SOUND CHECK.Byline: - Fred Shuster Aerosmith/``Just Push Play'' (Columbia) Big-budget rock albums these days boast more credits than a Jerry Bruckheimer flick. Along with stylists, hairdressers, makeup gals, vintage car mechanics, nannies, personal trainers and scheduling coordinators, Aerosmith tips the hat to video directors, Pro Tools engineers and Internet project strategists, among others. All of which doesn't matter much if the band manages to pull a good one out of these busy lives. The long-running Beantown quintet comes closer than usual in this moderately useful hybrid of hard rock and high-tech polish. Steven Tyler, Joe Perry and friends are best in the album's opening moments - blues-rocker ``Beyond Beautiful,'' the drum loop-laden title track, and the guilty-pleasure smash single, ``Jaded.'' Thankfully, the focus here is on the swaggering guitar rock longtime fans love. Events predictably bog down with formula power ballads (``Fly Away From Here,'' ``Luv Lies,'' ``Avant Garden'') aimed at the group's large female radio audience. If nothing else, ``Just Push Play'' and its gritty standout tracks prove there's life left in these leathery leath·er·y adj. Having the texture or appearance of leather: a leathery face. leath  er·i·ness n. road warriors - when they're not dropping the kids off at karate. Aerosmith, incidentally, appears this week on ``Saturday Night Live This article is about the American television series. For the show related to Big Brother (UK), see Saturday Night Live (UK). Saturday Night Live (SNL .'' Two and one half stars Soundtrack/``Before Night Falls'' (Blue Thumb) Music is an integral part of Julian Schnabel's evocative film about Cuban poet Reinaldo Arenas. Often, the director omitted dialogue from scenes entirely, memorably allowing the music to speak to the audience. That music is compiled in a beautiful album packed with the warm sounds of pre-Castro Cuba. There are lively mambos and lovely guajira pieces, along with a couple of tracks from Carter Burwell's typically outstanding score. It's a perfect marriage of music and subject; you'll have to search hard to find a better soundtrack. Four stars - Glenn Whipp Jessica Andrews/``Who I Am'' (DreamWorks) The freshest voice in country-pop belongs to this 17-year-old Tennessee songbird songbird Any oscine passerine (suborder Passere), all of which have a complex vocal organ, the syrinx. Some species (e.g., thrushes) produce melodious songs; others (e.g., crows) have a harsh voice; and some do little or no singing. See also birdsong. , whose self-assured breakthrough single, ``Who I Am,'' has been winning hearts for months. The rest of Andrews' hit-worthy sophomore set is equally confident. Fans of TV's ``Dawson's Creek'' will surely recognize ``Show Me Heaven,'' while other fine tunes range from the remorseful re·morse·ful adj. Marked by or filled with remorse. re·morse ful·ly adv. ``Now I Know'' to a gutsy ``I Don't Like Anyone.'' Jessica, we like who you am. Four stars - Sandra Barrera John Gorka/``The Company You Keep'' (Red House) Philosophy-major-turned-folkie Gorka has settled down, married and had a couple of kids in recent years, and most of this album's songs reflect his realization that homely pleasures beat being a troubadour troubadour One of a class of lyric poets and poet-musicians, often of knightly rank, that flourished from the 11th through the 13th century, chiefly in Provence and other regions of southern France, northern Spain, and northern Italy. on the road nine times out of 10. Nice for him, but kind of trite to hear about. When he's not crawling around the house with the rugrats, Gorka waxes pretentious about the state of the collective soul (there's something wrong with all these computers) or, at his most moving, addressing the loneliness of the long-distance songwriter (``I had a heart for art's sake, but no stomach for the business''). A loping pace and reflective atmosphere infuses the songs; you just wish the words would rise more often to the arrangements' evocative level. Lucy Kaplansky, Ani DiFranco and Mary Chapin Carpenter Mary Chapin Carpenter (born February 21, 1958) is a five-time Grammy Award-winning American country/folk singer-songwriter and guitarist with a diverse musical style. Biography Childhood harmonize. Two and one half stars - Bob Strauss Leonard Cohen/``Field Commander Cohen cohen or kohen (Hebrew: “priest”) Jewish priest descended from Zadok (a descendant of Aaron), priest at the First Temple of Jerusalem. The biblical priesthood was hereditary and male. : Tour of 1979'' (Columbia) If Forest Lawn has a jukebox, Smiling Lenny probably gets the most spins. It's been nearly a decade since the bilious bil·ious adj. 1. Of, relating to, or containing bile; biliary. 2. Characterized by an excess secretion of bile. 3. bard of the bedsit bedsit or bedsitter Noun a furnished sitting room with a bed Noun 1. bedsit - a furnished sitting room with sleeping accommodations (and some plumbing) bedsitter, bedsitting room last checked in with an album of new material, 1992's ``The Future.'' Since then, Cohen studied koans in a monastery and released three stopgaps filled with recycled songs, including this latest set culled from a 1979 UK tour, which for some reason not only spawned this live album but a 1981 documentary and a new paperback about the making of that film. Among the highlights here are an instrumentally ambitious ``Lover Lover Lover'' (with an additional verse) and a jaunty jaun·ty adj. jaun·ti·er, jaun·ti·est 1. Having a buoyant or self-confident air; brisk. 2. Crisp and dapper in appearance; natty. 3. Archaic a. Stylish. b. Genteel. ``Why Don't You Try'' from ``New Skin for the Old Ceremony''; the haunting ``The Window'' and ``The Guests'' from the underrated ``Recent Songs''; and ``Memories,'' a bawdy bawd·y adj. bawd·i·er, bawd·i·est 1. Humorously coarse; risqué. 2. Vulgar; lewd. bawd i·ly adv. doo-wop knockoff knock·off n. Informal An unauthorized copy or imitation, as of designer clothing: "the place to go for quality knockoffs" Women's Wear Daily. Noun 1. from Cohen's ill-advised collaboration with the equally strange Phil Spector. The inevitable ``Bird on the Wire'' and ``So Long, Marianne'' close out the disc. Good as it is, the album unfortunately misses a prime opportunity to unveil a previously unreleased song, ideally ``Blues by the Jews (Billy Sunday),'' the funniest in Cohen's otherwise rueful rue·ful adj. 1. Inspiring pity or compassion. 2. Causing, feeling, or expressing sorrow or regret. rue repertoire. For Cohenspotters, Jennifer Warnes, who would later release an entire album of Cohen material, provides beautiful harmonies. Three stars - David Kronke CAPTION(S): 5 photos Photo: (1) no caption (Aerosmith) (2 -- 5) no caption (CD covers) |
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