Artist: Alexandra Burke

Overcome, 2010-08-01
Great album. All the songs are good, nice to listen to in the car and such a good price.

Artist: Rihanna

Forget Rated R, those widely circulated photos of Robyn Rihanna Henty after her assault at the hands of ex-lover Chris Brown were X-rated stuff. All of which adds a certain poignancy to her fourth album, and first release since unwittingly becoming a poster girl for victims of domestic violence--certainly her sadder songs now seem loaded with a previously unsuspected melancholy. The new empowered Rihanna is a saucy, scary minx, dressed up in dramatic fetish gear by German photographer Ellen von Unwerth, and a long long way from the Bajan beauty queen who charmed us with the sunny "Pon De Replay". A hit as huge as "Umbrella", its chart reign longer than a British winter, redefines expectations, and unsurprisingly Rated R is full of slick, expensive sounding contemporary R&B confections such as the single "Hard", featuring a turn by Young Jeezy, and the defiant "Wait Your Turn". More intriguing are ballads such as the unusually bleak "Stupid In Love" and the heartfelt "Russian Roulette", with its implicit challenge to a tormentor. "Rockstar 101" features Slash, to no great effect, but "Photographs", produced and penned by the astute Will.I.Am, sounds like a...
Rihanna Rocks, 2010-08-04
Very impressed with the music on this CD. A good variety of different songs which show off Rihanna's voice to full advantage.

Artist: Janelle Monae

The Saviour of Music, 2010-08-23
This album is absolutely terrific and engaging! I tell you something after 10 tracks I thought - wow that sounds like a great album to me! I would have felt so satisfied with the 10, but 18!
We have all been spoilt to heaven!

Tracks 17 and 18 really stood out to me - in fact all of them did! The intro to suite 2 gives you an actual taste of the actual music in some of the tracks and this stood out in track 17 to me.
You can really appreciate the time she took to make this album and the heart in it shines through!

This album is totally excellent and a delicious feast for the ears - I listened to it in it's entirety (Janelle herself has stated that this is how you should listen to it and she is right), and afterwards wanted to listen to it all over again. I have actually no interest in listening to anything else and will get suite 1 asap.

Her contemporaries should take serious note as to how things are done because in 20 years time this will still be relevant - infact they should be worried because the jig is up!

This is instantly classic music. Thank you Janelle Monet for showing music as an art form is not totally dead! I just hope your talent is rewarded, nurtured and left to run unfettered if this is what you can do!!!!!

I am waiting with baited breath for the videos and 4th suite.

Every reviewer on here so far has been totally accurate. Everyone who cares about this artist or music full stop buy a copy of her album NOW!! The Archandroid

Artist: Michael Jackson

FANTASTIC CD, 2010-08-27
GREAT ALBUM,GREAT SONGS,WORTH THE MONEY. MICHAEL JACKSON WAS AN EXCELLENT SINGER ,DANCER AND PERFORMER.HE COULD EASILY HAVE BEEN THE BEST EVER ARTIST.THIS ALBUM HAS A BRILL MIXTURE OF HIS BIGGEST AND BEST SONGS.I THINK ITS A GREAT PRICE FOR 2 DISCS!

Artist: Alicia Keys

Excellent, 2010-08-30
love it love it love it - what an excellent cd would recommend it to anyone.

Artist: Adele

It’s right there; on the cover, the spine, or illuminating from your iPod screen. But it’s hard to corroborate it in your mind. London singer-songwriter Adele’s debut album is titled 19, referencing her age, and there are hints it’s true--its themes are almost exclusively concerned with young love’s highs and (mostly) lows and there’s a clipped estuary English tide-mark to her voice, allying her with the fresh-faced modern female songwriting guard; Lily Allen, Kate Nash, et al. But the sheer weight of her maturity--vocally, emotionally and in overall poise—really reduces that all to circumstantial evidence. Adele is carrying something much bigger here, you can’t help but be consumed by it on "Daydreamer" with it’s jazzy tip-toeing guitar and elastic vocal range and "Hometown Glory" with its deep, lonely piano serving as a bed for the raw emotional undressing that takes place above it. Draw a line between timeless, powerful singers like Ella Fitzgerald and the modern standard of Amy Winehouse; Adele balances and pirouettes confidently along that tightrope. Winehouse particularly informs the likes of "Cold Shoulder" and double-bass heavy "Best for Last", and ...
Excellent cd, 2010-07-23
I bought this cd for one particular track, but decided to listen to it all the way through. Well I loved it, a great mix of songs, perfect to listen to on a long journey.
Loved the price, another great find on amazon.

