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Artist:
Various Artists
Say what you like about BBC Radio 1, its DJs or its playlists, they're definitely getting one thing right through their commitment to live music--particularly with regards to the often quirky fruits that tumble forth from its Live Lounge. Volume 3 of the double CD collections from these sessions arrives packed with more than enough in the way of gems to offset the few inevitable run-of-the-mill single performances. Those justifying the format when modifying their own tracks include Kasabian working "Sympathy for the Devil" into "LSF", Duffy bringing some grit to a stripped down "Mercy", absent as she's trotted it out endlessly elsewhere, and a bare, emotional "Daddy's Gone" from Glasvegas. The real value of the set though is found in amongst Girls Aloud's sensitive version of "With Every Heartbeat" (originally by Robyn), Ida Maria's feisty "Sweet About Me" (Gabriella Cilmi), REM sketching "Munich" (Editors) out with mandolin refinement, Kate Nash absolutely owning a cute, giddy "Fluorescent Adolescent" (Arctic Monkeys), Goldfrapp's haunting "It's Not Over Yet" (Grace--made famous again by Klaxons), Santogold's paranoid and chilling take on "Hometown Glory" (Adele) and Bat for Lashes' pulsing, minimalist "Sweet Dreams" (Eurhythmics). If you're looking for one single convincing reason to own this though, look no further than Dizzee Rascal's bench-press solid, somersault swaggering, air-punching attitude-laden re-jigging of the Ting Tings' "That's Not My Name". It's enough to justify the licence fee. --James Berry
 Get it!, 2008-11-17
Lets be honest...
The only song anyone really wants on this album is
Paramore's cover of "loves not a competition..."
Great album anywhoo
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List Price: £17.99
Our Price: £9.95
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Artist:
Nickelback
Going back to old time rock!, 2008-11-28
I am a Nickleback fan and have been from the beginning - yes - I have all their albums and videos - and live they are just superb!!
I have read the reviews for this - and I would just like to say that this album reminded me so much of a time when the charts where filled with rock bands - when rap wasn't even a blip on the radar - and the only "dance" music was disco!!
OK - lets talk about lyrics!! Yes they are a bit on the crude side - but come on!! Have you forgotten rock classics like Touch To Much by AC/DC - singing about sex, drugs and rock and roll is what its all about!!
Chad's singing reminds me of the rough sound they had in Curb and The State, and some of the tracks have a real heavy rock sound to them now.
You can't expect all the songs to have the same impact of How You Remind Me - that is an exceptional song - and the one that put them on the map for those who hadn't heard of them before.
It sounded old school to me - I love it - if they continue to produce albums that sounded like their previous one - you would complain - they are evolving - and for me - this evolution is a good one!!
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List Price: £15.99
Our Price: £7.09
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Artist:
Kaiser Chiefs
After cockily shrugging off the difficult second album challenge with their hugely successful Yours Truly, Angry Mob, the Kaisers deliver yet another collection of blistering rock-pop in the shape of Off with Their Head. Producer Mark Ronson returns the band to the distilled pop potency of 2005's Employment as well as providing an all-star cast of guests: Lily Allen provides backing vocals on "Always Happens Like That", classical starlet David Arnold adds strings to "Like It Too Much" and UK grime aficionado Sway does a star turn on the unlikely yet winning "Half the Truth". Yet this is definitely the Kaiser's own show, as evinced on the wonderfully woozy "Tomato in the Rain," the catchy "Good Days, Bad Days", the feisty "You Want History" and the lovely--and somewhat surprising--finale "Remember You're a Girl". Musically, Off with Their Heads ain't rocket science, and the band's insights into contemporary urban life are superficial at best--but the Kaisers still manage to mostly hit the spot. --Danny McKenna
Kaiser Chiefs - "Off With Their Heads", 2008-11-12
To anyone considering buying this Album from the Kaiser Chiefs, In my opinion I would certain say Yes! buy this album.
The first track in my opinion isn't very good - this is Spanish Metal, However after this track the Album sky rockets in quality.
