Ever find yourself longing for the days when Def Leppard released albums with titles that didn’t stretch beyond one word? Pyromania, Hysteria, Adrenalize. OK, forget Adrenalize, but you know what I mean.
But Songs From The Sparkle Lounge? How rock and roll is that for an album title? And take a look at that album cover - I see what you did there, Leppard, you ripped off the Sgt Pepper’s cover. Highly original. Bet no-one’s done that before.
It pleases me no end to tell you that REM have reclaimed their throne with a number one album in the UK charts this week. Accelerate was supposed to mark a return to REM’s early sound, and the punters have voted with their wallets by going out and buying it.
I’ve chatted to a few people recently about REM, and it seems most lost contact with the band after Monster. However, there’s plenty of buzz surrounding this latest album, and I’m excited to hear some of the songs after hearing a sample on Radio 1’s chart show last night.
Accelerate has knocked Duffy’s Rockferry album off the top spot, so I’m looking forward to see what damage their forthcoming single will do to the singles chart.
Apparently the public still cares about Madonna releasing a new album. Strange. After the lycra gusset-stretching of the last album and its videos, you’d think the world would want to wait a couple of years longer.
But there you go.
So, [sound of fanfare] the new Madonna album will be called Hard Candy. In fairness, the gap-toothed one has collaborated with some big names one this one, including Pharrell Williams, Kanye West, Timbaland and Justin Timberlake. All of whom are awesome hitmakers.
His Holiness, Pope Bono and the other assorted members of U2 are holed up in their studio in Dublin working on material for a new album.
But don’t expect anything too amazing from them, they’re only trying to “break new sonic ground and deliver a masterpiece“ according to collaborator Daniel Lanois. And no classic U2 album would be complete without Brian Eno behind a curtain somewhere twiddling knobs and helping push things into the right creative direction.
I read an interesting piece over on ZME music speculating on a possible new Aerosmith album in the making. Apparently Joe Perry spoke on a New York radio show about his son’s band and the problems that have got in the way of a new Aerosmith record.
Counting Crows are one of those acts that just keep going. They’re due to release a new double album called Saturday Nights And Sunday Mornings (on 25th March), the eighth album of their career.
There’s a fantastic interview with Adam Duritz over on Ryan’s Smashing Life, all about the new album. Ryan’s also scored a couple of MP3s of tracks from the new album which you should definitely go over and listen to. One of the tracks, 1492 is heavier than I ever imagined Counting Crows could be.
If you’re looking for more Counting Crows goodness, head on over to their MySpace page for a few more tunes. They’re one of those bands that have always been about and I’ve sort of ignored. After listening to the almost punk of 1492, my attitude may be changing!
The Lord loves a trier as my mother says, and Sheryl Crow is certainly persistent. She’s due to release her sixth studio album, Detours on 18 February.
Sheryl’s hooked up with Tuesday Night Music Club producer, Bill Bottrell for what she describes as the most honest record she’s ever made.
It’s the ultimate kick in the teeth. When it was released Robbie Williams waxed lyrical about how it was his best album yet, so I can just imagine how he felt when he heard that all the unsold copies of Rudebox (and there were a lot of them!) have been shipped to China, and will be used to resurface the roads there.
Feel free to insert your puns about Robbie being a ‘groundbreaking artist’ or ‘paving the way’ for other flop albums.
A source told The Mirror newspaper: “EMI often ships out unwanted CDs to China so they can be recycled.
“It’s the ultimate kick in the teeth for him. He loved this album, but going by all the unsold CDs he was obviously the only one.
“Now there’s no better use for them than to be crushed up and trampled on.”
I bet there are no Beautiful World albums in that shipment to China…….
Panic At The Disco are preparing a major assault on our charts and eardrums with a new single and album release over the next month or so. They’ve announced the title of the new album as Pretty. Odd. which at least describes their hair. Only joking Emo kids!
Pretty. Odd. will be released on 25th March 2008. To whet your appetite, Panic will be releasing the first single from the album, Nine In The Afternoon on January 29.
My favourite retro rocker, Lenny Kravitz, is coming back in February with a new album entitled It Is Time For A Love Revolution. News like this just makes me want to dig out all the old Kravitz albums, so I can’t wait to hear what he’s come up with.
As per any artist, Lenny is fit to burst with excitement over this latest album: “I love this record and the feel of the record, I felt like a kid playing in my bedroom, and that’s the most important thing you can tap into, that feeling of being free.”
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