Dubstar - Disgraceful
| Crowded House - Recurring Dream | Weezer - Pinkerton
Food/EMI
 Pick the 'naughty' cover |
Imagine if you will, Chester readers, a perfect
world. A world in which tunes and charm rules the
airwaves instead of powerchords and AOR pap. A world
where groups like St. Etienne, Frente and The Pet Shop
Boys are top of the charts (okay, so the PSB actually
are). Instead the reality is a world where Hootie and the
Blowfish (The Huey Lewis and the News of the 90s?),
Celine Dion and Pariah, oops I mean Mariah, Carey sell
millions and choke commercial station's playlists. Bugger
eh? Still this doesn't prevent bands like Dubstar from
releasing great music, it just prevents 95% of the music
buying population from hearing it. Well now that's over
with onto the review proper... Although the trick of a having a good looking, sweet singing lass fronting a pop-dance group with faceless blokes playing the instruments is not new (see St. Etienne, Cardigans et al) Dubstar do it with such skill, panache and just plain Bloody Good Tunes (tm) on Disgraceful that it seems as fresh as a very fresh Sunday morning in the country. For those who haven't had the pleasure of hearing Dubstar, think about a mix of those groups, add a dash of the Smiths, New Order and a lovely English accented (not to mention drop dead gorgeous, oh, I've already mentioned that, sorry) lead singer and of course, Bloody Good Tunes (tm) and what you get is a marvelous debut album full of sweet, danceable numbers with catchy guitar fills. While the songs are upbeat the lyrics are darker than the music's optimistic feel would suggest. First single 'Stars' for example, despite it's soaring chorus is actually about suicide, while the sleve of the album has some bizzare imagery (and I won't even mention the fuss made over the UK release's cover). In a perfect world this would be number one. It won't be, but we can certainly do our damnest to try and get it there. Rating (out of 5 trainers) |
Capitol/EMI
| Really what is left to say about this?
If don't like Crowded House, you probably wouldn't be
reading this review, and if you do like them
you've probably already bought it. Still, there's always
a swinging voter or two... As 'best of' compilation's go, they don't come much better than this. An album overflowing with modern day pop music classics from the genius songwriting pen of Neil (and on three occassions Tim) Finn, there really isn't a duff track on it. As Crowded House's swansong (originally intended only as an adjunct) it collates 16 of their singles, in non-chronological order, plus 3 new compositions, which fit quite comfortably amongst the hits and misses. Four of the tracks come from their hugely successful debut, three from the introspective Temple of Low Men, four from the UK smash Woodface and four from the criminally neglected Together Alone. Four albums which are almost compilation albums themselves, but for the budget conscious this will do very nicely. There are only two major omissions ('Chocolate Cake' and 'Sister Madly') and no non-single tracks, but let's not be pedantic. This has already sold loads in the UK and Australia. Let's just hope America wakes up and remembers this dream as well. Rating (out of 5 trainers) |
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Weezer - PinkertonGeffen/MCA
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