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Massive Attack finally got it perfect on their third effort "Mezzanine". By ditching the unappealing, whiny and overly opera-like vocals heard in the hit-or-miss albums "Blue Lines" and "Protection", they've now created an amazingly cohesive project that is both dark and memorable. "Mezzanine" both contains the group's best beats and most appealing / melancholy vocal arrangements, and all while being cohesive, all the songs sound different from one another. "Angel" contains amazing, grinding drums and aggressive guitar solos, as heard in other tracks too. "Teardrop" and both versions of "Exchange" (the first without vocals and the latter with vocals) are calmer cuts, and the first contains a very catchy beat on top of an echo-y acoustic guitar arrangement while the latter sounds throwback-ish and out of place, but at the same time, strangely belongs. The second half gets more deep. First with "Man Next Door", which contains the most eclectic, melancholy guitar arrangement. The second, "Black Milk", which is the weirdest, darkest, and most trip-hop / Portishead-like oriented moment on the album. Then the third, the title track, is the final standout, containing an appealing dark synth and drum arrangement. Overall though, the songs that aren't standouts might drag a little when not in a casual listen, but other than that, every single track is intriguing from beginning to end, and ultimately is Massive Attack's best album to date.

RATING- 9 / 10
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Track Picks:

Angel
Risingson
Teardrop
Inertia Creeps
Black Milk
Mezzanine
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(ALBUM PICK)
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"Hot Fuss" is pretty much the only album The Killers got right. Their subsequent albums couldn't quite hit the nail on the head, containing too much experimentation with heartland rock and new wave. It seemed they completely ditched the pure alt-rock sound of this amazing debut. Perhaps their newer albums are more enjoyable for new wave / "oldies" rock fans, but for the one's who just want a solid, upbeat, melodic, mostly alt-rock album, "Hot Fuss" is the way to go. The album still has an overall, 80's new wave layer to it, but the incorporation of it here sounds nostalgic and beautiful. The reason the mix of genres works here is because on this debut, you'll find this detail is pushed more toward the back of the recording so the loud, rock guitars can be front and center. The new wave synths succeed their magic when they're just slight touches to help boost the emotion in the music, instead of being a musical overpower. The guitars go hard, and are either full of emotion, or amazing post-grunge angst, depending on the track. "Jenny Was A Friend Of Mine" and "Mr. Brightside" have the most beautiful, magical and melodic hooks here. "Smile Like You Mean It" has the most appealing synths. "Andy, You're A Star"'s guitar riff is the most grunge-y, garage-rock sounding here. "On Top" and "Change Your Mind" feel summer-y and happy. Then towards the end, "Believe Me Natalie" and "Everything Will Be Alright" are the most balladry, experimental cuts. Overall though, the new wave stylings of The Killers' music has proven to have been both a blessing and a curse, but they got the blend of new wave and rock just right, with their first try on "Hot Fuss". It's sad they didn't stick to the sound they had here. Sure all band's / artist's sounds evolve from their debut albums, but The Killers' sound is the most "Killers" here, sounding the most appealing and unique, more so than subsequent albums that tried too hard to just copy old genres instead of revitalizing them.

RATING- 8 / 10
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Track Picks:

