Critically
acclaimed singer/songwriter Joan Osborne reunites with the same
team that worked on her 1995 top 5 hit, One of Us, for Little
Wild One. Leaving the Motown territory of 2007’s Breakfast
in Bed, Osborne returns to a rock ’n’ soul sound, aided
by notable producer and writers Rick Chertoff, Rob Hyman, and
Eric Brazilian. Little Wild One continues Osborne’s
ability to showcase her free-spirited ways. Most of the songs on
the album pay tribute to New York City: Opening track Hallelujah
In The City doubles as a tale of redemption and an ode to
the Big Apple, while Daddy-O is a reverent hymn about
Coney Island’s heyday, with soulful synthesiser and slide
guitar solos taking turns paying homage. After she sings about
the healing beauties of urban landscapes, evidenced by the
cathedrals of New York and Rome on the gorgeous, piano-driven Cathedrals
and expresses the wish Bury Me On The Battery, her
affection comes into clearer focus. The material here enables
Osborne to exhibit, in equal degrees, all sides of her musical
personality; sultry siren (To The One I Love and the title track
Little Wild One), grounded roots rocker (Hallelujah In
The City), and bluesy songstress (Meet You In The Middle).
Can’t Say No provides a splash of world beat and Rodeo
a dash of country-western. Amid chiming mandolin and folk-rock
electric guitar on Sweeter Than The Rest, Osborne’s
sturdy voice rises in the track’s climactic moments. Her voice
is wide and clear, singing both to the heavens and to her
adopted hometown of New York City, which is both a topical and a
poetic muse on Little Wild One.
Best track:
To The One I Love
Worst track:
Can’t Say No
Rating
***
Lindsey
Buckingham — Gift of Screws
(Warner Music)
The fifth solo
album from Lindsey Buckingham, Gift Of Screws, unites the broad
appeal he showed as the main musical force behind Fleetwood Mac
with the spirit of pop experimentalism he displayed on the
landmark albums Tusk and Rumours, as well as his
solo outings. Gift Of Screws is a thrilling album from the very
first track. Great Day positively bursts out of the speakers
with its aggressive acoustic guitar and audacious vocal lines. Time
Precious Time addresses life’s urgency with virtuoso
vividness. Did You Miss Me, with its uplifting hook and
lyrics about dreaming and loss, is the best pop song he has
written since Go Your Own Way. The Fleetwood Mac
bandmates Mick Fleetwood and John McVie lends a healthy
commercial swagger to Love Runs Deeper and The Right
Place To Fade. The contemplative lyrics of Bel Air Rain
and Treason, meanwhile, are given added weight by strong
melodies and delicately layered arrangements. Wait For You
comes closest to unearthing the romantic wanderlust that’s
been Buckingham’s trademark since 1975’s Monday Morning.
In some ways, the album is an extension of his Fleetwood Mac
legacy that provides the unmistakable foundation on several
songs, including the glorious title song. The closer, Treason,
is a dignified anthemic pop song with a gospel chorus that is
unlike any song Buckingham’s written before and sends the
album out in a very graceful, and deeply moving way.
Best track:
Love Runs Deeper
Worst track:
Underground
Rating ****
Raphael Saadiq
— The Way I See It
(Sony)
R&B veteran
Saadiq, best known for his former band Tony! Toni! Tone!, is
back with his third studio album The Way I See It that
honors the rich musical heritage of soul giants like Motown,
Stax, and Hot Wax. For the most part, Raphael Saadiq injects his
own personality into the songs. He only occasionally falls into
the mannerisms of the great forefathers of soul.
His tone is
obviously very influenced by Marvin Gaye of Never Give You Up,
where legend Stevie Wonder himself surfaces for a harmonica
solo, and Sometimes sounds like a Sam Cooke song. Callin’
features a gorgeous spoken-word intro in Spanish before the
Penguins-style harmonies kick in. "I keep trying to call
/ But you don’t answer the phone / ‘Cause you don’t want
me no more", Saadiq sings mournfully and his pain is
palpable. The Way I See It is stocked with short,
romantic cuts like Just One Kiss, featuring Joss Stone
and Oh Girl featuring Jay-Z. The vulnerable lyrics and
layered vocal arrangements reflect songs that once incited
crowds to do the twist and slow-drag on the dance floor. Saadiq
shines on the melodious Sure Hope You Mean It, the
encouraging Keep Marchin’ and the emotive Calling,
which also features the distinguished Spanish singer, Rocio
Mendoza. On Big Easy, a trumpet-filled nod to his missing
New Orleans beau, a lovesick Saadiq weeps about the girl he lost
to Hurricane Katrina’s fury. The album effectively creates a
seamless, supremely melodic set that evokes the soul of the
1960s and 1970s.
Best track:
Oh Girl
Worst track:
Ask Of You
Rating **
Album of the month
Metallica
— Death Magnetic (Warner Music)
Metallica,
the world’s biggest heavy rock band, were widely
ridiculed for making their last album, 2003’s
comparatively sensitive St Anger, under the
guidance of a psychotherapist. Death Magnetic is just the
right album they needed to regain their primacy. Unlike St
Anger, there’s a definite structure and direction to
all of the tracks, and they successfully manage to
incorporate the rapid interchange of riffs and
instrumental sections that was such a hallmark of their
sound during the 1980s.
