Hi.

It's been a really poppy last couple of weeks/months for me....my tastes have become very poppy as I find the other kinds of music I like haven't been producing anything of interest.

These are the latest albums, etc I have bought in the last few weeks...and the ratings...all out of 5.

Nerd - Fly or Die - *** - I have to be in the right mood for this album. Sort of have to think like a teenager to enjoy it...it bears more resemblance to a Sum 41 album than its predecessor. A much weaker effort than In Search Of...even "She Wants To Move" doesn't do much to save this album from near-mediocrity. However, there are some good tracks spread throughout the dross.

The Neptunes Present...Clones - * - Quite, quite bad. Much less interesting than Fly or Die, but some of the beats here are at least pretty tight. "Light Your Ass On Fire", the Snoop track, Pharrel's track and the N.E.R.D. track are the only saving graces, really. The rest are absolutely DREADFUL.

Kelis - Wanderland - ***1/2 - Now for a really GOOD album with the Neptunes involvement...Kelis is a favourite of mine and this album is better than Kaleidoscope and nearly as good as Tasty (it even shares a track with that album).

Lenny Kravitz - Baptism - ***1/2 - One of the best albums I have bought lately, this one has quickly grown to be one of my favourite Lenny albums. It just has a really good thematic feel and the music is really consistent, even though it's painted in more basic colours than is usual for Lenny.

Janet - Live in Hawaii (DVD) - ** - Honestly I haven't even finished watching this because it's really not very good at all. It's full of lip-synching, which I could put up with alone, except it's generally pretty uninspired in every other aspect, too. Shame, really, cause Janet can put out some great stuff sometimes.

Beyonce - Live at Wembley Stadium (DVD) - *** - Much better than the Janet CD, she utilizes the live band quite well and there is a minimum of backing tracks/lip synching. Her dancing is superb and that voice is to die for at times.

George Michael - Patience - ***1/2 - Some lovely production, singing, lyrics and upbeat numbers, but it suffers from too many ballads.

George Michael - Ladies and Gentlemen... - **** - A very good compilation of George's best work. I'm a newcomer more or less to buying his stuff and I think this is probably the best place for someone like me to start. It has all my favourites.

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So...let us know what you've been buying and how you rate them!


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[This message was edited Mon Jun 7 4:27:04 2004 by mrdespues]

Frank McComb - The Truth vol.1 (IMPORT)**** - my favorite (besides Van Hunt) of the recent batch- a lot of people described "Donnie- The Colored Section" as Donny Hathaway blended with Stevie Wonder, and Frank Mccomb is in the same bag. I know a lot of people hate comparisons like that ,but that's where he is - Piano,Fender Rhodes, Hammond, Synths, and that voice! Originally with Branford Marsalis in Buckshot LeFonque, and also heard on IG Culture/New Sector Movements' album called Download This--(if anybodys heard a track called "The Sun", usually credited to Dwele , that's Frank Mccomb 's vocals and keyboards on that track)
Favorite track - the song "Fools" alone is worth the price of the CD,IMO - I wanna play this track for Stevie and ask, "Remember when you used to sound like this?"

'Brotha's from the US, but can't get no love over here, so this has only been released in the UK - just like this next person:


Rashaan Patterson -After Hours(IMPORT)*** More from one of the most underrated talents out there. as with the last album, he and Van Hunt Collaborate on many of the tracks - My favorites are "April's Kiss and "You Make Life So Good"


Eric Roberson-The Vault 1.5***-If anybody is hip to Vol.1 this the same thing , with a few new tracks added. Like Musiq, but much more accomplished, in my opinion (like McComb, he has also collaborated with Dwele). Favorite tracks - Find The Way and Past Paradise


Van Hunt - Van Hunt**** - Too Many folks have already commented on this one. 'Nuff Said!! (Favorite track-well,today it's "Hold My Hand")


Amp Fiddler - Waltz of A Ghetto Fly**1/2 - I dig Amp, but I like his first album (Mr Fiddler- With Respect) better ---that one was more straight up Funk, this new one is like Stevie Wonder meets House Music - - If that's your kinda' thang, then you will enjoy this album...
[This message was edited Mon Jun 7 15:50:16 2004 by paligap]

Fleetwood Mac - Tusk (Remastered & Expanded) - *****
Fleetwood Mac - Rumours (Remastered & Expanded) - *****
Fleetwood Mac - Fleetwood Mac (Remastered & Expanded) - *****

From 1-10

Miles Davis -- Live At Birdland 1951: 8.5 (horrible sound quality, great music)

Amp Fiddler -- Waltz of a Ghetto Fly: so far, a 6, not impressing me greatly but time will tell

Isaac Hayes -- Ultimate Collection: 8

Om Lounge Vol. 2 -- Liking much of what I hear, not finished, but I'd give it a 7

MF Doom -- Special Herbs 3 & 4: Raw underground unreleased beats, a 7

To name just a few . . .

