Don McLean, whose T.S. Eliot-influenced coda to Sixties rock culture, "American Pie," is an austere landmark of rock & roll history, has resurfaced with a hit version of Roy Orbison's "Crying." Like Chain Lightning's other oldies ("It Doesn't Matter Anymore," "Lotta Lovin'," "Since I Don't Have You," "Your Cheating Heart"), "Crying" is sung much slower than the original. It's grimly earnest rather than passionate.

Six new McLean songs–one a reworking of the Book of Genesis in pseudo-Victorian verse–boast the precision and diction of "American Pie" but lack the necessary spark to sustain such fussy verbiage. Larry Butler's sodden Nashville production, with its emphasis on overripe backup vocals, could hardly be more unsuited to McLean's tense, joyless singing. (RS 341)

STEPHEN HOLDEN