Brandy
CRITIC'S CHOICE
Brandy's exciting fourth disc, Afrodisiac, is the best Aaliyah album that Aaliyah never made. Indeed, it sounds like a follow-up to the stellar self-titled CD released by Aaliyah before her death in a plane crash in 2001. After the lackluster 2002 album Full Moon, Brandy, 25, has clearly been inspired by the spirit of the late R&B-pop star. "Get Babygirl's attention/She's more than a woman and we sure do miss her/ I wanna represent her," she sings on the pumping party jam "Turn It Up," referring to Aaliyah by her nickname Babygirl over a deeply funky old-school hip-hop groove. Helping Brandy concoct this potent, beat-heady Afrodisiac is producer Timbaland, who helmed nine songs. In Brandy, Timbaland—who produced Aaliyah hits like 1998's "Are You That Somebody?" and 2000's "Try Again" and has also been Missy Elliott's trip—hop trackmaster—has found a new muse for his futuristic, mad-scientist inventions. His ingenious sounds on cuts such as the club banger "Sadiddy," with its warped jungle drums, and the dramatic, string-intensified "I Tried" (one of two tunes that borrow elements from Coldplay songs), make this the year's juiciest listen. For her part, Brandy, having split from longtime producer Rodney Jerkins, rises to the occasion with a newfound confidence, showing off the rich, multilayered textures of her voice without ever oversinging. Although she only had a hand in writing one song (the self-fulfillment anthem "Finally"), you wouldn't know it from the lyrics, which are drawn from Brandy's personal experience, including her split from husband Robert Smith. "I had to get rid of the weight on my fourth finger, left hand," she sings on the sumptuous midtempo "Who I Am." She may be channeling Aaliyah, but Brandy is her own woman.
R&B
Joe Nichols
With a laid-back sound that manages to be both warm and rugged, Joe Nichols evokes such great country artists as Lefty Frizzell, Merle Haggard and Randy Travis. The singer's second album demonstrates his ability to go from the philosophical "Things Like That (These Days)" to the clever honky tonk of "Don't Ruin It for the Rest of Us" ("With your braggin' that you fell in love/'Cause you see we're kinda busy here, swappin' lies and crying in our beer"). Artfully backed by guitarists Bryan Sutton and Brent Rowan (who also produced) and keyboardist Gordon Mote, Nichols, a 27-year-old Arkansan, gets the most out of his 11 songs (only one of which he helped write). He successfully revisits "Revelation," a tune first recorded by Waylon Jennings in 1972: "The clouds rolled back and there stood Jesus Christ in all his glory/And I realized the saddest eyes I'd ever seen were lookin' straight at me." Religious references pop up again on the cerebral "If Nobody Believed You" ("What if God quit trying/And He just turned away"), but Nichols's charm and ingratiating style smoothly integrate the spiritual and the secular.
COUNTRY
Marc Anthony
They may have tied the knot in secret, but Marc Anthony and his bride, Jennifer Lopez, give a very public display of affection on the mushy duet "Escapémonos" (translation: Let's Escape), off this, Anthony's first Spanish-language pop album. As far as romantic gestures go, it beats picking up a set of his-and-hers towels. Still, their tepid musical union—which follows a previous pairing on "No Me Ames," off J.Lo's 1999 debut On the 6—inspires about as much confidence in the future of this power couple as Gigli did for Bennifer. Nor does Amar Sin Mentiras (Love Without Lies) engender much faith in Anthony as an artist. It lacks the caliente spark of his salsa discs, such as 2001's excellent Libre, while favoring the bland pop arrangements of his English crossover work. Anthony remains a first-rate singer, bringing passion to even the most banal boleros (ballads), like the first single "Ahora Quien" (And Now Who). But he needs to spice up his material, as he does on the flamenco-flavored "Tu Amor Me Hace Bien" (Your Love Does Me Good).
LATIN-POP
Patti Smith
Since she launched her anti-pop career 30 years ago, punk avatar Patti Smith has often claimed visionary British poet William Blake as her muse. Here she evokes Blake's American counterpart Walt Whitman on 11 alternately ecstatic and mournful patriotic hymns that explore our land's wounded heart. Accompanied by Horses players Lenny Kaye and Jay Dee Daugherty, as well as guitarist-boyfriend Oliver Ray, Smith goes Trampin' through the heartland only to find that ours is a paradise lost. But in hypnotic song's like "Peaceable Kingdom" and "Mother Rose," she becomes a prophet of hope, promising that redemption can be found through faith, tolerance and the one eternal family value: love.
ROCK
Lonestar
Hey, pardners! You're all from Texas. Your name is Lonestar. Ever hear of Bob Wills? Ernest Tubb? Tex Williams? Willie Nelson? Guy Clark? Pat Green? To judge from this disc, the quartet's seventh, they've never heard of those authentic Texas troubadours. The 13 songs, all but one of which a Lonestar member had a hand in writing, tend to the routine. "County Fair," for instance, has its vibrant moments but gets bogged down in uninspired lyrics: "Big top, big time, big crowd, big hair." Meanwhile, both "Mr. Mom" and "Women Rule the World" go way out of their way to pander to the group's female fans. The album's highlight is "Let Them Be Little," a sweet, poignant neolullaby by lead singer Richie McDonald and Billy Dean. In addition to serving as producer, Dann Huff plays electric guitar, joining an effective group of backup musicians that notably includes fiddler Rob Hajacos, mandolinist Jonathan Yudkin and keyboardist Matt Rollings. And southern states collide when Lonestar is joined by vocalist Randy Owen of Alabama on the lively "From Here to There."
NORAH JONES offers a sneak preview of her U.S. tour (which starts July 9) with live covers of Gram Parsons's "She" and the Everly Brothers' "Sleepless Nights," at norahjones.com.
KANYE WEST, the ubiquitous producer-rapper, keeps the beats coming with the previously unreleased "Keep the Receipt," at rocafella.com.
DIDO (right) will take you higher with the Beginerz's exclusive dance remix of "Stoned" from last year's disc Life for Rent, available at didomusic.com.
YEAH YEAHS YEAHS Loved their performance of "Maps" at last month's MTV Movie Awards? Then check out "Bang" and "Art Star" from the indie-rock trio's 2001 self-titled EP at yeahyeahyeahs.com.
- Contributors:
- Chuck Arnold,
- Ralph Novak,
- Steve Dougherty.
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!
