A pretty varied, fun pop-rock affair. 3.8 stars.
347791
I must admit that the first review I did on these girls for this CD was terrible. I based it off the samples and a few songs I had heard of the album in full. Now, I did it right: I bought the album and listened to every track at least 5x and.....

I love these songs. Well, most of them. My least favorite track is 'If I Could Have You Back'. It actually isn't a bad track per se, but the auto-tune really ruins it kinda.

My favorite tracks though 'Like It Or Leave It', 'Insomniatic', 'Like Whoa' and 'Bullseye'. My favorite track above all is either 'Like It Or Leave It' or 'Like Whoa', I can't really decide. What I liked about 'Insomniatic' is that this particular track felt like an old rock and roll track. Not sure from what era, but maybe the 70's a bit. Just listen closer to the guitar licks. It's a very downbeat track, vocally but by the end, they really rock out. I'm serious! I know this is Aly and AJ and not some top punk rock or hard rock band but the licks are decent throughout the album.

But yeah. Onto another thought.

 I can't really compare this to their first effort&nbsp;<a data-hook="product-link-linked" class="a-link-normal" href="/Into-the-Rush/dp/B000A1IKII/ref=cm_cr_arp_d_rvw_txt?ie=UTF8">Into the Rush</a>&nbsp;because I've only heard samples (save for a single or two). Most of the tracks there sounded a bit immature though. You can see there has been growth between the albums (yes, I could tell by just the samples from said first album).

But anyway, my favorite parts of this album were the fact that there were usually bitchin' guitar solos put in somewhere in a couple of songs and the fact that the girls' delivery on most of these songs were a bit bitter and even angry. I mean some of these songs are pure pop-ness and upbeat, but most of them were either sad ballads or venting trips which I loved.

I don't regret buying this at all.

Thanks as usual, Amazon.

3.8 stars or 7.6/10.

DOWNLOAD:
'Like Whoa'
'Like It Or Leave It'
'Insomniatic' &
'Bullseye'
2324007
Cheap Trick are one of those bands that perform basic rock n roll, but have always done it in a way that sounds like no one else.  The band consisted of the two poster boys Robin Zander (vocals, guitar) and Tom Peterson (bass), teamed up with two total geeks in Bun. E. Carlos (drums) and the every unique Rick Neilson (guitars).  This foursome has been able to carve a nice little niche for themselves in the pop rock world over the years and it all started with this their debut album.  This one is far from the band's best, but broke them out of the box as a band to be reckoned with sporting a totally new take on Beatles influenced rock n roll.  The first half of this album is great with quirky songs like "Elo Kiddies", "Daddy Should Have Stayed In High School", "TaxMan, Mr. Thief" with it's obvious ode to the Beatles, "Cry Cry" and "Oh Candy" all great tunes.  The second half of the album is not nearly as strong to my ears and seems to come off as a bit more conventional.  Overall this was a decent debut from the band and a preview of what they would do down the line.
1777614
Sometimes it is interesting to hear where a band began. And for some people, they will need to approach "Speak & Spell" with an open mind. For one thing, don't expect the hard-rock/gospel approach of "Songs of Faith and Devotion" and don't expect any of the goth from "Black Celebration" forward. It's nothing like that. Alan Wilder hadn't yet joined by this point and Martin Gore only writes two of the 11 songs here. Also, though, there's a good chance that if you love Yazoo and Erasure but care little for later DM, you would enjoy this album. It is not dark at all: It's very happy, and some of it is so in a goofy way.

This album's strengths also tend to be the weaknesses. This album practically defines early-'80's synth-pop. All of these are certainly pop songs. There are certainly novelty moments in here: Most notably, the cheesy "What's Your Name?" which actually spells out "p-r-e-double t-y", and which has the chorus of "you're such a pretty boy." "Boys Say Go" and "Nodisco" are quite as explicitly in that category, but will sound goofy to some. Gore's songwriting got better in later DM albums, and the songs he contributes here are kind of average. "Big Muff" is a techno instrumental that kind of goes on for longer than it needs to, although a nice shot of early techno. Oh, and if you don't like repetitive you won't find much in this album either. It is pretty repetitive. The lyrics are not deep. Usually the hooks and structures save it from being disposable, although a few tracks here are pretty forgettable, like "Puppets", which seems more like a B-side to me, the only real dud on here. It is not that bad however, and there are highpoints, particularly in "Just Can't Get Enough." I like the original version more, but the schizo mix works fine enough for me. This is the most famous here for a good reason: It's catchy, it's got the classic pop song-writing, and it's got a sing-along refrain, complete with those cool old-school synths. I like listening to this because the band sounds so young and nave. Gahan hadn't yet gotten his dark, rich voice which came on later albums, but in some ways that makes this a more melodic release. It could also be that he wasn't even 20 yet by the time of the album's release. A few moments, unfortunately, don't do much for me at all.

