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NEWS ABOUT: music review

Lotusflow3r Not Quite Full Bloom for Prince

(Newser) - Prince’s new album, Lotusflow3r, is actually three separate discs: two by the Purple One and one by his protégé, Bria Valente, all for sale exclusively at Target for $11.98. And depending on who you ask, that’s a good deal—or not.
  • Jody Rosen is thrilled by
... More »

Phish Dives Back Into Limelight

Vermont foursome have still got it after all these years

(Newser) - Despite the 5-year gap since Phish last jammed in their trademark style, last night’s reunion concert in Virginia was well worth the wait, Kevin O’Donnell writes in Rolling Stone. “It was like hanging out with friends you haven’t seen in years,” writes O’Donnell. “... More »

U2's Latest Good, Not Great

'No Line on the Horizon' features some experimentation, some classic U2

(Newser) - At its best, U2’s latest album has the band both pushing forward with a dense, atmospheric sound courtesy of producers Brian Eno and Daniel Lanois—but in other moments, Bono and company are content to lazily rehash their stadium-pop formula, critics say.
  • “The album lacks a unified feel,
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Obamas Inherit Sweet Record Stash

White House album collection contains landmarks from Zeppelin, Stones, Beatles

(Newser) - President Obama’s new digs not only grant him access to chefs and a bowling alley, but an LP stash that includes Led Zeppelin IV and the Ramones’ Rocket to Russia, Rolling Stone reports. Banished to the basement during the Reagan years, the White House vinyl vault contains Obama favorites... More »

Tonight Marks Reinvention for Franz Ferdinand

Disco-charged album offers 'brand new start' for Scottish band

(Newser) - Franz Ferdinand’s third album, Tonight, is a “wholesale reinvention of their sound,” writes Andy Langer in Esquire. Establishing riffs rooted in bass rather than their trademark guitar sound, the quartet’s effort—out now—treads where few have dared, says Langer.  “The Achilles heel of... More »

Brit's Back, Big Time

'Circus' recalls better times, and better albums, than last year's dud

(Newser) - While Britney Spears' life has resembled something of a sideshow over the past couple of years, her newest release is a welcome return to her musical roots, writes Jim Farber in the New York Daily News. And for Glenn Gamboa, writing in Newsday, Circus can't just be called a... More »

Heartbreak Has Kanye Singing

Bold, brooding album piques critics' interest, though it's 'occasionally unlistenable'

(Newser) - Kanye West’s latest, 808s and Heartbreak, finds the rapper changing his tune, singing instead of rapping and mourning instead of boasting—and the result is “bold, fascinating, foolhardy, occasionally unlistenable,” writes Jody Rosen in Rolling Stone. While its '80s drum tracks are a “pleasant shock,”... More »

Beyoncé More Gimmicky Than Fierce

Diva shows split personality on new double album

(Newser) - Beyoncé’s latest, I Am … Sasha Fierce, consists of two discs: one with “some lovely ballads” and the other “aggressive, sexual, and, well, fierce,” writes Leah Greenblatt in Entertainment Weekly. But despite a few gems, “the collection might have been better served had she... More »

New Kids Score Block Party

New album could be best yet from reunited '90s boy band

(Newser) - Critics applaud the comeback album from reunited boy band New Kids on the Block, which, while it “may not break any ground musically,” is in fact “the best album of their multi-platinum career,” writes Glenn Gamboa in Newsday. “The best cuts” on The Block “... More »

Tokio Hotel Rocks Screaming Tweens

With big hair, big riffs and MTV buzz, Germans threaten to go mainstream in US

(Newser) - Having dominated Europe, German rockers Tokio Hotel are threatening to go mainstream in the US, if the reception their riff-heavy pop metal earned among screaming preteens in San Francisco this week is any indication. "The best way to describe the glam-metal-emo-pop-tween group," Aidin Vaziri writes in the Chronicle,... More »

