Vancouver or “Vagina” as Jake calls it, (it’s his pet name for the city) had a magical hour and a half as the Scissor Sisters rocked, danced and poured their heart on stage, from the opening fab “Any Which Way” to the closing “Music is The Victim”, Jake and Anna gave it their all, by the middle of the show they were sweating buckets but looked like they were having the time of their life and so was the audience. Because of their style of disco glam and retro music we often forget what a great rock band they are, from Babbydaddy on the keys and bass to the Del Marquis who rocked his socks off with his guitar work on songs like Ms. Matronic’s “Kiss You Off”. They did a wonderful job of alternating with Jake and Ana taking turns on the vocals, I love how Jake joins the back up singers when Ana is on lead. Speaking of, those back up girls were fabulous, incredible voices that complemented but didn’t overtake the lead singers.

My only is complaint is that the music seemed to drown out Jake wonderful falsetto vocals, it often seemed too loud or distorted to the point where I could not hear the words they were singing, for example I could not make out Ana’s part on “Any Which Way” which is a shame, it’s hilarious, one of my favorite tracks “Invisible Light” did not sound good at all. I really wish they would play venues with better sound. For me it was OK since I know their songs but for my partner and most of the crowd it was their first time seeing the Sisters and some might not be as familiar.

I must admit I did not like “Let’s Have A Kiki” when I first heard the new album, but hearing it live was absolutely fabulous, the crowd went wild when it came on like it was one of their biggest hits, the whole vibe and choreography was superb. The few ballads like “Inevitable”, “Mary”, and “The Year Of Living Dangerously” gave the group time to breathe and nicely offset all the other high energy numbers Like “I Don’t Feel Like Dancin’”, “Take Your Mama”, “Comfortably Numb”, and their hot new number “Only The Horses”.

The Sisters have a way of making you feel like you are at a private concert. They love to banter with the audience and they notice us, even describing outfits and pointing out members of the audience which they noticed throughout the evening. If you’ve never caught this band before find them on tour you won’t be disappointed.

Setlist

1. Any Which Way
2. Keep Your Shoes On
3. Baby Come Home
4. The Skins
5. Kiss You Off
6. Inevitable
7. Take Your Mama
8. Year of Living Dangerously
9. Let’s Have a Kiki
10. Comfortably Numb
11. Invisible Light
12. Shady Love
13. Skin This Cat
14. Mary
15. I Don’t Feel Like Dancin’
Encore
16. Only the Horses
17. Music Is the Victim

The idea of Lionel Richie doing a country album might confused the average music listener, but if you were more attentive you would see that his songs like “Stuck On You” and “Deep River Woman” are pure Country, not to mention the mega hit “Lady” which he penned for Kenny Rogers. For this project Lionel got some of country’s best singers and musicians to duet with him. When I first heard snippets of the album I was a bit disappointed but after hearing the full LP I love it. R&B staples like my favourite “You Are” with Blake Sheldon are just as good if not better, this guitar flavoured version only adds to the song without taking away any of the original magic. “My Love” with Kenny Chesney, “Sail On” with Tim Mcgraw and “Stuck On You” with Daruis Rucker are perfect. “Deep River Woman” with Little Big Town, in my opinion rivals the original sung with Alabama back in 1986 on his “Dancing On The Ceiling album”, the harmonies here are gorgeous, this song needed this production. A song that should have been a bigger hit “Just For You” is another stand out with Billy Currington. “Hello” with Jennifer Nettles from Sugarland, is an interesting mix but I’m not sure their vocals work well together while “Easy” with Willie Nelson sounds like it could have been written for him.

I only wish it was less of a Greatest Hits list, “Dancing On The Ceiling” and “All Night Long” do not translate into country, Lionel what were you thinking? Even Rascal Flatts couldn’t country-fi “Ceiling”. “All Night Long” gets saved by going more island flavoured then country with the help of Jimmy Buffet and some cool Hawaiian like steel drums. “Say You Say Me” with Jason Aldean is another oddity that doesn’t translate well. I read all about the lengths Lionel went through to get Shania Twain to re-record “Endless Love”, but I don’t think their vocals match well plus did we really need another version? I never liked the Mariah Carey Luther Vandross one, nothing compares to the original with Diana Ross. Speaking of vocals, despite the guest list nobody sounds as good as Lionel singing his own songs, his voice still sounds great, unlike Kenny Rogers who’s losing it, I would have preferred a solo version of “Lady” instead.