If you're a casual fan, I recommend "The Singles 81>85" and the import version, which is better than the U.S. version. They keep "Dreaming of Me" and "JCGE (Schizo mix)," but those are at the end and it uses the whole original "S&S" release that had "I Sometimes Wish I Was Dead" (great example of the New Romantic style they had early on; not that depressing), another version of "Any Second Now," as well as tracks non-existant here. It isn't one of my favorite DM albums, but the ceiling is pretty high for them if you ask me. It is most certainly the song-writing of Vince Clarke, for better or worse.
4692452
I had listened to this album perhaps two or three times before the first track, "they," got stuck in my head for 48 hours solid. Her voice kept me awake at night crooning "I'm sorry, so sorry, I'm sorry, we do this..." It's a touching song full of depth and emotion, surprising for what could easily have been a cheesy pop album.

The other track that I love on this album is "24," with the heavy guitars. It's equally catchy. I've caught myself humming it many times since hearing it. Although some others are apparently put off by the guitar sound (which is odd because they're actually quite tame), for me they really give the song an extra lift.

On the downside, the production often sounds forced. The hyper-compressed vocal sound robs the listener of the natural beauty of Jem's voice - or perhaps is there to cover up the flaws. The fake orchestral instruments are cliched and tiresome.

Also, despite the excellent songwriting on "they" and "24," most of the rest are too fluffy for me to think of them as anything but filler.
2282129
Mystery artist E's second full-length CD  slipped out without much fanfare.  His later releases with the Eels attracted some Modern Rock radio attention, but this one just fell through the cracks.
Which is a shame,  because it picks up nicely where  his debut ("A Man Called (E)")  left off. Very smooth pop music with a great producer's touch.  Production  is co-handled by E and Michael Koppleman this time.  Last LP's producer,  Parthenon Huxley, can still be found on most of the tracks.  E himself is  about 2/3 of a one-man band, filling out each track with a bass player or  drummer.  The nice thing, though, is that it doesn't sound like a one-man  band, it sounds like a band.
I tend to think of Todd Rundgren when I  listen to E's discs.  Not so much because I think they sound like  Rundgren's, but because there is a similar sense of sophistication to the  arrangements and playing.  E manages to infuse a lot of his songs with a  sense of meloncholy that is rare in pop music.
Another solid outing.
1696770
For better or for worse, OK Go are more known as the band who make videos of themselves on treadmills and inside contraptions made up to look like real life versions of the Mousetrap game. What gets overlooked is that, for four albums now, there's a first rate pop-rock band hidden behind the paint balls. "Hungry Ghosts," four years after "Of The Blue Colour Of The Sky," captures that effortless pop fun that the band has been excelling at since their debut.

Admittedly, the oddly funky and falsetto filled "Of The Blue Colour Of The Sky" was a divisive album for fans, but that can be forgiven here. "Hungry Ghosts" keeps some of "Colour's" quirks while integrating them into the new music. It means the twitchy new wave of the debut is tempered into sonic neatness like the atmospheric "Another Set of Issues." They haven't completely forgone their fascination with Prince by way of The Cars, like the cowbell clanging "Obsession" and the danceable "I Won't Let You Down" shows. Vocalist Damian Kulash gleefully bounds from the straightforward power pop vocals to the funky stuff while making the whole of "Hungry Ghosts" a cohesive album.

While "Oh No" remains OK Go's high-water mark, "Hungry Ghosts" is a crowd pleaser. Fans will be happy to hear OK Go in fine form, and note that the four year wait was well worth it. From the pop magic of "Upside Down and Inside Out" that opens things up to the gentle strains of the final "Lullaby," this is a solid album from beginning to end, proving they can have their say without adorable trained dogs to guide them.
2053289
Delta Goodman is one of the top vocalists in Australia, and after listening to this CD you'll know why.  Though the album is not anything revolutionary or anything, it is a solid, well made CD that is, if nothing else, fun to listen to.  Granted, when the CD starts out you might not think that.  "Believe Again" is a terribly forgettable pop song, one that I'd expect Britney Spears to sing, but once that's over the album picks up with "In This Life," a song that has since gone on to become a hit single in America.  This is probably the best song on the CD, the song that showcases her good vocal abilities and is just a fun song all together.

