SOUND CHECK.THREE DAYS GRACE: ``One-X'' (Jive) - Three stars With its well-crafted new album, hard-hitting Canadian foursome Three Days Grace lays down the perfect summer soundtrack for submitting to that first tattoo. The band, known for supremely catchy angst-rock like the previous album's ``I Hate Everything About You'' and the thrilling current hit, ``Animal I Have Become,'' provides great-sounding alt-metal riffage and melodic choruses arranged in a taut, razor-sharp style that makes friends easily. It's simple, crunchy rock that will appeal to fans of Linkin Park and Green Day, while drawing in a new generation that just a few years ago was discovering pop and rock through ``American Idol American Idol is an annual American televised singing competition, which began its first season on June 11, 2002. Part of the Idol franchise, it originated from the British reality program Pop Idol. .'' With its second effort, ``One-X'' -- in stores Tuesday and poised for a chart breakthrough -- Three Days Grace aims for an emotional connection with listeners, making contact with the road-weary anthem ``Never Too Late'' and the immediately accessible, high-energy ``It's All Over.'' The dozen songs here effectively embrace a pop sensibility as well as earthy, hard-rock elements, much like Nirvana did. In fact, Three Days frontman front·man n. 1. also front man A man who serves as a nominal leader but who lacks real authority. 2. Music A leading singer with a group. Adam Gontier Adam Wade Gontier (b. May 21, 1978) is the lead singer and guitarist of Three Days Grace.[1] Personal life Adam Gontier was influenced by his mother, The Beatles, Sunny Day Real Estate, Jeff Buckley, Pearl Jam, and Alice in Chains. sometimes shares the confessional, alarmingly isolated tone of Kurt Cobain in this disc's ``Time of Dying'' and elsewhere. Anyone who appreciates alt-metal that refuses to dumb itself down will get a charge from ``One-X.'' -- Fred Shuster ZERO 7: ``The Garden'' (Atlantic) - Three stars This is the kind of album that needs to marinate mar·i·nate v. mar·i·nat·ed, mar·i·nat·ing, mar·i·nates v.tr. To soak (meat, for example) in a marinade. v.intr. To become marinated. . On first listen, it's a disorienting dis·o·ri·ent tr.v. dis·o·ri·ent·ed, dis·o·ri·ent·ing, dis·o·ri·ents To cause (a person, for example) to experience disorientation. Adj. 1. break from British duo Henry Binns and Sam Hardaker's characteristic acid jazz sound, with upbeat pop and a cappella gospel suddenly crashing into acoustic nothingness noth·ing·ness n. 1. The condition or quality of being nothing; nonexistence. 2. Empty space; a void. 3. Lack of consequence; insignificance. 4. Something inconsequential or insignificant. . The yo-yo-ing follows the even split of tracks between regular Zero 7 collaborator Sia Furler and mellowed Swedish singer-songwriter Jose Gonzalez. Whereas Sia's cranked-up vocals infuse in·fuse v. 1. To steep or soak without boiling in order to extract soluble elements or active principles. 2. To introduce a solution into the body through a vein for therapeutic purposes. ``Throw It All Away'' and ``The Pageant of the Bizarre'' with rich, tortured emotion and energy, Gonzalez's standout ``Today'' is awash in bossa nova smoothness. Yet both, in the end, somehow seem perfectly Zero 7. -- Emma Soichet RHONDA VINCENT: ``All American Bluegrass bluegrass, any species of the large and widely distributed genus Poa, chiefly range and pasture grasses of economic importance in temperate and cool regions. In general, bluegrasses are perennial with fine-leaved foliage that is bluish green in some species. Girl'' - Two and one half stars This is certainly ... interesting. Vincent's sexy cover shot is done up in multiple shades of green Shades of Green is a United States Department of Defense-owned resort located at Walt Disney World in Lake Buena Vista, Florida. It is an Armed Forces Recreation Center (AFRC) resort and therefore a part of the military's Morale, Welfare, and Recreation program (MWR). , but no red, white or blue to be seen. The album proper, though, is divided about evenly between its title elements: kickin' songs about cheating and being female in a male-dominated genre, picked with precision Ozark verve, balanced out by lyrically inelegant in·el·e·gant adj. Lacking refinement or polish; not elegant. in·el  e·gant·ly adv. instructions to get your business right with Jesus
and salute soldiers unquestioningly. I don't doubt Vincent's
sincerity about the latter matters, but that's no reason for an
astute traditionalist to sing sentimentalized verse that rhymes
``college'' with ``knowledge'' when the likes of
Toby Keith are expressing similar views with real grit and wicked
wordplay. Anyway, it's a hot cover and half of a great bluegrass
album.
-- Bob Strauss FRANK SINATRA JR.: ``That Face'' (Reprise re·prise n. 1. Music a. A repetition of a phrase or verse. b. A return to an original theme. 2. A recurrence or resumption of an action. tr.v. ) - Three stars If Rod Stewart can sell millions of CDs craggily crooning his way through the Great American Songbook and Michael Bolton can (ugh) ``swing Sinatra,'' as he does on his latest album, then the time is ripe for The Chairman's namesake son to release his first album in a decade. Frank Jr. has always lived in his father's long shadow, but he long ago made his peace with that legacy and has done OK on his own. This disc, recorded at Capitol Studios, sports arrangements -- some never heard -- by the biggies, Nelson Riddle, Billy May and Don Costa, and features the Old Man's favorite accompanist, pianist Bill Miller, among many other pro's pro musicians. The 13 tracks include a few hard-swinging numbers, but where Sinatra truly shines is on saloon songs like Alan and Marilyn Bergman's ``Trouble With Hello Is Goodbye.'' Listen to his knowing interpretation and you'll know why Bob Dylan sang Jr.'s praises in ``Chronicles.'' -- Glenn Whipp CAPTION(S): 5 photos Photo: (1) no caption (Three Days Grace) (2 -- 5) no caption (CD covers) |
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