Sonic Boom

FULL CIRCLE | Creed
Creed's signature style, pioneered in hits like One Last Breath and My Sacrifice, seems to have faded. Not to say that their new release, Full Circle, is bad. Far from it. Disappointing perhaps for their fans, because it doesn't contain the essence of Creed. Seven years after vocalist Scott Stapp's off-stage antics broke up the band, Creed seem to be compromising, so that both Stapp and guitarist Mark Tremonti get their time in the sun.Result? It may sound generic but for the first time we hear sweet guitar solos to complement Stapp's throaty vocals. The overall sound is heavier than the Creed we knew. The lyrics mostly refer to the band's volatile post-2004 journey. And the entire package? Well, Creed will win a lot of new fans with this one but may also lose a whole lot of old ones in the bargain. (Hard rock, Wind Up Records, in stores next week)
PLAYLIST PICKS
Overcome (pick of the lot, rather intense for a Creed hit, their first non-conceptual video since Higher with concert and backstage footage, reasserts time and again that yes, Creed IS back, big hit potential); Rain (also released as a single, a song about forgetting the past and looking to the future, in the grand old Creed tradition of positivity... "so let it rain down and wash everything away, I hope that tomorrow the sun will shine / With every tomorrow comes another life... ")
NIGEL BRITTO
REUNITED | Cliff Richard &
The Shadows
The young ones, darlin' , they were the young ones... and then they grew up! We're talking of Cliff Richard and The Shadows, the group that gave listeners cult hits like Do You Wanna Dance and Bachelor Boy in the fifties and sixties. With 2009 seeing many old acts return to stage, Cliff and the boys decided to mark 50 years of their first recording with a commemorative CD, with 19 classics and three new renditions - C'mon Everybody, Sea Cruise and Singing The Blues. The group never claimed to be Led Zep, so don't look for tweaks of old numbers . They stick to original rhythms and arrangements, and it is a testimony to just how good the originals were that the new recordings sound good too. Richard may sound a lot less boyish and far more controlled but he seldom hits a wrong note, except in The Young Ones, which he fairly murders. On the whole, Reunited is a sentimental journey, incredibly easy on the ear. A great album for oldies and one that will tell youngsters just how good the fifties were. (Pop, EMI, Rs 395)
PLAYLIST PICKS
Bachelor Boy (as fresh, as sprightly as ever; Cliff took his dad's advice incidentally, as he seems set to stay a bachelor boy until his dyin' day); C'mon Everybody (one of the few times Cliff lets go, cover of Eddie Cochran's hit); William And The Hand Jive (naughty innuendo like Cliff and The Shadows could do pretty cutely; as perky as the original though we think Clapton handled it better. But then, he's God!)
ONE WORLD ONE LOVE |
Michael Bolton
They used to call him the male version of Whitney Houston and Mariah Carey in the nineties, a poppy version of Meatloaf who could sing ballads at notes that betrayed infinite lung capacity and vocal chords of steel. He scooped up Grammies, sold millions of records... but then lost his way. The last decade saw him struggle to get back where he belonged, rehashing Sinatra, rendering covers but with little success. However, with One World One Love, a mix of covers and fresh material, he may just have turned the corner. Bolton's back with high-pitched love songs, praise be! Although there's no sense of that in the reggae-infused Ready For You, other tracks easily slip into his trademark pop/soul style. There is no How Am I Supposed to Live Without You scream-out ballad but almost every number - from the mellow You Comfort Me to the upbeat Survivor to the Sting-like warbled Need You To Fall - sees him reach out and grab the high notes, effortlessly. Some may dismiss this album as soppy but Bolton has given his fans a substantial straw to clutch. He ain't back, but he's on his way. (Pop, Universal, Rs 395)
PLAYLIST PICKS
Just One Love (ignore the preachy lyrics... "so much killin' / so much anger inside" , focus on the anthem-like rhythm and sing along); Murder My Heart (sung with dramatic intensity); Invisible Tattoo (Bolton never really lets himself go in his rendering of Sharon Robinson's original, yet he haunts you)