Batman: Arkham City - The Album

Batman: Arkham City – The Album
2011, Watertower Music

On October 18, 2011, Warner Bros. Interactive releases the video game Batman: Arkham City.  The follow-up to Arkham Asylum features many of the same gaming attributes, but enhances features, weapons and tools in an open world environment.  The soundtrack, Batman: Arkham City – The Album, drops on October 4, 2011, and includes some big names in active rock.

Panic! At The Disco kick starts things with “Mercenary”, an incredibly catchy rocker that’s certain to make room for itself on the Billboard charts.  It’s a perfect introduction; the sort of song that pervades your consciousness and refuses to let you go.  It’s the best blend of alternative/heavy rock and pop sensibilities on the collection.  Coheed And Cambria “Deranged” and The Duke Spirit “Creature” offer up solid if not terribly memorable tracks, while Black Rebel Motorcycle Club gets overtly ethereal on the dream-rock number “Shadow On The Run”.  Blacq Audio seem to be channeling 80s rockers such as the Thompson Twins on “Afterdark”, a solid enough track that thoroughly fails to fit in with the other tracks offered here.

Raveonettes make up for a lack of substance with lots of fuzz and buzz on “Oh, Stranger”, paving the way for ††† (Crosses) and their tortured, post-Smiths self-immolation, wrapped in dark commercial medal forms.  The Damned Things make a fine impression with “Trophy Widow”, dropping a tremendous chorus on listeners.  The blend of pop and metal sensibilities here is intriguing and unique, although the screamed verses are more of a contrast to the chorus than a complement.  Daughtry hits all the right notes on “Drown In You”.  The song is well-written, the arrangement tight, and the chorus sets up shop in your forebrain and declares its intent to stick around for a while.  The Boxer Rebellion offers up a solid effort in “Losing You”, but it’s Serj Tankian who steals the show with the closing track, “Total Paranoia”.  If you’ve never heard him before, Tankian has an eclectic and unusual voice that’s almost counterintuitive to this environment on first listen, but he grows on you like dark thoughts in the night.  “Total Paranoia” is an exceedingly pleasant surprise, and an example of how a music director, thinking outside the box on a project such as this, occasionally strikes gold.

There’s no doubt that Batman: Arkham City – The Album will turn out to provide far accompaniment to the game itself, but as an album it has little sense of flow; the songs here don’t have a common theme or driving factor other than the overly complex apocrypha of Batman storylines and legends.  Batman: Arkham City – The Album was put together with an eye toward download sales of single tracks rather than an attempt to build a cohesive theme, and it shows.  On the left, it’s difficult to build this sort of cohesion in a soundtrack collection featuring eleven different artists, which is why being the music director for this sort of project is a thankless exposition.  In any case, this is a time to pick and choose the tracks you want and download accordingly.  There are some real gems here.

Rating: 3 Stars (Out of 5)

Learn more about Batman: Arkham City at www.batmanarkhamcity.org. 

         CD                          MP3                    MP3 + Score

     iTunes.

And if you're interested in pre-ordering the game, here are the links!

        X-Box 360           X-Box 360                PS3
                                 Special Edition                            


          PS3                   Windows
   Special Edition            Live


Please note that the Amazon.com prices listed above are as of the posting date, and may have changed. Wildy's World is not responsible for price changes instituted by Amazon.com.

Review: Blake Lewis - Heartbreak On Vinyl

Blake Lewis - Heartbreak On Vinyl
2009, Tommy Boy Records

Blake Lewis got his big break on season six of American Idol, finishing as runner-up to winner Jordin Sparks. Fans of the show continue to argue whether it was talent or gimmicky that advanced Lewis that far; he appeared to be on his way to an earlier exit from the show until he surprised the audience with beat-box style performances. The novelty of this performance (and several to follow) carried Lewis into the final. His 2007 debut album, Audio Day Dream, has sold 350,000 copies to date, and Lewis has maintained a high profile since his days on Idol. On October 6, 2009, Lewis returns with Heartbreak On Vinyl, influenced by 1980's Electropop and Dance music and current trends in electronic music. Lewis had help from such folks as S*A*M & Sluggo (Fall Out Boy, Panic At The Disco); Dave Aude (Pussycat Dolls); Rodney Jerkins (Lady Gaga, Britney Spears) and Jean Baptiste (Will.I.Am, Black Eyed Peas).

Lewis opens with the title track, a song inspired by the closing of both his favorite record store in his home town and the closing of the Virgin Mega Store in Times Square in New York City. The song is a decent listen with a good dance beat. Lewis' voice is affable without bowling you over. Binary Love and Freak are pure Dance Pop tunes; not much on thought required as long as you keep moving. Voices and lyrics are essentially interchangeable in such songs as the rhythm is ultimately all that matters. Sad Song is the single from the album; full of electronic effects and even vocal effects; the song is perhaps the least impressive song on the disc both musically and vocally. Lewis returns to pure dance pop on the mediocre Afraid, but does a bit better with Left My Baby For You, crafting a melody and rhythm that suggests there's real pop musicality to be found if you dig for it.

SuperScratchaVocalisticTurnatableLicious is a minute of turntable tricks, sampling and looping of Lewis' beat-box style. This was entertaining to listen to, but would work better if he actually crafted a whole song from vocal sounds rather than just a brief sample. Lewis is at his best on The Point, which starts out as a quietly dramatic tune that builds in intensity and in sound, if slowly. Lewis' voice is decent and he builds the song well. The Remedy kicks back into Dance Pop mode and is probably the most successful overall track on the disc. Lewis says goodnight with Love Or Torture (Please Don't Stop), a catchy but mindless tune perfect for the clubs.