Loretta Lynn, Van Lear Rose-****1/2- I'm not a country fan, but there was so much hype about Jack White's work I had to check it out. It's definitely Lynn's best work in a very long time. I also love how she talks about her dead husband in the lyrics . My Favorite tracks are- "Portland, Oregon", and "Van Lear Rose".

Franz Ferdinand***1/2- Great CD. I hate The Strokes, and this is 10 times better, but it kinda sucks that the best track is the first single "Take Me Out". I expected the rest to be so much better after I heard that one.

Sonic Youth, Sonic Nurse****- Love the guitars, Lyrics, and Kim Gordon's voice. It's not amazing but everysong is good-great.

Avril Lavigne, Under my Skin***- Much better than her first CD, she did more of the songwriting. Ben Moody worked miracles. And she got rid of that annoying teen anger snottiness. There's even an upbeat song! My favorite tracks are- "Don't tell me", "Fall to pieces", "My Happy Ending", and "Forgotten"

Morrissey, You are the Quarry*****-Perfect I love "America is not the World", when he says "You big fat pig" so gracefully.

New Found Glory, Catalyst **1/2- No so poppy as there previous work, I still can't manage to take anything they say seriously though. Damn, "All downhill from here" is on great song to get stuck in your head!

Sugarcult, Palm trees and powerlines **- Some fast alt rock songs are good like "memory", but it isn't anywhere near as good as "Start Static". I was very disappointed.

Courtney Love, America's Sweetheart****1/2- I deserved something this good for wasting my money on "Celebrity Skin" a few years ago! Linda Perry worked on here, and she's great, so I knew I could expect a lot. It's not quite "Live through this" quality, but it's near perfect anyway. My Favorite tracks are- "Mono", "Almost Golden', "Sunset Strip", and "Life Despite God".

Franz Ferdinand - trendy, of course, but they're great anyway. This reminds me of the first Gang of Four album, and that definitely counts in its favour. I hear a bit of the Fall in here as well.

Saint Etienne - Smash the System - a compilation of singles and the occasional oddity. It's great, of course, though one can always quibble with the songs left off. I wish "I Was Born on Christman Day" was here.

High Llamas - Beet, Maize and Corn - The strongest batch of songs this group has produced in some time. The electronic elements have been kicked to the curb for this album - it's mostly top-notch orch-pop.

Mercury Rev - Boces - the only Mercury Rev album I didn't own - I'm really not that wild about this or their first album. I really just bought this to have a complete collection. I think things got much more interesting on their next album "See You on the Other side".

John Cale - Paris 1919 - An absolute classic - one of the greatest pop albums ever made. I finally broke down and replaced my scratchy old vinyl.

Death Cab for Cutie - Transatlanticism - I resisted listening to this band because, frankly, I hated the name. Well, I'm big enough to admit when I'm wrong. A great album, noisy when it needs to be, tuneful at times, moody at others and generally fantastic.

flipwilson said:

See, I was attracted by the band name then was utterly disappointed when I heard them.

Melissa Auf Der Mar (Self Titled) - I thought this would be kinda like Hole meets Queens of the Stone Age, but it's kinda flat and (at best) spacey. When I listened to it the first time, I felt like I was listening to a Cranberries album without the cool brogue. (out of five cans of beans)

King Diamond - The Best of King Diamond - Oh man. This is The Shit. Why oh WHY do people listen to The Darkness or even Tenacious D (funny as they are, bless 'em), when King Diamond pulled off the schtick first and pulled it off MUCH BETTER back in the day. I hadn't listened to KD before last week but when I popped it into my discman, I didn't smile or giggle or smirk or chuckle...I laughed. Out loud. Hard. From my belly. Not just because it was over-the-top and ridiculous, but because these Hessians commit 1,000% to creating the most grotesque metal freakshow I've ever heard. The vocals are amazing. The shred guitar is amazing. The songs are just...well, I cackle just thinking about 'em. I don't know if King Diamond are taking the piss out of metal or not - to be honest, I really don't want to know. This best-of is a hoot.

