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The Chocolate Factory is back in business today as R. Kelly releases his tenth — and possibly, horniest — album, Untitled. Boosted by first singles “Number One” and “Religious,” Kelly’s latest earned a three-and-a-half-star review from Rolling Stone as R.’s musicianship and production skills are on full display. “At this late date in history, listening to R. Kelly document his busy sex life is like listening to an old jazzman run through standards — it’s exactly what you expect, but when he’s inspired it’s well worth your time,” Christian Hoard writes in his review.
Also out this week is the debut album by the youngest of the breakout stars from this season’s American Idol, Allison Iraheta. The magenta-haired teenager goes through some growing pains on her first disc Just Like You, which only scored two-and-a-half stars in RS. Iraheta “swaggers like a teenage Pink on her debut,” writes Barry Walters, but the likeness to the Funhouse singer become increasingly distracting and songs like “Beat Me Up” present some disturbing lyrics coming from the 17-year-old rocker-in-training.
Finally, the Bravery release their third album Stir the Blood today. After deviating from the Killers playbook that produced their hit “Honest Mistake” with a sophomore albums of guitar-oriented meaningfulness, the Bravery are “back in synth-and-eyeliner country here, working Duran-Psych Furs-J&MC pantomimes with a dedication so complete you could almost mistake it for invention,” Jon Dolan writes in his two-and-a-half star Rolling Stone review. If you want to hear a really good Bravery song, check out Shakira’s “She Wolf,” which frontman Sam Endicott co-wrote.
For the rest of Rolling Stone’s new reviews...
Article Source: Rolling Stone : Rock and Roll Daily