CHRISTINA AGUILERA-- "Bionic" (RATING 3/5)

CHRISTINA AGUILERA has held a grip on her audience for so many years. A decade of hits and over 42 million albums sold worldwide has proven that she is incomparable to any of her competition. At the forefront of re-invention, AGUILERA has brought an array of music over the years ranging from cutesy pop to delectable R&B...and then on to an homage of throwback sounds that wasn't expected. Now she tackles a different style of music. With BIONIC, AGUILERA incorporates dark electronica with some noticeable grunge, deep ballads, and in-your-face rock. Slap on a "parental advisory warning" for explicit content and you got one of the most eclectic albums out this year. Unfortunately, AGUILERA crossed the line into a territory of simply doing WAY too much for her comeback album.

I had been wondering how an album that features work from M.I.A., Santigold, Linda Perry, The-Dream, Tricky Stewart, and Polow Da Don would sound...now I'm just disappointed. The hodgepodge of melodies do not blend correctly causing BIONIC to have no musical structure whatsoever. Her voice is there...but for much of the album, it is digitally hidden behind all the mechanical processing that was done in the finished product. I don't like to draw comparisons...but it's really hard NOT to when I hear songs that are ALL to similar from other artists. I'm not talking about Madonna or Lady Gaga...I'm talking about Desnudate sounding like a Spanglish version of Britney Spears' Get Naked (I Got a Plan), as well as Bobblehead sounding like Gwen Stefani's Hollaback Girl. There are several songs I enjoy on the album...ironically it's the ballads and rock-flavored songs that catch my attention MORE than whatever "new sound" she was trying to create. I Am and All I Need are exactly the type of songs AGUILERA needs to get back into making...even the provocative Sex for Breakfast is a welcome change from the hot mess that is BIONIC.

I can applaud people for taking risks...that's what life is all about. But in the music industry, taking such risks can prove to be catastrophic to your career. AGUILERA has waited four years to unveil an album during the reign of Lady Gaga who continues to epically command the charts AND the attention of everyone around her. X-TINA may need to re-conjure the formula she used with her Stripped album because with BIONIC...she's only gonna continue to push away her long-time fans. The numbers don't lie...current single Woohoo featuring Nicki Minaj officially dropped out of the Hot 100 this week after debuting at #79 while Not Myself Tonight has dramatically dropped from it's somewhat decent debut on the charts at #23 to #95! That's embarrassing for an artist of her caliber. Let's hope that AGUILERA can at least debut high now that her album was released...because otherwise, BIONIC will be her first flop!

SONGS that I ENJOYED from BIONIC:
• Bionic
• Not Myself Tonight
• Woohoo featuring Nicki Minaj
• Prima Donna
• Lift Me Up
• I Am
• You Lost Me
• I Hate Boys
• My Girls featuring Peaches
• Birds of Prey (Bonus Track)
• Stronger Than Ever (Bonus Track)
• I Am (Stripped) (Bonus Track)

From CHRISTINA AGUILERA's new album "Bionic", here's the BONUS TRACK called "Bobblehead..."



From the same album, here's "Sex for Breakfast..."



COPYRIGHT PROTECTED.
Written by Felix-Lee "Campbells" Andrades, III

TRAVIE McCOY-- "Lazarus" (RATING 5/5)

(One of this week's FEATURED ARTISTS!)

It may not have been a CD I would've rushed out to get in the past but TRAVIE McCOY gets the label of Featured Artist for a reason...he is the one American-side artist that released an album of pure genius this week and I have to give him credit for it. We all know Travie (or Travis) McCoy as being the lead vocalist of the band GYM CLASS HEROES. He brings us his debut solo album LAZARUS at a proper time when everyone else seemed to fail miserably at their own projects. McCOY's album is filled with joyful rhythms and fun lyrics...the perfect soundtrack for an adventurous Summer.

The one thing I like about LAZARUS is that it really brings to light how talented and versatile McCOY is. His music is all about partying and reminiscing on the good times that have been had. After Midnight talks about "becoming alive" once the clock hits 12am. That sense of raucousness is also present on the track Superbad [11:34]. The one song that really took me back is Akidagain. Joining in on the chorus is a group of children singing along to a song that perfectly describes how it feels to miss your childhood. Those moments of innocence that seem so far gone now that we've become adults and have taken on so many responsibilities is vividly painted on this amazing track. McCOY also talks about some serious topics...for all the lovers who've been done wrong in the past, the final track to the album entitled Don't Pretend featuring Colin Munroe is may just bring to memory some of the pain and hardships we've gone through with past "love interests". Tim Williams, Bruno Mars, T-Pain, and Young Cash also appear as guests on three tracks that bring LAZARUS complete appeal and wonder.

Lyrically and production-wise, TRAVIE McCOY struck gold with his idea to embark on a solo project. However, this does NOT mean that GYM CLASS HEROES has split up. As a matter of fact, there is an album rumored to have an upcoming release in 2011 tentatively named The Papercut Chronicles II. Until then, as an audience, we do have to embrace TRAVIE McCOY for doing his own thing...and doing it the RIGHT way. One too many times I've witnessed artists doing "solo" work only to bomb on their way out into the spotlight. I'll be heavily anticipating to see how well he does with LAZARUS on the charts...because if any of the other people mentioned in this review debut higher, I will be extremely disappointed more than what I am with the industry already!

SONGS that I COMPLETELY ENJOYED from LAZARUS:
• Dr. Feel Good featuring Cee Lo Green
• Billionaire featuring Bruno Mars
• Need You
• Critical featuring Tim Williams
• We'll Be Alright
• The Manual featuring T-Pain and Young Cash
• Don't Pretend featuring Colin Munroe

From TRAVIE McCOY's debut album "Lazarus", here's the song "After Midnight..."



From the same album, here's "Akidagain..."



TRAVIE McCOY featuring BRUNO MARS
Billionaire
From the LAZARUS album
Directed by N/A
(3.33)



COPYRIGHT PROTECTED.
Written by Felix-Lee "Campbells" Andrades, III

PLIES-- "Goon Affiliated" (RATING 0/5)

(This week's FAILURE!)

I'm gonna try to make this review very simple for those who actually liked this album...I sincerely believe those of you who find this to be high quality of music are basically unintelligent and probably have no reason to be on this Earth. I'm not surprised to know that Algernod Lanier Washington a.k.a. PLIES dropped out of college his sophomore year...then again, with a fucked-up name like his, it's safe to say that his parents weren't entirely smart either. Giving birth to this week's FAILURE was surely a mistake...he may get his money...but as a person, I find it incredibly hard to believe that he is the opposite of what his music depicts.

Irresponsible, incomprehensible, and ignorant are just a few words I can use to describe the atrocious and diabolically crude work that PLIES has put out this week! Goon Affiliated is about as tired as the repeated hint rappers throw out that claim them to have huge penises. And what exactly does it mean to be Goon Affiliated? What the Hell is a 'goon'? Is it some sort of slang to give forth the image that you're a thug and that you're hard and that no one can fuck with you? Nigga, please...!

I sat listening to a total of twenty tracks of nothing but pure bullshit...and I can brutally say that PLIES has no talent at all. There are so many other rappers out there who can flow but they don't get the time of day. PLIES, on the other hand, gets airplay despite the fact that he carries no sort of eloquence or swagger like T.I. or Jay-Z. The only song that I would listen to is Medicine...and that's ONLY because Keri Hilson appears on the track. Everything else is absolute garbage to me. Songs like Goonette, even though I see the meaning PLIES is trying to convey, just seems to degrade a woman's worth. Or is this another form of "Hood Love" I'm failing to see? Good Dick is about an infinitesimally impressive as what I'm pretty sure PLIES carries in between his legs.

The bluntness of this review won't be the last you see. The beauty about doing music reviews as a hobby is that I get to be as crass as I want to without being told that I have to lighten up. Take it for what it is...I'm vocal about everything...and music sure as Hell no different! Don't buy this album unless you're uneducated and failed out of the second grade twice...it really won't get you know where and probably will make your I.Q. drop significantly in the process.

I DID NOT ENJOY ANY SONG from GOON AFFILIATED!

PLIES featuring KERI HILSON
Medicine
From the GOON AFFILIATED album
Directed by Yolanda Geralds
(3.33)



COPYRIGHT PROTECTED.
Written by Felix-Lee "Campbells" Andrades, III

LIL JON-- "Crunk Rock" (RATING 4/5)

(One of this week's FEATURED ARTISTS)

I retract all of my previous statements and feeling towards this album. When you hear the title Crunk Rock, what do you think of? I thought this was gonna be a spin-off to Lil' Wayne's Rebirth album. Instead, it is a party album unlike any other I've heard from LIL' JON. What Pitbull tried to do with Rebelution, LIL JON does it ten times better. I am completely blown away and I have to admit there were several times I had to get up and dance while trying to write this review!

The album starts off with a remix to Throw It Up which didn't really do much for me. For me, Crunk Rock kicks off once the song On De Grind featuring Stephen and Damian Marley begins. What thrills me about this album is the high-energy production behind it...most of which was done by LIL JON himself. I may not condone the lyricism behind the album...but these are the types of song that when you hear them in the club, the last thing one will care about is the meaning behind the words in the song! Like a Stripper featuring Pleasure P and Shawty Putt is my FAVORITE song from the entire album, alongside Moist...a sexy R&B track featuring Oobie. What a Night featuring Claude Kelly has David Guetta written all over it...I even had to go back and say that I liked the song Shots featuring LMFAO which I previously disliked when their album came out last year.

