Daily Arts Writer

With Raising the Bar, Amazin' Blue, the University's oldest a Cappella group, offers an alternative take on popular contemporary songs. The result is a well-rounded CD, a musical cornucopia of the past few year's catchiest songs.

The quality of the music is contingent upon each song. "Millenium" is fun with the lead vocal crooning in mock imitation of Robbie Williams' pleasantly annoying tone. "Brick," however, feels empty and flat. The vocal arrangement of "Sonny Came Home" is complex and the multitude of sounds transforms the song from a somewhat stale and singular tale into an engrossing, multifaceted compilation. Their take on "Cosmic Girl" is corny and forced, it lacks all the funk of Jamiroquai's pulsating original. Although the backing vocals on "Criminal" are a bit weak, the lead is extraordinarily confident and threatening. The Indigo Girl's "Ghost" resonates with the congenial spirit of a cappella, playing with the melody and unabashedly harmonizing at all the right moments.

The recording suffers from a focus on male leads when there is such obvious talent in their backing female vocalists. Those songs that concentrate on the female voice, "Sonny Came Home," "Criminal" and "Talula," for example, tickle the ear a bit more pleasingly than the male's. The group also tends to play it safe in many of their selections, translating the music into vocals in a straightforward manner rather than experimenting, exchanging innovation for recognition. However, half the delight in listening to Raising the Bar is recognizing your favorite guilty pop pleasures, which Amazin' Blue delivers by the spoonful.

Grade: B+