Artist: Corinne Bailey Rae

One thing more worthy than a truly great album is a truly surprising great album. Corinne Bailey Rae has, with The Sea, delivered a record that almost physically halts you in your tracks when at best you might have expected it to put up as much resistance as a cotton wool bud. Having established herself with an eponymous debut album of dinner party R&B, featuring tracks like "Choux Pastry Heart" and the fluffy, ubiquitous "Put Your Records On", the weight of emotion present on the lingering, bruised falsetto of understated opening track "Are You Here" is quietly overwhelming. The sombre jazz daydream of "I'd Do It All Again" follows next, blossoming wonderfully with unexpected clarity on a spring gust of a chorus. It is defined, as much is on the album, by never quite making eye contact; these songs sound like genuinely private, necessary moments liberated by impassioned performances. It has been well publicised that the album owes the grit of its soul to the grief that consumed her following the unexpected passing of her husband. But while you need not search far beneath the surface to find open evidence of that, it is no millstone either. Holistically, The Sea is a ...
Doesn't disappoint, 2010-04-16
I absolutely LOVE the first album - which is always a worry when buying the second as expectations are so high. This album does not disappoint. The music has evolved, but the general vibe is similar enough for the listener to cope with the transition. If you asked me which is my fave out of the two, I would still say the first, but equally, I love the second, it's still brilliant and I would recommend it to anyone.

Artist: Paloma Faith

Have Faith in Paloma, 2010-08-31
If you are looking for a fresh, energetic and soulful CD then look no further. I recently had the pleasure of seeing Paloma Faith at a festival. I had not really heard of her before but a friend was extremely jealous when I said I was going, as I was told she is really good. On that recommendation I bought the CD and was so glad I did.

This CD is very well constructed and sounds much more mature than the average debut CD. Stone Cold Sober is a great opening track which pulls you in straightaway with Paloma's instantly recognisable voice, clever lyrics and great use of instruments. My attention was grabbed and I was propelled through more of Paloma's imaginative music. A variety of styles and moods keeps you interested throughout and the tracks tick by until you reach the epic New York, a tale of losing her man to the Big Apple, a song which grows with the support of a gospel chorus. The CD drifts into a quieter, slower, but no less impressive end.

Brilliant debut, can't wait to hear more from Paloma!

Artist: Plan B

The Defamation Of Strickland Banks, the second LP from Forest Gate-bred singer/musician Ben Drew, will be a surprise for anyone who spent meaningful time with his 2006 debut Who Needs Actions When You’ve Got Words. That album cast him as a potty-mouthed rapper, threatening to stab you with a biro over choppy acoustic guitar. Now, following a quick makeover, he re-emerges as blue-eyed soul singer, fronting a suite of bittersweet love songs steeped in vintage Stax and Motown. What might seem a rushed rebranding makes more sense if you know a little about Drew's creative drive, though; obsessed with cinema and narrative, Plan B is a storyteller at heart, and …Strickland Banks' songs trace a tale through the London underworld, Drew playing a soul singer from the East End jailed for a crime he didn’t commit. It's a concept that works, thanks largely to Drew’s voice--surprisingly strong, and more than capable of handling everything from upbeat Northern soul to fraught numbers like "Welcome To Hell". The narrative never overwhelms the quality of the songs, though, and for anyone disappointed such an impressively angry man has gone a bit Paolo Nutini on us, the...
PLAN B THE DEFAMATION OF STRICKLAND BANKS, 2010-09-03
WORTH EVERY PENNY, REFRESHING NEW SOUND, GREAT FOR THE CAR WITH SOME FANTASTIC UP BEAT SOUNDS AS WELL AS SOME DEEP SING A LONG TUNES. YOU WILL NOT BE DISAPPOINTED

Artist: JLS

Great first Album..., 2010-05-15
I initially bought this for my son as he is a massive JLS fan, but I must say that I really think its a great first Album and I really like this CD!