The ladies of pop are out in force this summer, with a slew of new releases by some of today's biggest stars as well as some old favorites.
By Times Staff Writers
Published July 13, 2003
BEYONCE, DANGEROUSLY IN LOVE (SONY): Listening to Dangerously In Love is almost like going on a steamy date with Beyonce Knowles.
First, there's dancing, and she clearly has one of the summer's best dance singles in Crazy In Love, her funky, horn-tinged collaboration with hip-hopster Jay-Z. If that opening salvo weren't enough, she erases all doubts with Naughty Girl, a sexy rai-flavored tune that borrows from the most erotic of all songs, Donna Summer's Love to Love You Baby.
From there, let's just say, whoa. Beyonce sings her sultry best that she wants to be with you, love you, get to know you.
The climax comes in the smooth, orgasmicSpeechless, which features Beyonce growing louder and more impassioned, "Yes, yes, yes." Who cares who she's singing to?
There's no letdown afterward, with That's How You Like It and, with Luther Vandross, the classic Roberta Flack-Donny Hathaway ballad, The Closer I Get To You. She rounds out the 15-song CD with a hidden track honoring her father and manager, Mathew Knowles. No missteps here as Beyonce continues to shoot her way to the top. A
- JEFFREY S. SOLOCHEK, Times staff writer
ANNIE LENNOX, BARE (J): Something about breaking up makes Annie Lennox wanna sing.
Lucky for us. Lennox's romantic breakups have brought us some of best music of the '80s, '90s and now, with her new album, Bare, the '00s.
Lennox's second solo album of original material comes 11 years after her first, Diva, and is dedicated to working through the emotions surrounding the breakup with her husband. This disc is her most personal and psychologically exposed since the Eurythmics' 1987 Savage.
Lennox's vocal talent remains unscathed by her decades-long career. She can warble, growl, scream, and whisper with an intensity as fresh and gorgeous as the first time we were all floored by Sweet Dreams (Are Made of This). Noticeably absent, however, is the icy electronic accompaniment staunch Eurythmics fans rely upon, replaced by rock and soul, giving the album, dare we say it, an "adult contemporary" feel.
It works, for the most part, and the disc is filled with strong, emotionally charged tracks that are derailed only by the annoying Bitter Pill - its plucky, grating keyboards create the effect of a psychotic shopping trip, and their hammering is relentless for the duration of the song. The Hurting Time has its own issues in its bluesy, pedestrian harmonica solos, but Lennox's singing more than makes up for the pain of suffering through the Stevie Wonder wannabe feel. High points - everything else. A Thousand Beautiful Things is, indeed, a beautiful thing, and Wonderful pretty much speaks for itself.
Lennox explains, almost excuses herself, on Bare's cover that she is not a young singer, but a mature woman - and thank God for that. A-
- BENJAMIN HARPER, Times correspondent
LIZ PHAIR, LIZ PHAIR (CAPITOL) : Liz Phair has lost her way.
The first warning sign was the publicity photo, with a dishabille Liz vamping like some Tawny Kitaen wannabe. I was hoping it was a goof, but the accompanying CD suggests otherwise. This overproduced mess sounds intentionally slicked up and dumbed down for mass appeal, but there's almost no hint of the artistry that made Phair worth paying attention to in the first place.
It has been a decade since Exile in Guyville - for my money one of the best and most important recordings of the '90s. That audaciously ambitious, original and barrier-breaking debut inspired a new generation of in-your-face female artists from Alanis Morissette to the Donnas. But Phair seems to have lost her own inspiration somewhere along the way. Exile's brutally honest subject matter touched on universal concerns; this self-titled CD is self-absorbed enough to embarrass Adam Duritz. Exile was natural and intuitive; this sounds forced and clunky. And the sexually graphic vignettes that were so fresh and liberating on Exile sound gratuitous and vulgar here. Liz, you've got a small child and a broken marriage to deal with now. Get over yourself.
The creator of Exile deserves the benefit of the doubt. The muse could return any day. And just when Liz Phair is on the verge of being written off as irredeemable, the last couple of songs at least hint at past glories. Still, the arc of her past three recordings is not reassuring. Unless she reverses course, she can't be more than a couple of CDs and 8 by 10 glossies away from cable porn and celebrity boxing. C
- ROBERT FRIEDMAN, Times staff writer
JEWEL, 0304 (ATLANTIC): No doubt fans of this former folk singer will hate Jewel's attempt to jump into the world of No Doubt.
Gone are the heartfelt ballads that made her career, such as the beautiful Foolish Games, which she used to save for concert encores. In their place, dance club tunes that use "U" and "2" in their titles.
Gone, too, are the strong vocals, given way to breathy, confectionary singing that barely touches Jewel's demonstrated range. On Leave the Lights On, for instance, she barely hits the high notes, though you know she can. If this weren't such a blatant attempt to grab a bigger market share, you would just have to shake your head and ask, Why?
Get over it.
Though not perfect, 0304 is frequently danceable and, in places, almost experimental. Haunted, written from the stalker's point of view, is eerie and cool sounding. Sweet Temptation and Yes U Can, on which Jewel collaborated with Rick Nowels, both have an edgy pop sound that's much better than so much of the pablum that pop radio force-feeds these days.
If this is really where Jewel wants to go, hey, it could be much worse. B-
GOLDFRAPP, BLACK CHERRY (MUTE): Allison Goldfrapp channels Shirley Bassey with her brassy voice. On Black Cherry, Goldfrapp plays it all sexy-like, romping around with hefty doses of eletro-funk and sinister grooves. Less the breezy chanteuse of the past, Goldfrapp sounds brazen on the derailed Train, girded by its frittered bass line. Deep Honey swells with an icy sexuality, ominous and alive with its fusion of harpsichord and strings. A-
