Jimmy Page has claimed for 30-plus years that he was never fully satisfied with this 1976 concert album/film, but he claims this new edition represents his true vision. ARTIST: LED ZEPPELINĪLBUM: THE SONG REMAINS THE SAME (Swan Song Records) This music is an extraordinary listening experience, in terms of the proficient acoustic guitar work and Puerto Plata’s marvelous vocals. “Los Piratas,” a merengue, is an original tune dealing with the events of September 11, 2001, and features a fiery guitar solo by Frank Mendez. The lovely “Santiago,” also the name of Puerto Plata’s hometown, is a bolero. Opener “Amarro con Fe” is a lively guaracha about a man who escapes the clutches of a woman who tries to hold him with witchcraft. He’s known as a master of the “son” genre however, as the tunes on this disc demonstrate, he’s a master of a lot more than just that kind of music. Rotem beat.īorn Jose Manuel Cobles, Puerto Plata is an 84-year-old sonero who’s a virtual encyclopedia of the acoustic guitar traditions of the Dominican Republic. But the album also suggests that Freeway wouldn’t mind having a hit on hip-hop radio: On “Take It to the Top,” he trades goofy come-ons with 50 Cent over a synthed-up J.R. On “Free at Last,” he demonstrates that being forced to cool his heels since 2003 hasn’t dulled the rough edges of his appealingly hectic flow check out “Roc-a-Fella Billionaires,” a brash Broadway banger in which he compares stacks of cash with mentor Jay-Z.
That’s an eternity in rap years, but if anyone’s in a position to capitalize on the frustration produced by music-industry politics, it’s Freeway, whose music depicts the struggle of a good man caught in a bad situation.
This sophomore disc from Philadelphia’s Freeway hits stores four years after the release of the gruff-voiced MC’s much-admired debut.
JORDIN SPARKS ALBUM ART FREE
ARTIST: FREEWAYĪLBUM: FREE AT LAST (Roc-a-Fella/Island Def Jam) Here, he does the same with Dominican bachata, pairing up with Dominican icon Millie Quezada, but also with salsa singer La India and urban/reggaeton duo Rakim & Ken-Y for a more youthful feel. The album title is a nod to Feliciano’s previous “Senor Bolero,” which found him singing bolero standards. So it’s a tribute to Jose Feliciano’s artistry that he’s able to navigate pop and tropical idioms with ease, and that his foray into bachata - perhaps the genre most alien to his long recording history - is convincing. It’s always a challenge to take an artist out of his or her established format and plunge him or her into another. But “Alive 2007” comes pretty darn close, capturing a hometown Paris audience so jonesing for a Daft Punk fix that it loudly sings along with the synth melody on “Television Rules the Nation.” While it’s great to hear the classics (“Da Funk,” “One More Time”) even if they’re not played in full, perhaps the most useful service provided here is the rehabilitation of material from 2005’s underwhelming “Human After All.” That album’s massive “Robot Rock” proves a perfect table-setter for the dance party to come, while the industrial-strength house of “The Brainwasher” pushes things over the edge. Nothing can quite match the in-person thrills of the current Daft Punk live experience, what with the robot costumes, onstage pyramid and body-rattling beats radiating out into the blissed-out faithful. “No Air,” Sparks’ duet with Chris Brown, has plenty of hit potential, while “Now You Tell Me,” with its swelling arrangement and muscular chorus, is the album’s gem. The overall effect is sophisticated teen pop marked by innocent good cheer and harmony-laden vocal arrangements, although the synthesizer and drum machine-dominated tracks work better in some cases (“Tattoo,” “One Step at a Time,” “Now You Tell Me”) than in others (“Shy Boy,” “Young and in Love”). The best news is that nobody’s trying to mold her into a fly ho or a torchy diva these 13 songs sound like exactly what she should be singing at this age and juncture in her career. With an all-star team of writer/producers (Stargate, the Underdogs), 17-year-old “American Idol” champ Jordin Sparks releases a first effort that’s all over the map - and works.
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