Blake Lewis continues down the path he began on American Idol, creating Pop, Electronic kid music that plays well to those who want little more out of music than a good beat. Heartbreak On Vinyl isn't a bad effort, containing several songs with real chart potential. I suspect Heartbreak On Vinyl will be a big success for Lewis.

Rating: 3 Stars (Out of 5)

You can learn more about Blake Lewis at http://www.blakelewisofficial.com/ or www.myspace.com/blakelewis. Heartbreak On Vinyl drops October 6, 2009. You can pre-order a copy from Amazon.com. Expect wide distribution in both real and virtual formats.

Review: The Velmas - Station

The Velmas - Station
2006, City Canyon Records

Albany, NY power trio The Velmas know how to Rock N Roll. Todd “Figaro” Minnick (bass), Mike “Harvey” Grosshandler (guitar) and Michael “Bruce” Bruce (drums) share songwriting duties, blend Rock, Punk, Classic/Southern Rock, Country, Reggae and Grunge into a dynamic sound that’s won rave reviews from critics and fans alike. The Velmas have been the alt-rock darlings of the Albany scene for a few years now and have played all over the Northeast US. Their most recent album, Station, achieved national distribution and the band has slowly been building a presence outside of their home market. Let’s check out Station.

The album opens with the smooth Modern Rock sounds of One More Day, gaining some pop sensibility as The Velmas transition into This Time. Regardless of the pop orientation, the first few songs on Station sound a bit too calculated to hit the Modern Rock market. The Velmas have everything gel on Tell Her I Love Her, a Weezer-esque pop/rock tune about unrequited love. Tell Her I Love Her has strong commercial potential and is the sort of song that can vault an unknown band into national prominence on short notice; it's just a question of getting it heard in the right venue. Midnight sounds like something that could have come right off the Rent soundtrack, and is probably a favorite at club shows where midnight is half time. Where'd She Go might be the best tune on the disc; it's just flat out, great Rock N Roll. Be sure also to check out Silenced, Forever With Me (Emily's Song) and Past Tense on the way to The Velmas' cover of Lionel Richie's Hello. Say what you want, but it's a good, Daughtry style cover of the song.

The Velmas play in a small pond right now (Albany, NY) but show the sort of talent and panache it takes to make it in a bigger market. Station is a strong effort that's worth checking out. It finds The Velmas playing with mixes of Pop, Rock and Post-Punk that work more often than not. My suspicion is that if they keep playing in that realm sooner or later they might just strike gold.

Rating: 3 Stars (Out of 5)

You can learn more about The Velmas at http://www.thevelmas.com/ or www.myspace.com/thevelmas. You can purchase a copy of Station at www.cdbaby.com/cd/thevelmasccr, or you can download the album from iTunes.

Review: Hedley - Never Too Late

Hedley – Never Too Late
2009, Fontana International

Hedley has the sort of back story most bands dream of. The band originated in a small town in British Columbia called Abbotsford, taking their name from another British Columbia town that was for sale for $346,000. The band bet their lead singer, Jacob Hoggard that he wouldn’t audition for Canadian Idol. The rest, as they say is history. Hoggard went on to place third in the 2004 edition of Canadian Idol, and with a reconstituted Hedley has gone on to release two platinum albums in Canada (Hedley and Famous Last Words). Now U.S. audiences get to hear Hedley for the first time with a collection of singles and songs from those two platinum albums entitled Never Too Late. This album was previously released in Europe (2008).

Hedley brings a sound that’s pure modern rock radio sound but does take the occasional detour. Starting out with She’s So Sorry, a high energy rocker with strong pop/radio sensibilities. Big hooks and a catchy chorus mean this song will have serious commercial legs. 321 is built around some unusual guitar progressions that get your attention but almost derail the song in a couple of spot. The tension created there certainly does intrigue, but this song might be a case of trying to squeeze too much into a small bit of music. For The Nights I Can’t Remember is a great Rock N Roll song, a former #1 AC Single in Canada and Top-Ten overall. Hoggard is at his vocal best here, and the harmony vocals come off sounding almost like an old Eagles record.

Never Too Late is another former Top-10 single and has a Reggae/Rock vibe with a highly commercial sound. The guitar work in this song is notable and would be fun to pick apart and learn for anyone who plays. On My Own is the song that started it all for Hedley (post-Idol). Originally released in Canada back in 2005 the song shot to #1. It is a solid Modern Rock/Pop song that perhaps was driven to #1 as much by Hoggard’s then-recent stint on Canadian Idol as anything else. Old School is another former Top-10 Canadian single; this one fits Modern Rock formats perfectly, although is perhaps a little too stereotypical of the genre to stand out. It’s a decent song but didn’t floor me. Far and away the best song on the album is Narcissist; a high-energy rocker with Punk anger tempered by a modern cynicism. Narcissist is worth the price of the disc on its own.

Hedley has risen quickly on the back of Hoggard’s exposure on Canadian Idol. Unlike the big rocker from the US version, Daughtry, Hoggard and Hedley have stayed with a more big rock sound (whereas Daughtry has gone more toward the repressed Emo/Rock/gloominess that seems to haunt American rock radio these days). Hedley should do well in the US market with Never Too Late, although it’s a shame that Fontana waited this long to release an album here. Never Too Late is a strong effort. We’ll be curious to see how Hedley develops from here; whether they stick with the formula they’ve written in for their first two albums or whether they branch out over time.

Rating: 3.5 Stars (Out of 5)

You can learn more about Hedley at www.myspace.com/hedley. You can purchase a copy of Never Too Late at Amazon.com or download the album through iTunes.