Bubble-Grunge? Cyrus Oddly Downbeat on Breakout

'Downer' tunes far cry from feel-good Hannah Montana

(Newser) - As Miley Cyrus’ second album under her own name hits stores today, the 15-year-old admitted on Good Morning America that her now-infamous Vanity Fair photos were a “mistake.” But just like those racy pics, the tougher tunes and “feel-bad downers” on Breakout are anathema to her bubbly... More »

Country Fans to Crossover Simpson: Cross Back

'No twang' in singer's country tunes

(Newser) - Struggling pop star Jessica Simpson’s country crossover got off to a rocky start Saturday when her debut performance at Wisconsin’s Country Thunder Festival drew a decidedly mixed reaction from the crowd, the Kenosha News reports. "I just don't hear the country in her; I don't hear the... More »

Rage Frontman's New Band Sounds Familiar

One Day As A Lion's new track doesn't fall far from the tree

(Newser) - Rage Against the Machine fans probably won’t be disappointed with One Day As A Lion, the new project from frontman Zach de la Rocha: It sounds, well, "pretty much kinda-sorta exactly like Rage Against the Machine,"  writes Gary Moskowitz in Mother Jones. The first song, online... More »

My Morning Jacket Spreads Rock Gospel

At Radio City Southern rockers strut spiritual side, showcase 'arena-rock ascendance'

(Newser) - My Morning Jacket is officially an arena-rock force, Nate Chinen raves in the New York Times. The Southern-rock darlings walked the line between spiritual and sanguine before a sold-out Radio City Music Hall on Friday, playing the majority of new album Evil Urges, which "features some of its strongest... More »

Dion's AC/DC Tribute 'Worst Cover Ever'

Crooner's version of You Shook Me All Night Long called 'vile'

(Newser) - Celine Dion's rendition of AC/DC's You Shook Me All Night Long has been voted the worst cover ever, according to Total Guitar magazine. The UK mag called the duet Dion performed with Anastacia in Las Vegas 6 years ago an "offense" against music. "The No. 1 worst cover... More »

Scarlett's Waits Tribute: Unnecessary, But Not Bad

Johansson revisits legendary croaker's catalog

(Newser) - “Even the most sympathetic critics,” writes Tom Breihan for the Village Voice, have to grant that Anywhere I Lay My Head, Scarlett Johansson’s Tom Waits tribute album, “is a fundamentally ridiculous enterprise, almost stunning in its total lack of need to exist.” That said, Breihan... More »

Keys' Attack Releases Old Rut

Garage band figures out how to expand

(Newser) - The Black Keys had hoped collaborating with Ike Turner would finally push the band out of its tired “garage minimalism,” writes Pitchfork’s Roque Strew. Though Ike died in December, the band already had material that expanded its sound. Attack & Release is its “most adventurous album... More »

Winehouse More Than a 'Genius Junkie'

Queen of 'retro soul' not just cribbing from the past, says Frere-Jones

(Newser) - It's tempting to chalk up the popularity of singer Amy Winehouse to her headline-grabbing bent for self-destruction, writes Sasha Frere-Jones in the New Yorker. But that would be a mistake. He takes a closer look at Back to Black, with its "perfect" single "Rehab," and finds much... More »

Black Crowes Squawk at Sham Maxim Review

Magazine gives 2.5 stars to an album it never heard

(Newser) - Pick a number, any number: Maxim's 2.5-star rating—out of 5—for the Black Crowes' latest album was little more than a guess, the magazine admitted yesterday. No advanced copies were released, the San Francisco Chronicle reports, but that didn't stop Maxim's critic from decreeing in the March issue... More »

Thriller Revives 'Prettiest Star'

25th anniversary reissue both 'lame' and 'legendary,' critics say

(Newser) - Thriller's 25th anniversary reissue shows why Michael Jackson was once "the coolest, slinkiest, prettiest pop star alive,” Rob Sheffield writes in Rolling Stone. Six “lame” remixes by stars like Fergie, Akon, and Kanye West apparently indicate the best-selling album of all time "cowed" the cover artists,... More »

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