Tamar “Tamar” Dreamworks
Records
Toni Braxton’s little sister breaks out on her own with
her self-titled solo debut. Old enough to understand what
she’s singing at 21, Tamar’s effort is a mixture of
R&B and hip-hop flavor that showcases her beautiful voice and
her range. Tamar also gets a little help from hip-hop talents Missy
Elliot and Jermaine Dupri. Dupri contributes the infectious, but
forgettable, first single “Get None,” which features
himself and Amil. The Elliot penned and produced track, “No
Disrespect,” stands out as one of the strongest on the album.
Elliot lends her signature repetitious beats, which nicely
complement Tamar’s smooth vocals. Tamar describes this song
in the Enhanced CD’s explanatory notes as “A
woman’s anthem: Don’t treat me like some passing fad.
Respect me, or I’m not foolin’ with you, period.”
The strongest track by far is “Your Room,” which has a
catchy hook and all-too-familiar subject matter. This sultry slow
jam is about the growing intimacy of a new couple, and taking the
relationship to a higher emotional level. “If You Don’t
Wanna Love Me” is a wonderful song about difficult subject
matter regarding one partner’s dissatisfaction in a
relationship that’s making both miserable, and the need to
end it if that’s the case. The slightly fragmented album is
peppered with soul, but not necessarily Tamar’s. Although she
co-wrote three songs, the album doesn’t fit together or give
the audience insight into her world as much as one would have
hoped. Regardless, there’s no doubt the girl can sing and
Tamar’s album is definitely one you can put into the stereo
often; just make sure it’s on shuffle. Dria Fearn Rating:
7
Neil Young “Silver and Gold” Reprise
Records
“Silver and Gold” is Neil Young’s latest,
purely acoustic endeavor and one of his best. His soft singing,
beautiful guitar and emotional harmonica bring back memories of
1972’s “Harvest.” Young began work on
“Silver and Gold” in 1997 and slowly accumulated songs
to include in the album. Many of the original songs destined for
“Silver and Gold” became part of the Crosby, Stills,
Nash and Young album “Looking Forward”. Some would say
that the best songs were taken, while others feel that
“Silver and Gold” is more complete without them. The
songs have a very innocent and easy feel to them. Fortunately the
album offers more than merely the title track and “Razor
Love”, which were, surprisingly, written many years ago but
remained unreleased. Both, however, are the best songs on the
album. In general, the lyrics are upbeat and warm. “Buffalo
Springfield Again” is a song that looks back on Young’s
days with his old band and hopes to “see those guys again and
give it a shot.” “Good To See You” and
“Daddy Went Walkin” are both sentimental and
celebratory songs of life. The album only offers Young fans ten
tracks, which can leave some feeling dissatisfied and others just
wanting more. Overall though, the album feels complete and
satisfying, as if you could sense the time and effort Young put in
creating and honing “Silver and Gold.” Even the liner
notes feel authentic. All the lyrics and credits are written in
Young’s own handwriting, mistakes and all. “Silver and
Gold” is a solid album and contains some great songs which
will satisfy Young fans as well as anyone who enjoys good
old-fashioned acoustic music. David Jones Rating: 8
Primal Scream “XTRMNTR”
Astralwerks
Since its original mid-’80s conception, Primal Scream has
seen a near-complete about-face in style. With the group’s
recent transition from the Sire label to Astralwerks, the
well-respected band has now declared its preference to be called a
“dance” band, which, on its latest release
“XTRMNTR,” Primal Scream never quite becomes. Founder
Bobby Gillespie first had experience drumming for controversial
noise rockers Jesus and Mary Chain before starting Primal Scream as
a side project geared more toward the pop genre in 1984. By the
early ’90s, the band had successfully garnered a large, yet
underground following of indie-wannabes, releasing one of
England’s first big dance-pop fusion records,
“Screamadelica.” With an oft-requested song on the No.
1-selling “Trainspotting” soundtrack, the techno
hybridists forever secured their place as one of the most
influential crossover bands to come out of Europe. While
1994’s “Give Out But Don’t Give Up” failed
to sell nearly as well, 1997’s “Vanishing Point”
reaffirmed the group’s position as a principal rock
operation, after which the group went into hiatus until this year.
While “XTRMNTR” carries the same thread of music Primal
Scream left in 1997, it is evident that tastes have changed
dramatically in the past three years, leaving the album hanging
dry, sorely in need of modernization. Tracks such as the opening
“Kill All Hippies” are reminiscent of the same Britpop
silliness of yesterday, mixing standard beat loops with distorted
guitars under meaningless vocalized dribble. The sleek, repetitive
“Pills” probably contains more swearing than any single
track put out by NWA, but is otherwise void of any artistic
accomplishment. The instrumental “Blood Money” sounds
like a James Bond theme song redone by White Zombie, which actually
turns out to be a lot better than it sounds. The gorgeously
orchestrated “Keep Your Dreams” ensues as a
well-crafted pop tidbit which melds xylophones with synth layers
with gentle emo guitar riffs. Almost like a lullaby, yet
reaffirming in nature, “Keep Your Dreams” is almost
reason alone to buy Primal Scream’s latest, if it
weren’t for the fact that the remaining five tracks are
moderately entertaining at best, and for the most part, something
of a letdown. Primal Scream probably won’t see much of a
resurgence in popularity, and all but the most ardent of fans will
probably find little solace in “XTRMNTR’s”
alienating, yet too familiar concoction of dance and distortion.
Cyrus McNally Rating: 4
Papa Roach “Infest” Dreamworks
Records
“Infest” is cool because it has a big picture of a
dead cockroach on the cover, with the song titles listed around it
on little labels as though they were the names of various parts of
cockroach anatomy. Cute. Otherwise, “Infest” is a
dreary, angry collection of pseudo-rap. It’s your generic
disillusioned youth band out to “stick it to the man”
and “tell it like it is.” Papa Roach certainly
isn’t afraid to go out on a limb, insinuating that the ills
of society might be due to some failure on the part of the
government, the media or the family as an institution. The shock
that the listener feels on hearing these controversial opinions is
akin to the feeling that upon discovering that a scoop of vanilla
ice cream is really mashed potatoes ““ in other words, mild
confusion, followed by prolonged indifference. “Dead
Cell” is the fourth song on the album, distinguished from its
predecessors by the fact that it contains sobering social
commentary on the tragedy of the Columbine massacre. Lead singer
Coby Dick (who prefers to be called Mr. Dick, the first track
helpfully informs us) expresses the pain of a generation by
screaming “Dead Cells” over and over for three minutes.
All but the most hard-hearted listener will sadly nod their heads
in silent agreement with Mr. Dick’s simple eloquence.
Remember, you should not judge because “We are the
guilty.” Gosh, could it be that an unfeeling society is to
blame for such modern horrors? If only some influential person
would listen to Papa Roach, Mr. Dick’s astute observation
would surely change the course of public policy today.
“Infest” is an entire album of songs that all sound the
same, each gleefully rehashing the same tired, trendy
anti-establishment line. “Between Angels and Insects”
is such an odd, gothic title that one expects to hear it espouse a
deeper philosophy than “F ““ money.” It’s so
generic that not even the most dedicated critic would bother to
think of witty comments for the individual songs. Michael
Rosen-Molina Rating: 2