As part of an all-star tribute to his late father several years ago, Sean Lennon sang a version of "Dear Prudence" in a reedy, haunted voice that sounded uncannily like that of his papa John's. On this, his first solo CD (with his keyboardist girlfriend Yuka Honda and members of her band, Cibo Matto), the now 22-year-old Lennon plays guitar and sings his own songs in a mix of styles that includes jazz-lite, country and heavy metal. But Lennon is so laid-back he never musters the fire and passion that propelled the work of his famous forebear. Regrettably, too, his material is so insubstantial as to make the album seem like a demo tape that, lacking the artist's last name, would never have gotten farther than his living room. Lennon laces his disc with bossa nova rhythms, moody piano, trumpet and softly brushed snares and only occasional bursts from his electric guitar. The album proceeds languidly, and the innocuous lyrics ("And when the day is done/I will follow you into the sun") don't help matters much. Apart from the lilting tune "Queue," with its Beatles-esque harmonies, Lennon sounds as if he has been listening to too much Sergio Mendes.
Bottom Line: A first effort best left in the shadows
Public Enemy (Def Jam)
Album of the week
Hip-hop fans have cause to celebrate: Public Enemy is back and (thank goodness) angry as ever, with the four original members (Chuck D, Flavor Flav, Terminator X, Professor Griff) intact. The seminal hip-hop group's first CD in four years serves as the soundtrack for Spike Lee's basketball movie, He Got Game, and many of the rhymes are directed at the commercialism of sports and the racial schisms within the NBA. Numerous tracks contain barbs at NBA commissioner David Stern, while "Politics of the Sneaker Pimps" aims its fury at the major shoe companies and their exploitation of foreign workers. These aren't the feel-good, throw-your-hands-in-the-air anthems that are so hot these days, but Public Enemy, hip-hop's answer to Punk Rock, has always shown more interest in agitprop than body rocking. Longtime fans might gripe at some of the group's more commercial moves, like the use of background singers, but there's no denying the rage of rapper Chuck D's delivery or the wall of sound created by their production team, the Bomb Squad.
Bottom Line: They shoot, and score
Sylvia (Red Pony)
A veritable country music hit machine in the early '80s, Sylvia makes a strong bid here for a comeback. Across the 13 cuts on this CD, she clearly demonstrates that her self-imposed 10-year layoff from recording didn't diminish her remarkable vocal strength. She always sang with more intensity and resonance than most country singers, and she still does. This album includes a more eclectic selection of tunes than the schmaltzy, overnight hits like "Nobody" that first made her famous. That's to the good, and with song-writing help from Nashville veterans like Craig Bickhardt and Verlon Thompson, Sylvia Hutton also shows that she can still sing a story song better than almost anyone around.
Bottom Line: A long-gone country star catches fire again
Simply Red (EastWest)
As the great red-haired hope of blue-eyed soul, Britain's Mick Hucknall had a string of hits in the 1980s with remakes of old rhythm-and-blues tunes, including the Valentine Brothers' "Money's Too Tight (To Mention)" and Harold Melvin and the Blue Notes' "If You Don't Know Me By Now." Having long since jettisoned his old backing band in favor of studio musicians, Hucknall releases this uninspiring collection of seven original songs plus reworked tunes by Neil Young ("Mellow My Mind"), reggae's Gregory Isaacs, the Hollies (two versions of "The Air That I Breathe" are inexplicably included) and Aretha Franklin. Fans hoping for the old Hucknall swagger will be disappointed; he now seems to be limping toward lounge-music land. Instead of high-energy gospel-rock, Hucknall is content for now with pretty crooning over flaccid, easy-listening arrangements.
Bottom Line: Simply dull
- Contributors:
- Steve Dougherty,
- Amy Linden,
- Ralph Novak.
