[album] Undiscovered - James Morrison

Undiscovered-James Morrison

I have never been so impressed by a debut album before. Untill James Morrison's album came along.

You might think he is another James Blunt wannabe, but trust me, he is way better than Blunt. The album is chock-full of easy listening tunes and every song is worthy of being a potential hit single, yes, everyone single one of them.

"Wonderful World" is probably the best song off the album. Catchy, positive and oh-so addictive.
I can probably give a low down for every song on the album, but i shan't cause all of them are just so good.

The Sun says "There isn't a bad track on it" and The Times states "Undiscovered may prove to be the least apposite album title for years"

Yes, go get this album. It didn't topped the UK album charts and sold over 500,000 copies in its opening week for nothing.

Key tracks: Wonderful World, Undiscovered, This Boy, Under The Influence

Rating: 5/5

[album] The Sweet Escape - Gwen Stefani

The Sweet Escape-Gwen Stefani

Gwen is back with a brand new sophomore album and leading this album is the first single "Wind It Up" which has a strong "The Sound Of Music" influences.

Ok, I will try not to make any comparisons to her previous album, "Love. Angel. Music. Baby.", which, in my honest words, gave me a headache.

"The Sweet Escape" starts off with the unimpressive "Wind It Up". I'm sorry, but i do not like that song. I think it falls into the sad category of irriating tunes of Fergie and Hollaback Girl days. Thankfully, the 2nd track which is the title track, saves the album from being Love. Angel. Music. Baby. Part 2.

Another song to take note is "Early Winter", why? Because that song is co-written by Tim Rice-Oxley (one-third of KEANE) and i do expect great things form KEANE. And yes, the song delivers, even though it was sung by Gwen.

Overall, i think this is a great album, better than her debut. Initial listening may put you off, but the album will grow on you.

Key Tracks: The Sweet Escape, Early Winter

Rating: 4/5

[album] Clay Aiken - A Thousand Different Ways

Clay Aiken-A Thousand Different Ways

Well, at the very least, this album is a slight improvement over his last one "Measure Of A Man" which was plainly mediocre.

There is not much faults with this as most of the songs are covers. But the arrangements of some songs are mind-inducing, and the intruments used for some covers are downright weird. Like, "Everything I Do (I Do It For You)", the starting sounds like Pocahantas being infected by the cheena bug.

Still, i do not get the feeling of amazement as i did when he was performing on American Idol. I mean, since the covers he performed on Idol were amazing, i figured the covers that is doing on the album will be amazing too. However, it sounds very toned-down on this album.

Still, this is much better than his debut.

Key tracks: A Thousand Days

Rating: 3/5

[album] B'DAY - Beyoncé

B'DAY-Beyoncé

Sadly, it sounds like Beyoncé is running out of steam on this album. It looks like Beyoncé gave it her all for a debut album and that's why it sounds spectacular. "B'DAY", in comparison, sounds recycled.

Quite a few filler songs on this album and it was kinda obvious. There were songs that were going nowhere musically and the song kinda breezes by without you noticing. That said, there are a few potential hits like "Freakum Dress" and "Green Light", which sounds very, very diva-licious.

One thing that irritated me about the album is the last track, it had 4 different things on that track. Let's see, it had the song "Check On It", a bonus track called "Listen" (off her new movie "Dream Girls"), some commentary by her and the remixed version of "Get Me Bodied". Couldn't they just seperate it out?

Key tracks: Deja Vu, Freakum Dress, Answer

Rating: 3/5

[album] 依然范特西 - 周杰倫 Jay

Still Fantasy - Jay Chou

It's the 7th album of this R&B prince in the mandrin music scene.
And thank god, he finally spits out most of the marbles in his
mouth. You can actually hear him sing properly. I have to say
this is the best he has produced so far other than 11月的蕭邦
[November's Chopin].

Jay decides to play around with 中国风 [chinese music influence]
with the song, 千里之外 which features veteran singer 费玉清,
which may let you wonder if the latter has been the influence of
Jay's sudden clarity in his singing.
Other songs that may just catch your attention include:
迷迭香, classy jazzy.
白色風車, a 一路向北 twin.
菊花台, Ending theme Song for the movie,
Curse of the Golden Flower

Overall, a big well done to Jay but your rapping still needs more work.

