Feels Good", the title song is a swinging song about how love "still feels good" after all their years together ... just as exciting now as the day they fell in love. Two songs of love ... but very different, indeed.
"Winner At A Losing Game" written by the Flatts and "Better Now", written by Busbee, Gregory Becker and Darrel Brown both have brilliant harmonies, lyrics that express so beautifully that feeling we all have experienced at least once ... loving someone who just doesn't love you the same way ... "if love is really forever ... I'm a winner at a losing game".
"Everyday", penned by Alissa Moreno and Jeffrey Steele is precisely what we listen for in a Rascal Flatts album ... blended, powerful voices, meaningful, honest lyrics about the power of love and faith ... with words like, "everyday you save my life".
"She Goes All The Way", by Gary LeVox, Jay DeMarcus, Joe Don Rooney and Monty Powell is a surprisingly wonderful duet with Jamie Foxx. A ballad that blends Gary's and Jamie's voices magnificently. I was amazed at the softness of Foxx's harmonies in lyrics like ... "giving more then she takes ... cause it's more then love she makes ... she goes all the way". It's a powerful love song in every sense.
"It's Not Suppose To Go Like That", is a real standout song for me. This was penned by Bobby Pinson and Jimmy Yearly and lyrically tells a powerful story of lives cut short by innocent, random acts of "not thinking of the consequences". It reminds us how precious life truly is, a socially conscious song ... one all parents, teens, children should listen to closely and take the meaningful lyrics to heart ... "life is a journey, constantly touring down an unknown path ... but it's not suppose to go like that ... I wonder if guardian angels cry when they see it all played out ... and as they stand with their hands tied ... oh, do they cry out loud" I, too, wonder if the angels cry as they watch our foolish stunts ... knowing there is nothing they can do to save us from ourselves.
In "Still Feels Good", Rascal Flatts proves that they are alive and well, and that this trio is definitely on the cutting edge of country music ... even paving the way for some new artists. Like the first four albums ... .number five is better than ever and a "must have" for every Rascal Flatts fan out there ... and for any fan of just great country music!
Buy Rascal Flatts - Still Feels Good
01 Take Me There
02 Here
03 Bob That Head
04 Help Me Remember
05 Still Feels Good
06 Winner at a Losing Game
07 No Reins
08 Every Day
09 Secret Smile
10 Better Now
11 She Goes All the Way
12 How Strong Are You Now
13 It's Not Supposed To Go Like That
Dave Gahan - Hourglass
Buy Dave Gahan - Hourglass
This has presumably been a strange and exciting decade to be a member of Depeche Mode: Seven years during which dark, blustery electro-pop has come back as a mainstream force, especially in their native UK, and sometimes in exactly the terms they were supplying it 15 or 20 years ago. They've noticed this, surely. Perhaps it's why, after sidetracking into a minimal, techy sound on 2001's Exciter, they ran right back to blaring, grainy bombast on 2005's Playing the Angel. And perhaps it's why, after a solo debut that differentiated itself from DM by putting a guitar up front, singer Dave Gahan has veered back toward the drama you expect of him.
The problem is that while Hourglass has Gahan sounding a lot more assured and competent as a songwriter, it's also too much what you'd expect of him. Holed up in a New York studio with Depeche Mode's touring drummer and guitar player, he's constructed a Pro-Tooled set of dark rock grooves and electronic buzzing that won't shock anyone who's heard him or his band since, say, Songs of Faith and Devotion-- it's tasteful, professional, and as sophisticated as you'd expect from veterans. But it's also the kind of rote music that has very little purpose on its own. It's the kind that needs a very good singer-- and a very good songwriter-- to give it a reason to exist.
Gahan isn't that guy right now, and his presence here seems as rote as the music. He's addicted to the grand, prophetic register he's been singing in for years now, but he's not so good these days at making it seem like there's a reason for him to stay in that place. Lyrics about religion and self-doubt may be Depeche Mode's stock in trade, but none of them necessarily support the sinister breathing and chest-beating drama Gahan goes for-- drama that seems awfully routine here, like a product he's manufacturing.
