Rant or rave reviews
2002-10-29 10:34
Counting Crows: Hard Candy
Pop music has become an easy dime a dozen and the Counting Crows are trying hard not to be classified under the same genre. Hard Candy shows the band trying to get back to basics.
The Counting Crows, whose name was taken from an Old English nursery rhyme, made a huge debut with August And Everything After, featuring Mr Jones.
Hard Candy, however, is light both lyrically and musically, although Adam Duritz manages to come up with black gems.
Miami speaks about willfully sabotaging a good relationship and Goodnight L.A. questions positive and negative qualities of love. Darker lyrics come into play in the piano-focused Black and Blue which alludes to depression and suicide.
Ryan Adams adds his sound to the tempo track Butterfly in Reverse, while Jerry Hey delivers an inspiring flugelhorn solo to the melancholy Carriage. In addition, Sheryl Crow lends her distinctive voice to the vibey first single American Girls.
Bon Jovi: Bounce
Times are a-changing but Bon Jovi, to a large extent, hasn't. Familiar sounds come through on the bands' follow-up to Crush.
Bon Jovi does not stray from its distinctive sound and as heartwarming as the orginality is, going back to your roots doesn't always make for a good album.
That said, there are a few tracks to be on the listen out for and these include Everyday, Misunderstood and the title track.
Def Leppard: X
Seems like everyone's trying to get back to basics and as much as boy bands were the flavour of the month, not being a sell-out seems to be the current trend.
On X, Def Leppard seems to be recapturing the changes they sought on Adrenalize. You'll remember that that offering from the band included tracks like Have You Ever Needed Someone So Bad and Let's Get Rocked.
Taking a note out of that album, Def Leppard comes through with a few hardcore tracks like Now, Cry and Scar.
But the not rock tunes like Unbelievable, Long Long Way To Go and Let Me Be The One are in the majority.
And if you're wondering, this is the band's tenth album, hence the title, X.
An Evening with Joan Armatrading
This release (and there are more) is the first sign that the silly season has begun. From the disturbingly glittery cover through to the 14th track, this is one of those Boney M Christmas do's.
The album features tracks like Me Myself I, Drop The Pilot, Rosie and Love and Affection.
If that's your cup of tea, well, er...