Rihanna - Good Girl Gone Bad

The music of Barbados-born singer Rihanna--a breezy blend of hip-hop, commercial pop, and Caribbean flavors--made her a bona fide superstar before the age of 20. Given her immediate success, one had to wonder if Rihanna would be a flash in the pan, but her third album, 2007's GOOD GIRL GONE BAD, is a winner. Interestingly, Rihanna avoids the Caribbean tinge that made her breakthrough single "Pon the Replay" a massive hit, sticking instead to more straightforward dance-pop designed for the club and the singles charts. More interesting still, she pulls it off with assurance and skill.
It doesn't hurt that heavyweight producers such as Timbaland (who contributes several tracks to GOOD GIRL) are on board, or that Rihanna is backed by the Def Jam empire. In fact, Def Jam president Jay-Z appears on the album's lead single, "Umbrella," an irresistible, stomping dance anthem that does exactly what a single should. Another highlight is "Shut Up and Drive," which works a powerful groove based around a sample of New Order's "Blue Monday." There are notably fewer ballads here than on Rihanna's sophomore effort, which is a welcome change, and makes the album more focused, energized, and danceable front to back.

Tracklistings :
1. Umbrella (feat Jay-Z)
2. Push Up On Me
3. Don't Stop The Music
4. Breakin'Dishes
5. Shup Up And Drive
7. Hate That I Love You (feat Ne-Yo)
8. Say It
9. Sell Me Candy
10. Lemme Get That
11. Rehab
12. Question Existing
13. Good Girl Gone Bad

Good Charlotte - Good Morning Revivals

Following the chart-topping pop punk of their first three albums, GOOD MORNING REVIVAL is to Good Charlotte what WARNING was to their obvious stylistic forebears, Green Day: an attempt to expand the stylistic confines of their music without losing sight of what their fans want to hear. GOOD MORNING REVIVAL isn't trying to capture critical favor, nor is it a self-important concept album or stylistic experiment. Instead, twin brothers Joel and Benji Madden incorporate new and different musical influences into their now familiar sound, and the brothers' lyrics feature a newfound maturity and personal viewpoint that was not always so obvious on their earlier albums. Indeed, the power ballad "Where Would We Be," a paean to Joel's break-up with his pop princess ex, Hilary Duff, is the most autobiographical song so far in the band's oeuvre. Elsewhere, the moody, pessimistic "The River" and the defiantly optimistic closer "March On" neatly define the album's emotional poles.

Tracklistings:
1. Good Morning Revival (Intro)
2. Misery
3. River - The (with M.Shadows/Synyster Gates)
4. Dance Floor Anthem
5. Keep Your Hands Off My Girl
6. Victims Of Love
7. Where Would We Be
8. Break Her Heart
9. All Black
10. Beautiful Place
11. Something Else
12. Broken Hearts Parade
13. March On

Three Days Grace - One X

The members of Three Days Grace began bashing punk chords when they were in their teens, carving a derivative yet energetic sound that fueled their live performances. Three Days Grace was formed in Norwood, Ontario, Canada, in 1997 by Adam Gontier (vocals, guitar), Brad Walst (bass), and Neil Sanderson (drums). The group was originally called Groundswell, a five-piece that lasted from 1992 until transforming to a trio five years later. Gontier and Walst were raised in Norwood, and many of their songs were inspired by living in a place with a population of around 1,500. The bandmembers were still in high school when they had their first gig, and they performed anywhere that would accept them -- including opening for a movie.

Three Days Grace eventually relocated to Toronto and were introduced to producer Gavin Brown by their old manager. The band gave Brown a private set, and he selected what he felt were the most promising tracks. The group then produced a demo for EMI Music Publishing Canada. With Brown at the helm, Three Days Grace recorded "(I Hate) Everything About You." The tune got them a publishing deal with EMI, and they soon were signed to Jive after being courted by the company's president. Brown and Three Days Grace were sent to a studio in Boston, MA, to start the group's debut album. The band completed its self-titled full-length in Woodstock, NY, at an isolated location free from big-city distractions. Heavily influenced by Kyuss and Sunny Day Real Estate, the dark, angst-ridden tales of small-town love and hate on Three Days Grace brought the group a Next Big Thing tag.

