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| Ex American Idol Adam Lambert has really been working with the top layer of today´s songwriters. Or how about Pink, Lady Gaga, Max Martin, Justin Hawkins, Linda Perry, Ryan Tedder, and two very unexpected songs in "Pick U Up" by Rivers Cuomo (Weezer) and "Soaked" written by Matthew Bellamy of Muse. A really crazy mix for sure, but think that the disc works pretty well despite that. A little shattered since you really can hear who wrote each song, but they have found some nice work material here. Would say though that this is more an album of beautiful songs than an album with some clear hits, which is a little problem. Sure there are some cool tunes, but none that can give Adam a greater interest and don’t think that the album is good enough without it. But if you want a nice kick of modern pop with 80´s vibes “For Your Entertainment” can be something, far from super, but it has its moments. |
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You can not more than admire Adam Lambert, although his music has taken a completely different direction than his previous CDs. His latest album, "Trespassing" is a modern dance-pop record and actually doesn't have much here on Melodic.net to do. But it's melodic, it's well done and do you like futuristic dance stylish well-produced pop the disc is definitely worth a purchase. Best songs are Josh Abrahams "Chokehold" (who produced it as well) that is a great tune that could have been on his previous album and the ballad "Broken English". Quality.
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Multiple ARIA Award winner and multi platinum selling artist,Australia?s #1 male singer/songwriter is back
with his 3rd album-whatever Alex Lloyd touches turns into gold and his melancholy pop is truly beautiful.
Acoustic based pop that feels very deep but in the same time also very easy to listen to,he makes music in the same territories as Diesel(Mark Lizotte) and Irwin Thomas(Jack Jones),really intelligent tasteful pop/rock that works full time at any time!
First single "Coming home" feels like a mix of Daryl Braithwaite and Peter Gabriel,this is what they hear every day on radio down under....I wish it was the same here,hrm!
Alex has a lotta soul in his voice and he doesn?t care about writing hit songs,no he wants to express emotions in every way that suits him for the moment no matter if he?s up or down.
Thank god for music that is written from the heart and performed with soul,Alex Lloyd is Australia?s opposite to England?s Richard Ashcroft of
The Verve...they?ve got the same sense of making timeless melodies.
Listen to the next single "1000 miles" and see what I mean,"Ordinary boy" is another song that has become a strong fave of mine....calm but so warm-I close my eyes and dream away in the distant light.
Who the fuck cares what other critics say about this album,I love it! |
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One of Australia?s finest artists is Alex Lloyd but he just cannot seem to breakthrough outside his homecountry, I am pretty certain though that his music should do fine on the Canadian charts because you can draw parallels with Larry Gowan?s music.
Alex makes intelligent and warm pop somewhere between Angie Aparo, Larry Gowan and Daryl Braithwaite - just close your eyes and turn off your cellphones.
His new album "The other side" is more upbeat compared to his previous album "Distant light" (2003), the ballads are hauntingly beautiful and when his voice gets that Peter Gabriel-esque tone - it?s hard to say no.
He recently released the greatest hits album "Amazing" feat. hits from all his albums, it was also released as a limited 2 CD version containing b-sides and rarities plus a DVD.
"The other side" is the same version as the self titled album from 2005 except this one feat. a bonus cd containing six previously unreleased acoustic tracks, including an incredible version of the Leonard Cohen classic, ?Hallelujah?.
The 2 singles "Brand new day" and "Never meant to fail" are just two fine examples of how great this album is, the second track "Outside" is my personal fave but the super strong "Still waiting" deserves to be released to radio as well.
A safe buy! |
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Alex Lloyd is a wonderful singer and that is also one of the reasons why his latest album "Good in the face of a stranger" doesn´t sink like a stone in the water.
I am disappointed with the more laid back and naked sound of this album, there are a couple of nice songs like "Drugs and love", "Same day" and "Special" but the whole album doesn´t match his previous albums.
Alex can save a quite mediocre song and turn it into a pleasant audio trip, I felt that "Lonely town" or "Hollywood" could be perfect lullabies that will put any baby to sleep but Lloyd´s lovely voice keeps me alert through the whole songs.
If a "normally good" singer would perform these songs, the rating would never go higher than 2 stars. |
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The former Little America guitarist Andy Logan is what we got here. Little America who had two top ten hits back in the 80s delivered some smashes but musically were quite far from what they did. He we have a guy who plays a superb Midwestern singer songwriter rock with flirts of both an acoustic Springsteen and an more melodic Steve Earle.