Madonna was never a poet but the lyrics on this album make her other efforts “Like A Prayer” and “Ray Of Light” sound like Shakespeare, but this is Madonna and it’s all about the dance. Gone is the R&B Timbaland beats, replaced by the swirling layers of electronic masters William Orbit (Ray Of Light), and Benni Benassi who opens the album with “Girl Gone Wild”, a nice little club song that sound very Madonna by numbers, if only the refrain wasn’t so awkward sounding. I was excited when I first heard that Mika was writing a song for the album, but he is only one of 8 other songwriters on “Gang Bang”, not sure why this is a fan favourite, I can’t see it being a single with the lyrics “Bang Bang shot my lover in the head”, the best part is the long outro with Madonna going “Drive Bitch” which would have to be edited for radio format. The next two tracks are my favourite and strongest on the album, the multi layered dancefloor “I’m Addicted”, Benassi outdoes himself on this track where we never want the song to end. Then there’s the Martin Solveig produced, simple but pop-tastic “Turn Up The Radio”, both could be potential singles. Despite being the lead single “Give Me All Your Luvin’” almost sound out of place, like it doesn’t belong on the album. Here’s where we get into a bit of filler, Not a fan of “Some Girls” with it’s odds beats, “Superstar” is cute and reminiscent of her song “Spotlight” and that era, but it’s nothing special, her lyrics “You’re my Super Duper Star” don’t help”, then there’s the dire Nicki Minaj duet “I Don’t Give A” enough said.

The album gets back on track with Orbits “I’m A Sinner” sounding very much like a mash up of their hits “Beautiful Stranger” and “Ray Of Light”, I love the religious spoken bridge. “Love Spent” starts off a bit odd with a bango intro but it turns into a pretty downbeat track and heartfelt lyric. We’ve all heard her beautiful song “Masterpiece” from her film W.E. but I wasn’t expecting the closing song “Falling Free” to be just as good or even better, it’s reminds me of one of her best ballads “Promise To Try”, these tracks show that Madonna can write a lyric and do the slow jams as well as the dance.

The deluxe version comes with a bonus disc of 4 new songs and a remix of “Give Me All Your Lovin’”. Why “Beautiful Killer” was cut from the regular album version is beyond me. It’s one of the better tracks and should have replaced the horrible “I Don’t Give A”. “I F*cked Up” and “Best Friend” are B-side material at best, but the cute piss take “B-day” is adorable, maybe it can replace the traditional one, one day.

I thought 2011 was a difficult year for music. For me anyways, 6 months in and I didn’t think I would have a top 3 let alone a top 10, but as usual a flood of albums come out by the end of the year. The year was dominated by the unlikely superstar Adele who against all odds and all trends dominated the pop scene. Along with heavy weight Lady GaGa, Katy Perry and Riahnna who thanks to producer Calvin Harris had the longest running #1 song of Billboard of the year, “We Found Love”. Many hidden gems not played or overlooked, like veterans Duran Duran, who came back with one of their best albums “All You Need Is Now” and Erasure with “Tomorrow’s World”. Gloria Estefan went back to her dancing roots or should we say WEPA!. Up and comer Frankmusik delivered a great album along with Darren Hayes towards the end of the year. While some years I’m torn which albums will make the cut, this year I was looking to fill my list.

Top Ten Albums of 2011

1) Born This Way-Lady GaGa

The album is a in your face stomping dance/electro beat extravaganza from the dancetastic Marry the Night to the closing song. My only complaint is that it’s a little bit overproduced but subtlety has never been GaGa’s strongpoint. Some of the tracks like the mega hit Born This Way sound too noisy, too many overlapping beats, guitar and synths, sometimes less is more. Almost every song has a killer hook that drags you right in, Judas seems unconventional and strange at first but then the chorus kicks in and you’re hooked. Many reviewers are complaining that unlike her style and dress her music is not innovative but I disagree, she is a pop singer trying to write pop songs not experimental music.