It's a feeling that infects a lot of the tracks here, among which even the better ones can be too transparently professional, faultless but inessential. "Endless" looks to recapture the 00s with a minimized glam beat, the same T Rex shuffle that's put acts like Goldfrapp on the charts-- but Gahan seems to be copping his hook from Depeche Mode's "I Feel You", and all the sensual atmosphere he's pumping out feels more like branding than substance. The single, "Kingdom", sounds limp and listless, a big melody in a song that feels like it came out of a box. The tracks here that actually surprise-- the ones that take risks, jump out of the realm of expectations, or at least push Gahan's usual persona to the point of self-parody-- just wind up underlining the lack of spark in the songs around them. "Deeper and Deeper" is great precisely because it's so potentially embarrassing: Gahan is growling, play-acting a little monster, anteing up and putting something in the game. It's too rare of an occurrence here, and a little more of it would have provided much better context for the tracks-- "Down", "Miracles", "Saw Something"-- where Gahan does what Gahan does perfectly well.
It's possible to give albums like this a sense of risk and vigor, as proven just a couple months back by another 80s-alternative mainstay, someone Gahan has surely sat next to in a whole lot of record collections: Siouxsie Sioux burst out with exactly the same kind of deep, dark, guitars-and-electro solo pop record, and it was packed with all the verve this one's missing. I don't doubt that those who have followed Gahan and Depeche Mode for years will find things to like in Hourglass and enjoy hearing him continue to struggle with the topics he and his lyrics always do; he's eloquent and interesting, and I have no doubt that he's feeling every word and note here. But I'm guessing that for most, on this record, hearing Gahan feel it will be as exciting as watching any other professional perform the task he's a pro at, whether it's chopping down trees or rebuilding car engines.
Buy Dave Gahan - Hourglass
01 Saw Something
02 Kingdom
03 Deeper and Deeper
04 21 Days
05 Miracles
06 Use You
07 Insoluble
08 Endless
09 Little Lie
10 Down
11 Kingdom (Single Version)
The Hoosiers - The Trick To Life
Buy The Hoosiers - The Trick To Life
Anyone who managed to sit through the whole of Radio 1's recent 40th birthday compilation CD will no doubt tell you how nauseatingly bad a cover version can be. Mika massacring The Police, The Feeling butchering Carly Simon, Robbie Williams gurning his way around The Kink's 'Lola'...the list goes on. Yet despite all of these musical crimes, there is one step lower than cringe-inducing musical re-interpretations of iconic hit singles. That lowly step is when you find a band who are not only willing to pillage and poke through pop history, but who also have the guts to re-package it under a different name and proclaim it as something fresh and original. Perky 'oddball' rockers The Hoosiers are such a band. Their debut album The Trick To Life is the result.
ELO, 10CC, Supertramp, The Cure, even Razorlight...just a few names who are given The Hoosiers treatment. You'll recognise the key changes, smell a whiff of their riffs and spot a cheeky glint in Irwin Sparkes' eye as he delivers his elaborate falsetto vocals, but their charm offensive begins grating your ear drums after about 30 seconds of opening track 'Worried About Ray'. Half the problem with The Hoosiers is that their 'influences' are about as corny and cheese-stinkingly addictive as any reasonable human being should surely be able to stand. You wouldn't think that ELO's 'Mr Blue Sky' could become more chiseled in its shiny pop gleam, yet somehow The Hoosiers savage the track on 'Goodbye Mr A', with their bubblegum, cartoon rock ladling on the cheese like a nightmarish school dinnerlady. Similarly on 'Cops And Robbers' they waddle through 'Love Cats' by The Cure, nicking its funky bass flicks, hurling in a bucketful of screeching snyths, and Sparkes unwisely doles out another helping of his nasal vocals on top.
The short, sharp guitar snatches on 'Worst Case Scenario' recall Razorlight's more recent singles, but again Sparkes' tendency to throw himself headfirst into the track, like a child on a first visit to water-park, gives a sickening flavour to the tune. Fairground rides, children's TV show themes, chocolate bar adverts, ice cream van tunes all sound like jolly good fun, but when they are shoe-horned into 3-minute snippets the resulting effect is not too dissimilar to eating a three day-old kebab that's been left festering under your bed. It leaves you feeling a bit dickey. Jaunty, ostentatious, and with forced grins on their faces, The Hoosiers come across like a stage school indie band. The Hoosiers are faintly reminiscent of The Office's David Brent. They are keen to rock out with the kids and show they're down with the hip cats, but their forced fun and unrelenting enthusiasm for the task in hand leaves you covering your eyes with your hands. Or maybe more accurately, covering your ears with your hands, because it's all too God-awful to listen to.
