Artist: Technoboy and K-Traxx
Genre(s):
Other
Discography:
Titanic 020
Year: 2003
Tracks: 2
Friday, 27 June 2008
Decoder
Artist: Decoder
Genre(s):
Drum & Bass
Discography:
Discord EP
Year: 2003
Tracks: 3
Encrypted EP (TI024)
Year: 1999
Tracks: 3
Eko / Red Box
Year: 1998
Tracks: 2
Decoded EP
Year: 1998
Tracks: 4
Coldplay's Viva La Vida: Everything To Everyone, In Bigger Than The Sound
On The Record: Coldplay Get Massively Minimal on Viva la Vida
Given everything contained within, it's fitting that Coldplay decided to saddle their new album with two seemingly disparate titles (it's called Viva la Vida or Death and All His Friends, in case you weren't aware). Because if anything, it's the most bipolar thing they've ever done.
Lyrically, it's obsessed with the duality of, well, everything, full of ruminations on life and death, corporeal pleasure and spiritual anguish, the emptiness of wealth and the reverence of poverty (all sung by a millionaire rock star with an Academy Award-winning wife, of course). Musically, it's Sagrada Familia-massive and quark-microscopic, all strings and church bells one moment, tiny tack piano and shimmery joules of synthesizer the next (and surprisingly organic for an album produced by an electronic legend like Brian Eno). And thematically, it's hyper-focused on both the celebration of living and the bloody business of revolution, two yin/yang ideals that sort of make sense as one unified concept when you think about it long enough. In keeping with that (non) ideal, the album takes its title from a sunny Frida Kahlo painting, yet features an overwrought Eugène Delacroix work on the cover.
Basically, there are about 15 albums buried somewhere within Viva, each about wildly different things, and each of varying degrees of quality. And this is not necessarily a bad thing, though it does make "reviewing" it in any real context next to impossible.
So rather than attempt to do just that, perhaps the best approach is to consider the album in a vacuum, completely devoid of any context whatsoever. This isn't a review of Viva la Vida, since: A) to review is to contextualize, and an album of this scope, depth and breadth can't really fit into any single set of conditions; and B) since when would any Coldplay fan be swayed by a review anyhow?
(In other Coldplay news, read about our reporter's sorta-lunch with Chris Martin before the MTV Movie Awards.)
So here's what's good about the album: It opens and closes with a single piece of music, a pretty and shiny bit of bookend-ry the band co-wrote with electronic artist Jon Hopkins. It is worldly and mature without being overly so. From Martin's decidedly lower singing range to Jonny Buckland's churchly and majestic guitar work, Viva sounds very much like a band stretching its legs, having earned the right to do so, yet in a testament to Coldplay themselves (or perhaps Eno), there's also a level of self-awareness that only comes with the realization that most records that feature a band "stretching its legs" are terrible.
The songs display scope and execution, whether it's the Bolero guitars below "Cemeteries of London," the stomping build of "42," or the twisting, R&B middle of "Violet Hill." And there are three tracks on the record that effortlessly combine two songs into one: "Lovers in Japan/ Reign of Love" starts off with a spacey player piano and morphs into a dainty minuet; "Yes/ Chinese Sleep Chant" begins with swoony strings, switches into a horny take on a Spiritualized jam and concludes with Martin's voice trapped behind a wall of ice; and "Death and All His Friends/ The Escapist" closes the record with pretty pianos, a big, pounding exercise in drums and finally the same spacey bit that opened the album, this time with Martin singing, "And in the end/ We lie awake and we dream of making an escape."
And since we're on the subject, Martin writes with both an alarming openness and a disarming obtuseness on the record. In the case of the former, "Lost!" sees him keening, "Just because I'm losing doesn't mean I'm lost"; "Yes" has him singing, "When it started we had high hopes/ Now my back's on the ropes" in one bit, then "It's not easy when she turns you on" in another; and "Violet Hill" features him pleading, "If you love me/ Won't you let me know." In the case of the latter, there's "Viva La Vida," which seems to be sung from the perspective of deposed French monarch Charles X; "Death and All His Friends" has him begging, "So come over, just be patient, and don't worry" to no one in particular; and "42" is full of mentions of ghosts denied entry to heaven and "those who are dead ... living in my head." (I told you dude was bipolar!)
As for the bad, well, it's basically all the same stuff that's good about the album. There's an awful lot of ground to cover — Viva really, truly sounds like a band trying to be all things to all people — but when you're a band as massive as Coldplay, that's just covering your bases since, you know, "all people" is your core demographic.
