Advantages: Excellent follow-up to previous album, but showcasing some musical development
Disadvantages: Occasionaly slightly flat in terms of its production

...With hindsight, 2007 will undoubtedly be viewed as the year of the second album, as the proponents of popular British indie attempt to build on the wild success of their respective debuts. The first major offering in this class is Bloc Party’s Weekend in the City, follow-up to 2005’s Silent Alarm. When approaching something like this, it is so easy to resort to that tired cliché: ‘it’s not as good as the first one’, but in order to give it a fair chance, we have to disassociate ‘good’ from ‘familiar’. I should think that even the most committed fans will feel secretly disappointed when first listening to it – there is very little that immediately recalls the familiar sound of Silent Alarm. Not that this is necessarily a bad thing; too many bands are accused of repetitive releases or cashing in on previous success by duplicating formerly... Read review

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Advantages: A decent enough second album
Disadvantages: Something's missing...

...The ever-daunting second album. After the great success of their first, "Silent Alarm", Bloc Party have returned in 2007 with "A Weekend in the City". But with so many bands releasing second albums this year - Bloc Party, Kaiser Chiefs, Arctic Monkeys etc - can they achieve what many don't, and make a better album second time around? Now, I'm reviewing this after just two listens, and I found their debut needed a few before I got into it and became addicted, so with that in mind, can this effort grab the listener first time around? Or not at all?! Opening track "Song For Clay (Disappear Here)" seems to monotonously crawl in for the first minute until the distorted guitars and drums kick in…very much in an indie/new wave style of "New Born" by Muse. Instantly, you can hear the Bloc Party-style of music - frenetic drums, quick... Read review

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Advantages: Ideal for researching holiday or day trip locations. Easyily navigable.
Disadvantages: A few poorly written opinions

...Where does one begin when writing about a category, after all it is not a review about a product as such more of an observation about one of the facilities of CIAO. I have been asked on several occassions by members of CIAO which is the best category to write in, my answer to this is " Which ever one fits the subject you want to write about.". Certainly some categories seem to attract more readers than others but it is not simply a question of churning out half baked opinions in the most popular areas just to make a few pence. A category is there for a reason and that reason is so that people can find what they want. This particular category I am writing under is about members feedback on the CITY GUIDE section of the site. So here is my feedback on this category. I have written several opinions, or as I like to call them... Read review

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Advantages: Good level of detail and recommendations
Disadvantages: Not very easy to use initially

...We went to Prague on a mystery tour, not being told where we were going until we got to the airport, so this book was bought on a whim from East Midlands Airport (a lot of my travel guides are like that!) Twenty of us went together and this was the only guide we had between us! It performed admirably. The book itself is well set out, with general maps at the back and useful information (phrases, transport, exchange rates etc) inside the front cover. Inside, the guide covers history and culture of the the area before moving onto places to see, eat, drink and sleep. The review of our hotel (Andels) is spot on, it is a very modern glass and marble place (a little like an upmarket Ikea!), exactly as it says in the book. We found several places to eat, both snacks at lunch time and evening meals from the guide, and all coped admirably... Read review

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Advantages: Beautifully presented, wonderful photographs give a brilliant introduction to all that Venice has to offer, lots of informartion
Disadvantages: Large, heavy, difficult to carry, layout means it is sometimes difficult to extract information

...The Insight / Discovery Channel guide to Venice is an extremely comprehensive guide to the city: it includes a section detailing Venice's history, notes about the Venetian people themselves, 13 features covering aspects of the city's life and culture, ranging from Venetian cuisine to La Fenice Opera house to the Venice of Giacomo Casanova. The main body of the book is a visitor's guide to the sights and the guide finishes with a comprehensive Travel Tips section packed with essential contact addresses and numbers. The book also includes 14 maps and hundreds of photographs. I bought this guide in preparation for spending three months in Venice last autumn and found it very useful for getting an idea of Venetian culture and life. The guide is extremely readable and I read much of it before actually setting off for Venice. One... Read review

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Advantages: Better songwriting and musicianship over debut in this cracking album
Disadvantages: Some of the songs make for uncomfortable listening

