Big Head Todd and the monsters occupy an odd berth among their H.O.R.D.E.-tour peers: The foursome has built up a substantial audience through endless touring and intense live shows, yet it doesn't have the soaring, baritone melodies of Hootie and the Blowfish, the quirky rhythms of the Dave Matthews Band or the transcendent, jazz-informed jams of Phish. Instead, Big Head Todd's appeal grew out of their meat-and-potatoes rock & roll, a basic bar-band stew that didn't stray far from its bluesy, classicrock origins.

Unfortunately, Big Head Todd and the Monsters get an alternative-rock make-over on their new album, Beautiful World, which only highlights their limitations. Collaborating with producer and former Talking Head keyboardist Jerry Harrison must have seemed initially like an interesting idea for the group. Harrison, though, doesn't bring the new rhythmic flavor or arty edge to the band that one might have hoped for. Instead, he loads it down with the same boomy, arena-thud mix that we heard on his productions for Live and cloying Canadian pop rockers Crash Test Dummies. Big Head Todd rise to the occasion awkwardly, plunking down chunky riffs that – on top of the album's spidery grooves – recall Stone Temple Pilots.

To its credit, the band does move away somewhat from its usual faux Eric Clapton-isms, exploring a variety of styles that range from the country hoedown of "True Lady" to the title track's funky keyboard vamping (courtesy of ex-Parliament-Funkadelic member Bernie Worrell). Big Head Todd's eclecticism ultimately feels forced, though. Spread too thin over so many genres, the creaky songwriting just doesn't hold up – like a '90s Bob Seger, singer and guitarist Todd Park Mohr populates his lyrics with beautiful losers, but he sabotages his garden-variety angst with a thin, weary-old-man croak.

Beautiful World's problems come to a head on Big Head Todd's cover of John Lee Hooker's "Boom Boom," which features a cameo from the legendary bluesman. The octogenarian Hooker comes out blazing, genuinely scary as he threatens to "shoot you right down." That's exactly what he does to Mohr, who proves he's no match for the master: As the song's earthy groove degenerates into heavymetal bombast, Mohr's strained attempt at blues vocalese quickly reveals itself as weak pastiche. "Boom Boom" highlights the personality crisis at the core of Beautiful World: The album can't decide if it wants to return to rock's roots or join the alternative nation. While Big Head Todd and the Monsters may have logged an admirable amount of miles on the road to success, their wishy-washy sound places them smack dab in the middle of it. (RS 754)

MATT DIEHL