Category: Music
Shakira – Las Mujeres Ya No Lloran CD Review
Rating – 3 3/4 stars out of 5
I always want to stretch my limits when I am reviewing. I want to put myself in the chair so to speak and listen, watch or play all sorts of different pieces of media. Heck, if I thought I could appropriately write a vacuum cleaner review, I probably would (If I say it sucked, does that mean it’s a positive review?). Point is that nothing is off the table even if it is in a different language. I review foreign films all the time, I will be reviewing Monster, a Japanese movie in the near future. But what if I was to say that one of my favorite musical artists is the amazing Shakira? Well, I’m probably like a lot of red blooded guys then, but in this case I am doubling down on the situation and reviewing her latest album, Las Mujeres Ya No Lloran which is entirely in Spanish. No subs, no filters, just my ears and my half Mexican wife staring at me wide-eyed in the car. It’s a good time, let’s go.
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Kylie Minogue – Tension CD Review
Rating – 4 1/2 stars out of 5
The US music landscape can prove to be a somewhat odd one. Nobody can really figure out why certain songs, certain albums, certain artists can’t break into the Billboard charts no matter how amazing their music may be. They could be loved overseas and yet the US radio stations and other outlets won’t even lift their finger to play the best of tunes from a given artist but will play absolute trash from another. Thankfully, in the age of streaming, it’s super easy to find those performers and those songs. But sometimes, one of those artists creates a piece so amazing that even those normal channels have to rise up and take notice. Today, we take a look at Kylie Minogue’s new album, Tension.
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Jungle – Volcano CD Review
Rating – 3 1/2 stars out of 5
It’s Christmas Time 2014. I boot up a copy of Tales from the Borderlands on my Xbox. On this day, I’m thinking I am going to play another Telltale game where I make a few choices, enjoy a good story and get an easy 1000 achievement points. However, what I didn’t expect about this game was an unbelievable soundtrack. One of those songs was the amazing tune Busy Earnin’ by Jungle. So amazing, that I immediately found a copy online of the album and had sent to me post haste. I was instantly hooked to songs like Time, The Heat and Platoon among others. Since then, I’ve enjoyed their other albums, For Ever and Loving in Stereo. Today, we are taking a look at their fourth album, Volcano. Let’s see if their sound still holds up.
Everything But the Girl – Fuse CD+Blu-Ray Audio Review
Rating – 3 1/2 stars out of 5
Everything But the Girl gained an incredible amount of fame with their song “Missing” in 1994 on their Amplified Heart album. Much like their earlier music, it was an acoustic driven set and not until the Todd Terry club mix changed everything did anyone really take notice of the band except for the diehards. Their last album, Temperamental met with some success in the dance market and was released in 1999. Fast forward 24 years and the band has made a comeback with the 2023 record, Fuse. Let’s take a listen and see what we think.
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Depeche Mode – Memento Mori CD Review
Rating – 4 1/2 stars out of 5
Andy Fletcher, co-founder and keyboardist of Depeche Mode died on May 26th, 2022 to shock of almost everyone at only 60 years old. Most fans of the longtime band were in disarray, and truly wondered if the band would continue with new music. After all, they were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2020 (finally) and honestly could have toured on their old music until they wanted to retire with no problem whatsoever.
Thankfully, prior to that dreadful occurrence, there was music already in the works from Martin Gore, Dave Gahan and Richard Butler (formerly of the Psychedelic Furs). After Fletcher’s death, work began on polishing the album and creating additional music with his spirit in mind. Without further adieu, let’s dive into this album, it’s utterly fantastic.
Miley Cyrus – Endless Summer Vacation CD Review
Rating – 4 1/4 stars out of 5
I know what you are thinking. You wouldn’t expect me to review a Miley Cyrus album. Seeing that high of a rating front and center, maybe I have lost my mind. Well the truth is, I have a lot of different tastes in my music library and actually own Miley’s 2010 release, Can’t Be Tamed (and a cd single of the title song as well).
Most people when you say Miley Cyrus immediately think of her 2013 album, Bangerz or the easily made fun of tune, Wrecking Ball. Either that or they want to throw back to her Hannah Montana days. However, in-between doing something for the sake of a reaction or bubble gum pop lies a true musician. She understands the process, knows her musical history quite well (just look at her covers), and has a passion for this industry that you can honestly see once you get beyond her scandals and controversies.
Fresh off her divorce to Liam Hemsworth in 2020 and her last album with RCA Records, Plastic Hearts, Miley set off to create an album that was made as a love letter to Los Angeles with the first half representing AM or representing what’s to become, and the second half representing PM to rest, recover and experience her wild side. With that said, let’s take a look at the twelve songs that make up this album.
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Prince – Welcome 2 America CD Review
Rating – 3 1/2 stars out of 5
In 2010, Prince got together with Tal Wilkenfeld, Chris Coleman along with NPG singers, Liv Warfield, Shelby Johnson and Elisa Fiorillo (and others) to record an album. Eventually they produced twelve songs which spoke about sensitive topics such as racism, politics, exploitation and disinformation. Then it was mysteriously shelved for over a decade. Some say that it was due to the fact that they couldn’t go out on the road with the same group that created the album or perhaps Prince himself just wasn’t done tweaking it. But in the vault it went until this year when it was released by the Prince Estate.
One always wonders when an posthumous album is released, is it any darn good? After all, it wasn’t being handled by Prince directly for the very last bit, it’s a production crew. Even if they understand the artist (which obviously they do), there is a still a hanging of doubt over any record like this. The short answer, it is good but in my mind there are some editing/mixing that could have made this tighter. Also, it really detracts when the title song is arguably the worst song on the album. Let’s proceed.
