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November 18,1997

The Cadre

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Money Talks The Album (Arista Records)

Considering all the CD’s I review for this paper I do a lot of movie soundtracks and compilation albums, cat take it from me, they mostly all sound alike as you may already know. This one however is so full of big name artists that there has to be someone you like.

From start to finish this CD is fairly good, even though some of the songs seem like they were thrown on there just to fill up some space. Some of the featured artists are Mary J. Blidge, Puff Daddy, Faith Ewans, SWV, Naughty by Nature, .... and the Refugee Camp All Star. Wow! What makes this CD even better is that all the artists are doing really well with their own albums so it makes this one look like and R & B all star line up.

The songs are put together very well with you’re mix of fast and slow songs, making it a very good buy if you can find it anywhere. I give it a four out of five rating.

Soul in the Hole The Album (Loud Records) Hello all you hard core rap/basketball fans. I’ ve found the ect CD for you! Inspired from the movie all about |. This album is the epitomy of playground ball and just puts you in the mood to play.

There are few groups that you’ ve heard or probably heard like Wu-Tang clan Mobb-Deep and Brand Nubian, but there are fifteen songs so 12 other artists you probably never heard are here to give you a nice surprise. Even though a lot of the beats are the same, the no-name artists are good enough to make you glad you song this album.

My favorites on this album are “Late Night Action” by Organized Konfusion and the title track “Soul in the Hole” by the Wu All Stars. All in all, I give this CD a 3.5 out of 5 rating.

Sandbox A Murder in the Glee Club (EMI) With their sophmore release, Sandbox is well on their way to becoming a powerhouse in the Canadian rock scene. Their debut album Bionic produced several hit singles, and garnered a Juno nomination. The band spent the last two years on tour, and even opened for the Smashing Pumpkins this spring. The new album features an even more melancholic tone than Bionic, with the same catchy sound and pop hooks as before. Fans of the band should definitely check this new disc out. People unfamiliar with Sandbox, who like Be eee Oe Ne Re RIE A Re

John Lennon a Legend: The Very Best of John Lennon (EMI)

The pop icon from Liverpool produced his most politi- cally meaningful lyrics when he went solo (well, along with Yoko anyway). "Imagine" and "Give Peace a Chance" bookend this anthology of one of rock's greatest artists who unfortunately left this earth much too soon. The compilation has some rarities like "Mother" and Lennon's version of Ben E King’s "Stand By Me". In addition, witnessing the collabora- tions with mega-producer, Phil Spector, is uplifting and delight- ful. It's hard to argue with greatness and this album doesn't disappoint whatsoever. His contribution to The Beatles has always been evident, but the —— generation may not realize the importance of Lennon's solo career. Just in time for Christmas, Beatles fans of all ages will gain from this anthology of John Lennon's work.

Ocean Colour Scene Marchin' Already (Universal)

Picking up where Oasis left off, this British group again shamelessly rips off Beatle-esque anthems and late 60's riffage. The state of the British pop scene has become unoriginal and boring. The thirteen track album brings together bright and beautiful guitars with and Anglo draw! that is seen on singles like "Hundred mile high city", "Better day" and "Travellers tune.” Ocean Colour Scene's glam rock tendencies are also seen all throughout the album. Its too bad to see that the record companies have been so slow in recognizing that the love of Britpop is on its way down. Certainly this quartet would have had something to offer the music scene a few years ago, and I am sure that is the time that they started their career. For better or worse, Britpop has become boring; heck, they even copy themselves sometimes...see Oasis, once again.

Manbreak Come and see (Universal/ALMO)

Ahighly exciting and entertaining dics which melds loud fast rules sensibility, samples and back breaking beats. Manbreak hails from the same label as Garbage and in a way

up the Wisconsin band's formula and creates a pop a forthe 90's. Influences that stand out right away are the experimental 80's bands like Jesus Jones who just too ahead of their time. Tracks like "Ready of not", "Kop karma", and "morning" hit the speakers with beautiful intensity and power. A very strong debut disc, this band will be a hit in dance halls bringing electricity under its dominion. Manbreak never hesitates in producing tracks at breakneck speeds and comes up with a great 12 song album.