| | Kent Isola CD Kent Discography of CDs
 (4 Customer Reviews)
The mid-'90s deluge of brilliant Swedish pop bands slowed somewhat by the end of the decade, thanks in no small part to the abolition of a national employment-opportunity program through which struggling pop bands could apply for grants to buy equipment and attend seminars on management and publishing. However, after the continued worldwide success of bands like the Cardigans, pop fans still looked to Sweden for inspiration.
The belated U.S. issue of ISOLA, the debut from Stockholm's Kent, is another example of the country's astounding popcraft. Taking what's good about '90s British pop bands like Suede, Oasis, and Radiohead (moody, guitar-heavy minor-key pop songs with an equal emphasis on hooks and '70s-style epic orchestral sweep) while eliminating those bands' shortcomings, Kent hits a pop-meets-bombast peak not seen since the heyday of the Electric Light Orchestra and Supertramp, but with the charming self-effacement typical of Swedish pop.
Recorded at Galaxy Studios, Belgium; Ljuhavet Studio, Stockholm, Sweden; Europa Studio 2, Bromma.
Kent: Joakim Berg (vocals, guitar); Sami Servio (guitar, keyboards, 6-string bass); Harri Manty (guitar, percussion, programming); Markus Mustonen (piano, Fender Rhodes, drums, background vocals); Martin Skold (keyboards, bass).
The Helios Quartet: Klara Hellgren, David Bjorkman (violin); Ulrika Gardelin (viola); Henrik Soderquist (cello).
Purchase Isola CD To buy, Click on price to add to cart | Gov't Mule By A Thread CD (2009)
Isola
 $11.34    
BY A THREAD is Gov't Mule's first studio album since HIGH & MIGHTY was issued in 2006. Since that time, bassist Andy Hess has been replaced by Jorgen Carlsson, though Hess appears on two tracks at the end of the album. Carlsson's playing style is much more aggressive than Hess', and is therefore closer - in spirit anyway - to Gov't Mule's original bassist, the late Allen Woody, though he possesses an adventurous sense of time and is harmonically more colorful than either Woody or Hess. Carlsson and drummer Matt Abst are a solid match, since Abst is a drummer used to shifting time signatures and allowing the unexpected in while still driving a band. The band's keyboardist and rhythm guitarist, Danny Louis, is a shape-shifter, playing to whatever is needed in a given track. His manner of coloring sounds inside and around a particular tune's framework is a large part of what makes Gov't Mule's sound so fresh here - despite the fact that they don't stray far from what they do best. Warren Haynes and his guitar are, as usual, front and center, his guitar screaming, his big throaty growl hammering down lyrics like a Southern fire-and-brimstone preacher with earthshaking soul. The material on this set is tight; there is less jamming but Gordie Johnson's production and mixing equalize everything at ten, making it feel like the disc is recorded live.
The set opens with the pulsing bass throb of "Broke Down on the Brazos," just before Haynes and guest guitarist Billy Gibbons enter and let the tough, riff-laden blues snarl get in and slash it up a bit. The roar is wondrously deafening ...
| | Creed Full Circle CD (2009) Digipak
Isola
$11.18 
Getting right back to where they started from, Creed reunites for Full Circle, putting all tensions to rest and cutting their first album in eight years. FULL CIRCLE is a none-too-subtle allusion to how they're getting back to their beginnings, but a cynic could say they never got much past it, toiling the same weathered ground on each of their albums, but this bears some subtle differences, particularly in how Creed sounds heavier yet more open than they did in the past. While they're still delivered with the finesse of a hammer on a railroad spike, there's more air within the ballads, more skill in their attack, a looseness to their playing that allows them to take a stab at white-boy blues on the title track. "Full Circle" is one of several songs built on prominent acoustic guitar, an indication of the greater color palette here than on, ...
| | Lynyrd Skynyrd Second Helping CD (1974) Gold
Isola
$19.10 
It was hard to believe that Lynyrd Skynyrd could possibly top its classic, near-perfect 1973 debut, PRONOUNCED LEH-NERD SKIN-NERD. However, the boys from Florida accomplished the near-impossible with ...
| | Kansas There's Know Place Like Home CD (2009)
Isola
$13.20
| | Dethklok Metalocalypse: Dethalbum II CDs (2009) Bonus DVD; Deluxe Edition
Isola
$15.55
Brendon Small and Gene Hoglan proved their animated death metal band Dethklok had the chops to rock out like a living, breathing group on THE DETHALBUM. On DETHALBUM II, Small and Hoglan make Dethklok sound more like a real band than ever before--for better and worse. Without a doubt, these songs rock hard. The production is tighter and the attack is even heavier than it was on the first album, but surprisingly, that ends up being a slight weakness rather than a strength. What made THE DETHALBUM special was that the songs were funny, but not jokey; tried and true metal fans could appreciate the humor that was mixed into the heaviness, while the wit drew in metal neophytes. But on DETHALBUM II, Small and Hoglan have gotten so good at lovingly embodying metal clichés that the songs aren't as overtly funny or catchy as they were on the ...
| | Manassas Pieces CD (2009)
Isola
$11.49
| | Harry Belafonte Christmas CD (2001)
Isola
$6.09
| | Very Best Of This Is Acid Jazz: A 10 Year Celebration CDs (2001)
Isola
$9.69 
| | Creeper Lagoon Remember The Future CD (2002) Extended Play
Isola
$7.15
| | La Pulqueria Corridos De Amor CD (2006)
Isola
$9.49
| | Hoodoo Gurus Stoneage Romeos CD (1984) (Import) Remastered
Isola
$14.69
The debut from these Australian rockers established the blueprint for much of what would follow on MARS NEEDS GUITARS and BLOW YOUR COOL: jangly, hook-laden power pop delivered with just the right amount of aggressive garage energy. The opener, "I Want You Back," with its driving rhythm, sing along backups, and minor key, "Stepping Stone"-like chord progressions, heralds the Gurus' irresistible pop craft like a cannon blast. While singer-songwriter Dave Faulkner may wear his melodic-'60s-guitar rock-a la-The Byrds-and-The Beatles, late-'70s punk, roots-rock influences on his sleeve, he manages to ...
| | Junta Akasaka Happy Boys Imagesong Collection 2 CD (2007) (Import)
Isola
$18.39
First pressing includes a card.
| | Loaded Turn Your Head & Cough CD (2007) (Import)
Isola
$10.49
| | Mike "G" & M A R Get Right Or Get Left CD (2009)
Isola
$9.35
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