Tag: album reviews

REVIEW: Come And Get It – Rachel Stevens

Post ImageWere you an S Club 7 fan? Me either! Regardless, my last review of the week is on the upcoming album from former S Club 7’er Rachel Stevens. Her new disc is called “Come And Get It”, and features the singles “I Said Never Again” and “So Good”. It’s a typical studio release at 12 tracks and a total running time of not quite 45 minutes, but it’s also a great collection of music.

I challenge you to listen to the album and tell me that it didn’t make you want to get up and start dancing! That’s right, I said CHALLENGE! Anyway, “Come And Get It” is full of electronic-pop-dance tracks so if that’s not your thing, you won’t like the album. Otherwise, you’ll probably enjoy listening to it! Every song is upbeat and happy, even “I Will Be There” and “It’s All About Me” which are probably the slowest songs on the disc. My favorites are definitely “So Good” and “I Said Never Again”, but “Negotiate With Love” and “Every Little Thing” also stood out for me. You know the more I think about it, the more I like “I Said Never Again”. It’s just one of those songs that you could listen to on repeat. It’s one of those songs that is as appropriate for the club and dance floors as it is for a major sporting event. It’s also begging for a remix.

The “I Said Never Again” single is available on October 3rd, and as far as I can tell the full album drops on October 10th, so definitely check it out. It’s good enough to earn a 7/10 from me!

Read: Rachel Stevens

REVIEW: Stay on My Side Tonight – Jimmy Eat World

Post ImageA quick review for today. I recently acquired the new EP from Jimmy Eat World called “Stay on My Side Tonight“, and I absolutely loved it. You’ll remember Jimmy Eat World by their huge hits “The Middle”, “Sweetness”, “Work”, and “Pain”.

This new album includes only five tracks, one of which is a remix of the song “Drugs or Me” from the Futures album. I quite liked all the songs, but the one I like the most is “Disintegration”. I just can’t get it out of my head! And not because it’s annoying or anything, but because it’s a great song – great music, great lyrics. Definitely listen to that track, I think you’ll like it.

I’ll give this album a solid 8/10, keeping in mind that it’s a shorter EP. “Stay on My Side Tonight” has been available online since September 13th, but if you’re still into purchasing music at a physical store, you can pick it up October 4th.

Read: Jimmy Eat World

REVIEW: Life In Slow Motion – David Gray

Post ImageToday’s review is for David Gray’s album titled “Life In Slow Motion“. The first single from the album is called “The One I Love”, a track you’ve probably heard on the radio. Actually I heard the song a while ago, but never caught who the artist was. This is actually David Gray’s seventh album, though it’s the first I have heard of him. From David’s website:

In a break with prior tradition Life In Slow Motion is the first of David’s albums to be recorded in a ‘full scale’ studio environment as opposed to the ‘bedroom’ sized facilities favoured in the past. This increased physical space is matched by an evolution in David’s musical aspirations.

I really enjoyed “Life In Slow Motion”. My main criticism applies to almost every album released these days – only ten tracks for a total playing time of 45 minutes is not enough! Why these artists can’t spend a few more months and crank out longer albums is beyond me.

The album itself is what I would call “slow and easy”. All of the songs are easy to listen to, easy to sing along with, and easy to get hooked on. My favorite song is probably “The One I Love”. The album is full of different instruments like a piano, an acoustic guitar, a harmonica, and others. Some other stand out songs for me are “Hospital Food”, “Ain’t No Love”, and “Nos Da Cariad”.

I would highly recommend “Life In Slow Motion” if you’re looking for some good music that is outside the normal top 40 stuff we hear everyday. I’ll give David Gray’s latest album 7/10.

Read: David Gray

REVIEW: Music of the Sun – Rihanna

Post ImageTime for the second album review this week! You’ve no doubt heard Rihanna’s first single, “Pon de Replay” on the radio or MuchMusic or something. It’s extremely catchy, and is played everywhere. Unfortunately, it’s probably the best song on the album.

Rihanna is only seventeen years old, and hails from Barbados. She’s a very attractive young woman, and she definitely has some talent, but I just couldn’t get into the album. “Music of the Sun” consists mainly of dance tracks and ballads, and the dance tracks are the better of the two. I really like “Pon de Replay”, and there’s a fairly decent remix on the album featuring Elephant Man. Other songs I kinda liked were “Let Me” which has a great hook, “If It’s It Lovin’ That You Want” (minus the weird opening) and “Rush” which is another great club track. I found the ballads to be lacking in something…they don’t seem very original. You could substitute a number of singers in Rihanna’s place for the ballads and achieve the same result.

The album isn’t bad, but it’s not great either. If I had to choose, I’d probably buy just the single and not the album. I’ll give this album 4/10.

Read: Rihanna

REVIEW: PCD – The Pussycat Dolls

Post ImageThe first of my album reviews this week is the new album “PCD” by The Pussycat Dolls, which was released on September 13th. Like most people, their first single “Don’t Cha” featuring Busta Rhymes was my first exposure to the group and I became hooked. As you can learn at Wikipedia though, the all-girl group actually has a very interesting history:

The Pussycat Dolls are a female burlesque dance troupe based in Los Angeles, as well as in Caesars Palace in Las Vegas. The group was founded by choreographer Robin Antin in 1993.

A number of celebrities have also guest-performed with the group. The dancers perform in lingerie and old-fashioned pin-up costumes and there is no nudity or explicit sex in their performances. The group has become nationally popular and has been featured in magazines, television specials for MTV and VH1, ad campaigns, and movies. Carmen Electra has been the group’s lead performer for many of these magazine articles and television appearances, and she has been featured on stage with the Pussycat Dolls most frequently of all the celebrity performers. Nicole Scherzinger (aka Nicole Kea), a former member of the American Popstars winners Eden’s Crush, has now become the group’s lead singer. Other past and present members of the group include Carmit Bachar, Cyia Batten, Kasey Campbell, Kaya Jones, Ashley Roberts, Rachel Sterling, Jessica Sutta, Melody Thornton, and Kimberly Wyatt

The list of celebrities who have performed with the group is quite impressive. So that’s the group – what about the album?

Well I can honestly say I quite enjoyed PCD; I’m still enjoying it, in fact. Stand out songs for me include “Don’t Cha”, “Beep” which features BEP’s Will.i.am, “Tainted Love/Where Did Our Love Go” which is a cover medley, and “Wait a Minute” which features Timbaland. The first single is definitely catchy, but the other songs on the album offer much more depth (and a greater variety of voices). There’s even a pretty good slow song, called “Feelin’ Good”. “Stickwitu” is another slower tune. I would have to say “Right Now” is the song I least enjoyed – it just gets kind of annoying after a while.

I’d give the album a solid 7/10. It’s a typical record label album, with only 12 tracks for a total listening time of just over 44 minutes. There are more enjoyable songs than not though, so it’s definitely an album you can listen to from start to finish without getting bored. And have you seen the video? I mean, that’s enough for me!

The Pussycat Dolls also have one of my favorite music websites. The design is clean, and simple to navigate. Most importantly, they publish both RSS and Atom feeds so you can keep up to date on the group without having to go online. I wish more music sites had that. The site does use flash, but not in a way that makes the site unusable, so I don’t mind it in this case. The best part of the website – they don’t have music playing automatically when you visit! That is the worst feature on most music sites.

Read: The Pussycat Dolls