Latest Album Reviews

The first time I’ve seen Craig David was when I saw his music video in MTV for “Seven Days” and then the last time I heard from him is his song “I Just Don’t Love You No More” and ever since that I haven’t heard from him. I am not a fan really but I like some of his songs and I know he has good vocals.

In his fourth record entitled “Trust Me,” however, he doesn’t sound tethered to any one sound in particular. In his opener song “Hot Stuff,” Craig channeled the Michael Jackson disco era over David Bowies “Let’s Dance.” Meanwhile, the song “Friday” has an old-school type of twist, and “Don’t Play with Our Love” has a Latin-jazz groove. Lastly, his song “Just a Reminder” shows Craig’s strong vocal performance. If you’re a Craig David fan, I’m sure you’ll love him, even more.

Birthdays are really one special time of the year and for Beyonce Knowles, birthday is indeed great! In celebration of her 25th birthday, the singer made the year extra special by lunching her brand new album, entitled “B-Day”. But the question is, does B still have what it takes to keep her crown as R&B/Pop queen?

We’ve known her debut solo album “Dangerously In Love” to be a success and obviously, her second album is doing great especially with a single like Irreplaceable that is being played in radios worldwide and being sung by people, male or female alike.

Some other songs in the album include “De’ ja’ vu”, “Ring The Alarm”, “Get Me Bodied” and the bass heavy “Freakum Dress”.

Germany’s premier soul artist Joy Denalane, releases her second album entitled ‘Born & Raised.’ It is the success of her debut hit ‘Mamani’ that has earned her comparisons to music industry’s great artists such as Aretha Franklin and Mary J. Blige. But even though she’s being compared with great artists and being praised for her talent she remains humble and her feet are still flat on the ground.

In this second album of hers Joy’s vocal ability is showcased to the highest of standards and because it is recorded in English, many people will surely be attracted to her music other than just her German fans. This album features the songs ‘Stranger In This Land’, ‘Start Over’, ‘Change’ and ‘Heaven Or Hell’.

We all know that Mandy Moore started her career at a young age and her albums then were of the teeny bopper kind. Some people even say that she is better off as an actress than as a singer. However, with her latest album “Wild Hope,” Mandy proved her critics wrong. The once young, teeny bopper singer has matured and has turned into a young woman. Her voice which has deepened with age fit the sound of her songs and her singing style more especially in the song “Can’t You Just Adore Her?” Also, Mandy had some of the songs co-written by herself which in some cases show the maturity of a singer. Wild Hope surely proves that there is hope for Mandy to stay in the music industry.

Could this be the Robyn I know from way back then? The Robyn who used to sing Show Me Love? Anyway, this Robyn girl is a two-time Nobel Prize for Super-Foxiest Female Ever winner and does stunt doubles for the famous Chinese actor, Jackie Chan. How’s that for an intro? But while this intro could come as a shock, there is no doubt when it comes to Robyn’s pop music power. Her album “Robyn” will finally be released in US and her audience can expect a variety of songs starting from her cheeky hip-hop “Konichiwa Bitches”, her rendition of Teddybears – “Cobra Style” to the Kylie Minogue-esque “With Every Heartbeat” and the song “Be Mine.”

Having been outdated from the music scene for many years, I only rely on album reviews to have a glimpse of the type of songs that I can expect from an artist’s record. So far, none of the album reviews have failed me but sometimes it saddens me to know that some critiques can be very harsh on some of my favorite artists. Anyway, I just wanted to share with you right now the album that I really am very intrigued about because of the good reviews that I’ve read about it, Leona Lewis’ Spirit. The only song that I’ve heard from this artist is her song Bleeding Love and I still can’t figure out what’s special with her though her vocals are good. However I can’t say yet that it’s her best. I guess I still need to listen to more of her music.

Unlike his first album, Trouble, which took twelve months and five singles to become a certified platinum album, Akon’s Konvicted was highly anticipated by his followers. This album was expected to reach the popularity that “Trouble” got in half the time. Currently with two singles released, Konvicted has made people’s eyebrows rise. It features Akon’s ability to shift from RNB to Hip-Hop and over to the World Music with this songs Never Took The Time, Blown Away and Mama Africa, respectively. It also showcases his ability to collaborate with artists such as Eminem on the song Smack That and Snoop Dog with the song I Wanna Love You.

Celine Dion is known as one of the finest musicians we have today and for over three years she has taken a break from the industry that she really loves to focus on her personal life, especially her family. But now, Celine has come back with a new album called Taking Chances. This album, like her previous ones, still features the power vocals this amazing singer has plus her deep and powerful connection to the emotional core of her art and songs. In this album, Celine has collaborated with the industry’s best musicians like Linda Perry, Dave Stewart, Kara DioGuardi, Ne-Yo, Ben Moody, John Shanks, Anders Bagge, Kristian Lundin, Aldo Nova, Tricky Stewart and Chris Neil. I’m sure Celine won’t let anyone of us down in her taking chances.