Key tracks: 聽媽媽的話, 千里之外, 本草綱目, 退後, 心雨, 迷迭香

Rating: 4/5

[album] Heart & Symphony - 島谷ひとみ

Heart & Symphony-Hitomi Shimatani

Sadly, Shimatani's 5th album contains more ballads than upbeat numbers, which is pretty dissapointing as i prefer her to do upbeat tracks although the titles of her songs might get too exotic sometimes.

All in all, the album can be a little boring and the only track that is worth repeating is probably "Falco -ファルコ-", which coincidentally is the best track off the album. The only other song that i vaguely enjoyed is "真昼の月", it is nice ballad-y song, albeit boring.

This album release also comes with a DVD, which i thought might be worth watching. But i was wrong, the show goes on and on about the commentary of each individual song. The progress was going so slow that i decided to switch my DVD player off.

Try again Shimatani, you are capable of better albums.

Key tracks: Falco -ファルコ-

Rating: 2.5/5

[album] Nelly Furtado - Loose

Nelly Furtado-Loose

Ok, it's official. Nelly Furtado is like the biggest thing in music for 2006. I mean she is like everywhere! After her will be Gnarls Barkley with the infectious hit "Crazy".

Reverting back, Nelly Furtado returns to planet pop, bigger than ever. This release contains two of the most biggest hits of 2006, "Promiscous" and "Maneater", which i must add, went on to be Number 1 in the UK and US. The album debuted at Number 1 on the US Billboard charts.

Album-wise, it is ok. It is very sex-driven pop record with heavy beats and quite a few collaborations. You might even think that Kanye West produced this album (which is not by the way). I must say that Furtado made a good move to do more hip-hop-esque songs on the album and veering away from the styles of her previous two releases "Whoa, Nelly!" and "Folklore".

In my opinion, her ballads are the one that scores (take a listen to "Try" and you will know what i mean) and on "Loose", there is one ballad, namely "In God's Hands". The song does not make you go WOW like "Try", but this album is filled with so many beat-driven songs that you appreciate the ballads and you might actually think that the song is good, however, it is only mediocre.

Still, an enjoyable album.

Key tracks: Maneater, Promiscous

Rating: 3/5

[album] Continuum - John Mayer

Continuum-John Mayer

John Mayer returns with a third LP called "Continuum". When compared to his previous 2 albums, this sounds more mature and slightly darker with his lyrics. But i'm not saying that it is a bad album, in fact, this album is far better than his previous effort "Heavier Things".

First single off the album, "Waiting on the World to Change" delivers a meaningful message, one particular phrase that stands out from that song is "It's hard to beat the system, when we are standing at a distance". I can't say that he is a lyrical genius, but he is on his way there.

However, those who are not fans of Mayer should probably stay away from this album as you might find it a tad bit boring and you might find it a bit foreign, trying listening to his first LP "Room for Squares".

For those who love Mayer and how his music progresses, you will sure fall in love with this release. The best John Mayer record to date. "Vultures" is probably the catchiest song on the album but my personal favourite is "In Repair" where Mayer sings about coming out of depression after a failed relationship. Pensieve but so good.

Key tracks: Waiting on the World to Change, Gravity, In Repair

Rating: 4.5/5

[album] HOME - アンジェラ・アキ

HOME-Angela Aki

Before she sang the theme song for "Final Fantasy XII", she was a indie artise with a enormous amount of potential who needed to big break to get in to the japanese market. Put Nobuo Uematsu into a picture and you have a big star.

Angela Aki's album is nothing short of perfection, each song is sung with extreme emotions and oomph. Every song on this album is writtened and composed by her, not to mention she plays the piano, guitar, violin and drums. It seems like she came out of nowhere and wows everyone with her talent.

She didnt debut at Number 2 on the oricon charts for nothing, if it is not for Utada Hikaru's "Ultra Blue", she would have debuted at Number 1.

There is virtually nothing to say bad of the album, each song is a pleasure to listen to. One song to take note of is "Your Love Song", which in my opinion, brings the album to a climatic end. The song features Angela's voice and her piano and thats it. That song is what talent is all about and it features one full minute of piano playing.

Just keep her name in your head, she is bound for greater things.

Key tracks: Your Love Song, This Love, お願い (onegai)

Rating: 4.6/5