The title song of this album is not the great Burt Bacharach/Hal David pop tune that Dionne Warwick made famous. This "What the World Needs" was written by Brett James and Holly Lamar and, like the rest of this regrettable album, it is mundane. "Burning Love," however, is indeed a new version of the Dennis Linde tune that was a signature song for Elvis Presley, and including it was the best idea Wynonna and coproducer Dan Huff had for this 14-track set. That song alone allows her to sound energetic and soulful rather than derivative and pretentious. "Sometimes I Feel Like Elvis" seems particularly uninspired (though Wynonna does sound vaguely like the King). Elsewhere she seems to be channeling Cher ("It's Only Love") and Mariah Carey ("It All Comes Down to Love"). Wynonna's mom and former singing partner, Naomi Judd, does brighten things up a bit on the duet "Flies on the Butter (You Can't Go Home Again)," lending the self-consciously rootsy tune some much-needed credibility.
BOTTOM LINE: Woeful Wynonna
Gavin DeGraw (J)
Critic's Choice
On "Follow Through," singer-songwriter Gavin DeGraw begins his debut disc auspiciously: "Oh, this is the start of something good/ Don't you agree?" Whole heartedly. Living up to the buzz he has been building on the New York City club circuit since 1998, Chariot announces DeGraw as a major new talent who will be around for years to come. This 26-year-old piano man, who composed all 11 tunes himself, brings to mind a young Billy Joel with straight-ahead pop-rock that would have fit right in on '70s AM radio. Using the same guitars-bass-drums backup trio throughout, the album captures a live-session feel that keeps the focus on DeGraw's soulful, blues-tinged voice and true-to-life lyrics. Even when those lyrics occasionally dip into cliché ("Girl your body fits me like a glove," on "Just Friends"), DeGraw sings them with such earnestness that he makes you a believer.
BOTTOM LINE: Hop on this Chariot
Lumidee (Straightface/Universal)
"I got the whole world singing off-key," says Lumidee before launching into "Never Leave You (Uh Oooh, Uh Oooh)," her pitch-imperfect hit that has given tone-deaf people everywhere a reason to roar. The reggae-based jam, which uses the handclap-like diwali rhythm popularized on Sean Paul's recent No. 1 smash "Get Busy," features a singsong hook ("Uh oooh, uh oooh") that will indeed never leave you once it gets stuck in your head. Unfortunately there is nothing else on Lumidee's debut CD that is nearly as catchy as her first single; the rest is almost filler.
The 19-year-old Spanish Harlem native (full name: Lumidee Cedeño), who comes off as an amateurish cross between J.Lo and Ashanti, fills this disc with hip-hop soul tracks in the vein of "Never Leave You," but the repetitious beats and rudimentary vocals quickly wear thin. Things don't get any better when Lumidee raps on the Latin-flavored "Go with Me." Let's just say it won't make Lil' Kim jealous.
BOTTOM LINE: Get the single, leave the album behind
Damien Rice (Vector)
Damien Rice's debut may be the most depressing album you'll hear all year. "Life taught me to die," wails the Irish singer-songwriter in his aching, emotionally raw voice on "Cannonball," which will blow just about anybody's good mood to smithereens. While many of these alt-folk tunes have a mournful, almost dirgelike quality, on closer inspection they reveal a rich, elegant beauty highlighted by Rice's delicate acoustic guitar, Lisa Hannigan's ethereal supporting vocals and Vyvienne Long's evocative cello. The disc peaks midway through with the haunting, string-swept "Amie," on which Rice begs a girl to read him the classic erotic novel The Story of O.
BOTTOM LINE: Savory Rice
Buddy Jewell, 42, landed a record contract after winning USA Network's Nashville Star country-singing competition in May. His self-titled debut album, produced by Clint Black, opened at No. 1 on the country chart.
DEMO THE MERRIER: After moving to Nashville in 1993, the Osceola, Ark., native sang on more than 4,000 demo recordings for songwriters shopping their tunes. "I sang a song called 'Sinners & Saints' that ended up on George Jones's Cold Hard Truth album," he says. "Later the writers told me, 'All George Jones could talk about was "Who's the guy who sang the demo? I tried to sing it like he did."'"
DADDY'S LITTLE GIRL: Jewell's daughter Lacey, 9, inspired his hit "Help Pour Out the Rain (Lacey's Song)." He also has two sons, Buddy, 13, and Joshua, 3, with wife Tené, 38, an ex-manicurist.
IDOL THOUGHTS: "I've never seen American Idol," he says. "While their show was going on, mine was going on, and I was too busy saving my rear end to worry about which one of those guys was going next."
Beverly Keel
- Contributors:
- Ralph Novak,
- Chuck Arnold.
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!
