CD review.

Byline: CHRIS BROWN 

Tool 10,000 Days (Volcano) Rating TOOL are the type of band that musicians rave about. They do things with chords and time signatures that most groups only dream of. This does not mean that they are not the most accessible of groups, however. Couple that with the fact that they make metal, dark sounding metal at that, and I know that this is not the type of album I should be recommending. But it is so impressive, so incredibly well performed, that it is hard to ignore - you just might not like it very much.

Dirty Pretty Things Waterloo to Anywhere (Mercury) Rating

THE Libertines - Pete Doherty's old band - was in fact a writing duo. While Doherty is known more know for frontpage stories in the tabloids and Kate Moss than his new band Babyshambles, his former writing partner, Carl Barat, has come up with an album which has coolness running through every note. With strong references to The Clash, mixed with the feel of the Kinks, there is plenty here that stands out of the crowd. At its best it's as good as The Libertines, and at its worst it beats anything by abyshambles.

Phoenix It's Never Been Like That (Virgin) Rating

DAMN you, sunny weather. I'm sitting here listening to this album and I know that I don't like it. It just doesn't have anything to it that interests me. The third album from this French group sounds OK. Has some nice pop songs in it, but nothing else. To top it off the vocals are more American than Parisian as well. Yet here I am, with the sun beaming through my window and a smile on my face. Turn the album off and I will not remember a note of it but, at least, there is something to be said for a bit of throwaway pop on occasion.

Red Hot Chilli Peppers Arcadium Stadium (Wea) Rating***

IN THIS age of the music download, singles and albums are shrinking in length. Tracks are designed to catch the attention, fast. So it takes some confidence, and possibly a little arrogance, to think your album can hold people for 28 tracks spread over two discs. This is not the type of thing you can get through in one sitting. And the quality control has been lowered slightly with plenty of dips in quality. There is plenty here to like, and some of it sounds like it is built to fill out stadiums. But two hours is a long time in anyone's life for one LP.