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Unfortunately, none of the albums under consideration here are very good. In particular, Michael's new CD, Older, is hypocritical and dreary. The singer has been rebelling against his teenybopper past as co-leader of Wham! for some time now (his last album, which attempted a more serious tone, was titled Listen Without Prejudice Vol. I), but on this new CD he is not only a rebel without a cause, he also lacks energy and wit. On the song Star People he actually sings "Star People/ counting your money till your soul turns green/ Star people/ counting the cost...
...sweat. In his attempt to make music that's restrained, adult and timeless, he's instead crafted songs that seem exhausted and out of date. Listeners looking for laid-back pop-soul that smolders, intrigues and seems thoroughly contemporary should check out Everything but the Girl's supple new CD, Walking Wounded...
...with wisdom. Richie's first new album in 10 years is also a rather slumberous affair, one whose title, Louder than Words, belies its content. This is a soft, quiet album. The first song, Piece of Love, does have a deep, engaging bass groove, but few moments on this CD--except the wonderful cascade of jazz that closes out the song Lovers at First Sight--really hook us. The talented Richie can do more--remember Easy and Three Times a Lady? Those songs were slow too, but they had a casual charm Richie's new material could use more...
...CD singles have become a new arena for musicians to reinvent their work (rapper Busta Rhymes' single for his amusingly crazy song Woo-Hah!! Got You All in Check contains three remixes of the main track), redo the songs of their idols (the Brit pop group Oasis, often accused of ripping off the Beatles, offers up a stale cover of I Am the Walrus on the single for its song Wonderwall) or perform out-of-character material (Bone Thugs-N-Harmony sweetly sing one of its hard-core rap songs on its single Tha Crossroads). Natalie Merchant, whose enchanting album...
This second life is not always more fulfilling. Country star Reba McEntire's version of You Keep Me Hangin' On has been remixed as a dance CD single--but the remix is gimmicky and plodding. And the single for singer Chantay Savage's slinky, soul version of I Will Survive contains two clunky rap remixes. On the other hand, one of the strongest rock songs of late, Pearl Jam's commanding I Got Id, is available only on CD single. The story of the single isn't finished yet. It's a work in progress...