Each week I will listen to and review/preview a handful of the more interesting music albums released that week. The genres I will mainly focus on are Rock, Pop, Indie, Hip-Hop, Rap, and Electronic.
The Irish rockers responsible for hits like "Linger" and "Zombie" return after a decade-long hiatus to release their first album since 2001's Wake Up and Smell the Coffee.
The good news for longtime fans is that the band's sound differs little from their past offerings with slow tempo, melodic rock songs and Delores O'Riordan's breathy vocal tracks. The bad news is that there are no standout singles like the aforementioned hits of the band.
That's not to say there aren't any decent songs on the album, however, with tunes like "Tomorrow" having a relatively catchy hook and cleverly written lyrics about acting today because tomorrow may possibly be too late. But if you're expecting anything to come close to their past best singles, you will be sorely disappointed.
The song writing on the album sounds more personal than on their previous works but it seems the greater introspection has led to less radio friendly tunes. I can recommend the album to fans of the band that loved their albums from the 90's but the rest of us can leave this return disc well enough alone.
Score: 4.5/10 Song(s) to Sample: "Tomorrow" [sample it below]
MainoThe Day After Tomorrow
Maino is a hip-hop & rap artist from Brooklyn, NYreleasing his second studio album.
After a quick (less than a minute) intro track, the album really gets going with the second track, "Never Gon' Stop," with its quick and upbeat beats and a witty rap about continuing despite being a "victim of the game." The songs in general are well crafted with simple but catchy hip-hop melodies and clever, but not overbearing, raps.
Overall, The Day After Tomorrow is a satisfying album although one that won't blow you away by any means. In total there are 16-tracks, including the intro and the interludes, with a handful of guest artists lending assists on various tracks across the album, with T.I. being the most well-known. Maino doesn't bring anything new to the genre with this album but what he does bring has a pleasant sound and it will more than placate fans of the genre.
Score: 7/10 Song(s) to Sample: "Never Gon' Stop" and "Unstoppable" [sample it below]
The Brooklyn noise rocking duo release their second full-length studio album.
If you saw their performance on SNL this past weekend, you probably noticed the more dense Heavy Metal-esque guitar licks and overall sound. That sound is in full force over the entire album with piled guitar reverb and feedback effects in high order. Lead vocalist Alexis Krauss vocals have a subdued and sublime quality, even though they do tend to run more on the somnambulistic side than on previous albums.
The first single off the album, "Comeback Kid," has a catchy synthesizer rift although it's as if the band is trying to borrow from The Go Team's double-dutch vocal style which conflicts with the heavier Metal feel of the album. This conflict has an even greater presence on later tracks like "Demons" and "End of the Line"
Reign of Terror sounds like a disc of artists trying to find themselves among many different genres. Unfortunately they are unable to combine those disparities into something that coherently blends those styles, at least beyond a couple of tracks from the album. For a band that showed so much potential off their 2009 debut EP, their full-length releases haven't lived up to the hype as of yet.
Score: 5/10 Song(s) to Sample:"Comeback Kid" [sample it below] and "Road to Hell"
Fun.Some Nights
The indie pop trio is best known for their hit single "We Are Young", featuring Janelle Monáe, which has ranked as high as #3 on the US charts and was covered on the TV show Glee earlier this year, releases their second studio album.
"We Are Young" is included as a track on this album and, if you haven't heard it, is a delightful ode to the joys of youth that will have you tapping your foot and singing along by the end of the tune. Tracks like that and the following "Carry On" and "Why Am I The One" have over the top choruses and power guitar licks that, along with Nate Reuss' vocals which sounds like mix between Freddy Mercury and Dennis DeYoung in their glory days, recall bands from the late 70's and early 80's like Queen, Electric Light Orchestra, and Styx.
On Some Nights, the band lives up to its name by creating an album that is extremely 'fun.' There are some odd production choices that prevents the album from achieving a higher score--the extremely peculiar use of auto-tuned vocals on a handful of the tracks being the biggest culprit. However, the jaunty and light pop songs create an atmosphere you won't mind revisiting, maybe not every day, but certainly on 'some nights.'