Clearly,
though, they’ve learnt from their mistakes, because the
collection sees them howling back to their roots. Death
Magnetic is the band’s first album to feature nimble
bassist Robert Trujillo and the first to be produced by
Rick Rubin, who was responsible for resurrecting the
careers of Johnny Cash and Neil Diamond when they, too,
were at risk of becoming a thing of the past. James
Hetfield sings melodiously on the power ballad The Day
That Never Comes, but he’s at his best when he’s
bursting out lyrics on Broken, Beat & Scarred,
a song that blazes through a grinding riff, symphonic
unison-guitar licks and roiling double-bass drums. With
the shortest track close to six minutes and the longest, Suicide
& Redemption, a nearly 10-minute instrumental, Death
Magnetic demands that listeners put aside other
distractions and immerse. All Nightmare Long
recalls the unbridled; head-banging thrash of The Four
Horsemen from 1983 debut Kill ’Em All and The
Judas Kiss has the riotous momentum of Seek &
Destroy. Rob Trujillo makes his mark on ferocious
funk-metal grooves like The End of the Line, while
Kirk Hammett’s superfast guitar solos are back in
abundance. Like its Reload and Black Album
predecessors, the ambitious track The Unforgiven III,
sweetens confessional lyrics of loss, redemption and
absolution with lush orchestral strings and brass. As
bright young things fall in and out of fashion, it’s a
joy to have these veterans back to reinforce the sheer
visceral thrill of timeless heavy metal.
Critically
acclaimed singer/songwriter Joan Osborne reunites with the same
team that worked on her 1995 top 5 hit, One of Us, for Little
Wild One. Leaving the Motown territory of 2007’s Breakfast
in Bed, Osborne returns to a rock ’n’ soul sound, aided
by notable producer and writers Rick Chertoff, Rob Hyman, and
Eric Brazilian. Little Wild One continues Osborne’s
ability to showcase her free-spirited ways. Most of the songs on
the album pay tribute to New York City: Opening track Hallelujah
In The City doubles as a tale of redemption and an ode to
the Big Apple, while Daddy-O is a reverent hymn about
Coney Island’s heyday, with soulful synthesiser and slide
guitar solos taking turns paying homage. After she sings about
the healing beauties of urban landscapes, evidenced by the
cathedrals of New York and Rome on the gorgeous, piano-driven Cathedrals
and expresses the wish Bury Me On The Battery, her
affection comes into clearer focus. The material here enables
Osborne to exhibit, in equal degrees, all sides of her musical
personality; sultry siren (To The One I Love and the title track
Little Wild One), grounded roots rocker (Hallelujah In
The City), and bluesy songstress (Meet You In The Middle).
Can’t Say No provides a splash of world beat and Rodeo
a dash of country-western. Amid chiming mandolin and folk-rock
electric guitar on Sweeter Than The Rest, Osborne’s
sturdy voice rises in the track’s climactic moments. Her voice
is wide and clear, singing both to the heavens and to her
adopted hometown of New York City, which is both a topical and a
poetic muse on Little Wild One.
The fifth solo
album from Lindsey Buckingham, Gift Of Screws, unites the broad
appeal he showed as the main musical force behind Fleetwood Mac
with the spirit of pop experimentalism he displayed on the
landmark albums Tusk and Rumours, as well as his
solo outings. Gift Of Screws is a thrilling album from the very
first track. Great Day positively bursts out of the speakers
with its aggressive acoustic guitar and audacious vocal lines. Time
Precious Time addresses life’s urgency with virtuoso
vividness. Did You Miss Me, with its uplifting hook and
lyrics about dreaming and loss, is the best pop song he has
written since Go Your Own Way. The Fleetwood Mac
bandmates Mick Fleetwood and John McVie lends a healthy
commercial swagger to Love Runs Deeper and The Right
Place To Fade. The contemplative lyrics of Bel Air Rain
and Treason, meanwhile, are given added weight by strong
melodies and delicately layered arrangements. Wait For You
comes closest to unearthing the romantic wanderlust that’s
been Buckingham’s trademark since 1975’s Monday Morning.
In some ways, the album is an extension of his Fleetwood Mac
legacy that provides the unmistakable foundation on several
songs, including the glorious title song. The closer, Treason,
is a dignified anthemic pop song with a gospel chorus that is
unlike any song Buckingham’s written before and sends the
album out in a very graceful, and deeply moving way.
R&B veteran
Saadiq, best known for his former band Tony! Toni! Tone!, is
back with his third studio album The Way I See It that
honors the rich musical heritage of soul giants like Motown,
Stax, and Hot Wax. For the most part, Raphael Saadiq injects his
own personality into the songs. He only occasionally falls into
the mannerisms of the great forefathers of soul.
Metallica,
the world’s biggest heavy rock band, were widely
ridiculed for making their last album, 2003’s
comparatively sensitive St Anger, under the
guidance of a psychotherapist. Death Magnetic is just the
right album they needed to regain their primacy. Unlike St
Anger, there’s a definite structure and direction to
all of the tracks, and they successfully manage to
incorporate the rapid interchange of riffs and
instrumental sections that was such a hallmark of their
sound during the 1980s.
