Ali Campbell [2007] Running Free

[01] Running Free
[02] Hold Me Tight
[03] I'll Be Standing By
[04] Don't Go
[05] Would I Lie To You
[06] I Want One of Those
[07] Hallelujah Time
[08] Don't Try This At Home
[09] Flex
[10] Being With You
[11] Gotta Get Away
[12] Devoted To You
[13] Village Ghetto Land
[14] Cold Around My Heart

Featuring [1] Beverley Knight, [3] Lemar, [5] Bitty McLean, [07] Smokey Robinson, [08] Katie Melua [10] Mick Hucknall, [12] Robin Campbell, [13] Aston "Family Man" Barrett and Don Yute



amg: As the frontman of UB40 with a very distinctive voice and style, Ali Campbell was used to both original songs and covers, and there were a few of both on Running Free, his second solo album but his first without his bandmates in 12 years. He wasn't on his own, however, recruiting some friends and well respected musicians to duet with him on several of the tracks; most of them are namechecked on the album cover. Johnny Nash had already put a light reggae beat to his original hit "Hold Me Tight" as far back as 1968, and Campbell does not change much on his version 39 years later. Charles & Eddie didn't appear on this version of "Would I Lie to You," a song they took to number one in 1992, but the claim that this is a duet with Bitty McLean is rather dubious, as Campbell's nasally vocals dominate the song, as they do on "Hallelujah Time" with Smokey Robinson. Perhaps Robinson should have been asked to guest on the song "Being with You," which he'd originally taken to number one in 1981, but instead that honor went to Mick Hucknall, whose voice was clear enough to be heard alongside Campbell's. At least Katie Melua gets a couple of verses of her own on "Don't Try This at Home." As for the rest of the songs, there's not much that can be said for them, perhaps UB40's time had already come and gone, but one of the most poignant songs from Stevie Wonder's Songs in the Key of Life, "Village Ghetto Life," was given a lilting lovers rock beat but the whole song was spoiled by a pointless rap in the middle by Aston "Family Man" Barrett and Don Yute.
(amg 5/10)

a-ha [2005] Analogue

[01] Celice
[02] Don't Do Me Any Favours
[03] Cosy Prisons
[04] Analogue
[05] Birthright
[06] Holy Ground
[07] Over The Treetops
[08] Halfway Through The Tour
[09] A Fine Blue Line
[10] Keeper Of The Flame
[11] Make It Soon
[12] White Dwarf
[13] The Summers Of Our Youth



amg: The Norwegian band a-ha had never really been away, so the 2006 album Analogue was hardly a comeback but a continuation of their 20-plus years of hitmaking. If anything, it was a return to form after the disappointing Lifelines album. The opening track, "Celice," was released in Europe only and featured Morten Harket's trademark falsetto vocals over a beat driven song. Pål Waaktaar's fuzzy guitar dominates "Make It Soon" but Analogue is mainly a very laid-back album, only a few of its 13 tracks are up-tempo in the style of their classic era "Take on Me," and most of the tracks are piano led, melancholy ballads including "Cozy Prisons," "Birthright," "A Fine Blue Line," and "The Summers of Your Youth." Graham Nash of Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young lends his backing vocals to the tracks "Cozy Prisons" and "Over the Teardrops" and makes the harmonies on the latter song sound almost like one of CSN&Y's own. Halfway through the album comes the track "Halfway Through the Tour," a synth-beat number over seven minutes long. It's a strange song which appears to finish at the standard three-minute mark but then continues for a further four minutes as a flute instrumental with echoes of "Nights in White Satin." The first single to be released in the U.K., "Analogue (All I Want)" became their first Top Ten single since 1988's "Stay on These Roads".
(amg 5/10)

