Max Sharam - A Million Year Girl

YOURZ

Doing this review is the first time I've heard anything by Max Sharam.  In fact, up until I started doing a little research for this review, I had no idea she was Australian.  But then, hers isn't exactly the kind of music I'm likely to seek out.

Listening to A Million Year Girl, and despite its apparent success when it was released in 1995, the only tracks I recognised, apart from the cover of Melanie's Lay Down, was the single Coma and even then, my recognition was vague at best, kind of like I'd heard it in the background a number of times but was never moved enough to find out who it was.

While not offensive, this is still how I feel about this album - nice and innocuous in the background but containing nothing at all that excites me.

VERDICT: TURN IT DOWN

MINE

Two songs into Million Year Girl and I was about to call it a Forgotten Gem.  But it didn't sparkle as much as I'd thought.

Max has an amazing voice, capable of the hugest swoops and slides, and she doesn't do any of that nauseating twiddling that it seems every R&B diva has to do these days.  Have I said that before?  Probably.  Sorry if I'm getting repetitive.

Anyway, I love the first half of the album, with Be Firm and Coma leading it out strongly.  Purple Flowers always reminds me of Sydney in springtime, when the jacaranda blossoms in every second backyard.  Her rendering of Lay Down (Candles in the Rain) is another lovely sing-along, and I was amazed at her version of Is it Okay if I Call You Mine? when this album came out, because I thought I was the only person who even knew about that gorgeous song from Fame.  Jezu's Jewellery and Hunting Ground are OK, but the rest of the album's a bit of a loss.

I have seen her perform live, well before this album was released, doing her semi-regular gig at Kinselas, an inner-Sydney bar I frequented in the early 90s.  She did a version of Minnie Riperton's Loving You that silenced the room, because when she got to that high falsetto bit (it's about 0:56 on that video) she didn't even try to sing it, she just SCREAMED.  Priceless.

VERDICT: TURN IT UP then down...

For more information: http://www.maxsharam.com/

Hilltop Hoods - The Calling

YOURZ

In Australian hip hop, there is no greater group than the magnificent Hilltop Hoods.  In fact, their significance is so profound, they set the standard for just about all hip hop that have followed in their wake in Australia.  But few have been able to come anywhere near the sheer passion for their craft (or the success) that the Hoods have achieved. And they’ve achieved a lot.  The Calling is the first Australian hip hop/rap album to achieve platinum sales and following albums sold similar numbers.

But this success could in no way be called ‘overnight’.  It took the band over ten years of dedication, hard work and touring before releasing this, their third full length album (and first on Australia’s premier hip hop label, Obese). Support for hip hop in Australia prior to the Hilltop Hoods success was very limited, with most of the industry viewing hip hop as more a novelty than anything serious.

Through the break through singles from The Calling, this view was turned on its ear.  And while the singles Nosebleed Section and Dumb Enough introduced the band to a wider audience through radio airplay and their relentless touring, this is not a two-single album with filler tracks.  In fact, the album is so strong and flows so well, I can imagine there would have been some heated discussions about which songs were going to be singles. 

I can’t really decide which tracks on this superb album are my favourites and there are quite a number.  My laundry list changes every time I listen to The Calling as I discover something new in this masterly produced album I like.  But the title track, The Sentinal, Illusionary Lines, Laying Blame, Mic Fenton and Walk On never fail to please.  At least, that's my list today.

VERDICT: TURN IT UP

MINE

The best Aussie hip-hop has me coming back for more - even with a huge 17 tracks on this album.  I'm all for giving the fans more, but often when I see that many songs on a CD I can't help wondering if the band's really engaged its critical facilities and only included its best material. 

But the Hoods put out a quality product - as this album attests.  It's a platinum-selling album here in Australia, and the singles The Nosebleed Section (samples Melanie Safka!) and Dumb Enough are genuine mainstream toe-tappers.

There's no mistaking the broad Aussie accent - which we've discussed on this blog before - and for me they make it work.  I don't often give hip-hop a high score, because I generally prefer to have it stirred into a mixed bag on the dance floor.  But I can listen to The Calling, end to end.

VERDICT: TURN IT UP

For more information: http://www.hilltophoods.com/

In our collection we also have The Hard Road