The regular album has 14 tracks and the special edition 17; while some feel it could be pruned down, very few feel out of place or like bonus or filler tracks. The themes revolve around self acceptance, pride, and Catholicism. Most fans seem to have different favourites. The best in my opinion are the two tracks all the way at the end. Yoü And I, The only slow jam is a classic in the making, however I prefer the stripped down live version I’ve heard on TV, the album track is produced by Robert “Mutt” Lange, (Shania Twain’s producer) who turns it slightly more into a country song, guitars are supplied by Brian May of Queen who adds a little We Will Rock You, like I said less is more. The Edge Of Glory ends up on a positive note with one of the best dance song of the year, it features a great sax solo by Clarence Clemmons from Bruce Springsteen’s E Street Band, people have been talking about the similarities of the title track to Express Yourself, but “Edge” sounds so much more like Cher’s Song For The Lonely. Americano is a beautiful little tale about her meeting a young Mexican girl, yes it has the cheesy Spanish guitar influences, and sound like it’s from a Sopranos wedding, but we love it. Her childhood is represented with the beautiful self empowering and danceable anthem Hair, along with the retro disco Bad Kids about her insecurities as a youth. Her faux German song Scheiße comes complete with fake German lyrics but it still hooks you right in with mad beats you only hear at some late night rave party. The album has a definite 80’s vibe; Government Hooker channels the synth/industrial Brit pop, the wonderful retro pop Fashion Of Love which should have been on the regular edition, and Highway Unicorn (Road To Love) whose chorus sounds like powerhouses Pat Benatar or Heart. Electric Chapel sound like something that could have come from Duran Duran’s repertoire think Electric Barbarella.My least favourite tracks are the sluggish and haunting Bloody Mary and the robotic Heavy Metal Lover whose music is blips and bleeps, but even then, they still have a certain charm that pulls you in after a few listens, maybe this is the experimental music that most reviewers have wanted. GaGa has a way of infusing the best of her musical influences to produce some of the best pop music of the day. The song The Queen sums up her title, for how long she stays remains to be seen, but one thing is for sure, it will be an absolutely fabulous freakin’ ride.

2) All You Need Is Now–Duran Duran

Producer Mark Ronson wanted to create the follow up to “Rio”, well there was a follow up it was called “Seven And The Ragged Tiger”, I would call Duran’s new album “All You Need Is Now” as Rio part two. The title track definitely stands out with the contrasting ruff verses and unmistakable Duran chorus. Best tracks are “Blame The Machines”, and “Being Followed” which follows right on track and formula, and the beautiful airy “The Man Who Stole A Leopard” who seems to have stolen the intro to ”The Chauffeur”. Best guest star on the album is Scissor Sister’s own Ana Matronic who rap/sings on “Safe (In The Heat Of The Moment)” her part is very reminiscent of Blondies 80’s hit “Rapture”. The fan favourite seem to be “Girl Panic!” with their big signature drum sound and “Girls On Film” vibe. I’m not a fan of “Leave A Light On” which tries too hard to be “Save A Prayer”, I prefer the other ballad “Mediterranea” which while suffers a similar fate is a better song. The rest of the album kind of loses steam. “Other’s People Live’s” is cute in this obsessive age of “Fame” and the bonus track “Networker Nation” falls into our internet age, but they do nothing new or inventive. “Too bad You’re So Beautiful”, and “Runway Runaway” again feel like paler versions of a “Rio”. The 2 instrumental tracks “A Diamond In the Mind” and “Return To Now” are nice and makes you wonder what the title track would have sounded with full orchestral strings. The Best Buy bonus tracks didn’t grabbed me at all and I can see why they were cut from the album.

Mark is a genius he and the boys definitely succeeded in creating a retro homage; it’s uncanny to listen to this record. It’s like they pieced together different Duran sounds from their early years to create each song, but I liked the fact that Duran actually evolved and experimented. If this was the real follow up to Rio would we have had “Notorious” Arcadia, or even “The Reflex”? It’s a great pop album but I prefer their 2004 opus “Astronaut” which was a comeback and a return to their signature Duran sound, but it sounded fresh and new with better songs.

3) Doop Wops & Hooligans—Bruno Mars

This album came out in late 2010 but like the recent Grammy nomination for best album, I too just discovered it. Bruno Mars has to be one of the most talented newcomers on the music scene. A singer songwriter and music producer who started his career as part of the The Smeezingtons production team, writing and singing the hook to the hit songs “Nothing On You” by B.o.B and Travie McCoy’s “Billionaire”.

His debut album “Doo-Wops & Hooligans” delivers 10 perfect slices of R & B pop which has a retro feel but modern production, there’s no filler. His voice and incredible falsetto bring us back to the Motown crooner’s day with the #1 hits “Just The Way You Are” and “Grenade”. Bruno is Stevie Wonder, Smokey Robinson and the Temptations all rolled up into one. He rocks and channels Stevie on songs like “Runaway”, delivers reggae tinged pop on the fun “Lazy Song”, and “Liquor Store Blues” with help by Damian Marley. Unlike most music today his songs are infused with an infectious melody from “Count On Me” to “Marry You” which as been covered from everybody to Glee. One of the stand outs is the final song ”The Other Side” where he gets a little help from Cee Lo Green who returns the favour as Bruno co-wrote Cee Lo’s big international hit “F*ck You (Forget You)”. It’s hard to really categorize the album, he has so many influences but they all fuse perfectly together.

