Suburba (House of Heroes, 2010)
(August 3, 2010)
Review:
Energetic and ambitious, both musically and lyrically: this is how I would describe Suburba, an album that keenly navigates the alternative and Christian genres, pulling in stereotypical, “expected” components but not without a few innovative surprises.
Top Two Tracks:
“God Save the Foolish Kings” & “Love is For the Middle Class”
By Chris Moore:
Rooney's "Eureka" (2010)
(June 8, 2010)
Review:
Eureka may be in the running for the best album cover of the year, but be advised: be prepared to vomit in your mouth at the “Promised Land” line that ruins the otherwise wonderful “I Can’t Get Enough,” try not to laugh at songs (like “The Hunch” or “Not In My House”) that sound like they could have been in the charts alongside Billy Squier’s “The Stroke,” and if you want to hear a Tom Petty song, don’t settle for imitations like “You’re What I’m Looking For” — at least sample some of the real thing on this year’s Mojo; it isn’t so much that Eureka is bad — in fact, it’s quite enjoyable at times — but rather that it is populated by so many nearly great, yet ultimately forgettable tracks.
Top Two Tracks:
“Go On” & “Holdin’ On”
National Ransom (Elvis Costello, 2010)
(November 2, 2010)
Review:
Aside from a few sparking moments and a couple notable tracks, National Ransom feels more like a collection of sixteen songs that didn’t make the cut for Secret, Profane, and Sugarcane, which was in every way a more engaging, dynamic, and cohesive effort.
Top Two Tracks:
“A Slow Drag With Josephine” & “Five Little Words”
Johnny Cash's "American VI: Ain't No Grave" (2010)
(February 23, 2010)
Review:
This may be the final posthumous Johnny Cash release and its tracks may be refugees from American V, but this is perhaps his tightest, most thematically cohesive album — these are admittedly not the most impressive songs he has chosen to interpret, and yet Rick Rubin’s arrangement adds substance to these performances, which are among Cash’s finest.
Top Two Tracks:
“Ain’t No Grave” & “Redemption Day”