Reviews

 

battle of the divas.

okay since this space has been devoid of really good reviews of late, i feel that i should slip in one for the heck of it. and why madonna and kylie? i ask in return, why not? let me explain. i have been wanting to do a proper review of Kylie’s X last year, but never got down to it. as for madonna’s dvd review, that dvd has to be reviewed no matter what.

let the battle begin.

Kylie has decided to go X, whatever that means. For her 10th studio album, i cannot say that she is pushing the boundaries of her musical ability. But on X, there are the usual great tracks and the few dubious ones. Let’s start with her supposed comeback single, 2 Hearts. Now there is one of them dubious tracks. 2 Hearts is, in a nutshell, drenched in glam rock fashion. There is also that trickle of similarity to the sound of Goldfrapp. Especially when she purrs “i’m in love!”, so much for a comeback single.

Second track, Like A Drug, is a heady club stomper of a track. It sounds like one of the tracks that was cast off from the Fever sessions. One would expect that she would continue with the whole glam rock feel after the first track. But she goes all electronic disco on us for the third, Calvin Harris produced track, In My Arms. Now the track is surprisingly good, after a few listens that is. It is typically Calvin with a touch of Kylie.

Moving on with the Bloodshy and Advant produced track, Speakerphone. I feel that this track is the best description to define X as an album. The production on this track is quite ace. Sensitized brings us back to the whole glam rock feel of the album. It oozes sex appeal and sensuality. Heatbeat Rock another Calvin Harris produced collabo is quite an offbeat track that does not fit in quite as well into the whole X theme.

The One sees Kylie singing that we should love her cos she is the one. This track is my personal fav as it is very reminiscent to her other track Chocolate from her Body Language album.

No More Rain, Stars and Cosmic sees Kylie in a more serious tone. These are pretty personal tracks about her whole cancer ordeal. And this is Kylie at her most subtle. It adds a nice touch to the whole X feel.

Wow, the next single and Nu-di-ty, are the last few tracks of the album and it picks up where Heartbeat Rock leaves off. Wow is a feel good track with very happy beats and lyrics. Catchy. While Nu-di-ty the last Bloodshy and Advant tracks sees Kylie paying homage to her Japanese compatriots.

Overall, there is really no way to describe the whole X theme. I kinda expected more from her on this one. But X is an alright album. It is Kylie at her most typical. Its disco, pop, glam rock, electronica and RnB all rolled into one. All i can say is that, welcome back Kylie. Good to have you back.

Madonna -Confessions DVD.

Now this DVD just has to be watched to be justified. I know its a little late esp how the tour was two years ago. But Madonna has once again pushed the boundaries of her perfoming abilities. Confessions is truly one of the best tour DVDs of 2007. I wonder why Singapore banned it in the first place. Oh right, the crucification. Okay if one is overseas like i was, one just has to get this DVD.

This is a trade up from her Reinvention world tour. Confessions has an equestrian theme that plays around songs from her Confessions On the Dancefloor album. The theme would slowly dissipate into a well oiled dance party. Routines on this tour was very well cheographed with Madge herself giving new life to old songs such as Like A Virgin and Erotic. Here is the performance of Erotic:

She was 48 then and still looked fantastic in a Spandex. That is just the gist of the concert. You need to get the whole DVD to know what i mean. Or the cheaper alternative is to watch it on Youtube.