It's hard to take The Hoosiers seriously, yet at times on the record they appear to be yearning for some sense of credibility. They could be perhaps be forgiven as being over-eager, scarily happy wannabes if they didn't stray into furrowed brow serious mode on various occasions. Sparkes' hollering on 'Money To Be Made' and 'Run Rabbit Run' sounds like it wants to be bunched up with Jeff Buckley as the warbles and quivers over notes try to regain a modicum of calm amongst the sherbet lemon pop hooks and shrill squeals of their up-tempo numbers. However, there's a soulessness to his voice that you'd imagine isn't a million miles away from hearing George Bush singing along with the lyrics to 'Imagine' or 'Give Peace A Chance'. The band have cornered a huge market with their quirky schtick already, so the album's certainly going to have its fans. What's less certain is if any will be proudly holding the record aloft in their music collections in five years' time - or even six months!
Buy The Hoosiers - The Trick To Life
01 Worried About Ray
02 Worst Case Scenario
03 Run Rabbit Run
04 Goodbye Mr A
05 Sadness Runs Through Him
06 Clinging On For Life
07 Cops And Robbers
08 Everything Goes Dark
09 Killer
10 Trick To Life
11 Money To Be Made
Colbie Caillat - Coco
Buy Colbie Caillat - Coco
Let's just get this out of the way: I'm a sucker for a ukelele. And as if the rest of Colbie Caillat's Coco release wasn't amazing enough in and of itself, she's got the laid-back island vibe covered front and center. And so I'll just say it: I love Colbie Caillat.
You should too, by the way. She's got the smoky, sultry voice, the catchy, intelligent songwriting, the sunshine-infused, happy-go-lucky, folk meets acoustic pop, coffee house vibe... She's brilliant.
Need proof? She's an entirely self-promoted artist who climbed her way up the MySpace ranks to now get 50,000+ plays a day. You'll be hard-pressed not to hear her singles "Oxygen" or "Realize" on a pop radio station. She's been featured in Rolling Stone. She claims inspiration from Lauryn Hill, The Weepies, Fleetwood Mac, and others (and you can hear the influence in her sound) - and many are calling her a female John Mayer or Jack Johnson (although, for just once, I'd love to see a female artist get her own without being compared to male powerhouses). I just hope that when it comes to Grammy time, that she gets her just recognition. Because her music absolutely deserves it.
Tracks like "Oxygen," "Bubbly," "Feelings Show," "Realize," and "Tied Down" (featuring the ukelele!) showcase Colbie Caillat's relatability to her audience. Her sound is like a a favorite cozy blanket; you want to just wrap it around you and melt within the relaxation. In fact, as you hear her sing - despite the fact that she looks strikingly like Jennifer Aniston (I actually thought when I first saw the cover of her CD that, God forbid, Aniston actually put out an album) - you feel as if she's your own best friend, just relaying a story here and there about her everyday life. She has the ability to touch your heart, stimulate your senses and add sunshine to your day.
Buy Colbie Caillat - Coco
01 Oxygen
02 The Little Things
03 One Fine Wire
04 Bubbly
05 Feelings Show
06 Midnight Bottle
07 Realize
08 Battle
09 Tailor Made
10 Magic
11 Tied Down
12 Capri
Mika - Life in Cartoon Motion
Buy Mika - Life in Cartoon Motion
There are a lot of children involved in UK chart-topper Mika's debut album, Life in Cartoon Motion. His flashy video for the British No. 1 "Grace Kelly" features a young girl in a gauzy yellow dress atop a piano, mouthing the words of a certain captivating Hollywood princess. The implication-- although nothing on this album is so much implied as flamboyantly howled-- is that this pint-sized Grace is a cute stand-in for a heartbreaker his own age. In "Lollipop", a chorus of children scream emotive truisms about how "love always gets you down." And in "Any Other World", a group of churchy teens cry themselves to sleep singing, "Say goodbye/ To the world you thought you lived in." The whole album reeks of wide-eyed youth, Mika appearing not so much an inquisitive elder as a peer, comfortable among his backup vocalists, advice-givers, and child actors. It's in this cushy setting that Mika wastes classical training to borrow respectful (Freddie Mercury) and cheap (Robbie Williams) pop tricks that depreciate exponentially in his hands.
