Music reviews. CD reviews. Critically hip!

A tone-deaf version of The Calling meets a less talented Matchbox 20. This is what comes to mind when I listen to 34 Satellite's album "Stop". This album was incredibly bland and boring. It lacked feeling and well, to put it bluntly, talent. The music itself was rather good until ...

The first thing that jumps out at ya - and it's cliché but it's Punk Rock without the piss and vinegar so take it for what it's worth, a mischievous grin or sour puss, your call, but ain't nobody gonna be misled to thinking these guys are the razor and ...

There's a school of thought that proposes that Jim Morrison didn't die of a heart attack in a bathtub, but instead staged his own death to see what the reaction would be. This rumor was a lot more prevalent in the early 1970s than it is now. There was, in ...

I never really got Badly Drawn Boy, mostly, I think, because of the context of my heretofore limited exposure of him. Last year I would catch a glimpse of a video from the ABOUT A BOY CD in the (very) early morning hours while waiting for the coffee to percolate, ...

Playing in the theory of musical calculations, Beth Hopkins (d.m.a.) Bif Naked is the arithmetic equation of the three laws of musical motion: singing, writing and musicianship. A gun-singer with rhythmic hip action and voice activated perfect aim; PURGE is the vocal abreaction of a dissident alternative angel singing within a ...

"Symptom Of The Universe…" or to put it another way, "The Ozzy Years." And hey, who'd blame 'em to want to capitalize on the Ozzman's "Second Cometh" from stage to small screen as reality TV's animated joke gone monstrously awry. But veteran Rock bands and newcomers bear witness to something ...

There has been a bit of news recently in the music press about Bryan Adams, the alt-country Wunderkind, throwing a bit of a snit when in the middle of his concert someone yells out a request for a Bryan Adams' song. Ryan will be in-between numbers and some wit will ...

I'll first go on record as saying I agree wholeheartedly with the final statement of the press release-"classic Cathedral moments… perhaps the most well-rounded album of their careers." Okay, that sounds like me-dance around the definite, skirt slightly to the side, and throw around the "perhaps" or "potentially" and all ...

Out of the Trilogy, “System One . . .” is the one most like a regular hard rock album. All of the songs except a couple bonus tracks were written and performed by Criss Angel’s band when they were playing out around New York City. The first track, “Come Alive,” ...

Moving on to number 3 in the Trilogy, this album is VERY percussion and electronica driven. No matter how the sound was achieved, it’s total trance electronica mixed with hip hop that once again is more of a stand alone album. You can tell it’s the background music for a ...

Entering “System 2,” track one “In Two,” is like entering a futuristic factory as presented in the 1920’s movie “Metropolis” only musically. Very anthemic and precise, with sounds you would associate with computers and voice recognition patterns to gain entry to, well, wherever you need to do that, it kicks ...

For a band of musicians so obviously preoccupied with death and demise, premier UK metal masters Iron Maiden have enjoyed a career longevity that they could have never prophesied. Though formed in the late 70's, Iron Maiden's glory days did not come to fruition until the arrival of Thor-like shouter ...

Just when one though that ol' J Lo was gonna dip permanently into the hip-hop domain that garnered the massive success of last years "I'm Real" and "Ain't It Funny," she surprises with a disc that is something she never has been: Dull! Save for the contagious "Jenny From The ...

1. I was six years old when the concept of Heaven was fully explained to me in St. Julia's First Grade Class at St. Agatha School. I don't remember her exact words, but it left me with the impression that Heaven was a scary place, where everyone sat around on ...

Mythical, soothing, relaxing, and serene. These are words that come to mind when I listened to "Woman Wisdom". Every song takes you on an empowering journey through your subconscious where your soul is cleansed by the beautiful waterfalls of tranquility. I have never heard a more peaceful album in my ...

The Pottymou-, er, the Kottonmouth Kings might be easily dismissed as another bunch of droopy pants, white boy stoners, whose be all and end all for existence would go up in, uh, smoke if marijuana was ever legalized, except for the fact that once you get past their obsession for ...

Llorca's debut album, "New Comer" is unlike anything that I've ever heard before. It's an infusion of jazz, funk and r&b all mixed up into a dynamic explosion of music that awakens your senses. A legendary mixture of sounds and rhythms that reminds you of the old school style of ...

This 2- disc set represents a bit of history of sorts. PIANOSCAPES by Michael Jones was the very first release of the fledgling Narada label in 1985. Narada, one of the pioneer New Age houses, has since gone on to whether good times and bad by branching into the smooth ...

Here's a band that's let their music do the talking for a number of years, clubbin' the club-goers with their Heavy Rock, zip-jack defiance, throwin' back to the likes of The Allmans, Foghat, Free, Zeppelin, and early, early Coverdale with an indispensably "classic" Marshall- soaked, assumedly "analog" sound that's simply ...

If you don't have an open mind, then this album is not for you. Nana's music style is so diverse and different that some people may not be secure enough with themselves to actually hear the music for what it is; music. I found it very comforting and interesting. Tracks ...

Male R&B groups of the past relied on harmony, love songs, and the occasional sexy track to seduce the women and teach the men. Nine20 is no exception. These young men have definitely followed their "how to" handbook from the beginning to the end. They have songs about love gone ...

Murdock Scott and Shawn O'Neill comprise Payne's Grey. They formed the group in 1992, after kicking around with a number of bands in the Dallas, Texas area. Their music, however, sounds more L.A.-based; it's a dark mix of Trent Resnor meets the Electric Prunes in a black mass of D ...

The story goes that Phil Mann loved Neil Young's music and wanted to be a rock star, but couldn't sing and couldn't really play. He bought some gear and started writing songs and assembled some musicians. He recorded a CD called DAMN GLAD TO MEET YA that attracted the attention ...

Smashing Pumpkins is no more, but their music lives on forever.  Earphoria is a collection of live performances from concerts and TV shows, but is not the album for those hoping for a live version of their greatest hits.  The mishmash of songs is mostly Siamese Dream fare but the ...

Vibrant, viscous, and altogether charming… they're Blink 182 exchanging pleasantries with Slade, meeting Mike Peters, "Boy" era U2, then a welcoming douse from The Waterboys.  Stiff Kittens are a four member Welsh phenomenon that rides on the coattails of the Big '80s Modern Rock takeover with a well collected angst ...