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This week we (also - introducing a new commentator my Other Brother*) reviewed:

• Indochine - La république des meteors (2009) (Me)
• Bryan Adams - Reckless (1984) (Mum)
• Metric - Fantasies (2009) (Brother)
• Santana - Shaman (2002) (Dad)

Anyone who reads this blog shouldn't really be surprised by my choice of group. Yes, my favourite French group rear their heads again. Why did I choose one of their albums? Well, when I saw them in concert in June a lot of the setlist was made up from tracks off of this album: La répubique des meteors and it made me realise how much I really liked the album, and how poignant some of the tracks were. It shows a more mature, sombre style for the group after the more rocky Alice & June. I especially liked some of the more emotive tracks such as La lettre de métal and Le lac, which dealt with painful war themes whilst incorporating different musical styles effectively. My Mum liked the album too, saying it was distinctive, whether that's due to the overall sound or just Nicola Sirkis' voice she didn't know. My Dad appreciated the depth, richness and sophistication of the music saying also that he's got over the Frenchyness. (hey, isf he can do it we all can!) My brother likes Indochine and said the album had some nice stuff on it and my other brother agreed, saying that he really liked the style of music and felt the emotions of the songs. Oh, and the cover of You Spin Me Round (Like a Record) rocks. Yes, THAT You Spin Me Round (Like a Record).

So, Bryan Adams. Probably most for famous for Summer of '69, the old karaoke favourite, and that's honestly all the younger members of the family knew him by. Shameful. But thanks to my mum's nomination we're all a lot more au courant with his music. Nominated because it's a rocky, fun-sounding album with some stonking tracks - I think that's something we all agreed on. Both my dad and my other brother wanted to play along with the tracks (guitar and drums respectively) they're the musicians of the family. I enjoyed the tracks I knew - turned out there were more than I thought after all and also liked the tracks I didn't know that well. Adams has a good rock voice and the album was pretty epic. My dad had forgotten how great the album is, with its iconic tracks. He also loved the guitars (see above aforementioned guitar-playing reference).

My brother nominated Metric because their relentless ad-campaign on Spotify eventually won him over and he listened to their album. And it was good. My dad only listened to it once but found it pleasant, liking Emily Haines voice and comparing the group to musician Ladyhawke. He also mentioned that he expected it to be heavier rock (what can we say, my brother has a track record?). My mum didn't listen to it (!) so we can also ignore any other comments she has made for this gross betrayal. My other brother liked the music and the beat - so everything really. I found the sound good; a distinctive indie kind of sound. The album has some strong tracks too - including Gold Gun Girls (my personal favourite).

And finally Santana, the established king of Latin-fusion rock and insanely good guitarist. Nominated after a chance listen by my Dad investigating his huge music collection. Just a little something to start, the words ‘summery', ‘variety' and ‘like' will probably be mentioned a lot in this mini-review. For starters, my other brother described it as ‘happy, summery music'. An album like this can be approached in a couple of ways. You can appreciate it for the awe-inspiring guitar music of Santana and you can appreciate it for the fusion of music, the Latin American sound mixed with pop, rock, blues, the variety (told you so) of languages...this is world music at its most enjoyable. As with most of Santana albums (I presume) it's a collection of songs featuring collaborations, some quite high-profile (Dido, Chad, Kroeger. This assures that every single track stands out - you can take it from us that there isn't a single dud. Favourites included the iconic The Game of Love, Sideways and Hoy Es Adios.

Album of the week? (ie. The only thing we ever disagree on): They're all winners in our hearts.

Fancy a listen?

• Indochine - Little Dolls (actually struggled to choose a song, mainly because I like the music videos too much. But this one is cool.) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WBBgHVNuez8
• Bryan Adams - Summer of '69 ('cos it's a classic natch.) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eFjjO_lhf9c&ob=av2e
• Metric - Help I'm Alive (because it's a tune, and also probably one of the only ones people might have heard of.) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7QnPZJvpr2c
• Santana - The Game of Love (ooh choices. But this was the song of late summer of '02.) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7yoGTVzgow8
• And just for kicks - Indochine - You Spin Me Round (Like a Record) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YrGjq4G8Aq0

*Yeah the ‘no name given thing' might get a tad irritating after a while but it was either labels for everyone or first names for everyone and, frankly, I'll never be able to get used to calling my parents by their first names.