4) Do It In The AM—Frankmusik

Frankmusik’s sophomore album takes a definite new turn, gone is the 80’s retro sound of his fist album replaced by a more modern production. From the first track “We Collide” the album stomps and bleeps on the the dancefloor, but what isn’t gone is his sensibility to create a melody and infectious hooks like the Colette Carr duet “No I.D.”, a modern day “You’re the One That I Want” which is clearly shown in the inspired “Grease” homage video. Label mates, The Far East Movement joins him on the title track, while Natalia Kills helps him out on the delicious “No Champagne”, an R&B dancefloor groove waiting to be a single. Not just a great producer and songwriter but Frank has a beautiful voice and falsetto which can be heard on songs like “Footsteps” and “Wrecking Ball” another infectious pop tune. The pre-single “The Fear Inside” is a bold electronic dance stomper, a shame it went unnoticed.

Frank knows just the right recipe to create a song that twist and turns never being boring like the tracks “Break Light”, “Struck By Lightning”, or Ludicrous almost any track could be a single. This is probably why Erasure chose him as their producer of their latest effort. (See #5 below).

5) Tomorrow’s World—Erasure

Produced by newcomer electronic wizard Frankmusic, Erasure delivers a delicious pop slice of 9 songs. “Be With You”, “Fill Us With Fire” and “A Whole Lotta Love Run Riot” are some of the best dance song of the year. They swirl stomp and combust to the dancefloor heaven and fit perfectly with any of their greatest hits. The next tracks “What Will I Say When You’re Gone?” And “You’ve Got To Save Me Right Now” take a slightly slower romp but deliver the signature sound and the beautiful vocal of Andy Bell, some say his voice has changed, they have auto-tuned it a bit like most music today which is a shame, but I think he still sounds great, check out his beautiful signature falsetto on “When I Start To (Break It All Down)”. “I Lose Myself”, takes me back to the alternative 80’s when Vince Clark’s first band Depeche Mode where on the charts. “Then I Go Twisting” takes a different turn into a more modern sounding romp and we kind of wonder will this be their last album with lyrics like “Then I go insane, I’m bored of this modern town, Sick of this techno Monophonic sound” . Ironic that many reviews have panned the album for being the “same old” and offering nothing new, but there is nothing wrong with a fun filled well produced dancetastic album.

Note: a well worth deluxe edition features a second disc of remixes and demos that let you hear how some of the songs evolved to the final product

6) Secret Codes And Battleship—Darren Hayes

Darren Hayes had great success as the lead singer of Savage Garden but his solo career is completely underrated. His last album This Delicate Thing We’ve Made is in my opinion one of the best pop albums around. While it’s hard to top that album this effort is still top notch, more radio friendly then the previous, Secret Codes brings me back to the days of Savage Garden. From his soaring beautiful mesmeric voice on the opening track “Taken By The Sea” the album delivers. Filled with pop tunes that have atmosphere and meaning. The first single “Talk Talk Talk”, “Don’t Give Up”, and the delish “Clearly Love” are pop perfection but the album is so much more. The melancholy opuses “Block Out The Sun” and “Bloodstained Heart” is Darren at his finest, with lush instrumentations, a falsetto one would kill for and lyrics that make you feel his hurt, Adele’s got nothing on him. Only Darren can take such lyrics as “Nobody knows where this razor has been If you want something broke you better give it to me Because I can make you hurt”, and turn it into a catchy little melody along with the song “Stupid Mistake”, it just drags you right in. Darren gets some help from the renowned Walter Afanasieff who co-writes and produces the beautiful ballad “Roses”.

Not included on the album but check out the great Hall & Oats Mix of “Talk, Talk, Talk” which incorporates their hit “Out Of Touch”.

7) Miss Little Havana—Gloria Estefan

Gloria’s first English album since 2003, although I wouldn’t label this album as unilingual, some of the lyrics and all the music is pure Latin infused dance .The album goes back to her roots from her early days of Conga. The songs are filled with lots of salsa, horns, bongos, whistles and every flavour of the Spanish world, every song has so many overlapping sounds and rhythms, sometimes too much like first single “Wepa” which can come off as annoying but after many listens it grows and becomes infectious, you have to move, “Resistance is futile, you have been assimilated”. The first 9 songs tell the tale of a young Cuban girl who arrives in Miami and gets her heart broken. To tell the story Gloria hires the help of Pharrell William who brings a modern club production, favourite tracks are the disco “Make Me Say Yes”, the title track and the pretty ballad “Time Is Ticking” which bring memories of “Anything For You”. The last 4 songs are produced by Gloria’s hubby Emilio, my favourite being the tongue and cheek vaudeville tune Hotel Nacional where she sings “Drama’s on like Susan Lucci, It’s time for hoochie coochie” and check out the retro dancefloor ditty “Make My Heart Go”. Gloria is no longer a mainstay artist and too bad that radio will probably ignore her, but this album can definitely compete with her contemporary successors.

