Mean Girl (And The Marquee Tapes) - Business (The)

Advantages: Some interesting and intriguing choices of covers, A few excellent tracks, 'Real Men', 'Strange Little Girl'
Disadvantages: Too much concept not enough content, Some pretty tedious songs, 'I'm Not in Love', 'Raining Blood'

...In anticipation of Tori's forthcoming new (and original) studio album I thought I'd take a look at this her last release. Now I’ll make no excuses before I begin this review, Tori Amos is one of my favourite artists and when I first heard news that a new studio album was on the way I’ll admit to feeling the odd palpitation of excitement. However, when further details of the release became forthcoming, a slight feeling of disappointment reared its ugly head. You see ‘Strange Little Girls’ is a not an ordinary studio album, instead Amos has chosen to bring out a collection of covers rather then a set of original material. Aside from the fact that it is Amos’ own songs that primarily form the basis of my love for her work, the words ‘covers album’ is usually enough to send a chill down the spine of any self respecting music fan. Infact... Read review

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Advantages: Lots of brilliant stuff
Disadvantages: Some not-so-brilliant stuff, "Revolution 9"

...with "Dear Prudence", which John wrote while the Beatles were in India visiting guru the Maharishi. The song was inspired by Prudence Farrow (Mia's sister), who refused to leave her room and join in the fun activities at the retreat. Paul's bass guitar and piano, John's acoustic guitar and lead vocals, and George's electric guitar create a wonderful rhythm, and this was another of my early favourites. "Glass Onion" is another Lennon composition, but this one is much harder than "Dear Prudence." The lyrics were written to give the fans who searched for hidden meanings in Lennon's lyrics something to talk about. And the fans managed to find many clues to support the theory that Paul was dead ("The walrus was Paul"). "Glass Onion" includes mentions of many other Beatles songs like "The Fool On the Hill" (complete with the sound of a flute... Read review

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Advantages: The ultimate pop songs by the ultimate pop band!
Disadvantages: I'm a bit tired of Nadine singing EVERYTHING

...revealed and our minds were rapidly changed. The girls, who had decided to go by the name of Girls Aloud, had produced a unique, a fun and an instantly catchy pop classic, the boys, well, let's just say they were lucky to get a number two. Of course, we all know the ending to this story; Girls Aloud achieved the much anticipated number one. Not only that but as One True Voice (the boy's band) decided to call it a day, as Clea (the group formed by Chloe, Lindsay, Emma and Aimee, the girls from the top ten who didn't get in to Girls Aloud) failed to make an impact on the charts, as Phixx (the losing boys from the top ten) fell apart after a couple of relatively unsuccessful singles and as Javine failed in her bids to win the Eurovision Song Contest and have a long and successful recording career, Girls Aloud consistently held their ground... Read review

Ciao members have rated this review on average very helpful