A lot of critics are giving this album a poor rating...but you know what? LIL JON has become one of several candidates for "Best Album of the Year" in MY review because he switched it up unexpectedly for an awesome result...to be honest with you, what LIL JON did before annoyed me beyond comprehension...but CRUNK ROCK definitely has a place on my iPod and in the clubs for what it is. For those of you wanna get "crunk", I highly advise you to get this album!

SONGS that I REALLY ENJOYED from CRUNK ROCK:
• Get In Get Out
• Pop Dat Pussy featuring Blazed (Bonus Track)
• Outta Your Mind featuring LMFAO
• Ms. Chocolate featuring R. Kelly and Mario
• Every Freakin' Night featuring Naadei (Bonus Track)
• Shots featuring LMFAO
• Work It Out featuring Pitbull
• Machuka featuring Mr. Catra and Murder File (Bonus Track)
• Hey featuring 3OH!3

From LIL JON's newest album "Crunk Rock", here's "Moist" featuring Oobie...



From the same album, here's "Like a Stripper" featuring Pleasure P and Shawty Putt...



BONUS TRACKS
(Deluxe Edition)
• Pop Dat Pussy featuring Blazed (Bonus Track)
• Every Freakin' Night featuring Naadei (Bonus Track)
• Machuka featuring Mr. Catra and Murder File (Bonus Track)
• Moist featuring Oobie
• What a Night featuring Claude Kelly
• Fall Out featuring Travis Porter

LIL JON featuring R. KELLY and MARIO
Ms. Chocolate
From the CRUNK ROCK album
Directed by N/A
(3.24)



COPYRIGHT PROTECTED.
Written by Felix-Lee "Campbells" Andrades, III

JUAN LUIS GUERRA-- "A Son De Guerra" (RATING 4/5)

I learn about different music every day of my life...and I can't be more fulfilled with the knowledge I gain. JUAN LUIS GUERRA is another artist on my list of people I wasn't entirely too familiar with. Thanks to my Babyboi (who continues to expose me to new things in the music world), I decided to tackle writing this review on this legend's newest album A Son de Guerra. I'm, yet again, very happy that I did.

For those who know this performer's style of music, you'll be happy to hear that it hasn't been drastically changed in an effort to "Wow!" the audience with something new. He sticks to what he knows and does it well...especially on the blending of different genres. This is an album that doesn't adhere to one style of Latin music. Instead, you'll find a perfect blend of bachata, merengue, bolero, jazz, and salsa from beginning to end. Juanes appears on a track worthy enough of being a #1 hit entitled La Calle. Speaking of #1s, this track immediately became one of my favorites without knowing about it having already spent three consecutive weeks atop the charts. Bachata en Fukuoka has that noticeable amount of beautiful rhythms and emotions I look for in a song. Other songs of great worth are Lola's Mambo featuring Chris Botti and Mi Bendicion.

As time passes, I will become more familiar with the artists that matter the most. JUAN LUIS GUERRA will continue to be on my radar from now on after listening to A Son de Guerra. I really don't see him having any trouble at all debuting at the top of the Latin charts next week when the Soundscan numbers come in.

SONGS I TRULY ENJOYED from A SON DE GUERRA:
• No Aparecen
• La Guagua
• Apaga y Vamonos
• Son Al Rey
• Cayo Arena
• Arregla Los Papeles
• Lola's Mambo featuring Chris Botti
• Caribbean Blues

From JUAN LUIS GUERRA's newest album "A Son de Guerra", here's the track "La Calle" featuring Juanes...



The BABYBOICAMPBELLS REVIEW will return NEXT WEEK TUESDAY, JUNE 15th with BRAND NEW REVIEWS on UPCOMING ALBUMS from DRAKE, KEVIN RUDOLF, and CASE!

COPYRIGHT PROTECTED.
Written by Felix-Lee "Campbells" Andrades, III

TAIO CRUZ-- "Rokstarr" (RATING 2/5)

I definitely needed a snooze button for this review. It's pretty ironic that I would say this considering that this album is nothing but high-energy dance cuts that will cater to the tween audience of America...but for those who want a "grown-up" taste in music, I extend my apologies to you right now. Britain's own TAIO CRUZ should've stayed overseas...it doesn't matter to me that he hit #1 with his breakout American-side debut Break Your Heart featuring Ludacris because of the simple fact that his sound is outdated. Why hasn't anyone learned to leave the electronica/hip-hop sound to artists like Akon? This is a trend that needs to be broken up quickly...I'm already boycotting the industry in the sense that I'm not wasting money on amateurish garbage that keeps getting spewed out to audiences who crave something with a little more substance.