Score: 7/10 Song(s) to Sample: "We Are Young" [sample it below] and "Carry On"
The French DJ and remix master's second studio album finally gets released over here in the States. Living was released last summer in Europe and, if you're like me and already have the import version, there's no difference between that release and the US release.
This album shows Yuksek taking a slightly altered approach with the overall feel having an electropop vibe rather than a European house/trance aesthetic you might expect. All of the tracks have lead vocals although lyrics writing isn't Yuksek's real strength at this point of his career.
What are Yukesek's strengths are his ability to lay down a good beat and to craft catchy hooks on his synthesizer and these strengths are on full display over much of the album. His first single off the album, "On a Train," is an absolute blast with cleverly layered guitar, drums, keyboards and vocal harmonies. The clever hook draws you in and you are swept along by the subdued brilliance of the electropop song.
Unfortunately, the rest of the album can't replicate that track's greatness especially on the less eletronica-heavy numbers. Don't get me wrong, tracks like "Dead or Alive" and "Always on the Run" are very good songs that will have you listening to the album in its entirety but there's little doubt which track vastly outshines the others.
Score: 7.5/10 Song(s) to Sample: "On a Train" [sample it below], "Dear or Alive" and "White Keys"
EisleyDeep Space (EP)
The DuPree clan's indie pop band Eisley (four siblings and a cousin make up the band) releases a five song EP follow-up to their hit 2011 album, The Valley.
The album opens with "Lights Out" which has the catchy vocal harmonies we expect from the two sisters and guitar-driven melodies that could have come off most of the songs from The Valley that will please fans of the band. While on the track "Laugh It Off," Stacy and the other DuPrees channel their inner Fleetwood Mac with a subdued but enchanting melody and vocals that are just dripping with Stevie Nicks-esque levels of restrained emotion.
Once again Eisley does not disappoint. This sparse EP is easily the best new release this week. The overall feel of the EP is stripped down compared to their most recent full-length discs but the vocals are still heavenly and their song crafting skills are still as beguiling as ever.
Score: 8.5/10 Song(s) to Sample: "Lights Out" [sample it below], "Laugh It Off" and "One Last Song"
Band of SkullsSweet Sour
The British power rocking trio release their second full-length studio album.
I admit I wasn't familiar with the band prior to this but a friend described them as a mix between Led Zepplin and The Raconteurs so I had to give them a listen. After listening to their new album, the band definitely has an old school vibe to their songs while the instrumentation has more modern, hard rock influences especially from the lead guitarist, Russel Marsden.
While I can definitely appreciate their style, I was less impressed with the song writing which seemed to wander between blues and heavy metal without finding firm footing in any particular style. The overall album has decent flow but, as much as I wanted to like the album, it failed to immerse me in its music. There is a lot of potential in the band but this album won't be their breakout disc.
Score:5/10 Song(s) to Sample:"Wanderluster" and "You're Not Pretty But You Got It Goin' On" [sample it below]
The French electronica duo compose an original modern soundtrack to the classic Georges Méliès film from 1902 to coincide with the recently restored hand-colored version. This two-disc set includes the new soundtrack on the first disc and the restored movie with Air's accompanying score on the second disc. This review is based solely on the first disc as I was not able to obtain a copy of the second disc in time for this posting.
For those who haven't seen Martin Scorsese's Oscar-nominated film Hugo, the subject of Méliès creating this breakthrough movie is brilliantly covered in the flashbacks of that film so go out and see it already! The album lasts over 31-minutes in length which means the disc features expanded versions of their score as the original movie only lasts about fifteen minutes.
The music itself has a strong, organic ambient/downtempo base--even more so than a typical Air album--that creates a very transcendent atmosphere buoyed by their use of traditional instruments like the cello and classical piano. Three of the tracks feature female vocalists (the first of which has Victoria Legrand from the band Beach House) although it's more like subdued spoken word segments than traditionally sung lyrics.
