A vibrant 25-year-old Hawaiian native is stealing the hearts of women all around the world with romantic lyrics, sweet voice and his smooth attitude. Bruno Mars escalates to the forefront of pop music as a solo artist with the release of his debut album “Doo-Wops & Hooligans.”

Mars found the top of music charts by collaborating with Travis McCoy in “Billionaire” and B.o.B. in “Nothin’ on You.” He’s now decisively moved to his own digs, but he still invites a few friends to the share in the party that is his debut album. As hinted by the album title, Mars invites a new generation to explore 1950s style doo-wop, reggae, and R&B by introducing his version (every song is written in part by Bruno Mars) for all to hear.

The first solo single, “Just the Way You Are” is the peak of the album. The single topped the charts by drawing in listeners with heart-warming lyrics, piano background and bumping beat. The track shows the amazing vocal range of Mars, which exceeds most male artist’s in the industry. Bruno Mars brings lovers together singing, “Her eyes, her eyes make the stars look like they’re not shining/ Her lips, her lips, I’d kiss them all day if she’d let me.” Filled with these memorable lyrics, the timelessness of “Just The Way You Are” makes it a ballad for our generation, comparing to the likes of Snow Patrol’s “Chasing Cars.”

In “Grenade” Mars remarks that he will go to the ends of the earth for the one he loves. This track pulls off a Michael Jackson tone and attitude, and anyone who has fought and failed in a relationship will feel Mars’ heart and emotions throughout this song and to the end of the album.

“Our First Time” is an R&B/reggae cross that melts the hearts of lovers like J. Holiday’s “Bed.” “The Lazy Song” explains how many of us feel when we have worked ourselves to the bone and need a mental day off from the world. Mars draws us into his story with an amazing voice in a new type of style among today’s artists. “Marry You” proves Bruno Mars is capable of taking a genre of music that many young people may think is antiquated and make it appealing by taking doo-wop to the next level.

“Talking to the Moon,” molded with piano and organ overtones, carries the voice of Mars to another level, giving evidence to his emotions. “Runaway Baby” carries a fast-paced catchy rap tone to keep listeners moving. “Count on Me” suggests what it is like to be a friend of Bruno Mars, as a “Lean on Me”-type song that should bring friends together.

“Liquor Store Blues” featuring Damian Marley to “The Other Side” featuring Cee Lo Green and B.o.B. each evoke listeners to try the other side of music away from mainstream for a bit and enjoy.

“Doo-Wops & Hooligans” keeps us wanting more, as it takes a bold step away from mainstream pop.

After a 10-year hiatus following the release of Lover’s Rock in 2000, Sade returns to the music scene with Soldier of Love, a collection of daring ballads that gives listeners and fans a little of the Sade we love and a little of the Sade we haven’t heard before.

BEaring the pet name of its lead singer, Helen Folasade Adu, the group includes the vocals of Sade Adu and the instrumentals of three other musicians—Andrew Hale on keyboards, Paul S. Denman on bass, and Stuart Matthewman on guitar and saxophone—who have been with the band since its inception in the early 1980s, when Sade performed as a splinter group from a fledgling Latin soul project in Britain called Pride.

Like much of the group’s previous music together, Soldier of Love plays out beautifully–but the album departs from the usual trappings of the group’s well-celebrated cache.

It is not difficult to define classic Sade. The group laid out its stylings early on with its industry debut of Smooth Operator, establishing itself as a sophisticated mix of R&B and jazz. Classic Sade is smooth, cool, and sophisticated.

Classic Sade is also a narrative. From Diamond Life onward, the group has composed a series of narratives about the lives of the lonely, the poor, and the unfaithful.

Soldier of Love continues these traditions. “Be That Easy” and “In Another Time” are two bluesy pieces that feature the signature saxophone rifts and  follow the narrative motifs of Sade’s earlier albums.

But while Sade has been cool, it has not been hip, and while much of its music has always merged contemporary pop movements with jazz, the music has often been beautifully esoteric. That is until Sade’s first major shift with the release of Lover’s Rock in 2000, which pulled heavily from modern hip-hop influences—heavy baselines and percussion—and was more of the mainstream, more like the music of other R&B and pop artists which were incorporating rap and hip-hop motifs into the remixes of their songs.

Soldier of Love continues the shift, opening with “The Moon and the Sky,” a mix of Adu’s classic smooth voice over a hip-hop bass line, drums, and guitars, “Soldier of Love,” a sharp and percussion heavy single that premiered on national radio stations in December of last year, and “Baby’s Father” which pays homage to a contemporary theme in hip-hop.

As an album, the music just makes sense. Sade is in its third decade and reflects the shifts in the larger pop world, and for neophytes and older converts wanting to buy the album, Soldier of Love is just the right combination of the classic we love and the new we can embrace.

