Soundtrack trumps movie by using Jagger

Mick Jagger and Dave Stewart - 'Alfie' Soundtrack 7 out of 10

Alfie is the quintessential bachelor. So it is quite fitting that Mick Jagger headlines the Alfie Soundtrack since he, too, is a bachelor extraordinaire. Or he used to be, at least.

The album works, as a whole, because Jagger and Dave Stewart are gifted lyricists. The first song, "Old Habits Die Hard," which appears three times on the album, encapsulates the entire motivation for the movie and the character of Alfie. "Old habits die hard, hard enough to feel the pain" is exactly what "Alfie" is all about. Mick Jagger is able to say it much more eloquently than the movie does. But that's what a good soundtrack is supposed to do. It fills in the gaps.

The final version of "Old Habits Die Hard" - a bonus track featuring Sheryl Crow - is a miss, however. I think an original version and an acoustic version would have sufficed.

All of the songs on this album are in the tradition of mid-'70s funk and/or mid-'70s rock 'n' roll. The songs rely on strong vocals and fresh lyrics to drive the music forward. This is especially true of the song "Darkness of Your Love," which features Gary "Mudbone" Cooper (a funk singer) on lead vocals.

The song, "Blind Leading the Blind," which appears twice, is the strongest track on the album because Jagger recreates the Stones. It is so Rolling Stones-esque, in fact, that I checked my collection of Stones albums to see if it was, in fact, a Stones song. It is not.

All of the songs on the album were written for "Alfie," which gives the album an overall focus on the themes of loneliness and general heartache. The original songs, however, are far more memorable than the movie.

- Celeste Meiffren

Gwen's first solo try doesn't measure up

Gwen Stefani - Love Angel Music Baby 5 out of 10

Gwen Stefani's recently released solo album Love Angel Music Baby is a cross between a freaky-deaky dance party and an unrelenting advertisement for her clothing line, "L.A.M.B."

Stefani's current single, "What You Waiting For," starts the album strong, with a sassier-than-ever Gwen doing lots of super-hot panting in the background and - gasp - calling her largely 13-year-old fan base "stupid hoes." The Andre 3000-produced"Bubble Pop Electric," also a duet with Mr. 3000, combines Stefani's trademark purring staccato with boiling-hot electronic drum loops. The final product is something like "Boogie Woogie Bugle Boy" being performed in a video arcade, and it makes for the album's next single-worthy song.

However, Gwen gets a little too into her clothing line to hold your attention for the whole album, referencing her collection an annoyingly redundant four times. While "Rich Girl," a duet with Eve produced by Dr. Dre, has all the makings for a "Let Me Blow Ya' Mind" Part II, it just blows. The once dynamic duo now join creative forces to pen an extended jingle for their respective clothing lines. Eve raps, which is cool. But the rap is about her clothing line.

And if you aren't sick of Gwen's self-plugging by the end of the album, you'll certainly be sick of the "Harujuku Girls," the Japanese fashionistas who Stefani would like to thank for inspiring her clothing line. In case the song "Harujuku Girls" doesn't get that point across, Stefani also mentions them in two other songs. While songs like "Crash" and "Serious" are thick with '80s dance fun (think early Salt 'N' Pepa or Technitronic) ultimately, Gwen's obsession with her clothes slows the album into a boring, eye-rollingly redundant mess.

- Elizabeth Thompson

U2's newest album another instant classic

U2 - How to Dismantle an Atomic Bomb 9 out of 10

U2 has been around longer than most of us have been alive, and yet they continue to reign as arguably the world's greatest rock band today.

If you hated Zooropa, it's OK, you'll forgive them. If you hated POP even more, you'll still forgive 'em. That's because, with How to Dismantle an Atomic Bomb, U2 has probably produced their most personal and one of their best albums to date. Arguably, of course.

With a career spanning two-and-a-half decades, the fact that U2 is still around and making great music almost surpasses logic.

Bono, with the rest of his Irish foursome (the Edge, Larry Mullen and Adam Clayton), seems to have taken a break from his second job as a human-rights-advocating superhero to record a follow-up to the band's successful rebound album, All That You Can't Leave Behind.

The album starts strong with "Vertigo," which sounds like something they could have put out in the '80s, and "Miracle," a beautifully composed song and story about Christopher Nolan, an acclaimed poet with cerebral palsy who went to the same school as the members of U2.

God, as always, makes several cameos on tracks like "One Step Closer To Knowing," possibly on "All Because of You," and lastly, "Yahweh," in which Bono his the most boldest one-sided conversation with God to date.

"Sometimes You Can't Make It on Your Own" is a seemingly typical sentimental U2 ballad with undertones of "One." But when you think about the fact that Bono, with his bandmates, performed it at his father's funeral in 2001, the tears will definitely start forming.

Don't worry, not everything on the album is sad. "City of Blinding Lights," which starts out with The Edge's signature guitar and slows down with a snappy piano riff, is extremely romantic.

Be it Bono's singing style or the funky bass, the incredibly sexy "A Man And A Woman" is one of those tracks you can't help but play over and over again.

If "Crumbs From Your Table" sounds a little different than the other tracks, it's probably because they composed it while drunk. And it's still a masterpiece.

So, tip your Bono-style cowboy hats. The U2 we all know and love is back ... again.

- Kylee Dawson