Ok I've been listening to Melinda Doolittle's album over the past few weeks and I completely ignored two standout tracks in my inital review---"The Best of Everything" and "Coming Back To You." The former track is stunning due to Doolittle's vocals; she simply sings the hell outta that track. And I love her delicate phrasing on the latter track.

That's all.

Man I can tell there's not any noteworthy music out right now because this thread has been dead for a week.

All, do allow me the opportunity of contributing to this thread with a review on an album released in October 2008 that has definitely grown on me the past few weeks. Catching the band live has catapulted my appreciation of the CD.

“PERFECT SYMMETRY” by KEANE

3rd CD by this British band finds them exploring new sounds, new instrumentation and a much lighter mood. For those who loved “HOPES AND FEARS”, the band’s debut album, fear not – there is plenty of expertly crafted melodies. The title track and “The Lovers Are Losing” are the type of songs that Coldplay would dream to write. These songs are epic, heart-tugging and soaring all at once. If you were testing the CD, I’d recommend hearing out these songs first.

The flavour of the CD is 80’s Britpop, though not exactly. The instrumental arrangement sounds “now” – it is tasteful, addictive and pleasant to the ears. Synthesizers, digital percussion and electric guitar (the first time as Keane has always used piano!) are balanced by organic-sounding drum beats, crystal clear tinkling of the piano and Tom Chaplin’s vocals (one of the higher pitched male voices in today’s music industry – lending to the songs’ honesty and naivety). “Spiralling” and “Again and Again” are upbeat and danceable. “Love Is the End” and “You Don’t See Me” are the obligatory ballads which are distinctively Keane.

Keane’s brilliance lies in its ability to write the catchiest hooks and chant-along choruses without ever resorting to the realm of bubble-gum pop. “PERFECT SYMMETRY” is very enjoyable music from start to finish, an artsy experimental project that just happens to be so very accessible. A masterpiece.

Try Keane’s first 2 CDs too if you can. Play them loudly. See them live.

Grade: 93

NO LINE ON THE HORIZON, U2 (2009)

Maybe I need to give this a few more listens, but I'm underwhelmed. U2 starts this album out on an excellent note with the title track; it's rousing, uplifting and has a great chorus. Sadly, I feel like there aren't too many standout moments on this disc. The songs kind of run together and there aren't any strong melodies. The only other standout moment for me is the bridge of the otherwise disappointing "Get On Your Boots." I expect better from U2.

MY SCORE: 67

DAY 26 - Forever In A Day

Day 26's softmore album is a another solid contemporary R&B album. There's a ton of outstanding production on the record and Day 26 brings something that most artists don't bring to the music scene anymore: those smooth "babymakin" R&B vocals. The album starts off pretty great after the intro with their 1st single, "Imma Put It On Her" featuring P.Diddy and Yung Joc. This is a solid track that definitely deserves some consideration for Rap/Sung Collaboration at next year's Grammys. The album then moves onto the T-Pain featured auto-tune track "Shawty Wats Up." Its another upbeat, club banger. Even though I'm sure we're all tired of frickin' auto-tune, the song is still great. Next, they break it down with the smooth uptempo ballad "Think of Me." With the next 3 tracks, you can tell Day 26 was trying to experiment with their sound and songwriting. "Stadium Music" is more rock/popish and so is "Bipolar", while "Perfectly Blind" is a simple, softly performed and moving ballad (Co-written by Que and Dawn, of Danity Kane fame). After these 3 tracks, Day 26 moves back in the direction of those "R&B" tracks we all love with "So Good", "Girlfriend", and "Babymaker", which are all good. The next two tracks are not my favorites: "Then There's You" and "Need That". Both are a little boring and dull. "Need That" in particular, produced by and featuring JD, is suppose to be this upbeat club track, but it sounds like something from the 90s that 112 would have performed, which of course, makes it clear to see why Diddy would choose to have this track on the album. "Reminds Me Of You" isn't the most exciting song on the album, but this ballad is decent enough and enjoyable to listen to, mostly because of the harmonies of Day 26. The second to last track on the album is STRAIGHT FIRE!!!!! "Your Heels" is an amazing track that I can't stop listening to. If Diddy knows what's best for him, he better release this as the second single! Its the perfect song for summer. The final song "Truth is a Lie" is fine, but nothing special, especially after listening to "Your Heels". Overall, Forever In A Day is a pretty good contemporary R&B album and definitely one of the more note-worthy ones of the year. If J.Holiday and Karina could get in last year, then I have to say, you should watch out for Day 26 to get a nomination in Contemporary R&B Album! It could definitely happen and would be deserved if it did.

Album Grade: 82


Sidenote: A lot of great tracks (that leaked online) were left off the album for some strange reason. I highly recommend looking online for "Dizzy" and "Lemme Luv U Girl." Both should have made the album and could have been potential singles!!!

This message has been edited. Last edited by: 24fanatic,

quote:

Originally posted by DoubleD:
NO LINE ON THE HORIZON, U2 (2009)

Maybe I need to give this a few more listens, but I'm underwhelmed. U2 starts this album out on an excellent note with the title track; it's rousing, uplifting and has a great chorus. Sadly, I feel like there aren't too many standout moments on this disc. The songs kind of run together and there aren't any strong melodies. The only other standout moment for me is the bridge of the otherwise disappointing "Get On Your Boots." I expect better from U2.

MY SCORE: 67

i totally agree. well said. but it's kind of weird because Get On Your Boots is still in my list of possible ROTY contenders for next year's award ceremony. i can't still see this single to be beaten by Love Story. if it does win, gosh, it would be the worst ROTY winner ever.

i'm not even putting No Line on the Horizon album for AOTY nom. just GoYB for ROTY.

24Fanatic, thanks for the Day26 review. I hope their new album is good. I actually like their last LP. Too bad Diddy and company didn't put forth the effort to promote something with some potential.

quote:

Originally posted by musicluva123:
24Fanatic, thanks for the Day26 review. I hope their new album is good. I actually like their last LP. Too bad Diddy and company didn't put forth the effort to promote something with some potential.

Yeah, it is sad. I was suprised to find out from Billboard today that their debut album only sold apx. 380,000 copies, despite debuting at #1 with 190,000 in sales. Diddy does not know how to promote his artists. He has another new and great talent, a rapper by the name of Gorilla Zoe who is getting ZERO promotion who has a hot track called "Echo" that could be a hit song...but alas...no promotion.

quote:

Originally posted by 24fanatic:

quote:

Originally posted by musicluva123:
24Fanatic, thanks for the Day26 review. I hope their new album is good. I actually like their last LP. Too bad Diddy and company didn't put forth the effort to promote something with some potential.

Yeah, it is sad. I was suprised to find out from Billboard today that their debut album only sold apx. 380,000 copies, despite debuting at #1 with 190,000 in sales. Diddy does not know how to promote his artists. He has another new and great talent, a rapper by the name of Gorilla Zoe who is getting ZERO promotion who has a hot track called "Echo" that could be a hit song...but alas...no promotion.

I had no idea Gorilla Zo was on Bad Boy. He should have stayed underground or on an independent label. I don't think too many youngsters are going to support his music, and I know for a fact that Diddy won't promote his music. Have you seen his low budget video? He'll probably get dropped soon enough.

This message has been edited. Last edited by: musicluva123,

quote:

Originally posted by musicluva123:

quote:

Originally posted by 24fanatic:

quote:

Originally posted by musicluva123:
24Fanatic, thanks for the Day26 review. I hope their new album is good. I actually like their last LP. Too bad Diddy and company didn't put forth the effort to promote something with some potential.

Yeah, it is sad. I was suprised to find out from Billboard today that their debut album only sold apx. 380,000 copies, despite debuting at #1 with 190,000 in sales. Diddy does not know how to promote his artists. He has another new and great talent, a rapper by the name of Gorilla Zoe who is getting ZERO promotion who has a hot track called "Echo" that could be a hit song...but alas...no promotion.

I had no idea Gorilla Zo was on Bad Boy. He should have stayed underground or on an independent label. I don't think too many youngsters are going to support his music, and I know for a fact that Diddy won't promote his music. Have you seen his low budget video? He'll probably get dropped soon enough.

yup! I was actually suprised to see that today, his single "Echo" is #99 on I-tunes top 100 songs. Good for him. That song deserves some recognition!

