Category: Music
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The Rolling Stones – A Bigger Bang
Artist: The Rolling Stones Title: A Bigger Bang Label: Virgin Rating: 5/10 FILE UNDER: Bringing the dead rockers back from the dead. CORPORATE LINE: The Rolling Stones new CD, A Bigger Bang , will be released September 6, 2005 on Virgin Records. Continuing their historic songwriting partnership, Mick Jagger and Keith Richards began the creative…
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The Dandy Warhols – Odditorium or Warlords of Mars
Artist: The Dandy Warhols Title: Odditorium or Warlords of Mars Label: Capitol Rating: 6/10 FILE UNDER: Re-retro rock. CORPORATE LINE: What is the Odditorium? It’s a place where things move left when you think they’ll go right. Just inverted as hell. Or – to be literal – it’s the title (sorta) of the new album…
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Switchfoot – Nothing Is Sound
Artist: Switchfoot Title: Nothing Is Sound Label: Columbia Rating: 8.5/10 FILE UNDER: No sophomore slump here! CORPORATE LINE: “What is true happiness?” asks Switchfoot frontman Jon Foreman. “Is it a comfortable four-door sedan with tinted windows? Does it mean I have 2.3 children and a beautiful wife and live in a great neighborhood? Everyone has…
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Ryan Shupe & The Rubberband – Dream Big
Artist: Ryan Shupe & The Rubberband Title: Dream Big Label: Capitol Rating: 6.5/10 FILE UNDER: Country fiddle with a fusion of rock CORPORATE LINE: Ryan Shupe and the RubberBand are a breathtaking blast of manic musical virtuosity. Sheer joy seems to pour out of the speakers when they start playing, and it may be that…
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Hope Partlow – Who We Are
Artist: Hope Partlow Title: Who We Are Label: Virgin Rating: 7/10 FILE UNDER: COUNTRY POP CORPORATE LINE: Though Partlow spent her early years singing the country and gospel songs that were native to her Tennessee roots, her musical tastes now veer more toward pop and rock. “I love country music,” she says, “but I feel…
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Cold – A Different Kind of Pain
Artist: Cold Title: A Different Kind of Pain Label: Lava Rating: 7.5/10 CORPORATE LINE: “For Cold, music is…” Scooter pauses. “It’s real. It’s medicine. It’s therapy. And I think anybody, no matter what age you are, can be affected by it.” A Different Kind of Pain was recorded at Bearsville Studios in upstate New York…
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Our Lady Peace – Healthy in a Paranoid Time
Artist: Our Lady Peace Title: Healthy in a Paranoid Time Label: Columbia Rating: 5.5/10 CORPORATE LINE: Now a decade into their recorded career, Our Lady Peace have reached a new creative and conceptual peak with Healthy in Paranoid Times: from challenging themselves with new writing/recording techniques and redefining the goals of the band, to addressing…
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Vendetta Red – Sisters of the Red Death
Artist: Vendetta Red Title: Sisters of the Red Death Label: Epic Rating: 7.5/10 CORPORATE LINE: The Sisters of the Red Death is the underlying story and provides a cohesive framework for the album. However, from the album’s first delay-drenched guitar line to Davidson’s final blood-curdling scream, listeners not familiar with Sisters’ historical relevance will simply…
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Kanye West – Late Registration
Artist: Kanye West Title: Late Registration Label: Roc-A-Fella Rating: 9/10 CORPORATE LINE: Close Your Eyes And Imagine… “I’m depressed,” says Kanye West. Strange, perhaps, for a 28-year-old who is arguably the most important creative force in hip-hop music today, recently named to Time Magazine’s list of the 100 most influential people in the world, but…
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Herbie Hancock – Possiblitities
Artist: Herbie Hancock Title: Possiblitities Label: Universal Rating: 5/10 CORPORATE LINE: Imagine the possibilities….. “Possibilities” is the musical event of the year. The album is a series of inspired encounters between Herbie Hancock and world-renowned musicians – including John Mayer, Sting, Trey Anastasio, Annie Lennox, Damien Rice and Lisa Hannigan, Santana and Angelique Kidjo, Paul…