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Sunday, October 28, 2007

New Releases for Tuesday October 30th






Music CD
Artist / Album

Armor For Sleep / Smile For Them
Avenged Sevenfold /Avenged Sevenfold
Baby Bash / Cyclone
Backstreet Boys / Unbreakable
Andrea Bocelli / Vivere: The Best Of Andrea Bocelli
Will Downing / After Tonight
Flyleaf / Flyleaf Deluxe (CD/DVD)
Insane Clown Posse / Juggernauts: The Best Of Insane Clown Posse
Playaz Circle / Supply & Demand
Project Pat / Walkin' Bank Roll
Puscifer / V Is For...
Smashing Pumpkins / Zeitgeist (Best Buy Exclusive Edition w/ 3 bonus tracks & DVD)
Britney Spears / Blackout
Taking Back Sunday / Notes From The Past
Thursday / Kill The House Lights (CD/DVD)
Josh Turner / Everything Is Fine
Various Artists / Dan In Real Life (Soundtrack)

Music DVD
Artist / Album

Bob Dylan / The Other Side Of The Mirror: Live At Newport DVD
Elvis Presley / #1 Hit Performances DVD
Queen / Rock Montreal & Live Aid - Special Edition DVD
Slayer / The Unholy Alliance - Live DVD

Movie DVD
Avatar: The Last Air Bender - Book 3 Volume 1
El Cantante
Captivity
C.S.I. Miami - Season 5
Day Watch
Everybody Loves Raymond - Complete Collection
Family Guy: Freakin' Party Pack - The Complete Collection
In The Land Of Women
License To Wed
Looney Tunes: Golden Collection Volume 5
My So-Called Life - The Complete Series
The Myth
October Road - Season 1
Scrubs - Season 6
Spider-Man 3
Talk To Me
The Wendell Baker Story

Video Game
Guitar Hero III for PS2, PS3, XBOX 360, & Wii

Remember, these are scheduled for U.S. release and all details subject to change without notice.

For a far more comprehensive list, check out Billboard.com's new release information here.

"I want to be... anarchy!!!"

Wednesday, October 24, 2007

REVIEW: Ultimate Santana by Santana



You've got to hand it to Carlos Santana; he managed to reinvent himself when everyone had forgotten about him. The album 'Supernatural', released in 1999 and led by the hit single "Smooth" featuring Rob Thomas of Matchbox Twenty, garnered 9 Grammy awards, went 15 times platinum and ushered in a whole new phase of his career filled with renewed commercial and critical success.

'Ultimate Santana', released on 10/16/07 by Arista Records, is a compilation which rightfully shows appreciation to the artists that helped him reclaim pop super stardom with 7 tracks from between 1999 and 2005, reminds us where he came from with 7 tracks from 1969 to 1976 and shows us where he's going (which sounds, not surprisingly, like the last 8 years) with 4 new tracks. Is this the "Ultimate" Santana? Not really. Is it an interesting albeit flawed career retrospective? Yes.

First of the 4 new tracks is "Into the Night" featuring Nickelback front man Chad Kroeger. An uptempo rocker, both Kroeger's voice and Santana's guitar are in fine form here as they run through a catchy number that just might have you tapping your foot. Next up is "This Boy's Fire" featuring Jennifer Lopez & Baby Bash, a danceable pop song that's not nearly as annoying as it should be. This seems to be the most understated that Santana's guitar has sounded on any of his collaborations as of late.

Third is a new version of "The Game Of Love" featuring Tina Turner, who was supposed to sing the song for the album 'Shaman' in 2002. Originally sung by Michelle Branch on that album (also included here), Tina's choppy and wobbly vocals seem to clunk through the song and her lack of range forces it to be performed about 2 octaves lower, which takes away from the light and airy tone of the original. Branch's vocals ooze of vibrancy and yearning; exactly what the song calls out for. Tina still has power in her voice and can belt it out with the best of them, but the smoothness and finesse of her prime have since faded, leaving the song weighed down and plodding. If Santana just HAD to work with Tina Turner this time around, perhaps a new song could have been chosen instead of remaking one that won a Grammy Award for "Best Pop Collaboration with Vocals" a mere 5 years earlier.

The final new track is called "Interplanetary Party" and doesn't feature a celebrity vocal; in fact, I've never heard of Tony Lindsay, the guy credited with the lead vocal on the song. Uninspired lyrics, bland vocals and cheesy horns recall a smooth jazz sound that seems out of place on this collection, at least until Santana starts soloing. Written by Carlos Santana, Chester Thompson and Tony Lindsay, this track only helps to solidify the idea that Santana needs other star talent to keep him sounding fresh and contemporary.

Most of the new music fits right in with the more recent material such as the soulful hip hop of "Maria Maria" featuring The Product G&B and alt rock of "Why Don't You & I" featuring Alex Band among others.

Classic rock staples such as "Oye Como Va", "Black Magic Woman" and "Evil Ways" are always welcome and sound great to this day, although younger listeners only familiar with the last decade of slickly produced pop/rock may find these songs dated. At lease they are included to hopefully educate as well as entertain. Note to the kids: 2 members from the early years of Santana (the band) went on to form one of the biggest bands of the late 1970's and early 1980's, Journey. Bonus points if you know which 2 guys.

In focusing on the early "classic rock" hits and the modern pop/rock hits, it manages to paint a picture of a guy who had NO career for the 23 years in between. Granted these were not the most exciting of times in Carlos' musical journey, but to ignore them altogether means that this cannot be considered the "Ultimate" Santana collection. Since it does lend itself heavily to the "hits", it's surprising not to see his version of Russ Ballard's "Winning" (#17 on the charts that year) from the 1981 album 'Zebop!'.

Is this the "Ultimate" Santana? The answer is still 'No', but with most of the bands bigger radio hits from the past 38 years, it is a great place for old fans to get the newer hits and new fans to figure out why were still talking about Santana all these many years later.

1. Into The Night (featuring Chad Kroeger) - previously unreleased
2. This Boy's Fire (feat. Jennifer Lopez and Baby Bash) - previously unreleased
3. Smooth (w/Rob Thomas) - from Supernatural (released June 1999)
4. Maria Maria (w/Product G&B) - from Supernatural (released June 1999)
5. Oye Como Va - from Abraxas (released Sept. 1970)
6. Black Magic Woman - from Abraxas (released Sept. 1970)
7. Evil Ways - from Santana (released Aug. 1969)
8. Corazon Espinado (w/ManĂ¡) - from Supernatural (released June 1999)
9. Europa - from album Amigos (released March 1976)
10. The Game of Love (w/Tina Turner) - previously unreleased
11. Put Your Lights On (w/Everlast) - from Supernatural (released June 1999)
12. Why Don't You & I (w/Alex Band of The Calling) - (single released internationally July 2003)
13. Everybody's Everything - from Santana III (released Sept. 1971)
14. Just Feel Better (w/Steven Tyler) - from All That I Am (released Nov. 2005)
15. Samba Pa Ti - from Abraxas (released Sept. 1970)
16. No One To Depend On - from Santana III (released Sept. 1971)
17. The Game of Love (w/Michelle Branch) - from Shaman (released Oct. 2002)
18. Interplanetary Party - previously unreleased

Buy it HERE
Santana's website is HERE

Do the kids these days even know who Journey is???

Thursday, October 11, 2007

Replay Factor Spotlight on Badfinger




Badfinger is the rock tragedy you've never heard, about a band you probably don't know by name. Here's your chance to get to know Badfinger's music as well as their story.

If you want it, here it is, come and get it...

Badfinger on YouTube HERE
Badfinger on Wikipedia HERE

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