And to that point, everything I just wrote is null and void. Who's going to like Coldplay's new record? Everyone who liked their previous records, which is to say pretty much everyone on the planet. Blog snobs? Check (they'll begrudgingly admit to liking Parachutes and A Rush of Blood to the Head). Sorority girls? Yep (huge fans of "Fix You," think Chris Martin is hot). Business guys who love to cut loose on the weekend? Count them in (saw band at rock-radio fest, own iPod because of "Viva la Vida" commercial). The Coldplay army is massive and loyal. They will follow you to the ends of the earth. And buy, buy, buy — no matter what.
And you get the feeling that's also why Viva is so, well, everything. Happy, sad, cavernous, claustrophobic, beautiful, depraved ... it all depends on which version you're hearing this time around. Is the record great? Yeah, parts of it. Is it better than X&Y? Definitely. Rush of Blood? Maybe, but probably not. Then again, you might disagree. Long live life, indeed. But also, let's hear it for death. Depends which part of the demo you're in.
David Cook-Gate: The Fall Out, or 'Letters, I Get Lots of Angry Letters'
If you ever want to get positively leveled by e-mails that question both your sexuality and your patriotism, all you've got to do is pen a column that pokes fun at "American Idol" champ David Cook and certain segments of the U.S. population. That's what happened to me in the wake of last week's Bigger Than the Sound, and I'd like to share a few of the best with you here. It's pretty safe to say that I broke the Internet in Texas and Alabama. [Editor's note: We're not losing our touch. We've just left these e-mails unedited so you can fully enjoy them.]
"Your attempt to bash anything not far Left using trash/spin in article about 'American Idol' young man,,,,,,(David Cook)^ an innocent hard working *talented young man & his career to do it,,, nauseated me to no end!!!
"How f'n dare u?? Pissed me off to no end,, at the level evil (YES evil is what I read in to that article) will go to spread hate in the atmosphere in a sad attempt to DICTATE their ideology......
"YOU WERE RIGHT on one not so well hidden fear, in that AMERICA for the most part is Center Right, Politically... More traditionalists,, &WE ARE SLEEPING Giants,, in numbers, so:
"Be careful how often & how deep u insult & bash the lot of us... Heard of 'jump the shark?' YOU LEFTIES HAVE Done it, or getting pretty close to it! Maybe your side doesn't deserve to ever get serious power anymore.. I think I'll write a few checks to McCain & Republicans,, ty for reminding me.."
-Anonymous, submitted in purple, italicized comic sans
"You think you are a satirist, but you are just an extremely poor writer. Those who have posted on the website have made all of the relevant arguments against your inane and offensive column. All I can add is 'ditto' to them all. You should be fired, or maybe arrested, for impersonating a columnist. You have managed to offend every person in America including those living in NYC who are not you. I can't imagine that any of them would want to claim you as their representative. What drek!"
- Anonymous
"James Montgomery (a.k.a. all that is wrong with music journalism today, or perhaps Josiah Leming in disguise) -
"It's easy to poke a finger at the Red States, because they think George Bush is always right, they watch Nascar, they think Country music is an acceptable form of entertainment - who with a brain wouldn't find that all ridiculous? However, the fact that 'mainstream America' likes Nickelback is not one of those examples that lends itself to a 'red state theory' of any type. I actually DO listen to (alt) rock radio. I do not listen to Nickelback, and my station would never play it.
"However, the enjoyment of the processed garbage that I believe Nickelback to be is no different than purposely downloading 'No Air' by Jordin Sparks or that horrifying 'Bleeding Love' by Leona Lewis. Top 40 is filled with music that makes my soul die, but if it makes other people FEEL something, should I be ready to dismiss that feeling as ridiculous? Are you ready to impose YOUR views on society, trying to sway a person with a mind all their own, who happens to enjoy rocking out to Chad Kroeger with the windows of their Honda Civic rolled all the way down, with the idea that what they enjoy is SHAMEFUL? You bully people into agreeing with your opinion using 'coolness' and making people feel embarrassed about something they genuinely enjoy. There is more than one thing wrong with 'America,' and you are one of those things, d-----bag. Right up there with Dick Cheney. Figure it out ..."
- Signed, someone who just MUST be a creepy middle-aged lady who wants to throw her underpants at David Cook, who also happens to be so unhip that she doesn't realize that Josiah Leming is the second coming of Bob Dylan. HOW HAS SHE NOT SLIT HER WRISTS, YET?
