Britain’s Princes William and Harry plan to stage a concert with performers including Elton John next year to mark the 10th anniversary of the death of their mother Princess Diana, a newspaper reported Sunday.
The Sunday Mirror reported that the brothers would arrange the event, scheduled to be held July 1, 2007 at London’s renovated Wembley […]
There aren’t a lot of things Shawn Carter has done badly in his lifetime, but he was a pretty incompetent retiree. A mere three years after his mmm-kay farewell disc, “The Black Album,” Jay reappears, christens himself “the Mike Jordan of recordin”‘ (phony retirement and all), puts his well-brushed shoulder down and plows through […]
In an interview, Incubus guitarist Mike Einziger described “Light Grenades” as “a total mess … It sounds like 13 different bands playing 13 different songs.” Not quite. The quintet hasn’t abandoned its spiraling, madcap jam-busters, like frenetic first single “Anna Molly,” the punchy “Rogues” and the overdriven “A Kiss to Send Us Off,” a […]
After an ugly label battle and an unintended four-year hiatus, sibling duo the Clipse is finally dropping its second album, “Hell Hath No Fury.” Fortunately, the brothers deliver the lyrics their place-holding “We Got It for Cheap” mixtapes promised (”The news call it crack, I call it Diet Coke,” Pusha T raps), and the […]
“As Daylight Dies” is the kind of metal event album that will mostly satisfy fans who anticipated its arrival. Killswitch Engage reliably gallops from climactic chorus to chorus (”Break the Silence,” “Unbroken”), pulsing with rage and sorrow. The songwriting does get repetitive, aside from the throbbing “Desperate Times.” Guitarists Joel Stroetzel and Adam Dutkiewicz […]
This Houston quartet’s particular musical thing is a righteous brand of roots reggae, played with conviction and flair. “It’s About Time” is a very hip combination of five choice vocal tracks and five equally beat-rich dub versions of those numbers. You can drop in anywhere you like on this disc, be it “A New […]
Given the soulful production the music receives and the subtle intimacy of the vocals, it’s hard for duo Sin Bandera to go wrong on a covers album of great romantic songs. But in the end, the pair doesn’t substantially reinterpret or add much that’s unexpected to lovely work by Alejandro Sanz (”Lo Ves”) and […]
Amid so many posers in her wake, Avril Lavigne has taken her time, stepped back and maintained her integrity, waiting for the appropriate moment to return.
Soundtrack song in between albums? (Next is due in April.) Ideal. “Keep Holding On,” from fantasy flick “Eragon,” due December 15, meshes her authentic lived-it (albeit still youthful) vocal […]
Brooks & Dunn’s “Hillbilly Deluxe” already has spawned the Country Music Assn. Award-winning single and song of the year “Believe” and the soulful hit “Building Bridges.” This time, country’s top duo offers the album’s title track to remind radio just how skilled it is at delivering a hard-charging honky-tonk anthem. The song oozes with backwoods […]
What happened? Nelly Furtado’s “Maneater,” the best hip-pop anthem of the year — and fortifying follow-up to annoying No. 1 “Promiscuous,” as well as a chart-topper in Europe — was whisked out of the running on radio before its joyous tribal beats even had the chance to be heard. Suddenly Geffen is instead pushing “Say […]
A nostalgic a cappella lament, Sandi Thom’s U.K. hit “I Wish I Was a Punk Rocker” galvanized adult alternative album radio but failed to cross over to top 40. Kicking off with an uplifting folk-pop groove, her second single casts the Scottish singer in the role of skeptic lover, unable to believe in her own […]
The rebirth of testosterone-driven, emo-free arena rock is in full swing, with Hinder’s power ballad “Lips of an Angel” sticking to the top five of the Billboard Hot 100 like a fresh tattoo. Follow-up “How Long” is a two-punch tale of love gone wrong that makes clear that this year’s rock sensation is more than […]
If there ever was a fitting title to a song, Chris Daughtry may have nailed it by naming the first single from his band Daughtry’s debut album “It’s Not Over.” If you recall, voters discarded him in the closing stages of “American Idol” during season five, to the dismay of hundreds of thousands of fans. […]
Just try sitting this one out. We dare you. Club veteran Ultra Nate’s new single finds the singer stepping back to a time when Grace Jones and Roxy Music ruled dance floors. But like Gnarls Barkley and Hot Chip, Nate looks to the past purely for inspiration. Surrounding her huskier-than-usual vocals are present-day thick beats […]