There's virtually zero worth to this album, a combination of zealous experiments with Garage Band and would-be Music and Lyrics soundtrack cuts, but to a regenerative surplus of hypnotized young souls, this is brilliant stuff. It's as if Mika and his over-production team knew-- despite the lack of confidence that torments the album-- that songs like coming-out party and high school musical tribute "Billy Brown" were just what a million people bedazzled by staid British pop music would pay money for. Turn the dial just a few degrees in either direction of the Scissor Sisters-- the UK's most successful act of 2005-- and you get the odious "Big Girl (You Are Beautiful)", a pumping, chorus-infested jam session complete with gospel backup singers that tragically feels the need to reassure "big girls" they can be beautiful.
"Erase", in another life, might find itself on an "American Idol" winner's album as one of the filler tracks, and here the hybrid of lugubrious, wispy piano verse and Avril Lavigne-lite chorus is a fitting U.S. bonus track. "Any Other World" starts with a foolhardy piano line, but soon transcends to more breathless melodrama about relinquishing innocence for experience or something. There's a hollow quality to much of the music and its lyrical content, insulting our intelligence and slandering Fiona Apple's dozy adage that pop's subjects must be "broad enough that everyone can relate to them." In effect, the only perfectly not broad moment on this album is the only one of merit: An aging female relative, I assume, sharing the anecdote of being jilted by a man who ran off and married someone else.
For his part, Mika seems as if he's banking on the belief that listeners too lazy to replay their 90s favorites will hold a lighter to anyone who can resuscitate a formula, regardless of how dead it looks. Taking basic AAA chord progressions, dramatic string sections, backup vocalists, and his own virtuosic but easily satisfied voice, he creates a world of relatable montages. The album mildly undulates in tempo and mood, but is altogether uniform in its money-hungry quest to transport music lovers to a horrific place where pop songs double as cruise-ship entertainment.
Buy Mika - Life in Cartoon Motion
01 Grace Kelly
02 Lollipop
03 My Interpretation
04 Love Today
05 Relax Take It Easy
06 Any Other World
07 Billy Brown
08 Big Girl (You Are Beautiful)
09 Stuck In The Middle
10 Happy Ending + Ring-Ring
Bob Dylan - Dylan
Buy Bob Dylan - Dylan
Oh, how is it even possible to say a bad word about a Bob Dylan album? Arguably the most brilliant songwriter of our time, an absolutely fascinating evolution of an artist: poet, rebel, activist, balladeer, country singer, troubadour.... We all know the list of accomplishments that can follow his name. Even more impressive is the fact that it’s a list that’s had many of these twists and turns just in recent years of recording, and also includes such off-the-beaten track moves as books of poetry, dips into film including 2004’s Masked and Anonymous and the self-penned Chronicles: Volume One in 2005. It’s a vast and always intriguing catalogue of work that Dylan has provided us with, but this latest offering from the library of Columbia/Legacy, DYLAN, should not be confused with an offering from the man himself. And perhaps that is the sole reason I can bring myself to utterly say that this is not a necessary addition.
Dylan’s music has been remastered, recycled and repackaged in so many ways that the ridiculous number attempts is probably only forgiven because of the extraordinary level of songwriting that we’re dealing with. To date, there have been three volumes of Greatest Hits (released in 1967, 1971 and 1994 respectively), the Biograph box set in 1985, an Essential Bob Dylan in 2000, a Best of in 2005, a remastering series of his first most influential albums, The Bootleg Series Volume 1-3 in 1991, and yes, the list goes on here too. There is no doubt that we’re talking about a catalogue of work here that is deserving of the title “masterpiece”, but do we really need to be presented with these same songs over and over again?
Besides Disc Three of DYLAN, which covers the more recent years of studio work, all but a small handful of the songs on this new three disc set have already appeared at least once before on another compilation. In fact, the only previously unreleased track—the only remix ever to be approved by Dylan, Mark Ronson’s remix of “Most Likely You Go Your Way (And I’ll Go Mine)—is only available through the digital version of the album being sold through iTunes. It’s ironic that so many attempts have been made to fit Dylan’s career neatly into a box when he has spent his entire career genre-bending, defying expectations and dodging any sort of pigeon-hole that people have tried to carve out for him. But it’s also getting tired. According to the advance press released for the compilation, song selections were greatly influenced by the input of fans offered through the website set up to promote DYLAN, though the predictable track listing found here really doesn’t indicate anything out of the ordinary.
