Next Week On Amplifier Review & News...

We will be reviewing the following albums on April 1st:

Moby 'Last Night'

R.E.M 'Accelerate'

Anti-Flag 'The Bright Lights of America'

I also know the following week (April 8th) we will be reviewing:

Leona Lewis 'Spirit'

The Long Blondes 'Couples'

and that's all we know so far we will be reviewing...

Update: We have decided to post an exclusive... We will be reviewing Leona Lewis' new CD 'Spirit' the week of April 1st! more to come soon...

Day26 - Day26

If you read my previous review on Danity Kane you would know that I was disappointed. So the question is will their boy counterparts Day26 follow suit? Their are so many reasons why I would say yes but surprisingly not. Their album does not try to belt out the notes everytime they step up to the mike and their album seems to have been better produced. If you would have told me a month or two ago that the boys would do better than Danity Kane I would have said "are you sniffing anything?". Why? well on Making The Band it seemed they had so much more trouble than the girls making their record. But in the end all the vocal training payed off. Their voices sound mature and not half bad. Now that you have heard all the good things about the record here are some of the not so great things... at times the album seems kind of generic R&B and to tell you the truth if you do not pick it up you won't be missing anything extraordinary but for those of you who watched Making

/The Band you probably will enjoy it but for those who do not watch skip it.

Rating: 3.25

5

The B-52s - Funplex

If there's one group that likes to be known as a band to f**k around on their albums it's the B-52s. They are back after a 16 year hiatus and I used to like them when I was like 9 but after that I disliked them. I don't blame myself for that because when I listen to it now it sounds horrible. This album is not different. I don't know but this album to me sounds worse than their previous albums (amazingly). To me this album has way to much f**king around. I like fun albums at certain parts of albums, but this album sounds like they are trying to hard to be fun and to me it shows. First of all Fred Schneider sounds like he is over this music and is trying to have fun but it's not working for me.

Rating: 1/5

The Raconteurs - Consolers Of The Lonely

Following the lead of Radiohead, The Raconteurs are trying to shake up the music industry with an album they have done zero promotion and just announced would even be released a week before hand. But the one thing Radiohead produced was a good record and so have The Raconteurs to a certain degree. The album is heavy rock influenced and quite different from their previous album 'Broken Toy Soldiers'. Although it is not as high quality music as their previous album it is more enjoyable than most in the genre. The album provides some much needed breaks and breaks the amps when it needs to. Another influence you sense in a few songs is country. Heck, they even break out the trumpets from The White Stripes song 'Conquest' in 'The Switch and The Spur'. Although the album is not going to be one of the contenders for the most catchy album of the year, it is definitely a contender for some of the best riffs this year.

Rating: 3.75/5

Gnarls Barkley - The Odd Couple

2 years ago a little diddy came out called 'Crazy' by this unknown group called Gnarls Barkley. This little diddy went on to hit #1 in 10 countries and top 10 in many more. If we fast forward to today, Gnarls Barkley is trying to copy this success with their new album 'The Odd Couple'. But the question is have they? It probably will not emulate the commercial success of their first album (St. Elsewhere) but it is just as good. The great thing about this album is each track is special in it's own way. Some of the tracks you should give a spin are 'Run', 'Charity Case', 'Going On' and 'Who's Gonna Save My Soul Now'.If you enjoyed their previous album in my opinion you should pick up this one. As I said before it will not sell as many copies of this album but for those who do pick it up you are in for some of the most original lyrics and as a result one of the most original records of the year.

Rating: 4.5/5

Gnarls Barkley & Raconteurs: New Release Date!

Gnarls Barkley have moved their release date from April to March 25th! That means that we at Amplifier Reviews will be reviewing their album on March 25th instead of April. We will also be reviewing on March 25th (More details on The Raconteurs below) :

The B-52's 'Funplex'

Day 26 'Day 26'

The Raconteurs 'Consolers of the Lonely' *

Plants And Animals 'Parc Avenue'

*The Raconteurs album came out of left field as well. They only confirmed it would even release March 25th this week! And they have literally have had no promotion so this was a complete shock! I am very excited for the album though!

4 Minutes (To Save The World) - Madonna Feat. Justin Timberlake & Timbaland Review

If you would have told me when 'Confessions ...' came out that Madonna would be releasing a hip-hop album in 2008 I would have said you were crazy. Why? Because it's something completely different from what Madonna has tried in the past. Like Dr. Phil says "the best indicator of future behaviour is past". But I guess Dr. Phil is wrong in this situation. Although Madonna has dipped here and there in hip-hop it never became a main focus of an album. But judging from this single '4 Minutes' it should have been. This single is infectious. But when I first heard it I admit I was disappointed. But after a few listens you can't stop listening to it. The horns in the background just give it that extra something that brings it over the edge. If Madonna continues with this catchy hip-hop for this album it will be one for the ages.

Rating: 4.5/5