On her TV sitcom Moesha, Brandy Norwood is trapped between adolescence and womanhood. On this, her sophomore CD, the conflict seems more creative than biological; the 19-year old singer-actress is struggling to find her own niche in the competitive world of rhythm and blues. It's a daunting task because, as appealing as Brandy is, she isn't the strongest vocalist. That becomes clear on the single "The Boy Is Mine." The melodic squabble by two girls over a guy is pure joy, but Brandy's duet partner, fellow teen R&B star Monica, all but steals the song away. Despite her thin, often nasal tone, however, Brandy is sometimes capable of dipping into a husky, lower register, which she uses to great advantage on the slinky title track and the swaying "Learn the Hard Way." Ultimately, though, this feels like an overly long album (16 tracks) driven by the force of Brandy's persona but held back by the limitations of her skills.
Bottom Line: Don't give up the day job, girl
Ringo Starr (Mercury)
Album of the week
As a wee and sickly lad in Liverpool, Rich Starkey endeared himself to the neighbors by bravely singing what he has called a "party piece" or two at local gatherings. Later, after morphing into Ringo Starr and landing at the center of the biggest party of all, he continued the tradition, endearing himself to Beatles fans with off-key but winning renditions of a tune or two in concerts and on most of the albums his indulgent bandmates recorded. Here, on his first album in six years, Ringo wheels forth a pleasing batch of party pieces, from the light and breezy "La De Da" to the lovelorn ballads "King of Broken Hearts" and "One," on which he sounds both hangdog and resilient: "Lately I find I'm feeling insecure/ Is it just me? I'm not really sure." On "I'm Yours," Ringo even croons, believe it or not. With help from some famous friends (George Harrison, Paul McCartney, Alanis Morissette), Ringo has a blast here, and everyone can sing along.
Bottom Line: Ringo drums up some good, cheerful fun
The Smashing Pumpkins (Virgin)
Following the loud and furious sonic blast they served up on 1995's Mellon Collie and the Infinite Sadness, the Chicago-based Pumpkins seem shockingly quiet on their fourth studio album. Filled with minor-key melodies and only rare bursts from the guitars of top Pumpkin Billy Corgan and James Iha, Adore proceeds at a dirgelike pace as Corgan offers his meditations on loss, obsessive love and death. (One track, "For Martha," is a eulogy for his mother, who died of cancer last year.) With one sometime bandmate lost to a heroin overdose in 1996 (tour keyboardist James Melvoin) and drummer Jimmy Chamberlin now gone from the group because of his own drug woes, Corgan, Iha and bassist D'arcy Wretzky seem to be in search of personal recovery here; and their stark, emotional music makes for uneasy—but ultimately rewarding—listening.
Bottom Line: The noisy crew gets reflective, to good effect
Julie Gold (Gadfly)
Listening too long to this album is like being flogged with cotton candy. Gold, a Philadelphian best known as the composer of the 1990 hit "From a Distance," tends to dwell on the sweet and dreamy part of her style. In "Welcome to Paradise (For Randy)," a sort of Manhattanized "I Dreamed of a Hillbilly Heaven," she sings: "Anne Frank and Ryan White have become friends/ Dancing on clouds where the song never ends." This chronic Pollyannaism isn't all that new, of course. Gold even had a one-woman show called From a Distance & Other Songs of Hope. So even though she sounds vocally like Carole King, she rarely musters anything like King's soulful, sexy delivery. Gold is too witty to ever seem drab, but the liveliest track on this album is "The Language of Love," and even it has goody-two-shoes overtones: "There's nothing more to know/ You just open up your heart and let it flow."
Bottom Line: Treacle, best taken in small servings
- Contributors:
- Amy Linden,
- Steve Dougherty,
- Ralph Novak.
VANISHED WITHOUT A TRACE
Heartbreak & Hope
After Jaycee Dugard's rescue, a look at the cases of six young people who went missing in 2009
