The song choices are impeccable, bordering on painfully so: Dusty Springfield's "Stay Awhile," Charles Aznavour's "She" and "Unchained Melody" are three of the 13 tracks.ĭeschanel's vocal takes won't worry Madeleine Peyroux, but she brings candy-store charm and knowledgeable phrasing to the songs, and Ward seldom overdoes the quaintness or whimsy. "Classics" is the first She & Him album made for a major label the duo takes advantage mainly by hiring, arranging and recording live with a 20-piece orchestra. Ward's sepia-steeped musicality fit the material. While the world doesn't need another Great American Songbook album - "Nostalgia," by Annie Lennox, and "Cheek to Cheek," by Tony Bennett and Lady Gaga, both came out earlier this season - at least Zooey Deschanel's thrift-store chic and M. Gilbertson, Special to the Journal Sentinel "Rock or Bust" does nothing to tarnish AC/DC's legacy, yet does little to burnish it, either.
![mary j blige cd 2016 mary j blige cd 2016](https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/518+mPSZ24L.jpg)
The best songs, like the crunchy-and-catchy single "Play Ball," make useful tweaks to the hard-rock formula the rest, like "Hard Times" and two of four paeans to rock itself, run overly familiar drills on routine riffs and themes. With the songs credited to Young and brother Angus Young, the group's lead guitarist, and with nephew Stevie Young handling the second guitar, AC/DC still sounds like AC/DC. In 1980, AC/DC responded to serious misfortune - the death of lead singer and iconic hedonist Bon Scott - by recruiting Brian Johnson and making "Back in Black," its biggest commercial success and perhaps its last truly magnificent album.įollowing another serious misfortune - because of dementia, founding member and rhythm guitarist Malcolm Young had to leave the band - "Rock or Bust" is not magnificent, but it's not bad. 16 at the Rave's Eagles Ballroom, 2401 W. Walk the Moon performs with Fall Out Boy Dec. So for fans, the ultra-produced and polished "Hard" will be easy to love, especially the exuberant "Shut Up and Dance" (perfect for John Hughes prom scenes), and the cheeky "Spend Your $$$," with a head-spinning synth part and Nicholas Petricca's gaudy falsetto.īut anyone with a longer memory might find more value listening to songs from a time when moonwalking was new.
![mary j blige cd 2016 mary j blige cd 2016](https://i.ebayimg.com/images/g/U5wAAOSw7lliOjCp/s-l225.jpg)
To be fair, Walk the Moon was before the trend with its breakout single "Anna Sun" in 2011, and in the years that have followed, it has distinguished itself with slick songs, a playful personality and strong band-to-fan connection that involves wearing brightly colored war paint at shows.
![mary j blige cd 2016 mary j blige cd 2016](https://i.ebayimg.com/thumbs/images/g/dgUAAOSwn-tZJaXT/s-l300.jpg)
The songs are so good in fact that the 45-minute "Sessions" has one of the most abrupt and unwanted endings on an album this year.Īnd Blige is comfortable and confident trying out new styles, her voice rich and relatable throughout.Īt times, you may even think she's an "untouchable goddess."įor quite possibly the billionth time this year, an alternative rock band is swimming in Reagan-era synths - this week, it's alternative rock band Walk the Moon on sophomore album "Talking is Hard." They bring Blige some grade A material, from the sparse, doo-wop gospel vibe on the Smith co-penned "Therapy," to the sleek, Disclosure-produced dance club jam "Right Now." That's largely thanks to a decision that doubles as both marketing savvy and creative resurgence: Blige, recognizing the critical and commercial success of English soul stars like Amy Winehouse and Adele, moved to London this year to collaborate with hot English acts like Smith, fraternal electronic duo Disclosure and Emeli Sandé. Blige is more personable than she's been in years. Well, having sound bites like this on your own record doesn't exactly suggest "humility," but on "Sessions," Mary J. Blige on her 13th studio album, "The London Sessions." "And when I met her, I really, really wasn't expecting her to be like me." "To me, she was this untouchable goddess," Sam Smith gushes about Mary J.