Ready for the Weekend (Bonus Track Version)

iTunes Review

Calvin Harris is always ready for the weekend. Not only a purveyor of massive beats (and equally massive dance club hits), Harris spreads the love, producing and writing for other artists like Kylie Minogue and Dizzee Rascal. With this, his sophomore studio album, scooting to the top of the U.K. album charts and sending at least four singles to the U.K. charts as well (the standouts being the giddy title track and the monstrous “I’m Not Alone”), Ready for the Weekend is well poised to buy the artist another summer home in ... well, wherever he wants. What about the rest of the album, you ask? If glossy, synth-driven dance music is your thing, you won’t be at a loss here: check another single-worthy, rubber-sole track, “Stars Come Out,” or try on the funk-heavy “Yeah Yeah Yeah La La La” and “The Rain,” or the loopy and offbeat “Blue.”  A soulful rap tint on “Worst Day” (with Izza Kizza) and some chill downtime on instrumentals “Burns Night” and “5iliconeator” show Harris’ strengths as an album producer and sound architect; he’s clearly more than a dancefloor hitmaker.