Jenny Was A Friend Of Mine
Mr. Brightside
Smile Like You Mean It
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(ALBUM PICK)
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Beyonce's sixth album "Lemonade" continues in the dark, Experimental-R&B genre avenue that her amazing self-titled fifth album started. It is definitely a great step forward once again, but the memorability of alot of the songs is what's in question. I feel this way with all of Beyonce's albums. Her album's typically have great songs with very meaningful lyrics, but the more ballad-like the song is, the less memorable it becomes. "Lemonade" though, is different. The production here is so much more eclectic and experimental, just a few notes instantly draws you into the song upon first listens. The same went for her previous album as well. Once you know the songs though, then some of them start to become slightly, noticeably skippable. The lyrical content also isn't as great as some were saying. "Sorry" and "All Night" are both fair standouts on the album, but the lyrics are a little on the cliche side in my opinion. The best songs wind up being the heavier, hip-hop oriented tracks. "6 Inch" samples Hooverphonic's "2Wicky", and it sounds amazing. The lead single "Formation" has the most replay-value, and is the best song on the album. Containing bouncy synths, a hard hip-hop beat, and Beyonce's trademark sarcastic, tell-all lyrics, it is instantly loveable. Songs like the country/folk-y "Daddy Lessons", the overly dramatic gospel-meets-jazz "Freedom", or the piano-ballad breaks "Sandcastles" and "Forward" don't do well adding any memorability. They're not bad songs, it's just the heavier hip-hop cuts wind up sounding stronger, which overshadows them. Overall though, the best thing about "Lemonade" is it doesn't sellout into today's generic-sounding genres. It is very much unique, and is a great addition to Beyonce's discography. Next to her previous, amazing fifth album, this is her second best album to date.

RATING- 6 / 10
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Track Picks:

Don't Hurt Yourself
Sorry
6 Inch
Formation
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Nowhere near as perfected as Hooverphonic's flawless debut album "A New Stereophonic Sound Spectacular", their second album "Blue Wonder Power Milk" is a bit of a step down. While the album still contains lots of emotionally powerful moments, the problem resides in the fact that the arrangements here are little bit more moodier and specific. It's not that they're just completely bad, unmemorable songs, it's just not many songs here feel as unique and spot on as songs from their debut. Although "Eden", "Lung" and "Tuna" in particular make for some strong memorable moments, the rest of the album overall ends up just playing on more as background music more so than something groundbreaking.

RATING- 6 / 10
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Track Picks:

Eden
Lung
Tuna
Magenta
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Hooverphonic's debut album is surprisingly cohesive, brilliant and spot on for a debut. The band contains a style that favors the 90's electronica/trip-hop genre, but while also putting their own spin on it. Every song on the album sounds completely different from another while all sounding like they "belong". The songs contain amazing moody atmospheres, thanks to the whirling, futuristic synths. The best thing about the album though is it's drum/beat tracks, heard especially in "Sarangi", the best track on the album. The drums are recorded in a heavy, upfront manner, making the sound of the songs extremely infectious and intriguing. "2 Wicky" is the most trip-hop influenced on the album, containing a slow and sexy drum pattern and moody vocal reverb in it's second half. "Barabas" is more moody, almost being just a complete instrumental of piano and emotional violin synths. "Cinderella" is the most eclectic, containing a trip-hop drum track along with a melancholy guitar and long wobbly-like synths. "Nr. 9" puts an amazing twist for the album production wise, managing to shoot bursts of shoegaze chords then resume to dream-pop hooks in the verses all while not sounding forced or scattered. The amazing "Sarangi" starts with tribal-like vocal chops, builds into an amazing heavy drum arrangement and eventually into a blurry, synth filled moody instrumentation. "Revolver" is a happy sounding track due to the guitar arrangements, but then changes in the chorus when the whirly synths kick in and add a touch of moodiness to it as well. The lyrical content of the songs somewhat play more of a background role in the soundscape, but are very metaphoric, yet in a very simple understated way, which makes them genius. Especially with vocalist Liesje Sadonius, who's voice and melancholy vocal arrangements compliments the atmospheric music excellently. Although, the album is definitely one where more emphasis is put on the music more so than lyrics, therefore it does contain a good feel of instrumental sections. The emotion every single one of these tracks produce though is brilliant, and is an album that can honestly fit any mood you're in. Some songs can seem to drag when not tuned in for a casual listen, but "A New Stereophonic Sound Spectacular", the title of the album, delivers exactly what's promised. An amazing electronica album that's moody, emotional, catchy, diverse, and instantly memorable all in one take. Another amazing must-hear album from the 90's.