CIARA - FANTASY RIDE

I missed out on Ciara's debut album (minus the singles) and enjoyed her softmore album (The Evolution) good enough, but so far, I feel that this new album is her strongest effort yet! She sets it off immediately with the lyrics: "I'm not gonna talk about it, I'm gonna be about it" on the first track titled "Ciara To The Stage." Next she goes into 3 hot collaborations, the first being the well-recieved "Love Sex Magic" with Justin Timberlake. The next song, "High Price" featuring Ludacris has been leaked forever, but still proves to be a fresh and innovative club banger, mixing hard dancefloor beats with Ciara's opera-like vocal performance as she asks the listener: "Yeah I know you want it, but what do u got on it?" "High Price" should definitely be a single! Ciara continues to make you dance with her Chris Brown collabo "Turntables." It's a risky move having Chris on her album, but the track is great, so hopefully she won't get any negativity for having him on the album. Next up, Ciara announces that her love is "Like A Surgeon" and breaks it down with this interesting midtempo jam. It's not one of my favorite tracks, but its alright, especially as the song progresses. The next song is the single "Never Ever" featuring Young Jeezy, which proves to be a better midtempo jam than the previous track. After "Never Ever", CiCi breaks it down with The-Dream on their duet "Lover's Thing", which features an intimate vocal performance by Ciara. Sidenote: Ciara's vocals on the entire album are pretty good. She's come a LONG WAY from that cringe-worthy vocal on "And I", haha. Ciara get's your ass back up on the dancefloor with help from Missy Elliot on the club banger: "Work." CiCi continues making you dance with "Pucker Up", another hot track. The next song on the album is one of the hottest on the album: "G Is For Girl (A-Z)", on which Ciara proclaims: "G is for girl like gangsta, don't make'em like me anymore, so we in danger!" This track could also be a single and definitely an anthem for the ladies. The last 3 songs on the album are all slower dance tracks and more pop than R&B. They also uniquely work as a 3-part story in which first Ciara asks a guy to "Keep Dancin' On Me" then asks him to "Tell Me What Your Name Is." The final track on the album, "Don't Remember", is my favorite. The final part of the 3-part saga has a confused Ciara trying to remember the previous night. Ciara gives one of her most vunerable and best vocals ever on this track and ends the Fantasy Ride on a high note with a sense that the "fantasy" must come to an end. Overall, I was very impressed by this album and it is definitely the first one by Ciara that I can listen to in its entirety without skipping a track. Most definitely this will be a contender for Contemporary R&B Album next year at the Grammys!

Album Review: 93

This message has been edited. Last edited by: 24fanatic,

Ciara - Fantasy Ride

Fantasy Ride is the "long-awaited" third album from the "Princess of Crunk & B," Ciara. At first, I was really worried about Ciara. She was having a lot of trouble getting feedback from the general public with her single "Never Ever" and buzz single "Go Girl," which didn't even make the final version of the album. Ciara wanted to release her album as a 3-disc package, but I guess the label said "No, No, No"! Majority of the album, plus songs that didn't make the album, leaked damn near a year ago. I wasn't too fond of the leaks with the exception of "Work," "High Price," "Keep Dancin' on Me," and "Supernatural," which is probably one of my favorite songs by Ciara EVER. The rest of the tracks were sub par from first listen. Being that I'm a fan of Ciara's freshman and sophomore efforts, I was expecting this effort to fall FLAT! However, my expectations were very wrong. The album has a good handful of bangers. The tracks that leaked last year and this year sound much better on the album than it did when they were leaked. The DJ tags are no longer on them, and producers tweaked them a bit. I think the highlights of the album is "High Price" featuring Ludacris. I loved this track from first listen, even the unmastered versions. This should have been her first single HANDS DOWN! The whole opera-esque sound was really creative for Ciara. While being a pretty mediocre vocalist, she turned this track around vocally. I like! Of course, Luda blessed the track with a hot earth-shattering verse. There's also "Keep Dancin' on Me". I loved the demo featuring The-Dream more. However, Ciara did well without him. "Work" was one of the leaks from last year. There were two different versions: one with Missy Elliott and another one without her. Both were pretty hot. The final version includes Missy again. "Work" is what Janet's "Feedback" should have been. That's all I have to say. "G is for a Girl", while childish, seems like a club banger. I'm sure the kiddies or the ladies will love it. "Tell Me What Your Name Is" sounds a lot like "Promise." It definitely has replay value. While this album has quite a few high points, it also has some downfalls. "I Don't Remember" is definitely not one of my favorite songs on the CD. It's bland and Ciara sounds so dry on it. I just skip that track. I simply don't get the hype about "Turntables" featuring Chris Brown. Blah! "Never Ever" and "Love Sex Magic" aren't even the best songs on the album. There are far better songs on Fantasy Ride. This CD could have been better if she included "Go Girl" and "Supernatural". The CD seems a bit short, but it's not a bad album at all. A lot of us are hyping up artists like Keri Hilson and The-Dream, but I must say that Ciara deserves whatever hypes she gets. I don't think this album will be a huge hit for her, but her fans are liking or loving it, and that's all that matters. Some people may not agree, and it doesn't matter, but I put Ciara as a contender for Best Contemporary R&B Album. I would vote her in if I could.

Score: 79

I loved Britney's Circus LP. It was awesome, she did her best music from her different albums and mixed it up and it's a really fun record and whenever I am angry at bullies or my exs. I turn it on, and it usually helps me get out my anger over some of the stuff that happened.

Britney Spears album, I give an A+ for best album comeback this year, compared to all of her other contenders for the Grammys or possible contenders this year. That is cool I guess.

