Like other chart champs from the '80s who now find themselves struggling commercially, Boy George would do well to study the secret of Madonna's success: She remains a Top 40 and MTV fixture because she understands the market value of good, palatable hooks. Since leaving Culture Club in 1987, George's various solo guises—new-jack swinger on 1989's High Hat, Hare Krishna dance diva on 1991's The Martyr Mantras, etc.—have unfortunately distanced him from the smooth tonality, as well as the platinum sales, of his former group.
He hasn't learned from his mistakes on his fourth solo album. Rather than picking up on his pop-tinted roots as he did on his 1993 comeback hit, "The Crying Game," George tries yet another new musical look, flirting with brash, windswept guitar rock. The openly gay singer-songwriter (who lives in London with his lover of nine years, video producer Michael Dunne) no longer hides behind vague pronouns like "you" and "they"; he now addresses his love-connected comments to "him." Such aggression makes for some sharp, barbed-wire lyrics: "I could beat ya/I could teach ya/But I'm not comin' down to meet ya," he growls on "Sad." Musically, Cheapness & Beauty is at its best on the fresh breeze of the title tune and the fragile "If I Could Fly"—when George dumps the cheap, hard-rock sounds and puts melodic beauty first. (Virgin)
The Sisters of Glory
While other modern gospel ensembles like the Sounds of Blackness and the Boys Choir of Harlem turn youngsters on to God by adding contemporary pop and R&B elements to their music, these Sisters—disco singer Thelma Houston; her '90s counterpart CeCe Peniston; '70s folkie soul mama Phoebe Snow; socially conscious singer-songwriter Lois Walden; and revered gospel-great Albertina Walker—smartly stick to traditional Sunday-morning basics. Walker's warm, weary, weathered vocals infuse "Rough Side of the Mountain" and "He's Right on Time" with the glorious spirit of Mahalia Jackson, and Peniston's sassy soul strut hones an edge on "How I Got Over." But the least-known Sister provides the best News: Just listen to the touching, tear-jerking way Walden captures the essence of maternal love on "No Charge," and you too will think every day is Mother's Day. (Warner Bros.)
Yellowjackets
Revived and recharged, the jazz fusion quartet return to the label on which they first gained attention more than a decade ago. With their 12th album, the Yellowjackets have once again put luster in their melodies and bite in their backbeat. On songs like the clarion "The Chosen" and the frisky "A Walk in the Park," pensive, expansive instrumental themes coalesce startlingly into tight, funky choruses. Jazz fusion is an exciting musical hybrid when it's artfully executed, combining the melodic complexity of jazz with the rhythmic pulse and penetrating riffs of pop. When they are on top of their game, as here, the Yellowjackets juggle that genre more adroitly than anyone. (Warner Bros.)
Paul Weller
Though he is only 37, Paul Weller has been a major presence in British music for nearly 20 years. He burst on the scene in the mid-'70s as the singer-songwriter of the Jam, the most musically polished group of the punk era, and then spent several years as the paragon of Europop posturing with the Style Council, a faux R&B combo. After a few years in the creative wilderness, he has come roaring back to embrace the role of rock elder statesman.
Stanley Road—England's Woking, Surrey, street where Weller lived as a child—has a stripped-down, early '70s musical style, heavy with guitar and gritty vocals. On "The Changingman" and "Porcelain Gods," Weller sounds exactly like his old hero Pete Townshend, and the brilliant "Time Passes..." wouldn't sound out of place on Exile on Main St. Visually as well as musically, Weller is following in famous footsteps: The album's title and design resemble those on the Beatles' Abbey Road (and the cover montage—which includes a photo of John Lennon—is by Peter Blake, the man who conceptualized Sgt. Pepper for the Fab Four). To be sure, Weller sets the bar high—and easily clears it with this remarkable, personal work. (Go! Discs/London)
Heather Nova
This Bermuda-born, London-based singer reveals a beautiful, delicate—and powerful—voice in this excellent collection of dreamy pop-rock tunes. It's easy to compare her first full-length U.S. release to the work of similarly ethereal singers like Tori Amos and Sarah McLachlan, but Nova's material is more lyrically direct than the former's and more rock-oriented than the latter's. Whether it's something soft and slow, like the elegant "Heal," or the more conventional and catchy mid-tempo "Walk This World" or "Truth and Bone," Nova's blend of airy vocals and earthy melodies clearly establishes her own unique musical identity. Each tune in this Oyster shimmers like a pearl. (Big Cat/WORK)
>Boy George
NOT PLAYING THE VICTIM ANYMORE
Boy George knows a thing or two about turning a clever phrase. So when he began his forthcoming autobiography (Take It Like a Man, due from Harper-Collins this fall), which covers everything from his coming out to how he kicked heroin, he assumed that the writing would go smoothly. "I thought I could chuck the book out in a few months," says the 34-year-old, whose real name is George O'Dowd. "But," he adds, laughing, "five, six, seven years later, I was like, 'Oh, my God! this is not as easy as I thought it would be.' "
Have you changed through the years?
In the past I sort of portrayed myself as the great unloved with songs like "Do You Really Want to Hurt Me" and "Victims." When I started writing the book and when I went into therapy, I began to realize how much I was perpetuating the whole myth myself. I've stopped being a victim. I've been through so many extreme experiences, I've come out on the other end with a much stronger attitude about myself. I really believe that if you can't be who you truly are, if you can't be free, if you can't express yourself, then you don't really have a life. So this music and this book are me saying, "This is who I am. And if you don't like it, well, tough."
Is this new attitude reflected in your latest, more conservative look?
Well, I still have the very extreme image. But in the past, I was trapped in that look. Now, if I want to walk down the street in a pair of sloppy pants and a T-shirt with no makeup on, I'm free to do that. But I'll always be an exhibitionist. I'll always be attracted to the highest platforms and the glittery shirt. That ain't never gonna change.
- Contributors:
- Jeremy Helligar,
- David Hiltbrand,
- David Ellis,
- Craig Tomashoff.
Saved by the Bell Reunion
The hookups, the meltdowns, the memoires
The case reveals what was really going on what they think of each other now!
