Reviews Written By: A230OQI33XFCVBprovided by Amazon.com |
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 | New Order - Substance | |
 | "A must." | 2008-09-12 |
| If there's a New Order album deserving to be part of any essential albums ranking ever, it would have to be this one. A bit underproduced, perhaps too much austere for such a great release, the music still deserves the full 5 stars with no doubt. Greatest Hits and Singles compilers from today should learn from the past by checking how this became probably the best ever out from New Order's discography, without having to spice it up with "new" releases that do not bring up anything new at all. The perfect introduction to New Order for any newcomer, and always a pleasure for a commited fan. A hit singles album like no one do anymore nowadays. | ||
 | New Order - Technique | |
| "A captivating mixture." | 2008-09-12 |
| Might not be the best album out there from New Order's discography for both the critics and specialized media but, however, it is definitely one of the most recommended and enjoyable for any newbie and loyal fan indeed, as it defines what this band is all about by blending the best from their both styles which result a captivating mixture: alternative guitar pop over an acid techno base, spiced up with Bernard Sumner's engaging voice. It just brings back the best electronic atmosphere from Substance revamped up with the guitars from Republic, making it the perfect link between both albums. Excellent. | ||
 | Arcadia - So Red the Rose | |
 | "Worth a listen." | 2008-09-05 |
| Perhaps slightly under Duran Duran's mainstream/pop standards, but still worth a spin as it's much more elaborated and stylish than any of both Duran Duran or Power Station releases. Think about a progressive new wave Pink Floyd-ish version of Duran Duran. Collaborations from remarkable stars (Sting, David Gilmour and Herbie Hancock) helped to bring it up to a huge hit accomplishment, far away from the Power Station's success shadow. However, this one's still suits better to a relaxed listening environment, rather than to a dance radio station scenario. | ||
 | The Dandy Warhols - Thirteen Tales From Urban Bohemia | |
| "Good music." | 2008-09-02 |
| If all cuts were as good as "Bohemian Like You", then it would deserve even a 6 star rating... but not all songs are like it, which doesn't mean you'll find a really bad one in here; it's just you won't find any better. However it's still a well crafted and carefully produced album, worth listening and recommended for any Dandy Warhols' newcomer and fan. Good music. | ||
 | Oasis - (What's The Story) Morning Glory | |
| "The best from Oasis." | 2008-09-02 |
| Noisy britpop from the 90s, an alternative to US Grunge from the same era, ill-bred children and, of course, a very british Beatlesque touch contribute to build up a good modern rock album supposedly meant to last and remain as one of the classics forever along with releases from Rolling Stones, Beatles or Led Zeppelin. Actually it includes the so-called 'best rock and roll song of all times' (based on a local radio survey), "Wonderwall", which just makes it worth listening.br /br /Trivia: even Coca Cola did not wanted to detach from the album's success by suing the band for plagiarism, claiming that one of the songs was very similar to a famous 80's jingle they had... which was it?br /br /A bit overexposed it still represents the best of Oasis ever, apart from the 'curious' personality of the band members or, better said, their idiocy.br /br /Someone once said this is how beatles would sound in the 90's if they'd continued their career...br /br /Who knows? Who cares? | ||
 | The Cardigans - Gran Turismo | |
| "Things change... bands evolve." | 2008-08-30 |
| First of all: this album doesn't sound like "Life", "Emmerald" or "First Band on the Moon". If you want music like the one on any of those albums, go and grab them as you may get disappointed with "Gran Turismo" as a few reviewers here did. This is simply a different Cardigans sound, which reflects the healthy evolution of a band, moving away from positive cheesy fun pop for a younger audience to an electro-guitar-led trip-hop, much more labored, self-conscious album, a bit too far away from the mainstream. And that's just great from my side. Hypnotic. Inspired. Slow enough. Fast enough. Sophisticated. Stylish. Cool. If I wanted The Cardigans to sound always the same as they did on their previous albums, then it would be much easier to push the 'repeat all' button on my CD player when listening "Life" or "Emmerald". It would also save me some bucks by the way... | ||
 | Modjo - Modjo | |
| "Stimulating." | 2008-08-30 |
