After her very public and hard-earned Glitter-y meltdown following the failure of both her debut as a movie starlet and the silly accompanying soundtrack, I was hoping that Mariah Carey would emerge from her padded cocoon a new woman. I had hoped that she would abandon her urban Star Search theatrics and think Pink, but alas that hasn't happened. Indistinguishable from most of her last few releases, the much ballyhooed Charmbracelet (Monarc/Island) is more like a choker. Sometimes playing it safe (boring, redundant) works against an artist, as it does on this album. Other things that work against Carey include backing vocals by one of the Chipmunks ('You Got Me'), her breathy Marilyn Monroe cooing ('You Had Your Chance,' 'Lullaby') and clichéd ballads ('Through The Rain,' 'My Saving Grace'). (Monarc/Island)
I'm going to go out on a limb and offer up a few words of praise for Just Whitney (Arista), the uneven new album by dazed diva Whitney Houston. Whitney spends a little too much time lashing out in song at those who criticize her (think Michael Jackson's 'Leave Me Alone' times 10) and demands our pity. Yes, Whitney, poor you, all that money, all those dead brain cells. Next! Instead of that dim cover of 'You Light Up My Life,' you would have been better off covering Warren Zevon's 'Poor Poor Pitiful Me.' Whitney, honey, put down that Bible and pick up a sense of humor! Now, back to the words of praise—'One Of Those Days' (which puts 'recycled elements' of The Isley Brothers' 'Between The Sheets' to good use) and 'Tell Me No,' get things started in an upbeat fashion. If you 'Love That Man,' as you declare in the vintage '70s soul-disco of the song of the same, than you ought to know better than to put a lifeless duet ('My Love') with him on your album. 'Try It On My Own,' is a pleasant Carole Bayer Sager (and four other writers!) ballad, and Whitney 'keeps it real,' and 'Dear John Letter' allows her to explore her funkier side.
On Christina Aguilera's newest album, Stripped (RCA), the Britney-esque belter who looks like she's badly in need of a Silkwood shower, promises us that we will hear her side of the story. With vocal support from Lil' Kim, Christina finds power in sisterhood and self-expression on 'Can't Hold Us Down,' and follows it up with an average Mariah Carey imitation on 'Walk Away.' The former Mouseketeer enlisted tattooed and pierced guitar god Dave Navarro for the quasi-rock number 'Fighter,' and attempts to remind us of her Latin roots (in case we forgot her 2000 Spanish-language album Mi Reflejo) with 'Infatuation.' Alicia Keys offers Christina encouragement to 'speak on' what she has on her mind on 'Impossible' (insert joke here), but the album takes a brief and unexpectedly pleasant turn on the lovely Linda Perry-penned 'Beautiful' (which features a passionately kissing gay male couple and a transgendered person in the music video). The openly queer Perry, who had a hand in the redesign of Pink's image, attempts to do the same with Aguilera, especially on the suitably titled 'Make Over' (which they co-wrote), but it falls short. The only thing Aguilera demonstrates on the album's first single, 'Dirrty,' is that she could use a dictionary for Christmas. To think, we have Madonna to thank for this.
Barbra Streisand shares the spotlight with divas from the past (Judy Garland, Donna Summer and Johnny Mathis) as well as those who still have a firm grasp on their divahood (Celine Dion, Josh Groban, and Barbra herself) on the compilation Duets (Columbia). Duets from the 1960s ('Get Happy/Happy Days Are Here Again,' from 1963, with Garland and 'Ding Dong The Witch Is Dead,' from 1966, with the songs composer Harold Arlen) are a reminder of the purity of Streisand's vocals in her youth. Some of her biggest duets were released in the '70s ('You Don't Bring Me Flowers' with Neil Diamond and 'No More Tears' with Summer) and paved the way for the 1980 duets with Barry Gibb on the Guilty album. Her other '80s duets, with Kim Carnes and one-time lover Don Johnson are uninspired, at best. The two new duets recorded for the album 'I Won't Be The One To Let Go' (with Barry Manilow) and 'All I Know Of Love' (with Groban), sadly don't live up to expectations.
Every time I hear Shania Twain sing, I have to wonder, other than Wal-Mart shoppers, who it is that is buying her CDs. Her latest Up! (Mercury) debuted in the No. 1 chart position, so I know that someone, somewhere is buying her music. In fact, she seems to have enough supporters in both the country and pop music realms to justify releasing a double-disc set, consisting of the same 19 songs, performed in pop music arrangements (disc one) and new country settings (disc two). Mostly it sounds derivative to me, not particularly unique or fresh. There are no surprises. The album feels as if it is cloaked in a commercial safety net. What makes all of this especially bizarre is that Twain's husband and co-songwriter is Robert John 'Mutt' Lange, who made a name for himself as the producer of albums by Def Leppard, AC/DC, Foreigner, and even The Cars during the 1980s.
