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Madonna — Music
(Warner Music)**
Since her music
career took off, Madonna has covered everything from the club-filler
Holiday to the soulful Rain. Her latest album is far more different
than the rest, offering the retro dance sounds of the ‘70’s. The
stand-out title track Music is full of infectious beats,
pitch-emulated vocals and quirky sounds which embraces the fun and
festive persona often associated with Madonna. I Deserve It is
a sweet ballad about Madonna finding her dream man. Impressive
Instant is a wacky techno track with some sound wizardry and a
whole lot of fun. Melancholy composition like Gone is fashioned
with simple, insinuating hip-hop rhythms and folkish guitar sounds. Amazing
is a recycled material from the hit Beautiful Stranger.
Lyrically Runaway Lover steals the show. Just like all the past
Madonna albums, this one too could not escape controversies. The track
What It Feels Like For A Girl is a feminist anthem that’s as
musically gentle as it is lyrically barbed, getting Helen Reddy’s
wordly feminist commentary loud and clear, singing, "I am a woman
hear me roar." Uplifting, emotional, inspiring, sensible,
impressive and groovy, this is Madonna at her best.
Ricky Martin —
Sound Loaded (Sony Music)
***
Sound Loaded
is a perfect follow-up to the 1999’s self-titled album that opened
the doors for Latin pop to live la vida loca on the mainstream
pop charts. His new album is indeed loaded with sound. Sound Loaded
shows Ricky Martin balancing on the rope with requisite familiarity
and venturing into fresh musical arena with remarkable ease. From lush
ballads to polyrhythmic explosions — the album has it all. Sound
Loaded boasts of several unabashed La Vida Loca sequels,
starting with the lively She Bangs, that weaves together
downtown disco beats with flamenco guitars. There is a bunch of
well-crafted material where Ricky offers some splendid vocals, most
notably on the ballads. The Touch, Come To Me and Amor
is a Spanglish salsa-club blowout. Sound Loaded is the result
of a hard-working team with notable helping hands that include Desmond
Child, former Menudo mate Robi Rosa, Emilio Estefan Jr., Jon Secada,
Eric Bazilian and Kenny Aronoff. Ricky reprises three of the album’s
songs in Spanish versions, but also embraces more trenchant pop styles
too, particularly in the surprisingly glam rock If You Ever Saw Her.
Jezabel and One Night Man are typical salsa morsels.
However the highlights of the album remain the edgy Loaded and Combia
La Piel, both marked by good rhythm, intriguing sounds and catchy
hooks. An album loaded with some sure shot fireworks and a heap of
talent. Way to go Ricky!
Westlife — Coast
To Coast (BMG Crescendo)
**
In the tradition of
British boy bands like Take That and Boyzone, Dublin’s quintet Westlife
managed to make a successful start with their debut album, giving away
super duper hits like Swear It Again, Flying Without Wings and
Seasons In The Sun. Currently the band is all over the place.
Unlike most of the other hunky-bunch bands Bryan, Shane, Mark, Nicky
and Kiran, all give equal contribution to the vocals area. Within a
week of the release of this second album, Westlife managed to sweep
aside music rivals Spice Girls’ Forever. It was a clean sweep
for the Westlife power over the girl power. And why not, Coast To
Coast showcases splendid tracks like My Love, When You’re
Looking Like That and What Makes A Man. Dreams Come True
and Puzzle My Heart are up-tempo tracks that break from the
relentless wishy ballad scripts. The major headliners include the Phil
Collins cover Against All Odds in duet with the pop diva Mariah
Carey and the Abba’s I Have A Dream. A sure hit album from
coast to coast.
Album of the month
Fatboy Slim — Halfway Between The Gutter And The Stars (Sony Music)
It took quite some
time for Norman Cook to become an icon. He began to be recognised
through his works with Beats Inter-national, Pizzaman, Freakpower and
The Mighty Dub Katz — but all it took was a splendid album called You’ve
Come A Long Way, Baby that broke many club music records and
helped settle Norman Cook’s individual music personality. It’s
thundering tracks like Right Here, Right Now, You’ve Come A Long
Way Baby, The Rockafellar Shank and Praise You instantly
became mega-club anthems. Fatboy Slim now unveils its long-awaited
third album titled Halfway Between The Gutter And The Stars.
Well, the album is a fantastic dancefloor stomper that mixes the best
elements of funk, soul, electronica and pop. It moves and grooves fast
and furious with tremendous beat appeal. The special addictive on the
album is the collaboration with guests like Macy Gray, Roland Clark,
Bootsy Collins and Jim Morrison (vocal samplers). It all begins with a
dance track Talking Bout My Baby and goes clubbing with
chant-topped techno Star 69 and tranced-out Sunset (Bird Of
Prey), a Jim Morrison tune whose limited lyrics are provided by
the Lizard King recorded during his American Prayer poetry days. In Love
Life, Macy Gray rides with a neo-funk mood and mellows down on the
funky drummer ballad Demons. Mad Flava is loaded with
fuzzed guitars and keyboards. Yamama is a pumped-up track that
qualifies as an old-school dance-floor filler and is also included on
the Charlie’s Angels soundtrack. Halfway Between The Gutter And
The Stars undoubtedly puts a new spin on the funk-filled club
scene and what else, it rules !
— Saurabh
& Gaurav
The
Grrr…eat Music Zone Quiz
1. What was
Marc Anthony’s first solo album called?
2. Former 54-40
drummer Darryl filed a lawsuit against which music superstar?
3. What was
Bryan Adams’ first studio hit ever?
4. What film
does the All Saints track Pure Shores belong to?
5. Name the
lead singer of the band Firehouse.
6. Which Tori
Amos video sports a UK version in black and white and a US
version in colour?
7. What year
was Queensryche’s Silent Lucidity nominated for a
Grammy?
8. What
soundtrack did Art Alexakis of Everclear do a solo song for?
9. Erasure
remade the Donna Summer/ Barbra Streisand hit Enough Is
Enough with which famous female singer?
10. Which Creed
song carries the lines: "We may rise and fall but in the
end we will meet our fate together."
Answers
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1. Vermine in
Ermine
2. Sarah
McLachlan
3. If wishes
were horses
4. The Beach
5. Ed
Crawford |
6. Cornflake
Girl
7. 1990
8. Permanent
Midnight
9. KD Lang
10. One |
Top 10 singles |
1. If
You’re Gone Matchbox 20 çè
2. Give
Me Just One Night 98 Degrees ê
3. The
Shape Of My Heart Backstreet Boys é
4. Don’t
Tell Me Madonna é
5. This
I Promise You N’ Sync l
6. Holler
Spice Girls ê
7. My
Love Westlife é
8. Sunset
Fatboy Slim l
9. Hold
Me Savage Garden çè
10. Black
Coffee ll Saints ê
éClimbing
up êFalling
down çè
Non-mover l
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