Recently in Albums Category

Now that we got your attention. This is not about music piracy. This is about the new album of Coldplay, which they are actually allowing people to download for free. I was happily checking the Trending Topics on Twitter when I saw Coldplay popping out. Curious, I clicked on the topic and was led to talks about free music from the band. So I went in and checked it out and found that it wasn't a hoax. But expect to wait because a lot of people are now downloading this free live album LeftRightLeftRightLeft from band, which incidentally, was slapped with copyright infringement by Joe Satriani (I wonder whatevery happened to that case). This free album was announced earlier as a gift to fans. According to Coldplay's website, this free live album is its answer to the economic crisis.

...the give-away is meant as a recession-busting mark of gratitude to everyone who's supported them: "Playing live is what we love. This album is a thank you to our fans – the people who give us a reason to do it and make it happen." The album was recorded over the past year in various cities around the world on the Viva La Vida tour. Its tracklisting is as follows: 1. Glass of Water 2. 42 3. Clocks 4. Strawberry Swing 5. The Hardest Part/Postcards From Far Away 6. Viva La Vida 7. Death Will Never Conquer 8. Fix You 9. Death And All His Friends

By Clarence Yu AS reported on Rolling Stone Magazine, the long-awaited new album from Aerosmith has been delayed yet again. The band is citing several "health problems" as the reason for this delay. In lieu of releasing the new album, the Bad Boys from Boston are gearing up for a US summer tour with fellow veteran rockers ZZ Top, after which the band will either resume production or release the album. Hardcore Aerosmith fans might be disappointed at these turn of events, as the band has not released a full album of new material since 2001's Just Push Play. However, they may be in for a treat, as the prospect of seeing them co-headline with the great ZZ Top is quite exciting. Both bands straddle the same rock/bluesy genre, and have always been respected for both their image and their musical output and creativity. Similarly, both rock bands have touched on the disco/rap genre, with "Legs" from ZZ Top and "Walk This Way" from Aerosmith scoring big on the contemporary scene. Wouldn’t it be great to see both bands on stage jamming both songs as an encore? One can only hope. The good news is that Aerosmith is still keeping Brendan O' Brien on board for producing duties. O' Brien has proven to be the en vogue rock producer of the moment, and it's not just a fad: he’s worked his way up the hard way, producing Pearl Jam in the 90's and serving as engineer on several landmark records such as, coincidentally, Aerosmith's 1994 release Get A Grip. Currently, his work on AC/DC's Black Ice and Bruce Springsteen's Working On A Dream has reinvigorated both artists and have put them back on top at the cream of the crop. It almost seems that O' Brien has somehow replaced the late, great Bruce Fairbairn as THE eminent rock producer (Bon Jovi, Van Halen, Aerosmith). At any rate, whenever Aerosmith releases the new album, it should be worth the wait, and should usher in a new era in the band's long and storied career. Eight years without any new release is the longest dormant time that Aerosmith has ever had now.

By Marjorie Gorospe Filipino indie rock group Menaya has some news. Having had its share of radio airplay, Menaya’s second album ominously titled, “The Worst News,” is by far delivering good news for the group. One of their songs “Safer” has topped the charts of NU Rock 107 for five weeks, while another song “Favorite Sin” is climbing, according to Brian Sombero, vocalist of the group. You can listen to theirs songs from their MySpace profile or view a music video of "Safe" on YouTube. Menaya is composed of Brian Sombero on the guitar and vocals, Hepe Lavador on Drums, Mike Bacalzo in guitars and Gil Olivar on Bass. The group’s major influences include Mafia, Myriads and The Stills, which are foreign acts playing different genres of indie, post-punk, alternative to heavy metal music, depending on your taste. Sombero could not say what sets the band apart from other local acts emerging from today’s generation of indie bands. However, he says indie (independent) rock means the opposite of mainstream. “This is our music and hopefully more people will embrace it,” he adds. Hepe Lavador adds: “We cannot deny that most Filipinos listen to foreign music but we should also try to listen to original pinoy music and realize that our own music is not that ordinary.” The group is happy where it is now. But it is hoping to break the international scene “one step at a time.” Menaya is already earning a name, as it was recently tapped to become frontact for local singer and performer Ogie Alcasid with the Idols. Alcasid’s concert is produced by The Underground Studio Inc, apparently owned by the Menaya vocalist Brian Sombero.

