Posted: Thursday, October 14, 2004 7:00 pm
Pop
R.E.M.
"Around the Sun"
** 1/2
With the opening sounds of "Leaving New York," the first song on "Around the Sun," R.E.M. makes it clear it is trying to return to the "Losing My Religion"-style sound that marked the band's creative and commercial peak in the 1990s.
Thirteen midtempo songs later, it's just as clear that in accomplishing that task, Michael Stipe, Mike Mills and Peter Buck have made a delicate but dull album that simply does not rock.
That's not to say there aren't some good tunes on the disc. "Leaving New York" catches the old vibe perfectly, there's some folky drive to "Final Straw," and Stipe gets a little jazzed up on "Wanderlust" when he sings about kissing the astronauts.
But the point of Q-Tip's rapping on "The Outsiders" was entirely lost on me, serving only to make R.E.M. sound like a band that is adrift in a musical world that might just be passing it by and too many of the other tunes on the record just sound the same.
In the press, Stipe is maintaining that the lyrics on "Around the Sun" aren't autobiographical. But they sure sound that way, and they're the voice of a midcareer artist taking stock of his life, his work and the world around him. On paper, those words have some edge and political bite. But that never comes through when his voice is set to music.
L. Kent Wolgamott
Duran Duran
"Astronaut"
More than 20 years since Duran Duran released a full studio album, the original band returns with the sound that made them famous: catchy, simple anthems and harmonies over driving dance grooves and slick electronic sounds.
The album is a swath of effects-layered, slow to midtempo songs, ranging from radio-friendly pop anthems such as leadoff single "Sunrise" to more groovy and disco-influenced numbers such as "Nice," which recalls the group's early '80s work on "Rio."
That said, "Astronaut" is not exactly a return to roots at least four tracks feel so contemporary, they would sound at home on a Jamiroquai or Backstreet Boys album.
After guitarist Andy Taylor and drummer John Taylor (no relation) left the group at its peak of popularity in 1985, the band's ensuing releases mostly lacked the tight feel of a full band involved in the writing process. But on "Astronaut," Duran Duran sounds more like the cohesive unit that delivered driving yet danceable tunes "Girls on Film" and "Planet Earth."
Tensions over how hard their sound should be appear resolved, with Andy Taylor indulging in few solos and little distortion. There's little experimentation; they play to their strengths. And singer Simon Le Bon's vocals are in great form, even if his lyrics remain light in the depth department.
Among the strongest songs are "Sunrise," featuring drum work that echoes "Girls on Film," and "What Happens Tomorrow," another catchy rocker with soaring vocals reminiscent of the 1993 hit "Ordinary World."
"Nice" is perhaps the best of the bunch. Bassist John Taylor drives this disco number, which casts Le Bon in his familiar seducer role: "Take the beautiful sting of a Scorpio/A careless smile and it begins to snow/And it hurts me to think that you might never know/That I've got this thing about you."
Alex Veiga
The Associated Press
Alternative rock
Cake
"Pressure Chief"
Say this for Cake: They are never going to be mistaken for any other band. Even in the copycat world of popular music on a major label, no less, Cake refuses to compromise a style that sounds like nothing else. Or, perhaps more accurately, a style that sounds like everything else.
"Pressure Chief," the band's fifth studio album and follow-up to their Columbia Records debut "Comfort Eagle," is another amalgam of punk rock, bluegrass, R&B and mariachi. The crunchy guitar riffs and melodic bass lines are omnipresent, along with John McRea's sardonic drawl and Vincent De Fiore's ingenious trumpet accents.
Synthesizer and assorted electronica are featured prominently throughout "Pressure Chief," echoing contemporary hip-hop conventions as well as the band's breakout 1996 hit "The Distance."
The tracks are as eclectic as the band's sound, from the twisted nursery rhyme "Wheels" to the strident environmental missive "Carbon Monoxide" to the ukulele folk tune "The End of the Movie."
If you already enjoy the taste of Cake, "Pressure Chief" serves up more of the same. And even for nonfans, it's inclusive like one of those cocktail parties where everybody is invited, no one has anything in common, and everyone has a good time anyway.
Jason Hammersla
The Hartford Courant
Recitation
William Shatner
"Has Been"
William Shatner is once again the "talk" of the music industry.
In the 1960s, he achieved recording fame or infamy for his dramatic readings of lyrics to contemporary pop songs including "Lucy in the Sky With Diamonds" and "Mr. Tambourine Man."
In "Has Been," Shatner returns with an album of 11 recitations, mostly new. His collaborator is Ben Folds, who produced and arranged the album and co-wrote, with Shatner, many of its songs.
The lyrics, which Shatner says are "thoughts and experiences of mine that very few people have heard before," are performed in Shatner's trademark "chewing the scenery" style with some legitimately good musical backing by Folds and others.
Two of the songs are standouts if you can tune out Shatner's part: "Familiar Love," a 1950s-style ballad, complete with choir, and "Real," written by Brad Paisley, who also plays guitar and sings along.
Some of the songs are downright depressing. "That's Me Trying" is a plea to Shatner's long-estranged daughter for renewal of their relationship. And "What Have You Done?" has minimal musical accompaniment as Shatner describes finding the body of a loved one (his third wife drowned in 1999).
Not depressed yet? Try "You'll Have Time." It starts with some quiet, somber organ notes. But the peace is soon startlingly shattered as Shatner proclaims: "I hate to be the bearer of bad news. But you're gonna die!" Then he recalls, in rhyme, some famous deceased: "Johnny Cash, JFK, that guy in the Stones; Lou Gehrig, Einstein and Joey Ramone."
On a welcome lighter note, "I Want You to Be You" has a humorous lyric in which Shatner tells someone that she is perfect just the way she is with several exceptions.
"I Can't Get Behind That" is a three-minute rant in which Shatner and Henry Rollins, backed by a frantic drum set, sound as if they are on the verge of a nervous breakdown.
Shatner might have been serious when the made this CD, but many who buy it will do so for its campy appeal.
Ron Berthel
The Associated Press