LEANN RIMES "Family" (Curb) 2 ½ stars
LeAnn Rimes is the anti-Britney.
The country-pop singer had her first major hit, "Blue," when she was only 13 and had compiled a solid "Greatest Hits" album before her 21st birthday. Now 25, married for five years and seemingly well-adjusted, it seems Rimes has survived her teens and early 20s free of public meltdowns. It also feels as if we've known her forever.
"Family," her 14th studio album (counting pre-"Blue" indies and European releases), is the first for which she's had a hand in writing every track (save the two lousy and unnecessary duets that are tacked to the end; "bonus tracks" crawling in off Bon Jovi's and Reba McEntire's latest discs). The result is one of her better, more personal collections, a feisty set that owes a great deal to biting country-rock and steers clear of her previous flirtations with dance-pop.
On the debit side: some of the ballads are no more distinct than Carrie Underwood's and, worse, Rimes' powerful voice is undermined by a tendency to mumble. This marble-mouthed diction might work on an old Rolling Stones record but for songs meant to capture feelings, like the garbled "Good Friend and a Glass of Wine," understanding the words clearly is of utmost importance.
Pod Pick: "Family," "Doesn't Everybody," "Nothin' Better to Do."
-Howard Cohen
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DEBORAH HARRY "Necessary Evil" (Eleven Seven Music) No stars
Buyer beware: The name Deborah Harry no longer has anything in common with the leader of the beloved New Wave group Blondie, at least not in the studio.
The iconic singer's new album "Necessary Evil" (and one is tempted to insert "Un" in front of the title) is simply an unlistenable mess. It's also unrecognizable: Harry's vocals have deteriorated to a cross between Stevie Nicks' hoarse meandering and Pink's affected, tough-girl rasp.
What's worse, the 62-year-old Harry has resorted to embarrassingly salacious profanities, a fatal attempt to give her material some sort of edge. On "School for Scandal," she leers, "The devil's d--- is hard to handle" in an annoyingly nasal tone reminiscent of "Chasing Amy" star Joey Lauren Adams. "Dirty and Deep," a failed effort at club-jumping hip-hop, of all things, offers the lines "Comin' at my curlies with your wraparound thighs" and "Grease your zipper/Swat your fly/A hole in one/A big bull's-eye." The effect is almost as sexy as an aging senator with a wide stance. Almost.
Even when Harry isn't trying to sicken us, the result is laughable. The title track is cheesy hair-metal bravado, like what you would expect if Slash were kidnapped and forced to listen to Muzak for a month before writing a new song. On the limp ballad "What is Love," Harry laments, "Yesterday I knew what it was - maybe tomorrow I'll know what it was." "You're Too Hot" is nothing but Harry sternly singing "Don't touch me/You're too hot" over and over and over, then adding childlike "Nah, nah, nahs," while "Heat of the Moment" consists entirely of the singer warbling the title tunelessly overtop Tarzan jungle rhythms.
When the final track "Paradise" breaks out the smooth-jazz sax solo and Harry sings "I just set myself on fire," you can't help but wish it were only true.
Pod Picks: None.
-Michael Hamersly
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CAFE TACVBA "Sino" (Universal) 4 stars
Probably the most critically revered band in Latin rock, Cafe Tacvba is splendidly intelligent, adventurous, original and whimsical - art rock at its best. The band can also push the envelope so far they're inaccessible to most pop listeners. On "Sino," its first new studio album in four years, it finds a balance, pairing blithely existential lyrics and wildly adventurous fusion with its loveliest music. It's a kind of Tacvba-style pop tribute, with fierce punk pounding and soaring `80s keyboard pop cheesiness and `70s arena rock grandeur and sweet `60s psychedelia and Velvet Underground dissonance and more all mixed together, sometimes on the same song.
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