Album Reviews: Chris Brown and Maroon 5

CHRIS BROWN - FORTUNE

Browns 2011 album F.A.M.E reached the top spot on US charts and it seems that his newest album is having similar success spawning no.1 hits such as Turn Up The Music.

Browns fifth studio album is far more commercial than F.A.M.E, filled with speaker-pumping choruses likely to be heard in clubs from L.A. to Ibiza - releasing such tunes seems to be the only way artists can make a dent on the 2012 charts; Brown seems to have caught on to this as Fortune provides no shortage of fist-pumping moments, beginning with Turn Up The Music, and featuring more party music such as Don't Wake Me Up and Trumpet Lights. Although this album has no beat as wicked as Look At Me Now - Brown definitely knows how to hit the dance floor hard!

The album features some great collaborations as well with Nas lending his talents to the track Mirage and Wiz Kalifa and Big Sean featuring on Til I Die. These tracks are arguable the best on the album. Other notable tracks are Stuck On Stupid and 4 Years Old which are slower, sentimental tracks in which Browns lyrics are self-reflective.

VERDICT:  Although the album features a fair few catchy tunes, it is unimpressive in comparison to his previous albums. The club tunes seem too commercial and not very memorable. The best songs are the hip-hop tracks Til I Die and Mirage, which prove that that's the territory Brown belongs in. 

MAROON 5 - OVEREXPOSED

Overexposed is the fourth studio album released by the five-piece led by the gorgeous Adam Levine who stated that this is the poppiest record they've ever released. 

The first release from the album is Payphone which features (a fairly unnecessary) cameo from Wiz Khalifa and proved to be pretty successful in digital downloads - the album is filled with similar radio-friendly tracks.

One of my favourite tunes is Ladykiller which has a distinctly old-fashioned Jacko sound to it, and is most similar to their older work. Other songs such as the reggae fuelled One More Night, country-tinged Sad and dance number Doin' Dirt affirm that this is no run of the mill pop album. Another notable track is Lucky Strike which was written and produced by OneRepublic front man Ryan Tedder who has written tracks for an endless list of artists and bands such as Beyonce, Adele and Gym Class Heroes.

VERDICT: It is an enjoyable album - and a great car CD! There's nothing on Overexposed as catchy as the bands worldwide smash Moves Like Jagger; but it doesn't mean that its bad. In fact, there's loads of good songs - but none are particularly memorable and all-in-all it seems quite safe.

One To Watch: Frank Ocean

Frank Ocean (real name Christopher Francis Ocean) is definitely one to keep an eye on this year as he is set to finally establish himself as a solo artist of worldwide acclaim.

This year he came second place (behind Micheal Kiwanuka) in BBC's Sound of 2012, which aims to find 'the next big thing' in the music industry. A winner is selected from a list of mostly unheard of musicians which have been put forward by radio DJ's, producers, critics and magazine/website editors. Previous winners have included Jessie J (2011), Adele (2008), Keane (2004) and 50 Cent (2003). Other artists in the top five in previous years include Florence and the Machine (2009), Duffy (2008), Klaxons (Sound of 2007), and Dizzee Rascal (Sound of 2003). The list of previous winners and runner-ups shows the calibre of artists that Frank Ocean is considered part of.

At 18-years-old Ocean moved from New Orleans to Los Angeles following Hurricane Katrina to work on his music and in 2010 he joined sprawling hip-hop collective Odd Future Wolf Gang Kill Them All - better known as Odd Future. Ocean made a name for him self as a songwriter, writing tunes for the likes of John Legend, Brandy and most recently Beyonce (I Miss You from the album 4).