• October 10, 2005
• Vol. 64
• No. 15

Music

COUNTRY

Gretchen Wilson
All Jacked Up

[2½ stars]

All that justifiably extravagant praise about what an authentically gritty, down-home girl Wilson is may have gone to her head. This follow-up to her hit debut, 2004's Here for the Party, is inevitably less of a joyous surprise, but it also seems overdone, like a too confrontational bumper sticker. The title song, for instance, is a George Jones/Hank Jr.-style tribute to the supposed pleasures of getting drunk (or "tore up," as Wilson's lyrics would have it). Similarly, "One Bud Wiser" celebrates the putative educational value of beer and stops being clever right after its title. And "California Girls," while it nods to the great Beach Boys song, is mostly a gratuitous bashing of the Hollywood crowd: "That Paris Hilton gets under my skin/ With her big fake smile and her painted-on tan." Wilson cowrote that song, as she did four other of the album's tunes, with coproducer John Rich of Big & Rich, who is hardly renowned for his subtlety. There are some redeeming moments, though. Wilson fares better with the more thoughtful "I Don't Feel Like Loving You Today," which is less ostentatious, more natural. On "Politically Uncorrect," she and Merle Haggard—an ideal duet partner who suits Wilson philosophically as well as vocally—beautifully give the lie to all those Bill Maher types. "Not Bad for a Bartender," too, rings with more of the truth, chronicling Wilson's rise from behind a bar in Pocahontas, III. While people don't always want to hear singers rhapsodizing about their tortured lives, baring her soul worked for this Redneck Woman once and it should again.

DOWNLOAD THIS: "Not Bad for a Bartender"

POP-ROCK

Sheryl Crow
Wildflower

[3 stars]

Sheryl Crow is a little more country and a lot less rock and roll on her fifth studio album. There's a light twang and a low-key earthiness to this well-crafted collection, suggesting that Crow has traded in her leather pants for a pair of overalls. In fact, she plays acoustic guitar on much of the disc, including the folksy first single "Good Is Good," while bits of banjo, pedal steel and slide guitar add rootsy touches. At 43, Crow sounds more wistful than wild. However, following her recent engagement to cycling star Lance Armstrong, she does seem to be soaking up the sun on the upbeat love song "Lifetimes," promising, "Even in the worst of times/I give my best to you."
DOWNLOAD THIS: "Lifetimes"

ALT-COUNTRY

Ryan Adams & the Cardinals
Jacksonville City Nights

[2½ stars]

Okay, it's time for Ryan Adams to face it: The quantity of his musical output is starting to affect the quality. After delivering the superior double disc Cold Roses—his first album with the Cardinals—last May, Adams returns all too quickly with this spotty set, the second of three 2005 releases from the prolific alt-country troubadour. Some of these tossed-off tracks, which find Adams mining more traditional country territory, sound not just unpolished but unfinished. Even so, there are some bright lights, including the old-time lament "My Heart Is Broken" and the blues-hued Norah Jones duet "Dear John," in these City Nights.

DOWNLOAD THIS: "Dear John"

POP-ROCK

Ryan Cabrera
You Stand Watching

[2½ stars]

Ryan Cabrera's lackluster debut, 2004's Take It All Away, left you wondering if all it took was spiky hair and a celebrity girlfriend (ex Ashlee Simpson) to manufacture a TRL heartthrob. But his improved, self-produced second effort proves that the 23-year-old singer-guitarist is not just a pop-rock poser. (Hey, after that lip-sync debacle, he's certainly got more cred than his former flame.) This is solid if fairly standard guitar pop that will satisfy those guilty-pleasure seekers looking to graduate from Jesse McCartney. First single "Shine On" is a bright, buoyant ditty with a nifty acoustic-guitar part. Other standouts include the Latin-inflected "Our Story" and the jazz-tinged "Find Your Way." Still, Cabrera's thin voice doesn't bring any real substance to this already lightweight material, and his sticky-sweet sentiments ("Another night goes by without sleeping/'Cause I know I won't wake up next to you," on the ballad "It's You") can sometimes leave you with a toothache.

DOWNLOAD THIS: "Shine On"

R&B

Charlie Wilson
Charlie, Last Name Wilson

[3 stars]

As lead singer of the Gap Band, Charlie Wilson was the voice behind such hits as "You Dropped a Bomb on Me" in the late '70s and early '80s. Here he teams up with modern-day R&B kingpin R. Kelly, who served as executive producer, for a solo disc that successfully bridges the gap between the contemporary and the classic. Soulful slow jams like "Magic" showcase Wilson's distinctive, gospel-infused delivery. Justin Timberlake, Snoop Dogg and the Black Eyed Peas' will.i.am also show up to help introduce Uncle Charlie to a whole new generation.

DOWNLOAD THIS: "Magic"

• Contributors:
• Ralph Novak,
• Chuck Arnold,
• Elizabeth Leonard.

More From This Article

Recent Raves

Paul McCartney, Chaos and Creation in the Backyard The "cute" Beatle, his voice unscarred by time, delivers a spare yet wonderfully melodic CD that has none of the bombast or the sentimentality that has marred some of his past works.

Bonnie Raitt, Souls Alike

On her 15th studio album—and first as a producer—the resilient Raitt puts her shimmering slide guitar lines in service of songs full of lament, hope and humor.

B.B. King, B.B. King & Friends: 80 King, at 80 playing and singing with the vigor, freshness and clarity of a man 50 years his junior, teams up with pop-star pals like Eric Clapton and Elton John.

Patty Loveless, Dreamin' My Dreams Loveless's latest displays the symbiotic relationship between good singers and good songs: They make each other better.

Sound Off

Barbra Streisand and Barry Gibb Barbra Streisand, 63, and Barry Gibb, 59, have reunited to mark the 25th anniversary of Guilty with the new disc Guilty Pleasures.

ON RETEAMING "We've talked over the years about how we could work together again," says Streisand. "Guilty's 25th anniversary was coming up, so it was the perfect time to call Barry." Adds Gibb: "I was very reticent at first because I had sort of gotten used to the idea of semiretirement. But how do you say no to a once-in-a-lifetime [experience] the second time it comes around?"

ON WORKING WITH GIBB "He is the only person I know who can write songs, produce them and sing on them," says Streisand.

ON WORKING WITH STREISAND "It stretches you out," says Gibb. "Barbra is above the law."

ON THE TRACK "LETTING GO" "Barry wrote that 20 years ago," says Streisand, "and I thought it was so beautiful that I've been meaning to find the right album to sing it on for 20 years. It feels very satisfying to finally sing it on Guilty Pleasures."

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