Intro

Chris Reports :

Forthcoming Releases - 2001
Click here to view the most important releases of 2001

Aerosmith
Just Push Play
(Sony/Columbia)

Despite well-documented internal conflicts and bouts with substance addiction, Aerosmith has endured more than 25 years and produced countless releases, some stronger than others. The band's latest, Just Push Play, is an expert balance of vintage Aerosmith and more contemporary stylings.

Steven Tyler's signature wail drives the swaggering "Beyond Beautiful," while the title track uses backwards masking, distorted vocals, and hip-hop pacing ala the Red Hot Chili Peppers, and "Jaded" is a slightly more dissonant version of the typically wistful melodic rock-lite ballad that jump-started Aerosmith's career back in the day. The harmonica-heavy, Southern rock-inflected "Fly Away from Here" finds Tyler in full sneer, and "Under My Skin" brims with the group's patented macho guitar posturing.

Elsewhere, Tyler is in familiar fettle in the catchy, guitar-driven "Luv Lies" while "Outta Your Head" is propelled by acoustic guitar and strings. The vaguely psychedelic "Drop Dead Gorgeous" lets loose with spacey sounds and affected vocals; "Light Inside" boasts the drawn-out chords of an anthemic power ballad, and a hidden bonus track offers a harder, lo-fi version of the title song.

After one listen to this impressive debut, there should be no doubt as to whom Jill Scott is. The poet, singer-songwriter, and Roots protégé has released an R&B album that is a realistic and uniquely personal portrait of life in modern, urban America

Mos Def - Black On Both Sides

My hip Hop choice -Chris

The spectacle of young men from Glasgow bashing out albums of sunny, impeccably harmonised guitar pop in deep hock to The Byrds and Big Star is hardly a new one. Indeed, since Teenage Fanclub broke cover with "Everything Flows" back in 1990, spawning legions of imitators, it has often seemed that nobody male under the age of 30 is doing anything except idly strumming rewrites of "September Gurls" to themselves on their second-hand Rickenbackers. Cosmic Rough Riders are certainly heirs to this lineage, but they have created a truly exceptional debut album with Enjoy The Melodic Sunshine, marked out from the herd not just by its unfailingly gorgeous melodies, but by the incorporation of an English folk sensibility evocative of Fairport Convention or The Strawbs. This pastoral tendency is illustrated by "Brothers Gather Round" and "Glastonbury Revisited"; their credentials as masters of the guitar pop form are emphasised by "Melanie" and "The Pain Inside". Altogether marvellous.

Cliff Richard

So you've sat avidly in front of the television screaming at the contestants of Who Wants To Be A Millionaire? Of course, with you sitting comfortable at home with your cup of tea in hand, the pressure isn't as great, and of course you've already proved to yourself that you could have won the million pounds months ago, well now is your chance, for Who Wants To Be A Millionaire? has now come to that beige box in the corner of the room.

With all the fanfare, Chris Tarrant's voiceover and a plethora of questions to challenge you, it's the chance any avid quiz expert has been looking for to final put their critics to rest.

Dotting all the i's and crossing all the t's, the game is an exact replica of the television show. And yes before you ask, Chris Tarrant does make sure that "It is your final answer" and that you "are sure" you've made the right choice.

As in the TV game show you have the option to ask the audience, phone a friend and play the 50:50 cards, and just like the real McCoy, the audience do get it wrong and your friends don't have a clue.

With multiplayer options allowing you to practice the fastest finger, head to head competition and teamwork, this game will allow you to drag the whole family into the game.

Surprisingly challenging and pressure building--you can't skip the video sequences, nor Chris Tarrant's voiceovers--this game is great if you have any inclination towards the quiz genre. If you are a hardened fan of the television series then this however, will be more than your cup of tea, allowing you to finally take the seat and try and become a virtual millionaire.

Rather than just follow the latest first-person shooter trends, Eidos Interactive's TimeSplitters gets its inspiration from the granddaddy of all first-person shooters, Doom. Shunning GoldenEye 007's stealth approach to the action, here you have plenty of ammo and an assortment of over 25 different high-powered weapons (both authentic time-period weapons, like the Carbine and the Blunderbuss, and more familiar weapons like the sniper rifle and the pistol). All you will need to do is lock, load and go in with guns blazing. The arcade mode in TimeSplitters allows you to customise your weapons, allowing you to carry five different arms from any found in the game.

The one thing that this game does share with GoldenEye 007 is its incredible speed. One of the goals the design team set out to achieve is a lightning fast frame rate of 60 frames-per-second, and so far it looks as though they have blasted through the speed barrier with TimeSplitters.

The heart and soul of this game is its multiplayer mode, with a groundbreaking mapmaker feature in tow. Its multiplayer modes consist of a two-player co-operative mode, deathmatch, Capture the Bag, Bank Job, Last Stand (players against a huge assortment of enemies), Escort (protect another character through an entire level), Knock Out, Flag Tag and Reverse Flag Tag play modes. The game also offers a single-player component that will include nine levels that span a few decades, from the early part of the 20th century to the middle of the 21st Century. They are in order: Tomb 1935, Village 1950, Mansion 1965, Chinese 1970, Industrial 1985, Docks 2000, Sci-Fi 2005, Planet 2020 and Launch 2035

Heat

Mission: Impossible 2 - Original Soundtrack

ARTIST

Performers include: Metallica, Limp Bizkit, Tori Amos, Live, PJ Harvey, Godsmack, Rob Zombie, Eve 6, Foo Fighters, Brian May, Butthole Surfers, Tonic.

Gladiator-Original Soundtrack

With the best fight scenes since 'Spartacus' and the best chariot scenes since 'Ben Hur', comes 'Gladiator'. A massive budget ancient-history epic. Set against the splendour and barbarity of the Roman Empire in 180AD, this is a story of courage and revenge. Russell Crowe heads a cast including Derek Jacobi, Richard Harris, Joaquin Philips and the late Oliver Reed. This awesome film is accompanied by Hans Zimmer's equally epic score.