Guns ‘N Roses is learning. With its much-delayed album (still under the auspices of frontman Axl Rose) set to launch several hours from now in the US, it is giving people a taste of its music online. Based on what has been posted on MySpace, it is clear that the American hard rock band that gave us “Sweet Child O’ Mine,” “Welcome to the Jungle,” “Paradise City,” and “Mr. Brownstone” is a different band. Streaming some of its songs on its official MySpace account, Guns ‘N Roses music is less edgy but is more refined than “Appetite for Destruction.” Of course, there are still traces of the old GNR sound in the “Street of Dreams,” a definite love song that brings back memories of "November Rain." Rose’s signature growl remains present, as well as the “oohs” and distinctive high-note wails that you can pick out even if he’s singing cover songs. “Chinese Democracy,” however, is clearly a departure from the shadows of the original GNR sound. Considering this album was reportedly started in 1999, the Slash and Izzy Stradlin’s signature guitar riffs and nasty rock and roll ad-libs are gone. Yes, the guitar work in this album is still impressive, but it just feels too manicured. GNR’s appeal back then was, as Rolling Stone’s writes, its “audacious, unhinged and uncompromising hard-rock” music that emerged from the scores of hard-rocking bands in the 80s. The first album was loaded with blood, sweat and tears. And, what about Axl’s angst, where did it go? Chinese Democracy comes more like a “happy rock” music produced for a generation of radio-friendly rock music listeners. Considering the album will be sold through Best Buy, GNR is perhaps trying to open up to a bigger market of teens and younger listeners who have only heard about GNR in Guitar Hero. As Rolling Stone’s puts it: “[But] here compressed into a convulsive single disc of supershred guitars, orchestral fanfares, hip-hop electronics, metallic tabernacle choirs and Axl Rose's still-virile, rusted-siren singing” is GNR’s Chinese Democracy. If you slap Bon Jovi’s voice in Chinese Democracy, this album can be mistaken as the New Jersey-born band. It’s that different. Perhaps one of the flaws of bands whose time has ended is trying to carry on an aging name that we fans have worshiped and loved. Perhaps it’s about time Axl lets go of the GNR and reinvent himself. To be fair, Chinese Democracy is not bad at all. In fact, if I discovered this band today, I would give it a second listen. But to those who have been head-banging to “Rocket Queen” and “Paradise City,” they would find themselves in a quandary. Where have the “Used to Love Her” and “Civil War” songs gone? Again, I refer to Rolling Stone’s conclusion. For all its worth, Chinese Democracy is not exactly a music produced by a band. It’s Axl Rose all over the place with different supporting characters.

By Clarence Yu No, you did not read the title wrong. It is Kevin Costner, actor-director, with his band Modern West and their debut CD, “Untold Truths.” At the age of 53, Costner decides to go into his first album of all original songs, with long time band Modern West. Most might be surprised (like me) but after a little checking, Costner has not been a stranger to playing music, as he and his band have been playing live gigs for the past couple of years. The sound is all country/roots-rock with Costner on vocals. Surprisingly, for a shameless country music fan like me, I’m not that disappointed, nor am I elated. The songs on the album have little to do with what the title suggests, at least in a direct sense. “90 Miles an Hour” sounds a bit like Jacob Dylan’s “One Headlight,” and “Every Intention” sounds like a John Mellencamp song. The fire cracking country-rocker “Gotta Get Away (Song for Bud)” is one of the tracks that is quite unique. Most of the other tracks deal with tales of Americana and it’s heartland and the actor’s voice isn’t really that bad -- he sounds like he’s having a blast, and the band is superb. Overall, this album is not bad debut CD for a 53 year old actor who now officially joins the ranks of Kevin Bacon, Bruce Willis, Keanu Reeves as actor-musicians. It’s not as hip as today’s contemporary music by any standard (whatever that may be). I’m pretty sure this album will not do well commercially nor will it have a big chance of being released locally. But for easy listening, I wouldn’t mind keeping this on my player for a while. Just to give you an idea how Costner looks on stage singing, here's a video we found on YouTube:

By Clarence Yu AC/DC fans, it’s time to rock again after eight years. Angus Young and company are back with the new album “Black Ice,” released last October in the United States. You can find a sample of one of their songs, titled "Rock 'N Roll Train" here. Their last release, “Stiff Upper Lip” was in 2000, and was met with their usual commercial success. In between then and now, the band was quite inactive with the exception of jamming onstage with the Rolling Stones in 2003, and releasing several box sets. “Rock N’ Roll Train,” the lead single off the album, is typical AC/DC: it lifts the hairs off your arm and immediately hypnotizes you with that 4/4 signature rock groove they’ve perfected since their inception in 1973. “Spoiling For A Fight” sounds a bit like “Moneytalks” off 1990’s Razor’s Edge, but less radio friendly and more ballsy. Indeed the whole album sounds like they’ve abandoned the commercial path they started taking with producer Bruce Fairbarn (rest in peace) in the 1990’s, in favor of the 1970’s-80s sound perfected by producer Robert “Mutt” Lange (also producer of Def Leppard, Bryan Adams, Shania Twain, to name a few). “Stormy MayDay” has Angus Young playing slide guitar, and “Rockin’ All The Way” is a mid-tempo 3-chord rocker reminiscent of all of their mid-tempo 3-chord rockers, except that somehow the magic of the band is that it always makes it sounds fresh and new. Lead vocalist Brian Johnson is in fine form throughout the album, and, according to a press release, cites Black Ice as “the best they’ve ever done, even better than Back On Black (1980).” I will probably agree on that momentarily. The band never sounds sluggish and the guitars are ruthless. The Internet is truly wonderful. Hard copy is not yet available in Manila (as of last week), but you can already find them somewhere in the ether. Wolfgang and Razorback, including the plethora of AC/DC fans in Manila have something to rejoice in, and for those who are tired of contemporary pneumatic avant garde hip rock and alt rock, and want a taste of the real thing, download or buy this as soon as you can. I’m calling the stores everyday.