Any more? BTTS@MTVStaff.com.
See Also
U60311 Compilation
Artist: U60311 Compilation
Genre(s):
Techno
Discography:
Techno 2 - Mixed by DJ Rush (cd2)
Year:
Tracks: 10
Techno 2 - Mixed by DJ Rush (cd1)
Year:
Tracks: 19
Thursday, 26 June 2008
Christian Alvad and Rasmus Lyberth
Artist: Christian Alvad and Rasmus Lyberth
Genre(s):
New Age
Discography:
Beyond Darkness
Year: 1999
Tracks: 10
Four Tet
Artist: Four Tet
Genre(s):
Jazz
Acid Jazz
Techno
Electronic
Rock
Experimental
Discography:
Four Tet Remixes (Disc 2 - Remixes)
Year: 2006
Tracks: 12
Four Tet Remixes (Disc 1 - Remixes)
Year: 2006
Tracks: 12
Everything Ecstatic
Year: 2005
Tracks: 10
My Angel Rocks Back And Forth EP
Year: 2004
Tracks: 5
Live in Copenhagen 30th March 2004
Year: 2004
Tracks: 7
Late Night Tales
Year: 2004
Tracks: 1
She Moves She EP
Year: 2003
Tracks: 2
Rounds
Year: 2003
Tracks: 10
As Serious As Your Life
Year: 2003
Tracks: 4
Paws
Year: 2001
Tracks: 4
Pause
Year: 2001
Tracks: 11
No More Mosquitoes
Year: 2001
Tracks: 4
Glasshead / Calamine
Year: 1999
Tracks: 2
Dialogue
Year: 1999
Tracks: 12
Spawned from the advocate to do something asunder from his post-rock lot Fridge, Kieran Hebden's Four Tet project balances constitutional and programmed sounds. Hebden formed Fridge with Sam Jeffers and Adam Ilhan while still in high schooltime. When Fridge went on impermanent hiatus for Jeffers and Ilhan to give ear college, Hebden exhausted time playing with ideas gained from hip-hop and electronica that he hadn't had time for patch concentrating on the band. Eager to experiment, Hebden bought a computing device and began collecting drum and profound samples. Though his tracks sounded contrary, Hebden produced them all in his flat using only his reckoner to loop, slice, and paste downloaded samples and rhythms. His first uncut was 1999's Dialogue, which was noticed by experimental dub pioneer Pole (Stefan Betke). The two eventually collaborated for a 12", Four Tet vs. Pole, which included an original song by each and a remix of the track done by the former creative person. Around the same time, Fridge was signed to the label Go! Beat, owned by Polydor. Hebden retained Four Tet as a side project, however, and released subsequent records Pause (2001) and Rounds (2003) through Domino. The No More Mosquitoes EP and the "My Angel Rocks Back and Forth" individual preceded the 2005 release of Everything Ecstatic. In 2006, Hebden invest together two compilations of some of his favorite tracks, LateNightTales and DJ-Kicks, as well as Everything Ecstatic Films & Part 2. The two-disc Remixes was as well compiled and released that year as were two volumes of his Exchange Session project with jazz drummer Steve Reid. These two volumes establish Hebden working under his proper name for a change. This vogue continued when their third collaboration, Tongues, arrived in 2007.
Rihanna looks saucy in rubber
RIHANNA certainly knows how to live up to her reputation as a Good Girl Gone
Bad.
The chart-topper, who shot to fame with No.1 tune Umbrella featuring JAY-Z,
looks super sexy in rubber at the MuchMusic Video Awards.
Spice Girl MEL C also rocked up in her gladrags, sporting a
figure-hugging dress teamed with gold shoes and a chunky fringe.
Glam ... Sporty SpiceWIREIMAGEEnlarge
Rihanna wore a sexy military style outfit while she performed at the 19th
annual ceremony in Toronto.
The kooky star loves dressing up and is not averse to bondage gear.
She can also be seen stealing scenes in MAROON 5's new video for If I
Never See Your Face Again.
Rihanna flaunts her curves in a low-cut red dress and writhes around
seductively on a bed flashing her black suspenders.
She steals another scene by donning a tight black basque and long gloves.
Bad.
The chart-topper, who shot to fame with No.1 tune Umbrella featuring JAY-Z,
looks super sexy in rubber at the MuchMusic Video Awards.
