The long, weird saga of the Smashing Pumpkins opens a new chapter with “Zeitgeist,” their first disc since splitting in 2000. The group was always primarily a fancy name for Billy Corgan anyway, so this quote-fingers comeback, which features only Corgan and drummer Jimmy Chamberlin from the glory days, is actually more genuine than […]
If you’ve been at all aware of Neil Finn’s steady output in the 11 years since he dismantled Crowded House, none of the bittersweet midtempo rock on this reunion album will surprise you. Gone are the more overtly ’80s top 40 flourishes, but the project’s 14 tracks are still filled with well-made guitar and […]
OK, so these guys are still crazy in the best possible way, blending Eastern European Gypsy stylings and a punk rock sensibility into a ferocious, frenzied sound that has no real peer or progenitor in pop music. Imagine the B-52’s playing a wedding in Siberia and you’ll have a loose idea of what’s in […]
In Interpol’s world, the sky is always molten, the night is star-swept and every decision places souls on the line. The New York quartet retains its flair for dramatic images and ominous guitar lines on its major-label debut, but with producer/mixer Rich Costey on board, these signatures uncoil into more complex soundscapes. The band’s […]
British indie rock has been called a lot of things, but “nutty fun” isn’t frequently one of them, which is what makes “Version” such an exhilarating summertime throwdown. Best-known around these parts for producing Lily Allen and Amy Winehouse, Mark Ronson takes the occasion to decorate songs by Coldplay (”God Put a Smile Upon […]
Old-school nerds rejoice: They Might Be Giants’ 12th full-length record is arguably their best since 1994’s “John Henry.” This is no children’s album or a compilation of odds and ends/Internet-only releases. “The Else” is a rock/pop record of the kind that only the Brooklyn-based duo of John Flansburgh and John Linnell can create. These […]
Louisiana bluesman Tab Benoit has just dropped the best album of his career on us. “Power of the Pontchartrain” is an 11-track wonder that showcases Benoit’s thorough command of contemporary blues. He’s got it going on here with splendid songwriting, gritty vocals and choice lead guitar work. He cut the record with Louisiana band […]
In which the teen princesses of Radio Disney and their own branding empire construct an endlessly ambitious yet endlessly effervescent confessional pop-rock breakup album that deserves to carry them far beyond their teen pop base — in the Pat Benatar era, that would’ve been likely. Departures range from the delirious ’80s California New Wave […]
Despite the tabloid drama surrounding “My December,” what counts here is, Are there hits? The vinegar-and-pissed-off “Never Again,” while a top 10 Billboard Hot 100 hit on download sales, got a hasty brush-off from top 40. The reflective but equally fretful “Sober” is just hitting radio, with the jury out. On the whole, “My […]
Former Destiny’s Child songstress Kelly Rowland may never upstage her superstar groupmate Beyonce, but she certainly has the vocal chops and charm to stand on her own stiletto-clad feet. Consider the aptly titled “Ms. Kelly” her proper mission statement. Compared with her gospel-fueled 2002 solo debut, “Simply Deep,” Rowland appears confident and dominant on […]
Taking a page from the Ludacris playbook, T.I. devotes “T.I. vs. T.I.P.” to a battle between two sides of his personality and the theme of man versus self. The MC certainly gets an A for creative effort, thanks to tracks like the Wyclef Jean-produced “You Know What It Is” (”Sell another couple million and […]
Admit it; you wondered if Velvet Revolver would live to see a second album. Skepticism is an occupational hazard for such supergroups, especially by those whose frontmen have reputations staked in self-destruction. But “Libertad” is one of those sophomore albums that builds on the strengths of the first and offers enough fresh stuff to […]
This live collection captures both chapters of the “Operation: Mindcrime” saga Queensryche concluded in 2006. Actors and props helped tell the story onstage, making the concert more theatrical than “Operation: LIVEcrime,” the 1991 documentation of when the band played “Mindcrime” in its entirety. Seattle’s native sons are sharply on point and rock the house […]
On her first CD in five years, Kelly Willis delivers an alt-country gem. As on her two earlier Rykodisc albums, 1999’s “What I Deserve” and 2002’s “Easy,” Willis ruminates in a heartfelt vein on such tunes as the slow heartbreak waltz “Too Much to Lose” and sasses with whimsy on such rowdy covers as […]
