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High School Musical is being talked about by teenager's everywhere, so I was determined to see what it was like. I asked someone I knew (who is obsessed with it) If I could borrow their copy of the soundtrack - And now I wish I hadn't. For staters the actual music is just over-used up beat dance tracks. With some weak mordern R and B thrown in. The things kicks of with a song entitled "Start of Something New". The song is merely just a badly written, horribly sang pop song. The vocals are very poor, there are signs of lack of emotion (in all the tracks). The second one, which is more of an R and B tune, is well irritating. The whole trainers squeeking in the back ground is simply annoying beyond beliefe. The "Gota getcha getcha getcha head in the game" just proves how weak and simplistic these lyrics really are. There is nothing fantastic about any of the songs - the ones sang by the blond girl are deffinatly the worst - she can sing...she's just horrible at it. I can't understand why something with such weak music, singing and lyrics has become to popular. I'm a pretty open minded person when it comes to music I listen to Metal, Rock, Rap, Punk, Pop, Dance, Classical, Reagge, World music, Folk, Eletronic ect but I can honestly say this should be left as a mat for your cup of tea.

This is a great album - head and shoulders above many other cross over attempts that are around at the moment. It demonstrates not only Jonathan Ansell's amazing vocal range but his growing richness of tone and emotional interpretation that marks him as one of the up an coming world class tenors - and bodes well for many future albums!

High points for me are Amor Tio Vieta , Canto Della Terra, Libiamo and Hoppipolla - the latter being a Sigur Ros track that is an absolute gem.

As with any album - there may be a couple that for personal taste come lower down the 'play it again' scale - possibly Hearts of England has the least effect on my pulse rate - not because of the quality of the singing but the quality of the song - not the rousing anthem it was meant to be unfortunately.

Other than that - a fabulous second solo album - a lovely mix of style and genre to suit all tastes - I'd recommend you go buy it!

The track listing shown appears not to be the final listing. The listing on the album I received was as follows:

Disc 1
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Sam Sparro - Black & Gold
Duffy - Warwick Avenue
Gabriella Cilmi - Sweet About Me
Snow Patrol - Chasing Cars
Razorlight - America
The Fray - Over My Head (Cable Car)
Amy Winehouse - Love Is A Losing Game
Guillemots - Falling Out Of Reach
Amy Macdonald - This Is The Life
Onerepublic - Stop And Stare
James Morrison - You Give Me Something
Paul Weller - You Do Something To Me
Stereophonics - It Means Nothing
The Fratellis - Whistle For The Choir
Jamie Cullum - High And Dry
Elbow - Weather To Fly
Ian Brown - F.E.A.R. (Unkle Remix)
Hero - Les Fleurs
Lamb - Angelica
Jose Gonzales - Heartbeats
Sebastien Tellier - La Ritournelle

Disc 2
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U2 - The Sweetest Thing
James Blunt - High
The Feeling - Sewn
Beth Rowley - So Sublime
Onerepublic - Apologize
Take That - Patience
Robyn - Who's That Girl
Keane - Bedshaped
Everything But The Girl - I Don't Want To Talk About It
Sting - Englishman In New York
Texas - Say What You Want
Cranberries - Linger
Travis - Writing To Reach You
World Party - She's The One
Aqualung - Strange & Beautiful
Katie Melua - Closest Thing To Crazy
Kate Nash - Foundations
Tim Daniel - Digging My Heels In
Beautiful South - A Little Time
Suzanne Vega - Marlene On The Wall
The Orb - Little Fluffy Clouds

I got this for nothing, fortunately. I can't understand all the comparisons with Scott Walker. Yes, there is an orchestra involved and the arrangements are very full and reminiscent of the sixties but the voice!!! Aargh! It's horrible. And the lyrics are pathetic. Overrated, overstated, overblown. It gets two stars for the very good musicianship and interesting arrangements. But that voice...

This cd is amazing, it sold over 26 million the year it came out, and now that it has been released it still is selling, ABBA has sold over 7,000 cd's every day!!!

The music on this cd is fantastic, best music there ever is, and the other ABBA cd is amazing music, all there music is fantastic, this cd is somethink that everyone should own cause it is fantastic, catchy, like

1. Dancing Queen
2. Take A Chance On Me
3. Chiquitita
4. Voulez-Vous
5. Gimmie! Gimmie! Gimmie! (A Man After The Midnight)
6. Sooooooooo much more...

