Album Reviews
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Quick Takes: Franz Ferdinand, ‘Right Thoughts Right Words Right Action’
Franz Ferdinand performs at the Fox Theater in Oakland on April 28, 2014. Roman Gokhman/STAFF. Franz Ferdinand have never seemed to care about popularity and record sales. That they achieved it with their debut album was an added bonus. All they’ve wanted to do was make the music they…
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Quick Takes: Stereophonics – “Graffiti on the Train”
Stereophonics, courtesy. To be honest, I had written the Stereophonics off several years ago. They’d fallen into a rut and everything they released sounded the same. It turns out singer-guitarist Kelly Jones thought the band had fallen into a rut as well. Following the release of the band’s previous…
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Quick Takes: Eleanor Friedberger – ‘Personal Record’
Eleanor Friedberger, “Personal Record.” On her second solo album since sidelining the Fiery Furnaces, Eleanor Freidberger is still chasing ’70s nostalgia. The singer-songwriter wrote and polished these 12 songs while touring in support of 2011’s “Last Summer,” and while they may be more personal, they are by no means…
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REVIEW: ‘U2360° at the Rose Bowl’ a superb concert substitute
This story originally appeared in the Oakland Tribune. You’re bummed. You had tickets to tonight’s (June 16) U2 concert at Oakland-Alameda County Coliseum, and then Bono had to go and injure his back. So now you’re sitting in front of the television and wondering how you’re going to spend…
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ALBUM REVIEW: U2 pulls a rabbit out of a hat on ‘No Line on the Horizon’
There are only so many ways a band can reinvent itself before arriving full circle. That’s why it’s not surprising that the 12th studio album from U2, “No Line on the Horizon,” is not the great rebirth the band was promising. No Line on the Horizon U2 Interscope, March…