8) 21–Adele

A throwback to the 60’s but yet modern, Adele is a powerhouse singer who wears her heart on her sleeve, she puts it all there from the mega single “Rolling In The Deep” to “Someone Like You”. She has a style all her own, part pop, part jazz, part sassy on songs like my favourite “Rumour Has It” or her cover of the Cure’s “Lovesong”. The rest of the album is very homogenous, melancholy and can get a tad boring, you really have to be in the mood to listen to it.

9) Walk In Beauty—Marie Christine

Montreal has a new diva and her name is Marie-Christine. Discovered by Canadian superstar Corey Hart. It took Corey 5 years to find his first artist and after hearing her for the first time he signed her right on the spot for his new record label “Siena”.

The record is separated into 2 parts, Soul Red which has a more slick pop 80’s produced sound and Soul Blue leaning towards a more R & B sound, although with CD’s that only have one side and digital music that randomizes on an ipod it seems pointless, but I like when artists actually put some thought into their records and it’s a nice nod to the past which fits well to the retro sound of the project. The introductory Girl In Shades is a new quirky take on Corey’s Sunglasses At Night, this works so much better when the original writer has a hand in it, then the sampling, interpolation, and stealing that is used in current music by other artists. The second single and first video Totally Random is pure pop delight that stick in your head after hearing it once. She does a few covers including a sultry seductive version of Prince’s I Wanna Be Your Lover, a great reggae version of Squeeze’s songTempted featuring GoldenChyl, and Keep On Running a Stevie Wondersong not often remembered, Corey even manages to get Stevie to appear on the record, all of these tracks would make excellent singles. Most of the other tracks are written and produced by Corey including the title Walk In Beauty a haunting but powerful ballad with a positive message, my favourite Port Au Prince featuring Luck Mervil, and Silence, a song Corey originally wrote for Celine Dion.

Marie-Christine offers a few of her own penned tracks the best being the jazzy, snazzy pop groove Get Out and the slow jam Let Yourself Go. The playing length of the CD opened the doors to more tacks and music, but I would have pruned down this CD from 15 to 12 tracks leaving the beautiful ballad All I Ever Do to close out the record. A very promising first record, I’ll be looking forward to hearing her next endeavours, I hope she evolves but doesn’t change too much, I’d hate to see her trying to do the sound du jour, she’s too sophisticated for that.

Marie-Christine offers a few of her own penned tracks the best being the jazzy, snazzy pop groove Get Out and the slow jam Let Yourself Go. The playing length of the CD opened the doors to more tacks and music, but I would have pruned down this CD from 15 to 12 tracks leaving the beautiful ballad All I Ever Do to close out the record. A very promising first record, I’ll be looking forward to hearing her next endeavours, I hope she evolves but doesn’t change too much, I’d hate to see her trying to do the sound du jour, she’s too sophisticated for that. A very promising first record, I’ll be looking forward to hearing her next endeavours, I hope she evolves but doesn’t change too much, I’d hate to see her trying to do the sound du jour, she’s too sophisticated for that.

10) Make A Scene—Sophie Ellis-Bextor

After many delays and leaving her record label to start her own, Sophie finally delivers her 4th LP. I loved her fantastic 3rd LP“Trip The Light Fantastic” so I was hoping to love it just the same but I’m finding this album just OK. It’s all very dance electronica but it’s a bit too homogenous and some of it sounds dated. The best tracks were already released more then a year ago, the Freemasons production “Heartbreak (Make Me A Dancer)”, “Not Giving Up On Love” by Armin Van Buuren and Bittersweet. “On And On” is OK “Starlight” is cute. She tries to get experimental with the title track but the opening beats are just annoying. Sophie still sounds great, if only she could get better material.