Folk-diva Tracy Chapman continues her move away from mainstream accessibility with Let It Rain (Elektra). Many of the songs, while lovely and soothing, suffer from a downbeat monotony that is distracting. Technically proficient, Chapman is a consummate singer and songwriter, but repetitious songs such as 'Another Sun,' 'You're The One,' 'In The Dark,' 'Say Hallelujah,' and the ironically titled 'Happy,' hint at lethargy and threaten to lose the listener's hard-won attention. 'Almost,' with its restrained drums and haunting lap steel guitar and keyboards, was like a sunshower, in the midst of this all too quiet storm.
Broadway diva Betty Buckley's sensational mid-'90s and early 2000 discs were thoughtful combinations of standards, new and old (including compositions by Joni Mitchell and Mary Chapin Carpenter), and gave the listener an indication of Ms. Buckley's impressive musical taste. Her latest disc The Doorway (Fynsworth Alley/Varese Sarabande) has a more traditional feel to it, with her renditions of 'With A Song In My Heart,' 'Autumn Leaves,' and 'God Bless America.' In fact, the whole album has a 9/11 memorial quality (there is 'an improvisation' titled 'A Loss Of Heroes'), as well as a medley of 'America The Beautiful'/'Bridge Over Troubled Water.'
Jennifer Lopez, the urban diva formerly known as J. Lo, is now just plain 'Jenny From The Block,' as she sings in the song of the same name from her confusingly titled This Is Me … Then (Epic). The singing actress refines her act, still borrowing from the best (Teddy Pendergrass on 'Still,' Mtume on 'Loving You,' Linda Creed and Thom Bell on ' The One,' and so on) as P. Diddy taught her. I mean, it sure beats writing original music. And yes, the song 'Dear Ben,' for beau du jour Ben Affleck, is as schmaltzy as you might imagine. However, her cover of Carly Simon's 'You Belong To Me' and the original song 'I've Been Thinkin'' (a frightening prospect, indeed) pass muster.
To many, Justin Guarini of American Idol-fame, was 2002's male diva in distress, losing the televised singing competition to tweety and twangy Texan Kelly Clarkson. Another Justin, Justin Timberlake, also qualifies as a male diva in distress, what with his painful and public break-up with singing blow-up doll Britney Spears and all. A December 2002 Advocate cover boy, Timberlake released his eagerly anticipated solo disc Justified (Jive), which would have been better off titled Jacksonified, because it sounds so much like a Michael Jackson album. Timberlake conjures Jackson on several tracks, even going so far as to recreate his upper register vocals on tracks such as '(And She Said) Take Me Now,' 'Like I Love You,' 'Cry Me A River,' and 'Rock Your Body,' not to mention his dance moves. There's a touch of vintage Stevie Wonder on 'Nothin' Else' and he even does a righteous Prince impression on 'Right For Me.' This is all to say that while Timberlake has no trouble sounding like other people, I'm looking forward to the album on which he feels secure enough in his talent to sound like himself.
Music to Watch Movies By
Like the movie from which it was taken, Chicago—Music From The Motion Picture (Epic) renews the hope for the movie musical. Sure, songs such as 'A Little Bit Of Good,' sung in the stage play by the gender-confused newspaper reporter Mary Sunshine (played by Christine Baranski in the film) and the Roxie/Velma duet 'My Own Best Friend,' to name a few, have been cut from both the movie and the soundtrack, and 'Class,' a Velma/Mama Morton duet which is one of the best songs in the show is included on the soundtrack, but has been cut from the movie. However, we do get the new Velma/Roxie duet 'I Move On,' written by Kander and Ebb especially for the movie. And the remaining songs from the original musical make the transition to the screen (and soundtrack) with ease. The soundtrack does lose a couple of Brownie points for desperate songs 'inspired by the motion picture' such as Moulin Rouge-esque 'Cell Block Tango (He Had It Comin')' performed by Latifah, Li'l Kim and Macy Gray and 'Love Is A Crime' by overly hyped diva-to-be Anastacia.
