BEWARE OF THE DOG

Jamelia

For years, I've listened to some band from Essex and (largely) appreciated the good music they've been supplying my music collection. Most people I know, when I tell them I like their music, reply with either "I thought they split up", "Aren't they the ones who did I Just Can't Get Enough" or "Did he really just sing 'Promises me I'll be as safe as houses as long as I remember who's wearing the trousers'?" The answers to the above are that they've come perilously close but never actually called it a day, yes they are and they may never be allowed to forget it, and yes he did, but only if you're listening to Never Let Me Down Again, which you should because it's an amazing song. Another amazing song they did was Personal Jesus, which has been covered here by Jamelia, except she's singing new lyrics and given it a new name. Sneaky. Funny how a band can suddenly go mainstream after years of not really trying, innit? Well, first off I have to warn you that the line 'Reach out and touch faith' is now 'Reach out and touch me'. Kids who've never heard the original will probably lap that up, but personally, I winced. However, I've listened to this a few times and after the initial "What the HELL has she done to this song?" feelings have worn off, what I'm left with now is a storming pop single that jumps on her last single and smashes it to bits. The glam-rock drumbeats are intact and by God do they bash their way through the duration. Jamelia seems to have a habit of releasing sub-standard first singles from albums and then following up with belters – if I remember rightly, Superstar wasn't the first single off that album either. In the end, it doesn't matter that the tune hails from Basildon, she's done something new with it and taken it off in an entirely new direction. Just goes to show, if you're going to borrow wholesale from ancient songs, as long as you do it with some intelligence and creativity, you can just about get away with it.

THE SAINTS ARE COMING

U2 and Green Day

For the first sixty seconds, I was bored out of my skull. Nothing was happening. Billie Joe Armstrong was singing The House Of The Rising Sun, Bono was singing something else and nobody else was doing anything much. I have to say, things were looking very bleak at this point. The whole thing sounded like it was going to head into Middle-Aged U2 All That You Can't Leave Behind territory, and that was boring enough the first time round. However, this turned out to be merely the calm before the storm. As soon as Larry Mullen woke up and decided to bash the living daylights out of his drumkit, the entire landscape changed. The two bands plugged everything in, turned up the volume and decided to go hell for leather for the remaining two and a bit minutes and by jingo, they've given us a treat here. U2 sound fresh, revitalised and – blimey – at least twenty-five years younger than they are and Green Day are quite happy to push them all the way. In fact, there's so much energy crammed into this three minute wonder it makes Vertigo look like one of Dido's slower efforts and that is no mean feat I can tell you. Of course it's out to promote another Best Of (this time it's U2's third), but I think I can recommend this single anyway. I have to say I was really somewhat sceptical when I heard these two were doing a duet (I know, how out of character). I didn't think either band needed to do a duet, U2 would surely rather promote their album with a song on their own and Green Day's star is in the ascendancy so it's not like they need to do it for the attention, but the fact is this works, and as someone who isn't that big a fan of either band, that's high praise. Whoever thought of getting these two bands together is a genius – end of.