Tracks I think are very good
Never Miss A Beat, Like It Too Much, You Want History, Can't Say What I Mean, Half the Truth and Addicted to Drugs, the other tracks on the album which are still good but these songs stick out to me.
This album really continues the Kaisers cool style and I would really recommend to any Kaiser fan already and to anybody who hasn't heard them before to buy this album - but I suggest that you get their 2 other albums as well.
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List Price: £16.99
Our Price: £5.49
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Artist:
The Killers
Success came fast for The Killers, maybe too fast. The impossibly hooky “Mr Brightside” from their debut, coupled with faultless synth anthem “Somebody Told Me”, turned them into the most ubiquitous band in the world overnight and had them batting away Glastonbury headline offers before the Hot Fuss campaign was even over. Sam's Town followed all too quickly, trying to stylistically catch up with their status as stadium rock giants in waiting, but like their debut was really only carried by a couple of strong singles. Which would make this the perfect--or necessary--time to deliver the masterpiece the world expects. By shamelessly cherry-plundering the number 1 acts of the 80s not only have they managed to dramatically shunt the concept of filler from the record, but every track acts like it's performing last on Top Of The Pops circa 1987. Result. From the sparkling Pet Shop Boys obedience of “Human” to the massive Human League via Starship chorus of “Spaceman”, the Paul Simon’s Graceland as done by Talking Heads on “This Is Your Life” to the bang-on Cure desolation of “Goodnight, Travel Well” they barely put a foot wrong, though the saxophone ân’ steel drum funk of “Joy Ride” does momentarily test the patience. Their mission to become the next U2 continues apace and infiltrates most nooks on Day & Age, see especially Brandon’s very best Bono on “A Dustland Fairytale” and “This Is Your Life”. Third time lucky--they really do come very close to that masterpiece. --James Berry
A grower ..., 2008-12-04
Being honest I was horrified when I first played the latest effort from my favourite band. At times it sounds so different from Hot Fuss and Sams Town , but that wasn't the problem. It was the instruments and production they had chosen. "Is that the saxophone from some long forgotten Sade track I can hear ? Yes it is" ... "Those drums sound like they came from Club Tropicana by Wham!" ... in other words , where Hot Fuss took it's influences from the best of 80's pop ( New Order / early Duran Duran ), they are using some sounds here that remind you of the worst from that decade. The production by Stuart Price ( Madonna - Confessions On a Dancefloor ) is very clever in places but too lightweight overall.
Still , I persevered as I love the band so much and there were a clutch of songs I loved right away. 'Human' is gorgeous. The best song the Pet Shop Boys never wrote , sung by a much better singer than Neil Tennant. 'Losing Touch' is classic Killers. 'Spaceman' is a fantastic rollercoaster of fun rock and should be a huge hit when released as a single. It took about eight listens and eventually I came to love every track except for the final one 'Goodnight , Travel Well' , which has well meaning lyrics but it's a case of "spot the tune" ( don't try too hard , there isn't one .. ). When you get over the change in style , the strength of the songwriting here really shines through. I suspect this album will get mixed reviews from many people as there are so many songs that grow on you and not so many that hit you right away. Give it a chance though and I suspect you'll end up loving it as much as I do , there are not many bands in the world as big as this one willing to take as many musical risks by changing styles so frequently. Against the odds , they've pulled it off again.
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List Price: £16.99
Our Price: £6.49
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Artist:
Script
FANTASTIC!, 2008-10-30
I got this album 2 days ago and have not stopped playing it. There is not 1 track on there that I don't like. Danny's voice is amazing especially in the beautiful 'I'm Yours', I found that track so moving. I highly recommend that you buy this album. I don't think you'll be disappointed as I absolutely love it!