America [1998] You Can Do Magic

[01] You Can Do Magic
[02] Never Be Lonely
[03] You Girl
[04] Right Before Your Eyes
[05] Inspector Mills
[06] Love On The Vine
[07] Desperate Love
[08] Jody
[09] Sometimes Lovers
[10] Even The Score
[11] Tin Man (Live)
[12] A Horse With No Name (Live)
[13] I Need You (Live)
[14] Sister Golden Hair (Live)
[15] Ventura Highway (Live)
[16] Daisy Jane (Live)



amg: America, the singing and songwriting trio, became one of Soft Rock's biggest success stories during the '70s with hits like 'Tin Man', 'Ventura Highway', 'Sister Golden Hair' and many others. When Dan Peek left the band, Gerry Beckley and Dewey Bunnell continued as a duo, signing to Capitol and releasing some of their most focused material. This compilation features a total of 16 tracks from this period including live versions of their big hits listed above. Disky.
(amg 5/10)

Alanis Morissette [1995] Hand In My Pocket

[01] Hand In My Pocket
[02] Head Over Feet (Live Acoustic)
[03] Not The Doctor (Live Acoustic)



wiki: "Hand in My Pocket" is a song written by Alanis Morissette and Glen Ballard, and produced by Ballard for Morissette's third album, Jagged Little Pill (1995). It was released as the album's second single in 1995 and became Morissette's second number-one hit on Billboard's U.S. Modern Rock Tracks chart. "Hand in My Pocket" also received substantial airplay on pop radio, reaching the top five on the Top 40 Mainstream chart, but its success in the United Kingdom was limited.

The chorus of "Hand in My Pocket" utilized a poetry technique, "rhyme juxtaposition" (utilized by authors such as Lewis Carroll and musicians such as Bob Dylan and John Lennon), as its primary lyrical structure, as exemplified by the off-set coupling of the first and second stanzas of each chorus. In the first chorus for example, "fine, fine, fine" is coupled with "a high five", when it should, according to traditional rhyming schemes, be instead set against the "a peace sign" which closes the third chorus, and which is in turn, coupled with a first line ending with the phrase, "a cigarette", which is a clear rhyme with the end of the second chorus: "out just yet". While Morissette does not carry the scheme consistently throughout the song (there are, for instance, no rhymes for "hailing a taxicab" or "playing the piano"), it is, nonetheless, a fairly sophisticated literary device.
(amg 5/10)

Ac/Dc [1988] Blow Up Your Video

[01] Heatseeker
[02] That's The Way I Wanna Rock'n'Roll
[03] Meanstreak
[04] Go Zone
[05] Kissin' Dynamite
[06] Nick Of Time
[07] Some Sin For Nuthin'
[08] Ruff Stuff
[09] Two's Up
[10] This Means War



amg: AC/DC remained a popular concert draw throughout the '80s, although such albums as Flick of the Switch and Fly on the Wall failed to replicate their mass U.S. commercial success of 1980-1981 (Back in Black, For Those About to Rock, a reissue of Dirty Deeds). But the successful soundtrack for Stephen King's lackluster movie Maximum Overdrive, titled Who Made Who, put AC/DC back on the right track commercially. Their first new studio album of all-new material in three years, 1988's Blow Up Your Video turned out to be their most successful album since 1981's For Those About To Rock, even though it was chock full of filler. The driving album opener, "Heatseeker," turned out to be a surprising Top Ten single in the U.K., while the anthemic "That's the Way I Want to Rock n' Roll" proved to be another highlight (video clips were filmed for both songs, as well). But from there on (with the exception of "Kissin' Dynamite" and "This Means War"), it gets pretty unfocused. The album is glutted with such throwaways as "Nick of Time," "Ruff Stuff," and "Two's Up" -- completely missing the point of what made such previous albums as Back in Black so great (they simply did not contain a weak moment). Blow Up Your Video also marked the return of AC/DC's early production team, Harry Vanda and George Young, who man the boards for the first time since 1978's If You Want Blood.
(amg 5/10)

