Glittering Prize falls short of being a true anthology of Simple Minds, eliminating many key tracks (not even "Glittering Prize," the song the album is named after, is included) and giving too much weight to the band's later years (an inexplicable three tracks from 1991's Real Life are included). Still, all the mid-'80s hits are here, including "(Don't You) Forget About Me," making its first appearance on a Simple Minds album, which will be enough for most casual fans.
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When Devo's debut album came out in 1978, nobody knew what to make of the mutant new-wave quintet from Akron, Ohio. With Brian Eno's skillful production, Mark and Bob Mothersbaugh, Jerry and Bob Casale, and Alan Myers emerged fully formed and outrageous with their razor-sharp social commentary and exhibition of subversive media savvy. Beyond their industrial uniforms and pseudo-devolved demeanor, Devo also happened to be a rocking little band. Classic rave-outs like "Mongoloid," "Jocko Homo," and "Uncontrollable Urge" illustrate the band's perky-jerky intensity. On their inimitable cover of the Rolling Stones' youth anthem, "Satisfaction," Devo's avant-garde robot funk takes the song to a new level of alienation and discontent. While the band went on to greater fame, this was the only album they made that truly mattered.
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Hours strengthens most of the Funeral for a Friend sound, the one they had so much success with on the 2003 debut, Casually Dressed & Deep in Conversation. The Welsh combo still doesn't do anything that different from its peers, adhering to the post-hardcore/emo formula of self-righteous vocals, hooky dynamics, impassioned screaming, and underpinnings of time spent listening to Deftones and Get Up Kids records. But Hours gives the kids what they want right out of the gate, and has flashes of brilliance in its more upbeat material. "Who was it that said that great things come to great men?" Matt Davies asks at the outset of "All the Rage." "Well that fucker lied to us/There's nothing here but a wasteland." The sentiment recasts the teenage wasteland of yore, replacing hope for redemption with the blank stare of apathy. "How many times can I say I'm sorry and really mean it?" Musically it's a melodic hardcore rager, full of flinty guitar runs and anxious hitches in the percussion. It sounds similar to what listeners have heard before, but runs deeper than most.
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The same extraordinary madness that infected the best work of Brian Wilson rears its head on the shimmering and melodic Clouds Taste Metallic, a masterful collection which completes the Flaming Lips' odyssey into the pop stratosphere. The Pet Sounds comparisons are obvious -- two of the highlights are titled "This Here Giraffe" and "Christmas at the Zoo" -- yet not unfair; like Brian Wilson, Wayne Coyne has refined his unique vision into something both highly personal and powerfully universal. Similarly, while Coyne's lyrics remain as acid-damaged and inscrutable as ever, his densely constructed songs convey emotional complexities far beyond the scope of their head-case titles ("Psychiatric Explorations of the Fetus With Needles," "Guy Who Got a Headache and Accidentally Saves the World"); galvanized by equal parts newfound maturity and childlike wonderment, Clouds Taste Metallic is both the Flaming Lips' most intricate and most irresistible work.
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The Fun Lovin' Criminals straddle a number of genre clefts with their flies open. They don a super-cool, (en)forced ironic image that some will think rock while others shrug at. An acquired taste, they go some way to say people over there really don't 'do' irony, at least not very well.

Vocalist-guitarist Hugh 'Huey' Morgan sings and raps with the hoarse intent of a Michael Franti or a Zappa, but the latter radiated spectacular flair and razor-sharp wit wherever he ventured, and in terms of content, style and even meter, it's a little like white guys rapping like stereotyped white guys. Refer to their 1998 hit 'Love Unlimited' ('Barry White saved my life') and 'Scooby Snacks' (2004) for a general idea of peak performance. But here is a weird brew that gathers momentum after several runs, with an ironic undercurrent felt through a general blues gist throughout, while sporadic Latin touches, some chart-reggae groove and House of Pain aggro come together irregularly.Source
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This mid-priced Muddy Waters compilation from England is comprised of 20 songs,17 of them dating between 1950 and 1958 and the other three from 1968 and 1972, arranged in no particular order. The selection opens with "Got My Mojo Working" in its original studio version and covers most of the obvious bases, including many of Muddy's best-known originals and his classic renditions of Willie Dixon compositions, but somehow missing out on "I Can't Be Satisfied" and "Rollin' and Tumblin'" in favor of "Garbage Man" from 1972 (a better case can be made for "Can't Get No Grindin'"). It's difficult to say what makes this collection "essential" -- one supposes that the producers wanted to emphasize the fact that Muddy was still making important music that late, but given that the notes focus on songs that were later staples of the British Invasion, the choices are odd. One can't criticize any Muddy Waters compilation too harshly, but the main virtue of this disc, along with its price, is that it utilizes the latest and best quality masterings of those classic Chess sides, and does throw an interesting (if inessential) curve ball or two at the listener.

After 2004's lackluster Winning Days and Craig Nicholls' subsequent breakdown, it certainly seemed like the Vines were never to be heard from again. Surprisingly, though, the band persevered: Nicholls was diagnosed with and treated for the neurobiological disorder Asperger's Syndrome, and guitarist Ryan Griffiths and drummer Hamish Rosser stuck by him (bassist Patrick Matthews left to play with Youth Group). The trio recorded Vision Valley in a few small studios around Sydney, and the album has the back-to-basics sound of a band getting back on its feet again. The Vines have consolidated their strengths, sticking to their formula of wound-up, grungey rock and pretty, psych-tinged ballads. Fortunatey, they still do both well, as outbursts like "Anysound" and "Nothin's Comin'" keep it spare and simple, while the title track and "Take Me Back" show that Nicholls and company's softer, lusher songs have nearly as much impact as the harder ones. Especially on the first half of Vision Valley, everything is tight, focused and shiny, particularly on the playful pop of "Candy Daze" and the insidiously catchy single "Don't Listen to the Radio," both of which offer a more bubblegummy take on their rock sound. If anything, Vision Valley almost feels too tightly-constructed, lacking the messiness and loose ends that made the Vines sound like they had so much potential on Highly Evolved. However, "Gross Out" captures some of the freewheeling spirit they had on their debut, and when they stretch out on the lengthy, atmospheric rock of "Dope Train" and the floaty, Pink Floyd-esque album closer "Spaceship," it feels like the Vines may still regain the momentum they had earlier in their career. Vision Valley might be a little predictable, but at least the Vines sound like they're back in control of their lives and music again.
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Two years after their single "Get Free" seemed to be everywhere in one form or another, the Vines returned with their unfortunately named second album, Winning Days. A textbook case of the sophomore slump, the album lacks the hooks, melodies, and enthusiasm that made Highly Evolved a promising debut. On that album, it seemed that the Vines were up for anything, even if the overexposure of their singles and singer Craig Nicholls' bratty behavior soured opinions of the Vines and Highly Evolved in retrospect. However, the criticisms leveled against the Vines by their detractors -- that they were just aping Nirvana and didn't have ideas of their own -- apply far more to Winning Days than their debut...READ MORE...
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