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A Bigger Bang
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Wildflower
American Idiot
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Late Registration
Rise
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Chaos And Creation In The Backyard
Sir Paul is an elder statesman now, but Chaos and Creation in the Backyard finds him in considered and tastefully restrained form, penning songs worthy of his finest hour. McCartney crafts this collection of songs with exquisite balance, lining up haunting chimes and heartfelt lyrics; Riding to Vanity Fair along side pounding Hey Bulldog esque chords and eerily Beatlesish multitracked vocals Promise to You Girl, Fine Line and, most impressively, distinctively new yet timeless gems of songcraft Anyway, Jenny Wren. Emotionally, Chaos and Creation manages to avoid being mired in oversentimentality, while retaining a powerful, understated sincerity. Poignant though it is, however, the record is essentially positive and hopeful: Sir Pauls playfulness beams through in his intonation, which picks up a line such as; It is not right; In your life; Too much rain and breathes life and optimism into its words. English Tea completes the package, an unrepentantly twee serving of Anglo nostalgia with recorder. Chaos and Creation in the Backyard displays the full range of McCartneys inimitable talent, presenting listeners with one of his finest solo albums. Jonti Davies
Guilty Pleasures
Barbra Streisand returns to the scene with her newest release, Guilty Pleasures, which marks the reuniting of the legendary singer with producer Barry Gibb, whom she originally collaborated with 25 years ago on the multi platinum record Guilty. The new album features 11 new tracks including the singles Letting Go and Stranger In A Strange Land and rekindles the magic between Streisand and Gibb that captivated so many listeners 25 years ago.
Have a Nice Day
Bon Jovi; Have a nice day
A Bigger Bang
It should come as no surprise that it took sex, disease and death to shake the Rolling Stones out of their latest creative dry spell. Leading up to the making of A Bigger Bang, produced by Don Was, Mick Jagger endured a very public break up with Jerry Hall, Charlie Watts battled throat cancer, and Ron Wood was devastated by the news of his ex wifes suicide. Out of their collective struggles, the members of the venerable British rock band managed to piece together some of their best work in nearly two decades. It is a slick, slightly uneven affair bounding from raunchy blues to MOR rock songs that sound suspiciously like they were left over from the Alfie soundtrack, yes, but it also sounds vital at every turn. Even though they don't really need to, the jet set vagabond rockers plunge into hot button politics, Sweet Neo Con, rummage through their dirty laundry, Oh No, Not You Again and dip cautious toes back into ridicule tempting Miss You style funk, Rain Fall Down, without making any major missteps unless you count the ewwwww factor of a 61 year old Keith Richards singing Come on honey, bare your breasts and make me feel at home on This Place Is Empty. Aidin Vaziri
Prairie Wind
An artist for all musical seasons, Neil Young returns to autumnal harvest mode on Prairie Wind, with homespun material and sing song melodies that renew the spirit of some of his most popular releases. Yet the mood here is darker in its maturity than on Harvest and Harvest Moon--the previous releases in what now sounds like a trilogy and the arrangements have greater range and aural depth, with Wayne Jackson of the soulful Memphis Horns, the Fisk University Jubilee Singers gospel choir, and a string section employed to striking effect. This is a song cycle of dreams, memories, family ties, and the passage of time what is lost and what endures. The elliptical, epic No Wonder, with its evocation of 9/11, ranks with the most ambitious songs of Youngs career, while Falling Off the Face of the Earth, It's a Dream, and the bluesy title cut combine childlike innocence with unsettling experience. Spooner Oldhams church keyboards and coproducer Ben Keith's steel guitar reinforce the sound's sturdy simplicity. Young has released a lot of albums in different musical styles, but Prairie Wind feels like a homecoming, and ranks with his very best. Don McLeese
Souls Alike
After almost 35 years of recording, Bonnie Raitt knows exactly who she is and what she wants, as Souls Alike, the first self produced album of her career, attests. Though Raitt wrote none of the material, the selection bears her imprint and highlights both her strengths and her range. The albums opening; I Will Not Be Broken provides the sort of signature, stick to your guns affirmation for Raitt that My Way did for Frank Sinatra and I Wont Back Down did for Tom Petty. Two songs written by pianist Jon Cleary, Love on One Condition and Unnecessary Mercenary, reflect the Little Feat in New Orleans side to Raitts music, while the reggae underpinnings of God Was in the Water, the electro world beat of Deep Water, and the slide guitar funk of Trinkets find her settling naturally into a variety of grooves. Though she makes a sharp left turn into the sonic surrealism of Crooked Crown, she returns to the reflective balladry that has marked her musical maturity with So Close, I Dont Want Anything to Change, and the jazzy sophistication of the closing; The Bed I Made. While there are few surprises here, the album ranks with the most soul satisfying of Raitt's career. Don McLeese
Wildflower
