From the soothing voice of Celine Dion, to the fast paced rants of Eminem. From the mellowness of Jimi Hendrix strumming away, to the crunch distortion of Europe's amps, this week has once again proven to be a diverse bunch of releases. I admit there are a few on this list I may not get around to listening right away but will be great albums to have on retainer for those days where something new is up your alley.
The Beatles and Eminem seem to be the two most anticipated albums I can view from social media and online reviews. "The Marshall Mathers LP 2" has been interesting thus far if the singles ("Berzerk" and "Survival") do the album justice. Other albums on my radar (personally) would have to be Dream Theater's Live in Luna Park, Scott Stapp's "Proof of Life" (yes, it's something I want to hear), Europe's "Live at Sweden Rock" (a friend recommended it after attending THAT performance), and Tides from Nebula who have only been on my playlist recently.
Bowie fans will clamour at the chance to get as much bonus content as they can that goes along with his latest release, including bonus songs and a DVD. So whether you are looking for calm, heavy, or anything in between then be sure to head to your local record store, online retailer, or other legal source to check out this week's releases for North America. Cheers!
(James Blunt - Moon Landing)
James Blunt may never live down the success of his first single, "You're Beautiful." It made him a star in 2004 yet it also pegged him as the kind of sad-sack singer/songwriter beloved of doctors' offices the world over, which may be enough to sustain a living but not a career. Blunt is savvy enough to realize this and he started to broaden and enliven his craft fairly quickly, abandoning the slow-footed ballads of Back to Bedlam for a richly textured pop that eventually gained some semblance of color by the time Some Kind of Trouble rolled around in 2010. Three years later, Moon Landing arrived and although its title suggest some kind of spectral scope, it's not quite as lively as its predecessor, preferring the exquisitely textured adult contemporary pop of Dido, but giving those intricately produced ballads insistent melodies and rhythms. Sometimes, Blunt's phrasing can lapse into solipsistic moans -- this is especially true when the electronics are stripped away and the tempos slow -- but when everything is relatively sprightly, the feel is surprisingly appealing, even though Blunt can't help but piggyback on styles that are a guaranteed rocket to the Top 40. This is most evident on "Bonfire Heart," a Ryan Tedder collaboration that pounds and stomps in the style of the Lumineers, and there are echoes of Maroon 5 in the octave jumps of "Always Hate Me," but these pandering lapses -- accentuated by an unnecessary tribute to Whitney Houston called "Miss America" -- do not detract from an album that is, by many measures, Blunt's richest and best collection to date. -All Music
Bigness, not variety, is Ms. Dion’s true weapon — often it’s impossible to distinguish between when she’s singing about empowerment and when she’s singing about heartbreak — and her voice is almost impossible to maneuver with any deftness. Most songwriters for Ms. Dion know that and get out of the way, letting her extravagantly spread a few of their words over as many bars as she likes.
But her most decadent move on this album is the nervy duet with Stevie Wonder on “Overjoyed,” one of his signature numbers. (It’s also part of the “Celine” revue.) Mr. Wonder, lush and flexible, is the exact opposite of Ms. Dion as a singer. On paper, it’s a severe mismatch. But Ms. Dion isn’t out of tricks — when Mr. Wonder shimmies, she shimmies back, dodging her own shadow. -NY Times
(Eminem - The Marshall Mathers LP 2)
With The Marshall Mathers LP 2, the connection to its iconic prequel is explicit. As well as revisiting the sounds of his earlier album with rock-rap production and furiously fast flow, he further complicates and enriches his web of self-obsession by scattering call-backs throughout the album (the “Hi!” from ‘My Name Is’, a snippet of the hook from ‘The Real Slim Shady’ and more). Even better, many lines are careful echoes of the past, pseudo-homonyms that both subvert his old lyrics and beautifully mess with our expectations.