Top Singles of 2011

1) Edge Of Glory—Lady GaGa

2) Moves Like Jagger—Maroon 5 with Christina Aguilera

3) Born This Way—Lady GaGa

4) Rolling In The Deep—Adele

5) No I.D. Frankmusik featuring Colette

6) Call Your Girlfriend—Robyn

7) Block Out The Sun—Darren Hayes

8) Without You—David Guetta featuring Usher

9) You and I–Lady GaGa

10) Talk Talk Talk—Darren Hayes

11) We found Love –Rihanna featuring Calvin Harris

Montreal has a new diva and her name is Marie-Christine. Discovered by Canadian superstar Corey Hart. It took Corey 5 years to find his first artist and after hearing her for the first time he signed her right on the spot for his new record label “Siena”.

The record is separated into 2 parts, Soul Red which has a more slick pop 80’s produced sound and Soul Blue leaning towards a more R & B sound, although with CD’s that only have one side and digital music that randomizes on an ipod it seems pointless, but I like when artists actually put some thought into their records and it’s a nice nod to the past which fits well to the retro sound of the project.

The introductory Girl In Shades is a new quirky take on Corey’s Sunglasses At Night, this works so much better when the original writer has a hand in it, then the sampling, interpolation, and stealing that is used in current music by other artists. The second single and first video Totally Random is pure pop delight that stick in your head after hearing it once. She does a few covers including a sultry seductive version of Prince’s I Wanna Be Your Lover, a great reggae version of Squeeze’s song Tempted featuring GoldenChyl, and Keep On Running a Stevie Wonder song not often remembered, Corey even manages to get Stevie to appear on the record, all of these tracks would make excellent singles. Most of the other tracks are written and produced by Corey including the title Walk In Beauty a haunting but powerful ballad with a positive message, my favourite Port Au Prince featuring Luck Mervil, and Silence, a song Corey originally wrote for Celine Dion.

Marie-Christine offers a few of her own penned tracks the best being the jazzy, snazzy pop groove Get Out and the slow jam Let Yourself Go. The playing length of the CD opened the doors to more tacks and music, but I would have pruned down this CD from 15 to 12 tracks leaving the beautiful ballad All I Ever Do to close out the record.

A very promising first record, I’ll be looking forward to hearing her next endeavours, I hope she evolves but doesn’t change too much, I’d hate to see her trying to do the sound du jour, she’s too sophisticated for that.

Natasha Bedingfield was welcomed back to South Street with a 21 song setlist of poetry, heart and class that delivered. There are no gimmicks, no dancers or fancy graphics on a screen, just Natasha and her incredible band. Her vocal ability is so underrated and hearing her in concert you’ll realize that she puts to shame any “Idol” or manufactured pop star of the day. I was never a fan of Prince’s “Purple Rain” but who would have thought that a little white British singer could tear the house down with that song, it’s one of two cover tracks she does on tour including the Police’s “Sending Out An SOS”. She rocked the house with “All I Need”, “A Little To Much” and “Run Run Run”, new tracks from her album “Strip Me”, but one of the best parts of the show was when her band steps down around her and they do an intimate acoustic set with “Angel”, “Soulmate”, and an audience request “Wild Horses”. My only criticism was the set list, I would have deleted old tracks like “I Bruise Easily” which put us to sleep, and new songs like “Try” and “Count Fall Down”, for better tracks like her album’s lead single “Touch” strangely missing and the fabulous “No Mozart”. The show ended with her new single “Weightless”, a great rendition of “Recover” a song that wasn’t a favorite of mine till now, and her signature hit “Unwritten”.

Set list

1. Neon Lights
2. Little Too Much
3. These Words
4. All I Need
5. SOS (The Police cover)
6. Single
7. I Bruise Easily
8. Strip Me
9. Run-Run-Run
10. Can’t Fall Down

Acoustic section
11. Angel
12. Soulmate
13. Wild Horses
14. Try
15. Purple Rain (Prince cover)
16. Pocketful of Sunshine/(We’re All Mad)
17. Love Like This
18. Put Your Arms Around Me
19. Weightless
20. Recover
21. Unwritten

The album is a in your face stomping dance/electro beat extravaganza from the dancetastic Marry the Night to the closing song. My only complaint is that it’s a little bit overproduced but subtlety has never been GaGa’s strongpoint. Some of the tracks like the mega hit Born This Way sound too noisy, too many overlapping beats, guitar and synths, sometimes less is more. Almost every song has a killer hook that drags you right in, Judas seems unconventional and strange at first but then the chorus kicks in and you’re hooked. Many reviewers are complaining that unlike her style and dress her music is not innovative but I disagree, she is a pop singer trying to write pop songs not experimental music.