The latest incarnation of retrospective on DYLAN is one that takes a mainly chronological focus, including the key songs from his albums to paint a sort of linear picture of all of the expected landmarks of his career: from his “Song to Woody” in 1962 and rise to fame in the later ‘60s, through the personal and professional roller coaster of the early ‘70s to mid-’80s that saw critics claiming the end of his career at least a few times, up to the widely acclaimed trilogy that began with Time Out Of Mind and led to yet another comeback for the artist in the late ‘90s. Just trying to mark three such definitive timelines for Dylan’s career is restrictive and insisting on “fitting” the songs together like one big jigsaw puzzle feels like we’re missing the point completely.
Really, there isn’t a single song here that isn’t a winner (it is Dylan, after all), but it’s all far too familiar territory and just seems to be shelling out the same snapshot of the singer that we’ve all been getting for years. Frankly, he’s a much more interesting artist and more challenging song samples definitely exist: Dylan’s often bratty persona and tumultuous relationship with the media as represented “Ballad of a Thin Man”, lesser known examples of exceptional lyricism like “Sad-Eyed Lady of the Lowlands”, moments of womanizing swagger heard on “Oh, Sister”, and instances of his twisted humor as on “Tweedle Dee & Tweedle Dum” are just a few. There are a million other unrepresented moments throughout Dylan’s career that would have offered a more thoughtful and unique portrayal of such a vast artistic landscape: there’s certainly enough diversity to be found throughout Dylan’s 45 years of work.
Ultimately, it may simply just come down to the fact that there is no box set that could ever properly house the likes of someone like Bob Dylan. There is really nothing linear about his career, and certainly nothing so conventional about his work that it could be expected to be presented in any sort of meaningful way within such unoriginal parameters. So, grab this album for the catalogue of great songs if you don’t already have the classic albums that they’ve been picked from. But, really, we should all already have these albums.
Buy Bob Dylan - Dylan
01 A Fool Such As I
02 Big Yellow Taxi
03 Can't Help Falling In Love
04 Lily Of The West
05 Mary Ann
06 Mr Bojangles
07 Sarah Jane
08 Spanish Is The Loving Tongue
09 The Ballad Of Ira Hayes
Matchbox Twenty - Exile on Mainstream
Buy Matchbox Twenty - Exile on Mainstream
Confidence can take you a long way. Matchbox Twenty have the self confidence of mainstream American pop rock, and twenty eight million album sales to show for it. For this music the rules have been laid down by Springsteen, U2 and INXS. The emphasis is on craftsmanship, 'classic' songs with bridges and middle eights, big gestures and bigger emotions.
This collection of hit singles contains 6 new songs. For these the band have slimmed down to a four piece and are writing collectively, rather than just being a vehicle for singer Rob Thomas’ material. To my ears, these changes have done them a power of good. “How Far We’ve Come” springs out of the traps like a sleek and hungry greyhound. It boasts a powerful hook and a tightly written and convincing lyric. “I’ll Believe You When” and “If I Fall” are bright, sixties-style pop, “All Your Reasons” combines punchy rock with memorable harmonies. The writing and arrangements are polished and detailed. Steve Lillywhite’s clean, well-lit production gives the band character and drive.
However, the already released material is a decidedly mixed bag. Some songs like “Long Day”, and the funky “Disease” have good hooks, with original touches here and there, like the banjo in “Unwell”. But the production is pretty ordinary and so are some of the songs, which too often plod along. Thomas substitutes long-winded lyrics and trembling vocal rhetoric for real emotion on the irritating and unconvincing “Push”. “Real World” is limp, finger pointing and tuneless. it's hard to believe a song as ordinary as “Bent” was a number one in the US.
So the new songs are better than the old ones. Surprisingly for a greatest hits package, Exile On Mainstream suggests Matchbox Twenty’s best music could be in their future, not their past.
Buy Matchbox Twenty - Exile on Mainstream
01 How Far We've Come
02 I'll Believe You When
03 All Your Reasons
04 These Hard Times
05 If I Fall
06 I Can't Let You Go
07 Long Day
08 Push
09 Real World
10 3am
11 Back 2 Good
12 Bent
13 If You're Gone
14 Mad Season
15 Disease
16 Unwell
17 Bright Lights