Three Days Grace was released on July 22, 2003, by which time "(I Hate) Everything About You" was already hit on alternative radio stations in Canada. The band toured extensively behind the record for the next two years as both a support act and headliners, but after a while, life on the road left the band, especially Gontier, feeling isolated and alone. Consequently, this theme of disconnection -- coupled with the realization that one was in fact not alone -- would serve as the basis for their follow-up album.

The 2006 sophomore effort from alt-metal outfit Three Days Grace holds steady on the muscular guitars, accessible melodies, and dark themes of the band's debut. Fans of the first album will find more of the group's sound--which owes a debt to both Alice in Chains and nu-metal bands like Godsmack--to like here, but a sharper version of it. There is plenty of anguish and ennui in the band's lyrics ("Pain;" "Time of Dying"), but for all of ONE-X's expressions of isolation and pain, the album is eminently listenable, especially when Three Days Grace works a deep, riff-heavy groove ("Animal I Have Become") or unleashes a ferocious stomp ("Riot").

Dixie Chicks - Taking The Long Way

Nothing changes folks like babies and war, and since the release of their last album, 2002's Home, the Dixie Chicks have been forever altered by both. If that album showcased the trio as precocious young adults, Taking the Long Way finds them sobered and matured, and in a grown-up state of mind. Produced by the celebrated Rick Rubin (Johnny Cash, Red Hot Chili Peppers), who saw the Chicks as "a great rock act making a country album, not a country act making a rock album," their new record impresses both as beautiful sonic tapestry (peppered with myriad Beatlesque hallmarks) and forthright yet vulnerable portrait of three women shaken by the personal and political events of the past few years. As they make clear in the defiant "Not Ready to Make Nice," they still smart over the backlash from their 2003 Bushwhacking. But as they assert on the equally autobiographical "The Long Way Around," they could never "kiss all the asses that they told me to" and just follow others aimlessly--and silently--through life. This means that the Chicks are simultaneously prideful and scornful of celebrity ("Everybody Knows"), and that as new mothers they increasingly treasure the refuge they find in life with their families, out of the spotlight ("Easy Silence," "Lullaby," "Baby Hold On"). The push and pull of both passions drive this record, which also touches on the personal issues of infertility (with which sisters Martie Maguire and Emily Robison both dealt) and Alzheimer's (from which Natalie Maines's grandmother suffers). The trio crafted all 14 cuts with the help of such writers as Sheryl Crow, Gary Louris, Mike Campbell, and Keb' Mo', laying out their lives as honestly and intimately as they might in their diaries. For that reason, on first listen, Taking the Long Way seems too somber--in need of a bit of levity and more than a couple of uptempo songs (like the sexy, '60s-flavored "I Like It") to resonate for the long haul. It also seems to lack the writing quality that Darrell Scott, Patty Griffin, and Bruce Robison brought to Home. But on repeated plays, those concerns dissipate. By the last cut, the R&B/gospel offering "I Hope," the Chicks have chronicled their journey with as much spirituality as spunk, their pain deeply ingrained in their protests.

Tracklistings :

• The Long Way Around
  
• Easy Silence
  
• Not Ready To Make Nice
• Everybody knows
• Bitter End
• Lullaby
• Lubbock or Leave It
• Silent House
• Favourite Year
• Voice Inside My Head
• I Like It
  
• Baby Hold On
• So Hard
• I Hope

Panic At The Disco - A Fever You Can't Sweat Out

The name sums it up - Panic! At The Disco are frenzied, insane, paranoid and a little screwed up, but they're not going to let that stop them from dancing and having a good time. Dancefloor filling emo? Can it really be true?

There's something of an acoustic Bloc Party to the beginning of The Only Difference Between Martyrdom And Suicide Is Press Coverage, but before you know it, they start sounding more like Fall Out Boy on speed.

This album takes things that emo kids should abhor and makes them sound like a match made in heaven - like that vocal effect used on Cher's Believe, and a garage beat that Craig David probably used in those early days of Re-rewinds and Bo Selectas.

