Excellent!

I really loved the first Fratellis album and this one is even better!

There's a lot more variety in this one, experimenting with many different styles, ending up with one of the best albums so far of 2008.

The songs perhaps aren't as catchy or memorable as the likes of"Chelsea Dagger" but the quality is definitely higher.

Well recommended for an easy listen that can also be blasted out for some mad, jump around, shouty tunes.

A must have album

This is the set list from the 2008 tours, of the UK certainly. Not sure at this stage which gigs the recordings were made at, but with Kevin Shirley producing it (with some input from Joe's dad) this is bound to be a great memory of some great gigs. Maybe I was at one of 'em?

Geoff

The man who could do no wrong

This is a Bright Eyes album in all but name, which basically means it is brilliant. As my title says, Conor Oberst can do no wrong, whether it's under the guise of Bright Eyes or as a solo-ist. Each song is a lyrical tour-de-force. There is something for everyone, up tempo numbers which will have you tapping your feet, slow numbers which will make you sit back and think because of their lyrical beauty. If anyone deserves the tag of the new Dylan (hundreds have had the label, none have deserved it) then it is Oberst. I have given this album three or four listens thus far, and I have always found Bright Eyes albums to be growers, they require a few listens before being engrained. This one will probably be no different. The lack of a fifth star is because I don't think it quite matches up to 'I'm wide awake...' but then what does? So far I have been most taken with the up tempo numbers such as Sausalito, but that is probably because they are instantly more catchy than the slow numbers. I'm looking forward to laying in bed in darkness and listening to the slow numbers then I can hopefully come back and give this five stars instead!

Better than expected

I have to admit I avoided buying this album because everyone talked about it and I didn't think it would match up to the ratings. However, I did give in and I'm glad I did! I can't remember how many times I've played it and I don't get sick of it. It's a lovely, easy going album, perfect for chilling out to. One of my favourites has to be 'People should smile more'. If you want a good album, get this!!

Forget the hype

It's not often that a band gets a backlash before they even release their first album but that's what Black Kids have unfortunately witnessed from some over skeptical critics. The truth is, if you listen to the 10 songs on this raucous indie pop album without attaching any unfounded expectation then you'll probably love it.

The band are obviously influenced by The Cure. 'I'm Not Gonna Teach Your Boyfriend How To Dance With You' and 'I'm Making Eyes At You' are reminiscent of 'In Between Days' and 'Close To Me' respectively. There's a few songs that sound a bit rushed but overall, Partie Traumatic is a fine debut effort.

Standing applause for modestly titled"Little Voice"

There is a jungle of female singer/songwriters out there, but only a few with a talent as Sara Bareilles. With"Little Voice" Sara Bareilles demonstrates that she is much more than one in a crowd of indistingishable artists. She is a poignant lyricist, versatile musician,and confident singer.

I especially like the way she works with rhythms in her songs. Some songs have drums and percussion, but the piano is the key in the rhythm.

On some songs it is easy to identify her musical inspirations, but Sara Bareilles manages to let herself be inspired and take flight on her own.

Sara Bareilles deserves a standing applause for the modestly titled"Little Voice".

Louise

Amazing crossover album. BUY IT NOW!

This is just the best band I've heard in ages, and I consider this album to be a classic already, even though I've only had it for 2 weeks! A friend of mine asked if i'd heard them before, I said I hadn't and when he played me Propane Nightmares and Showdown I was impressed, then when I heard The Tempest I was blown away! I love all music, with metal and electronic being my two favourite genres, and this is a crossover of many different styles. There is a metal influence in there, but the main ones are drum n bass, rock, electronic and pop. Being a musician and songwriter myself, I recognised the genius in this instantly, well done guys! I've just purchased tickets to see them in Manchester in December on the strength of this album alone. Now, I must go and buy the first one!

"The real deal"

Although Laura Marling is not courting the public or mainstream media (like other singer/songwriters see Adele, Lily Allen or Kate Nash), her voice is so strong and unique that hopefully it is only inevitable that she becomes better known and doesnt just dissappear under the tide of comercialised female singers that all sound the same and demand attention and fame.

For the people who have heard her and know how good she is, it is worth having a listen to"Noah and the whale" where she adds backing vocals to some entertaining folk-pop songs.

If you like M.I.A and Missy Elliott...

I brought this album after seeing Santogold perform a mash up with Roots Manouver, I have not been dissapointed. At first her voice has a similar same sound to Nelly Furtado but the originality of the music makes her stand out. If you like the party, rave, feel of M.I.A then this is definately a good investment, there is an element of ska and rave to all the tracks, ones to skip straight to are Creator and Lights Out.

