It’s official, folks. The last major release Tuesday of 2007 has passed us by. This week contains mostly a weird mix of re-issues and compilations. However, with the exception of December’s Mary J. Blige release, expect to see Alicia Keys and Josh Groban at the top of the charts for the forseeable future.
Among the new releases today: the debut from Jordin Sparks, who won 2007’s “American Idol” and has no pre-release buzz to speak of. Her album is supposed to work a fun, urban teenage vibe, I guess somewhere between Rihanna and Vanessa Hudgens? Also in stores, you get the first album in four years from Philadelphia rap artist Freeway. He better hope his Jay-Z connection pays dividends, because four years is a LONG time to be gone in the fickle hip-hop industry. The other only release of note is the debut from OneRepublic, the band that plays behind Timbaland on his current hit single “Apologize”. Yeah, we know, you’re excited too.
On the re-issue tip, there’s a little more to speak of. If you, like me, have jumped on the Amy Winehouse train this year, her debut album “Frank”, is being issued for the first time in the U.S. This album has more of a lounge-y, neo-soul vibe (I know since I picked it up as an import nearly a year ago), but you can tell it’s Amy as soon as you listen to the lyrics. Speaking of rehab, Keith Urban issues his first “Greatest Hits” collection today.
The guys from Fall Out Boy repackage their platinum album “Infinity On High” today with a DVD, and turning over to far more legenday albums, there are new versions of U2’s “The Joshua Tree” (celebrating it’s 20th anniversary) and Time magazine’s best album of the millennium, Bob Marley & The Wailers’ “Exodus”, which is celebrating it’s 30th anniversary.
…And that’s pretty much it!!
Check out a full list of this week’s releases here: