- The Michigan Daily - Tuesday, November 28, 2000
Bounce soundtrack, Various
Artists; Arista
Ladies and Gentlemen... The
rateful Dead Fillmore East - New
rk City -April 1971; The Grateful
1 Dead, Arista Records
Ben Oxenburg
ily Arts Writer
This new and highly anticipated
ease by the Grateful Dead showcases
best of a five night run in April, 1971
Fillmore East in New York City. The
ur CDs are a necessary addition to any
Illection and are almost certain to wet
pallet of both seasoned Deadheads
first-time listeners who often create
ntempt and rolling eyes with questions
e, "The Dead who?"
Those who know the history of the
ad and-its ever-changing lineup know
at the 70s was arguably the greatest
:cade for the band. They will also like-
be surprised to find a fresh, united and
uberant spirit in the music. This energy
obvious and uncompromising. The
-e looks bright and the band has an
e career ahead of them. They know
at they are part of something special
d different and the band takes full
vantage of this fact. They are playing
a respective audience which appreci-
es both their unique fusion of rock,
&B and bluegrass and their ability to
vitch genres with ease. Jerry Garcia,
ob Weir, Phil Lesh, Ron "Pigpen"
IcKernan and Bill Kreutzmann all
>und tighter than a pair of unbreakable
iese fingercuffs. Perhaps the disc's
Latest asset is the loud and throaty
>und of Pigpen's voice, which, strange-
enough, has a robust characteristic that
ves no indication that he would suc-
imb to a lifestyle of drinking and drugs
less than a year.
The discs contain many old favorites
hich were relatively new back then)
id excellent covers of some of the
Dead's contemporaries. "I'm a King
Bee" features outstanding performances
by Pigpen on harmonica and vocals and
Garcia on electric guitar. It is played and
sung with all of the ache and need of a
true blues-band. Fans of "The Big Chill"
will no doubt enjoy disc one with a fer-
vor. The versions of Smokey Robinson's
"Second that Emotion" and The Rascal's
"Good Lovin" (which just happens to
segue in and out of a fantastic "Drums,"
courtesy of Kreutzmann) are remarkable
and show how well the Dead is able to
translate Motown and '50s rock into new,
different and thoroughly enjoyable
music.
Disc three shines with a musical iri-
descence and a smorgasbord of segues. A
soft "Dark Star" jams.into "St. Stephen,"
which morphs into "Not Fade Away"
and, just when the listener is confident
there will be a break, the band dissolves
it into "Goin' Down the Road Feeling
Bad." Somehow, someway, this melts
back into "Not Fade Away" to end the
disc.
This CD set proves that the infamous
and anonymous quote which has been
uttered in amazement so many times
before still possesses veracity: "There is
nothing like a Grateful Dead concert."
By Luke Smith
Daily Arts Writer
Tumbling down the trail of love
songs comes the music from the
motion picture "Bounce." One can't
expect too much diversity on an
album from a movie about falling in
love. Opening track "Need to Be Next
to You" feels like the anthem for the
entire movie, the song whose melody
will be rearranged and replayed
throughout the picture over and over
again. Sixpence None the Richer
vocalist Leigh Nash lends her smooth
pipes to the track.
The next two songs however, carry
no such driving melody to keep the
ship from "bouncing" right into an
iceberg. Beth Orton and Dido's songs
are lazy and typical, not invoking the
feel good warmth of the first track.
The sharp dip in quality isn't helped
at all by Tara MacLean's "Divided."
Sarah McLachlan appears on
"Silence," joining Delerium for a
number that sounds slightly out of
place in the beginning with monk-
esque chanting. Then the beat enters,
and with it comes McLachlan. The
album's digression continues to slip
south.
Anika Paris is more than right, she
"Is no ordinary girl," but what she has
put on this album is an ordinary love,
song. Ben Affleck is probably sitting
on a chair in a room with his head
between his hands thinking at this
point in the movie, while the scenT
cuts to Gwenyth every few seconds.
