Advantages: big, roomy, loads to see & do
Disadvantages: expensive at times; not very well laid out to the casual visitor

...Built over 20 years ago the NEC has simply grown and grown into becoming one of the largest exhibition & entertainment complexes in Europe. easily accessable from either Brum International Airport, the motorway network or by rail from Brum or London you simply can't miss the multi halled arena. Back in 75 it had only five capacious halls and a hotel. But now there's about 15 halls of various sizes along with one or two concert halls specially designed for pop/rock concerts. In addition there's at least three classes of hotels to choose from, loads of car parking space, shops & even the odd business unit too. A further £300 million has been ear marked for future expansion both with more hall space and extra hotel capacity. The NEC already holds most of the world's major exhibitions including the Motor Show, and lots of top rock bands... Read review

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Advantages: Very Friendly and Funky Bar with attitude!
Disadvantages: Not enough Bars near by to support it.

...An extra-ordinary welcome to Sweden, one o'clock in the morning and we head for the 7-11, then the Soap Bar catches our eye. Located in an ideal location very close to the Grand Hotel, and the waterside, and next door to the 7-11 for after drinks snacking!! This Bar kicks veritable butt!! Welcomed in by the english speaking doormen, brave guys when it's -10'c outside!! Plenty of hangers to pop your coat up, and everybody has a smile for you!! The barstaff are quick and efficient, with £4 for a glass of beer the normal fare (average for the City!!). Eclectic mix of music, from rock to indie, and euro pop to funky house; something for everyone!! no dancefloor as such, however you dance where you are and bump and grind with the extremely beautiful local girls!! (and fella's if that's what you're into!!?). On a Thursday night... Read review

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Advantages: Great musicianship, good lyrics
Disadvantages: Only eight songs!

...Wings of heaven is the album which magnum hit the big time back in 1988. Magnum at the time had broken away from their olde worlde myth and magic type offerings of the late seventies and early eighties. This was a definite effort to break into the mainstream rock scene of the 1980's. Their previous two efforts "On a Storytellers Night "('85) and the Roger Taylor produced "Vigilante" ('86) had begun to set the scene for what was to come. "Wings" has the polished sound of any top notch rock album of the time. Magnum at the time belonged to Polydor international who set the band up with top producers and top studios in Europe. There are only eight songs on this 45 minute album, 1. Days of No Trust - The first single lifted off the "Wings" album is a top rock tune. A real rocker . 2. Wild Swan - Possibly the best track on the album... Read review

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Advantages: convenient pop.country
Disadvantages: 1 or 2 dull tracks

...***INTRO*** I bought my copy (CD) of Shania Twain Come On Over from Our Price Covent Garden in 2000, when CD's still had novelty value. It was the rather expensive £13.99. The issue was released on the international market on the 22/11/99. A pop/country mix of the original 1997 album. It was after catching her on TOTP with a feisty performance of "That Don't Impress Me Much". ***ABOUT SHANIA TWAIN*** Shania was born Ontario, Canada on 28/August/1965, married to John Lange. Lives in Switzerland. Find out more about Shania Twain on these websites : www.shaniatwain.com , www.shania.org , www.shania.net . ***THE ALBUM*** The CD comes with a booklet outlining lyrics and essential details of musicians, art work, production and direction. The album is produced by John Lang for Mercury Records and Universal Music company. All music... Read review

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Advantages: Evenings.
Disadvantages: Pop.

...the repetition?) JO WHILEY. Now, she knows some things about music. Not only is she one of Radio 1's oldest DJ's, she has also presented shows on late night Channel 4 about music. Can't say I have listened to much of her shows. MARK 'n' LARD. Two cheeky chappies who do comedy interviews and play some quite good records. Can be a bit bizarre, but quite funny at some times. CHRIS MOYLES. The self-proclaimed 'saviour of afternoon radio' is quite amusing at times, although the music he plays is too much pop pap. DAVE PEARCE. Dance guru that plays 'On Demand' slots at around 6pm on most evenings. The music he plays is bland, uninspired house, and will make even someone like me (a massive d'n'b fan -like Size etc.) bored out of their band... STEVE LAMACQ. The best show around. A good mix of progrock, normal rock, and indie. Breaks many new artists... Read review

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Advantages: Great combo of songs with amazing lyrics
Disadvantages: NONE!

