Critic's Choice
Catchy tunes laced with wry observations and poignant insights have been the hallmark of bands like the Kinks and They Might Be Giants. Infectious rock and roll doesn't always lead to commercial success, however, as those cult groups can attest: The Kinks had only a handful of hits in 25 years, and TMBG none. Now hovering in similar pop purgatory is this quartet led by Adam Schlesinger and Chris Collingwood, two deft composers whose lot it is to craft a third album of near-perfect car-radio songs that fans have little hope of ever hearing on tightly formatted radio. Memorable as it would be to blast a top-down summer song like the irresistible loser's lament "Bright Future in Sales" or "Stacy's Mom," about a high school boy whose girlfriend's mom "has got it goin' on," it's only going to happen if you get this CD. Luckily, you don't need wind in your hair to feel the rush of "Little Red Light," about a commuter stuck in traffic on the Tap-pan Zee Bridge in New York, or the longing of the schmoes and working stiffs of "Halley's Waitress," about a diner where coffee refills arrive with the frequency of the comet.
BOTTOM LINE: Clever, quirky and fun
Lizz Wright (Verve)
Wright, a 23-year-old gospel-bred contralto, is one of the year's most intriguing new voices. Discovered four years ago at an Atlanta jazz-fest, the Georgia native is a slender, soulful charmer whose sound—part Oleta Adams, part Cassandra Wilson—can achieve a burnished heat or a full, rounded elegance. Like Grammy-winning Norah Jones's Come Away with Me, Wright's cross-genre debut is a calculated effort of marketing and all-star jazz backup (that's pianist Danilo Perez on "Afro Blue"). The CD's dozen mostly midtempo tracks range from "Soon As I Get Home," the Stephanie Mills showstopper from The Wiz, to a spiritual and five original songs written by Wright (including the bluesy title number). The results are impressive if uneven, though Wright's resonant voice is always stunning. Salt is an engaging beginning, and Wright is sure to improve as she adds other seasonings.
BOTTOM LINE: Tasty starter
Jane's Addiction (Capitol)
Despite having released only two studio albums, this alt-metal L.A. group was enormously influential before it broke up in 1991, having merged slow-burning art-school intensity with West Coast speed punk. Fans won't be disappointed by this comeback; singer Perry Farrell is 44 but still sounds 14, while guitarist Dave Navarro, though at times predictable with his rapid-fire riffs, is an exciting force on tracks like "Just Because" and the anthemlike "To Match the Sun." Jane's does some of its best work when it slows things down, though. Possibly its best-loved track is the pretty 1988 acoustic-guitar and steel-drum ballad "Jane Says." More offbeat moments like that would have been welcome here, but if you take your rock so loud that you can't hear anyone who tells you to turn it down, blast away.
BOTTOM LINE: Mighty sounds for moshers
Steve Winwood (Wincraft)
Who knew back in 1966 that the lusty, insistent voice on the Spencer Davis Group's "Gimme Some Lovin' " belonged to an 18-year-old blue-eyed-soul prodigy from Birmingham, England? Now 55, Winwood has a wrinkle-free voice exhibiting none of the damage that has ravaged the instruments of some of his harder-living contemporaries. Backed by worldmusic vets, Winwood orchestrates 10 new Brazilian-flavored tunes as well as a stirring cover of Timmy Thomas's 1972 anthem "Why Can't We Live Together?" on which he sounds like he learned to sing in a Pentecostal church in Birmingham, Ala. Backed by his trademark Hammond B-3 organ, he sounds remarkably like the young man who sang Traffic's "Low Spark of High Heeled Boys" 30 years ago.
BOTTOM LINE: Traffic stopper
- Contributors:
- Steve Dougherty,
- V.R. Peterson,
- Kyle Smith.
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!