Beyonce's album, is next it is awesome for it's own reasons. You have the 2 Beyonces, you have one singing R&B Ballads, which are mostly amazing like the song "Halo" and "I were a Boy". Then you have the "Sasha Fierce" Beyonce which is rapping on "Diva", and going retro hip-hop with "Single Ladies", and on "Radio" and "Sweet Dreams" just plain fun like she was back in 2003. Everything but Austin Powers. But the most interesting song of the Sasha songs is "Ego" since it examines Celebrity egos and how that kind of work, can "spilt" and ego and how she sees it in other people. Anyways, I give it an A. Because it's some of her best work and she deserves a grammy for it for sure.

Now, Taylor Swift, as far as Pop Country goes, she is it's "It teen pop" woman. The album is really good for pop country album. The best songs are "Fifteen", "White Horse", "Your not Sorry", and "Love Story". But one of the more surprising songs is "Change". Because it is more punk than anything else on that CD and it's a really rowdy and uplifting track,I hope she pushes the boundries with country more. She already has some techno and electric guitars on the CD. Overall Grade a B+.

Ciara. I love all the tracks so far. For those just finding out about this. They are "Never Ever" featuring Young Joc", "Love, Sex, and Magic" featuring Justin Timberlake, and "Go Girl" featuring T. Pain. I think she'll do the best with R&B dance this year at the music awards shows. She is already proving she could send Madonna for her money if she wanted to. Overall grade, an A, because it shows her comeback from "Ciara: The Evolution" into a stronger more interesting artist and dancer.

I love new members.

quote:

Originally posted by Jimmy:
I love new members.

Can you be more welcoming? lol

THE FAME (2008), Lady Gaga

Right off the bat I just have to say it...Lady Gaga has not made an album here; she's merely made a collection of singles. There's nothing wrong with that, but you need to bring your A-Game when you make such a bold move. For the most part, Gaga succeeds. Several of the tracks here---all uptempo or midtempo---are quite solid. "Paper Gangster," "Nothing Else I Can Say (Eh Eh Eh) and "Beautiful, Dirty, Rich" are immediate standouts for me. I've never been a huge fan of first single "Just Dance"---the hook is forgettable---but I can see why it's a hit. And ultimately, there are a handful of forgettable tracks, namely the boring, cliched "Brown Eyes" and even the title track, that weigh down the album. However, there are a few high points, including second single "Poker Face" and "Paparazzi." The high point for me, however, is the instantly catchy "Love Game." The lyrics "Let's have fun/This beat is sick/I wanna take a ride on your disco stick" and the repetitive "I love game/I love game" will have any and everyone singing along. Gaga and her label would be fools not to release the latter track as a single at some point. Overall, though, the tracks are hit and miss for me, but most of the material here is a hit.

MY GRADE: 69


LOVE vs. MONEY (2009), The Dream

This could've been a great album had The Dream trimmed it by a few tracks. The first half of this disc is bangin. The first two singles, "Rockin That $hit" and "My Love" are cool, but the songs get hotter once Track 3 ("Walkin On the Moon f/Kanye) kicks in. The subject matter of the songs/lyrics feel repetitive at some points, though. Almost every other track is about sex. Luckily, the beats and hooks are catchy as hell so I can almost overlook the sometimes trite lyrics and unremarkable singing. The standout tracks for me include the second part of the title track (which include some pretty angry lyrics), the melodic "Mr. Yeah" and the raunchy, one-two punch of "Put It Down" and "Sweat It Out." The production on the latter two tracks is absolutely sick. The second half of the albums tends to slip into some forgettable, juvenile territory. Tracks like "Let Me See the Booty" just lie there for me. I do, however, think The Dream's sophomore effort is superior to his first one. He still isn't a great vocalist, but his singing has actually improved and the production is even better.

MY GRADE: 74

FANTASY RIDE (2009), Ciara

This album starts out on a high note. Album opener "Ciara To the Stage" is sexy and surprisingly well sung. Current single "LoveSexMagic" is a clear standout, as is past singles "High Price" (f/Ludacris) and "Never Ever" (which cleverly uses a sample of The Blue Notes' "If You Don't Know Me By Now"). However, this disc quickly slips into an array of weak ballads and feeble, limp dance floor cuts. Even help from The Dream (on "Lover's Thing") and Missy (on "Work") fail to ignite this album. The Chris Brown collaboration "Turntables" is also a disappointment. The production is pretty good throughout, but the lyrics and hooks make the songs forgettable. On a positive note, Ciara's singing has slightly approved, though she sounds awful singing in a high key on "High Price." In a nut shell, I'd suggest only downloading the tracks you like. This is a weak album.

MY GRADE: 48