Artist: Various Artists

Excellent Speed, 2010-08-31
Product came very quickly in perfect condition with minimum of fuss. Would be happy to do business with again.

Artist: Alicia Keys

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

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: 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: 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: Various Artists

Perfect chill-out selection, 2010-08-30
60 tracks that all bring back some very mellow memories. Classics from all corners of the R&B/soul spectrum; on the one hand we have Marvin Gaye, Luther Vandross and Gladys Knight - on the other we have Maxwell, R.Kelly, Usher and Toni Braxton. And as if that wasn't enough, there are the "new kids" represented by Jason Derulo, McLean, JLS and Leona Lewis. A very good value, well thought-out collection. Highly recommended.

Artist: Various Artists

Not Just The Same Old Songs, 2010-08-27
Have just finished playing it so here are my initial thoughts.

In my view COM4 is different from the previous volumes as the tracks & artists chosen don't all have what I think of as having a distinct Motown sound. The compilers have mixed things up a bit and it's worked out for the better. It all begins with the Blackberries 'Kidnapped' which is a real Motown stomper even though it's from the '70's (I think). As side one progresses it goes through various styles & tempos which kept my interest although there are a couple of tracks which still have to grow on me. Side two is 24ct gold, again with a diverse range of artists and sounds. From Martha Reeves & The Vandellas brash 'Miss Lonely Heart' to Brenda Holloway's sublime 'Little Miss Loser' the quality never drops. Many of the tracks should have been singles and could have been hits. COM4 shows conclusively that Motown was just not always pumping out the same old song, however good it might be.

Picking out favourites is difficult as I have so many but I'll list a few. From side one I think that the big surprises are 'All I Need Is A Chance' - Robert Dobyne, 'Daddy, Cool' - Oma Heard & 'Have A Little Patience (And Wait) - Mary Wells. Stand outs from side two are 'Only A Lonely Man Would Know' - Ivy Jo Hunter, 'It's Gonna Be Always' - Blinky, 'Don't Let Me Be Lonely' - Tammi Terrell & 'Mobile Lil The Dancing Witch' - Shorty Long.

The liner notes are great & readable without a magnifying glass which is even better. The photos are lovely especially that new one of Blinky. Lastly the two most important words are the final two written in the introduction which are 'so far'!

Grateful thanks to Paul N, Keith, Chris and all those involved in what is probably the most interesting edition of the COM series.

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...
Fab CD, 2010-08-31

Cannot remember when I last enjoyed a CD as much as this one. The whole idea of the story, lyrics, music etc. is gripping and I think Ben Drew a huge talent

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!

Artist: Eliza Doolittle

Doolittle does a lot, 2010-08-31
Eliza Doolittle is knowing ingenue.

I really enjoyed this album, many tracks made me want to get up and dance, particularly "Pack Up", "Go Home" and "Mr Medicine". I first listened to it on a train platform in Cardiff, and I think some of my fellow passengers thought I was a little mad, but my feet just HAD to move.
Whilst having a mainly light poppy feel, this album is lyrically very clever, and the musical references are also very witty. I also very much enjoyed "Empty Hand", the sting in the tail.



Kate Nash and Lily Allen-esque but with a much more pleasant singing voice.