Rosenstolz - Das Grosse Leben [2006]
Posted by admin on April 30th, 2007

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Amazon.co.uk Review
Out of Nothing, the band’s fourth album, is the best they have ever made. The McNamara brothers have buckled down to some serious songwriting (aided by Coldplay’s Chris Martin on first single “Gravity”) to produce a selection of songs that can all lay claim to the title “Classic”.
Opening with the monumental “Ashes” it is clear from the off that this is not some huge stylistic leap. Instead Embrace have consolidated all they are good at (epic, heart-warming anthems) and finally made the album they have always promised. “Gravity” is exactly what you’d expect, a Coldplay tune as played by Embrace, but where as Chris Martin and the boys are often stark and fidgety Embrace cover the track in a lushness that makes you swoon. “Someday” has them coming across like the younger brothers of Spiritualised complete with a finale featuring a full-on gospel choir, “Wish ‘Em All Away” is harmonica-soaked loveliness with a chorus that touches the heavens, and “Spell It Out” is a string-laden monster that has ‘festival closer’ written all over it.
The album ends as magnificently as it begins with a triplet of songs that takes the breath away. The gentle “A Glorious Day”, atmospheric “Near Life” and magnificent title track prove just how far Embrace have come since the days of out-of-tune criticisms and gags about being Oasis’ little brothers. Out of Nothing is a truly exceptional album that suggests that, far from being over, the journey for Embrace has only just begun.
Description
‘Out Of Nothing’ is the fourth album from the Huddersfield outfit Embrace. The album sees the band continue with the anthemic British sounding indie rock of previous work which earned the band comparisons to The Verve and Oasis. The single’Gravity’, co-written by Coldplay’s Chris Martin, is also featured.
Track Lists:
[MP3 Download]
1. Ashes
2. Gravity
3. Someday
4. Looking As You Are
5. Wish ‘Em All Away
6. Keeping
7. Spell It Out
8. A Glorious Day
9. Near Life
10. Out Of Nothing
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Amazon.com
The blasphemous opinions surrounding Depeche Mode’s 2001 release Exciter were well warranted. Exciter didn’t supply Depeche Mode diehards much in the way of dance tunes, and the experimental sounds drummed up by Bjork producer Mark Bell strayed from the industrial standard in an overly delicate, less than welcoming way. True fans, luckily, forgive and forget and as well they should, given Playing the Angel’s return to dark, brooding greatness. The first single “Precious” is an emotionally loaded, characteristically long faced, distortion-pocked masterwork - a “Personal Jesus” level accomplishment. Also on that order are “Suffer Well;” the droning, lovely and altogether danceable “Lillian”; “I Want it All,” whose muffled beats and blasts of suck-you-in static recall the industrial glory days; and the simple, synthy exercise in hyper-intelligent pop that is “John the Revelator.” Those songs make it easy to salute the band for parting the sea of imitators and returning to its roots, but an obvious stain prevents Playing the Angel from being a perfect album. Two tracks are the problem: Martin Gore may be a brilliant lyricist, he wrote every song on Playing the Angel, but pull David Gahan away from the mike and pretentiousness prevails. Some will find “Macrovision” lovely, but it’s arguable that there’s no room for trilling on a Depeche Mode disc. The same goes for “Damaged People,” a dangerous, show-tune-ish flirtation. A couple of clunkers don’t spoil the lot, though, and this return to form will alienate few. All hail the 80s. –Tammy La Gorce
Track Lists:
[MP3 Download]
1. A Pain That I’m Used To
2. John The Revelator
3. Suffer Well
4. The Sinner In Me
5. Precious
6. Macro
7. I Want It All
8. Nothing’s Impossible
9. Introspectre
10. Damaged People
11. Lilian
12. The Darkest Star
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Amazon.com
If U2 hadn’t already released a pair of career retrospective discs, this British trio’s second album would neatly do the trick in one. Not much of a surprise since Keane spent a good deal of time supporting Bono and company following the release their breakthrough debut, Hopes and Fears. From the melancholic “Crystal Ball” to the sinisterly beautiful “Is It Any Wonder?” (a blatant homage to “Zoo Station”), Keane have perfected their forebear’s dark stadium-rock formula on their second album, all the more miraculous considering it was once again done without guitars. If Under the Iron Sea sounds considerably edgier than its predecessor, that’s because it was recorded while the band was on the verge of splitting. But the friction has also given Keane a renewed sense of purpose, breaking the mid-tempo monotony with vibrant material such as “Nothing in My Way” and “Try Again”: soaring songs that make the band sound unsinkable. –Aidin Vaziri
Track Lists:
[MP3 Download]
1. Atlantic
2. Is It Any Wonder?
3. Nothing In My Way
4. Leaving So Soon?
5. A Bad Dream
6. Hamburg Song
7. Put It Behind You
8. Crystal Ball
9. Try Again
10. Broken Toy
11. The Frog Prince
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Amazon.com
It’s fitting that the Kid Rock revival got started when the Beastie Boys featured him in their Grand Royal magazine–and not because the kid from Detroit shares their skin tone. Rock has often been compared with the early Beasties–the boys of “Fight for Your Right to Party” and “Brass Monkey,” the boys no one ever thought would grow up. With lines like “I ain’t straight outta Compton, I’m straight out the trailer” and “I started an escort service–for all the right reasons,” it’s obvious that Kid Rock doesn’t aim to follow suit. But that’s no hindrance to Devil–backed by the funky metal band Twisted Brown Trucker and special guests like blues vets Robert Bradley and Thronetta Davis, Rock is hosting one hell of an interesting party. Ultimately, Rock’s party is great, schlocky fun, equal parts old Beasties and Sebastian Bach–making Devil a guilty pleasure, the Starship Troopers of hip-hop. –Randy Silver

Amazon.com
Josh Groban is making it hard for anybody who can’t say “classical crossover” without smirking to maintain an acceptable level of snobbery. Awake, his third studio disc and arguably his most personal–he co-wrote four tracks and favors his native English over Italian–boasts as many bold names as any tricked-out hip-hop disc: Dave Matthews, Ladysmith Black Mambazo, Imogen Heap, and Herbie Hancock contribute in various capacities, and a slew of behind-the-scenes collaborators best known for their work in mainstream pop circles deepen the dimensions of a style widely considered claustrophobic. For all the studio doors that got opened to create Awake, though, Groban’s signature sound never once slipped out to take the air; “the voice”–that hypnotic, spun-silk wonder of an instrument–is as concentrated as ever, and Awake, in addition to showing off its many splendors, serves as a vehicle for parading its versatility around. While “Un Giorno Per Noi,” the deeply romantic theme to the 1968 film Romeo E Giulietta, delivers the Groban that fueled the sale of 16 million previous discs to soft-hearted fans, “Machine,” with Hancock, gives up a new form of funk: dignified, classy, and surprisingly unstiff. –Tammy La Gorce
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