The words “one man band” don’t always invoke feeling of joy. Some such bands have had success lately, like Owl City and Nevershoutnever, but there’s still a feeling that they must be acoustic, filled with loops, that there must really be more than one member of the band, or many guest musicians. The Rocket Summer is a one-man band that breaks those premonitions.

The one man behind The Rocket Summer is Bryce Avary. When recording, Avary really is the only member of the band (when playing live shows he has a full band). He writes all of his own songs, and he plays all the instruments on his albums. That may give some people fears about how good the band can be if it’s only him, but Avary is a talented musician and his lyrics are meaningful. All of that is shown in his latest album, Of Men and Angels, which was released on Feb. 23.

The main theme of Of Men and Angels is life – the struggles we go through, and how we should never give up and lose hope. Avary doesn’t talk of these things in generic terms. Instead he relates them to his own life. We feel that what he’s saying is true because of the honesty with which he sings everything, and the transparency with which he talks of his life. He makes sure we know that he’s not perfect, and that he has fears, struggles, and obstacles to overcome, just like everyone else.

In “Tara, I’m Terrible,” a song to his wife, he even talks about the past and alludes to the some of the things he’s been through: “Reminisce, thinking about the days we don’t miss/Hit the bottom when I fell, but oh well/ and I could stay here stuck thinking about the days of bad luck, or get lost in your voice/ It’s an easy choice.”

That transparency makes Avary easy to trust, and when he sings, “I wouldn’t know just how sweet this tastes now, no/ if at first I did not go through bitter times, through bitter places/ I’ll stay alert for new battles, but for now we’re here,” (“Hills and Valleys”) we believe him.

Avary’s faith is more prevalent in this album than most of his others. The title track is about not wanting fame if it leads him away from God. The way Avary sings of his faith isn’t overwhelming, but it is heartfelt and real. He never tries force anything on anyone – he just shares his experiences in hope that they might help someone else.

Despite his faith, The Rocket Summer is not, and never has been considered, a “Christian band.” Genre-wise, this album is labeled as alternative on iTunes, but it has a little bit of a pop-rock feel to it. Within that pop-rock feel, the songs differ some. “Tara, I’m Terrible” is acoustic, while a few are piano-driven, and the rest are elsewhere in the field of pop-rock, but none of them sound the same. They’re clearly all from the same artist, but each song is an individual. None of the songs fall into that space of feeling like every other song in mainstream pop-rock -that is probably what gives The Rocket Summer the label of alternative.

The Rocket Summer has always had a good number of close followers, but he’s never had much mainstream attention. He’s deserved some attention for a while now because he has always put out good albums. Of Men and Angels is no different. It shows his talent as a musician, and it is from his heart. Maybe this album will finally give him his big break.

Puscifer’s debut album, V is for Vagina, marks the solo debut of prog-rock deity Maynard James Keenan, and as he has stated repeatedly, this is his playground. While it may not be the most accessible album Maynard has put out in his established career, it certainly has its fun moments, though, they are very slow. The album is very thick and vaguely psychedelic, but maintains a level of activity. Maynard trades in the screaming of Tool for deeper, throatier vocals that truly sound like a new product. The closest Maynard gets to sounding like its past is on the track “The Undertaker,” which sounds like it would be perfectly at home on an A Perfect Circle record.

The band has been slowly forming since its inception on the mid-nineties cult hit Mr. Show with Bob and David, and the sound of a long drag comes through for much of the record. Those looking for a new Tool or A Perfect Circle album should direct their attention to the bands MySpace, which states: “CHECK YOUR OVER INFLATED EXPECTATIONS AT THE DOOR.” This is merely the playground of one of the most bizarre front men in recent music history. This is pretty much an album for strict followers of the church of Maynardism.

Selling crack and shooting people has worked so well for the multi-platinum rapper 50 Cent that he decided to try it with his third studio album, Curtis. The end product is about as generic as a modern gangsta rap album gets, which seems to be what the masses crave.

The prevailing themes of this album include getting paid, as evidenced in “I Get Money” and “Movin’ on Up” which refers to his financial gains in the streets and in the boardroom. On the track “Straight to the Bank”, 50 says, “I ain’t even got to rap now.”

On the killing anyone who gets in your way end of things, “I’ll Still Kill” features Akon, rap’s go-to man for guest vocals. The guitar-driven “My Gun Go Off” opens the record in a typical, driving fashion. “Curtis 187″ and “Fully Loaded Clip”, two tracks produced by Havoc of Mobb Deep, have the hardest feel to them.
Timbaland and Justin Timberlake drop the most memorable track on Curtis with “AYO Technology,” a hypnotic stripper anthem that is undeniably catchy.

