Ashlee Simpson
BITTERSWEET WORLD
Geffen Records / Universal Music
Mary-Kate and Ashley. Paris and Nicky. Jessica and Ashlee. So many
sister
acts deserving of our time, so little of it to give. With the
Simpsons,
it’s even more complicated. Like which to choose when it’s time to
drop a
few bucks on your next CD. I mean, there hasn’t been a taste test
this
tough like this since those two cola companies were fighting it
out.
Boil it down to substance over form, and we’ll take Ashlee, even
if her
lightweight dance-pop is little more than the three Rs –
regurgitate,
recycle, reuse – that are pretty much the template for getting on
the radio
these days.
That said, Ashlee may be just right for those who’ve given up on
Britney or
grown out of the Mousketeerish Miley Cyrus. Bittersweet World is
disposable
for sure, but perhaps worth a listen for anyone whose life’s
pleasures are
little more than the fleeting or guilty variety.
Lenny Kravitz
IT’S TIME FOR A LOVE REVOLUTION
Virgin
It’s time to stop flogging the same dead horse, Lenny. To go retro
is one
thing; to be out of touch for much of one’s career is another.
Almost 20 years after his debut, Let Love Rule, Kravitz still
finds himself
stuck in the Summer of Love. Songs like “Will You Marry Me”, “I
Love The
Rain” and “This Moment Is All There Is” tell us that much. He’d
have us
believe, if you haven’t figured it out already, that love is the
answer.
Which is fine if you can come up with a recipe other than rehashed
classic-rock leftovers.
Yet for all of his so-called idealism, Lenny can’t seem to find
any kind of
lick or instrumental nugget to make us sit up and take notice. He
continues
to look to his heroes for his chops and inspiration, but no amount
of funk
muscle or ill-timed guitar solos can lift the lightweight material
off the
ground.
It’s time for a revolution.
Michael Jackson
THRILLER: 25TH Anniversary Edition
Epic / Legacy
Given how the Gloved One has done a fine job of tainting his place
in pop
history, it’s easy to forget the magnitude of his early solo
career.
Thriller, for example, was a monumental accomplishment that we may
never
see the likes of again. It topped the charts for a staggering 37
weeks and
won eight Grammy awards. Seven of its nine songs became Top 10
singles. It
inspired the groundbreaking videos Beat It, Billie Jean and the
famous
14-minute Thriller. Little wonder that at a 100 million albums and
counting, it’s the biggest seller of all time.
While the content will never astound as much as the numbers,
Thriller is
still worth a listen. As with many “anniversary” or “special”
editions,
however, this one comes with a caveat. Instead of giving us only
what we
need – the original nine songs and the aforementioned videos – we
also get
senseless remixes from the likes of Kanye West and will.i.am. Their
contributions are little more than fingerpainters tampering with a
Picasso.
Nick Cave & the Bad Seeds
Dig!!! Lazurus Dig!!
ANTI- / Epitaph
This Aussie rocker-cum-poet-cum-actor has quietly, and without
much
commercial clout, built an impressive body of work since first
mangling our
senses as a member of Australia’s formidable Birthday Party. But
it’s been
his subsequent work with the ever-evolving Bad Seeds that has made
him one
of the most respected and critically acclaimed artists of the last
20
years.
Following last year’s side project, the excellent Grinderman, he’s
back
with the band that seems to inspire his most poignant work. And
Dig!!!
Lazurus Dig!! may be as good as anything he’s done. This is Cave
at his
literate, storytelling best, spinning, as only he can, a biblical
story
into a sinister modern-day tale of betrayal and revenge.
The Bad Seeds for their part are at their disorderly best,
whipping up an
ominous brew of punk, funk, garage rock and fractured blues. They
even
drift into pop territory on “More News From Nowhere”, about as
close as
this bunch will ever get to being radio-friendly.