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List Price: £16.99
Our Price: £7.98
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Artist:
Coldplay
To say there has been a lot of anticipation for Coldplay's fourth album, Viva La Vida, is an understatement. Having enlisted legendary leftfield producer Brian Eno, borrowed their album title from a painting by renowned Mexican artist Frida Kahlo and made tantalising remarks about sonic reinvention, the world has been curious (to say the least) to hear what the `new' Coldplay might sound like. Viva La Vida definitely makes some departures from the band's usual formula, which happens to be one of the most commercially successful rock-pop blueprints of recent years. The plangent chords, emotive melodies, stadium-rock rhythms and universal lyrical concerns remain, but Martin and co. have gone out on several limbs here, incorporating instrumental tracks ("Life In Technicolour"), using subtle North African and Latin elements ("Yes", "Strawberry Swing"), and overhauling previously strict verse-chorus-verse structures in favour of slightly more avant arrangements. The old Coldplay still shine through (see tracks like "Violet Hill" and the title song) but even their classic sound feels more muscular and confident. The band's new flourishes, cosmetic and self-conscious as they may be, are enough to make Viva La Vida a welcome break from the old routine--Danny McKenna
THE Perfect Album, 2008-11-20
Carlsberg don't make albums, but if they did....
This album honestly is perfection. I'm still currently listening to it non-stop after purchasing Viva La Vida the day it came out. Every song on it has its own style and each is just as good as the other. Its a shame there are only 10 songs but I just cannot get over how fantastic Viva La Vida is! Obviously a 10 out of 10. I would recommend anyone reading this to buy it. Everyone I have spoken to so far agrees that this is a fantastic album
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List Price: £16.99
Our Price: £5.98
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Artist:
Snow Patrol
The Snow Patrol we meet on A Hundred Million Suns is a band facing the same dilemma that Coldplay met on 2008's Viva la Vida or Death and All His Friends; having conquered the world with a rousing, melancholy brand of MOR indie, where now? On the surface, A Hundred Million Suns seems to suggest, nowhere especially new: producer Jacknife Lee, who first worked with the band on 2003's Final Straw and went on to work with the likes of U2 and REM returns to the fold; and an opening brace of songs suggest that a successful formula--chiming guitars, gentle builds, and Gary Lightbody's quavering, tremulous vocal--persists. Still, "Take Back The City", a windswept, electronic-tinged rocker, rather does for this band what "Dakota" did for Stereophonics, proving that a spot of sleek, synthetic motorik is not beyond their grasp, and there's a new, bright optimism to Lightbody's lyrics that sets the likes of "The Planets Bend Between Us" in light relief to some of Snow Patrol's earlier work. If you want experiment, though, you'll have to wait until the closing "The Lightning Strike", a 16-minute track in three parts that investigates Phillip Glass-style minimalism and electronic beats with some aptitude. --Louis Pattison
A hundred million open eyes , 2008-11-18
4.5 stars would be a more appropriate score for this album, but in good mathematical practice I have rounded up not down.
If you like Snow Patrol, this is a very good album. Any of the tracks could easily have come from their last album "Eyes Open", and the rockier ones could have been from "Final Straw". Does it have more of an accoustic or mellow balance than "Eyes Open"? A track by track by analysis may lead you to that conclusion, but I am not left with that impression having it on my ipod and in the car.
All of which is great, you know what you are getting. And if you played their last two albums to death because you loved them so much, you will be in heaven.
HOWEVER, the difference between a realy great band and a legendry one is their ability to evolve and draw their fans along with them into subtly different styles. If the Beatles has continued to knock out hits like Can't buy me Love and Help into the late 60s, they would not have reached iconic status. And Snow Patrol do know how to evovle (Don't waste your money on their first two album, no matter how cheap they are. Just download "Making Enemies" from iTunes and you'll have all you need from these albums)
So great, buy it, listen to it, love it. But come on guys, push the boat out a bit and take us somewhere we haven't been yet.