| A few house albums result so engaging and catchy as this one... Superb samplers, positive gooves and amazing bass guitars make this one simply a must for any electronica and dance music fan by bringing both house and disco music together with an elegant touch of style up to the highest levels.br /br /Imagine Daft Punk meets Jamiroquai, and revisit Chic's catalogue... sometimes it even seems Bernard Edwards being part of the band on the guitars.br /br /If you can manage to get the special edition with the additional CD full of remixes and versions, you just get prepared to never stop listening to these chaps.br /br /Great! | ||
 | Warrant - Cherry Pie-Dirty | |
| "One of the best from hair metal." | 2008-08-26 |
| For me, this is perhaps one of the best albums back from the hair metal era. Lots of memories arise each time I play it... A good sound legacy from a specific musical history moment recorded here, no matter how cheesy it may result, now and then. Some lucky folks with no past on their lives laugh today when they look back at the band and listen to its songs, no matter if they were the best Warrant fans back on the 80s... lucky that none of them seems to have no past and never liked something like this before. Worth every penny if you're in it for a bit of cheesy hair metal sound from the 80s. If you're ashamed of it, then just turn back and laugh at it. The true sound of Warrant, with a couple mainstream smashing hits. | ||
 | Andres Calamaro - Alta Suciedad | |
| "A stable album." | 2008-08-23 |
| Five stars because, perhaps, this one is the most mature and complete album out from all Andres Calamaro's discography, which also flag the end of an era on his career as the following releases would have a lesser media impact and be quite more experimental rather than focused on mainstream. Probably the best one to listen if you're a Calamaro newcomer as it exactly portrays his musical background and sonwriter talent. A stable album, with no surprises or exaggerations, which maintains a balanced tone, just euphoric enough and just sufficiently paused, worsen as the end of the record gets closer. A good example from the so-called "latin american Bob Dylan"... | ||
 | Sting - Ten Summoner's Tales | |
| "Sting's best solo record." | 2008-08-23 |
| (more than...) Ten standalone songs not tied up between each other build a non-conceptual artwork, full of remarkable moments a few masterpieces and a couple of breakdowns, bringing Sting back from the shadows of dark jazz, politics, lost causes and death apology to the pop mainstream he left behind when The Police broke up at their success peak, almost a decade before, much more optimistic and colorful than his previous solo efforts proving, by the way, that musicians are not necessarily good politicians as well... Simple pop songs and understandable lyrics under a solid musical foundation, with a pinch of jazz influence, altogether make this album a worthy piece. No matter what the critics experimentalists said, this is Sting's best solo album. Stop. | ||
 | The Beatles - The Beatles 1 | |
| "Just #1s. That's it." | 2008-08-20 |
| Appart from a couple 4-star cuts, this record is just amazing. It has all The Beatles' singles that went up to #1, in US and UK charts, arranged chronologically. You may like it more or less, but you can't deny all the songs here defined the whole sound of contemporary pop/rock music, even till today, no matter how hard the critics are. It may still lack a few other excellent songs from the band deserving to be on a greatest hits collection, but you may still try to get them sepparately by looking for the career albums. These are just #1s. Not more. No less. | ||
 | Big Audio Dynamite II - The Globe | |
| "The best record from B.A.D." | 2008-08-18 |
| Despite the previous comments here, I would still strongly recommend this one for any B.A.D. newcomer, rather than grabbing a greatest hits or a different record - you won't be disappointed. A strong second release from B.A.D. (yes, no matter how the band was named it's still a Big Audio Dynamite's record...), including a few dance-rock gems featuring experimental samplers and some other worthy elaborated songs. Just a couple or not more than three cuts might force to pull down this review from 5 to 4 stars... IMPORTANT: don't expect any Clash-alike sound!!! | ||
 | The Divinyls - The Divinyls | |
| "Not only "I Touch Myself"..." | 2008-08-15 |
| Though it seems at a first glance that the only good song of the whole album would be "I Touch Myself" this is actually a complete work, filled up with a few good cuts, carefully produced and arranged, appart from the smashing hit single mentioned which, however, makes it worth enough. Christina Amphlett's voice is astonishingly unique, which surely made her one of the most important vocalists from Australia, if not the most relevant. And it is fully demonstrated in this album... | ||
 | Lisa Marie Presley - To Whom It May Concern | |
| "A surprising debut." | 2008-08-14 |