Overall, it's a very entrancing soundtrack that fans of the band should enjoy immensely. As a most wordless soundtrack, the album does a wonderful job in creating a 'spacy' atmosphere that works especially well as background music. This set is limited to 70,000 copies globally so pick yours up while you still can.
Score: 9/10
Song(s) to Sample: "Astronomic Club" [sample it below], "Parade" and "Lava"
Roberta FlackLet It Be Roberta - Roberta Flack Sings The Beatles
The classic R&B chanteuse best known for her 70's hits like "Killing Me Softly (with His Song)," "Feel Like Making Love" and "The First Time Ever I Saw Your Face" releases a disc covering twelve songs by the Fab Four.
It's a well rounded mix of songs Flack decides to cover on this disc picking well known singles like "Hey Jude" and "Let It Be" as well as a number lesser known B-side tracks like "If I Fell" and "Isn't It A Pity."
Unfortunately, while the collection of songs exhibits an eclectic taste, Flack does little to make the songs her own especially on the best known songs. The arrangements on these tracks feature simple, stripped down melodies in a vanilla adult contemporary style which is a major disappointment especially since these are classic songs that have already been covered dozens, if not hundreds, of times before.
On the lesser known tracks Flack shows greater imagination by doing more with the arrangements to make the song her own. The sad part is that most of these tracks come at the end of the album such that you have to sit through the more monotonous songs to get to the ones worth listening to.
Flacks vocals are still strong and, as you would expect, the main draw to this album. It's unfortunate that not enough time was spent working on the arrangements to make the song better exhibit Flack's inherent talent. The album I was most looking forward to this week turns out to be one of the bigger let downs of the year.
Score: 4/10 Song(s) to Sample: "I Should Have Known Better" and "The Long & Winding Road"
The FrayScars and Stories
The alt rocking Colorado quartet release their first album since their sophomore 2009 self-titled disc that went gold. This album has twelve tracks but there is a deluxe edition available on iTunes with five additional songs.
The album opens with their already released single, "Heartbeat,"in which frontman Isaac Slade seems to be channeling his inner Chris Martin even more so than on their previous works, especially during the chorus.That song, like the majority of the album, goes down easily but I don't sense this release has as much replay value as either their debut or their second album.
The switch to uber-producer Brendan O'Brien (Bob Dylan, AC/DC, Pearl Jam, Korn) causes the guitars to have a more dominant role in the usually piano-driven songs. It's a slightly updated sound for the band although I'm not quite sure they needed to change.
Score: 6.5/10 Song(s) to Sample: "The Fighter" [sample it below] and "Run For Your Life"
Dr. DogBe The Void
My apologies to F. Scott Fitzgerald, but in my younger and more vulnerable years (i.e. about 8 years ago) I went down to San Diego to see a concert. The opening act was this raucous indie/psy rock band from Pennsylvania that played with so much positive energy and emotion that me and my friend had to buy their album which the band members--after some shocked looks--were kind enough to autograph for us.
That band, if you couldn't guess, was Dr. Dog. Unfortunately, their studio albums have never come close to matching the infectious energy of their live shows--at least, not until now. Be The Void finally captures the fun and excitement that I remember all those years ago. Granted, a studio album cannot recreate the fun of actually going to see a band live but there was magic in that live show which they were never able to capture on their discs.
Their jangly, guitar-driven songs sparkle on this release. Frontmen Scott McMicken (lead guitar), Frank McElroy (rhythm guitar) again share lead vocal responsibilities with the whole band lending a hand during harmonies. The songs are written and produced much more competently with tracks like "These Days" featuring rich layering and slick production work while still maintaining the band's customary lo-fi sound. Finally an album that I can put on that showcases what I remember from the band all those years ago.
Score: 8.5/10 Song(s) to Sample: "That Old Black Hole" [sample it below], "These Days" and "Get Away"