With the rest of the record, we are reminded of why Eminem is retired, but he still shows that he can be gloriously bland with “Peep Show.” Dr. Dre’s aged talent goes to waste on “Come & Go” a rehash of the phenomenally popular “In Da Club” and “Follow My Lead,” with the warbling singer Robin Thicke, shows that 50 has a softer, apologize-for-calling-you-a-bitch side. Young Buck and Nicole of Pussycat Dolls fame appear on the Dre-produced “Fire,” Mary J. Blige delivers the unfortunately memorable chorus on “All Of Me,” “Your body is calling me/got me feeling like a fiend on crack.”

The record ends with “Touch The Sky,” featuring Tony Yayo, a song that would have sounded more in place around the middle of the album.

If generic, non-challenging, hard gangsta rap is what you crave, Curtis may very well be the record for you.

Kanye West, in his first album since 2005′s Late Registration, advances to the next class of hip hop with Graduation.

This class seems to focus on trimming his product, which does not suffer from the absence of skits. West has received his bachelors in orchestration, and is currently working on an associates in electronics, as evidenced in the Daft Punk heavy single “Stronger.”

The album draws from polar opposites of the music world. “Barry Bonds” features Lil Wayne delivering his typical braggadocious flow. Coldplay’s Chris Martin sings the chorus of Kanye’s ode to Chicago “Homecoming.” T-Pain’s synthesized voice croons over “The Good Life.” John Mayer provides vocal support on an iTunes bonus track, the too harsh-to-be-pop, too-sugary-to-be-the-blues “Bittersweet Poetry,” the reflective and bright “Flashing Lights,” featuring neo soul artist Dwele, and the low down highlight of the album, “Drunk and Hot Girls,” featuring street poet Mos Def in an unexpected singing role.

Despite all the guest appearances, Kanye still stands out the most on tracks he solos. The whimsical “I Wonder,” the optimistic, Steely-Dan-laden “Champion,” his powerhouse single “Can’t Tell Me Nothing,” and his tribute to his friend and mentor Jay-Z in “Big Brother,” where Kanye finally proclaims he has achieved “stadium status.”

West has always had an ego that could fill a stadium, but with this album, it is officially proclaimed that he has made it. The fusion of orchestration, electronics, and good, old-fashioned record mixing feels like it is at his peak, just like his other releases. Also like his previous efforts, if West could perfect his vocabulary and delivery, he would be able to crush big brother.

Graduation is not necessarily the state of hip hop on the streets, but Graduation is definitely the state of hip hop in the universe.

An epic confrontation of musical proportions occurred on September 11, 2007. The much-anticipated Curtis album, brought to you by rap star 50 Cent, has arrived along with the release of Kanye West’s Graduation. Over the past month and a half, it has been among the hottest topics among music fans and forums that these highly acclaimed albums would arrive on the same day. That day came this past Tuesday.

There is not much separating the two except for their styles. 50 Cent is the stereotypical gangster rapper hailing from New York City, with hit songs like “I Get Money” and “Ayo Technology.” Kanye is the more conscious rapper of the two, because he is not afraid to take on bigger issues with songs like “Can’t Tell Me Nothin’.”

This is the third album for both 50 Cent and Kanye, having both begun their trek in 2002. So it is easy to see that 50 Cent has something to prove now that show time has arrived. The media has attached to this competition of musical prowess, with numerous advertisements and updates. Even Las Vegas is in on the action, taking bets on who will sell more during the first week of sales.

So will 50 Cent’s Curtis or Kanye’s Graduation win the war? Only time can tell. My prediction was that 50 Cent would emerge with the victory, simply because he is more mainstream and knows what it takes to outsell big name competitors as opposed to Kanye, who is the far better lyricist. As of right now, though, it seems as if my prediction has not come to fruition.

The first day sales show that Kanye has sold 437,000 copies to 50 Cent’s 310,000 copies. More recent figures show that Kanye has won the race to platinum, moving 1,153,000 units, to Curtis’ 921,000.

Unlike her last two albums, which focused heavily on the neo-soul sound, Worldwide Underground shows a more creative Badu that allows her to show off more of her funky hip-hop side. Her latest single to hit the airwaves, “Danger,” an ode to her significant other letting him know that she’ll always be there for him, is somewhat of a continuation of her song “Other Side of the Game” off Baduizm. ” We like to keep the cop running/ we try to keep the cop running/ we like to keep the b* tch humming,” she says. This new rawness from Badu continues throughout the whole CD, unveiling a new side of her.

Unlike most CDs these days, the album has only 10 tracks on it, with two of them being the Intro and Outro. The rest of it is an interesting mix of vocal chanting, funky board mixing and long-ending songs. While some of the tracks take a few rotations to get used to, most of the songs are quite catchy, including “Back in the Day,” a song that kind of takes you back to the ’80s, when radio was not afraid to play different songs instead of the same ones over and over all day long. The song has that playback feel that you can listen to whether you’re laying back at home or riding around. It also features sexy Lenny Kravitz on electric guitar, which adds a little edge, making you wish the song were longer than four minutes.

