SOUND CHECK.Byline: - Fred Shuster Seal/``Human Being'' (Warner Bros BROS Brothers BROS Benefits and Retirement Operations Section (King County, Washington) BROS Barnes and Richmond Operatic Society (London, UK) .) For his first album in four years, the Years, The the seven decades of Eleanor Pargiter’s life. [Br. Lit.: Benét, 1109] See : Time Grammy-winning Seal again collaborates with producer Trevor Horn for a soulful and appealing collection of elegant electro-tinged tunes. While there's nothing here as immediately grabbing as the classy 1991 smash ``Crazy'' or the award-winning ``Kiss From a Rose,'' there are warm nods to a variety of styles, from techno-dance (``Latest Craze'') and sad ballads (``Lost My Faith'') to acoustic tunes (``When a Man Is Wrong'') and grand statements (``Human Beings''). Pleasant enough. Two and one half stars Mariah Carey/``1's'' (Columbia) This Christmas winner collects all of Carey's 13 chart-toppers, from ``I Don't Wanna wan·na Informal 1. Contraction of want to: You wanna go now? 2. Contraction of want a: You wanna slice of pie? Cry'' to the amazing vocal performances Vocal Performances was a 12" EP released by Pere Ubu frontman David Thomas in 1981. The EP was released on Rough Trade Records as Trade 5/12. As per its title, Vocal Performances features two (mostly) a cappella recordings from Thomas. of ``My All'' and ``Honey,'' plus four new cuts. It's a useful disc if you're a Mariah fan and don't have all the albums or singles. Along with the familiar romantic-ballad chart-busters, the track list includes the megahit meg·a·hit n. A product or event, such as a movie or concert, that is exceedingly successful. Noun 1. megahit - an unusually successful hit with widespread popularity and huge sales (especially a movie or play or recording single version of ``Fantasy'' (featuring rapper ODB ODB Our Daily Bread ODB Object Database ODB Old Dirty Bastard (Wutang clan & rap group) ODB Old Dirty Bastard ODB Open Database ODB Ontario Drug Benefits ODB Cordoba Spain (airport code) ) and a previously unreleased live version of ``Hero.'' The quartet of new cuts features ``When You Believe,'' a so-so duet with Whitney Houston from DreamWorks' forthcoming ``The Prince of Egypt,'' and ``Whenever You Call,'' a much better duet with Brian McKnight. Three stars - Fred Shuster Jewel/``Spirit'' (Atlantic) A flower child who's apparently spent too much time in the potting soil, Jewel is back with another wispy wisp n. 1. A small bunch or bundle, as of straw, hair, or grass. 2. a. One that is thin, frail, or slight. b. A thin or faint streak or fragment, as of smoke or clouds. 3. , wistful set of lighter-than-air acoustic guitar-picked melodies and greeting-card sentiments. It's 13 tracks of ``everything's gonna be OK,'' cut too quickly as a follow-up to her 8 million-selling debut, ``Pieces of You.'' The songs that stood out on that first disc, incidentally, were co-written with veteran San Diego San Diego (săn dēā`gō), city (1990 pop. 1,110,549), seat of San Diego co., S Calif., on San Diego Bay; inc. 1850. San Diego includes the unincorporated communities of La Jolla and Spring Valley. Coronado is across the bay. singer-composer Steve Poltz; he's nowhere to be found on ``Spirit,'' and maybe Jewel should have considered sharing the credit - and some of the loot - one more time. Her band is solid, but the only tracks that have long-term listening value here are ``Kiss the Flame,'' the first single ``Hands'' and ``Down So Long.'' The rest of these songs have as much depth as a stick of gum. Two and one half stars - Fred Shuster Jimmy Scott/``Holding Back the Years'' (Artists Only!) A half-century after he broke into the business with the Lionel Hampton Noun 1. Lionel Hampton - United States musician who was the first to use the vibraphone as a jazz instrument (1913-2002) Hampton Orchestra, emotive crooner Scott lends his eerie, penetrating voice to pop fare by the likes of John Lennon Noun 1. John Lennon - English rock star and guitarist and songwriter who with Paul McCartney wrote most of the music for the Beatles (1940-1980) Lennon (``Jealous Guy''), Elton John Sir Elton Hercules[1] John CBE[2] (born Reginald Kenneth Dwight on 25 March, 1947) is a five-time Grammy and one-time Academy Award-winning English pop/rock singer, composer and pianist. (``Sorry Seems to be the Hardest Word''), Bryan Ferry (``Slave to Love'') and Elvis Costello (``Almost Blue''), transforming each into a torchy torch·y adj. torch·i·er, torch·i·est Of, relating to, or typical of a torch song or torch singer. gem. Other highlights of this recommended jazz vocal collection include a passionate reading of ``The Crying Game,'' from the 1992 film of the same title, a poignant ``Nothing Compares 2 U'' by Prince, and a remake