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Lady Gaga - The Fame Monster review

2 comments | Published by Rach Read

Can someone tell us how Lady Gaga has managed to pull off a re-release that is as good as, if not better, than the original album? As you can gather from that sentence, The Fame Monster is a total triumph. At a tight eight tracks, we lose the less convincing moments that propped up The Fame (dullard stab at R n’ B Paper Gangsta, one honky-tonk ballad too many in Again, Again) and instead get pure, unadulterated Gaga displaying her total mastery of the pop genre whilst her voice turns tricks to cover every synonym for singing (belt, warble, snarl, wail – they’re all here!). Track-by-track review below.

Alexandra Burke - Overcome album review

14 comments | Published by Rach Read

Believe it or not, we do write about things other than Cheryl Cole. And before Chezza stole the limelight on this week’s X-Factor with her strange bodysuit and that bloody military hat again, last year’s winner and former Cole protégé Alexandra Burke gave a show-stopping performance of Bad Boys a week ago. And for all those worried that Bad Boys would suffer from “reality show contestant’s single syndrome” (e.g. rest of album sucks), worry not – Overcome is an accomplished debut album by anyone’s standards.

Shakira - She Wolf album review

1 comment | Published by Rach Read

Remember when Nelly Furtado, previously famous for trilling about being a bird, having pigtails and wearing floaty clothes, suddenly re-emerged as a sexy strumpet with the fattest bassline this decade in the shape of Maneater? (P.S. Our review, dusted down from the archives, is here in case you’ve forgotten). Well, a similar thing has happened with Shakira and She Wolf. Admittedly, Shakira Shakira has always been a bit of a sexpot but with She Wolf, she has finally made an English language album – and yes, that’s a whole album rather than the odd amazing single – that lives up to her image. And with She Wolf, beats are back – in a big big way.

Cheryl Cole - 3 Words album review

29 comments | Published by Rach Read

As I listened to 3 Words with furrowed brow and disgruntled look, my boyfriend started chuckling away. ‘You’re going to have so much fun with this three words thing, aren’t you?!’ Solo Album Fail, Not Good Enough, Will This Do? and Cheryl… No No No (admittedly four words, but I think he was trying a pun on Sexy!… No No No) were some of his suggestions. But I’m going to contain myself because some things, like sex, death and having good hair, are just too important to pun over. And The Cheryl Cole Solo Album is clearly one of these things. So what I will say is: I didn’t like it much. But you might.

Paloma Faith - Do You Want The Truth Or Something Beautiful album review

3 comments | Published by Rach Read

Thanks to matthewbrodie.com for the beautiful image.

Calling an album Do You Want The Truth Or Something Beautiful practically invites critics to start coughing up their snidest lines about the truth not being very beautiful in this album’s case blah-blah etc – already the NME has said with its trademark tact about Paloma Faith’s debut, ‘It might look like chocolate but trust us, it’s shit’. No need to worry about the verdict over at Teentoday towers though, Paloma love, because the truth is that your album is actually rather beautiful indeed.

The Saturdays - Wordshaker album review

17 comments | Published by Rach Read

OK, I’m going to break this to you gently… there are no tracks on Wordshaker that are as good as Up. But it’s not all bad news. Because there are about 10 tracks on Wordshaker that are literally very nearly almost as good as Up whilst sounding nothing like it. And that’s about 10 more than were on Chasing Lights. Huzzah.