| After listening for the first time, it can't be denied it comes as a surprise this album is really good indeed... however, this is a very interesting and quite explanatory example of how important production is over the music industry. I guess that about 80% of the whole album's success is due to the carefully mastered sound production, on both the instrumentation and voices, including the overdubbed background vocals. They achieved much more on the console than on the writing and the creatives, though these can't be underestimated anyway. It might be disappointing for those waiting to hear any reminiscent of Elvis on her daughter's voice and music style. None of those can be found accross the whole the album... It's much more a dark ambience sexy-voice folk-ish gothic styled, rather than rockabilly or standard mainstream pop. Think about a kind of Evanescence-meets-Sheryl Crow. Good debut or, at least, good enough for escaping a little from the shadows on her past marriages and other unfortunate occurrences in the media. | ||
 | Charly García - MTV Unplugged | |
| "A personal milestone." | 2008-08-08 |
| Taking into consideration the strong limitations of the MTV "unplugged" format and the fact that, almost for sure, Charly was completely drunk and wasted whilst recording the show, this album can be considered a success just for the fact of existing, as it could never have been recorded... A good selection and a superb supporting band, including the late Maria Gabriela Epumer, make this album worth enough and a personal milestone on Charly GarcÃa's heritage, by renewing the sound of several hit singles and greatest songs given the difficulties of working with a conductor with his head lost on another planet. From this point onwards, Charly's career began a slow but relentless decline, which also makes this album a good restrospective of an artist that left all his best on the past. Good for newcomers and commited fans as well. | ||
 | Van Halen - 1984 | |
| "Van Halen's classic, not full of "Jump"s." | 2008-08-07 |
| Van Halen's classic album, filled up with plenty of risky and innovative guitar riffs (signed of course by, what else?, guitar virtuoso and experimental Eddie Van Halen) which defined the essence of hard rock sound during the 80's. The subtle blend between hard rock and keyboards worked really well, just for this record and its era, keeping in mind the New Wave movement invaded almost everything then. Much more of it would become tedious... Excellent vocals, amazing guitar riffs and a few hooking songs made this one of the decade's music exponent, still good enough to enjoy almost after thirty years. However, not all of the songs are as catchy as Jump or Panama, so listener may not expect much more beyond that, but not a bad album anyway with more than a half of good songs. Some drum sounds on a couple cuts eventually reminds Bonzo's on Led Zeppelin IV. A must in any 80's collection. | ||
 | Van Halen - 1984 | |
| "Van Halen's classic, not full of "Jump"s." | 2008-08-07 |
| Van Halen's classic album, filled up with plenty of risky and innovative guitar riffs (signed of course by, what else?, guitar virtuoso and experimental Eddie Van Halen) which defined the essence of hard rock sound during the 80's. The subtle blend between hard rock and keyboards worked really well, just for this record and its era, keeping in mind the New Wave movement invaded almost everything then. Much more of it would become tedious... Excellent vocals, amazing guitar riffs and a few hooking songs made this one of the decade's music exponent, still good enough to enjoy almost after thirty years. However, not all of the songs are as catchy as Jump or Panama, so listener may not expect much more beyond that, but not a bad album anyway with more than a half of good songs. Some drum sounds on a couple cuts eventually reminds Bonzo's on Led Zeppelin IV. A must in any 80's collection. | ||
 | Basia - Basia on Broadway | |
| "A Jazz-Pop gem indeed." | 2008-08-07 |
| By the time this album was released, Basia's talent and creativity were already indisputable on the jazz-pop scene, given the success and the impact of her previous three solo records, post Matt Bianco. And, just in case there was still any doubt, this live album makes it quite clear why when it comes to the best female singers, Basia's name is always on the top of the list. The backing vocals, the band, Basia's performance, the entire setup, everything is so perfectly produced and mastered that it made this one of the best cristal-clear live albums ever recorded, and with regards to the music selection itself, is simply amazing. Not only quite good because of the sound quality, but also because of the beauty of the songs. A relaxing symphony, both groovy and hypnotic at the same time, which deserves to be heard a few times in order to really find out all the little details and quality glimpses that makes this a standout masterpiece. A Jazz-Pop gem indeed. | ||
 | Blondie - Blondie - Greatest Hits | |
| "An excellent portrait of Blondie's career." | 2008-08-06 |
