CL Sounds 1.27

[image-1]Erykah Badu

New Amerykah Part One (4th World War) [2008]

Righteous anger and hard bumpin' beats meet introspective musings and luscious, soulful grooves in Badu's funkified letter to America. It's some hot shit and you can tell Badu had some quality professionals on board to produce.

Recommended track: "Twinkle," produced by Badu, Shafiq Husayn and Taz Arnold of Sa-Ra, and Omar Alfredo Rodríguez-López of The Mars Volta

--Leilani

KISS

Creatures of the Night (1982)

This was the last-ditch effort that KISS made to get their fans back after slumping sales and [image-2]disappointing crowd turnout. It's the heaviest thing they recorded (arguably up until 1992’s Revenge) and came right before 1983’s Lick it Up, in which they pulled out the final stop and removed their makeup. Creatures featured new drummer Eric Carr very prominently in the mix and guitarist Ace Frehley appears on the cover, but not on the record. (He'd been replaced by session musicians, but the label wasn't informed until two albums later so the band could fulfill their contract.

Recommended tracks: The disc contains some pretty crushing songs, including the title track, "I Love it Loud," "I Still Love You" and "War Machine."

--Joran

[image-3]Jane's Addiction

Nothing's Shocking (1988)

This alt-rock gem is lively, aggressive, funky, sexy and infectious all at once. When I listen to this album, I feel like nothing is as relevant or important as what Perry is talking about. Makes me want to listen to Deloris Telescope, too.

Recommended tracks: "Mountain Song" and "Jane Says"

--Ivan