Spice Girl MEL C also rocked up in her gladrags, sporting a
figure-hugging dress teamed with gold shoes and a chunky fringe.
Glam ... Sporty SpiceWIREIMAGEEnlarge
Rihanna wore a sexy military style outfit while she performed at the 19th
annual ceremony in Toronto.
The kooky star loves dressing up and is not averse to bondage gear.
She can also be seen stealing scenes in MAROON 5's new video for If I
Never See Your Face Again.
Rihanna flaunts her curves in a low-cut red dress and writhes around
seductively on a bed flashing her black suspenders.
She steals another scene by donning a tight black basque and long gloves.
Chuck Wild
Artist: Chuck Wild
Genre(s):
Ambient
Discography:
Liquid Mind VII - Reflection
Year: 2004
Tracks: 6
Adan Chalino Sanchez
Amos Lee best at matters of heart on new album 'Last Days at the Lodge'
Amos Lee
"Last Days at the Lodge" (Blue Note)
Since he broke nationally with his self-titled 2005 debut, Philadelphia native Amos Lee has faced a steady stream of Norah Jones comparisons. He insists he's not merely a male version of that blockbuster songstress, but until now, he hasn't moved far away from the easily palatable folk-pop with a jazz tinge that she popularized earlier this decade. And his third album strays only slightly from the usual mellow approach.
"Last Days at the Lounge," a Don Was-produced set, finds him emphasizing his soul bent in a string of twanging pleas for love and justice (really, he's more like a Tracy Chapman than a Norah Jones).
At heart, Lee is still a folky. His sensitive material rests on acoustic strumming, and he tackles universal political themes ambitiously. On "Jails and Bombs," he rails on Washington war policy, though his musings aren't particularly insightful.
Opening for stalwarts like Bob Dylan and Paul Simon is quite an education for a young troubadour, but Lee relies too heavily on obvious rhyme schemes ("explanation," "preservation," "nation") to even think about sharing a class with those giants.
Lee shines most brightly when he sticks to more intimate subjects. The divorce song "It Started to Rain" is a nice slow burn with subtle biblical references and soft organ accompaniment. When his voice wobbles through soul-rasp on the chorus, it's clear that matters of the heart are what really get Lee going.
CHECK THIS TRACK OUT: The ex-con anthem "Street Corner Preacher" combines a delicately funky beat with scatting and talk-singing about urban evangelism.
See Also
Nikos Diamantopoulos
Artist: Nikos Diamantopoulos
Genre(s):
Other
Discography:
Ping Pong
Year: 2004
Tracks: 5
R. Kelly: I'm Not Taking the Stand
New CDs: 'Watson Twins, G. Love, Motley Crue, Hacienda Brothers
The Watson Twins Fire Songs (Vanguard)
* * * (three stars)
Languor is a risky quality for musicians to cultivate: The Path of Slow has led countless down-tempo electronica acts into the dead-end of dinner music. But when slow works, it can be voluptuously pleasurable, as the Watson Twins show on their lovely full-length debut.
Repeated listenings benefit this meticulously produced offering of California back-porch pop; though its 11 tracks tend to blur at first, over time the whole effort seduces, earning a spot with similar unhurried gems like 'sMazzy Star "She Hangs Brightly" and 'sBeth Orton "Central Reservation."
Identical kin Leigh and Chandra Watson perfected their genetically superior harmonies as backup singers in the band Slydell and then with Jenny Lewis. Stepping out front, they benefit from the modesty that comes from learning how to blend in with every sound around them. As twins, they can shape-shift even more effectively than most polyphonic siblings; the aura they project, of one voice split in two, enhances their ability to cast a spell.
Their producers, L.A. scene vets J. Soda and Russell Pollard, encourage the band to lay back and blend in, so that the music achieves seamlessness: only the horns on "Map to Where You Are" really announce themselves. Like a lot of contemporary pop that gets labeled "alternative country," the Watson Twins sound borrows from various roots styles in a knowing way, filtering country and soul elements through the lens of previous re-interpreters like Neil Young and Linda Ronstadt (and Natalie Merchant, who's the twins' lost triplet as far as vocal tone goes).
The lyrics contemplate relationships, mostly with bad boys or girls, and the sometimes melancholy drift of young adulthood. There's also an attention-getting cover of the much-beloved Cure song "Just Like Heaven," which turns that nervous smooch into a sweet slow dance.
