POP
CRITIC'S CHOICE
White Turns Blue:
Cherie:
America's reigning teen pop queens—Avril Lavigne, Hilary Duff, Ashlee Simpson et al—won't be able to rest on their TRL laurels this summer thanks to a pair of European party crashers: Norway's Maria Mena, 18, and France's Cherie, 19. On their promising U.S. debuts, Mena and Cherie show that they maybe around long after they outgrow the Seventeen crowd.
Mena, in particular, makes a vivid impression on White Turns Blue. Sounding like Alanis Morissette's little sister, Mena lets refreshingly candid lyrics fly in a stream-of-consciousness style on her terrific first single, "You're the Only One": "You're the only one who/Holds my hair back/When I'm drunk and get sick." Sometimes Mena, who cowrote all 12 songs, mimics Morissette a bit too much; "What's Another Day" sounds like a rewrite of Morissette's "Hands Clean." But Mena's confessional songs play like diary entries, from the ethereal "My Lullaby," a tune about her parents' divorce that she wrote when she was just 11, to the rock-edged "Your Glasses," on which she reveals her insecurities.
While Mena channels Morisette, Cherie makes like the second coming of Celine Dion. Like Dion, Cherie, who began singing professionally at 9, never met a note she didn't belt. And, singing in English, her vocal inflections at times uncannily mirror Dion (whose first language is also French). Cherie's ballad-heavy approach is a little old for her age, but her powerhouse delivery and flair for melodrama suit weepies like the aptly titled "Older than My Years." But the diva-in-training, who didn't write a lick of her disc, is only as good as her material. And tired tracks like the Latin-Middle Eastern mélange "Betcha Never" don't measure up to her big voice.
Cherie
CRITIC'S CHOICE
White Turns Blue: [
Cherie: [
America's reigning teen pop queens—Avril Lavigne, Hilary Duff, Ashlee Simpson et al—won't be able to rest on their TRL laurels this summer thanks to a pair of European party crashers: Norway's Maria Mena, 18, and France's Cherie, 19. On their promising U.S. debuts, Mena and Cherie show that they maybe around long after they outgrow the Seventeen crowd.
Mena, in particular, makes a vivid impression on White Turns Blue. Sounding like Alanis Morissette's little sister, Mena lets refreshingly candid lyrics fly in a stream-of-consciousness style on her terrific first single, "You're the Only One": "You're the only one who/Holds my hair back/When I'm drunk and get sick." Sometimes Mena, who cowrote all 12 songs, mimics Morissette a bit too much; "What's Another Day" sounds like a rewrite of Morissette's "Hands Clean." But Mena's confessional songs play like diary entries, from the ethereal "My Lullaby," a tune about her parents' divorce that she wrote when she was just 11, to the rock-edged "Your Glasses," on which she reveals her insecurities.
While Mena channels Morisette, Cherie makes like the second coming of Celine Dion. Like Dion, Cherie, who began singing professionally at 9, never met a note she didn't belt. And, singing in English, her vocal inflections at times uncannily mirror Dion (whose first language is also French). Cherie's ballad-heavy approach is a little old for her age, but her powerhouse delivery and flair for melodrama suit weepies like the aptly titled "Older than My Years." But the diva-in-training, who didn't write a lick of her disc, is only as good as her material. And tired tracks like the Latin-Middle Eastern mélange "Betcha Never" don't measure up to her big voice.
COUNTRY
The Drifter
COUNTRY
Waylon Payne comes with an impressive country pedigree: His mom is singer-songwriter Sammi Smith and his dad is guitarist Jody Payne, who for years played in Willie Nelson's band. And the 31-year-old newcomer is the godson of Waylon Jennings and Jennings's singer wife, Jessi Colter. But with his callow, wan style and nasal, tending-to-flat voice, Payne hardly sounds like the outlaw he was named after on The Drifter, which meanders from the vaguely religious "Christian" to the tasteless ode to marijuana "Ain't Got No Match." At least guitarist Keith Gattis (who also produced the album) adds much-needed musicality, while drummer Ken Coomer whacks some zest into things. However, it sounds as if Payne's get-up-and-go has already left.