Unlike The Bravery, this bunch don't waste time trying to be cool because they understand that making music with feeling is the real path to recognition. And if this album doesn't make them an international success story, I'll eat my eyeliner.

It's brash, in your face and despite its unarguably emo vocals, the lyrical content of the songs doesn't seem very depressed at all. In fact, with lines like 'Let's get those teen hearts beating. Faster faster!' it looks like Panic! At The Disco even have a few sack loads of self esteem.

One thing that seems clear is that these are not the kind of guys you want to fall out with. My Chemical Romance may have given three cheers for sweet revenge, but with the twisted plotting and simultaneous merriment being had in There's A Good Reason These Tables Are Numbered Honey, You Just Haven't Thought Of It Yet, you can tell these songs were made to be sung along to with a slightly psychotic smile plastered across your face.

The album's highlights have to be the initially plinky-plonky and then seconds later screamtastic Camisado, the rather self-explanatory Time To Dance (get ready to shout 'Shotgun' and 'Wedding' - don't ask why) and the absolutely phenomenal I Write Sins Not Tragedies - the messed-up emo equivalent of Busted's Crashed The Wedding.

The rest of the world has been chuckling at emo for far too long, but this album is sure to silence a lot of those laughs. It's ambitious, exciting and energetic, and like a cat being given a bath, you can put Panic! At The Disco in the emo tub and it's probably the right thing to do, but you're still going to find yourself splashed to the point where you'll have to wring out your shirt of unanticipated droplets of danceable pop.

Tracklistings :

• Introduction
• The Only Difference Between Martyrdom And Suicide Is Press Coverage
• London Beckoned About Money Written By Machines
  
• Nails For Breakfast, Tacks For Snacks
• Camisado
• Time To Dance
• Lying Is The Most Fun A Girl Can Have Without Taking Her Clothes Off
  
• Intermission
• But It's Better If You Do
• I Write Sins No Tragedies
• I Constantly Thank God For Esteban
• There's A Good Reason These Tables Are Numbered Honey, You Just Haven't Thought Of It Yet
• Build God, Then We'll Talk

Kelly Clarkson - My December

"My December" is the third studio album by American pop/rock singer-songwriter Kelly Clarkson. The album will be released on June 22, 2007 in Germany and Italy, June 23, 2007 in Australia, June 25, 2007 in UK and Poland and on June 26, 2007 in the United States and Canada. Clarkson confirmed the name of the album in her journal on her fanclub website on February 27, 2007. Clarkson has stated in interviews that she has written or co-written on every track on the album.

“My December” is all about Clarkson’s voice — and not only the succulent, slightly dark timbre of her alto, or her ability to nail those shirt-ripping high notes that say “freedom” in rock ‘n’ roll speak. The lyrics, many inspired by a bout of despair Clarkson suffered at the height of her newfound fame, are genuinely heart-baring.

"Never Again" is the first single off My December. Its release was announced on her website on April 4, 2007. The track hit the airwaves on April 13,2007, being officially debuted by Clarkson herself on Los Angeles based 102.7 KKIS-FM's radio show "On-Air with Ryan Seacrest." The video was shot in Los Angeles between April 10 and 13. The video premiered on TRL on May 1, and has since hit number one on the countdown four times.
In her official fan club, Clarkson stated that "Sober" would be the next single and hit airwaves June 6.
Clarkson has stated that "One Minute" will most likely be a single from the album, in an interview on May 12 on VH1 V-Spot. She has also mentioned that "Can I Have a Kiss" might be a single due to its great reception. She stated on radio station 104.1 KRBE that she would like to release "Judas" as a single, but does not know what the public reaction would be as the song is 'very personal'.

Tracklistings :

• Never Again
  
• One Minute
• Hole
• Sober
• Don't Waste Your Time
• Judas
• Haunted
  
• Be Still
• Maybe
• How I Feel
• Yeah
• Can I Have A Kiss
• Irvine

"...This song i dedicated specially for someone who is very special in my life and i want him to know that every moment and every second i'm gonna miss him...tq"