With last year's No. 1 adult-contemporary single "Do It for Love" (originally featured on their Behind the Music greatest-hits compilation but also included here), Hall & Oates scored their first hit since 1990. The two continue their promising comeback with their 16th studio album, easily H&O's finest work since their '80s heyday. With effortlessly melodic pop and smooth, subtle harmonies, the disc could spark renewed interest in this duo. Tracks such as "Heartbreak Time," a vintage Hall & Oates ballad in the mode of "One on One," have a timeless quality that is all too rare among today's trend-conscious acts. Hall's comfortingly familiar voice hasn't diminished at all; he remains one of the most credibly soulful white singers in pop, effectively using his trademark falsetto on breezy ditties like "Intuition." The duo becomes a trio for one song, bringing in guest vocalist Todd Rundgren (who produced H&O's 1974 album War Babies) for a well-chosen cover of the New Radicals' "Someday We'll Know."
BOTTOM LINE: Still doing it well
Album of the week
Kathleen Edwards (Zoë/Rounder)
Many a female singer-songwriter has gotten lost in her own wispy voice and wimpy emoting, but this 24-year-old Canadian isn't interested in being a shiny new Jewel. Don't be fooled by the gentle strumming of acoustic guitars (which occasionally segue into a harder rock sound). Edwards rambles through her first full-length album singing about drinking, cussing, stealing and otherwise having a fine time. With her seen-it-all voice, she could be Liz Phair's rootsy cousin on "12 Bellevue": "I don't want to be your friend/Just take off your clothes and get into my bed." In "Westby," a sleazy motel-room affair ends, "You passed out so I flicked through cable/And I stole your gold watch off the bedside table." Edwards is often compared to Lucinda Williams; the newcomer has more grit and less poetry, but here's to one act that threatens to live up to the hype.
BOTTOM LINE: Woman to watch
Kenny Lattimore & Chanté Moore (Arista)
R & B singers Kenny Lattimore and Chanté Moore, who celebrated their first wedding anniversary last month, make a perfect musical marriage on this candlelight collection of duets, including 10 classic-soul covers plus two new songs. In addition to faithfully remaking gems by duos like Marvin Gaye and Tammi Terrell ("You're All I Need to Get By") and Ashford & Simpson ("Is It Still Good to You"), Lattimore and Moore rework faves by Teddy Pendergrass and the Commodores as duets. Best is their radiant rendition of Billy Preston and Syreeta's 1980 hit "With You I'm Born Again," on which Lattimore and Moore seem born to sing together.
BOTTOM LINE: Lovely Lovers
Michael Bublé (Reprise/143)
Newcomer Michael Bublé may be only 25, but this Vancouver vocalist is a throwback to the days when crooners wore fedoras instead of ski caps. On his swinging debut Bublé displays a velvety baritone and a debonair touch on big-band/orchestral arrangements of such standards as "Come Fly with Me" and "The Way You Look Tonight." He's less successful with his traditional-pop take on Lou Rawls's 1976 hit "You'll Never Find Another Love Like Mine," which sounds oddly like "Strangers in the Night." But Bublé's gorgeous version of the Bee Gees' "How Can You Mend a Broken Heart" (on which the Brothers Gibb, including the recently departed Maurice, supply background vocals) is sweetly soothing.
BOTTOM LINE: A fine Bublé
Valentine's Day is right around the corner, but who needs Cupid when you have these albums—from classics to current releases—to get your romantic mojo going?
Come Away with Me Norah Jones (Blue Note) On last year's debut the jazzy Jones put the flame back in torch songs like "Turn Me On" and "The Nearness of You," while originating tunes such as "Don't Know Why" and the title track, which are perfect for cozying up by the fire.
The Way I Feel Remy Shand (Motown) This Canadian blue-eyed soulster, who is up for four Grammys later this month, is the master of the midtempo seduction on his first album, which conjures up memories of old-school R&B Romeos like Al Green and Smokey Robinson.
Songs for Swingin' Lovers! Frank Sinatra (Capitol) Whether pledging that "Love Is Here to Stay" or roguishly teasing about "Makin' Whoopee," Sinatra is still the man when it comes to laying on the romantic charm.
Maxwell's Urban Hang Suite Maxwell (Columbia) This neo-soul man's 1996 debut made him an instant sex symbol, with his silky falsetto, bedroom balladry and sensual arrangements. A concept album tracing the course of a love affair, it peaks midway through with the simply beautiful declaration "Whenever Wherever Whatever."
Stronger than Pride Sade (Epic) Any of Sade's CDs would qualify for this list, but we'd pick the group's 1988 disc. It's not Sade's best album (that would be Lovers Rock), but it immediately sets the mood with its first cut, "Love Is Stronger than Pride," on which singer Sade Adu achingly confesses, "I still really, really love you."
Let's Get It On Marvin Gaye (Motown) Gaye's treatise on carnal pleasures does more for lovemaking than the Kama Sutra. The disc starts with his classic come-on "Let's Get It On" and closes with the heart-wrenching breakup ballad "Just to Keep You Satisfied."
The Patsy Cline Story Patsy Cline (MCA) With her warm, rich alto, country legend Cline gets right to the heart of the matter on ballads such as "I Love You So Much It Hurts," "True Love" and, of course, "Crazy," boasting an unmistakable style that Nashville's current leading ladies can only wish they had.
- Contributors:
- Chuck Arnold,
- Kyle Smith.
