This Euphoria/
David Garza

Iâm pro-bably a-lone in this, but David Garzaâs latest release is really good. Right from the first beat of the first track, itâs obvious there is a heavy Beatles influence, without sounding like another mimic. ăFloat awayä is probably the best example of this. Garza has a way of turning a phrase to give it an edge that most other vocalists just donât quite grab. My only criticism is he needs to stay away from ballads. On ăI Know,ä Garza sounds insincere enough to be a columnist for this newspaper.
÷Dave Flomberg

Legacy: A Tribute To Fleetwood Macâs Rumours/ Various Artists

You gotta love Fleetwood Mac, and this album will either really piss you off ar leave you clawing for extra copies. Tonic opens up with a rather unique take on ăSecond Hand Newsä that floats just a little too freely. Elton Johnâs take of ăDonât Stopä has a definite â80s edge to it ÷ he probably couldnât help it. The Cranberries waste no time making ăGo Your Own Wayä every bit their song.  Jewelâs take on ăYou Make Loving Funä is better than the original. The Goo Goo Dolls version of ăI Donât Want to Knowä is as in-your-face-guitar-rock as anything they have turned out in the past. This disc rocks.
÷ Dave Flomberg
 

12 Bar Blues/
Scott Weiland

Donât let the cover fool you. 12 Bar Blues, Scott Weilandâs first solo effort is not a rough, acoustic blues jam. Itâs a slick, well-produced collection of angst-ridden colors. While some hints of talent slip through the cracks, this disc sounds little more than a cross between Stone Temple Pilots and Nine Inch Nails. Granted, there is some diversity here ÷ ăDividerä sounds like Portisehead one moment and Sting the next. The intro is a well-textured blues exercise, which segues into a smooth Latin beat. The rest of the disc has a tendency to become forgetable.
÷Dave Flomberg

Big Bad Voodoo Daddy

This first, self-titled album has long been anticipated ÷ maybe almost to the point of being anticlimatic. This album does swing, hard and fast, but I guess I was just hoping for more. This octet has good material to pull from, considering the way it has aped Royal Crown Revue, but thereâs just not enough texture here to get me really excited. Two of the tracks feature music they first released on the Swingers soundtrack, ăYou and Me and the Bottle Makes Three,ä and ăGo Daddy-O.ä The rest of the album isnât quite as good. It moves, it hops, and it skips, but after the debut of those first two tunes, you expect more. ăMr. Pinstripe Suitä is about the only other tune on the album that approaches the arrangments of the aforementioned two. The groupâs strongest point is its trumpeter, Glen ăThe Kidä Marhevka. His chops are strong and his solos ride across the changes like an angry chariot. The album is worth having, but not worth paying too much for.
÷ Dave Flomberg

Radiance/Athenaeum

Yet another in the realm of snowboarder power rock, this group leaves nothing to be mistaken as innovation or originality. Yes, lead singer Mark Kano has a good tone and the band does a fairly good impression of Green Day (although I donât necessarily think thatâs any demonstration of talent) on the track ăLifeline,ä but itâs really getting old.  The Hammond was a nice touch on ăAwayä and ăNo One,ä but it takes more than an extra instrument to bring this quartet out from the annals of pop-obscurity.
÷ Dave Flomberg

Voices From the Sky/Dadawa

The music from this Tibetan artist is unlike most youâll find floating around the disc players on campus. Itâs an ecclectic blending of western and eastern styles. Dadawaâs vocal styling are reflective of the eastern 18-tone scale, while the majority of her background music is western progressions. The end result is a blues edge that Iâm sure is entirely unintended. While this is a soothing album, the effort at using hip-hop beats was only half-hearted and you can hear the difference. For meditating or praying, this is a decent album.
÷Dave Flomberg

All the Pain Money Can Buy/ Fastball

Fastball is getting thrown a curveball via radio. This poppy group, whose single ăThe Wayä is getting serious rotation on radio, will soon fade away as just another one-hit wonder. But itâs not their fault; they are genuinely trying. Their second album, All The Pain Money Can Buy, is outselling their first in a big way. Fresh off a tour with Matthew Sweet, they recorded and ăThe Wayä immediately got picked up by radio. Since then, itâs been nothing but a success story for the Georgia-based group. Anyone who listens to the radio can hum their addictive song, complete with the catchy chorus. This keeps sounding more and more like The Proclaimers and ăIâm Gonna Be (500 Miles).ä But, besides ăThe Way,ä very few of their songs are worthy of being listened to.  ăFire Escapeä sounds like a cheap rip off of that ăIâm-going-to-Disneylandä song, and ăG.O.D. (Good Old Days)ä lacks any creativity that might have been there before. Copied chord progressions and lame harmonies taint the album and blatantly mark it with a scarlet ăUä for unoriginality. An unusual surprise, the sultry voiced Poe lends her bluesy talents to Fastball in ăWhich Way To The Top?ä The intense sound created by her and frontman Miles Zuniga marks the best song on the album. The mid-song, acoustic jam session between the two is profoundly powerful and completely out of place on this mediocre album. It seems like they are following in the footsteps of fellow Georgian, Sweet. His songs are mostly empty with much-to be-desired guitar chords, but the occasional great song or two on each album keeps him afloat in the industry.
÷Ricardo Baca