Stormkro - Some Odd Years

To see that this album was from the nineties, I got a little excited. But it was met soon after with some doubt. The band has a serious interest in intros. The average song takes a good 45 seconds to get going. There is an obvious influence of Queen in this band. There was a very eclectic mix of music. Track 3, entitled Me, mixes 60’s protest with hardcore metal. Scottish bagpipe feel on Track 6, with piano ballads mixed with guitar solos, almost a Bohemian Rhapsody. The only track that I would truly recommend would be track 7, Bantu. This song is a tad different than the others. It features a guest lead vocalist, a female. The drummer provides lead vocals for the band. This is the one player the band could do without. The drums do not match any of the music. The voice would be better suited for backing vocals. Plus, drummers as a lead singer are a rarity as it is. No need to screw that up. Track 5 is called The Awakening. It is a halfway decent song. Probably the second best on the album. However, very long intro. Overall, the CD wagered about a C-.

-Clay Chapman

Yeasayer - Odd Blood

If there is something I could compare this album too, it would almost be a rock opera, such as The Who’s Tommy or Pink Floyd’s The Wall. The material is questionable. The average person would be scared off by the lead track. It starts off with banging pipes and the feel of a dark sewer with fighting robots. It soon recovers. The second track is still a bit weaker, but Tracks 3, 4, and 5 really take off. There is a lot of techno, mixed with guitars Possibly flutes. However, they drop immediately with track 6. It starts off with what I determined as someone sniffing in residue cocaine. Very weird nightclub music. It got loud and for track 7, there was too much percussion. The came back strong on track 9. Very good song. Overall a pretty decent album. Overall, B-

-Clay Chapman

The Watson Twins - Talking to Me, Talking to You

I'll be straight up: if you are an insomniac and need some easy listening tunes to put you to sleep, a few songs from The Watson Twins' new album, "Talking to Me, Talking to You" is sure to do the trick. With a style much like Norah Jones and vocals a tiny bit resembling Dido, the twins take turns with the lead vocals and adding to key phrases as background singers. While their voices are a rougher, their music is a calm mix of synthetic instruments and piano. Although the instruments add to the interest of the song, they seem to hide the vocals at times, making the lyrics hard to hear. The lyrics go from being general to poetic, and the verses tend to flow so easily into the chorus that the songs start to feel monotonous. Overall, it is pretty music to listen to- very soft and calming- but that also can mean it may make you want to fall asleep.

Best songs: Harpeth River, Midnight, Savin' You, U-N-Me

-Kayla Green