Aztec Camera [1987C] Love

[01] Deep And Wide And Tall
[02] How Men Are
[03] Everybody Is A Number One
[04] More Than A Law
[05] Somewhere In My Heart
[06] Working In A Goldmine
[07] One And One
[08] Paradise
[09] Killermont Street



amg: Roddy Frame dispensed with the previous members of Aztec Camera and turned to a group of American session musicians and high-powered producers (Russ Titelman, Tommy LiPuma) for his third full-length album, on which he also abandoned his singer/songwriter, folk-rock approach in favor of an American R&B style. It's a distinct step down from the ingenuity of his first couple of records, and was met with indifference in the U.S., which seemed to be its intended target. In the U.K., the album belatedly took off after its second single, "Somewhere In My Heart," went to #3, and became Aztec Camera's only Top Ten LP. (Other U.K. chart singles were "How Men Are" [#25] and "Working In A Goldmine" [#31].)
(amg 5/10)

Asia [1983] Alpha

[01] Don't Cry
[02] The Smile Has Left Your Eyes
[03] Never In A Million Years
[04] My Own Time (I'll Do What I Want)
[05] The Heat Goes On
[06] Eye To Eye
[07] The Last To Know
[08] True Colors
[09] Midnight Sun
[10] Open Your Eyes



amg: The eagerly awaited follow-up to the supergroup's debut, Alpha landed with a resounding thud a year later. The album still managed to be a platinum-selling Top Ten hit, as did the leadoff single "Don't Cry," but where Asia managed to make old sounds fresh, Alpha fails miserably. Nothing on Alpha packs the sheer sonic force of the band's debut. Instead, much of the record is lightweight both lyrically and musically, leaning heavier on keyboard-laden ballads like "The Smile Has Left Your Eyes," which managed to scrape into the Top 40, and "My Own Time (I'll Do What I Want)." The only real meat on the record comes during the last cut, "Open Your Eyes" (and only at the end of the song). Rumored creative differences, the album's lukewarm reception, and flagging ticket sales for the ensuing tour led to lead singer John Wetton leaving the band before the year was out. Alpha is sorely disappointing, especially coming on the heels of a promising debut.
(amg 5/10)

America [1980] Alibi

[01] Survival
[02] Might Be Your Love
[03] Catch That Train
[04] You Could've Been The One
[05] I Don't Believe In Miracles
[06] I Do Believe In You
[07] Hangover
[08] Right Back To Me
[09] Coastline
[10] Valentine
[11] One In A Million



amg: George Martin stopped working America as the '70s became the '80s. Truth be told, it probably wasn't that painful of a departure. The time had come to part ways with Martin — not only had they spent a decade with the celebrity producer, they were moving toward a slick, radio-ready adult contemporary direction that was entirely too calculated for Martin. So, they split, and Sir George effectively went into retirement while America worked with Matthew McCauley and Fred Mollin for 1980's Alibi. Essentially, the album picks up where Silent Letter left off, meaning that it's a set of pleasant soft pop, but it's slicker and slighter than its predecessor. That's not to say that it's without moments; like its predecessor, Alibi opens strongly with a pair of winners ("Survival," "Might Be Your Love"), and there are moments (such as "You Could've Been the One" or "Right Back to Me," which has a nice, bouncy chorus) that deliver later in the album. Still, it meanders fast and it meanders far, even into such ridiculous territory as the faux hard rock (in the sense that the Eagles' "Life in the Fast Lane" is hard rock) of "Hangover," whose lyrics are at least worth a chuckle or two. Ultimately, Alibi suffers from not only its uneven material, but from the production, which is nowhere near as invitingly lush as Silent Letter. Nevertheless, McCauley and Mollin's production does sound exactly like MOR radio in 1980, and fans of that era may find this to be an enjoyable artifact, even with its flaws. Nevertheless, Alibi doesn't qualify as one of America's better latter-day efforts (even though it's certainly not one of their worst). They did this sound better on the subsequent View From the Ground.
(amg 5/10)