Rihanna - Good Girl Gone Bad

Pop fans rejoice! Another pop album review is here, and I think you might be surprised by this one. As a big hip hop fan, Rihanna seems like she's here to stay with even the most credible rappers doing collaborations with the young lady. She did a great job in Run This Town on the Blueprint 3, and that stemmed from her working with Jay on Umbrella from this record. She even did the recent video for Kanye's Coldest Winter, which she didn't have any part in the album, just was cool enough to do the video. She seems like a bit of an odd duck, but I'm not a person reviewer, just tunes. Anyway, Good Girl Gone Bad surprised me a little bit. I'm not going around and bumping this album in my car or anything, but the catchy tracks are actually not THAT bad here. Any pop music is going to get your toe tapping, but there is a little bit of substance top to bottom if you listen closely. I'm not even sure putting her in the same category as Gaga or Ke$ha is fair to Rihanna, but that's the dangerous game that popular music plays. I dislike pop for the most part, but this one is worth checking out. I'm guessing even the angriest critic would find at least one song on this record they liked. Give it a go, and then never tell anyone you did (except me).

TRACK LISTING:
1. Umbrella - (featuring Jay-Z)
2. Push Up on Me
3. Don't Stop the Music
4. Breakin' Dishes
5. Shut Up and Drive
6. Hate That I Love You - (featuring Ne-Yo)
7. Say It
8. Sell Me Candy
9. Lemme Get That
10. Rehab
11. Question Existing
12. Good Girl Gone Bad
13. Disturbia
14. Take a Bow
15. If I Never See Your Face Again

Listen To Samples

Top 3 Tracks:
1. Umbrella
2. Disturbia
3. Rehab

FINAL RATING:
3.25 out of 5 stars

Union Underground - An Education In Rebellion

On to round 2 of metal reviews. Maybe this time it's a band you haven't heard of though? That's my hope anyway...as it seems like if I'm rocking out to some Union Underground, no one knows what they heck is happening to them. Just a wave of headbanging, mosh pitting, raw emotion comes over them. Really good beats and guitar on this record, surprises me it didn't see more radio play back in the day. You can probably go buy this album even at Best Buy or something for well under 10 dollars. I think I paid 7 back when it was originally released. Metal fans, check it out - there are at least a couple tracks you'll enjoy. Non metal fans - ehh, maybe sit this one out. I'm not telling you this is exactly gold, but it's not bad. If I ever get to a metal record that just blows my mind, I'll be sure to note that in a review. This is at least less 'shouty' type music, and more focused on actual vocals and heave guitar. A hidden gem perhaps in the metal garage.

TRACK LISTING:
1. Education In Rebellion, An
2. Drivel
3. South Texas Deathride
4. Turn Me On "Mr. Deadman"
5. Until You Crack
6. Killing The Fly
7. Natural High
8. Revolution Man
9. Trip With Jesus
10. Bitter
11. Friend Song, The

Listen To Samples

Top 3 Tracks:
1. South Texas Deathride
2. Turn Me On Mr Deadman
3. Killing The Fly

FINAL RATING:
3.5 out of 5 stars

Gorillaz - Plastic Beach

Finally, I can get to the Gorillaz since the much anticipated album Plastic Beach is here! (Well, maybe I was the only one really awaiting the release, but still) I own every album they've put together, including G-Sides and D-Sides. For some reason, I just really enjoy grooving to their unique style. I still love the original album the best, since every track on there just makes me want to listen more. Plastic Beach is a very nice album as well. I think Demon Days saw fairly substantial commercial success, and maybe even put them on the map with the pop crowd with Feel Good Inc and Dare. Even though the first album was far superior, Demon Days sold better which speaks to the pop additions. Damon Albarn is quoted as saying this is the "most pop album in many ways", but having heard it now, that isn't conveyed in the music. He collaborated a lot this time, which is new for them, but it turned out really great. As opposed to my previous review, Gorillaz put one record out every 5 years-ish, and you expect it to be great. This one doesn't fall short one bit. Another great item in their catalog. I just hope they keep rocking it out for another decade.

TRACK LISTING:
1. Orchestral Intro
2. Welcome to the World of the Plastic Beach - (featuring Snoop Dogg)
3. White Flag - (featuring Kano/Bashy)
4. Rhinestone Eyes
5. Stylo - (featuring Mos Def/Bobby Womack)
6. Superfast Jellyfish - (featuring De La Soul/Gruff Rhys)
7. Empire Ants - (featuring Little Dragon)
8. Glitter Freeze - (featuring Mark E. Smith)
9. Some Kind of Nature - (featuring Lou Reed)
10. On Melancholy Hill
11. Broken
12. Sweepstakes - (featuring Mos Def)
13. Plastic Beach - (featuring Mick Jones/Paul Simonon)
14. To Binge - (featuring Little Dragon)
15. Cloud of Unknowing - (featuring Bobby Womack)
16. Pirate Jet

Listen To Samples

Top 3 Tracks:
1. White Flag
2. Welcome To The World Of The Plastic Beach
3. Stylo

FINAL RATING:
4.5 out of 5 stars

Ludacris - Battle Of The Sexes

Ludacris. LOODA! Umm...sorry, but I've almost had enough of him. I understand why you'd want to put out a record a year to keep the fans happy...but most of his albums are garbage! Seriously, if you took just the good songs off Release Therapy and Theater Of The Mind, you'd have ONE really good album. One that might even win some awards. But instead, you rush to get something out, and the final product shows it every single year. Regardless, I still like Ludacris. He's one of the better artists over the last decade in hip hop. Top 10 probably. I'm afraid that nothing will ever match up to Rollout or even What's Your Fantasy - which were basically his first two singles. It seemed like he was hungrier back then, and really flowed on his albums. Now, maybe it's his focus on acting, but the power just isn't there. BotS is right on that par, fairly disappointing with a couple solid tracks scattered through. Don't buy it...rent it. Listen to the samples and make your own call.

