New and Notable MP3 Albums

Best buy Viva la Vida [Vinyl] and Read Consumer Reviews

Coldplay Photos

To say there has been a lot of anticipation for Coldplay’s fourth album, Viva La Vida, is an understatement. Having enlisted legendary leftfield producer Brian Eno, borrowed their album title from a painting by renowned Mexican artist Frida Kahlo and made tantalising remarks about sonic reinvention, the world has been curious (to say the least) to hear what the ‘new’ Coldplay might sound like. Viva La Vida definitely makes some departures from the band’s usual formula, which happens to be one of the most commercially successful rock-pop blueprints of recent years. The plangent chords, emotive melodies, stadium-rock rhythms and universal lyrical concerns remain, but Martin and co. have gone out on several limbs here, incorporating instrumental tracks ("Life In Technicolour"), using subtle North African and Latin elements ("Yes", "Strawberry Swing"), and overhauling previously strict verse-chorus-verse structures in favour of slightly more avant arrangements. The old Coldplay still shine through (see tracks like "Violet Hill" and the title song) but even their classic sound feels more muscular and confident. The band’s new flourishes, cosmetic and self-conscious as they may be, are enough to make Viva La Vida a welcome break from the old routine--Danny McKenna

Price: $23.98

Best buy Vol. 3-Hotel Costes and Read Consumer Reviews

Since Pschent started the Costes series any old half-trendy restaurant has started releasing its 'downtempo' compilation. The covers all show someone on a sofa, the tracklistings all look the same, and the music is just plain boring. With Costes however we try to make sure that they are always fresh, interesting, the packaging is great (check out the inside of Etage 3). Not just another lounge compilation, we hope you'll agree.

Price: $17.68

Best buy vs. & Vitalogy 3 CD Deluxe Edition (Featuring Live At The Orpheum, Boston MA) and Read Consumer Reviews

Pearl Jam’s Vs. and Vitalogy continued the band’s explosive success that began with their debut record Ten in 1991. Vs. was released on October 19, 1993 – it debuted at #1 on the Billboard 200 chart, and sold over 6 million copies. Vitalogy followed a little over a year later on December 6, 1994, and has since gone 4-times Platinum, also reaching #1 on the Billboard 200 chart. And now some fifteen+ years later, these seminal records receive the definitive reissue. Epic/Legacy is proud to present Vs./Vitalogy - Deluxe Edition.

Price: $24.81

Best buy Wagner: Gotterdammerung MP3 Edition and Read Consumer Reviews

Any record that leads off with Dick Vitale's ubiquitous jabberings is asking for trouble, and this third volume in the Jock Jams series is musically ill-equipped to pull out of the ensuing tailspin. The collection of inoffensive rap songs and R&B-tinged dance numbers does have a few highlights. KC and the Sunshine Band's "That's the Way I Like It," regardless of what sort of material it shares company with here, is a classic, and Blackstreet kick out a decent rhyme with Dr. Dre on "No Diggity." On the whole, it might even make a passable soundtrack for an aerobics class. Besides that, however, you'll have to swim through a lot of musical filler and testosterone-driven flotsam to find anything that rises above an overwhelming and acute mediocrity. --Matthew Cooke

On this Mp3 CD you have the equivalent of a 5 CD set of Wagner's Gotterdammerung
from Mark Elder and the Halle. First of all you have one of the better modern
performances of this mighty opera to come along in quite a few years. Second you
have Mark Elder one of Britain's better conductors at the helm of the Soloists and
the Choruses and the Orchestra. Third these are "live" recordings of the opera.
Finally you have the likes of Katarina Dalyman and Lars Cleveman singing Brunhilde
and Siegfried about as well as you could ask for. Plus the libretto and notes are

included on the disc as a pdf. file. You may ask how is the sound of this disc as
opposed to the regular CD set. I can say it sounds as good as the CD set, but then
I am not using the best sounding speakers on the market either. I can only hope
that the Halle will record and release the rest of the Ring Cycle in years to come.
Just imagine a Ring Cycle that only takes up Four Mp3 CDs! It would be nice if
Amazon.com would mention this item along with the regular CD edition and the Mp3
Download on the description page for this recording. I had to find out it was
available by looking it up on Google.com . --- By A. Craig

Price: $18.98

Best buy Waking Up and Read Consumer Reviews

OneRepublic: Ryan Tedder (lead vocals, guitar, piano) Zach Filkins (guitar, backing vocals) Drew Brown (guitar) Brent Kutzle (bass, cello) Eddie Fisher (drums)

OneRepublic was nominated for a Grammy in 2008 for Best Pop Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocals. And Tedder, plus guitarists Zach Filkins and Drew Brown, bassist/cellist Brent Kutzle and drummer Eddie Fisher have sold almost 2 million albums and 8 million singles.

The band's 2007 hit "Apologize," from their album Dreaming Out Loud went to No. 1 in 16 countries, going gold in 14 of them. It broke records for airplay when it finally made it to radio (and was only bested by Lewis's "Bleeding Love," which Tedder co-wrote). Their second single, "Stop and Stare," propelled OneRepublic beyond platinum status. Waking Up is their second album on Mosley/Interscope Records.

Their latest single "All the Right Moves" comes with a huge heap of anticipation from the millions of fans of OneRepublic and Tedder. But there are countless others who may not know the band or its members' names but recognize their heartfelt songs from the soundtrack of their last bad breakup or emotional meltdown. OneRepublic is that band.

While breaking sales, the members OneRepublic have proved for years that hard work pays off. As sensational as their rocket trip up the charts may have seemed, nothing happened for them overnight.

Price: $9.82

Best buy Walt Disney's Fantasia: Remastered Original Soundtrack Edition and Read Consumer Reviews

It's hard to believe now that Walt Disney's bold 1940 impressionistic experiment in wedding then-state-of-the-art animation with classical music was a rather resounding failure upon its release. The clich? proves the rule: Fantasia was decades ahead of its time (Disney even launched a "psychedelic"-themed rerelease campaign in the late '60s). It's even harder to fathom that then-Disney management spent over a million dollars in the early '80s replacing the muscular Leopold Stokowski score with a digitally recorded clone, then another undisclosed fortune to digitize Leo and put him back alongside Mickey at the conductor's podium in the '90s! This much-traveled Stokowski score will gain no points for subtlety (a symphonic Shaq attack is more like it), but it was Walt's first--and only!--choice and has never sounded better. --Jerry McCulley

Price: $6.97

Best buy Wasting Light and Read Consumer Reviews

Glee: The Music, Volume 3 Showstoppers features 14 brand new songs from the hit TV show. With ballads like "Beautiful" and "I Dreamed A Dream" plus hits like "Gives You Hell" and "Bad Romance," there's no such thing as too much Glee!

Double vinyl LP pressing. 2011 album from the Alt-Rock superheroes led by Dave Grohl. Produced by Butch Vig and mixed by Alan Moulder, Wasting Light was recorded entirely on analog tape in the garage of Grohl s home in California s San Fernando Valley. The no computers/no software back to basics approach has resulted in arguably the strongest and most cohesive effort of the band s 15-year-plus career: From first single 'Rope' to the frenetic opener 'Bridge Burning' to the beautifully bipolar 'These Days' to stunning guest spots from Bob Mould ( Dear Rosemary") and Krist Novoselic ("I Should Have Known"), Wasting Light is a singular triumph: a band that s headlined arenas, stadiums and festivals the world over stripping itself down to the bare essentials and coming up with a world class band s finest hour.

 

 

Track Listings

Price: $21.53