Since her 1993 debut, Tuesday Night Music Club, Sheryl Crow has been churning out unassailably appealing CDs in an unassailably appealing voice. Which means, according to the rules of the pop music cosmos, by album six its about time for a misstep. Natural law, fortunately, will have to keep checking its watch. Wildflower moves Sheryl Crow one step closer to Hall of Fame status as she shunts the established rock stars impulse to get all experimental, but instead sprawls, rambling rose like, across the substance spiked pop landscape she helped pioneer. Three ingredients, glistening vocals, flawless production, and catchy songs rub up against one another in all the right places. These ingredients will cause you to hold your breath on the beautiful piano ballad Always on Your Side. They pop up again on the George Harrison-esque "Where Has All the Love Gone reminding you that Crow can reflect and reveal as convincingly as she can rock. If there is a ripple that runs through Wildflower, its a pensive one. On the spacy Chances Are, she sings of being lost inside a daydream. The measure of her talent, ripe and reappraisal resistant, is her ability to consistently bring us inside the bubble with her. Tammy La Gorce
American Idiot
The first original album since 2000 from modern rock superheroes Green Day, American Idiot is one of the most anticipated and controversial albums of the year. Scathing yet self effacing as it tells the tale of Green Days Billie Joe Armstrong, American Idiot is the punk rock epic. A bold, polished punk opera. Entertainment Weekly; They are the biggest, most successful, punk band the world has ever seen. Whats more, Green Days next album may well be their masterpiece. Kerrang
Late Registration
For haters eager to see Kanye hit a sophomore slump, no such luck. Late Registration can not replicate the novelty of last years College Dropout, but otherwise, this is an impressively more mature and labored over album. Lyrically, Kanyes only improved a notch but musically, the album sounds incredible, especially with co producer Jon Brion helping polish the songs to perfection. Tracks like; Heard Em Say. Featuring Maroon 5s Adam Levine and Hey Mama, are richly textured in their soulfulness while the flint-edge of "Crack Music" and "Gone" feat. Cam ron) will appeal to the street oriented. There is a few duds on here, the sickly sweet, syrupy; Bring Me Down feat. Brandy being one of the worst offenders but when the album is good, it is very, very good. In short, Kanyes detractors may not be swayed in their resistance to his charms but not only will his past supporters be rewarded but Late Registration has enough appeal to earn new crowds of fans. Oliver Wang
Life In Slow Motion
On his seventh album and first for Dave Matthews ATO label, David Gray refines his sonic palette with wonderful results. The first record made in a real studio and the first done with an outside producer MOR hotshot Marius De Vries, it is a nice improvement over the 2002 lukewarm, sparsely electronicized New Day at Midnight. There is quite a bit of diversity afoot; Hospital Food, begins with a sheen of the 80s cheese keyboards, while, Alibi, has an orchestral pop arrangement that brings to mind Rufus Wainwright collaborating with Jeff Lynne and yes, thats a good thing. The albums title seems to refer as much to the fact that the album took three years to appear as the way the songs unfold glacially. With his band really fortifying him throughout, parts sound like Coldplay unplugged. But where that bands lyrics start with self doubt and burrow inwards from there, Gray seeks absolution, something beyond himself. He also seems to have a sense of humor. It is too bad Six Feet Under is off the air; this entire album would make a great soundtrack for a special episode. Slow Motion is, in its subtle way, a huge step; the blue eyed folk soul singers first truly stadium ready album. Mike McGonigal
Rise
There are prodigies and there is progeny. Anoushka Shankar is both. As the daughter of sitar legend Ravi Shankar, she has bloodlines and a teacher who is one of the greatest to ever play sitar. While Anoushka has pretty good classical chops, not the best, but pretty good, Rise shows her versatility and growth as a composer, arranger, and producer. The nine song album features her sitar along with a variety of traditional Indian and modern Western instruments. She orders the ragas logically, starting with morning and working toward the final one at the end of the night, each one capturing the mood of its particular time of day. For example, mellow opener, Prayer in Passing, would be the initial waking moments, while the mood soon gets more upbeat on, Red Sun, before the midday heat sets in for the middle tracks and brings down the tempo. Traditionalists will call it pop, but there is nothing light or disposable about Rise. Tad Hendrickson
X&Y
Things have gone ridiculously well for Coldplay since the 2002 album, A Rush of Blood to the Head. The groups global album sales have soared past the 10 million mark, putting it in the same stratosphere as megabands U2 and the Dave Matthews Band. People have offered up their bank accounts, cars, and even bodies for tickets to its shows. And, in a interesting twist, frontman Chris Martin married Gwyneth Paltrow and set the tabloid world aflame. Funny thing, then, that the British quartets much anticipated third album, X and Y, is all about staying grounded. In the powerful opener, Square One, the singer insists people are fundamentally the same no matter what their stature; You just want Somebody listening to what you say, he sings. On, Fix You, Martin grapples with imperfection and missed opportunity, When you love someone but it goes to waste, Could it be worse? Meanwhile, the vibrant single, Speed of Sound, is all about reconnecting with the spirit and soul in the face of the paparazzis flashbulbs. Musically, the band has never sounded more adventurous, referencing everyone from Kraftwerk ;Talk; to the Pogues; Swallowed in the Sea, all the while sweeping aside those Radiohead lite comparisons to embrace a massive, moving sound that makes simplicity seem sublime. Aidin Vaziri
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