Latest releases reviewed
KYLIE
Ultimate Kylie Parlophone
***
She was the original soap-star-turned-pop-star, and, 17 years and 40 million record sales later, Kylie is still giving the charts a regular seeing-to. Delta Goodrem should be so lucky. All 31 of Kylie's hits are here, so even if you don't fit into her camp disco dancing demographic, you'd have to admit to a sneaking regard for the mini-Madonna from Down Under. She's grown up to be a bona fide sex goddess, and worked her celebrated ass off to stay on top. All 31 of her hits are here, gathered together for the first time on two CDs. If you can get through her PWL period without wanting to barf, then you're a better man than me. Skip straight to CD 2, though, and you can see where Kylie has (mostly) got it right, from her duet with Nick Cave on Where the Wild Roses Go to her worldwide hit, Can't Get You Out of My Head. Kylie's on the downhill slope to 40 now, but a new track, I Believe in You, co-written with Jake Shears and Babydaddy from Scissor Sisters, should keep her in face-firming cream for a while more. - Kevin Courtney
NEIL YOUNG
Greatest Hits Reprise
*****
Is this a dream come true for Neil Young fans? Here are 16 of his most popular songs, remixed in DVD-stereo from the original masters, the production overseen by the man himself. The result is something akin to The Beatles' Let It Be Naked - it's like you're right there in the studio, listening to Young and his various cohorts (including Crazy Horse, James Taylor and Linda Ronstadt) up close and in the raw. Some people polish up antiques; here, the dirt and dust has been painstakingly put back on. According to Young, DVD-stereo comes closest to the warmth of analog sound - it certainly brings out the grit of Young's classic songs. Whether it's the filthy, distorted guitars of Like a Hurricane, Hey Hey, My My (Into the Black) and Rockin' in the Free World or the rough-hewn acoustic sounds of Only Love Can Break Your Heart, Old Man and Harvest Moon, this is old gold restored to its original ore. www.neilyoung.com - Kevin Courtney
BRIAN MCFADDEN
Irish Son Sony
**
Some people say that former Westlife puppet McFadden has broken away from the shackles of Machiavellian manipulators, but perhaps he's simply jumped from the frying pan into the fire. Teaming up with erstwhile Robbie Williams co-songwriter Guy Chambers, McFadden is clearly trying for the kind of commercial credibility Williams has enjoyed for some years. The results are patchy, and only some songs work. There's a small level of usefulness in Irish Son, Real to Me, Lose Lose Situation, Walking Into Walls and Sorry Love Daddy, where certain biographical elements ring honest and true. The remainder suffer from the kind of hand-me-down observations that have insulted intelligence for years. It's all wrapped up in the commercial argot of generic pop/ rock that wouldn't sound out of place on a bad Bryan Adams record. A step in the right direction for a one-time boybander? Probably. A convincing solo début? Not really. - Tony Clayton-Lea
GWEN STEFANI
Love Angel Music Baby Interscope
*****
She's been a pop-ska starlet, a new wave diva and even an r 'n' b guest star, so no surprise that No Doubt frontwoman Gwen Stefani's début solo album is a mishmash. What may be more surprising is how absolutely brilliant it is. Love Angel Music Baby sees Stefani collaborating with everyone from OutKast's Andre 3000 to New Order, with sparkling electro-pop results. There are so many great songs on the album that it's hard to pick out the highlights, but Rich Girl (which samples If I Were a Rich Man), and the deliciously dirty Bubble Pop Electric (one of the album's two odes to getting it on in a car) are the best freaky pop songs since Hey Ya. - Anna Carey
THE 411
Between the Sheets Sony
****
Thankfully, looks can be deceiving. While The 411 may catwalk towards you like this year's ideal girl band model, it would be ill-advised to simply reject them as a new spoonful of Sugababes or a sassier All Saints. While songs about domestic abuse, prostitution, death and temptation aren't the normal girl-band fare to begin with, the approach taken by The 411 and producer Fitzgerald Scott to each track is similarly unexpected. Reasons to go between the sheets include their recycling of the Lalo Shiffrin sample (that Portishead nicked for Sour Times) for their eerie Teardrops, the pouting pop wonder of Dumb, which brings En Vogue to mind, and a glorious take on Marcia Griffiths's reggae gem Feel Like Jumpin'. Do you really need the new Destiny's Child album when there's something far, far better like this out there? www.the411.co.uk - Jim Carroll
HORSLIPS
Roll Back Horslips Records
***
Historically documented to the point where we really don't need to dredge it all up again, Horslips (Barry Devlin, Charles O'Connor, Johnny Fean, Eamon Carr and Jim Lockhart) could have done one of two things in their nominal comeback: acted the eejit and took up from where they left off, or designed a record that acted as a calling card for the civilised middle-aged men they are. Thankfully, there isn't a speck of spandex to be found, but rather a rugged acoustic run-through of known material (Furniture, The Power and the Glory, Mad Pat, Guests of the Nation, The Man Who Built America and Trouble With a Capital T). As a reminder of past times, it enhances the memory of a band that was pivotal in the development of Irish rock music. As a record released at the fag end of 2004 from a bunch of men who might rather settle down with a mug of cocoa than anything stronger, it's a reminder that, even now, Horslips have something valid to offer. So - when do the gigs start? www.horslips.ie - Tony Clayton-Lea
BLOOD BROTHERS
Crimes V2
***
At first, the lyric book looks like a joke. Do you really mean to tell us that beneath the demonic screeching and splenetic racket of Seattle post-punks Blood Brothers, there are actually words? In fact, beyond the self-defining politics of their skull-cracking volume (in other words, "Take that, mum and dad"), lead screamers Jordan Blilie and Johnny Whitney are constantly on the verge of dadaist poetry. "There's a girl behind chicken wire coughing up ghosts," goes Trash Flavoured Trash. These are the kind of lines you can either lose yourself in or spend a good week laughing at, but between the fractured industrial noise and distortedly cheery punk pop, amid gruesomely funny song titles (Love Rhymes with Hideous Car Wreck), Crimes finds that mythical bridge between death metal and Bob Dylan. www.thebloodbrothers.com - Peter Crawley
