Reading some of the music or movie reviews makes me wanna do some for my own too haha...
I recently bought some pirated music albums as usual haha... And I still have the habit of overlook the Chinese ones because its image to me is still like very bubblegum, silly, teenpop. But I do appreciate talents like A'Mei (or Amite =.=), Yoga Lin, Mayday etc. who are quite original in some ways. Anyway, in case you are looking for some Eng albums to listen to or just simply to read for fun here's what I evaluated. XD
Michael Bublé ~ Crazy Love
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For non-pop lovers,this might be just a treat for you. Michael is a jazz singer born with natural, soothing voice. This is the first time I fully embraced jazz/soul music. So I might still not able to appreciate most of the tracks but if you just try to pay attention to the despite stereotyped jazz rythms and beats you might find it pleasent. This might not be the breakthrough for jazz music in this new age nor Buble tried to revolutionise this genre. Still tracks like the commanding Cry Me A River, Georgia In My Mind by the late Ray Charles, You're Nobody Till Somebody Loves You and lead single Haven't Met You Yet etc will grab your attention. Perfect for a night time & late noon listening.
Rihanna ~ Rated R
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Honestly, I like Ri cuz mainly of her hairdo which makes her looks hot haha but despite her looks I did not find her singing good nor she can dance. It's all about her as a fashion (hair) icon and as a sex animal. The cover tells it all: emo and dark. While I do not detest emo and I enjoy occasional dark themes this album may be just a little too irritating at first listen. For me, it's fine to be emo and angry and melancholy, I appreciate that but if you whine too much and most of the lyrics are rather silly except for Russian Roulette, Firebomb and Te Amo, it will feel more like a messed-up album aimed for whining and pissing off which is irritating. I like her being "darker, edgier and angry". But I can't keep myself from comparing this to Good Girl Gone Bad. You can tell she wants more hardcore music in it to bring out the emotion but to get pop and R&B to do this is not much of good effort with tracks like Stupid In Love is just quite plain stupid, she should try crunk. Although some songs are really catchy...
Coldplay ~ Viva La Vida or Death and All His Friends
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Ok from this segment on its bout my favourite albums of 2008. Coldplay produces some of the great songs for this decade which are memorable and they gain respect from all music lovers. The Latin title meaning 'Long Live Life' sums up what the tracks' themes are. You can expect everyday life written into this album but somehow 'epic-ised' like Viva La Vida, Cemeteries of London etc. This is also the first time I fully embraced alternative music, which though compared to jazz I have more exposure to. It takes time to like this album because most alternative music tends to have the focus more on the music rather than its singing ie you hear the music plays louder the volume of the vocals kinda low; so you might get drifted away from focusing on the tracks. However in the end it pleases the ears and somehow if you open up, the music will fill into you and you will get drifted to a world of music fantasy. Still, if you want to try listen to alternative rock music, I suggest A Rush of Blood to the Head as a starter; as this is a departure from Coldplay's previos efforts where their music matures beyond anyone else, in my opinion.
Alicia Keys ~ As I Am
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Most of the artiste from this decade usually tends to switch their music genre into more of pop-friendly or mainstream. But Keys is not one of them, in fact I feel that she keeps venture into the very core of R&B/soul and it somehows manage to appeal the mainstream. Well I can't say this is her best effort but a great deal of her matures and her music gets more classy than ever. Tracks like The Thing About Love, Lesson Learned may not appeals immediately to you but if you give this a more urban feel album a try you may like it. It bore at times because this urban music limits they way the instrument brings itself but this makes me crave for more of Alicia as for Coldplay.