After that the album tends to be more hit and miss.  Songs like "Angels In The Room," "I Can't Break It," and "One Day" are good songs that you'll be coming back to many times.  "God Laughs," "Woman," and "Born To Try"...eh, not so much.  Though it's more of a three star album then a four star, I'm going to give it four because it's a much stronger debut album then most people get, and it at least has me excited for her future projects.
4467872
A decent double-album, almost entirely instrumental.  It's high-energy, bright pop-rock featuring electric guitar leads.  Don't look for crunchy dark chord sequences or lots of minor notes, but if you want some fun, upbeat tunes this isn't bad.
851443
The self-titled debut under the name "T Rex" is a bit... odd.  I'd label it as melodic, quiet folk rock created in a Nick Drake kind of way, and even enticing on numerous occasions thanks to a good knack for writing vocal melodies.  The instrumental portions of the record need a bit of work, though.

It's not quite as polished songwriting-wise compared to Nick Drake's first album for example, but T Rex does contain a really nice pleasant atmosphere.  For those who've been hearing T Rex's glam rock material all these years and wonder what it would be like to hear the band stripped down to basically sounding like an album recorded in somebody's home with only a few instruments, here it is in all its semi inconsistent glory.

I think the album is pretty good overall, but no way is it a 5-star album.  It has a few major flaws.  First of all, "The Wizard" is 9 minutes of total madness and chaotic rambling.  It does actually go somewhere for the first two minutes when a rather ominous sounding folk ditty gets under way, but that quickly dissolves and a display of Marc Bolan expanding his vocal range (when it's NOT even necessary to hear him constantly hitting those annoying high notes, might I add) really distracts from the psychedelic experience I imagine the band was going for.

The highlights are the shorter tracks which pretty much means the *rest* of the album.  The stretch of songs from "Diamond Meadows" to "Suneye" is absolutely spectacular.  My favorite song on the entire album is "Beltane Walk".  Hearing this album, it doesn't sound like there's ANY signs of a powerful glam rock band just on the horizon and about to make history- instead it feels like a band still attempting to find itself in the world of evergrowing and original list of influential rock artists that were so dominate back in the day, and even resembling early David Bowie on several occasions.

For some reason, the first few songs don't move me one bit.  Songs like "Jewel" feel like incomplete and barely acceptable filler, and it doesn't really improve until "The Time of Love is Now".

This is perhaps a more interesting listen for the sake of curiosity to discover what the band was like before the glam rock days.  They were playing folk rock that ranges from relatively soft to slightly psychedelic, but nothing truly earth-changing and bizarre until Electric Warrior was unleashed on the world in 1971.
895107
Don't be misled by my title; this is still a fine collection of songs.  "Baby What A Big Surprise" and "If You Leave Me Now" are both fine mellow hits, and tracks like the very catchy "Alive Again" and the nice non-hit "Gone Long Gone" are also quality tracks.  Overall, though, this collection doesn't quite hold up to either their quality, unique brand of rock in the early '70s or their sparkling, gorgeous pop of the '80s.  This in between period was a bit of a downer for the band, but the songs are still very good to great.  Definitely a worthwhile purchase that covers the band's career in the mid to late '70s.
3802975
All Shook Up is an interesting listen but there is a noticeable dropoff from the previous four albums. Expectations were high since George Martin, well known with his work for the Beatles, would be producing this one. While his influence is apparent throughout the album, the issue is the songs themselves. Nothing here is great, although the very Beatlesque "World's Greatest Lover" comes close. Nothing is terrible. Some of the songs really rock like "Just Got Back", "Baby Loves to Rock", and especially "Love Comes A-Tumblin' Down". However, the songs aren't quite as good, the lyrics not as clever as before. It is quite diverse musically with the rockabilly sounds of the aforementioned "Just Got Back", the tribal sounds of "Who D' King", and the drama that runs rapid in "Stop This Game" and the chaotic "Go For The Throat". But the songs don't grab you like those from the first four albums and several songs from their later ones. For the devoted fan, it's interesting, something you want to put on once in awhile but not regularly. The remastered version expands the original with the Found All the Parts EP and the minor hit single from the Roadie soundtrack, "Everything Works If You Let It". This song itself is okay but the others such as the emotional "Can't Hold On" which would later be released on Budokan II and the power pop of "Take Me I'm Yours" and "You're Such A Good Girl" are much stronger, more in line with their earlier and best stuff. All told, if you're a fan, you have this. If you're a newbie, listen to what came before this and even their most recent stuff before diving into this one.
1303660
Rogue Wave are just like the Shins. On this album, about half of the songs are eerily familiar, as they sound like they were made by James Mercer and company. That's not a bad thing, as the songs on this album are, on the whole, lovely pop songs. However, the songs don't remain too memorable as the ones on Chutes Too Narrow or even Oh, Inverted World, which is why this album gets 4 stars (that, and the lack of originality).

