Hopes and Fears
CRITIC'S CHOICE
ALT-POP
When the members of Keane are listed on the British group's press bio, in the spot where the guitarist should be named it says "n/a." While some rock bands (the White Stripes, the Yeah Yeah Yeahs) have gone without a bassist, this trio, which Britain's prestigious Q magazine recently named Band of the Year for 2004, makes guitar-free alt-pop on its debut. And these school chums from Battle, Sussex, England—Tom Chaplin (vocals), Tim Rice-Oxley (piano/keyboards/bass) and Richard Hughes (drums)—show that there is hope for Brit pop beyond Coldplay. The comparisons to Chris Martin and company are obvious: Both make hyper-melodic, piano-driven music with brooding lyrics and moody atmospherics. And in Chaplin, with his angelic choirboy voice, Keane possesses a lead singer whom you could imagine having pints with Martin.
When Chaplin's tenor soars to Freddie Mercury-like heights on the aching ballad "She Has No Time," he brings a boyish vulnerability that is enough to make a grown man cry. On the breakup special "We Might as Well Be Strangers," Keane (which is named after an old woman who looked after Chaplin as a child) bittersweetly captures the pain of romantic dissolution: "I don't know your face no more." With Keane's penchant for pretty pop, there is beauty even in despair. Not that Hopes and Fears is all gloom and doom, though. The lush, lilting "Somewhere Only We Know" paints a dreamy picture of lovers escaping to a secret hiding place. And on the coolly ambient "Sunshine," with its Beach Boys-style vocals and electronica-tinged keyboard textures, Chaplin tenderly vows, "I hold you in cupped hands/And shield you from a storm/Where only some dumb idiot would let you go." With earnest sentiments like these, who needs a guitar?
DOWNLOAD THIS: "We Might as Well Be Strangers"DOWNLOAD THIS: "We Might as Well Be Strangers"
R&B
Concrete Rose
R&B Being anything but foolish. Ashanti knows exactly what her fans expect from her: smooth hip-hop soul that's heavy on hooks if light on substance. But in her efforts to appease the folks who rocked with her on Ashanti and Chapter II, she plays it a bit too safe on her pleasing but predictable latest. Badin-ready beats? Check. Guest rappers? Check. Skits? Check. The occasional slow jam? Check. Working primarily with producer 7 Aurelius, with whom she previously collaborated on hits like "Foolish," Ashanti displays Top 40 potential with singsong midtempo numbers like the harp-laced "Every Lil' Thing." She also teams up with Ja Rule again on the party song "Turn It Up." Too much of Rose, though, smells like filler, and only a couple of cuts, such as the rock-edged "Only U," show Ashanti truly blossoming. —C.A.
R&B
DOWNLOAD THIS: "Only U"DOWNLOAD THIS: "Only U"
RAP/ROCK
Jay-Z and Linkin Park
Presents: Collision Course
On his first disc spun off an MTV show, 2001's Unplugged, Jay-Z produced electrifying results. While the rapper's collaboration with alt-metal act Linkin Park, done for the first episode of MTV Ultimate Mash-Ups, can't touch Unplugged, it shows that Jay-Z—now also Def Jam CEO—can do just about anything, even bring together hip-hoppers and headbangers. The lines between rap and rock are blurred on this CD (which comes with a DVD) when old Jay-Z and Linkin Park songs are mashed together in fresh performances. You can just imagine one big happy mosh pit.
RAP/ROCK
•DOWNLOAD THIS: "Dirt Off Your Shoulder"/"Lying from You"DOWNLOAD THIS: "Dirt Off Your Shoulder"/"Lying from You"
RAP
Red Light District
For raunchy rapper Ludacris, Amsterdam's Red Light District is a state of mind. On the Atlanta emcee's new CD, which opened at No. 1 on the Billboard pop albums chart, he embraces all forms of vice: sex, drugs, alcohol, gambling, you name it. The Sleepy Brown-assisted "Blueberry Yum Yum" is a munchies-and-all ode to marijuana; "The Potion," with its heady, Timbaland-produced jungle groove, serves up a patent mystery adult beverage; and the Jeep-rocking player anthem "Pimpin' All Over the World" is a celebration of "the fancy cars, the women and the caviar" that Ludacris has enjoyed from Brazil to Japan. But the over-the-top party vibe on Red Light District, which basically picks up where 2003's double-platinum Chicken-N-Beer left off, may sometimes leave you feeling like you have over-indulged. Two of the disc's most introspective tracks, though, reveal Ludacris to be a bit conflicted about his lewd behavior. On the bluesy "Hopeless," he examines the feelings that cause men to want to escape from reality, while on "Child of the Night," which employs a sped-up sample of Teena Marie's "Portuguese Love," he wonders why does "everything that's bad for me feel so good." —C.A.
RAP
DOWNLOAD THIS: "Child of the Night"DOWNLOAD THIS: "Child of the Night"
Snoop Dogg, R&G (Rhythm & Gangsta): The Masterpiece You have to go all the way back to his 1993 debut, Doggystyle, for the last time Snoop dropped a disc this hot. He has made the closest thing to a masterpiece you could have expected.
Linda Ronstadt, Hummin' to Myself With Ronstadt in great voice, this vital, roundly enjoyable cabaret-jazz CD touches on some of the less explored corners of the great American songbook.
Eminem, Encore Slim Shady is not for the thin-skinned, thrashing Bush, bashing women and mocking gays. But on his blazing latest, he remains one of the most provocative pop artists on the planet.
Various Artists, A Songwriter's Tribute to George Strait Vol. 1 On this inspired collection, the tunesmiths who have profited from Strait's career salute the country star with their own takes on his hits.
Green Day
Green Day hopes to have a golden day at the Feb. 13 Grammys, where the punk rockers are up for six awards (including Album of the Year) for their latest, American Idiot.
ON THEIR GRAMMY NOMINATIONS "The day we heard about the nominations we were playing the Hard Rock in Las Vegas," says frontman Billie Joe Armstrong, 32, "and I put this pair of green-and-purple star-covered underwear over my pants. When I walked in everyone was like, 'Why are you wearing that?' I was like, 'I got [six] Grammy nominations. I can wear whatever the hell I want.' "
ON THE MAKING A POLITICALLY CHARGED ALBUM "I wrote the song 'American Idiot' just as the war in Iraq was starting," says Armstrong. "I remember watching these embedded journalists in the tanks on the road to Iraq. Then spliced in with that were these commercials for Viagra and Cialis. I started to feel really lost and scared about the whole thing, and that sort of set the agenda for the record."
ON GOING UP AGAINST THE ESTABLISNMENT "We didn't want to raise people's eyebrows; we wanted them to raise their fists in the air, either for us or against us," says drummer Tre Cool, 32. Adds bassist Mike Dirnt, 32: "I don't [hear] anybody else on the radio really calling out what is happening right now as hard as we are."
ON THEIR UPCOMING GRAMMY PERFORMANCE Says Armstrong: "We are planning something to remember. The idea is to get everybody's jewelry in the front row to start rattling."
ON WHO'S THE BIGGEST IDIOT IN THE BAND "Tre," says Armstrong. "Well, it sort of depends on the day," counters Dirnt. But, Tre concedes, "in terms of consistency, I have to say it's me. I have had two divorces, so I think that speaks volumes."
- Contributors:
- Chuck Arnold,
- Oliver Jones.
Saved by the Bell Reunion
The hookups, the meltdowns, the memoires
The case reveals what was really going on what they think of each other now!