All done in a very nice produced costume. Very impressing for sure! Listen to the very beautiful "I See Change" with a Crosby Still & Nash-touch. In the bio he says that "he wanna do an album like if The Beatles grew up in America and did a Nebraska sort of album". And thats quite what is it actually. As I said, its highly impressive and the production has so much to offer and the album grows on you all the time. "Takin What Youre Givin" is another damn great tune.
The album contains 17 tracks and its actually a pity because there are 2-3 boring tunes and 14 would have been enough, and if that had been the case the album would have ended up with an 8. All you Midwest rock freaks out there, do yourself a favour and buy a copy at once. A big bravo to Andy. Impressive. |
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I was very surprised a few years ago when I discovered that Andy Logan from the band LITTLE AMERICA (a real faveband of mine) was out with a brand new soloalbum. I gave the album a really good review cause it was worth every penny of the investment.
Now it?s time for Andy to follow up "Last Dance On The Wild Frontier" and musically he?s taken the music down to a slower, more rootsy and swampy sounding album and it suits him well.
If I should try to explain for you what type of music we?re talkin about I could say that we have a mixture of Matthew Ryan, Wilco, Ryan Adams, Steve Earle and Paul Westerberg in the man and his album.
The lovely "Halfway There" is one little pearl, the acoustic based "Ride" with a touch of Jayhawks another and "Battleground" with an album progressive 70?s undertone added to the sound is also a damn good tune. And there are plenty more on here.
The album is also an album that grows for each listen and when you hear Andy raspy and naked voice singing the refrain to "Behind The Curtain" you can?t do anything else than love the man and his music. |
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Growing up,one of the songs I never could stop playing was the classic Zebra song "Tell me what you want" and even if I haven?t listened to it for a long time,the melody doesn?t leave my head......"I?ve been wasting my time,oooooooooh" is a classic line in a classic song.
And now after 2 decades,a female rocker by the name of April Lee does a cover of it on a her 3 song promo,she has a real good voice somewhere between Darby Mills (Headpins) and Lee Aaron and according to her biography-a huge fan of Dokken and Zebra (ofcourse!!!!).
Thumbs up for the great cover version of "Tell me what you want" but don?t worry Randy Jackson (Zebra),I will play the original too once in a while :-)
The other two songs on this promo are the pumping uptempo rocker "Bitter Hole" that has a great groove but I miss a chorus that could lift up the song a bit and then the suggestive Stone Fury/Kingdom Come sounding "Who am I" which grows into a monster song.
She is working on new songs so keep an eye on this gal,as for now you can purchase this EP at the link www.importwest.com/april/cd.htm for $7.99 and support a talented singer. |
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If you head on over to melodicrock.com now you can listen to samples of this very cool EP from talented female singer April Lee Roberts.
I have already done a review of her 3 song EP that was released last year but now she has added 2 more songs to it and viola! we?ve got even more great melodic rock to lay our ears on.
What strikes me while listening to these 2 new songs is that they grow for each time I play them and I also get new favorites all the time with "Come alone" being one week and "Venus fly trap" the next.
This is what I said about the 3 songs on her 2004 ep "With a voice very similar to Darby Mills,Lee Aaron and Sandy Saraya......this female hottie APRIL LEE (Roberts) follows the same fine tradition of female fronted melodic hard rock and she has also done a great version of Zebra?s old hit "Tell me what you want" on it"!
The best part is that you get the Zebra cover,the mighty and progressive "Who am I",the uptempo pumping rocker "Bitterhole" from the 3 song EP as well as the new really good songs "Come alone" that contains a truly electric riff with King?s X vibes in an 80?s shell and the techno ZZ Top influenced "Venus fly trap" is too charming not to fall in love with.
April Lee is a name you?re gonna see more of,and how do I know that - well haven?t you heard about manly intuition?! no? what else do you need than a great voice,great songs and a fire burning inside to show the world what is waiting ahead.
