She has written hit songs for Aaliyah and SWV, and sung and rapped with New Edition and MC Lyte. Now Missy Elliott steps out with her first solo album, Supa Dupa Fly, the strongest debut from a female R&B artist since Mary J. Blige. Like Mary J., Missy takes the basic elements of R&B (the hook, the groove, the attitude) and strips them down to their essence. The songs that she and producer Timbaland construct are filled with jagged, herky-jerky drum-and-bass patterns that are as melodic as they are funky. Add Missy's witty, off-kilter lyrics and her refreshingly down-to-earth image (and cameo appearances by Da Brat and Lil' Kim), and you have an album that signals the arrival of a true R&B force. (East/West)
Blues Traveler
Like the late Grateful Dead, Blues Traveler is more than just a band. In emulation of their San Francisco forebears, these four New Jerseyites have toured heavily, gained a devout following and added a similar troubadour mystique to their twist on 1970s blues-rock. But, unlike the Dead, Blues Traveler has achieved genuine pop success in its prime with hummable hits like "Run-around" and "Hook." Unfortunately, there's nothing as catchy on Straight On Till Morning, the band's fifth studio album. Lead singer John Popper's virtuoso harmonica playing adds welcome texture to standouts like "Carolina Blues" and the Latin-tinged "Felicia," but beyond that, the watery jam will leave the uninitiated wondering whether this band, as one song puts it, justifies the thrill. (A&M)
Echo & The Bunnymen
It's only fair. If we're going to have to sit through reunions by every lame old band from the '80s, we had better get some sort of compensation. And this date by one of the era's foremost alternative rock bands certainly qualifies. With lead singer Ian McCulloch back in front, the British trio has returned with a new CD that is both different from their past work and just as good.
Always skilled at mixing sweet pop melodies with a shading of moodiness, the group has opted for more of the former this time out—and songs like "Don't Let It Get You Down" and "I Want To Be There (When You Come)" are hit singles waiting to happen. The brighter feeling is apparent throughout Evergreen and, while it might not please some of the band's faithful following, it is proof that this reunion is not just a form of recycling. (London)
Robert Earl Keen
A Texas kid just out of high school drives to the Willie Nelson Fourth of July picnic and concert in 1974, and somehow the car catches fire in the parking lot. A generation later, songwriter Robert Earl Keen's new CD bears a photo of that car in flames on a day that aptly sums up this album: lots of good music and a world of trouble. Keen crafts songs that fall somewhere between rock and country, with lyrics that land squarely in the bleak western terrain of unlimited horizons and hemmed-in dreams. Love is elusive ("Over the Waterfall" cascades with sadness), and life can be desperate (the story of a botched cattle-rustling colors "Shades of Gray"), but Keen's deadpan sense of humor keeps the ants out of this Picnic. (Arista Austin)
Ronnie Earl and the Broadcasters
Over the last five years, former Roomful of Blues guitarist Ronnie Earl has released a series of stunning instrumental albums fusing jazz and blues with equal parts verve and soul. In the fifth of these sessions, The Colour of Love, Earl unwinds gorgeous guitar excursions that pay homage to artists from Carlos Santana to Albert Collins to Pink Floyd's David Gilmour. Saxophonist Hank Crawford drops by for a few tracks, adding spice to an already flavorful musical ragout. (Verve)
Rickie Lee Jones
Although she can be a riveting stage performer, on most of her recordings Rickie Lee Jones oscillates between the alluring and the repellent—and this new CD is no exception.
Collaborating with former Low Pop Suicide member Rick Boston and electronic music programmer Robert Devery, Jones forges a daring alliance between her lo-fi folk-jazz and their high-tech rhythm surges. On songs like the eerie title track and the infectious "Firewalker," they break mesmerizing new sonic ground. Unfortunately, much of the album is filled with meandering, inscrutable pieces that ultimately leave you feeling the way one usually does at the end of a Rickie Lee Jones album—exasperated. (Reprise)
Primal Scream
Call it trip pop. Ditching the boogie-woogie swagger of 1994's Give Out but Don't Give Up, Primal Scream's fifth album re-creates the wonderful hallucinogenic aura of Screamadelica, their landmark 1991 effort. Singer Bobby Gillespie seduces with his drowsy-sexy delivery on "Burning Wheel" and "Star," while "Stuka" and "Motorhead," with their compressed robotic vocals, could be themes for some sci-fi disco. Only a band with genuine musical smarts could name a disc after an obscure '70s road flick, sample the film's voice track on the first single ("Kowalski"), cast Kate Moss in the video—and not come across as pretentious twits. (Reprise)
>Kurt Liebert of bicycle
WHEELS OF FORTUNE
Every band needs something to set itself apart, but riding a bike from gig to gig? "That's our shtick," says guitarist Kurt Liebert, 31, who with bassist Forrest Burtnette, 24, makes up the melodious rock group aptly named bicycle. Fresh off a West Coast tour and about to issue their third self-released album, Jan Hus, the duo (formerly trio) wants to provide a soundtrack for bicyclists everywhere. "When you think of surfing, you think of the Beach Boys," says Kurt. "When you think of biking, we want people to think of bicycle."
Are you musicians who bike or bikers who play music?
We're musicians who bike. We got together as a band two years ago in New York City. But I said I was going to bike across country because it was a dream of mine. And they were like, "Take us with you." We wear our bike shorts and shirts onstage and tow a minimum of gear: very compact guitars, the guts of my amp, a CD player, a laptop, sleeping bags, blankets and a tent—and a bunch of our CDs to sell.
Do you ever take a car?
Until this tour we'd been pretty religious about this, but instead of biking all the way up to Eugene, Ore., from San Francisco, we hitched a ride. When we got up there, everyone was giving us crap. To a lot of these bikers, it's more important that we bike.
- Contributors:
- Amy Linden,
- Alec Foege,
- Craig Tomashoff,
- Mark Lasswell,
- Alan Paul,
- Billy Altman,
- Jeremy Helligar,
- Marisa Sandora.
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!
