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Vega doesnt show her age
Suzanne Vega Songs in Red and Gray (A&M Records) Suzanne Vega has been making records since 1985.
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Album doesnt live up to hype
Meet Travis Meeks. Travis Meeks likes the name of his band so much that he made its first two albums self-titled. Travis Meeks wasn’t happy with his band, so he dismissed many of the original bandmembers and put himself in the sole spotlight.
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Quasi sharpens mood on Sword
Chicago-based record company Touch and Go Records may have become one of the luckiest labels recently when it obtained Quasi. The band, a two-piece outfit consisting of Sam Coomes (Elliott Smith) and Janet Weiss (Sleater-Kinney) has put the finishing touches on its brilliant sound with its latest. Their voices match perfectly with one another, and although Coomes provides his voice more than Weiss, they both rise to occasion when necessary. “A Case of No Way Out” is a loud, droning number which, if you listen carefully, contains an eerie and beautiful string pattern beneath the fuzz. “The Curse of Having it All” lets Weiss drip out some low-key vocals with some decent range while “Seal The Deal” is a catchy song that marries a distorted bass line with an effective tickling of the ivories on an organ and features some solid percussion work.
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Pipe album swims in pop waters
The Verve Pipe has stepped out of the melodramatic ’90s rock scene and into uncharted pop waters. The Grand Rapids-based quartet hasn’t been much more than an afterthought since its self-titled sophomore record failed to live up to the hype produced by its platinum debut “Villains.” Admittedly, “The Verve Pipe” wasn’t a great album, but it appears to have served as more of a rebound record between “Villains” and “Underneath.” It was just something to keep the band in the game without having to get too serious about it. But “Underneath” definitely has a serious side to it, only this time it’s concealed in a predominantly pop format. The writing duo of Brian Vander Ark and Donny Brown has written a great collection of pop, blues and rock songs that, when combined with an old-school rock sound, gives the album the honesty missing in its self-titled effort.
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Bad Ronald aptly titled
If you haven’t heard of Bad Ronald then you probably haven’t been to the mall lately. The group’s self-titled debut is an ideal soundtrack for most mall clothing stores frequented by college students.
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Ben Folds releases promising solo effort
If there was any doubt about Ben Folds’ ability to make an album without former bandmates Robert Sledge and Darren Jessee by his side, “Rockin’ The Suburbs” has washed it away. The new album is distinctly Ben Folds in both style and song, and although it tends to be more melancholy than his previous albums with Ben Folds Five, it doesn’t hurt the record.
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Band plays good old rock n roll
Dredg Leitmotif (Interscope) In the past few months I haven’t come across very many new bands that I’ve liked.
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Sophomore release anything but chaotic
Ozomatli Embrace the Chaos (Interscope) Don’t let the title scare you, Ozomatli’s sophomore release, “Embrace The Chaos,” is anything but chaotic. It has been three years since the Los Angeles band released its self-titled debut, but the new album is worth the wait. Unfortunately, I don’t speak Spanish, so I don’t understand half of the lyrics on the album, but that doesn’t make a difference.
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Puddle of Mudd aptly named
Puddle of Mudd Come Clean (Flawless) Rap rocker Fred Durst has been anything but original in recent years, and his latest contribution to the music industry is nothing new.
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System puts forth roller-coaster record
System of a Down Toxicity (American) It’s fortunate most record stores organize their rock music alphabetically rather than by category, because I wouldn’t know where to find the latest effort by System of a Down. The Los Angeles quartet ranges from hard rock to heavy metal on its new record and often throughout individual tracks. It is a roller coaster of a record, complete with stomach-swirling loops, eye-popping drops, a few slower spots where you can catch your breath and enough surprises to keep your adrenaline pumping.
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Creatures crawl into poor classic rock abyss
Beautiful CreaturesBeautiful Creatures (Warner Bros.) If you think just because Beautiful Creatures recently released it’s self-titled debut album and is touring with this years Ozzfest that it’s another alternative rock band with nothing to say, than you are mistaken. Actually, Beautiful Creatures is much more like an ’80s hair band with nothing to say. The quintet, lead by vocalist Joe LeSte, produced an album that’s so full of ’80s rock nostalgia such as sappy lyrics and screaming guitar solos that you can practically smell hairspray on the CD.
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Album follows familiar trend
AfromanThe Good Times (Universal) You may not know the name, but you’re probably familiar with Afroman’s recent single “Because I Got High.” The song has made an impression on radio stations across the United States combining a generic, albeit catchy, rhythm with lyrics that could’ve been written during fourth period of high school.