The Black Eyed Peas are back with more funky beats in Monkey Business, while the Backstreet Boys reveal a mature and softer sound on their fifth album, Never Gone. Read the reviews!
Black Eyed Peas :: Monkey Business
After the smash success of their last album,
Elephunk, the Black Eyed Peas have released Monkey Business. It was recorded
all over the world while they were on tour in Los Angeles,
London, Berlin and Brazil, which is probably why the music jumps all over the place, from
bossa nova to '
80s to drum'n'bass to surf-rock to
hip-hop. The best thing about this disc is that every track is guaranteed to get you
jumpin' jumpin'!
Fun Facts
The Black Eyed Peas' first major tour started on June 11, 2005.
Each of their songs are snapshots of which city they were in, what was inspiring them and who they were hanging with at the moment.
Justin Timberlake, who previously sang with the Peas on the hit song, Where Is the Love?, joins forces with them again on the track, My Style.
Other singers featured on the album include Sting, James Brown and Cee-Lo.
The Black Eyed Peas used Justin Timberlake's Senorita to collaborate on My Style, and used Sting's Englishman in New York for the track, Union.
The Black Eyed Peas are now working on individual projects - will.i.am has started his own record label, will.i.am Music Group, and has a clothing line called i.am Clothing. Taboo is acting in his first movie and he, Fergie and apl.de.ap are all pursuing [kwlink]solo careers[/kwlink].
Hot Tracks
Pump It, Don't Phunk With My Heart, My Style, Don't Lie,
My Humps
Monkey Business Rating:
Backstreet Boys :: Never Gone
Backstreet's back... again! Rather than returning as a bunch of has-beens, the
Backstreet Boys sound like they haven't even been gone a day. Their songs still ooze those
candy-coated melodies, but their
lyrics definitely have an older, wiser and more mature quality!
Fun Facts
The first single, Incomplete, stands at #14 on the Billboard Hot 100 and soared to #2 on the iTunes Top 100 within a few weeks of being released!
Switchfoot's John Fields is featured on the track, Lose It All, and Five for Fighting's John Ondrasik contributes to Weird World.
Earlier this year, the Backstreet Boys went on an intimate tour with an unplugged-type vibe to reconnect with fans. If you missed it, there's no need to worry cuz they're planning to go on a big tour this summer!
During BSB's time apart, Nick Carter put out a solo project and dated Paris Hilton, Brian Littrell experienced fatherhood, Kevin Richardson starred on Broadway's Chicago, AJ McLean entered rehab to battle alcoholism and Howie Dorough worked with the Dorough Lupus Foundation.
Kevin Richardson co-wrote the track, Never Gone, to pay tribute to his dad who passed away recently.
Hot Tracks
Incomplete, Just Want You to Know, Crawling Back to You,
I Still..., Safest Place to Hide
Never Gone Rating:
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