TRACK LISTING:
1. Intro
2. How Low
3. My Chick Bad
4. Everybody Drunk
5. I Do It All Night
6. Sex Room
7. I Know You Got A Man
8. Hey Ho
9. Party No Mo'
10. B.O.T.S. Radio
11. Can't Live With You
12. Feelin' So Sexy
13. Tell Me A Secret
14. My Chick Bad (Remix)
15. Sexting **This is the worst song ever made**

Listen To Samples

Top 3 Tracks:
1. Intro
2. My Chick Bad (Remix)
3. I Know You Got A Man

FINAL RATING:
2.5 out of 5 stars

Jimi Hendrix - Valleys Of Neptune

The Experience Hendrix people decided to release a few previously unreleased tracks from Jimi this week. Valleys Of Neptune is just a compilation of some unseen studio stuff, similar to what Nirvana did with a disc of their box set. This didn't really jump hugely out to me, but it's nice. There is some neat stuff on here, and any time Jimi lays down some guitar - you have to respect it and listen closely. No one in the world plays like Jimi did...and you can hear it in everything he does. A couple tracks are songs you've heard before, but just jam session type stuff. Pretty neat to hear this what, 40 years later? My only real pet peeve, is Sunshine Of Your Love is covered, but it's just instrumental. I would have loved to hear Jimi really cover Cream. Regardless, still a great jam track. Big kudos to his family for releasing this stuff, and keeping the legend alive.

TRACK LISTING:
1. Stone Free
2. Valleys of Neptune
3. Bleeding Heart
4. Hear My Train A Comin'
5. Mr. Bad Luck
6. Sunshine of Your Love
7. Lover Man
8. Ships Passing Through the Night
9. Fire
10. Red House
11. Lullaby for the Summer
12. Crying Blue Rain

Listen To Samples

Top 3 Tracks:
1. Valleys Of Neptune
2. Sunshine Of Your Love
3. Crying Blue Rain

FINAL RATING:
4.25 out of 5 stars

Seven Mary Three - American Standard

No question you've heard Cumbersome before. Excellent track on a fairly mediocre album. I did buy this a long time ago, and popped it in recently. It's not the best record of 1995, but it's not the worst either. I've heard many criticisms of them because they were accused of trying to sounds too much like Pearl Jam - and I really don't get that at all. They've got the Virginia type sound going, not really anything like the Seattle grunge movement. I don't see how any comparison to them is applicable. These guys have continued to make music and tour, they had an album come out in 2008 sometime. They seem fairly irrelevant nowadays, but toss this back in one more time - and think about the first time you heard some of these tracks. Back when Milwaukee still had New Rock 102.1, this was a solid mainstay. There best album by a landslide, so rip your favorite tracks to your iPod and enjoy the melodies.

TRACK LISTING:
1. Water's Edge
2. Cumbersome
3. Roderigo
4. Devil Boy
5. My My
6. Lame
7. Headstrong
8. Anything
9. Margaret
10. Punch In and Out
11. Favorite Dog

Listen To Samples

Top 3 Tracks:
1. Cumbersome
2. Water's Edge
3. My My

FINAL RATING:
2.5 out of 5 stars

My Chemical Romance - Three Cheers For Sweet Revenge

Sometime in late 2004 I seem to recall hearing about this band. Didn't know much about them when I heard 'Helena'. At first, the song didn't necessarily get me to jump off the sofa with excitement, but it's one of those that as my day continued, I found myself singing the chorus in my head. After that, I picked up the whole Three Cheers ensemble, and was pretty stunned. This again isn't my most favorite genre in the world, but I do like this record. I feel Helena is one of the better songs of the mid 2k's. I would put that slightly above The Black Parade in terms of staying power - but we shall see in the future. This one is worth a listen if you're into that punkish type rock...if not, catch the next one.

TRACK LISTING:
1. Helena
2. Give 'Em Hell, Kid
3. To The End
4. You Know What They Do To Guys Like Us In Prison
5. I'm Not Okay (I Promise)
6. Ghost Of You, The
7. JetSet Life Is Gonna Kill You, The
8. Interlude
9. Thank You For The Venom
10. Hang 'Em High
11. It's Not A Fashion Statement It's A Deathwish
12. Cemetery Drive
13. I Never Told You What I Do For a Living

Listen To Samples

Top 3 Tracks:
1. Helena
2. I'm Not Okay
3. Thank You For The Venom

FINAL RATING:
3 out of 5 stars