This time Badu decided to showcase her more creative side by writing all but one of the tracks and even doing all of the ink drawings in the liner notes. Involving more of herself may explain why it sometimes sounds jumpy but somehow successfully fits together.

While a few of the songs end abruptly, some drag on through 11 minutes. A good example would be “Bump It,” an eight minute song that has a good flow all throughout, but wastes the last three minutes on vocal chanting (think Jill Scott’s “He Loves Me”). That is cool at first but gets more annoying by the minute. On the other hand, “Think Twice,” a live-sounding jazzy track featuring trumpet player Roy Hargrove gets you into the groove all too easily, only to disappoint when barely clocks in at three minutes. Both songs are definite playbacks, which though, cannot be said for “Love Of My Life Worldwide.” This useless song could not save itself even with Angie Stone and Queen Latifah featured. The track sounds more like a botched attempt for Badu to be more mainstream, while it’s painfully obvious that she’s better creating her own sense of style.

Despite these minor flaws, Badu proves that she can make a quality album without recycling the same producers, such as The Neptunes or Jazzy Pha. While Worldwide Underground may not be saturated with platinum-laden rappers or semi-naked dancers, it does provide you with a broader view of music and style, something that no recording studio can teach you.

So. What have we here? Ah, its the all important second ‘effort’ by British hairdressing favorites Black Rebel Motorcycle Club grossly entitled “Take them on, On your own”. After stressing the word effort, you’re probably thinking since most bands out there usually summon most of their creative energies the first time signature around, by the time seconds are put on the table dynamism runs about as omnipresent as a third person whore. But fear not, for lead singer Peter Hayes’ Leave-it-to Beaver studio echo has evolved from the lost alley cat whimpers of old, and while admittedly “Take them on’s “.. material does ubiquitously suffer from the idea hiatus often plaguing the after-tour material of most bands, the meat and potatoes of “Take them on” somehow manages to earn your money.

The BRMC are famous for wearing indie heroe’s The Jesus and Mary Chain’s signature fuzz-all feedback on their backs, but eventually the gimmicky use of the downtrodden 4/4 time eventually becomes monotonous and worn-out. Fans of the clever swirling guitar play of the debut will find no “Red Eyes and Tears” here , which is probably why those breastfed on singles “Whatever happened”, and “Love Burns” will find issues with a bulk of whats here. This time the bands sound’s is primarily focused on the lyrical content pushing tin : growling the same faux revolutionary anti war suggestives as their modern rock contemporaries in “US Government” and “Rise or Fall”.. No doubt providing weekend beatniks with enough supply and demand to exhaust the grandiosity of a lifetimes worth of barstool and spotlight whining sessions sound tracked to this, just to wake up in retro cynicisms’s sake and do it all againÖforever. “We don’t like you, we just wanna try you”, boasts Hayes on the first single “Stop”. Yeah, okay PeteÖbut now that you guys have actually learned to play your instruments, whats does that mean for us?

For the families of 9-11, this album alone could soundtrack an almost unlimited number of late night infomercials by the Red Cross themselves. A lot of bands have tried applying a heal-the-world pretension through their music, in futile hopes of back-burning success by theme-working extra-credit releases under the guise of “concept albums.” But the Delgados pull off a hospitable ambiance without being decadent, overblown or greedy. Enter Hate, the fourth album from Scotland four-piece The Delgados.

Die-hard fans may recall a minor sleeper hit with the single “American Trilogy” from their previous LP, The Great Eastern, which at the time was primarily a stocking-stuffing breath of fresh air in between the cigarette and alcohol haze of Britpop’s tyranny. Though it was indeed peppered with classics here and there, the April-Fools joke Santa pulled by leaving you that three-penny lump of coal upright with the clap you got for a girlfriend didn’t make Oasis sound any better.

Suffice it to say the Delgados have crafted a magnificent work of art worthy of Dave Flaming Lip Fridman’s Twinkle Star production in orchestral storytelling vein, with 10-plus fairy tales of the melancholy persuasion. A majority of this album’s arrangements, though compelling, would not sound out of place in a period film and even come complete with an Erik Satie-esque naked piano piece dripping with schizophrenia,”Woke from Dreaming.” From the bombastic Brothers Grimm-like opener of “The Light Before We Land” to the album’s closer, “If This is a Plan,” this album is beautiful.

Hate suffers not a single moment of weakness throughout its 48-plus minute duration. Anyone rifling through life’s crap will find redempton and penitence within the lyrical delivery of alternating lead vocalists Alan Woodard and Emma Pollock. Originally released in January, the re-release offers the addition of bonus tracks “Mad Drums” and “Crutches,” both B-sides from previously released European singles.

Trust this reviewer and purchase the album, already. If you don’t, well…lets just say Santa knows where you live.