The best song on the album is "Endless Shovel," which features some great guitar work and is also the least Shinslike song on the album. I hope that this is a sign that this good band can build on this promise and not only make other great pop records, but also ones that have more of a defining character to them.
3686260
NSYNC's third release (not counting their Christmas album) is a rather mixed affair, but overall it is pretty successful.  Unlike other of the seemingly ubiquitous boy bands, NSYNC manages to transcend the genre by presenting songs that - while often somewhat lacking in the originality of their lyrics - possess a funky edge that is highly contagious and continues to sound fresh.
The standouts on this album are the opener and first single "Pop", "Celebrity", "Girlfriend", "Gone" (which bears comparison in style to some of Prince's tunes), and the lush and surprisingly not over-ripe ballad "Something Like You".
The beat is infectious, the syncopation addictive, and while this collection of songs may not so much highlight the band's remarkable talent for harmony, it all adds up to an enjoyable and repeatedly listenable pop album.
In these dog days of summer, you really can't ask for  anything more. These guys deliver.
587814
If you are a big pop fan and you want music that's not just synthesizer, beat, and mechanical guitar, this album is for you. There's some obvious 80s pop influence, folk, and a bit of R&B thrown in. And Hoku has an  above average voice that should only get better with experience. Personal  favorites are "What You Need," "Just Enough,"  "Oxygen," "We Will Follow The Sun," and "The  Burrito Song." "Oxygen" is spiced up by some really neat  Spanish guitar. The duet song "I'm Scared" flows nicely between  the two voices and doesn't seem overwrought like some duets of late. The  lyrics aren't really that deep, but at least the wording is good - they  talk about the experiences that someone her age would be feeling, but many  are universal in meaning.
3690224
Stellastarr*'s debut album is intoxicatingly catchy, full of lush, rocking pop tunes, charming lyrics (e.g., "come on down to my place, there's a swimming pool, and it's winning over everybody!), and a sound that screams of their 80s influences. It's true--the sound on their self-titled CD is not particularly original--it is slathered in references to the Pixies, Talking Heads, the Cure, Devo, etc. The Pixies and Talking Heads influences seem most pronounced to me, though others have dwelled on Christensen's vocal similarities to Robert Smith; (The female background vocals on 'Jenny' during the chorus sound EXACTLY like Kim Deal's on 'Debaser.')But though the sound is largely derivative, they do manage to give each song a feel all of their own.
I saw them open for the Raveonettes in Chicago last summer and strongly recommend taking in their live performances.
3390028
A good set of pop tunes. Nicely recorded...a good Cd.
4830954
At their best, Counting Crows made radio-friendly songs like "Round Here," "Mr. Jones," and "A Long December" that really pack a punch; at their worst, they made generic pop rock, and this collection showcases both sides. This is a good enough starting point (and perhaps ending point) for those interested in the band, but it's about five or six songs too long, and the first half is noticeably stronger than the second half. The decision of cover Joni Mitchell's "Big Yellow Taxi" and the Grateful Dead's "Friend of the Devil" was probably misguided; on the other hand, I'd rather listen to lesser versions of those songs than stuff like "Anna Begins" or "She Don't Want Nobody Near."

Adam Duritz is neither a particularly strong lyricist or a particularly interesting frontman, and as good as some of these songs are, I imagine a Counting Crows concert being a waiting game for the hits and an endurance test after they're done. Also, I have no idea why "A Long December" is towards the beginning of the album. No idea at all. This collection is not chronological, and the fact that this song (probably their strongest) is placed near the beginning is baffling to me.