of Scott's own bluesy hit from 1955, ``Don't Cry Baby.'' Three and one half stars - Fred Shuster Offspring/``Americana'' (Columbia) Fans of hits like ``Come Out and Play (Keep 'Em Separated)'' by Orange County bashers Offspring will find much to enjoy in the follow-up to the band's best-selling ``Ixnay on the Hombre'' disc. Produced by the always-reliable Dave Jerden, the punk quartet's energetic fifth album slams through standout melodic thrashers like ``Have You Ever,'' ``The Kids Aren't Alright'' and the sardonic look at high school, ``Pretty Fly (For a White Guy),'' while landing only one bum note, a prank cover of ``Feelings.'' Two and one half stars - Fred Shuster Fear of Pop/``Fear of Pop Vol. 1'' (550 Music) Ben Folds of Ben Folds Five Ben Folds Five (1993–2000) was a trio formed in Chapel Hill, North Carolina who were a mainstay of piano rock until their breakup in 2000. Much of their work was influenced by jazz, evident in frequent improv-styled passages through bridge and/or ending. wrote all the material and played all the instruments here, but don't expect anything resembling the compelling piano-led trio he fronts as his day job. Instead, the experimental yet still tuneful ``Fear of Pop Vol. 1,'' which features ``Star Trek's'' William Shatner on hammy ham·my adj. ham·mi·er, ham·mi·est Marked or characterized by overacting; affectedly humorous or dramatic. ham spoken-word vocals on one track, breaks little new ground and should probably be avoided until the new Ben Folds Five album next year. One and one half stars - Fred Shuster Soundtrack/``The Prince of Egypt'' (DreamWorks) Various/``The Prince of Egypt: Inspirational'' (DreamWorks) Various/``The Prince of Egypt: Nashville'' (DreamWorks) This was the worst music marketing idea of the decade, especially during a flat year in the record industry. Three completely useless soundtracks, all released on a single Tuesday, will do little more than cause puzzled fans to scratch their heads and purchase the Mariah Carey greatest-hits disc or the Springsteen box instead. Tied to the animated story of ``Exodus'' due in theaters next month, these discs represent blatantly hollow aims. The soundtrack itself is simply empty orchestral drivel driv·el v. driv·eled or driv·elled, driv·el·ing or driv·el·ling, driv·els v.intr. 1. To slobber; drool. 2. To flow like spittle or saliva. 3. with some Ofra Haza thrown in along with a tepid Mariah Carey-Whitney Houston duet on the movie's theme, which resembles two tomcats being throttled to within an inch of their lives; the gospel collection tries to wedge every contemporary Christian star and gospel-pop crooner from Take 6 to Kirk Franklin to Jars of Clay Jars of Clay is a rock band from Franklin, Tennessee. They met at Greenville College in Greenville, Illinois. Jars of Clay is Dan Haseltine on vocals, Charlie Lowell on piano and keyboards, Stephen Mason on lead guitars and Matthew Odmark on rhythm guitars. under one mediocre roof; and the country disc featuring an overbearing Wynonna, Vince Gill and Faith Hill is enough to drive real country fans to jazz. One and one half stars each. - Fred Shuster Hank Williams/``The Complete Hank Williams'' (Mercury Nashville) His recording career lasted only six years, his time at the top of his profession barely four, and he was just 29 when a life of excess caught up with him. Nonetheless, honky-tonk crooner Williams created one of the greatest bodies of work in American music. Songs like ``Your Cheatin' Heart,'' ``Hey, Good Lookin' '' and ``Jambalaya'' sold millions, crossing over from the country to the pop charts and becoming the model for all authentic country music that followed. This 10-CD box contains more than 225 tracks, including 53 previously unissued, from Williams' earliest sessions in 1946 to his last date in 1952, as well as rare radio performances, demos, TV and concert recordings and 14 never-before-released tunes. While it's a little difficult to get through all this in even a single weekend, this stuff will live on forever. Four stars - Fred Shuster The Orb/``U.F. Off'' (Island) The Orb's ``hits'' album celebrates 10 years of strange blips, beeps and layers of noise otherwise known as the electronic genre ambient-house. Masterminded by the very odd Dr. Alex Paterson, the synth-heavy Orb typically weaves multirhythms, mixes in classical influences and wraps it up with mid-tempo electronic beats. It's been dubbed ``lame ambient noodling
Noodling is the practice and sport of fishing for catfish using only one's bare hands. ,'' but as background music while vacuuming, the Orb can't be beat. Two and one half stars - Fred Shuster CAPTION(S): 6 Photos Photo: (1) no caption (Jewel) (2--6) no caption (CD covers) |
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