RATING- 10 / 10
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Track Picks:

2 Wicky
Barabas
Cinderella
Nr. 9
Sarangi
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Selena Gomez's second solo album "Revival" is a more deeper and atmospheric approach production wise. While Selena still maintains the EDM genre that was seen in her amazing solo debut "Stars Dance", "Revival" has a bit of a timeless eclectic disco influence on it. This is all shown off right up front with the progressive title track "Revival". Later, "Good For You" shows off the atmospheric production the best, while "Me & The Rhythm" is the most disco influenced gem on the album. There's alot to take in on "Revival", as the disco-influenced songs aren't the only type songs here. "Sober" is a great, extremely catchy pop hit. It's possibly the best on the whole album. Another is the confident, club-ready "Survivors", which sounds like it could belong on "Stars Dance". The upbeat latin-influenced "Body Heat" is also great, also sounding like an outtake from that of one of Justin Timberlake's albums. While "Revival" has some good songs to instantly fall in love with, the rest of the album unfortunately fails to add up. After the title track shows unique promise, "Kill Em With Kindness" starts a weakness that the rest of the album follows that's heard over the rest of the album.. The lyrical content. This ends up being the album's biggest weakness, as every song follows the same writing patterns. Short verses, then extremely repetitive choruses. If the songs just had a bit more lyrical content in the choruses instead of just repeating the title of the song over and over, they all would've been so much better. How it frustrates is while each song promises to be decent, it feels like it never quite reaches the goal it intends. It contains a promising message, but then it wastes too much time repeating itself over and over, never really completing the song's story. This unfortunately makes the songs slightly annoying and forgettable. The ballad breaks "Camouflage" and "Rise" are okay, but end up being skippable moments inside an album of upbeat dance songs. All the deluxe tracks contain nothing special, but the best ones would be the second latin-influenced "Outta My Hands (Loco)", the ballad "Nobody", and then the spunky "Me & My Girls" for it's funky instrumental trumpet break. Overall though, if you look past the repetitive lyrics, Revival's overall result IS a more unique dance album for today's age, but this is ultimately all it will be remembered as. Not something that's really groundbreaking. The one thing that keeps the spark alive though is of course Selena Gomez and her, as always, admirable persona.

RATING- 6 / 10

(Original Rating- 5 / 10)
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Track Picks:

Revival
Sober
Me & The Rhythm
Survivors
Body Heat
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RATING- 7 / 10
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Track Picks:

SexyBack
My Love
I Think She Knows (Interlude)
What Goes Around...(...Comes Around Interlude)
Chop Me Up
Summer Love
Losing My Way
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RATING- 10 / 10
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Track Picks:

