2008 Woodie Awards
CD Reviews
by Sandi Tatum and Daniela Guevara
Issue date: 8/18/08 Section: A&E
Coldplay Vida la Vida
Coldplay has never been a band that I went out of my way to see in concert or spent money to buy their CD's. I had heard a couple of songs and liked them enough to not change the station on the radio. Vida la Vida was the first Coldplay CD I had ever listened to all the way and now I know why they are so popular.
The music is peaceful and tranquil. It is perfect to listen to when you just want to relax or when you are working on an assignment. There is no need to skip songs with this CD.
What I really enjoyed about Coldplay is their original sound. Most bands now are starting to sound alike and Coldplay does not sound like any other band I know about. They have such a variety of sounds and vocals and it made me want the CD to keep going because it was not boring and the songs didn't sound the same. It was a relief to have variety.
John Mellenchamp Life, Death, Love, and Freedom
After his last hit through FM pop-country territory, John Mellencamp goes back to his original dark style on his new CD Life, Death, Love and Freedom.
Produced by T Bone Burnett, Mellencamp debuts with Hear Music, a Starbucks-affiliated label. Regardless of the company, he is signing with right now, he continues to use the nicotine-rasp and acoustic guitar for which he is known. You would think that by the fact that his CD can be found at Starbucks he has the typical smooth sound, but this is actually an ornery record.
In Life, Death, Love and Freedom, Mellencamp inhibits darker depths than he did in 2003's Trouble No More. The album starts off with a song lamenting about wasted time, Longest Days, and then we get to what could be considered the happiest song of the whole album, My Sweet Love. After the second song, the theme of the songs are negative, sad, unhappy, or something that will not make you crack a smile for the next 45 minutes.
Coldplay has never been a band that I went out of my way to see in concert or spent money to buy their CD's. I had heard a couple of songs and liked them enough to not change the station on the radio. Vida la Vida was the first Coldplay CD I had ever listened to all the way and now I know why they are so popular.
The music is peaceful and tranquil. It is perfect to listen to when you just want to relax or when you are working on an assignment. There is no need to skip songs with this CD.
What I really enjoyed about Coldplay is their original sound. Most bands now are starting to sound alike and Coldplay does not sound like any other band I know about. They have such a variety of sounds and vocals and it made me want the CD to keep going because it was not boring and the songs didn't sound the same. It was a relief to have variety.
John Mellenchamp Life, Death, Love, and Freedom
After his last hit through FM pop-country territory, John Mellencamp goes back to his original dark style on his new CD Life, Death, Love and Freedom.
Produced by T Bone Burnett, Mellencamp debuts with Hear Music, a Starbucks-affiliated label. Regardless of the company, he is signing with right now, he continues to use the nicotine-rasp and acoustic guitar for which he is known. You would think that by the fact that his CD can be found at Starbucks he has the typical smooth sound, but this is actually an ornery record.
In Life, Death, Love and Freedom, Mellencamp inhibits darker depths than he did in 2003's Trouble No More. The album starts off with a song lamenting about wasted time, Longest Days, and then we get to what could be considered the happiest song of the whole album, My Sweet Love. After the second song, the theme of the songs are negative, sad, unhappy, or something that will not make you crack a smile for the next 45 minutes.
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