Music album reviews

BLACKOUT
BRITNEY SPEARS
It's finally here: Britney's much-talked-about, much-awaited, prematurely-trashed comeback album Blackout. But before we jump on the bash-Britney bandwagon like everyone else, let's just give the girl a fair chance shall we? After all, despite all the baldness and tantrums and bad parenting press she's got, this is, at the end of the day, the same girl who won our hearts with Oops! I Did It Again and countless other hits.

On Blackout, Britters does actually manage to redeem herself to some extent. Her first single Gimme More, although rubbished by many a media hound, is actually rather enjoyable. On Radar, Britney lets loose and gives it her stomping all. On Piece Of Me, she sings about her life and everything that's going on in her head. You won't be able to resist being drawn to this song.

We give Britney additional points for being executive producer on the album. Goes to show that she might not have a clue where her life is heading, but when it comes to music, the girl hasn't quite lost it yet.

ULTIMATE SANTANA
SANTANA
This is one of the rare albums that features all of Santana's hits on one CD. Besides some of his pop tracks such as Maria Maria and Smooth (with Rob Thomas), the album also features the infamous Black Magic Woman, Just Feel Better, Samba Pa Ti and She's Not There. Also look out for new tracks Into The Night (with Chad Kroeger), This Boy's Fire (with Jennifer Lopez and Baby Bash) and a previously unreleased duet of The Game Of Love with Tina Turner.

SONGS OF MASS DESTRUCTION
ANNIE LENNOX
She's one of the most respected women in music today, so naturally almost everything she does deserves due credit. And despite its menacing title, Songs of Mass Destruction does anything but destroy Lennox's credibility. We love the moody Dark Road, the uplifting Sing and the angry Love Is Blind. However, these are just our favourites. On an Annie Lennox album, almost every track is so good that it's hard to pick generic favourites.

EARGASM
VARIOUS ARTISTES
The latest compilation from The One's catalogue is being advertised as 'The climax of audial excitement resulting from intense vibratory stimulation of the eardrum and experienced as a pleasurable wave of tingling sensations throughout the body.' That said, that's exactly what this 2-disc album is about. The first CD Play features upbeat funk such as Mony's Slipping Away and Les Negresses Vertes's Zobi La Mouche. CD 2, titled Feel, features the more mellow tracks High (James Blunt), Stay Faraway, So Close (Craig Armstrong feat Bono) and Since I've Been Loving You (Corrine Bailey Rae).