The Twins can do retro-pop, as on the xylophone-kissed album opener "How Am I to Be," but they're of their own generation, recycling influences to accommodate their own ideas instead of simply paying homage.
-- Ann Powers
Light and breezy 'cause fans like it
G. Love & Special Sauce "Superhero Brother" (Brushfire)
* * 1/2 (two and a half stars)
It's unlikely that anyone's more surprised by how long G. Love has managed to stick around than G. Love himself. The funky Philadelphian (born Garrett Dutton) first appeared on the national radar in 1994 with the MTV hit "Cold Beverage" -- a laid-back fusion of blues licks and hip-hop beats -- and since then, he and his backing band, Special Sauce, have built a devoted audience. .
On "Superhero Brother," the third album he's made for his pal Jack Johnson's Brushfire label, Love seems determined to reward his devotees with more of what attracted them in the first place. This is unapologetically breezy stuff, long on strummed acoustic guitars and shuffling rhythms. Most of the tunes emphasize the value of having a good time; several go into more detail, such as "Who's Got the Weed?"
As with Johnson's records, there's a temptation here to wonder if Love is running some kind of cynical musical experiment, a sort of how-low-can-I-go operation. But every time you start to doubt his sincerity, Love busts out a guileless little gem like "Wontcha Come Home," where he tells a lover, "There's no need for looking when you find what you need."
--Mikael Wood
Soul was in Gaffney's country
The Hacienda Brothers "Arizona Motel" (Hacienda Brothers)
* * * (three stars)
What made Hacienda Brothers lead singer Chris Gaffney such a treasure in the roots-music community -- he died in May shortly after being diagnosed with liver cancer -- was how easily he bridged the gap that too often separates country and soul music.
This third, and final, album from the group Gaffney formed in recent years with ex-Paladins guitarist, songwriter and singer Dave Gonzalez includes several stirring examples of Gaffney's ability to hop musical fences. His rich baritone -- part oak, part gravel -- sounds equally convincing on the Waylon-esque "A Lot of Days Are Gone," written by Gonzalez and Jeb Schoonover, the western swing of Hank and Curly Williams' "When You're Tired of Breaking Other Hearts" or the Southern soul of Gonzalez and Dan Penn's "Used to the Pain."
Gaffney contributed as a songwriter to just three songs here. That's a shame, since on his pre-Haciendas albums in the '80s and '90s with his band the Cold Hard Facts he established himself as a first-rate writer of deeply felt character studies on a par with those his good friend Dave Alvin specializes in. The one song he wrote by himself, "Soul Mountain," is a gospel-rave up celebrating that place within where the spirit reigns, one that now serves as a fitting epitaph to a life cut sadly short.
--Randy Lewis
Energy remains but not the edge
Mötley Crüe "Saints of Los Angeles" (Motley Records)
* 1/2 (star and a half)
For all its back-in-the-saddle brio, Mötley Crüe's first new studio album together since 1997, "Saints of Los Angeles" -- released today in advance of the July 1 kickoff in West Palm Beach, Fla., of a summer-long tour -- isn't really a return to the band's mid-'80s heyday, when they delivered catchy riffs, polished guitar fuzz and ghastly ideas about romance.
There is some of the old energy here, thanks in part to the presence of drummer Tommy Lee, who drives "Down at the Whisky" and "Chicks=Trouble" like somebody with a head full of stimulants. Yet the album lacks the tune-craft that once made vintage Crüe such hits as "Dr. Feelgood" and "Kickstart My Heart" so appealing.
--Mikael Wood
Albums are rated on a scale of four stars (excellent), three stars (good), two stars (fair) and one star (poor). Albums reviewed have been released.
* * * (three stars)
Languor is a risky quality for musicians to cultivate: The Path of Slow has led countless down-tempo electronica acts into the dead-end of dinner music. But when slow works, it can be voluptuously pleasurable, as the Watson Twins show on their lovely full-length debut.
Repeated listenings benefit this meticulously produced offering of California back-porch pop; though its 11 tracks tend to blur at first, over time the whole effort seduces, earning a spot with similar unhurried gems like 'sMazzy Star "She Hangs Brightly" and 'sBeth Orton "Central Reservation."
Identical kin Leigh and Chandra Watson perfected their genetically superior harmonies as backup singers in the band Slydell and then with Jenny Lewis. Stepping out front, they benefit from the modesty that comes from learning how to blend in with every sound around them. As twins, they can shape-shift even more effectively than most polyphonic siblings; the aura they project, of one voice split in two, enhances their ability to cast a spell.