...A Weekend in the City starts quietly with Song for Clay (Disappear Here). Quickly accelerates into familiar territory from Silent Alarm, but there's something noticeably different. It's as if all of the Silent Alarm themes have been crammed into this first track as a deliberate link with the past - a point for fans to identify with perhaps. But also themes from the new album are crammed in to provide a pointer to the future. It's a very busy track as a result, and definitely fortuitous that Bloc Party are the sort of band that can carry it off. It's dangerously close to cacophony, but it stays on the right side, just about. Hunting for Witches is probably the first authentic track of the new disc, and it's probably good for the overall impressions that it's extremely catchy and inviting. Still musically complex and lyrically... Read review

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Advantages: Cheap, fair and far away
Disadvantages: On an extremely distant continent

...at www.melbournedeck.com.au, you could actually print out a voucher that will give you a 15% discount. Or, once you arrive in Melbourne, grab yourself an official vistor guide, there is usually a coupon in the back pages. Give yourself half a day on the observation deck. Better still, enjoy your morning tea up above everyone. Next, I will head out towards the Southbank precinct. There, I will find the Crown Casino, the Southbank shopping complex, the Art centre with the interesting tower. At night, the tower lights up to show a blue hue. I find it a great contrast to the golden St Paul's Cathedral. The casino is a 24 hour city. So for those people suffering from jetlag, it is the place to hangout during those early hours. There is the cinema for entertainment, food courts for the hungry ones. Of course, one can also gamble, but I... Read review

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Advantages: Compact and full of useful information!
Disadvantages: None that I could find!

...I feel so lost if I go somewhere without my travel guides! They are a MUST! My favourites are the DK Eyewitness Travel Guides. I usually get the larger DK travel guides. However, for a recent short trip to Amsterdam I decided to get "Top 10 Amsterdam". It is a small, travel friendly guide that has the top ten of variety of things to do. It leads you straight to the very best of Amsterdam. Size- The book is 19 cm x 10 cm and 160 pages. The perfect size for a hand bag or ruck sack! Cover-The usual cardboard laminate colourful cover with beautiful images of Amsterdam. Inside front and back cover- VERY GOOD fold out maps of Amsterdam area by area, Central Amsterdam, Historic Centre and the Grachtengordel and the Amsterdam Transport Map. I used these maps CONSTANTLY on our trip! They are very easy to read and accurate... Read review

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Advantages: movie history, one of the best cities in the world, great beaches,
Disadvantages: so spread out - you NEED a car, smog at some times of the year

...STUDIO TOUR. Relatively inexpensive at $35 each, but the tour really does give you an insight into how films are made and the history of the industry. But the really cool bit is that you may get the chance to bump into some stars as they roam around the lot, or get to see some filming taking place. After signing in, your guide collects you and mounts you up on a tour truck (a bit like a golf buggy for 16!). They book tours each hour throughout weekdays and have a maximum of 16 in each party. The day we were there they were filming an episode of E.R on the lot and had just finished shooting an episiode of ‘West Wing’. We went on the famous ‘Stage 16’ – the largest soundstage in the world. They actually filmed the storm scenes from ‘Perfect Storm’ there – that’s how big it is! Then onto... Read review

Ciao members have rated this review on average very helpful

Advantages: Lots of options to keep you going.
Disadvantages: The graphics are a bit old.

...Although I was already familiar with the Sim City games, already having Sim city classic that came with the computer, Sim city 2000 was the first ever P.C game I bought. I was most excited about seeing Sim City in 3D, which there wasn't on Sim city classic. It was a long 3 years ago since I bought it so I can’t remember the price. I can't even remember installing it! Sim city 2000 puts you in position of being town mayor (or more like God) watching a small village grow into a thriving metropolis. But that’s if you’re successful of course. The biggest problem is money; I usually run out of money by 50 years which stops me from extending my city. At the beginning you must name your city then choose between easy, medium and hard. You start with £20,000 for easy, £10,000 for Medium and -£5,000 for hard. A city needs... Read review

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