Really, the concept of an artist, established or otherwise, churning out a covers record pretty much amounts to: “because I can, that’s why.” America is no exception – fourteen albums in, Dewey Bunnell and Gerry Beckley clearly have acoustic-flecked, reedy-voiced, lite-rock MOR compositions to spare. Still, Back Pages pays tribute to songwriters both old and young – it’s twelve cover songs, essentially, and if the concept of twelve cover songs by America either excites or repulses you, well, there’s your review […]
Posts tagged "album reviews"
Spin Cycle: Kelly Rowland’s “Here I Am”
I root for Kelly Rowland hard. She’s gorgeous as I don’t know what, blessed with a fantastic singing voice, and has an affable girl-next-door quality that’s somewhat reminiscent of Janet Jackson in her late teens and early twenties. Unfortunately, Kelly has had to play second fiddle to you-know-who for her entire career (hint: she’s married to Jay-Z and her name rhymes with “Fiance”). It’s one of those “lucky-but-unlucky” scenarios that tends to occur with refugees from singing groups/bands that have […]
Spin Cycle: Joss Stone’s “LP1”
Two albums ago, in 2007, Joss Stone titled an album Introducing Joss Stone. It was her third record. Two albums later, it’s LP1, another album title (this time her fifth) that implies reinvention. A shame, then, that neither that album or this one actually follow through on their promise of revitalization. Miss Stone famously dumped her raspy, ferociously soulful vocals on the listening public in 2003 by way of her exemplary Soul Sessions record, a debut of surprisingly from-the-vault soul songs, […]
Spin Cycle: Rahsaan Patterson’s “Bleuphoria”
With each subsequent release, the liquid-voiced Rahsaan Patterson edges closer to the outskirts of r&b. Originally lumped in with that group of singers that formed the “neo-soul” movement in the late ’90s and early ’00s, Patterson cut his teeth on accessible (albeit very accomplished) soul throwbacks; his output this millennium isn’t overly abstract or gratingly experimental – far from it – but his willingness to expand outward and expound on his unique sensibilities have granted him immeasurable artistic success. Wines […]
Spin Cycle: Blondie’s “Panic of Girls”
As a culture, we tend to dismiss the aging rocker, and often unfairly: it seems like we dismiss bands that have been around for twenty, even thirty years or more as passe. Somewhere along the line, a few musicians in the twilight of their career started seriously phoning it in, and as a result, once a band reaches its sell-by date, we tune out. Sometimes we’re right – you could argue that the Stones’ last acceptable album dropped in ’97, […]
250 Words or Less: Liam Finn’s “FOMO”
I figured I couldn’t properly review the second album by singer/songwriter Liam Finn without knowing what it’s title meant. Turns out, [amazon-product text=”Fomo (buy)” tracking_id=”popblerdcom-20″ type=”text”]B004Z9AKDO[/amazon-product]FOMO stands for “Fear of Missing Out”. After listening to the album, I can say you’re missing out if you don’t pick it up. Finn’s bloodline almost guarantees a pleasant listening experience-after all, his father is Neil Finn of Crowded House/Finn Brothers/Split Enz/solo fame, one of the greatest and perhaps most underrated) songwriters of the […]
Spin Cycle: Random Axe’s “Random Axe” // Curren$y’s “Weekend at Burnie’s”
The old criticism of hip-hop music as pop’s most base, one-note form of expression must be extinct by now, right? Since the advent of the style, it’s slowly crept to mainstream status, virtually defining the mainstream for long stretches of the nineties and the oughts, and even the most hard-nosed “but it’s not real music!” types simply MUST have been exposed to some of the best the genre has to offer. Culturally, we’ve just breezed through a decade characterized by […]
Spin Cycle: “Rave On Buddy Holly”
Rave On Buddy Holly is a behemoth and overwhelming success of a tribute album. If this was the accompanying soundtrack to a major biopic, it would be a best seller already. Almost every song is a raging success—holy shit Cee-Lo, did you just invent another crazy [good] style of singing?? And the cuts that don’t completely hit the mark are still damn good—Patti Smith’s “Words of Love” is a solid song but lacks the energy most every other track possesses, […]
Spin Cycle: My Morning Jacket’s “Circuital”
I suppose it’s kind of difficult for My Morning Jacket fans to be truly pleased by one of their records at this point; six albums in, MMJ have cycled through country-rock, reverb-soaked psychedelia, discordant white-dude reggae, galloping metal, and squealing funk so quickly that really nailing down which My Morning Jacket you like can be tasking in and of itself. We only need for frontman Jim James to start spitting his oft-dippy, abstract lyrics over tight, polished grooves – the […]
“NKOTBSB”: We’ll Be Loving Them (Forever)
Here’s a bit of frightening pop-culture math for you: the first record by the New Kids on the Block came out 25 years ago. The first LP by the Backstreet Boys bowed 15 years ago. Alright, quit screaming in agony. That may not be a terribly long time in human years, but in pop-cultural terms it’s an eternity. And how are those milestones being celebrated? How else? Both boy-turned-men bands are hitting the road this summer, playing surprisingly large venues […]
250 Words or Less: Patrick Stump’s “Truant Wave”
Fall Out Boy fans whose first taste of Patrick Stump as a solo artist is via the Truant Wave EP are in for a surprise. The emo/pop-punk anthems that were the Chicago band’s stock in trade have been replaced by anthems that owe much more to the sound of dance-pop artists like Chromeo. Filled with danceable, shiny pop jams, Truant Wave suggests the work of a more lyrically inclined Justin Timberlake than it does anything vaguely reminiscent of FOB. Not […]
250 Words or Less: Corinne Bailey Rae’s “Love EP”
Just in time for Valentine’s Day, Brit soul songstress Corinne Bailey Rae has delivered The Love EP, a stopgap collection of five covers that’s pleasant but not essential. My dislike for covers collections is well-documented, so the fact that I enjoy this as much as I do is something of an anomaly. However, three of the five songs are solid, and a fourth would be solid if not for it’s interminable length. A few weeks ago, I featured Corinne’s version […]
