CD Reviews.

Byline: REVIEWS BY PAUL COLE, TONY LARNER & DAVID BROOKES

BON JOVI

Have A Nice Day (Mercury)

BON JOVI Have A Nice Day (Mercury)

NO surprises as the New Jersey pop-rockers return with an album that sounds as if it was written with stadium crowds in mind, with the likes of Complicated, Story Of My Life and the title track all to the tried and tested Bon Jovi formula. Of the rest, Bells Of Freedom will be a lighters in the air singalong set closer and I Want To Be Loved boasts that trademark squawk box. Best are the punchy Dirty Little Secret and Billy Idol-like Last Man Standing, both of which offer something new. It's not all good news, though. Novocaine and Welcome To Wherever You Are are forgettable and the dreadful Last Cigarette is cheesy cabaret. PC

VARIOUS Help: A Day In The Life (Independiente)

RECORDED and downloaded in a day, War Child's annual charity album retains Damon Albarn, Radiohead and the Manics from the last outing but adds fresher flavours in the shape of The Kaiser Chiefs, who rattle through Marvin Gaye's classic I Heard It Through The Grapevine, Mercury award-winner Antony duetting with Boy George on Lennon's Happy Xmas (War Is Over) and a Keane-Faultline collaboration on Elton John's Goodbye Yellow Brick Road, which sounds as if it was theirs all along. New songs from Albarn's Gorillaz (Hong Kong), Radiohead (I Want None Of This) and Coldplay (How You See The World No 2) make it a must. PC

ECHO AND THE BUNNYMEN

Siberia (Cooking Vinyl)

IAN McCulloch and the Bunnies are back - and it's as if they've never been away. Anyone expecting anything radically different is thinking of the wrong group. Since starting out 26 years ago, McCulloch and Co have stuck to a winning formula of spangly guitars, soaring symphonies and stirring, lofty lyrics. You get more of the same on a good-but-not great album highlighted by

foot-tapping opener Stormy Weather and the excellent Everything Kills You. There are echoes of old classics such as Dancing Horses and The Cutter - a tantalising reminder of a brilliant past from a group who are clearly still living in it. TL

PICK OF THE WEEK

INSTITUTE Distort Yourself (Interscope)

MIDLAND rock frontman Gavin Rossdale is bigger than Oasis and Robbie Williams combined in the States thanks to the platinum success of grunge-rockers Bush. Taking a break, he's put together a new band boasting the same gravelly voice and stop-start guitar riffs that have hallmarked the Bush push. Bullet-Proof Skin is the best rock single since U2's Vertigo, while Information Age and The Heat Of Your Love could both be Bush out-takes. Not that Institute are a carbon copy, as subtleties in Mountains and Wasteland show. This is hard rock performed with passion and precision - and best played exceedingly loud. PC

VARIOUS

Help: A Day In The Life (Independiente)

LENE MARLIN

Lost In A Moment (EMI)

NORWEGIAN songbird Marlin recorded her new album in secret, surrounding herself with all the paraphernalia of studio soft rock and calling in Mariah Carey's production team. Not even her record company knew until it was finished. The result is a polished album that moves her more into Maroon 5 or Matchbox 20 territory than her folkie origins might suggest, with guitar-driven My Lucky Day, How Would It Be and Eyes Closed all potential pop-rock hits. Better, however, are the more melancholy Hope You're Happy and Never To Know, two songs ushered in by cello before meandering musically into Suzanne Vega's neighbourhood. PC

FOLK OF THE WEEK

THE CORRS

Home (Atlantic)

FORGET the pop-lite that has made them famous, The Corrs have returned to their roots with a largely semi-plugged folk album they say is like 'coming home'. The likes of My Lagan Love, Peggy Gordon and Spancill Hill are traditional folk dressed in contemporary clothing while wild instrumental reels Old Hag and Haste To The Wedding wouldn't be out on place in any smalltown Irish bar. They revert to Gaelic for Buachhaill On Eirne and the beautiful Brid Og Ni Mhaille - and only Old Town recalls their Top Of The Pops triumphs, its summery pop sitting awkwardly among more authentic fare. A home win. PC

JAZZ OF THE WEEK

BRAD MEHLDAU TRIO

Day Is Done (Nonesuch)

WHOEVER would have believed that Nick Drake's Day Is Done could be so funky? Jazz pianist Mehldau, who has long featured the iconic Leamington singer-songwriter's River Man in his set, is backed by driving upright bass and drums in a rousing rendition of the haunting song, turning it into a modern jazz classic. Elsewhere in a virtuoso set, the trio keep Burt Bacharach's Alfie simple but tinker with the rhythms and harmonies of Paul Simon's 50 Ways To Leave Your Lover, then lead Beatles classic She's Leaving Home from Lennon and McCartney's original melody into inspirational improvisation. Breathtaking. PC

CLASSICAL OF THE WEEK

Ca Ira

(Sony Classical)

IT'S not the greatest opera ever written, but there's plenty to admire in Waters' long-awaited work of the French Revolution. I was absorbed from the off, with a storyline that moves along at pace and matched by the former Pink Floyd frontman's well-structured orchestration. Waters combines powerful, menacing sounds with moments of real poignancy, and I loved the dramatic theatre created by the interspersion of gunfire and marching feet. One thing it lacks is a truly, memorable song - but the performances of baritone Bryn Terfel, soprano Ying Huang and tenor Paul Groves more than make up for it. DB