And there are amazing songs that capture the heart, like

1. The Winner Takes It All
2. One Of Us
3. Soooooooo much more...

ABBA has made so much amazing music is amazing, and they are the best band that ever lived..

I bet after u listen to this cd, u will want to buy another one, coz they are all amazing.

Thank you ABBA for the music.!!.

With two successful movies (and soundtracks) behind them, the original cast of High School Musical came together one last time to sing, dance, and act together. And fans of the first two will enjoy this soundtrack just as much as the others.

As you'd expect, the music ranges from pop to rock to Broadway to hip hop and back again. And I guess I've gotten used to it because even the more hip hop tracks don't bother me as much this go around. Of course, all the songs have a pop based that will appeal to the core audience of pre-teens. They know where their bread is buttered.

And the songs cover just about everything you'd face in the last few months of high school. "A Night to Remember" brings back memories of my own prom every time I hear it. "Now or Never," the song from the previews, covers the push to leave behind a sports legacy. "The Boys are Back" is a fun track that Chad and Troy get to sing about their friendship. And there's the medley that forms the basis of the show they do in the movie, "Senior Year Spring Musical." It's really bits of the songs we've already seen, but they keep it fresh enough that it's still fun.

Probably the funniest track to me is the graduation mix of "We're All in This Together." Basically, they slow down the song from the original movie. Since that is still my least favorite song from the first movie, I'm not thrilled to see it again. And the fact that it is slower doesn't help things at all.

Troy and Gabriella get a plethora of songs this go around. Gabriella solos on "Walk Away" while Troy deals with his frustrations on choosing his future in "Scream." And they get three love songs. My favorite by far is the fast waltz "Can I Have This Dance." Honestly, it's a song that would work for a first dance at a wedding.

No, it's not as much fun as the original soundtrack. But neither is the movie. Still, there are some good songs that anyone will be more than willing to be caught singing.

Hung in there with the first. However,this album has no artistic merit whatsover!! The worst thing any adult could do is take this in their car on a long journey - Be warned!!

I'm not sure why there isn't an option to give half stars on these reviews, but if it was possible I'd give this album four and a half. The half is deducted purely because it's just too long - I think most people would agree that 18 tracks is too many, whoever the artist. By removing four or five of the weaker tracks they could have created the perfect album. That said, I was pleasantly surprised to find that there isn't a single terrible song on here, just a few that I could have done without. If I was playing producer, I would have cut Out of this Club (my least favourite, but then I've never been a fan of R Kelly), Who's Gonna Love You, Lights, Camera, Action (again, because I can't stand New Kids on the Block) and Love the Way You Love Me. The rest is fantastic, much better than I expected and much, much better than their first album. Personal favourites are Whatcha Think About That, I Hate This Part, Halo, Magic and Elevator. One thing I would say is that if you're expecting a pop album you might be disappointed, as this is much more RnB and hip-hop than their previous material. But if you love heavy beats and want a fun, funky album to dance to, you should definitely give this a try.

Obviously Love is Noise is a great track, certainly the most obvious choice for a single, their stunning live performance of it at Glastonbury was certainly a testament to its energetic, crowd pleasing potential. However, if I had to take a pick of the bunch, I would go for Appalachian Springs and Sit & Wonder as being my favourites, closely followed by Valium Skies and Judas - each one equally as detailed and soulful as the next.

So that's 5 tracks that instantly grabbed my attention upon first listen!!! - and you know what? - that's FIVE more tracks than any other album I've heard this year, or for the last 5 years in fact, so for that reason alone, 5 stars is well deserved.

Overall the detail in each composition is excellent, the guitar work superb, and the lyrics are delivered in a powerful, emotional way - exactly how they should be, and in terms of track running order, it flows nicely too.

I think it's one of those albums that will certainly grow on people more and more with each listen, and I would say the environment and mood you are in whilst listening to it will make a whole lot of difference too - this is especially true for the additional tracks I've not yet mentioned - they are all growers. The vibe is deep and detailed, and requires a bit more than just a passing flick through the CD to find out what's going on. If all you want is a collection of lame 3 minute pop songs, then look elsewhere.

Chill out, and listen to it properly from start to end several times, just relax and be prepared to be taken on a journey, and I'm sure you'll come back appreciating it more and more each time.

With Forth I think The Verve done a stellar job, it might not have so many obvious 'stadium anthems' as Urban Hymns, but it's certainly very deep and detailed with plenty of soul, which for me, is what music should be all about - here's to hoping they can hold it together long enough to pull off another one, and with any luck do a few more gigs too!