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Aerosmith - Just Push Play
(Sony Music) **
Working with
co-producers and song collaborators Mark Frederiksen and Mark Hudson,
Aerosmith have forged an album that gracefully fuses 70’s hard-rock
with contemporary gloss. Just Push Play, the Boston quintet’s
thirteenth studio album and the followup to 1997’s Nive Lives
brings back the band’s signature riffs and hardened vocals. But
anyways who wants to listen to the same ol’ stuff they’ve been
doing for the last decade: sliding from rock towards pop. Thanks to
Steven Tyler and Joe Perry who still have the ability to create some
magic. The first single Jaded is a sweet-tinged track. Drop
Dead Gorgeous finds Joe Perry with the mic and offers loads of
surprises. The hip-hop scratching on the title track and the heavily
loaded doo-dops of Outta Your Head work nicely with Tyler’s
rappy vocal pattern. The psychedelic Under My Skin and
slow-tempo Sunshine are worth listening to. The only track that
lives up to the Aerosmith standards is Beyond Beautiful.
Caution: Don’t
expect any fireworks.
Lionel Richie -
Renaissance
(Universal) ****
Cher did it – now
it’s Lionel’s turn. On Renaissance, Lionel Richie proves
that even after more than 30 years in the business, you never really
lose what you’ve got. Last year Lionel appeared from nowhere to open
the wildly successful tour for Tina Turner. Lionel Richie has
certainly taken no chances on his latest offering, hooking up with
notable producer-lyricists, including Mark Taylor, Rodney Jerkins
(Mariah Carey, Brandy, Whitney Houston), Walter Afanasieff and Brian
Rawling (Cher, Enrique Iglesias). Angel’s thumping beats have
the capability to throw Cher’s Believe off the charts, for
which he collaborated with dance music producers Rawling and Taylor.
Lionel takes on Latin music with the likes of Cinderella, Dance
The Night Away and Here Is My Heart. He is at his romantic
best on the intoxicatingly soulful ballad Don’t You Ever Go Away.
With its up-tempo production and groovy vocal patterns, Wasted Time
is a melodic testament of Richie’s vocal ability. For those wanting
a little Hello-era, look no further than the well-crafted
ballads I Forgot, Tender Heart, Piece Of My Heart,
How Long and It May Be The Water. An album enough to
understand why Lionel Richie was once labelled the king of adult
contemporary music.
Jennifer Lopez -
J.Lo
(Sony Music) *
Jennifer Lopez has entered the
singing-acting-dancing zone of the bonafide superstar Will Smith and
has developed a reputation to match her talents. J.Lo, the
follow-up to her multiplatinum 1999 debut On The 6, makes
little attempt to hit it bigger, employing an army of co-producers and
writers (including Puff Daddy) to assemble a slick, 15-track package.
With steamy lyrics, melodies that make nursery rhymes sound
sophisticated and production straight from the Wal-Mart school of
music, her music renames R&B as MR&LB — More Rhythm and Less
Blues. Love Don’t Cost A
Thing
offers some unavoidable hooks. Her Puerto Rico background comes to the
fore on a handful of Spanish numbers, notably Carino, which
samples Cuban percussionist Mongo Santamaria’s Sogrito to an
impressive effect. Some tracks look back to the 1980s- particularly
Michael Jackson-influenced I’m Real and the funky Play.
The Madonna-soundalike Ain’t I Funny isn’t up to the mark.
The album constantly reminds you of Jennifer’s vocal shortcomings
and gives you a feel that probably Gloria Estefan would have handled
this better!
Album of the month
Radiohead - Kid A
(Virgin Records)
This fourth album
from British alt-band needs no introduction. It has already proved
itself to be a winner at this year’s Grammys. Kid A is a
drastic step — an eerie, futuristic soundscape- concept album —
that abandons the band’s traditional rock-softcraft arrangement and
instrumentation. The album is supposedly about a human clone trapped
in a bleak futuristic world, and as comprehensible as the last 20
minutes of 2001: A Space Odyssey. The album begins brilliantly,
with a rolling electric piano groove that strives upwards, alongside
Thom Yorke’s voice — chopped and shaped by Johnny Greenwood —
circling the listener’s head like a halo of midges on Everything
In Its Right Place. The title track follows with childlike bell
motifs that picks the way through vibrating drums and nursery-room
vibe. The National Anthem offers nasty bass riffs and
stop-start drums anchoring synthesiser notes. A flatulent sax solo
joins in before the whole thing goes off the rails into a free-jazz
outblast. How To Disappear Completely is unarguably the most
recognisable Radiohead-esque track on the record, with melodramatic
string arrangement backing York’s plaintive voice. Optimistic
and In Limbo are the focus tracks here. Stuttering beats and
omnipresent electric piano set against random phrases together form The
Morning Bell. Motion Picture Soundtrack comes as a stunning
act. It showcases a collage of rising strings and escalating voises
which is as beautiful as it sounds strange. An album likely to make
history.
— Saurabh &
Gaurav
The
Grrr…eat Music Zone Quiz
1.What was Co Co
Lee’s first American album called?
2.On the Hotter
Than Hell album cover, one of the KISS members’ faces was
super-imposed. Name the member.
3.Before starting
his solo career with the debut album Loosegroove,
Nash Kato was a part of which band?
4.What is the last
album by mark Knopfler called?
5.What was the
original language title of Kraftwerk’s late seventies hit
track Showroom Dummies ?
6.Which famous
actress is featured in Lenny Kravitz’s American Woman
video?
7.What was the
title of John Lennon’s first published book?
8.Stevie Wonder
plays harmonica in which Eurythmics song?
9.On Lucy Pearl’s
first album, name the song that features Snoop Dogg and Q-Tip?
10.What was the
debut album by Travis called?
Answers
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1. Just No Other
Way
2. Ace Frehley
3. Urge Overkill
4. Sailing To
Philadelphia
5.
Schaufensterpuppen
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6. Heather
Graham
7. In His Own
Write
8. There Must Be
An Angel
9. You
10. All I Wanna
Do Is Rock |
Top 10 singles |
1. Nobody
Wants To Be Lonely Ricky Martin
2. I Lay My
Love On You Westlife é
3. Jaded Aerosmith
çè
4. Love Don’t
Cost A Thing Jennifer Lopez ê
5. Inner Smile
Texas l
6. It Wasn’t
Me Shaggy é
7. The Call Backstreet
Boys ê
8. Stan Eminem
l
9. All For
You Janet Jackson é
10. Rollin’
Limp Bizkit ê
é Climbing
up ê Falling
down çè
Non-mover
l
New entry
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