Imagine a world where Dr Dre had never uncovered Detroit’s greatest export, that this was somehow your first time hearing Eminem, and there’s no way that MMLP2 would not be as seismically important and game-changing as its prequel. This is Eminem’s best record in a decade – and one of the most impressive, entertaining and addictive hip-hop albums of the year. -Drowned In Sound
(The Beatles - Live At The BBC Volume II)
But new Beatle music—the reason anyone cared in the first place—is inevitably rare this far removed from the initial conflagration, so we must salute On Air—Live at the BBC Volume 2, a sequel to 1994’s Live at the BBC. The new album is out on November 11, as is a remastered version of the first. Both are drawn from the hours and hours of live broadcasts the Beatles recorded for the BBC between 1962 and 1965, when they were young, eager to please, and still willing to take requests on-air from “all the girls at lower fourth in Blackburne House, Liverpool,” and the like. -Vanity Fair
Never previously available in any form, Miami Pop Festival, introduces the first recorded stage performances of "Hear My Train A Comin'" and "Tax Free" while showcasing definitive live takes on such classics as "Fire," "Hey Joe," "I Don't Live Today" and "Purple Haze." The package includes never before published photos taken at the festival and an essay by award-winning music journalist and Grammy Museum Executive Director Bob Santelli. This album includes the show as originally recorded on site by Hendrix's long term sound engineer, Eddie Kramer. -Amazon
(Scott Stapp - Proof of Life)
With Proof of Life, Stapp brings these issues and questions to the forefront as the album wrestles with past demons, current hope, and future empowerment in a big way. On the whole, there are a few strands or themes that weave their into the framework of the album’s tapestry. The first big strand is that of past mistakes. Stapp, as in his autobiography, is not afraid to cut open the mistakes of his past and expose them to the light. Though this theme appears more dominant in the front portion of the record, even the closing tracks deal with this heavily. So beginning in “Slow Suicide,” this theme weaves through “Who I Am,” “New Day Coming,” “What Would Love Do?,” “Crash,” and is brought to its natural conclusion in “Dying to Live.” -Indie Vision Music
(The Melvins - Tres Cabrones)
If the Melvins have made anything clear during their 30-year run, it's that they fearlessly follow their creative whims wherever those whims might take them. Over the last decade or so, this drive to pursue heavy weirdness in all its forms has seen them join forces with Big Business for a trio of inspired albums, team up with Mr. Bungle bassist Trevor Dunn for Freak Puke, and deliver an album of influential covers on Everybody Loves Sausages. On Tres Cabrones, the band's 19th studio album and second full-length sonic offering of 2013, King Buzzo and Dale Crover go back to basics -- way back, in fact -- to reunite with the Melvins' original drummer, Mike Dillard, who Crover replaced back in 1984. In a lot of ways, this lineup -- dubbed "Los Melvins" -- really captures the feeling of getting together with some old friends to recapture that youthful feeling of making music for the sake of making music. The thing is, unlike a lot of bands, the Melvins never left that phase. They don't have a period that can be looked back on as their "sellout" years. Instead, Tres Cabrones represents the Melvins doing what they want to do with confidence rather than simply doing it because they don't know any better, a trait that allows them to sell performances of fuzzed-out riff blasts like "Doctor Mule" and "Dogs and Cattle Prods" alongside goofy renditions of traditional numbers like "Tie My Pecker to a Tree" and "99 Bottles of Beer." While these kinds of weird departures would be hard for any other band to pull off, Tres Cabrones shows that, even after 30 years, the Melvins are still as brash as ever, and the album feels like a fitting way for the band to ring in a big anniversary with an old friend who was there at the very beginning. -All Music
(Steve Wilson - Drive Home)
The third solo album from the Porcupine Tree frontman is an excellent album, which is well worth checking out if you haven’t heard it already.
Drive Home is a two disc package, one of which is an audio disc of radio edits, an unreleased track and other versions, while the second is a DVD of two animations and live performances recorded in Frankfurt earlier this year.