Morcheeba lends their mild radii
hit "Rome Wasn't Built in a Day" to
the soundtrack. For the sake of the
rest of us, this song should be. -
returned to whomever borrowed it.
Records like this are so hard to "s
review, because there is nothing
unpredictable about them. The songs
seem to blend together with nothing
sticking out in particular. In fact,that
may be exactly what the director
wants. The one good song on this
album lends one alternative: Napster
Grade: C-
-> I
I
I
The Reunion, Capone-N-
Noreaga; Tommy Boy
Grade: A
By W. Jacarl Melton
Daily Arts Writer
With the release of The Reunion,
Capone-N-Noreaga try to start where
their 1997 debut, The War Report, left
off.
War Report ended with Capone
making a phone call from behind bars
where he was serving a two-year bid
on a weapons charge. "Phonetime,"
the new album's first track, tries to
create the similar "behind bars" effect
but, like the rest of this album, does-
n't match its predecessor.
There are two highlights on The
Reunion, though. Number one is
"Invincible."
This is probably the best track on
the album, but then again, DJ Premier
produced it. It's hard to go wrong with
Premo on your side, yet C-N-N
almost do this when Noraga repeats
the same line back to back. Needless
to say, lyrics aren't a strongpoint at
any time on the album.
The second "bright spot" is "Bang
Bang." This track is a prototype song
from New York City's "thug haven,"
Queens. It offers a lyrical beatdown
for anyone who comes weak. This
onslaught is decent but the best part is
when Foxy Brown takes her turn on
the mic. She goes off on fellow sexpot
rapper Lil' Kim. All I can say is watch
out for the catfight that's sure to fol-
low.
The problems of The Reunion
may not fall totally on Capone-N-
Noreaga, though. Quite simply, the
subject matter is worn out. People
like DMX and the "pretty boy thug",
Ja Rule have saturated the rap mar-
ket's "thug section," which C-N-N
occupy.
However, I could be wrong. If the
rap connoisseur isn't tired of this cat-
egory yet, C-N-N will do fine.
Otherwise, Capone may have been
better off staying "up-state" a few
more years until this segment of the
rap population thinned out.
Grade: C
Fozzy, Fozzy; Megaforce Records
By Christian Hoard
Daily Arts Writer
I have a confession to make: I did-
n't listen to this album, and with any
luck, 'Il die without ever having to.
Which isn't to say that is devoid of
Erit Farfrom it. In fact, I'm willing
to wager that For. is the comedy
record of the year, ample proof of
which can be found in the accompa-
nying CD booklet. The cover shot
establishes that Fozzy is a band of leg-
endary proportions - physical pro-
portions, I mean. Singer Moongoose
McQueen is clearly the Ivan Drago of
frontmen, a tough guy who honed his
craft in a foreign country while bassist
lawn "Sports" Pop is the road-war-
.r, an on-stage anchor, a team player
guy who could be the gang's body-
guard if he had to, not unlike Bubba
Smith in the "Police Academy" films.
The liner notes, written by a maga-
zine editor named "Shoji Mochizuki,"
tell the tale of Fozzy's bittersweet suc-
cess: Having found that the only way
to escape a raw record deal was to
leave the States, the group spent 20
years in Japan, where they wowed
audiences, made timeless records and
became "like Emperors." After catch-
ing wind that every pop-metal super-
star from Ozzy to Skid Row had
ripped off their material, Fozzy
returned stateside and now hopes to
claim their rightful position as the
kings of Sports Metal.
Not bad, guys, butIahave a feeling
that this record will have folks won-
dering on what day did some record
company ad wizard, come up with
Fozzy, and couldn't he have rested on
that (lay, too'
GET YOUR ROCKS OAF NEXT WEEK WITH A
REVIEW OF THE BEST OF BLUR' IN THE
SECOND-TO-LAST
BREAKING RECORDS OF THE SEMESTER,
Grade: N/A
Mana's Gun, Erykah Badu; Motown
ly W. Jacari Melton
>aily Arts Writer
been a long time since Ms. Badu released an album
f original material. I was a senior in high school when
aduizm dropped and now I'm a senior in college.