Their producers, L.A. scene vets J. Soda and Russell Pollard, encourage the band to lay back and blend in, so that the music achieves seamlessness: only the horns on "Map to Where You Are" really announce themselves. Like a lot of contemporary pop that gets labeled "alternative country," the Watson Twins sound borrows from various roots styles in a knowing way, filtering country and soul elements through the lens of previous re-interpreters like Neil Young and Linda Ronstadt (and Natalie Merchant, who's the twins' lost triplet as far as vocal tone goes).
The lyrics contemplate relationships, mostly with bad boys or girls, and the sometimes melancholy drift of young adulthood. There's also an attention-getting cover of the much-beloved Cure song "Just Like Heaven," which turns that nervous smooch into a sweet slow dance.
The Twins can do retro-pop, as on the xylophone-kissed album opener "How Am I to Be," but they're of their own generation, recycling influences to accommodate their own ideas instead of simply paying homage.
-- Ann Powers
Light and breezy 'cause fans like it
G. Love & Special Sauce "Superhero Brother" (Brushfire)
* * 1/2 (two and a half stars)
It's unlikely that anyone's more surprised by how long G. Love has managed to stick around than G. Love himself. The funky Philadelphian (born Garrett Dutton) first appeared on the national radar in 1994 with the MTV hit "Cold Beverage" -- a laid-back fusion of blues licks and hip-hop beats -- and since then, he and his backing band, Special Sauce, have built a devoted audience. .
On "Superhero Brother," the third album he's made for his pal Jack Johnson's Brushfire label, Love seems determined to reward his devotees with more of what attracted them in the first place. This is unapologetically breezy stuff, long on strummed acoustic guitars and shuffling rhythms. Most of the tunes emphasize the value of having a good time; several go into more detail, such as "Who's Got the Weed?"
As with Johnson's records, there's a temptation here to wonder if Love is running some kind of cynical musical experiment, a sort of how-low-can-I-go operation. But every time you start to doubt his sincerity, Love busts out a guileless little gem like "Wontcha Come Home," where he tells a lover, "There's no need for looking when you find what you need."
--Mikael Wood
Soul was in Gaffney's country
The Hacienda Brothers "Arizona Motel" (Hacienda Brothers)
* * * (three stars)
What made Hacienda Brothers lead singer Chris Gaffney such a treasure in the roots-music community -- he died in May shortly after being diagnosed with liver cancer -- was how easily he bridged the gap that too often separates country and soul music.
This third, and final, album from the group Gaffney formed in recent years with ex-Paladins guitarist, songwriter and singer Dave Gonzalez includes several stirring examples of Gaffney's ability to hop musical fences. His rich baritone -- part oak, part gravel -- sounds equally convincing on the Waylon-esque "A Lot of Days Are Gone," written by Gonzalez and Jeb Schoonover, the western swing of Hank and Curly Williams' "When You're Tired of Breaking Other Hearts" or the Southern soul of Gonzalez and Dan Penn's "Used to the Pain."
Gaffney contributed as a songwriter to just three songs here. That's a shame, since on his pre-Haciendas albums in the '80s and '90s with his band the Cold Hard Facts he established himself as a first-rate writer of deeply felt character studies on a par with those his good friend Dave Alvin specializes in. The one song he wrote by himself, "Soul Mountain," is a gospel-rave up celebrating that place within where the spirit reigns, one that now serves as a fitting epitaph to a life cut sadly short.
--Randy Lewis
Energy remains but not the edge
Mötley Crüe "Saints of Los Angeles" (Motley Records)
* 1/2 (star and a half)
For all its back-in-the-saddle brio, Mötley Crüe's first new studio album together since 1997, "Saints of Los Angeles" -- released today in advance of the July 1 kickoff in West Palm Beach, Fla., of a summer-long tour -- isn't really a return to the band's mid-'80s heyday, when they delivered catchy riffs, polished guitar fuzz and ghastly ideas about romance.
There is some of the old energy here, thanks in part to the presence of drummer Tommy Lee, who drives "Down at the Whisky" and "Chicks=Trouble" like somebody with a head full of stimulants. Yet the album lacks the tune-craft that once made vintage Crüe such hits as "Dr. Feelgood" and "Kickstart My Heart" so appealing.
--Mikael Wood
Albums are rated on a scale of four stars (excellent), three stars (good), two stars (fair) and one star (poor). Albums reviewed have been released.
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