| An excellent and quite a complete portrait of Blondie's career, not only highly recommended for newcomers (who will get to know the most important reference for all of today's female pop super-mega-stars...), but also quite a good compilation for those unconditional fans as all the songs here have been carefully remastered, providing a new cristal-clear sound to Blondie's classics worth being heard. As they always did, Debbie Harry's vocals stand out masterfully over a melting pot of wonderful rhythms and styles, making this a unique band over the last three decades. It also works fairly just as what it is: a Greatest Hits compilation. No rarities. No B sides. No new songs. No strings attached. Worth the money. | ||
 | Rubén Blades - Rubén Blades y Son del Solar...Live! | |
| "A masterpiece!!!" | 2008-08-06 |
| This one's simply a masterpiece by Rubén Blades and his Son del Solar band. Probably the most hooking and cheerful recording out from all his discography, capable of making the whole latin music to sound like the finest symphony. The entire show record captured not only the feeling on the music, the virtue on the performance and Ruben's catchy vocals, but it also captured faithfully the audience mood that night. There's some passages that even sound like a comedy stand-up show, highlighting the communion between the artist and his fans. Not a greatest hits collection, as not all of his best songs are included but, however, still one of his personal best, and perhaps also one of the best salsa albums recorded ever. A must in any latin music collection. | ||
 | Garbage - Bleed Like Me | |
| "Amazingly exciting." | 2008-08-03 |
| First of all, I must admit I didn't liked all the tracks on this album, but I'm still able to tell that (at least) seven out of the 10 songs are good enough to spend the money. And from those seven, I absolutely loved three or four of them full of energy and exciting. Percentage of good ones definitely overrides percentage of bad ones across the whole album. If you're expecting something like the follow-up electronic Garbage sound from "Beautiful Garbage", it's not what you're getting. Think about "Elastica meets The Stone Roses", or a Shirley Manson version of the Stone Temple Pilots. More guitars, less samplers, but still amazing Garbage feeling quite more organic/studio guitar based than the previous two releases. However, there's nothing truly outstanding - Garbage fans may feel at home. Shirley, fantastic, as always =) | ||
 | The Brand New Heavies - The Brand New Heavies: Original Flava | |
| "That's it: the Original Flava." | 2008-08-01 |
| This is it: Brand New Heavies' Original Flava. The raw version of the Heavies. The sound that, unfortunately, didn't lasted for too much as the other Heavies records came with a completely different production, with much more danceable hits but less organic and relaxed as this one. I absolutely love N'Dea's unique soulful voice colour on the other BNH releases, but after listening to this one, I've found the other albums a bit over-produced, affecting the vocals as well which, at the end, might determined her approach to the music being not as natural and raw as those on Original Flava. Some BNH gems, and a few nice instrumentals made this album a complete project, amazingly hooking from the first to the last track. A must for all BNH fans, and a very attractive starting point to those not familiar with the band. | ||
 | Michael Jackson - Bad | |
| "Not too "Bad" at all..." | 2008-07-31 |
| Having released the best-selling-album-ever just five years before pushing this one out to the market was, already, a quite difficult milestone. However, "Bad" still delivers good music not to disappoint the true fans, even though it did disapointed the critics and the profane masses expecting a "Thriller v.2". If compared with "Thriller" this one would definitely look unfairly like a poor recording, but when listened as a standalone project (what it really is) you'll find quite a good R&B dance pop album, delivering quality, creativity and a several pop gems. Remarkable collaborations also helped to made this one an essential. Keeping in mind it was dated on 1987, you'll understand why this chap was used to be considered then the "king of pop" as it sounds far ahead from it's era... far so good that it even gave the enough reasons for the jealous to start the harassment that lead to Michael Jackson decline. It marks the beginning of the end of a legend, away from the music scenario. A personal masterpiece on Michael Jackson's career, carefully produced by Quincy Jones, who also deserves a special recognition on being the one who put "Off the Wall", "Thriller", "Bad" and Michael Jackson himself on the place they are, even today, no matter the resentful: at the pop highest. For a full "Bad experience" customers and real fans might find interesting to get also a copy of the complementary movie, 'Moonwalker', which showcases a kindo story around the "Bad" songs (keeping also in mind that the imdb rating is 4.7/10 as of today...): Micheal Jackson - Moonwalker [Non-US Format, PAL, Region 2, Import] | ||