Anxiety said:

King Diamond - I may be off track, but isn't the lead singer from that band the former frontman of mercyful fate?

I love black metal - it's not something I'd want a steady diet of, but there's nothing better in the world when you want pure aggression.

SoSaysEye said:

Ah well, you'll never know what lifts someone's skirt. Personally, I liked it immediately, though it could just be a passing infatuation. Right now, I think it's the best guitar pop I've heard in a while.

Anxiety said:

I bought that album a month or so ago...mainly because I think she looks great and I presumed she had to sound good since I loved Hole with her in the band. I reall hated the album at first but I've given it a spin today and I have to say it's really growing on me! Even more than Courtney's album.


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[This message was edited Tue Jun 8 1:55:45 2004 by mrdespues]

flipwilson said:

YES!!! It's the Mercyful Fate guy. I don't have a lot of that kinda metal, but I have enough to get me through a good temper tantrum every now and then. The soundtrack for "Gummo" is also good for such occasions - it's a virtual tantrum sampler.

Anxiety said:

This is bringing back memories. I used to to have a sampler album on vinyl from Roadrunner records - It was as extreme as metal got back in 1984. Mercyful Fate was on there, a few other "superstars" from the death metal scene. I'll always remember one track called "evil games" by blackout. It had the most timeless lyric I've ever come across:

"I saw two priests howling at my side
aargh - I took an axe and killed them"

eat your heart out Diane Warren!!!

Lord knows I seriously question the mental health of anyone who listens to nothing but that stuff, but in moderation it can be the most exciting, primal and extreme music in the world.
[This message was edited Tue Jun 8 18:01:31 2004 by flipwilson]

flipwilson said:

My favorite so far is the song "Tea", which is about having a demonic grandmother.

Anxiety said:

Dammit, this conversation has me all pumped up to go out and pick up that King Diamond album. I have Thursday and Friday off this week - I was planning on visiting my mom, but I think I'll have to use the opportunity to scour the shops in my backwater city to track down some decent death metal.

Any other recommendations?

flipwilson said:

Well, there's the Gummo soundtrack, and then there's another favorite - VONDUR - a death metal band with one member who's a dwarf, and their most famous album was a concept album about the beauty of the Death Star that got pulled off the shelves by George Lucas.

[color=darkblue:ecb056bbc4]George Michael - Amazing **[/color]

couldve been better. Come on george, no one has the time 2 be sad with u. Time 4 u 2 be happy dammit..


[color=brown:ecb056bbc4][color=darkblue:e62cda2107]Teena Marie - La Dona ****1/2[/color][/color]

very nice album, couldve cut sum tracks and it wouldve been excellent.


[color=darkred:ecb056bbc4]Prince - Musicology ***[/color][/color]
solid commercial album, but couldve taken out couple trax and added mo fresh cuts.

NERD - Fly Or Die
i]well... It was bond 2 be good..but they sound like they still have problems from growing up..damn ya 30 years old, get off it. Other than that some nice songs, but it is inconsistent and way off track.[/i]


[color=red:ecb056bbc4]Janet - Damita Jo ***[/color][/color]
very nice album. Starts off slow and ends kinda quirky. But still maintains sum headbangers.

[color=darkblue:ecb056bbc4]Mario Winans - Hurt No More **[/color]
the whole album is filled with "you cheated on me's" and his voice lacks lots o punch.

[color=indigo:ecb056bbc4]Usher - Connfessions ***1/2[/color]
Ummm....started off good. Then ended up with lots o the same "i cheated / get at me girl" songs... i expected better from him.


Keith Sweat - I'll Give All My love 2U ****1/2
almost another classic, but something is holdin it back...maybe it gets kinda dull after Your Love Pt. II goes off. But picks up when the last killer cut comes on and finishes off rite.
[This message was edited Mon Jun 7 22:34:52 2004 by paisleypark4]
[This message was edited Mon Jun 7 22:36:47 2004 by paisleypark4]