Just to easy

I really don't understand why so many people love this band so much. Oke they have written some catchy songs, buts thats not enough to fill a whole album. 4"good" songs is not mutch for the money you eventually pay.
It's to easy. This album has to many shortcoming (lyrics, music, fantasy, etc.)
Of course they don't have to do a better job. Why should they? Everyone is just buying it because of the name. Who the Kooks!!!!!!
They are just a big commercial hit, like Good Charlotte, or Simple Plan and nothing else.

There are many, many better bands in Great Brittian, but most of them are never heard by broader public, thats a great pitty.

Shame about the missing bits

Piano Man The Very Best of Billy Joel could only be regarded as the very best by customers who are pleased that the title track has been butchered and a great chunk of its middle removed. The rest of us might feel Sony BMG Music Entertainment should be ashamed of a shabby deception. If it's legal to sell only part of a song without making it plain that's what you're doing, then it shouldn't be. Prospective buyers who want to hear Joel sing about the real-estate novelist and Davy who's still in the Navy should check the jacket and ensure the song lasts for 5 ½ minutes, not 4 ½.

A beautiful reminder of Beck's genius

I can't really see what people are complaining about. Beck has spent the last countless years reeling out album after album of quality, thought provoking and truly original music.
Modern Guilt is a timely reminder of the sheer quality of his song writing, yes it's shorter this time but that affords him only track where he breaks out the"experimental"/quirky/frankly not very listenable stuff in 'Replica'.
Frankly the first and last tracks contain everything you need to fall in love with Beck either for the first time or the 500th.
Volcano in particular is potentially his most beautiful track to date and makes me go all goosepimply just listening to it.
I can't see how comments along the lines of"this isn't as good as seachange or odelay" hold any value at all. If it's that era of Beck you like then go back and listen to those albums - or compile yourself a"best of beck" CD - there's plenty to choose from!
These are dark days in terms of the quality and originality of music on offer and this latest offering from Beck is much needed ray of light - a reminder that human beings can still make music that is worth listening to.

Not bad.....but could have been alot better

This is a bizarre little concept album in that it has some incredibly good songs but also some weaker ones which tend to drag the album down.

For me the best songs on the album are:

Prologue/I Know Where You Live, Vengeance Is Mine, Catch Me If You Can, The One That Got Away

The worst songs are Killed By Love (for some reason they forgot to write a 2nd chorus and the song just keeps repeating itself over and over till the end), I'm Hungry (this song is just cringey - good lyrics mind, but still weak musically) and Salvation (also very cringey - sounds like something that should be heard in a musical and NOT on a rock album).

There are some average songs as well - Wrapped in Silk and Wake The Dead are not bad but they have embarrasing bits after the main chorus which sounds like a 10 year had written them. Especially on Wake The Dead which has an embarrasing line"You've got to run for your life...." which sounds so crap.

All in all this is not a bad album by any means. It's actually okay once you play it a few times. If Alice and his band had just repaired all the kinks in the existing songs and added some stronger tunes this would be a great album rather than just an average one.

To sum the album up you have 4 classic Cooper songs to enjoy but the rest is very average or below par. The album is nowhere near as strong as Alice's recent offerings in Brutal Planet, They Eyes Of Alice Cooper and Dirty Diamonds.

ABBA - ARRIVAL - The title says it all!!

Only ABBA's third studio album, but what a masterpiece!!

Forever the anthem to the long and hot summer of 1976 - hits such as Dancing Queen and the album itself will be forever locked away in history for us all to open the doors to whenever we get depressed of all the awful things that are going on nowadays, and we wish to escape to a much happier time!

This collection includes two number ones plus a Top 3 smash! All ABBA's albums now sound incredibly like greatest hits compilations due to the catchiness of all their album material. Each and every song has been so well thought over and not thrown together like so much album material we get from other groups, merely to fill the gaps between the hits.

This was ABBA's shortest album at barely thirty minutes long, and is just another testimony that some of the best and most successful works, are indeed the shortest of them all!

To this day, ABBA remain timeless in that one can play any of their albums any time, and they still sound as good and as fresh as the day they were recorded.

God bless them!

Sumptuous

Yes, of course, most album reviews on Amazon are positive, and much of the rest are from people crying 'sell out'.

Well, for what 42 years on the planet and a first ever Amazon review are worth, this is one of those very very rare albums that takes music to a new level, that even on first listening you know will live on, not necessarily defining an era, but being forever known and rediscovered. It's that good.

