The Hoot soundtrack features several Jimmy Buffett tunes, including a duet with Alan Jackson of the classic hit “Barefootin’.” It also includes Buffet performing covers of Warren Zevon’s “Werewolves of London” and Bruce Cockburn’s “Wondering Where the Lions Are”; a new version of Buffett’s “Floridays”; and an original tune, “Good Guys Win,” written especially […]
Shaffer Smith has been writing material for mainstream acts since the tail end of the ’90s, when he was barely old enough to drive. In 2004, after he adopted the name Ne-Yo — a sensible move since his birth name is more like that of a sitcom actor or anchorman than an R&B loverman […]
On his 12th album, LL Cool J proves — with the help of an all-star roster of guests — that he can still hang with the young guns. Todd Smith (Cool J’s real name and the moniker of his clothing line) boasts cameos by Juelz Santana on the street-credible “It’s LL and Santana,” by […]
A protégé of Dr. Dre, rapper Eminem emerged in 1999 as one of the most controversial rappers to ever grace the genre. Using his biting wit and incredible skills to vent on everything from his unhappy childhood to his contempt for the mainstream media, his success became the biggest crossover success the genre had […]
Eminem’s four studio albums shattered so many sales records that you might think just about every man, woman and gerbil on the planet already owns a bulk of the songs that make up this greatest hits collection. But Curtain Call presents the perfect opportunity to have another look at the life of Marshall Mathers. […]
The cleverness of Fall Out Boy’s lyrical content is immediately evident by looking at the song titles on their sophomore disc, From Under the Cork Tree. “A Little Less ‘Sixteen Candles,’ a Little More ‘Touch Me,’” “I Slept with Someone in Fall Out Boy and All I Got Was This Stupid Song Written About […]
Poison, one of hard rock’s most iconic, enduring and controversial bands, celebrates 20 years in 2006. The Best Of Poison: 20 Years Of Rock has been put together to commemorate this anniversary milestone and the band’s career tally of more than 25 million albums and DVDs sold around the world. The new 18-track collection […]
Roll your eyes or–worse–invoke the Spice Girls all you want: Don’t cha wish your girlfriend was hot like any one of the members of this revolving collective? Dissing the Pussycat Dolls is like denying you want a peek at the Victoria’s Secret runway show–a foolhardy stance nobody’s going to believe anyway. Never mind, for […]
A Kid’s Review
1. A Dream is a Wish Your Heart Makes- Infinity/10 My favorite!
2. Zip-a-Dee-Doo-Dah- 2/10 Sorry Miley, your good as Hannah Montana, but you didn’t have to butcher a perfectly good Disney song!
3. If I Never Knew You- 10/10 Cheetahlicious! (Sorry, I just had to do that!)
4. Who’s Afraid of the Big Bad […]
Unlike many men, Alligator Records never forgets an anniversary. “The country’s largest contemporary blues label,” as it rightly bills itself, has released multidisc compilations celebrating its 20th, 25th, 30th, and now 35th years. For reasons that aren’t entirely clear, only tracks recorded for an artist’s first Alligator disc are chosen for this chronologically presented […]
For its first new set of music since 2000’s Warning, Green Day tears up the blueprint and comes up with something unexpected: a punk rock concept album built around elaborate melodies, odd tempo changes, and a collection of songs that freely reference classic rock warhorses like the Beatles and Pink Floyd. “She’s a Rebel” […]
From the first blanket of choral voices awash in reverb, Amarantine is instantly recognizable as a product of Enya, the Irish chanteuse who has created a genre unto herself. Although it’s been five years since her last CD, on Amarantine it’s as if time stood still. The triumvirate of Enya, lyricist Roma Ryan, and […]
When an indie-rock band as intimately and fiercely loved as Death Cab for Cutie makes the inevitable major-label jump, it often telegraphs a painful death. Witness Husker Du, the Replacements, Nirvana–hell, even R.E.M. After a successful four-album run on tiny Seattle imprint Barsuk, however, Death Cab for Cutie just might buck the trend on […]
Argentina-born, California-based Gustavo Santaolalla helped shape the rock en Español movement by producing Mexican bands Molotov and Café Tacuba , and Colombian singer Juanes. In the late 1990s he made a switch to soundtracks, working on well-received albums for Amores Perros and The Motorcycle Diaries. His instrumental contributions to Ang Lee’s tale of two […]