Overall, this is a strong companion, far better than many of these types of issues often tend to be. While I would beg you again to buy the album as it’s well worth owning, if you haven’t heard Steven Wilson’s work before, this is also not a bad place to start with hearing a man who is incredibly inventive and talented. And although it’s been described as an EP, it’s incredibly good value for money. -Louder The War
(Eden's Curse - Symphony of Sin)
On the whole I think Eden's Curse have done a pretty good job on their fourth full-length. I do feel the album is a little too long and it certainly isn't without its flaws, but for the most part Symphony Of Sin is enjoyable. I'm a little disappointed "Time To Breathe" didn't feature on the album, and ideally I would have liked the band to keep a little more in touch with said track, which certainly sounded like the logical continuation of Trinity. Nonetheless it's great to hear these guys active and hopefully they'll go on to do more with this line-up - there's definitely a lot of potential on show. In the meantime Symphony Of Sin is a solid listen, and certainly recommended it to fans of Edguy, Eclipse or even At Vance. -Metal Crypt
The Polish band Tides From Nebula has been around for a few years now – their latest offering, Eternal Movement, being their third. Made up of largely five minute songs, with a couple of longer pieces, it has a definite prog feel to it. Mellow moments lead up to heavier climaxes, all of which have the groove to get your head bobbing. A good example of this is “Satori”, which has a recurring melody that is catchy and melodic, not to mention the heavier drums present in the track.
All in all, it’s an interesting album. The lack of vocals leads to a heavier focus on the guitars and the layers of elements found in progressive and more ambient music has the potential to appeal to a larger audience than the band currently enjoys, whether it makes for something to be a regular listen or an experience reserved for certain moods evoking a desire for the more astral and ethereal qualities. -Metal Recusants
(Dream Theater - Live At Luna Park) [CD/DVD/Blu-Ray]
“This is without a doubt the closest a viewer at home will come to experiencing a live concert. The energy and vibe at Luna Park was truly electric and contagious: the perfect synergy between band and audience. We’re immensely proud of this DVD and incredibly excited to share it.
We have the greatest fans on the planet and the people of Argentina are no exception! The energy and vibe at Luna Park was truly electric and contagious. The perfect synergy between band and audience. We are immensely proud of this DVD and incredibly excited to share it with everyone!" -John Petrucci
(Europe - Live at Sweden Rock 30th Anniversary Show) [CD/DVD/Blu-Ray]
Consisting of a setlist of 28 songs, including two cover performances with guest appearances and a duo of unplugged versions, over two and a half hours playing, that were fairy picked, scouring the band’s depthy career, indicating the changes, for a better or worse, which occurred down the road. I couldn’t really count the filming angles, yet I am positive that there were plenty of cameras out there actively documenting the event with tremendous HD quality. No too many close crowd shots, however, I might comment that it didn’t bother me that much as I wanted to experience more of EUROPE rather than the fine audience that attended the show.
“Live At Sweden Rock” is a must DVD, a high importance memo of a legacy that is more than meets the eye. There is more to EUROPE that just “The Final Countdown”, and the people need to understand that. This DVD is the proof to that, indulge its contents. -Metal Temple
Box Sets:
(David Bowie - The Next Day) [Box Set]
THE NEXT DAY EXTRA is the collector s edition of David Bowie's critically acclaimed 2013 album The Next Day. This package includes 24 audio tracks. Disc 1 is the original 14 track album. Disc 2 includes the three tracks from the original Deluxe edition of The Next Day, plus 4 new studio tracks, a bonus track ("God Bless The Girl"), and 2 new re-mixes. One of the remixes on Disc 2 is done by famed musician/producer/DJ James Murphy, who reworked "Lost In Love" into a 10 plus minute epic. Disc 3 is a DVD of the four acclaimed video s created for The Next Day album: 'Where Are We Now?,' 'The Stars Are Out Tonight,' 'The Next Day' and 'Valentine s Day.' -Amazon
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