)espite the time lapse, Mama s Gun gives me a feeling
imilar to that of her debut. With Baduizm, I could hear a
voman seemingly singing from her soul, a feat other
U&B singers could only dream of doing. In this respect,
lama s Gun takes off from where Baduizm finished, in a
rightengly similar R&B landscape.
Although other singers, most notably Jill Scott and
kmel Larrieux, have bucked the trend of formulaic and
adio friendly R&B, Badu has stood out even from this
rn1 with lyrics that could be compared to those of an
OC. She slips in an occasional swear. She speaks in street
lang. You'd usually associate these traits with someone
ke Common or Mos Def, but in her own unique way,
3adu makes it work for herself.
Mayfbe this can be attributed to her position as the "first
lady" of the Soulquarians, an association of hip-hop and
R&B vanguards who stress the need for music to have
soul or a purpose in its performance greater than "flash
and cash." The first single, "Bag Lady," has received
heavy radio play in its remix format. The album version.
though, focuses on Badu's words as opposed to the beat.
If you haven't noticed, the song is about losing emotion-
al baggage and realizing the positive aspects of life. Sure
it's a simple concept, but you don't often hear it expressed
this way.
"Cleva" is another track that stands out. It sounds sim-
ilar to the Roy Ayers' classic "Searching, and with good
reason: Ayers blesses the song with his distinctive vibra-
phone playing. In "Cleva," Badu states some of her flaws
and imperfections. She's quick to point out that these
faults are nothing when compared to her creativity. True
indeed.
If one negative comment needs to be made it's that
Badu's musical accompaniment is too good. I found
myself occupied by sounds reminiscent of Ayers, Wonder
and Marley more so than by her words. On a perfect
album, the balance may have been better. However, small
imperfections can be discarded. I have to remember the
Grade: A-
premise of "Cleva." The faults cannot overshadow the
album's entirety, especially when Badu has created some-
thing this tight.
Black and Blue, Backstreet Boys;
Jive Records
By Chris Kula
Daily Arts Editor
The Backstreet Boys are shivering
under their new haircuts: N'Sync's
Justin, J.C., Lance, Chris and Joey
the Fat-One are clearly the reigning
kings of the boy band realm - and
this fact cannot be changed, no mat-
ter how long the Boys grow out their
bangs.
Nevertheless, BSB felt it necessary
to release Black and Blue, an album
of Swede-produced, harmony-laden
vocal pop. The 13-track product went
platinum in one week, but it was
essentially an insult to pop music
fans everywhere.
The album, which BSB has alleged
is a step in a more "mature" direc-
tion, cannot hold a candle to the more
energetic teen-pop records released
by N'Sync, 98 Degrees, Boyzone,
Sive, Cleopatra, All Saints,
B*Witched and the now-defunct
Jackson Five.
The current single, "Shape of My
Heart is the kind of saccharine
claptrap that might fly in the nation's
basements and snack bars, but it will
not stand the adult contemporary test
of time like Paula Abdul's "Straight
Up," Michael Bolton's "Time, Love
and Tenderness" or Ace of Base's
"The Sign."
Not surprisingly, the Boys them-
selves contributed songwriting cred-
its on six of the album's tracks, proVL
ing that Nick Carter is a wordsmith
comparable to Jody Watley, Kylie
Minogue and Fab of Milli Vanilli.
The only real winner on Black anc
Blue is superstar producer Max
Martin, who's previously created
tight beats and phat grooves for both
N'Sync and Britney Spears. Even
bogged down by the Boys' asinine
lyrical content, his studio smart$
shine - if Martin would ever put out
an album of his own material,-I
would line up at a record store to get
my own copy at midnight sharp.
Grade: D
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