Fatboy Slim, R. Kelly Lead New Releases

Fatboy Slim Halfway Between the Gutter and the Stars (Astralwerks/Skint)

Where other electronica whizzes chase dance microgenres down futuristic blind alleys, Norman "Fatboy Slim" Cook mines riffs from every era like a hip-hop DJ. His big beat kicks down the velvet-rope exclusivity of drum-and-bass or two-step garage to welcome everyone, rockers and funkers included. "I'm gonna hold my cool, 'cause the music rules," P-Funk's Bootsy Collins states in "Weapon of Choice" on Fatboy Slim's new album, Halfway Between the Gutter and the Stars.

Cook hasn't given up the dance-floor stomps that made him a million-seller with "The Rockafeller Skank," "Praise You" and the 1998 album that held them, You've Come a Long Way, Baby. His new album has its own catch phrases -- "What the fuck," "Push the tempo," "Retox the freak in me" -- with happy, gimmicky tracks to match, full of giddy anachronisms that could be called "retronica." (CONTINUED)

R. Kelly TP-2.com (Jive)

Sometimes you can judge a book by its cover. A quick scan of song titles on R. Kelly's latest CD, TP-2.com (the title stands for "12 Play 2000," a reference to Kelly's 1993 album 12 Play), tells you all you need to know: "Strip for You," "The Greatest Sex," "Like a Real Freak," "Feelin' on Yo Booty." The set's anchor piece, though, is the track "R&B Thug"; the music's worldview is filtered through that contrived persona -- a combination of unchecked libido, ghetto-fabulous signifiers and self-pity. The real pity is that Kelly, one of the most talented players on the current R&B scene, repeatedly squanders his gifts. His voice simmers with an existential pain that is clearly rooted in the same secular vs. spiritual battle that defines the music of artists like Marvin Gaye and Prince. But he keeps the struggle one-sided in his lyrics -- staying largely on the bump-and-grind course -- and that wears thin quickly. He's repeating himself ("A Woman's Threat" is simply a retread of 1998's "When a Woman's Fed Up") and shamelessly playing to the charts ("Like a Real Freak" and "Fiesta" are the obligatory Latin-flavored tracks), while staying mired in ballad mode. The disc's one unqualified highlight occurs at the end of "I Wish," the first single. "Come on and braid my hair," he sings over and over, in a song that is -- in part -- about his lingering grief over his mother's death. It's in that throwaway line, sung plaintively and powerfully, that we hear the real beauty of both his literal and artistic voice. (ERNEST HARDY -- RS 854)

Spice Girls Forever (Virgin)

Whoever thought Ginger Spice was so important? Reduced to a quartet, the once-mighty hype machine known as the Spice Girls builds almost nothing on the softly electronic, dance-lite sound that exploded in 1996. Though Scary shows sass on the mildly sexy "Holler" and an amusing rap interlude in "Weekend Love," and Janet Jackson's longtime hitmen Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis soup up "If You Wanna Have Some Fun," the Girls' emphasis on album number three is romantic adult-contemporary ballads. What they lack, perhaps owing to Ginger's absence or Baby's growing resemblance to Stevie Nicks, is the loopy chemistry of "Wannabe." Some of these heavily produced ballads will undoubtedly hit the radio -- it's unclear so far whether MTV thinks they're washed up -- but everybody knows this kind of Girl Power can't last forever. (STEVE KNOPPER)

Various Artists Strait Up (Immortal/Virgin)

Strait Up proves you can have heart and kick ass, too. The album is a tribute to Lynn Strait, the former singer of California heavy rockers Snot, who died at age thirty in 1998. Snot weren't well known outside the Ozzfest orbit, but all the stars in that constellation have come out to send him off: Various shouters from Limp Bizkit, Slipknot, System of a Down and Sugar Ray, among others, contribute new vocals to instrumental tracks that were intended for Snot's second release. Strait Up captures some solid performances and appropriately elegiac lyrics. On "Take It Back," Korn's Jonathan Davis wails, "It's bullshit -- things don't end like this." Incubus' Brandon Boyd works his band's metaphysical-metal melodicism on the haunting "Divided (An Argument for the Soul)." Even metal godfather Ozzy Osbourne chimes in with a thirteen-second spoken-word eulogy: "We all miss you, Lynn. I'll see you on the other side. God bless you always. Love, Ozzy." Such sentiments make Strait Up a fine requiem for a headbanger. (MATT DIEHL -- RS 854)

Cher not.comm.ercial (www.cher.com, www.cherdirect.com)

