</table></TD></TR><TR><TD><font size="3" FACE="Helvetica,Arial,Geneva,Swiss,SunSans-Regular"><B>Album Notes:</B><br></font><FONT FACE="Helvetica,Arial,Geneva,Swiss,SunSans-Regular" SIZE=3>Maroon 5: Adam Levine (vocals, guitar); James Valentine (guitar); Jesse Carmichael (keyboards, background vocals); Mickey Madden (bass); Ryan Dusick (drums, background vocals).<br />Additional personnel includes: Jon O'Brien (programming); Mystic, Rashida Jones (background vocals).<br />Principally recorded at Rumbo, Can Am, The Hook Studios, Los Angeles, California.<br />Though on first listen it may be tempting to describe Maroon 5 as simply an American Jamiroquai with more developed songwriting skills, the comparison really only scratches the surface of the quintet's diverse sound. Throughout SONGS ABOUT JANE, leader Adam Levine and his band deftly combine a distinctive old school R&B/disco/electro vibe with the best elements of chart-topping melancholy popsters like Train, Matchbox 20, and The Dave Matthews band. On many tracks, Levine's vocals bear an uncanny resemblance to Stevie Wonder's golden pipes, and the combo does its best to match the Motown genius's unerring sense of endless groove. An ambitious goal indeed, but Maroon 5 acquits itself admirably throughout, in the process creating an unusually successful, completely natural-sounding and eminently danceable stylistic synthesis.<BR>
</table></TD></TR><TR><TD><font size="3" FACE="Helvetica,Arial,Geneva,Swiss,SunSans-Regular"><B>Album Notes:</B><br></font><FONT FACE="Helvetica,Arial,Geneva,Swiss,SunSans-Regular" SIZE=3>Personnel includes: Britney Spears (vocals); Madonna (vocals); Ying Yang Twins (rap vocals); C "Tricky" Stewart, Moby, Bloodshy, Avant (various instruments, programming); Roy "Royalty" Hamilton (various instruments, background vocals); Guy Sigsworth (various instruments); Roy Gartrell (guitar, banjo); Jimmy Harry (guitar, keyboards, programming); Donnie Lyle, Gary O'Brien, Henrik Jonback (guitar); Steve Anderson (keyboards, programming); Kendall Nesbitt (keyboards); Thomas Lindberg (bass); Penelope Magnet, Courtney Copeland, Emma Roads, Roxanne Estrada, Chyna Royal, Black Cell, Cathy Dennis, Emma Holmgren, R. Kelly, Bud, Tricky, Kyron Leslie, Lisa Green, The Matrix (background vocals); Bollywood Strings.<br />Producers include: Trixter, Roy "Royalty" Hamilton, Mark Taylor, Bloodshy, Moby.<br />On her fourth album, the omnipresent Britney Spears--with the aid of numerous collaborators and producers--has crafted a virtual soundtrack to her wild, club-hopping nights. Following up the media frenzy of her televised Madonna kiss, Britney kicks things off by unveiling a full-on collaboration with the Material Girl, "Me Against the Music." This party-fueled, dance-floor-ready anthem bookends IN THE ZONE with a bonus Bollywood-tinged remix, and both versions are emblematic of the album as a whole--energetic, assertive, and sexy.<br />On the saucy "(I Got That) Boom Boom," Britney makes a stop in the Dirty South to visit "crunk" rappers the Ying Yang Twins. The innuendo-laden hip-hop and R&B carries over to the sultry "Showdown," the Moby-produced "Early Mornin'," and "Outrageous," featuring production and backing vocals by R. Kelly. Of course, Britney finds time for a little quiet introspection on the string-soaked "Shadow" and the piano ballad, "Everytime." Although IN THE ZONE showcases Britney as a carefree party girl, these latter songs highlight the softer side of the pop superstar.<BR>
</table></TD></TR><TR><TD><font size="3" FACE="Helvetica,Arial,Geneva,Swiss,SunSans-Regular"><B>Album Notes:</B><br></font><FONT FACE="Helvetica,Arial,Geneva,Swiss,SunSans-Regular" SIZE=3>The Darkness: Justin Hawkins (vocals, guitar, piano, synthesizer); <br />Dan Hawkins (guitar); Frankie Poullain (bass); Ed Graham (drums).<br />Recorded at Chapel Studios, Lincolnshire, England and Paul Smith Music Studios, London, England.<br />Pouncing onto the British music scene like the hyperactive spawn of the late-1970s hard-rock scene, the Darkness unveiled their 2003 debut, PERMISSION TO LAND, to great success in the UK. Led by unitard-wearing, falsetto-brandishing vocalist/guitarist Justin Hawkins, the group revels in the kind of pop metal once made famous by Def Leppard and Whitesnake, boasting big guitar riffs and driving rock rhythms. The band's not-so-secret weapon is Hawkins himself--an irrepressible, high-kicking frontman who gleefully unleashes lyrics such as "a nimbus of blue light surrounds a crimson paw" in a voice that ranges from a growl to a wail rivaling Queen's Freddie Mercury or Judas Priest's Rob Halford.<br />Although the Darkness may come across as tongue-in-cheek metal revivalists, they're entirely sincere on soaring power ballads such as "Love Is Only a Feeling" and "Holding My Own." And when Hawkins screams out "guitar!" before the guitar solo in "I Believe in a Thing Called Love," there's no mistaking the intention of these energetic British lads--they've come to rock.<BR>
<td width="95%"><B><a href="http://phobos.apple.com/WebObjects/MZStore.woa/wa/viewAlbum?playListId=2480795">Are You Gonna Be My Girl - Single</a></B><br>
