The Music Page

By Sameen Amer

- Beck's forthcoming album, 'Modern Guilt', which will be out in July, has been produced by Brian Burton (a.k.a. Danger Mouse) and features ten songs, including 'Orphans', 'Gamma Ray', 'Walls', and 'Replica'. The album will be the follow up to his 2006 set 'The Information'.

- Motley Crue's ninth studio album, 'Saints Of Los Angeles', their first new album in over ten years featuring all four original band members, was released on the 23rd of June. The album includes the song 'What's It Gonna Take', 'Goin' Out Swingin', and 'Welcome to the Machine'.

- Leona Lewis, the winner of the third season of UK talent show The X Factor, is reportedly in talks to sing the theme for the new James Bond movie 'Quantum Of Solace'. She will replace Amy Winehouse, who was originally slated to record the theme for the 22nd Bond flick but could not come up with a suitable recording. Leona is also scheduled to perform at the closing ceremony of the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing.

- Faith Hill's next release will be a Christmas album, titled 'Joy to the World', which will hit the shelves on the 16th of September. 'Joy to the World' will include the songs 'Santa Claus Is Coming To Town', 'Little Drummer Boy', 'Holly Jolly Christmas', 'O Holy Night', 'Winter Wonderland' and 'Silent Night'. The country star's last studio album was 2005's 'Fireflies', and was followed by her greatest hits collection 'The Hits' in 2007.

The Vibe

Nida Arab's 'Bolo Na':

Farheen Ghaffar: The song 'Bolo Na' by new singer Nida Arab has managed to stay in the charts of some Pakistani music channels for quite some time, sometimes securing the third and fourth positions. For someone who's just stepped into the music world, this song surely deserves some credit, and has been well composed and sung. The lyrics were [not] all that great, but the song was sung well and the music covered up for everything. Besides this, the girl has got one hell of a good voice, unlike that of Atif Aslam. The video was okay, not that good, but again since this girl is new, the work was done well. Overall the song is worth listening to, and I would award it 7 marks out of 10, and the video 5 on 10. Recently, there have been very few Pakistani girls appearing on the music scene, and we don't have many female singers. So let's hope this girl gives us good music to listen to, something different from Atif's 'Meri Kahani' or Jal's 'Sajni'.

(Your opinions can also be a part of 'The Vibe'. If there's anything you'd like to say about some music related topic, then email Us your views (in no more than 250 words) at sameenamer@hotmail.com and your comments just might appear on this page!)

The Beat

"The music world's a made-up bunch of hypocritical rubbish. I know that the book people are a whole lot saner. And the art world? From the small steps I've taken in it, I'd say, yeah, the people are honest, upfront and deliver what they say. Basically, they are who they say they are. They don't pretend. And having been in the music world most of my life I can tell you it's not that way. Let's just say it's less dignified." – Bob Dylan, speaking to The Times.