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List Price: £16.99
Our Price: £7.59
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Artist:
Keane
Would it be outlandish to suggest that wholesome rugby-shouldered ruddy-faced English piano-pop boys Keane have spent the best part of their two-album career fanning the impression that they exist somewhere between an easy Mothers' Day gift and the album it's ok to give your girlfriend back when you split up, just in order to blow everyone out of the water like 80s neon-pop commandos with the boldness of their third? You know, utilising the element of surprise? Probably, but even though their debut (Hopes & Fears) and its follow up (Under the Iron Sea) may have been broader creative successes than many care to admit, it is true that Perfect Symmetry is a synth-brandishing Tyrannosaurus Rex next to those trundlingly melodic Trojan horses. From the moment "Spiralling", the single that made a nation choke on its Yakult, erupts like a Top of the Pops volcano with flashes of David Bowie, Talking Heads, Erasure, Prefab Sprout and James, amongst others--with the "WHOOOO!" interjections impacting like lava hitting an LA swimming pool and sending cocktails flying--the album is generally as taut, bulky and bronzed as a teen Arnold Schwarzenegger. Old habits die hard and there is still much in the way mid-paced melancholy, but they are sung with clarity and the songwriting stays tight with some deep lyrics and turns of phrase to balance out the vague and which presumably reflect Tom Chaplin's documented decent into addiction. "Playing Along", a beautifully arranged set of textures and gathering emotional bursts, is a particular high. --James Berry
Fantastically Different, 2008-11-19
It's great to hear a band bold enough to try something different with a third album rather than let it be a marker of their steady decline (e.g. Kaiser Chiefs, Razorlight). With 'Perfect Symmetry' Keane pulls off a welcome and surprisingly different return.
The 80's feel is apparent but the album avoids becoming a pastiche. The album makes you think of Queen, Bowie and other greats, but the strong vocals and melodies make it unmistakably Keane. Tempo is generally upbeat throughout, tinged with retro drum machines and synths and unashamedly pop, which is no bad thing.
Production is slick and tight as with the previous two albums. This wont be a Keane album for everyone, but for some it's an outstanding return. Recommended!
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List Price: £16.99
Our Price: £6.98
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Artist:
Kings Of Leon
Already on course to be one of the year's biggest sellers, Only By the Night has sealed Kings of Leon's unlikely position as Britain's favourite American rock band. The Followill brothers (and cousin) have always been tagged as part of a southern rock tradition of family bands such as the Allmans and Lynyrd Skynyrd, a label they vehemently refuted. But the skinny lads certainly looked like a classic rock act, even as they took musical inspiration from indie contemporaries The Strokes and eighties new wave acts such as The Cure and New Order. Only By the Night is effectively a sequel to 2006's terrific Because of the Times, their third record and the first where they nailed their own sound, a striking amalgam of bluesy vocals and post-punk primitivism. In comparison Only By the Night consolidates rather than advances their style. The appropriately incoherent "Sex on Fire", already a chart topping single, is catchy but sounds lightweight next to songs like the fierce "Crawl" and the stadia-ready "Cold Desert" and "Manhattan". The dissonant, almost amateurish "17" is most out of place, though Caleb Followill still bawls it with the same passion he brings to even the clumsiest couplet. More notable are several sparse romantic pleas that often borrow licks from classic Southern soul. The yearning "I Want You" is little more than its title, but it certainly convinces, while "Revelry" and the vulnerable "Use Somebody" show signs of impending maturity. Only By the Night's simplicity certainly has a wide appeal. --Steve Jelbert
Best yet, 2008-11-28
I simply believe that this is their most musically accomplished album to date. I haven't been overly keen on their previous efforts, feeling that their sound was a little contrived.
I'm a fan of progressive rock and metal, Tool, The Mars Volta, Sigur Ros, Exlosions in the Sky etc...I am not a pop fan and thoroughly disagree that this is some sort of pop/rock 'sellout' album. It is beautifully written, expressive and emotional.
Well done KOL, this is the first one I've actually bought! The music also stands out live compared with their old music, this is a really positive progression for the band.
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List Price: £16.99
Our Price: £8.85
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Artist:
Stereophonics
the best of the best, 2008-11-26
this is a ex best of cd from start to finish it rocks this band are brillant buy this cd you will not be disappointed xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
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List Price: £16.99
Our Price: £7.72
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