She?s not just another name in the business,April Lee has everything an artist need to become a star - if I had a label I would sign her HERE AND NOW! |
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Believe it or not, but it’s been 18 years since westcoast legend BILL LABOUNTY’s previous release “The Right Direction”. Well, instead of complaining about all the inactivity of old heroes, I’ll be happy for the comebacks we’ve seen lately; the magnificent JaR album (Jay Graydon & Randy Goodrum), ROBBIE DUPREE’s “Time And Tide” album and BILL CHAMPLIN’s “No Place Left To Fall”.
So, add “back To Your Star” to the list of long awaited comeback albums. BILL LABOUNTY was in the band FAT CHANCE already in the early 70’s, while his solo recordings began with “Promised Love” in 1975. To westcoast fans his self-titled 1982 album is probably the most appreciated one, with hits like “Livin it up”, “Look Who’s Lonely Now” and “Dream On”. But I’d say “The Right Direction” is my favourite LABOUNTY album, with “Mr. O”, “Good Life” and “Time Start Now” being some of the top shots – added by one of the best productions I know.
Anyway, on to this new CD. One thing you can count on when BILL LABOUNTY’s releasing an album is this: you get REAL instruments and that good old 70’s/early 80’s westcoast sound. Bill’s even taken a step further back in time, I’d say, since the Rhodes domination makes it sound more 70’s than on “The Right Direction”. He’s got good musicians involved, still not that many well-known or expected names. LARRY CARLTON, ROBBIE DUPREE and possibly even SAM LEVINE are the ones I really recognize. Otherwise DANNY PARKS, STEVE WARINER (the country guy?), MICHAEL RHODES, TOMMY WELLS and BRIAN FULLEN are playing on the album.
As always, this is TRUE westcoast coming out of the speakers. The sound is fresh, the chords are those typical awesome, smooth ones with lots of maj7 (hm, not sure what they’re called in English but they’re the ones written with triangles on sheets). Soundwise LABOUNTY is pretty close to later albums with STEELY DAN. Stylewise it’s more pure westcoast though, so you’d have to think PAUL DAVIS or even a bit like MARC JORDAN’s “Hole In The Wall”. Actually, the title track “Back To Your Star” is one of few songs with (partly) higher tempo and a lovely chorus, a bit similar to the mentioned Marc Jordan album. However, without the AOR hints of course. The nice groove in “Stay High” will have you thinking of a late night in Los Angeles, wandering the streets in a good mood. ”The Wheels Are Coming Off” even brings some EAGLES vibes, so there is some variation in styles here. I say “some”variation, because I would have wanted more of that. Like I said, at least two happy, uptempo songs are missing – and that reminds me of the only negative thing about LABOUNTY: there is too much melancholy, too much low tempo, and even not enough variations in the arrangements.
Still, BILL LABOUNTY’s always really good. He’s made better albums before, but this one’s certainly solid. All westcoast fans must buy it. And it’s so nice with CD’s where everything is done with real instruments, bringing a fantastic sound – a sound with LIFE in it. |
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Some names or albums are always mentioned when you discuss Westcoast pop with collectors within the genre. American artist BILL LABOUNTY is one name that's always there, especially his self-titled album from 1982 (Warner) - however, I also need to say that "The Right Direction" (LA Califusa 1991) is an awesome album. Here we've got the 4-CD box entitled "Time starts now", which contains three CD's of all the great LaBounty songs plus one disc with demos! So, I'll focus on the demo disc, since it contains so much cool stuff.
This very unique disc contains 18 songs, of which some are totally unique demos while others are Bill’s versions of songs that have been recorded and released by other artists. You will recognize “She’s so popular”, the nice pop westcoast song that FRANK STALLONE included on his solo album (Polydor 1984). I think of PAUL BLISS in “You’ve got to believe in love” and “Side effects”. These songs are a mix of pop, AOR and westcoast and neatly put together. Fans of MICHAEL McDONALD will love “Sleep on it”, while I’d say there are some obvious MICHAEL JACKSON vibes in “Bail out”. A slight country touch can be found in the westcoast song “You’re the only real thing”, while I gets close to LIONEL RICHIE in “New shoes” which is more 80’s pop.