It took 17 years, but finally classic American rock group Guns N' Roses is launching "Chinese Democracy," Agence France-Presse reports. The band released Use Your Illussion I and Use Your Illusion II albums in 1991, which were the last original recordings of the band before some members including guitarist Slash left the supergroup. After that, the band has gone through a lot of changes, with frontman Axl Rose remaining as the only original member to date. Songs like "Sweet Child o' Mine" and "Paradise City" are now classic tunes that emerged from the hard rocking band from Los Angeles. Of course, who can forget their acoustic composition, "Patience," which also became a hit. Excerpt:

LOS ANGELES – US supergroup Guns N'Roses will unveil their first original album in 17 years next month with the release of long-awaited work "Chinese Democracy", a statement said Thursday. The long-delayed album will go on sale in the United States on November 23 while the title track "Chinese Democracy" has already been released to radio, the band's managers said. The album is Guns N' Roses' first since the 1991 release of Use of Illusion I and Use Your Illusion II. "The release of ‘Chinese Democracy’ marks a historic moment in rock n' roll," co-managers Irving Azoff and Andy Gould said in a statement. "Guns N' Roses fans have every reason to celebrate, for this is only the beginning."

One-word album titles still sound cool no matter what and those eager to find out Up Dharma Down’s next album sound like must take heed. The one Manila band BBC radio DJ Mark Coles thinks most likely to sell in the Western hemisphere is releasing what is by now described (us included) as one of the highly-anticipated albums by any local artist. As described by Toti Dalmacion, the band’s manager and Terno Recordings head honcho, the songs on the new album are like yin-yang, plus-minus, Obama-McCain … well, something like that. “Each song on the album can stand on its own,” Dalmacion tells INQUIRER.net via phone. Whereas the songs in the debut outing Fragmented had some sort of cohesiveness and flow, those in the new one, he says, are more distinct from one another. Picture yourself pairing one song with another. All 14 of them plus bonus tracks (thanks Toti for the hint). It took the band two years to come up with a follow-up so expect every interview to refer to the term “sophomore jinx” (us included). Dalmacion acknowledges precisely that and admits that, though it sounds so utterly cliché, the band has matured. “They’ve spent more time on the songs compared to the first album,” he says. Still, it has all the Up Dharma Down elements to it,” he says. To find out what elements lie in Bipolar, check out album launch details (hooray GoogleMaps) in the band’s website. Periodic table not needed, but P150 gets you in with a drink, while P500 gets you a limited edition Bipolar CD designed by drummer Ean Mayor plus a 40-minute making-of DVD. Also, "Every First Second," taken from Bipolar, is still up on Myspace. ##

By Marjorie Gorospe INQUIRER.net Looking for good old fashioned Christmas music but a fresher sound? Filipino Band Bloomfields – known to cover music of the Beatles and other American Rock and Roll music – has recently unveiled ts Christmas album “Pasko natin 'to,” which is also its carrier single composed by Jay Jay Lozano, lead singer and guitarist of the group. Pasko Natin To is Lozano’s actual first attempt at making a Christmas song back in October 2005. "What's so special in this album is that worked with the big guys… Chito Ilagan, Nikki Cunanan. We felt the pressure but it was fun", Lozano says. The album is a collection of songs that depicts how Pinoys usually celebrate their Christmas holiday. Lakan Hila (keyboards) says the album sounds like the traditional Christmas carols but with Bloomfields ' trademark of happy tunes. The 11-trackin album mixes some traditional Christmas songs like 'Have yourself a Merry little Christmas', 'Himig Pasko' plus some original compositions. The Bloomfields is composed of Jay Jay Lozano on the lead guitar, Louie Poco on bass, Pepe Lozano on the electric guitar, Lakan Hila on keyboards and Rocky Collado on the drums. The album is out starting October 16, 2008 under EMI Philippines.

KITCHIE NADAL talks about her new album, "Love Letter." Some of the songs in this 17-track album were done in collaboration with other artists. Video taken by INQUIRER.net online videographer Janie Christine Octia.