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Category: Reviews

  • Nas – Untitled – review

    Nas is back and more controversial than ever on his new untitled Def Jam release. On this, his 9th studio album, Nas studies and lyrically dissects some of the our most divisive issues: race, inequality, poverty, and power.

  • David Banner – The Greatest Story Ever Told – review

    Born in Jackson, MISSISSIPPI, rapper, actor, music producer, record label exec and philanthropist releases his most personal album. Emerging from more than a year of in-depth humanitarian and philanthropic efforts to aid victims of Hurricane Katrina, the Jackson, Mississippi native was eager to get back into the studio and practice his craft.

  • John Mellencamp – Life, Death, Love and Freedom – review

    Mellencamp has characterized the album as a collection of “modern electric folk songs.” With backing from his legendary touring band, the album’s 14 tracks were recorded at his studio in Bloomington, Indiana and mixed in Los Angeles with Burnett behind the boards for all of the sessions. Mellencamp cites Burnett’s production as key to “finding…

  • Jessie Baylin – Firesight – music review

    Firesight makes good on the critical praise and grass-roots fan support that’s already been heaped upon 24-year-old Jessie Baylin. The2008 album offers a vibrant, soulful showcase for her talents as both an uncommonly insightful songwriter and a deeply expressive, effortlessly charismatic vocalist.

  • Beck – Modern Guilt – music review

    The new album contains 10 new songs, and with the exception of last year’s Grammy-nominated, digital-only single “Timebomb”, “Modern Guilt” is the first new material Beck has written since the prolific stretch that produced 2005’s platinum Guero and 2006’s universally acclaimed The Information.

  • Motley Crue – Saints of Los Angeles – review

    I grew up a Crue fan… and would have never predicted that they would ever disappear. They seemed like a franchise that could never die.

  • Coldplay – Viva La Vida or Death and All His Friends – review

    In their relatively brief career, Coldplay have made that leap from being “a great British band” to worldwide success. Their music–graceful, intricate rock songs laden with piano and Chris Martin’s soulful falsetto–maintains an air of direct personal contact no matter how large their audience grows.

  • Judas Priest – Nostradamus – review

    Long in the works, “Nostradamus” takes epic storytelling to a whole new level, as it recounts the life of this mysterious, world-known 16th Century French prophet. Some of the events that Nostradamus experts have interpreted as his predictions include the great fire of London in 1666, the rise of Adolf Hitler, and most recently, 9-11,…

  • Katy Perry – One of the Boys – review

    Ever since the November 2007 digital release of the hilarious, zeitgeist-capturing single “Ur So Gay,” Los Angeles-based singer-songwriter Katy Perry has been wowing critics and fans alike (including the Queen of Pop herself, Madonna) with her big voice, sassy attitude, and feisty, confessional songs.

  • The Offspring – Rise and Fall, Rage and Grace – review

    “Rise And Fall, Rage And Grace,” the eighth studio album from the OC punksters, is an impressive new set of songs from one of rock’s most exciting and enduring bands. The Offspring entered the studio with legendary producer Bob Rock (Metallica, The Cult) to record 12 new songs culled from the most productive songwriting period…