On the surface, there are a lot of reasons to steer clear of Cher's not.com.mercial. The mistress of infomercials is giving it the soft sell, marketing it only over the Internet, accompanying it with warnings that regular fans may not like this much. After all, she wrote all but two of the songs, and that itself could be scary. Surprise, surprise -- she's a pretty fair songwriter, and should offer no apologies. In fact, most of these songs are a heck of a lot more interesting than the stuff she's covered recently. Except for one: "Classified 1A," a Vietnam War protest song written by Sonny Bono in the Seventies but was thought to be too controversial, is unfortunately revived. Treacly piano, unimaginative guitar and hysterical vocals make this one of the worst musical moments of Cher's illustrious career. Mercifully it is at the end of the disc, which means the album is actually pretty good, as long as you remember to shut it off just before the last track. (CHARLES BERMANT)

Blink-182 The Mark, Tom & Travis Show (The Enema Strikes Back) (MCA)

Why do the words premature ejaculation come to mind? Just months after their fourth album, Enema of the State, infiltrated the midriff baring world of MTV's TRL, the faux punks in Blink-182 are lining record store shelves with a schlepped-together live offering. Such flagrant money-grubbing is usually reserved for bands well into their lean years. But maybe Mark, Tom and Travis realize no one will even remember their limp-wristed approximation of Green Day's anal-fixated punk by next summer. Still, it's hard to imagine too many radio listeners salivating for yet another opportunity to hear singles like "All the Small Things" and "What's My Age Again?" The remaining batch of subdivision scraps, new tracks and unreleased material only emphasizes the band's complete lack of dignity. (AIDIN VAZIRI)

Coldplay Parachutes (Nettwerk)

Who will be the next Radiohead? Or the next Verve, or Travis? In England, the answer on everyone's lips is Coldplay. On its debut album, Parachutes, this youthful quartet resembles each of the above bands. Coldplay make straight-ahead, melodic Brit pop that strives for significance with a capital s, even as it has a hard time shaking its influences -- you can also hear the ethereal guitar chime of U2, a bit of Dave Matthews' breathy folk implosion, even a misting of Roger Waters-era Pink Floyd. More than anyone, however, the ghost of Jeff Buckley lingers here, as the go-anywhere falsetto on songs like "Shiver" demonstrates. Parachutes ultimately rises above its influences to become a work of real transcendence: On songs like the unrepentantly romantic "Yellow," the band creates a hypnotic slo-mo otherworld where spirit rules supreme. When frontman Chris Martin moans about "skin and bones/Turning to something beautiful," he could very well be talking about his own band. (DIEHL -- RS 852)

Eleni Mandell Thrill (Space Baby)

Once a vibrant part of the rock jungle, the finger-snapping, heavy-lidded bohemian has become a sort of endangered species -- but not one that will go gentle into that good night, if Eleni Mandell has anything to say about it. Like precursors such as Tom Waits and Exene Cervenka, the Angeleno singer-songwriter saunters through her post-beat songs with one eye on her town's underbelly, and the other cutting through the smog to search for shooting stars. On this, her second full-length, Mandell manages to sidestep the twin pitfalls of irony and confessionalism and hack a winding, scenic path through the darker side of desire on songs like "No Good, No More" and "Pauline" (which would fit in nicely on PJ Harvey's Rid of Me). She's perfectly capable of going for the jugular with bracing rock riffs (as on the erotically charged "1970 Red Chevelle"), but more often, Mandell complements her off-kilter thoughts with equally left-of-center backing -- like the subtle marimba shadings of "Moment that You Had" or the gypsy-café accordion trills that buoy "Never Know the Party's Here." There's a nakedness to both the sound and vision of Thrill, which is remarkably compelling in an age when artists are eager to bare everything they have, except what lies inside. (DAVID SPRAGUE)

Brujeria Brujerizmo (Roadrunner)

Depending on whom you believe, the guys in the thrash metal band Brujeria are either murderous, mask-wearing Mexican drug dealers, or they're members of the bands Fear Factory, Faith No More, Napalm Death, Cradle of Filth and Dimmu Borgir on vacation from their day jobs. Either way, Brujeria sound like Slayer torturing Ricky Martin and setting his bloody screams to music. On this, their third full-length album, such songs as "Marcha De Odio," "Laboratorio Cristalitos" and the title track have the kind of staccato guitar riffs, thunderous rhythms and guttural screeching that make you think El Diablo is coming to get the money you owe him. "Pititis, Te Invoco" and "Anti-Castro" whip by so fast you'll think they were written while the guys were watching the Indy 500. Which is why, even if they are from those respectable bands, these guys should be considered as dangerous as a band of real murderous, mask-wearing Mexican drug dealers. (PAUL SEMEL)

Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers Anthology: Through the Years (MCA)

Tom Petty's last studio album, 1998's Echo, proved that he's still getting better after two decades of music making, while 1995's extensive box set, Playback, offered up three generous discs of B-sides and outtakes that were every bit as good as the three discs of album tracks and hits. Even 1993's streamlined Greatest Hits, which marked the end of his tenure with MCA, offered up the rewarding newbie, "Mary Jane's Last Dance." But damned if the double-disc Through the Years anthology doesn't scream "Quit jammin' me!" You can't fault the quality of the music -- nearly every track here is a classic rock staple with good reason, but who exactly is this set for? Nearly ten million casual fans have already bought Greatest Hits, while Playback is still out there for the serious Pettyheads. And because Anthology takes us strictly through the MCA years, again, there's of course nothing here representing Petty's last three albums for Warner Bros. Chalk it up to hungry accountants then, with a stern finger shaking due Petty himself for pitching in a brand new recording of the aptly titled "Surrender," a previously unreleased song he wrote twenty-three years ago. It's a wistful corker in the classic vein of "The Waiting," but unlike "Mary Jane's," it's hardly worth the price of (re)admission. (RICHARD SKANSE)

Various Artists MTV's The Return of the Rock, Volume 2 (Roadrunner)

MTV's daily one-hour hard rock program The Return of the Rock catapulted the careers of artists like Kittie and Incubus and spawned a compilation that encapsulated a renaissance of heavy music. This time, its sequel goes beyond a sampling of current radio hits by featuring rare and previously unreleased tracks. Volume 2 kicks off with a live version of Limp Bizkit's "Show Me What You Got," where Durst's predictable ramblings consist of nothing more than shout-outs to friends, co-workers and tour stops. Fortunately, the rest of the album doesn't suffer from similar mediocrity, thanks to solid performances by Marilyn Manson, Orgy, Godsmack and the Deftones, who offer a chilling acoustic take on "Change (In the House of Flies)." Return of the Rock returnees P.O.D. provide an ass-kicking remix of "Freestyle," while Papa Roach unleash their "Legacy," for those who didn't know they had one. (SHIRLEY HALPERIN)

Alan Jackson When Somebody Loves You (Arista)

An Internet country song was inevitable, but Alan Jackson writing it -- that's ironic. Or is it? Sure, Jackson's Mr. Traditionalist, but he's also figured out how to make country music reflect real life in the new millennium. Setting cyberspace lyrics to a classic country arrangement sounds like a recipe for disaster, but "www.memory," the first single, works beautifully. The rest of the CD finds Jackson alternating humorous, good ol' boy ditties ("It's Alright to Be a Redneck") with sensitive ballads ("Maybe I Should Stay Here"), but he also bites the hand that feeds him -- hard. The scathingly funny "Three Minute Positive Not Too Country Uptempo Love Song" is a sarcastic dig at today's radio programmers, who've rejected cheatin' songs in favor of pop-country pap. Jackson's laid-back, to be sure, but defending the honor of country music sure can get a redneck riled up. (ANDREA DRESDALE)

Ziggy Marley and the Melody Makers Live Vol. 1 (Elektra)

Walking in the shadow of the big man may not always be an easy task, but Ziggy Marley and his siblings in the Melody Makers have done so with ease and charm over the last dozen years. Perhaps the key to the family's success is that there's so little to prove. Dad played reggae music better than anyone, and in his absence, the Marley offspring have merely picked up the baton. The thirteen-song Live Vol. 1 not only draws from the Melody Makers' fat song book, but also pays tribute to the memory of Bob by expertly reading a handful of Wailers numbers. A dead ringer for his father on "Jamming," "Could You Be Loved" and the endearing David Marley-penned "One Good Spliff," Ziggy's voice rarely falters in a concert setting. The band briefly hits a snag, on the drawn out, over-harmonized "Free Like We Want 2 B," but the superb "Beautiful Day," with a pronounced rock feel, can't help but make you irie. (JOHN D. LUERSSEN)

Various Artists Badlands: A Tribute to Bruce Springsteen's Nebraska (Sub Pop)

Son Volt, Ben Harper, Aimee Mann (dueting with Michael Penn) and Johnny Cash are among the wide assortment of critical favorites on this track-by-track retooling of the Boss's darkest album, augmented by covers of three cuts written but not recorded during the Nebraska sessions. As Nebraska's strength was its spooky ambience, it makes sense that Badlands's best performances are the moodiest, starkest ones, whether it's Chrissie Hynde crooning the title cut backed by ghostly drones, or Ani DiFranco putting the kind of echoing bass you heard in the Twin Peaks theme on "Used Cars." In contrast, Hank Williams III's attempt to make "Atlantic City" into a jaunty bluegrass hoedown doesn't fit the mood. Usually, though, the contributors play their cards in a proper understated manner, resulting in an album that's way above the norm for tribute projects. (RICHIE UNTERBERGER)

