Music zone

Collective Soul — Dosage (Warner Music)«««

ALL the 11 tracks (particularly Dandy Life and Run) are topped with phased, harmonised vocals and choruses which ring with something approaching pop genius. The opening track Tremble For My Beloved showcases some amazing fireworks by Dean Roland and Ross Childress on guitars. Lyrically Needs outshines the rest, with words like "Here I slumber to awaken my daze/ I find convenience in this saviour I save/ Am I a prison, am I a source of dire news/ Am I a picture perfect reason for you." Just one advice — do not expect the same magical powers as with Gel and December here — the album tries to do away with much pop hooks as in earlier offerings but then didn’t we all ask for it? This, then, is the Collective Soul calling — irresistible vocal layering, a bottom-off-the-boots love of classic pop rock, and a grin.

Austin Powers — Original Soundtrack —
Warner Music«««

The much-awaited Austin Powers movie has not yet hit india due to obvious reasons, however, its soundtrack manages to sneak its way through Mike Myers’ latest offering as an imbecile James Bond, frozen since the 60’s and unfashionably entering the 90’s truly revolves around one single word ‘silly’. Thankfully, the soundtrack isn’t as silly as the film. The compilation is all about ultra-groovy music. The 60’s are represented by the swinging Latin sounds of Quincy Jones and his orchestra’s Soul Bossa Nova (the theme song from Definition) and Burt Bacharach and Elvis Costello, a beautiful collaboration on I’ll Never Fall in Love Again. The contemporary acts include REM with Draggin’ the Line, Lenny Kravitz with American Woman, melaine G (aka Scary Spice) doing Word Up and Green Day with Espionage. Dr Evil gets jiggy with Will Smith’s Just The Two Of Us (Dr Evil Mix), rapping "From the moment I heard Fran/ say I had a clone/ I knew I’d be safe/because I’d never be alone."

The major highlights remain the all-time anthem My Generation by The Who and the playful Beautiful Stranger by Madonna, teaming up with William Orbit, producer of Ray of Light. This is definitely a movie that is one of its kind, where the soundtrack makes more sense than the movie itself.

Backstreet Boys — Millennium (HMV)««««

It has been three years since these five Florida hunks sparked a pop revolution. And ever since their first hit single, their key word remains "grow". An instant hit with teenagers, the band is well accepted with their parents too, for Backstreet Boys maintain a mega difference between the likes of Marilyn Manson and Korn. Well, ask any parent about this. The boys have grown older, but musically they still remain boys, they still follow the same aim-at-teenagers formula. As with the last two releases, Millennium comes in two flavours: Syrupy love ballads and Fizzy dance numbers, perhaps a little heavier on the syrup this time. Brimming with dance anthems and smooth pop-ballads with titles like No One Comes Close and Show Me The Meaning Of Lonely, the Boys are practically guaranteed another steady line-up of hits over the next couple of years. Immaculately produced, as always (but this time with producer-lyricist Mutt Lange of Shania Twain, Bryan Adams Def Leppard fame), this is a perfectly infectious pop album.

The only flaw here remains the boy-meet-girl lyrics, which fail to display the true sentiments of a few songs. The uptempo opener Larger Than Life is a letter to their fans, with words like "All you people, can’t you see/ How your love’s affecting our reality, everytime we’re down, you can make it right. And that makes you larger than life." Songs worth a listen include I Need You Tonight, Spanish Eyes and of course the smash hit single IWant It That Way. Cheer up everybody, Backstreet’s Back !

Love Hits — Various Artists (Sony Music)««««

Probably the biggest love song compilations of all time, this album features all-time greatest love songs from Walt Disney Orginal soundtracks over the years. They are all here: Elton John showers love with his super hits Can You Feel The Love tonight, Just Can’t Wait To King and Circle Of Live from Lion king. Songs from Pocahontas features the magical Vanessa Williams with Colours Of The Wind and If I Never Knew You by Shanice and Jon Secada. There is Michael Bolton with Go The Distance, Boyzone with Shooting Star and Belinda Carlisle doing I Won’t Say (I‘m In Love), all from the classic Hercules. 98 and Stevie Wonder collaborate for the hit single True To You Heart included in the Mulan soundtrack. There are recordings of All-4-One doing Someday (The Hunchback of Notre Dame), Randy Newman and Lyle Lovett with You‘ve got A Friend in Me (Toy Story), Celine Dion and Peabo Bryson Doing the sentimental title track Beauty and the Beast, Regina and Peabo Yryson with A whole New World (Aladdin), Peter Andre with Kiss The Girl (The Little Mermaid) and an almost endless roll call of genuine love hits.

Album of the month

Diggin’ Deeper — Volume 1, 2 & 3 — Various Artists
(Sony Music)

A superb three-volume set of acid jazz activity, Diggin’ Deeper should prove irresistible to both the aficionado and the jazz-curious. By touching on as deep a spectrum of jazz as possible, it truly lives up to the title. Volume sets always have their anomalies, but here they tend to be the collection’s strengths. What was the 80’s answer to the technoacid house was jokingly referred to as acid jazz. The music is basically a mixture of various styles, including funky jazz, Latin soul and Latin jazz. For some jazz is pure freedom — a freedom of expression without any bound rules or definite boundaries.

Volume 1 features some jazz giants like Latin percussionist Ray Baretto with Pastime Paradise, Bill Withers with Kissing My Love, George Besnson doing So What, Billy Paul with Am I Black Enough For You and Asha Putli doing Right Down Here. Volume 2 is a collection 4 of tracks where well-known musicians break away from their traditional style: Baretto experiments with east-European classical music with The Old Castle, modern jazz chameleon Herbie Hancock turns disco star with Just Around The Corner and ex-Zappa Keyboardist George Duke drives a Brazilian road with Sugar Loaf Mountain. Voulme 3 is a 14-track compilation of some of the most popular acid jazz tracks which include Jaws by Lalo Schifrin, Stor by Stanely Turrentine, Always There performed by Willie Bono, Sneakin’ In The Back by Torn Scott and The Fly by Patti Austin. Finally, acid jazz does not have a one-word description nor does it have a synonym.

It falls under nearly every category of music. So what say, why not get on to the ‘learning jazz spree’. And as Maynard Ferguson puts it right, "Jazz ought to be right next to adventure in the dictionary."

— Saurabh & Gaurav