Here, bobbing in the wake of Steely Dan's unexpected return to the Top 10, is another stalwart of the me decade with surprising buoyancy. A former Steely backup singer who came into his own in the '70s by leavening the Doobie Brothers' rock guitar attack with his bluesy vocals and piano playing, McDonald has not been heard from since his 1993 solo album, Blink of an Eye. Now he's back with the sort of mid-tempo, blue-eyed R&B ballads that made the St. Louis native the heartland's answer to Van Morrison. As a lyricist, McDonald tends to keep hoeing the same row. "Like a river runnin' to the sea," he sings in the non sequitur-filled "All I Need," "there must be a reason for all these shattered dreams." Entire songs can pass without old McDonald unearthing a single non-cliché image. But this is a fellow who could sing the tally of Census 2000 and make it sound good. And thanks to covers of Neil Young's "Down by the River" and Marvin Gaye's "Ain't That Peculiar," he doesn't have to.
Bottom Line: Groovy Doobie
Trisha Yearwood (MCA Nashville)
Album of the week
With every album, Yearwood sounds smarter and deeper. More musical. Better. This, her ninth album, is a thorough pleasure. After 10 years as a Nashville star, she has broadened her style to include hints of Bonnie Raitt, Linda Ronstadt and even—in a sly (and deep-voiced) moment or two-Lyle Lovett. Yearwood, in fact, takes on Ronstadt's old hit "Try Me Again," and while nobody can match Ronstadt's crystalline sensuality, Trisha makes a respectable effort. She also effectively evokes the poignant side of Bruce Springsteen in "Sad Eyes," yet another in this album's string of highlights. Another special pleasure is "Too Bad You're No Good," with nimble mandolin work by Sam Bush and clever lyrics: "Call a preacher/ Call the police/ With a man like you, it's famine or feast." Matraca Berg, whose emotional yet ironic songwriting sensibilities fit Yearwood's style beautifully, cowrote three of the 12 tunes, even joining (in a beauty-and-the-beast match made in songwriters' heaven) with Harlan Howard to create the rueful "Come Back When It Ain't Rainin'." Yearwood coproduced Real Live Woman with veteran Garth Fundis, and all three words in this CD's title are confirmed by the result. One problem: How can she improve on this when it's time for album No. 10?
Bottom Line: Here's to not resting on your laurels
Chumbawamba (Republic/Universal)
Ax grinding has never sounded this good. Chumbawamba, the eight-member self-proclaimed anarchist collective from Leeds, England, has another album of musical agitprop you can dance—and yuk—to. WYSIWYG (computerese for What You See Is What You Get) is the follow-up to their surprise 1997 hit album Tubthumper, which sold 4 million copies thanks to the mega single "Tubthumping," a worker's anthem disguised as a party song. Like its predecessor, this, the group's 10th album, is more than happy, hooks-and-harmonies-laden pop. Underlying the percolating rhythms, tough-to-resist sing-along choruses, appealing lead vocals and amusing sound effects are subversive messages that rail against greed and the consumer culture or warn listeners not to become computer zombies.
Lacking a single with the mainstream hit potential of "Tubthumping," WYSIWYG is a collection of 22 tracks (some of which are more like song bites than actual tunes) that slice and dice their targets with sharply mocking wit. In the opening track, "I'm With Stupid," flavor-of-the-month "white boy bands" get rich by being "happy on demand" and making sure "everything is bland." And "I'm Not Sorry, I Was Having Fun" savages the now generation: "By the time I got to Woodstock/ It was going up in flames." Among the funniest tracks is "Jesus in Vegas," which imagines Christ as a lounge entertainer who takes care of business, à la a certain celebrated late rock king. The song also guarantees that Chumbawamba's renegade status will not be jeopardized by another round of saturation radio play.
Bottom Line: Not quite ready for drive time
Patti Smith (Arista)
With a rebel yell, Patti Smith made her rollicking debut in 1975. In her acclaimed album Horses, she created a pioneering sound that wed her angry, image-rich poetry to punk rock's explosive rhythms. What's more, her androgynous, unkempt, antifashion style appealed to hardcore purists who scorned the frivolous, gaudy wasteland of disco.
Now celebrating the 25th anniversary of that groundbreaking collection, Smith, whose last album, Gone Again, dolefully mourned the 1994 deaths of her husband, former MC5 guitarist Fred "Sonic" Smith, and her brother Todd Smith, infuses this much-less-somber CD with the freewheeling spirit of her earlier work. On tunes like the eerily dreamy title track, which recalls the Doors' "The End," and the playful rocker "Glitter in Their Eyes," Smith (with the help of a propulsive backup garage band) makes an evocative and emotional comeback.
Bottom Line: Mint Patti
Pink (LaFace)
The op-art coif, of course, aims to attract notice. But there's nothing gimmicky about the music pouring forth from the fluorescent-locked chanteuse. In fact, the most shocking thing about Pink is her talent. A 20-year-old Philadelphia club kid née Alecia Moore, Pink (a childhood nickname inspired by her blush-prone complexion) is a triple-threat singer-songwriter-heartthrob who has already scored a pop hit with "There You Go," a caustic but catchy breakup song. Composer of five of the 13 engaging R&B-flavored tunes here, Pink further sets herself apart from many of her contemporaries with a confident and understated vocal style. Hair display aside, Pink is no mere show-off.
Bottom Line: Pretty funky in Pink
>FREAK MAGNET Violent Femmes (Beyond) Neither a femme nor prone to violence, band auteur Gordon Gano is an endearingly quirky songwriter (best known as composer of 1983's "Blister in the Sun") and perpetual adolescent whose voice is still cracking after all these years.
THE HOTEL CHILD Ingrid Lucia and the Flying Neutrinos (Artists Only) The daughter of an itinerant musician and an artist, swing-band vocalist Lucia sings of growing up in flops that were a long way from Eloise's Plaza but no less charming.
THE MILLION DOLLAR HOTEL Various Artists (Interscope) Until U2 returns with a new album this fall, fans must make do with the three new songs (plus three by Bono) on this soundtrack CD.
>Jimmy Page
Few bands have the staying power of Led Zeppelin. Although the band split up after the death of drummer John Bonham in 1980, their influence runs the gamut from Puffy Combs to Nirvana. "The music keeps resurfacing, doesn't it?" notes guitarist Jimmy Page, 56, who recently performed with the Black Crowes and has now assembled Latter Days: The Best of Led Zeppelin Volume Two. "If it's not us, it's somebody doing a version of us."
Why is Zeppelin still so popular?
Individually the musicians were good, but together everyone improved. We played many styles and broke new ground.
Do you mind your imitators?
It's a testament to our passion. I still get asked, "Will you approve a riff in this song?" It's incredible.
Will you release more material?
There's a lot of stuff, including footage and tapes of live shows going back to 1970. But it depends on the other members. If they're not behind it, I can't be bothered.
How about another collaboration with Robert Plant?
He's declined. I'm glad to blow off some steam with the Crowes.
Do you still love to tour?
I love it—I never know what I'm going to do. Who knows what might happen? There's a lot left in me yet.
- Contributors:
- Steve Dougherty,
- Ralph Novak,
- Amy Linden,
- Joseph V. Tirella.
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!
