After selling more than 6 million copies of its 1997 self-titled debut, featuring the hit "Semi-Charmed Life," Third Eye Blind barely saw platinum with its second effort, 1999's Blue. The San Francisco quartet bounces back nicely from its sophomore slump with its third release, which finds frontman Stephan Jenkins and company in a hook-heavy, melodic pop-rock vein that should put them all over radio and VH1. Jenkins, who crisply produced the entire album, had a hand in writing all 13 tracks, and there is hardly a bad song in the bunch. Guitar-driven ditties like "Forget Myself," with its shuffling hip-hop beat and sing-along chorus, are instantly catchy. Third Eye Blind also credibly cranks up the volume on punky rockers like "Danger," on which they do their best Green Day imitation. While this is a can't-miss disc, it lacks a killer cut, and there is a sameness to some of the tracks. Still, when Third Eye displays surprising introspection on such songs as the crunching "Crystal Bailer" ("I close my eyes and I see a freak/I think it's me and I'm afraid to speak"), the band's future looks brighter.
BOTTOM LINE: Third time's the charm
Songs of Soul & Inspiration
Various Artists (UTV)
Critic's Choice
"Church is where I don't have to go because it is always with me." So says poet Maya Angelou in "It's Sacred: Church," her spoken-word composition that opens this inspired compilation of uplifting songs performed by female vocalists who got started in Sunday-morning choir. The project is the brainchild of opera star Denyce Graves, whose heavenly mezzo-soprano graces a gospel-infused rendition of "Ave Maria." But the album mostly shows how gospel and R&B are at home in the same pew. Soul divas such as Jennifer Holliday, Dionne Warwick and En Vogue shine on church-steeped arrangements of secular covers, while Patti LaBelle gets right to the spirit of the matter on "Way Up There," the disc's only original tune. Best, though, is Stephanie Mills's righteous remake of "Reach Out and Touch (Somebody's Hand)." It'll make you say, "Diana who?"
BOTTOM LINE: Soul-stirring
Kelly Price (Def Soul)
On "Introlude (The Pricey Bunch)," the first track on her fourth CD, R&B star Kelly Price quickly proves her worth as a vocalist. She reworks the theme of The Brady Bunch with a gospel fervor that transforms the song into her personal testimony: "Here's the story of a project baby who was dreaming of a better way of life." No doubt Price, with her roof-raising delivery, could sing the Yellow Pages and make you shiver. Unfortunately, she spends too much of this disc on material that doesn't measure up to her mighty voice (which, although the singer has dropped more than 130 lbs., has lost none of its heft). Hip-hoppish midtempo numbers like "Take It to the Head" (featuring rapper Keith Murray) aren't hip at all. At least on soul-soaked ballads like the organ-fueled "Strong Man (Jeff in C Minor)," Price gives you more for your money.
BOTTOM LINE: First-rate singer, cut-rate songs
GodSmack (Republic/Universal)
Despite its self-effacing title, this follow-up to Godsmack's 2000 multi-platinum release Awake debuted at the top of the pop chart, thanks to the fury-filled hit "Straight Out of Line." Such unbridled rage dominates the Boston's quartet's third effort, burying the disc in an exceedingly loud alt-metal bluster, which puts the focus more on snarling guitars than on any specific lyrics. Just as well, considering that frontman Sully Erna's angry ruminations have a painfully tedious one-note quality. Only on the surprisingly subdued "Serenity," a multilayered track that melds tribal beats, strings and acoustic guitars, does the band really distinguish itself.
BOTTOM LINE: Pointless
Blur (Virgin)
Mark down the time and unplug the respirator, for Brit pop is officially dead. Blur, which threatened to become Britain's biggest band in the mid-'90s, when its bouncy sing-alongs were shouted across many a pub, have abandoned zingy pop (it never caught fire in the U.S. anyway) and moved on to an icy Euro-electronica like a teenager trading his comic books for Jean-Paul Sartre.
There is an understated, atmospheric prettiness that at times recalls the aching beauty of the Scottish band Belle and Sebastian, but electronica itself is in late middle age, and there is a fine line between laid-back and listless.
BOTTOM LINE: Blur should keep trying to refocus
Rhonda Vincent (Rounder)
Rhonda Vincent, 40, was bluegrass before bluegrass was cool. With her Reba McEntire/Patty Loveless twang and the resonant, hearty musicality of Ricky Skaggs, Vincent remains a step ahead of her roots-country competition on her 20th album. The Missouri singer/mandolin player cowrote five of the 12 tracks, including the admirable trucker's song "Ridin' the Red Line," which deftly exploits the inherent rhythm in bluegrass. Vincent turns to outside composers for other standouts such as the pretty, waltzy "Missouri Moon" and the up-tempo, cleverly dismissive "You Can't Take It with You When You Go." Elsewhere she pairs up with fellow bluegrass doyenne Alison Krauss, who supplies guest vocals on the upbeat "One Step Ahead of the Blues." Vincent's strongest support, though, comes from her backup band, which, sparked by fiddler Stuart Duncan and banjo player Ronnie Stewart, plays with uncommon zest and musicianship.
BOTTOM LINE: Get in step with Vincent
Etta James (Private)
Don't mess with Miss Etta. Fresh from last year's Grammy-nominated live recording, the 65-year-old matriarch of the blues (with her own newly unveiled star on Hollywood's Walk of Fame) emerges from the studio with another relentless outpouring of attitude and angst. Backed by the Roots Band, featuring sons Donto and Sametto, James early on proclaims, "The blues is my business, and business is good!" What an understatement. On a dozen songs about hard living, loving and the lessons they teach, James's coarse, sometimes throaty vocals turn a breakup into an act of self-respect on "A Change Is Gonna Do Me Good" and support rollicking irony on "Lie No Better," in which a cheating spouse is told, "If you can't lie no better, you might as well tell the truth."
BOTTOM LINE: Roll rocks
Barenaked Ladies, Foo Fighters and Jimmy Eat World were just the opening acts in a Lollapalooza of silly recent band names. Among the most memorable:
•BOWLING FOR SOUP The Texas foursome, whose novelty rocker "Girl All the Bad Guys Want" is a radio staple, took its name from a skit featured on Steve Martin's 1978 comedy disc A Wild and Crazy Guy.
•PINMONKEY This Nashville-based alt-country quartet claims its name from a 1995 episode of The Simpsons in which Homer gets to reset the pins at the local bowling alley.
•DEATHRAY DAVIES
These indie rockers—whose latest, Midnight at the Black Nail Polish Factory, suggests a profound love for kooky album titles too—honor the Kinks' Ray Davies.
•THE ALL-AMERICAN REJECTS
Lead singer Tyson Ritter originally titled this Oklahoma pop-rock quartet the Rejects, "because we thought we were punk." But when guitarist Nick Wheeler suggested the All-American—boom!—a band name was born.
•GARAGE A TROIS
This jazz-funk quartet—originally a trio—once tried out some garage rock that inspired the group's handle.
•DEATH CAB FOR CUTIE The Seattle indie-pop quartet copped its unusual name from a Bonzo Dog Band song, which appeared momentarily in the 1967 Beatles flick Magical Mystery Tour.
- Contributors:
- Chuck Arnold,
- Sona Charaipotra,
- Kyle Smith,
- Ralph Novak,
- V.R. Peterson.
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!