With the possible exception of 'Caravan Girls', nothing on this album is weak or forced - it experiments, disturbs and delights whilst at all times demonstrating an utter mastery of the craft of beautiful song writing. And underneath all of that, there remains the slightly disturbed aura of Felt Mountain that led to it being the soundtrack to the magnificent 'Monkey Dust'.

Amazon is full of supposedly 'must have' albums; this is a real one.

I think I'm moving, but I go nowhere

I know that this band has influences from Coldplay and Keane, but they are much better than those bands in my opinion. I thought Keane's singles from the last album were great, especially Crystal ball, so I think this is more like the new Keane than the old Keane. Although I think OneRepublic is their own individual band and maybe they shouldn't be compared.
When I first heard this band's song re-mixed by Timbaland, I wasn't expecting the band to do any solo songs because I thought it was sort of organised by Timblalnd, but it turns out that Timbaland re-mixed OneRepublic's version of Apologize and made it sound better. There was just something about that song that attracted me to the band. When Stop and stare was first released, it took me a while to realise just how great this song was. Then I started watching the music video on the music channels and I was enthralled by it. That is what made me by this album and what made me expect a lot from this band.
The opening song is a nice one, which kind of sets the scene for most of the feelings of the rest of the songs. The best song is easily Stop and stare, which has such a fantastic power and is moving for me. When I heard this song, I bought the album not much later. Based on this song I thought the album was going to be more ambitious, so it's a bit below my expectations, especially as Angels and airwaves are my favourite band, but it definitely isn't disappointing. Other good songs are Mercy, All fall down, Won't stop, which has a delightful piano loop and some sweet feelings in it for that special one. All we are, Come home, which is a nice somber song and Apologize are all good songs.

There are 3 bonus tracks and I don't really understand why the title track would be included as a bonus track because that should be one of the most important songs on the album. The first is Something's not right here, which isn't that special. The bridge sounds a bit Muse esqe with guitars reminiscent of Muse. The band's vocals are also similar to the Muse singer at that point. I don't really like the sound of it but it's okay. The second is Dreaming out loud (the title track), which sounds a little creepy with the piano loop and I would probably expect better from the title song, but it's not bad either.
The final bonus track is probably one of the most important on the album and it's a good job that they included it. Apologize is the final bonus and is very welcome. The original version is good but it doesn't have that same feel and aura around it that the Timbaland remix does. I think that version sounds twice as good, even if Timberland's `ay,ay' can get a bit irritating! I love the lyrics, `I need you like a heart needs a beat', meaningful and emotional. This version of the song was what initially attracted me to the band and I just really like that feeling of the song.

I think that this is an album that is easy on the ears and is also quite meaningful. It may not be the greatest debut ever, but it is a nice album to listen to. I think the band are also quite religious as well, which is quite nice and it means something to me. What is really annoying though is that it doesn't tell us who wrote the songs! It always says in the back of booklets that the songs were wrote by someone, but it doesn't with this. Maybe they have someone to write their songs like a ghost-writer - I don't know! I do know that Ryan Tedder is more than just a pretty boy! I like his voice and he especially gives Stop and stare that strong feeling to it. He isn't no Tom Delonge but he isn't bad either!
Overall, this is an enjoyable listen and an album definitely worth purchasing. Just don't expect all the songs to sound as ambitious and as powerful as Stop and stare and you will be fine.

High School musical is Alsome

This Soundtrack is Amazing the Best musical film Ever Why buy Grease This is much better Dont Waste you time buy it it is catchy

A sneaky peak

Continuing the long line of Scottish jangly pop bands, you can't help but notice the fact that when everyone else was apparently listening to the Velvet Underground Scottish bands were and obviously still do listen to Big Star. Having resisted the temptation to subdue the Scottish accents Glasvegas present a wistful yet effervescent selection of songs that inspire and just make you want to smile. Showing a wry sense of humour (first namecheck for Polmont in a song title I'll warrant) this is an excellent pop album that you just cannot help liking.

Now as long as the NME doesn't overhype this lot (and early signs give cause for concern) then let them grow and gain a discerning fan base because they have the potential to be huge.

If you like anything from Orange Juice, Frattellis, Buzzcocks and the like then you will love this album.

Brilliant

Get this album! if you haven't heard of hot chip, or you're looking to buy your first hot chip album, this one is the one to get. I have it for about 2 weeks and it hasn't left my car since, I've to it everyday and I'm still not bored of it.

You'll be hooked by third listen...

This album is yet another fun, lively and ridiculous set of songs from the Zutons. (And I mean that in the best possible way!) Ranging from subjects such as a man having an affair with his maid all the way to the story of a male prostitute, and back again to someone trying to seek revenge; I thoroughly like this album and would recommend it to anyone.