The Original High

Currently Listening To: Original High - Adam Lambert

I can't believe this - it has been six years since Adam Lambert wowed the American Idol audience - and he is now back with his third album.

His last album, Trespassing, was released three years ago in 2012 (three years!!) so it's good to hear new music from him.

Trespassing

Adam looks so handsome on the album cover! ♥

Cover aside, I must say that I'm really impressed with The Original High. It's a good mixture of dance and pop, with just the slightest touch of the Glambert. Definitely his best album so far (and one of the best I've heard this year). It's an excellent year for music!

Tracklist:
1. Ghost Town
2. The Original High
3. Another Lonely Night
4. Underground
5. There I Said It
6. Rumors (ft. Tove Lo)
7. Evil in the Night
8. Lucy (ft. Brian May of Queen)
9. Things I Didn't Say
10. The Light
11. Heavy Fire

Ratings: 9/10
Recommendations; Ghost Town, The Original High, Another Lonely Night, Underground, Evil in the Night, Heavy Fire

Strange Trails

Currently Listening To: Fool For Love - Lord Huron 

I discovered Lord Huron from last year's Endless Love remake (for a romance movie, it wasn't that bad). A good discovery it was too, with Fleet Foxes being missing in action and all.

Now, Lord Huron is an American folk-indie band that deserves way more credit than the average American band. Sadly, their songs are way underrated and underplayed - even in America itself. Amazingly, Traxx.fm, our very own local radio station actually played their songs a few times. A step closer to exposure, I hope?

Anyways, they released their sophomore album Strange Trails a couple of months ago, but I've only just listened to it sooooo...here's an extremely delayed review of the album.

Track Listing:

01. Love Like Ghosts

02. Until The Night Turns

03. Dead Man's Hand

04. Hurricane (Johnnie's Theme) (2:46)

05. La Belle Fleur Sauvage

06. Fool For Love

07. The World Ender 

08. Meet Me In The Woods 

09. The Yawning Grave 

10. Frozen Pines 

11. Cursed 

12. Way Out There 

13. Louisa 

14. The Night We Met 

I really love the folksy, country feel of Strange Trails. Each and every song is carefully yet naturally crafted - which goes to show how talented they are actually. There is not a single bad song on the album and honestly, I don't have a favorite track in particular because the entire album itself is a masterpiece. It's just as good as their first album, Lonesome Dreams (released in 2012), which is something I've been listening to on a loop for more than a year.

It's hard to believe that both Lord Huron and Local Natives are LA based bands. I would have assumed that they're from smaller, less modern towns in America. They sound so unlike their peers, and I guess that's why they're so unknown.

Ratings: 9.5/10

Recommendations: La Belle Fleur Sauvage, Fool For Love, The World Ender, Meet Me in the Woods. The Yawning Grave.

Drones

Currently Listening To: Reaper - Muse

Muse released their 7th studio album, Drones, just a few days ago.

Drones

An extremely politically themed album, Drones is.

I've gotta say, the album is a lot better than 2012's The Second Law, which was a bit of a mix bag.

There's more variety in the music in Drones, where everything sounds a lot less theatrical and synthesized - and that's a good thing. 

One negative thing about the album this time are the lyrics. Too contrived and overly preachy about wars and shit. Luckily the music holds up, otherwise it would have been like the one-tone-disaster-that-was-the-resistance.

Track List:

1. Dead Inside
2. [Drill Sergeant]
3. Psycho
4. Mercy
5. Reapers
6. The Handler
7. [JFK]
8. Defector
9. Revolt
10. Aftermath
11. The Globalist (Ugh this is trying too hard to be a Bohemian Rhapsody)
12. Drones (And this sounds like a freaking church choir wtf)

(Take a look at all the song titles. It tells a story of revolution and its aftermath from the beginning to the end.)

Ratings; 8/10

Recommendations: Reapers, Defectors, Revolt, Aftermath.

To top it off, it looks like Muse will be topping the Billboard Top 200 for the first time ever. (Can't believe they've never  had a No.1 in the US before! Such a travesty!)

June has been a great month for music, what with Florence and the Machine reaching No. 1 on the Billboard charts last week as well.

Other album releases I'm looking forward to this month:

2PM's No.5

Adam Lambert's Original High

Of Monsters and Men's Beneath the Skin

How Big, How Blue, How Beautiful

Currently Listening To: Long & Lost - Florence + the Machine

It's been almost four years since Florence + the Machine's last album, Ceremonials.
I can't believe how fast time flies!
Feels like just yesterday it was released.
Anyway.
How Big, How Blue, How Beautiful is Florence Welch's third album, just released on 1st June.

How Big, How Blue, How Beautiful

So I'm thinking the album cover should have been blue, to fit with the theme and all but oh well, black and white will do. 

Although it's good to hear from Florence again, something about this album feels different.

Is it a bad kind of different? 

Well I wouldn't really say that but Blue (let's just call it Blue - the full title is just too long) is somehow less entrancing than Ceremonials and Lungs.

Still a good album though, with a few standouts.

Track List:

1. Ship To Wreck

2. What Kind of Man

3. How Big, How Blue, How Beautiful

4. Queen of Peace

5. Various Storms & Saints

6. Delilah

7. Long & Lost

8. Caught

9. Third Eye

10. St. Jude

11. Mother

Deluxe Edition Tracks:

12. Hiding

13. Make Up Your Mind

Rating: 8.5 / 10

Recommendations: Ship To Wreck, What Kind of Man, Queen of Peace, Long & Lost, Hiding