Carter Burwell, who created the memorable score for Being John Malkovich, teams up with BJM director Spike Jonze once again for the Adaptation: Original Motion Picture Soundtrack (Astralwerks). Opening with Fatboy Slim's remix of the 'Adaptation' main theme, the haunting song sets the tone for the remainder of the soundtrack. Both ominous and humorous, Burwell's score matches the movie note for note. Adaptation is also the kind of soundtrack that stands on its own and holds up well after repeated listenings.
John Williams also strikes a balance between suspense and a sense of humor with the score he composed for Music From The Motion Picture Catch Me If You Can (Dreamworks). Capturing the spirit of the music from the late 1950s through the 1960s, which was being influenced by the hipster progressive jazz of the era, Williams makes a bold move in a new direction with this soundtrack. You don't need to hear the period recordings by Judy Garland ('Embraceable You'), Getz/Gilberto/Jobim ('The Girl From Ipanema') or Dusty Springfield ('The Look Of Love') to get a feel for the time. Williams effectively recreates it through his score to Spielberg's cat-and-mouse caper flick starring Tom Hanks and Leonard DiCaprio.
The Hours: Music From The Motion Picture —Composed by Phillip Glass (Nonesuch) contains Glass's trademark repetition on many of the compositions. This is particularly effective in creating dramatic tension both on-screen and wherever you listen to this outstanding soundtrack. Michael Cunningham, author of the novel The Hours, on which the movie is based, supplied the revealing liner notes (be sure to read them) and the CD booklet also contains excerpts from the critically acclaimed and award-winning book.
A better soundtrack than the movie with which it is associated, electronica artist David Holmes's score for Analyze That: Original Motion Picture Soundtrack (TVT Soundtrax) pops and zips in ways the movie only wished it could. Like the Catch Me If You Can soundtrack, the score has the feel of another time. It recalls '70s blaxploitation funk and would be the perfect soundtrack to a winter party. This is definitely one of those cases where I recommend skipping the flick, but picking up the soundtrack.
As eclectic and strange as the movie with which it is affiliated, Punch-Drunk Love: Original Motion Picture Soundtrack Composed by Jon Brion (Nonesuch) is a delightful reminder of this oddly wonderful movie. Brion's original score has a Harry Nilsson quality to it, which is fitting considering that the soundtrack also includes the Nilsson song 'He Needs Me' (as sung by Shelley Duvall in the 1980 Robert Altman movie Popeye). The score also bubbles over with songs that conjure romance and terror, and sometimes a combination of the two.
Peter Gabriel has earned a respectable reputation for the movies that he has scored, including Birdy (1985) and The Last Temptation of Christ (1989). His latest film score Long Walk Home: Music From The Rabbit-Proof Fence (Real World) fits well in the movie and is atmospheric and dramatic.
Cliff Martinez, who created the acclaimed score for the movie Traffic, returns to the dark underworld of illegal drugs and cops with Narc: Music From The Motion Picture (TVT Soundtrax). Effectual in creating a mood of tension, this is another soundtrack that can be enjoyed regardless of whether you have seen the movie or not.
Indie rock legend Eric Bachman (Archers of Loaf, Crooked Fingers) tries his hand at something new with Short Careers: Original Score for the film Ball of Wax (Merge). The movie, which is about the extremes to which a successful, but bored, baseball player is driven, has a fairly twisted premise. Bachmann's instrumental score, which is lushly orchestrated on stringed instruments including violin, cello and guitar, as well as piano and loops, allows the composer to branch out in a new and different direction.
Nicola Pavani's sumptuous and grand score for the Roberto Benigni's family feature Pinocchio (Virgin) suggests childlike wonder throughout. At times buoyant ('Pinocchio's Walk') and magical ('The Blue Fairy'), the music for this Pinocchio sounds vastly different from the in Disney's telling of the story.
Speaking of family entertainment and Disney, ABC's The Wonderful World of Disney will be presenting a three-hour made-for-TV version of Meredith Willson's The Music Man Feb. 16. Matthew Broderick plays silver-tongued shyster Professor Harold Hill and Kristin Chenowith plays Marian 'The Librarian' Paroo, and the cast also includes Victor Garber and Molly Shannon. The openly gay production team of Craig Zadan and Neil Meron (Chicago) produced this new version, and the soundtrack to Meredith Willson's The Music Man (Disney) includes such familiar tunes as 'Ya Got Trouble,' 'Seventy-Six Trombones,' 'Pick A Little, Talk A Little,' 'Gary, Indiana,' 'Wells Fargo Wagon,' 'Shipoopi,' and, of course, 'Till There Was You.'