Unity: The Official Athens 2004 Olympic Games Album
VARIOUS
As the Olympic torch burns at the Athens Summer Games, this tepid collection will hardly win any medals with listeners. The 16-song set unites artists representing 15 countries and four continents, ranging from Sting and Destiny's Child to Algeria's Cheb Mami and Turkey's Tarkan. In the spirit of togetherness, all but one cut (Avril Lavigne's anemic rendition of Bob Dylan's "Knockin' on Heaven's Door") are a collaboration between two or more acts. This concept yields some interesting groupings, including Neneh Cherry and Jamaica's Wayne Wonder; Moby and Public Enemy; and, most notably, Lenny Kravitz and Iraq's Kadim Al Sahir (on the antiwar rocker "We Want Peace"). But despite the inspirational themes, most of these tracks are fairly uninspired. One exception is "Issues," a reggae-meets-electronica jam featuring vocals by Britain's Joss Stone.
•DOWNLOAD THIS: "Issues"
Kevin Lyttle
REGGAE
With his Caribbean lilt and ready R&B-pop hooks, St. Vincent native Kevin Lyttle may be today's answer to '80s star Billy Ocean. On Lyttle's self-titled debut, the 26-year-old singer makes radio-friendly reggae that may not win over purists but could turn new fans on to the genre. Which is exactly what he has done with the infectious first single, "Turn Me On," an international hit that recently reached the Top 10 in the U.S. The song, which along with 10 other tunes was cowritten by Lyttle, gets its spicy groove from "soca," a fusion of calypso and soul with East Indian elements. Lyttle continues to put the dance in dance-hall on beach-party tracks such as "Call Me" and "I Got It" (one of four cuts featuring Jamaican star Spragga Benz). Ultimately, though, the CD feels as light as a Caribbean breeze, and it suffers from the repetitious rhythms common in much of reggae. And when the slight-voiced Lyttle tries for a change of pace on his island-flavored cover of Terence Trent D'Arby's 1988 hit "Sign Your Name," he fails to put his own signature on the tune.
•DOWNLOAD THIS: "Turn Me On"
The Cure, The Cure: Robert Smith's goth gang finds the remedy for its recent creative woes on an album that will be just like heaven for longtime fans.
Etta James, Blues to the Bone: James turns her well-weathered voice to blues classics by John Lee Hooker, Robert Johnson and Howlin' Wolf.
Ricky Fanté, Rewind Newcomer: Fanté seems to have stepped into a time machine, recalling the golden days of Otis Redding, Al Green and Wilson Pickett.
Chris Robinson & the New Earth Mud, The Magnificent Distance: With his gritty new band, the former Black Crowe serves up southern-fried rock with plenty of fire and more than a little soul.
Jesse Harris and the Ferdinandos, While the Music Lasts: The Grammy-winning writer behind Norah Jones's "Don't Know Why" makes a most lasting impression with these warm, wistful tunes.
Bob Marley
Bob Marley's sons Ziggy, 35, Stephen, 32, Julian, 29, Ky-Mani, 28, and Damian, 28, pay tribute to their dad, who died in 1981, while touring this month on the Bob Marley: Roots, Rock, Reggae Festival. We asked them to pick their favorite Bob Marley songs.
ZIGGY: "SURVIVAL" The song appeared when I was going to high school. The whole [Survival] album inspired me and helped me keep focus on my music. The concept of it was about the slave trade bringing black people from Africa to the West, we're survivors of that.
KY-MANI: "I KNOW" I sing it onstage very often. The lyrics are very powerful. It's basically telling you when times get hard, you should look forward and carry on. Know that there's a superior being who is there to guide you in life.
STEPHEN: "SLAVE DRIVER" It's a very strong message. Even though we are free to walk about, we are still enslaved. It can be mental enslavement. And if your mind is not free, then it's hard to attain anything else in life.
DAMIAN: "WAR" It's really relevant to the world climate right now, with all the war that's going on in the Middle East and elsewhere. One of the greatest lines in the song is: "Until the color of a man's skin/ Is of no more significance than the color of his eyes/ Me say war."
JULIAN: "REDEMPTION SONG" It's a very important song. When I was about 4 or 5, that was one of the songs that sounded different to me. It was like a mirror, a reflection of our lives.
- Contributors:
- Chuck Arnold,
- Ralph Novak,
- Lyndon Stambler.
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!