The Aluminum Group Pelo (Hefty)

The Aluminum Group's futuristic lounge symphony, Pelo, opens with guitar from a Jobim bossa nova, a wink at The Sound of Music, and burbling keyboards and glockenspiel that wouldn't sound out of place on a Stereolab album. For all their cleverness, flamboyant lyrics -- "Are his warm blue pillows turning transcendental?" -- and ultrasmooth crooning, Aluminum Group auteurs John and Frank Navin aren't in it for the irony. Under the shimmering surface of the group's previous three albums -- and magnified on Pelo by the translucent production of Tortoise jack-of-all-trades John Herndon -- is a longing that's poignant and disturbing. "Geraldine" is like a mirage, a watery instrumental dreamscape just out of reach. Otherwise, the Navins and some guest singers fumble for contentment. The Mekons' Sally Timms turns "Good-bye Goldfish, Hi Piranha" into a chilling lullaby, and "Tom of Finland (An Homage)" coats a sexual encounter in disembodied Kraftwerk-like textures. On the closer, "Sermon to the Frogs," John Navin muses on what might have been -- alone again, naturally. (GREG KOT -- RS 854)

Don Byron A Fine Line: Arias & Lieders (Blue Note)

Clarinetist Don Byron has been tweaking formality since his music-school days exploring the harmonic possibilities of klezmer. Again disparaging conventional wisdom, Byron tackles aria and lieders, two classical song forms. By looking mostly to twentieth-century song structures, Byron declares neither in decline, as many critics would have it, but rather in wondrous transformation. With his gathering of sensitive musicians, Byron makes the connection between melody and lyric, arguing with quiet resolve that both jazz and popular song have indeed stayed true to those nineteenth-century ideals. Indeed, the three Romantic pieces included here (Puccini's popular aria "Nessun Dorma," Chopin's "Larghetto" and Robert Schuman's lieder "Zwielicht") fit in perfectly with such tunes as Stephen Sondheim's "The Ladies Who Lunch" (sung with verve by Cassandra Wilson), Roy Orbison's "It's Over" and Stevie Wonder's "Creepin'." Few can deny the depth and beauty of these twentieth century songs, or question the craftsmanship of the songwriters behind them. (MARIE ELSIE ST. LÉGER)

Genesis Archive #2: 1976-1992 (Atlantic)

Like 1998's Archive: 1967-75 before it, Genesis' Archive #2 is a box set designed with the hard-core fanatic in mind, not the ideally curious with too much money to spend. Sure, there are hits spread across the three discs here -- "Invisible Touch," "Land of Confusion," "No Reply at All," to name a few -- but they're all live versions or over-extended 12" versions. The rest of the songs are all B-sides and leftovers from various album sessions. A lot of these, like "On the Shoreline" (circa 1992's We Can't Dance) and "You Might Recall" (circa 1981's Abacab) are quite good, even excellent; others (particularly those culled from the Invisible Touch sessions) were probably best left on the cutting room floor. But even the biggest Genesis fan is likely to be flustered by the nonsensical way the whole thing is sequenced. The heart of the considerably more interesting first Archive box, which focused on the band's Peter Gabriel years, was a live version of the rock opera The Lamb Lies Down on Broadway spread across two discs, aptly showcasing the band's early prog-rock chops. This set could have been just as interesting had it shown the slow evolution of the newly Phil Collins-fronted group from art rock factory to pop hit machine; instead, everything is thrown together seemingly at random with no trace of any historical arc. Surely a band calling itself Genesis should be able to follow a timeline properly. (SKANSE)

King Black Acid Loves a Long Song (Cavity Search)

Read the album title again, because King Black Acid are most definitely not kidding. Four of Loves a Long Song's tracks clock in over eight minutes. Like Parisian spacey duo Air, this Portland, Oreg., quintet draws heaps of inspiration from Pink Floyd ("School Blood" and "Born to Sleep" especially scream Dark Side). However, as Air come at it from the electronic side of the fence, King Black Acid are lo-fi rockers that like to noodle, and like to let the tape keep a-rollin'. And the songs' hooks are undeniable -- they're just prone to wandering. In fact, the anthemic, bombastic "Into the Sun" could even be a rock radio hit, if programmers decide they have eight minutes to spare. (BILL CRANDALL)

(November 7, 2000)