Putting a derivative on the phrase "rock star" doesn't make you a genius or a rebel...it makes me not want to take you seriously as an artist because I already know that what you have to offer is nothing but nonsense. (And I really don't feel like adding words to my "spell check" dictionary because someone thought they were cute!) Rokstarr is completely unimaginative...for the sake of this review, I did cycle through the album to find tracks that I enjoyed...which ended up being the more ballad-driven rhythms from the entire project. Having Ke$ha talk about taking a Dirty Picture doesn't give you credibility...it just brings a god-awful stench and unintelligence to a song that's already the wrong type of sensory overload because of the meaning behind it. I will say that TAIO CRUZ created cuts of which I felt the deeper meaning to...but even those songs about losing someone and yearning for them afterwards fail to bring anything new to the table. The lyrics are all the same...and it doesn't impress me at all. Fabolous appears on the remix to Dirty Picture...wrong move, son...enough said. Everything else in between is lackluster, at best.

TAIO CRUZ isn't someone who I believe can come from overseas and "WOW!" the audiences for a long time. Give him, at the most, ONE more album and he'll be gone. Leave the real Rokstarr...ahem, ROCK STAR...name to those who are more deserving!

SONGS that I MINUTELY ENJOYED from ROKSTARR:
• Come On Girl featuring Luciana
• Higher
• Feel Again

From TAIO CRUZ' new album ROKSTARR, here's the song "No Other One..."



From the same album, here's "I'll Never Love Again..."



BONUS TRACKS
(iTunes Store)
• Feel Again
• Break Your Heart (Mixin' Marc and Tony Svedja Remix) featuring Ludacris
• Dirty Picture featuring Ke$ha and Fabolous

TAIO CRUZ featuring Ke$ha
Dirty Picture
From the ROKSTARR album
Directed by N/A
(3.40)



COPYRIGHT PROTECTED.
Written by Felix-Lee "Campbells" Andrades, III

LA INDIA-- "Unica" (RATING 5/5)

(This week's FEATURED ARTIST)

Being from a household that didn't embrace Salsa music from the moment I was born kind of left me with a longing to learn more about this beautiful style of music. While I was all wrapped up in the whole Reggaeton phenomenon that doesn't exist anymore, it should've been TRUE Tropical music that made me feel much closer to my roots. No other music in this world can make you FEEL passion and emotion like Salsa does. And 2010 seems to be the year where all the LATIN artists are making a comeback to show everyone that they have longevity and REAL talent.

LA INDIA is one of those artists. She is now the ONLY female artist to have the most #1 hits on the Tropical Songs chart when Estupida became the SEVENTH cut in her catalog to reach the top. Unica is fresh...it's a force...and it's exactly what we've all been waiting for. The album starts off with a remake of a Nat King Cole classic called Smile...this song actually dates back to 1936 when it was first created by composer Charlie Chaplin. If you research this song, you'll see how amazing that is for this lady to re-do this song with a Tropical sound...unbelievable stuff! LA INDIA decided to record songs in both English and Spanish instead of having an album dedicated solely to one language. Turn Off the Lights and Si El Te Habla De Mi are very powerful...both romantic and bold alike. She's another whose voice hasn't left the building like others we know so well. It's still there and it takes commands of songs like Te Vas Arrepentir and Amor Secreto.

For someone who has dealt with a lot in her personal life (I got this little history lesson from my Babyboi, by the way), it's great to see that LA INDIA is still at it. No one can compare to her...and I can see her gaining a lot of recognition and accolades for this album of perfection. Truly spectacular work!

SONGS that I COMPLETELY ENJOYED from UNICA:
• Smile
• Estupida (Salsa AND Ballad Versions)
• Si Estoy Loca
• Crying
• Ni Fines De Semana Ni Dias Festivas
• Triste

Unfortunately, there were no AVAILABLE clips for me to post along with this review...BUT for those who haven't seen the lead single's music video, you can check it out below!

LA INDIA
Estupida (Salsa Version)
From the UNICA album
Directed by N/A
(4.19)



The BABYBOICAMPBELLS REVIEW will return NEXT WEEK TUESDAY, JUNE 8th with BRAND NEW REVIEWS on UPCOMING ALBUMS from CHRISTINA AGUILERA, PLIES, TRAVIE McCOY, LIL' JON, and JUAN LUIS GUERRA!

COPYRIGHT PROTECTED.
Written by Felix-Lee "Campbells" Andrades, III