Nice To Know You
Circles
Wish You Were Here
Just A Phase
Warning
Are You In?
Aqueous Transmission
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(ALBUM PICK)
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ANTI Awaits. ~ Rihanna's extremely anticipated eighth studio album "ANTI" was finally surprised released after a 3-year hiatus on January 27th, 2016, when the ANTIdiaRy website's final room entitled "Anti Bedroom" unlocked and revealed the album. With a 3 year wait, there is TONS to say, especially from big fans like me. The first hears of the album "FourFiveSeconds", "Bitch Better Have My Money", "American Oxygen" and a few snippet previews are not included here, which all works out because hey. It's more songs. Pretty much all 13/16 tracks are unheard cuts, and they all tackle a broad range of genres. "Consideration" and "Work" are both amazing, reggae-oriented cuts, and Rihanna's amazing reggae vocals are spot on. "Desperato", "Woo", "Needed Me", "Yeah, I Said It", "Pose" and "Sex With Me" are all amazing mid-tempo hip-hop/R&B cuts. Although, a couple contain strong doses of aggressive autotune. The Tame Impala cover "Same Ol' Mistakes" is an amazing fit for Rihanna's vocals and eclectic side, containing echo-y vocals and a psychedelic soul/rock production, which is very different for her. Others like "Never Ending", a simple calming acoustic guitar, and the album closer, "Close To You", a "Stay"-like tearjerker piano ballad, are both more simple production-wise, and are absolutely beautiful lyrically and musically. Rihanna's newly evolved sound though is shown off most in the amazing "James Joint", "Kiss It Better", "Love On The Brain" and "Higher", which are all beautiful, laid back, throwback-style ballads. For overall opinion, what makes ANTI so special WAS the wait for it. Rihanna's former "album-a-year" plot produced 7 amazing, unique hit-filled albums, but ANTI is probably her best as far as going completely outside of the box and blowing expectations, which she promised this album would do. The only flaw is this wait also produced a slight disappointing impression too with the fact that the album is noticeably quite short in length. For example, "Higher" was anticipated to be amazing (and it is) but was made only 2 minutes long. Along with a few others, cut at around only 2 or 3 minutes, the album leaves a slight impression of "incompleteness". However, thanks to the amazing songwriting and production, it's very easy to overlook. Overall though, ANTI may lack in "bangers", being more mood-specific than usual, but we knew this was Rihanna's goal. The album takes some listens to sink in, but once it does, ANTI ultimately delivers what it promised. The soulful, timeless, brilliant artistic breakthrough album that Rihanna's career needed. And this is only just scratching the surface of what future album's may have in store.

RATING- 8 / 10
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Track Picks:

Consideration
Work
Woo
Same Ol' Mistakes
Love On The Brain
Higher
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Miley Cyrus' fifth surprised released album IS a surprise in alot of ways. Judging by the title and the cover art, you think it's just gonna be a continuation of the "Bangerz" style, and some songs are, but overall, this is totally different and a big step in the right direction. First, I praise Miley for her not following the generic synth pop arrangements, because NOTHING about this album is generic. It's very original, experimental and mood specific. This is easily the most honest, weirdest music she's made so far. It's actually the kind of eclectic music I've been taking to lately, and I would've never thought Miley would take on this style. Another thing is I detected NO autotune in this. All Miley's vocals are natural, rough, echo-y and raspy as ever. But, even though that's all for praise, not every moment of "Dead Petz" is enjoyable. Alot of the songs contain really dirty lyrical content that's even dirtier than anything heard on "Bangerz". Like by the time it's over, you lose count of how many times Miley dropped the f bomb. Also, with 23 tracks, and almost every song running for 5 minutes, ALOT of these could've been cut, as some start to sound alike after awhile. This causes the album to drag, drag and drag, and for a close 2 hours too. I'm loving the new psychedelic type music Miley is creating, but the main problem in this project is that alot of the content here is somewhat forgettable. Overtime, only about half of the album unravels to reveal it's excellence. The best song (or songs) on the album are easily "Slab Of Butter (Scorpion)", and it's continuation track "I Forgive Yiew". Containing atmospheric synths, echo-y vocals, and a catchy drum pattern in the chorus, it's turn out is so eclectic, plus it's insanely catchy. Plus, the very emotional and beautiful synth-pop ballad "Lighter" is also a very great and unique song, containing the most serious lyrics on the album. Overall, "Dead Petz" is an excellent step in the right direction. It wins an A+ for the weird, yet great, undefinable musical genre. It is easily way more interesting and prefferable over today's mainstream pop. In the future, if she just follows the patterns of this album, but just makes something more serious, containing less of the explicit and crazy content, it would be a masterpiece. But for now, "Dead Petz" just feels more of a collection of experimental demo quality songs made to use as a stepping stone, for us to see what's to come. The album is halfway good though, containing just enough unique hits to keep it intriguing.

RATING: 6 / 10
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Track Picks:

Dooo It!
Something About Space Dude
BB Talk
Slab Of Butter (Scorpion)
I Forgive Yiew
Lighter
Cyrus Skies
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BEST TRACK:
Slab Of Butter (Scorpion)
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