The regular album has 14 tracks and the special edition 17; while some feel it could be pruned down, very few feel out of place or like bonus or filler tracks. The themes revolve around self acceptance, pride, and Catholicism. Most fans seem to have different favourites. The best in my opinion are the two tracks all the way at the end. Yoü And I, The only slow jam is a classic in the making, however I prefer the stripped down live version I’ve heard on TV, the album track is produced by Robert “Mutt” Lange, (Shania Twain’s producer) who turns it slightly more into a country song, guitars are supplied by Brian May of Queen who adds a little We Will Rock You, like I said less is more. The Edge Of Glory ends up on a positive note with one of the best dance song of the year, it features a great sax solo by Clarence Clemmons from Bruce Springsteen’s E Street Band, people have been talking about the similarities of the title track to Express Yourself, but “Edge” sounds so much more like Cher’s Song For The Lonely. Americano is a beautiful little tale about her meeting a young Mexican girl, yes it has the cheesy Spanish guitar influences, and sound like it’s from a Sopranos wedding, but we love it. Her childhood is represented with the beautiful self empowering and danceable anthem Hair, along with the retro disco Bad Kids about her insecurities as a youth. Her faux German song Scheiße comes complete with fake German lyrics but it still hooks you right in with mad beats you only hear at some late night rave party. The album has a definite 80’s vibe; Government Hooker channels the synth/industrial Brit pop, the wonderful retro pop Fashion Of Love which should have been on the regular edition, and Highway Unicorn (Road To Love) whose chorus sounds like powerhouses Pat Benatar or Heart. Electric Chapel sound like something that could have come from Duran Duran’s repertoire think Electric Barbarella.

My least favourite tracks are the sluggish and haunting Bloody Mary and the robotic Heavy Metal Lover whose music is blips and bleeps, but even then, they still have a certain charm that pulls you in after a few listens, maybe this is the experimental music that most reviewers have wanted. GaGa has a way of infusing the best of her musical influences to produce some of the best pop music of the day. The song The Queen sums up her title, for how long she stays remains to be seen, but one thing is for sure, it will be an absolutely fabulous freakin’ ride.

Producer Mark Ronson wanted to create the follow up to “Rio”, well there was a follow up it was called “Seven And The Ragged Tiger”, I would call Duran’s new album “All You Need Is Now” as Rio part two. The title track definitely stands out with the contrasting ruff verses and unmistakable Duran chorus. Best tracks are “Blame The Machines”, and “Being Followed” which follows right on track and formula, and the beautiful airy “The Man Who Stole A Leopard” who seems to have stolen the intro to ”The Chauffeur”. Best guest star on the album is Scissor Sister’s own Ana Matronic who rap/sings on “Safe (In The Heat Of The Moment)” her part is very reminiscent of Blondies 80’s hit “Rapture”. The fan favourite seem to be “Girl Panic!” with their big signature drum sound and “Girls On Film” vibe. I’m not a fan of “Leave A Light On” which tries too hard to be “Save A Prayer”, I prefer the other ballad “Mediterranea” which while suffers a similar fate is a better song. The rest of the album kind of loses steam. “Other’s People Live’s” is cute in this obsessive age of “Fame” and the bonus track “Networker Nation” falls into our internet age, but they do nothing new or inventive. “Too bad You’re So Beautiful”, and “Runway Runaway” again feel like paler versions of a “Rio”. The 2 instrumental tracks “A Diamond In the Mind” and “Return To Now” are nice and makes you wonder what the title track would have sounded with full orchestral strings. The Best Buy bonus tracks didn’t grabbed me at all and I can see why they were cut from the album.

Mark is a genius he and the boys definitely succeeded in creating a retro homage; it’s uncanny to listen to this record. It’s like they pieced together different Duran sounds from their early years to create each song, but I liked the fact that Duran actually evolved and experimented. If this was the real follow up to Rio would we have had “Notorious” Arcadia, or even “The Reflex”? It’s a great pop album but I prefer their 2004 opus “Astronaut” which was a comeback and a return to their signature Duran sound, but it sounded fresh and new with better songs.

