Artist name: Sebastian Bach
Album name: Angel Down
Label: MRV
Gender: Rock
Release date: November 20, 2007
ZMErating: 10/10
Website: http://www.sebastianbach.com

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What happened to [tag]Sebastian Bach[/tag] is a bit unfair. He emerged with Skid Row to be one of the last true stars of the heavy music just before the pre-Nirvana hard-rock era. With his look and charisma but above that with his voice he managed to make it big fast. But just as they were at the top grunge and alternative rock were the big thing and overnight, Bach found himself suddenly obsolete. After that they released “Subhuman Race,” (1995) but it unfortunately underperformed. And after that he was fired from the band. Makes you think what other band members Bolan and Snake were thinking.

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Artist name: Daft Punk
Album name: Alive 2007
Label: Virgin
Gender: House
Release date: November 20, 2007
ZMErating: 9/10
Website: http://www.daftpunk.com/

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Without a doubt, the eccentric electro duo, [tag]Daft Punk[/tag] can be considered true pioneers and house music forefathers, gaining worldwide notoriety thanks to their provocative blend of progressive house, funk, electro, techno, and hip-hop styled breakbeat. Although Daft Punk is one of the best things to come out of a studio, they’re also a force to be reckoned with live as well, fact that the good people of Paris can easily relate to, as this summer the duo played live at the Bercy arena in front of over 20.000 people, unleashing hit after hit. It was truly a magical night for the lucky Parisians present at the show, some would say it to be a crime not to record it, but Daft Punk haven’t only caught on tape, they’ve released the live session under a new record: “Alive 2007“.
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Artist name: The Goo Goo Dolls
Album name: Greatest Hits Volume One: The Singles
Label: Warner Bros. Records
Gender: Post Grunge/Pop/Hard rock
Release date: November 13, 2007
ZMErating: 10/10
Website: http://www.googoodolls.com

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The Goos are loved by both mainstream listeners and true rock listeners which is something very hard to achieve. But few people know that this release is a milestone for the band as they have been together for 21-years, and this is their first greatest hits album. But it has music just from the latest 12 years.
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Artist name: Spice Girls
Album name: Greatest Hits
Label: Island Def Jam
Gender: Hip-Hop/Mafioso Rap
Release date: November 6, 2007
ZMErating: 9/10
Website: http://www.jayzonline.com

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In 1996 [tag]Jay-Z[/tag] came out with a gem called Reasonable Doubt. Tales of hustling, drugs, and money were on the surface of this classic album. Looking deeper you hear tales of infidelity, and sever paranoia. Since then enthusiast have begged Jay-Z to go back to his original way of thinking. Because of his fame, fortune, and maturity Jay-Z has never needed or wanted to return to a lifestyle of hustling and drugs. But thanks to a movie depicting the life of Frank Lucas, Jay-Z has become inspired to propelled back into his old mind state with a concept album we call “American Gangster” (Island Def Jam, Roc-A-Fella).

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Artist name: Spice Girls
Album name: Greatest Hits
Label: Virgin
Gender: Pop
Release date: November 9, 2007
ZMErating: 8/10
Website: http://www.thespicegirls.com

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The long announced and discussed reunion took place and the next obvious marketing move would be to release their greatest hits. That was easy. What they did was that they played it safe. They are not going to make any new fans and some old fans are going to dislike it, but they managed to bring themselves in the center of attention.
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Artist name: Sigur Rós
Album name: Hvarf/Heim
Label: XL Recordings
Gender: Pop-Rock/Experimental Rock
Release date: November 5, 2007
ZMErating: 9/10
Website: http://www.sigur-ros.co.uk

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After playing with the same music and influences for a over a decade, Icelandic post-rock fine musicians Sigur Rós, a lot of people might think that a change might come as a dose of fresh air, for both the band and fans alike. I’m not saying that, during their five records career, they’ve become boring or anything like that, God knows I’ve yet to go weary of Jon Birgisson’s falsettos, but with their ever expanding discography it’s beginning to get ever so hard to differentiate new albums from previous work. The evolution in their music that I’ve been craving for so long did not come (I’m still hoping), but neither did I expected it to happen in “Hvarf/Heim“, considering it’s a double EP compilating unreleased previously made songs and live versions of their hit singles.

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Artist name: Smif-n-Wesson
Album name: The Album
Label: Duck Down
Gender: Hip-Hop
Release date: October 23, 2007
ZMErating: 7/10
Website: http://www.myspace.com/smifnwessun

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Smif N Wessun have been pretty active these few years. After fighting to get their original name back, putting out an album in 2005, and putting out two Boot Camp Click albums, Tek and Steele have been keeping themselves relevant in the hip-hop community for some time now. Two months after their group Boot Camp Click brought us Casualties of War (Duck Down Records), Smif N Wessun come together to bring us the highly anticipated Smif-n-Wessun: The Album (Duck Down Records).

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Artist name: Avenged Sevenfold
Album name: Avenged Sevenfold
Label: Warner Bros. Records
Gender: Hard Rock/Heavy Metal
Release date: October 30, 2007
ZMErating: 2/10
Website: http://www.avengedsevenfold.com

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This is really confusing, unexplainable for any matter. Let me try to shed some light: what started out as promising metalcore venture, after gradually tasting mainstream success [tag]Avenged Sevenfold[/tag] has morphed into a hard-rock/punk/nu-metal act almost overnight. Their third album City Of Evil, was that particular transition point, drifting the band away from their previous metalcore material, to more radio friendly territory. I had really high hopes for a returning to the roots forth album, in the form of their just recently released self titled. Usually a band releases a album under the band’s name on it’s debut, but when a band titles its record by its own name after previously releasing LPs, it’s safe to say that they’re looking for a sound redefinition, a rebirth if you wish. That’s partly true with Avenged Sevenfold and its self titled release as well.
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Artist name: Helloween
Album name: Gambling With The Devil
Label: SPV Records
Gender: Power Metal/Heavy metal
Release date: October 23, 2007
ZMErating: 9/10
Website: http://www.helloween.org

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Their gamble is the fact that thay are not adventuring from what they are able to play. They made it big in 80s with what were to be classic metal tracks. By doing that they are one of metal’s most revered acts. “Gambling With The Devil” delivers more of that stunning signature [tag]Helloween[/tag] sound. But the bad thing is that aside from Final Fortune and Fallen to Pieces the tracks are similar to their other releseas. Those two tracks are in fact probably the best here.

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Artist name: Neil Young
Album name: Chrome Dreams II
Label: Reprise Records
Gender: Rock
Release date: October 23, 2007
ZMErating: 9/10
Website: http://www.neilyoung.com

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Artist such as Neil Young are born to rarely. The Canadian singer-songwriter, guitarist, and film director is known for the lyrics he makes and his distinctive guitar work. His signature nasal tenor (and frequently alto) singing voice appears to be on the verge of tears. The way he uses his voice and glides over the music has fascinated people for more than forty years. He has the ability to sing numerous styles such as swing, jazz, rockabilly, blues, and electronica but he is known to the masses for folk accoustic rock and hard rock.

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