...All i can really say is... WOW!... but don't be fooled by the cover, this isn't SW as you may know them... SW have changed the style of their music from industrial rock, evident in the brilliant "Darkest Days", to a brighter more melodic approach that could be classed as pop rock. However don't mistake this for a 'normal' pop rock album... tacky and too pop (bon jovi style)... SW have managed to keep a hint of the darkness of their industrial days whilst creating a more musical 'pop' album. With Christopher Hall on vocals nothing can go wrong... he proves yet again that he has an amazing voice which just seems to get better and better from album to album. The lyrics are also as brilliant as Hall's voice, enchanting and frequently beautiful. My Favourite songs are "So Far Away", "Wasted", "I Remember" and "Angel" but I can't say I... Read review

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Advantages: contains the rare and the classic
Disadvantages: several bands are doubled up so to speak

...and angular "This is Pop"by the criminally underrated X.T.C opens proceedings with no two tracks sounding the same or even similar this is followed by the classic post punk collusus "Public Image "by Public Image Limited ,at that point a truly new sound and such was the creative climate these two sublime giants are succeeded by another post punk giant in the form of Magazines "Shot by Both Sides",the collection maintains its quality and diversity adding singles by the Skids and The Stranglers to give a truly accurate representation of how pop and rock sounded in the brief period between 1978 and 1980. The entire compilation justifies its existance for its inclusion of "Faith"by the obscure but worthy Manicured Noise ,fondly remembered no doubt by anyone tuning into John Peel around this period and also the rare and mostly ignored "Euthenics... Read review

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Advantages: Entertainment for the kids.
Disadvantages: It's the same week after week, equating top 10 with good music.

...Hmm...I wonder why you never see any live performances on "TOTP"? Could it be that most of the acts can't actually sing? Then again, that's just my personal opinion. TOTP has been going for decades now, so they must be doing something right. Every friday night for half an hour you can watch a handful of chart toppers "perform" in the TOTP studio. Most of the acts are pop bands, commercial dance music, R&B etc, that are succesful chart entries. In its favour, I get the occasional surprise of seeing a decent indie, hip-hop or rock band and sometimes they even perform live! Hats off to the show, as it is known internationally and the format has been sold to many countries worldwide. Ok, Ok, it's also an evenings entertainment for anyone under the age of 15. Content is very limited, mostly top 20 entries along the lines... Read review

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Advantages: Multilayered, ambitiously clever, some great songs
Disadvantages: Ultimately too multilayered and ambitiously clever

...IN IT FOR THE MONEY was released in 1997 from an indie band from England called Supergrass, but what actually is indie? It isn't rock and it isn't pop. The only certainty about indie music, and it's an ambiguous one, is that it never wants to be referred to as pop, which regularly wants to be referred to as indie. The reason for this is less ambiguous. Pop is external, the fashion, the dancing, the entertainment, whilst with indie, which has at least a toe, if not a foot, in pop's door, it is far more internal, where the rock-orientated music is what matters and anything else is just a bonus. Supergrass, however, were in a peculiar position at the time they were writing this album because whilst they were capable of writing and producing their own music, contrary to popstars, this often involved what they were most capable of, writing... Read review

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Advantages: it's not Hear'say
Disadvantages: bland

...Now I've got to come clean here and admit I've never been a big fan of James. Sure I was aware of them, from the abomination that was "Sit Down" ( I must admit, to my eternal shame, I once did exactly as the song requested, on the dance floor of a student bar. In my defence I would say that everybody else was doing it, I'd had a few beers, it was a LONG time ago, did I mention I'd had a few beers?) thru various nondescript bland pop/rock compositions, the only note worthy song during this time being "Born of Frustration". So why did I buy this album? Two reasons really. Firstly their last album, "Millionaires". I absolutely loved it. Lots of exuberant pop songs and beautifully affecting ballads, which played a little like a trawl thru the best musical genres of the 1980s. And their performance of tracks from the new album on "Later... Read review

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