It was 1987 the heyday of 80’s music, I had just turned 20, my life was changing and like me George Michael was turning to another direction. Leaving behind his bubble gum pop image of Wham!, Michael set his ship alone with a new R&B American sounding album and a new image that would become iconic, the leather jacket, sunglasses, stubble, and blue jeans. I have to admit I was quite shocked at the new sound and did not take an immediate liking to it. I loved the Brit pop sound and melodies of Wham! from Careless Whispers to Wake Me Up Before You Go-Go. His duet the year before with Aretha Franklin my all time favorite “I Knew You Were Waiting For Me” was a step away from Wham! but not quit as hardcore as what was to come next. Songs like “Hard Day” had a brassier edge, baseline and sound that propelled Michael up the R & B charts where he became the first white male solo artist to hit #1.The album was preceded by the controversial single “I Want Your Sex”, tame by today’s standard but MTV refused to play it and despite the video’s plea to be about monogamy Aretha vowed to never sing with Michael again. I Want Your Sex stalled at #2 but the next 4 singles all hit #1. “Faith” took a slight turn into country, “Father Figure” was a masterful R & B opus which still holds up today, the coming of age ballad “One More Try” a song often copied but never equaled showed his vulnerable side, and finally the dance Jam “Monkey”. The last single “Kissing A Fool” made the top 5, a beautiful pop jazz number years before Michael Bubble made that music cool. Short by today’s standard 10 or 11 tracks depending if you count part 1 and 2 of I Want Your Sex but the quality was all there, the other album tracks like “Hand To Mouth” George’s commentary on the Reagan and Thatcher era, and “Look At Your Hands” are in my opinion just as good if not better then the singles.

Most fans seem to be split on the remastering; you’ll notice that this master is not as loud or compressed as most re-releases tend to be, it’s nice and clean without changing it much, the way it should be, the biggest difference I noticed was on “Hand To Mouth” which sound much more crisper, less bass, you can hear every sound. The second disc of bonus songs seems like it was mastered slightly differently, louder. The Shep Pettibone Remix of “Hard Day” is gorgeous, this is the full version and not the edited one of the original CD and cassette. It also includes two wonderful Stevie Wonder covers used as B-sides, the song “Fantasy”, two instrumentals, and the Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis remixes to “Monkey” which were hard to find on CD back in the 80’s, I always felt cheated every time I listened to the album after watching the video with the pumped up version.

The release comes in 3 versions, a very affordable 2 CD edition with the bonus tracks, a pricier special edition that has the 2CD’s, a DVD with interviews, the videos re-synched with the new audio, a 40 page booklet, and a mega box edition that cost a fortune with an expanded booklet, rare prints and a vinyl copy of the album.

The album went on to win the Grammy Award for Album Of The Year and sell over 20 million copies. While I much prefer his following effort “Listen With Prejudice Volume One” and consider it to be his songwriting peak, “Faith” is a milestone in his career and a benchmark in the history of popular music.

Check out the pic of me above from 1988 trying to recreate the album cover LOL

For fun here is my Youtube review, you can see the packaging and me dancing silly.

Robyn is like a ball of energy from the first moment she hits the stage to the time she leaves. She blasted off the evening with “Time Machine” and transported us to her reality. From the “Fembot” who has feelings to the confident woman who sang this past year at the Nobel Peace prize concert. On songs like “Call Your Girlfriend”, and “U Should Know Better” Robyn doesn’t mince her word, she’s fierce and strong but so adorable that you just want to put her in your pocket and take her home. Most of the track list comprised of songs from her recent triptych release “Body Talk” with only 4 tracks from her back catalog. I got to stand on the left side right up at the stage and the energy was amazing. The crowd never stopped dancing with favorites like “Indestructible” and “Stars 4-Ever” where everybody was singing along.

Robyn was backed by two sets of drummers and two sets of keyboard wizards. I’m not a fan of the sound at the Electric Factory it’s always very bass heavy, but last night it sounded the best I’ve ever heard. On songs like her mega hit “Dancing On My Own” you could hear every intricate little sound that makes the song so fabulous. Unfortunately Robyn seemed to be having technical difficulties, she was motioning at her sound tech during a few songs and was holding her ear piece while singing “Hang With Me”, if there was a problem the crowd and I certainly didn’t hear it. My only complaint would be that sometimes the music would overpower her beautiful voice which was showcased on the last song, an acoustic style version of her top ten pop hit from the mid 90’s “Show Me Love” with a surprise intro to Abba’s “Dancing Queen”. Dancing Queen indeed!!!!

Note: at $25 a ticket ($35 with online booking fees) it was a steal.

Setlist

1. Time Machine
2. Fembot
3. Cobrastyle
4. Dancing On My Own
5. We Dance to the Beat
6. Don’t Fucking Tell Me What to Do
7. Love Kills
8. The Girl and the Robot
9. Indestructible
10. Call Your Girlfriend
11. Stars 4-Ever

Encore:
12. Get Myself Together
13. Dancehall Queen
14.With Every Heartbeat

Encore 2:
15. U Should Know Better
16. Konichiwa Bitches
17. Hang With Me

Encore 3:
18. Dancing Queen (intro)/Show Me Love