BILL LABOUNTY is an excellent songwriter. I really appreciate that he added these rare songs, mainly from a period when he didn’t release any solo albums. There are also cool liner notes from Bill about each song! This box is a must have for the true westcoast fan. The full title is “Time Starts Now the definitive anthology 75-11”. Get it! (Track listing includes songs from the 4th Disc only from this box) |
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| If someone told me 20 years ago that I would be listening indie pop in 2010, then I would just laugh insanely. But I have broadened my musical taste and there are infact some pretty good indie music out there, for example Brian Lee´s album "Moth" that can be described as melancholic indie pop with traces of folkrock in a classic singer/songwriter style. Or why not Tom Petty meeting Deep Blue Something (you know the band behind the hit "Breakfast at Tiffany´s), Brian does a solid cover of Belle and Sebastian´s "Wrapped up in books" from 2003 and also a decent cover of Bob Dylan´s "I want you". But the best tracks are his own original songs "Devil hunting" and "Glad you are mine". The album doesn´t reach 3 stars but it´s close. |
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Backstreet Boys member Brian Littrell released his debut christian market album "Welcome home" earlier this year,it?s a straight ahead pop record filled with plenty of BB sounding ballads so I guess it should work for the fans of the famous boyband he?s in.
The production team behind this album has worked with artists such as Jessica Simpson,Ricky Martin,Mariah Carey and Backstreet Boys ofcourse so it?s not so strange the music feels MTV oriented and predictable.
You?ve heard it all before and in many cases these songs really do feel like old BB songs but they?re not,upbeat and safe modern rock/pop tracks like "I?m alive" and "My answer is you" do lighten up things a bit but the swamp of ballads this album really is just makes these 40 minutes turn into a 3 hour long movie that never seem to end.
The gospel of "We lift you up" is different compared to usual stuff we?re used to hear from Brian and the album could?ve needed a few more of that style. |
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Some artists are truly talented and yet they never really get the share of fame deserved. CHRIS LANEY (born Ulf Larsson) is one of those guys. Some of you know him from his work in ZAN CLAN, 17, SCRATCH and as a member of WASP member RANDY PIPER’S ANIMAL.
Chris’ solo CD is a nice mix of melodic hard rock, sleaze and some AOR. The production is very melodic and professional – there’s a lot to be learned by foreign hard rock bands here. Every instrument can easily be heard, just like a production should be. On to the songs, right? It’s no secret Laney likes KISS. So in “Last Man Standing” it surely sounds a lot like his big fave band – even though there’s enough of his own touch not to be too obvious or close to a rip-off. Talking about rip-offs; the chorus part in the opener “Situation” is actually too close to VAN HALEN’S “Jamie’s Crying”, but that’s alright. One of my favourite tracks is “Get U Down”, which will be highly appreciated by fans of DEF LEPPARD. It has the same rocking AOR/hard rock sound that likes to hit you in the middle of your face. Still with a truly melodic sound. The final song “Pride B 4 The Fall” even sounds quite like Swedish landsmen BAD HABIT, aiming in their heavier moments. And “The Stranger In You” should be checked up by those who favour later DANGER DANGER.
I’d say this is an album for everyone in the hard rock world. It’s too sleazy to be dismissed as “another AOR record”, and a bit of enough of AOR to keep the ones on the soft side of these genres. Laney is quite a decent singer – OK, one in or two songs it may sound like he’s normally a backup singer, but the rest of the singing is surprisingly good. |
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Probably are most of you Melodic Net readers aware of the "weakness" I
have for female singer songwriters. And here is another one for you if you have
the same taste. Christina has a very warm and quite "bluesy" voice, and
on this live-album she sure proof the audience that her voice as a cool
instrument and sidekick to the acoustic guitar. I don´t have the other albums from her, which I believe are studio-recordings, but that is probably good, cause I can listen to the songs on here with nothing to compare them with. So, who should check out this girl and her music then? Well, do
you have albums and enjoy them with Tracy Chapman, Eva Cassidy, Shawn Colvin and
Joni Mitchell you have to surf and listen to Christina´s at her homepage.
I´m in love with the beautiful "Cut´s Like A Knife" with great lyrics and a naked arrangement, and there are plenty more in the same calibre. The cool "Love Lebel" with a jamming Christina and a percussionist is damn groovy and "Love Is" is another beautiful favourite. All in all a very intimate moment of music, and it is a live-album in a positive meaning. Now I´ll have to check out her 3 studio-albums and see if she is as good in studio as on stage. |
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Did you know that?
R.E.M. vocalist Michael Stipe drew the acronym randomly out of the dictionary. The term refers to the rapid eye movement phase of sleep.
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latest reviews
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