 | The Soup Dragons - Hotwired | |
| "Really HOTwired!" | 2008-07-31 |
| Maybe the best out of all Soup Dragons career: solid, powerful, cheerful, trippy, dance-able britpop gem, still rockin' loud almost two decades after being released.br /br /Sean Dickson's voice (one of the best rock-suited ever around), simply stirs up the whole album along with such great guitar moods.br /br /The starting point for anybody wanting to learn about 90's alternative dance rock. | ||
 | Daft Punk - Homework | |
| "Strongly NOT recommended for "Easy Listening" or "Adult Contemporary" fans." | 2008-07-30 |
| The very first time I've listened to this album, I thought my player got broken or the CD was scratched, but then I listened again afterwards and noticed that it was actually the real sound of Daft Punk. No strings attached. After a few more times of listening and deep-diving it, I suddenly found myself hooked to the loops and beats of what could be considered the best Daft Punk album ever. A risky project which turned into quite a good electronic/house classic, as good for workout as it is for partying. Weird samples, extreme loops, mad beats and several other bizarre sounds made this album an essential if you're in it for electronic. "Around the World" is a true all-time gem, for sure. Strongly not recommended for "Easy Listening" or "Adult Contemporary" fans. | ||
 | Duran Duran - Astronaut | |
| "Welcome back!!!" | 2008-07-28 |
| Not as strong and forceful as many other Duran Duran recordings, this could be easily remembered for being one of the decade's most expected comebacks -keeping in mind that it sets the reunition of the original Duran Duran lineup, after more than 20 years of sepparate careers-, rather than for the actual musical content... But, however, that would be a very simple and unfair approach to this album as it contains some geuine gems worth to be appreciated, not only by true fans but by everybody as well. It's not and probably it won't become a classic album, but it's still much more than Medazzaland and Pop Trash though. Sound is definitely not evocating the new-wave bizzare-hairdos synth/pop music style that made them famous during the 80's, but it still keeps most of the DD's signature, with some spice on the guitars and a mature voice production. Maybe listener can feel there's a little too much work here on trying to make a hit single out from some tunes, which brings down my rating from 5 to 4 stars. However, the album as a whole deserves a positive remark as it adds up some missing talent and strong background in not-really-good times for pop music. | ||
 | Half Life: Orange Box | |
| ""beau-ti-fu-el"!!!" | 2008-07-27 |
| I used to think that console gaming was becoming increasingly boring as the days go by, till I've bought The Orange Box. Team fortress is simply amazing. Yeah, I know it's a shooter. But it's not a simple shooter: it is an amazing shooter. You gotta play it to understand it... There's not enough words to explain why I've spent so many hours hooked to it, exploding buddies around the globe. Nice try by Portal on proposing new playing experiences, but it's still like a revamped edition of echocrome - not much action really. And I've never played the Half Life saga, as it's a non-multiplayer linear game, which made me push down the rating stars from 5 to 4... but I promise I'll play it someday, if I lost my internet connection =) The only shame is the almost-useless empty booklet, with not enough information on strategies, controls, point/award strategies and a whole lot of missing information... Yet you can still get the Prima Official Game Guide to complete a nice bundle, here: Half-Life 2 (Orange Box): Prima Official Game Guide | ||
| Half Life: Orange Box | |
| ""beau-ti-fu-el"" | 2008-07-27 |
| I used to think that console gaming was becoming increasingly boring as the days go by, till I've bought The Orange Box. Team fortress is simply amazing. Yeah, I know it's a shooter. But it's not a simple shooter: it is an amazing shooter. You gotta play it to understand it... There's not enough words to explain why I've spent so many hours hooked to it, exploding buddies around the globe. Nice try by Portal on proposing new playing experiences, but it's still like a revamped edition of echocrome - not much action really. And I've never played the Half Life saga, as it's a non-multiplayer linear game, which made me push down the rating stars from 5 to 4... but I promise I'll play it someday, if I lost my internet connection =) The only shame is the almost-useless empty booklet, with not enough information on strategies, controls, point/award strategies and a whole lot of missing information... Yet you can still get the Prima Official Game Guide to complete a nice bundle, here: Half-Life 2 (Orange Box): Prima Official Game Guide | ||
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