Since leaving 10,000 Maniacs in 1993, Natalie Merchant has seemingly come up with 10,000 social issues to sing about. This third solo outing is more music for the despondent. Racism, embattled self-esteem and love gone sour all make appearances here. Yet even when she tries to lighten things up musically on "Saint Judas," a rollicking, blue-grassy blend of softly strummed banjo and grinding guitars, the lyrics are about a lynching. She also missteps on a couple of neoclassical ballads, which just come off as strange.
On the timely title track, though, Merchant's vigorous alto captures a sense of national yearning when she plaintively asks for someone to "cradle me, close my eyes/ Lullaby me to sleep." But it's the sardonic "Golden Boy" that shines brightest, as an acerbic Merchant rails against commercialism: "Heroes are born/Idols are made/ We're all fools for this factory fame."
Bottom Line: Eclectic and erratic
Prince (NPG)
The purple reign is over. Hoping to pull a Carlos Santana, Prince fizzled quickly with his grand attempt at a commercial comeback, the 1999 flop Rave Un2 the Joy Fantastic. On his latest effort the prolific Prince (21 albums in 23 years) reverts to his own left-of-mainstream sensibilities. That includes his usual vacillations between the sexual and the spiritual, but this time he favors the latter (he has became a Jehovah's Witness in recent years). In keeping with his newfound faith, the dude who once got Tipper Gore in an uproar has even sworn off profanity.
A concept album about the Christian journey to "The Everlasting Now," as one song title puts it, Rainbow is not always easy listening; its lofty ambitions are sometimes mired in its murky lyrics and sporadic narration that sounds like Darth Vader teaching Bible study. Still, while some tracks feel more like extended jams than actual songs, this is also one of Prince's most musical works. Incorporating jazz and gospel more than ever before on cuts such as "Mellow" and "The Work Pt. 1," respectively, and even experimenting a bit with classical arrangements, Prince reminds you why he once called himself simply the Artist.
Bottom Line: A colorful if confounding Rainbow
The Strokes (RCA)
A generation after their spiritual forebears—Lou Reed and the Ramones—danced on disco's ashes, these brash young bloods had a rude awakening following Sept. 11. Set for release Sept. 25, this debut album had to be rushed back to the factory to remove a song that bounced to the refrain "New York City cops, they ain't too smart."
What the band lacks in taste, it makes up for in energy, courtesy of jerky beats and rapid-fire guitar riffs that result in unwashed, muddy rock. The single "Last Nite" skips and shouts like Tom Petty's "American Girl," bringing back a time when you couldn't come to the gig without a skinny tie.
Bottom Line: Party like it's 1979
Shelby Lynne (Island)
The best thing about this disappointing follow-up to last year's I Am Shelby Lynne, which helped win the singer a Grammy for Best New Artist, is that a limp rap song was cut from this disc since reviewers received copies in October. Critics get paid to listen to stuff like that, but no paying customer should have to. Having tiptoed away from her original Nashville sound, Lynne sets out for Motown this time. The result is a desultory pop-R&B disc comprised of unremarkable tunes with undistinguished musicianship and vapid lyrics ("I will hold you like no other/I'm your father, I'm your mother," from "Trust Me"). Other than the blues-tinged "Ain't It the Truth," this is a forgettable foray into the crossover universe.
Bottom Line: A gifted singer strays too far from home
Marc Anthony (Sony Discos)
Album of the week
For those who haven't yet heard him sing in Spanish, get ready to meet the real Marc Anthony. Although the Latin pop star's 1999 self-titled English-language debut went triple-platinum on the strength of the Top 10 hits "I Need to Know" and "You Sang to Me," some of the fire and passion that marked his earlier all-Spanish albums got lost in the translation. Now, on this festive salsa disc, Anthony cuts loose with an infectious fervor, amply getting his groove back.
An all-out party album, Libre ("Free" in Spanish) pulsates with the energy of a salsa club, capturing a live feel with its tropical rhythms, syncopated horns and keyed-up piano. The life of the fiesta, though, is Anthony, who, singing in the native tongue of his Puerto Rican parents, shows why he is one of the best vocalists around, Latin or otherwise. His pliant, powerful tenor soars with conviction on numbers such as "Hasta Que Vuelvas Conmigo" "Barco à la Deriva," connecting emotionally with the listener in way that transcends language.
Bottom Line: Salsational
Inviting 200 fans to his farmhouse in Tuscany for the recording of his new live disc...All This Time, Sting was ready to jam. "But that day was Sept. 11," he says. "I didn't feel like singing. I asked for a minute of silence, then said I would shut down the show. During the moment of silence, some band members started crying. After that, I asked the audience, 'What do you want?' " They encouraged him to go ahead. "The music had a healing effect," he says. "So we kept the tapes rolling. But this wasn't the easiest gig of my life."
It isn't always easy for an ex-punk rocker to turn 50, either, but Sting took his Oct. 2 birthday in stride. "I have six wonderful children, a wonderful wife and most of my sanity," says the former Police chief, who these days listens more to Bach than rock. "I'm pretty happy to be 70, oops, I mean 50." The kids—four with movie-producer wife Trudie Styler, two with ex-wife Frances Tomelty—have him wrapped around their fingers. "I'm a dad, you know?" says Sting, although he still has to work on his paternal repertoire. "I don't know those Barney songs yet." Ericka Sóuter
- Contributors:
- Sona Charaipotra,
- Chuck Arnold,
- Kyle Smith,
- Ralph Novak.
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!
